The War (of the Independents) continues

OK kids, here is very exciting news I (finally) got a-hold of my copy of The War of the Independents #3, and guess what? Your humble blogger was listed as the furslinging editor!

Yeah, yeah I totally knew that it was happening. I've been helping out Dave Ryan throughout the book’s run whenever I could, with marketing & Pr as well as helping him compose the blurbs that run in Diamond’s Advanced Preview catalog. In fact, Dave had me read through his script and do some copy editing and formatting, as well as proofing before the book went off to print.

Heck, I’ve sat his table at a couple of cons in NY & Philly (seriously, how cool, eh?). Well, anywho, I just finished reading issue #3 and I wanted to wax poetic about it for a bit. To be sure, I’ll post a full review of it later on over the weekend (and come back here to provide you all with a link so you won’t be deprived of my deathless prose).

In the mean time, I’ll clue you in to the following — my beloved characters Hope & Grace (the Wülf Girlz) appeared in the big crowd scene at the end of issue #1 and will pop up again (to actually help fight the bad guys) in issue #6 I believe.

Oh, wait, I almost forgot to tell you, issue #3 has two (yes two!) covers. The front cover is masterfully done by Todd Nauck (Wildguard: Image Comics), and the back cover was rendered by the amazing Chris Giarrusso (G-Man, Mini Marvels). The War of the Independents is available for the low, low price of just $2.99 (American), and would be a steal for twice that!

If you want a brief preview of the book go here and check it out, but then hurry off to your local comicbook shop and buy a copy (or three) straight-away!

Well that’s about it for now, more as it happens!

Now for the wicked-cool stuff! The Wülf Girlz from issue #1:

Along with a close-up of the Girlz (sorry it is so bury, but trust me — it is them!):

And now here is my editor credit in #3

Total awesomeness. eh?

In support of the arts

I just learned of a couple of projects that some (very talented) friends of mine are involved with, and I wanted to pass the info along to you folks.

First up is Rick Parker’s graphic Novel Deadboy which is all about a very troubled, misunderstood youth with a very bad attitude and a craving for adventure. Apparently this lad also has a tasty bar of chocolate. According to the promo copy, he and his naive (formerly-dead) friend, accompany a wise-cracking crow (who believes himself to be a raven) as the three of them “circumnavigate a nightmarish, surrealistic landscape inhabited by love-starved, violence-prone zombies and all manner of strange creatures large and small.”

Rick, in his uniquely-sarcastic way is suggesting that the book only be read by mature and well, immature readers.

it is a print-on-demand book, and can be found online here. you can preview the whole book by going here.

Chris Giarrusso is working on a new G-MAN story for a project called Reading with Pictures, which is a is a newly-formed nonprofit organization that is looking to revolutionize the role of comicbooks in education. It is their intention to actually work with academics in order to cultivate groundbreaking research into the proper role of comics in the realm of education. It is their intention to collaborate with cartoonists in order to produce exceptional graphic novel content intended for scholastic use. Most importantly, they are going to partner up with interested educators so as to develop a system of best practices for use of integrating comics into their curriculum.

Seriously, how cool is that? Want to know more? The check them out at their site. for a video that will tell you more, follow this link.

Both of these guys are wicked-talented, and very cool (and both talk to me, so that lets you know that they are also very tolerant). So I highly recommend that you support them and their work.

Chris Giarrusso is Back!

Hey kids, if you (like me) are a fan of Chris Giarrusso’s über-fine work (Mini Marvels, G-Man), then you’ll want to rush right out and score a copy of Image United #0 as Chris has a four-page back up in that issue, that is worth the cover price.

Yeah, you heard me right, Chris’ work is just that good.

This (all-too-brief) tale is Chris taking a comical whack at the whole Image United story, and he does it in his own inimitable style.

As for the up-front tale of Image United itself, well, I’ve been following this series, and well, it reads just like I remember Image Comics reading back in the ‘80s.

(Feel free to interpret that last comment as you wish.)

G-Man totally Rules!

