Wednesday's Loot - 06 December 2006

Well the end of the year is rapidly approaching and I'm apparently buying more comics.

52 Week 31
Okay Cpt. Comet? Ew. Just ew. I'm pretty sure people are right about Booster Gold and Supernova. And I did enjoy Ralph's part of the story this week. I'm a sucker for detective stories with mystical helmet sidekicks I guess. Plus, I'm telling you people - repeatedly - Ralph and helmet are the parallel to Booster and Skeets. Why do you think it was him talking to Supernova? Otherwise the entire space battle as a setup for the next installment of the space bound heroes was quite clever in my book. I guess they've teamed up with Akron's head now. I do like that their story went from castaways to one big-bad head chasing them while relying on an outsider to being faced with gruesomely powerful almost insurmountable odds. And the bug-dude Green Lantern earring = brilliant flourish.
I rate this comic: A decent Sci-fi battle and other creepiness/setups.

Agents of Atlas #5
Another fun issue of a really great team based book. This is the issue where the team throws the smackdown on each other then makes up. I like this team a lot, Parker has a great sense of character dialogue and interaction. If you haven't been buying these get the trade when it's out or better yet, seek the back issues. It'll be a great read for your flight home to spend time with the family. And it'll show you that talking gorillas, aliens and robots wouldn't make your family gatherings more fun they would just add explosions which are deadly in real life.
I rate this comic: Still fantastic, if not getting better.

Manhunter #26
I'm glad I managed to get this after getting #25 so long ago. I thought I may have missed an issue or two but "yay!" Again, why the fuck wasn't I reading this before? This really is the series for me. Clever dialogue that is self aware, separate and distinct characters that act and sound like individuals with interesting plots. Tell me you didn't snicker when Kate asks why the courts waited over a year to get to this point? The relationship with Wonder Woman is something I like as well. She should be a tutor. Makes sense that she should help a sister out. I do wish I had read more than just this issue and the last issue because I don't really know anything about any of the characters (other than the fact they're well written). I'm on for the long haul here folks. And that preview should cause some general pants defiling for the fans of that guy.
I rate this comic: Exactly the type of comic I like.

Detective Comics #826
Some dodgy art aside this was the best issue of Robin I've ever read! What? This was... ah, damn. Okay, best issue of Detective that focusses on Robin I've read in a long time. I think Dini should put on classes about writing Joker stories. The Joker is unbelievably disturbing in this issue but his antics hit the evil funny bone for me at least. And that punch to the teeth was just nasty of Robin. Damn, that kid got cold. I do think "going Batman on his ass" should be used more often but with the whole gay subtext and generally homophobic jokes at their expense, having Robin deliver the line is kind of unfortunate, or brilliant. I can't decide. Still, this was a great Holiday story even if I couldn't tell that was Dick Grayson or Bruce Wayne.
I rate this comic: My surprising Holiday Special.

hypnoray: Phase Beta Commences

I've been working on a post about media convergence since Monday but work and life have gotten in the way again. It seems that not blogging is the new black these days on the internerd. It will go up at some point between grumbling about having the work Christmas Party cancelled and other holiday merryment. I've also just caved and hit the "yes I want to use Blogger Beta" button because I got tired of being asked about it every time I logged in.

Pride of Baghdad
This is a fantastic book that is all around engaging and has Brian K. Vaughn's answer to the age old question of who would win - Grizzly Bear or Lion? The answer was a bit of a cop-out but still pretty bloody as you'd expect with a touch of melodrama. But honestly, I don't need the lion rape.

Gray and Greyer

I haven’t posted some reviews of comic trades you’ve probably already read a long time ago, in a while. So here goes.

Today you get Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things and The Incredible Hulk: Ground Zero. Now, I also read two Hellblazer trades – Staring at the Wall and Stations of the Cross – but by now you probably know that I’m enjoying his dark arts a bit too much. All I’ll say is that I was happy to read a couple of story arcs in context and I like how the apocalypse isn’t really avoided with any consequences. Good stuff, just hide it from the kids or your Christian friends who point out evil things. Unless you like fingers stuffed in your face, then whatever.

I wasn’t too sure I should have been requesting Courtney Crumrin books from the library but I figured I could tell them it was for my kid or something if anyone asked. Thankfully nobody seems to be taking out the comics but the kids so, really I shouldn’t mention what a great, free, source of comics the Ottawa Public Library is so I can keep it to myself. But I had heard good things about the series and I was looking for something that was an easy escape from my generally cynical existence these days.

Yeah, if you’ve read this comic you’ll see the irony of that last statement. Wow, this is not a happy lovely kids book. It’s a brilliantly insightful collection of stories about the pain and agony of growing into a world that is essentially a shell of everything you were told it was. Your parents are fake, unthinking gobs of humanity trying to sound important and appear impressive without actually working to do anything important or impressive. And the people they are trying to impress have themselves not actually done anything except have their parents die and leave them money. So this isn’t exactly the tween or teenage version of Baby Einstein videos.

What it is, is fucking brilliant. This is the kind of comic I’ll be giving my kids, especially if I have a daughter who likes to read. It is the perfect mix of fantasy and reality that really just treats its intended audience as someone who wants a good story instead of a fragile mind waiting to be molded into banality. This is the goth cousin of the frantic Muppet Show that actually gave my generation a sense of humour and sense of adventure and play. Yes I know we’re talking two different mediums for two different age groups. If I was forced to compare this comic to other comics I’d say its closest relation would be the Scott Pilgrim books. One writer artist in black and white that focus around a charming lead character in an interesting world that goes off into wild directions – only one has video games and the other has witchcraft.

The Hulky Stuff
So is this meant to be good or bad Peter David? I can’t remember which story arcs people liked him writing because I’m not the biggest Hulk fan in the world. I gave up on Planet Hulk even though I was basically enjoying it. Then again I was enjoying Aquaman as well and gave up. Really for no particular reason either. They just weren’t doing something for me.

Anyway there were a couple of things I couldn’t get over in this. The first was the horrible typo on the back cover. It’s “an end” Marvel, not “and end.” I know you’re the “art” focused group but c’mon. And the other was that every white male character seemed to have the same haircut. They all looked like that zombie skeleton from The Cramps album cover of Bad Music for Bad People. I know both of these aren’t Peter David’s fault – most likely an editor and Todd McFarlin, but I had a hard time getting over it.

As for the actual story it’s really great superhero action. The Hulk is like a vampire that’s in his grey and smart phase and is trying to go with the help of Rick Jones and some rogue SHIELD agent to get rid of the US government’s stockpile of gamma bombs. What ensues is something you don’t see anymore in comics. A story arc that is connected and works together as a larger story but each separate issue can be read on its own. If nothing else, this showed me that comics haven’t really evolved because they have eliminated the need for craft. When you don’t need to force a story to fit a format then what’s the point of the format?

I don’t want to get into the writing for the trade thing again but honestly, I really like this type of storytelling. A plot is furthered but each stop on the journey is separate and unique. It was used well in television series like Alias, Angel and Buffy and in comics of the past but really hasn’t been seen that much lately. Or maybe just not in what I read and I don’t read that much anymore.

This is a great timepiece that has visual flaws – dated artwork (not a big deal really), but when it’s one uber-glossy paper you wonder why they didn’t redo the colouring? But the structure, pacing and plot are simply fantastic and show what skills have really been lost in the evolution of comics. Yes, I am missing the old days because they were actually better in this particular case.

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day Five - The Outsiders

Yes, The Outsiders, because let's face it - I couldn't do any worse.

Tomorrow I'll have some actual content that isn't so snarky. Sorry to whoever is actually writing The Outsiders these days. You are a nice person and you have more talent in your toenail clippings than I have in my entire being.

Wednesday's Loot - 29 November 2006

52 Week 30
The Batman is dead. Long live Batman. Plus a nicely self-aware Nightwing and Robin with a Metal Men backup.
I rate this comic: Good stuff.

Yes I know I should have bought the Spirit and Batman crossover but I'm not in the mood to spend that much money on a comic. I'm saving for X-mas gifts.

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day Four - X-Axis

X- Axis

I noticed I haven't mentioned any Marvel ideas and to be honest I'm only buying Agents of Atlas these days so I'm a bit out of the idea loop.

This is probably the easiest idea I came up with. Well, I saw the name on some other blog that I can’t recall, but still. It’s about the X-men villains and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in particular. All that this book requires is that I’d get a copy of the X-men script from whoever was writing it and I’d rewrite the story from the villain point of view.

That’s it. Villain point of view for every single X-men issue. I'd make millions. Millions I say.

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day Three - Nightwing

Okay, seems like Comics I'd Write for Cheap Week was only 2 days last week because of my days off and job interviews and stuff. Fingers crossed. I could actually be happily employed elsewhere which means better posting here.

