If you’ve been reading Top Cow’s “Pilot Season” comics, it’s finally time to start voting on your favorites.

Just go to Top Cow’s website or the “Pilot Season” MySpace page and cast your vote. You can vote once a day for the entire month of August. The top two vote-getters will get their own series next year.

I’ve enjoyed all the “Pilot Season” books I’ve read this year — it’s too bad that they can’t all get their own series.

(I’ve previously reviewed “Twilight Guardian,” “Genius,” and “Urban Myths” and interviewed the creators of “Genius.”)

This is just for you comics-loving Lubbockites out there — if you haven’t heard the news yet, as of today, new comics arrive at Star Comics on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays!

See, Lubbock is actually right on the dividing line between the East Coast and West Coast shippers — all of Texas is served by the shippers on the East Coast, and Lubbock is the farthest away on the shipping lanes. I bet even Amarillo is farther up the chain than we are, since they’re located on the big Interstate. Anyway, that means that Lubbock really is at the very tail-end of the shipping schedules, so while the rest of the country got their new comics every Wednesday, we’ve always gotten ours on Thursdays.

But somehow or other, possibly using magic or some sort of theoretical hyper-science, we’re now going to get comics on Wednesday, the same day that everyone else in the country gets theirs. HUZZAH!

So, Lubbockites, you no longer have to wait for Thursday to pick up your comics. Stop by Star after work today, and they should have all the latest comics.

 

H.P. Lovecraft’s Haunt of Horror #2

More of Lovecraft’s stories and poetry re-imagined in comic format by brilliant horror illustrator Richard Corben. We open with “The Music of Erich Zann,” retold in a fairly straightforward fashion. After that, Lovecraft’s poem “The Canal” gets reinterpreted into a nightmarish saga of a horrible flood, and HPL’s poem “The Lamp” becomes a story about explorers in a defiled Egyptian tomb.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I didn’t start out liking this one as much as I liked the previous issue, but on slower re-reading, there’s more stuff I actually enjoy here. There’s the perfect decayed city architecture that Lovecraft preferred, there’s the creepy textual version of Zann’s music, the transcription of the modern nightmare of post-Katrina New Orleans, the invisible menace freed from the crypt. This is beautiful work, simultaneously subtle and gory. If you love horror, especially Lovecraftian cosmic horror, go get this comic.

 

Locke and Key #6

In the finale of this series, psychotic Sam Lesser has the upper hand, with Tyler Locke under the gun, his mother and cousin locked in the wine cellar, and sister Kinsey clubbed into unconsciousness. Sam is after a couple of mystical keys — the same keys the spirit in the well wants Bode Locke to find. Bode goes through the magic door that turns him into a ghost so he can find the keys — once he gives the “Anywhere Key” to the spirit, she takes it, walks out a door, and vanishes. Meanwhile, Tyler tries to get away from Sam, falls against the “ghost door” and, as far as Sam can tell, dies. Is there going to be any way to stop Sam before he kills the rest of the family, too?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A good mix of suspense, mundane chase/action sequences, and extremely creepy weirdness. I wish we’d seen a bit more about the family’s ancestral home, the Keyhouse, as it looked like it’d make for a wonderful haunted house. There’s also word that there’s a new series on the way toward the end of the year.

 

Pigeons from Hell #4

The Blassenville sisters and the sheriff return to the old plantation to do battle against the horror inside. After that, there’s a great deal of chaos.

Verdict: Thumbs down. I’ve been loving this series, but the final chapter just doesn’t measure up. And I gotta put the blame on the artwork. It’s just too dark, too muddy, too confusing. I read the original story, so I should have a pretty good idea about what’s going on here, but I just couldn’t keep track of what was going on.

