Catwoman: The Replacements

by Josh Crawley

Who am I? I sell comic books.

Whether it’s for Westfield Comics for my paycheck or for my friend Jim Heffron, Lawdog Comics Publisher, at a convention (Windy City Comicon is coming up in just about three weeks), that’s what I do. In my spare time I also letter a funny book story here or there. Once in a very great while I even get the urge to write. It’s not as good as some of my corroborators here, but I’m okay with that. For now. I might have Beau Smith in my sights. (Note to self: read about the tattoos!)

I am also a passionate person who drinks beer while writing blog entries and complains about things on occasion. By “on occasion” I might mean more often than not. When it comes to complaining about comic books, though, keep in mind it’s because I’m passionate and I care. I’m also going to throw a curve ball out and not complain at all today. On this blog, that is. In person or on Twitter is a completely different matter altogether.

Anyways…

I was sitting at dinner last Friday night with a decent sized group of people; eighteen in all. Because of the whirlwind of happenings, I can’t remember everyone I was seated with, but I do recall Chris Neseman from the Around Comics podcast and Windy City Comicon! I also remember who sat between Chris and I: Will Pfeifer (PY-fer). It’s Will’s graphic novels (a little pretentious for me, but it gets the job done) I want to remind you about. Not the ones on his shelves, as I haven’t seen those, but the ones he’s written.

H.E.R.O.: Powers and Abilities

I first read Will’s work in the days of H.E.R.O.: Powers and Abilities, which collects the first six issues of the 22 issues series. H.E.R.O. is an extension of the Dial H for Hero concept. Sadly, I never did get to finish reading this. I need to go to my short boxes soon, because I’m pretty sure I bought every issue even when I didn’t find time to read them.

Will also had a fun run with Patrick Gleason in Aquaman #15-22 (Volume 4 in our back issue system, but Volume 6 according to Wikipedia). We got a pretty awesome Aquagirl out of that run. Patrick Gleason ended up on a little comic by the name of Green Lantern Corps.

While I didn’t know too much about Captain Atom at the time, I do like a dose of WildStorm! In Captain Atom: Armageddon, Will wrote what I consider to be a great WildStorm Universe Crisis (before we were beaten over the head with the word crisis a little too often) that paved the way for the World Storm relaunch. Anyone who’s a WildStorm U reader that didn’t read this is seriously missing out. Then again, the same goes for DCU readers, too. It’s a nice contrast and comparison between the two. Giuseppe Camuncoli drew some pretty pictures here, too.

Most recently, Will had a rather lengthy run on the most recent Catwoman series (issues #44-82, the series’ final issue). A good chunk of these issues are reprinted in the following books: The Replacements, It’s Only A Movie, Catwoman Dies, Crime Pays, and The Long Road Home.

Wonder Woman: Amazons Attack

That isn’t all Will has done. He made his major publisher debut on Finals, with Jill Thompson. He’s also scripted both Amazons Attack (with some great Pete Woods art) and Blood of the Demon (with John Byrne). I’m not sure what he’s going to be working on next, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it drawn by Mike Norton!

Feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, corrections, your favorite beer, column ideas, or for reviews. Be sure it says ATTN: JOSH otherwise there may be issues involving me living up to that “Masters of Disaster” tag I’ve gotten. And if you just want more of me running my mouth, check twitter.com/joshcrawley

This entry was brought to you, in part, by Capital Brewery Island Wheat Ale and New Glarus Brewing Co. Spotted Cow Ale.

josh@westfieldcomics.com
Westfield Comics
ATTN: JOSH
7475 Mineral Point Rd STE 22
Madison WI 53719

Purchase:

H.E.R.O.: Powers and Abilities
Captain Atom: Armageddon
Catwoman: The Replacements
Catwoman: It’s Only A Movie
Catwoman: Catwoman Dies
Catwoman: Crime Pays
Catwoman: The Long Road Home
Wonder Woman: Amazons Attack