On with the post!

I’m taking Nightwing because of the whole “he’s crap and I know how to fix/kill him vibe that’s going around the net these days.” Yeah, he was supposed to die but didn’t. Whatever.

A while back I think I sort of mentioned how I’d fix Nightwing but I’m too lazy to search through my own files so I’ll probably repeat myself a bit. My first idea was to try and re-establish him in Gotham. Bring Blockbuster back into the picture and go the whole “gangster war” route with him. Blockbuster and Penguin are trying to rule the streets maybe? And there’s Nightwing beating up people – but in a light hearted sort of way. I’d cut his hair and only have him pout when Batman points at him and says “NO!” Otherwise, no more emo bullshit. It’s been done. It’s time he sucked it up and became a man with a plan.

I think this may be happening in the title, but I’m also just making it up. Did, The Monitor show up and tell him he was supposed to be dead? If so, I think that’s a great idea. I think Nightwing should be picked up and thrown to the alternate reality dogs. In fact, I like that term a lot and they’d be villains even if that idea seems to have remained in my subconscious from the days I read Excalibur and those chrome dogs chases that phoenix chick around.

I think the one thing Nightwing is missing is more exposure. I’d like to see him become DC’s version of Wolverine. There should be like Nightwing month or something where he guest stars in every single title – even the Vertigo ones because he is hit by the “Split Infinities Ray” and is sent to every existing reality at once.

My other idea was to have Connor Hawk show up a whole bunch so they could hang out. Kind of like Iggy Pop and David Bowie, but Connor seems to be busy these days what with the JLA and all. Actually that could be fun. Connor shows up but is basically too busy being called away by the JLA to really help Nightwing. They’d be chilling at the Bat and Arrow Pub to watch some hockey and Connor would be called away to fight Gorilla Grodd or Starro. They’d be on a stake out and Connor would be beamed aboard the satellite because of an emergency backup response system. Fun stuff.

But then it hit me. Nightwing doesn’t need to be a well adjusted adult who is just hitting 30 and helps Robin and Batman from time to time. He needs to be the guy who adopts Rex the Wonderdog. And slowly, the book can become more and more about Nightwing being captured and Rex rescuing him until Nightwing doesn’t even appear anymore for issues on end until everyone forgets about him and the internet stops its bitching for ever and ever.

That would be awesome.

Thursday's Loot - 23 November 2006

52 Week 29
A great play on the JSA JLA Thanksgiving issues opens up this week of 52 and it quickly turns into Mark Waid’s rehash of Kingdom Come only mutated to fit the Everyman Project. I am liking the fact that there is a bold Luthor plot as one of the main parts of 52. It wouldn’t really be the DCU without that would it? And Wildcat putting his mitts on the table – brilliant. Then Mad Scientist a go-go with an homage to The Life of Brian.
I rate this comic: Another solid issue of 52.

Godland #14
I liked this comic from the moment it said “The atmosphere is thick with scheming beauty.” And the phallic missile plot to hit the egg centre of the Earth was quick fun as well. Then the rest of the issue feels a lot like a setup for future plots. Not the best issue of Godland I’ve read but still a good comic overall.
I rate this comic: Best mention of Superman Returns in comics.

Kirby Meme

Naturally, I can't seem to post images today (when I want to) so follow the links for the images.

I was tagged by Plok a while back on the Jack Kirby Character Design Meme and didn’t realize it. Sorry Plok, I didn’t read your blog for a while, I’ve been off the net, kind of – well reading it anyway. I was out of the office yesterday and away from my computer for most of it so no update yet on comics I'd write cheaply (I know you're all waiting on tenderhooks for that) and I didn't even get to the shop to make a purchase. That probably means I'll miss out on Godland.

I’m not all too sure what to do since my knowledge of comic book history is, shady, at best but non-existent is more appropriate. Which is sort of what I’ve been working to remedy with the help of the public library and my own hard earned cash. Sure I won’t be collecting old issues or anything but with the collections out there I’m reading a lot of stuff I normally wouldn’t pick up if I had to pay collector’s prices for them.

Anyway, I looked up a bit of online Kirby history and I fired up Freedom Force on my PC again to get in the mood. So far Doom, Thing and Silver Surfer have been covered. All great choices in themselves for the reasons stated – inhuman pathos, pride and power, and the streamlined stylized human form.

I wasn’t honestly sure which way to go here with Kirby. I do think that his more garish, throw everything at a character’s costume design is more emblematic of Kirby’s approach to comics in general. I love Omac’s Mohawk (Mohican to you Brits out there) and Black Bolt’s tuning fork field goal setup, but RAB covered him already. I would normally go for Black Bolt because he’s a badass who wants you to make fun of that accessory – but that’s not exactly a comment on his design per se.

There’s the excesses of the entire Fourth World costumes, Galactus, MODOK, and Thor that get countered by the simple jumpsuits of the Challengers of the Unknown, the protohuman abstract of the Silver Surfer and Kamandi as, basically, Thor in his blue fur underpants. I’m also a fan of Captain America being the living embodiment of the American Flag with his warrior’s winged helm – yes it’s a bit gaudy but so is the source material, sorry. Happy Thanksgiving down there by the way.

So what is all this rambling about anyway? Well it’s me saying I found it hard to choose between 3 real contenders. As much as I wanted to go for the emblematic Kirby flourishes I was drawn towards his simpler approach. In other words I tried to find his Revolver instead of his Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

With that I looked at the original X-men. Yeah they’re a bit goofy but they’re also very eye-catching. To me they use old school colouring techniques to their highest with bold contrasting colours draped over different human forms. They look like three character studies – man, woman, hulking man body types that have become the staple of every single superhero creation screen in video games. But they weren’t my choice.

Neither was Devil Dinosaur. I love the look of Devil Dinosaur. I mean it’s a Tyranosaurus but it’s bright red. It just embodies mean, rip you a-twain chompy stompy comic book goodness. Plus he’s always jumping which I’m pretty sure a T-Rex couldn’t do but who cares. He’s mean and totally inhuman in the same way Etrigan embodied the same aspects in a more human form.

Nope, in the end I went with Kirby’s creation that is having the most successful revival these days. Machine Man. Look at him. He’s essentially one colour with a few contour lines that allow the character to divide, extend or have any other deus ex machina apparatus at the main points of figure articulation. Like the Silver Surfer he’s been streamlined which reflects his robotic nature and those freaky bug-eyes keep him from being too visibly human. Not only in their bug-eyed look but in the fact that they clash horribly with the main color of the character. Now, all that streamlining to one side what is it about the character that really makes him stand out for me? It is the fact that all this streamlining allows Kirby to showcase his approach to art through the character. Because the character is a robot with random points of extension, we’re constantly allowed to see the comic in Kirby-rama perspectovision.

So I’ll tag Kevin and Mr. Sterling, if they’re feeling generous, because I know Kevin is a devout Kirby follower and Sterling has a much more encyclopedic knowledge of comics than I’ll ever have. I’ll also tag Kalinara because I really like her perspective and sense of humour.

Cormier, Jon Cormier

I saw the new Bond movie last night. It was one X-ray eyeball short of being perfect.

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day Two - The Marvel Family

The Marvel Family

Okay, this is really my least thought out idea of those I’ll present this week. I figured it’s best to just sort of get it out now instead of waiting all week for inspiration and then disappointing everyone with a BIG Friday reveal that is essentially – crap.

Forget Earth’s Mightiest Mortal, let’s focus on his family. That ragtag group of individuals that are generational and gender derivatives of the big red cheese. They need to be aware of their place in the DCU and know that they’re essentially derivative of Cpt. Marvel. And that’s what a lot of people forget. He isn’t Shazam, he’s Captain Marvel. So let’s make this group of people military brats with the Wizard Shazam as their mystical Charlie.

They can move from place to place across America and the world just like a military family being relocated and transferred from base to base. What’s the reason? They can be the core DCU version of John Constantine. Yes, I know there’s the Shadowpact but this is more about the “solving problems by applying brute force repeatedly” approach to mystical incidents. Plus time traveling and space travel. Why? Because I can.

This book should be aimed at a slightly younger audience and be a slightly veiled comic book substitute of a Geography textbook that explores local myths and legends. Again, I think it should be a done in one single issue approach with cartoony goodness and bright colours. I guess they’re my Mighty Scooby Gang in many ways – but with less haunted theme parks.

As for the cast, it should be Captain Marvel if he’s available but definitely Mary Marvel, Cpt. Marvel Junior, and Uncle Marvel with a few guest stars along the way like Spy Smasher and Mr. Tawky Tawny – only more of a Tellos or Thundercats looking type of guy instead of cartoon tiger in a zoot suit.

