Rough week financially if you’re a completist for my work. Sorry. Whad’ja think?
PAD
43 comments on “OUT THIS WEEK: SHE-HULK #27, FALLEN ANGEL #25, NEW FRONTIER #1”
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
Dug She-Hulk and Fallen Angel (sat down and caught up on the latter, beginning with the Shi crossover yesterday).
New Frontier #1 is in my “Can’t read it yet.” pile, as I’m massively behind on reading the books. (Finished Being Human a while ago, but can’t find Gods Above to save my life. Might have to bite the bullet and order it online, but I prefer buying books when I can check out the condition first-hand.) Love the “Captain David” variant cover, but I’m hoping to find it for a reasonable price.
This isn’t quite on-topic, but I found a copy of your Iron Man novelization at a Barnes & Noble yesterday and am enjoying the hëll out of it. You absolutely nail Stark’s character. I particularly liked his observations on drugs on the first page and how it doesn’t quite match his actions.
Found Iron Man at Wal-Mart Friday, finished reading it Saturday. A few “stretch for the nod and wink” bits, but otherwise very good.
I found New Frontier to be kinda hard to get into, even as someone who’s been keeping up with the novels. And the zombie-like art at times didn’t help.
Fallen Angel was better than average, the quality of She-Hulk is improving with each issue, and New Frontier was quite good, even if it was difficult to positively identify some of the crew sitting around the conference table.
1 have found she-hulk to be too dark for my taste of late.,and i still dont like jazz i have skull burn out ii think i just dont find jaz all that compleling. I’m looking forward to the lighting in tone I’m sure is coming eventually. I really miss she-hulk the lawyer the bounty hunter thing doesent do it for me, but it had to be done to distance it from the slot run i get thay but its just depressing.
I liked the developments in She-Hulk and Fallen Angel a lot. I was a bit confused as J.J.’s sister being a prostitute. Was this another, second sister after the nun from the Sachs and Violens miniseries, or did that nun become a blonde høøkër? I liked Iron Man’s appearance in She-Hulk too. That page was a great piece of art.
Hmmm. I enjoyed all three comics. Still, I have to admit that the art of New Frontier did not really impress me as the art for all of the Star Trek books that they have done so far. Still I am grateful for the comic as I have been going through New Frontier withdrawals
Also, I thought that the comic should have included a description of the storyline on the inside cover for the newbies. I know that this decision was not in your hands, but I thought that I should mention it anyway.
I loved She-Hulk, for the first time since you started. Finally I can sort of understand what the heck’s going on!
New Frontier is looking promising, but *boy* — if ever a comic needed one of those “what’s going on” pages in front of it, this is the one. I’ve read all the books (and am quite fond of them), so I was able to understand what’s going on, but anybody who hasn’t been following the series closely is going to be utterly at sea. It’s a big cast of characters, and you have to really know them in order to grok what’s happening.
And in general, I have to admit that I’m a bit nervous about New Frontier as a comic. The internal business has been very important in the books, and are part of why I enjoy them so much: you spend a *lot* of time in everybody’s heads. I hope that the more visual form doesn’t wind up making you weaken that. (I like the way you handled it in the first issue, but one can only go so far on visions…)
Just finished New Frontier #1 and I’m not thrilled with the art, but I’ve seen worse. I think I had a handle on the back stories of everyone before this. Except Morgan. Seeing her in that uniform pretty much confirmed who I thought she was. Will we ever get her whole story?
Haven’t gotten to She-Hulk yet. Frankly, after Civil War, I had dropped all Marvel titles except She-Hulk. It’s not the Marvel Universe I enjoyed in the 80s and early 90s. I would have dropped She-Hulk if you hadn’t taken it over. I’m still in the “thinking about dropping it” phase.
Add my voice to those who didn’t enjoy the art in New Frontier #1.
That said, two of my three books this week were yours (FA & NF), and I liked both of them. I look forward to reading both in collected editions eventually (I buy both for your IDW work). I’m also looking forward to the TPB’s of She-Hulk, but I just can’t justify buying both for a Marvel book. The whole Marvel Universe has turned me off in the last couple of years.
Also, add me to the list of people who somehow just did not get all of the Majel-references for Morgan the first time through the novels. I just got that she’s supposed to be Number One as I’ve been re-reading all the NF novels recently. It was nice to have it 100% confirmed in the comic.
Eric
Definitely a tough week if you try to get the variant covers. If Peter got any extra copies of the bridge incentive cover for New Frontier, they’d make a good fund raiser for the CBLDF or the Caroline college fund. Even the largest chain in Phoenix (with four stores) got in just one single copy of that cover. I did find an online retailer that had it, though.
Well, put it down as a last minute reprieve for She-Hulk…
I was about to drop the book – sorry, just not seeing anything new/interesting happening there to justify the expense – but now you’ve dropped the first shoe on *why* Jen isn’t doing what she logically should have been doing – suing the iron pants off Tony and challenging the Registration Act all the way up to Supreme Court – I’m going to have to hang around for the second shoe…
Oh, and FWIW, Fallen Angel is probably my personal favourite of all stuff you’ve *ever* done in comics. (Out of interest, have you ever thought of pitching a Vertigo title to DC? I always thought your run on Supergirl would have been a natural for that imprint as opposed to the mainstream one…)
Cheers!
Well I’m new to your blog, so I’m going to seem completely clueless, but it was the quickest way I could find to get in touch with you. I have a couple ideas I’d like to implement at some point in my life, however it may be possible, whether in novel or comic form…and I need your help!
I fancy myself to be something of an aspiring writer, and I’d like to do a book focusing on Q sending his son to Starfleet Academy to teach him some discipline. The story would revolve heavily around the issue of allowing someone with Q-level power to operate as an officer and perform tasks using regulation procedures instead of using his abilities. I’d imagine the issue of Starfleet’s sudden military dominance of the galaxy would eventually come up. Also, is it some kind of trick? What is Q up to?
