Market Spotlight: Firebreather Vol 1 - UPDATED!

Firebreather Vol 1
Scripts: Phil Hester
Pencils: Phil Hester
Collects: Firebreather # 1-4
ISBN: 1582403805
Retail: $13.95

There's actually a lot going on right now in the TPB game. I tend not to mention these items on the show, because, I wouldn't want to bore you all with all the goddamn money you could be making and all.

Firebreather is a nice story. I like the little indie books that could, and this certainly qualifies. Hester is telling a coming of age story about an adolescent dragon with problems fitting in at high school and some MAJOR daddy issues. Like dad might burn your whole town down with his lava-hot dragon breath. Those issues.

This is getting a CG animated pilot airing on Cartoon Network this year. Now, will that blow it up? Probably not. That piece of crap Painkiller Jane show on Sci Fi sure didn't do much for those comics.

But a television show certainly won't hurt the prices on these books, either. And right now you can't touch Firebreather Vol 1 on Amazon for less than $50. Print runs were obviously not huge on this book, but trust me, they are still out there for cover or less.

I'm calling this a "buy" all day long at $14 and under. God help us if that Cartoon Network show does cause a major run - you're looking at a trade you can sell for $100 all day long.

UPDATE!

Well, I think we can cancel any dreams of this trade hitting par (the $100 mark) in the near future. Image is producing a new edition of the trade, sheduled to hit stands on June 24.

Do I still like buying the original trade at cover? Yes. We've got three months where supply is likely to be shorter than demand. The supply is coming though, so don't go crazy on this.



Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II
Scripts: Gerard Jones & Keith Giffen
Pencils: Doc Bright
Collects: Emerald Dawn II # 1-6
ISBN: 1401200168
Retail: $12.95


Holy Chockatolees, did you see this result on Ebay? Looks like interest in Blackest Night is sending folks to earlier Hal Jordan Vs. Sinestro events in a serious way. And just to be clear, you can pick up the original floppies at Lone Star Comics for dirt cheap. If you wanted proof that the trade paperback market is THE market...now you have it.

I don't know if we can count on $120+ forever, these things go in cycles and we're clearly on the upswing. But I would say if you can find this in your LCS for $13, I would jump on that.

- Ryan

Chronic Review: Air Vol 1 - Letters From Lost Countries

Collects: Air # 1-5
Scripts: G. Willow Wilson
Pencils: M.K. Perker

Air follows the unlikely misadventures of Blythe, an acrophobic flight attendant for Clearfleet Airlines. Blythe's mundane life picks up the pace when she's simultaneously approached with a mysterious briefcase by the Etesian Front and romantically entangled with dreamy Zayn, who's working the other side.



Other side of what, you ask? Well, there's where it gets complicated. Air is interested in peeling back the layers of the world we know to reveal countries, people, machines, and gods we are only half aware of.

The crux of the plot seems to be driven by an ancient propulsion technology created by Aztecs. I say "seems to" deliberately, because nothing ever follows through at face value in the book. If you want to read Air, you have to be flexible in your thinking.

The Etesians want this Hyperpraxis tech because the oil just can't last forever. Clearfleet has it, Zayn doesn't want the Etesian Front to get it, and Blythe seems naturally attuned to it. Hyperpraxis works more on symbology than physics, which means Air takes you places you can't find on a map. Sound like fun? It is.

Airs greatest attribute is its ambition. This is a story crowded with fresh takes on old ideas, and the themes come quickly as well. This is a book that routinely asks you to consider personal/national identity, fate, terrorism, friendship, love, alliances, trust, and epistomology. Wow.



Like any good writer, Wilson understands that in order to reach an audience with this quagmire, you have to ground it with a character who is as confused as the reader. Blythe works just fine for that. Moral support is provided by Fletcher, her intrepid (and almost certainly gay) companion. The characters of Air are a nice blend of the likeable and the bizarre.



But the rescue mission to non-existent Narimar was not resolved with any real drama, for my money. I had some logical issues with it as well - if Narimar is lost to history and nobody can get in or out, how has it survived much less kept pace with technology? Hmmm.