Well, this is it kids, G-Man The Cape Crisis # 5 is out (well it’s been out for a week, but I just got a chance to read it today) and man-o-man was it a fun read! As you all know, I’ve been singing the praises of Chris Giarrusso for quite some time, from his hilarious work with the Mini-Marvels to his work here with his own characters. The series is populated with young heroes who have gotten themselves into a situation because of Great-Man’s gread (and yeah, stupidity) regarding the magic cloth that makes up his belt and his brother’s cape. The cloth not only gives them both the ability to fly, but it is the source of their powers and strength.

As you recall, last issue that power was spread so thin that the cloth literally exploded robbing both them (and all the others who were in possession of parts of the cloth) of their powers. Now the boys must go off to the mythical Sky Mountain to locate Krios to get back their powers.

Still, what really makes this series work is the delightful dialogue as well as the interplay between all of the characters. In this issue there is a particularly witty exchange where the school’s Principal reprimands G-Man for fighting because of his superpowers. G-Man says that he lost his powers and the other student has been picking on him. G-Man leaves the office only to have the kid call him out yet again, this time in front of the Principal. G-Man refuses the challenge, and the Principal tells G-Man to stop taunting the bully.

These kinds of exchanges occur all the way through this issue (throughout the entire series, actually). It is as if G-Man is the only rational person surrounded by a host of dim-witted morons. I’m telling you that this stuff is hysterical, Giarrusso, has a great ear for dialogue, and utilizes it to his advantage. If you aren’t reading this comic, you should.

G-Man Rules!

Yeah, you heard me, Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man is the coolest comic here these days! I’m totally loving his Cape Crises mini-series. It offers so much of why I read comics in the first place. It is entertaining, tells a readable story, keeps me guessing as to what is going to happen next, makes me want to not only turn the page to get to the rest of the story, and pick up the next issue.

Yep, this is truly a very cool comic. The premise of this whole series is that Great Man and his brother G-Man both wear capes made of magic cloth which gives them the ability to fly and super strength. Only Great Man is cutting up the cloth and selling bits of it as flight bands to anyone who has the cash. Although he has been warned that doing this will split up the power and weaken the magic, he keeps doing it, which leads to all sorts of trouble.

The various characters that populate this series are unique, and, well, fun to read. I’m hoping that Chris does well enough with this series to not only continue it, but to convince Marvel that they need to produce more of Chris’ Mini-Marvels (another good read from Chris that could do with better publicity).

G-Man has a couple of back-up shorts which are contributed by buddies of Chris (including the guys who are producing Marvel’s X-Babies). I’m telling you that this book is so good even the back-up stories are fun to read.

If you are not reading G-Man, you should be, go out and get yourself a copy now!

C2E2

So I (finally) had lunch with Mark Fitch, who works over at Reed Exhibitions, and has a big hand in putting on the NY ComicCon. I met Mark some six months ago when I met him on the train platform as we were both headed into the kick-off event of Commicbook Happy Hour over at Dave & Busters in Times Square. (The Reed offices are a stone’s throw from my house — not that I would actually throw a stone at these guys).

Well, Mark was such an amiably guy that he not only offered me a beer on the train on the way in (he brought a six-pack with him and the crew from Reed), but he went with me to MidTown Comics to (try) and meet up with Chris Giarrusso who was doing a signing. Well, we wound up missing Chris (his signing was later than we originally believed), but we did have a nice chat.

Several more chats later, I introduced him to Mark Mazz and we put down a deposit for a table at ComicCon 2010 for Atlas Unleashed. Anyways, Mark F. & I kept talking about having lunch, and we both finally managed to link up our schedules.

he took me on a tour of the Reed offices, and introduced me to several of the key personnel, which is when I discovered that an old business associate of mine is also working up there as well. Well Georgette (my friend) talked to me a bit about some further business that Atlas Unleashed could do with ComicCon.

More on that as it develops. In the meantime. Here is a cool button that is for Reed’s upcoming Chicago show, C2E2.

Let’s hear it for G-Man!

Yesterday (or was it Wednesday?) I acquired my copy of issue #3 of G-Man: The Cape Crisis, and I want to say that it is still consistently the best comic on the market today. It is fun, entertaining, not predictable, and easily accessible to a younger audience while not insulting the intelligence of older readers.

What more could you ask for in a comic?

I mean, seriously? the art is wonderful the story is exciting, and I’m enjoying the heck out of this comic. It really is one of only a couple of comics that I eagerly await each month.

