ERIC'S "IT'S ONE FRIGID SONUVASEASON!"
COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 6 #1 - January 2004 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
--------------------

Well, it's a brand new year for comics and we've got plenty of stuff
to talk about.  First, let's talk about temperature -- holy mackerel,
is it cold!  I've been thinking about selling off my refrigerator to help
pay for my ever-increasing electricity bill.  This is getting insane!
Whatever happened to Global Warming?!

Anyway, enough talking about useless stuff.  Let's move on to the
things that really matter -- that's right, comics, bay-bee!


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

So here's a big surprise.  My pick-of-the-month this month is a
trade paperback.  Normally, I select a great new comic or a
comic book that has been so consistently good that it bears
mention, but this month is a collected trade of a comic that is
so good that it bears mention, Global Frequency Planet Ablaze TP.

Not only is it a great book, but if you buy it through Comics NOW!
(http://www.comicsnow.com) in November, you can get 40% off
the cover price!  Now, that, my friends, is a great deal.

NOV030260  Global Frequency Planet Ablaze  $14.95 retail.


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

MARVEL BOWS HEAD IN SHAME
After Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo made it very obvious that
they were leaving Marvel's Fantastic Four, Editor-In-Chief
Joe Quesada decided that it was time to apologize, sending the
two of them an official apology.  They're back in the fold now,
ready until the next time Marvel pulls an assinine move.

ALPHA FLIGHT FLYING IN FROM CANADA
Rumor has it that Marvel's prepping the return of Alpha Flight,
probably one of the strangest ideas to date -- I mean, a
Canadian superteam?!  No offense to any canucks out there
(oop... I am one myself), but c'mon!  Anyway, the comics
WERE actually pretty good the first time around so who knows?
Maybe this is a good idea.

CROSSGEN LAYS OFF
Everyone knows that Crossgen is my favorite publisher in the
whole entire world (not!) but I was definitely curious when
they fired off 25 employees in both their business and creative
departments.  The problem, rumor has it, is that they're not
making any money (surprise!).  They've been the victim of
a number of publicly released financial situations that have
resulted in a number of freelancers complaining about being
unpaid.  Is Crossgen on the way out?  We can only hope.


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

Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions.
Download the December 2003 Top-100 PDF file (it's 8KB!) at:
http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/dec03top100.pdf

November '03
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

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 pea-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.  (-)  Ultimate Fantastic Four #1
2.  (1)  JLA Avengers #3
3.  (-)  Wolverine
4.  (6)  Ultimate Spider-Man #50
5.  (5)  Ultimate Six #4
6.  (4)  Marvel 1602 #5
7.  (7)  Batman #622
8.  (8)  Ultimate X-Men #40
9.  (-)  New X-Men
10. (9)  Amazing Spider-Man #502

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1.  (-)  Transformers G1 Vol. 3 #1
2.  (1)  Transformers War Within Vol. 2 #3
3.  (3)  Transformers Armada #18
4.  (2)  Transformers GI Joe #5
5.  (4)  Dark Days #6
6.  (-)  Frank Millers Robocop #1
7.  (6)  Sojourn #30
8.  (-)  Mark Millars The Unfunnies #1
9.  (-)  Bone
10. (9)  El Cazador #4



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

DARK HORSE COMICS

FREAKS OF THE HEARTLAND #1
Steve Niles has risen in comics as being one of the best writers that
the industry has seen in a great while.  When paired with Greg Ruth,
this comic looks like its got a whole lot of potential.  The concept is
one of a twist on typical horror comics.  Take two brothers who
live in a barn behind their parents' house because the younger
brother is freakish (thus, the name of the comic).  He's incredibly
large and extremely strong. The older brother decides it's time for
a night on the town, so-to-speak, and... well... things change.
By Steve Niles and Greg Ruth
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.99 retail.

DC COMICS

SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #1 of 4
Kurt Busiek writes a story about a teenager named Clark Kent.
No, it's not Superman.  This is the real world here.  Kent's
parents (named Kent) thought it'd be really amusing if they
named their son Clark, after the comic books.  Busiek's piece
delves into what happens when you're named after a famous
person and whether that really helps you at all.  Sounds cool.
By Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen.
48 pages.  4-issue mini-series.  $5.95 retail.

DC: THE NEW FRONTIER #1 of 6
Let's take you back to the 1950s and investigate what happens
when superheroes exist in that time period.  No one's too
happy with superheroes, there's a lot of anti-hero sentiment
what with McCarthy cracking down on all the Russians in the
U.S.  (What Russians in the U.S.?  Oh well).  At any rate,
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all made it through
but now there are newcomers Hal Jordan and Barry Allen on
the scene. How do things change?
By Darwyn Cooke.
64 pages.  6-issue mini-series.  $6.95 retail.

WONDER WOMAN #200
Believe it or not, it's finally happened.  After getting canceled and
reissued over and over again, a comic book about Wonder
Woman finally makes it to issue 200.  Go figure.  This one's
double-sized and brings to a climax the current storyline.
By Greg Rucka, Robert Rodi, Nunzio Difillipis, and
Christina Weir.  Various artists accompany.
64 pages.  Ongoing series.  $3.95 retail.

GLOBAL FREQUENCY: PLANET ABLAZE TP
It's not usually my style to cover the new Trade Paperbacks that
are being released but when a comic that is as good as Global
Frequency gets compiled, even I've got to sit up and take notice.
The Global Frequency is a secret institution made up of 1001
members who each have specialists and live all around the globe.
When they're needed, they're called on to act.  This TP collects
issues #1-6 of the 12-issue maxi-series.
By Warren Ellis with Garry Leach, Glenn Fabry, Liam Sharp,
Steve Dillon, Roy Martinez, Jon J. Muth, and David Lloyd.
144 pages.  Trade Paperback.  $14.95 retail.

