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A Handful Of Book Updates

Ian — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:14:24 +0000

The end of the school year is a busy time for a lot of us here at TRO, being mostly students, teachers, and staff at various institutions. I’ve found some time to do a few tweaks and updates. The following books have seen some attention:

While the blog has been a little quiet, the site is seeing heavy use with plenty of drop by users and 468 of you using the collection feature to manage your books! Keep the comments and support coming and look forward to more updates as the summer opens up!

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155 DC Books Updated, Up To 1982

Ian — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:51:30 +0000

Here’s another big DC update for you guys. These books now all have publication information, ISBNs, etc.
This brings us through to page 6, or about 1982.

I also fixed a typo in the title of Gotham City Sirens Vol. 1: Union.

Wow that was a bunch. I’ll try to bring the blog updates more often so I don’t have to put so much in one post!

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76 DC Books Updated, Pages 1-3 With Images

Ian — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:15:21 +0000

Today I spent some time watching 30 Rock and putting in publication information for some DC books. I haven’t put an emphases on creator or character tags, but I at least want the books to have ISBN numbers. The following books were updated:

The Supergirl Archives Vol. 2
The Green Lantern Chronicles Vol. 2
Justice League Of America Archives Vol. 1
The Green Lantern Archives Vol. 1
The Aquaman Archives Vol. 1
World’s Finest Comics Archives Vol. 3
The Adam Strange Archives Vol. 1
The Flash Archives Vol. 2
The Supergirl Archives Vol. 1
The Flash Chronicles Vol. 2
Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween
Legend Of The Hawkman Book Three: Flight of Faith
Legend Of The Hawkman Book Two: Heresy
Legend Of The Hawkman Book One: The Fallen One
Adventures Of The Fly
Batman in The Fifties
The Flash Archives Vol. 1
Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives Vol. 2
Superman in The Fifties
Challengers Of The Unknown Archives Vol. 2
World’s Finest Comics Archives Vol. 2
Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives Vol. 1
The Essential Showcase 1956-1959
Showcase Presents: Blackhawk
Challengers Of The Unknown Archives Vol. 1
World’s Finest Comics Archives Vol. 1
Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil
Batman: Year One
Showcase Presents: Our Army At War Vol. 1
The Spirit: A Pop-Up Graphic Novel
Best Of The Spirit
The Robin Archives Vol. 2
Superman in The Forties
The Spirit: Femmes Fatale
The Robin Archives Vol. 1
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 8
Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Vol. 2
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 7
Adventures of Superboy
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 6
All Star Comics Archives Vol. 7
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 5
All Star Comics Archives Vol. 6
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 4
The Golden Age Starman Archives Vol. 2
The Sandman By Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Light Brigade
War Stories Vol. 2
War Stories Vol. 1
Jack Kirby’s The Losers Omnibus
Showcase Presents: The Unknown Soldier
America At War: The Best of DC War Comics
Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2
Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock Vol. 3
Viking Prince by Joe Kubert
Sgt. Rock’s Combat Tales
Superman Archives Vol. 8
Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 5
The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Vol. 3
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 3
The Monster Society of Evil
The DC Comics Rarities Archives Vol. 1
All Star Comics Archives Vol. 5
Superman: The World’s Finest Comics Archives Vol. 1
The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 2
The Newsboy Legion By Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 4
Superman: Sunday Classics 1939-1943
Superman Archives Vol. 6
The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Vol. 2
The Plastic Man Archives Vol. 1
The Comic Cavalcade Archives Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock Vol. 2

I also fixed the title for Batman: Time And The Batman, which used to be titled as Era Of The Batman, since an older solicitation named it as such.

As of this update (and thanks to the script that pulls images from Amazon, thanks to their affiliate program) all the DC books have some sort of image (though not always a fully accurate cover) up until page 3. Again, while I don’t consider most of these final images (we will eventually have our own high quality scans for each book, at the very least 600 pixels and color balanced, etc) it makes browsing a much more enjoyable experience.

