Courting Disaster, my weekly comic about sex, love, and relationships updates every Friday. You'll laugh your pants off.

This week's question...

A reader writes...Q: When is it appropriate for a boss or co-worker to touch you? My boss is always putting his arm on mine or my shoulder or my back when he talks to me. It doesn’t seem sexual, but I’m not real comfortable with it. I’ve also worked at places where everyone hugs everyone else for the least little thing. I’m probably in the minority on this, but that doesn’t seem appropriate either. What are the rules on this?

Don't answer here... go on over to the CD site and offer some advice.

Batman and Robin #2
Creative team: Story by Grant Morrison; art by Frank Quitely

Villain to Watch: Professor Pyg

They say: In a blazing Gotham City police department, the new Batman and Robin face the bizarre, fighting freakshow that is the Circus of Strange and find that they don't make as good a team as Batman had hoped! Meanwhile, the mysterious Sasha escapes from Professor Pyg and vows vengeance on the people who killed her father.

I say: The "Batman & Robin" relaunch has been well-received by Bat-fans everywhere, but I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical. The art has been gangbusters and the writing has set up some interesting concepts, but I'm gonna need a bit more than the gross-out / slasher mentality that the new villain, Professor Pyg, seems to promise. I'll hang with this one for a little while longer, but I'm hoping to see less body count and more character development before I'll have it added as a permanent Pull.

Captain America Reborn #1
Creative team: Story by Ed Brubaker; art by Bryan Hitch

Villain to Watch: Red Skull

They say: Following the events of Captain America #600, Steve Rogers' closest friends and allies may have found a way to bring back the original Captain America. Or is what they found something more sinister? The Red Skull's greatest plan to destroy Captain America has been in motion and its completion is almost at hand. Will Captain America be lost forever or will he be REBORN?

I say: This one's a no-brainer. You've got to pull this series, if for no other reason than to say you were there for it. Just be careful. Marvel is going to be throwing a metric ton of Captain-America-related books onto the shelves this summer. Be sure to page through the books before you plunk your money down so you don't wind up at home with some kind of thrown-together re-print anthology crap.


Fantastic Four #568
Creative team: Story by Mark Millar and Joe Ahearne; art by Bryan Hitch

Villain to Watch: Marquis of Death, Dr. Doom

They say: The penultimate chapter of "The Masters of Doom" storyline, as Reed Richards is offered a Solomon's choice by the triumphant Marquis of Death!

I say: This arc has been as rock-solid as Benjamin's kiester. Hitch's draftsmanship is top shelf, and the writing has been gripping. The set-up is firmly in place, so this issue (and the next) promises to be an excellent adventure. I'm a tremendous Dr. Doom fan, and I'm waiting with bated breath (Yes, I spelled that correctly) to see him rise up from the ashes with a can of family-sized smackdown for the bony Marquis.


Green Lantern Corps #38
Creative team: Story by Peter Tomasi; art by Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman

Villains to Watch: Red Lanterns, Sinestro Corps

They say: The sciencell riot causes a new law to be doctored into the Book of Oa as Kyle and Guy fight against it. What fate awaits the honor guards, and who will be left standing from the riot that shook Oa to its core?

I say: Both GL books -- Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps -- have lost a little steam in the lead-up to the highly anticipated "Blackest Night" arc. It's like being near the apex of the roller coaster. We know we're in for some thrills, but this is truly the most taxing part of the ride. Luckily, we have some tasty Gleason/Buchman art to see us through. Consider these titles the same way you consider that tan-in-a-can stuff. Not particularly exciting, but you'll want it to be ready for the summer.


Marvel Divas #1
Creative team: Story by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; art by Tonci Zonjic

Villain to Watch: Common sense

They say: Diva (dee-vah), noun: An unusually glamorous and powerful woman. See: Patsy 'Hellcat' Walker; Felicia 'Black Cat' Hardy; Angelica 'Firestar' Jones; and Monica 'Photon' Rambeau. What happens when you take four of the Marvel Universe's most fabulous single girls and throw them together, adding liberal amounts of suds and drama? You get the sassiest, sexiest, soapiest series to come out of the House of Ideas since Millie the Model! Romance, action, ex-boyfriends, and a last page that changes everything! Let your inner divas out with this one, fellas, you won't regret it!

