Chuck's Critiques by Charles LePage

Keeping The World Strange: A Planetary Guide
Edited by Cody Walker
Sequart Research And Literacy Organization

Keeping The World Strange: A Planetary Guide is a worthy companion to Warren Ellis's Planetary series. Planetary was a complex story, filled with large consignments of references to other comic books, popular culture and "real world" events, so a book outlining and explaining those references is definitely welcome. The appendix which lists a suggested reading order for Planetary is worth the price of admission. My only annoyances while reading the essays were the repeated negative references to the 1980s leaders of the U.S. and U.K. For instance, Julian Darias in his essay refers to the 1980s as "a dark time politically in the U.S. under Reagan but even more so in the U.K. under Thatcher." While I understand how politics of that decade influenced comic book creators in both countries, to declare Reagan as "senile" and Thatcher as "mad," only to leave the reader on their own to research the claims, in a book designed to "not only provide analysis for this historically important series but (to) spur readers to be archaeologists of their own fiction" is an error that stands out like a firefly at night. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this collection for anyone who has read Planetary or who is a fan of Warren Ellis.

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Media Release -- The changes happening behind the scenes this week are part of a greater campaign to reshape DC Comics and build a company for the future. Our responsibility as Co-Publishers is to find a balance between short term opportunities and long term vision; between our strengths in traditional print formats and the infinite potential beyond print; between our characters' rich legacies in the past and the bright promise for the future they hold.

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Media Release -- Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in North America, is partnering with DC Comics imprint Wildstorm to create a custom comic series that will explore the rich and mysterious back story of the upcoming Action-RPG NIER™. NIER, whose unique content, characters and hidden, twisting storyline has transfixed gamers and media alike for months, will be available for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at North American retail outlets on April 27, 2010.

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Media Release -- SPARTA USA #1 is the latest WildStorm "Read Before You Buy" title, giving retailers a copy of the printed issue one day before its Final Cut Off date.

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Media Release -- DC Comics' new WildStorm "Read Before You Buy" program continues with two titles: THE AUTHORITY #18 and WILDCATS #19, which feature linked cover art by George Pérez that form one blockbuster image of the big guns of the WildStorm Universe!

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Suspended Animation Review

The Twilight Experiment, published by Wildstorm Publications, 36 pages, $2.99 cover price.

Michael is a young man who grew up on a space station, and whose primary care giver was an artificial intelligence. As if that wasn't enough to make him stand out, his mother was one of the world's most powerful superheroes. She was also murdered. Now, having inherited her powers, Michael is anxious to avenge his mother.

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Media Release -- Superstar artist Jim Lee has created a spectacular new cover for CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 #1, the WildStorm miniseries that gets under way in November.

Retailers may order this issue with either of two separately orderable covers: Cover A is by Federico Dallocchio (SEP090204) and cover B is by Jim Lee (AUG098079).

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New Video Post Live From San Diego Comic-Con!

The awesome and hilarious Ben Abernathy, Senior Editor for WildStorm (and former co-intern with me at Dark Horse Comics a million years ago) agreed to try out Andrew's fantastic choose-your-own-adventure interview process:

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