ERIC'S "IT'S THE END OF AN ERA"
COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 5 #12 - December 2003 Invoice

DISCLAIMER
----------------

Eric's Newsletter is independent of the opinions and views held by the
company, Comics NOW! Inc. and does not represent the opinions of
the employees of Comics NOW!.  If something within this newsletter
offends you, turns you on, or inspires you and you'd like to talk to
someone about it, please send me (Eric) an email directly at:
newsletter@irxproductions.com


INTRODUCTION
--------------------

Welcome to another wonderful Eric's Newsletter.  This one marks the
end of our first half-decade of monthly comic goodness.  I can't believe
it's been five full years of newsletters.  We've never missed a month,
and we don't intend to in the future, either.  We're talking 61 issues of
Eric's Newsletter (there was a #0 for those of you who were paying
attention) and that's a whole lot.  So, we're ending an era.  The first
five years are done and we're ready to jump into another five.  Without
further babble, let's get to it...


IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
------------------------------------

I love it when a publisher tries something really outrageous that's
gonna piss off a large number of people, and what quicker way to
do that than to create a "Last Temptation of Christ" kind of approach
to a storyline?  This story follows the realization a 12-year old kid has
when he realizes that he's the next incarnation of Christ and that he
can do things like turn water into wine and heal the crippled.  Cool, eh?
OCT030039  Chosen #1   $2.99 retail.


THE BIZ
----------

ULTIMATE SECRET WARS
Sounds like something that you'd hear around the elementary school
playground, doesn't it?  Well, it's not.  Brian Bendis is going to write
a six-issue mini-series in the Ultimate Universe that will bring back
all that Secret Wars stuff Marvel had back in the 1980s.  Y'know,
the same Secret Wars where Spider-Man got the symbiote costume
that eventually turned into Venom after which he discovered that he
had three different clones only one of them had a time-limit and they
were all going to explode shortly before Galactus invaded?  Or...
something like that.

ASPEN UNVEILED
It's over and after the dust cleared, it turned out that Michael Turner
gets to keep all of his titles and actually release them.  Well, if
Turner thought the war with Top Cow was the hard part, he was
wrong.  Now, he's got to fight with Diamond Distributors to figure
out how much they're going to want to peddle his wares...

DARK HORSE WANTS A FEW GOOD...  ANYONE?
Dark Horse is looking for creators.  Why?  Because it doesn't
have any.  Have you read their titles recently?  At any rate, anyone
who's got one milliounce of creativity is urged to visit
www.darkhorse.com.  Or, as I like to call it, come help save a
dying company!  Woo-hoo!

TOP-10 and TOP-100
------------------------

Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions.
Download the November 2003 Top-100 PDF file (it's 8KB!) at:
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/nov03top100.pdf

October '03
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/oct03top100.pdf

September '03
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/sep03top100.pdf

August '03
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/aug03top100.pdf

July '03
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/jul03top100.pdf

June '03
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/jun03top100.pdf

It's Comics NOW!'s very own Top-10 and Top-100 lists.  This

list is based on the internal sales quantities of the titles with Premiere
being the big guns who pay the extra bucks to be listed first in the
ordering system: Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics,
and Marvel Comics.  The Independent list is everyone else, all
those pee-shooters who no one really pays attention to... or do they?

Here's an example of how to read the format:

1.  (3)  The Amazing Eric Comic #560

"1." - the place of the title in the list this month
"(3)" - where the title was LAST month ("-" if it wasn't)
the title - this one should be pretty obvious
"#560" - the issue number of the title

TOP 10 PREMIERE COMICS

1.  (1)  JLA Avengers #2
2.  (-) Wolverine The End #1
3.  (-)  Ultimates
4.  (2)  Marvel 1602 #4
5.  (4)  Ultimate Six #3
6.  (6)  Ultimate Spider-Man #48
7.  (5)  Batman #621
8.  (7)  Ultimate X-Men #39
9.  (3)  Amazing Spider-Man #501
10. (10)  Supreme Power #4

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1.  (1)  Transformers War Within Vol. 2 #2
2.  (2)  Transformers GI Joe #4
3.  (3)  Transformers Armada #17
4.  (4)  Dark Days #5
5.  (5)  Transformers More than Meets #8
6.  (6)  Sojourn #29
7.  (-)  Masters of the Universe Power #1
8.  (-)  Masters of the Universe Snake #1
9.  (10)  El Cazador #3
10. (8)  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6


THE GOOD STUFF
---------------------

DARK HORSE COMICS

MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS... THE ESCAPIST
Okay... so we all know that Dark Horse has always had some
really weird titles drooling out of its publishers' house, but this
one ranks up there as pretty strange.  It's about a guy who can,
well, he can escape things.  He operates out of a secret
headquarters under the floor of a theater, which explains why
he looks kind of... um... ambiguous.  At any rate, there it is.
By Michael Chabon, Howard Chaykin, Kevin McCarthy,
Eric Wright, and others.
80 pages.  Oneshot.  $8.95 retail.

FUSED: THINK LIKE A MACHINE #1
Fused is back.  It's about a guy who got, well, fused with a
big giant robot-thing.  The first set of comics were actually
pretty good (obviously, because we're headed into a second
set).  So, if you liked the first bunch, here we go!
By Steve Niles, Josh Medors, and Eric Powell.
32 pages.  Ongoing series (?).  $2.99 retail.

