Chris vs. Previews: Special Edition

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Long-time ISB readers might have noticed that for 2009, I finally gave up on Chris vs. Previews, my long-running roundup of the comic shop’s catalog. A couple of people have even gone so far as to ask why, and it really just comes down to the fact that I suddenly remembered that I totally hated writing those things every month.

Still, there are some things that just can’t pass without comment, so tonight, I’m bringing CvP out of retirement for this:

P. 138 – Dead @ 17: Afterbirth:

 

 

Uh, yeah, hey Josh Howard, are you aware that your comic is called Dead @ 17: Afterbirth? Because if you’re not, that’s probably something you should be aware of, and if you are, that brings up a whole new set of problems. I mean, sure, coming up with a title isn’t always easy, and “Afterbirth” might’ve seemed like a good idea at the time, but I can assure you that the prospect of going into a store and saying “Hey, you guys got Afterbirth yet?” isn’t something I’d be looking forward to, no matter how well last summer’s Hack/Slash: Placenta sold.

Just a heads-up.

30 thoughts on “Chris vs. Previews: Special Edition”

  1. I can assure you that the prospect of going into a store and saying “Hey, you guys got Afterbirth yet?” isn’t something I’d be looking forward to, no matter how well last summer’s Hack/Slash: Placenta sold.

    Win.

  3. (Semi-arcane reference in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . )

    Maybe the original title was Dead @ 17: Steel Vagina. Okay, I’ll shut up now.

  6. I see beautiful girls and thus feel sexual desire, and then I see the word “Afterbirth” and I am confused. Then I see the “Dead at 17” part and realize that the girls are either a) younger than 17 or b) dead and that whole sexual desire thing hides under the sink until it’s safe to come out.

  7. That is a truly terrible title. And damn you malakim2099, I had blocked that cover out of my memory!

    Sorry to hear you hated doing CvP so much because it was always a joy to read and I’d been missing it. Well, there’s the End of Civilization over at Progressive Ruin to hold me up.

  8. Is there a law somewhere that says all teen-age girls in comics have to wear hip huggers and/or midriff less baby doll shirts?

    I mean I love scantily clad jail bait as much as the next guy but look at them. They’re obviously freezing!

  9. Man, I wish you’d go back to doing this as a regular feature… I’m sure it was a painful experience, but it was well appreciated.

  10. Surely it can’t be any more soul-crushing than The Annotated Anita Blake or Witchity Time with Jim Balent’s Eye-Gouging Fetish Art?

  11. But now who’s going to ridicule the titles of gay romance comics or show me how Japan is keepin’ it classy each month?

  13. That is a truly terrible title. And damn you malakim2099, I had blocked that cover out of my memory!

    Why should I be the only one whose soul is scarred by this experience?

  17. If this isn’t already an April Fool’s Joke, I expect Mr. Howard to do a Homeriffic retraction soon. “Everyone laugh at the funny joke title I totally wasn’t going to actually publish!” I imagine he will keep the words pasghetti and momattoes in there, though.

  21. I don’t buy it. I think that I’d know if there were any Chris vs. Previews in here.

  25. “Oh, guys. Don’t you realize? Chris vs. Previews was inside you all along!”

    OH GOD GET IT OUT GET IT OUT

  27. “I TOTALLY understand why you wouldn’t want to do them, but Chris v. Previews was one of my favorite regular features and I deeply mourn its loss.”

    Ditto. Your feature and Benito’s were my guiding lights… now I have to navigate those stormy solicitations blind.

  28. This must be an editorial mistake. As in the original title must have been After Birth, and the editor must have said, “Silly Josh Howard, it’s called Afterbirth.”

    That or Josh Howard really meant it to be Afterbirth, in which case *insert facepalm pic*.