http://drhorrible.com/index.html
Go check it out and see what went horribly wrong with Dougie.
Then click on the Master Plan button on the Home Page or on the link below to read what it's all about!
http://drhorrible.com/plan.html
My thanks to Marissa Salas for cluing me in to Dr. Horrible.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Youngblood #4 and others
According to the Theory of Relativity, as an object approaches the speed of light (c), the amount of energy required to continue it's acceleration (e) increases because the mass of the object increases (m), so that you cannot reach the speed of light because the mass increases roughly to infinity meaning no amount of energy could accelerate it. And so it is with comics: just as I begin to catch up on my reading, an enormous week like this hits and I'm back to square 1.
Liberty Comics #1(?) is really really good. It's an anthology of short pieces that supports the CBLDF and it costs $4. I think I'm the only person that actually was excited. And for your $4, you get a smattering of decent little stories and one- and two-page bits. Personally, it's all worth it for two features: First, there is a six or so page Criminal short story, and I WILL buy anything by Ed Brubaker, especially with Sean Phillips art. Second, there is a five page Dracula story by Mark Millar and John Paul Leon that is just great. It's Dracula as played by your 75 year old grandfather. Tell Sheldon to order you one. It's for a good cause and totally worth the money.
New Avengers #43 is pretty much what is to be expected. Captain America is really a Skrull (yawn). They reveal some plot points that no one really needed explained to them. What struck me was that they did this big reveal of "Captain America was stranded in a spaceship" in Secret Invasion #1 but they won't follow that up in the main title, but rather jettison it in one of the ancillary books. So one of the main plot points of the series is not concluded in the series. That's just sloppy, Bendis.
War Heroes #1 was decent. It's always odd to see Tony Harris inked by someone new. On Ex Machina they replaced the excellent Tom Feister with Jim Clarke, who continues to make Tony Harris's pencils look gorgeous. Here, though, we get Cliff Rathburn, who imposes his own artistic tendancies onto Harris. It's not that its bad, but if you are fmiliar with Harris's art it's a bit of a letdown. The story, by the way, is a bit slow right now, but I'm sure the next issue will be filled with violence because, come on, it's Mark Millar.
Finally, Youngblood #4. To start, I really like that, even without direct involvement from Rob Liefeld (except covers and those look like they are mix-and-matched bits of old art photoshopped together) this book still ships 3 months late. Anyway, this book is actually pretty good. This issue was a bit weak (there's a "big" reveal about a conspiracy that you won't see coming because you aren't brain dead and therefore were expecting something relevent or at least interesting) but the first three issues were pretty good and its got a strong setup that may help it go pretty far before it turns terrible. The art is very good in the Batman Adventures vein and the story is what you expect from Joe Casey: competent with above-average moments. It's a shame Liefeld didn't let someone with a bit more imagination work on this because some big names (Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Mark Millar, Jeph Loeb, Robert Kirkman, even Fabian Nicieza did a pretty good job) have been very successful with Youngblood in the past.
In closing, this week Youngblood was actually a hells of a lot better than New Avengers. Just something to think about.
Liberty Comics #1(?) is really really good. It's an anthology of short pieces that supports the CBLDF and it costs $4. I think I'm the only person that actually was excited. And for your $4, you get a smattering of decent little stories and one- and two-page bits. Personally, it's all worth it for two features: First, there is a six or so page Criminal short story, and I WILL buy anything by Ed Brubaker, especially with Sean Phillips art. Second, there is a five page Dracula story by Mark Millar and John Paul Leon that is just great. It's Dracula as played by your 75 year old grandfather. Tell Sheldon to order you one. It's for a good cause and totally worth the money.
New Avengers #43 is pretty much what is to be expected. Captain America is really a Skrull (yawn). They reveal some plot points that no one really needed explained to them. What struck me was that they did this big reveal of "Captain America was stranded in a spaceship" in Secret Invasion #1 but they won't follow that up in the main title, but rather jettison it in one of the ancillary books. So one of the main plot points of the series is not concluded in the series. That's just sloppy, Bendis.
War Heroes #1 was decent. It's always odd to see Tony Harris inked by someone new. On Ex Machina they replaced the excellent Tom Feister with Jim Clarke, who continues to make Tony Harris's pencils look gorgeous. Here, though, we get Cliff Rathburn, who imposes his own artistic tendancies onto Harris. It's not that its bad, but if you are fmiliar with Harris's art it's a bit of a letdown. The story, by the way, is a bit slow right now, but I'm sure the next issue will be filled with violence because, come on, it's Mark Millar.
Finally, Youngblood #4. To start, I really like that, even without direct involvement from Rob Liefeld (except covers and those look like they are mix-and-matched bits of old art photoshopped together) this book still ships 3 months late. Anyway, this book is actually pretty good. This issue was a bit weak (there's a "big" reveal about a conspiracy that you won't see coming because you aren't brain dead and therefore were expecting something relevent or at least interesting) but the first three issues were pretty good and its got a strong setup that may help it go pretty far before it turns terrible. The art is very good in the Batman Adventures vein and the story is what you expect from Joe Casey: competent with above-average moments. It's a shame Liefeld didn't let someone with a bit more imagination work on this because some big names (Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Mark Millar, Jeph Loeb, Robert Kirkman, even Fabian Nicieza did a pretty good job) have been very successful with Youngblood in the past.
In closing, this week Youngblood was actually a hells of a lot better than New Avengers. Just something to think about.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Driana's recs to Baltimore Sun Read Street
Dear Nancy Johnson:
Just to clarify, our name is Comics Kingdom not Comic Book Kingdom (that is a store that use to be on Hartford Road, I think, and is no longer in business)
My recommendations for you to showcase in Read Street are gleaned from among my favorites and include the Superhero genre, non-superhero, non-fiction, local artist unique, all ages and are as follows:
Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith - Superhero
This was my gateway book in to comics from being an avid reader of novels. To this day I still recommend this book as a true integration of the comic art form where the story is told through and interwoven use of words and drawings - you cannot just read or just look at the art to get the full woof and weave of the tale. This is also the story of how Wolverine from the X-Men became Wolverine, so people will potentially recognize the main character from the popular movie.
Watchmen TP by Alan Moore - Superhero
(trade paperback - a collection of comics that cover a story arc or in this case the complete
story of a comic that originally came out periodically)
- Watchmen is the comic book that basically matured the superhero genre by making the superheroes gritty, with real-life problems and personalities. We see the fruition of this movement in movies like Batman Returns with a very dark Dark Knight as well as across comics in general. Since the majority of people who by comics are men between the ages of 18 and 60 this growing up was inevitable to the survival of comics.
Fables vol. 1 TP by Bill Willingham - not Superhero
A very modern take on the world of fairytales. The creatures and people of our childhood tales have been forced to leave their Homeland to seek refuge in our world. The non-human looking "fables" have to live sequestered on a place called the Farm. This is not a book for kids.
