Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Krash Bastards

[A 'lesser known' comic by Joe Casey which I will discuss and, then, ask and answer the question "Should it remain forgotten?" Haven't done one of these in a while.]

Thanks to Matthew J. Brady, I finally got a copy of the 2008 Krash Bastards graphic novel. It was a gift after I said something nice about his blog. How great is that? Say something nice about a blog you genuinely enjoy and you get a gift. Isn't Matt Brady a wonderful guy? And a great blogger, too. You should go read his blog. Then again, having read this book, I can see why he was so quick to say, "Chad, you read a lot of Joe Casey comics and I notice that you haven't discussed Krash Bastards. Well, I happen to have a copy of it and would love to give it to you so you can come one step closer to having read and written about this writer's entire body of work." It's not that this book is bad, it's just... not that good either. But we won't hold that against Matt, because I've read and discussed many comics by Casey that are worse than Krash Bastards.

Krash Bastards is an OEL manga. It reads right-to-left and opens as such; if you open it like a regular North American book, you're treated to a page that tells you what you should be doing. It's an odd choice and one that Casey has yet to repeat. Then again, no further volumes of Krash Bastards have come out. In his afterword, Casey discusses wanting to try and make manga, to write in that language and style, basically, to see if he can. I wish I could speak about his sucess a bit more, but I'm a Joe Casey expert, not much of a manga one (honestly, this is the only comic I own that reads right-to-left), so I can't speak to that success too much. It seems to hit on a lot of the superficial elements often associated with manga: young warriors, combining sci-fi and monsters, big spikey hair, Japanese-sounding names... The pacing is brisk with the most panels a single page has being six and that happens once. The vast majority of pages have four panels or less. In many ways, Krash Bastards comes off as a cynical, misguided attempt to rip off manga without really understanding it (says the guy that doesn't understand manga either). Take the Krash Bastards: there's the cool warrior leader, his hot girlfriend, his younger brother, the silent/deadly/mysterious member, and the older mentor. Pretty much the prototypical manga/anime group as far as I'm concerned. Their enemy, Kau Death, wears samurai armour; they fight primarily with swords while traveling in a spaceship; one of the big threats is a 'gekko god-being.' It reads like a book of cliches. Or, at least, all of the cliches that I, the unknowing manga neophyte, would think of.

But, it's also a Joe Casey comic and that's how I approached it. Krash Bastards is concerned with many of the usual ideas and themes of Casey's work, falling into line with The Intimates and Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance in its conception of youth and 'cool.' The Krash Bastards are the coolest kids on the playground (not literally), a group of warriors that people love and media darlings. Their leader and his girlfriend are the 'it' couple. They speak in dumb-sounding slang, concern themselves with their image more than anything it seems... even the storytelling relates to this superficial, vapid approach as rarely does Casey go beneath the surface. Even when he does, he puts it in the language of the extremely self-aware, the metafictional. The leader of the group, Tran Lo Zip confronts Kau Death alone at the end as a means to define himself as the greatest warrior in the universe, an ego-driven move to give his life purpose and meaning -- it's not enough to be the coolest of the cool when there's a big bad guy that can kick ass better. His girlfriend doesn't understand and, honestly, I don't think he really does either. He almost seems to do it because it's what a young warrior in his position does.

I said that Krash Bastards is steeped in manga cliches and I don't think that's accidental. Casey has shown in his career a purposeful use of cliches and genre/medium tropes to examine them. Here, he's using these ones for the first time and doesn't really go beyond the surface as he gets his footing. Tran Lo Zip's turn at the end doesn't inspire and engage, because it's artifical... he does it because it's what he should do. That's what this book feels like. For a first-time effort at manga, Casey goes through the superficial, the familiar, in an effort to understand it. Krash Bastards is more a working examination of the superficial elements of manga so that, in the future, he can go beyond the superficial. It's a test run, practice...

Why then was it published? Well, because you can't really see how well it works until it's drawn, can you? And what artist is going to draw a 72-page graphic novel for the purpose of allowing you to see how to write manga? In North American superhero comics, Casey was able to learn much quicker with shorter, 22-page stories. I'm sure manga comes out in a variety of lengths, but that's not necessarily the perception and Casey seems to want to engage that perception. For what purpose, I'm not entirely sure, which is why this book doesn't work.