The other idea would be more difficult. For some reason I’m obsessed with the idea of an amalgamation of Spider-Man and TNG. What if Peter Parker were a cadet on the Enterprise? What if he acquired his spider-powers somehow on Farpoint Station and his entire story unfolded within the backdrop of the TNG universe? Picard would supplant JJJ as the guy who wants Spider-Man “off his ship”, but Flash, Gwen, MJ etc. could be cadets along with Peter. Most of his villains could be Federation scientists like the ones the Enterprise always seemed to be ferrying between planets. Some kind of accident happens, and all of a sudden we’ve got Doc Ock, Green Goblin…you name it. They could even go to the Planet of the Symbiotes.
Thoughts?
Sorry to put all this on your blog, but…I must be inept at trying to find someone’s email address. Talk to me!
My darling husban dis picking up my copy of NF today.
Mark Evanier’s blog has mentioned that Jim Mooney has passed away.
I’ve always felt bad for the artist(s) when the general consensus for an issue is “the art was bad”.
With a writer, I’m sure it never feels great to have someone dog your work. And not to diminish the role of a writer as an artist, of course. But a visual artist, the penciller and inkers especially, spend hours crafting images. For people to dismiss entire issues of artwork has to hurt.
With that being said I’ve read more than one comic that I’ve wondered, “How did THIS GUY get a job?”
I have not read a single book of New Frontier but decided to read it because the cover art looked great and it was written by PAD. It was a great read and I thought there was a great Star Trek spirit within the book with a twist. I’m a die-hard trek fan and enjoyed seeing Jellico and Shelby in action. I heard that there are New Frontier toys out there… I may have to pick up one or two…
I look forward to more Frontier!
I bought all three books (that was my first take on She-Hulk) and was more or less entertained by all of them.
Fallen Angel was outstanding like always. Funny and serious at the same time and full of surprises. Best line: “Knock knock, you fûçkërš” 😀
New Frontier was… well… New Frontier was New Frontier. I loved it, it was just too dámņ short! Great to see those characters again. The writing was good, as the art. Still i prefer Mike Collins tough. Thompson has a fine eye for ships, buildings and shadows, but not entirely for charakters. It seems that Calhoun looks different in each new panel. One little question: why is Hash on the Excalibur? Thought he had layed down his differences with Mueller?
Oh, i’ve forgotten something; A while ago, i’ve tried my own Version of Mackenzie Calhoun. Its nothing special and you have your professional artists, but maybe you are happy about some fanart. It’s my way to say thank you for the whole New Frontier series and a lot of entertainmet. 🙂
So, here he is. Hope it’s okay to post it here and you like it 🙂 http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs24/f/2007/361/7/b/Mackenzie_Calhoun_by_Damon1984.jpg
About the art in New Frontier–I didn’t have any problem with it. I actually wouldn’t have said anything if so many others hadn’t said something. The story on the other hand–well, the story. What can I say about the story? Well, I’m not going to say much(in case, unlike me, people get to their shops and DON’T find just two left.) What I WILL say, though, is like the best of any Trek, it puts you in a familiar situation and then turns it inside out and upside down and shakes heavily to mix it all up. I likes it.
My darling husband bough tthe new NF for me yesterday. Unfortunately he was arrived home from work just as I was leaving for work, was asleep when I got home and left this morning with it stil in his work backpack. At least he has something more interesting to read on the train today than the Sydney Morning Herald.
I got the first issue a few days after my birthday but nevertheless, I consider it to be my best present I got this year. Being a big fan of New Frontier, I have been looking forward to more of this series for a while now and that this story is a continuation of the so far latest NF novel is something I welcomed a lot. On top of that, the very first New Frontier comic by Wildstorm is my top favourite comic book and getting the continuation in the form of a limited series in comic form was very exciting news to me.
Now that I have read the first comic of the new series, I am still very excited. I must admit, I prefer Mike Collins art, especially Mike Collins Calhoun. Nevertheless, I like Stephen Thompson`s work too in spite of some flaws. Most of his art is excellent but the faces, that is pretty much a mix of hit, miss and something in between. It doesn`t bother me very much because there is a lot of Thompson`s art I like. It has flaws but at the same time, it has character. His art is certainly not bland like the Calhoun on the “No Limits” cover. Character with flaws is something I prefer to boring and uninteresting. I can imagine, with more experience, Thompson could become a great comic book artist.
I like it that Thompson looked for his own interpretation of the characters. I don`t think his Calhoun is “strikingly handsome” (PAD in “Before Dishonor”) and I miss that but his Calhoun is certainly interesting and showing all the other characteristics mentioned in the books. Calhoun on the cover has a strong presence and shows the piercing look PAD described sometimes in the novels very well.
It was interesting to see some of the NF characters in comic form for the first time and must say, so far it is only Calhoun I have some problems with. Nevertheless, I am confident that I will get used to Thompson`s interpretation of Calhoun. It just might need some time. By the way, I laughed when we could finally see Morgan properly after her looks had been cleverly disguised in various ways in Wildstorm`s comic book. After all the teasing about who Morgan is, we have the answer now.
I think PAD set up the story very well. I have followed NF from the very beginning but from what I can see also a newcomer wouldn`t be lost. Of course he would see that a lot happened before this comic book but the most basic information you need for getting a foothold is there. Hopefully this comic will tell an entertaining story also to the newcomer and it might make him curious so that he wants to buy the books as well in order to find out more, filling the gaps.
One of the most important parts is establishing the relationship between Calhoun and Shelby and I think this first issue shows these basics very well. One of my favourite scenes was the look at the special bond between them again, when Calhoun knew immediately that the images he saw were a trick.
