Image-Comics

In February Top Shelf Comics introduced its new DRM-free store. This makes it the second major comic publisher after Image Comics to introduce a DRM-free store. This is actually a pretty huge deal as more of us consider digital as a great alternative to long boxes and treks to the comic shop on Wednesdays. (The loss of in-person camaraderie is a topic for another post) Why should you care about DRM and what is it? On the off chance that you haven’t heard about it, here’s the quick primer: DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. But many of us like to think of it as Digital Restrictions Management because it tends to limit what you can actually do with your comics. If you’re like the typical comic fan, you grew up (or are growing up) sharing comics with others. Comics cost a ton of money, especially for kids (or adults on a budget) so the way you learn about new titles and characters is swapping with your friends. Legendary Batman writer Denny O’Neil mentioned doing this as a kid and it being the reason he was able to learn about all the different types of comics. With DRM you can’t do that. In fact, with DRM you can’t share your comics with your spouse unless you physically give them your tablet. That’s idiotic - new technology shouldn’t be hampered by the limitations of old technology. I should be able to read Saga at the same time as my wife or while I’m reading other comics from my collection. If the store just goes away, you lose your entire collection despite the fact that you are often paying just as much for the digital comics as print comics if you’re buying it the day it comes out. ...

I always have a hard time figuring out which new comics I want to pick up. There are some choices that are easy, sure – I already know that I’ll be picking up Damian: Son of Batman when it’s released starting next week, and I’m just as sure that I have no interest in jumping into any of the X-Men titles – but the choices aren’t always that simple. I find it especially difficult to decide what, if any, indie books I’m going to check out. A lot of them are fantastic, and I’d never say otherwise, but there are so many ongoing titles from publishers that aren’t the Big Two that it seems even more daunting to figure out what to read there than it does to catch up with the first run of Detective Comics.

I’ve bee waiting for this series ever since I first heard about it. It has Matt Fraction (who I LOVE from Hawkeye, Fantastic Four, and The Defenders) and it has a ridiculously fun sounding premise. Suzie has a secret. When she has sex, she stops time. She’s alone with this secret until she meets John, a young man with the same “gift.” In the new Image Comics series SEX CRIMINALS by Matt Fraction (SATELLITE SAM) and Chip Zdarsky, Suzie and John embark on a journey of self-discovery, intimacy, and… well, actually, they do what every time-stops-when-you-have-sex couple would do: They rob banks. ...

When I first heard about Multiple Warheads: Alphabet to Infinity I had no idea who Brandon Graham was and the solicit didn’t particularly sound exciting: Sexica and her Werewolf boyfriend Nikoli travel across a sci-fi, fantasy Russia smoking singing cigarettes. Meanwhile the organ hunter Nura is sent out with a severed head and instructions to find its body. I mean, Sexica? That just sounds like it’s going to be such a corny, stupid story. And a werewolf boyfriend? I don’t even like horror. So I ignored it. But I kept coming across all these incredible Image Comics series like Saga, Chew, The Manhattan Projects, and Harvest among others. That combined with Comixology making the first issue free made me decide to take a look. Unfortunately, Comixology does not have the original Oni Press One-Shot where Graham introduced us to Seixca and Nikoli, but Graham does a good job of catching the reader up when the first issue of Alphabet to Infinity starts. ...

Super hero sidekicks almost have the same joke status nowadays as Star Trek’s Red Shirts. In a lot of ways they’re a relic from an old era before people asked questions about reckless child endangerment. We seem to have transitioned away from the sidekick to the teen hero as a substitute. The main exception is Batman who has a Robin for historical reasons. Even there, the trend for more realism in comics (kicked off in large part in the 1980s) we’ve seen the consequences as two Robins have been murdered. (Although Damian is more of a bit of family violence than being targeted for being a sidekick - if you want to get technical about it) ...

Satellite Sam #1 The AMAZING Matt Fraction ( see today’s post in which Kari explores his teamwork with Aja on Hawkeye) will be teaming up with Howard Chaykin for a new black and white series called Satellite Sam. I’m extremely excited for this series both because of Fraction’s involvement and because of the time period in which it takes place: 1951 in the early stages of television becoming one of the most powerful forces on the planet until the advent of the Internet. I’m a history junkie and especially so when it comes to media. Additionally, I’ve been wishing more people would realize that the 1950s weren’t as perfect as we assume when we watch TV and movies from that time period. So this description just got me so excited: ...

Image Comics has been releasing a set of teasers with the text “You will Answer to No One Else But Me” with a hashtag, whatsnext. Two of the images look almost like a Street Fighter-based comic, but the one with the woman looks more like dancing than fighting. On second thought, she MIGHT be about to throw a punch, but her eyes are closed. It’s been 2 decades since I did kempo, but i’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to throw punches with your eyes closed. What’s going on here? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. ...

Peter Panzerfaust #10 Peter Panzerfaust #10 is getting a second printing. I read the first issue and I really liked it, but didn’t have the budget to get into the story at the time. The neat thing is that this issue sold out despite there being twice as many #10s ordered as there were #9s. Reprints don’t matter if you’re reading comics digitally, but if you like to hold you comics, go to your comic shop next week (17 April) to get the second printing of issue #10. Or, if you prefer trades, it’ll be available in the second trade on 15 May. ...

Sex #1 - Yellows (Image Comics) Sex I just got word that Sex #1 has sold out. I’d like to think that is in no small part thanks to the advanced review I wrote. But if you want some other opinions, check out the IGN review or the iFanboy review. Interestingly, they both drew analogies toWatchmen that I didn’t pick up on. Although, now that they mention it, it’s pretty obvious. ...