What would some of their adventures be like you ask? Let’s brainstorm:

1 – Because every first issue needs a guest star they’d go to Gotham for Halloween and the Solomon Grundy story. Guess who would guess star? Everyone’s favorite hero – Robin!
2 – Off to the deserts of America where there are stories of coyotes with mythical trickster powers – turns out it’s Dr. Sivana and his animal men.
3 – They go up to Washington state to deal with Big Foot who has been terrifying campers.
4 – Up to Alaska where Inuit legends are coming to life around the northern communities – turns out it was a dismantled Mr. Atom who is being unearthed and reassembled by The Red Crusher as a neo-soviet attack robot to house The Great Red Brain and the radiation is affecting people’s imaginations.
5 – They go to Norway or somewhere in Scandinavia to deal with a ghost Viking longboat. Turns out it’s King Kull.
6 – In this issue they try to solve the mystery of the mummy in Egypt but also have to deal with Black Adam.
7 – They meet up with Mr. Tawky Tawny somewhere in generic “Africa” and deal with Anansi the Spider plus third world politics.
8 – To England where they deal with high tech highwaymen or maybe the Loch Ness Monster.
9 – They go to China to deal with the mad Coy Fish Dragon which is burning a swathe through the countryside and they’re forced to team up with Black Alice.
10 – To the Swamps of Louisiana where they deal with some hoodoo voodoo and meet Swamp Thing and they agree water pollution is bad.
11 – Off to Transylvania to deal with vampires.
12 – Big meet up with Black Adam and Dr. Sivana as they investigate the case of The Mummers in Newfoundland.

Like I said, this is my mighty mystical version of Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I need to give a shout out to Marvel Family where I pretty much just looked at their list of characters and threw them into my “plot ideas” regardless of whether or not I may be “right.”

Comics I'd Write for Cheap - Day one - The Brave and The Bold

This week I've decided will be brainstorming week where I tell you about comics I'd write, not for free, but for a low pay scale. Other people, more passionate than I have offered to write stuff for free, but I'm now a married man so I gotta get paid. Sorry I won't link to you if you've written something on your blog that you'd write for free because I don't want to miss anyone accidentally. Or I can't remember who did this already and I'm too lazy to find out - just mention it in the comments or something.

Brave and the Bold

I’m calling this book, The Brave and the Bold because it’s a heritage title and works with the characters. I wouldn’t make it an ever-changing team up book like it used to be because let’s face it they’d have about 4 team ups a year in these days of decompressed stories. And that’s assuming it stays of schedule. Not me. I’d make this book about Batwoman and Renee Montoya’s version of The Question. I'm predicting here, obviously. And as many single issue stories as possible.

No it wouldn’t be a lesbians on ecstasy book. In fact I’d make their relationship more like Elaine and Jerry’s relationship from Seinfeld instead of Ross and Rachel from Friends. The whole one hero loves the other who doesn’t love her back shtick has been done. Not here. Here there’d only be the occasional awkward mention when someone like Superman asks them how they met and they’d have to explain they used to date and that no, it’s not weird to work together and be friends. So, adult and normal instead of painfully cliched.

The big question would be why would Gotham need another dynamic duo – in addition to the Birds of Prey? The Birds of Prey are in Gotham right? I should probably read that book at some point, right? Well, it’s simple really. They’d be the Gotham version of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow team up dealing with timely issues. You know, things like environmental politics or low voter turn out for the municipal election – with kicks to the face at a premium.

They could deal with the ex-Batman villains and the occasional top billing villain who is a Gotham staple or just visiting. While Batman fights in the shadows against the core corruption at the heart of Gotham, these heroes would essentially protect Gotham’s borders. They’d be the minutemen of Gotham, without the current hatred of Mexico you see on those news stories of old white guys watching a fence in the desert. I’d keep them on as protection against Intergang and their efforts to rebuild. I like the idea of Intergang and these two staying on basically to thwart them.

Who could they fight?

Well, let’s brainstorm. Just off the top of my head I’d do the following issues:
1 - Intergang imports a Rocket Red suit, and it’s used for evil – they fight it.
2 - Intergang tries to obtain the Spear of Destiny – it’s a fake or some other macguffin.
3 - The War-Brides come to blow shit up – they get foiled.
4 - That plant man from Detective Comics shows up – the one that Paul Dini just created that was trying to kill Poison Ivy because she’s evil.
5 - They team up with Birds of Prey to bring down, I don’t know, let’s say, Bizarro Superman.
6 - They beat up pimps for like 22 pages solid.
7 - The Phantom Stranger shows up and they need to fight some demons and other crazy stuff because someone used the dark arts irresponsibly – like drugs or some other thinly veiled message.
8 - They fight Robot Devil – because I just saw that episode of Angel with the Luchadores and I love the idea of the Devil’s robot – but this would just be a robot that looks like the devil – it has flamethrowers.
9 - Intergang unleashes a new designer drug so the heroes can get all preachy.
10 - They track a shipment of Kryptonite to Metropolis in an attempt to save Superman from certain doom – Batman helps.
11 - Captain Cold comes to town and Mr. Freeze doesn’t take kindly to it - also Icicle shows up.
12 - Because Chris’s idea blew my mind, they’d fight The Karate Shark.

And there is a list of 12 single issues for a year. I’d just, you know, have to actually write them or arrange for a presentation at an elementary school where I talk about how cool my job is as a comic book writer and suggest an exercise for writing stories and steal the work of the children.

I could set up a few of these in each previous comic so there are a few continuation threads playing along. And I could add some random dude to each comic like how Hitchcock would show up in each of his movies.

Tune in tomorrow to see what else I’d write – cheaply. I mean, besides this content.

Helping Kevin

Because I don't really have anything to post today after yesterday's bout with mysterious alien influenza I'm helping out Kevin with a random panel meme. Go grab your own copy and get your photoshop on.

Wednesday's Loot - 15 November 2006

52 Week 28
More space adventure but it seemed a bit confused to me. Also looking like a new Question will appear soon which feels unnecessary to me.
I rate this comic: Still coming out weekly.

I also read Grant Morrison's Seaguy last night. It's pretty fucked up. If you like the insane wacked out version of Morrison's writing then this book is for you. It's bright, it's funny, it's weird and depressing all mixed into one ball of genuine insanity.

Maybe I'm just dense...

...but I read Kingdom Come this weekend and, honestly, I don't see what the big fricken deal is. Seriously. It was dull, boring, I would even venture. I did like the older version of Superman with the black in the S-shield, but the rest was just sort of confusing and generally lost on me.

After looking at the very last page where the different group-shot covers are listed with who and what the characters are I think I figured this one out. It's like Saturday Night Live when I was in middle school. You stayed up late (I was an hour behind so it was on at midnight) watched it and didn't find it all that funny, but Monday morning we'd sit around and recap it and all laugh our asses off.

I think this story is simply better when related second hand. I bet it was an easy sell because trying to describe it and relate it to someone makes it sound like a good story. But the actual story isn't exactly good - well to me at least.

On a better note - Dungeon Twighlight, Vol 1 was awesome, as was Hellblazer: Rare Cuts.

Then again, I couldn't make it past a few pages of Julie Doucet's My Most Secret Desire or Daniel Clowes Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron. I just can't read stuff that is very obvious but thinks it is something deeper - or maybe the joke was just lost on me. If you want to laugh at me for not being smart enough to get those books go ahead because I'll laugh at you for being a wanker. I like my obvious books with a heaping helping of entertainment thank you very much.

Wednesday's Loot - 8 November 2006

52 Week 27
Ralph sort of gets his vengeance on then self-flagellates while we are pretty much hand fed the fact that Batwoman is important. I actually like how Ralph and Dr. Fate’s helmet are the new Booster Gold and Skeets, only more emo for the new generation. I’m still waiting to see whether or not Renee becomes the new Question, which I could live with but see as a bit unnecessary at the moment. Whatever, I can swing with it.
I rate this comic: Back to the “setting things up” week.

Batman #658
This issue starts with the line “It’s not about the flying bat-ninjas” but I have to say, it is EXACTLY about the flying bat-ninjas. I have a co-worker who says it’s never a complete evil plan without flying monkeys. But I have to say it is a totally awesome plan with flying bat-ninjas. There are some additional explosions and the promise of a Joker story next issue. The end.
I rate this comic: Your monthly helping of ninja man-bats.

Action Philosophers #7
Some of the missing Greek philosophers appear in this issue.
I rate this comic: Extremely worth your while.

Lazy ass post

Sorry, didn't have a chance to read any comics today but this recording of a guy witnessing a car accident where four elderly women end up beating a man made me laugh.

Which reminds me about this time...

Okay, I'm about to go all "bad stand up comic" on you. Or possibly bad social critic. Sorry, no comics today. Haven't read many recently but tomorrow's Wednesday so that should change.