In this episode, we have Great Man selfishly selling pieces of the magic cloth that give Great Man and G-Man their powers (thus disrupting the power source), while G-Man and his friends are working with the Wizard, Glendolf, attempting to recover the pieces before there is a magical power inversion which could cause untold harm to both boys as well as to the many people who were tapping into the mystical power.

There is even a chilling cliff-hanger at the conclusion of this issue, which just goes to show how you can have a thrilling story without going all “gritty” on the readership.

As with previous issues, Chris has some of his cartoonist buddies pen a couple of back-up stories to help round out the issue. Oh yeah, there is also a cameo with Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon (G-Man ran as a back-up feature in Savage Dragon for several issues).

If you haven’t yet picked up G-Man, then you need to do so. If your shop doesn’t carry the comic, you need to tell them to do so, seriously. You’ll be glad you did.

G-Man is in Greensboro, NC!

I just heard that Chris Giarrusso along with several other cartoonists (Art Baltazar, Jacob Chabot, Brian Smith, and Gregg Schigiel) all of whom have back-up comic strips in Chris’s on-going Image Comic, G-Man will be signing special variant issues of G-Man #2 in Acme Comics on October 24 from 10 A.M. – 7 P.M. (Acme Comics is located on Lawndale Drive in Greensboro, NC).

G-Man is similar in structure to the Mini Marvels that Chris does over at Marvel (and is perhaps best known for), only G-Man is his own character, and has been appearing in back-up strips in Image comics.

If you haven’t been buying G-Man, you really should. It is one of the coolest comics currently being published.

Oh yeah, and if you love the Mini-Marvels, and want to collect them all in one place, then you are in luck, as Marvel just announced a new collection of Mini Marvels, that is due out in December ($19.99).

The book is all-ages fun that features the wild and crazy kid counterparts to Marvel’s greatest heroes! Featuring Spidey, Wolverine, Iron Man, Hulk and more Marvel favorites! ALL your favorite Mini Marvels adventures collected in one hilarious and action-packed collection! Plus: Spidey gets in over his head when he babysits Power Pack, but he gets by with a little help from his AMAZING FRIENDS Iceman and Firestar!

G-Man Rules!

That’s right, you heard me! G-Man is simply put the coolest comic currently being published!

Chris Giarrusso the writer/artist of the series, is perhaps best known as the very talented cartoonist who brings us Mini Marvels, which (as you already all know) is the long-running series appearing irregularly over the past several years in numerous Marvel Comics. The strip very successfully re-imagines the Marvel characters as superheroes, but as young kids (usually delivering Newspapers).

Always funny and extremely entertaining the strip usually plays off whatever current story lines are occurring in the comics. He also has had a long-running series (similar in nature) which has been appearing over at Image. the G-Man comic (featuring Chris’s original characters), is an outgrowth of those stories.

I’ve been picking up the series (slated to run five issues) and it is very entertaining. I highly recommend it.

The G-Man comic explores the origins of magical cloth that give both G-Man and his older brother Great Man their super-human powers. Cute, funny, insightful, and wonderfully illustrated, the series is everything that a comicbook should be.

If you have a youngster who you want to get into comics, put one of these comics in his or her hands. They will love it, and thank you for turning them onto this extremely entertaining series.

Oh yeah, there are a couple of back-up strips that are contributed by friends of Chris’s and fellow cartoonists. They are also entertaining; and if you go to Chris’s site, you’ll get Chris’s upcoming convention schedule.

G-Man Flies Again!

OK kids, yesterday I received my very own copy of Chris Giarrusso’s wicked-cool Image comic, G-Man: Cape Crisis. (To be sure, I purchased it through my funnybook retailer.)

I have to say that this is easily the most entertaining comic I’ve read in a dog’s age (OK, OK, I really like the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius series by Chris Eliopoulos, and Marc Sumerak). Still, this stuff is a hoot-and-half. Chris, as you all know, is the talent behind Marvel’s Mini Mavels. This five-issue mini-series is done in the style of those Mini-Marvels, and picks up on the story of G-Man that ran in Image comics (collected in its own comic late last year).