The plot here is very basic and peppered with soulless action scenes. It's not helped by Axel #13's art, which is very stiff and lacks the frenetic craze of much manga, where the action practically leaps off the page since it's little more than energy. The compositions of pages and design work aren't bad. His gekko god-being is quite interesting to look at. One big annoyance is the lack of pupils in his characters' eyes. Early in the book, pupils are there, but they disappear quickly into the book and it looks really bad as we go on. The stiffness throughout really bothers me since so much here depends on heightened emotions and fast, energetic action scenes, and his art doesn't convey either well.

Finally, I must ask, "Should this work remain forgotten?" Yeah, probably. Joe Casey fans who happen to be more well-versed in manga may want to give it a look, but, otherwise, it will probably sit alongside those other mediocre-to-bad Casey books that I only (re)read for the purpose of scholarly study/analysis.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Full Moon Fever

[Another "lesser known" comic by Joe Casey which I will discuss and, then, ask and answer the question "Should it remain forgotten?"]

This graphic novel was published by AiT/Planet Lair in the early fall of 2005, if I recall correctly. I remember it being then, because I had a cold when I bought it (which affected my appreciation of it) and that cold nearly prevented me from heading to Toronto to see the White Stripes (yes, going to a concert and having to blow my nose every two minutes is not my idea of a good time). I didn't really dig this book when I first got it and hadn't read it again until yesterday. It does have one notable fact, though: Casey co-wrote it with Caleb Gerard. I can't think of another work that Casey co-wrote beyond "grey areas" like scripting over another writer's plot, using the "Marvel style" of writing, or collaborating on crossover events. But, none of those are really "co-writing" in the way that most people use the term. Scripting over another writer's plot is probably the closest, but since there's no agreement on the final results, it's more Casey finishing a job someone else began, whereas co-writing implies a certain level of collaboration and agreement on the final product that none of those other methods have.

The presence of a co-writer presents certain "difficulties" in judging/analysing this work, because it's not purely Casey's work... Then again, it doesn't really read like it. Full Moon Fever is rather mundane and straight forward for Casey. There's a space station on the moon and a team of plumbers have to go and fix some plumbing problems. Only, the ship can't land, because no one is answering their hails. When they do land, they find the place in shambles, eventually, discover bodies, and get killed off one by one by werewolves. There's nothing special about it at all. It's entertaining and well-done, but it's all high concept with few surprises and pretty much what you'd expect once you hear the high concept.

It begins with our main plumber, Zeke Kirby (who we later learn was once a solider, thereby giving him the right skills to survive) getting a birthday gift: a pen that writes in zero gravity that has (surprise, surprise) silver in it! It ends with the revelation that the plant being experimented upon's common name (since they're told the scientific classification) is wolfsbane. There are scenes concerning corporate sponsorship and bureaucratic bullshit that could be considered satirical, but are pretty tame and unoriginal. The dialogue is harsh and almost witty with none of the characters seeming to like one another.

The art by Damian Couceiro is serviceable and works decently well in black and white. He draws clearly, for the most part, and doesn't get in the way. His action scenes are dynamic and convey speed/movement better than a lot of superhero artists that are quite popular.

Should this book remain forgotten?

Probably not. As a piece of entertainment, it's a good popcorn flick. Something kind of brainless to just kick back and enjoy. It doesn't aspire to be anything more, so that's not an insult. It may bore anyone interested in Casey's more progressive concepts and ideas, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It's werewolves on the moon... not much else to say.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: The Authority Annual 2000

[Another one of the lesser known Joe Casey comics. As always, I will end my post by telling you if it should remain lesser known.]

I mentioned this in my post on the Wildcats 2000 annual that Casey also wrote, but this is part of the "Devil's Night" story that swept the four Wildstorm annuals released in October of 2000. Joe Casey wrote two and Ben Raab wrote two; Raab's two actually dealt with the plot of the crossover, while Casey's just kind of... featured some characters coming back from the dead as a result of said plot. In the case of the Wildcats annual, Casey continued his stellar work with those characters and used the annual as a means of exploring what being a former Wildcat means, and to comment on family/loyalty/etc. In the case of this book... Casey wrote a script and Cully Hamner drew a comic based on it and some people bought it and then totally forgot about it because it's not that good.

There are two stories here: the reactivation of Cold War superweapons, and the return of three of Apollo and Midnighter's former Stormwatch teammates who died on their first mission. Neither story is all that impressive.

In the first, zombie Soviets pilot a giant warship and are killed by the Authority. This reactivates Adam Bomb, a superhuman that blows up and can't stop doing it--he just wants to die. So, the Doctor deactivates his powers and Apollo burns his head off with heat vision.

