YOUNG ANIMAL GROWS! OR A Very Sneaky Negative Monday

The October (really?! October?!) solicits for DC Comics hit the internets today. Well, technically, they hit sometime last week in some leak or some other thing, but, really, officially, they hit today. 

Gerard Way's Young Animal imprint triples in size, with Cave Carson and Shade, the Changing Girl joining the pull lists of many a comic book reader. 

The one we all REALLY care about, though, is 
DOOM PATROL #2
Written by GERARD WAY
Art and cover by NICK DERINGTON
Variant cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details. 
What happened to Larry Trainor? The hero known as Negative Man is still out there, but he’s not exactly the same guy he was back when Doom Patrol was still together. Like a Russian doll, there is man inside the man, and who knows how many other men inside of them, with the guy on top possessing a mind for mischief that incites violence.
Meanwhile, Casey has started rebuilding Robotman, even though she still doesn’t know exactly how Cliff Steele ended up crossing her path in the first place.
On sale OCTOBER 12 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS

You can catch the full solicits for DC Comics in October 2016 right here. 


This month I'm going to try something new. Every solicit going forward, starting right here, I'm going to take a spin through the DC titles and match the number of Young Animal titles with titles I'm going to take a look at and read. I'll do something quick about them once I've read them either in the form of a review over on Comicosity or on my other comic book catch-all blog: Tales of My Greatest Strange Adventures. 

Here we go:
Superman #8. I'm a big fan of Tomasi and Gleason working together. Add in a cover (and more?) by Doug Mahnke and dinosaurs, and I cannot even begin to present an argument against this book. 

The Prestige Format returns for Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1, written by Sarah Vaughn and drawn by Lan Medina. Boston Brand is one of my absolute favorite characters and just the thought of having two of Arnold Drake's creations available in their own titles in the same month is fantastic.

Hawkman is another character near to my heart, no matter how crappy the previous incarnation may or may not have been handled. All that matters now is that Hawkman and Adam Strange team up as once more Rann and Thanagar just can't seem to get along in Hawkman and Adam Strange: Out of Time #1. Marc Andreyko writes this one and Aaron Lopresti draws it, and I can't wait, even if it will be October. 

There ya go. Some Young Animal solicits and some books to keep an eye for as well.

How about you, gentle readers? Will you be buying all of the Young Animal stuff? What about the other three recommendations? Better yet, any books YOU are looking forward to the most? 

Negative Monday 40

When Ted Bruder gets negative, he gets negative, man. 

Added for 2013

I haven't done this in the past, but I've threatened to do so. In 2013, I plan to review, as I do for Comic Book Resources, a run of Doom Patrol. I've been wanting to unlax my poor little brain from so much of today's comics by reading (or re-reading) some DP adventures, but just haven't been able to fit it in. 

So I hemmed and I hawed. I really wanted to take a swing at John Byrne's 2004-2005 volume (Volume 4 as it were), but the fine fellows at Doom Podtrol are doing a very good job with that series. Alternatively, they're tackling the Morrison issues of the second volume of Doom Patrol with episodes in between their Byrne musings. Scott and Murray have also hit the highlights for the last, pre-New 52 volume as well as the original series, so that really only leaves the John Arcudi and Tan Eng Huat collection. 

That said, beginning Thursday, January 10, I'll be reviewing the entire run, one issue at a time. During the week I'll post panels from that book resurrecting Negative Mondays and Gal Fridays (formerly known as Elasti-Girl Fridays) and using DC's philosophy of selectively re-numbering continuity. 

Fridays following the post will include a panel featuring one of the DP's female characters, but Monday before will feature someone being in the issue coming up. So there you go: Negative Mondays and Gal Fridays return in 2013. See y'all on Monday! 

I promise not to be brutal with the reviews, Cliff! 

Negative Monday 38

Not to get too negative, but there are only three issues of this title left.

This Wednesday is the first of the those three and it looks a little something like this:

I'm thinking it's a bit chilly on that rock. Larry's gotta be a little freaked about the circling pelicans, too. 

Negative Monday 37 or Mike Hawthorne's Twart

Happy Monday friends! Happy Valentine's Day too! I wish I had some DP Valentines to send you all. Those could border on creepy, couldn't they? A card with Mento on it, or one with Crazy Jane. . . hmmmmm. . . .I think I might be on to something here. . .

At any rate, the Twartiness featuring the DP continues on. Mike Hawthorne, who I have to admit I am painfully unfamiliar with save for his Twart endeavors, has added this little piece.

Mike's got some Conan, Star Trek, and Fear Agent experience, but I'm not a regular reader of any of those.

Regardless, I thought it was a nice Negative Monday addition, as Larry is featured so prominently.