Who doesn’t like pictures?

As always, more soon. I’d like to get on a roll with these, maybe I can catch the DC list up to the Marvel one quicker than I’d thought. If so, thank 30 Rock.

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74 New DC Books Added To The Database

Ian — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:30:09 +0000

I finished the big batch of upcoming DC releases (and a few stragglers otherwise not in the database.) The following books have been added, with publication information if available.

Flex Mentallo: Man Of Muscle Mystery
Madame Xanadu Vol. 4: Extra Sensory
Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins
Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam!: Back In Black
Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 2
Legion Of Super-Heroes: Consequences
Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane Archives Vol. 1
Supergirl: Bizarrogirl
Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth Omnibus Vol. 1
Justice League Of America: Omega
Green Lantern Corps: The Weaponer
Doom Patrol: Fire Away
Brightest Day Vol. 3
Absolute Sandman Book 5
Northlanders Vol. 5: Metal
Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations
Northlanders Vol. 4: The Plague Widow
Northlanders Vol. 3: Blood In The Snow
Northlanders Vol. 1: Sven The Returned
Northlanders Vol. 2: The Cross And The Hammer
Outsiders: The Great Divide
The Secret Society Of Super-Villains
Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1: Starring Shade The Changing Man
Legion Of Super-Heroes: The Curse
Superman: Grounded Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors Vol. 1
Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit
Showcase Presents: The Trial Of The Flash
Showcase Presents: Doc Savage
Power Girl: Bomb Squad
Justice
Jack Kirby Omnibus Vol. 1: Starring Green Arrow
Absolute Identity Crisis
Green Arrow: Into The Woods
Red Robin: Hit List
Superman Chronicles Vol. 9
Batman: Red Hood: The Lost Days
Brian Bolland Cover To Cover
Batman: Knight And Squire
Batman: Bruce Wayne: The Road Home
Unknown Soldier Vol. 4: Beautiful World
House Of Mystery Vol. 6: Safe As Houses
House Of Mystery Vol. 5: Under New Management
Hellblazer: City Of Demons
Tiny Titans: Field Trippin’
Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Emerald Knight
Yossel
Jew Gangster
Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965
Secret Six: The Reptile Brain
The Mighty Crusaders
Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Odyssey
Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes: The Early Years
Sugar And Spike Archives Vol. 1
Our Army At War
Batman & Robin Vol. 3: Batman Must Die
Brightest Day Vol. 2
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive Vol. 7
JLA Cold Steel Book 1
JLA Cold Steel Book 1
Detective Comics Classics
The Mystery Play
Batman / Deathblow: After The Fire
Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci
Authority / Lobo: Holiday Hell
Batman: The Joker’s Revenge
The Complete Frank Miller Batman
Batman: The Frightened City
Batman: Challenge of the Man-Bat
Batman: Red Water, Crimson Death
Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus
Batman: Vow From The Grave

They are currently sitting on the Unplaced Books list, waiting for me to place them in a future update.

I also made a small Marvel move since the last blog post, just placing The Pulse Vol. 2: Secret War along with the main Secret War trade. You may update your shelves accordingly ;)

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Personalized DC Wishlists and Spider-Tweaks

Ian — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:20:09 +0000

Now you can find all your DC Universe wishes.

I’ve figured out a way to display a list of all the DC books outside your collection. I could do the same with Marvel, but this method isn’t especially graceful, resulting in a LOT of server load.

Basically, it pulls up all the books and then checks each one to see if you have it already. If you do, it doesn’t display it – but it still does the work.

Since there are twice as many Marvel books as DC, this method just results in the server crashing. I can’t afford to increase the memory allowed for it right now.

As it is, even though it takes some time, it DOES work for DC well enough. Once we finish streamlining the collection plugin, this kind of thing will be possible on every list (just letting it show you the ones you need, etc.) Completionists rejoice! Well, get ready to rejoice at some point in the future.

