Next Men Saved Comic Book Storytelling in the 90s

By Ben C. Scwhartz

The 90’s Hottest Indie Comic

In the early 90’s the comic book industry was beginning to over-saturate the market. Artists were carrying the weight of making writers’ stories readable. It was in this climate that John Byrne stood out with his independent property Next Men.

What Next Men Is About

Set in the modern time, we are introduced to five kids who find themselves unexpectedly freed from a Utopian, virtual reality and set loose upon a world that has never seen superpowers. There are only 30 issues in the original series, but in that short time, we really come to care about these misplaced characters and the way our world treats them.

Byrne holds nothing back - corporations, secret government organizations, marketing a new super hero team, corruption on all levels, our fear of people capable of powered feats, the interaction of these five heroes with society and between themselves in a world they just don’t understand,  and most importantly, how super powers would actually work in the real world.

Read Next Men ASAP

Just recently IDW has been reprinting the original series. In two graphic novels you can read the complete series in black and white. The lack of color does not detract from this hard hitting series, but if you prefer to have it, the first volume of the color edition is available and a second one is soon to come. This is a personal favorite of mine and is a nice superhero book without the need to read any other titles to understand the world. Visit your local comic shop for a copy.

The original series ended with a cliffhanger, and now 15 years later, the story continues in a second series. You can jump into the new series and catch up, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Start from the beginning.

###

About The Author

Ben C. Schwartz is the owner of Empire's Comics Vault in Sacramento, CA. He also owns and operates his own comics publishing company, ECV Press. He loves reading comics, writing comics and talking about comics (which he does on EmpiresCV.tv and EmpiresOpenPodcast.com).

Has Morning Glories Lost Its Mojo?

by Kevin Winter

Morning Glories is one of the more controversial comics on the market today. While not as controversial as Crossed, it still goes in a direction you would not find at Marvel or DC. But the point I am going to bring up today is this:

Has Morning Glories lost its mojo?

Art by Rodin Esquejo

It used to be exciting, with some action. The story used to move along a specific point, with excellent cliff hangers, but several issues ago we left a major cliff hanger right around the time we would have found out a major secret. Suddenly the book changed course, featuring single issue character stories. It began to focus on the individual students. While I am not against that, perhaps spreading those stories out, one or two at a time, would have been better.

Bring the Glory Back

These issues have done more to derail the story and the flow of the comics than anything else they could have done. It feels as if Morning Glories is losing the mojo that it had at the beginning. Hopefully they will leave these character driven issues and get back to what made it great before indie readers move on to something else.

If Morning Glories continues along these lines, then I feel we will not get to see the end because quite a few people will abandoned the book.

###

[Read more posts by Kevin]

-------------------------

About The Author

Kevin Winter is someone with an opinion about almost anything. If you find him around town, you can ask for an opinion and he will give you an honest one.  A graduate of Sacramento State, he spends his time telling people they are wrong, writing letters to his national leaders, and generally being a pain in the ass.  A comic fan, not for life, but for several years, he can be seen around Empire's Comics Vault on Wednesday's during the day, and generally spouting an opinion (if anyone wants to hear it or not)...  also trying not to get on Ben's bad side.

Is Chew Still An Independent Title?

by Kevin Winter
Chew On This 
Chew is one the biggest indie titles in comics. It started off the way most indie books start - without a lot of fanfare or press. But it soon caught on, and all of a sudden, everyone wanted a copy of Chew.
What It’s About
For those of you that have been hiding under a rock - or in DC's comics - you should know the basic storyline of the comic. A man who works for the FDA can tell the life story of food, and other things, just by eating them. His special ability is only known by a few people.

Is Chew Still An Independent Title?

Today I am going to try to tackle a difficult question. Is Chew an independent title still?  Many people will argue that it is, but I might have a different answer.

Crossed Pushes Boundaries But Then Too Far

By Kevin Winter
[Note added 10.05.2012: Warning: This title is for Mature Readers and contains graphic content of an extreme nature. Before purchasing, we recommend you flip through the book, so that you can make a well-informed decision.]