I say: We keep hearing the pitch: "It's 'Sex in the City' meets Super-heroes. And, if you're like me, you roll your eyes every time. Still, I'm a sucker for such a shamelessly overt cheesecake cover. And the interior art looks pretty solid, too. So what if we're going to have to put up with a few obligatory references to drinking Manhattans and buying Louis Vuitton bags? My Spider-sense is saying this is gonna be a sleeper hit. And if not, it will still be easy on the eyes. (Here's hoping Marvel's not putting all its marbles behind that last one, eh?)


Secret Six #11
Creative team: Story by Gail Simone; art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood

Villain to Watch: Mockingbird

They say: A former Wonder Woman is now a slave? That's just the first shock as the Secret Six face a new enemy with a heart of ice and an entire country at his command! All this plus the return of Mockingbird! It's all heading towards a confrontation against one of DC's biggest powerhouses, and the Six don't stand a chance.

I say: I know this is technically a sixth, but in my book it doesn't even count because it's such a no-brainer. I say it month after month, this is consistently one of the best series on the stands. And I'll say it again this month. And next. This is a permanent Pull. 'Nuff said.

...And One to Pass...

Solomon Grundy #5
Creative team: Story and Art by Scott Kolins

Villains to Watch: Solomon Grundy, Professor Ivo and Amazo

They say: With Grundy mortally wounded, can he fend off the revenge of Professor Ivo? It's super science versus evil power! And the bad blood between them forces Cyrus to face his past head on. Will he see through the madness and discover his killer? The end is coming, and it doesn't look good for Solomon Grundy!

I say: This series has already made a Grundy/Bizarro match-up boring. I don't have high hopes for the Grundy/Amazo undercard. Solid Pass.

Fair Trade

Was Superman a Spy?
Writer: Brian Cronin

They say: Demystifies more than 200 urban legends of interesting stories, unbelievable anecdotes, wacky rumors, and persistent myths that have piled up like priceless back issues in the 70+ years of the comic book industry.

I say: Cronin's feature, Comic Book Legends Revealed has been a must-read at CBR since he started it about 213 installments ago. I've linked to his column from the Evil Inc Comics Blog on several occasions. Having already paged through an advance copy, I can verify that the book is a tremendous read for anybody with so much as a passing interest in comic-book history. If you see it, grab it. Excellent throne reading.

Batman & Robin #2

Captain America Reborn #1

Fantastic Four #568

Green Lantern Corps #38

Marvel Divas #1

Secret Six #11

Was Superman a Spy (TPB)

None of the above... I'll tell you my pick in the Comments section

169 people have voted in this poll. See results

The "How To Make Webcomics" book has been nominated for a Harvey Award! Winners will be announced at the Baltimore Comic Convention.

Whew, I fell behind on my comics-reading while I was getting ready for (and recovering from) Wizard World Philadelphia. Let's take a quick re-cap of some of the best and worst of the past couple weeks of comics. If you can't read the words, click on the image for a larger view.

Best Confession

Amazing Spider-Man #598

Aside from a nice little nod to water-boarding in the metahuman world, we have this beautiful exchange between Spidey and Bullseye -- who loses the Hawkeye threads to do some old-school torture on the Web Head. Spidey is wearing a special costume that Reed Richards designed for him that allowed him to infiltrate the Dark Avengers in Avengers Tower ("unstable molecules, blah, blah, blah..."). Osborn wants the mask off, but he needs the password -- which Bullseye is offered $10 million if he can get it out of Spider-Man before dinner.



After the aforementioned meta-water-boarding, Parker confesses. The secret password is:

"Bowl...

...Psi - isad...

..Oosh.

You say it all together," Spider-Man reveals.

Worst Confession

I bought Avengers / Invaders #12. I now have the entire set. And I haven't read more than four pages of the entire series. What the hell is wrong with my head?