True Story Swear to God by Tom Beland -- Non-Fiction
A autobiographical romance about a soon to be comic book creator who meets a lovely Puerto Rican woman in Disney and embarks on a long distance relationship with her that turns his life upside down. This book is sweet and funny as Tom Beland looks honestly at his own human foibles and examines Love from a male perspective. The art is deceptively simple with an amazing amount of facial expression captured with a few inked lines.
Birth by Michael Bracco (and it's sequel Novo) -- Local Artist
Michael Bracco is a local comic book creator who just had his first book, Birth, picked up by Diamond Comic Distributors - the comic distributor for the United States. Birth is an example of a comic told with little or no text and Mr. Bracco has created a visual feast that hits hard at the human core through his uniquely drawn non-human characters. It made me cry. Novo is the powerful next step in this ongoing tale. These are also examples of a Graphic Novel as opposed to a trade paperback. These books are also example of the unique storytelling that is possible only through the comic genre.
Herobear by Mike Kunkle - All Ages
This is a kids book (or all ages book as we call them) that adults will definitely enjoy. Beautifully rendered so that you often see the blue pencil line of the original sketch. The story is sweet without being saccharine about a boy who inherits his grandfather's broken pocket watch and stuffed bear which are more than they seem. The story really captures the awkwardness and magic of childhood. A must read for families.
The strength and interest in comics continues to be stable among our adult readers. Superheroes are not being left behind because the story lines have gotten complex and compelling as human issues are explored through the Superhero. The "Civil War" into "Secret Invasion" story line that runs through many main Marvel titles right now is an example of that relevancy. Superheroes were forced to unmask and register/be conscripted or be hunted down and incarcerated in Civil War. Secret Invasion reveals the replacement of superheroes and key people in power positions by shape shifting aliens. Both story lines deal with terrorism and how far can the government go to keep people safe. The exposure through excellent movies has definitely brought comics back into the mainstream light. Free Comic Book Day, an industry wide event that allows stores to purchase specific comics from each publisher at a small cost to give away free on a specific Spring day each year, also helps expose current and new readers to the genre.
Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks have definitely gained in popularity in our store in the last 5 years. Comic book fans love the collection, which can read more fluidly than the monthly. The Graphic Novel has become more mainstream and accepted as the wonderful storytelling tool that it is. Maus/The Two Towers, the host of comics after 9-11, Persepolis, etc. show that comics can be historically relevant and capture something human that words alone cannot.
In our store we make an effort to have a strong, well-lit All Ages section that feels accessible to kids and parents exploring comics. And we have had success in growing this section and helping to create the next generation of comic readers. Have we been successful enough? Hard to say. We love it when we get older adults coming in the store looking for the Classics Illustrated comics that they learned to read on. We work enthusiastically with teachers and schools to get comics in the hands of kids to encourage reading, donating hundreds of comics each year. Will those kids be back as adults? I certainly hope so. Comics offer a beautiful way of telling Story that is now richly being explored by creative minds, it would be a real loss to see it fade.
Please feel free to call me on my cell if you have any further questions: 443-756-7073
Driana Pearlman
co-owner with her husband, Sheldon, of Comics Kingdom
Comics Kingdom
3998-A Roland Avenue
Baltimore, Md. 21211
410-889-6005
www. AmazingSpiral.com
In a message dated 7/7/2008 1:40:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, nancy.johnston@baltsun.com writes:
Hi, my name is Nancy Johnston, and I write for The Baltimore Sun's book blog, Read Street. We're focusing on comic books this week, and I was hoping to get a few recommendations from your store that I can showcase this week.
Also, I was hoping to get some feedback about the strength of interest in comic books and graphic novels in Baltimore. Are they more popular than ever, or are people leaving their super heroes behind? Any trends that you've noticed?
I appreciate any information you can share. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Nancy Johnston
baltimoresun.com/readstreet
Just to clarify, our name is Comics Kingdom not Comic Book Kingdom (that is a store that use to be on Hartford Road, I think, and is no longer in business)
My recommendations for you to showcase in Read Street are gleaned from among my favorites and include the Superhero genre, non-superhero, non-fiction, local artist unique, all ages and are as follows:
Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith - Superhero
This was my gateway book in to comics from being an avid reader of novels. To this day I still recommend this book as a true integration of the comic art form where the story is told through and interwoven use of words and drawings - you cannot just read or just look at the art to get the full woof and weave of the tale. This is also the story of how Wolverine from the X-Men became Wolverine, so people will potentially recognize the main character from the popular movie.
Watchmen TP by Alan Moore - Superhero
(trade paperback - a collection of comics that cover a story arc or in this case the complete
story of a comic that originally came out periodically)
- Watchmen is the comic book that basically matured the superhero genre by making the superheroes gritty, with real-life problems and personalities. We see the fruition of this movement in movies like Batman Returns with a very dark Dark Knight as well as across comics in general. Since the majority of people who by comics are men between the ages of 18 and 60 this growing up was inevitable to the survival of comics.
Fables vol. 1 TP by Bill Willingham - not Superhero
A very modern take on the world of fairytales. The creatures and people of our childhood tales have been forced to leave their Homeland to seek refuge in our world. The non-human looking "fables" have to live sequestered on a place called the Farm. This is not a book for kids.
True Story Swear to God by Tom Beland -- Non-Fiction
A autobiographical romance about a soon to be comic book creator who meets a lovely Puerto Rican woman in Disney and embarks on a long distance relationship with her that turns his life upside down. This book is sweet and funny as Tom Beland looks honestly at his own human foibles and examines Love from a male perspective. The art is deceptively simple with an amazing amount of facial expression captured with a few inked lines.
Birth by Michael Bracco (and it's sequel Novo) -- Local Artist
Michael Bracco is a local comic book creator who just had his first book, Birth, picked up by Diamond Comic Distributors - the comic distributor for the United States. Birth is an example of a comic told with little or no text and Mr. Bracco has created a visual feast that hits hard at the human core through his uniquely drawn non-human characters. It made me cry. Novo is the powerful next step in this ongoing tale. These are also examples of a Graphic Novel as opposed to a trade paperback. These books are also example of the unique storytelling that is possible only through the comic genre.
Herobear by Mike Kunkle - All Ages
This is a kids book (or all ages book as we call them) that adults will definitely enjoy. Beautifully rendered so that you often see the blue pencil line of the original sketch. The story is sweet without being saccharine about a boy who inherits his grandfather's broken pocket watch and stuffed bear which are more than they seem. The story really captures the awkwardness and magic of childhood. A must read for families.
The strength and interest in comics continues to be stable among our adult readers. Superheroes are not being left behind because the story lines have gotten complex and compelling as human issues are explored through the Superhero. The "Civil War" into "Secret Invasion" story line that runs through many main Marvel titles right now is an example of that relevancy. Superheroes were forced to unmask and register/be conscripted or be hunted down and incarcerated in Civil War. Secret Invasion reveals the replacement of superheroes and key people in power positions by shape shifting aliens. Both story lines deal with terrorism and how far can the government go to keep people safe. The exposure through excellent movies has definitely brought comics back into the mainstream light. Free Comic Book Day, an industry wide event that allows stores to purchase specific comics from each publisher at a small cost to give away free on a specific Spring day each year, also helps expose current and new readers to the genre.
Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks have definitely gained in popularity in our store in the last 5 years. Comic book fans love the collection, which can read more fluidly than the monthly. The Graphic Novel has become more mainstream and accepted as the wonderful storytelling tool that it is. Maus/The Two Towers, the host of comics after 9-11, Persepolis, etc. show that comics can be historically relevant and capture something human that words alone cannot.
In our store we make an effort to have a strong, well-lit All Ages section that feels accessible to kids and parents exploring comics. And we have had success in growing this section and helping to create the next generation of comic readers. Have we been successful enough? Hard to say. We love it when we get older adults coming in the store looking for the Classics Illustrated comics that they learned to read on. We work enthusiastically with teachers and schools to get comics in the hands of kids to encourage reading, donating hundreds of comics each year. Will those kids be back as adults? I certainly hope so. Comics offer a beautiful way of telling Story that is now richly being explored by creative minds, it would be a real loss to see it fade.
Please feel free to call me on my cell if you have any further questions: 443-756-7073
Driana Pearlman
co-owner with her husband, Sheldon, of Comics Kingdom
Comics Kingdom
3998-A Roland Avenue
Baltimore, Md. 21211
410-889-6005
www. AmazingSpiral.com
In a message dated 7/7/2008 1:40:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, nancy.johnston@baltsun.com writes:
Hi, my name is Nancy Johnston, and I write for The Baltimore Sun's book blog, Read Street. We're focusing on comic books this week, and I was hoping to get a few recommendations from your store that I can showcase this week.
Also, I was hoping to get some feedback about the strength of interest in comic books and graphic novels in Baltimore. Are they more popular than ever, or are people leaving their super heroes behind? Any trends that you've noticed?
I appreciate any information you can share. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Nancy Johnston
baltimoresun.com/readstreet
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
BUY ZOT!
Everyone go buy Zot! right now. Seriously.
Marvel 1985 #3 continues Mark Millar's enjoyable, nostalgic look at the Marvel Universe in 1985. If the payoff is half-way decent (not like Civil War, Chosen, Wanted, Ultimates 2, later Authority...that's not promising) it may make its way to an excellent series. Surprisingly, I like the art. I'm not the biggest fan of Tommy Lee Edwards (he did the worst comic ever: Speeding Bullets), but it seems appropriate for some reason.
Mighty Avengers #16 is really well done. I had lowered expectations for it (given the last couple issues like this), but it turns out really well. Plus, Elektra is a bad ass in it AND it doesn't deliberately undo anything done by Bendis or other creators (it takes place a little after Enemy of the State, or between pages, and just before the New Avengers rescue Echo, near as I can tell).
Ultimate Fantastic Four #56 was awful: terrible art and the plot just didn't make sense. Sure, you can follow it, but it's just dumb. I don't know why I do this to myself.
X-Factor #33 is fine. It seems a stretch to call it a Secret Invasion tie-in, though, because the Skrulls are just tacked on to sell more copies and cross it over with She-Hulk. It could have been any bad guy, but Skrulls are "cool" (as in "tired and a bit annoying"), so they used them.
X-Force #5 is just kinda bat#$%^ insane. So, let's talk about X-Men.
For the first time in 15 years, I'm reading all the big X-Men books (Uncanny, Legacy, X-Force, X-Factor, Young, Astonishing, Cable). This is due to the surprisingly competent "Messiah CompleX" crossover. That crossover seemed to do a few things: first, it (along with Brubaker's previous Uncanny arcs) removed pretty much all of the terrible things that happened to the X-Men in the 90s. It solved the Bishop problem, it killed Xavier AND Cable, it turned Cyclops back into a strong authority figure, took out Sinister, et cetra. It also allowed the creative teams room to stretch by breaking down the tight continuity of the books. No longer did every book with an X have to start out at Xavier mansion: there was freedom.
Now, 6 months later, what do we have? Well, Xavier didn't die, and didn't stay brain-dead for long, Sinister may or may not be back as a chromosome, Cable's back. So really, it put Cyclops in the seat as leader (which had already happened during House of M, and was going pretty well in Astonishing) and it made Bishop a crazy SOB. But, it still shedded some terrible 90s continuity threads.
And then, there's X-Force, which seems to single-handedly be attempting to revive as many god-awful 90s characters as is possible. Archangel? Bastion? Magnus? Donald Pierce (technically Young X-Men, but he was name-checked, so he's complicit)? I guess they really just wanted to clear up all the left over continuity from "X-Cutioner's Song", but anything after that was fair game. And the art careens wildly from pretty-computer-generated pictures to god-awful renderings that make the Baby Jesus cry. It's sloppy, disorganized, and far too in love with itself to be worth anyone's time. Except mine, apparently. I mean, it's still way better than Ultimate FF, and I've been buying that for over four years now.
Marvel 1985 #3 continues Mark Millar's enjoyable, nostalgic look at the Marvel Universe in 1985. If the payoff is half-way decent (not like Civil War, Chosen, Wanted, Ultimates 2, later Authority...that's not promising) it may make its way to an excellent series. Surprisingly, I like the art. I'm not the biggest fan of Tommy Lee Edwards (he did the worst comic ever: Speeding Bullets), but it seems appropriate for some reason.
Mighty Avengers #16 is really well done. I had lowered expectations for it (given the last couple issues like this), but it turns out really well. Plus, Elektra is a bad ass in it AND it doesn't deliberately undo anything done by Bendis or other creators (it takes place a little after Enemy of the State, or between pages, and just before the New Avengers rescue Echo, near as I can tell).
Ultimate Fantastic Four #56 was awful: terrible art and the plot just didn't make sense. Sure, you can follow it, but it's just dumb. I don't know why I do this to myself.
X-Factor #33 is fine. It seems a stretch to call it a Secret Invasion tie-in, though, because the Skrulls are just tacked on to sell more copies and cross it over with She-Hulk. It could have been any bad guy, but Skrulls are "cool" (as in "tired and a bit annoying"), so they used them.
X-Force #5 is just kinda bat#$%^ insane. So, let's talk about X-Men.
For the first time in 15 years, I'm reading all the big X-Men books (Uncanny, Legacy, X-Force, X-Factor, Young, Astonishing, Cable). This is due to the surprisingly competent "Messiah CompleX" crossover. That crossover seemed to do a few things: first, it (along with Brubaker's previous Uncanny arcs) removed pretty much all of the terrible things that happened to the X-Men in the 90s. It solved the Bishop problem, it killed Xavier AND Cable, it turned Cyclops back into a strong authority figure, took out Sinister, et cetra. It also allowed the creative teams room to stretch by breaking down the tight continuity of the books. No longer did every book with an X have to start out at Xavier mansion: there was freedom.
