Brand New Feature: Satellite Sam #1 (Image Comics)

by Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin

It is 1951, and this is the television business. LeMONDE is a television network that produces live programs. The story opens in the middle of a commercial break of a live science fiction program, Satellite Sam. Readers are thrust into the middle of the broadcast as the issue opens in the control room. The story does not necessarily move from page to page quickly, but the way in which the story and dialogue are presented, this is a fast paced tale. It seems as though one of the actors have not shown up and his scene is coming up. In the world of live tv, can the crew pull together to make it work in time?

Paul's Picks! - June 7, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Alright, alright, you got me; I totally skipped out on you all last week. All joking aside, I completely forgot that I hadn't written it until around Friday, and by then I felt like there was almost no point in going on to write it. In a week with very few issues coming out to read anyhow (those darn 5th weeks get me every time), there wasn't a whole lot to choose from in the first place. However, you're just dying to know which book tickled my fancy last Wednesday, go check out our most recent episode of the AC Podcast, where you can find not only my pick, but also Seth's and Ethan's. Fun times are sure to follow.

Now that we got that awkward moment behind us, let's move on to what you're really here for: Paul's Pick from Wednesday, June 7th. The first week of the month has become one of those that always contain some A list titles, such as Action Comics and Swamp Thing, not to mention the recent addition of some new books like Earth 2. And yet, while I had my share of topnotch series to choose from this week, I found myself somewhat underwhelmed by many of these titles. Don't get me wrong, there were some good books, but no single comic jumped out as the winner of the week. I hated the thought of just picking one, as it kind of demeans what "Paul's Picks!" is all about. Therefore, I've decided to give you all another "special edition" of the column, where I will stray from my usual choice of a single title that reigns victorious by instead picking out my favorite aspects of several books. So instead of a "pick of the week," I'm gonna give my pick of the best aspects from a handful of books. Sound good? Ok, let's get to it then...

ALERT! There are probably going to be some spoilers present, so if you haven't read the book I'm discussing, skip that segment, or you just might regret it!

Tales from the Long Box: Confession of a Closet X-Fan

Every week Seth goes into his back issue bins, picks out a single issue, story arc, or creative run, pours through it and then writes about it. He calls it Tales from the Long Box. Though old and now either retconned out of existence or made irrelevant by the latest event, these books still share something in common... they're bagged, boarded, and a part of comics history.

So my own personal comic book baptism took place as a child of around 12 years old. My oldest sister, after tiring of collecting baseball cards and sports memorabilia had randomly taken up the habit of comic collecting and specifically those starring the X-Men. This was in the early 90's when Image was still getting off the ground and Jim Lee had recently completed a monumental run on the merry mutants. I would read her comics on warm summer days on the porch of my parent's home and though I had no concept of the artist or writer as individuals I did enjoy the issues where Wolverine stabbed someone with his bone claws or Colossus rocked someone in the face.