Best Frontal (Assault)

Avengers: The Initiative #25

They've done it about three times, but Moonstone tugging at her thong and complaining about the costume design for Ms. Marvel never fails to get a chuckle out of me. This issue takes it one step further.

Tigra slashes Ms. Moonstone in a getaway attempt. The divine Ms. M yells, "--Surprised me, but it'll take more than that to hurt me, you little--"

But Tigra escapes as Ms. Moonstone is surrounded by paparazzi. It seems Tigra's frontal assault was also a sneak attack.



Speaking of "sneaks," check out the viewfinders on the photographers' cameras.

This book is a must-read right now. Remember that little episode of naked shenanigans between Tigra and the Skrull Hank Pym during Secret Invasion? You were wrong if you think that was just a little something to throw to the furries in the audience. Tigra's pregnant. And Norman Osborn wants the kid -- dead or alive, pre- or post-birth -- to run experiments on. He wants to develop shape-shifting technology. She wants to protect her unborn child. This should be epic storytelling.

I have to make my second embarrassing confession, here. I'm stuck completely against this whole pencils-only trend in comics. I like pencils-then-inks. Always. Always-always.

Except when Humberto Ramos is behind the pencil. The pencils-only visuals in this book were simply astounding. I might even admit that they were better than if they'd been inked.

I Might.

Worst Frontal Assault

Fantastic Force #3

"Oh dear god, will you let my mother put something on...?"

-- Bruce Robert Banner, Jr.

Ugh. This title went from intriguing to unintelligible in a single issue. I've read it twice and I still don't know what the heck is happening. I'll give it another ish, and then it's on permanent "Pass" status.

Best Use of Spheres

Mighty Avengers #26

When Mr. Fantsastic finds himself covered in ants, courtesy of the Ant-Man, he pulls a move we simply don't get to see Reed pull often enough...



This issue is full of nice moments like that. For example, Reed protects a crucial piece of equipment from Hank Pym (whom Reed considers as unstable as the molecules covering Sue's invisible kiester) in a room that is built on the "dichotomy paradox of Zeno of Elea" which states:

"...that a traveller must always cover half the distance towards a goal before reaching it. Then half again. And so on to infinity. Thus the goal can never be reached," explains Richards.

Pym solves the puzzle with a sonic extractor:

"Typical Reed. Builds a room nothing can cross...

...except the sound of his own voice."

Best Use of Spheres, runner up

Amanda Conner and Adam Hughes, for the cover of Power Girl #2

'Cause it made me buy issue #2 after skipping issue #1.

Hey. At least I admit it.

But I'm glad I did, because this is a wonderfully written and beautifully drawn book. And the story has an excellent hook. Put it on Pull, if you haven't already.

That way, you won't miss out on moments like the one in a flashback in which a kinky Satanna suggests a little furry love with the newly-minted Ultra-Humanite. (Hey, it worked for Marvel with the whole Tigra thing, right?)

Best F***in' With Somebody's Head

Dark Avengers #6

The cool, calm way that Norman Osborn hands a petulant Prince Namor his fin-covered arse ought to be required reading for anybody who has to manage hot-heads. I don't think anyone is as well equipt to keep ol' ankle-wings in check as Norman.

And if you think that's impressive. He keeps an impatience Dr. Doom in line with a single sentence.

Doom, reacting to not being the center of attention during the Osborn-Namor bout chafes, "Why was I called here for this?"

Osborn: "Because, Victor, if I didn't invite you to this meeting, you'd be asking why I didn't invite you."

I'm really digging the abilities of artists Mike Deodato and Will Conrad to communicate the raw emotions on Osborn's face during this series, by the way. During Norman's single outburst at Namor, I practically felt the page vibrate. That's good art.

Worst F***in' With Somebody's Head

Hulk #12

The Defenders vs Offenders match-up ended pretty much the way everyone knew it would. Since the main characters were all pulled from different dimensions, it was pretty painless for writer Jeph Loeb to wrack up a body count in this series.

Painless for Jeph.