The Wildstorm comic dealt with the topic time and the change of time – of what is, what was and what might be. I found it interesting and amusing at the same time that this theme is also part of this limited series. “Paradox” – I love this name for a time ship. Keeping in mind what we learned in the very first NF comic as well as from Voyager and Enterprise, I see a huge potential for this story. I am very curious where this will go.
I know from PAD`s messages that he wanted to write a Mirror Universe NF story in comic form and I think that element is part of this series. If done well, MU stories can be also something I enjoy and in this case, I am confident that the MU element will add an interesting dimension to the story and not have the opposite effect as it happened in DS9 Relaunch.
I liked the part with Robin Lefler, Kalinda and the ghostly Si Cwan. Lefler certainly changed and I must say, Thompson did a brilliant job here with his art, showing first the confident, strong leader and later the more vulnerable Lefler. I wasn`t even that surprised that Lefler is pregnant because it fits so well into the overall story.
McHenry`s apparent fate was disturbing to me but it makes sense. Hopefully he can be helped but I have to wait and see…
In short – a great start and I can`t wait to get the next part!
The meta-joke in She-Hulk where Stark was told he was more handsome than Robert Downey Jr. made me chuckle.
I enjoyed the main story because of the social commentary. This is exactly the kind of thing that happens when somebody’s wife or girlfriend or whatever disappears under suspicious circumstances, even if they don’t tell a story about space aliens. They don’t need to be proven guilty; the jury just has to have a bad feeling about them, and it’s all over.
The prosecution has a lot of money to spend, a lot of resources, etc. The defense, far too often, does not. They can’t always hire their own investigators, and they can’t always hire their own experts.
What will happen is that the prosecution will pile on the circumstantial evidence until a jury wonders whether the guy is guilty and instead of asking “has he been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?” they ask “do we really want to take a chance and set him free?” Far too often, they don’t take the chance.
So really, God help you if you’ve ever lost your temper, because somebody will get on the stand and testify that you have rage issues. God help you if you ever hit anybody, because somebody will get on the stand and testify that you’re violent. God help you if you ever said that you just wished somebody would die, because the person who heard you say it will get on the stand and testify that you had homicidal thoughts. Sometimes people just get on the stand and out and out lie. Some of those people are jailhouse informants eager to cut a deal. Others are people who are convinced you are guilty and who want to see you imprisoned badly enough to lie about what they witnessed. So it goes.
By the end of it all, after the prosecution has found every witness it can who will say bad things about you, and blown every single shameful moment of your life out of proportion to paint you in the worst possible light, it’s the job of the defense to convince the jury that you couldn’t possibly ever kill anybody. And that’s a tough job, and that’s why so many innocent people get convicted.
Back to the issue. I thought that Jen got too rough with those robbers. They weren’t going to murder anybody, they had backed down, they weren’t a threat, and she still attacks them? She’s superhumanly strong and she targets one of the guys’ genitals?! That was a little too much for me. I hope that’s the last Lorena Bobbitt-like moment we’re ever going to see. If Jen were a cop, this would’ve been an open and shut case of police brutality, she could have faced charges herself, she could have gone to prison herself, and rightly so.
Wow…2 year of Fallen Angel at IDW and still going strong. I was afraid how the $3.99 price tag would affect sales of the book, but here we are two years later and no slowing down (I hope).
I am most interested to see how things wrap up next issue for this Battle for Better Noir arc, though I do hope somehow Slate isn’t dead. His character bio kind of made that a longshot though. More and more interesting developments for Dolph the last two issues, and if you’re leaning towards him being who I think you are, it didn’t even register on me until his scene last issue with Mariah. Keep up the good work, and here’s hoping for 2 more years and beyond of Fallen Angel!
Sorry, David. Slate’s dead. Dead and done.
PAD
Slate really dead? AND done? That’s šhìŧ. No comment to my Calhoun? That’s šhìŧ too. Still I’ll by your stuff. That’s also šhìŧ.
Shìŧ.
Hey PAD,
Didn’t know where else to put this…so….
One of my students handed in his book report today and made his presentation in front of the class. His book? Your Iron Man adaptation.
If it helps, you completely won over the 13 year old boy audience!
Brian
Don’t be bashfull, Starfury, tell us what you really think. 🙂
Read the NF last night. Ditto a lot of what Baerbel said. I’m not really impressed with Mr Thompson’s interpretation of Calhoun. To me, the image is not even “ruggedly handsome”, let alone “strikingly handsome”. TEHO.
Do Shelby & Calhoun need some GOOD marriage/ relationship counselling or what? LOL.
“Slate’s dead. Dead and done.”
No! No, that’s not true! That’s impossible!
It… um… was his clone. It was… um… his previously unknown twin. He… uh… it was really an actress hired by Norman Osborn to impersonate him. Chloe’s magic tears will revive him. Dean will make a deal with the crossroads demon and…
Dead for good huh? Let’s hope it stays that way (and I trust that as long as you have control over Fallen Angel and its characters, it will). Nothing against Slate as a character, but it would be a refreshing change if more of the dead stayed dead in comics.
Yes, Bucky Barnes*, I’m talking to you.
And you too, Jason Todd.
(and for all I know, Uncle Ben as well).
I’m on board with the “if there’s no body, he/she might not be dead” school of thought, but if we see them killed (and, as you pointed out once about Elektra, autopsied), they shouldn’t show up later walking (or “sloshing”) around.
True, some “deaths” we fully expect won’t last very long, but a lot of them aren’t really necessary, or could have been handled so much better. As much as I enjoyed the “Death of Superman/Funeral for a Friend/Reign of the Supermen” storylines of 1992-1993, imagine how much more daring it would have been had DC killed off Kal-El and had someone else, like the “Superboy” clone (later Kon-El) step in to carry on the Superman name (and trademark).
To my way of thinking, if we see a character die and all the characters who might interact (or might have interacted) with that person across a particular company’s line treats that death as actual fact, then it would be a major cheat to bring him or her back.