Speaking of creepy, I'm not sure what's up with the fella holding the mic with the hoody and Dr. Doom-like mask, but there it is. Not too sure about the snake either, maybe that's supposed to be Gar? Let's pretend it is.

At any rate, Mr. Hawthorne's DP looks pretty snazzy to me, I like the oddity of the tech Cliff is sporting here, and the bands around the tops of Larry's boots are a nice element that plays off his belt. More Twartiness still to come, my friends. Have a great Monday!

Negative Monday 36 - Front Page News!

I've mentioned it more than once here, but in my spare time (ha!) I review for CBR. Why should you care? Well, the DP review is "front page" material.

Click on over and give it a look.

Negative Monday 35

Aw yeah, Doom Patrol!

Newsarama has a five-page preview of the latest issue of Doom Patrol set to hit the rack this Wednesday.

Courtesy of Newsarama, here's the colored version of yesterday's image.

And look! There's Larry! Matthew Clark's art is sooooooooooooo right for this crew.

Happy Negative Monday my friends.

Negative Monday #34

I told you all to come back and check  in on the Doom Patrol related goodness from the October solicits today. If you're back because of that, welcome back!

Negative Monday 31

Newsarama's got a fun little interview with Mr. Giffen.

Over there he says,

"And all of that counts. Ever since the beginning."

Make with the clicky and read more for yourself.

Mad props to Vaneta Rogers for getting Giffen to sit down long enough for an interview.

Negative Monday 30

Phillip Sloan-Thomas Munroe-Larry Trainor is being stalked. By a pelican.
The exchange between Larry and Cliff - and the signpost behind Cliff - are absolutely priceless!

Of course, whenever a moment like this pops up in DP, there's an explosion, alien invaders, or repo men from another dimension right around the corner.

Negative Monday 29

Another quick one as I try to get things back on track.
Dan Schoening - aka Dapper Dan - artist extraordinaire and sole proprietor of Dapper Dan's Pomade drew this nice collection of the Doom Patrollers for me a while back. The version above is his first pass, the version below is a more recent follow-up.
Dan's art is one of a kind, mixing Don Bluth sensibilities, Bruce Timm dynamics and a modern flair. This guy does some phenomenal stuff. Be sure to check out his site when you get a moment or two of free time.

Dan's done work for LeapFrog and DC. Speaking of DC, I just now - as in right now as I'm typing this found another blog from Mr. Schoening - Dapper Dan's DC Moleskin(e)! After doing a little happy dance, I've linked it right here.

I've also got another sketch from Dan that will be posted over at Red Tornado's Path tomorrow.

Negative Monday 28

Consider this the MGA equivalent of a fill-in issue.

Once upon a time, there was a young man who wanted to draw comics. By once upon a time, I mean in the late 1980s. And by young man, I was maybe 16 at the time. . .
Yes, that is some really bad anatomy.

I'm still hoping to get back to that Showcase issue from last week's Negative Monday.

Negative Monday 26

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's "Larry"!!!

Original pencil art by Matthew Clark. "Oooooooo!" and "Ahhhhh!" at your leisure.

Negative Monday 25

Happy New Year! I trust everyone made it through safe and (mostly) sound.

Just a quick reminder to fill this spot for this week. No better way to start the first new comic day of the New Year than with an issue of Doom Patrol, right?

Here's the pencils for the cover, the solicited cover, and a little something extra.

Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis; Art by Matthew Clark; co-feature Art by Kevin Maguire; Cover by Matthew Clark

This month, we spotlight Negative Man, who's going to knit the history of The Doom Patrol into one cohesive whole. Cohesive to him, anyway.

Plus, The Metal Men find another gag that those three old geezers doing the feature can run into the ground.

DC Universe | 40pg. | Color | $3.99 US

Happy Negative Monday y'all!

Negative Monday 24

Two dozen Negative Mondays already? Sheesh. Imagine where we'd be if I actually kept a regular schedule!

Negative Monday, today, is going to focus on the Negative being(s?) in the most recent issue - Doom Patrol #5. Giffen could have gone in so many different directions with the Black Lantern DP going against the living, but he decided to put the seemingly logical connections together. In this case, Larry Trainor was challenged by the reanimated Val Vostok, who, somehow, brought along a semblance of the negative being with her.

The static between Vostok and Trainor is nothing new - Kupperberg touched on this in his take way back in Volume 2 - but here, Larry exerts his control of the negative energy in a surprising manner, especially considering "Vostok" took Larry out in a hurry in the last issue.

Rather than blather on, I'm going to share the confrontation with you. Read on to see what happens when two Negatives enter into the equation.


