The Gosh! Authority 03/04/08

Hello and welcome to another week in comics! I hope you enjoyed Matt’s exciting and fresh take on the Gosh Authority last week. Sadly, this is another week where Tom couldn’t be here, since Gosh is celebrating the launch of Marvel’s Secret Invasion #1 by having him secretly murdered and replaced with an evil Skrull doppelganger: me! If, like myself, you’re one of the panicked masses who made no attempt to keep up with the comics setting the event up, then good news! Marvel has released a trade paperback called Secret Invasion: The Infiltration collecting not only some of the oldest Skrull appearances, but also several recent issues introducing the Invasion itself!

Marvel brings us a healthy range of other exciting titles as well, foremost among them being the start of Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo’s run on Amazing Spider-Man with this week’s #555. Even if you’ve not been too impressed with some recent issues of the title, this is the run to jump back on! Wells is known for his handle on an entertaining story, and Bachalo’s recent output is too lush to be believed. The last Marvel pick of the week is Kick-Ass #2. The first issue faced something of a backlash after its release last month, but don’t believe the anti-hype! This promises to be one of Millar’s most entertaining projects in years, realised in beautiful detail by John Romita Jr on top form.

DC appears to be hanging onto all its big hitters for next week, but the gems are there if you look for them. There’s the latest in Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen’s entertaining run on Detective Comics, the final part of the superlative Johns/Frank Legion story in Action Comics and an interesting release from Vertigo in the start of the second season of American Splendor. The first run of Vertigo’s Harvey Pekar-scripted comics contained some really interesting talent, but the second series seems to be stepping it up even further! This first issue contains art by David Lapham, Chris Weston and Hilary Barta to name but a few, and future issues are slated to contain work by Rick Geary, Hunt Emerson and none other than Darwyn Cooke!

Harvey Pekar isn’t the only classic alternative comics talent to bring a new title out this week, either. Love & Rockets co-creator Jaime Hernandez returns with an new graphic novel set in the Locas universe collecting his recent comics output, entitled The Education of Hopey Glass. The story was originally serialised in Love & Rockets Vol 2 #11-19. But wait, there’s more, as Paul Grist sticks to his pledge of keeping Jack Staff up as a monthly series with this week’s issue #15!

Another comic to give a look to is the second issue of the Matt Wagner-written Zorro comic from Dynamite Entertainment. We’ve got copies aplenty of the first issue, and it’s worth checking out if you’ve any interest in the character. Wagner displays the flair for masked vigilante action he picked up in his years on Sandman Mystery Theater and displays a clear love for the character. The artwork from up-and-comer Francesco Francavilla offers a refreshingly rich take on the character and his world, while retaining a pleasantly old-school adventure strip sensibility. It’s worth a look particularly to anybody who’s been enjoying DC’s recent Bat Lash revival.

Finally, before we dealt with Tom, he asked us to let you know that the second printing of his smash-hit comic Suitcase Nuke #1 has just arrived in-store, in a brand new exclusive Exactly The Same second printing edition.

A few upcoming titles of note now from last week’s new issue of Previews, for those who might have missed them in the catalogue itself. Most interesting is the announcement of the Hero Initiative’s completion and publication of Mike Wieringo’s unfinished What If story featuring the fill-in Fantastic Four team of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and the Hulk. Wieringo left seven pages of this one-shot completed, and a huge number of star artists have jumped in to fill in the missing chapters and pay homage to their friend and cohort. As such the story has now been completed by the likes of Art Adams, Mike Allred, Cully Hamner, Stuart Immonen and Alan Davis in this five dollar benefit book. Get your orders in now!

What’s more, DC’s Minx line is bringing out a new title that might well be of interest, being as it is by Brian Wood, creator of DMZ and Demo. It’s called The New York Four and the plot deals with Riley, a college freshman, and her adventures living in New York City for the first time. The art’s in a style reminiscent of Wood’s former collaborator Becky Cloonan, so keep an eye out in July.

The news this week opens with perhaps comics’ most significant event in half a century, as DC sees its ownership of its flagship character, Superman, challenged! A federal judge ruled that descendants of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel were entitled to a share of the copyright based on their hold on the material contained in Action Comics #1. This puts an end to a decades-long debate, though the ongoing dispute over the rights to the Superboy character continues. What does this mean for your monthly Man-of-Steel fix? Jeff Trexler offers up a comprehensive FAQ at his blog here.

This week also saw the launch of the reason the Internet was invented in the New York Times’ interactive website showcasing Mad Magazine mainstay Al Jaffee’s famous fold-in features through the years. It’s a nicely put-together little distraction, and can be found here.

But that’s not the only interactive treat this week, as my Skrull brethren and I have arranged to make available for you a complete set of Ms. Marvel Volumes 1-3 Premiere hardcovers absolutely free! Celebrate the imminent destruction of her filthy human co-conspirators by catching up on her adventures to date in Brian Reed’s supremely entertaining run on the title. Simply answer the following question in this post’s comments:

Carol Danvers is best known as Ms Marvel, but she also had a short-lived career in publishing. What was the name of the lifestyle magazine she briefly edited for J Jonah Jameson?

That’s all for the week, have a good one!
- Skrull Tom