All the auction proceeds for this series have gone to comics-related charities. As of when I’m typing this, we’ve raised $2,750 through the 24 auctions completed so far. Thanks go out to everyone who’s participated in the bidding so far; even if you didn’t walk away with the bind, you’ve done some real good for folks in need right now.

Let’s see how much MORE we can send their way with this week’s batch of binds!

In no particular order:

Image Heroics (aka I Is For Image, Vol. 3)

The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens & Friends

The Hulk by Peter David & Company (3 volumes)

The Flash by Waid/LaRocque/Wieringo (2 volumes) (benefitting the Mike Wieringo Scholarship Fund)

DC's Strange Sci-Fi Adventures

Check back every day to see which of these binds is the next up for auction, and good luck getting the bind you want from my shelf — to yours!

The All-New, All-Different Pull List episodes continue!

With Diamond halting new comics distribution, Mike & Greg decided, rather than drop these episodes all-together, to just change up the format. So for this four hundred twenty-third installment of the Pull List series, the lads chose:

1) A previous year’s Pull List choice.

2) Something else pulled from their own collections.

There may not be new comics to choose from this week, but hopefully these new Pull List episodes give just as much food for thought in choosing what goes into your quarantine reading queue.

Stay safe and enjoy your funny books!

TOPICS FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 3, 2020

Mike

Nate Powell's Omnibox

Judge Dredd: The Daily Dredds 1981-86 HC

Greg

PunisherMAX by Aaron & Dillon HC

Shelf Bound Charity Auction, Week 6

Click Here For The Direct Download!

Robots From Tomorrow is a twice-weekly comics podcast recorded deep beneath the Earth’s surface. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or through the RSS feed at RobotsFromTomorrow.com. You can also follow Mike and Greg on Twitter.

In case you missed it, we spoke to Curt Pires about “Youth” #3, and announced the full lineups for our Summer Comics Binge and our Summer TV Binge.

Cover by Gabriel Rodriguez

– IDW Publishing detailed, via Previews World, a new two-part series called “Locke & Key: …In Pale Battalions Go…” by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Jay Fotos. The series will be set during World War I and tell the story of John Locke, son of Chamberlin Locke, who is too young to go to war, using the Keys to reach the battlefields in France. “Locke & Key: In Pale Battalions Go” #1 will be released on August 26.

– Marvel Comics announced a special ‘Empyre’ Previews Magazine that will act as a primer for the upcoming event. According to Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski, the magazine will provide “useful information and behind-the-scenes insight” into ‘Empyre,’ although, due to the magazine being produced before the COVID-19 outbreak, there will be some outdated information, such as “cool concepts and characters” that will not be seen elsewhere because “certain stories will no longer be tying in with the event.” Each comic book retailer will receive 25 complimentary copies of the magazine and can order more in batches of 25. The ‘Empyre’ Previews Magazine will release on July 1.

– Vault Comics rescheduled “Heavy” #1 for September 9, and “Hundred Wolves” #1 for September 16, following their delayed debuts as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Max Bemis and Eryk Donovan’s “Heavy” is a violent comedy about love and the transcendence of toxic masculinity; while Myke Cole and Tony Akins’s “Hundred Wolves” will see Cossacks Andrei and Oksana trying to leave their raiding life behind and raise their daughter, only for the Hundred Wolves and their new leige lord seeking to employ their skills.

– DC Comics announced updates regarding the releases of multiple series:

– Via press release, Tapas Media and Podium Audio announced a partnership to develop top Tapas titles into audiobooks. The companies had previously collaborated to adapt The Beginning After The End by TurtleMe into the audio format, with The Dragon Prince’s Bride by C.J. Young, Prince of Silk and Thorn and the Dragon Generals series by Maham Fatemi, Condemning the Heavens and Blue Phoenix by Tinalynge, and Legend of the Arch Magus by MSisa, all set for the audiobook treatment now. Release dates for the newly announced audiobooks were not given.

– Newsarama announced that the site will be joining the GamesRadar team from today. Newsarama Founder and Editor-in-Chief Michael Doran said “becoming part of the bigger GamesRadar site makes total sense from a content perspective” because of the “huge crossover between comics, videogames, film and TV,” and that it will be “giving us a massive boost in terms of audience reach.”