Now, 6 months later, what do we have? Well, Xavier didn't die, and didn't stay brain-dead for long, Sinister may or may not be back as a chromosome, Cable's back. So really, it put Cyclops in the seat as leader (which had already happened during House of M, and was going pretty well in Astonishing) and it made Bishop a crazy SOB. But, it still shedded some terrible 90s continuity threads.
And then, there's X-Force, which seems to single-handedly be attempting to revive as many god-awful 90s characters as is possible. Archangel? Bastion? Magnus? Donald Pierce (technically Young X-Men, but he was name-checked, so he's complicit)? I guess they really just wanted to clear up all the left over continuity from "X-Cutioner's Song", but anything after that was fair game. And the art careens wildly from pretty-computer-generated pictures to god-awful renderings that make the Baby Jesus cry. It's sloppy, disorganized, and far too in love with itself to be worth anyone's time. Except mine, apparently. I mean, it's still way better than Ultimate FF, and I've been buying that for over four years now.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The pencil reappears. Comics and the Dark Knight.
Firstly, the Dark Knight is awesome. It may very well be the best comic book movie ever made, but it is not without it's faults. The most glaring problem with the movie is that it is a half hour too long. It drags in spots and the constant climaxes diminish the effect of the movie's actual climax. Seriously, while the part in Hong Kong is cool the whole Chinese conglomerate subplot was a plot device given too much screen time. Aside from that little gripe everything else is spot on. Heath Ledger is terrifying and everyone else showed up with their a game in tow. the a stands for acting. Oh, other thing: how are they going to top this one? My vote, as always, is for Bat-Mite. And now, onto the comics.
Mighty Avengers #16 - This one was way better than the last SI tie ins in Mighty. Probably because the whole story could not be summed up in three pages like the Pym/Sentry issues. That's about it. Solid return to form for the Bendis. Oh, and I finally read some of the recent issues of Powers and they were solid as ever.
Dreamwar #4 - It's the one where everyone, pretty much, realizes that whole thing is a giant misunderstanding and rally together to fight a common foe that appears at the end of the issue. Pretty meh stuff all things told.
Amazing Spider-Man #566 - Ah, the amazing adequacy of it all. Nothing wrong with it, but at the same time it won't be a part of the essential Spidey cannon. Middle of the road, but you won't feel cheated.
Incredible Hercules # 119 - As good as ever. Although the swaps and switches may confuse some...that's kind of the point with the SI thing. And everything is still pretty clear regardless so...yup. Moving on.
X-Factor # 33 - Overall it's a decent return to the X-Factor of old...more or less. While the new status quo means they can move past the less than stellar previous arc it's just that you go right into the crossover that nobody demanded with She-Hulk. I'll reserve judgment on the cross over, but it just makes me wonder is all.
1985 #3 - It was pretty good. I'm liking where the book is going, but at the same time I hope that this new super villain isn't named Clyde Wyncham. It would explain some things, but on the other hand...I don't know.
Final Crisis Rogues' Revenge #1 - It's a decent start. And who wouldn't enjoy a DC version of the Wild Bunch with a group of costumed super criminals. Although, it should have started a little while earlier what with Barry being back and all. But, on the same side there's the whole Mirror Master business in FC #1, so it would make sense for it to come out now all things considered.
Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy - Better than that god awful, and totally off character, Joker one, but not up to the higher quality of the Jason Aaron Penguin one. And that's in every respect including art and all that.
That's about it.
Mighty Avengers #16 - This one was way better than the last SI tie ins in Mighty. Probably because the whole story could not be summed up in three pages like the Pym/Sentry issues. That's about it. Solid return to form for the Bendis. Oh, and I finally read some of the recent issues of Powers and they were solid as ever.
Dreamwar #4 - It's the one where everyone, pretty much, realizes that whole thing is a giant misunderstanding and rally together to fight a common foe that appears at the end of the issue. Pretty meh stuff all things told.
Amazing Spider-Man #566 - Ah, the amazing adequacy of it all. Nothing wrong with it, but at the same time it won't be a part of the essential Spidey cannon. Middle of the road, but you won't feel cheated.
Incredible Hercules # 119 - As good as ever. Although the swaps and switches may confuse some...that's kind of the point with the SI thing. And everything is still pretty clear regardless so...yup. Moving on.
X-Factor # 33 - Overall it's a decent return to the X-Factor of old...more or less. While the new status quo means they can move past the less than stellar previous arc it's just that you go right into the crossover that nobody demanded with She-Hulk. I'll reserve judgment on the cross over, but it just makes me wonder is all.
1985 #3 - It was pretty good. I'm liking where the book is going, but at the same time I hope that this new super villain isn't named Clyde Wyncham. It would explain some things, but on the other hand...I don't know.
Final Crisis Rogues' Revenge #1 - It's a decent start. And who wouldn't enjoy a DC version of the Wild Bunch with a group of costumed super criminals. Although, it should have started a little while earlier what with Barry being back and all. But, on the same side there's the whole Mirror Master business in FC #1, so it would make sense for it to come out now all things considered.
Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy - Better than that god awful, and totally off character, Joker one, but not up to the higher quality of the Jason Aaron Penguin one. And that's in every respect including art and all that.
That's about it.
Monday, July 14, 2008
I finally read Hulk #4: Paul checks in
What with parents and booze and yard projects, I've read roughly 15 comics in the past three weeks. I have a stack still of 30 more. So, yeah. This is getting to be like work.
Booster Gold 1,000,000 is AWESOME! Believe the hype! Woo! In truth, it's just really good. A bit sappy at times, but everything turns out pretty well. Plus, someone (a mysterious figure, no less) actually says "Bwa-hahahahaha", which is great. Not looking forward to the Chuck Dixon fill-ins, but this book is just...the bees knees.
Captain Britain and MI13 #3 is great.
Detective Comics #846 is boring. I assume it'll go somewhere, but it's just bland and unappealingly drawn. You know what, I take it back: I'm not sure it'll go anywhere. And if freakin' Trinity is going to ruin Paul Dini's "Riddler P.I." I'm gonna be pissed.
Speaking of which, I just read Trinity #4-6 and, man, what a pile. I mean, when issue 2 is a high point...I just don't know. You know, Alan Moore, through sheer force of will, could write an awesome comic that examined mysticism and the tarot using superhero archetypes (see "Voodoo" or "Promethia"). But it has become abundantly clear that Kurt Busiek does NOT worship a snake god and pretty much learned everything he knows about magic from reading Promethia and Voodoo. And the worst part? I'm probably going to read this whole stupid thing.
Secret Invasion #4 should have been issue 2. If issues 2 and 3 did not exist, no one would be complaining about this book. Or, less people, anyway. It gives me hope.
Then, there's Ultimare Origins #2. Yikes! Ultimate Quasar and Ultimate Watcher and all sorts of terrible Ultimate nonsense. It's just not even ironically funny anymore, just bad. It also illustrates my problem with Ultimate books of late: different writers are picking and choosing the Ultimate continuity, a continuity that has been around for only ten years. It took Marvel well into the 80s to start deliberately ignoring continuity. But I still hold out hope. Maybe it'll become hilariously bad again (I mean, come on, "accidently" creating mutants? Ha!).