In the second, those three former-black ops Stormwatch members show up on the Carrier--somehow. Swift, Apollo and Midnighter fight them and kill them again, because zombies break easily apparently.

I don't know what else to tell you. This is the post-Ellis Authority and it's edgy and contains explicit references to Apollo and Midnighter's sexuality in that heavy-handed way Ellis never really descended into. The Adam Bomb idea is interesting, but nothing much is done with it. This is a forgettable type of story and suits the annual format.

I do wonder why, at the end, they're amazed that Lamplighter's lamp looks old Stormwatch tech, though... he was one of Bendix's bastards... They wore Stormwatch logos on their uniforms... what the hell?

Should this remain a lesser known Joe Casey comics? Yeah. It's not bad or anything, and I'm sure some would get a thrill out of seeing Apollo and Midnighter fight some superzombies, after all, Marvel Zombies sells huge for that very reason. For me, there isn't much here. When you compare it to the Wildcats annual, it looks even worse. Cully Hamner's art is its typical greatness, though. If you see this in a quarter bin or something, check it out, but it's not exactly worth hunting for.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Autopilot

[Another in my random look at Joe Casey-penned comics that most people have either forgotten or just never heard of. As always, I will end my post by asking if it should remain forgotten or not. New posts happen at random.]

"Autopilot" showed up in a Dark Horse anthology called Reveal back in November 2002. I didn't buy a copy until just recently--when it came out, I read "Autopilot" right there in the store. But, if I'm to be a Joe Casey expert as some (well, Tim) have called me, I need them all, don't I?

And how could I not have "Autopilot," the semi-autobiographical comic by Joe Casey and Sean Philips? Hell, how can you? You want to know what was going on with Casey's Uncanny X-Men, Adventures of Superman and Wildcats runs? Look no further, good sir!

Really, this is a story that most comic fans should read. It is about balancing your real life including stuff like an uncle dying and paying the bills with these fictional universes that people care deeply about with your own hopes and aspirations of creating fantastic works of art. Those are three things that can rarely be balanced in any successful way and Casey knows this. And he tells us this.

His discussion of the "Franchise" team is frank and honest: "They offered you the gig. You took it. You did your job. Big sales. Big royalties. Big heat. Okay, not your BEST work, but you don't regret these things when you've just bought a HOUSE..."

I remember my favourite reply to anyone who bitched about Casey's work on Wildcats (not the book discussed above, but this does relate) was that he wasn't just ruining their favourite characters... he was getting paid to ruin them. Ho ho, aren't I clever?

But, that's what Casey is hinting at here: the reality of comics of is that it's a business and, ultimately, do you think a lacklustre run on Uncanny X-Men seems that bad when it bought you a house? Casey goes on to lament the fact that he couldn't do a better job, because that matters, too, but...

I don't know, which of these things matter more? Grant Morrison likes to discuss how these fictional characters are more real than we are, how they will outlive us all--does that mean that making them the best we can matters more than paying the bills? Or what about creating fantastic works of art? Creating the most literate and layered Superman story may be all well and good, but what if it does a disservice to the character? Some would say that The Dark Knight Returns did just that. So, did it fail at one of the three concerns I mentioned above while succeeding at the other two?

But, which one matters most?

Joe Casey doesn't write any of the comics discussed here. All ended prematurely (in my opinion) and were successful in their own ways (even Uncanny X-Men). But, do any of those things matter as much as real life?

The title of the story is "Autopilot" and says a lot about the work we read on a lot of corporate comics. How often have you read an issue and thought the writer was just going through the motions? Well, Casey is here to tell you that, yeah, that happens. But, writing comics is a job and can you honestly say you've given it 100% every single day at your job? We have these conceptions of what it means to be a writer, to be an artist, but it's a job. And sometimes you're tired or you need the money or your life has gone to hell and the work suffers. It happens to everyone, just not nearly as public... and just not in such an unforgiving atmosphere.

At the same time, does that excuse bad work? I don't think so... and neither does Casey. It's complicated. And there are no answers to these questions--at least none that make sense. As Casey says at the end: "You know you've pulled yourself up to something others DREAM about. You TRY to keep that perspective. / But REAL life waits for you in bed. She's warm and inviting, even when she sleeps. / You try to reconcile the fact that we're ALL products of hard work, luck, and fate. / You try to reconcile a LOT of thing."