Maxwell Lord, for example, shouldn’t show up hale and hearty one day.
On the other hand, to my way of thinking, it’s not cheating if certain characters question whether so and so is really dead, or, of course, if the reader knows more than the characters do. That raises doubt.
Or if the clues are there from the get-go, even if the reader misses them the first time around. In the “Titans Hunt” storyline back in New Titans in 1991, a character is apparently blasted to smithereens (“off camera”, as it were) by one of the Wildebeest, who then tosses a coin in the same direction as the blast, saying “penny on a dead man’s eyes.”
That “coin” was actually a disc containing a symbol of one of the Titans, which told observant readers that that particular Wildebeest was a Titan in disguise and that the “fatal” attack, therefore, was faked. So in that case it wasn’t a cheat when the “dead” character showed up alive and well a few issues later.
(I’m not naming names because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who might happen to seek out the back issues; and I didn’t want to do two spoiler warnings in the same post).
Likewise, if it had been established that Maxwell Lord had been doing experiments in cloning, then that could have been used as a legitimate clue that maybe it wasn’t the real Max who got killed, should DC decide to bring him back.
Speaking of character deaths, I’ve been reading the trade editions of 52. At one point, a particular character dies. Spoiler warning because this is much more recent than the “Titans Hunt” storyline.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
F
O
L
L
O
W
Booster Gold is killed, reduced to a skeleton. He later returns alive and well, but to my mind, it’s not a cheat, because A) that really was his skeleton, transported from some point in the future after his actual death; and B) Booster had previously sought out time traveler Rip Hunter. So Booster’s skeleton from his personal future didn’t come from entirely out of left field.
But even that sort of thing is pushing the envelope a bit.
*Yes, I know that during your run on Incredible Hulk we had visual hints that the immortal Agamemnon, whose true form was that of a teenage boy, might have been Bucky; but you never came out and said it. Would it have been a cheat if Marvel had retroactively decided that “Bucky” was an immortal far older than pretty much anyone he’d known back in World War II? Technically, yes; but it would have been better than the way other “resurrections” were handled.
Hi, Elektra.
Though, Bucky’s one of those characters who should stay dead because of the impact the death had on others. Likewise Uncle Ben.
But anyway, Slate’s dead, huh? Alas, poor Slate. Or not “alas”, depending on how one might have felt about him.
So, will someone else be obligated to fill his job, in much the same way that the city must always have a magistrate?
Rick
P.S. Now come on, admit it. Shadow Boxer killed Slate long ago, faked his own death and had been impersonating Slate all this time. Right? Right?
Oh, wait. Some shenanigans by Bat-Mite, right?
Sorry, Slate. Looks like you’re out of luck.
“So really, God help you if you’ve ever lost your temper…”
So, in that case, I would be, to use a colorful colloquiallism, screwed. When I really lose my temper, I make it look as thoough the worst thing that ever happened to Dr. Banner when he gets mad is he says, “Oh, poo!”
I don’t know that Shelby and Calhoun need marriage counseling so much as to get the heck away from Starfleet. No one in Starfleet ever has a good day.
Ever.
All this about the correlation (not causality) between autism & MMR etc:
Have there been any studies looking for associations between catching wild strain measles (known to cause encephalitis in some cases) and Autism?
Luigi said:
“I liked the developments in She-Hulk and Fallen Angel a lot. I was a bit confused as J.J.’s sister being a prostitute. Was this another, second sister after the nun from the Sachs and Violens miniseries, or did that nun become a blonde høøkër?”
It’s the same sister. At the end of the first Fallen Angel series (the one by DC–it’s not yet collected, so you’d have to get the issues to read it), when J.J and Ernie came into town, they didn’t know J.J.’s sister was there, and actually went after her, under reports that she was running a child pørņ ring, or something, I forget the details. Anyway, J.J. didn’t even recognize her, because she had completely reinvented herself as Bumper. But Bumper identified herself, and that was likely one of the main factors in J.J.’s decision to remain in Bete Noir.
I wonder if it’s possible to reteam with Gordon Purcell on the TrekNF book. He’s drawing IDW’s Trek :Year Four books and was always one of Petere’s best collaborators.
I also wonder what’s going on with the art on She Hulk. There already a new guy drawing some of the issues and another coming soon. Could the first guy not handle the deadlines?
I have just noticed that Amazon UK is already listing the Turnaround paperback for £ 12.99, announced for October. I have just pre-ordered my copy.
By the way, now I have also got the “Quad Cover Special Edition”. I could see that the small pictures I saw earlier are not doing the real thing justice. Especially the cover with Kebron and Burgy is gorgeous!
Unfortunately, so far I had no luck to get the special cover with Peter David and Fallen Angel. But I will keep trying.
I wonder, will the Turnaround trade paperback show all covers? Five times four covers (the Quads) plus additional ones – that is a lot but I would love to have them all together in this collection.
Hi Mr. David,
I have She-Hulk listed on my “pull list” at the local comic shop. I have been reading since your run began about 6 mos back. I enjoyed this issue, in particular, the court room action. I found myself doing a fist pump when Jen’s former colleague came to the rescue for the defense. I also enjoyed the “Robert Downey Jr.” remark to Tony Stark – hillarious. I wish you the best with future stories and look forward to more superhero crossovers like Iron Man.
Shalom,
Aaron Purnell
I have enjoyed Fallen Angel since the DC days.
One thing I miss from the DC series was that feeling that despite Lee’s gruff brusque exterior, she was sad and empty inside.
And while the IDW has definitely showcased her ‘pìššëd øff’ side, that hidden pain just hasn’t been there.
I think back to the DC series, where after her fight against the hierarchy she went back to her apartment and fought back the tears. I sense we would never see that in this series.
Look, I still love the comic. Love it. I just miss that emotional undercurrent.
