Bag and Bored

comics

THE NO-FUNISHER

It’s hard to find a good spot for The Punisher in the Marvel Universe.  He’s a little too adult for the kids, and unless Garth Ennis is rocking him in the MAX line, most people don’t really pay attention (or cover price) to the poor guy.  He’s good for a laugh or an oh-shit moment here or there, but to keep a monthly series running takes creativity.  But I can remember saying out loud, to those who cared to hear, that ‘Franken-Castle’ (wherein the punisher is sewn together and re-animated) was “The WORST storyline idea I had ever heard”. 

 Oh God.  Oh, I was so, so wrong.

I can’t imagine anyone pitching ‘Punisher In Space’ with a straight face, but apparently it exists. So Dann and I decided to jump aboard the gravy train with some ideas for Mr. Castle in 2013.

 -Ian

*click to enlarge*

EPIC BATTLES

*CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE!*

There are two distinct battles going on in regards to ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’, the first is Marvel’s campaign of insisting that you are either A) an Avenger, or B) an X-Man, the second is the average comic fan’s internal struggle about whether or not to care about AVX in the first place.

The people leading the big two always seem to be about a full year behind what the fans actually want. (See: More titles like Uncanny X-Force, Swamp Thing, Batman, Secret Avengers, and Daredevil). The big crossover events may pad your fiscal quarter, but they cheapen the characters, and weaken the foundation these ‘Houses of Ideas’ are built upon.
So someone call Cap, tell him to circle back and pick up Wolverine, apologize to him, and go back and get on with your lives. Contrary to popular belief, we’ll all get along ok if we just IGNORE the Phoenix Force.

-Ian

I TOTALLY HAD SOMETHING FOR THIS ONE…

(click to enlarge)

Was it ‘see no mouth, hear no crazy’?  Something like that, I guess.  Well, today sees the final issue of the Bendis/Maleev run of ‘Moon Knight’ a series I was quite fond of, and actually posted about earlier last month.  But lacking the fiscal enormity to purchase 10,000 copies monthly left me with little recourse but to accept the quiet fate of Konshu’s servant.  Konshu?  More like Clown Shoe, am I right?  THAT was it.

-Ian

 

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

My two favorite parts of this comic are how true it is (I recently dropped ‘Astonishing’ after I realized I was three months behind on reading the issues) and because it’s the first with Dann using what I will only refer to as ‘the new machine’. (I throw up my hands and wince when it comes near, for I know nothing of the witchcraft contained within). 

 As any comic fan can tell you, the ‘Pull List’ closely mirrors a living, breathing organism.  And sometimes, branches need to be pruned.  And I entertain these thoughts earlier and earlier as the years go on, sometimes to failure (I stopped getting the new ‘Swamp Thing’ after 3 issues) and success (I quit ‘Red Lanterns’ after one ish).  But I will miss Astonishing X-Men in my box every week.  But I realized I was holding on to the idea that it could be as great as Joss Whedon made it, or Warren Ellis after him.  I’d rather spend time on the next great titles like Avenging Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Uncanny X-Force than pretend I’ll ever like Thunderbolts again.

 -Ian

(I guess I should have mentioned this earlier,  but our awesome webmaster ChrisMo set up this cool lightbox function so you can see the comic much more clearly.  Just click the comic to enlarge!)

 

 

ProbablyThe Best Superhero Comic In The Universe

That is the Tagline for the comic that inspired this sketch, and for those of you that don’t know what that is its Invincible Created by Cory Walker and Robert Kirkman but penciled by Bag and Bored friend Ryan Ottley. Invincible is a Superhero comic that takes classic Ideas and turns it on its head. So please pick up the book at you local Comic Shop (Shout out to Jay at Maximum Comics) and this as well as the Doctor Who will be available in limited quantities for free on FCBD ill be making an announcement shortly as to where you can get them and get a free sketch from me. Drawn with a Cintiq in Manga Studio Colors in Photoshop.