 

Mini Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissors

If you’ve ever wondered what the Marvel superheroes would look like if they were drawn by “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz, look no further. This is actually a collection of the “Mini Marvels” comic strips that appear in the back of many regular Marvel comics, and they’re just impossibly adorable. We get Wolverine going out to get his favorite cereal, the somewhat depressing saga of Spidey’s paper route, Hulk taking Betty out on a date to the malt shop, Iron Man giving all his friends their own powered armor, and the brilliant, kid-friendly re-imagining of the “Planet Hulk” and “World War Hulk” storylines.

Verdict: Several thumbs up. Chris Giarusso’s artwork and writing are simply wonderful. Wolverine’s back-and-forth with the very dim-witted grocery store clerk is great, as is Hulk’s date with Betty and Professor X’s Charlie Brown hairdo, but the high point is absolutely the “World War Hulk” story. I’d really love to give away the funniest gag, just because it had me laughing so hard, but if you wanna find it, just look around for the stuff about haiku.

It’s about $10, but it’s worth at least twice that. Go pick it up.

 

Blue Beetle #29

Jaime runs into a couple of low-rent supervillains who are in the middle of a wrestling match to determine who will get to be the new Hellhound, while Paco and Brenda go on a “Not-A-Date.” Meanwhile, Peacemaker, who’s gotten involved with a Minutemanesque anti-illegal-immigrants patrol organization, and they try to round up some aliens who inject themselves with instant superpowers. Blue Beetle shows up to help out, but they’re able to get away after leaving a “hostage” behind. All that plus a connection to Intergang, the international crime organization run by Apokolips.

Verdict: Thumbs up. There’s a bit too much going on in the story, but I’m thrilled that the fill-in writers are still doing such a great job on characterization and dialogue. Probably the most embarrassing part of the book is the front-cover credits which say John Rogers wrote the story — come on, DC, Rogers hasn’t been writing this book in months. Get it together.

It’s the triumphant return of Bahlactus’ Big Bad Brawlfest — better known as FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!

The theme this time is “Ladies Night” — and yeah, that means each entry has to feature some fine feminine fisticuffs. So to kick things off with one single, wonderful panel from this year’s Birds of Prey #117 by Sean McKeever, Nicola Scott, and Doug Hazlewood: Misfit teleports all around a room administering copious amounts of whoopass:

To celebrate this auspicious beginning of the latest round of Friday Night Fights, I’m asking all you gals out there to go beat the snot out of someone tonight. As for you guys… just stay outta their way, a’ight?

Justice Society of America Annual #1

In the last regular issue of “Justice Society of America,” Gog, in the process of fulfilling a number of wishes for the Justice Society, sent Power Girl home — to her original home on Earth-2. Kara gets reacquainted with all the retro heroes, and the Huntress makes plans to kill the Joker. And Power Girl discovers something very unwelcome about Earth-2.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Sorry, but I just never got into Earth-2’s heroes, and there’s really not much here but fanboy nostalgia. I did get a kick out of the elderly and decrepit — but still dangerous — version of the Joker. But that wasn’t enough to make it a win for me.

Green Lantern #33

We continue our re-telling of Hal Jordan’s origin. Sinestro — at this point in his history, still a Green Lantern — knocks out loony telepath Hector Hammond, then he and Hal go hunting the alien demon Atrocitus, who’s after a kid named William Hand — the future supervillain Black Hand.

Verdict: Another thumbs down. It’s just not coming across as very interesting.

She-Hulk #31

It appears I’ve missed a few issues of this. The Skrull Invasion is beginning, and Shulkie and Jazinda are tracking a Skrull called the Talisman, a religious figure whose well-being will determine how the invasion will go. If they can take him out quickly enough, the entire Skrull army will give up the invasion and flee for their home. They run into X-Factor, now re-imagined as a bunch of private eyes. They’re after completely different targets, but She-Hulk gets into a fight with the X-Factor kids that even she admits is an incredibly stupid and pointless thing to do. Jazinda, meanwhile, catches up with who she claims is the Talisman — namely, Longshot. Jazinda gets knocked out by Darwin, a rapidly evolving mutant, but Darwin later spontaneously evolves a power that forces Skrulls to reveal themselves. And as it turns out, yep, Longshot’s a Skrull.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Sure, I missed a few issues, but I was still enjoying what I was reading, so I approve.