• 
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
“I’m sorry”
a nice, simple start to closing a rift, maybe? I still think Jen should be able to tell him off, and that he has it coming, but ups to Tony on making a start.
groovy issue – thanks!
Dug She-Hulk and Fallen Angel (sat down and caught up on the latter, beginning with the Shi crossover yesterday).
New Frontier #1 is in my “Can’t read it yet.” pile, as I’m massively behind on reading the books. (Finished Being Human a while ago, but can’t find Gods Above to save my life. Might have to bite the bullet and order it online, but I prefer buying books when I can check out the condition first-hand.) Love the “Captain David” variant cover, but I’m hoping to find it for a reasonable price.
This isn’t quite on-topic, but I found a copy of your Iron Man novelization at a Barnes & Noble yesterday and am enjoying the hëll out of it. You absolutely nail Stark’s character. I particularly liked his observations on drugs on the first page and how it doesn’t quite match his actions.
Found Iron Man at Wal-Mart Friday, finished reading it Saturday. A few “stretch for the nod and wink” bits, but otherwise very good.
I found New Frontier to be kinda hard to get into, even as someone who’s been keeping up with the novels. And the zombie-like art at times didn’t help.
Fallen Angel was better than average, the quality of She-Hulk is improving with each issue, and New Frontier was quite good, even if it was difficult to positively identify some of the crew sitting around the conference table.
1 have found she-hulk to be too dark for my taste of late.,and i still dont like jazz i have skull burn out ii think i just dont find jaz all that compleling. I’m looking forward to the lighting in tone I’m sure is coming eventually. I really miss she-hulk the lawyer the bounty hunter thing doesent do it for me, but it had to be done to distance it from the slot run i get thay but its just depressing.
I liked the developments in She-Hulk and Fallen Angel a lot. I was a bit confused as J.J.’s sister being a prostitute. Was this another, second sister after the nun from the Sachs and Violens miniseries, or did that nun become a blonde høøkër? I liked Iron Man’s appearance in She-Hulk too. That page was a great piece of art.
Hmmm. I enjoyed all three comics. Still, I have to admit that the art of New Frontier did not really impress me as the art for all of the Star Trek books that they have done so far. Still I am grateful for the comic as I have been going through New Frontier withdrawals
Also, I thought that the comic should have included a description of the storyline on the inside cover for the newbies. I know that this decision was not in your hands, but I thought that I should mention it anyway.
I loved She-Hulk, for the first time since you started. Finally I can sort of understand what the heck’s going on!
New Frontier is looking promising, but *boy* — if ever a comic needed one of those “what’s going on” pages in front of it, this is the one. I’ve read all the books (and am quite fond of them), so I was able to understand what’s going on, but anybody who hasn’t been following the series closely is going to be utterly at sea. It’s a big cast of characters, and you have to really know them in order to grok what’s happening.
And in general, I have to admit that I’m a bit nervous about New Frontier as a comic. The internal business has been very important in the books, and are part of why I enjoy them so much: you spend a *lot* of time in everybody’s heads. I hope that the more visual form doesn’t wind up making you weaken that. (I like the way you handled it in the first issue, but one can only go so far on visions…)
Just finished New Frontier #1 and I’m not thrilled with the art, but I’ve seen worse. I think I had a handle on the back stories of everyone before this. Except Morgan. Seeing her in that uniform pretty much confirmed who I thought she was. Will we ever get her whole story?
Haven’t gotten to She-Hulk yet. Frankly, after Civil War, I had dropped all Marvel titles except She-Hulk. It’s not the Marvel Universe I enjoyed in the 80s and early 90s. I would have dropped She-Hulk if you hadn’t taken it over. I’m still in the “thinking about dropping it” phase.
Add my voice to those who didn’t enjoy the art in New Frontier #1.
That said, two of my three books this week were yours (FA & NF), and I liked both of them. I look forward to reading both in collected editions eventually (I buy both for your IDW work). I’m also looking forward to the TPB’s of She-Hulk, but I just can’t justify buying both for a Marvel book. The whole Marvel Universe has turned me off in the last couple of years.
Also, add me to the list of people who somehow just did not get all of the Majel-references for Morgan the first time through the novels. I just got that she’s supposed to be Number One as I’ve been re-reading all the NF novels recently. It was nice to have it 100% confirmed in the comic.
Eric
Definitely a tough week if you try to get the variant covers. If Peter got any extra copies of the bridge incentive cover for New Frontier, they’d make a good fund raiser for the CBLDF or the Caroline college fund. Even the largest chain in Phoenix (with four stores) got in just one single copy of that cover. I did find an online retailer that had it, though.
Well, put it down as a last minute reprieve for She-Hulk…
I was about to drop the book – sorry, just not seeing anything new/interesting happening there to justify the expense – but now you’ve dropped the first shoe on *why* Jen isn’t doing what she logically should have been doing – suing the iron pants off Tony and challenging the Registration Act all the way up to Supreme Court – I’m going to have to hang around for the second shoe…
Oh, and FWIW, Fallen Angel is probably my personal favourite of all stuff you’ve *ever* done in comics. (Out of interest, have you ever thought of pitching a Vertigo title to DC? I always thought your run on Supergirl would have been a natural for that imprint as opposed to the mainstream one…)
Cheers!
Well I’m new to your blog, so I’m going to seem completely clueless, but it was the quickest way I could find to get in touch with you. I have a couple ideas I’d like to implement at some point in my life, however it may be possible, whether in novel or comic form…and I need your help!
I fancy myself to be something of an aspiring writer, and I’d like to do a book focusing on Q sending his son to Starfleet Academy to teach him some discipline. The story would revolve heavily around the issue of allowing someone with Q-level power to operate as an officer and perform tasks using regulation procedures instead of using his abilities. I’d imagine the issue of Starfleet’s sudden military dominance of the galaxy would eventually come up. Also, is it some kind of trick? What is Q up to?