This first comic has G-Man and his older brother dealing with a crowd of kids from their neighborhood who feel that they should have the right to possess some of the magic fabric that turned our two heroes even though mst of the kids are jerks and never really liked G-Man before he acquired his powers.

The dialogue is hip and story itself is light and breezy. It is exactly what comics should be. Further it is a perfect introductory comic for young readers, and I strongly urge all retailers to scoop this comic up and highly promote it.

It is the sort of comic that will ensure this industry readers for years to come. I kid you not.

Taco Bell Comics

As you all know, and as I’ve indicated a number of times, I’m a big fan of a) freebie/giveaway comics (who isn’t) and b) fast food tie-ins (especially when they are comicbook related) So you know that I’m going to be a big fan of the new set of Marvel giveaway comics that are currently being issued by Taco Bell. Well you are right. the set consists of The Fantastic Four (co-staring the Hulk), The (original) Avengers (vs. Ultron), Thor (& the Thing against the Wrecker), and Captain America (and Nick Fury & SHIELD) going up against Hydra.

In fact, my biggest complaint is that there is no Spider-Man comic, or appearance in this set. Still, that is just a personal bias, so I’m going to let it slide for now. All four of the comics are new stories, and only 11 pages long with a Chris Giarrusso one-page Mini Marvels back-up.

First up is Cap’s tale, and yes, this is Steve Rogers working alongside Nick Fury who is the head of SHIELD, and they are going up against Hydra, so it is about as old school as you can get. The story is short and to the point (not much subtlety you can get in 11 pages). A mobster who is using his mob activities to subsidize his Hydra cell is kicked loose due to lack of evidence. This angers Cap, who is told to calm down by Fury. Needless to say, the crook shows his hand and captures Cap, and plans to unmask him on TV. Cap breaks loose, turns the tables on his attackers and does his Sentinel of Liberty thing.

The next comic still has Don Blake as Thor and doing his Dr. thing in disaster areas along with The Thing who is there for his celebrity appeal. They are alerted to the appearance of the Wrecker and as the Thing heads off to stop the super-powered thug from wrecking numerous tourist attractions throughout the U.S. Black taps his cane turning himself into the Thunder God and the pair set out to confront the villain, which they do in short order. (Turns out Wrecker is PO'ed over being “ripped off” at these sites when he doesn’t get what he thinks he paid for at each site.

The FF are at home (yes, in the Baxter Building) and Thing and Torch are up to their usual shenanigans of torturing each other as Reid and Sue are about to go out to dinner for their anniversary. Needless to say, just prior to them walking out the door, a news report indicates that The Hulk in in NYC trashing the place. So the team puts personal issues aside, and goes to the rescue. Each attempts to bring the emerald brute down by themselves, but is unable to do that solo. True to the nature of the team, they are only able to stop the raging beast’s rampage when they combine their powers into a single, concerted effort.

Finally, is the Avengers, which unites the initial, classic line-up of Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and Ant Man who are confronted by a seemingly-reformed Ultron who wants to become an Avenger. As insane as it may sound, they actually allow him (it) to try out. As can be expected it is all a (not so) elaborate trick to get them to drop their guard so that he can destroy them. Of the four stories, this one is the weakest as it simply doesn’t hang together in any logical fashion. In fact, I honestly couldn’t believe that this story was even approved, as it is so unbelievably badly done.

Still as a set they are fun to have, and whatever shortcomings that the main story may or may not have, the single-page Chris Giarrusso, Mini Marvel story at the end makes the addition of these comics well worth the addition to your collection. I highly recommend them all (yes, even the Avenger one, only not so highly as the rest). When talking to one of the managers of my local Taco Bell she informed me that they were having a tough time giving them to the kids as they didn’t seem to wan them, which I found incredulous.

So if there is a Taco Bell near you, I suggest that you hustle out and acquire a set (and make arrangements to buy up all the remaining copies at the end of the promotion).

Funnybooks @ Taco Bell!

Yep, that’s right I went to Taco Bell yesterday and I found a complete set of the (four) Marvel Comics. The set consists of four brand new, full-sized 12-page comics featuring four Marvel characters or teams (Thor, Captain America, Avengers, and the Fantastic Four).



