The Gosh! Authority 28/03/08

Hello Gosh fans! No Tom this week, so you’ll have to make do with little old me.

It’s only fitting, however, that my first highlight for the week is Tom’s first comic, Suitcase Nuke: an hilarious strip book which tackles such hard hitting topics as dancing to Wang Chun and what really lurks behind the Golf Sale signs. I highly recommend this first outing from our own Tom Crowley (as he must now be bolded). It’s not only a barrel of laughs, but he’s a highly talented artist. Get in at the ground floor now, so when he’s famous you can flog them online.

Marvel have not one, but five Ultimate books out this week. We’ve got Ultimate Fantastic Four, (featuring guest Aspen artist Tyler Kirkman), the final issue of Orson Scott Card’s Ultimate Iron-Man 2, Ultimate X-Men (Robert Kirkman introduces Ultimate Onslaught & Stryfe), Warren Ellis’ Ultimate Human, and last but by no means least Ultimate Spider-Man (with gorgeous art by Stuart Immomen.) Over in the regular Marvel Universe, Secret Invasion hits Ms Marvel and New Avengers (featuring art by Kabuki’s David Mack) this week. Secret Invasion #1 hits next week, so expect big reveals in both! Meanwhile, Ed Brubaker starts his new arc on Daredevil this week, where Matt Murdock picks up the pieces after Mr Fear’s assault on his life.

What DC lack in volume this week, they make up for in sheer quality, including the latest issue of arguably the best superhero comic currently being produced, All Star Superman. As ever we’ll be treated to a lovingly crafted tale of the Man of Steel, with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely producing some of the best work of their careers. Both Green Lantern and the Legion of Superheroes feature the beginning of new story arcs this week. In the future the Legion have to deal with the menace of the Life-Eradicator, while dealing with problems within the team. Green Lantern delves into the secret origin of Hal Jordan, and promises to reveal the secrets behind Abin Sur’s death, and his obsession with the prophecy of the Blackest Night. If you’ve not been reading Geoff Johns’ run on this title, I can highly recommend picking up the trades. He’s revitalised Hal Jordan along with the entire Green Lantern Corps and cemented his place as one of the finest writers to have worked on the book.
Without doubt the star of the week is the final volume in the fantastic Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus series. Collecting the remaining New Gods, Forever People and Mr Miracle issues (in chronological order) this volume also features a restored version of The Hunger Dogs, Kirby’s conclusion to the saga. If that’s not enough, this volume features rare Kirby art from DC’s Who’s Who series. The Fourth World Omnibuses are a must for Kirby fans. It’s obvious how much time and effort has gone into these volumes, and the art looks amazing on the newsprint-style paper.

There’s a small crop of indie books this week. Dark Horse have the latest issues of Gilbert Hernandez’ Speak of the Devil, and Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo. They’ve also got the long awaited collection of Peter Bagge’s Apocalypse Nerd, the story of a software engineer whose camping trip takes an interesting turn after Seattle becomes a smouldering wasteland. It being Bagge, expect equal helpings of laughs and gasps. Image this week brings the welcome return of Eric Larsen’s always-underrated Savage Dragon, as Dragon continues his search for his missing wife. Also of interest looks to be That Salty Air, a tale of one man's obsession with the sea by newcomer Tim Sievert.

The Easter weekend has meant that comics news is a bit light on the ground. J Michael Straczynski has announced that he’ll be writing two ongoing titles at DC, one starting in the Autumn and other at the beginning of 2009. Though nothing’s been confirmed, he’s voiced a love for both the Flash and Superman.


American Flagg fans can breath easy. The long delayed hardcover collection of the Howard Chaykin series finally ships in July. As well as collecting the first fourteen issues of the popular 80’s series, the collection also includes an all-new 12-page story written and drawn by Chaykin.

Fans of indie classic Box Office Poison will be thrilled to hear that Alex Robinson’s new book has been scheduled for release in July. Too Cool to be Forgotten tells the story of Andy Wicks, a forty-something father of two who is transported back to his high-school days when a quit-smoking hypnotherapy session goes a little awry. Early word from the likes of Brian K Vaughan is very positive, so keep an eye out for it.

In comics movie news, rumours around Hollywood abound. Word is that Edgar “Hot Fuzz” Wright has found his Scott Pilgrim in Super Bad’s Michael Cera. For fans of the series this is good news, now here’s hoping the rest of the castings fits as well. Mark Miller’s latest series Kick-Ass has recently been optioned, with Matthew “Layer Cake” Vaughn tipped to write and direct. If the first issue is anything to go by, expect a gritty, ultra violent romp.

To make things a bit different this week we at Gosh thought we’d recommend not a comic, but a website! If you haven’t discovered it, Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed is one of the most enjoyable comics columns around. It deals with, you guessed it, urban legends of the comic world and finally shows the truth behind the story. Discover whether or not DC had planned to kill of Batman in Knightsend, whether Superboy was designed to look like Rob Liefield, or whether Marvel were planning a Ghost Rider/Casper the Friendly Ghost crossover. Hours of fun to be had.

And finally, it’s COMPETITION TIME! This week in honour of the one and only Jack “King” Kirby’s final Fourth World Omnibus, we’re giving away five, count ‘em, five copies of Image’s recent Silver Star collection. It’s easy to enter: simply comment on this post to answer the question below:

Which well-known writer/artist named his son "Kirby" in honour of his hero? A bit of a tough one, so here's a clue: he's something of a rare bit fiend.

First 5 people to comment with the correct answer win a copy of the Silver Star book! Please note that the judges decision is final and that it is the responsibility of prize winners to arrange collection of the prize within a period of 14 days, after which any non-collected prizes will be offered to the runner-up.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...


- Matt