The other idea would be more difficult. For some reason I’m obsessed with the idea of an amalgamation of Spider-Man and TNG. What if Peter Parker were a cadet on the Enterprise? What if he acquired his spider-powers somehow on Farpoint Station and his entire story unfolded within the backdrop of the TNG universe? Picard would supplant JJJ as the guy who wants Spider-Man “off his ship”, but Flash, Gwen, MJ etc. could be cadets along with Peter. Most of his villains could be Federation scientists like the ones the Enterprise always seemed to be ferrying between planets. Some kind of accident happens, and all of a sudden we’ve got Doc Ock, Green Goblin…you name it. They could even go to the Planet of the Symbiotes.
Thoughts?
Sorry to put all this on your blog, but…I must be inept at trying to find someone’s email address. Talk to me!
My darling husban dis picking up my copy of NF today.
Mark Evanier’s blog has mentioned that Jim Mooney has passed away.
I’ve always felt bad for the artist(s) when the general consensus for an issue is “the art was bad”.
With a writer, I’m sure it never feels great to have someone dog your work. And not to diminish the role of a writer as an artist, of course. But a visual artist, the penciller and inkers especially, spend hours crafting images. For people to dismiss entire issues of artwork has to hurt.
With that being said I’ve read more than one comic that I’ve wondered, “How did THIS GUY get a job?”
I have not read a single book of New Frontier but decided to read it because the cover art looked great and it was written by PAD. It was a great read and I thought there was a great Star Trek spirit within the book with a twist. I’m a die-hard trek fan and enjoyed seeing Jellico and Shelby in action. I heard that there are New Frontier toys out there… I may have to pick up one or two…
I look forward to more Frontier!
I bought all three books (that was my first take on She-Hulk) and was more or less entertained by all of them.
Fallen Angel was outstanding like always. Funny and serious at the same time and full of surprises. Best line: “Knock knock, you fûçkërš” 😀
New Frontier was… well… New Frontier was New Frontier. I loved it, it was just too dámņ short! Great to see those characters again. The writing was good, as the art. Still i prefer Mike Collins tough. Thompson has a fine eye for ships, buildings and shadows, but not entirely for charakters. It seems that Calhoun looks different in each new panel. One little question: why is Hash on the Excalibur? Thought he had layed down his differences with Mueller?
Oh, i’ve forgotten something; A while ago, i’ve tried my own Version of Mackenzie Calhoun. Its nothing special and you have your professional artists, but maybe you are happy about some fanart. It’s my way to say thank you for the whole New Frontier series and a lot of entertainmet. 🙂
So, here he is. Hope it’s okay to post it here and you like it 🙂
http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs24/f/2007/361/7/b/Mackenzie_Calhoun_by_Damon1984.jpg
About the art in New Frontier–I didn’t have any problem with it. I actually wouldn’t have said anything if so many others hadn’t said something. The story on the other hand–well, the story. What can I say about the story? Well, I’m not going to say much(in case, unlike me, people get to their shops and DON’T find just two left.) What I WILL say, though, is like the best of any Trek, it puts you in a familiar situation and then turns it inside out and upside down and shakes heavily to mix it all up. I likes it.
My darling husband bough tthe new NF for me yesterday. Unfortunately he was arrived home from work just as I was leaving for work, was asleep when I got home and left this morning with it stil in his work backpack. At least he has something more interesting to read on the train today than the Sydney Morning Herald.
I got the first issue a few days after my birthday but nevertheless, I consider it to be my best present I got this year. Being a big fan of New Frontier, I have been looking forward to more of this series for a while now and that this story is a continuation of the so far latest NF novel is something I welcomed a lot. On top of that, the very first New Frontier comic by Wildstorm is my top favourite comic book and getting the continuation in the form of a limited series in comic form was very exciting news to me.
Now that I have read the first comic of the new series, I am still very excited. I must admit, I prefer Mike Collins art, especially Mike Collins Calhoun. Nevertheless, I like Stephen Thompson`s work too in spite of some flaws. Most of his art is excellent but the faces, that is pretty much a mix of hit, miss and something in between. It doesn`t bother me very much because there is a lot of Thompson`s art I like. It has flaws but at the same time, it has character. His art is certainly not bland like the Calhoun on the “No Limits” cover. Character with flaws is something I prefer to boring and uninteresting. I can imagine, with more experience, Thompson could become a great comic book artist.
I like it that Thompson looked for his own interpretation of the characters. I don`t think his Calhoun is “strikingly handsome” (PAD in “Before Dishonor”) and I miss that but his Calhoun is certainly interesting and showing all the other characteristics mentioned in the books. Calhoun on the cover has a strong presence and shows the piercing look PAD described sometimes in the novels very well.
It was interesting to see some of the NF characters in comic form for the first time and must say, so far it is only Calhoun I have some problems with. Nevertheless, I am confident that I will get used to Thompson`s interpretation of Calhoun. It just might need some time. By the way, I laughed when we could finally see Morgan properly after her looks had been cleverly disguised in various ways in Wildstorm`s comic book. After all the teasing about who Morgan is, we have the answer now.
I think PAD set up the story very well. I have followed NF from the very beginning but from what I can see also a newcomer wouldn`t be lost. Of course he would see that a lot happened before this comic book but the most basic information you need for getting a foothold is there. Hopefully this comic will tell an entertaining story also to the newcomer and it might make him curious so that he wants to buy the books as well in order to find out more, filling the gaps.
One of the most important parts is establishing the relationship between Calhoun and Shelby and I think this first issue shows these basics very well. One of my favourite scenes was the look at the special bond between them again, when Calhoun knew immediately that the images he saw were a trick.
