Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“The hardest part is that I’m 83 years old. I do a great
Jack Benny, but no one really gets it anymore.”- Atomic Robo

Atomic Robo is a comic I have enjoyed reading for some time now. Every chance I get to recommend it to someone, I do and this was the book that started my love for it.

I was wandering through my local comic book shop. I knew that I wanted to buy a book, and I also knew that I didn’t want more of the same. I needed something different, something a little crazy, and something with some humor. Then, it appeared!

Its simple cover was filled with a robot with glowing blue eyes looking like it was seconds away from pounding in the heads of some crazier robots. How could I not buy this book? From there, I have read everything Atomic Robo, and you should too. Start with this Trade Paperback Tuesday pick, Atomic Robo and the Fightin’ Scientists of Tesladyne.

Atomic Robo is the story of the same-named robot that was built by Nikola Tesla in 1923. He has lived through the 20th century, had crazy adventures, and now has adventures with a team of action scientists! How can you not read a book with that description?

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It’s hardly controversial to say that most nerds are not fashionistas. There probably isn’t a lot of demographic crossover between The Twilight Zone and Project Runway. Those nerds who are sew-inclined tend to spend their time on cosplay; their catwalk is the convention floor. The majority of us simply have no idea what fashion is about or how it fits into the Campbellian Monomyth.

It’s not a coincidence that most classic sci-fi depicts the future populace in shiny matching coveralls. We just don’t pay that much attention to clothing. The only thing most nerds wish was in their wardrobes was the magical land of Narnia.

But we have to wear something.

Hence the Nerdy Tee. A simple, classic article of clothing that never seems to go out of style, the T-shirt is the epitome of casual cool. It looks equally at home on a guy or a girl. It can be worn tight for those of us who want to show off our shape or loose for those of us who’d rather not. It’s relatively cheap and easy to launder. And since there’s nothing nerds like more than showing off their obsessions (with buttons, stickers, lunchboxes, action figures, posters, etc.), adorning our T-shirts with nerd iconography is a no-brainer.

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That’s right. You heard it here last. It seems that the newest film featuring our favorite Henson classics The Muppets is yet another “plan for the left to bad mouth affluent businessmen” as the film’s main antagonist is an evil oil baron.

According to a report (yes, they felt the need to do an entire segment on this) from Fox Business, Jason Segal’s Muppet film is guilty of negatively portraying a simple business owner in the form of Chris Cooper’s “Tex Richman”, an evil baron who’s set on destroying the Muppet studios to drill for oil.

The fact that Fox, or anyone for that matter, would think that it’s news that The Muppets, a creation of Jim Henson, is just now taking aim at the aptly labeled 1%, is just preposterous.

Note that the news report barely mentions the existence of Statler and Woldof, who were doing the “old, rich, white antagonist” act before this reporter was able to walk. Take a look at the downfall of modern journalism in true form after the jump, and catch The Muppets in theaters now, or the oil barons of the world win.

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“I mock the costume. I mock my father — his life. I am a fool.” – Jack Knight – Starman #1

Everyone can relate to having problems with your father. No matter what you do, you always believe you’re not living up to his example, but imagine if your father was a superhero. A famous superhero that has saved the world several times, and is one of the most amazing inventors ever. How hard would it be to live up to his example then? That’s what this Trade Paperback Tuesday’s pick is all about.

The Starman Omnibus Vol #1 collects Starman issues #0-#16. Written by British writer James Robinson, and illustrated by Tony Harris, Starman was a series that followed the adventures of Jack Knight, son of Ted Knight, better known as the legendary hero of Opal City, Starman.

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“I work hard at my job, Inspector. I won’t stop trying to expose the corruption of Metropolis. If that makes me an outside or a freak, I’m fine with that.”  - Clark Kent, Action Comics #3

It’s month three of the New 52 Superman. No longer is he an ultra-powerful god that worries about being lonely. Now, he is a social crusader that can leap tall buildings and wears jeans. Did writer Grant Morrison continue the forward momentum and the fresh take on the character that made the first issue so successful? The short answer is yes, and the longer answer is that he did it in a way that I did not expect.

The issue begins with a flashback to the destruction of Krypton, beautifully illustrated by guest artist Gene Ha. Ha handles all the art on the Krypton sequences while series artist Rags Morales continues art on the rest of the issue. While the re-designs of Superman’s doomed planet are great, I was really bored with this sequence. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited by the new inclusion of Brainiac into the destruction of Krypton. (Something that was done first by Bruce Timm’s Superman: The Animated Series over ten years ago).

Parts of these pages have been seen over and over again by anyone that has ever read a Superman comic. Grant Morrison, himself, skipped over Krypton’s destruction by only letting it have two panels in his Superman epic All-Star Superman. In that book, he simply wrote, “Desperate scientists, doomed planet,” and that was all we needed to know. Thankfully, the book doesn’t dwell on Krypton for too long, and focuses on what makes this book excellent.

Superman makes only one tiny appearance in this book. Then who is the star, you might ask. Let me tell you. It’s Clark Kent, and Clark Kent is awesome in this book. No longer the meek, clumsy, nerd he was in the Christopher Reeve movies. This Clark Kent writes articles about corruption in every aspect of society: the police, businesses, and politicians.

He angers people with his articles, and gets beat up for it regularly. The police even search his apartment to get him to stop writing! This is a Clark Kent that matters. His articles and words fight for justice just as hard as Superman does.

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“I’m only human; They don’t believe I can penetrate their stronghold. They don’t believe I pose a threat. Wrong.” – Batman – JLA #3

Everyone has their favorite superhero team. For some, it is the X-Men, for others it is the Avengers, but for me, it will always be the Justice League. The team’s membership includes not only Superman and Batman, which just by themselves are unstoppable, but includes classics like Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.