– The trailer for the fourth and final season of Attack on Titan was released, along with the announcement that Studio MAPPA are producing the season, and not Wit Studio, who were responsible for the previous three seasons. Studio MAPPA have previously worked on Hajime No Ippo, Inuyashiki, and Dorohedoro. The fourth season will tell the story of the final conflict between the people of Marley and Eldia, and is scheduled to start airing this Fall.

– TVLine reported that Tom Ellis, the star of Lucifer, has signed a new contract which will see him continue on the show, despite Netflix not formally announcing a new season of the show. Ellis has a deal in place for what would be the show’s sixth season, but it remains to be seen exactly how many seasons that Ellis is now contracted for. Lucifer aired for three seasons on Fox before it was cancelled and then picked up by Netflix. The fifth season has yet to air, and does not currently have a release date.

– The UK Government and health bodies approved of new coronavirus safety guidelines which will allow the TV and Film industry to resume production potentially as early as July. The new rules, which include guidance on physical distancing, safety training, and temperature tests, were devised by the British Film Commission and the British Film Institute, and will enable productions such as Warner Bros.’s The Batman and Netflix’s The Witcher to continue filming, if they choose to.

– Finally, veteran storyboard artist Jane Wu (Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok) announced plans to host online storyboarding workshops covering her process when working on a film. The description for the workshops state that Jane “will start with the scripts, show her roughs, revisions, pitch the scene and then show the final film for comparison.” The five-hour online workshop costs $120 and is scheduled to take place on June 6, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. PST. You can register for the workshop here.

The long comics drought is over, as more and more publishers start to bring back their titles to our favorite shops, so we have a few of our favorite moments from the latest and greatest in comics. And with the inevitable arrival of the Snyder Cut of “Justice League” with the launch of HBO Max this week, we also asked staff to share with us some of their favorite Justice League moments.

So kick-back, watch out for spoilers, and talk about your favorites in the comments section below! And if you have an idea for a theme for an upcoming installment, leave it in the comments. Stay safe, wash your hands, and stop touching your face. (Reading a comic will help with that last one!)

Every weekday until Friday, June 5th, we publish a new Shelf Bound article announcing a bind or bound set up for auction.

Each bind auction’s bidding starts when its article is published and ends 72 hours later, so today’s auction will close at 4 PM EST on June 1, 2020.

Bids must be posted in an item’s comment section to be considered for that item; highest bid posted before close of auction wins.

Bids from outside the U.S. are welcome, although shipping outside the U.S. may incur additional fee. Bids posted in currencies other than US dollars will be valued at their USD equivalent.

The winning bidder emails me (greg at multiversity comics dot com) to verify donation particulars, then makes the donation and send me verification.

I send out the bind.

Everyone wins.

30 weekdays. 34 binds. All proceeds going to charity. Sound good? Let’s get to it!

I IS FOR IMAGE, VOL. 2

Written by: Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rick Remender, Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum, Chris Dingess
Drawn by: Chip Zdarsky, Emma Rios, Matteo Scalera, Kevin Mellon, Matthew Roberts
Inked by: Chip Zdarsky, Emma Rios, Matteo Scalera, Kevin Mellon, Matthew Roberts
Colored by: Becka Kinzie, Jordie Bellaire, Dean White, Owen Gieni
Lettered by: Chip Zdarsky, Clayton Cowles, Rus Wooton, Pat Brousseau

Published by: Image Comics

Collecting:

• Chip Zdarsky #1-5 (Sep 2013 – Mar 2014)
• Pretty Deadly #1-5 (Oct 2013 – Apr 2014)
• Black Science #1-6 (Nov 2013 – Apr 2014)
• Lovestruck OGN (Sep 2011)
• Manifest Destiny #1-6 (Nov 2013 – Apr 2014)

Additional Material: None

Bind Details:

• Oversewn binding
• Grey Arrestox cover material
• Black/white headbands
• IMAGE stamp used
• White endpapers
• Page edges trimmed

Signatures: DeConnick, Zdarsky, Fraction, Scalera, Mellon, Roberts

Sketches: None

We’re back with the second of three books collecting comics published (at least at one point) by Image Comics.

As I mentioned last week, back in 2014, “I is for . . . ” was their big-push marketing campaign, complete with an I Is For Image preview comic sporting that 4-color cover up top. I liked the idea & visual so much I flat-out stole it for my own compilations. Each of them has some kind of linking idea under the ‘published by Image’ umbrella.