Should this story remain forgotten? No. In addition to Casey's wonderfully honest writing, there's some Sean Philips art where he uses a much sparser style than we're used to. It looks very different from his other work and is very good. As well, it's only found in Reveal, which has lots of other stuff in it and you'll probably enjoy some of it.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Wildtimes: Gen13 #1

[Another in my periodic ongoing look at lesser known Joe Casey comics. As always, at the end of the post, I will tell you if the book should remain forgotten or not.]

This comic was Joe Casey's contribution to a Wildstorm "fifth-week" event (for a while, DC would do event books that came out during the fifth Wednesday of the month so as to not disrupt regular shipping schedules for books) called "Wildtimes." The event was basically five one-shots taking Wildstorm characters and placing them at different points in history. Deathblow was put in the old west, Grifter in the 1920s, DV8 in World War II, Wetworks in the early Cold War, and Gen13 in the late '60s/early '70s.

Casey's story has the team rarely use their powers and have more interest in getting high, listening to music and protesting the government than anything else. There's not really a story per se, although a plot involving Bobby and Vietnam runs throughout. In the first chapter, he's hiding from the draft until the Gen13 kids tell him that the army won't use him since he's a gen-active. In the second chapter, he's in Vietnam. And, in the third, he's AWOL and protesting the 1972 Republican convention.

There are a lot of refernces to the time, both real and thinly-vieled. Like, there's Billi Fender playing at the Chillmore East (aka Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore East)--but there's also the Stones at Altamont. At the end of the issue, the group is in London and we get "Bowie" (to make the framing device work, the Hendrix stand-in is white, while the Bowie stand-in is black). One scene is particularly strange as Grunge actually takes acid, which surprised me a little. Unlike many Casey comics, there are no revelations or wisdom found during the trip.

This comic really lacks structure and sort of meanders without much point beyond giving a sense of the time--but in very obvious and superficial ways. I'm not sure what Casey was trying to accomplish here, because it's not that entertaining, nor is it enlightening. It just sort of sits there.

I did enjoy the use of the Teen Titans (each of the Wildtimes books had a DC character show up--although I could never figure out where in the Grifter book) as they hunt down Bobby since he's AWOL. Little kiss-ass brats.

Should this book remain forgotten? Yeah, sure. The art isn't that great and neither is the story. As I said, no real entertainment or enlightenment means it comes off as pointless, like no one had any idea of what to do beyond "Gen13 in the late '60s."

The usual Saturday post later today.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Wolverine/Cable: Guts 'n' Glory

[Yet another comic I bet you didn't even know existed let alone that Joe Casey wrote it. As always, at the end of the post, I'll tell you if this book should remain forgotten. Posts in this series on Monday, Wednesday and Friday normally, but this week was kind of messed up... and this book ties into Joe Casey's Cable run, so it gets a lovely Saturday post. But, starting Monday, I'll do an extended "Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics" series when I look at his run on The Incredible Hulk. Yeah, he did one. Who knew.]

Holy shit is this a bad comic. I'm just going to skip right to Should this book remain forgotten and say, yes, OH MY GOD YES! It's a Wolverine/Cable team-up book with art by Stephen Platt. I don't think this book is forgotten, I think it's been blocked out by the collective memory of comic fandom, particularly Joe Casey fans. If you took this book to Casey at a convention, I wouldn't be surprised if he set it on fire, said "What comic?" and then beat you right there on the convention floor with the help of his fellow Mans of Action.

...okay, I'm going a little overboard, but this really is a seriously bad comic. It attempts to tell a story about Cable's early days in New York, and involves Canadian-government-employee Wolverine... and it's bad. On the first page, we have long-haired Cable walking the streets of New York in some weird fucking outfit that has shoulder pads. He's also apparently eight feet tall.

But, I shouldn't harp on the art... it's Stephen Platt. What does anyone expect?

I'll focus on the writing: Casey tries to give us some interesting bits, but they all fall flat. Cable gets taken in by a veteran who recognises that Cable has also fought in some wars; one of Cable's enemies travels back in time to kill him (and lands in Canada, which is how Wolverine gets involved); and Cable fights the Vulture (again, Casey placing him within the Marvel universe, not the X-verse). These plot elements could make for a good story, but they don't here. There's little characterisation--except for horrible cliches--and the story is difficult to read because of the art.

I can't believe I spent money on this book and that, because of my weird completist obsession, it will remain in my collection.