Dan Brereton’s Nocturnals: Carnival of Beasts

Monster-loving painter Dan Brereton returns to his best-known spook-pulp series. All the usual Nocturnals — lycanthropic mad scientist Doc Horror, ghost-collecting teen Halloween Girl, mute zombie gunfighter Gunwitch, peaceful ghost Polychrome, synthetic pyrobug Firelion, amphibious hottie Starfish, bioengineered gangster Raccoon, and reptile hybrid Komodo — make at least a cameo appearance here.

We have a trio of stories here — in the first, Doc, Evie, and the Gunwitch go searching for new stores of the chemical that keeps Doc from turning werewolf, but instead they run into a bunch of mad scientists who’ve been experimenting on themselves and on a bunch of runaways. Our second story focuses on Starfish as she visits a sea monster to get rid of a ghost. And in the last, Halloween Girl, Polychrome, and Gunwitch have fun at a spooky Halloween carnival.

Verdict: Thumbs up. All the stories are about monsters, but it would be inaccurate to call this horror. It’s definitely pulp fiction, with a strong strain of slightly corny Halloween-loving spookiness. These are stories for grownups, but they’ll best be appreciated by grownups who love old pulp horror. And if you’ve got mature kids who love monsters, let them give it a read-through, too, especially the story set in the carnival.

Anyway, Brereton wrote all three stories, and his storytelling is first-rate. He also illustrated the first tale, and his painted artwork is predictably lush and awesome. The second story, illustrated by Victor Kalvachev, is also beautiful and atmospheric, and the last story, illustrated by Ruben Martinez and Viet Nguyen, is more cartoony, but it’s creepy and funny in all the right ways. My only regret about this is that it wasn’t released closer to October — it really is perfect Halloween reading.

Two-Face: Year One #1

We get a retelling of Harvey Dent/Two-Face’s origin story, with many elements taken from “The Long Halloween” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Most of the focus here is on Harvey — we don’t actually meet Two-Face until the last page.

Verdict: Thumbs up, but Two-Face is my favorite Batman villain, so I should be considered an easy mark.

Madame Xanadu #2

Camelot has fallen, and Nimue has done nothing to help them. She takes petty revenge on some of Mordred’s soldiers, but her scorn for her evil sister Morgana is mostly ignored. She also encounters Etrigan the Demon before meeting the Phantom Stranger, who tells her that her lover Merlin summoned the demon and plans to use her to flee and gain immortality so he can continue to influence history to his own benefit. Nimue must repay Merlin’s betrayal with betrayal of her own, but can she escape a terrible fate?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nicely chaotic bit of fun and intrigue. Matt Wagner knows his Arthurian legends, and his re-creation of Madame Xanadu’s origin remains very enjoyable.

 

Ambush Bug: Year None #1

The return of Ambush Bug! HUZZAH!

The world’s greatest comedic, fourth-wall-breaking, teleporting, deelybop-wearing superhero is investigating the murder of Jonni DC, Continuity Cop, accompanied by his ever-loyal buddy, Cheeks the Toy Wonder. We get appearances by Argh!Yle!!, the evil Dr. Doomesque sock, and a new hipster villain called Go-Go Chex, as well as cameos by Yankee Poodle, Egg Fu, Ace the Bathound, ‘Mazing Man, Jean Loring, the Source Wall, the Golden-Age Batgirl, Jack Kirby’s Sandman, and bunch of gratuitous Women in Refrigerators. The entire thing is almost entirely plotless — the only real purpose is to dump an obscene number of jokes on the readers.

Verdict: Thumbs up! This is complete and total brilliance. A six-issue series? Surely this could be padded to a dozen or two? Pretty please?

 

Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes #1

A new Marvel all-ages book! HUZZAH!