TALES OF THE VAMPIRES #1
If you like Buffy and everything related to "slayers" then you're
gonna love this title.  It's about what happens when "disaffected
youth turns to vampirism."  Created by Joss Whedon (the
creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), this comic's got lots of
story in it written by the guy who should know best.  It's also
got the artist from Catwoman so at least the art will be...
interesting.
By Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, Cameron Stewart, and more.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.99 retail.
CHOSEN #1 of 3
Here's one that's gonna fly real well in the bible belt.  Imagine
you're twelve years old and suddenly discover you're the returned
Jesus Christ.  You can turn water into wine, make the crippled
walk again, blah blah blah.  In addition, you're going to grow up
and have to fight a war that's been in the brew for 2,000 years.
Sounds like fun, right?
By Mark Millar and Peter Gross.
32 pages.  3-issue mini-series.  $2.99 retail.

DC COMICS

PLASTIC MAN #1
Okay, so you want goofy?  You got goofy.  You have the retelling
of the Plastic Man's origin as well as some of the strangest art and
storytelling I've seen in a comic in quite some time.  Plastic Man
has to deal with his criminal past right from the get-go, and the
question is: who really cares about Plastic Man?
By Kyle Baker.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.50 retail.

ROSE & THORN #1 of 6
It's about disassociative identity disorder.  There's Rose.  And
there's Thorn.  Two girls with distinctly different personalities who
are sharing the same body.  In a psychiatric hospital.  Sound like
fun to you?  Sounds a little Girl, Interrupted for me.
By Gail Simone, Adriana Melo, and Dan Green.
32 pages.  6-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

ASTRO CITY/ARROWSMITH
See?  And you thought it was just an incredibly delayed series and
a band that plays songs for Dodge truck commercials!  Now, it's
two comics in one.  Seriously, both of these comics are being
blended together for a drink mix no one saw coming.  They say
this is a good jumping-on point for people.  So, if you're into either
title... here ya go!
By Kurt Busiek, Carlos Pacheco, Brent Anderson and Jesus Merino.
32 pages.  Oneshot intro.  $2.95 retail.

THE AUTHORITY / LOBO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
It had to happen.  The world's most violent superteam meets up with
the universe's most violent... well... pasty-faced psychotic?  Watch
the hilarity ensue!
By Keith Giffen and Alan Grant.
48 pages.  Oneshot.  $4.95 retail.

VERTICAL
It's half the width of a normal comic.  That's what makes it vertical.
The story is about a "21-year-old daredevil riddled with cuts and
bruises, and a mysterious past that compels him to leap off the
world's tallest structures."  Sound like fun?
By Steven Seagle, Mike Allred, and Philip Bond.
64 pages.  One-shot.  $4.95 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER #1
Okay.  So I mentioned this before.  Sometimes it's simply time for
Image to say "No" to a project.  Any project.  There are four souls
in one body, the best cop and three of the worst mobsters, and
they're all battling for control of Frankenstein Mobster.  Doesn't
this sound like a bad idea to anyone else?
By Mark Wheatley with Mike Wieringo and George Freeman.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.95 retail.

RUN!
Mark Millar is a busy one this month.  This comic asks what
happens if the wrong people get super-powers and what it would
really mean to be the fastest man alive.  Sounds to me like a spinoff
on a story a couple years ago that explained why Quicksilver over
in Marvel-land is always so irritable.  Maybe it's just me.
By Mark Millar and Ashley Wood.
32 pages.  One-shot.  $2.95 retail.

WANTED #1
Millar strikes again.  This time, it's a ripoff of both The Authority
and the Ultimates.  The catch-phrase?  "Sex.  Money.  Super-powers.
Costumes.  You know you want it."  So, it's one of those "We dare
you to buy this comic book" comic books.
By Mark Millar, J.G. Jones, and Paul Mounts.

MARVEL COMICS

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #1
Here we go again.  Fantastic Four never really appealed to me
because of its near Brady-Bunch ideals and focus on family values.
It sounds like a Republican election campaign.  At any rate, the
Ultimate series has been absolutely incredible up to this point, so
if there's a group of talented people who could pull something like
this off, I believe it's going to be them.
By Brian Bendis and Mark Millar with Adam Kubert.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.25 retail.

ANT-MAN #1 of 4 LS
It's Ant-Man.  No one cares.  No one calls.  Nobody even loves
him.  He's small.  I mean, his super-power is that he can get really
small and then... well... talk to ants.  Does that sound like fun?  No?
Well, it doesn't to him, either.  This is the story about what it's like
to be completely unwanted... or at least, somewhat unwanted until
the American government asks you to infiltrate an international spy
ring.
By Daniel Way with Clayton Crain.
32 pages.  4-issue mini-series.  $2.99 retail.


LETTERS COL
-----------------

Send your email to letterscol@irxproductions.com

Nothing new this month, but I can tell that there'll be new
stuff when I write next month's newsletter and cover all of
the new stuff (read: crap) that's coming to the theaters and
DVD - like Matrix Reloaded.   Matrix Revolutions will be
hitting the theaters in early November, and you can bet that
this will be the final hit or miss for the series.

Like always, anyone can feel free to send me an email at:
letterscol@irxproductions.com


FINAL NOTES
-----------------

So, there ya go.  The end of five years of comics goodness.
We'll be back next month with an all new volume number
but the same great sarcasm that's brought you into loving (or
loving to hate) this newsletter.

As always, remember, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  If you
can't join 'em, beat 'em again... and again... and again...
preferably with something large and metallic like a baseball
bat.  Mmmm... baseball bats...

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric R. Jacobson

**********************************************
NOTICE:  The series "Eric's ... Newsletter" is copyright and
property of Eric Jacobson.  The opinions, commentary, and
social outcry held within are solely that of Eric Jacobson and
in no way reflect the demented or warped minds of the
employees of Comics NOW!

If you disagree with any of the material in the newsletter, you
can let it ferment in your mind until it becomes a fine wine, or
you can drop me an email at newsletter@irxproductions.com
**********************************************

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Eric's Newsletter and IRX Productions are copyright 1999,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 to Eric R. Jacobson

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