On the Shelf: Winter with the Gargoyles, and other notes

 Diamond Comic Distributors (DCD) has infuriated retailers and customers for years with their lack of priorities with comics releases.

It's more evident now as independent publishers such as Mad Cave are seeing books arriving at selected retailers 1-2 weeks or more late. Oh, but DCD will get their monthly Previews catalog out virtually on time, or no more than a week late, every month without fail.

The latest crisis has to do with DCD closing a distribution center in Plattsburgh in an effort to consolidate operations. Unfortunately, it seems DCD's business model was designed, apparently, by someone with a low IQ, which explains all their problems.

For example, ye scribe is waiting on the conclusion of Mad Cave's Gatchaman: Galactor miniseries, which was due earlier this month. A trade paperback collecting Gatchaman 0-5 (0 being the Free Comic Book Day issue) finally arrived yesterday, three weeks late.

It's going to be a long winter, folks.

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While it's unknown if/when Greg Weisman will do another Gargoyles miniseries, the Gargoyles Winter Special is a treat in and of itself.

Bronx, the clan's "pet", for lack of better description, is showcased in a silent story. Weisman's script is sublime and exquisite in its simplicity, such that dialogue is not needed.

Rating: A+.

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Staying with Dynamite, Jonny Quest returns in March, but not in his own series.

Instead, Jonny teams with Space Ghost in SpaceQuest, written & drawn by Joe Kelly and Sebastian Priz. Apparently, Dynamite is opting to use the miniseries format for Jonny, rather than do an ongoing title, as they're doing with Space Ghost, ThunderCats, et al. A trade paperback collecting the just concluded time travel arc with Jonny also arrives in March.

Mad Cave is adding to its portfolio, as it promises The Phantom and Speed Racer, in May for Free Comic Book Day. It's also cut Flash Gordon from an ongoing series to a 10 issue maxiseries, finishing in May. Apparently, more than a few readers were put off by Jeremy Adams' approach to Gordon, just as I was.

DC is revisiting one of its more provocative Batman stories in March.

"Hush 2", a sequel to an epic, year-long arc, hits in March, with the same creative team as before, artist Jim Lee and writer Jeph Loeb. Loeb, a TV veteran as well as a comics vet (Lost, for example), introduced readers to Dr. Tommy Elliott, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne's, in the original story, and used Elliott's jealousy toward Wayne to fuel the story. Invest at your own risk.