Larry maintains his personality all the way through, even as Black Lantern Vostok seems to have the upper hand.
A few of you have wondered aloud in the comments section why Cliff was referring to Rebis. Honestly, I don't know. the best I can hypothesize is because the two negative beings have seemingly merged, but I truly suppose we'll only find out more next month with the return of Matthew Clark when the spotlight shines heavily on Larry in

I quite enjoyed the Blackest Night issues. Sure, it is a little disappointing that the DP couldn't wrap up the challenge in these pages, but it appears as though the Patrollers - with Cliff not really registering in the Black Lanterns emotion spectrum vision and Larry single-handedly defeating one of the Lanterns - might help turn the tide and win the war against the Black Lanterns.

I guess we'll find out more about the DP and their involvement in this struggle on December 30 with the release of Blackest Night #6.

Negative Mondays 23

OK, so this one's gonna be short and sweet.

I was sick. I'm getting better. More later.

What? Not good enough? OK.

November 9 was the start of the busiest week I've worked at my current job. Throughout the week, I was wearing thin, and by Friday I was done. I cashed out and hit the hay by 8:00 Friday night. Went to the doctor the next day and was diagnoased with the flu.

Turns out it was H1N1, as the "seasonal" flu has yet to hit Michigan.

From there, I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in bed. Woke up long enough Tuesday to know something wasn't right and my lovely wife decided to take me to the hospital. Three IV bags, one antibiotic bag, and a painkiller that could have stopped an elephant's toothache, I went home, with a new diagnosis - pneumonia.

So I've been a little under the weather, which has been unseasonably mild for Michigan - and should be back in action soon.

In the meantime, I'd like to mention that the Blackest Night issue of DP sold out and a second printing should be hitting shops this week.

Also worthy of a mention, Mattycollector.com has the Justice League Unlimited style DP figures for sale. Haven't ordered mine yet, but soon. I'll track the process here for everyone's edification.

Also to keep you coming back, I've got the second part of my chat with Matthew Clark coming up.

Glad to see you all got along nicely while I was gone. Some advice was asked, given, and appreciated. Good times.

This may not be the most frequently updated blog out there, but the folks here are nice and friendly-like. Makes me happy.

Negative Monday 22

From The Fwoosh, here's some images of the Negative Man figure from the yet-to-be-formally-announced DC Universe Classics line. The Fwoosh, in my opinion, tends to be a little out front of the announcements as the happen. Action Figure Insider is my preferred site of choice for news on all things plastic, but this is some great news for Doom Patrol fans.

This set will include:
Wondergirl - the Donna Troy version
Superboy - the Conner Kent version as he originally appeared
Cheetah - two versions, the classic Super Friends version and the more modern - but not current appearance - George Pérez version
Cyclotron
Blue Devil - the original look for Mr. Cassidy
Blue Beetle - Jaime Reyes
and our very own Negative Man.

From what I gather, Larry is going to be the variant, with his "negative face" showing.

The collect-and-connect figure here will be Trigon. After all, they have to string us a long a little farther before they give us Rita, right?

I'm a little puzzled by Mattel's choice to go retro with the appearance of Larry Trainor, as I think Matthew Clark's design is top notch and would make a more dramatic action figure. Who am I to complain? At least we'll be getting a Negative Man action figure!

Negative Monday 21

Twenty-one! I win!

Twenty-one is one of those trigger words for me. Every time I hear it, I think about the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he's playing Blaque Jaque Shellaque. Of course, this post has nothing to do with Blaque Jaque, but the next post does have something to do with Blackest Night. (horrible, horrible transition, I know, but what do you want for free?)

Anyway, I've slipped once more. To make that to you, today I'm going to share the pencils for the cover from last week's January solicits. I'm still not sure HOW I got this beautiful image (and even if I was sure, I'm sworn to secrecy), but I think it is safe to share the pencils now that the actual cover has been shared.

Just to be 100% certain I don't blow anything, here's the cover and solicit from October 19:

DOOM PATROL #6
Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Matthew Clark; co-feature art by Kevin Maguire
Cover by Matthew Clark
This month, we spotlight Negative Man, who’s going to knit the history of The Doom Patrol into one cohesive whole. Cohesive to him, anyway.
Plus, The Metal Men find another gag that those three old geezers doing the feature can run into the ground.
On sale January 6 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Full January 2010 solicits for DC Comics can be found at Comic Book Resources, among other places, but CBR is near and dear to my heart.

And now for those pencils I promised:

It amazes me how comfortably Matthew Clark renders all of these characters, and quite frankly, it disappoints me a little bit that we can't have Rebis and Val on the team alongside Larry.

Next up, I'll be linking the DP pages from The Source. Sure, you could just click on over there, but my witty banter will still be right here.

Negative Monday 20

Here's some negativity for you. Just a little slice.

Val needed to make another appearance here. . .
I'm sure there will be a little more than this in the solicits later today.

Negative Monday 19

Larry Trainor from Doom Patrol #3, being, well, negative.

Embrace your inner Trainor today and be negative. Just for a moment.