Booster Gold 1,000,000 is AWESOME! Believe the hype! Woo! In truth, it's just really good. A bit sappy at times, but everything turns out pretty well. Plus, someone (a mysterious figure, no less) actually says "Bwa-hahahahaha", which is great. Not looking forward to the Chuck Dixon fill-ins, but this book is just...the bees knees.
Captain Britain and MI13 #3 is great.
Detective Comics #846 is boring. I assume it'll go somewhere, but it's just bland and unappealingly drawn. You know what, I take it back: I'm not sure it'll go anywhere. And if freakin' Trinity is going to ruin Paul Dini's "Riddler P.I." I'm gonna be pissed.
Speaking of which, I just read Trinity #4-6 and, man, what a pile. I mean, when issue 2 is a high point...I just don't know. You know, Alan Moore, through sheer force of will, could write an awesome comic that examined mysticism and the tarot using superhero archetypes (see "Voodoo" or "Promethia"). But it has become abundantly clear that Kurt Busiek does NOT worship a snake god and pretty much learned everything he knows about magic from reading Promethia and Voodoo. And the worst part? I'm probably going to read this whole stupid thing.
Secret Invasion #4 should have been issue 2. If issues 2 and 3 did not exist, no one would be complaining about this book. Or, less people, anyway. It gives me hope.
Then, there's Ultimare Origins #2. Yikes! Ultimate Quasar and Ultimate Watcher and all sorts of terrible Ultimate nonsense. It's just not even ironically funny anymore, just bad. It also illustrates my problem with Ultimate books of late: different writers are picking and choosing the Ultimate continuity, a continuity that has been around for only ten years. It took Marvel well into the 80s to start deliberately ignoring continuity. But I still hold out hope. Maybe it'll become hilariously bad again (I mean, come on, "accidently" creating mutants? Ha!).
Friday, July 11, 2008
Man, Bendis is ******** up.
Keep in mind that I did not buy Powers because I read it in trade. I'm sure it was up to that book's normal level of quality. But, yup, kind of a weak showing from that lovable Black Francis/Bob Hoskins look-a-like that writes half of Marvel's books and is hated on the internet, yet loved when it comes to sales (Why it almost seems like people use the anonymoty of the internet to make ridiculous claims that they themselves don't even believe to be true. Curious?) Anyway, obvious points and desperate bids for humor and reflection aside onto the books.
Secret Invasion #4 - It really was better than three. Pretty much same formula as the last few. A little chatting, Skrully mind games, ten pages of punching and yelling and then someone shows up at the end to change the tide next issue...maybe? It's probably because issue 1 was so good, but damn all of this rising action. (And on a side note, the thing I've noticed this summer is that seems to be like Crisis on Infinite Earths vs. Secret Wars all over again, even though they didn't come out at the same time. On the one hand you've got mainstays getting killed, worlds collapsing and broad ideas that loosely tie into actual scientific theory like string theory. And on the other you've got a cloud of talking gas, Titania, the Wasp winning over the Lizard, the Wasp dying and the Wasp getting better, and Jehri curls in the sequel. Oh, and the Wasp making out with Magneto. Rant over)
Ultimate Origins #2- Hey, let's re-tell the origin of Cap...again. But this time he's reading about aliens while training. Oh, and Ultimate Project Pegasus. Because that's what we need. You know, because when you want to streamline a line of books the best idea is always including late silver to early bronze age concepts. Oh, Ultimate Jocasta, one day you will be a reality. But anyway, this just seems forced, unnecesary and silly. Pretty much after the whole Canadian government creating mutants in a Dept. H basement in a botched attempt to create super soldiers thing kind of soured me on this series. Oh, and Dr. Cornelius looks pretty good for 103 in Ultimate X-men Vol. 2 I guess. Seriously, am I the only person reading these things anymore.
Final Crisis Requiem - Pretty decent for a tie in. Touching and violent all at once and Mahnke. Glorious Mahnke. Oh, and it had enough of the what are they called...words, to justify the four buck price tag...unlike certain summer event books that shall remain nameless. I'm giving it the thumb up.
Joker's Asylum: Penguin - This is a dramatic improvement over last week's offering...which I would have told you not to buy if I wasn't at a family reunion. But yup, Aaron writes a solid one and Pearson's art is reminiscent of a young Chris Bacchalo. I dig Chris Bacchalo. Just clearing up the confusion. Anyway, solid read and stays way truer to the character than the Joker one from last week.
Young Liars #5 - This comic will sodomize your brain and make your soul cry tears of blood. Seriously, this is possibly the most abhorrent comic book I've read since...last week's issue of The Boys. Now, usually that sort of disturbing and lurid for the sake of it thing is right up my alley. I mean Preacher is one of if not my favorite on going of all time, but the difference with Preacher was that it was grounded with characters that you fell in love with, social commentary , wit and the over top violence and adult situations. Problem is that they seem to be relying solely on shock to get the numbers. But, I am kind of curious to see where this is going. God, I'm a hypocrite.
Captain Britain & MI 13 #3 - I really think Matt covered all of this. Go, buy this. Now. It's awesome.
Guadians of the Galaxy #3 - It's a fun read. And you can get into if you didn't read any of the Annihilation books. I didn't. So, there you go.
Last Defenders #5 - At this point does it even matter. You're either with it or not. I do dig the whole Bizzarro Defenders being the team that was always meant to be and all angle. And I'm always down for some Son of Satan. Mainly because of Ultimate Son of Satan, but I digress. It's a decent mini all things considered.
Captain America White #0 - This is seriously the best thing that Jeph Loeb has done in the past few years. It may be the fond memories of past Sale/ Loeb collaborations (probably is), but this was the superior retelling of the Cap origin story of the week. Good stuff.
Amazing Spider-Man #565 - Apparently all it took to make Spider-Man fun again was to ignore the rest of the Marvel Universe and just let him do his thing. And get rid of JMS. Although a customer brought up an interesting point, was it Loeb or editorial that was mucking up the works for the past few years? I mean the first couple JMS arcs were pretty good. Anyway, this new arc with girl Kraven is alright. Not life changing not god awful. Middle of the road stuff. I'm sure the apathy is leaping off the page right now.
Invincible Iron Man #3 - Oh, that Matt Fraction spins a lovely yarn. Great stuff all over, and he also teaches a class on how you capitalize on the movie. Buy this for serious.
Booster Gold #1,000,000 - It's as continuity heavy and treacly as ever. Seriously, it's a cute book with time travel. I personally like time travel and elseworlds stories so I like the book. And I've always liked Booster, and I always preferred semi-competent Booster so there you go. It's like a slightly more masculine Hellcat meets Sliders with the same number of hugs and less use of the word golly.