You can see the Alphabetical listing of all your “to collect” books here. This one has links to amazon, etc, so you can try and find the book you want easily.

I also made a Plain Text version, which should be easy for you to print or copy into an email/forum post/whatever. It may be obvious, but these lists will only work if you’ve logged in.

If you don’t have any DC books collected through the site, you’ll just see the full list.

Since these lists are so server intensive right now (it takes 3933 database queries to generate!), I’m not linking them directly from anywhere in the navigation. Kind of like a public secret feature, like the Recent Updates page.

It’s quite possible that if more than one person is trying to generate the list at the same time, it will crash for one of them. If you see a 500 Server Error then wait about a minute and try again. Please don’t refresh like a madman or you will take down the site – I’m trusting you guys here. ;)

Also, I updated some Spider-Man books.

The following books have been moved together on the timeline, right after Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 9: Skin Deep.

As Marc noted, they’re meant to be read at once and are confusing interspersed with the other Spider-Man books coming out at the time.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 1
Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 1: Down Among The Dead Men
Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 2: Venomous
Marvel Knights Spider-Man Vol. 3: The Last Stand

That’s all for today! I’m pretty excited about the wishlist myself, because while for a lot of people it might seem HUGE, I’ve only got 500 or so books left until I complete my DC collection. One of my life goals is so close – if I get 5 books a month, that’s only 100 months, under 9 years!

Of course, they keep putting out new books. I’ll have to make some more money ;)

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DC International

Ian — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:41:46 +0000

Here’s some news for ya:

“Action Comics #900 Is A Fox News Story Waiting To Happen As Superman Rejects God And America”

Good little article there at bleeding cool. Sorry for the spoiler, but as Rich notes, I’m sure this will be all over the place very soon, even if it’s taken back next issue – which it might not be. I’m seeing something in this and how DC’s line as a whole is headed.

We’ve got Batman International (Inc – mirroring the globalization of commerce) going, and Justice League is trending towards a new JLI (mirroring our ever increasingly tightly knit global community), and this pretty much cinches it.

There are already teams of intergalactic guardians (Green Lantern), foreign ambassadors (Wonder Woman) and entities that are representative of the whole earth by their very nature (Swamp Thing.) There’s no reason DC shouldn’t have more stories based outside the USA.

If DC can pull it off, it’s actually ridiculously smart. Ideally, they’re setting their brand up for the global market in story. More comics in other countries (Knight + Squire, a new DCU Hellblazer related title) and maybe even more comics by international creators. Perhaps more comics that are non-english first.

Superheroes became popular during an era of extreme nationalism. We think of WWII’s fascist baddies that way, but at the time the war solution included putting ourselves in a similar fervor. That kind of “Us or Them” mentality just doesn’t solve problems anymore. And perhaps it never did. Even the mighty USA doesn’t invade somewhere without an ally or two.

In any case, interested to see where this one goes. What are your thoughts?

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Comment Counts Added to Reading Orders

Ian — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:34:23 +0000

Today’s update brings some small tweaks and additions to the site structure since the DC update isn’t quite ready yet.

First of all, I added a “Comment” link that also turns into a comment count (if the book has any discussion on it) right onto the reading order pages.

This increased the size of that segment, so I tweaked the others accordingly and changed “Info” to “More Info” and “CBDB” to “CBDB Entry.” “Review” has also been changed to “TRO Review” and moved to the top (remaining bold). The CBDB and TRO Review links will only appear when available, of course.

If you didn’t follow any of that, you should be able to see what I mean by looking at any random reading order page.

We’re also updated to WordPress 3.1.2 and a couple of the plugins (caching mainly) have been updated as well. As always, let me know if you see any weirdness with any of this.

There are also a few database updates to mention.

