Hi there. My name is Matt Fraction and I write comics and work at MK12. What follows is a collection of thoughts that occurred to me while flipping through Previews, and not necessarily recommendations or anything like that. Quite often, I have highlighted an item only as an excuse for scorn and derision. You know, what the kids call "entertainment".

Another thing: In an attempt to subvert the hierarchical organization of the Previews catalog, my Previews highlights are listed alphabetically by title. The Previews hierarchy unfairly marginalizes and makes obscure through placement publishers, creators, and books not published by the Super Hero™ Mainstream. I have very little doubt that those of you reading this are 9A regulars, and possibly Previews regulars at that, and as such you're used to flipping through the whole book instead of taking what Diamond crams down your throat up top and being sated.

That said, you never know who's reading this for the first time, who's reading this on a budget, or who might not, in fact, be a regular comics consumer, and could be seeing these words and the world they're dancing around for the first time. If that is the case, one suspects there's an uphill battle against the preconceived notion to be fought.

And, a final thing: Up there, where I said "super hero™"? That's a phrase that's been trademarked jointly by DC and Marvel Comics. So I have offered, at no charge, nor claim to rights, alternate phrases similar yet different to "super hero" for publishers and creators that trade in such wares. These trademarks are indicated by a little "™" coming after the phrase itself. It should be indicated that none of these phrases, to the best of my knowledge, are known or endorsed by the creators or publishers attached; I am merely attempting to save you from an uncomfortable lawsuit for trademark misuse. You're welcome.

Anyway, Previews, for February 2004, presents itself with a cover exclaiming:

BRIAN AZZARELLO!
JIM LEE!
SUPERMAN

And there's a drawing of Superman standing on what looks like one of those floating skiff things from FLASH GORDON that ended up sticking out of Max Von Sydow's chest. The colour of the sky is like that of toffee, or perhaps, a mocha latte with a lot of cream added. It looks like Superman, his jaw clenched tighter than his fists, his eyes grim slits of determination, is going to throw down in a smogfucked Los Angeles.

It's hard to believe that Superman's not a best seller without the artificial firing power of these two ringer-creators, isn't it? Superman streaking through a phlegmatic sky should sell itself I suppose.

A few years ago, they revamped Superman with a creative team of non-offensive mainstream guys of various strengths and audiences (this was, you may recall, what DC editorial decided upon after telling Morrison, Waid, et al that DC would never, in fact, give them the keys to the family car). The covers for the re-launch issues? They were all brown. Glorious, eye-catching brown.

On the other side of Previews, there is the upside-down image of a Japanese woman with her face painted white, wrapping her asscrack in the Rising Sun itself. Now, if you turn the catalogue upside down, you begin to notice the subtle, sensual details of the image: the blue and yellow-rimmed choker; the three chopsticks inexplicably stuck in straight, non-piled hair, the tattoo on her shoulder-blade; the nipple-less boobie peaking out between her torso and arm. Then, there's a pun title: SHI'S BACK!

You see that pun right there? That's where I stopped thinking about SHI.

24 HOUR COMICS, edited by Scott McCloud
About Comics, FEB04 2025, p192, $11.95

What happens when comics folks try to make a 24 page comic in a single 24 hour day? They get sleeeeepy.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #627, by Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark
DC Comics, FEB04 0240, p54, $2.50

You know what would be great? If Rucka and Clark just completely tossed all the Superman stuff and just did, like, a comic about working at a newspaper.

That won't be this comic, though.

Clark is inked here by a guy billed as, uh, Nelson, and it gives the work a Kevin Nowlan sort of feel to it. It might not be a day-to-day investigative reporting procedural, but what the hell, if there's a writer on these revamps that can give Superman his soul back, Rucka's the guy.