Young X-Men #4 - Well, *SPOILER ALERT* Cyclops is not a Skrull, because that would have made so much sense in this context, but well, it's just stupid, and obvious. Moreover, this book is just so...underwhelming. And, for god's sake can we all stop saying cuzin'. God, this book makes my brain hurt. And, I mean you have this big twist in at the end of the first issue, that, while totally illogical and out of the blue was at the least bit interesting. Instead, you go for the obvious twist in this issue that negates the initial draw of the book.
Action Comics # ??? - I left this in the store, but it was pretty solid. And yes, Supergirl is terrifying as rendered. I think Matt already hit the majority of the bases. Solid Johns writing and Gary Frank doing a majority of things right. Except for Supergirl, who looks like Kara Zor-Hell. (God, that was a lame joke, but I had to do it.)
Goon #26 - Oh, it's on now. After some meandering here and there between arcs this new one is off and running. There's action, humor and what else do you want? It's got action, humor the same consistent art and everything else that has made this book a critical darling. And as a critic it is my darling.
Lost Boys #3 - This is seriously made for fans of the movie with three dollars to waste on a, frankly, asinine tie in. Seriously, The Widow Johnson? Just, gah. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh, well, see you next week. Take it easy internet
Secret Invasion #4 - It really was better than three. Pretty much same formula as the last few. A little chatting, Skrully mind games, ten pages of punching and yelling and then someone shows up at the end to change the tide next issue...maybe? It's probably because issue 1 was so good, but damn all of this rising action. (And on a side note, the thing I've noticed this summer is that seems to be like Crisis on Infinite Earths vs. Secret Wars all over again, even though they didn't come out at the same time. On the one hand you've got mainstays getting killed, worlds collapsing and broad ideas that loosely tie into actual scientific theory like string theory. And on the other you've got a cloud of talking gas, Titania, the Wasp winning over the Lizard, the Wasp dying and the Wasp getting better, and Jehri curls in the sequel. Oh, and the Wasp making out with Magneto. Rant over)
Ultimate Origins #2- Hey, let's re-tell the origin of Cap...again. But this time he's reading about aliens while training. Oh, and Ultimate Project Pegasus. Because that's what we need. You know, because when you want to streamline a line of books the best idea is always including late silver to early bronze age concepts. Oh, Ultimate Jocasta, one day you will be a reality. But anyway, this just seems forced, unnecesary and silly. Pretty much after the whole Canadian government creating mutants in a Dept. H basement in a botched attempt to create super soldiers thing kind of soured me on this series. Oh, and Dr. Cornelius looks pretty good for 103 in Ultimate X-men Vol. 2 I guess. Seriously, am I the only person reading these things anymore.
Final Crisis Requiem - Pretty decent for a tie in. Touching and violent all at once and Mahnke. Glorious Mahnke. Oh, and it had enough of the what are they called...words, to justify the four buck price tag...unlike certain summer event books that shall remain nameless. I'm giving it the thumb up.
Joker's Asylum: Penguin - This is a dramatic improvement over last week's offering...which I would have told you not to buy if I wasn't at a family reunion. But yup, Aaron writes a solid one and Pearson's art is reminiscent of a young Chris Bacchalo. I dig Chris Bacchalo. Just clearing up the confusion. Anyway, solid read and stays way truer to the character than the Joker one from last week.
Young Liars #5 - This comic will sodomize your brain and make your soul cry tears of blood. Seriously, this is possibly the most abhorrent comic book I've read since...last week's issue of The Boys. Now, usually that sort of disturbing and lurid for the sake of it thing is right up my alley. I mean Preacher is one of if not my favorite on going of all time, but the difference with Preacher was that it was grounded with characters that you fell in love with, social commentary , wit and the over top violence and adult situations. Problem is that they seem to be relying solely on shock to get the numbers. But, I am kind of curious to see where this is going. God, I'm a hypocrite.
Captain Britain & MI 13 #3 - I really think Matt covered all of this. Go, buy this. Now. It's awesome.
Guadians of the Galaxy #3 - It's a fun read. And you can get into if you didn't read any of the Annihilation books. I didn't. So, there you go.
Last Defenders #5 - At this point does it even matter. You're either with it or not. I do dig the whole Bizzarro Defenders being the team that was always meant to be and all angle. And I'm always down for some Son of Satan. Mainly because of Ultimate Son of Satan, but I digress. It's a decent mini all things considered.
Captain America White #0 - This is seriously the best thing that Jeph Loeb has done in the past few years. It may be the fond memories of past Sale/ Loeb collaborations (probably is), but this was the superior retelling of the Cap origin story of the week. Good stuff.
Amazing Spider-Man #565 - Apparently all it took to make Spider-Man fun again was to ignore the rest of the Marvel Universe and just let him do his thing. And get rid of JMS. Although a customer brought up an interesting point, was it Loeb or editorial that was mucking up the works for the past few years? I mean the first couple JMS arcs were pretty good. Anyway, this new arc with girl Kraven is alright. Not life changing not god awful. Middle of the road stuff. I'm sure the apathy is leaping off the page right now.
Invincible Iron Man #3 - Oh, that Matt Fraction spins a lovely yarn. Great stuff all over, and he also teaches a class on how you capitalize on the movie. Buy this for serious.
Booster Gold #1,000,000 - It's as continuity heavy and treacly as ever. Seriously, it's a cute book with time travel. I personally like time travel and elseworlds stories so I like the book. And I've always liked Booster, and I always preferred semi-competent Booster so there you go. It's like a slightly more masculine Hellcat meets Sliders with the same number of hugs and less use of the word golly.
Young X-Men #4 - Well, *SPOILER ALERT* Cyclops is not a Skrull, because that would have made so much sense in this context, but well, it's just stupid, and obvious. Moreover, this book is just so...underwhelming. And, for god's sake can we all stop saying cuzin'. God, this book makes my brain hurt. And, I mean you have this big twist in at the end of the first issue, that, while totally illogical and out of the blue was at the least bit interesting. Instead, you go for the obvious twist in this issue that negates the initial draw of the book.
Action Comics # ??? - I left this in the store, but it was pretty solid. And yes, Supergirl is terrifying as rendered. I think Matt already hit the majority of the bases. Solid Johns writing and Gary Frank doing a majority of things right. Except for Supergirl, who looks like Kara Zor-Hell. (God, that was a lame joke, but I had to do it.)
Goon #26 - Oh, it's on now. After some meandering here and there between arcs this new one is off and running. There's action, humor and what else do you want? It's got action, humor the same consistent art and everything else that has made this book a critical darling. And as a critic it is my darling.
Lost Boys #3 - This is seriously made for fans of the movie with three dollars to waste on a, frankly, asinine tie in. Seriously, The Widow Johnson? Just, gah. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh, well, see you next week. Take it easy internet
If comics get reviewed in a forest and no one is around to hear - Matt on 6/10
Hey, remember those other guys who used to post here sometimes? They seemed nice. I wonder what ever happened to them. Also, the two people who used to comment. Ah well. Comics!