Now, the Justice League has over sixty years of publishing history. So a reader wanting to read the Justice League may be a little confused about where to start, and that’s where our Trade Paperback Tuesday pick comes in.

JLA: Volume 1 collects the first nine issues of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s run in the 1990′s plus a Secret Files special. Morrison treated his Justice League team as if they were the Greek Gods themselves protecting their kingdom from their castle in the clouds. (This Justice League had its Watchtower base on the moon!) His team also included the “Big 7″ of DC Comics, and eventually expanded to a membership of twelve.

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“This is not how the world ends.” – S.H.I.E.L.D #1

When most people think of S.H.I.E.L.D., they think of the secret spy organization that is lead by the one-eyed Nick Fury. This book is about the secret and ancient history behind the founding of that organization. Before you run away, spouting some nonsense saying that you don’t want to read a continuity heavy Marvel Universe story, let me assure you. There are little to no references to the Marvel Universe in this book.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is a historical mystery about a secret organization that we never knew existed starring figures from our past. Leonardo DaVinci? Check. Issac Newton? He’s here too. This book is a who’s who of scientific history.

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With Footloose, the remake, now out in theaters, it seemed only appropriate to take a look at the top ten dance movies of all time. We all know and love them, regardless if we’ll admit it or not. And now, in the words of Kevin Bacon in the original Footloose, “Let’s dance!”

1. Dirty Dancing – In 1987, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had young girls everywhere swooning and begging their parents for dance lessons. There’s drama, edgy dance moves, and of course, steamy love scenes. Pack all this together, and you have not only one of the best dance movies of all times, but also one of the great love stories. After all, “nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

2. Footloose – If you were a teenager in the ‘80s, then surely you know the lyrics to the Kenny Loggins song, “Footloose,” by heart. That’s because Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, not to mention young Sarah Jessica Parker and Sean Penn, danced their way into teenage hearts in 1984’s Footloose. It’s the classic case of good versus evil (or young verses old) with the end dance scene being one that has gone done in history as one of the best of the best.

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Not many comic books improve with their second issue. Generally, writers and artists put everything they got into the first. First issues want to catch the readers with their debut so that they stay around. Most of the time the second issue of a comic book series is all setup. It’s usually the quiet reprieve from the action before the build-up to the climax that is still a couple issues to come. Atomic Robo is not like that at all. In fact, Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #2 is better than the first issue!

In my review of the first issue, I was very positive of the entire series of Atomic Robo, and for good reason. Atomic Robo is rarely a book that you can predict. Generally, it fires at all cylinders at all times, throwing jokes, action scenes, and crazy science concepts at you that make you re-read pages over and over. That’s exactly what this second issue does.

Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #2 begins right where the first issue left off. Robo just got a face full of explosion, he’s unconscious, and he’s beginning to fall to the Earth. Hats off to the writer and artist team of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener for crafting one of the most exciting comic sequences I have seen in a long time. The pacing of Robo’s fall through the atmosphere is pure brilliance.

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“When I was a kid growing up, I never could decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.”  - Green Lantern #75

Some heroes are born, and others are made.

In the mid-90s, Green Lantern wasn’t selling well. So DC Comics did the unthinkable, they created a storyline where Hal Jordan went crazy, became a super villain named Parallax, and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps. While that story line was pretty bad, the issues that followed were pure gold.

We were introduced to Hal’s replacement, Kyle Rayner, a twenty-something graphic artist who couldn’t hold a steady job, and flirted with all the ladies, a screw-up. Kyle received his ring not because of his ability to overcome fear, but because he was in the right place at the right time. Kyle was more creative with his ring than any other Green Lantern because of his artistic mind. The only trouble was with no Green Lantern Corp around anymore, Kyle had no training. Here was Kyle Rayner, a screw up, in possession of the most powerful weapon in the universe, and he has no idea what to do with it.

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There was a time when anything Geoff Johns wrote was gold especially if it had Green Lantern in the title. This was the man that gave us an amazing 100 issue run on JSA, redeemed and redefined Hal Jordan as a character in Green Lantern: Rebirth, and was one of the architects of the brilliant weekly series 52.

Somewhere around the time of Blackest Night, Geoff Johns became stale for me. Whereas once his plots were epic and revolutionary, now the plots are stale, and do little but set up his next event. Green Lantern #2 does little to change my opinion.

Hal Jordan is no longer Green Lantern following the events of the War of the Green Lanterns. Sinestro has been granted Hal’s ring, and he shows up on Hal’s doorstep offering to give it back to him. Like any deal with the devil, there is price.

Most of the issue is a simple conversation between Hal and Sinestro. Sinestro plays the role of over-bearing arrogant mother by spending the issue insulting Hal by saying he never really changed the Earth, he just used the ring to show-off. Hal spends most of the issue filling his role as petty brat constantly yelling at Sinestro, and saying, “Gimmie my ring back!”

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Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

The trade paperback you should check out this week is Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by IDW Comics. Locke & Key is one part horror, one part mystery, and ten parts of intrigue. It is a book that immediately after you finish reading it, your first thought will be, “Why haven’t I read this before?”

Locke & Key is the story of the three young Locke children, and what happens to them after their father is murdered. Their uncle invites the kids and their mother to move to Lovecraft, Massachusetts, where the home of the Locke family mansion also known as the Key house resides.

Everything seems to be settling back to normal for the kids until the youngest Locke boy finds a key with a skull on it, and when he inserts it into a certain door, he becomes a ghost. That one single turn of the key leads the three Locke children into a bigger mystery about the true nature of the house, its multiple special keys and doors, and the secret of what exactly is in the well out back.

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