I'm going to mention how I don't like certain elements of society. I feel they lower our collective IQ and general happiness index quotients.

I'm talking about people who are in-fucking-capable of ordering a coffee and paying for it in under ten minutes. It's ridiculous. Seriously. There should be gated communities for people who need to dig through various items of clothing for a couple of bucks and then have to pay for their coffee with a bank card and then search their being for their "free coffee" punch card.

I swear to god I heard this today while waiting in an ever increasing coffee line. Yes, we were all relatively irritable. "Oh, um I don't have any money, I'll just run out to my car for a minute, it's only 3 blocks away." My response - "No coffee for you! Go to the back of the line." Idiots!

Just once I'm sure I'll see the Eddie Izzard moment of "Can I pay in string? Just a moment then, it's wrapped around my body."

Seriously, how bloody self involved do you have to be to take that long to order a hot beverage in a paper cup? Don't you realize there are others waiting for coffee too? I try to be as quick as I can because I know other people don't want to hear my life story as told to a coffee clerk, hear about any sort of ailment I may have or about how I like hot water mixed with two separate coffees then foamed up with skim milk and that I usually get that for half price because of the water in it.

Gaaaaah! I don't know what it is that makes people into rude arseholes like this? Is it the suburbs? I think it's the suburbs and that they spend too much time isolated in their suburbs and in their cars during their commutes. This leads to them being incapable of taking part in a shared society.

These coffee illiterate are about to overtake Mel Gibson and "people who come into work sick" on my shit list.

Please post your own shit list in the comments section. Mine is so far:
Sweden* - because of Ikea not having all the parts to a bed I purchased for over 3 months, Ace of Base and the generally being better at hockey than Canada these days.
Air Canada - monopolies suck.
Mel Gibson - I won't even watch Braveheart anymore, and I loved that movie - anti-semite bastard.
People who come in sick to work - yeah, I think we can get someone else to sit at your desk and avoid answering the phone.
People who can't pay for their coffee in under two minutes
Cranky Bus Drivers
White Suburban Complainers
Self Righteous Environmentalists
Anyone who goes into detail about their car, stereo, tv, etc.

*Actually I don't have a problem with Sweden ever since they got that bikini team.

Hellblazer: All His Engines

I totally meant to have a review for this book up on Halloween, but I'm sort of like a deer these days. Distracted by bright shiney objects and feeling like I've been hit by a car.

This was a mystical horror comic done the way I like them. Equally disgusting and beautiful to look at. The story was extremely clever, using flashbacks in a manner that I don't think I've seen before. And, for once, there's unpronouncable names that weren't actually made up. Sorry, but I can't pronounce any of those Aztec or Mayan god names.

If you've never read a comic with John Constantine in it before then this may be a useful volume for you. The history of Constantine at the back of this volume was rather useful and engaging. But basically, he's a working class magi who will pretty much do whatever it takes to save his own skin. It usually means that you don't want to be his friend no matter how much you may think he's a great character. But oddly, these sacrifices are necessary, not just because it's a character trait but because underneath it all you know that it is more important to have this one major player alive than a few innocents. It's an admission of everyone's dark truth, not just Constantine's, which makes him an extremely powerful character.

As for the plot - it involves hell on earth and a deal made with an ancient god that screws over other demons. Which, oddly, seems rather similar to the story arc in Angel: season 4 that I'm watching on DVD.

Wednesday's Loot - 1 November 2006

Yes, Wednesday's feature on Friday - because nobody demanded it. Sorry, I've been a bit busy.

52 Week 26
Halfway through and we see The Question taking up his mentor role again with Renee. After all these weeks I’m still wondering why, and where this is going. I’m still in love with the mad scientist island. The bug robots, the fact that there’s armed guards to deal with haywire bugbots, the cheesecake posters and the geek stereotype usually reserved for comic store owners being pawned off onto another male dominated profession. And who would have thought that dinner with the Sivanas would be like dealing with east coast money? I loved their comedy of manners and the fact that only in 52 a comedy of manners contains serving robots constantly bursting into flames and a crocodile man who just wants to be friends.
I rate this comic: Still good with its weekly little doses of fun.

Agents of Atlas #4 of 6
I’m not sure what I like better. The fact that I’m reading a retrofitting exercise that is still entertaining as a story or that on the list of Atlas fronts there wasn’t just Atlas Robotics but Atlas Pottery Shack as well. This is great spy-team stuff with the perfect blend of punching, cheesecake, gorillas and aliens to make me happy. It’s pretty much what I’d like from my comic book miniseries.
I rate this comic: The only Marvel book I’m reading it seems.

Mouse Guard #5
Another fine issue that makes me really happy and smug that I started reading this series since its inception. It is one of comic’s finest examples today. Everything from the format to the art to the simple childlike wonder of the story make this essential reading for me. I feel like too much time passes between issues and I tend to rush through each book as they come out. Still, they are light but with a feeling of density to them. It’s hard to explain. Beautiful artwork that looks kind of like Beatrix Potter was asked to do art for Tolkein. The story is being revealed more and more with each issue with tension mounting and larger action both happening and being set up. We are on the climb towards the inevitable big confrontation between a pretender to the throne and the honourable mice guard.
I rate this comic: The best comic about mice and a mystical axe wielding warrior.

Detective Comics #825
I really enjoyed the purple prose of Alfred in this one but his plot device role seemed a bit ham fisted to me. I do enjoy that relationship between Alfred and Bruce but it seemed a bit off that the guy who moments ago could determine footprints burned into the ground after an explosion couldn’t remember basic chemistry. That aside I feel this issue does continue a lot of what Dini was setting up as far as getting Batman back to his core and the expounding villain was a very nice touch that makes this comic feel like it understands its own history. I do think there is a bit of room for improvement but the core is very strong so as McGraw gets more comfortable with the structure and his characters we’ll see some Batman stories. I do like his take on Batman and Alfred – even the Commissioner seemed right on, for his brief moments.
I rate this comic: A decent start for a new team.

Accept no substitutes

Because I managed to lose my post about Usagi Yojimbo you’re getting some quick thoughts on Frank Miller’s 300. I've traded bunny samurai swords for naked Greek men with spears.

I liked it. I liked the format and how it fakes the dimensions of a movie screen. I like how the characters are just the meanest motherfuckers Ancient Greece had and they’ll do whatever they can to maintain that reputation. Mix that machismo with a whole lot of naked men who pile up corpses and use that to intimidate their enemies – twice, and you pretty much get 300.

It’s brutal and yet it’s captivating. It’s pointless and yet it’s noble.

What I wasn’t expecting when reading this story is that it is essentially about how storytelling creates the world in which we live. It’s not just the events that matter but the importance of what the storyteller leaves in or omits that matters in our interpretation thereof. Are they noble or foolhardy? Was their sacrifice a noble one or is this simply a story used to inspire the rest of Greece to take up arms against a common enemy?

I had no idea what to expect from this book and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. It’s a great distraction that’s worth checking out – but try to figure out what the message is and what the point of the story is. Who is actually telling this story? It has more going on than you’d like to think. I didn’t expect that from a book with a hunchback and multiple head-spearings.

It inpired me to pick Alexander the Great and Greece when I fired up Civ IV on Sunday. Unfortunately, my phalanx units were not so successful against barbarians.

A Contract With God Trilogy

I've decided to continue posting for a while yet. I hope that someone returning to comics like I recently did finds these useful. I'm using them, the comic shop and the local library to catch up on the history of great works out there. If there's anything you think I should check out please let me know.

- - - - -

I enjoyed this book for pretty much the exact opposite reasons I enjoyed the first volume of Ultimate Spider-man. This isn’t a straight forward story and it doesn’t explore the lives of the characters in extensive detail necessarily. The plot jumps forward and moves along between the panels as much as it does in any single panel. It’s interconnected as I used to say during my English Lit days. And with each volume I see that it isn’t just the relationships between the characters that is being explored but how they relate because of their attachment and association with a location. The characters relate because they are connected to Dropsie Avenue and the street moves from being a setting for some disconnected stories to a setting for connected stories to becoming the focus of an entire volume.

As the book progresses we learn more and more about the location as we do about the characters associated to it. In the end we learn that without the location we’d have no characters to read about at all. But much like Polanski’s MacBeth we see that the action and behavior of people in this location is cyclical. Not because of the location but because people are simple creatures at their core both blessed and cursed with the gift of consciousness.