Each comicbook features 11 pages of a main story, plus a 1-page back-up by cartoonist Chris Giarrusso. Chris is perhaps best known as the guy who produces an on-going — if irregular— feature running through many Marvel comics called Mini Marvels. The Mini Marvels are kid-like incarnations of the main marvel characters in, well, silly adventures. Many of these stories have been collected into digest-sized books and re-issued. If you can find any of them I highly recommend you pick them up.

And now, for something completely different...

If you were to have been following this blog for the past week or so, you might think that I only read Independent comics (written by my friends). Truthfully, I tend to read more Marvel Comics (sorry kids, it is a long-standing addiction that I’m simply unable (and unwilling) to completely kick). I’ve been reading them since ‘62, and regularly purchasing them since ’71. Unfortunately, these days, I’m admittedly not having as much fun reading them as I did even a few years back. Still, there are (every once in a while) comics that do rise above the fray, and are worthy of mentioning. Off the top, I want to mention Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man which I regularly review for SpiderFan.

Another comic that always gets me smiling, is anything by Chris Giarrusso. in addition to his own work (G-Man) Chris produces the Mini Marvels. These are usually one-page humorous takes on the heroes from the Marvel Universe. As a rule, they tend to follow a theme for a period of time, and then are collected in a digest-sized comic. With the recent release of Mini Marvels Secret Invasion, Chris tells an alternate version of the Secret Invasion. All things considered, I prefer Chris’s version. In addition to the Secret Wars are broad swipes at Civil War, Spidey, and the whole Green Hulk/Red Hulk (Blue Hulk) storyline.

Chris also likes to pick on Hawkeye, and does so with gleeful abandon. As stated, another favorite target is Spidey himself, whom Chris loves to posit a young Spidey who is a paperboy for The Bugle, and regularly goes up against the Osborns (who are customers) and Venom (a competing paperboy). Again, all of this is done in good fun, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. I strongly suggest that — even if you have read all of the Mini Marvel stories in the various Marvel Comics in which they have appeared, you spring for this collection. You’ll be very happy that you did.

Here is a fun Spidey comic that my buddy James Rodriguez brought back with him from his trip to South America. It is a copy of Spidey in , well, Spanish. I have a few of these foreign language comics in my collection, and I always love getting them.

I want to also talk about The Amazing Spider-Girl. This comic ran a single issue of What If, 100 issues of Spider-Girl, 30 regular issues of Amazing Spider-Girl, plus a 0 issue and an annual, not to mention assorted issues of various other “M2” titles. I went on record several times (once in person to writer Tom DeFalco) how much I enjoyed this title. It always reminded me of being 15 again and the thril I got every month reading Spidey at that time. I’m sorry to see the series go, but I understand that it will continue in Amazing Spider-Man Family and on-line ion Marvel’s ecomics. Now while I’m not so happy about the ecomic version, I am pleased that it will still continue in print in ASMF.

Anyway, Issue # 30 of ASG was easily one of the most moving issues of this series. I could tell that DeFalco really loves this title and these characters, and really pulled out all of the stops to deliver one of the most emotionally moving stories that I have ever read. Too bad all the Spider-titles couldn't be written this consistently well.

This story proved to be quite a nice coda to the run of this title, as well as a delightful wrap-up to the final arc of this series. I truly enjoyed what Tom did in this story, and I truly have to say that I completely didn’t see the big reveal coming, even though I was looking for it.

Personally, I’m looking forward to reading the new series.

G-Man Rules!

Anyone who has been reading this blog has probably heard me wax enthusiastic about cartoonist Chris Giarrusso wonderful work on the Mini Marvels. I first discovered Chris’ work in a series of comic strips that ran on the Marvel Comics Bullpen Bulletins pages. Those strips grew into full-page comics, and then to multi-page back-up stories, to digest-sized reprint comics.

Personally, I couldn’t get enough of his stuff, Well, last weekend when I attended the National Comic show, I finally got my chance to actually meet him and tell him how much I have been enjoying his work (I have been corresponding via-email for a bit, but meeting him was fun). During our chat, I picked up a copy of G-Man, his own character (done Mini Marvel style).