ALEISTER ARCANE, by Steve Niles and Breehn Burns
IDW Publishing, FEB04 2468, p280, $3.99

When I was a kid in Chicago, there was a Creature Feature on WFLD Friday nights, and then Saturday afternoons, hosted by an Alice Cooper-meets-psychobilly hippie host called Svengoolie. He had a top hat, weird makeup, goofy Lugosi voice, the whole nine. He was the Anti-Bozo, our Anti-Bozo, and there were always kids like me wanting Svengoolie to tell us to shut up already more than wanted the Boze to lead us in the Grand! Prize! Game! chant. Niles, it seems, has a Svengoolie (or a Ghoulardi or a Jeeper Creepers or whatever) in his personal wayback machine, and has come up with ALEISTER ARCANE, the story of a fired horror host of that ilk and the psychotic fan that doesn't take the news of his firing too well. As one of Niles' many strengths comes in his one-liners, a taste of horror with dab of laughs oughta be one hell of a read.

BAD IDEAS, by Jim Mahfood, Wayne Chinsang and Dave Crossland
Image Comics, FEB04 1305, p133, $5.95

This appears, based on the obtuse solicitation copy and three preview pages of art provided, to be some sort of convention diary/comics pro expose. I'm not sure of that, but Mahfood is nine kinds of great and Dave Crossland's PUFFED (written by three-fisted drinkin' man John Layman) was hysterical and deranged, so that makes it more than worth a look. I don't know Chinsang's work, but he worked with Crossland, which is like saying a guy I know vouches for a guy I don't. Good enough. Check it out.

BANNOCK, BEANS, AND BLACK TEA, by John Gallant and Seth
Drawn & Quarterly, FEB04 2303, p256, $19.95

This is a memoir of author John Gallant's life as a child during the Great Depression; it's illustrated by Seth, the cartoonist behind PALOOKAVILLE and CLYDE FANS. His style, awash in a nostalgic class, seems a perfect compliment to stories from this era. D&Q has been on a roll the last half of 2003 and I very much doubt this will be an exception to their fine catalogue. Their books are never less than stunning physical objects, and collect major works by some of the finest minds and talents working in comics today.

BATMAN: GOTHAM CENTRAL TP, by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark
DC Comics, FEB04 0235, p87, $9.95

This is a book that's about the Gotham City police department. Batman shows up sometimes. As close to a truly great idea as you're likely to see coming out of the Batman books for a while, this trade collects the first five issues. If you're looking for a comic to lead someone out of the superhero section of comics and into some other genres, this book and the team behind it could do it.

BITE CLUB, by Howard Chaykin and David Hahn
DC Comics, FEB04 0301, p64, $2.95

"BITE CLUB"? Fuck you.

BONE VOLUME 9: CROWN OF HORNS SC, by Jeff Smith
Cartoon Books, FEB04 2188, p220, $16.95

I really liked BONE when it started. Then it went all LORD OF THE RINGS and I felt out of place for not having felt knee boots and a 20-sided dice when I read it. Still, the cartooning is beautiful, and this book ends the BONE series. So it's got that going for it, which is nice. I mean, sad, I guess, if you like BONE, but, you know, it's good, too.

COMICS ABOVE GROUND, by Durwin Talon
TwoMorrows Publishing, FEB04 2700, p317, $19.95

This is a book of interviews with various comics pros about their work in "mainstream media"-and the relation that their comics work has therein in an attempt to trace comics' influence on outside media. The idea seems equal parts studiously fascinating and, well, sad, in the implication that comics can't, don't, and won't always pay the bills no matter who you are (and there are some heavy hitters that Talon speaks with, including Bernie Wrightston and Bruce Timm). Still, thinking and writing like this is an all too rare thing.

DICTATORS: HITLER #1, by Ted Nomura
Antarctic Press, FEB04 2091, p205, $2.99

Oh, oh my. First off, it's clearly stated that this book is not available in Germany. It also claims to explore Hitlers "secret love".

I'm going into some sort of snark apoplexy.

And am I nuts or does that "DICTATORS:" part of the title imply that maybe this is but the first comics biography of the century's great dictators? I sure hope so.

