February is a dismal month in general, and it's traditionally the slowest month in comic retailing. But there are books of interest coming out, like for instance our...

PICK OF THE MONTH

WALKIE TALKIE #3 (DEC01 2399, pg. 272, $2.95), by Nate Powell, from Food Chain Productions.

This is a deeply obscure book. I suspect you'd sooner find it in a record store, as I did, than in a comic store. It deserves to be more widely known, because it's a very accomplished work.

The main story in issue #2, 'Autopilot,' is a familiar one - a young girl with feuding parents tries to escape into a fantasy world of her own making. It could easily come off like a high school journal entry if told in prose, but Powell wisely avoids using many words - in fact, most of it is silent.

Powell's layouts are daring, his compositions make the most of the starkness of black and white, but what impresses me most is his linework, which sometimes devolves into expressionistic scribbling and yet stays legible. One of the hardest things to do, once you've learned to draw, is to allow yourself to loosen up - just ask Eddie Campbell. Powell manages it admirably.

Issue #3 sounds mighty ambitious. It will be "part one of a two-part story arc entitled 'Satelline Worlds', featuring a dozen main characters, a few mammals, and two little parakeets thrown in for good measure. A sweeping sense of understatement and the sweet sadness of people young and old looking for answers, for companionship, or for a line on their epitaphs [sic] carries half a dozen intermingled plotlines all working toward the same end."

I'm eager to see how Powell orchestrates a story this broad, so I'm preordering this, and I hope you do too - because otherwise you won't see this in any but the most comprehensive comic shops.

DARK HORSE

The headline book this month is the reprinting of ASTRO BOY (VOL. 1, DEC01 0014, pg. 32, $9.95) by Osamu Tezuka, elusive leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network who, if we don't order his book, will infect us all with... eh? How's that? You say Osamu Tezuka's dead?

Well, that was mighty short work, wasn't it? Three cheers for our boys in uniform!

Why are you cradling your head in your hands like that?

All right, so I don't know anything about manga. But even I know that a spiffy new reprinting of a seminal work by the man revered in Japan as "God of Manga", long unavailable in America, is a Big Deal. For real information on Tezuka, go to the bells-and-whistles-laden official site.

HELLBOY: CONQUEROR WORM (DEC01 0024, pg. 34, $17.95) collects the latest miniseries about the half-human/half-demon paranormal investigator. The blurb says this "will be his final mission," which I kind of hope is true - the routine is getting a bit predictable (occult Nazis! floors giving way!), and I doubt there's much more to be said about the character. But I sure will miss the big lug - he made a great deadpan foil for the folkloric weirdness creator Mike Mignola revels in. And Mignola's artwork is always beautiful - flawlessly composed, crepuscular and, in Alan Moore's words, "wine-dark."

DC COMICS

THE POWER COMPANY looks very... ordinary, really. If I didn't know the premise, I'd have thought the art was for another Amalgam-type event. The villain is called Doctor Cyber, which doesn't encourage. Because Kurt Busiek's writing it, I'm sure it'll be a solid book, but I don't see why DC has been pushing it so hard.

The BRUCE WAYNE: MURDERER crossover event rumbles on. I wrote last time that after two months it would end, but I was mistaken - it will instead mutate into BRUCE WAYNE: FUGITIVE. That, at least, will be confined to only a few Bat-titles. Still, I can't see the new readers they were aiming for with THE 10-CENT ADVENTURE putting up with this.

New Vertigo title: S.C.I.-SPY #1 (of 6, DEC01 0626, pg. 93, $2.50). Sebastian Starchild is "a new kind of secret agent", the blurb tells us, right after telling us that he is in fact the same old kind of secret agent - the usual Bond-style glamourpuss. The difference is that he's in space - specifically, in one of those sci-fi class warfare futures, wherein a select group of beautiful people oppresses and exploits everyone else. Starchild is, naturally, one of those beautiful people. There's an idea with possibilities! Written by Doug Moench, drawn by Paul Gulacy and Jimmy Palmiotti.

New Elseworlds: JLA: SHOGUN OF STEEL. Superman as samurai. Not nearly as stupid an idea as that recent Superman-as-Tarzan thing, but still. I'd hate to see the Elseworlds proposals DC is rejecting.

The HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE was written to make some sense out of the post-CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS DC universe. That was 15 years ago. Why buy it now? It's about as useful as a Fodor's Guide to the Soviet Union.

Issue eight will be a jumping-on point for Dylan Horrocks' HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC (#8, DEC01 0622, pg. 92, $2.50), successor to THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, a book that is said to have heavily anticipated the HARRY POTTER series. Which begs the question - why isn't DC pushing AGE OF MAGIC harder right now? Are they afraid that it will look like a Potter rip-off, even though it started first?

A new issue of GRIP: THE STRANGE WORLD OF MEN (#4 of 5, DEC01 0618, pg. 91, $2.50), by Gilbert Hernandez. A surprising number of people seem not to have heard of this. Check it out - it's high weirdness of the sort that Vertigo rarely does anymore.

