Sunday, January 27, 2013

Blogathon 46: Joe Casey Youngblood Rewrite (Part 2)

Tim knows me too well. It all went down the way he said it would go down. It's like he was sitting next to me as I bemoaned what I was reading. He even nailed the part where I lost interest and kept reading, because I am a Joe Casey Scholar. I am the Joe Casey Scholar. I can say that with confidence and pride. I read this comic out of duty to that position, for the Blogathon, and because I paid money. Three good reasons to see it through to the end. Some random bits:

* I love the spots where word balloons have been moved and the art needs to be fixed.

* I like how they reused some panels. Why not? I would have liked to see more rearranging.

* The subplot with the two alien races coming to Earth did not pay off at all in this hardcover. It also has a big number 1 on the spine. I wonder if there was a plan to redo the rest of the Youngblood comics and it never happened. That's the only explanation I can see for a two-page subplot scene that never goes anywhere.

* The story just sort of ends, doesn't it?

* Kirby is such a strange character. A musclebound warrior with Jack Kirby's head. Only Rob Liefeld could think of such a thing...

* Tim will need to tell me if Psi-Fire is as psycho in the original as he is here. That's one bit that I really liked by Casey. It actually felt like something he would write.

* There's a bit of that in his dialogue for Shaft. The way he shuns the spotlight and tries to play the game. It's not terribly exciting always, but it was clever in its way.

* I'm a little disappointed that Tim didn't discuss the bonus pre-Youngblood comic included in the hardcover. Do I smell an upcoming When Words Collide?

* I should reread Joe Casey's Youngblood run sometime...

* Combat is the worst name ever.

* But I do like his full costume.

* And the best green-or-blue hero is Martian Manhunter. He's green and has a blue cape. He wins.

In 30 minutes, Ryan K. Lindsay returns for a surprise guest post!

[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Hero Initiative (Details in this post)! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]