As a reader of independent comics, I am used to comic books that push the boundaries.

Independent Comic Books Push Boundaries 
Independent comics generally push the line in ways that more mainstream comics will not, and at times, cannot. Were mainstream comics to push the envelope like independents, then the mainstream books would lose readers. The independents have the freedom to push the line, to bring us closer and closer to the edge. They are not afraid of losing readers, since they start off with so few to begin with. They are allowed that artistic and creative freedom that are denied the writers and artists at DC and Marvel.

 

Jacen Burrow's Crossed Volume 1 Cover

The Original Crossed Comic Book Pushes BoundariesStill, at what point does a comic book go over the line? Does a comic become something so over the top that it pushes the line too far? In a way, Yes and No.

My Kick-Ass Return To Comic Books

by Jeremy Shepherd
I remember walking into comic book stores on Free Comic Book Day before Kick-Ass had made it to the theatres. I had never heard of it, other than the controversy surrounding Hit-Girl being such a violent role for a little girl. I picked up a poster and I remember my wife asking why. I told her, "I am not sure why, but I believe this will be good." Let’s face it, the posters were horrible and did not do the movie justice.

So, I never got a chance to watch it in the theatre as per usual, being a father of two kids who, at the time, were two and four. I rented Kick-Ass when it came out on video and was blown away. In my opinion this movie was well done and well acted. I was telling everyone to watch it.
I went exploring Kick-Ass and learned that it was a movie adapted from a comic book (Sad but true that I did not know that beforehand). This got me back in to comics, so I purchased the Kick-Ass volume 1 hardcover and read it in about an hour. I also had purchased Kick-Ass volume 2 numbers 1 and 2, which is still where we stand at this point. Issue 3 will be released August 24 and is available at your local comics shop. I enjoyed them so much, and I enjoyed the different take on the story compared to the movie.
A Very Nice Guy
I found @MrMarkMillar on Twitter. Mark is a very nice guy and even tweets back occasionally. He even recommended comics of his for me to read. I have burned threw all his original works, which are all great.
Kick Ass Comic Books
First, there was Wanted, which is sick and twisted, with lots of action. The comic book is nothing like the movie and is a "must read." Wanted is about a loser who finds about a secret society of villains after his father dies. There is time travel and a lot of violence. It is very loosely based on the comic.
Kick-Ass was next. Kick-Ass is a comic about a regular guy that decides to fight crime on his own. Then finds out he is not alone when he runs into Hit-Girl and Big Daddy. The movie is a "must watch" and the comics are well worth a read as there is a different spin on the story.

Then came Nemesis. This comic is epic. It has big explosions and scenes that put a huge grin on my face. While reading it, I felt like I was watching a blockbuster movie. It's a super villain comic with many twists and turns. This comic had my mouth wide open while reading it. The rights have been sold to make it in to a movie.Superior came after. It is a Superman-like story. In the origin story, a disabled boy makes a wish and becomes the hero of the comic. It is about a little boy with super powers and all the responsibility that goes along with that. A space monkey gives him the powers! Very Good!
Mark Millar is currently working on Supercrooks. The movie rights have already been sold. There is also another title he is working on, of which nothing has been announced, but I am sure it will be good. So, after I tore through these titles, I asked Mark what other titles he'd written that he recommended:
Marvelous Comic Book Titles

• Wolverine: Enemy of the State
• Old Man Logan (This title was amazing. Made me feel like a kid reading about Wolverine again)
• Marvel Knights Spiderman
• Civil War
• Marvel 1985
• The Ultimates
• Ultimate Avengers
• Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates
• Ultimate X-Men

Mark Millar opened my eyes to what I have been missing and I have not looked back since.
-------------------------
About The Author
Jeremy Shepherd is 32 years old, married, and has two children, a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. He shares with them his love for comics and the San Francisco Giants. Jeremy enjoys watching movies and TV and reading comics. You can find him on Twitter at @giantsfanj where he tweets... a lot. This is his first article for the Empire's Open Vault blog.
[UPDATED 09.01.2011: Jeremy is taking a break from Twitter.]