Later today, I may post the first of two or three posts looking at the books I bought this week.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Batman: Tenses #2

[Concluding my look at the two-part Batman: Tenses. Like with all lesser known Joe Casey comics, I will answer the question on all of your minds: should this issue remain forgotten? I know you want to just skip to the end of the post to find out, but don't. AH! Don't! That's better. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

Okay, so I'm back in Windsor and ready to discuss some Joe Casey comics.

One thing I've yet to figure out is why this story is called "Tenses"... my first instinct to go with the tension between the past, present and future. Bruce Wayne's present is determined by his past, as is Ted's, but he also sees the future. Past tense, present tense and future tense are in communion, influencing one another? That's the only thing I can really come up with.

This issue has ties to Casey's The Milkman Murders and Fantastic Four: First Family as the whole kill-your-family plot thread pops up, and it's kind of odd that it has shown up in at least three Casey-written books. Does Casey have family issues? Not that I want to get into Casey's personal life, but these are some disturbing scenes... particularly that they always seem to accompany some epiphany from the murderer: enlightenment leads to murder. Not that Casey doesn't have a solid basis in reality, but it's an odd trend.

Ted finds the father that abandoned him and murders him. Well, slaughters him is more accurate as he eats some of his innards and cuts off his face and terrorises his step-mother--and Batman shows up in time to stop him from harmining her... but let's an insane Ted wander off and die alone.

Now, Ted symbolises Bruce's feelings of anger over the abandonment of his parents, which is why Batman let's him go. Bruce begins to let go of those feelings, seeing how twisted they can make a person. The conflict between his past and present begins to resolve itself. At the same time, a business reporter who also lost his parents as a child tries to help Bruce and tell him that he needs help. At the end of the issue, Bruce gives him back a business card for a therapist, again suggesting that his experience with Ted has put him on the path to recovery.

The scenes with the reporter are also strangely homoerotic as it seems the reporter is pursuing Bruce and certain that Bruce wants the same thing, but is afraid. I don't think Casey is pushing that as a serious angle; most likely, he's just playing around with the image of Bruce Wayne and Batman as semi-gay. But, if you want to make an argument for a gay Bruce Wayne, there may be some evidence here (not much, though). One scene in particular points in that direction as the reporter confronts Bruce in a parking garage and places his hand on Bruce's shoulder... which results in Bruce nearly breaking his hand in a scene right out of American Psycho. (Again, the Bruce Wayne/Patrick Bateman connection pops up for me.)

Should this book remain forgotten? No. If you can find these two issues, get them. It's an odd little story, but it is very clever and complex in its look at Bruce Wayne's early days as Batman. As well, Cully Hamner's art is fantastic. The man draws Batman very, very well.

And because I'm in such a Joe Casey mood, why not jump right into his final issue of Cable. That should be posted within the next hour (hopefully).

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Batman: Tenses #1

[Continuing my look at the lesser known Joe Casey comics. Today and Wednesday, I'll be discussing Batman: Tenses, so I'll leave my usual "Should this work remain forgotten?" question until I've discussed issue two as well. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

Joe Casey wrote Batman and Cully Hamner drew it. You probably remember this book a little, at least some of the Hamner promo images involving Batman using a grappling gun to take down some robbers.

This two-issue prestige format mini takes place during Batman's first year and tries to flesh it out some more, particularly the Bruce Wayne aspect of the character.

And, you know what, Christ, Morrison's idea for every Batman story that's ever been written actually taking place is kind of fucked up, isn't it? I mean, really, all of it happened over a 15-year period? Every story ever? That seems impossible if you just take into account the two main books, but what happens when you throw in Shadow of the Bat and Legends of the Dark Knight? And all of the one-shots and team-ups and Justice League stuff... but then again, they say Grant Morrison is on drugs and that seems to be the only way it actually makes sense.

Wow, way off topic there...

I like Casey's use of Bruce Wayne. It's worth it just for one page where he's at a party at some rich person's house and he goes to get some air and comes across a maid in leather and fishnets leading a butler by a collar and leash. And he doesn't care, because why would he? Rich folk are fucked up, people.

This Bruce Wayne is one with Big Plans and that means streamlining Wayne Enterprises. You know how in later Batman comics, it's always "Oh, look at Bruce Wayne help that person out by using his vast fortune"? Here, it's "Fuck Bruce Wayne, because he just laid off ten thousand employees!" This Bruce Wayne is driven and selfish and doesn't think of anything outside of himself and his mission. This is a story about him learning to maybe do that, except not quite.

