I picked up Showcase Presidents Shazam! this week and have read through the first thirteen issue's worth of material. It is some damn funny stuff.
First off, the one thing you need to know when reading this book is that people are stupid. They see a kid, they hear a kid yell "Shazam!", they see the kid get struck by lightning and then they see Captain Marvel, but can't quite make the connection between the kid and Captain Marvel. I don't care what you say, the whole Superman/Clark Kent thing seems downright sophisticated compared to this.
In the little brief origin recap, they try to explain it by saying that people are so dazzled, they don't even notice, but come on.
But, continuing on, I'm just going to give the best moments:
* Captain Marvel's origin: Bill Batson is selling newspapers in the rain before returning to the subway station where he sleeps when a stranger approaches him and takes him to a train with no driver, which the kid gets on. Then, Billy meets Shazam, the wizard who grants him the powers and after he becomes Captain Marvel, Shazam drops a huge block on himself. WHAT THE FUCK? That is the craziest origin ever. It's got so many fucked up things in it I don't know where to start.
* Mr. Mind, an alien genius worm that wants to kill Captain Marvel and take over the world destroys a museum so he can get back his glasses. Seriously. And then tries to destroy everything west of St. Louis while Captain Marvel wonders "BUT I CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT MR. MIND CAN DO HERE IN THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY!" Well, he flies around in a little paper cup attached to a balloon. Go, Mr. Mind, go!
* Sunny Sparkle is a kid so nice people are always giving him stuff.
* A world famous inventor goes on TV to tell the world he's invented the most important thing since the wheel, but doesn't say what. Various racial stereotypes from around the world try to capture him until a US fed shows up and is all "It's your patriotic duty to hand it over" and it turns out it's an anti-gravity generator that everyone thinks is retarded.
* Because some guy was born on the same day as Billy, when he got his powers, so did this other guy. He can see the future, but only when hanging out with Billy.
* A hobo catches a leprechaun, makes a wish to be invisible and causes damage.
* Sunny Sparkle's cousin is jerk and tries to beat up Captain Marvel.
* Dr. Sivana knows Billy Batson is Captain Marvel, so he gives him a special watch that makes him take two minutes to say "Shazam!" without noticing. That is, until Billy notices his watch's time doesn't match with the TV station's clock and changes it. BUT, that clock was running fast, so now the watch is set incorrect and blows up.
* Dexter Knox is a boy genius and accidentally turns his grandmothers into a walking generator. So, when they hear Miami is undergoing a massive blackout, Captain Marvel and Dexter tell her she has to go, except she won't let Captain Marvel fly her there because she only travels by train. But, grandmoth--ONLY BY TRAIN, GODDAMMIT! FUCK MIAMI! So they stick her on a train and Captain Marvel pushes it at superspeed so it arrives quickly.
* A rumour gets started that saying "Captain Marvel" will end the world. And people believe it.
* Mr. Mind gets a bunch of worms together to fuel a hate-helmet that can knock Captain Marvel on his ass, so Captain Marvel uses dry ice to make it rain and thus cause the worms all litter the ground.
* Freddy Freeman is a crippled kid who turns into Captain Marvel Jr. by saying "Captain Marvel." And he actually spends most of his time as a crippled newsboy.
* Billy Batson says "Shazam!" and gives a monkey the power of Captain Marvel by accident. During that story, he talks to himself and says "Shazam" while in mid-air and almost kills himself.
* The cover to issue 10 has an old woman holding two guns. One to a priest's head, the other to Captain Marvel's and she screams "MARRY ME, YOU BIG RED CHEESE--OR ELSE!" How come covers today aren't that awesome?
* A spaceship of talking vegetables crash on Earth and need spare parts, so Captain Marvel and them make a movie about alien vegetables invading the planet to raise the money.
* The old lady, Aunt Minerva, hires two criminals (who she beats up on) to kill Captain Marvel and whoever does it will get a reward. When they fail, they find out the reward would have been her hand in marriage and they then thank Captain Marvel for sending them to prison.
* The guy at the local drug store makes a new form of gelatin that keeps expanding, so Captain Marvel begins finding people to help eat it.
* There's another kid who's so dull nobody ever notices he's there, even when he takes things right out of people's hands.
* A crime boss has a scientist make a Sunny Sparkle formula so he can be as liked as the kid, except Captain Marvel is immune. So, Captain Marvel follows the crime boss around and watches as people keep giving him stuff for free. When he confronts the criminal, Captain Marvel does the greatest thing ever, he says: "OH, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING, ALL RIGHT--" and in the following panel, he says, "--THE BACK OF MY HAND!" while smacking the dude with a big "SLAAAPP!" sound effect.
* Mary Batson joins a Mary Marvel fan club even though she is Mary Marvel. What an arrogant bitch.
Soon: the second half of the book, sure to have many strange, baffling and funny-as-hell moments. The best, though, is the slap. It's so damn unexpected. You can tell Captain Marvel was just pissed off, because most of the time he and the other Marvel people just let the criminals shoot at them and try to beat them up until they're too tired to fight anymore. A good show of pacifism. But not this time. It's just BAM! back of the fucking hand! Don't fuck with the Big Red Cheese is the message, I think.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Random Reading: The Last Avengers Story
Ah, a classic from the "Marvel Alterniverse" line spawned by Marvels, The Last Avengers Story is a two-issue prestige format series written by Peter David with painted art by Ariel Olivetti that has a certain Kevin O'Neill feel to it.
The basic plot: sometime in the future, superheroes don't do much except sit around and shoot the shit. Years ago, the government had the superheroes do a country-wide search and capture to eliminate the supervillain population. The catch was the heroes thought the villains were going to prison, while the government turned around and killed them all. That pretty much made most of the heroes we know and love quit the game right then and there.
Until Ultron shows up and blows up the current Avengers and then visits Hank Pym to challenge him to a final Avengers/Masters of Evil showdown. Ultron has Kang, the Grim Reaper and Oddball, while Pym must try and gather what heroes he can, because if he doesn't, Ultron is just going to go around and kill them anyway.
Most of the appeal to this series lies in that glimpse into a possible future where Peter Parker and Mary Jane have a teenage son or Wyatt Wingfoot and She-Hulk had a daughter who took after her mom. Or how Thor, Hercules and the Thing all died in some sort of god-related battle, while the Hulk somehow survived but not unchanged.
Or, the horrible final fates of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision--and the effect it had on Tommy and Billy, their sons.
It's a good read with some interesting bits. I figure that one of my favourite ideas, "superheroes react, while villains ACT" was actually stolen from here (although, David probably didn't come up with it either, but I read this when I was younger and it probably got stuck in my brain).
In a way, this is a good cross between Marvels and Ruins. It is very loyal to what came before, but also has a rather fucked up realistic bent. It almost seems to be a warning to writers tempted to push the group down these paths. It was published in late 1995, still very much in the midst of all the darker 1980s/90s bullshit. Of course, since then, various storylines have occurred that could produce such a depressing, bleak fucking future as presented here--although, it isn't all bad, as Pym notes: Peter Parker has found peace. Who would have thought that? The only hero to find true peace in the Marvel universe is Spider-Man. Gotta love PAD's sense of humour, eh?
The basic plot: sometime in the future, superheroes don't do much except sit around and shoot the shit. Years ago, the government had the superheroes do a country-wide search and capture to eliminate the supervillain population. The catch was the heroes thought the villains were going to prison, while the government turned around and killed them all. That pretty much made most of the heroes we know and love quit the game right then and there.
Until Ultron shows up and blows up the current Avengers and then visits Hank Pym to challenge him to a final Avengers/Masters of Evil showdown. Ultron has Kang, the Grim Reaper and Oddball, while Pym must try and gather what heroes he can, because if he doesn't, Ultron is just going to go around and kill them anyway.
Most of the appeal to this series lies in that glimpse into a possible future where Peter Parker and Mary Jane have a teenage son or Wyatt Wingfoot and She-Hulk had a daughter who took after her mom. Or how Thor, Hercules and the Thing all died in some sort of god-related battle, while the Hulk somehow survived but not unchanged.
Or, the horrible final fates of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision--and the effect it had on Tommy and Billy, their sons.
It's a good read with some interesting bits. I figure that one of my favourite ideas, "superheroes react, while villains ACT" was actually stolen from here (although, David probably didn't come up with it either, but I read this when I was younger and it probably got stuck in my brain).
In a way, this is a good cross between Marvels and Ruins. It is very loyal to what came before, but also has a rather fucked up realistic bent. It almost seems to be a warning to writers tempted to push the group down these paths. It was published in late 1995, still very much in the midst of all the darker 1980s/90s bullshit. Of course, since then, various storylines have occurred that could produce such a depressing, bleak fucking future as presented here--although, it isn't all bad, as Pym notes: Peter Parker has found peace. Who would have thought that? The only hero to find true peace in the Marvel universe is Spider-Man. Gotta love PAD's sense of humour, eh?
Friday, January 19, 2007
Random Reading: Kid Eternity and Superman: For Tomorrow
Kid Eternity
I've seen this book in the bookstore since I came to Windsor in September and always thought "Well, I'll get that some other time." Some other time finally came on Monday.
I sat in my office and read it and, at first, it confused the hell out of me, but by the end, I became convinced that Morrison structured it in a rather brilliant way.
The basic plot is: Kid Eternity escapes from Hell, has something on his trail and gets a comedian named Jerry involved. Now, Jerry may or may not be dead and he has to help Eternity go back to Hell and rescue a friend/father figure. Except it's all much more complicated, as you can imagine, since Grant Morrison wrote it.
What I particularly enjoyed was that the basic movement of the book is chaos to order, which mirrors the plot. Chaos brings order. Fantastic.
At first, everything is jumbled and you can't quite understand what's going on, but by the end, it's all clear. Well, not ALL, but enough. It becomes clear enough and all sort of comes together and you're left going "Oh. That's really cool!"
Plot-wise, the whole thing is kind of lame. There's some interesting stuff, but nothing that's all that new or blows your mind, you know? The art by Duncan Fegredo is quite good--it's painted and doesn't look much like the art I'm used to seeing from him.
But, for me, the clear strong point is the actual construction of the book. But, I'm a dork.
Superman: For Tomorrow Vols. 1 and 2
Again, standard "I don't like Jim Lee's art" preface. Good. Moving on . . .
I got the first volume back in September and have been waiting for the second trade before I passed judgement on the story.
I liked it. But.
There's always a but.
One of my problems is when Superman interferes with the internal problems of a country and the JLA all act like dicks about it. I'm sick of stories like that. It wasn't the whole story here, but it was a part and it's boring. Mostly because it seems every four months, one of them will decide to try and make the world a better place and every other hero will try to stop them. And then, four months later, a different one tries and everyone gets together and stops him. And so on and so on and so on. It's boring and really lame.
Especially when the same hero has done it more than once, like Superman. You can say "Oh, they're just human and forget and go on whims" and blah blah fucking blah, but what you really mean is "I'm sorry, the writer isn't that original or great."
That, and when I read the scene where the League is bitching out Superman, I also kept thinking, "Hey, yeah, this is Superman and you're Aquaman. Shut the fuck up."
However, the Superman here is actually a complex person and, for that, Brian Azzarello manages to step above nearly every writer who's handled the character since--well, forever. Even the good Superman stuff usually didn't have an interesting lead character. The plot was good, the villains were cool, whatever. Superman is usually boring and rather flat.
And I don't just say that because his threat to destroy the planet completely when fighting "Mother Nature" (my term) is rather cool. It's because he's been pushed far enough to make that threat and you don't know if he's serious. There's an ambiguity about the Superman here that you don't get most of the time. And he doesn't really do anything that out of character. Azzarello just added another level to the character, one that should have always been there.
The level of humanity that has to be affected by the things he deals with. And the disappearance of Lois along with thousands of others was just the thing to push him far enough. Not far like Hal Jordan killing Green Lanterns or that typical bullshit comic way. Far enough that he struggles with being who he's always been. Far enough that he's prepared to do what it takes to make things right, except not really. A conflicted character.
Of course, I don't agree with everything, especially a lot of volume two, but it's an interesting read with the final few pages giving a tall order to future writers of the character.
I've seen this book in the bookstore since I came to Windsor in September and always thought "Well, I'll get that some other time." Some other time finally came on Monday.
I sat in my office and read it and, at first, it confused the hell out of me, but by the end, I became convinced that Morrison structured it in a rather brilliant way.
The basic plot is: Kid Eternity escapes from Hell, has something on his trail and gets a comedian named Jerry involved. Now, Jerry may or may not be dead and he has to help Eternity go back to Hell and rescue a friend/father figure. Except it's all much more complicated, as you can imagine, since Grant Morrison wrote it.
What I particularly enjoyed was that the basic movement of the book is chaos to order, which mirrors the plot. Chaos brings order. Fantastic.
At first, everything is jumbled and you can't quite understand what's going on, but by the end, it's all clear. Well, not ALL, but enough. It becomes clear enough and all sort of comes together and you're left going "Oh. That's really cool!"
Plot-wise, the whole thing is kind of lame. There's some interesting stuff, but nothing that's all that new or blows your mind, you know? The art by Duncan Fegredo is quite good--it's painted and doesn't look much like the art I'm used to seeing from him.
But, for me, the clear strong point is the actual construction of the book. But, I'm a dork.
Superman: For Tomorrow Vols. 1 and 2
Again, standard "I don't like Jim Lee's art" preface. Good. Moving on . . .
I got the first volume back in September and have been waiting for the second trade before I passed judgement on the story.
I liked it. But.
There's always a but.
One of my problems is when Superman interferes with the internal problems of a country and the JLA all act like dicks about it. I'm sick of stories like that. It wasn't the whole story here, but it was a part and it's boring. Mostly because it seems every four months, one of them will decide to try and make the world a better place and every other hero will try to stop them. And then, four months later, a different one tries and everyone gets together and stops him. And so on and so on and so on. It's boring and really lame.
Especially when the same hero has done it more than once, like Superman. You can say "Oh, they're just human and forget and go on whims" and blah blah fucking blah, but what you really mean is "I'm sorry, the writer isn't that original or great."
That, and when I read the scene where the League is bitching out Superman, I also kept thinking, "Hey, yeah, this is Superman and you're Aquaman. Shut the fuck up."
However, the Superman here is actually a complex person and, for that, Brian Azzarello manages to step above nearly every writer who's handled the character since--well, forever. Even the good Superman stuff usually didn't have an interesting lead character. The plot was good, the villains were cool, whatever. Superman is usually boring and rather flat.
And I don't just say that because his threat to destroy the planet completely when fighting "Mother Nature" (my term) is rather cool. It's because he's been pushed far enough to make that threat and you don't know if he's serious. There's an ambiguity about the Superman here that you don't get most of the time. And he doesn't really do anything that out of character. Azzarello just added another level to the character, one that should have always been there.
The level of humanity that has to be affected by the things he deals with. And the disappearance of Lois along with thousands of others was just the thing to push him far enough. Not far like Hal Jordan killing Green Lanterns or that typical bullshit comic way. Far enough that he struggles with being who he's always been. Far enough that he's prepared to do what it takes to make things right, except not really. A conflicted character.
Of course, I don't agree with everything, especially a lot of volume two, but it's an interesting read with the final few pages giving a tall order to future writers of the character.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Random Reading: Post Holidays Fun
I come home and hit the shop, pick up many, many comics. Wait two weeks and nearly every book I buy ships another issue. Pretty cool, I have to admit.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #11
Fuck you, Warren Ellis, I will not buy six copies of this issue. Not that the six double-page splashes of the team fighting its way through the weirdest fucking enemies I've ever seen (I remember sex-midgets in Iron Man helmets and Elvis-headed MODOKs and Wolverine apes and other ungodly horrors). Basically, Nextwave makes a final assault on the headquarters of the Beyond Corporation, State 51 and fight their way through strange enemy after strange enemy in a series of side-scrolling splash pages until there's no one left. Oh, and we see Dirk Anger as a zombie. Can't wait until next issue.
newuniversal #2
More pieces of the puzzle. We kind of find out exactly what's going on and how it relates to Idea Space. Three people from last issue discover more about their abilities--and three just happens to be the magic number of superhumans to reactivate a government agency that builds robot suits to kill superhumans. Or something like that. Things are moving along nicely, basically.
Punisher War Journal #2
Am I wrong in kind of wishing the series was called War Stories featuring Captain American and the Punisher just so we could ensure the back-and-forth between these two continues for a long, long time? Fraction plays with the two personalities so well here as we have boy scout WWII soldier trying to work with fucking animal Nam veteran. Friction abound throughout the issue as they work together to try and win the war. But--oops, Punisher just killed some guys, the shit's gonna hit the fan, I suppose.
(One thing that semi-bothered me was seeing Photon in the group after reading Nextwave. It just doesn't seem right to have her in a comic mocking an event and then in a comic that ties into the same event. Damn you, Marvel. Damn you, Mark Millar.)
The Immortal Iron Fist #2
It sucks to be Danny Rand. Gets his ass whooped by Hydra and then it looks like they're trying to take over his company, too. But, he's got his old friend Luke Cage helping him out, so things can't be that bad. Oh no, his so-called iron fist just turned into a pile of mush. Damn, Danny Rand, you suck.
The Midnighter #3
How do you fight time cops? Why, you throw a time-frozen Adolf Hitler at them! Go, Midnighter, go!
A fun issue in a fun series.
All-Star Superman #6
"But, Chad, you said you haven't been digging this series and you don't keep buying books you don't dig and aren't you just the biggest liar in the world, Chad? Aren't you?"
It's Morrison and Quitely, so, yeah, I'm gonna keep on buying it and hope it wins me over by the end.
As of this issue, still mostly cold. I don't know why. But I am. Odd.
New Avengers: Senty and Sentry: Reborn
The local shop had these two trades and I said, "Hell yes, little voice inside my head, I will buy them." The first is passable and provides an okay intro for the second. We get the basics on what's up with Sentry, basically he's crazy. We also have the New Avengers fighting the Wrecker. Oh, and Paul Jenkins faints. Because he's a wimp.
Sentry: Reborn is an amazing read. I really liked the first Sentry mini and this one tops it. Easily. We learn all about Sentry and his life and the fact that he is batshit insane. Really, really, really fucking insane. And he's the most powerful human alive. And he's insane!