Now this book is divided up into three separate volumes and was never planned to be one larger epic. That’s fine by me. I read them all as they came out in chronological order. And well, you can see the progression, not just of Eisner’s vision of what graphic storytelling should be but at his constant evolution and improvement as an actual storyteller. The books start in a simpler form then gets ever more complex with Eisner experimenting in the actual way he tells a story, not just the artwork which is consistently some of the best ever created. Eisner is, simply put, one of the apexes of American artists. In regards to the story structure, the first volume is more like a collection of short stories that are all set in one location. The second volume takes a more complex approach with Eisner weaving multiple storylines and characters around one another, again they are all connected to the location but their lives are all drawn together through various mishaps, fate, accidents, happenstance, dumb luck and human generosity. While the last volume the story is focusing on the location and observing the plethora of humanity that washes around it.

Oddly, the more Eisner focuses on the location the more human the stories become. The more the focus is removed from individual characters the more we get to see the human condition for what it is in its glory and degradation. I do think this is all the more powerful when you read these stories together since we see how people are set up as unique beings in the world. They are more than simple creatures striving to stay alive so the heights they reach are that much higher and their lows are that much sadder. They simply know better and have the ability to be better, unlike cockroaches for instance.

This is one of the better works of fiction I’ve ever read about the human condition. While the characters desire simple things or want to simplify themselves to basic instincts, wants and needs they can’t. They can’t reduce themselves as much as they can’t escape the fact that they are human. As we get closer to the characters we, the reader, are more sympathetic to them. We may not actually like them and they may not actually be nice people but we can sympathize with them. When we watch the maw of humanity from the point of view of the indifferent location we see that as a whole they tend to work in cycles that they can’t escape. It should feel fatalistic but it doesn’t. It feels like while each individual is capable of greatness the group reduces them because of the limits inherent in social interaction. How many times have you had the same conversation with someone? Try to explain to someone that comics are moving and brilliant sometime to see what I mean. That person might be a great person but when they resort to social expectations they revert to something assumed about the unknown.

If you haven’t read any of these stories yet, I implore you to do so at your earliest convenience. These really are some of the most original stories and some of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve seen in a long time.

Wednesday’s Loot – 25 October 2006

I’m going to take a note from Scipio’s book and list things that made me happy this week.

Seeing Godland back on the shelf.
Seeing the first issue of Seven Soldiers of Victory on the shelf (although I’m unsure about reading this until I get that last trade - see below).

From 52: Week 25
Egg-fu – Matrix-style!
“Happy Halloween, Judeo-Christians.”
“MMmmm, nature’s toothbrush. CHOMP.”
Dr. Fate’s helmet starring in the role of Skeets.

Godland #13
The very first sentence made me smile and feel good about comics again.
Seeing “What the hell?” instead of the word disease “the hell?”
“He’s…got me in a friggin’ headlock.”
The entire prison episode, monolith guards included.

Justice #8
Two old friends chilling.
Aquaman being regal and commanding respect.
Honest Abe, er, Joker.
Elongated Man throwing down with Plastic Man.

By the way, I really like the last issue of Agents of Atlas and the 3 issues of 52 I never mentioned in my time away. Evil Scientist Isle is my favourite development so far.

Simple Request

Hello comic book internet people. I have one request for all of you this week. Please don't anyone review the first issue of Seven Soldiers (if you actually get it in your hands).

Some of us are reading this in trade (yeah yeah see you in hell) and don't know how half the mini-series ended.

That is all.

I'm also taking requests for the rest of this week.

Hey, I'm back, but...

...I'm thinking this blog is pretty much dead. I've lost sight of the goal and I'm not having so much fun trying to write here anymore. It may just be writer's block or general uneasiness of my workplace but it's not clicking for me.

I'm thinking of pulling the plug officially but not for another week at least, just to see if I get over this hump.

The wedding and the honeymoon in sunny London were fantastic. The flickr site is here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/jon-and-alli-wedding-oct-8-2006/pool/

Hiatus until October 17th

I'm going on official hiatus until October 17th. I'm getting married this Sunday to the woman I love then going to London, UK for our honeymoon (my gift to her). I'm off all things geek until we return.

I do have some reviews on my computer ready for posting when I get back as well - The Contract With God Trilogy by Will Eisner, Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 1 by Stan Sakai and the 2nd volume of Dungeon are ready for return posting.

Until then I hope 52 doesn't sell out and that you all enjoy your funny books. Remember, they're entertainment so enjoy the dang things and don't waste your money on what you feel is crap.

The Decompression Project - Step the Second

Ultimate Spiderman Vol.2

Okay, now I see why people make fun of the dialogue so much. Really? Really. Yeah? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, really.

I’m glad I’m reading this series now in collection because I do think it reads much better that way. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to wait 30+ days for the next issue to come out. Although I think this team has been rather consistent with deadlines over the years. Please let me know if I’m right or wrong on that. Still, I recommend reading this as a collection since the plot kind of works better without commercial interruption. Then again maybe it’s just me. I tend to watch TV only on DVD these days because I can’t watch 20 minutes of a show stretched over an hour.

This volume saw the introduction of Doc Oc and the return of the Green Goblin while setting up a few more characters like Harry Osborn to take on the next Goblin role and we either see or hear about Electro, Sandman and Lizard. I like this Doc Oc a lot. He’s threatening and intelligent rather than a doofus with extra arms. This character gets across his ruthlessness, his intelligence and his power. While I do still think the movie version is my favourite because he’s more like one of the animated Batman series villains, this Ultimate version is also a great bad-guy. The main difference is that the movie version has some sympathetic characteristics. Like the animated Batman rogues there’s more to his story than guy in a costume who is bad. Not here. And that works for me too.

This Doc Oc was a cold detached man before any of this went down. So adding the extreme physical trauma to an already detached and sinister man really makes for a great psycho. I am a bit let down by the amount of villains that already know Peter Parker is Spider-man. I get what Bendis is doing in pointing out the weaknesses of the original story, but come on.

Then the Osborns are back, as is Samuel L. Jackson, er, Nick Fury and the grunge/pop-punk version of Gwen Stacey. I do have to call bullshit on that one issue that retells the rooftop meeting between Spidey and the Green Goblin from the Goblin’s point of view. Okay, he’s crazy, that was already established. I’m glad I didn’t spend money on the same story twice – that’s the kind of crap that made me not watch Lost anymore. But otherwise I liked most of it.

I do like what is happening and how most the relationships are developing. We see Peter and MJ getting closer and how this life is getting in their way. But honestly, the repeated dialogue pages can be cut down. Even without the dialogue they’d be better in a couple of cases. I, personally, find it a bit distracting but that could just be because of all the flack that it’s been getting online for a while now.

Otherwise I have two genuine complaints, other than my esthetics of storytelling. The first is a big one. Simply that some of Spidey’s “thought balloons that are shaded squares instead of puffy clouds” weren’t shaded with the gradient. That’s the kind of rushed mistake I can stand on a weekly comic like 52 or even a monthly that meets its deadlines, but for the trade I’m pretty sure Marvel could have got their Photoshop guy to fix it. I mean, I could have.

The second complaint is the woman doing the 20 minute workout. That fad died in the eighties. I don’t know anyone who does that in that outfit anymore. Yoga, fine, but the Jazzercise just doesn’t ring true to me.

Otherwise all is (mostly) well in Ultimate Spidey world. I especially like the Crocodile Hunter version of Kraven. Please tell me he doesn’t come back because this would be the perfect use of an Ultimate villain. Although I’m fairly certain that his girlfriend will work some Wakandian magic on him or something equally offensive to make Kraven a “serious” threat.

Still, when are we all going to just call shaded captions thought balloons? That’s what they are, just without the puffy bits. Get over it.

Runaways – Vol. 1-4
So I read all of these and am enjoying them quite a lot. I can’t really add much more to the praise or examination of this book. What I can do is ask why this book is coming out in any form other than digest? I mean, nothing happens in any of the single issues but over the digest format you get a decent plot and character development. I think this should just be a digest book that comes out quarterly, it’d be better.

I do have to praise Marvel for coming up with new and original characters. That is certainly refreshing.

And I have to praise The Fortress Keeper for taking on the Ultimate X-men. I'll be there someday. I use to be a medium sized X-Zombie in my youth.

Revenge and fun

Okay, while I plot my revenge on the interweeb for not telling me The Ultimates came out on Wednesday I'll direct anyone who likes Grant Morrison's Batman to M. Parkinson's Year One. It pretty much sums up my feelings on it.

And just so you all know - no, I don't look that closely at the rack when I'm picking up my books.

Wednesday's Loot Plus - 27 September 2006

52 Week 21
Well that was a pretty fun issue of Teen Titans and is it me or am I more pleased with all the little Easter egg moments more than the actual stories in this comic. I guess half the time I really like what is happening on the pages and the rest I like the little bits of spice and pizzazz that flavor each issue. Home made robots and another promise of Metal Men to come make me happy for unexplainable reasons. I’m a bit sad about the lack of back-up story this week though.
I rate this comic: A nice moment of Ralph Dibny using Gringold to his advantage and the promise of Lex being fulfilled.