I hope there's a DICTATORS team-up, and they get together like the Justice League to fight the punk band THE DICTATORS, and Handsome Dick Manitoba goes fist-to-fist with Jukebox Joe Stalin on the CBGB stage for the winner's right to call themselves baddest band in the land! And then the Ramones join in and they all jam!

DIGITAL GRAFFITI TP, by Gez Fry with Alex Frith APC, FEB04 2114, p208, $16.95

This purports itself to be a story of gang warfare in the London of the 23rd century. I'm more than intrigued by the premise, and if I squint hard, the cover looks interesting enough. Anyone know anything about this book? Anyone read it? Wouldn't it be great if there was a catalogue that let you learn about books like this and make informed purchasing decisions based on that catalogue's content? Oh well.

DILDO #4, uncredited
Fantagraphics/Eros Comix, FEB04 2405, p273, $3.50

Whatdyawanna bet somebody gets fucked with a dildo this issue?

DIORAMAS, A LOVE STORY, by Mark Ricketts and Dario Brizuela
Image Comics, FEB04 1312, p137, $13.12

I wasn't crazy for Ricketts' NOWHERESVILLE, to be honest, but I know a lot of people who adore it. Brian Michael Bendis is one of Ricketts' oldest and most vocal of fans, which counts for something, so maybe I should just shut up. This book is about a serial killer trying to woo a detective by creating elaborate corpse dioramas for her. Sold.

ENGINEHEAD, by Joe Kelly and Ted McKeever
DC Comics, FEB04 0254, p78, $2.50

Joe Kelly looks to try and grit it up a bit; Ted McKeever looks to mainstream it up a bit. The mix could be either disastrous or a weird work of quirky genius that I've suspected both creators have in them. And hey, if you're ever looking to pitch a book to DC, you could probably learn a lot from parsing the phrasing of this book's promotional copy which is rife with lines like, "This book meshes the action and inspiration of a DC super-hero comic with the depth and conceptual grittiness of VERTIGO". Reap these, the seeds of editorial catch phrasing, young writers: may they serve you well.

FRACTION, by David Tischman and Timothy Green
DC Comics, FEB04 0257, p72, $2.50

This book is filth.

GI JOE MINI-VIEWERS
Dark Horse Comics & Tchotchkes, FEB04 0097, p45

Wanna know why that girl smiling at you will never, ever, sleep with you, even though you haven't even said hello yet? It's because she'll see this dangling from your keychain.

GOD HATES CARTOONS (DVD), by various
Alternative Press, FEB04 2055, p198, $25.00

Jim Woodring animation. Sold.

HELLBOY MOVIE PHOTO COASTER SET
Dark Horse Comics & Tchotchkes, FEB04 0063, p41, $12.99

Is there really a market for this shit?

HOW LOATHSOME VOL 1 HC, by Ted Naifeh and Tristan Crane
NBM Publishing, FEB04 2521, p294, $18.95

Describing this book as "a gothic exploration of the not-so obvious nature of gender" as the solicit text does robs HOW LOATHSOME of its poetry, elegance, character and charm. Certainly the most auspicious debut by any comics team in '03, HOW LOATHSOME is a complicated, fascinating meditation of the roots of identity itself, and how the modern world equips some better than others to navigate it. Compelling and, at times, outright amazing.

INCREDIBLE HULK FULL SIZE 16-INCH HEAD BUST
Dynamic Forces, FEB04 2343, p264, $399.99

Okay, let's say she didn't notice the GI JOE MINI-VIEWER dangling from your keychain. The minute you get her back to your apartment and she sees this thing sitting on your coffee table, she's gonna suddenly get her period and have to go home.

IN MY DARKEST HOUR, by Wilfred Santiago
Fantagraphics Books, FEB04 2385, p270, $14.95

Santiago did a smut book my wife reviewed for ARTBOMB a few months back. It was printed on, like, peach-coloured pages with screaming pink ink. Santiago's style had (in that book at least) a manic, anxious kind of style, a design sense that calls to mind graffiti murals, if Ralph Steadman was into bombing bricks. At the same time, the publishing gimmick made my eyes bleed. Nevertheless, it was obvious that Santiago was someone to watch. This book, about a transient awash in paranoia, guilt, and his own alienation, is Santiago's first full-length graphic novel; this looks to fulfil that promise and it's almost positively guaranteed not to make with the ocular haemorrhaging.

IRON WOK JAN #8, by Shinjii Saijyo
ComicsOne, FEB04 2204, p226, $9.95

IRON WOK JAN was one of my favourite comics of 2003. A soap opera-level rivalry set in the kitchen of a Japanese restaurant and its two rising star chefs, JAN was more fun, more entertaining, and certainly more engaging than it has any right to be. You never knew cooking egg-fried rice could be so riveting.

KANE, VOL 2: RABBIT HUNT, by Paul Grist
Image Comics, FEB04 1323, p142, $12.95

This book is excellent and tragically under-read. The story of a broken cop trying to hold on to his sanity and humanity, with forces conspiring against him on both sides of the law, and a man in a bunny suit running around and sweating a lot. Volume 1 is also available from Image, and should be on the shelf of every comics fan. Paul Grist is a true auteur cartoonist, making work that's bracingly idiosyncratic and unforgettable.

KISS KISS BANG BANG #4, by Tony Bedard and Mike Perkins
CrossGen, FEB04 2231, p235, $2.95

As of this writing, I've only read the first issue of this series. KISS KISS BANG BANG isn't, so far, as good or as smart as it should be - a little too tangled in the glam-pop whizfuck fun times of Swingin' London and the Love-to-Hate-Him sociopath Bond-manqué that is the book's lead - but I want it very much to find its balance. So maybe I'll buy this. Maybe not.

LOVE & ROCKETS VOL 2, #10, by Los Bros Hernandez
Fantagraphics Books, FEB04 2392, p272, $5.95

This double-sized issue may not be the ideal jumping-on point for a new reader, but at the same time L&R is a serial that's been going on for twenty years - we're well past convenient jumping-on points. If you've not encountered the Hernandez Brothers, you've missed out on the works of two of comics' great masters of the form, to say nothing of actual - sans hyperbole - Great Work.

MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS... THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST, VOLUME 1, by Michael Chabon and a skajillion dudes
Dark Horse, FEB04 0019, p23, $17.95

This is a collection of some comics that haven't come out yet, but since I now see that there's a trade coming out in two months, I'll just pick that up. Here's a thought for publishers aggressively pursuing the monthly-comics-as-loss-leaders-for-permanent-editions stratagem: wait until the comics have actually hit the direct market before pumping out the trade. Because, uh, really, I can wait now.

Anyhoo. These are comics that are based on the comics that the main characters created in Chabon's Pulitizer-winning novel THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY. I'm the guy in comics that didn't really dig K&K all that much, to tell you the truth. My opinion, however, isn't listened to by the Pulitzer Prize people, so fuck my shit. You should buy this because, your feelings towards the novel aside, Chabon ain't no slouch (and his recent MISTER TERRIFIC story, gorgeously illustrated by the insanely gifted Michael Lark, was well worth reading), nor are Glen David Gold (author of CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL), Howard Chaykin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Steve Lieber, or Mike Baron, all of whom have their hands in this mix of Chabon-inspired FabuIdols™.

MINISTRY OF SPACE #3, by Warren Ellis, Chris Weston, Laura Martin
Image Comics, FEB04 1331, p147, $2.95

But now what will we bitch about?

NEGATION WAR #2, by various
CrossGen, FEB04 2224, p229-231, $2.95

Okay, so, turn to page 229. Now, real quick, flip to 231, the next right-facing page. Now flip back. Now flip forward. Now back. Now forward. And see? You've made yourself a little animated flipbook because you're looking at the same goddamn image just slightly larger on one page than the other. Flip. Flip again. Zoom in! Zoom out. Zoom in! Zoom out. Way to add value, CrossGen!

NO 5 VOLUME 2, by Tayio Matsumoto
Viz LLC, FEB04 2751, p325, $15.95

Matsumoto is a Japanese artist who trained in Europe; the results are work and a creator in an idiom all his own. Beyond the manga influence, you can see traces of Peter Max, Egon Schiele, Tardi, Pratt, Manara, and more. One of my favourite creators, Matsumoto is making unique, dreamy work that seems filled with light and strangeness. NO 5 tells the story of a renegade from a force of global peacekeepers as he is hunted down by his former cohorts. Surreal, gorgeous, and avoided like it's got cooties or something.

OUTSIDERS #11, by Judd Winick, Will Conrad and Sean Parsons
DC Comics, FEB04 0277, p103, $2.50

Recently there was some kind of sex scene - or an implied nudity scene, I should say - in this book that put some retailers in a tizzy and DC Comics in the awkward position of having to defend the editorial decision to slip an overtly sexual scenario into a kids' comic. In short, DC played dirty pool, got called on it, and explained that OUTSIDERS is supposed to be "edgy", and it's not 'code approved', so that kind of thing is to be expected and in the future they'll make sure retailers get a heads up when Kid Flash gets into a hot four-gy with a drunken bachelorette party or whatever. At best, it makes DC appear disingenuous, and at worst, it shows a publisher that is radically out of touch with the reality of things, namely, the reality that it is the perception of the public-at-large that Super Heroes™ are kiddie fare, especially those published through its most mainstream of publishing arms.

PHOENIX VOL 4, by Osamu Tezuka
Viz LLC, FEB04 2753, p326, $15.95

If the size, price, and scope of Tezuka's BUDDHA biography (volumes 3 and 4 of which are solicited on page 320) are a little daunting to you, try this, the life's work of the man known reverently as God Of Manga. Each volume is self-contained, isolated in a different time period, and yet links thematically with the other volumes in the series. This one is a story from 8th century Japan. A meditation on fate, karma, and destiny, Viz says that many consider this volume to be the best of Tezuka's multivolume PHOENIX series.

PLANET OF THE CAPES, by Larry Young and Brandon McKinney
AiT/PlanetLar, FEB04 2046, p196, $12.95

Certain to be talked about, Larry Young's first foray into the Superbulist™ genre is at long last hitting the stands. And while it's bound to fuel a few spins of commentary cycles and the tagline "Nobody learns anything. Everybody dies." is enviable, the real thing I wanted to point out is the half-page AiT/PlanetLar ad on page 196. It's a backlist what appears to be their entire catalogue, along with the Diamond order codes to make ease of ordering a snap for both retailer and consumer. It seems sneaky. It seems smart. I like it.

I also have two books on that list. I am a shill.

QUEEN & COUNTRY #24, by Greg Rucka and Mike Hawthorne
Oni Press, FEB04 2557, p296, $2.99

QUEEN & COUNTRY is, in a nutshell, about the business and protocol of being a spy in the real world of bureaucracy, budgetary constraints, and psyches too fragile to endure the job for very long. I've been lucky enough - through the kindness of the folks at Oni - to have been on the Oni Press comp list for a couple of years now. Several times a year, a big ol' envelope shows up containing the whole of Oni's output for me to have, free. Which is aces, let me tell you.

That said: I still buy QUEEN & COUNTRY the day it comes out. This issue is the wrap-up to the current storyline, so if you've never read it - and I've seen the sales charts, I know a lot of you haven't - why not take the time to stock up on any of the four or five QUEEN & COUNTRY collections, available now from Oni Press?

RABBITHEAD, by Rebecca Dart
Alternative Comics, FEB04 2052, p198, $4.95

Billed as a surreal western adventure, RABBITHEAD boasts of an experimental narrative in which multiple storylines branch off from one another and re-collide. Also, it bills itself as "a heavily symbolic tale... inspired by spaghetti westerns and Polish literature". Well, if that doesn't sell you on taking a gamble, you have no soul. Get out of my car.