Okay, it reads better than that, but Jenkins has created a really interesting and complex character here. It's one of the better pieces of superhero fiction I've yet to read, giving a really adult take on a character without it coming off as superficially "dark." Makes me wish Jenkins was helming an ongoing series featuring the character.
Punisher Vol. 3 hardcover
Stopped at another shop and they were having a sale on trades, so I got this and Batman: Broken City--and basically got the trade for free thanks to the sale.
This hardcover collects nine issues from the Marvel Knights series penned by Ennis with art by Steven Dillon and Tom Mandrake. The five stories here are all decent. Only the three-part "Brotherhood" about crooked cops actually comes close to the work Ennis is doing on the MAX series currently.
The first story is about Joan the Mouse from the first Ennis/Dillon Punisher mini. It's a cute story. The third story is about a mobster looking for giant squids and is also kind of cute. The fourth is a three-part story about a crazy guy, homeless people and subway tunnels and isn't that good. The final one is another cute story involving Elektra.
As I said, the second story, "Brotherhood" actually has interesting characters and a solid story. The rest, though, was just too cute for me. I've said cute a bit too much, haven't I?
Thankfully, Dillon's art on the first three stories makes them worth reading, while Mandrake's art is solid sometimes, horrid others.
Batman: Broken City
Two things stand out after reading this:
1. So, the Joker knows he's Bruce Wayne?
2. Wow, Azzarello really added a whole mindfuck element to the character.
The basic story is a pretty standard sort of Batman story: dead people, kicking ass, crazy villains, blah blah blah. All very well done, just blah blah blah still. The final issue collected, though, is very, very good. Adds a rather cruel dimension to the character--one that works well, though.
And that's this past week.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #11
Fuck you, Warren Ellis, I will not buy six copies of this issue. Not that the six double-page splashes of the team fighting its way through the weirdest fucking enemies I've ever seen (I remember sex-midgets in Iron Man helmets and Elvis-headed MODOKs and Wolverine apes and other ungodly horrors). Basically, Nextwave makes a final assault on the headquarters of the Beyond Corporation, State 51 and fight their way through strange enemy after strange enemy in a series of side-scrolling splash pages until there's no one left. Oh, and we see Dirk Anger as a zombie. Can't wait until next issue.
newuniversal #2
More pieces of the puzzle. We kind of find out exactly what's going on and how it relates to Idea Space. Three people from last issue discover more about their abilities--and three just happens to be the magic number of superhumans to reactivate a government agency that builds robot suits to kill superhumans. Or something like that. Things are moving along nicely, basically.
Punisher War Journal #2
Am I wrong in kind of wishing the series was called War Stories featuring Captain American and the Punisher just so we could ensure the back-and-forth between these two continues for a long, long time? Fraction plays with the two personalities so well here as we have boy scout WWII soldier trying to work with fucking animal Nam veteran. Friction abound throughout the issue as they work together to try and win the war. But--oops, Punisher just killed some guys, the shit's gonna hit the fan, I suppose.
(One thing that semi-bothered me was seeing Photon in the group after reading Nextwave. It just doesn't seem right to have her in a comic mocking an event and then in a comic that ties into the same event. Damn you, Marvel. Damn you, Mark Millar.)
The Immortal Iron Fist #2
It sucks to be Danny Rand. Gets his ass whooped by Hydra and then it looks like they're trying to take over his company, too. But, he's got his old friend Luke Cage helping him out, so things can't be that bad. Oh no, his so-called iron fist just turned into a pile of mush. Damn, Danny Rand, you suck.
The Midnighter #3
How do you fight time cops? Why, you throw a time-frozen Adolf Hitler at them! Go, Midnighter, go!
A fun issue in a fun series.
All-Star Superman #6
"But, Chad, you said you haven't been digging this series and you don't keep buying books you don't dig and aren't you just the biggest liar in the world, Chad? Aren't you?"
It's Morrison and Quitely, so, yeah, I'm gonna keep on buying it and hope it wins me over by the end.
As of this issue, still mostly cold. I don't know why. But I am. Odd.
New Avengers: Senty and Sentry: Reborn
The local shop had these two trades and I said, "Hell yes, little voice inside my head, I will buy them." The first is passable and provides an okay intro for the second. We get the basics on what's up with Sentry, basically he's crazy. We also have the New Avengers fighting the Wrecker. Oh, and Paul Jenkins faints. Because he's a wimp.
Sentry: Reborn is an amazing read. I really liked the first Sentry mini and this one tops it. Easily. We learn all about Sentry and his life and the fact that he is batshit insane. Really, really, really fucking insane. And he's the most powerful human alive. And he's insane!
Okay, it reads better than that, but Jenkins has created a really interesting and complex character here. It's one of the better pieces of superhero fiction I've yet to read, giving a really adult take on a character without it coming off as superficially "dark." Makes me wish Jenkins was helming an ongoing series featuring the character.
Punisher Vol. 3 hardcover
Stopped at another shop and they were having a sale on trades, so I got this and Batman: Broken City--and basically got the trade for free thanks to the sale.
This hardcover collects nine issues from the Marvel Knights series penned by Ennis with art by Steven Dillon and Tom Mandrake. The five stories here are all decent. Only the three-part "Brotherhood" about crooked cops actually comes close to the work Ennis is doing on the MAX series currently.
The first story is about Joan the Mouse from the first Ennis/Dillon Punisher mini. It's a cute story. The third story is about a mobster looking for giant squids and is also kind of cute. The fourth is a three-part story about a crazy guy, homeless people and subway tunnels and isn't that good. The final one is another cute story involving Elektra.
As I said, the second story, "Brotherhood" actually has interesting characters and a solid story. The rest, though, was just too cute for me. I've said cute a bit too much, haven't I?
Thankfully, Dillon's art on the first three stories makes them worth reading, while Mandrake's art is solid sometimes, horrid others.
Batman: Broken City
Two things stand out after reading this:
1. So, the Joker knows he's Bruce Wayne?
2. Wow, Azzarello really added a whole mindfuck element to the character.
The basic story is a pretty standard sort of Batman story: dead people, kicking ass, crazy villains, blah blah blah. All very well done, just blah blah blah still. The final issue collected, though, is very, very good. Adds a rather cruel dimension to the character--one that works well, though.
And that's this past week.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Random Reading: A Whole Lotta Stuff
Mostly a positive post this time, because the majority of the stuff I got today is from my pull list--and I don't keep buying stuff I think is crap (usually). So, let's get on with it:
The Boys #5
I've actually been enjoying this title more than I thought I would. The first issue didn't hook me right away, but subsequent issues have done a better job. You know why this book works? Garth Ennis has never been the over-the-top writer people like to label him. Yeah, those elements are there, but there's also a strong sense of humanity that grounds everything he does. Do you think Preacher would have worked without the relationships between Jesse, Tupil, and Cassidy? Hell, my favourite moments from that book were the emotionally-driven stuff.
Same here. Yeah, there's the fucking with superheroes stuff, but Ennis is very wisely keeping all of that grounded with Hughie, a very likable and relatable character that puts everything into perspective.
This issue ups the ante as the Boys fuck with Teenage Kix more and leads into a confrontation between the two groups that will play out in the next issue. Looking forward to that--finally seeing what this group can do, especially the Female.
Desolation Jones #8
What I said about Ennis? Same goes for Ellis, by the way. But people never pay attention to that--which is why people who rip-off Ellis and Ennis always fail, the same way people who ripped off Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen produced utter crap.
Jones is probably the most damaged character Ellis has created so far. Every issue, we get a new bit of information that makes you pity him and kind of hope in his next confrontation, someone will put a bullet in his skull just to end his miserable life.
But, not really, because we all want to see Jones find out what happened to his old spy buddy. Typical of the series, the issue is slow, but probably gives far more information than we realise now. Lots of Philip K. Dick stuff, too, which I love.
Still on the fence over Danijel Zezelj's art--but that's probably because following Williams III is a damn difficult task.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #10
Holy fucking shit, Stuart Immonen is a great artist. Wow. Five styles featured here, all great.
Not much to say here. Another great issue. Either you get it--and love it, or you don't--and hate it. The ending was a little obvious, but who cares? I don't.
The Stan Lee and Jack Kirby "Easter Island" heads in the Captain's alternate life is a nice touch.
newuniversal #1
Speaking of great art, when did Salvador Larroca actually get good? Last time I saw his art was in a Peter Milligan-penned issue of X-Men and it was butt-fucking-ugly. Flat, uninspired and covered with shitty, shitty, shitty, SHITTY digital painting or something. So, I open up this comic and suddenly, Larroca's art was depth and . . . well, is good. Surprise, I guess.
The story itself is alright. Not much to go on here. Various people, white event, superpowers, yay. Nothing to rock my socks off.
Casanova #6
I've only read this issue once, so I got, like, a third of what was going on. The third I got? Loved. My words cannot sum up how awesome this book is. In the Previews for February (I think), there's a solicitation for a set of all seven issues of this first volume: BUY IT (unless you've been buying this book). It's cheap and would still be a steal if it were double the price. But, so I actually say something:
Russian missile silo, robots with the same brains meet, fake girly group assassins, undercover superspy fashion photographer, BIGFUCKINGBOOM!, giant Japanese robot.
Plus, much MUCH more. Buy the book.
Punisher War Journal #1
More Matt Fraction? Hells yes.
Really enjoyed this. The Punisher here isn't the Punisher in Ennis' book. He's a bit more cartoony, but it works because he's in a cartoony world. Lots of great moments here, but one bit made me laugh for, like, two minutes solid. A huge fucking bellylaugh with tears and everything. It's after Punisher saves Spider-Man in the sewers and Spider-Man (totally out of it) says he needs to hit an ATM to pay for the ride and Punisher says it's free and Spider-Man says:
"OH, AWESOME. ACTION IS MY REWARD, TOO."
I love Matt Fraction.
The Immortal Iron Fist #1
Ever MORE Matt Fraction? With Ed Brubaker? Life is good, sometimes.
I can't think of anything I didn't dig about this comic. It did everything a first issue should do: tell us what we need to know about a character, give a kickass story, and set things up for the future of the book. Plus, David Aja's art is amazingly gorgeous.
My only complaint is that, well, there's an ad for this issue in the issue. That's just not right. I generally don't pay attention to ads, but advertising for the comic I'm reading while I'm reading it? Kind of stupid, Marvel.
Criminal #3
A little breather of an issue. Mostly character development and slight plot movement. But, it works really well. Solid all around.
New Avengers: Illuminati #1
Yeah, I'm going to buy this series pretty much because I dig the concept--and issue four is "Marvel Boy issue" and, as we all know, I'm a Marvel Boy geek. Shut up.
As for this issue, it is all kinds of mediocre. The one cool moment, where Black Bolt speaks and blows the fuck out of the Skrull's main ship? Yeah, taken away when we discover that SOMEHOW the king of the Skrulls, who was ten feet away, was somehow not killed. The fuck? Yeah, a voice powerful enough to blow up a giant spaceship doesn't kill a guy ten feet away? How does that work, exactly?
Utterly mediocre. I hope future issues step it up a bit.
Gødland #14
Am I the only one reading this book who feels like every issue is a strange remix of a Kirby-drawn comic where the old word balloons have been replaced with new ones?
Not much happens here, which is a pretty bad thing considering this is the second issue back after the little three-month hiatus the book took. The first issue back had all sorts of action and fun, but this one? Snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooozefest. I love the book and even I found it boring. I read this book for action, snappy dialogue and mindless (but smart) fun. This issue was lacking.
All-Star Superman #3-5
And now we get to the third thing that everyone else seems to love, but I don't (the first two being Jim Lee's art and DC: New Frontier). I still can't figure out why. Normally, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely means I'm so fucking hard that a slight breeze will push me over the edge (or, something a lot less graphic and over-the-top). All-Star Superman leaves me cold.
In issue three, Lois Lane is given Superman's powers and . . . well, does nothing with them. Instead, she flirts with other superguys (one of whom looks exactly like Superman, just with longer hair) to make Superman jealous.
In issue four, Jimmy Olsen is all cool and saves the world or something.
In issue five, Lex Luthor is all evil and tells us how he killed Superman in issue one on purpose.
All full of mad ideas and lots of Silver Age-esque fun--except it's not the, you know, Silver Age anymore and I just don't give a fuck. The only thing that did anything for me was in issue four where Olsen becomes Doomsday. There's an interesting idea.
I think my problem is that I've seen Morrison do much, MUCH more with the character in his JLA run. Hell, his Lex Luthor there was at least interesting. This version is a flat, one-note character. Every character is. It's all surface here, nothing more. And DC has recently released multiple volumes of Superman-related Showcase reprints full of that stuff.
(Actually, flipping through the issues again, issue four pointed to something that's bothered me about the Superman titles: we have Perry White praising Clark Kent for his journalism--except, we never see him do any. Ever. Anywhere. That's always bothered me.)
Civil Wardrobe
I saw this and figured I'd give it a look. I laughed once. That says it all.
Punisher: From First to Last
A trio of Punisher MAX specials . . . faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic.
The art in all three is lovely. The writing is great, too.
The first story, "The Tyger" gives us Castle's first killing as the Punisher and part of his childhood where he sees various examples of people getting "justice" of one form or another through violence.
The second story, "The Cell" has Castle getting himself thrown in jail so he can kill a group of mobsters. This is mostly a bunch of violence, but done well--and showcases how good he is at what he does.
The last story, "The End" is one in a series of stories Marvel has put out about the possible end of a hero/group of heroes' careers/lives. Instead of some extended bullshit like Claremont's ending for the X-Men, Ennis gives us a story of Castle killing the last people on earth because they are utter fucking bastards. Pure and simple.
Makes for a great last-minute gift for a comic fan, I think.
And that does it for 2006 most likely. Merry Christmas, happy new year, happy all those other holidays and blah blah blah.
The Boys #5
I've actually been enjoying this title more than I thought I would. The first issue didn't hook me right away, but subsequent issues have done a better job. You know why this book works? Garth Ennis has never been the over-the-top writer people like to label him. Yeah, those elements are there, but there's also a strong sense of humanity that grounds everything he does. Do you think Preacher would have worked without the relationships between Jesse, Tupil, and Cassidy? Hell, my favourite moments from that book were the emotionally-driven stuff.
Same here. Yeah, there's the fucking with superheroes stuff, but Ennis is very wisely keeping all of that grounded with Hughie, a very likable and relatable character that puts everything into perspective.
This issue ups the ante as the Boys fuck with Teenage Kix more and leads into a confrontation between the two groups that will play out in the next issue. Looking forward to that--finally seeing what this group can do, especially the Female.
Desolation Jones #8
What I said about Ennis? Same goes for Ellis, by the way. But people never pay attention to that--which is why people who rip-off Ellis and Ennis always fail, the same way people who ripped off Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen produced utter crap.
Jones is probably the most damaged character Ellis has created so far. Every issue, we get a new bit of information that makes you pity him and kind of hope in his next confrontation, someone will put a bullet in his skull just to end his miserable life.
But, not really, because we all want to see Jones find out what happened to his old spy buddy. Typical of the series, the issue is slow, but probably gives far more information than we realise now. Lots of Philip K. Dick stuff, too, which I love.
Still on the fence over Danijel Zezelj's art--but that's probably because following Williams III is a damn difficult task.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #10
Holy fucking shit, Stuart Immonen is a great artist. Wow. Five styles featured here, all great.
Not much to say here. Another great issue. Either you get it--and love it, or you don't--and hate it. The ending was a little obvious, but who cares? I don't.
The Stan Lee and Jack Kirby "Easter Island" heads in the Captain's alternate life is a nice touch.
newuniversal #1
Speaking of great art, when did Salvador Larroca actually get good? Last time I saw his art was in a Peter Milligan-penned issue of X-Men and it was butt-fucking-ugly. Flat, uninspired and covered with shitty, shitty, shitty, SHITTY digital painting or something. So, I open up this comic and suddenly, Larroca's art was depth and . . . well, is good. Surprise, I guess.
The story itself is alright. Not much to go on here. Various people, white event, superpowers, yay. Nothing to rock my socks off.
Casanova #6
I've only read this issue once, so I got, like, a third of what was going on. The third I got? Loved. My words cannot sum up how awesome this book is. In the Previews for February (I think), there's a solicitation for a set of all seven issues of this first volume: BUY IT (unless you've been buying this book). It's cheap and would still be a steal if it were double the price. But, so I actually say something:
Russian missile silo, robots with the same brains meet, fake girly group assassins, undercover superspy fashion photographer, BIGFUCKINGBOOM!, giant Japanese robot.
Plus, much MUCH more. Buy the book.
Punisher War Journal #1
More Matt Fraction? Hells yes.
Really enjoyed this. The Punisher here isn't the Punisher in Ennis' book. He's a bit more cartoony, but it works because he's in a cartoony world. Lots of great moments here, but one bit made me laugh for, like, two minutes solid. A huge fucking bellylaugh with tears and everything. It's after Punisher saves Spider-Man in the sewers and Spider-Man (totally out of it) says he needs to hit an ATM to pay for the ride and Punisher says it's free and Spider-Man says:
"OH, AWESOME. ACTION IS MY REWARD, TOO."
I love Matt Fraction.
The Immortal Iron Fist #1
Ever MORE Matt Fraction? With Ed Brubaker? Life is good, sometimes.
I can't think of anything I didn't dig about this comic. It did everything a first issue should do: tell us what we need to know about a character, give a kickass story, and set things up for the future of the book. Plus, David Aja's art is amazingly gorgeous.
My only complaint is that, well, there's an ad for this issue in the issue. That's just not right. I generally don't pay attention to ads, but advertising for the comic I'm reading while I'm reading it? Kind of stupid, Marvel.
Criminal #3
A little breather of an issue. Mostly character development and slight plot movement. But, it works really well. Solid all around.
New Avengers: Illuminati #1
Yeah, I'm going to buy this series pretty much because I dig the concept--and issue four is "Marvel Boy issue" and, as we all know, I'm a Marvel Boy geek. Shut up.
As for this issue, it is all kinds of mediocre. The one cool moment, where Black Bolt speaks and blows the fuck out of the Skrull's main ship? Yeah, taken away when we discover that SOMEHOW the king of the Skrulls, who was ten feet away, was somehow not killed. The fuck? Yeah, a voice powerful enough to blow up a giant spaceship doesn't kill a guy ten feet away? How does that work, exactly?