Maybe there's a good answer for that, but if there is, Wilson is content to let it slide for now. And this is fantasy, so perhaps I should let it slide as well.



As usual, Vertigo released the first trade at a $9.99 price point. Your average mutt of a comic book is probably worth that. Air is significantly better than the dregs, certainly worth the money and your time. In fact, this is what I'd hand to a brainy woman if I wanted to make a comic convert out of her.

If you read the reviews, one would come to conclusion that Air will replace sex as mankind's chief form of entertainment. I'm not ready to go that far yet.

Right now, I find it to be a unique and pretty darned good comic book. If Wilson can make us really fall in love with Blythe, and if she can hit upon a really compelling conflict, Air might end up as the next Y the Last Man. And that's about as much praise as one can give a book.

- Ryan



As usual

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

Here are a few jokes from the Irish joke website for you to laugh at.

A newlywed couple arrived back from honeymoon to move into their tiny new flat.
"Care to go to bed?" the husband asked.
"Shh!" said his blushing bride. "These walls are paper thin. The neighbours will know what you mean! Next time, ask me in code - like, 'Have you left the washing machine door open' - instead."
So, the following night, the husband asks: "I don't suppose you left the washing machine door open, darling?"
"No," she snapped back, "I definitely shut it." Then she rolled over and fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up feeling a little frisky herself, so she nudged her husband and said: "I think I did leave the washing machine door open after all..."
"Don't worry," said the man. "It was only a small load so I did it by hand."


Two married friends are out drinking…
One says to the other: "I can never sneak into the house after I've been drinking. I've tried everything. I turn the headlights off before I go up the drive. I shut off the engine and coast into the garage. I take my shoes off and creep upstairs. I get undressed in the bathroom. I do everything, but then my wife still wakes up and yells at me for staying out late."

His friend replies: "Do what I do. I screech into the driveway, slam the front door, storm up the steps, throw my shoes into the closet, jump into bed, slap my wife's bottom and say, "How about a blow job?" She always pretends she's asleep."


One night, a man rolls over in bed and gives his wife a big, knowing grin. Immediately realizing his intentions she says,

"Not tonight darling. I have an appointment with the gynaecologist tomorrow morning and I want to stay fresh and clean."

Dejected and disappointed, the man rolls over and tries to get to sleep. A few minutes later he rolls over and prods his wife again.

"Tell me, do you have a dentist appointment tomorrow, too?"

and one last one...

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend Finney. "Did you see the paper?" asked Gallagher. "They say I died!!"

"Yes, I saw it!" replied Finney. "Where are you callin' from?"

Please Be Patient!

We are still dealing with MyPodcast.com and when we find out what is going on we will let you ALL know. As of right now I am looking into OTHER podcast hosting sites. Podbean is highest on my list, but they are a pay service and well we are both pretty poor so it's hard to pay for something when MyPodcast.com is FREE.

This week is going to be a void due to the fact that MyPodcast.com is not working. We are going to take this week to start our reboot for the show this year. We have some new ideas on how it should sound and how will be presented. Stay tuned for more information on when and where this will happen. If have to pay $150 a year to host our Podcast, then so be it, I just don't want to jump the gun and not give MyPodcast.com a chance. They are obviously either stringing us along and have folded, or they are doing a total revamp of the site, which might turn out to be fucking awesome, so I am giving them a chance. Feel free to listen to our two latest shows from Gcast.com in the archive section of this blog. I have put my birthday special and Ryan's birthday special up as listenable audio players on this site.

We are sorry for how the situation is fucking things up, but we have no choice as of now. Let's give MyPodcast.com a few more days to straighten out their shit and see what happens. Look for us to come back with a vengence on March 24th 2009 regardless. We might be with a new host site, but we'll be back.

Thank you all for your support and we love you all.

Michael

A Watchmen Plea I happen to agree with!

This is an open letter written by David Hayter, the screenwriter for "The Watchmen" and I think he has a good point. I didn't like the movie that much, but I do agree with what he has to say. Please read.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM A WATCHMEN SCREENWRITER

So it has been five months since I saw my first rough cut of WATCHMEN, and eight days since the premiere of the film I've been working on since late in the year 2000.