It's also the story of Ted, an employee of Wayne--at some department store--and his seeing visions of the future. Well, more how people will die than anything else. It drives him a little crazy and some thieves begin using him to help their operation. And they also use him as a punching bag. Eventually, his visions disappear and he's arrested in the process of a robery--knocked out by Batman. The issue ends with him in a straight jacket, banging his head against a wall after he's seen the end of the world--nothing more to see.

Bruce and Ted act as foils for one another, but how exactly isn't clear yet. Both were abandoned by their parents in their own ways, but that's as far as it goes right now. Ted is everything Bruce isn't, really. He's weak and ugly and nothing. Suerficially, Bruce is much better off, but Casey gives us enough scenes of Bruce alone for us to know otherwise. This is a Bruce Wayne that still has some serious issues going on. Grant Morrison was right when he said that, by now, Bruce has worked through that shit--but, here, he's still fucked up.

Next issue has him take on a crazy-as-fuck Ted and deal with one of his first "freaks."

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Gen13 #42

[Continuing my look at Joe Casey comics you probably didn't know exist. Oh, I'm sure you had a vague idea that Gen13 #42 existed, just not that Joe Casey wrote it. Well, he did. How do you like that? Me, I like it a lot, but let's not get into that just yet. As always, I will conclude my post by deciding if this comic deserves to remain forgotten. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

Joe Casey. Kevin Maguire. Hells yes.

Did you read how the Casey/Maguire Velocity was the big winner of Top Cow's "Pilot Season" contest? It kicked the crap out of every other book in the voting. So, sometime this year, we'll be getting another Joe Casey book.

But that's then and this is now and now it's time to look at Gen13 #42, a fill-in issue that bridges John Arcudi and Scott Lobdell's runs on the book (oh, Adam Warren has two issues in there, too). This one involves secret agent men of action and wrestlers. It also involves Grunge being retarded and dragging Bobby along. The rest of the group barely shows up.

It's a pretty light issue that is a lot of fun. I like the wrestling bits (particularly some of the names Casey comes up with: Nelson Full Nelson, David Goliath and Kingsnake Jake all crack me up), and the discussion where Grunge claims his long hair will get him more women than Bobby's soul patch. Throw in Kevin Maguire's mastery of facial expressions and, hot damn, it's some good stuff.

I'm not sure where this issue fits in with Casey's other work. Maybe the inclusion of wrestling as another form of popculture, demonstrating the relationship between the two. Mostly, it just demonstrates Casey's ability to write young, stupid people. Actually, the way Grunge and Bobby act here leads in pretty well to The Intimates (with a little Children of the Atom thrown in).

Should this book remain forgotten? No! Go pick it up! Will it change your life? Of course not! But is is a good read--of course it is!

Okay, on Monday, I'll get into Batman: Tenses #1--for serious this time (I had planned on it for today, but I picked up this issue of Gen13 yesterday and figured I'd end the week on a one-shot rather than spread out a two-part story over the weekend like that).

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Captain America annual '99

[Continuing my look at some of the lesser known Joe Casey-penned comics. I bet you didn't even know he did a Captain America annual. As always, I will examine these lesser known works in relation to Casey's more prominent projects and ask if it should remain forgotten. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

The plot of this issue is pretty simple: some corrupt businessman named Calvin Halderman is using Flag-Smasher to kill people and help the business. Some Daily Bugle reporters get involved and help Captain America. Simple enough.

This issue isn't that remarkable, but does have a few interesting elements...

The first is Casey's use of pushing dialogue to the gutters in some scenes involving the reporters. We will get panels of art by Pablo Raimondi with the actual dialogue below. Normally, this technique is reserved for TV shots where words and pictures don't mix, but it works well here, because newspaper reporters work exclusively in words with pictures juxtaposed. By separating the words and pictures, Casey highlights the importance of text for these characters. However, it's not the most effective technique as it is often cramped and not always used with the reporters, only when it seems to strike Casey's fancy to do it. If it were used more, it would work much, MUCH better.

It fails partially because of the use of third-person captions twice in the issue that are supposed to give us insight into Captain America. Since that technique is only used twice, seemingly as filler, it undermines the narrative flow of the entire issue.

The second element of note is Casey's commentary on corporations, which ties into his later work on Wildcats. There's nothing of particular originality here beyond the fact that despite Halderman's criminal activities, the corporation he's involved with is able to continue with little or no penalties. Juxtaposing this sort of story with Captain America is very smart as it suggests a different level of corruption for Cap to contend with that I don't think was ever really examined. Where do his ideals fit in a world where corporations have the same rights as citizens, but far, FAR more means?