Utterly mediocre. I hope future issues step it up a bit.
Gødland #14
Am I the only one reading this book who feels like every issue is a strange remix of a Kirby-drawn comic where the old word balloons have been replaced with new ones?
Not much happens here, which is a pretty bad thing considering this is the second issue back after the little three-month hiatus the book took. The first issue back had all sorts of action and fun, but this one? Snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooozefest. I love the book and even I found it boring. I read this book for action, snappy dialogue and mindless (but smart) fun. This issue was lacking.
All-Star Superman #3-5
And now we get to the third thing that everyone else seems to love, but I don't (the first two being Jim Lee's art and DC: New Frontier). I still can't figure out why. Normally, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely means I'm so fucking hard that a slight breeze will push me over the edge (or, something a lot less graphic and over-the-top). All-Star Superman leaves me cold.
In issue three, Lois Lane is given Superman's powers and . . . well, does nothing with them. Instead, she flirts with other superguys (one of whom looks exactly like Superman, just with longer hair) to make Superman jealous.
In issue four, Jimmy Olsen is all cool and saves the world or something.
In issue five, Lex Luthor is all evil and tells us how he killed Superman in issue one on purpose.
All full of mad ideas and lots of Silver Age-esque fun--except it's not the, you know, Silver Age anymore and I just don't give a fuck. The only thing that did anything for me was in issue four where Olsen becomes Doomsday. There's an interesting idea.
I think my problem is that I've seen Morrison do much, MUCH more with the character in his JLA run. Hell, his Lex Luthor there was at least interesting. This version is a flat, one-note character. Every character is. It's all surface here, nothing more. And DC has recently released multiple volumes of Superman-related Showcase reprints full of that stuff.
(Actually, flipping through the issues again, issue four pointed to something that's bothered me about the Superman titles: we have Perry White praising Clark Kent for his journalism--except, we never see him do any. Ever. Anywhere. That's always bothered me.)
Civil Wardrobe
I saw this and figured I'd give it a look. I laughed once. That says it all.
Punisher: From First to Last
A trio of Punisher MAX specials . . . faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic.
The art in all three is lovely. The writing is great, too.
The first story, "The Tyger" gives us Castle's first killing as the Punisher and part of his childhood where he sees various examples of people getting "justice" of one form or another through violence.
The second story, "The Cell" has Castle getting himself thrown in jail so he can kill a group of mobsters. This is mostly a bunch of violence, but done well--and showcases how good he is at what he does.
The last story, "The End" is one in a series of stories Marvel has put out about the possible end of a hero/group of heroes' careers/lives. Instead of some extended bullshit like Claremont's ending for the X-Men, Ennis gives us a story of Castle killing the last people on earth because they are utter fucking bastards. Pure and simple.
Makes for a great last-minute gift for a comic fan, I think.
And that does it for 2006 most likely. Merry Christmas, happy new year, happy all those other holidays and blah blah blah.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Random Reading: Wizard #183
It's been a good five or six years since I've read a new issue of Wizard (although, I did find back issues make for decent bathroom reading, especially the "rumours" section of the news just to see what happened, what didn't). I was, at one point, a subscriber, but I gave it up once I had steady access to the internet at home. As Warren Ellis once said, if you've got the internet, you're buying Wizard for the price guide. And during the time there was overlap, I did find Wizard to be pretty useless, except for the occasional preview or random sidebar where Ellis or Garth Ennis tells us which heroes they would have sodomised for 22 pages given the chance. Otherwise, I got my news, interviews, reviews, solicitations, everything online--hell, I interacted with creators directly online.
But, that was then and this is now. I still don't need--or want--Wizard in my life, but let's see how the old girl is holding up. Is it still a waste of paper or does it hold some value?
I chose the year-end issue very specifically since it was always my favourite issue of the year. It was always bigger, full of longer articles, usually a giant interview with someone important and other fun stuff.
This issue isn't like that. It has the usual year-end awards, but is arranged in such a hap-hazard way that I don't know what the point is.
A break-down of the issue (in which I also spoil all of their awards):
* Editorial
* Letters
* News
* "Man of the Year": Joe Quesada
* "Event of the Year": Civil War
* "Artist of the Year": Steve McNiven
* "Single Issue of the Year": New Avengers #22
* "Breakout Talent of the Year": Charlie Huston
* "'What The?' Moments of the Year": ten random moments where Wizard asks "The fuck?" They're divided equally between Marvel and DC with five each (four for each in the comics, one movie moment each). But, funny thing, ALL of the Marvel moments come from a comic relating to Civil War, the event of the year.
* A comparison between Punisher MAX and Punisher War Journal
* A preview of Olivier Coipel's sketches for the new Thor series
* "Boldest Move of the Year": 52
* "Writer of the Year": Brian K. Vaughan
* "Book of the Year": Daredevil
* "Hero of the Year": Superman
* "Cover Artist of the Year": JG Jones
* "New Characters of the Year"
* "Comebacks of the Year"
* "Villain of the Year": The Governor (from The Walking Dead)
* "Mini-Series of the Year": B.P.R.D.: The Universal Machine
* "Movie of the Year": The Descent
* "TV Show of the Year": Lost vs. Battlestar Galactica
* "Animated Series of the Year": Justice League Unlimited
* "Video Game of the Year": Ultimate Alliance
* "DVD of the Year": Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition Box Set
* "Collection of the Year": Absolute Kingdom Come
* A chart on who is leading the villains against the Justice League
* An article on New Avengers: Illuminati
* An article on the Metal Men
* An article on Zod
* An article on Green Lantern: Year One
* An article on X-23: Target X
* A profile of the Inhumans as it relates to Silent War
* Three writers argue who is the best Flash (guess who Alex Ross champions)
* Five reason you must read The Lone Ranger (the guy at the shop told me that he loves this book and I should keep an eye out for this article)
* An article on Kaare Andrews and Spider-Man: Reign
* An article on The Darkness
* A section called "MEGA!" where they discuss movies, DVDs, games, manga, toys and other random shit (for some reason, the anime and manga stuff of the year is in here, but DVD of the year isn't--odd)
* "Book Shelf" (reviews of collections--a place where collection of the year might have gone)
* The indie section--where indie book of the year (Scott Pilgrim) is located
* Price guide--with sidebar lists of shit like hot ten comics, hot writers/artists, blah blah blah
* Graded comics guide
* Shows and cons
* Final page goof, this time with Iron Man's Myspace page
Now, every article from "Man of the Year" until "Boldest Move of the Year" also has a "Civil War Report" tag, so you would think they're organised that way, BUT the articles on New Avengers: Illuminati and Silent War ALSO have that tag, so they obviously aren't organised that way--the "'What The?' Moments of the Year" also has that tag for some reason even though it's half DC stuff. Is it just me or should all of the "best of the year" awards go together as they used to?
As well, why do DVD of the year and collection of the year warrant articles independent of their respective sections, while other awards don't?
It's just sloppy, sloppy layout.
Looking at the issue in a more linear way, let's start with the letters. Same old shit, really. People write letters, they get half-assed responses that are supposed to be funny. What really annoys me is how in one letter, the author apparently spelled title "tittle" and the staffer feels the need to mock him for this. Now, am I to expect that this was the only typo found in EVERY letter printed this month? If it is, fair enough, Wizard has the readers who can spell; if not, it's just amateurish dickery. You don't pick and choose which words to edit and which words not to edit (the only exception being if the letter writer is writing in to point out mistakes you made, then you get to point out their mistakes). And, it was a legitimate question posed, but totally ignored because this jackass felt the need to be . . . well, a jackass.
Today, I got the latest issue of Chart in the mail. It's a Canadian music magazine and on its letter page, it doesn't edit a single thing in the letters/e-mails it receives and answers most of them in a very tongue-in-cheek, confrontational way. Except there it works. Why? Because they don't edit any letter and respond to the letters appropriately. Sure, the answers are very asshole-like, but so are the letters. It mostly comes down to this: Chart's letter page is entertaining, while Wizard's is not. Proof, I submit the last letter found in the new Chart (title underlined, response bolded):
NO YOU ARE
You are an idiot! --(person's name)
And your mom, too.
See, with letters like that, you can be an ass. With letters where a reader questions why a feature in your magazine has been removed, yeah, you don't come off looking that great by being a jerk.
Moving on . . .
The news section isn't that bad. It begins with a summary of events/books/whatever coming up in 2007 to look out for. There's a solid mix of news items and fun little features like a history of Robin versus the Joker. This is probably the section of the issue that works the best, mostly because it seems like it has patterned itself on other magazines.
The actual articles of the issue are . . . fine. Not much depth usually. But that's fine, I suppose. The Civil War article summarises the series, hitting the major plot points--oh, it also contains an "editor of the year" award for Tom Brevoort.
My largest complaint with regards to most of the awards (especially the ones relating to specific people) is that Wizard used to get quotes from OTHER creators. If Kurt Busiek was writer of the year, they didn't talk to Kurt Busiek, they talked to other writers who would tell you why Kurt Busiek is so good. You save talking to the specific creator for interviews and profiles. As cool as it is to see some of Brian K. Vaughan's thoughts on his work, that doesn't exactly show me that he's writer of the year--whereas, his peers telling me what they love about his work does.
The JG Jones article is particularly good, only because it has every cover of 52 up to #35 with commentary by Jones and various creators like Mark Waid, Andy Kubert, and colorist Alex Sinclair among others. This technique of changing up how some of the awards are presented works well in the JLU article, which has the ten best moments of the past season and even the Lost versus Battlestar Galactica one.
The non-awards articles are more of the same. They change up the style and format to keep things somewhat interesting, but rarely go beyond the minimum as far as depth goes.
The "MEGA!" section works as well as the news section, giving you information and not much else. It does the job.
"Book Shelf" is an interesting move for the magazine as it acknowledges the importance of trades as ONLY collections get reviewed--no single issues. All but three reviews are a couple of hundred words, but they do a decent job. Again, Wizard seems to have looked to magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin, which also contain large review sections, and aped the format. And it works. The reviews are to the point and give you a good sense of what you'll be getting.
That just leaves the price guide and the less said about it, the better.
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It certainly has its share of problems and I have no desire to buy another issue (especially with the hefty $7.99 Canadian price tag). I really do think the editorial staff should look to other specialty magazines like Rolling Stone or Sports Illustrated and see what works there and what doesn't. It seems like they already have to some extent.
Oh, and you'll notice that I didn't really talk about how Marvel and DC dominate the content and that's because I don't see the point. That's Wizard. They could definitely improve in that area, but I'm not going to harp on that when they have more basic issues to deal with.
The next few weeks will be really random with updates, just so you know. The holidays and all, I definitely won't be buying something every week. You'll probably get one or two giant posts instead.
But, that was then and this is now. I still don't need--or want--Wizard in my life, but let's see how the old girl is holding up. Is it still a waste of paper or does it hold some value?
I chose the year-end issue very specifically since it was always my favourite issue of the year. It was always bigger, full of longer articles, usually a giant interview with someone important and other fun stuff.
This issue isn't like that. It has the usual year-end awards, but is arranged in such a hap-hazard way that I don't know what the point is.
A break-down of the issue (in which I also spoil all of their awards):
* Editorial
* Letters
* News
* "Man of the Year": Joe Quesada
* "Event of the Year": Civil War
* "Artist of the Year": Steve McNiven
* "Single Issue of the Year": New Avengers #22
* "Breakout Talent of the Year": Charlie Huston
* "'What The?' Moments of the Year": ten random moments where Wizard asks "The fuck?" They're divided equally between Marvel and DC with five each (four for each in the comics, one movie moment each). But, funny thing, ALL of the Marvel moments come from a comic relating to Civil War, the event of the year.
* A comparison between Punisher MAX and Punisher War Journal
* A preview of Olivier Coipel's sketches for the new Thor series
* "Boldest Move of the Year": 52
* "Writer of the Year": Brian K. Vaughan
* "Book of the Year": Daredevil
* "Hero of the Year": Superman
* "Cover Artist of the Year": JG Jones
* "New Characters of the Year"
* "Comebacks of the Year"
* "Villain of the Year": The Governor (from The Walking Dead)
* "Mini-Series of the Year": B.P.R.D.: The Universal Machine
* "Movie of the Year": The Descent
* "TV Show of the Year": Lost vs. Battlestar Galactica
* "Animated Series of the Year": Justice League Unlimited
* "Video Game of the Year": Ultimate Alliance
* "DVD of the Year": Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition Box Set
* "Collection of the Year": Absolute Kingdom Come
* A chart on who is leading the villains against the Justice League
* An article on New Avengers: Illuminati
* An article on the Metal Men
* An article on Zod
* An article on Green Lantern: Year One
* An article on X-23: Target X
* A profile of the Inhumans as it relates to Silent War
* Three writers argue who is the best Flash (guess who Alex Ross champions)
* Five reason you must read The Lone Ranger (the guy at the shop told me that he loves this book and I should keep an eye out for this article)
* An article on Kaare Andrews and Spider-Man: Reign
* An article on The Darkness
* A section called "MEGA!" where they discuss movies, DVDs, games, manga, toys and other random shit (for some reason, the anime and manga stuff of the year is in here, but DVD of the year isn't--odd)
* "Book Shelf" (reviews of collections--a place where collection of the year might have gone)
* The indie section--where indie book of the year (Scott Pilgrim) is located
* Price guide--with sidebar lists of shit like hot ten comics, hot writers/artists, blah blah blah
* Graded comics guide
* Shows and cons
* Final page goof, this time with Iron Man's Myspace page
Now, every article from "Man of the Year" until "Boldest Move of the Year" also has a "Civil War Report" tag, so you would think they're organised that way, BUT the articles on New Avengers: Illuminati and Silent War ALSO have that tag, so they obviously aren't organised that way--the "'What The?' Moments of the Year" also has that tag for some reason even though it's half DC stuff. Is it just me or should all of the "best of the year" awards go together as they used to?
As well, why do DVD of the year and collection of the year warrant articles independent of their respective sections, while other awards don't?
It's just sloppy, sloppy layout.
Looking at the issue in a more linear way, let's start with the letters. Same old shit, really. People write letters, they get half-assed responses that are supposed to be funny. What really annoys me is how in one letter, the author apparently spelled title "tittle" and the staffer feels the need to mock him for this. Now, am I to expect that this was the only typo found in EVERY letter printed this month? If it is, fair enough, Wizard has the readers who can spell; if not, it's just amateurish dickery. You don't pick and choose which words to edit and which words not to edit (the only exception being if the letter writer is writing in to point out mistakes you made, then you get to point out their mistakes). And, it was a legitimate question posed, but totally ignored because this jackass felt the need to be . . . well, a jackass.
Today, I got the latest issue of Chart in the mail. It's a Canadian music magazine and on its letter page, it doesn't edit a single thing in the letters/e-mails it receives and answers most of them in a very tongue-in-cheek, confrontational way. Except there it works. Why? Because they don't edit any letter and respond to the letters appropriately. Sure, the answers are very asshole-like, but so are the letters. It mostly comes down to this: Chart's letter page is entertaining, while Wizard's is not. Proof, I submit the last letter found in the new Chart (title underlined, response bolded):
NO YOU ARE
You are an idiot! --(person's name)
And your mom, too.
See, with letters like that, you can be an ass. With letters where a reader questions why a feature in your magazine has been removed, yeah, you don't come off looking that great by being a jerk.
Moving on . . .
The news section isn't that bad. It begins with a summary of events/books/whatever coming up in 2007 to look out for. There's a solid mix of news items and fun little features like a history of Robin versus the Joker. This is probably the section of the issue that works the best, mostly because it seems like it has patterned itself on other magazines.
The actual articles of the issue are . . . fine. Not much depth usually. But that's fine, I suppose. The Civil War article summarises the series, hitting the major plot points--oh, it also contains an "editor of the year" award for Tom Brevoort.
My largest complaint with regards to most of the awards (especially the ones relating to specific people) is that Wizard used to get quotes from OTHER creators. If Kurt Busiek was writer of the year, they didn't talk to Kurt Busiek, they talked to other writers who would tell you why Kurt Busiek is so good. You save talking to the specific creator for interviews and profiles. As cool as it is to see some of Brian K. Vaughan's thoughts on his work, that doesn't exactly show me that he's writer of the year--whereas, his peers telling me what they love about his work does.
The JG Jones article is particularly good, only because it has every cover of 52 up to #35 with commentary by Jones and various creators like Mark Waid, Andy Kubert, and colorist Alex Sinclair among others. This technique of changing up how some of the awards are presented works well in the JLU article, which has the ten best moments of the past season and even the Lost versus Battlestar Galactica one.
The non-awards articles are more of the same. They change up the style and format to keep things somewhat interesting, but rarely go beyond the minimum as far as depth goes.
The "MEGA!" section works as well as the news section, giving you information and not much else. It does the job.
"Book Shelf" is an interesting move for the magazine as it acknowledges the importance of trades as ONLY collections get reviewed--no single issues. All but three reviews are a couple of hundred words, but they do a decent job. Again, Wizard seems to have looked to magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin, which also contain large review sections, and aped the format. And it works. The reviews are to the point and give you a good sense of what you'll be getting.
That just leaves the price guide and the less said about it, the better.
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It certainly has its share of problems and I have no desire to buy another issue (especially with the hefty $7.99 Canadian price tag). I really do think the editorial staff should look to other specialty magazines like Rolling Stone or Sports Illustrated and see what works there and what doesn't. It seems like they already have to some extent.
Oh, and you'll notice that I didn't really talk about how Marvel and DC dominate the content and that's because I don't see the point. That's Wizard. They could definitely improve in that area, but I'm not going to harp on that when they have more basic issues to deal with.
The next few weeks will be really random with updates, just so you know. The holidays and all, I definitely won't be buying something every week. You'll probably get one or two giant posts instead.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Random Reading: Justice Society of America #1, Midnighter #2, New Avengers #25, Deathblow #2, Welcome to Tranquility #1, Punisher X-Mas Special 2006
Very much a random reading because I went to local shop here in Windsor wanting two specific comics, Immortal Iron Fist #1 and newuniversal #1, but they didn't have a copy of either. So, I pretty much stood in front of that rack for five minutes and picked various titles, some I'd read before, others just because. So, let's get this under way.