Batman #657
Okay, is it me or was that moment with Batman and Robin talking about their relationship one of the funniest things you’ve read in a long time? I appreciate double entendre based on cultural understands as much as anyone, and the Batman and Robin have gay subtext is rarely done with such aplomb. The Batbrat is a great addition. I think that’s one of the few stories not attempted with Batman. What if he had a son who was just as crazy and violent as the criminals he fights?
I rate this comic: Over the top even without the ninja Man-bats.

Few Quick things

This will be a bit of a longer post encompassing a lot of recent books I’ve read – not necessarily recently published – and other moments of clarity. I'll be a bit more sporadic in posting as my wedding gets ever closer.

First up – Heroes

Did anyone besides me watch this? I caught the replay last night and really enjoyed it. Sure I can see the X-men movie parallels (and the melodrama from the comics), but this seems to me to be what all those Sci-Fi Channel shows aim to be but don’t have the budget for. Kind of how Xena could have been The Lord of the Rings if it had the time and budget.

I do have to say I was really impressed by it. The last time I enjoyed a new TV show was the first season of Lost when there was a possibility of dinosaurs. So I’m hoping that Heroes doesn’t turn into Lost where by the third episode of the second season I can’t watch it anymore because they showed the same episode 3 times from slightly different points of view (yes I’m still pissed off when I think about it).

I watched this with A and she really got into it. Although we were both a bit disappointed when everyone seemed to end up in New York instead of letting them remain around the world. I would have rather the international focus remain but honestly, it doesn’t bother me too much. I’m a sucker for the connections between the characters and the teasers for upcoming episodes a la 52. I’m looking forward to watching more and I usually only watch TV on DVD these days unless it’s Newcastle United or the NHL.

Second up – Uatu, The Watcher

Okay, you’re in the Marvel Universe. You’ve got great powers, great responsibility, and hopefully a great costume. Everyone else in a costume knows that this guy shows up for big time events that are usually turning points or nasty death scenes. He shows up when there’s a big rumble about to go down – why don’t you get the heck out of Dodge? Sure, sure, heroic responsibility, but seriously, if everyone left nobody would die right? I think the heroes and villains should make a rules of engagement that whenever Uatu shows up, everyone lays down their arms and goes away peacefully.

Third up – Reviews!

Superman/Batman – Public Enemies

I don’t care what you think this book was a lot of fun. It was like my brain was given pure sugar in comic book form. Sure I had a stomach ache afterwards but it was fun reading it. Everyone who has called this collection the action movie version of the iconic two was completely right. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it isn’t trying to change the core idea of superheroes but shit goes boom or gets a punch in the mouth, and that sir is enough for me sometimes.

Marvels
This book is a bit of a mystery to me. Not in how I feel about it, I love it, but in that nobody seems to ever mention it – ever. It’s freaking amazing! Why doesn’t Marvels get more love? Is it just that people know it’s good, love it and can’t really think of anything more to say about it? Personally I think this would be one of the better gateway books for anyone older getting back into comics or new to comics but more or less know the popular history of Marvel characters.

I don’t understand why this book doesn’t make more lists of comics to help introduce people to comics with. The Dark Knight Returns did it for me, but this would have worked wonders as well. It is simply fantastic and there is an homage to The Spirit in there in a crowd of running people. The young J. Jonah Jameson was also a nice touch.

The different point of view taken in this book is a great way to interpret the Marvel universe. The eye of everyman shows us what it would be like to live for a few years in a world with creepy crawlies, hatred and cosmic invasions. Then they play with the Sub-Mariner a lot – he’s good, he’s bad, he’s good again, bad again, etc, etc. This was a great story that needs a bit more attention I think. Sorry I don’t have the brainpower to examine it a bit more. I hope to someday. Maybe after I read Kingdom Come.

Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years
I’d be shocked if Chris Sims hasn’t posted on this yet. I mean it’s a man, arguably at the top of his game writing and drawing a comic based on the books he loved as a child where Tarzan puts a lioness in a full nelson – to death. Also Tarzan fights a great ape and a great cat at least every four pages. This is comics in its purest.

How I want Civil War to End

With the last issue of Civil War now on everyone's radar (sometime in summer 2007) I've started to wonder how it will all end. Besides it being the longest summer event ever. Hey, two summers wouldn't be too bad - I'm sure there's a record or something there, maybe a "no prize."

Here's 10 ways I want it to end:

1) Luke Cage just punches everyone in the throat until they shut up and limp off back to their regular lives.

2) Iron Man and Cpt. America kiss.

3) Tony Stark drunk under a lamp-post.

4) She-Hulk or The Vision joins the Fantastic Four.

5) Spider-man moves to Quebec and has to deal with the conflicts between language and culture.

6) Massive cross-over with Ultimate Hulk v. Wolverine.

7) The Beyonder saying "ignore that man behind the curtain."

8) President Clor, or at least Governor of California Clor.

9) All the heroes band together to fight the true threat to life on this planet - Global Warming (or drugs).

10) The Punisher gets married to Electra.

The Ultimate Adventure in Decompression

So I’ve decided that since the library has the collections to Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-men I will be taking on both titles as a challenge to myself. What I wasn’t planning on was that these books would be so dang popular. I have to say, someone is reading these books, and it can’t all be older guys like me, can it?

So I got the first volume of Ultimate Spider-man, and my first thought was “please dear god let this tattered copy not fall to dust in my hands.” Man, that was the rattiest comic I ever laid my hands on, so I’m assuming a lot of younger readers had it before me. The kind I’d call the police on if they had a party next door to my house on a Friday.

I have to say a few things here. I didn’t ever read these books when they came out the first time. I simply wasn’t buying comics then. I did, however, read most of this collection on Marvel.com when they had digicomics or something like that up there on their website. That was a while ago before they actually launched their digital comics (again). Yeah I don’t understand that either, but it’s Marvel, I just roll with it. So these were a bit familiar but I never actually sat down and read them page by page.

I remember there being a bit of a fuss about how Peter Parker never puts on the web-head costume for the entirety of the first issue. Now it doesn’t seem all that unfamiliar or unique. I suppose that since the issue originally came out this type of storytelling in modern comics has become a new sort of standard. There are longer drawn out character moments and we’re introduced to characters through their dialogue and interaction as opposed to the disembodied narration of Stan Lee. This forces the pacing of the story to slow down. We need to see Peter in the basement passing out and working on his web formula in order for them to be introduced later in the story. Without the “voice of Stan” we can’t go from panel one of Peter being bitten to panel two of Spidey swinging around with a caption explaining that when Peter awoke from a fevered sleep he inherently knew how to create spider webbing. That lead to moments of impressionable violence too quickly and too often...(that was sarcasm, which I find easy to say but hard to write).

When reading these comics in a collection they work a lot better than individual issues. The decompressed stories don’t spend time recapping what happened a couple of pages ago. There is no time period of a month between issues when reading the story collected (unless you can’t fit it into your schedule). You have the time to get to understand these characters by how they interact and speak to one another. Simply put, the author has the time and space to have the characters interact, he isn’t limited to a complete story in minimal space. This isn’t a value judgment on new or old stories just an exploration of their differences. I think old school single issues work better as floppy comics. I find it hard to sit down and read Showcase collections in one sitting but Ultimate Spider-man was quite enjoyable, if not more so, in collected form.

I do have to say I enjoyed this story about the same amount I enjoyed the first movie. Yes, I know the story but I also enjoy different people’s interpretation of it. This was a really good update for a new audience. It makes Peter a young kid again who is awkward and going through the general malaise of a fifteen year old boy whose high-school is located on the sixth ring of hell. He’s still into the whacky science experiments like in the old-school cartoon, but it also makes the melodrama usually found in Spider-man comics not seem too far out of synch with the general reality of kids that age. Everything is the end of the world when you’re fifteen/sixteen and it is bloody brilliant that they set the new version of Spidey in that time of the hero’s life.

I like the more intimate portrayal of the character and the world he finds himself in. He’s awkward and feels out of place as much as he’s accepted and made part of the “in” crowd on a whim. It’s a fickle world, the fifteen year old world, but it is expertly captured in this series. It also makes the heroic action that Peter Parker takes feel that much more heroic. He is acting in a manner beyond his young years. While the people he is surrounded by are flitting away at teenage hijinx Peter is dealing with massive changes and is forced to mature really quickly. This is reflected in Harry Osborne and the way they both grow because of similar situations is a fun one to watch. Both will make mistakes but it is Peter who is living up to the what his parent’s saw in him unlike Harry who refuses to accept responsibility for his own actions. At the end of this collection we see Peter ready to grow into his new role where he begins to take responsibility for his own actions while Harry is placing all responsibility for the tragedy in his life on everything external to him.