The reviews are out -- Some outstanding, others rankly dismissive, which can be frustrating for the people involved, (though I can only speak for myself,) because I firmly believe that WATCHMEN, the novel, must be read through more than once to even have the faintest grip on it. And I believe the film is the same.

I've seen it twice now, and despite having run the movie in my head thousands of times, my two viewings still don’t' allow me to view the film with the proper distance or objectivity. Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it Blade Runner? Is it Kubrick, or Starship Troopers? I don’t know yet.

All I know is that I had a pretty amazing experience the two times I've seen it. And both viewings produced remarkably different experiences. The point is, I have listened for years, to complaints from true comic book fans, that "not enough movies take the source material seriously." "Too many movies puss out," or "They change great stories, just to be commercial." Well, I f***ing dare you to say any one of those things about this movie.

This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.

So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.

If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.

Please go see the movie again next weekend.

You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.

In the interests of full disclosure, let me also point out that I do not profit one cent from an increase in box office, although an increase in box office can add to the value of the writers' eventual residual profits from dvd and tv sales.

But I'm not saying it for money. I'm saying it for people like me. I'm saying it for people who love smart, dark entertainment, on a grand, operatic scale. I'm talking to the Snake fans, the Rorschach fans, the people of the Dark Knight.

And hey, if you hated the film, if you think we committed atrocities, or literary mistakes of a massive, cephalopodic nature. If the movie made you a little sick to your stomach, or made you feel bad about your life. If you hated it for whatever reason, that's cool too. I'm not suggesting you risk gastro-intestinal distress just for the sake of risky filmmaking.

But if you haven't seen it yet? Well, I'll just say this...

It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.

And all along, we really meant it to.

Because face it. All this time...You there, with the Smiley-face pin. Admit it.

All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the Grassy Knoll. I know, I know...

You say you don't like it. You say you've got issues. I get it.

And yet... You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.

Might as well make it count for something.

David Hayter

I might actually go out and see this movie again this weekend. We do need to send a message to the film studios that we need directors/filmmakers who aren't afraid to take a chance on making a great fucking movie. We want adult adaptations of adult comics. What kind of movie do you think that "Wolverine" is going to be at PG-13, well we aren't going to get the angry Canadian ripping through anyones guts with his claws at PG-13. As viewers and lovers of comic book movies we need to show that making a hard R-rated film isn't a mistake, because there are plenty of us out there who don't want the watered down versions of comic book adaptations. I for one don't want another pile of feces movie which ruins the comic book for all who read it. If you need evidence of this happening just take a look at "League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" or "Wanted" for proof of the garbage they "think" we want to see.

Nice letter David and I agree with you totally, even though I didn't really like the movie that much, it was still ground breaking and it made me think, which are both good traits for a movie like this.

Michael

The Consummate Professional Strikes Again!

So, I need to make a few corrections on some stuff I said while answering the mail bag. Sometimes I work off the cuff and screw things up. Matter of fact, every week I do that.

So the first thing I need to correct is the number of Promethea trades: there are five of them, not four.

I also went and started researching action on the Promethea Vol 2 hardcover, and things have quieted down a bit on that book as supply has reached a more reasonable level. It's still a very scarce item, and it has value. But I was claiming I'd pay $75 for it and sell it for $200+.

The truth (for the moment, these things go in cycles) is that it's currently available in very nice condition for $60. I actually just found one at Lone Star Comics (God Bless Lone Star) for $15.

I don't think I'm selling mine for less than $100, because I know how these things work. The supply will cycle down again and prices are going to go up. I seriously doubt that anybody is going back to press on these Promethea hardcovers, so what we have in circulation now is probably all we're going to get. And I also have a hard time believing that Alan Moore material is going to go out of style.

There are always going to be Moore collectors out there. Promethea Vol 2 HC is an absolute buyat $30 or less. But not the $75 I was spouting off about on the last show.