Painful for almost all of the others who got snuffed in this issue -- most of whom met their ends by losing their heads. Tarrax, Namor, Silver Surfer, Dormammu all fall to head trauma. But none of these "headless cases" were as notable as Psycho Man's curtain call.

Best Showdown

Dark Reign Fantastic Four #4



Venom vs. Valeria Richards.

The poor guy doesn't stand a chance.

Valeria also showed her moxie in neutralizing Amadeus Cho in Mighty Avengers #26.

She set a feedback loop to his Ant-Man helmet: "EPIC FAIL! xoxo xaleria.richards@fan4.com"

Hercules was so impressed, he composed a ballad on the spot.

"There was a boy named Cho

whose most amazing foe

had blonde tresses

and wore dresses

wrapped in a pink bow."

Hercules had better hope she never decides to set her sites on him.

Unless he wants to find himself trussed by those tresses.

Hey! In god we trussed! I gotta save that for Saturday!

Lightning Round

Thunderbolts #133: Pretty standard Act Two issue. The scene is being set and the characters are being put into position. The invisible/intangible Ghost spies on the Black Widow II (actually the real deal B.W.) during a workout: "Show yourself," she snaps.

"Hehh. How did you know it was me?" replies the Ghost.

"I could hear you breathing. And Ant-Man would have been breathing harder."

Lethal Legion #1: I had this as a qualified "Pull" last week. The first issue is pretty good, and the story seems to be building. It's still too early to tell, but it was actually way better than I had expected. But this is a three-issue series, which means things had better start happening soon.

Green Lantern #42: The Orange Lantern saga winds to a close (and not a moment too soon), setting up the Blackest Night storyline. I have very high expectations for this.

New Avengers: The Reunion #4: (The real) Hawkeye and Mockingbird are reunited, and back in a relationship. They're not married, but they are in charge of a special black-ops-style team of West Coast Avengers. Same diff.

Ms Marvel #40: To quote Eric Burns, "you had me and then you lost me." I loved the last issue. I can't make heads-or-tails of this one.

As the first wave of Evil Inc Annual Report Vol 4 books go out, I'd like to share with you a cool impromptu "review" at Evil Inc henchman Carl shared in the forums.

First, he kindly posted a scan of the artist Edition sketch I did for him, and then he tried to match Ed Ryzowksi's formidable skills with a little colourization of his own.

And yes, in deference to my buddy, Ed, that was Canadian for "colorization."

Trust me. You find a collaborator like Ed and you do wacky things you never thought you'd do before.

Andhow, check out the results in the Evil Inc forum and judge for yourself.

And, yes, before you ask, I'm working through these Artist Editions as quickly as I can. Yours will be in the mail as soon as possible. :)

Courting Disaster, my weekly comic about sex, love, and relationships updates every Friday. You'll laugh your pants off.

This week's question...

A reader writes...Q: "I'm divorced, in my mid-50s, and so frustrated over the lack of suitable men to date. Many of my single women friends, older and younger than me, say the same thing. I've tried online dating, but it depresses me to meet so many men who are boring or weird. I look at the men's profiles, and I just think - yuck! Yet I know women who've met great men online, even married them. What am I doing wrong?"

Don't answer here... go on over to the CD site and offer some advice.

As always, I spent a decent percentage of my time at Wizard World Philadelphia doing commissioned sketches -- something I really enjoy doing at conventions.

This one was extra special, though. The owner of the book, Jeff, has been having me add commissions to his book for years now -- and at several different conventions. He's a sketchbook connoisseur -- with several books, organized by theme, floating around the convention floor at all times.

This book, I had the honor of beginning and ending. The theme was "Creator-owned," and all of the sketches inside were of creator-owned characters as drawn by their creators. I opened the book with an illustration of Argus the Gargoyle from Greystone Inn (my first daily comic).

And I closed it with the illustration above, a group shot featuring several Evil Inc cast members along with a whole slew of characters from the book.

It was great fun to do, and since Jeff was kind enough to share a scan with me, I figured I'd share it with you.