Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

Smallville Writer Is Kickstarting His Own Graphic Novel

Smallville was one of those shows I always had a love/hate relationship with. I remember being WAY into it when it first started, because it was sort of like Ultimate DC, but before Ultimate Marvel was even really a thing. Then it got progressively sillier, and Lana Lang became one of the must frustrating characters on all of television history, and no amount of watery eyes and doughy pouty lips could save her from fans hatred. Regardless, I did enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. When I read about Bryan Q. Miller trying his hand at his own comic book, it makes me wonder if what I liked was his writing, or just the Superman stuff?

On top of that, I really like how Kickstarter has actually given a relatively stable platform for budding indie artists and writers to get funding for their books to be published and read. It’s far superior to other traditional publishing venues in that it’s being paid by and directly given to the people who want to read it. Well, the book itself is called Earthward, and takes place in the future on a spaceship and that description alone already has me. The fact that it’s all ages is good too, because I really enjoy comics and shows that are meant to be all ages, but don’t dumb themselves down for the kiddie’s sake.

Find out more here.

DC Bringing All The News, Some Of The Facts With Channel 52

One of my favorite things about comics when I was younger was the letters/promo section at the end. It always felt like after you finished your comic you got a little bonus there, and if you were lucky enough you could write in and get your letter featured in an upcoming issue, and that concept is something I still really like and wish was more prevalent in the industry. Well, at the very least the promo side of it is being retained by DC, who are changing things up. Previously there used to be the All Access pages towards the back of the book, detailing different tie ins or what have you, and lately there’s been the DC Nation that functions in the same way. It looks like DC is looking to change it up once again and have the section be re-branded and interpreted in a new way, as “Channel 52”. It’s a move that looks like it’s establishing their own set of characters, and looks to be a bit more narrative based, so as to give the impression of being more of an extra, rather than just a collection of promos. Hopefully it ends up being as interesting an idea as they want us to think it is.

Find out more here.

The X- Files Returns! In Comic Form!

The X-Files is one of those shows I remember fondly from my youth. I remember coming home on a Friday and being too scared of the shows opening sequence to actually finish the rest of the episode sometimes. When I was younger aliens and cryptids and things like that all really scared the crap out of me. Now as a staunch skeptic I find them silly, but my love for the show still remains. The ideas behind the show, and the possibilities behind the world not being the boring bit of doldrums we see it as every day is an enticing, refreshing thought. The X-Files also seemed like one of those shows that could have gone on forever, if it didn’t get bogged down with it’s own weirdo mythology, and the increasing fan pressure for Mulder and Scully to drop their platonic friendship for something more. Then there were those two movies that weren’t so good. Hopefully the comic can bring back some of that old goodness in comic form.

Find out more here. 

Spider–Men 2 Is Officially Planned

Last year the Ultimate Spider-Man and the Marvel Spider-Man had a whole story dedicated to them meeting up and having shenanigans.  It was called Spider-Men and I didn’t read it, because you know, Spider-Man. (For those not familiar with this column, I’m not a Spider-Man fan. Sorry.) But I can see the appeal. A lot of folks did, because it was one of the best reviewed and received books of the year, and Brian Michael Bendis is looking to continue that story this year with obviously titled Spider-Men 2. Now I’m sure a more knowledgeable fan could provide better speculation or even answers but I’m wondering how this is going to tie into the recent revelations from Superior-Spider-Man? I’m guessing it’ll just be another Spider-Man to throw into the fray of Spider-Men, and it’ll be an all out Spider War! Which reminds me, I have a pitch for a new reality TV show to write.

Find out more here.

Action Comics 17 & 18 Now Supersized

So there’s good new and bad news about Action Comics this week. The good news is that it’s going to be a dollar cheaper than expected. With the original price at $4.99, and the digital copy combo going for a whopping $5.99, the prices are coming down to a slightly more reasonable $3.99 and $4.99 respectively. The bad news is that the price comes down because they’re being cut from 48 pages to 40, but are still being advertised as Super-Sized, which is confusing. The other bad news is of course, Grant Morrison is leaving the book. By far my favorite writer out there, the fact that he’s leaving the Superman character is depressing, but all good things have to come to an end eventually. Action Comics was one of the books that at the beginning of the New 52, showed me that new things could still be done with iconic classic characters, and really made Superman seem interesting and new again while still being familiar and the same. It’s one of the better Superman books I’ve ever read and I’m really hoping it’ll stay that way once Morrison leaves.

Find out more here.

That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!