COMICS: Potpourri

From today's "Dilbert": an ultra-rare (this may be only the second time ever) and somehow disturbing view of our hero's piehole.


The animated program added the mouth as a standard feature of Dilbert's anatomy, but in the comic strip, I believe Dilbert was never illustrated with a mouth until sometime after the cartoon had debuted (in fact, after it had been cancelled, I think). Another instance of the tail wagging the dog (like Spider-Man's organic web-spinners being taken from the movie for use in the comic)?

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I'm interested in the new Jon Sable TPB (with the unwieldy title The Complete Mike Grell's Jon Sable, Freelance: Volume 1), but publisher IDW is making it mighty hard for me to give it a try. Mighty hard, to the tune of $24.99 for only six issues. Granted, one of those issues is apparently 54 pages long, but still, that's damn pricey. The two Grimjack volumes from IDW have been fairly expensive -- both are $19.99, with the first volume being only 125 pages, and the second 160, compared to Jon Sable's 176 -- but price was never a consideration for me on Grimjack. I would've bought 'em if they were forty dollars. (Even if nobody else would've.) But five dollars more for only 16 extra pages of Jon Sable? A comic I've never read, and only kinda feel like I should check out? I don't think I can do it.

Not at retail prices. Which then makes it hard on my local comic shop, too. Because at $19.99, I would buy it through them. At $24.99 -- no. If I were to get it, I would turn to Amazon, where it's only $16.49. I'm sorry, but eight and a half bucks is too significant a discount for me to ignore. So, with one price, IDW is putting both the customer and the friendly neighborhood retailer in a bind. That's bad.

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My comics haul for yesterday:

Concrete: Human Dilemma
GLA
Shining Knight
Y: The Last Man

So far I've only read GLA (which I enjoyed, but am not loving, like I do Dan Slott's other titles, She-Hulk and Spider-Man/Human Torch), and half of Shining Knight (because I fell asleep in the middle of it, which is review enough).

Also, I picked up The Essential Defenders Volume 1 (how can you go wrong with Namor, Dr. Strange, and the freakin' Hulk?), and, on a whim, the TPB for Ultra: Seven Days. I'd seen and heard about this series, but wasn't sure about it, so I asked Chris and Dorian at the shop if they had ever checked it out. Dorian was iffy on it, but Chris was enthusiastic: "It's superheroes with sex!"

"Sold!" I said.

"Well, actually," Dorian said, "it's more of an excuse for lesbian--"

"SOLD!!"