Justice Society of America #1
Didn't World War III happen at the end of Morrison's JLA run? You know, Mageddon gets closer to Earth, every country in the world starts attacking every other country until the heroe step in and shut the ancient war machine down. Oh, I am such a geek it's not funny.
Anyway, never read a single issue of JSA and never really got the attraction to a superteam based around old people who should, by all rights, be pretty easy to kill. But, it got a lot of praise by a lot of people, so what do I know?
I do know this issue is all kinds of mediocre. It's not bad, it's just not great. I'm sure there are all sorts of people who read it and creamed their jeans, but I just didn't give a fuck.
The basic plot is: sometime during the missing year in the DCU that 52 is telling, World War III happened and the JSA saved the day, except the team was broken up or something, so now they need to get it together again, except bigger, better and with more young people because the old guys are really fucking old and can die any second.
So, much of the issue is recruitment of young people, like the angry Damage or the hyper-fan who talks too much or the guy from the future who lives in a mental institution. This is played off against a story about some guy named Mr. America whose entire family is slaughtered because of his connection to the JSA and he uses his dying energy to try and warn them.
See, it's not bad, it just did nothing for me. That seems to my general feeling about most of Geoff Johns' writing. I can see where he's coming from and why some people would like it and appreciate that it accomplishes what it sets out to do, but it's not my thing. It's kind of like critiquing the writing in a creative writing class: you don't comment based on taste, but on what they're trying to do and how to make that better. Johns is doing everything he sets out to do here.
The basic idea that the JSA exists to train and give a sense of connection for younger heroes is good. I was thinking while walking home that the basic idea that's used for the Legion of Super-Heroes where ANYONE can be a member would work really well here. A real Justice Society of America. But, maybe that's where the title is moving.
The only thing I don't like is the last page and the four-panel "preview" of what's "Coming this year in Justice Society of America" because it gives the sense that this issue isn't enough to keep me as a reader interested enough to pick up #2.
If this sort of title seems like your thing, you'll almost certainly enjoy this debut issue. Me, I just don't care.
Midnighter #2
Midnighter is sent back to World War I to kill Adolf Hitler because killing him there will stop him from rising to power, but also not attract any unwanted attention. It's kinda smart.
There's actually not much to this issue. Midnighter is sent back, kills various German and French troops, tries to kill Hitler and is stopped by time-travel police or something. We're also told why Paulus has kidnapped Midnighter to do this.
The art is good, the pacing is fine, the dialogue is solid. Ennis is obviously playing to his strengths by sticking Midnighter in World War I. It's an entertaining issue, but light on plot--which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
New Avengers #25
This is the third straight issue of New Avengers I've picked up. I got the Spider-Woman #23, the Sentry #24 and now Iron Man #25. I mostly picked this up to see if Iron Man is a total fucking dick here, too. Every other tie-in to Civil War I've read has had him as a prick, so in his Bendis spotlight, does he come off alright?
Um, not really.
It begins with a disgruntled employee of his, one of his designers/engineers/armour builders breaks into Avengers Tower and shuts Tony down, pissed off that Stark would use his work like this. Tony argues that he paid for it, so fuck off. The employee, Kenny, tells him to fuck off with that bullshit because he wasn't just an employee but also a friend and he was never told his work would be used this way.
At the same time, SHIELD tries to save Stark.
The thing is, Kenny has an anti-matter generator and he's going to take the entire building out to stop Stark. Except Commander Hill, the director of SHIELD, stops him.
Yay. Day saved.
The end has her suggesting that Tony become the new director of SHIELD because it would piss people off or something.
Stark actually isn't portrayed as an asshole, he just comes off as one through the eyes of Kenny. And I guess it depends on your politics, too. If you're like me and don't think money is a good enough excuse, Stark is an asshole. If you're of the mindset that Kenny got paid, so who cares what he thinks, you'll side with Stark.
Still, a more balanced portrayal than . . . everything else I've seen.
Deathblow #1
If I understand what's going on, Azzarello is doing something very cool with this book. Michael Cray has been presumed dead for six years. That means he's missed the huge shift in global military practices, especially American military practices. And now, he's being caught up through psychological conditioning in the only place that can catch someone up: New York City.
They alter his mind a little, stick him with a family he doesn't remember, tell him his wife he doesn't remember has been killed and wait for him to respond.
At least, that's what I think is happening. I'm definitely going to keep buying this title. Fuck the trades, this issue makes me want to see how Azzarello handles things as quickly as possible.
Like with the first issue, I find the art to be horribly ugly and barely able to tell the story.
Welcome to Tranquility #1
Um, why is it that only, like, two of the characters on the cover actually appear in the comic? And the two that do aren't the young heroes that are featured in the background anymore. One of those design things that annoys me.
First off, the art is passable. It's nothing special and didn't do much for me.
Second off, same goes for the writing.
Some interesting ideas like the elderly Captain Marvel-esque hero who can't remember his special word, so reads from dictionaries of all languages constantly in an effort to stumble across it.
Or . . . well, I guess the central idea of elderly superheroes.
But, otherwise, there's nothing here that interests me. There's the requisite "old hero wants to relive glory days and causes damage" and "new asshole superperson versus old heroes" scenes.
This issue seemed to suffer from the problem with most first issues these days: it didn't feel complete. It felt like that if I'm going to have to pick up five more in order to actually be told the full premise of the book and, fuck it, I don't want to.
I assume those characters on the cover are going to show up, but they didn't appear here and nothing here makes me want to stick around and find out who they are.
Punisher X-Mas Special 2006
I love CP Smith's art. Have since his work on Stormwatch: Team Achilles and he's grown a lot since then. So, the book looks fantastic.
I haven't had much exposure to Stuart Moore except through the titles he edited back in the day.
The story is basic: it's Christmas, which means all of the big mob bosses are surrounded by family and, thus, the Punisher can't kill them because the Punisher doesn't kill innocent people. So, he's left dealing with the lower-end scumbags that he normally doesn't have time for.
In this case, it's Jimmy Nouveau, some asshole who's started his own little new age cult type thing except operates out of a strip club and was tied to the death of a cop and a small boy.
It's a decent enough story. A little cutesy at points with Punisher making a "naughty" and "nice" list. But, the ending is pretty messed up and speaks to his character well.
It won't fill you with holiday cheer, but it's the Punisher, so what do you expect?
Sometime in the next few days, I'll be doing an update where I guide you through the year-end issue of Wizard. It's been five or six years since I've read it, so let's see if it's still the shitty rag it was then.
Justice Society of America #1
Didn't World War III happen at the end of Morrison's JLA run? You know, Mageddon gets closer to Earth, every country in the world starts attacking every other country until the heroe step in and shut the ancient war machine down. Oh, I am such a geek it's not funny.
Anyway, never read a single issue of JSA and never really got the attraction to a superteam based around old people who should, by all rights, be pretty easy to kill. But, it got a lot of praise by a lot of people, so what do I know?
I do know this issue is all kinds of mediocre. It's not bad, it's just not great. I'm sure there are all sorts of people who read it and creamed their jeans, but I just didn't give a fuck.
The basic plot is: sometime during the missing year in the DCU that 52 is telling, World War III happened and the JSA saved the day, except the team was broken up or something, so now they need to get it together again, except bigger, better and with more young people because the old guys are really fucking old and can die any second.
So, much of the issue is recruitment of young people, like the angry Damage or the hyper-fan who talks too much or the guy from the future who lives in a mental institution. This is played off against a story about some guy named Mr. America whose entire family is slaughtered because of his connection to the JSA and he uses his dying energy to try and warn them.
See, it's not bad, it just did nothing for me. That seems to my general feeling about most of Geoff Johns' writing. I can see where he's coming from and why some people would like it and appreciate that it accomplishes what it sets out to do, but it's not my thing. It's kind of like critiquing the writing in a creative writing class: you don't comment based on taste, but on what they're trying to do and how to make that better. Johns is doing everything he sets out to do here.
The basic idea that the JSA exists to train and give a sense of connection for younger heroes is good. I was thinking while walking home that the basic idea that's used for the Legion of Super-Heroes where ANYONE can be a member would work really well here. A real Justice Society of America. But, maybe that's where the title is moving.
The only thing I don't like is the last page and the four-panel "preview" of what's "Coming this year in Justice Society of America" because it gives the sense that this issue isn't enough to keep me as a reader interested enough to pick up #2.
If this sort of title seems like your thing, you'll almost certainly enjoy this debut issue. Me, I just don't care.
Midnighter #2
Midnighter is sent back to World War I to kill Adolf Hitler because killing him there will stop him from rising to power, but also not attract any unwanted attention. It's kinda smart.
There's actually not much to this issue. Midnighter is sent back, kills various German and French troops, tries to kill Hitler and is stopped by time-travel police or something. We're also told why Paulus has kidnapped Midnighter to do this.
The art is good, the pacing is fine, the dialogue is solid. Ennis is obviously playing to his strengths by sticking Midnighter in World War I. It's an entertaining issue, but light on plot--which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
New Avengers #25
This is the third straight issue of New Avengers I've picked up. I got the Spider-Woman #23, the Sentry #24 and now Iron Man #25. I mostly picked this up to see if Iron Man is a total fucking dick here, too. Every other tie-in to Civil War I've read has had him as a prick, so in his Bendis spotlight, does he come off alright?
Um, not really.
It begins with a disgruntled employee of his, one of his designers/engineers/armour builders breaks into Avengers Tower and shuts Tony down, pissed off that Stark would use his work like this. Tony argues that he paid for it, so fuck off. The employee, Kenny, tells him to fuck off with that bullshit because he wasn't just an employee but also a friend and he was never told his work would be used this way.
At the same time, SHIELD tries to save Stark.
The thing is, Kenny has an anti-matter generator and he's going to take the entire building out to stop Stark. Except Commander Hill, the director of SHIELD, stops him.
Yay. Day saved.
The end has her suggesting that Tony become the new director of SHIELD because it would piss people off or something.
Stark actually isn't portrayed as an asshole, he just comes off as one through the eyes of Kenny. And I guess it depends on your politics, too. If you're like me and don't think money is a good enough excuse, Stark is an asshole. If you're of the mindset that Kenny got paid, so who cares what he thinks, you'll side with Stark.
Still, a more balanced portrayal than . . . everything else I've seen.
Deathblow #1
If I understand what's going on, Azzarello is doing something very cool with this book. Michael Cray has been presumed dead for six years. That means he's missed the huge shift in global military practices, especially American military practices. And now, he's being caught up through psychological conditioning in the only place that can catch someone up: New York City.
They alter his mind a little, stick him with a family he doesn't remember, tell him his wife he doesn't remember has been killed and wait for him to respond.
At least, that's what I think is happening. I'm definitely going to keep buying this title. Fuck the trades, this issue makes me want to see how Azzarello handles things as quickly as possible.
Like with the first issue, I find the art to be horribly ugly and barely able to tell the story.
Welcome to Tranquility #1
Um, why is it that only, like, two of the characters on the cover actually appear in the comic? And the two that do aren't the young heroes that are featured in the background anymore. One of those design things that annoys me.
First off, the art is passable. It's nothing special and didn't do much for me.
Second off, same goes for the writing.
Some interesting ideas like the elderly Captain Marvel-esque hero who can't remember his special word, so reads from dictionaries of all languages constantly in an effort to stumble across it.
Or . . . well, I guess the central idea of elderly superheroes.
But, otherwise, there's nothing here that interests me. There's the requisite "old hero wants to relive glory days and causes damage" and "new asshole superperson versus old heroes" scenes.
This issue seemed to suffer from the problem with most first issues these days: it didn't feel complete. It felt like that if I'm going to have to pick up five more in order to actually be told the full premise of the book and, fuck it, I don't want to.
I assume those characters on the cover are going to show up, but they didn't appear here and nothing here makes me want to stick around and find out who they are.
Punisher X-Mas Special 2006
I love CP Smith's art. Have since his work on Stormwatch: Team Achilles and he's grown a lot since then. So, the book looks fantastic.
I haven't had much exposure to Stuart Moore except through the titles he edited back in the day.
The story is basic: it's Christmas, which means all of the big mob bosses are surrounded by family and, thus, the Punisher can't kill them because the Punisher doesn't kill innocent people. So, he's left dealing with the lower-end scumbags that he normally doesn't have time for.
In this case, it's Jimmy Nouveau, some asshole who's started his own little new age cult type thing except operates out of a strip club and was tied to the death of a cop and a small boy.
It's a decent enough story. A little cutesy at points with Punisher making a "naughty" and "nice" list. But, the ending is pretty messed up and speaks to his character well.
It won't fill you with holiday cheer, but it's the Punisher, so what do you expect?
Sometime in the next few days, I'll be doing an update where I guide you through the year-end issue of Wizard. It's been five or six years since I've read it, so let's see if it's still the shitty rag it was then.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Random Reading: Legion of Super-Heroes: Death of a Dream, and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Strange Visitor from Another Century
Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's Legion of Super-Heroes is a series I've heard a lot of good things about. It seems to be one of those series that everyone has accepted as good and moved on, because you don't hear much about it anymore. Lots of praise near the beginning and then not much. But, the bookstore had volumes 2 and 3, so I figured I'd pick them up and see what the big deal is.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Death of a Dream
OMG! The ftr iz all stpd & adlts rul evrythng!!!11!!!!!
Shit, that was lame, wasn't it? I can't even fake "netspeak" I'm so old. 23 and I'm too old to type like a moron. That's odd.
Anyway, it's the 31st century and parents control every aspect of their children's lives through something called the Public Service, a big-ass computer system of some sort. But, luckily, the Legion of Super-Heroes are here to shake things up and be all "We're wearing stupid costumes, mom and dad!" because somehow, the message they got from the legends of Superman, Batman and the JLA was to fight against the status quo. You know, the same heroes who have all had at least one story where they look around, realise that the world sucks ass and they have the power to change it only to have every other hero say, "You have to let people do that themselves!" and then fight to maintain the status quo.
If that was my first thought, my second was, "If this Public Service is such an intrusive and all-powerful system, how the fuck did it ever occur to these kids to rebel when the parents would just, I don't know, USE IT TO STOP THEM?" Maybe this was answered in the first volume. I suspect it as something to do with Brainiac 5 since he's the one who creates the Legion's flight rings, which also shields them from the Public Service.
Anyway. The story here is that there's this guy who has the power to erase himself from both organic and computer memories and he's trying to rip apart the United Planets by destroying planets. He's already destroyed Super-Rich World and next up? Super-Smart World! Isn't it really stupid of the future to make it so every world only has one thing going for it and thus when something bad happens to that one world, it fucks everyone else over big time? Like Super-Rich World gets destroyed? There goes the economy because all of the fucking money was there! Smart thinking. Couldn't Super-Smart World have foreseen something like that happening? Or maybe Future-Seeing World? WHERE THE FUCK WAS FUTURE-SEEING WORLD, PEOPLE?
So, Brainiac 5 and a few of the other Legionnaires go to his home planet of Super-Smart World and find that everyone has some sort of retard virus. That means Brainiac 5 isn't just the smartest person in the Legion (as he tells us every damn time he opens his mouth), he's the smartest guy in the universe.
Now, this is where a lot of stories falter, because, let's face it, Mark Waid is not the smartest guy on the planet or anything. Not his fault, but it makes writing a character who is, far FAR more intelligent than he is problematic. Like I said, this is a problem for a lot of writers. How do you write a character whose intelligence is beyond us as much as ours is beyond a dog's? (And shut up, dog lovers, we are smarter than them. They're pretty fucking dumb.) Would you trust a dog to accurately write a human character? But, this is something that probably only bothers me--same thing with Q in his various Star Trek appearances.
Actually, almost all of my problems with this book are problems I generally have with science fiction. All-seeing computers that for some reason never see the rebellion until it's too late, every planet except for Earth filled with completely homogeneous races that all think exactly alike, beings that supposed to be far more advanced than us intellectually but never really are--oh, and Earth as the centre of the fucking universe. The undying belief that humans are somehow unique and innately superior somehow.
Ignoring all of that stuff, this is a pretty good read. Waid handles a large cast well, moves the story forward at a good pace without rushing it, and doesn't explain every little detail. He trusts to readers to fill in some of the blanks and throws a few surprises our way. There's also the best "David & Goliath" moment I've seen in a long while.
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Strange Visitor from Another Century
My first thought: Why didn't they use the cover of issue 18 for the cover of the trade and have it continue the design of the first two trades with a member of the team facing the camera, right hand out, Legion ring prominent? Am I the only one who thinks that would have worked much better than Supergirl-leaning-up-against-a-pillar-leg-bent-looking-all-cool-and-shit-while-the-Legion-hangs-out-in-the-background cover from issue 17? Or how about the fact that it doesn't continue the volume numbering? These seem like stupidly obvious design elements that should have been included.
This picks up right where the last volume left off with the Legion having saved the universe from war, their headquarters destroyed and the adults looking like idiots for ever criticising the Legion. So the adults offer them a deal where the United Planets will fund the Legion, which interim leader Lightning Lad takes them up on, which makes the Legion look like sell-outs.
And then Supergirl shows up and everyone is all "OMG! SUPERGIRL! WHOO!" except for Light Lass, who's all "I don't trust her!" And so on.
To his credit, Waid has given the whole Supergirl introduction a cool twist: she thinks she's still living on Krypton, dreaming everything that has happened since it exploded. So, she has a very flighty and superficial attachment to what's going on, which I hope is exploited further in future issues.
There's also a big problem since Brainiac 5 has stolen the dead body of Dream Girl, hoping to bring her back to life, which puts him at odds with the rest of the Legion who is being yelled at by the people on Future-Seeing World because they want to bury her.
Again, Waid handles the large cast well, has some interesting stories, blah blah blah. The art is solid in both volumes, too.
This volume also has a special treat of various 4-6 page letter column comics from past issues. They're pretty damn funny at times. My main problem is that you think this trade has issues 14-19, but REALLY has 14, 16-19 because issue 15 was a letter column issue or an out of continuity issue or something. I only found that out by checking online. Something telling the reader this--hell, including the cover to issue 15 would be a big enough clue. I was left wondering "What the fuck happened to issue 15?"