The Wildstorm comic dealt with the topic time and the change of time – of what is, what was and what might be. I found it interesting and amusing at the same time that this theme is also part of this limited series. “Paradox” – I love this name for a time ship. Keeping in mind what we learned in the very first NF comic as well as from Voyager and Enterprise, I see a huge potential for this story. I am very curious where this will go.
I know from PAD`s messages that he wanted to write a Mirror Universe NF story in comic form and I think that element is part of this series. If done well, MU stories can be also something I enjoy and in this case, I am confident that the MU element will add an interesting dimension to the story and not have the opposite effect as it happened in DS9 Relaunch.
I liked the part with Robin Lefler, Kalinda and the ghostly Si Cwan. Lefler certainly changed and I must say, Thompson did a brilliant job here with his art, showing first the confident, strong leader and later the more vulnerable Lefler. I wasn`t even that surprised that Lefler is pregnant because it fits so well into the overall story.
McHenry`s apparent fate was disturbing to me but it makes sense. Hopefully he can be helped but I have to wait and see…
In short – a great start and I can`t wait to get the next part!
The meta-joke in She-Hulk where Stark was told he was more handsome than Robert Downey Jr. made me chuckle.
I enjoyed the main story because of the social commentary. This is exactly the kind of thing that happens when somebody’s wife or girlfriend or whatever disappears under suspicious circumstances, even if they don’t tell a story about space aliens. They don’t need to be proven guilty; the jury just has to have a bad feeling about them, and it’s all over.
The prosecution has a lot of money to spend, a lot of resources, etc. The defense, far too often, does not. They can’t always hire their own investigators, and they can’t always hire their own experts.
What will happen is that the prosecution will pile on the circumstantial evidence until a jury wonders whether the guy is guilty and instead of asking “has he been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?” they ask “do we really want to take a chance and set him free?” Far too often, they don’t take the chance.
So really, God help you if you’ve ever lost your temper, because somebody will get on the stand and testify that you have rage issues. God help you if you ever hit anybody, because somebody will get on the stand and testify that you’re violent. God help you if you ever said that you just wished somebody would die, because the person who heard you say it will get on the stand and testify that you had homicidal thoughts. Sometimes people just get on the stand and out and out lie. Some of those people are jailhouse informants eager to cut a deal. Others are people who are convinced you are guilty and who want to see you imprisoned badly enough to lie about what they witnessed. So it goes.
By the end of it all, after the prosecution has found every witness it can who will say bad things about you, and blown every single shameful moment of your life out of proportion to paint you in the worst possible light, it’s the job of the defense to convince the jury that you couldn’t possibly ever kill anybody. And that’s a tough job, and that’s why so many innocent people get convicted.
Back to the issue. I thought that Jen got too rough with those robbers. They weren’t going to murder anybody, they had backed down, they weren’t a threat, and she still attacks them? She’s superhumanly strong and she targets one of the guys’ genitals?! That was a little too much for me. I hope that’s the last Lorena Bobbitt-like moment we’re ever going to see. If Jen were a cop, this would’ve been an open and shut case of police brutality, she could have faced charges herself, she could have gone to prison herself, and rightly so.
Wow…2 year of Fallen Angel at IDW and still going strong. I was afraid how the $3.99 price tag would affect sales of the book, but here we are two years later and no slowing down (I hope).
I am most interested to see how things wrap up next issue for this Battle for Better Noir arc, though I do hope somehow Slate isn’t dead. His character bio kind of made that a longshot though. More and more interesting developments for Dolph the last two issues, and if you’re leaning towards him being who I think you are, it didn’t even register on me until his scene last issue with Mariah. Keep up the good work, and here’s hoping for 2 more years and beyond of Fallen Angel!
Sorry, David. Slate’s dead. Dead and done.
PAD
Slate really dead? AND done? That’s šhìŧ. No comment to my Calhoun? That’s šhìŧ too. Still I’ll by your stuff. That’s also šhìŧ.
Shìŧ.
Hey PAD,
Didn’t know where else to put this…so….
One of my students handed in his book report today and made his presentation in front of the class. His book? Your Iron Man adaptation.
If it helps, you completely won over the 13 year old boy audience!
Brian
Don’t be bashfull, Starfury, tell us what you really think. 🙂
Read the NF last night. Ditto a lot of what Baerbel said. I’m not really impressed with Mr Thompson’s interpretation of Calhoun. To me, the image is not even “ruggedly handsome”, let alone “strikingly handsome”. TEHO.
Do Shelby & Calhoun need some GOOD marriage/ relationship counselling or what? LOL.
“Slate’s dead. Dead and done.”
No! No, that’s not true! That’s impossible!
It… um… was his clone. It was… um… his previously unknown twin. He… uh… it was really an actress hired by Norman Osborn to impersonate him. Chloe’s magic tears will revive him. Dean will make a deal with the crossroads demon and…
Dead for good huh? Let’s hope it stays that way (and I trust that as long as you have control over Fallen Angel and its characters, it will). Nothing against Slate as a character, but it would be a refreshing change if more of the dead stayed dead in comics.
Yes, Bucky Barnes*, I’m talking to you.
And you too, Jason Todd.
(and for all I know, Uncle Ben as well).
I’m on board with the “if there’s no body, he/she might not be dead” school of thought, but if we see them killed (and, as you pointed out once about Elektra, autopsied), they shouldn’t show up later walking (or “sloshing”) around.
True, some “deaths” we fully expect won’t last very long, but a lot of them aren’t really necessary, or could have been handled so much better. As much as I enjoyed the “Death of Superman/Funeral for a Friend/Reign of the Supermen” storylines of 1992-1993, imagine how much more daring it would have been had DC killed off Kal-El and had someone else, like the “Superboy” clone (later Kon-El) step in to carry on the Superman name (and trademark).
To my way of thinking, if we see a character die and all the characters who might interact (or might have interacted) with that person across a particular company’s line treats that death as actual fact, then it would be a major cheat to bring him or her back.
