Mattel has two panels at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, and are offering up a bunch of exclusives to boot. If you can’t go to the sold out show to pick up these exclusives, rest assured you can find them on eBay for a very jacked up price after the show.
Woe is the comic fan who bemoans the loss of Paul Dini in Detective Comics and refuses to jump on a book featuring a strong female lead, for that comic book reader is going to miss out on one heck of an issue.
It’s been coming for ages — and we all knew it.
This unnatural and unnerving, pacifist side of this alternate future world Wolverine was something that was crying out to be changed. Even though every faithful reader who has been following this very entertaining story over the past several issues understood the very valid reason that Logan had for being the way he is, we felt totally unsatisfied with the status quo.
Large amounts of mayhem were surely going to erupt at some time in the immediate future — and we all knew it.
If you have never read Sean Wang’s Runners series, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy as soon as you can. If you can’t do that, head over to the newly launched website runnersuniverse.com to read the first series Runners: Bad Goods for free. The series takes a look at a group of alien smugglers who happen upon a shipment that is more than it appears – and then all heck breaks loose.
The follow up series Runners: The Big Snow Job, was to be published a year ago by Archaia Studios Press, but will now appear online when the Bad Goods runs concludes online.
“I’m still a fan of print comics,†continues Wang, “so the second series will still be collected into graphic novel format after it finishes posting online. But I hope to use the free webcomic to build the audience as large as possible in the meantime. I firmly believe that many who read the series online at www.runnersuniverse.com will still want to purchase the printed volumes. Hopefully, with a larger audience that is familiar with the series, comic stores can then order the books with more confidence that they aren’t ‘taking a chance’ on an unknown small press book. So everyone wins! “
Wang does point out something every web comic fan should do – purchase the collected editions of your favorite series to support the creators. I’ve done it with Penny Arcade, Wapsi Square, Least I Could Do, Sinfest, and The Dreamland Chronicles. Runners is an excellent series, and deserves your attention.
Or – “Bruce Banner Malibu Barbie, Anyone?”
Astute Spoilerites may have noticed that at the very bottom of each Hero History, tucked under the seemingly endless links, there’s a coming attraction for the next episode. It’s my old-school television roots showing… In any case, the last Hero History promised a little bit a Tinya in your life, and I was well into gathering my research for her story, when something happened. Something important, something that caused an immediate change in plans. In order to explain the significance of this event, I need to tell you the story of “The Hero History That Did Not Want To Be Told.” Many weeks ago, I broke down my outline of Legionnaires and the order in which I wanted to indoctrinate them to their moment in the sun. Way back in March, I completed my Sun Boy history, and turned to the next hero in rotation… only to find that I didn’t own her last appearance. But of course, I WORK in a comic store, so this shouldn’t be too hard, right? Nope. The issue was neither in our back issue bins or in the storage area we call the cave. I asked Deon to order me the collected TPB, but it’s out of print. I then went to my second line of the defense, a fellow comic store owner in Lawrence. No dice. Having checked my friendly local comic book shop, I went to Mile High Comics online. Out of stock. Then, wonder of wonders, I found a copy on Ebay…
…only to lose the auction at the last minute. Another ray of hope came when a new agent came to my team in June, and he, a fellow comic fan, mentioned in passing that he had a copy…
…but when he went to find it, he found that his home had been broken into and many of his comics stolen, including the one I needed. Yesterday, I spent SIX hours in the comic shops of Kansas City, only to find my efforts in vain. This issue was destined to evade me. Last night, I bumped into an old friend online, and lo and behold, she had the issue, and within twenty minutes had given me the images I needed. After all this folderal, I felt that I must immediately put together her much-delayed and seemingly cursed Hero History before a catastrophic hard drive failure or a plague of locusts struck. She joined the team on a lark, and soon made herself beloved amongst her fellows, standing by the team in one of their darkest hours, and dying like she lived, as a champion of hope. This, then, is your Major Spoilers history of Candi Pyponte-Le Parc III of Xanthu… Monstress!