Hell, the whole packaging of this trade leaves me wondering about the people putting these collections together.
Oh, and even more nit-picky point: the addition of Supergirl happened at the same time as the whole "One Year Later" thing at DC and thus, the Legion title had "1001 Years Later," but (and this shows me to be a total dork) if this title takes place 1000 years after the current DCU and it jumped a year forward, but this title didn't (and it didn't, just to be clear), isn't it really 999 years later? Wouldn't it need to actually jump TWO years ahead to be 1001 year later? Just wondering.
So, while my review may not say this well enough, I did enjoy these books. They were engaging reads that never bored me. Most of my problems are those nit-picky things that don't actually make the reading experience less enjoyable--and are, often, problems with most stories involving the future. I do plan to pick up the first volume over the Christmas break and the fourth volume when it comes out this spring.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Death of a Dream
OMG! The ftr iz all stpd & adlts rul evrythng!!!11!!!!!
Shit, that was lame, wasn't it? I can't even fake "netspeak" I'm so old. 23 and I'm too old to type like a moron. That's odd.
Anyway, it's the 31st century and parents control every aspect of their children's lives through something called the Public Service, a big-ass computer system of some sort. But, luckily, the Legion of Super-Heroes are here to shake things up and be all "We're wearing stupid costumes, mom and dad!" because somehow, the message they got from the legends of Superman, Batman and the JLA was to fight against the status quo. You know, the same heroes who have all had at least one story where they look around, realise that the world sucks ass and they have the power to change it only to have every other hero say, "You have to let people do that themselves!" and then fight to maintain the status quo.
If that was my first thought, my second was, "If this Public Service is such an intrusive and all-powerful system, how the fuck did it ever occur to these kids to rebel when the parents would just, I don't know, USE IT TO STOP THEM?" Maybe this was answered in the first volume. I suspect it as something to do with Brainiac 5 since he's the one who creates the Legion's flight rings, which also shields them from the Public Service.
Anyway. The story here is that there's this guy who has the power to erase himself from both organic and computer memories and he's trying to rip apart the United Planets by destroying planets. He's already destroyed Super-Rich World and next up? Super-Smart World! Isn't it really stupid of the future to make it so every world only has one thing going for it and thus when something bad happens to that one world, it fucks everyone else over big time? Like Super-Rich World gets destroyed? There goes the economy because all of the fucking money was there! Smart thinking. Couldn't Super-Smart World have foreseen something like that happening? Or maybe Future-Seeing World? WHERE THE FUCK WAS FUTURE-SEEING WORLD, PEOPLE?
So, Brainiac 5 and a few of the other Legionnaires go to his home planet of Super-Smart World and find that everyone has some sort of retard virus. That means Brainiac 5 isn't just the smartest person in the Legion (as he tells us every damn time he opens his mouth), he's the smartest guy in the universe.
Now, this is where a lot of stories falter, because, let's face it, Mark Waid is not the smartest guy on the planet or anything. Not his fault, but it makes writing a character who is, far FAR more intelligent than he is problematic. Like I said, this is a problem for a lot of writers. How do you write a character whose intelligence is beyond us as much as ours is beyond a dog's? (And shut up, dog lovers, we are smarter than them. They're pretty fucking dumb.) Would you trust a dog to accurately write a human character? But, this is something that probably only bothers me--same thing with Q in his various Star Trek appearances.
Actually, almost all of my problems with this book are problems I generally have with science fiction. All-seeing computers that for some reason never see the rebellion until it's too late, every planet except for Earth filled with completely homogeneous races that all think exactly alike, beings that supposed to be far more advanced than us intellectually but never really are--oh, and Earth as the centre of the fucking universe. The undying belief that humans are somehow unique and innately superior somehow.
Ignoring all of that stuff, this is a pretty good read. Waid handles a large cast well, moves the story forward at a good pace without rushing it, and doesn't explain every little detail. He trusts to readers to fill in some of the blanks and throws a few surprises our way. There's also the best "David & Goliath" moment I've seen in a long while.
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Strange Visitor from Another Century
My first thought: Why didn't they use the cover of issue 18 for the cover of the trade and have it continue the design of the first two trades with a member of the team facing the camera, right hand out, Legion ring prominent? Am I the only one who thinks that would have worked much better than Supergirl-leaning-up-against-a-pillar-leg-bent-looking-all-cool-and-shit-while-the-Legion-hangs-out-in-the-background cover from issue 17? Or how about the fact that it doesn't continue the volume numbering? These seem like stupidly obvious design elements that should have been included.
This picks up right where the last volume left off with the Legion having saved the universe from war, their headquarters destroyed and the adults looking like idiots for ever criticising the Legion. So the adults offer them a deal where the United Planets will fund the Legion, which interim leader Lightning Lad takes them up on, which makes the Legion look like sell-outs.
And then Supergirl shows up and everyone is all "OMG! SUPERGIRL! WHOO!" except for Light Lass, who's all "I don't trust her!" And so on.
To his credit, Waid has given the whole Supergirl introduction a cool twist: she thinks she's still living on Krypton, dreaming everything that has happened since it exploded. So, she has a very flighty and superficial attachment to what's going on, which I hope is exploited further in future issues.
There's also a big problem since Brainiac 5 has stolen the dead body of Dream Girl, hoping to bring her back to life, which puts him at odds with the rest of the Legion who is being yelled at by the people on Future-Seeing World because they want to bury her.
Again, Waid handles the large cast well, has some interesting stories, blah blah blah. The art is solid in both volumes, too.
This volume also has a special treat of various 4-6 page letter column comics from past issues. They're pretty damn funny at times. My main problem is that you think this trade has issues 14-19, but REALLY has 14, 16-19 because issue 15 was a letter column issue or an out of continuity issue or something. I only found that out by checking online. Something telling the reader this--hell, including the cover to issue 15 would be a big enough clue. I was left wondering "What the fuck happened to issue 15?"
Hell, the whole packaging of this trade leaves me wondering about the people putting these collections together.
Oh, and even more nit-picky point: the addition of Supergirl happened at the same time as the whole "One Year Later" thing at DC and thus, the Legion title had "1001 Years Later," but (and this shows me to be a total dork) if this title takes place 1000 years after the current DCU and it jumped a year forward, but this title didn't (and it didn't, just to be clear), isn't it really 999 years later? Wouldn't it need to actually jump TWO years ahead to be 1001 year later? Just wondering.
So, while my review may not say this well enough, I did enjoy these books. They were engaging reads that never bored me. Most of my problems are those nit-picky things that don't actually make the reading experience less enjoyable--and are, often, problems with most stories involving the future. I do plan to pick up the first volume over the Christmas break and the fourth volume when it comes out this spring.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Random Reading: Ms. Marvel #7 and Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy
Discovered that the 7-11 right by campus sells comics, so I'll probably hit random Marvel titles over the next while that way--what is it with every store selling just Marvel comics? The bookstore, 7-11, the Mac's near my house . . . all Marvel, no DC. How odd.
Ms. Marvel #7
Another "Civil War" book, except it's a pro-registration one. And Iron Man still comes off as a dick. Seriously. I find that funny. In this whole thing, no matter WHAT side is presented, Iron Man is a dick. "Civil War" should be subtitled "Everybody Hates Tony."
Hell, while we're at it, let's look at the pro-registration side we've got here. The last experience I had with Ms. Marvel was back in Kurt Busiek and George Perez's Avengers run where she was drunk off her ass and got booted from the Avengers for trying to save the world drunk. Apparently she's sober now and has, well, no personality as far as I can tell.
She's one of the heroes who's sided with Iron Man, along with Wonder Man and the hero formerly known as Spider-Woman, but is now Arachne, I'm assuming, because Bendis decided he liked the original Spider-Woman and that meant someone had to change their name.
The plot of this issue is pretty boring. Teenage spider-themed hero Arana is brought in by the Amazingly-Named Duo while her father is all "This is America, you can't just arrest people for no reason!" And she decides to register. Yay.
Meanwhile, Arachne is on the run with her boyfriend, Shroud, who she was supposed to arrest (seriously, why would you send the guy's girlfriend to arrest them besides wanting to set up a fugitive story?). They steal some clothes and a car and have an argument about going to Colorado to get her daughter, all the while being tracked by S.H.I.E.L.D. Fools!
And now we get to Iron Man's a dick time: a big meeting is called and Ms. Marvel brings the Spider-Girl chick with her and Iron Man's all like "This is big time classified government business, so if she fucks it up, your ass is grass!" and Ms. Marvel is all like "No shit, asshole." So they're all sent to capture the fugitives in the green car, which means the top secret classified info is suddenly a big fucking fight on a freeway where the trained superheroes cause a bunch of civilian cars to crash. Yeah, the "professionals" sure are great at what they do.
It ends with Shroud all captured and Ex-Spider-Woman riding atop a big rig in a "Dazzler" t-shirt. Oooh, I can't wait for next issue!
For a pro-registration book, I came away thinking that side was full of even bigger idiots than I did going into it. Let's see, they abduct teenage girls, their best heroes are Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man, Iron Man is a dick to his own people, they sent one of their heroes to arrest her lover and are surprised when she decides to take off with him, they claim to be trained professionals but cause just as much carnage and civilian destruction as always, and they can't even catch someone so lame she couldn't even hold onto the name "Spider-Woman."
*claps slowly* Bravo, Marvel. Not too obvious which side you're on.
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy
I've been waiting for this to come out for a while. Usually two or three times a week, I would check the bookstore's website to see if it had come in yet. I blame Warren Ellis for getting me into Constantine and loving to see how different writers do him. Now, I am torn about Vertigo's decision to release the first collection from Denise Mina's run before fully collecting Mike Carey's run--although, it looks like they will be collecting both at the same time, which is odd. But, I do understand why they've done it. It's obvious, just looking at the cover where Mina's name is the biggest type except for the word Constantine. Mina is a well-known crime novelist, so trying to sell the book with her name is smart--and Hellblazer is one of the few books in the mainstream where I could see people picking up more collections (and liking them). It seems in all the rush to give people every other Vertigo book under the sun, people always forget about this one even though, it tends to be one of the best-written titles they have at any given time. Because everyone who grew up east of the Atlantic in the mainstream worships old Johnny boy the way the rest of us cream our jeans over Spider-Man, but with more respect and reverence, the quality never dips too far.
In this book, Constantine has a problem. He helped a guy out by wiping his memory, but that meant taking on the problem himself, which is feeling empathy. So much empathy for everyone that it hurts so much you want to kill yourself. But, Constantine is a bit of a bastard naturally, so he can handle it, right?
Peppered throughout his journey to find out how the guy got his name and what it all means are flashbacks to various points in the past, beginning with 6th century and some monks building a monastery on an island near Scotland. They sacrifice one of their own as part of the custom, but three days later, one of them receives a vision from God to dig him up--and they find that he isn't dead. The not-dead monk tells them about how Heaven and Hell aren't what they think they are and they've got it all wrong, so everyone assumes he's a puppet of Satan and buries him alive.
What it comes down to is that there is a third place that has been taking the souls of the dead and a cult wants to shut it down by creating an empathy engine that will make everyone love one another and they want Constantine to willingly sacrifice his life to make it happen. And the bastard does.
The story is engaging, is well-structured, always giving the reader new information, but not too much. It does jump around a bit near the beginning, but that's to be expected since this is Mina's first comic work and no one gets a handle on the mechanics right away.
The art is also fantastic. Leonardo Manco has long been a favourite of mine and his style is perfect for a horror book like this.
The only downside is that there are a few spoilers of what happens in Mike Carey's run for anyone who has been following that only in trades (like me). Big details that are shocks, but also don't actually tell you WHAT happened, if you get me. In a way, the spoilers just make me want to read the next few collections of the Carey run even more now.
As for Mina's John Constantine, I like him. He's a bit too nice and engaging for much of the story, but that's because he feels empathy towards everyone. The John at the very end is one we all know and love, and makes me want to read the next collection of this run as well.
One problem I saw with this collection is that I'm never told anything about Denise Mina aside from the "Author of . . ." blurb under her name on the cover, nor are there any of the usual promo pages that list the other Hellblazer collections available. If the goal of this trade, as I figure, is partly to bring in Mina's readers, pointing them to specific titles would be beneficial and every other trade on the planet usually has bios of creators, so why not here? The only person who gets any bio is Ian Rankin following his introduction. Odd.
But, it's a good read with a fantastic ending. Pick it up.
Ms. Marvel #7
Another "Civil War" book, except it's a pro-registration one. And Iron Man still comes off as a dick. Seriously. I find that funny. In this whole thing, no matter WHAT side is presented, Iron Man is a dick. "Civil War" should be subtitled "Everybody Hates Tony."
Hell, while we're at it, let's look at the pro-registration side we've got here. The last experience I had with Ms. Marvel was back in Kurt Busiek and George Perez's Avengers run where she was drunk off her ass and got booted from the Avengers for trying to save the world drunk. Apparently she's sober now and has, well, no personality as far as I can tell.
She's one of the heroes who's sided with Iron Man, along with Wonder Man and the hero formerly known as Spider-Woman, but is now Arachne, I'm assuming, because Bendis decided he liked the original Spider-Woman and that meant someone had to change their name.
The plot of this issue is pretty boring. Teenage spider-themed hero Arana is brought in by the Amazingly-Named Duo while her father is all "This is America, you can't just arrest people for no reason!" And she decides to register. Yay.
Meanwhile, Arachne is on the run with her boyfriend, Shroud, who she was supposed to arrest (seriously, why would you send the guy's girlfriend to arrest them besides wanting to set up a fugitive story?). They steal some clothes and a car and have an argument about going to Colorado to get her daughter, all the while being tracked by S.H.I.E.L.D. Fools!
And now we get to Iron Man's a dick time: a big meeting is called and Ms. Marvel brings the Spider-Girl chick with her and Iron Man's all like "This is big time classified government business, so if she fucks it up, your ass is grass!" and Ms. Marvel is all like "No shit, asshole." So they're all sent to capture the fugitives in the green car, which means the top secret classified info is suddenly a big fucking fight on a freeway where the trained superheroes cause a bunch of civilian cars to crash. Yeah, the "professionals" sure are great at what they do.
It ends with Shroud all captured and Ex-Spider-Woman riding atop a big rig in a "Dazzler" t-shirt. Oooh, I can't wait for next issue!
For a pro-registration book, I came away thinking that side was full of even bigger idiots than I did going into it. Let's see, they abduct teenage girls, their best heroes are Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man, Iron Man is a dick to his own people, they sent one of their heroes to arrest her lover and are surprised when she decides to take off with him, they claim to be trained professionals but cause just as much carnage and civilian destruction as always, and they can't even catch someone so lame she couldn't even hold onto the name "Spider-Woman."
*claps slowly* Bravo, Marvel. Not too obvious which side you're on.
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy
I've been waiting for this to come out for a while. Usually two or three times a week, I would check the bookstore's website to see if it had come in yet. I blame Warren Ellis for getting me into Constantine and loving to see how different writers do him. Now, I am torn about Vertigo's decision to release the first collection from Denise Mina's run before fully collecting Mike Carey's run--although, it looks like they will be collecting both at the same time, which is odd. But, I do understand why they've done it. It's obvious, just looking at the cover where Mina's name is the biggest type except for the word Constantine. Mina is a well-known crime novelist, so trying to sell the book with her name is smart--and Hellblazer is one of the few books in the mainstream where I could see people picking up more collections (and liking them). It seems in all the rush to give people every other Vertigo book under the sun, people always forget about this one even though, it tends to be one of the best-written titles they have at any given time. Because everyone who grew up east of the Atlantic in the mainstream worships old Johnny boy the way the rest of us cream our jeans over Spider-Man, but with more respect and reverence, the quality never dips too far.
In this book, Constantine has a problem. He helped a guy out by wiping his memory, but that meant taking on the problem himself, which is feeling empathy. So much empathy for everyone that it hurts so much you want to kill yourself. But, Constantine is a bit of a bastard naturally, so he can handle it, right?
Peppered throughout his journey to find out how the guy got his name and what it all means are flashbacks to various points in the past, beginning with 6th century and some monks building a monastery on an island near Scotland. They sacrifice one of their own as part of the custom, but three days later, one of them receives a vision from God to dig him up--and they find that he isn't dead. The not-dead monk tells them about how Heaven and Hell aren't what they think they are and they've got it all wrong, so everyone assumes he's a puppet of Satan and buries him alive.
What it comes down to is that there is a third place that has been taking the souls of the dead and a cult wants to shut it down by creating an empathy engine that will make everyone love one another and they want Constantine to willingly sacrifice his life to make it happen. And the bastard does.
The story is engaging, is well-structured, always giving the reader new information, but not too much. It does jump around a bit near the beginning, but that's to be expected since this is Mina's first comic work and no one gets a handle on the mechanics right away.
The art is also fantastic. Leonardo Manco has long been a favourite of mine and his style is perfect for a horror book like this.
The only downside is that there are a few spoilers of what happens in Mike Carey's run for anyone who has been following that only in trades (like me). Big details that are shocks, but also don't actually tell you WHAT happened, if you get me. In a way, the spoilers just make me want to read the next few collections of the Carey run even more now.
As for Mina's John Constantine, I like him. He's a bit too nice and engaging for much of the story, but that's because he feels empathy towards everyone. The John at the very end is one we all know and love, and makes me want to read the next collection of this run as well.
One problem I saw with this collection is that I'm never told anything about Denise Mina aside from the "Author of . . ." blurb under her name on the cover, nor are there any of the usual promo pages that list the other Hellblazer collections available. If the goal of this trade, as I figure, is partly to bring in Mina's readers, pointing them to specific titles would be beneficial and every other trade on the planet usually has bios of creators, so why not here? The only person who gets any bio is Ian Rankin following his introduction. Odd.
But, it's a good read with a fantastic ending. Pick it up.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Random Reading: Superman Confidential #1, American Virgin: Head, Human Target: Strike Zones
I had no idea that I would be buying any of these books today. I just went into the bookstore and picked up what I felt like getting.
Superman Confidential #1
Wow, the bookstore had a DC comic. No idea why this is the one actual issue released from DC they've gotten since I've been here.
This is an odd issue. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it. I must say that the beginning bit where kryptonite narrates, I rolled my eyes and wanted to get to an actual story.