In this way, the inclusion of Flag-Smasher is particularly smart. He is an anti-nationalist character that sees countries as divisive--he's also a braindead vegtable that is animated with drugs, basically. Halderman uses his anti-nation views against him and talks up corporations as a viable alternative to countries: "ONLY CORPORATIONS PROVIDE THAT SOUGHT-AFTER UNITY IN THIS MODERN WORLD."

These are some very intriguing ideas that, as I said, work very well with Captain America, but are very compressed here--to the point where Casey barely skims over them. This issue provides a glimpse at a larger, more complex, more epic story that Casey could have potentially told. However, elements did show up in other works like the end of his Uncanny X-Men run and his work on Wildcats.

Should this comic remain forgotten? For the purposes of entertainment, yes. It's not a very good comic to read. The story is pretty convoluted and mashed up. The art is serviceable, but not spectacular. And the character work is weak. But, if you're like me and are reading Casey's work to see how ideas connect and what techniques he's experimenting with, this is a worthwhile book in those regards. So, yeah, probably best left forgotten except by weird geeks like me.

On Friday, I'll look at Batman: Tenses #1.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: The Flash #151

[Continuing my look at the lesser known Joe Casey comics. I bet you didn't even know he wrote an issue of The Flash! Well, shit, brother, neither did I until a month ago! You learn something new everyday. Like with every other lesser known Joe Casey comic, after discussing the issue, I will tell you if it should remain lesser known and forgotten or if it is the shit and you would be stupid not to rush out and dive into back-issues bins to get yourself a copy. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

This is a fill-in issue with the frame (one page at the beginning and one at the end) provided by regular Flash writers Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn (by the way, Brian is by far the most popular name for comic writers--I currently have labels for 7 Brians--and one Bryan--what's up with that?). If you'll recall, this was the period where Wally West from an alternate universe or the future or something was the Flash and, here, he reads his journal and we get an old Kid Flash adventure.

The plot is basically, Kid Flash stops a Gorilla from stealing a fossil from the museum, thinking it's Gorilla Grodd, but it turns out that this is a nice gorilla sent to retreive the bones of one of his people that a hunter stole from sacred burial grounds. Now, they need to get the gorilla back to his city in less than 72 hours or cause a gorilla/human war. Oh, and Kid Flash destroyed the gorilla's rocket-pack.

Instead of doing the smart thing and contacting the Justice League, young Wally decides he can get the job done himself, because, lately, he's been feeling powerless since he's only 15 and can't even drive. He can run faster than damn near anyone in the world, but that's a secret and girls dig guys with cars.

This is a pretty entertaining issue that, like a lot of Casey's work, leads into one of his off-beat works--in this case, The Intimates. Casey does teen angst well, as it rarely comes off as whiny, instead is very relatable. He gives us a downside of being a superhero that we don't see very often and has him working with fellow teen heroes Robin and Aqualad. There's even a nice bit where Robin was going to help Kid Flash and the gorilla sneak aboard a Wayne Enterprises ship headed for Africa, but Batman overhears thanks to phonetaps and has the ship leave early. Batman = douchebag.

Wally here is very easy to relate to and you can understand why he doesn't want to call in the grown-ups. It's also very stupid not to, but the desire to solve the problem on his own and see it through is understandable.

It's not the most adventurous story Casey's ever written, but has a few trademarks, like when Wally stops the hunter by stealing his clothes at superspeed and catching a bullet--and then remarks, "KINDA ANTI-CLIMATIC, HUH?"

Should this issue remain forgotten? No. You should check it out. Solid done-in-one issues are rare and this fits in perfectly between Casey's Mr. Majestic and Intimates stuff. As well, fellow Man of Action Duncan Rouleau provides some great art.

On Wednesday, I'll look at Captain America annual '99.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Iron Man annual '99

[Continuing my look at the lesser known/minor works by Joe Casey. Those fill-in issues, one-shots and short runs that only the most hardcore of the hardcore are aware exist. With each, I will ask whether or not the work should remain forgotten or if it is a lost treasure. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

I've mentioned this before, but Wizard called Joe Casey the next Kurt Busiek in their issue 2000, and here we have Casey and Busiek co-writing a comic (Busiek only co-plots, presumably because of illness as, if I remember correctly, he had some medical problems around this time). Casey and Busiek suggests a powerful combination, but this issue is pretty shit.