It is a great parallel, and while the action is big it is tempered and paced out, but the drama is simply captivating. This series is a great read to get into later on than the vast majority of comic readers because it shows a fresh take on well known action and stories. This isn’t the deconstruction of the Spiderman mythos but a retelling of the stories with a focus on the character interactions. Sort of refocusing on the strength that was developed and became apparent as the “Marvel Way” of storytelling in the past.

Wednesday's Loot - 20 September 2006

52 Week 20
John Henry Irons is back to heroics but is given some tantalizing information. Hopefully this leads to lots of punching with Lex's evil heroes. Then we're back in space to see some Animal Man action and is that Brainiac's ship? I'm not up on my DC character history, sorry.
I rate this comic: Another solid, if slow issue of 52.

- - - - -

Astronauts of the Future and Dungeon Zenith Vol 1: Duck Heart

More French collections that have been translated and involve Lewis Trondheim (and Joann Sfar on Dungeon).

I'll start with Astronauts. Again, I don't know if it's just French cultural stylings or translation issues but this felt like it was a kid's book but had some problematic language at points. Not poor translation but swear words. I think the story is perfect for kids who are ready to move beyond kids stuff but not totally ready for adult books. But I think some parents wouldn't let their kids read this book because someone uses the word "ass."

That being said, I did love this story. It's about a couple of kids who are picked on in school and are generally geeky, but in a "I know I'm geeky and don't give a damn" way. While you know they'll sort of get along later, they do spend time playing off one another and thinking the other is "icky." It's about a boy and a girl who are sure that their parents, and everyone else in the world, is either a robot or an alien.

Then the plot takes a twist I didn't see coming. It was fairly traumatic and it actually did upset me. Forget Spiderman unmasking or Jason Todd rising from the dead, this was an actual shock. I kept waiting for the explination to be that these kids couldn't deal with the trauma of what happened but it never came. After this twist, the rest of the action seems fresh and exciting even if it has been done a lot.

I refuse to give away the twist because it really adds to the story.

Now after reading Duck Heart, that volume of Dungeon: The Early Years makes more sense. I was right in a lot of my guess work. A lot of the characters introduced in that volume make an appearance here. The young idealist has apparently become a jaded old man with hints of Uncle Scrooge aside from the fact both characters are fowl. He's crafty as much as he is ingenius, not to mention being rich and paranoid.

What follows in this volume is an in some ways a reintroduction to the world of Dungeon (only now with an actual dungeon I assume the magic elves dug). There is a moment of mistaken identity when a hapless duck gets a barbarian killed but doesn't want to lose his job so fakes the barbarian's identity. The duck is sent to destroy some Lovecraftian evil things and is accompanied by a vegetarian Dragon warrior.

Again, this is a fantasy world that doesn't take itself too seriously which I find quite refreshing in a genre known for melodrama and unpronouncable names. The duck is stuck with a magic sword that can't be drawn unless the duck does three brave deeds with his bare hands (or is killed). If someone tries to take the sword from him the duck reverts to a former sword-bearer. This is used to hilarious effect in a cage full of warrior potentials as they want to see the trick again and again.

There are essentially two stories here. The war against the unnamed evil beings who are tired of their dreary skull decorated underground meeting places and the story of the duck trying to become a warrior in a kung-fu movie master/apprentice way. I have to admit that the master who has sewn himself into a sack because he already knows the world was an idea I appreciated.

I would have to say that although there was two distinct stories in this volume I did like it better than the Early Years volume. I do feel like I was missing a volume in between though so I'll try to find it at the library as that may explain things a bit more.

I think anyone who needs a break from World of Warcraft or anything D&D should give the Dungeon books a flip through. You'll probably appreciate it more than me, and I love them.

I'm going to be a great (sitcom) husband

I totally missed the first year anniversary to this here blog. It was exactly one month (and a day because I didn't post this yesterday) ago on August 18th. To celebrate there's the next in a long list of mediocre comic reviews below and a bunch more will follow (comments remain nil).

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I will add some bonus content in the form of what's distracting Jon these days:

• Final plans for the wedding.
• Dreading spending Christmas at my parent's house.
• Video games have suddenly become boring to me. I'm trying to play Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher's Bay. It was a blast for a while but now I'm stuck and frustrated. I'm thinking about getting the new Nintendo Wii though, that looks like fun. Although I remember purchasing The Power Glove and it sucked ass. And my desktop computer has been pretty much a paperweight since I've been waiting for my copy of Window's XP to show up and haven't been able to get back into Civilization IV.
• Zombies. I finally watched Romero's Dawn of the Dead and have Shaun of the Dead at home (again). I read The Zombie Survival Guide and I'm looking at World War Z (both by Max Brooks) longingly and waiting for the price to drop or someone to buy it for me. I am working on a project concerning zombies and I think it's actually original (shut up, I know that ship has sailed but I'm working on it anyway and someday I may bore you with the details on this site, I just need a bit more time to "flesh it out" - so to speak).
• Board Games. I have absolutely no idea where this new obsession came from. I guess I just want something fun and not involving a screen. I picked up Carcassonne and while I like it A. can't see the point to it. She does want to pick up Fury of Dracula for Christmas though, so that may be fun. I'm contemplating Settler's of Catan or Ticket to Ride as Risk alternatives since we'll be stuck at my parent's house this year for the holidays. Any suggestions on two player games would be welcome. I'm thinking Hammer of the Scots (since she's part Scottish and likes kicking my ass at Risk) or Zombies!!! (naturally).
• Trying to come up with a post that's more than a review of old comics that people have probably read. This probably won't happen for a while.

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Oh, I have found java versions of both Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan online here. They go by different names though, but if you're interested in either game, give them a whirl before buying either. Yes, I know I'm sad now that I'm blogging about board games.

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Ultra: Seven Days by The Luna Brothers

This is another book I picked up on a whim. I’m glad I did. Sure it’s the depressingly violent story portrayed as a realistic superhero drama but I think the story manages to get above that simple criticism. There were a lot of moments when I was thinking to myself this is Sex in the City but acted out with superheroines. There are some definite weaknesses in the storytelling because all too often the characters just don’t sound right. They sound like men are writing what they wish women spoke and acted like instead of writing women speaking and acting. And if you’re not in the mood for a story about superhero relationships with normals then this probably isn’t for you.

That being said it is the perfect distraction for anyone looking for a new take on the same old superhero stories. I’m happy that there is at least some male creators attempting to write a superhero book where all the leads are strong female characters. The presentation is quite original and stunningly beautiful to look at. The covers are replications of different magazines through which we normally read about female celebrities. There is a fun little syncopation of medias in the presentation of the story of female celebrities dealing with their private and public lives in an era that is eroding that division. The magazine covers remind us of our own desire to see celebrity at its worse and to have unending bits of meaningless information presented to us non-stop.

We get to see the ups and downs of these characters through their private moments and their public personas. In the end the story is as much about whether or not there is a difference between the public and private person as it is about the development of the characters and the actual plot. It is good distraction from other “realistic” superhero books because it strives for something more than a simple good guys win but compromise their morals. Here, the heroes don’t compromise their morals in terms of how they do their job but in their private lives. It is a slightly tweaked formula but a nice change none the less, and the art is stunning.

Spelunk!

Dungeon the Early Years: Night Shirt - Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim

This was an interesting book. After reading The Rabbi’s Cat and loving it, then not really enjoying Vampire Loves as much as I probably should have, I was interested in checking out this series by Joann Sfar. I’m glad I did since it appears to be a healthy mixture of what worked well in both books mentioned above. I felt that Vampire Loves was just a bit too much stream of consciousness or allowing the story to go off wherever it lead but when Sfar has a direction and edits towards it the stories are better for it. I’ve read a bit too much Kerouac that needed to be edited for me to truly enjoy pure unedited stream of consciousness stories.

What this story has is, and I’m guessing a bit here, is the introduction of some of the characters that will play a larger role in the development of this world and the series. I’m waiting for a few more collections in the Dungeon series. It’s an anthropomorphic fantasy world with a young idealist meeting the corruption and stench of a big city. He takes on the ideals of justice in a manner befitting Robin Hood, the Scarlet Pimpernel or the Three Musketeers. If you like swashbuckling fantasy stories with a bit of humour then this is a good book to pick up.

If you’ve never come across Sfar’s artwork before then you should definitely check out the book before purchase. It is crude but not bad. It is simple without being poorly executed. In other words it is very very French. It has style and doesn’t particularly give a shit about being anally retentive about rendering and being perfect. If the art could speak it would look at you saying it was bad and it would spit at you and tell you it will piss on your mother because it doesn’t need to waste time trying to impress someone so uneducated and banal. It is simply fun because it looks like it was drawn by an enthusiastic child – granted it’s a child who is unbelievable consistent in character design and who creates fantastic backgrounds and city designs.