Looks like this will be a team-up book, and the first issue features Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Hulk. Hercules shows up and asks the trio of heroes to dog-sit his pets for him for a few weeks. No problem, right? Oh, wait, they’re Cerberus and Orthus, giant multi-headed guard dogs of the Underworld. They decide to try to train the dogs, mainly to keep them from using Iron Man as a squeaky chew toy.

Verdict: Another thumbs up. This is another extremely funny book, what with Spider-Man sticking to the Hulk, Iron Man constantly being chewed on by giant dogs, the spectacle of Cerberus being entered into a dog show, and frankly, almost everything the Hulk says and does.

 

Hoverboy #1

A comic subtitled “The Republican Super-Hero!” Umm, huzzah?

This is set up as a revival of an old character from the Golden and Silver Age. Hoverboy is a guy with a bucket on his head who undertakes a mission to spy on Iran and start a little trouble over there. Unfortunately, George W. Bush is not the greatest mapmaker around, and Hoverboy ends up running around Iraq killing Iraqi police officers and generally starting needless trouble for American troops. Who’s going to get the blame for this? Hoverboy? President Georgie? Or some random stooge in the Bush cabinet? Once the main story is over, we’re treated to a bunch of “historical covers and reprints” from old “Hoverboy” comics.

Verdict: Ehh, bit of a mixed bag. The main story is okay, but not particularly any grand shakes. I actually graded them down a little for dropping this so close to the end of Bush’s term; publish it in 2003-2005, when everyone was in “All Must Love Bush” mode, and I’d give ’em marks for courage, but now, when he’s got approval ratings around 20%? That’s jumping onto the dogpile after the ref’s already blown the whistle. I’m not even sure the usual Limbaughian extremists will even bother issuing the standard denunciations and fatwas at this point…

Anyway, the cover gallery is actually funnier, what with the ad for the “Hoverboy Flying Belt” from the ’40s that tells kids that they’ll really be able to fly, a Hoverboy PSA that warns kids about the dangers of Canadians, and a reprint of a story that features Hoverboy killing every animal in a zoo while searching for a Japanese detainee. The cover gallery is mostly the work of Marcus Moore, who really does a great job of re-creating the look of various old comics.

There is never a cool time to describe yourself as “giddy,” but folks, after I read this news earlier today, I was absolutely, unapologetically giddy. We’re talking dancing around, making high-pitched giggling noises, and trying to hug strangers.

The Milestone Universe is getting incorporated into the DC Universe.

Announced Saturday at Comic-Con International, the characters of Milestone Comics will be folded into the fabric of DCU proper, in some very high-profile titles.

Static – co-created by Dwayne McDuffie, the fan favorite writer of DC’s top-selling “Justice League of America” – will be joining “Teen Titans” as an active team member.

The supercharged hero is arguably the former DC imprint’s most recognizable character thanks in large part to the animated series, “Static Shock,” that ran for four seasons from 2000 to 2004.

Late Saturday night, McDuffie, one of Milestone’s co-founders, also confirmed for CBR News that two of his most popular creations will appear in his next arc of “Justice League of America,” beginning in #27.

“You will definitely see Icon and you’ll definitely see Hardware,” revealed McDuffie. “And the Justice League will be going up against Milestone’s Shadow Cabinet too.”

Milestone was a comics imprint that was published through DC, but it had no connections to the regular DCU. It was probably the most successful comics publisher to specialize in fully multicultural comics, and most important to me, on a personal level, Milestone’s comics (specifically, “Blood Syndicate”) were the ones that finally got me back on the comics bandwagon again, back when I was in grad school in Denton.

Getting Milestone characters incorporated into DC’s continuity isn’t the same as getting Milestone’s seriously awesome comics published again, but it’s nice to see this, as Milestone’s contributions were being forgotten too rapidly.

And as long as DC figures out a way to bring back the badass OG’s from “Blood Syndicate,” in all their “Are They Heroes or Are They Gangstas” glory, I’ll be really happy. Giddy, even.