۞ Okay, I've mentioned how much I'm enjoying Batman R.I.P., right? Like, in a non-ironic, non-negative way? Because I really, really am. So why is nothing even resembling that storyline showing up in this ostensible crossover with Detective #846? I'll admit that I think Hush is a monumentally stupid character, so I'm prejudiced against this from the jump, but this is ... Look, in a vacuum this would be okay. Ish. I guess. But trying to tell me that this has ANYthing to do with the clever, complicated stuff Morrison's doing over in the main book is setting the bar a bit high. Forgettable, and I'm not going to be sticking with this storyline.
۞ Batman Confidential #19 is part three of the storyline, and more of the same: a solidly entertaining flashback story from Fabian Nicieza with exquisite artwork from Kevin Maguire. They've worked together as a creative team before, and they mesh well. Fun stuff.
۞ I know, I know: I swore I was done with Booster Gold. And I hate buying things just because they're part of a crossover -- it makes me feel like a sucker. But I LOVED DC One Million back in the day, so sending this book retroactively into the crossover was reason enough for me to buy it.
The level of disappointment I feel is suitable punishment for letting myself be tricked like this. Hey, DC: it's ISSUE #1,000,000, not the YEAR 1,000,000. It's the year 85,271, as you correctly note on the cover. And if you were going to go to the trouble of matching the cover, why not include the stupid CGI title page that was on all the 1,000,000 issues as well? Seriously half-assed as a One Million tribute, and still meh as a comic on its own. Fool me once, etc.
۞ Secret Invasion #4 is better than Secret Invasion #3. Damning with faint praise? Maybe so, but it's what I've got.
۞ Invincible Iron Man #3 is fantastic. Matt Fraction's script seems carefully designed to be equally applicable to modern Marvel Universe continuity or to Iron Man movie continuity, and it's such a good Iron Man story that I found myself not caring either way. The strongest Iron Man's book has been since ... I dunno, since I was, like, 12. Nice showcase for Larocca's art, too. Much more appropriate than newuniversal.
۞ Okay, okay, a little bit more on Secret Invasion: it feels to me like Bendis is just hitting plot beats, like he just re-read Robert McKee's STORY and is following all the rules on this one. This is the middle issue, so we find out more about the Invasion plans, the heroes begin to regroup, sort of, and ... yeah, it just all completely fails to come alive for me. Oh well. Maybe next issue.
۞ Although I do have to wonder why the whole thing feels so much better in the tie-in books -- Captain Britain and MI-13 #3 is what I want from the MAIN miniseries: a plot with enough energy and momentum to carry itself past its own stupid points; characters who seem different from one another, and invested in the moment; some humor, some wit, some flair; heroic moments that feel genuinely heroic ... this is worth checking out even if you're ignoring SI altogether.
۞ Action Comics #867 does a nice job continuing the Braniac story. It's shaping up to be another nice Geoff Johns-written DCU book and the best Superman's been in a while. But... well, how to put this.... Ah, heck with it, I'll scan in the image, but let's do it in bits and pieces first. This is from the book's splash page. Can you guess what Supergirl is doing?
If you guessed "vomiting," "recovering from a brutal hangover," "smelling something awful," or "appearing in a Warren Ellis comic," you think along the same lines as me. You're also wrong; she's examining a Braniac drone and is meant to be looking frightened.
Here's another bit of the image that irritated me.
Yes, the left side is a bit deceptive as the shadow cast by her arm makes her appear even more unhealthily skinny, but even with out that ... why is Supergirl emaciated? Look at her ribs jutting out -- it makes me want to send her fifty cents a day so she can get away from Sally Struthers.
So let's put together those two images with the rest of it and see what we get...
Yep. It's Paris Hilton: Supergirl. I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to enjoy this with me.
GET IT TOGETHER, GARY FRANK!
۞ Okay, I've mentioned how much I'm enjoying Batman R.I.P., right? Like, in a non-ironic, non-negative way? Because I really, really am. So why is nothing even resembling that storyline showing up in this ostensible crossover with Detective #846? I'll admit that I think Hush is a monumentally stupid character, so I'm prejudiced against this from the jump, but this is ... Look, in a vacuum this would be okay. Ish. I guess. But trying to tell me that this has ANYthing to do with the clever, complicated stuff Morrison's doing over in the main book is setting the bar a bit high. Forgettable, and I'm not going to be sticking with this storyline.
۞ Batman Confidential #19 is part three of the storyline, and more of the same: a solidly entertaining flashback story from Fabian Nicieza with exquisite artwork from Kevin Maguire. They've worked together as a creative team before, and they mesh well. Fun stuff.
۞ I know, I know: I swore I was done with Booster Gold. And I hate buying things just because they're part of a crossover -- it makes me feel like a sucker. But I LOVED DC One Million back in the day, so sending this book retroactively into the crossover was reason enough for me to buy it.
The level of disappointment I feel is suitable punishment for letting myself be tricked like this. Hey, DC: it's ISSUE #1,000,000, not the YEAR 1,000,000. It's the year 85,271, as you correctly note on the cover. And if you were going to go to the trouble of matching the cover, why not include the stupid CGI title page that was on all the 1,000,000 issues as well? Seriously half-assed as a One Million tribute, and still meh as a comic on its own. Fool me once, etc.
۞ Secret Invasion #4 is better than Secret Invasion #3. Damning with faint praise? Maybe so, but it's what I've got.
۞ Invincible Iron Man #3 is fantastic. Matt Fraction's script seems carefully designed to be equally applicable to modern Marvel Universe continuity or to Iron Man movie continuity, and it's such a good Iron Man story that I found myself not caring either way. The strongest Iron Man's book has been since ... I dunno, since I was, like, 12. Nice showcase for Larocca's art, too. Much more appropriate than newuniversal.
۞ Okay, okay, a little bit more on Secret Invasion: it feels to me like Bendis is just hitting plot beats, like he just re-read Robert McKee's STORY and is following all the rules on this one. This is the middle issue, so we find out more about the Invasion plans, the heroes begin to regroup, sort of, and ... yeah, it just all completely fails to come alive for me. Oh well. Maybe next issue.
۞ Although I do have to wonder why the whole thing feels so much better in the tie-in books -- Captain Britain and MI-13 #3 is what I want from the MAIN miniseries: a plot with enough energy and momentum to carry itself past its own stupid points; characters who seem different from one another, and invested in the moment; some humor, some wit, some flair; heroic moments that feel genuinely heroic ... this is worth checking out even if you're ignoring SI altogether.
۞ Action Comics #867 does a nice job continuing the Braniac story. It's shaping up to be another nice Geoff Johns-written DCU book and the best Superman's been in a while. But... well, how to put this.... Ah, heck with it, I'll scan in the image, but let's do it in bits and pieces first. This is from the book's splash page. Can you guess what Supergirl is doing?
If you guessed "vomiting," "recovering from a brutal hangover," "smelling something awful," or "appearing in a Warren Ellis comic," you think along the same lines as me. You're also wrong; she's examining a Braniac drone and is meant to be looking frightened.
