ShareThisBy ANDREW A. SMITH
September is another busy month in the world of comics, and for a change the humongous crossovers at Marvel and DC are not dominating the news.
At Marvel Comics, a recent press release announced delays on the ongoing "Civil War" miniseries, a storyline crossing over into most of Marvel's major titles. To howls of outrage across fandom, Marvel said "In an attempt to accommodate the creative team of (Mark) Millar and (Steve) McNiven (on "Civil War") and keep the artistic integrity and high standards of the event, we will be shifting the following titles ..." And then announced delays on 19 titles _ some of them for a couple of months.
"Civil War" No. 4, originally scheduled to ship Aug. 16, will now ship on Sept. 20. And "Civil War" No. 5, originally due this month, won't appear until Nov. 15! That pushes a number of title down the schedule, including several issues of "Amazing Spider-Man," "Fantastic Four," "Civil War Frontline" and "Punisher War Journal." Ouch.
But Marvel has some non-Civil War material of interest in September, including:
_ "Blade" No. 1 ($2.99), the first issue of a new ongoing title by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin, stars a vampire-bitten Spider-Man.
_ "Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man" No. 1 and "Stan Lee Meets Dr. Strange" No. 1 ($3.99 each), the first two issues in a miniseries in which Stan Lee meets some of the characters he co-created ... written by Stan Lee, of course. Lee said the Marvel heroes will remain in character in these light-hearted stories, and the humor will arise from Lee himself. "I'll be the only idiot in the story," he told "Worlds of Westfield" magazine.
"Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther" DVD ($19.98): The first Avengers animated movie debuted on Sci-Fi Channel, but the second is going straight to DVD (and stars the Black Panther).
Over at DC Comics, the "Infinite Crisis" isn't rippling very far this month, with only the excellent "52" (a weekly series lasting exactly 52 weeks) carrying the flag. Instead, let's focus on :
_ "Krypto the Superdog" No. 1 (of 6, $2.25), based on the animated show you know your kids love, because they keep singing that annoying theme song.
_ "Mystery In Space" No. 1 (of 8, $3.99), reviving a legendary title from DC's past (it used to star Adam Strange) while reviving two other characters: Captain Comet (who debuted in the early '50s) and The Weird (a strange character of more recent vintage).
_ "American Splendor" No. 1 (of 4, $2.99) represents the first time Harvey Pekar's quirky autobiographical work has appeared at a major publisher. I guess having your own movie lets you move uptown.
_ "Snakes on a Plane" No. 1-2 (of 2, $2.99 each), an adaptation (by superstar writer Chuck Dixon) of the movie that's consumed the Internet.
_ "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier ($29.99): Forget the execrable movie, which had little to do with the two excellent comic-book miniseries by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. This third League story is by the same creative team, but is being released as a hardcover graphic novel (instead of a miniseries), and is set in the mid-1950s (instead of the Victorian era). Somehow Mina Harker (from the "Dracula" novel) and Allan Quatermain (star of adventure novels) are still around, and are investigating the history of the League. Included in the package is a "Tijuana Bible," a 3-D section (with those funky glasses), maps, charts and other cool stuff, like a cutaway view of Captain Nemo's Nautilus.
Meanwhile, other publishers are leaping to the fore with some terrific work in September:
_ "E-Man: Recharged" No. 1 (Digital Webbing, $3.99) features the return of the humorous energy being from the stars who wears Einstein's famous equation on his chest. This resurrection is by E-Man's creators, Nick Cuti and Joe Staton, and promises to be a winner.
_ "Popeye Vol. 1: I Yam What I Yam" (Fantagraphics, $29.95) is the first in a proposed series of hardcovers reprinting the legendary E.C. Segar "Thimble Theater" comic strips that starred the world's most famous one-eyed sailor. This volume covers 1928-30, both daily and Sunday strips, with Popeye's initial courtship of Olive Oyl center stage.
_ The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation" (Hill & Wang) is a breakdown of the congressional investigation into the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It's by veterans Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, who vow to make the arcane and abstruse clear, without politics _ and if you want a sample of how they did, the graphic novel is being serialized on Slate.com. It's being released in two formats, softcover ($16) and hardcover ($30).
(Contact Andrew Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us/forums.)