Jump ahead to Superman only two months into his superhero career and he's up against the Royal Flush Gang. And it isn't much of a fight because Jack is a moron and fucks it up. What I don't understand is whether or not Ace is killed by an ice shard. That's never really explained. I sat up and was like "Shit . . . did Superman just participate in that guy dying? The hell?"
The rest of the issue is Parry White getting his three best people (which somehow includes Jimmy Olson) to help take down some businessman who is probably all corrupt and shit.
Basically, this issue was either boring as hell or somehow very subtle and brilliant. I'm thinking the former because I ws bored as hell with it. Tim Sale's art was nice, but I just cannot get into Darwyn Cooke's writing--I must be the only one who thought New Frontier sucked. Ah well.
American Virgin: Head
I don't understand the point of this book. Maybe if I talk it out things will become clear.
Adam is a youth minister who preaches virginity until marriage. He's suave, charismatic and could be the next big thing for the religious right.
He's also got a girlfriend who's saving herself for marriage too, but is in Africa doing aid work. Until she gets beheaded by some terrorists or tribe or rebel group or something, I dunno.
So Adam gets his sister and they go to Africa to find her killers and bring her body home. While there, he finds out she was cheating on him and kinda freaks out and . . . well, not much else.
There's some stuff about being angry at God and guilt over masturbation, but nothing much else here. I have no idea where this series is going and I can't say I care too much.
Human Target: Strike Zones
While wandering around, I found a few trades on sale and this was among them, so I picked it up. And I am glad I did, because it saved the day.
This is first of two trades from the 21-issue series that ran in 2003-04 written by Peter Milligan and it is some good shit.
The first issue begins with Christopher Chance, the Human Target, dead and his last client, Frank White (a movie producer) receiving threats from an irrate fan upset with the violent films he makes. Except none of that is actually true.
What I liked the most about the first issue collected was that it just jumped in, sink or swim, fuck the reader, on with the story. You get caught up over the whole issue, but never feel lost. I presume what happened before was Human Target: Final Cut, but whatever, I followed along fine.
The second story is about a man who fakes dying in 9/11 and makes Chance re-examine what it is he does. The third story takes a good look at the world of baseball and also shows us just how fucking good Chance is at what he does.
Milligan's writing here is superb and mature. As I said, he doesn't take time to explain things, but he also doesn't confuse. It is a confident style that pays off, but does demand a lot from the reader. Quick jumps, two-panel scenes, and a lot of subtext.
Javier Pulido's art is fantastic. Both realistic and cartoony, he never drops the ball and also gives some interesting layouts.
This trade was so good that I am definitely going to buy the other three collections (collecting the first mini, Final Cut--OGN, and Living in Amerika, which collects issues 6-10 of the series) plus hunt down the 11 uncollected issues of the series.
Next week: who knows? I was eying the second Legion of Super-Heroes trade along with the one that introduces Supergirl into the cast, so I may pick up those.
Superman Confidential #1
Wow, the bookstore had a DC comic. No idea why this is the one actual issue released from DC they've gotten since I've been here.
This is an odd issue. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it. I must say that the beginning bit where kryptonite narrates, I rolled my eyes and wanted to get to an actual story.
Jump ahead to Superman only two months into his superhero career and he's up against the Royal Flush Gang. And it isn't much of a fight because Jack is a moron and fucks it up. What I don't understand is whether or not Ace is killed by an ice shard. That's never really explained. I sat up and was like "Shit . . . did Superman just participate in that guy dying? The hell?"
The rest of the issue is Parry White getting his three best people (which somehow includes Jimmy Olson) to help take down some businessman who is probably all corrupt and shit.
Basically, this issue was either boring as hell or somehow very subtle and brilliant. I'm thinking the former because I ws bored as hell with it. Tim Sale's art was nice, but I just cannot get into Darwyn Cooke's writing--I must be the only one who thought New Frontier sucked. Ah well.
American Virgin: Head
I don't understand the point of this book. Maybe if I talk it out things will become clear.
Adam is a youth minister who preaches virginity until marriage. He's suave, charismatic and could be the next big thing for the religious right.
He's also got a girlfriend who's saving herself for marriage too, but is in Africa doing aid work. Until she gets beheaded by some terrorists or tribe or rebel group or something, I dunno.
So Adam gets his sister and they go to Africa to find her killers and bring her body home. While there, he finds out she was cheating on him and kinda freaks out and . . . well, not much else.
There's some stuff about being angry at God and guilt over masturbation, but nothing much else here. I have no idea where this series is going and I can't say I care too much.
Human Target: Strike Zones
While wandering around, I found a few trades on sale and this was among them, so I picked it up. And I am glad I did, because it saved the day.
This is first of two trades from the 21-issue series that ran in 2003-04 written by Peter Milligan and it is some good shit.
The first issue begins with Christopher Chance, the Human Target, dead and his last client, Frank White (a movie producer) receiving threats from an irrate fan upset with the violent films he makes. Except none of that is actually true.
What I liked the most about the first issue collected was that it just jumped in, sink or swim, fuck the reader, on with the story. You get caught up over the whole issue, but never feel lost. I presume what happened before was Human Target: Final Cut, but whatever, I followed along fine.
The second story is about a man who fakes dying in 9/11 and makes Chance re-examine what it is he does. The third story takes a good look at the world of baseball and also shows us just how fucking good Chance is at what he does.
Milligan's writing here is superb and mature. As I said, he doesn't take time to explain things, but he also doesn't confuse. It is a confident style that pays off, but does demand a lot from the reader. Quick jumps, two-panel scenes, and a lot of subtext.
Javier Pulido's art is fantastic. Both realistic and cartoony, he never drops the ball and also gives some interesting layouts.
This trade was so good that I am definitely going to buy the other three collections (collecting the first mini, Final Cut--OGN, and Living in Amerika, which collects issues 6-10 of the series) plus hunt down the 11 uncollected issues of the series.
Next week: who knows? I was eying the second Legion of Super-Heroes trade along with the one that introduces Supergirl into the cast, so I may pick up those.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Random Reading: Five Worldstorm First Issues
The 1999-2003/2004 (maybe) period at Wildstorm was amazing. I loved what they were doing, particularly the Warren Ellis and Joe Casey stuff plus Adam Warren's Gen13, but then those titles faded away mostly and reboots happened and I lost interest, except for the odd title (Ed Brubaker's Authority series was decent). So, now that Wildstorm is rebooting its entire line, I thought I'd give it a look, picking up five of the first issues over the past month or so. Granted, this isn't a complete selection of the titles offered (I didn't get Wetworks because I never read it and didn't care, while the Stormwatch PHD because it looks like shit--which probably should have made me pick it up, but ah well, I'll survive). So, here we go:
WildCats #1
Before I begin, I should mention that I am one of seven people alive and reading comics that hates Jim Lee's art. I find it ugly, superficial and ineffective at conveying the story. But, I did my best not to let that get in the way. Figured I should get that out of the way, though.
I expect more from Grant Morrison. Compare this to various other books he's done--which, despite some people's views, is a fair thing to do--and this feels like a third of a comic. Maybe.
I like the little introduction to the universe, especially since this is the flagship title of the line. That works fine, but the rest is just.
So.
Slow.
Morrison puts us in a world that builds on Joe Casey's Wildcats Version 3.0 with Hadrian/Jacob Marlowe running Halo, expanding the technology of the world with Spartan robots and his own Carrier. Beyond that, there's nothing here. A few semi-interesting concepts and not much else. There's some hints of a renewed Daemonite conflict, but not much else.
The Grifter scenes are nice, but not really. They do the job, but there's no much there to do.
I don't know if Morrison altered his style to fit with Lee's or what, but this is, by far, the most unsatisfying thing I've read of his in a long time. For the supposed flagship book, this is a weak start.
The Authority #1
Now, this is more like it. I've read reviews that bash the issue for not having a member of the team appear in it, except the team does show up--firstly, on the cover, which I think is integral to the end of the issue--and, secondly, at the end of the issue (maybe).
But, it's made very clear that the world we see here is meant to be our world, not the Wildstorm universe. We are introduced to Ken who is having marital problems--as in his wife is leaving him--and work problems--as in he's at the bottom of the ocean investigating a terrorist attack on a submarine and there's an artificial craft 50 miles by 20 miles by 8 miles there.
I rather enjoed this issue and its set-up. Granted, the team does not appear here, but judging by the cover and the final pages, something fucked up has happened and the Authority now find themselves stranded in a world much like our own. It could make for an interesting take on the title, especially in comparison to what's come before. They've tried fixing worlds with superpeople, what about a world without them?
As well, Gene Ha's art is amazing. Top notch. The realistic style suits the material perfectly, especially the one-page splash of Ken's wife leaving. Amazing.
I look forward to future issues.
Gen13 #1
Holy stupid teenage cliches, Batman!
To be fair, Gail Simone didn't invent these stupid cliched characters, but she is playing right into those early years of the original book where they were nothing more than walking cliches.
Luckily, she attempts to make that part of the story. But, she fails.
It's hard, actually, to know how much of the lameness of this issue on Simone's shoulders and how much on the original book. The very, very, very basic premise of government-created superpeople is good and even done in a semi-original way here. The rest, though . . .
The art is 90s image lame, which goes to Wildstorm's roots, I suppose, but is just unattractive. For some reason, it has this weird squiggly line effect to it that I cannot figure out since the lines are straight. It baffles and annoys me.
The only time I enjoyed this title in its former incarnation was under Adam Warren, who balanced the campy aspects of the title with more serious emotional content. Simone seems to be trying to walk that line, but fails here. Maybe it's just too much vying for so little space, but I won't be reading this title from now on.
Deathblow #1
Speaking of bad, pseudo-90s Image art . . .
This is the first time I've picked up something written by Brian Azzarello and hated the art (the first trade collecting his Superman run aside, because I know why Jim Lee was on that book). I don't know why Carlos D'Anda is on this book other than the fact that he's a Wildstorm mainstay.
In fact, the art gets in the way on the second and third page when Cray is tortured and I cannot figure out what happened. I think his hand was hit with a big fucking knife, but other than some blood (and a lack of fingernails), the hand we're shown looks normal. What happened?
The story is engaging enough, I suppose--about as engaging as any single issue of an Azzarello-written story, actually. We get the details of Cray's rescue from a prison in some Arab nation. People die, he talks tough, some general tells him that they can't trust him, he's in Gitmo.
Not a whole lot goes on here, but I trust Azzarello to deliver a payoff. I'll probably pick this up in trade, mostly because that's the only way to read Azzarello.
The Midnighter #1
I rather enjoyed this issue. Ennis gives us a Midnighter that feels right. The bastard soldier who tries to play hero and husband and father, but is really just a killing machine.
He begins by taking out some tanks in Afghanistan and killing the American military liason who delivered the tanks to the Mujahs. There's the standard "make fun of Midnighter because he's gay" line, which feels oddly out of place, mostly because it's really tired.
Midnighter is captured by someone who's turned off his abilities and needs him to kill people for him. I never get stories like this. Somehow, we have a guy with the means to capture and deactivate the greatest killing machine ever built, but only so he can use it? Why can't he use his amazing resources to just do it himself somehow and not risk getting his skull punched in later (which I expect to happen--or some variation of)? I can never buy plots like this.
The last page is strangely amusing in that way that makes you both groan and anticipate what's coming next. Because it's Ennis, I trust him.
Sprouse's art is good here. I was concerned that he may not be the right guy to draw the title given the character and the writer, but he does it well, especially the movement Midnighter has in attacking the tanks. Very fluid.
Overall, these launch issues were good. None were perfect and most had their share of problems. The biggest flaw of the bunch is that nothing here rivals the period of greatness Wildstorm had in the 99-03 period. Maybe Morrison's Authority, but that depends on what happens next. Rather disappointing, actually. How does a line-up of Grant Morrison, Brian Azzarello, Garth Ennis and Gail Simone not at least compete with Warren Ellis, Joe Casey and Adam Warren?
WildCats #1
Before I begin, I should mention that I am one of seven people alive and reading comics that hates Jim Lee's art. I find it ugly, superficial and ineffective at conveying the story. But, I did my best not to let that get in the way. Figured I should get that out of the way, though.
I expect more from Grant Morrison. Compare this to various other books he's done--which, despite some people's views, is a fair thing to do--and this feels like a third of a comic. Maybe.
I like the little introduction to the universe, especially since this is the flagship title of the line. That works fine, but the rest is just.
So.
Slow.
Morrison puts us in a world that builds on Joe Casey's Wildcats Version 3.0 with Hadrian/Jacob Marlowe running Halo, expanding the technology of the world with Spartan robots and his own Carrier. Beyond that, there's nothing here. A few semi-interesting concepts and not much else. There's some hints of a renewed Daemonite conflict, but not much else.
The Grifter scenes are nice, but not really. They do the job, but there's no much there to do.
I don't know if Morrison altered his style to fit with Lee's or what, but this is, by far, the most unsatisfying thing I've read of his in a long time. For the supposed flagship book, this is a weak start.
The Authority #1
Now, this is more like it. I've read reviews that bash the issue for not having a member of the team appear in it, except the team does show up--firstly, on the cover, which I think is integral to the end of the issue--and, secondly, at the end of the issue (maybe).
But, it's made very clear that the world we see here is meant to be our world, not the Wildstorm universe. We are introduced to Ken who is having marital problems--as in his wife is leaving him--and work problems--as in he's at the bottom of the ocean investigating a terrorist attack on a submarine and there's an artificial craft 50 miles by 20 miles by 8 miles there.
I rather enjoed this issue and its set-up. Granted, the team does not appear here, but judging by the cover and the final pages, something fucked up has happened and the Authority now find themselves stranded in a world much like our own. It could make for an interesting take on the title, especially in comparison to what's come before. They've tried fixing worlds with superpeople, what about a world without them?
As well, Gene Ha's art is amazing. Top notch. The realistic style suits the material perfectly, especially the one-page splash of Ken's wife leaving. Amazing.
I look forward to future issues.
Gen13 #1
Holy stupid teenage cliches, Batman!
To be fair, Gail Simone didn't invent these stupid cliched characters, but she is playing right into those early years of the original book where they were nothing more than walking cliches.
Luckily, she attempts to make that part of the story. But, she fails.
It's hard, actually, to know how much of the lameness of this issue on Simone's shoulders and how much on the original book. The very, very, very basic premise of government-created superpeople is good and even done in a semi-original way here. The rest, though . . .
The art is 90s image lame, which goes to Wildstorm's roots, I suppose, but is just unattractive. For some reason, it has this weird squiggly line effect to it that I cannot figure out since the lines are straight. It baffles and annoys me.
The only time I enjoyed this title in its former incarnation was under Adam Warren, who balanced the campy aspects of the title with more serious emotional content. Simone seems to be trying to walk that line, but fails here. Maybe it's just too much vying for so little space, but I won't be reading this title from now on.
Deathblow #1
Speaking of bad, pseudo-90s Image art . . .
This is the first time I've picked up something written by Brian Azzarello and hated the art (the first trade collecting his Superman run aside, because I know why Jim Lee was on that book). I don't know why Carlos D'Anda is on this book other than the fact that he's a Wildstorm mainstay.
In fact, the art gets in the way on the second and third page when Cray is tortured and I cannot figure out what happened. I think his hand was hit with a big fucking knife, but other than some blood (and a lack of fingernails), the hand we're shown looks normal. What happened?
The story is engaging enough, I suppose--about as engaging as any single issue of an Azzarello-written story, actually. We get the details of Cray's rescue from a prison in some Arab nation. People die, he talks tough, some general tells him that they can't trust him, he's in Gitmo.
Not a whole lot goes on here, but I trust Azzarello to deliver a payoff. I'll probably pick this up in trade, mostly because that's the only way to read Azzarello.
The Midnighter #1
I rather enjoyed this issue. Ennis gives us a Midnighter that feels right. The bastard soldier who tries to play hero and husband and father, but is really just a killing machine.
He begins by taking out some tanks in Afghanistan and killing the American military liason who delivered the tanks to the Mujahs. There's the standard "make fun of Midnighter because he's gay" line, which feels oddly out of place, mostly because it's really tired.
Midnighter is captured by someone who's turned off his abilities and needs him to kill people for him. I never get stories like this. Somehow, we have a guy with the means to capture and deactivate the greatest killing machine ever built, but only so he can use it? Why can't he use his amazing resources to just do it himself somehow and not risk getting his skull punched in later (which I expect to happen--or some variation of)? I can never buy plots like this.
The last page is strangely amusing in that way that makes you both groan and anticipate what's coming next. Because it's Ennis, I trust him.
Sprouse's art is good here. I was concerned that he may not be the right guy to draw the title given the character and the writer, but he does it well, especially the movement Midnighter has in attacking the tanks. Very fluid.
Overall, these launch issues were good. None were perfect and most had their share of problems. The biggest flaw of the bunch is that nothing here rivals the period of greatness Wildstorm had in the 99-03 period. Maybe Morrison's Authority, but that depends on what happens next. Rather disappointing, actually. How does a line-up of Grant Morrison, Brian Azzarello, Garth Ennis and Gail Simone not at least compete with Warren Ellis, Joe Casey and Adam Warren?
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Random Reading: Futurama Comics #27, Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson #31 & Simpsons Super Spectacular #3
I stood in front of the comics in the bookstore and thought, "Well, shit, I guess I'm going to have to review Blade #2 . . ." and then I noticed these three Bongo titles. This brought to mind a question: "Since Futurama is no longer on TV, do the comics act as a solid substitute?" I decided to buy the two Simpsons titles as well since that show has sucked for a while now and maybe--just maybe!--the comics will fill that need too. So, did any of them?
Futurama Comics #27
First off, from the cover, I expected a story about Fry and Bender hitchhiking to Mars since the cover shows them doing that. But, no, it's a story about how Bender sold some machine the Professor made to some aliens a few years back and now they're using it to the destroy the Earth. And . . . well, that's it.
The comic isn't funny. It has a lot of Futurama lines and characteristics, but only the most broad ones that we've seen dozens of times before--nothing is added in the way the show would always add stuff. The only point where I kind of chuckled was when Zoidberg says "THE RO-BUT HAS A POINT." and that's just because the spelling immediately made me think of Zoidberg's voice. The rest? Useless.