G-Man and his brother Great Man are a pair of pint-sized superheroes who run into all sorts of very entertaining adventures (including crossing paths with Eric Larson’s Savage Dragon — the adventures of G-Man have been running in the back of Savage Dragon for some time, apparently). I have to say that I enjoyed G-Man every bit as much as I have enjoyed Mini Marvels. Chris still knows his stuff, and you should check out his web store and buy him out of all his cool stuff — Including downloads, Icons, and Avatars, as well as on-line comics.

Looking back, I recent picked up The most recent Marvel Mini digest and (looking forward), we can expect at least one more Mini Digest that spoofs the Secret Invasion. (The following announcement comes direct from Marvel’s on-line catalog).

Been craving more Mini Marvels since their hit first collection flew off the shelves? February brings you the "Mini Marvels: Secret Invasion" digest! Your favorite tiny heroes face off against Skrull invasions of their own, with awesome cuteness to spare. Also check out a slew of Secret Invasion collections starring the likes of the New Avengers, Captain Britain and MI13, Hercules and more, all out this February!

While the weather outside is chilly, the "X-Men: Inferno" hardcover will surely warm the hearts of '80s aficionados and X-fans alike when it brings the entire crossover together in one edition large enough to knock any late night burglar unconscious! Plus "The Death of Captain America Vol. 3" concludes the trilogy and "Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1: The Five Nightmares" while classics like the original Cloak and Dagger limited series or the Guardians of the Galaxy's first appearances get new hardcovers!

So what are you still doing here? Go visit Chris!

Colbert Nation Invades Marvel!

I know that I told you all that I was going to spend today waxing poetic about some comics that were produced by some of my good buddies over at CAG, but I’m going to have to bump that back a day or so, to bring you this breaking news about some exciting Spidey-News. We have just learned that Spider-Man has teamed-up with none other than Comedy Central’s blowhard, right-wing, political pundit, Stephen Colbert. That’s right, the star of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report will not only appear in Amazing Spider-Man ##573, but he will appear on the cover in a take on Amazing Fantasy #15. According to SplashPage:

Spider-Man has teamed-up with some rather unique characters — from Dracula to Howard the Duck to even the original cast of “Saturday Night Live.” Now, adding to that, um, prestigious list, in the upcoming “Amazing Spider-Man” #573, he’ll team-up with late night talk show host and true American patriot, Stephen Colbert.

I understand that there is a 1/25 ratio to this cover, so, it might be tough to acquire.

What is not going to be tough to acquire is Chris Giarrusso’s newest Mini Marvel digest comic, Rock, Paper, Scissors. This comic not only gathers together ongoing stories involving the Mini Marvel charters that have been running throughout the backs of numerous Marvel Comics, but delivers a couple of longer-form stories involving Spider-Man as a paperboy delivering the Daily Bugle. As a special treat, it also reprints a couple of the very first Mini Marvel strips that appeared in the Bullpen Bulletins page.

Personally, I think that this stuff is some of the best material I’ve seen come out of Marvel in years, and to have it all collected in one place is worth the purchase price. If you want to stop in on Chris’s website and see what else he is up to, I’m sure he’d love to have you do just that.

In other Marvel News, Earlier this week Marvel released Iron Man on DVD and Blu-Ray. As I understand it, there are a number of versions of the disc out, including a “standard” version, a two-disc version, one that comes with a comic, and one that comes packaged with a trio of Iron Man bobble-heads.

As if that wasn’t enough, According to SplashPage, it looks like Tony Stark is gonna have a little bit of competition in the DVD section of Best Buy, when the chain store releases the (much derided) made-for-TV Nick Fury film, staring David Hasselhoff.

Also riding on Stark’s coattails, will be The Hulk, who’s DVD follows Iron Man’s in a couple of weeks. So, yeah, this is going to be a fine month for Marvel fans. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the trailer for the new Punisher flick (due out in December), is also in theaters now. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. I’m thinking that it will be the best one yet.



More cool stuff as it happens.

*** UPDATE *** UPDATE *** UPDATE *** UPDATE *** UPDATE ***

Hey folks, I just heard from Chris about the Mini Marvel’s book, and he wanted to correct something that I said in regards to his book.

However, in response to your line, "What is not going to be tough to acquire is Chris Giarrusso’s newest Mini Marvel digest comic, Rock, Paper Scissors," I'd like to respectfully suggest that it WILL be tough to acquire.

