Do you like Starman? Do you like Paul Cornell and the Fantastic Four? If so, there’s probably something worth reading in here, I guess. If nothing else, why not come in and read my latest Alternate Cover column? A must for people who like the Buffy and Angel comic, though an even bigger must for people who don’t like it! And we tell you who to vote for in what nobody calls “the comics industry’s BAFTAs”, the Eagle Awards.
It’s that time of year again - the Eagle Award nominations are up, and voting is open. Sadly, Comics Daily isn’t up for best website just yet, so to be honest there’s no real point in voting at all. But if you really fancy it, we’ll point out that Phonogram is once again up for best B&W (if it gets beaten by The Walking Dead again, we’ll cry), Matt Fraction has to be a shoo-in for newcomer writer, and I’ll be very surprised if Mike Wieringo doesn’t posthumously make Roll of Honour. There are a couple of strange instances, though - for example, Frank Quitely is down for Best Inks, despite the fact that his only current work (All-Star) is inked by… Jamie Grant (who I’d clearly vote for, if he were nominated). I’d also quibble with Stardust being described as “comics-based” - I’d call the original version, despite the publisher and format, more of an illustrated story than an actual comic. Still, it was better than Spidey 3 and 300, so I’ll probably still vote for it. And if you don’t vote for All-Star Superman as best colour comic, then you’re not allowed to read our site any more. (SP)

It’s been on the cards for a while, but since it’s only just popped onto my radar, it’s worth a mention - if you’ve got a spare twenty-five quid kicking around in late May, then you could do a lot worse than pick up the first volume of The Starman Omnibus, out on the 21st. Sitting somewhere between a regular trade collection (of which there are ten, in Starman’s case) and the bigger, boxed Absolute editions, it’s a lovely looking hardcover collection, with a new cover by series artist Tony Harris (who presumably must have buried the hatchet over the editorial decisions that saw him leave the book in the first place). Crucially, in addition to just collecting the main stories that featured in the original trades, the Omnibus will eventually include pretty much all of the associated spin-off material, including the superb Shade miniseries, and the various Times Past one-shots, a number of which have never been collected before. If you’re not up on Starman, all I’ll say is that it’s just about the best post-Crisis superhero story that DC have published - a genuinely powerful, character-driven tale that gives a thorough examination of such themes as heroism and nostalgia. $49.99 is an excellent price for the first seventeen issues, and if you’ve never encountered the series, I’m convinced that after picking up this first book, you’ll be hooked. (SP)

Paul Cornell on Fantastic Four? Sounds good to us. After his initial Wisdom miniseries for Marvel’s MAX imprint flew slightly under the radar, it’s good to see that Marvel and Cornell are still eager to work together. With Captain Britain released any day now, and Fantastic Four: True Story upcoming, it’s good to see a highly capable sci-fi writer having a stab at Reed & Co. Keep your eye on Comics Daily, too, because after the Bristol Comics Expo in a few weeks, we might have some interesting Cornell-related material to point you towards… (JH)

And, still available to read on Den of Geek is last week’s Alternate Cover column - this one on the subject of licensed comics. After 10 years reading comics, I try to understand exactly why I’ve read nary a licensed comic that doesn’t read like crap, using current faves Buffy, Angel and Gargoyles as reference points. It caused a minor stir on the Newsarama Blog and Whedonesque, so make sure you read it otherwise you might risk looking like an under-informed fool next time the subject comes up. Kind of like I do. (JH)

Tags: Captain Britain, Den of Geek, Eagle Awards, Fantastic Four, Paul Cornell, Starman
Publisher: The Sunday Pages