ROBOTECH: INVASION #1 of 5
The Robotech saga continues with an all-new mini-series.  Just
like the TV series, there's no real end in sight.  The New
Generation launches into action as a large-scale war against the
Invid starts on the planet itself.  Hunter is now an Admiral and
this comic covers his first strike to reclaim the homeworld.
By Jay Faerber and Ken Siu-Chong with Takeshi
Miyazawa and Omar Dogan.
32 pages.  5-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

MIDNIGHT, MASS: HERE THERE BE
MONSTERS #1 of 6
The second mini-series in.. a series (?) is back with those two
wacky (okay, maybe not) paranormal investigators Adam and
Julia Kadmon checking out the haps with the messianic monster
Magellan.  Go figure.
By John Rozum, Paul Lee, and Tomer Hanuka.
32 pages.  6-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

MY FAITH IN FRANKIE #1 of 4
Frankie has a secret - she's got her own personal god named
Jeriven.  However, Frankie's gotten tired of having this deity
follow her around her entire life and, well, she's kind of horny
and wants to spice up her love life lest she begin to look, like,
desperate (GASP!).  Jeriven isn't too happy about this, though,
and doesn't want to lose his sole disciple.
By Mike Carey, Sonny Liew, and Marc Hempel.
32 pages.  4-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

BLOODSTREAM #1 of 4
Strange.  So, there's this exotic dancer (of course) named Amber
O'Neil who is captured by doctors and has her blood replaced
with a red liquid blood substitute.  After all this goes down, she
needs to find out who's responsible and untangle the lies about
everything that's happened to her (exotic dancer = super-secret
stealthy ninja, apparently).
By Adam Shaw and Penny Register.
32 pages.  4-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

KABUKI: THE ALCHEMY #1 of 6
Kabuki's always been a gorgeous comic that's quite nearly made
it so no one really cares about the story.  Kabuki is an illegimate
child whose parents are a head Noh assassin and a Geisha.  This
issue doesn't have a whole lot of news about it, but they're
describing it as a "perfect jumping-on point for new readers."
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
By David Mack.
32 pages.  6-issue mini-series.  $2.95 retail.

COMMON GROUNDS #1 of 6
It's another of Image's "What-happens-when-superheroes-aren't-
on-duty" stories.  However, this one is done by Top Cow so it
actually stands the chance to be pretty good.  In each issue, two
stories of what happens to different superheroes will be told.  It
sounds like it could actually be one to watch so keep your eye
out for it.
32 pages.  6-issue mini-series.  $2.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS
AVENGERS #77
So, another "great jumping-on point" for readers.  Avengers
#77 which is Marvel's equivalent of DC's JLA is only $0.50
this month.  If you've never read the comic, it's definitely
worth a shot as it encompasses all of Marvel's big-time
superheroes (and a lot of small ones).  In this issue,  Captain
America and friends have to deal with big baddies, the
Wrecking Crew over in Great Britain.  A spot of tea, chap?
By Chuck Austen, Oliver Copiel and John Cassaday.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $0.50 retail.

SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED #1
For what seems like the 50th time, Spider-Man Unlimited
has once again been rebooted and restarted (must be
running Windows Millenium).  Two stories start off the new
series that's supposed to showcase all of the new writing
talent that Marvel's managed to scrape up.
By Joseph Goodrich, Brian Lynch, Takeshi Miyazawa,
and Sean Chen.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.99 retail.

PUNISHER MAX #1 & 2
Garth Ennis is given free reign in Punisher's new ongoing
series, Punisher Max.  If you thought the current ongoing
series was rough, you haven't seen anything yet.  The first
few issues are going to take Punisher from the role of
hunter to hunted.  As always, should be good.... real good.
By Garth Ennis, Lewis Larosa, and Tim Bradstreet.
32 pages.  Ongoing series.  $2.99 retail each.

DEATHLOK #1 & 2 of 4
Deathlok is a killer cyborg.  It's the future (surprsie).  He's
been resuscitated in order to... well... no one really knows
why he's been brought back.
By Daniel Way with Darick Robertson.
32 pages.  4-issue mini-series.  $2.99 retail each.


LETTERS COL / THE RANT
-------------------------------

Send your email to letterscol@irxproductions.com

So, Matrix Revolutions is out in theaters and we're all waiting
to hear what my review is.  Okay, maybe just I'm waiting to
hear what my review is.  Just a second... I've got to go get it.
It's in the toilet.  I just wiped my ass with this movie and
flushed it away.

My God, what a let-down!  Seriously.  One of the biggest
attractions in the Matrix world has been the huge action
sequences and amazingly well choreographed fight scenes.
Gotta let those go, m'man, because there ain't but two in
the final film.  Even Matrix Reloaded did a better job of
keeping the talky-talky down to the necessity, but Revolutions
takes the idea of a "talking-heads" film to a whole new level.

If it weren't for the run-and-gun sequences with the
hovercrafts, this movie wouldn't have much action to speak of.

Also, even if no one else is going to say it, I will it.  What is
UP with all the religious imagery.  I'm not an atheist or anything
but what the heck is going on.  I won't ruin the movie, but just
keep this in mind while you're watching the flick -- What
Would Jesus Do.

Okay.  That's it.  I'm done.  No more ripping on the movie,
but why couldn't they have just stopped with one!?

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


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

So wraps up the first issue of an all new year, year six, if you will.
Yes, that means we're a whole lot closer to a full decade then we
were last issue.  Man, that's just sick, wrong, twisted, and really,
really groovy.

As always, if I don't see you next month, then ... well... I'll be
seeing you next month so it really doesn't matter now does it?

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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COMICS NOW! INC. IS TRADEMARK Nathaniel O. Wells

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

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