Here's another bit of the image that irritated me.
Yes, the left side is a bit deceptive as the shadow cast by her arm makes her appear even more unhealthily skinny, but even with out that ... why is Supergirl emaciated? Look at her ribs jutting out -- it makes me want to send her fifty cents a day so she can get away from Sally Struthers.
So let's put together those two images with the rest of it and see what we get...
Yep. It's Paris Hilton: Supergirl. I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to enjoy this with me.
GET IT TOGETHER, GARY FRANK!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Where is everyone? Matt on 6/2
I was out of town at a wedding! What the hell is everyone else's excuse? Anyhow, here's some belated thoughts on all things comicky for June 2nd.
۞ So there's apparently been some kind of fooferaw over Batman #678, partially because of the blatant use of the stupid "magic negro" trope, partially because some people find it incomprehensible, and mostly because it's becoming clearer and clearer that to fully understand Morrison's Batman run, one is going to have to have read (and remember!) thousands of seriously obscure Batman stories. (So far, "Batman -- The Superman of Planet X," "Robin Dies At Dawn," possibly a few issues of World's Finest, and Batman #47. Great.)
But here's the thing: I'm LOVING this. Yes, the art is atrocious (although I like it much better than I did the Kubert who started the run off). Yes, Morrison is writing in a deliberately elliptical and allusive style. But it's FUN. It's interesting. It's somewhat challenging, I suppose, but mainly in the sense that I'm honestly curious about what's going to happen next month. In other words, it's that rare comic that I enjoy in EXACTLY the same way I enjoyed Transformers off the 7-11 spinner racks when I was a kid. I don't expect everyone to agree, but, there you go.
۞ On a different end of the spectrum is Angel Revelations #2. I'm enjoying this -- Aguirre-Sacasa needs to give up on the more action-y stuff and just accept that drama is his metier -- and Adam Pollina's art is fluid and lovely. But if it disappeared from the shelves tomorrow, I don't really think I'd notice. That said, if you haven't given this a shot, check it out; it's good to reward Marvel when they actually try something interesting and different.
۞ And then there's Astonishing X-Men #25, which ... exists, I suppose. It's easy to forget that Warren Ellis wrote Excalibur for 20-odd issues back in the nineties (especially easy as Marvel hasn't ever bothered reprinting them), but ... yeah, I feel like I saw all of this back then. In those days, it was Moira MacTaggart's coffee, which was terrible. Now it's Beast's coffee, which is apparently terrific. Ellis appears to have decided that the way to humanize superheroes is by having them shill shade-grown organic beans. (Actually, Planetary starts with a coffee discussion as well, as does Ellis's novel Crooked Little Vein. Maybe I'm onto something here.)
Back then Pete Wisdom was the sardonic British character who managed to enliven and poke fun at the mutant team tropes. Now it's Emma Frost (who is not actually British, I don't think, but don't tell her last three or four writers).
It's all good enough, I guess, helped along by Simone Bianchi's van art on steroids. We'll see what Ellis does with it long term, I suppose. I know I've been finding a lot of his recent stuff, from newuniversal to Doktor Sleepless to Black Summer to even Nextwave, MUCH better when read as a chunk. It's like he's abandoned writing for the individual issues altogether.
Anyhow, blah blah blah Warren Ellis-y.
۞ Some of you might remember that I really liked Top Cow's Pilot Season: Genius, and that I encouraged everyone to vote for it in the official Top Cow Popularity Contest Of Popularness. Let's just say that I'm a little cooler to Pilot Season: Alibi, which reads like either the pilot episode of a really dull Alias/24 knockoff or like the first issue of a really mediocre Boom! Studios comic that's clearly being pitched to Hollywood.
Nothing here engages me, nothing makes me want to see where the story goes, and, really nothing here is worth wasting any more time writing about.
۞ So there's apparently been some kind of fooferaw over Batman #678, partially because of the blatant use of the stupid "magic negro" trope, partially because some people find it incomprehensible, and mostly because it's becoming clearer and clearer that to fully understand Morrison's Batman run, one is going to have to have read (and remember!) thousands of seriously obscure Batman stories. (So far, "Batman -- The Superman of Planet X," "Robin Dies At Dawn," possibly a few issues of World's Finest, and Batman #47. Great.)
But here's the thing: I'm LOVING this. Yes, the art is atrocious (although I like it much better than I did the Kubert who started the run off). Yes, Morrison is writing in a deliberately elliptical and allusive style. But it's FUN. It's interesting. It's somewhat challenging, I suppose, but mainly in the sense that I'm honestly curious about what's going to happen next month. In other words, it's that rare comic that I enjoy in EXACTLY the same way I enjoyed Transformers off the 7-11 spinner racks when I was a kid. I don't expect everyone to agree, but, there you go.
۞ On a different end of the spectrum is Angel Revelations #2. I'm enjoying this -- Aguirre-Sacasa needs to give up on the more action-y stuff and just accept that drama is his metier -- and Adam Pollina's art is fluid and lovely. But if it disappeared from the shelves tomorrow, I don't really think I'd notice. That said, if you haven't given this a shot, check it out; it's good to reward Marvel when they actually try something interesting and different.
۞ And then there's Astonishing X-Men #25, which ... exists, I suppose. It's easy to forget that Warren Ellis wrote Excalibur for 20-odd issues back in the nineties (especially easy as Marvel hasn't ever bothered reprinting them), but ... yeah, I feel like I saw all of this back then. In those days, it was Moira MacTaggart's coffee, which was terrible. Now it's Beast's coffee, which is apparently terrific. Ellis appears to have decided that the way to humanize superheroes is by having them shill shade-grown organic beans. (Actually, Planetary starts with a coffee discussion as well, as does Ellis's novel Crooked Little Vein. Maybe I'm onto something here.)
Back then Pete Wisdom was the sardonic British character who managed to enliven and poke fun at the mutant team tropes. Now it's Emma Frost (who is not actually British, I don't think, but don't tell her last three or four writers).
It's all good enough, I guess, helped along by Simone Bianchi's van art on steroids. We'll see what Ellis does with it long term, I suppose. I know I've been finding a lot of his recent stuff, from newuniversal to Doktor Sleepless to Black Summer to even Nextwave, MUCH better when read as a chunk. It's like he's abandoned writing for the individual issues altogether.
Anyhow, blah blah blah Warren Ellis-y.
۞ Some of you might remember that I really liked Top Cow's Pilot Season: Genius, and that I encouraged everyone to vote for it in the official Top Cow Popularity Contest Of Popularness. Let's just say that I'm a little cooler to Pilot Season: Alibi, which reads like either the pilot episode of a really dull Alias/24 knockoff or like the first issue of a really mediocre Boom! Studios comic that's clearly being pitched to Hollywood.
Nothing here engages me, nothing makes me want to see where the story goes, and, really nothing here is worth wasting any more time writing about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)