- Ryan

Issue # 84 Mike's Birthday Special!

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Here's a low resolution version of our show this week, just in case those fuckers at MyPodcast.com don't get their thumbs out of their asses. It should work as an alternative to going to the normal site for listening.

Michael

MyPodcast.com can suck my Wang!

As some of you know, we here at Chronic Insomnia have had a love/hate/love relationship with MyPodcast.com over the past 18+ months. As often as twice a month I have problems uploading our show to the site. Last week AND this week are no exceptions. I wasn't able to get Ryan's Birthday show up until about two days after it was recorded, and mine is probably going to do the same thing. It's frustrating, disgusting and a terrible way to run their site, but those fuckers don't respond to ANY email I send them. I have posted in the forum many times with little to no response, except the obligatory "We know of the problem and we are working to fix it." THAT'S IT!


As far as switching to a new place to host our Podcast, I am looking into it. This is getting out of hand, and I am willing to pay $5 a month for a more consistant working enviroment. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a possible TOTAL reboot of the show. Right now I am going to try and deal with MyPodcast.com a little bit more, but my anger level has reached a fevered pitch and I am not sure I can take much more of this 'lack of professionalism' from those fuckers. As Bob Dylan once said, "The times, they are a changin'".

Michael

The Watchmen Movie Special Is Done!

We hope to win the Cable Ace with this stunningly beautiful documentary on the road The Watchmen took from Alan Moore's head to Comic Book to Iconic Movie. Take the journey with us through three parts, each one more expertly written than the last. I think in these segments you will realize just how good of a writer Ryan really is. Check them out and tell your friends. They are so new on YouTube they are still covered in afterbirth. Enjoy!







Also check for us playing on Cable Access sometime next week on channels 19 or 20. Thanks for the support and we love you all as always.

The Chronic Crew (Michael)

Latest News!

We are now officially members of the CPN. If you don't know what this site is, then please go there and check out all the other wonderful comic book podcasts.

Last night Ryan and I went to the midnight showing of "The Watchmen" and I might not have been as impressed with the movie as Ryan was, but it was definitely a solid 8 out of 10. There were a couple of things I didn't like about the movie, but most of them were cosmetic in nature. All the zooming in and out during scenes was a little annoying and I might have gotten a little too much naked Dr. Manhattan. Actually is there such thing as too much naked blue guy? Ryan might say no, but I beg to differ.

Again check us out at CPN : CPN

Check out this weeks episode totally dedicated to Ryan's birthday.

Also check out our Watchmen Movie Special now playing on YouTube.

Again we love you all and hope you enjoy the shows!

Michael

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Happy Birthday Ryan! I hope you get all the things you want this year. I know you were sad because I didn't get you the Thrust Master Peanut Butter Jar thing, but I thought the present I gave you was more appropriate. I hope we share many more birthdays like this one, doing the show, goofing off, pretending we are twelve and just being together. I don't want to get all mushy on you, but I always had this vision of the future, where the two of us are sitting in the old folks home playing Magic: The Gathering and complaining about the terrible comic books of 2065. One can only dream I guess.

Here are some memories from the past, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them with you.









To my best friend, Ryan...

I love ya man, in a totally heterosexual way dude.

Michael

Chronic Alert: Watchmen Movie Special coming to TV!

The Chronic Insomnia "Watchmen Movie Special" is coming to cable access soon, and to a youtube near you!

This 30 minute video presentation is intended to give folks a Watchmen crash course. Everything you never wanted to know about Alan Moore, the comic, and it's 20+ year journey toward the cinema is included.

We have added some classic Chronic attitude to the mix, but this was a cable access project, and mostly family friendly. We do mention poop once. But that's only because some 20th Century Fox execs did - what do you want from us? We're Eisner nominated journalists. We must tell it like it is!

I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but we are proud to announce that Alan Moore himself makes a guest appearance on our program!

The project is 99.5% completed, Quincy and I are working out the final cut tonight. It's far enough along now where I think we can safely announce it, though. We'll hand out details on NWCT air times and youtube links as they become available.

- Ryan