RED/TOKYO STORM WARNING, by Warren Ellis, Cully Hamner and James Raiz
DC Comics, FEB04 0293, p90, $14.95

So you got four series; two are crime based, two are sci fi riffs. Do you group them for collection by genre, so, say, if you dig on crime, you get a solid book of stories you'll enjoy and not be faced with half of a book that doesn't really float your boat? I can already hear you saying, "Of course not, dumbass; you group them together by genre."

That, my friend, is where you're wrong, and why you're not running DC Comics. I wasn't crazy for TOKYO STORM WARNING, but RED just crackled like lightning. Ellis was full-bore and Hamner did stellar work that should earn him a place drawing whatever he wants to draw. But this mixed genre, split-collection format? Retarded.

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH #1, by Steve Rude and Gary Martin
Dark Horse Comics, FEB04 0018, p22, $2.99

Steve Rude was a definitive presence on comics during the 80s; his style, page compositions, and eye for spatial details defined at least one aspect of the visual zeitgeist of the era.

Much like Philip Michael Thomas, in a way. There was a time - say, 1986-1987 - that to imagine the entertainment world without him was absurd. He was a star, a superstar; he wasn't necessarily the guy, but the guy behind the guy, and we loved Tubbs' steely determination and suave jheri c'est qua so much so that one could never imagine a time when television - or we - would be without him. Then, you know, one album and a psychic hotline spot later and he's gone.

Steve Rude is like that. Once? Partially huge. Now? Find me a kid under 20 that's heard of him, because finding copies of the guy's work requires a dedication to hunting old shit that most simply don't have.

A few years back, Rude did a kind of post-Kirby riff on some Marvel books, and it was great to have his work back on the stands. Now he has a book called STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH, which appears to feature Steve Rude's Mighty Champions™ and, again, it will be great to once again have him back on the stands again. Again.

STRANGERS IN PARADISE #65, by Terry Moore
Abstract Studio, FEB04 2026, p192, $2.95

I haven't read or really even thought about this book in about ten years. Looking at the ad, I know that was the right decision.

And again, what's the logic of using cover art in both the solicitation and the advertisement? Same image: one big, one small. No point.

SUPERMAN #204, by Brian Azzarello! And Jim Lee!
DC Comics, FEB04 0241, p52, $2.50

Remember a few years back how Jim Lee started drawing in this totally new kind of style? It looked like it was water coloured, and the lines had a kind of swirling grace and curve to them that seemed somehow steeped in Geof Darrow and, I don't know, Erte or something. It was as though Jim Lee had completely reinvented himself as a visual stylist, and was reborn with an entirely new sensibility.

Man, I can't believe you fell for that.

TONY MILLIONAIRE'S SOCK MONKEY: UNCLE GABBY HC, by Tony Millionaire
Dark Horse Comics, FEB04 0024, p25, $14.95

I love SOCK MONKEY so much I could just punch you in the face, mister.

TRASHED GRAPHIC NOVELLA, by Derf
Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics, FEB04 2077, p201, $6.95

Derf, cult cartoonist behind THE CITY in lots of alternaweekly papers, tells true stories from his time as a garbage man. I've long admired his strip, and his recent MY FRIEND DAHMER (about his high school relationship with the infamous psycho-killer-to-be) was an interesting stab at longer-form work.

WALLY WOOD'S SHAMBLEAU GICLEE PRINT, by Wallace Wood
Vanguard Productions, FEB04 2709, p318, $75.00

"Giclee" is French for 'sucker.'

You may notice, here at the end of the piece, that there are no Marvel titles talked about in my review. A few months ago, Marvel took its solicitation copy out of Previews and turned it into its own comics-sized catalogue. This raised the price of Previews, and saw to it that now along with this inch-thick catalogue you had a comic kind of thing listing all of the Spider-Man and X-Men books jammed inside.

Apparently, my dipshit little Marvel catalogue fell out of my Previews somewhere between my comics shop and home. Selah.

Matt Fraction is the author of LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS and REX MANTOOTH and a writer for Artbomb.net.

This article is Ideological Freeware. The author grants permission for its reproduction and redistribution by private individuals on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice.