Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at upcoming comics, including Future Quest, the new Tokyopop releases, Frozen, Minnie and Daisy BFFs; and the new DC logo.

This week we lost Eisner Award-winning artist and writer Darwyn Cooke (see "R.I.P. Darwyn Cooke").  Like a lot of you, I loved both his work, DC: The New Frontier in particular, and his love for the early 1960s (the era I keep trying to call the Jet Age) and the heroic ideal behind its sterling science heroes.  But as big a fan of his work as I was, and as much as I've been looking forward to this week’s Future Quest #1 (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Build Your Own Universe"), I was somehow unaware of just how involved Cooke had been.  Along with providing one of the covers, as well as some new some designs, apparently Cooke helped develop the project with DC co-publisher Dan Didio.  And in interviews writer Jeff Parker has even called the comic a "New Frontier of the Hanna-Barbera adventure world."

Back in 2011, I said a sad goodbye to Tokyopop, the publisher that had been "instrumental in the mainstreaming of manga" (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--So Long Tokyopop").  Well, they're back this summer with the release of a trio of Disney Manga  (see "Tokyopop Releasing 'Collector's Manga' For 'Alice In Wonderland' & 'Finding Nemo'") a pair of adaptations, Disney Pixar Manga Collection: Finding Nemo and Disney’s Alice in Wonderland: Special Collector’s Manga, as well as an original, Kilala Princess.  I’m most interested in the last one as it blends together Disney and manga tropes for a story about Kilala, a standard manga girl who "magically gains the powers of the princesses" Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine.  I'm admittedly not the world’s leading expert on Disney Princesses but it was unaware that they even had "powers."

In days of old, news that DC had gotten themselves yet another new logo would have been of interest to, well, mostly just us really (see "DC Introduces New Logo").  Being an old guy I've seen DC go through a lot of logos, from the button to the bullet to the swirl to the peel, and have watched each change be resisted and finally grudgingly accepted. But yesterday's intramural minutiae is today's corporate branding so this time, the news has been treated like, well, actual news.  There was a piece in the Heat Vision section of The Hollywood Reporter titled "DC Entertainment Unveils New Logo Ahead of Comic Book 'Rebirth,'" which summed up the change this way:

"The new design, created in partnership with design consultancy Pentagram, will make its comic book debut in next week's DC Universe: Rebirth Special issue, written by the company's chief creative officer Geoff Johns. The issue begins the rollout of the Rebirth initiative, which will see all of DC's superhero comics relaunched across the summer."

So far the internet reaction to the latest change has ranged from avid outrage to utter indifference.  Me, I'd say the new design was quite a bit better than the peel; just replace the unneeded divot at the top of the 'C' and you might actually have something.  But overall I've got to agree with The Hollywood Reporter; if DC wants real class they should go classic and adopt the black and white checkerboard DC Go-Go Checks.

It hasn't gotten a lot of attention in the media, but the big comic this July just might just be Frozen #1, based on the 2013 film and featuring new adventures of Anna, Elsa, Olaf and Kristoff.  It's the first issue of a monthly series that will be published by Joe Books and be done by the team of Georgia Ball (known for her work on Strawberry Shortcake and Disney Princess comics) and Benedetta Barone (who’s worked on Chip 'n' Dale and Disney Fairies comics for Italian Disney).  Admittedly, it's not likely to be an instant sell-out at most comic book shops, but chances are it’s exactly the kind of comic you can hand sell to kids and Disney fans week after week.

Something else I'm looking forward to in July is Disney Graphic Novels Vol. 3: Minnie and Daisy BFFs from Papercutz Publishing.  Back in 2013, I found a copy of Minnie and Daisy BFF Magazine that had come polybagged with an issue of Disney Fairies (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Who Would Have Thought It?").  The series reimagined Minnie and Daisy as middle school best friends and featured lively, fun stories by Alessandro Sisti and drawn by Roberto Di Salvo, Cra Mated, and Lucio Leoni.  I'm happy to see it published in graphic novel forms because girls of a certain age should love it, and I've got to confess, I liked it quite a bit myself.

Finally, last weekend I got to see Captain America: Civil War at my local Regal Cinema.  Not only did I break down and get reserved tickets, I got them for two of those cool looking recliner seats they were advertising.  And having experienced that level of cozy comfort, I don’t think anything less will ever do.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.