Creative Team – Larry Hama and Agustin Padilla
The Grade – 4.5 out of 5

I have been waiting for this comic since 1994; Larry Hama back on G.I.Joe. Could life be any better? I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the time the series spent with Devil’s Due. I appreciated the fact the continued the continuity set by the Marvel series and overall they did some great work. The problem was that it wasn’t Hama. No one should be writing G.I.Joe but him. Sure, the brief Storm Shadow series was okay, but it wasn’t the main book. I wanted Hama back writing G.I.Joe. I needed Hama back writing G.I.Joe.

So when I heard about the 155 ½ issue coming out on Free Comic Book Day and that Larry Hama was writing it and it would serve as the launching pad for a new monthly series picking up where he left off with Marvel, I was thrilled. I thought to myself “This is what Devil’s Due should have done in the first place”. But would the hype in my brain live up to the actual book?

The answer is yes. I swear; it’s like the Marvel series never ended. Cobra has won in the face of the disbanding of G.I.Joe and walks the streets freely. In this new world, Hama is concentrating on a small group of characters gathering back together in the face of Cobra contracts on the heads of all Joes. Never read the Marvel series? No problem. Any one with any working knowledge of the concept can jump right in and enjoy the action. Which, I’m happy to say, includes Snake Eyes and ninjas. Yes, ninjas. Life is so good right now! Happily, Padilla’s art is solid, with easy to follow panels and great line work. My only gripe is I could have used a splash page shot of Snake Eyes taking on the ninjas. Oh well, nothing’s perfect.

If you are a Joe fan of the Marvel era, you need to buy this book. If you are a later fan of the IDW reboot or the movie, you also need this book. So you can see how amazing G.I.Joe is when done by the master, and done right.

All people who consider themselves fanboys should really go read this article on Comic Book Resources by Augie De Blieck Jr. His latest Pipeline column will really make you think about where comics are going and whose fault it will be if they go the way of the VCR.

A must read for anybody who cares about comics.

I am ridiculously thrilled to announce that New Book Day will be returning to a computer near you on Monday, May 3rd with all new strips. The new update schedule will be Monday and Wednesday for now, with Friday being added sometime during the summer. NBD three times a week! WooHoo!

Now, I know what you’re thinking; “That’s great and all, but why the five month break? What’s to say you won’t pull a stunt like that again?” Well, therein lies a story…

Way back in 2006, when I started New Book Day, it was just something to put on my resume. I never thought it would or even could turn into something that I would enjoy so much or make a career of. That was part of the reason NBD stayed on Blogger for so long. I was very reluctant to spend money on a comic that I was unsure if I was going to continue to work on week to week. Once I made the decision to move the strip to its current home, I really started to enjoy working with Diego and crew, but didn’t have the right tools to do what I wanted.

See, I used to work on NBD entirely by hand. I drew and inked the strip traditionally, then scanned it into my computer to do the rest with Photoshop. The worst part was cleaning the image up. It took the better part of an hour or more and was tedious to say the least. It was this that caused me to halt the comic last January. I was just sick of the insane amount of work I was doing and still not increasing my readership. NBD became a chore, which is not something I ever wanted to happen. So I stopped the strip.

What has changed now? Well, first I finally purchased my first graphic tablet, an Intuos4. To say it has changed my workflow would be an understatement. Working on the comic is a joy. I still draw the strip with a pencil and paper, but everything else is done with the tablet and Photoshop. The net result is that I can produce a comic faster, which means 3 times a week updates, which means more readers. That leads me to the second change; I don’t care about my pageviews anymore.

I do care about my readers, don’t get me wrong. You guys are the lifeblood of the comic. But I’m not going to get worked up about it anymore. As long as there is one person who enjoys and looks forward to New Book Day, that is enough for me. Even if that person is myself. I have come to care too much and Diego, Roxy and the rest to let them go.

So, in a nutshell, NBD returns May 3rd, for the long haul. I hope you will all join me and stick around. I think you’ll get a laugh and enjoy yourself. I know I will.

Writer – Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Artist – David Finch
Publisher – Marvel Comics
The Grade – 3.5 out of 5

So begins the final chapter of the Hope trilogy in the X-Men books. After watching plotlines build for several years, the X-Men bring it all together for their latest crossover, Second Coming. Honestly, I have felt for a while that the X-Men titles have been overshadowed by the Avengers books, and I think it has been a good thing. It has given them more freedom to tell better stories than when they were the flagship of Marvel Comics. This is a tightly plotted overreaching arc that has played out over time, just like the good old days of Chris Claremont.

The writing here is very good. Kyle and Yost do a great job of getting the desperation of Cyclops across. This is a man looking at the extinction of his race and will do anything to stop it, including deploying the lethal X-Force. He has crossed lines and made decisions and you can feel it in the dialogue and how he deals with his team. This is how I always wanted to see Cyclops; in charge and not taking any crap. They have also managed to mine the X-men’s past to bring back some great villains. The “Smiley” armors brought back some great memories for me, as someone who has read these books off and on for 30 years. I really look forward to what else they have planned.

David Finch’s artwork is spectacular. Much better than the art that has been in most of the X books recently. Since he has signed exclusive with DC Comics, I’m guessing this may be his Marvel swan song. If so, it is a fitting example of why he is so in demand. A few panels seem a bit too busy for my taste, but that is to be expected when dealing with such a large cast.

For an opening chapter, Second Coming Chapter 1 is an enjoyable read. It sets thing up and gets the ball rolling. Anyone who has shied away from the X-Men books the last few years would be well served to check it out. However, we’ll have to wait and see if the rest of the crossover works as well.

I wanted to let everyone know that New Book Day #142 is going to be the last NBD. I have given this a lot of thought and the problem is time, or not enough of it. To do what I want with the comic and make it what it can be, I need to do things like have 5 strips a week, redo the website, add color, etc. That will bring in and retain readers. Right now, that is just not going to happen. Between work, school and life, I only have time for one comic a week. That equals no readers and working on NBD turns more into a chore than a pleasure. That is not something I want to happen. So I have made the difficult decision to end the strip.

This is probably not the end of Diego and crew though. Once I graduate from college I hope to rework and relaunch the comic sometime in 2011 when I have the time to do it properly, but nothing is set in stone. In the meantime I plan to pursue other types of art that I have been putting off due to the time spent on NBD and leave the website up for the time being as an archive of sorts.

Thanks to everyone who supported and read the comic since it launched in 2006. Your support meant a lot.

Thanks,
Dave