IMAGE COMICS

What a useless object the IMAGE COMICS 10th ANNIVERSARY HARDCOVER is. The remaining Image founders, with the exception of Erik Larsen [SAVAGE DRAGON], are a bunch of guys who hardly write or draw anymore, returning to played-out or forgotten material that was hateful and stoopid to begin with. All in a $25 hardcover, so it can forever be preserved. The bright side? At least we are spared WETWORKS: THE FIRST DECADE from Whilce Portacio or NO-LONGER-YOUNG-BLOOD from Rob Liefeld.

MARVEL COMICS

To celebrate Black History Month, Marvel's Max imprint presents CAGE #1, of which editor Axel Alonso says, "it's gonna have the pacing and rhythm of your favorite blaxploitation flicks of the '70s ... part and parcel of that is cussing and big booties, guns and drugs and all the rest."

Yes, but will there be sodomy? Hell, with HEAVY METAL poster boy Richard Corben handling the art, it'd be criminal not to include some. I say Luke Cage should pick up where he left off in ALIAS #1 and sodomise the Marvel universe. Get Garth Ennis on board - this is the series he was born to write- and you've got sales that'll make DARK KNIGHT look like VOX. C'mon, Marvel, don't you want to make those dollars? Are you not all about the bling-bling?

Steve Gerber is keeping his cards close to his chest, so it's no use trying to divine anything from the solicitation to HOWARD THE DUCK #2 (DEC01 1792, pg. 153, $2.99). I look forward to having my expectations confounded.

ORIGIN is swiftly being collected, in hardcover. Ten bucks says that Comics Buyers Guide gushes, "this is exactly the sort of mature and literate work we need to introduce new readers to the vast potential of the medium."

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

I said earlier that I don't know anything about manga, which is why I don't write about it. Wizard doesn't know anything about manga either, but they write about it anyway, and the mockery they've gotten from genuine otaku will not stop them putting out a second issue of ANIME INVASION. Cover by ubiquitous photo-realist Alex Ross, who is soon to revive, of all things, the wretched '80s cartoon show BATTLE OF THE PLANETS. Isn't it bad enough that they've revived G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS? What's next, TURBO TEEN? Yes, yes, we all watched this junk when we were kids - that's because we were kids and we were dumb. Stop it!

AARDVARK-VANAHEIM

In recent issues of Dave Sim's CEREBUS, Cerebus has adopted the alter ego of Rabbi, who is nominally supposed to be a parody of Garth Ennis' PREACHER, but acts more like a generic superhero. The newly solicited issue, #275, sees Cerebus wearing a Charlie Brown t-shirt and feuding with "'Far Lane' McSpahn," a very thinly veiled lampoon of the Image founder Sim once called comrade, Todd McFarlane.

I've never thought 'self-indulgent' was a clever term with which to criticise a work of art. Who else is a true artist supposed to indulge - the audience? The boss? Dave Sim, however, is giving self-indulgence a bad name. He used to try to integrate the comic references into his plot, but at present he seems to be throwing them in at utter random. Could it be that he's padding the series, just to meet that famous "300-issue epic" boast?

ACTIVE SYNAPSE

New issue of Jay Hosler's SANDWALK ADVENTURES (#2, DEC01 2099, pg. 208, $2.95), a comic about Charles Darwin's eyebrow mites.

ADHESIVE COMICS

And speaking of Darwin, his great-grandson is interviewed for the "Evolution" issue of Too Much Coffee Man Magazine (#14, DEC01 2100, pg. 208, $4.95).

AIT-PLANETLAR/COLONIA PRESS

Larry Young is becoming a bit of a foster parent to orphaned comics projects. His latest ward is Jeff Nicholson's COLONIA, issues #1-5 of which are at long last being collected in COLONIA VOL. 1: ISLANDS & ANOMALIES (DEC01 2101, pg. 208, $12.95). It's about a boy who, along with his two uncles, gets shipwrecked and washes up in Colonia, a strange and forgotten place populated by pirates, a talking duck and a man made of fish.

It's impossible to properly synopsise a book as surreal as this, and frankly I wouldn't bet money I've understood what I've read of it anyway, so you'd best visit ColoniaPress.com, where Nicholson takes pains to bring newbies up to speed.

Colonia Press, Nicholson's own publishing concern, is again offering the most recent issue of COLONIA (#6, DEC01 2260, pg. 238, $3.50). I might also recommend Nicholson's weird tale of office-drone hell, THROUGH THE HABITRAILS (DEC01 2261, pg. 238, $9.95), though not his sitcom-ish generation gap comedy FATHER & SON.

AMAZE INK (SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS)

TRASHED: A GRAPHIC NOVELLA #1 (DEC01 2110, pg. 212, $6.95) is the first comic book work of Derf, known to free weekly paper readers everywhere for his acidic semi-topical strip THE CITY (samples of which can be seen at DerfCity.com). It's about his days as a teenage garbage collector. Derf's knobbly, grotesque art style is an acquired taste, but it ought to aptly reflect the grunginess of life in the dumps.