There were not a lot of orders, so the initial print run was very low and sold out in under a month.

There is a second print run now available with a new cover, making the first cover (the one in your blog) impossible to now acquire.

This book does not have very significant retailer support and tends to fly under the radar, so it's unlikely this book will be found in a comic shop unless it is order requested by a knowledgeable fan.

Though it's an obvious all-ages title, Marvel is not offering this book in the bookstore market.

Sorry to be a stickler for detail, I just want to do whatever I can to spread awareness of the book and overcome the obstacles it's facing.

While I’m glad that Chris took the time to bring me up to speed, I’m sorry to hear that the book is under-performing (even if it is due to under-promotion on Marvel’s part). As stated, I think that this stuff is great, and I want to fully support the book, so everyone go out and buy up a copy. You should all go to your retailers and demand that they carry this (and previous Mini Marvel one-shots).

Oh yeah, you should all probably write to the various Marvel editors and tell them how much you love reading Mini Marvels in the back of the comics.

Spidey, Spidey, Spidey Everywhere!

So, this past week I picked up my comics (as usual), and I was surprised by the presence of not one, but two over-sized Spider-Man anthologies. King Size Spider-Man Summer Special and (Brand New Day) Amazing Spider-Man Family #1. Both of these comics give us several new Spidey stories (that take place both within and outside of continuity) as well as a reprint of an older Spidey comic.

First up is King Size Summer Special; which delivers a couple of cartoony Spidey episodes Un-Enchanted Evening and Take a Seat (both by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover). The first one deals with Mary Jane Watson-Parker (yes, they are married in this story) where MJ, & Millie the Model (along with Patsy (Hellcat) Walker, Marvel Girl, She Hulk, Clea, and the Scarlet Witch) are all drawn into a throw-down with the Enchantress and Thor. The second one is a two-pager that has Spidey going up against MODOK. The next story is a continuity implant that has Spidey hooking up for (apparently the first time) with The Falcon. Finally there is a Chris Giarrusso Mini Marvel story (reprinted from Giant Size Mini Marvels #1.

The Tobin/Coover stories are very entertaining (especially the first one) and I really don’t care if they are considered as part of continuity or not, as they are so clever. The Falcon team-up is also quite good and (I assume) occurs in-continuity (even though it seems to contradict Captain America #’s 137 & 138). Again, the story here seems saturated with old-time Marvel spirit, that I’m willing to overlook any possible discrepancies. Finally we are presented with Giarrusso’s Mini-Marvel tale, which is always a welcome event, especially when presented in long-form as it is done here. I personally think that Giarrusso is under-used, and would look forward to regular appearances of his work in stand-alone form as Marvel currently does with the on-going series of Franklin Richard one-shots).

Spider-Man Family, which started as a series of one-shot, was re-launched as an on-going title, has now been re-imagined in a post Brand New Day world. This title delivers an Untold Tale form our hero’s past, a prelude look into the upcoming Marvel Apes title, Mr. & Mrs. Spider-Man (Peter & MJ in the M2 Universe while May is an infant); a story about Aunt May working at the F.E.A.S.T. Soup Kitchen, and a reprint from Amazing Spider-Man # 300 (the first Venom story).

The untold tale relates the first 48 hours after the death of Ben Parker; The Marvel Ape story has Spidey re-enacting that classic sequence from ASM #32, Mr. & Mrs. Spider-Man has Pete and MJ helping out the Connors; while the Aunt May story gives a glimpse into a day-in-the-life of May while working the soup kitchen.

Here again, the untold tale reads quite well, and — given how throughly this area has recently been mined (in With Great Power) and elsewhere, it comes off exceptionally well. The Ape story is goofy but fun, so I’ll let it slide (for now). The Mr. & Mrs. tale is told by Tom Defalco & Ron Frenz, so it reads like a cross between their classic Spider-Man stories and their Spider-Girl stuff, so that it is most excellent is a given. Seeing Aunt May walk alone is always fun, and I hope to see more of these type stories as this series progresses. Then there’s the Venom reprint which serves as a great jumping on point for the new Venom Dark Origin series.

If you are a Spider-Fan looking for some fun episodes, an old-time who has fallen away, or someone who just wants to see what all the fun is about, check out these two very fine issues.