Especially these bullshit lava aliens. They have no personality the way aliens in the Futurama universe always do. They seem like lame villains Stan Lee would have used back in the '60s when short on ideas.
One particular painful moment is when an attempt at Bender's patented "surprised but don't have any liquid in my mouth, so I'll drink something to do a spit take" spit take is attempted, but it doesn't work here. It simply fails to land and the writer knows it, so adds a line where Bender explains what he just did. If you need a character to explain a visual gag, DON'T DO THE VISUAL GAG!
Utterly forgettable (I hope), don't bother with Futurama Comics for your Futurama fix. Just watch reruns and your DVD sets until those DVD flicks arrive.
Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson #31
You know what makes this comic the saddest of the bunch? The best part of it is a story that doesn't involve Bart at all.
The first story is all about Bart winning a contest at Krusty's toy store (as there's a Krusty toy store chain apparently) where he gets five minutes to fill his shopping cart. At first, he's excited until everyone begins asking for him to get them stuff and even threatening him.
Amazingly, Homer is funny in this story with his total self-centred thinking towards everything. While in the show, it comes off as painful and unfunny, when he's put in a context where he's a secondary character, it retains some charm.
Following that story are a couple of two-page fillers that kind of suck. The first is Comic Book Guy's "Handy Pop Culture Quotes For All Occasions," which isn't funny. Or even uses the best quotes. The other is how you can use school supplies to be a total jackass at school. *yawns*
The last story, though, is called "The Maggie & Moe Mysteries! In Color! Tonight's Episode: The Disappearing Duchess!" and features Maggie and Moe as detectives. The first page is worth it since it copies a TV theme song with shots of them in an airplane, fingering a mother and baby in court, and of Maggie showing Chief Wiggum how to solve a murder.
The story itself is kind of lame. Moe takes Maggie to Wall E. Weasel's, but the Duchess of Dorinia has rented the play area, so Maggie can't play. That is, until the Duchess suddenly disappears and Maggie & Moe are on the case!
Except, they have competition in the form of Titania and Baby Gerald, another bartender/baby crime-solving team! What follows is pretty typical, but the inclusion of those two characters made me laugh, because it's just so perfect. I just wish they amped up the competition a bit.
This story also includes a few choice lines from the Wiggums:
Ralph: I BREATHED MY BOOGERS.
Chief Wiggum: THANKS TO MAGGIE AND MOE, THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE KIDNAPPING IS JAIL!
Classic.
On the whole, a passable attempt that is actually slightly better than the show right now, mostly because of secondary characters, or putting Homer in a supporting function--he's a parody of himself currently and works better on the sidelines.
Simpsons Super Spectacular #3
A trio of superhero stories. The first, "The Coming of Gastritus" is a play on Galactus with Homer in that role. Bart does the Silver Surfer and makes a lame Uranus joke. Marge is Air Walker and makes a better joke about eating a heavily forested planet with no animals since it's a healthier meal. Moe is Nova . . . and naked. Naked Moe.
Extra points to artist John Delaney for drawing Gastritus in a solid fusion of Groening and Kirby. Actually, I should mention that the art in everything I've been talking about is fantastic. Everyone looks like they do on their respective shows and even the angles reflect the shows well. But, the art on this story stands out the most.
The second story works for the first page and then dies. It's a funny concept that makes fun of Adam West Batman (although, I must say: Still? Seriously, move on) with Lure Lass and Weasel Woman taking on . . . THE CRAZY CAT LADY! It doesn't get better than that, but still goes on for eight pages.
The third story is about Stretch Dude, Clobber Girl and Bouncing Battle Baby (Maggie got powers, I guess). They cause so much damage in a recent battle that the city outlaws superheroes (but not supervillains because they wouldn't listen anyway). There's a good "Spider-Man no more!" shot of the three kids walking away with their costumes in a garbage can. Plus, they get in trouble at school for using their powers when they can't help it.
Turns out, Agnes Skinner was replaced by an alien and everything works out, but there are a few good jokes.
Overall, these comics aren't that great and I have no intention of picking up more (especially of Futurama Comics), but I can see why some would. They usually do have a few good jokes and offer a wider variety of stories than TV--in length and content. So, pick one up and see for yourself if it works for you.
Futurama Comics #27
First off, from the cover, I expected a story about Fry and Bender hitchhiking to Mars since the cover shows them doing that. But, no, it's a story about how Bender sold some machine the Professor made to some aliens a few years back and now they're using it to the destroy the Earth. And . . . well, that's it.
The comic isn't funny. It has a lot of Futurama lines and characteristics, but only the most broad ones that we've seen dozens of times before--nothing is added in the way the show would always add stuff. The only point where I kind of chuckled was when Zoidberg says "THE RO-BUT HAS A POINT." and that's just because the spelling immediately made me think of Zoidberg's voice. The rest? Useless.
Especially these bullshit lava aliens. They have no personality the way aliens in the Futurama universe always do. They seem like lame villains Stan Lee would have used back in the '60s when short on ideas.
One particular painful moment is when an attempt at Bender's patented "surprised but don't have any liquid in my mouth, so I'll drink something to do a spit take" spit take is attempted, but it doesn't work here. It simply fails to land and the writer knows it, so adds a line where Bender explains what he just did. If you need a character to explain a visual gag, DON'T DO THE VISUAL GAG!
Utterly forgettable (I hope), don't bother with Futurama Comics for your Futurama fix. Just watch reruns and your DVD sets until those DVD flicks arrive.
Simpsons Comics Presents Bart Simpson #31
You know what makes this comic the saddest of the bunch? The best part of it is a story that doesn't involve Bart at all.
The first story is all about Bart winning a contest at Krusty's toy store (as there's a Krusty toy store chain apparently) where he gets five minutes to fill his shopping cart. At first, he's excited until everyone begins asking for him to get them stuff and even threatening him.
Amazingly, Homer is funny in this story with his total self-centred thinking towards everything. While in the show, it comes off as painful and unfunny, when he's put in a context where he's a secondary character, it retains some charm.
Following that story are a couple of two-page fillers that kind of suck. The first is Comic Book Guy's "Handy Pop Culture Quotes For All Occasions," which isn't funny. Or even uses the best quotes. The other is how you can use school supplies to be a total jackass at school. *yawns*
The last story, though, is called "The Maggie & Moe Mysteries! In Color! Tonight's Episode: The Disappearing Duchess!" and features Maggie and Moe as detectives. The first page is worth it since it copies a TV theme song with shots of them in an airplane, fingering a mother and baby in court, and of Maggie showing Chief Wiggum how to solve a murder.
The story itself is kind of lame. Moe takes Maggie to Wall E. Weasel's, but the Duchess of Dorinia has rented the play area, so Maggie can't play. That is, until the Duchess suddenly disappears and Maggie & Moe are on the case!
Except, they have competition in the form of Titania and Baby Gerald, another bartender/baby crime-solving team! What follows is pretty typical, but the inclusion of those two characters made me laugh, because it's just so perfect. I just wish they amped up the competition a bit.
This story also includes a few choice lines from the Wiggums:
Ralph: I BREATHED MY BOOGERS.
Chief Wiggum: THANKS TO MAGGIE AND MOE, THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE KIDNAPPING IS JAIL!
Classic.
On the whole, a passable attempt that is actually slightly better than the show right now, mostly because of secondary characters, or putting Homer in a supporting function--he's a parody of himself currently and works better on the sidelines.
Simpsons Super Spectacular #3
A trio of superhero stories. The first, "The Coming of Gastritus" is a play on Galactus with Homer in that role. Bart does the Silver Surfer and makes a lame Uranus joke. Marge is Air Walker and makes a better joke about eating a heavily forested planet with no animals since it's a healthier meal. Moe is Nova . . . and naked. Naked Moe.
Extra points to artist John Delaney for drawing Gastritus in a solid fusion of Groening and Kirby. Actually, I should mention that the art in everything I've been talking about is fantastic. Everyone looks like they do on their respective shows and even the angles reflect the shows well. But, the art on this story stands out the most.
The second story works for the first page and then dies. It's a funny concept that makes fun of Adam West Batman (although, I must say: Still? Seriously, move on) with Lure Lass and Weasel Woman taking on . . . THE CRAZY CAT LADY! It doesn't get better than that, but still goes on for eight pages.
The third story is about Stretch Dude, Clobber Girl and Bouncing Battle Baby (Maggie got powers, I guess). They cause so much damage in a recent battle that the city outlaws superheroes (but not supervillains because they wouldn't listen anyway). There's a good "Spider-Man no more!" shot of the three kids walking away with their costumes in a garbage can. Plus, they get in trouble at school for using their powers when they can't help it.
Turns out, Agnes Skinner was replaced by an alien and everything works out, but there are a few good jokes.
Overall, these comics aren't that great and I have no intention of picking up more (especially of Futurama Comics), but I can see why some would. They usually do have a few good jokes and offer a wider variety of stories than TV--in length and content. So, pick one up and see for yourself if it works for you.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Random Reading: Young Avengers & Runaways #3
A few weeks back, I skipped picking up the second issue of this series because I didn't know anything about these characters--or cared. But, the pickings were slim at the bookstore and it features Noh-Varr from Marvel Boy, so I wanted to see how they've butchered him.
The intro/recap page is shit. There are fourteen characters that we are told about, except we're not told anything of any actual interest. Oh, we know their names now, good, but who cares? For the Runaways, we're told who each one is a kid of; for example, Chase Stein is the "Son of Mad Scientists." Great. Now, what the fuck does that mean? Does he have some cool mad scientist technology? He is a mad scientist himself, but in a good way? The only character that makes sense is Old Lace, who is a genitically engineered dinosaur. I understand what that means.
For the Young Avengers, we get their codenames and then their real names, which, again, tells me nothing. I can make guesses, but I don't know any of their details really. This group's example: Hulkling. I'm guessing he's like a teenage version of the Hulk (the retarded name tipped me off--seriously, he's called Hulkling?), but how exactly? He's green and looks maybe strong? Is he a rage freak too? A mindless destroyer? What?
The actual story recap: it's the whole Superhuman Registration Act thing again and apparently both groups chose no. So, the Young Avengers find out the Runaways need help and are all like "They're teens too! We have to save them!" Except, there's a misunderstanding and both groups are all like "I hate you!" But before they can kill each other, Noh-Varr shows up all mind-controlled by the warden of a superhuman prison called the Cube (where Marvel Boy left him--but I will discuss that shortly--oh I will discuss that shortly) and he's going to fucking kick their asses.
So, we jump into the story and what happens? Noh-Varr kicks their asses.
The opening sequence is rather cool and well done. Writer, Daniel Wells, brings back a concept Morrison introduced where Noh-Varr is able to go into a mental state where he's basically on automatic and everything around him is white, so he can focus on the activity he's doing. In Marvel Boy, it was running. Here, it's kicking ass. In the first two pages, we see Nov-Varr in various action poses totally alone in the white. On the next two pages, we get the externals filled in in exact duplications of what we already saw.
The rest of the issue is just fighting as Noh-Varr overcomes every attempt to injure or stop him and these kids realise they're fucked. Interspaced are random shots of the evil warden who is overweight and balding and just looks evil--which helps the reader know he's evil, of course.
What we don't get is any more of a clue who these kids are. But, that kind of works for the issue--at least, it did in my case because I was hopin Noh-Varr would kill the whole lot of them. And I'm pretty sure the only reason he doesn't most of the time is the standard "We can't kill off these characters!" argument.
As for Noh-Varr himself, I'm going to have to call bullshit on the whole thing. Not his actual fighting abilities as that seems right, but the whole brainwashed by the evil warden shit. It makes for a nice story where you get an unstoppable killing machine already created, but, um, how did this warden manage to accomplish brainwashing Noh-Varr exactly? It was mad very, very clear in the Marvel Boy mini series that Noh-Varr is much, much, MUCH more advanced than humans. He's millenia above us, mentally and physically. As Morrison ended the series, he would be running that place within six months.
But, I have to admit that thinking that is limited only to myself and anyone else who read that series. A fan of Runaways or Young Avengers or the average reader may not know that stuff and won't have their reading experience affected negatively as a result.
Mine was, though. And I guess I'm showing my fanboy colours, but, seriously, it's bullshit. This evil warden is basically a bad Midas rip-off (complete with the love of dissecting aliens and superpeople) and Noh-Varr defeated Midas, but gets broken by this greasy fat guy with a bad haircut? Seriously: bullshit.
At the end of the issue, the evil warden has taken some prisoners, picked up Noh-Varr (who has Vision's arm stuck in his chest and doesn't care--seriously, he has a robot's arm phased into him and doesn't notice, but was broken by lame villain guy?), and the remaining teen heroes are all like "We're gonna get our buddies back and kick ass against that organization who has the weird alien guy who we were lucky to survive a fight with! We're not at all morons! Joss Whedon is writing some of us soon and Allen Heinberg said he's doing more Young Avengers, so you know we're gonna survive somehow! We rule!" Actually, the exact speech, said by the son of the mad scientists, is (begin cringing now, by the way) "After Gert I never wanted to see another one of my friends die. I would have given anything to say out of this silly 'Civil War.' We tried to run away from it, because we thought it was just between the adults. But they never asked us what side we were on . . . they just attacked. And took our friends. Now we're in it. Like it or not. The time to be runaways is over . . . it's time to do some avenging." Yikes. Horribly melodramatic speech in the best Stan Lee tradition--complete with the final shot of all of the characters standing shoulder-to-shoulder as if they weren't all just standing around like regular people would two seconds previous.
The art in the issue is well done--although I'm not a fan of that digital inking/straight to colours style that's used here. For all the chaos, it never gets confusing as to what's going on and, basically, you could understand what happens without reading a single word. Despite that final shot of the characters--no doubt in the script--Stefono Caselli does a great job.
Fans of the two teen hero series will possibly like this--I can't say since I know nothing about them beyond some basics. People who don't know anything about either group will probably wonder who the fuck they are. Fans of Marvel Boy will throw the book across the room in frustration.
Surprisingly, I think I'm going to get the next issue just to see where things are left with Noh-Varr--because I'm a glutton for punishment.
The intro/recap page is shit. There are fourteen characters that we are told about, except we're not told anything of any actual interest. Oh, we know their names now, good, but who cares? For the Runaways, we're told who each one is a kid of; for example, Chase Stein is the "Son of Mad Scientists." Great. Now, what the fuck does that mean? Does he have some cool mad scientist technology? He is a mad scientist himself, but in a good way? The only character that makes sense is Old Lace, who is a genitically engineered dinosaur. I understand what that means.
For the Young Avengers, we get their codenames and then their real names, which, again, tells me nothing. I can make guesses, but I don't know any of their details really. This group's example: Hulkling. I'm guessing he's like a teenage version of the Hulk (the retarded name tipped me off--seriously, he's called Hulkling?), but how exactly? He's green and looks maybe strong? Is he a rage freak too? A mindless destroyer? What?
The actual story recap: it's the whole Superhuman Registration Act thing again and apparently both groups chose no. So, the Young Avengers find out the Runaways need help and are all like "They're teens too! We have to save them!" Except, there's a misunderstanding and both groups are all like "I hate you!" But before they can kill each other, Noh-Varr shows up all mind-controlled by the warden of a superhuman prison called the Cube (where Marvel Boy left him--but I will discuss that shortly--oh I will discuss that shortly) and he's going to fucking kick their asses.
So, we jump into the story and what happens? Noh-Varr kicks their asses.
The opening sequence is rather cool and well done. Writer, Daniel Wells, brings back a concept Morrison introduced where Noh-Varr is able to go into a mental state where he's basically on automatic and everything around him is white, so he can focus on the activity he's doing. In Marvel Boy, it was running. Here, it's kicking ass. In the first two pages, we see Nov-Varr in various action poses totally alone in the white. On the next two pages, we get the externals filled in in exact duplications of what we already saw.
The rest of the issue is just fighting as Noh-Varr overcomes every attempt to injure or stop him and these kids realise they're fucked. Interspaced are random shots of the evil warden who is overweight and balding and just looks evil--which helps the reader know he's evil, of course.
What we don't get is any more of a clue who these kids are. But, that kind of works for the issue--at least, it did in my case because I was hopin Noh-Varr would kill the whole lot of them. And I'm pretty sure the only reason he doesn't most of the time is the standard "We can't kill off these characters!" argument.
As for Noh-Varr himself, I'm going to have to call bullshit on the whole thing. Not his actual fighting abilities as that seems right, but the whole brainwashed by the evil warden shit. It makes for a nice story where you get an unstoppable killing machine already created, but, um, how did this warden manage to accomplish brainwashing Noh-Varr exactly? It was mad very, very clear in the Marvel Boy mini series that Noh-Varr is much, much, MUCH more advanced than humans. He's millenia above us, mentally and physically. As Morrison ended the series, he would be running that place within six months.
But, I have to admit that thinking that is limited only to myself and anyone else who read that series. A fan of Runaways or Young Avengers or the average reader may not know that stuff and won't have their reading experience affected negatively as a result.
Mine was, though. And I guess I'm showing my fanboy colours, but, seriously, it's bullshit. This evil warden is basically a bad Midas rip-off (complete with the love of dissecting aliens and superpeople) and Noh-Varr defeated Midas, but gets broken by this greasy fat guy with a bad haircut? Seriously: bullshit.
At the end of the issue, the evil warden has taken some prisoners, picked up Noh-Varr (who has Vision's arm stuck in his chest and doesn't care--seriously, he has a robot's arm phased into him and doesn't notice, but was broken by lame villain guy?), and the remaining teen heroes are all like "We're gonna get our buddies back and kick ass against that organization who has the weird alien guy who we were lucky to survive a fight with! We're not at all morons! Joss Whedon is writing some of us soon and Allen Heinberg said he's doing more Young Avengers, so you know we're gonna survive somehow! We rule!" Actually, the exact speech, said by the son of the mad scientists, is (begin cringing now, by the way) "After Gert I never wanted to see another one of my friends die. I would have given anything to say out of this silly 'Civil War.' We tried to run away from it, because we thought it was just between the adults. But they never asked us what side we were on . . . they just attacked. And took our friends. Now we're in it. Like it or not. The time to be runaways is over . . . it's time to do some avenging." Yikes. Horribly melodramatic speech in the best Stan Lee tradition--complete with the final shot of all of the characters standing shoulder-to-shoulder as if they weren't all just standing around like regular people would two seconds previous.
The art in the issue is well done--although I'm not a fan of that digital inking/straight to colours style that's used here. For all the chaos, it never gets confusing as to what's going on and, basically, you could understand what happens without reading a single word. Despite that final shot of the characters--no doubt in the script--Stefono Caselli does a great job.
Fans of the two teen hero series will possibly like this--I can't say since I know nothing about them beyond some basics. People who don't know anything about either group will probably wonder who the fuck they are. Fans of Marvel Boy will throw the book across the room in frustration.
Surprisingly, I think I'm going to get the next issue just to see where things are left with Noh-Varr--because I'm a glutton for punishment.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Random Reading: Superman 656
I've been in Windsor for well over a month and today was my first time visiting the closest comic shop to me. It's a nice little place called Rogues Gallery Comics and the owner was very friendly, offering me help almost immediately (even though, I pretty much look like the archetypal comic fan). Will definitely stop in there this year when I can.
I only got a few things, some back issues of Adventures of Superman from Joe Casey's run on the book, WildCats #1 and Superman #656, which I got for the purpose of this random reading.
My first thought is: who says comics don't teach kids anything? You want to teach your kid what deus ex machina is, hand them a copy of this comic. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Superman is in Serbia, fighting some weird looking creature called Subjekt-17 that is giving him a good fight. He's in Serbia as Clark Kent because an old friend asked him to come or something (why, I don't know--to do a story, maybe?), and his friend is in some burning military base, hunting for the details on this Subjekt-17.
Here, writer Kurt Busiek does something slightly interesting, almost Planetaryesque (yes, I just invented that word), with Subjekt-17's origin. You see, in 1949, a spaceship crashed somewhere in Russia. The pilot was dead, but further inside the ship was a pregnant female alien. She died on the operating table, but the child lived and was subjected to all sorts of nasty experiments over the years.
The interesting part is how it's described. Supes' friend tells him, "But in Earth's atmosphere, under our sun, her skin was growing harder, her musculature more dense . . . The infant began developing super-powers as well. But slowly, perhaps due to his youth." Sound familiar?
However, Busiek ruins it by having Superman narrate, "My heart goes out to him -- and I know that had my spaceship landed in the wrong place so many years ago, had been found by the wrong people--" Because subtle, allusive storytelling is somehow worse than being downright obvious about it. In fact, most of Superman's narration is obvious, overwrought and unnecessary. It helps set the stage at the beginning and recap the story, but after, it reminds me of old comics where the narration described what the character was doing in the panel. Busiek should know better, especially when he has someone as skilled as Carlos Pacheco providing the art (which is nothing but gorgeous throughout).
The story itself gets interesting as Subjekt-17's intelligence grows and he becomes angry at Superman for being an alien like him, but helping the humans that spent decades torturing him. And not only that, Subjekt-17's powers are growing and it's looking more and more like the only way to stop him will be to kill him--that is, until some weird time-traveller shows up and ends the fight on the second-last page.
Sorry, I spoiled the totally unanticipated ending that I didn't think Busiek capable of producing. It's hack work. He had a compelling, interesting story and ruined it with a deus ex machina in the form of someone named Arion of Atlantis, who says he's here to help Superman prevent a living hell created by Superman's "own ignorant hand." Okay, I'll admit this is interesting, but was it worth ruining the other story? Couldn't there have been some way for the Subjekt-17 story to be resolved and THEN have Arion show up and tell Superman he's an idiot (which he outright does)?
I would like to see Subjekt-17 return, because it's an interesting twist on Superman's own origin and could make for a great recurring villain. But, who's to tell, because Arion sent him somewhere and there's no telling what that means.
Overall, the story was interesting, the narration irritating, and the ending a fucking joke, but the art was fantastic. I'm actually tempted to pick up the next issue because I'm on board with any story that's about how Superman is stupid and fucks up the world. But, damn, Busiek, that ending? Come on, man, you're better than that.
I only got a few things, some back issues of Adventures of Superman from Joe Casey's run on the book, WildCats #1 and Superman #656, which I got for the purpose of this random reading.
My first thought is: who says comics don't teach kids anything? You want to teach your kid what deus ex machina is, hand them a copy of this comic. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Superman is in Serbia, fighting some weird looking creature called Subjekt-17 that is giving him a good fight. He's in Serbia as Clark Kent because an old friend asked him to come or something (why, I don't know--to do a story, maybe?), and his friend is in some burning military base, hunting for the details on this Subjekt-17.
Here, writer Kurt Busiek does something slightly interesting, almost Planetaryesque (yes, I just invented that word), with Subjekt-17's origin. You see, in 1949, a spaceship crashed somewhere in Russia. The pilot was dead, but further inside the ship was a pregnant female alien. She died on the operating table, but the child lived and was subjected to all sorts of nasty experiments over the years.
The interesting part is how it's described. Supes' friend tells him, "But in Earth's atmosphere, under our sun, her skin was growing harder, her musculature more dense . . . The infant began developing super-powers as well. But slowly, perhaps due to his youth." Sound familiar?
However, Busiek ruins it by having Superman narrate, "My heart goes out to him -- and I know that had my spaceship landed in the wrong place so many years ago, had been found by the wrong people--" Because subtle, allusive storytelling is somehow worse than being downright obvious about it. In fact, most of Superman's narration is obvious, overwrought and unnecessary. It helps set the stage at the beginning and recap the story, but after, it reminds me of old comics where the narration described what the character was doing in the panel. Busiek should know better, especially when he has someone as skilled as Carlos Pacheco providing the art (which is nothing but gorgeous throughout).
The story itself gets interesting as Subjekt-17's intelligence grows and he becomes angry at Superman for being an alien like him, but helping the humans that spent decades torturing him. And not only that, Subjekt-17's powers are growing and it's looking more and more like the only way to stop him will be to kill him--that is, until some weird time-traveller shows up and ends the fight on the second-last page.
Sorry, I spoiled the totally unanticipated ending that I didn't think Busiek capable of producing. It's hack work. He had a compelling, interesting story and ruined it with a deus ex machina in the form of someone named Arion of Atlantis, who says he's here to help Superman prevent a living hell created by Superman's "own ignorant hand." Okay, I'll admit this is interesting, but was it worth ruining the other story? Couldn't there have been some way for the Subjekt-17 story to be resolved and THEN have Arion show up and tell Superman he's an idiot (which he outright does)?
I would like to see Subjekt-17 return, because it's an interesting twist on Superman's own origin and could make for a great recurring villain. But, who's to tell, because Arion sent him somewhere and there's no telling what that means.
Overall, the story was interesting, the narration irritating, and the ending a fucking joke, but the art was fantastic. I'm actually tempted to pick up the next issue because I'm on board with any story that's about how Superman is stupid and fucks up the world. But, damn, Busiek, that ending? Come on, man, you're better than that.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Not-So-Random Reading: Identity Crisis
Picked up the trade edition of Identity Crisis today and figured it would be a good book to discuss here. I knew last week I would get it today. I was actually going to pick it up last week, but since the bookstore had both volumes if Authority: Revolution, I didn't want to take my chances that both volumes would still be there this week.
I read Identity Crisis when it first came out since my dad was buying it. Can't say that it impressed me at the time. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. Mostly, it made me just sort of shrug in apathy--except for the Batman mindwipe thing, which annoyed me a lot (but I'll discuss that in a few moments). But, reading a story like this when it comes out in serial form isn't the same as reading it in one sitting. It was obviously designed to be read in a single sitting (or something approximating one, similar to a novel--not spread over seven months--if it came out on time, which I can't remember if it did the entire way through).
I will say this: the first issue really got me this time. It is engaging on both a plot/story level and an emotional one. You feel for Ralph. It's obvious what's coming--and Meltzer is self-conscious about it in Ralph's narration--but even so, he puts it in a solid emotional context.
The only downside, really, of that first issue is the art because Rags Morales draws the dumbest-looking eyes I've ever seen. Throughout the entire book, I was constantly distracted by goofy, way too big eyes. Goddamn, I hate them.
I don't know where the story lost me, but it was somewhere in issue two or three. Probably when the focus shifted to the villains. Took me right out of the story. In the larger structure of the story, I can see why Meltzer did it, but I don't think it works. In a story about family and superheroes, giving the other side a voice like that kills the point. It doesn't matter if you're trying to show that they have the same concerns (as in the Captain Boomerang subplot) because, as is pointed out several times, the villains would use the heroes' families to hurt them, while the heroes wouldn't do that.
The narration throughout, actually, posed a problem for me. The only real constant voice we get is Green Arrow's plus whichever voice is convenient to the story. Here's a quick breakdown of narrators:
Issue one: Ralph, Superman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Bolt, Sue, Robin, Black Lightning, and the Atom. Plus, the omniscient voice that tells us the where, when and who of the scene.
Issue two: the Atom, Green Arrow, Merlyn, Dr. Mid-Nite, and the omniscient voice.
Issue three: Green Arrow, Robin, and the omniscient voice.
Issue four: the Atom, Green Arrow, Batman, Lois Lane, and the omniscient voice.
Issue five: Green Arrow, the Atom, either Captain Boomerang or his son (it isn't clear as there are only two captions with this voice, and either could be thinking it), Robin, and the omniscient voice.
Issue six: Batman, Green Arrow, and the omniscient voice.
Issue seven: the Atom, Green Arrow, Superman, and the omniscient voice.
As a whole story, it comes across as fragmented and uneven. Perhaps, as individual issues, it isn't as jarring--I certainly didn't notice it when I read it as a serial. This time, though, it was painfully obvious. As the list shows, certain narrators showed up a lot, especially Green Arrow. In fact, Green Arrow's narration is the only one that rarely lasted for more than a page or two. Most shifts in narration only lasted for a page or two (or, in the case of the Captain Boomerang/his son, one panel).
This problem stems from the fact that Meltzer tries too hard to make it a universal, affecting everyone story when it isn't that kind of story. Okay, it is in the sense that it does affect everyone, but those viewpoints are often showed through Green Arrow's narration--so why bother with the others? Meltzer seems to realise this after the first Dr. Mid-Nite narration where he begins the autopsy, because the next time we see him, Mr. Terrific is there so there's someone he can talk to instead of using first-person narration. I'm certain most of the other excess narrators could have been excised, focusing the story more and giving it a consistent voice.
While I'm on stuff that bothered me: how did the heroes not check the Dibnys' phone records? Mister Miracle says, after Jean (Atom's ex-wife) is "attacked," that there are seventeen ways to get past the defences these houses have and I'm certain he knows the phone is one. Shit, how many episodes of Law & Order include checking phone records? Um, like all of them (probably not all, but a very large majority). "Shit, she got a call from the Atom's ex-wife right before dying. Maybe we shoul check that out."
Actually, while checking on the murder just now, I'm confused how it actually happened. In the first issue, Sue is talking to Alfred (Batman's butler) on the phone, hangs up, hears a noise elsewhere in the house and then later we see her attacked and burned--and had apparently called for help using the JLA signalling device. And then, in the final issue, we see that Jean got into Sue's brain through the phone (so what was the noise Sue heard in the house?), causing a blockage--which, strangely enough, still gives Sue enough time to signal for help somehow. That, and the fact that the various showings of the murder have conflicting ideas. First, she's seemingly thrown onto a table, but then it's because her brain is all fucked up (with the phone on the table exactly as she left it in the first issue), but then she's on her knees convulsing because her brain is all fucked up (right after she answered the phone and let Jean into her brain, which apparently fucks her up immediately--so how did she place the phone down calmly on the table?).
Maybe it works, but I'm not seeing it.
Now, for the Batman problem. When I first read the series, I didn't believe Batman would give a fuck about Dr. Lite and the League messing with his brain. To me, Batman has one line: murder. He won't kill a bad guy, but he'll do anything and everything else. But, Green Arrow says something that I missed before (and a friend I debated the issue with hinted at, but I dismissed--so I was wrong): "Bruce would never stand for it. Not without his say-so." A good line that invalidates my argument. Batman doesn't care, he's just an asshole control freak. Fair enough.
For the most part, the story was good. I especially enjoyed the fight with Deathstroke in issue three (although, why didn't Green Arrow just stab Deathstroke in his working eye and, you know, get rid of a villain/assassin--I know, because that would be like killing him off, in a way, and you can't do that--except to minor, supporting characters like Sue Dibny and Jack Drake). The mystery was compelling and did make sense, with a few lines and panels early on that seem more ominous if you know Jean is the killer already.
But, shit, the narration (which, even though I don't like the technique Meltzer uses, is always well-written), goofy eyes and the murder itself bugged the fuck out of me. Definitely enjoyed it more than the first time I read it, though, and would recommend picking it up.
I read Identity Crisis when it first came out since my dad was buying it. Can't say that it impressed me at the time. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. Mostly, it made me just sort of shrug in apathy--except for the Batman mindwipe thing, which annoyed me a lot (but I'll discuss that in a few moments). But, reading a story like this when it comes out in serial form isn't the same as reading it in one sitting. It was obviously designed to be read in a single sitting (or something approximating one, similar to a novel--not spread over seven months--if it came out on time, which I can't remember if it did the entire way through).
I will say this: the first issue really got me this time. It is engaging on both a plot/story level and an emotional one. You feel for Ralph. It's obvious what's coming--and Meltzer is self-conscious about it in Ralph's narration--but even so, he puts it in a solid emotional context.
The only downside, really, of that first issue is the art because Rags Morales draws the dumbest-looking eyes I've ever seen. Throughout the entire book, I was constantly distracted by goofy, way too big eyes. Goddamn, I hate them.
I don't know where the story lost me, but it was somewhere in issue two or three. Probably when the focus shifted to the villains. Took me right out of the story. In the larger structure of the story, I can see why Meltzer did it, but I don't think it works. In a story about family and superheroes, giving the other side a voice like that kills the point. It doesn't matter if you're trying to show that they have the same concerns (as in the Captain Boomerang subplot) because, as is pointed out several times, the villains would use the heroes' families to hurt them, while the heroes wouldn't do that.
The narration throughout, actually, posed a problem for me. The only real constant voice we get is Green Arrow's plus whichever voice is convenient to the story. Here's a quick breakdown of narrators:
Issue one: Ralph, Superman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Bolt, Sue, Robin, Black Lightning, and the Atom. Plus, the omniscient voice that tells us the where, when and who of the scene.
Issue two: the Atom, Green Arrow, Merlyn, Dr. Mid-Nite, and the omniscient voice.
Issue three: Green Arrow, Robin, and the omniscient voice.
Issue four: the Atom, Green Arrow, Batman, Lois Lane, and the omniscient voice.
Issue five: Green Arrow, the Atom, either Captain Boomerang or his son (it isn't clear as there are only two captions with this voice, and either could be thinking it), Robin, and the omniscient voice.
Issue six: Batman, Green Arrow, and the omniscient voice.
Issue seven: the Atom, Green Arrow, Superman, and the omniscient voice.
As a whole story, it comes across as fragmented and uneven. Perhaps, as individual issues, it isn't as jarring--I certainly didn't notice it when I read it as a serial. This time, though, it was painfully obvious. As the list shows, certain narrators showed up a lot, especially Green Arrow. In fact, Green Arrow's narration is the only one that rarely lasted for more than a page or two. Most shifts in narration only lasted for a page or two (or, in the case of the Captain Boomerang/his son, one panel).
This problem stems from the fact that Meltzer tries too hard to make it a universal, affecting everyone story when it isn't that kind of story. Okay, it is in the sense that it does affect everyone, but those viewpoints are often showed through Green Arrow's narration--so why bother with the others? Meltzer seems to realise this after the first Dr. Mid-Nite narration where he begins the autopsy, because the next time we see him, Mr. Terrific is there so there's someone he can talk to instead of using first-person narration. I'm certain most of the other excess narrators could have been excised, focusing the story more and giving it a consistent voice.
While I'm on stuff that bothered me: how did the heroes not check the Dibnys' phone records? Mister Miracle says, after Jean (Atom's ex-wife) is "attacked," that there are seventeen ways to get past the defences these houses have and I'm certain he knows the phone is one. Shit, how many episodes of Law & Order include checking phone records? Um, like all of them (probably not all, but a very large majority). "Shit, she got a call from the Atom's ex-wife right before dying. Maybe we shoul check that out."
Actually, while checking on the murder just now, I'm confused how it actually happened. In the first issue, Sue is talking to Alfred (Batman's butler) on the phone, hangs up, hears a noise elsewhere in the house and then later we see her attacked and burned--and had apparently called for help using the JLA signalling device. And then, in the final issue, we see that Jean got into Sue's brain through the phone (so what was the noise Sue heard in the house?), causing a blockage--which, strangely enough, still gives Sue enough time to signal for help somehow. That, and the fact that the various showings of the murder have conflicting ideas. First, she's seemingly thrown onto a table, but then it's because her brain is all fucked up (with the phone on the table exactly as she left it in the first issue), but then she's on her knees convulsing because her brain is all fucked up (right after she answered the phone and let Jean into her brain, which apparently fucks her up immediately--so how did she place the phone down calmly on the table?).
Maybe it works, but I'm not seeing it.
Now, for the Batman problem. When I first read the series, I didn't believe Batman would give a fuck about Dr. Lite and the League messing with his brain. To me, Batman has one line: murder. He won't kill a bad guy, but he'll do anything and everything else. But, Green Arrow says something that I missed before (and a friend I debated the issue with hinted at, but I dismissed--so I was wrong): "Bruce would never stand for it. Not without his say-so." A good line that invalidates my argument. Batman doesn't care, he's just an asshole control freak. Fair enough.
For the most part, the story was good. I especially enjoyed the fight with Deathstroke in issue three (although, why didn't Green Arrow just stab Deathstroke in his working eye and, you know, get rid of a villain/assassin--I know, because that would be like killing him off, in a way, and you can't do that--except to minor, supporting characters like Sue Dibny and Jack Drake). The mystery was compelling and did make sense, with a few lines and panels early on that seem more ominous if you know Jean is the killer already.
But, shit, the narration (which, even though I don't like the technique Meltzer uses, is always well-written), goofy eyes and the murder itself bugged the fuck out of me. Definitely enjoyed it more than the first time I read it, though, and would recommend picking it up.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
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