Today’s book:

• • had to come from comics already in-house, so no eBay or online bin-diving, and importantly,
  • one or more of the creators had to be attending the upcoming Heroes Con 2014 so I could snag their signatures.

As you can see, I made out like a bandit signature-wise on this book.

Here’s where having an anthology book signed by creators can get REALLY fun. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Chip Zdarsky, and Matt Fraction were sharing an endcap booth at HeroesCon under their Milk Fed Criminals banner. One table, three signing lines.

I make my way through the first line to meet Kelly Sue. Gracious lady, complimented the book, wonderful little chat as she wrote an inspirational line in the book: “From Dreams + Fictions, Where The Talking Rabbits Live–”

Next up is Chip Zdarksy.

This was prior to Chip breaking out as a mainstream comics writer, but I already knew he was a big part of Sex Criminal‘s tone & humor beyond even being the artist. Chip takes a look at Kelly Sue’s bit and decides to take it a step further: “Brimp The Rabbits You Wish To Dream.” (Brimping was a catchall Sex Criminals term that means . . . um . . . you can look that one up yourself . . . ). Hilarious, yet refined.

Finally we get to Matt Fraction.

Fraction, by this point, had come back from a panel while I was in line and had seen the book making the rounds. When I presented the book, he responded with the mic drop: “BRIMP THAT SHIT!”

So you COULD take the time & effort to track down all the original issues or trades and turn them into your own book via a binder using the techniques & approaches we cover every month in Shelf Bound . . .

OR!

You could bid on the bind we’re auctioning today, get the benefit of someone else doing all that work for you, AND do some good for the comics community we all love in the process!

Starting Bid: $50
Auction Ends: June 1, 2020 at 4 pm
Proceeds Benefit: The Hero Initiative

AUCTION FINE PRINT

• • This auction ends 72 hours after the date & time of this article’s posting.
  • Bids MUST be placed as comments below to be valid.
  • Bids order is set by the timestamp given by Disqus. I subscribe to every comment section and receive an email notification simultaneous to the posting of every new comment. That email’s timestamp is what I use to determine bid order & the final bid cutoff time.
  • Bids placed anywhere other than the auction article’s comment section (i.e. replying to the announcement tweet) will be ignored.
  • Bids posted in currencies other than US dollars will be valued at their USD equivalent.
  • Highest bid posted before the end of the auction wins. The winning bidder has 24 hours to contact me via twitter or email (see below) to set up payment. If contact is not made in this timeframe, the winning bid is invalidated and the next highest bid will be the winner.
  • Winning bidder will make the donation in the amount of the winning bid to the agreed-upon charity. Upon successful donation and receipt of receipt (hehe) by me, the bind will be mailed out via Media Mail on the following Saturday unless an alternate schedule is agreed upon by all parties.
  • Feel free to post any additional questions you may have prior to the end of the auction below; I will do my best to answer them ASAP. Additional and/or specific pictures of the bind are available on request.
  • Thanks in advance to anyone bidding on these binds. Good luck!

Cover by Alex Diotto

Written by Curt Pires
Illustrated by Alex Diotto
Colored by Dee Cuniffe
Lettered by Micah Myers

The kids decide to Rob a bank. What could possibly go wrong?

I’ve been really enjoying the detours from the main story, as it really helps to ground the story and remind you that, despite these amazing abilities, this is pretty close to ‘our’ world. Is it important to remind the reader that the kids at the center of this story are the odd ones?

Curt Pires: Exactly. You nailed it. The world of “Youth” is ostensibly OUR world. So I want to remind people of that. The kids and the genre elements are the outliers. That’s what gives the book such a distinct flavor and voice, I think.

River and Franklin are where the story began, and despite the ever-widening divide between them, they are still the emotional center of the story. Even though the world is changing around them, the issues that were there before things got weird are still there. This is especially relevant now, seeing couples scream at each other in supermarkets while the world is shut down due to the pandemic. Was it important to show that, even though they have superpowers, they are still the same people?

CP: Yes, once again you’ve nailed it. My whole thesis and approach to the book was: even if you got superpowers your problems–particularly the more emotional and existential ones would still exist. In this issue the kids rob a truck? Why? Because they’re still poor. The powers didn’t fix their situation. All the emotional issues they had before? Still there. Now they’re just paired with the Godlike powers they’ve inherited. It’s a recipe for disaster.