Okay, that's a tad harsh as it's merely mediocre. It's not bad, it's some solid superhero action that doesn't rise above itself or give cause for rereadings. The plot involves some mysterious forc sucking ionic energy from people with said energy. Iron Man must figure out who's doing it while working with a sexy SHIELD agent that gets him all hot and bothered. Turns out that the culprit is Count Nefaria--which is only funny because, at the beginning of the issue, some dude called Nefarious was killed for his ionic energy. Wait, that's not funny at all--and yet it's the closest thing to wit in this issue.

There are lots of kinda lame fights and... not much else. Stark has some angst over digging the SHIELD agent, but that comes off as hacknayed and weak. The issue also ends with that old "diplomatic immunity" gem.

Should this book remain forgotten? Yes. Unless you have a fondness for mediocre, uninventive superhero stories involving Z-grade villains.

On Monday, we'll have Casey team with Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn (kind of) on Flash #151.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil

[Continuing my look at some of the lesser known comics by Joe Casey. The annuals, the fill-ins, the one-shots, and the forgotten runs. With each, I will answer one question: should the book remain forgotten? New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

Produced along with four or five other one-shots during some month back in 1999, Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil takes us back to the "Heroes Reborn" universe. Remember "Heroes Reborn"? Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld do the "Ultimate" thing before the "Ultimate" thing? Lasted only a year because it sucked ass? Concluded with a crossover with Wildstorm?

Anyway...

Casey teams with Charlie Adlard here for a story that has very little to do with anything. The Masters of Evil in this book are the Black Knight (Garrett), Whirlwind, Radioactive Man and the bed-ridden Melter. Not the most auspicious group. The conceit is that, with the heroes gone, villains have the run of the place and these guys are just petty thugs, basically.

The issue has two plots: Garrett's attempts to raise himself above his low status and Whirlwind coming to grips with the fact that he doesn't like his life. The ideas behind this issue are great, but, sadly, the execution is lacking. I don't want to call this comic boring, but... it's pretty fucking boring.

Scenes that should be packed with witty dialogue and fun "supervillains as real people" stuff don't have anything to them. Whirlwind and Radioactive Man are in a diner in one scene and it leads nowhere beyond establishing that RM doesn't talk.

What the issue seems to suffer from is its ties to the other "Heroes Reborn" one-shots. Casey does his best to make those ties interesting, like Garrett's appeal to Dr. Doom to serve him, but his efforts are wasted.

There is a rather funny scene where Whirlwind interviews the Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo for positions as Garrett's bodyguards that turns into a fight between the two as they gleefully attempt to show off how awesome they are.

Should the book remain forgotten? I'm going to have to go with "maybe" here. While the actual comic isn't that great, the ideas behind it are pretty solid and I've gotten enjoyment out of the hints towards something better. As well, Charlie Adlard's art is great. (I never know what to say about art. Dammit.) The format and editorial constrictions make this a much worse comic than it should be. Could be worth a look if you see it in a quarter bin somewhere.

Lesser Known Joe Casey Comics: Wolverine: Black Rio

[Beginning my look at some of the lesser known comics by Joe Casey. The annuals, the fill-ins, the one-shots, and the forgotten runs. With each, I will answer one question: should the book remain forgotten? New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

First up in my look at lesser known comics by Joe Casey is 1998's Wolverine: Black Rio, a squarebound one-shot with art by Oscar Jimenez that has Logan in Rio for Carnaval. He gets in contact with an old friend, Antonio Vargas, now a detective investigating a series of murders that seem vampire-related--which, of course, means Wolverine versus vampires.

Not as much fun as you'd think.

This is a book very early in Casey's career and reads as such. There are some nice attempts to create witty banter and interesting dialogue, but they mostly fail. The overall thrust of the story is weak, as is the revelation that one of the vampires is Vargas's wife, long thought dead.

The main villain is an interesting character as he has some alien parasite attached to his stomach that speaks to him telepathically--making him seem crazy to all involved. But, even that isn't enough to warrant much interest.

There's also a baffling moment where Wolverine changes into an odd purplish-blue costume to take on the vampires that makes no real sense.

Jimenez's art is wildly inconsistent, ranging from fantastic to horribly rushed and sketchy. His depictions of Rio are great, though.

The book ends with a possibility for future stories and it is not surprising that no one has picked up the ball and ran with it.

Should this book remain forgotten? Oh hell yes. This is one of those books that only a weird Joe Casey obsessor like myself should pick up--and even I kind of feel like I've wasted my money. Normally, Casey manages to put in one or two really great moments, but this book is almost completely lacking.

On Wednesday, Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil.