Weekly Hit (and Miss) List: 9/20/2011

by Ben Peirce

The Weekly Hit (and Miss) List is a rundown of the best and worst things I read this week regardless of their original publication date. It doesn’t have to be new – just new to me.  This was a light reading week for me, so I’m going to keep it brief and focus my efforts on some of the surprise (at least to me) hits of DC’s new 52.

THE HITS

Animal Man #1 | DC | Jeff Lemire (w), Travel Foreman (a)

I really can’t get enough of the New 52.  Make no mistake, they haven’t all been great but they’re all NEW and when you’ve read superhero comics for as long as Josh and I have, finding something new can be hard to come by.  Of the books I’ve read so far, Animal Man has done the best job of embracing the newness while still establishing a sense of history.  That’s a lot to accomplish in 22 pages but Jeff Lemire does it masterfully.  I’ll take some heat for liking this on account of my constant New Avengers-bashing, but within the first few pages (which yes, do take place around a kitchen table)  it’s obvious that Buddy Baker/Animal Man is an established character with some history but it’s a fresh start for both the characters and the reader and I found myself slipping effortlessly into the story.

Episode 016 – “Crack Economics”

We’ve been off for a month but we’re back with a vengeance! In this episode, we open up with some San Diego Comic Con news and a good hearty bitch session about the onslaught of titles in this month’s Marvel Previews.

Then we get to some comic talk, where replacement heroes, Bucky-Cap and the Dick Knight make us think about character evolution. And what do you do when you characters get to old to be human? A hidden bombshell in Captain America #600 sparks a wave of continuity questions.

Finally, we wrap things off with a longbox-load of comic talk including Avengers Invaders, Dark Reign: Mr. Negative & Sinister Spider, Ultimatum and the Ultimate Comics relaunch, Wednesday Comics, Batman, Green Lantern, Chew, Viking and more – It’s too much for you to handle!

Ben & Josh’s Near Mint Comic Show – Episode 016

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Comic Movie News: Heath Ledger Wins Oscar for The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger: Oscar winner.

As many believed would happen, Heath Ledger won an Academy Award Sunday night for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

His role in one of history’s highest grossing films is now immortalized with the award. His father, mother and sister accepted on his behalf. Not to speak in cliches, but you could hear a pin drop in the room when they spoke.

It sounds weird to say congratulations to the late Ledger, but perhaps this will help convince people that they’re not just ‘comic book movies’ after all.

Near Mint Comic Show: Best of 2008

We’re picking the best comics of ’08 and we need your help

2008.  For every year older we get, it seems like the years get that much shorter.  Years, as they say, just roll by like a broken down dam.  But for us comics fans, a lot can happen in a year.  A year that saw an invasion unfold and a crisis near finality, a year that gave us a new Captain America and a … um … RIP’d Batman, a year with 3 glorious issues of All-Star Batman & Robin, can feel like a very long time.  

Near Mint Episode 004 – “Monthly Momentum”

In this episode, the boys talk about comics derailed by the monthly schedule. We dive into Secret Invasion and Spider-Man New Ways to Die. Ben recaps the Granite Con and continues to be confused by Batman RIP. Josh gives us news including Denny Oneil and Stephen Colbert. Reviews and Previews include Ultimate Origins, Mighty Avengers, DC Last Will and Testament, War Heroes, Captain America and more.

Listen to the Podcast here or subscribe via iTunes

Random News: Colbert to appear in ASM, O’Neill coming back to Batman

Steven Colbert - American Comic Hero

A few mid-week news notes for our faithful listeners and readers:

-First, we are recording our new p’cast as I type this. Ben tends to talk a lot! (Just kidding, bud.)

-Steven Colbert to appear in Amazing Spider-Man #573: Comedy Central host Colbert, seen as a presidential candiate throughout the Marvel titles over the past year, will meet up with our favorite wall-crawler in an eight-page backup story in ASM #573. The issue is the final part of the New Ways To Die arc, but will be unrelated to the storyline…we hope. And of course, there will be a Colbert variant. Hooray!

-Denny O’Neil returns to Batman for two issues: The long-term Batman scribe will return to write the man he knows so well for a two-issue run in December…except Bats won’t be in the story thanks to Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P. run. From his Newsarama interview:

“Batman really isn’t in the story…Batman is the great unseen presence in the story, the way that Hamlet’s father is the great unseen presence (except for a few minutes in Act I) in that story.”

-Liquid Comics buys out Virgin Comics: The long-awaited end of Virgin Comics has come as Liquid Comics has completed their buyout of management. Apparently, they will continue to work on some of the existing characters that Virgin had worked on, but I’m not sure where Stan Lee’s deal fits into all of this. Poor Stan, but this was to be expected.

Artists Wanted – Near Mint launches Art Gallery

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the Near Mint Art Gallery. The Art Gallery is a chance for the hosts, fans, and friends of the program to show off their talent. We got the ball rolling with some sketches and desktop wallpapers of our own but this page is really for you. Are you an aspiring comic artist?  Want to show off that sweet new Green Lantern tattoo?  Got a convention sketch you’re dying to show off to the world?  Now’s you chance! 

Send your artwork to nearmintcomicshow@gmail.com and we’ll post it in the Art Gallery.  Provide us with your name, hometown, age (optional) and any caption info to go along with your work.  Please submit original artwork only.  We reserve the right to deny or remove art submissions at any time.

F**k you, Batman: All-Star 10 gaffe creates instant must-have

Despite our society’s push to rely more and more on technical excellence rather than human know-how, we should never forget that the human touch provides a lot more to laugh at.

Holy expletive, Batman!

If you didn’t get your All-Star Batman and Robin #10 this week, there is a reason. DC asked retailers to destroy all copies sent to them because the issue contained uncensored obscenities due to a ‘printing gaffe’ with the various shades of black they were using. So, ol’ Batgirl was in full-color dropping f-bombs and the issue’s thugs had their colorful language appear with censoring as well. Oops.

The funniest part was DC noticed this after the books had been shipped and they asked their retailers to destroy the copies. Uhhh..ok. You’re a shop owner and in your hands, you have a potentially rare collectible that people will be jonesing for. You have spent years having to buy stuff you didn’t want to, put in orders months in advance and had to endure the current state of the economy. Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be rushing to burn those issues instead of selling them to people for $20 a pop.

You can find the issue on Ebay, ranging anywhere from $20-$60.

Episode 3 is up!

The third episode (which is actually a continuation of the second episode, but who’s counting) of Ben & Josh’s Near Mint Comic Show is live!  Go to the Podcasts page to listen to this episode along with the first two, or subscribe to our feed through iTunes.  

Let us know what you think about the show.
Have you listened to the show?  Do you like what you hear?  Is there anything we can add to make it better? We want to hear from you.  Send us an email at nearmintcomicshow@gmail.com or better yet, leave us an iTunes review.  You’ve heard our voices … now we want to hear yours!