I know that this series is also in development at Amazon Prime; when you were initially writing the comic, was there any thought given to adapting it? Was this always conceived as something for multiple platforms, or was it originally ‘just’ a comic for you? (NOTE: I don’t mean ‘just’ in a pejorative way. Comics are the best medium for storytelling)

CP: It was always intended to be a comic. I pitched the thing around for a year, before comiXology agreed to do it. No one would do it. Everyone wanted to tell me how important and special the book was, but no one had the balls to actually publish it. comiXology did. Some critics of the book seem to think the book was envisioned as a storyboard for a Streaming Series and that it was some big case of IP Farming… No not the case at all. We put our heads down, made the best comic we could make, after we had a couple issues done I was out in LA for meetings–worked my ass off to get it in front of Amazon to pitch it as a show, and they responded to the material. None of this would have happened without Chip and David at comiXology’s steadfast support of the comic and my creative vision, I want to make that clear. This whole thing in a lot of ways is the culmination of years of behind the scenes work.

I asked for the last two weeks for a hint of a song featured in each subsequent issue. What’s a song we can expect in the fourth installment?

CP: Frank Ocean – “Slide On Me.” Scores a crazy sex scene.

“Amalgam Comics,” reviewed by Drew Bradley, starting on June 8th
“The Question,” reviewed by Elias Rosner, starting on June 9th
“Dragon Age,” reviewed by Laura Merrill, starting on June 10th
“Star Wars Legacy,” reviewed by Jake Hill, starting on June 11th
The Chronicles of Shazam, recapping every Marvel Family appearance from 2001-2020, by Brian Salvatore, starting on June 12th
“Star Wars: Doctor Aphra,” reviewed by Kate Kosturski, starting on June13th
“Hourou Musuko,” reviewed by Jodi Odgers, starting on June 14th
“Medieval Spawn” and “Dark Ages Spawn,” reviewed by Micahel Mazzacane, starting on July 6th
“Amazing Spider-Man” Vol. 1 by J. Michael Straczynski, reviewed by Joe Brown, starting on July 7th
“The Manhattan Projects,” reviewed by Luke Cornelius, starting on August 12th
“Detective Comics” by James Tynion IV, reviewed by Joe Skonce, starting on August 13th
Marvel Now! Era Ultimate Comics, reviewed by Ramon Piña, starting on September 1st
“Angel Sanctuary,” reviewed by Justin McGuire, starting on September 6th

We hope you spend the next week tracking down the series that you’d like to read along with, and join us on the 8th when everything kicks off!

Westworld, reviewed by Laura Merrill, starting on June 8th
Fire Force, reviewed by Rowan Grover, starting on June 9th
Berserk, reviewed by Matt Liguori, starting on June 10th
Babylon 5 Season 3, reviewed by Elias Rosner, starting on June 11th
Dark by Christopher Chiu-Tabet, starting on June 12th
Archer Season 2, reviewed by Ramon Piña, starting on June 13th
Fringe, reviewed by Quinn Tassin, starting on June 14th
Doctor Who: 12 Weeks, 12 Doctors, reviewed by Kate Kosturski, starting on July 6th
Adventures of Superman Season 3 and 4, reviewed by Brian Salvatore, starting on July 7th
Attack on Titan, reviewed by Jake Hill, starting on July 8th
Battlestar Galactica, Season 2 Part 2, reviewed by Liz Farrell, starting on July 9th
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, reviewed by Greg Lincoln, starting on July 10th
Terrace House, reviewed by Kerry Erlander, starting on July 11th
Mission: Impossible!, reviewed by Matt Garcia, starting on July 12th
Legend of Korra, Season 1, reviewed by Nicholas Palmieri, starting on August 1st

We hope you take this next week to track down how to view the series that interest you, and you join us for our fourth Summer TV Binge!

The two big series that are exclusive to HBO Max in terms of streaming rights are Batwoman and Katy Keene. The two spin-offs come from successful comic show series on the CW. Due to streaming rights, they are alone on the platform right now, but it seems likely that their Arrowverse and Riverdale compatriots will join them shortly.

There is a surprising amount of anime based on manga on the service, as well. Berserk, Ruroni Kenshin, and KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! are just a few of the series available. With a few other anime streaming options out there, I wonder if this is something that HBO Max will continue to pursue, or if their anime library will remain about this size.