Maxwell Lord, for example, shouldn’t show up hale and hearty one day.
On the other hand, to my way of thinking, it’s not cheating if certain characters question whether so and so is really dead, or, of course, if the reader knows more than the characters do. That raises doubt.
Or if the clues are there from the get-go, even if the reader misses them the first time around. In the “Titans Hunt” storyline back in New Titans in 1991, a character is apparently blasted to smithereens (“off camera”, as it were) by one of the Wildebeest, who then tosses a coin in the same direction as the blast, saying “penny on a dead man’s eyes.”
That “coin” was actually a disc containing a symbol of one of the Titans, which told observant readers that that particular Wildebeest was a Titan in disguise and that the “fatal” attack, therefore, was faked. So in that case it wasn’t a cheat when the “dead” character showed up alive and well a few issues later.
(I’m not naming names because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who might happen to seek out the back issues; and I didn’t want to do two spoiler warnings in the same post).
Likewise, if it had been established that Maxwell Lord had been doing experiments in cloning, then that could have been used as a legitimate clue that maybe it wasn’t the real Max who got killed, should DC decide to bring him back.
Speaking of character deaths, I’ve been reading the trade editions of 52. At one point, a particular character dies. Spoiler warning because this is much more recent than the “Titans Hunt” storyline.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
F
O
L
L
O
W
Booster Gold is killed, reduced to a skeleton. He later returns alive and well, but to my mind, it’s not a cheat, because A) that really was his skeleton, transported from some point in the future after his actual death; and B) Booster had previously sought out time traveler Rip Hunter. So Booster’s skeleton from his personal future didn’t come from entirely out of left field.
But even that sort of thing is pushing the envelope a bit.
*Yes, I know that during your run on Incredible Hulk we had visual hints that the immortal Agamemnon, whose true form was that of a teenage boy, might have been Bucky; but you never came out and said it. Would it have been a cheat if Marvel had retroactively decided that “Bucky” was an immortal far older than pretty much anyone he’d known back in World War II? Technically, yes; but it would have been better than the way other “resurrections” were handled.
Hi, Elektra.
Though, Bucky’s one of those characters who should stay dead because of the impact the death had on others. Likewise Uncle Ben.
But anyway, Slate’s dead, huh? Alas, poor Slate. Or not “alas”, depending on how one might have felt about him.
So, will someone else be obligated to fill his job, in much the same way that the city must always have a magistrate?
Rick
P.S. Now come on, admit it. Shadow Boxer killed Slate long ago, faked his own death and had been impersonating Slate all this time. Right? Right?
Oh, wait. Some shenanigans by Bat-Mite, right?
Sorry, Slate. Looks like you’re out of luck.
“So really, God help you if you’ve ever lost your temper…”
So, in that case, I would be, to use a colorful colloquiallism, screwed. When I really lose my temper, I make it look as thoough the worst thing that ever happened to Dr. Banner when he gets mad is he says, “Oh, poo!”
I don’t know that Shelby and Calhoun need marriage counseling so much as to get the heck away from Starfleet. No one in Starfleet ever has a good day.
Ever.
All this about the correlation (not causality) between autism & MMR etc:
Have there been any studies looking for associations between catching wild strain measles (known to cause encephalitis in some cases) and Autism?
Luigi said:
“I liked the developments in She-Hulk and Fallen Angel a lot. I was a bit confused as J.J.’s sister being a prostitute. Was this another, second sister after the nun from the Sachs and Violens miniseries, or did that nun become a blonde høøkër?”
It’s the same sister. At the end of the first Fallen Angel series (the one by DC–it’s not yet collected, so you’d have to get the issues to read it), when J.J and Ernie came into town, they didn’t know J.J.’s sister was there, and actually went after her, under reports that she was running a child pørņ ring, or something, I forget the details. Anyway, J.J. didn’t even recognize her, because she had completely reinvented herself as Bumper. But Bumper identified herself, and that was likely one of the main factors in J.J.’s decision to remain in Bete Noir.
I wonder if it’s possible to reteam with Gordon Purcell on the TrekNF book. He’s drawing IDW’s Trek :Year Four books and was always one of Petere’s best collaborators.
I also wonder what’s going on with the art on She Hulk. There already a new guy drawing some of the issues and another coming soon. Could the first guy not handle the deadlines?
I have just noticed that Amazon UK is already listing the Turnaround paperback for £ 12.99, announced for October. I have just pre-ordered my copy.
By the way, now I have also got the “Quad Cover Special Edition”. I could see that the small pictures I saw earlier are not doing the real thing justice. Especially the cover with Kebron and Burgy is gorgeous!
Unfortunately, so far I had no luck to get the special cover with Peter David and Fallen Angel. But I will keep trying.
I wonder, will the Turnaround trade paperback show all covers? Five times four covers (the Quads) plus additional ones – that is a lot but I would love to have them all together in this collection.
Hi Mr. David,
I have She-Hulk listed on my “pull list” at the local comic shop. I have been reading since your run began about 6 mos back. I enjoyed this issue, in particular, the court room action. I found myself doing a fist pump when Jen’s former colleague came to the rescue for the defense. I also enjoyed the “Robert Downey Jr.” remark to Tony Stark – hillarious. I wish you the best with future stories and look forward to more superhero crossovers like Iron Man.
Shalom,
Aaron Purnell
I have enjoyed Fallen Angel since the DC days.
One thing I miss from the DC series was that feeling that despite Lee’s gruff brusque exterior, she was sad and empty inside.
And while the IDW has definitely showcased her ‘pìššëd øff’ side, that hidden pain just hasn’t been there.
I think back to the DC series, where after her fight against the hierarchy she went back to her apartment and fought back the tears. I sense we would never see that in this series.
Look, I still love the comic. Love it. I just miss that emotional undercurrent.