The following Marvel releases were added by Marc and are now placed on the Unplaced Books list until I have a chance to technically place them in the system (or until we figure out the contents.):

Evolutionary War Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 6
Spider-Man: The Next Chapter Vol. 1
X-Men by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee Omnibus Vol. 1
Spider-Man: The Vengeance of Venom

Also, I made a tiny change to the listed contents of Civil War: Fantastic Four, just putting in some spaces around the “Young Avengers / Runaway” slash so it line breaks more gracefully on the reading order pages.

That’s it for now, back to working on some of the upcoming reviews and the DC update. You’ll get to see whichever one I finish first soon!

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Catching Up With DC Comics

Ian — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:59:43 +0000

Obviously, the time it took to get the Marvel list online has taken our focus off the DC list. Now I’d like to start the ongoing forever-battle of juggling both (and the rest of the site, but let’s start with the big two.)

I’m just about to start adding the upcoming solicitations in and getting back to placing the unplaced books, as detailed in this forum thread (which will be updated with progress).

Here are the DC books I’ve got in the offline database so far. They’ll go up as soon as the publication info is in (hopefully tomorrow.)

Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus
Batman: Vow From The Grave
Batman: Challenge of the Man – Bat
Batman: Red Water, Crimson Death
Batman: The Frightened City
The Complete Frank Miller Batman
Batman: The Joker’s Revenge
Authority / Lobo: Holiday Hell
Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci
The Mystery Play
Batman / Deathblow: After The Fire
Detective Comics Classics
JLA Cold Steel Book 1
JLA Cold Steel Book 1
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive Vol. 7
Brightest Day Vol. 2
Batman & Robin: Batman Must Die
Our Army At War
Sugar And Spike Archives Vol. 1
Wonder Woman: Odyssey Vol. 1
Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes: The Early Years
The Mighty Crusaders
Secret Six: The Reptile Brain
Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965
Yossel
Jew Gangster
Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Emerald Knight
Tiny Titans: Field Trippin’
Hellblazer: City Of Demons
House Of Mystery Vol. 5:
House Of Mystery Vol. 6: Safe As Houses
Unknown Soldier Vol. 1: Beautiful World
Batman: Bruce Wayne: The Road Home
Batman: Knight And Squire
Brian Bolland Cover To Cover
Batman: Red Hood: The Lost Days
Red Robin: Hit List
Superman Chronicles Vol. 9
Green Arrow: Into The Woods
Absolute Identity Crisis
Justice
Jack Kirby Omnibus Vol. 1: Starring Green Arrow
Power Girl: Bomb Squad
Showcase Presents: Doc Savage
Showcase Presents: The Trial Of The Flash
Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1
Superman: Grounded Vol. 1
Legion Of Super-Heroes: The Curse
Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1: Starring Shade The Changing Man
The Secret Society Of Super-Villains
Outsiders: The Great Divide
Northlanders?
Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations
Absolute Sandman Book 5
Brightest Day Vol. 3
Green Lantern Corps: The Weaponer
Doom Patrol: Fire Away
Justice League Of America: Omega
Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth Omnibus Vol. 1
Supergirl: Bizarrogirl
Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane Archives Vol. 1
Legion Of Super-Heroes: Consequences
Superman: The Black Ring Vol. 2
Billy Batson And The Magic Of Shazam!: Back In Black
Madame Xanadu Vol. 4: Extra Sensory

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Review: Power Girl

Chris D. — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:36:47 +0000

Find This Book At:
Amazon (Softcover)
Half.com (Softcover)
Ebay (Search by Title)
Ebay (ISBN/Softcover)

View our database entry

Includes Issues:	Showcase 97-99; Secret Origins 11; JSA 32, 39; JSA Classified 1-4
Issue Dates:	February – April 1978, February 1987, March 2002, October 2002, September – December 2005

Creators:

Adam Hughes, Adrienne Roy, Albert Tobias De Guzman, Amanda Conner, Anton Kawasaki, Ben Oda, Carl Gafford, Christian Alamy, Dan DiDio, David Goyer, Dick Giordano, Drew R. Moore, Geoff Johns, Harvey Richards, Jerry Serpe, Jimmy Palmiotti, Joe Orlando, Joe Staton, John Kalisz, Ken Lopez, Mary Wilshire, Morgan Dontanville, Patrick Gleason, Paul Kupperberg, Paul Levitz, Paul Mounts, Peter J. Tomasi, Peter Snejbjerg, Ralph Morales, Rob Leigh, Robert Greenberger, Robert Joy, Roy Thomas, Shelly Leferman, Stephen Wacker

This review contains spoilers as it discusses Power Girl’s origin and history. Skip To The Verdict? »

The DC property known as Power Girl has a complicated history, so allow me to start this review with some background musings.

Like many comics readers, I was introduced to the complicated nature of continuity early. Growing up, I realized that there were two large powerhouses in the industry. There was Marvel and there was DC. After a while I recognized who was from what company and, with the rare exception, these heroes and villains stayed in their respective universes, far from each other. Figuring out that divide was step 1.

I’m not sure what event pushed me to the next level of understanding. Was it Crisis on Multiple Earths #1 featuring the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America? Or, more likely, was it Crisis on Infinite Earths that featured…well, everyone?

I remember being thoroughly confused. How did two versions of the same character – and many more as I was soon to find out – exist in the same story? I had a strong grasp on time travel, but a “Multiverse”? This wasn’t just a comparison of a present and future Superman I was looking, it was actually two different men. After some time I learned to pick up the subtle differences between characters who shared the same name, but had slight deviations in their makeup.

Later down the road, things got even more confusing. I found out that there were two prominent versions of Supergirl, neither with a particularly clear origin story. One was from Earth-One, but died tragically in Crisis on Infinite Earths. At this point, The Earth-Two “Supergirl” was not branded as such. She was called Power Girl and really didn’t appear to be of the same makeup at all.

Different hair, different clothes, very obviously different… uh… proportions, but she still fought against evil along the side of her cousin, Superman of Earth-Two. She could be seen Pre-Crisis in the pages of the late 70s All Star and Adventure Comics (Collected in Justice Society Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).

Then I learned there were at least four or five different Supergirls. Kara Zor-El, Linda Danvers, Cir-El, Matrix, and Post-Crisis “Dead” Supergirl. What was going on here? At most, from what I could tell, the main difference between the two primary variations of Superman was a little gray hair.

A little “wiki-ing” later I saw that not only was Power Girl an actual “Supergirl” variation from Earth-Two (and the only one still in publication alongside our modern Supergirl) but there also happened to be a trade available documenting this journey and transformation from a bodacious nobody with a secret past to the buxom beauty we now know (with a very convoluted past). Which finally brings us to the book before us.

Power Girl was published by DC Comics in June 2006. Instead of collecting a single story arc, it is a compilation and presentation tackling the complex history of Ms. Kara Zor-L. This collects Showcase #97-#99, Secret Origins Vol 2 #11, JSA #32 and #39, and finally JSA Classified #1-#4. These issues were published from 1978 to 2005. A welcomed addition is an editorial description before each section, which helps ease the reader in by describing the current times in DC and the company’s reasoning for the tangled and ever-changing history of Power Girl.

The collection starts with an origin from Showcase #97 from February 1978, written by Paul Levitz with Joe Staton and Joe Orlando as the artists. It shows our Dynamic Double D Damsel swooping in to stop a robbery in progress. Andrew Vinson, a pesky yet daring reporter from the Daily Globe, then enters into Power Girl’s life. He demands she finally fess-up to the rest of the world and explain where she came from and what her purpose is.

Unfortunately for the reporter, she takes offense and immediately flees the city. Luckily for us, his questions get her thinking as she takes a little R&R to dream about life back on Krypton in her home town of Kandor (while Andrew is in hot pursuit to get his own answers.) We are introduced to the Symbioship which carried Power Girl all the way across the galaxy while she grew from a toddler to the young eighteen year old she is now.

According to the story, the ship helped her develop not only physically but mentally as well. Using various forms of electronic education and an “Artificial Reality,” it gave her “normal” experiences that any Kryptonian would have growing up. In a classic Bronze Age-style twist, the ship then becomes a threat, using Andrew to attack Power Girl – then the main villain of the story, Brain Wave, is introduced.

From here we get an action tale about Brain Wave trying to take down the JSA (with appearances by the original Flash and Green Lantern from Earth-Two), while also filling in the rest of her original origin story, and for the first time giving her the secret identity of Karen Starr. The art might seem a little dated, but it’s fitting for the era and in no way detracts from the story.

Flash forward to 1987 and we are left with a Power Girl who survived the Crisis of 1985, but somehow lost her origin story (to allow Superman to be the only surviving Kryptonian.) She bounces around from title to title and in Secret Origins Vol 2 #11 writer Paul Kupperbreg and artist Mary Wilshire tackle her reboot.

Paul takes his established character Arion, the “Lord of Atlantis,” and through a lot of dialogue, and I mean a lot, details Power Girl’s “true” origin. She’s shown once again feeling very alone on Earth, not only because she has no family, but because she’s actually aware that she survived the “Crisis” and should not exist in this universe.

She is shown talking to herself while sitting in her Symbioship, which apparently survived as well, and out comes the apparition of Arion to explain everything. This origin story won’t be discussed in detail for various reason. First of all, it’s pretty crazy. A little magic and some time travel are involved. Plus, it doesn’t matter now because, like her previous origin, this one was retconned as well.

Like the previous story, the art is very reflective of the decade it was drawn in. The details differ significantly, however, depending on the scene and shot. Up close, the pencil hash marks to display shadows can be overdone, but the more open and far away scenes are underwhelming with lack of detail. Some look as though they were initially drawn through carbon paper, with similar design sensibility to the 1980′s mature animated film Heavy Metal. Worse, the sequence lacks action and interesting dialogue, consisting almost entirely of stale exposition. At times I had difficulty staying awake and pushing through this relatively small sixteen page section.

The third and final entry into this trade is the latest, though unlikely last, retelling of how Power Girl came to be. Dan Didio, the Senior VP-Executive Editor of DC in 2005, decided that it was time to clean up and set some things right with our heroine. Geoff Johns took on the challenge.

She was added to the JSA roster, two issues of which included here, where a whole three pages was devoted to taking the magic-based power theory and throwing it right out the window. It’s stated very clearly that her powers (like Superman’s) are biologically inherited.

JSA #39 and JSA Classified #1-#4 then basically retell her original story while threading it into current continuity.

This new background even touches on why she happens to wear the most cleavage-centric outfit in the entire Multiverse, and somehow does it in a very respectful and telling way.

These issues are chock FULL of DC character cameos, including a very awkward (for her) scene between Superman, Supergirl, and Power Girl. Psycho Pirate plays the antagonist there is a great exchange between a confused Huntress and our desperately open heroine.

The contemporary art is incredibly fun (thanks to Peter Snejberg, Patrick Gleason, and Amanda Conner) and really utilizes the physical “attributes” that she has, showing a much more provocative image than the classic material.

As expected from Johns, the action and conversations are fun and well worth the time invested.

Summarizing this entire trade is an intimidating and difficult task due to the span of its collection, both with writers and artists, as well as over decades of direction in the DC Universe.

While the art is extremely varied in style and quality, it’s entertaining to see how much DC comics have changed over time. The middle story with Arion was really the worst part of this entire collection.

It was downright boring and felt extremely unnecessary. I would have hated to have suffered through this as a DC reader at that time, being stuck with such a terrible origin, but perhaps I’m spoiled as a modern comic reader.

I would still recommend this trade to any serious collector or those intrigued by the history of one of the most interesting characters on DC’s roster.

Verdict:
3.5 out of 5. The collection is fantastic from an editorial standpoint and above many others I’ve read, but does lack in areas from an entertainment perspective.

Essential Continuity:
Ha, it depends on what section you’re referring to - the final issues from Geoff Johns and company are 100% in continuity now.

Read first:
This trade is built to be an intro to the character so there is no previous reading required. It wouldn’t hurt to have read Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 70s Justice Society Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, or the more recent JSA issues (since Johns took over) to familiarize yourself with the supporting cast.

Read next:
You will likely want to read Infinite Crisis and 52 next, but it’s possible to jump straight into Power Girl solo trades with Power Girl: A New Beginning as the next on your list.

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Uncle Gorby’s Corner Of Free Stuff: Afrodisiac

Ian — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:02:47 +0000

Afrodisiac, by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, is out of print. And it’s going for huge prices on Amazon for the hardcover. It’s probably worth it – it’s a great comic.

But it’s also Eisner nominated, so you don’t have to take my word for it! To make it easier for people to read and judge for themselves, it’s now available online.

Today’s Feature:

Check it out! And I highly recommend viewing in fullscreen. (If you don’t see the content above, make sure you’re reading at the site and have flash installed.)

Still Bored? Visit Uncle Gorby’s Archive for More Links or Visit Uncle Gorby’s Corner in the Forum!

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Nick Fury Changes, Creator Fixes, and Other Updates

Marc — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:30:49 +0000

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend! We’ve got another wave of updates to share with you today, so let’s get started!

First of all, I’ve streamlined the Nick Fury tags by deleting the “Fury” tag and limiting the “Sgt. Fury” tag to the following books:

Fantastic Firsts
Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury Vol. 1
Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury Vol. 3
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby Vol. 1
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby Vol. 2

After getting some feedback on the forum, I changed the “Kraven” tag to “Kraven the Hunter” as well. I also did a bit of clean-up with some of the creator tags:

Hulk / Thing: The Big Change (Removed and deleted tag “Berni Wrightson”; replaced with “Bernie Wrightson”)
DC Comics Classics Library: Roots Of The Swamp Thing (Removed and deleted tag “Bernie Wightson”; replaced with “Bernie Wrightson”)
Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis (Removed and deleted tag “Bernie Wightson”; replaced with “Bernie Wrightson”)
Deathblow / Wolverine (Removed and deleted tag “Aron Weisenfeld”; replaced with “Aron Wiesenfeld”)
Nova: War Of Kings (Removed and deleted tag “Andy Lanning Kevin Sharpe”; replaced with “Andy Lanning” and “Kevin Sharpe”)
Angel: Autumnal (Removed and deleted tag “Andrew Peppy”; replaced with “Andrew Pepoy”)
Batman: Venom (Removed and deleted tag “Andrew Heiffer”; replaced with “Andrew Helfer”)
Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II (Removed and deleted tag “Andrew Heifer”; replaced with “Andrew Helfer”)
Killraven (Removed and deleted tag “Allan Davis”; replaced with “Alan Davis”)
Impossible Man (Removed and deleted tag “Alan David”; replaced with “Alan Davis”)
Incredible Hulk Vs. Superman (Removed and deleted tag “Al Migrom”; replaced with “Al Milgrom”)
Essential Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1 (Removed and deleted tag “Allen ‘Al’ Milgrom”; replaced with “Al Milgrom”)

I also made some adjustments to the tags for Andrew Pepoy, although I took a roundabout route to make it quicker. Since the majority of his books were tagged with “Andrew J. Pepoy,” that’s what I changed all of the tags to before editing the tag as a whole to “Andrew Pepoy.” As a result, the following books appear in the Recent Updates page, although nothing was actually changed for them:

X-Men: Children Of The Atom
Thunderbolts Classic Vol. 1
Thunderbolts: Justice Like Lightning

And to round things out, here are a few more miscellaneous updates:

The Villainy Of Doctor Doom (Standardized Issues section, tagged characters)
Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 1 (Standardized Issues section, tagged characters)
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby Vol. 2 (Standardized Issues section, tagged characters)

That’ll do it for now, but stay tuned throughout the week for more updates!