HBO Max also features a ton of classic cartoons which have found their way into comics over the past 60 years. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo: Where Are You?, The Flintstones, and The Jetsons are just a few of the series available. These, along with shows like Ben 10 and We Bare Bears are good distractions for kids, as parts of our world are entering month three (or more) of social distancing and self-quarantining.

So, vote in our Reader Poll and check back on Monday for the results!

Cover by Andy Kubert

Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Andy Kubert
Colored by Richard Isanove
Lettered by Todd Klein

The year is 1602, and strange things are stirring in England. In the service of Queen Elizabeth, court magician Dr. Stephen Strange senses that the bizarre weather plaguing the skies above is not of natural origin. Her majesty’s premier spy, Sir Nicholas Fury, fends off an assassination attempt on the Queen by winged warriors rumored to be in service to a mad despot named Doom. News is spreading of witchbreed sightings – young men bearing fantastic superhuman powers and abilities. And in the center of the rising chaos is Virginia Dare, a young girl newly arrived from the New World, guarded by a towering Indian warrior. Can Fury and his allies find a connection to these unusual happenings before the whole world ends?

Alternate earths are as much of a staple of comic-book storytelling as capes and super-powers. They have become so commonplace, that often the punch associated with witnessing one’s favourite heroes on different scenarios and roles is lost. However, when the world itself is well-realised, its overall contract, history, and inherent logic, it can produce powerful narrative choices and venues, leaving a mark on the medium’s tapestry.

“1602” surely gets the key aspects on alternate-world building right. In just eight issues, the story demonstrates a complex network of relationships, power balances, societal pendulums, all set within the context of a seventh century England with super-powered characters, good and evil. Note that this review is avoiding the terms superheroes or super villains, as the role these characters assume on this story goes further deeper than that. They are more like political agents on a continental, even global scale, as this Earth is shaped by an element introduced on its history in an unexpected way. But more on that later.

Before going further into Gaiman’s script and plot, much accolade must be given to Kubert on illustrations and Isanove on colors. Kubert really was a wise choice for this story, as he is at the same time so associated with the often-called “Marvel style,” with so many of his character interpretations being usually at the top-of-mind of readers, especially when the series was released. That brings a needed sense familiarity, anchoring the story.

However, that ace would be less of a trumping card if the new designs fell flat. Gladly, they do not, Kubert uses his classic interpretations but shifts them on their heads, from how the X-Men are seen as the “witch-bred,” Thor, Daredevil, and a plethora of characters all have new unique takes on them. The same can be said about settings: taking turn of the seventeenth century England into the landscape of marvels was a complex task, but one that the artist handled very well.

Isanove does an incredible job on “1602” as well. We must recall that this mini-series was produced using a technique of colors being applied directly to the original pencils, instead of the more common approach of pencils-pens-dolors. That technique was being utilised at the time on other Marvel books (“Origins,” “X-Treme X-Men”), to mixed results. Here, the results of the choice add a sense of story book tales, of ancient history to “1602,” which adds to the visual narrative, rather than distracting from it.

Back to Gaiman’s script. It is undeniable how versatile and compelling Neil Gaiman is. His work on “Sandman” is comic book royalty, and his prose work is just as impressive. That said, “1602” suffers from being too much of a good thing, compressed in a limited offering. It is obvious to readers that a lot went into the creation and imagination of the world, but to deliver it all in only eight issues did have an impact of the pacing and on how cluttered the main storyline is presented. In the desire to present a compelling world (and succeeding), Gaiman does not connect as much with each individual character and their individual missions on this world.

That is not to say that there aren’t powerful character arcs. Matthew Murdock, the witch-bred, and Stephen Strange are some of the better realised characters and stories through “1602” and their in-world version ring true to their original selfs, while adhering to this particular world.

Finally, something of a spoiler despite this being a long-released story. Throughout the narrative, readers are asked what is the stone casting all the ripples on the water that is “1602.” The ultimate reveal of who that is – and why – is impressive, and remains a great page turner even to this day. It connects to the very core of the Marvel Universe, to is early DNA of sorts, and rings absolutely true on the context of this story, time period, and world.

All in all, “1602” is well worth the price of admission, from how well-realised the world is, the place each character assumes within it, and on how beautiful the art package is. Its shortcoming on pacing should not prevent readers from appreciating it.

Final Verdict: 8.0 – “1602” is a great example of alternate universe done right, with an interesting backstory being beautifully realised on its pages.