SPARK GENERATORS (DEC01 2111, pg. 212, $13.95) is an anthology featuring alternative creators paying tribute to their formative influences. Looks rather sweet.

AVATAR PRESS

First they became the favoured publisher for Warren Ellis' most sick and wrong material. Then they snagged the lost project Alan Moore developed for Rob Liefeld's studio, a Wonder Woman knockoff called GLORY. Now they're repackaging Garth Ennis' gross-out humour book DICKS as BIGGER DICKS (#1 of 4, DEC01 2154, pg. 219, $4.95). Is Avatar becoming the evil doppleganger of Vertigo? Who knew the British Invasion could be this seedy? Next month will see Neil Gaiman writing CLEAVANGELYNE or something, you just see if I'm wrong...

BROADSWORD COMICS

BOO KAT & LICKY-D BOXER SHORTS! Ask for them by name! Go on, I dare you.

CLIB'S BOY COMICS

Tom Beland's TRUE STORY, SWEAR TO GOD #2: REUNION (DEC01 2254, pg. 236, $2.95). Sentimental and sweet. See preview at Comic Book Galaxy.

COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

Every year, the CBLDF, in conjunction with the Small Press Expo, puts out a benefit anthology. The SPX books have grown thick as the bricks they use in lieu of statuettes in their award shows, but even so, there isn't room for everybody who submits work. Now, the POTLATCH 2001 ANTHOLOGY (DEC01 2270, pg. 241, $4.95) collects all the material that didn't make it. You can find a list of the contributors at PotLatchComics.org. I've hardly heard of any of these people, but hell, it's a bargain, and it benefits the CBLDF, so I'll take the chance.

DRAWN & QUARTERLY

James Sturm's benefit book RETURN TO NORMAL (DEC01 2319, pg. 261, $4.00) is a response to the events of Sept. 11, done as if it were an emergency procedure pamphlet for children. Looks slight, but Sturm knows how to say a lot in a short space.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

Lightweight month. ALIEN APOCALYPSE 2006 (DEC01 2380, pg. 270, $10.95) is the sort of book you'd normally expect from Last Gasp; California marijuana farmers Chrystal and Buzz stumble onto an X-FILES-style government/corporate/alien conspiracy to enslave the planet and rape the environment, etc. Chrystal and Buzz? Oh, dear. Written by Kathy Glass, illustrated by undergrounders Harry S. Robins and Spain.

Also: Johnny Ryan's ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #3 (DEC01 2381, pg. 270, $2.95), the gross-out comic that everybody but me seems terribly impressed by, and Richard Sala's EVIL EYE #9 (DEC01 2382, pg. 270, $3.50), the pulpy adventure title with the streak of Edward Gorey-esque black humour.

MIGHTY FINE

SCARY MISS MARY #1 seems to differ from LENORE and the rest of the Slave Labor goth-humour crowd mainly in being drawn in a really commercial POWERPUFF GIRLS style. And already there's merchandise: T-shirts, socks, keychains and shot glasses. Smells to me like they're less interested in creating a comic than a clothing line for Hot Topic.

MIRAGE STUDIOS

In the art sample for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES VOL. 3, #2 - is that thing a tail? Please tell me that thing is only a tail.

NEW ENGLAND COMICS

INTRODUCING TICK #1 (DEC01 2515, pg. 292, $3.95) is intended to cash in on the TV show, on the offchance it'll still around by February.

Why don't they put out the just plain TICK comic again? When #12 came out, creator Ben Edlund claimed to be raring to go for issue #13: "I need the hearts and minds of thousands! GIVE ME THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THOUSANDS!" In the eight years since, he's barely drawn any comics at all. What's he doing farting around in Hollywood? I don't think there are thousands of hearts or minds in Hollywood...

ONI PRESS

More worthy stuff on offer than I can list. I'll specially mention the new series of the frothy '80s-retro teen comedy BLUE MONDAY, called LOVECATS (DEC01 2519, pg. 292, $2.95), and the new issue of Gail Simone and Lea Hernandez's screwball comedy about debutante assassins, KILLER PRINCESSES (#2 of 3, DEC01 2522, pg. 294, $2.95). Please do check out the excellent OniPress.com for info on the other books, sample strips and issues, and plenty more.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

New this month: Steve Lafler's BAJA (DEC01 2589, pg. 308, $14.95), the second book in his series about a struggling jazz band called Bughouse. It's called that because all the characters are anthropomorphic insects, though there isn't any MAUS-type subtext that I can divine - it's just to jazz things up visually.

It's a shame Lafler didn't go further - his depictions of bebop solos and drug trips are actually pretty conservative, especially compared to Hunt Emerson's MAX ZILLION strips. But the first book, BUGHOUSE (offered again, DEC01 2590, pg. 308, $14.95), was a decent drama, and given the way Lafler improved through the course of it, BAJA should be better still. The official website is at BugComix.com.

Chris Ekman is a political cartoonist.

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