Misspelled Character Tags Corrected, More Fantastic Four Contents Fixed

Marc — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:07:23 +0000

First up for today’s update are a handful of books featuring the Fantastic Four that I tidied up by standardizing the “Issues” notation and tagging the four main members of the team:

Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Essential Daredevil Vol. 2
Bring On The Bad Guys (1998 Edition)
Bring On The Bad Guys
Fantastic Firsts
Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Vol. 4
Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 1

I also noticed quite a few character tags that were either misspelled or just plain redundant — something that’s bound to happen with a database this size! In fact, I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t run into more of them. Of course, it could very well be that there are more I haven’t noticed yet, so if you happen to run into any, let us know! Anyhow, here are the books with the tags that I fixed (and I apologize in advance for what might initially just look like a wall of text):

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 5 (Removed and deleted tag “The Invaders”; replaced with “Invaders”)
Cable And The New Mutants (Removed and deleted tag “The New Mutants”; replaced with “New Mutants”)
The New Fantastic Four: Monsters Unleashed (Removed and deleted tag “The Hulk”; replaced with “Hulk”)
Marvel: Powerless (Removed and deleted tag “The Kingpin”; replaced with “Kingpin”)
Bullseye: Greatest Hits (Removed and deleted tag “The Punisher”; replaced with “Punisher”)
Sensational Spider-Man (Removed and deleted tag “The Punisher”; replaced with “Punisher”)
Beyond! (Removed and deleted tag “The Wasp”; replaced with “Wasp”)
Daredevil by Ed Brubaker And Michael Lark Omnibus Vol. 2 (Removed and deleted tag “Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu”; replaced with “Shang-Chi”)
Deadline (Removed and deleted tag “J. Jonah Hameson”; replaced with “J. Jonah Jameson” and tagged other characters)
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 1 (Removed and deleted tag “Invisible”; replaced with “Invisible Girl”)
Incredible Hulk Collector’s Album (Removed and deleted tag “Incredible Hulk”; replaced with “Hulk”)
Grandson Of Origins (Removed and deleted tag “Fanatstic Four”; replaced with “Fantastic Four” and tagged other characters)
The Life And Times Of Death’s Head (Removed and deleted tag “Death’s Hand”; replaced with “Death’s Head”)
Acts Of Vengeance Omnibus (Removed and deleted tag “Cloak and Dager”; replaced with “Cloak and Dagger” and fixed Issues section)
Civil War: Captain America (Removed and deleted tag “Capain America”; replaced with “Captain America”)
Girl Comics (Removed and deleted tag “Black Widdow”; replaced with “Black Widow”)
Black Panther: The Deadliest Of The Species (Removed and deleted tag “Black Panter”; replaced with “Black Panther”)
Black Panther: Secret Invasion (Removed and deleted tag “Black Panter”; replaced with “Black Panther”)
Black Panther: Little Green Men (Removed and deleted tag “Black Panter”; replaced with “Black Panther”)
Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? (Removed and deleted tag “Black Panthor”; replaced with “Black Panther”)
Marvels: Eyes Of The Camera (Removed and deleted tag “Angel Ant-Man”; replaced with “Angel” and “Ant-Man”)
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes II (Removed and deleted tag “Captain American”; replaced with “Captain America”)

I also deleted the misspelled character tag “Pheonix” and fixed the spelling of the “Jean Grey” character tag. And if you’re a Marvel character buff, I’d really appreciate it if you took a look at this thread on the forum, in which I’m looking for your feedback. And with that, this is Marc, signing off!