The protagonist is Hyacinthe (I think - he's the Dungeon Keeper in the rest of the series) who is either a duck or a chicken or some kind of fowl. He’s the country boy sent to the city so is able to see it for what it is. He isn’t a part of the system so he can see the hypocrisy of it all as well as how easy it is to be swallowed up by it. His adventures include jokes about his inability to write in his journal on horseback (we get scribbled narrative boxes) to upper-classmen necromancers at the university trying to impress girls by pulling out his heart only taking a lung accidentally. He’s in love with a sexy assassin and gets schooled in fencing, love, power, sex and politics. When he finally dawns his mask to take on the quest for justice, Hyacinthe is sort of recognized, but he is also wearing his nightshirt. He spends the next few pages struggling to come up with a cool sounding name but is eventually referred to as Night Shirt. You can’t stop popular culture, it’s organic.

This is a fun book. It’s overly clever but isn’t a totally cerebral comic. They play with the form making visual jokes and referential jokes that are only applicable to the comic book medium. I quite enjoyed it and I’m glad I picked it up on a whim since it is one of few translated Bandes Designe available in the library. If you’re looking for a new fantasy based comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously then this is it. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Smax because it is aware of the medium but doesn’t fall prey to the melodrama that is present when the fantasy genre tries to get “serious.”

In Stitches

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

I have to admit my shame at not having read Persepolis. I really want to but I also want to own the damn thing and can’t afford it at the moment so I haven’t reserved it at the library simply to read it. But Embroideries I had no problem checking out. I figured it would give me a sense of her style and esthetic. I have to say I’m glad I didn’t purchase this collection. I wouldn’t stop anyone from doing so, I do think you will get your monies worth and it is great material to go back to for inspiration. If you’re judging worth by how long it takes you to read it, then this is a lot of money for a relatively quick read.

That being said the time you spend with these characters is defiantly time well spend and highly enjoyable. I did have the feeling that this was essentially a one act play or a scene in a larger text. Actually I think that is a great approach to this text. Think of it as a one act play and you won’t be disappointed at all. It’s about women, friends and relatives who get together and discuss their love lives and the general hypocrisy of the men in their lives. There is a plethora of wonderful and highly entertaining women here. From the free living free loving artist Aunt to the slightly rebellious grandmother (I think, I returned the dang book before double checking) and the heartbroken neighbour. It was fascinating for someone like me who has no connection whatsoever to Muslim women or much of Muslim culture in general.

I believe a lot of the Western audience will be fascinated by this take on what appears to us as a mystery. We wonder how women can function in what we perceive as a repressive society and what we’re given here is something that dispels a few of our own myths and confirms others. I find it hard to relate to things when I can’t interpret it through my own reader’s lens of experience. So while I can’t relate on some levels on others I definitely can. We’re shown love stories that are really universal and that are essentially timeless.

I loved hanging out with these women. I felt like I shared in their collective tragedies and joys. This is a very heart warming book in many ways with a visual layout akin to Eisner's The Plot. Free form borderless settings with disembodied heads and characters. It helps reflect their relationship to one another as being primary over their relationship to the outside world.

Slightly Negative Reviews

Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire

I have to admit that I don’t understand all the praise this book has on the back cover. I do quite like the art. I’m a fan of simple line work and the woodcut look to shading reminiscent of Crumb’s comix but the story is a fly-by-night affair. A mouse made golem with a bad attitude gets into a few random adventures. My favorite part, outside the classic look to the artwork, was the pirate ship. That thing was pretty cool but not enough of an idea to make me heap glowing praise on it.

Salamander Dream by Hope Larson

As much as I like to support Canada’s cutest comic book couple I couldn’t finish reading this book. I liked the art a heck of a lot but it’s simply not my thing. I would have thought it was brilliant when I was twenty and probably have given it to my girlfriend back then but it doesn’t speak to me, as I am these days. I wanted to like it but found I couldn’t and now I feel a bit of shame because I want to support Hope Larson and encourage people to read her stuff. I did look at each and every page though because it's beautiful.

Wednesday's Loot - 13 September 2006

52 Week 19
Okay, I love evil Skeets almost as much as the advertisement for Skeetles Candy. And I'm pleased with the space faring adventure as well. Again, another part of a long story that opens up some fun and interesting story potential for the next arc in the year long stories. Yes, I'm finding it hard to write reviews of comics I like. Shut up it's been raining here for two days and without the sun to power my brain I'm helpless. Rain is like my Kryponite or water to the wicked witch of the west.
I rate this comic: The only one that kept my interest for this week.

Yes, I've dropped Aquaman and DMZ. I'm trying to minimalize my expenses and 52 is the one book that is guaranteed to be decent week in and week out. And I'm probably one of few comic fans who isn't reading it to simply see when DC will cack it all up. I think it's one of few comics these days that actually captures the old school feeling a lot of people yearn for. It's not perfect and it has human errors but it's fun and on time generally with a bit of a back story (yes I'm counting these profiles as back stories). I did enjoy DMZ quite a bit and think it was just hitting its stride so I'm glad to have left it on a high note and, well, Aquaman was always sort of on the verge although I did quite enjoy it as well. Finances rule these day.

Totally New Content - The Push Man and Other Stories is at the end of the ranting update

If you don't realize by now I usually update this site first thing in the morning when I arrive at the office and nobody else is around. Sure it's a bit of an abuse of office internet but I figure it makes up for the lack of decent living wage. Needless to say content has been limited recently. This is because the office moved and I was without internet and phone for the last 3 business days (and power for 2). Yes, it's a professional organization they just can't organize anything professionally.

So I spent the last few weeks essentially reading a lot of good comics, or if not good at least I was reading a lot. I mean A LOT! So much that I don't remember all the ones I read and since I didn't write up anything on them no reviews will appear here. But I did spend yesterday and today writing up a crapload of reviews on the books I did remember, so there will be content here for a while.

I have to say that just sitting around and reading comics is quite a lot of fun. It was a nice break but I'm going to see if I can keep up my enthusiasm and continue to post over the next few stressful weeks.

So without further ado here's a review:

The Push Man and Other Stories

I really have no idea how to describe this collection of stories. They were captivating but I can’t really use “good” or “enjoyable.” They are successful in what they are trying to achieve but their focus isn’t exactly on happy endings and decent people. Every single one of these stories focuses on some outcast or down trodden individual. They are all clinging to something off the beaten path and seem to have a view of sex that doesn’t match up to the suburban ideal.

There is a lot of sad and desperate people and actions. There is a lot of dead babies and a lot of human life wasted in general. That is sort of the point of the stories. They aren’t here to make you feel happy about life. They focus on the bad bits and how the people in these desperate situation survive anyway and find a form of happiness that I can’t identify with.

Then there is the artwork. It’s sort of the evil twin of Tintin comics. It’s simple character designs appearing in realistic backgrounds and settings. The art is brilliant and so utterly streamlined that it feels like no single line is out of place. It’s sort of the Hemmingway version of drawing. Draw the picture and remove anything that doesn’t need to be there. That’s essentially how Hemmingway wrote. Write a sentence then remove all the words that don’t need to be there. Only this has more in common with John Fante or Charles Bukowski (not that I’ve read any Bukowski so I can’t say for certain) than Hemmingway. It’s about the down trodden, so be ready for that before you jump into these stories. If you’re not expecting that you could be either disappointed or disturbed.

Wednesday’s Loot – 06 September 2006

...presented on Friday.

52 Week 18
Some of the best opening credits yet in this series. I love the play on “House of Mystery” as well. Ralph’s story has definitely taken a turn I wasn’t expecting and I do hope it lives up to more of its potential than the whole Cult of Conner which seemed the only misstep so far in the series. I’m also looking forward to see what happens with the Black Adam and Isis/Question and Montoya team-up.
I rate this comic: Solid stuff.

Agents of Atlas #2
This is your general second issue in a miniseries. The plot moves forward a little bit more as we’re introduced to “the team” and given character moments to help establish each of them. It’s exactly what I was hoping to get. How often does one get to say that when reading comics?
I rate this comic: Best space-toilet joke EVER.

Detective Comics #823
Dini gives us another fantastic done in one issue of a comic that took the stripped down approach to new and wonderful levels. I simply love these stories that take the same approach the writers took towards the animated series and give it to us, a more mature audience, as pure storytelling goodness. I think what I appreciate most about Dini’s work in these three issues so far is that he’s dropping in new ideas and characters in a manner not seen in a long long time. Sure Hush is new, but these new rogues are introduced and “dispatched” in one issue. So if response is negative you’re not saddled with five more issues revolving around compost-character X. Fun stuff indeed, and I realize I miss this type of story simply because I’ve completely forgotten about it and how well it can be done.
I rate this comic: The alternative for done in one goodness if you’re getting tired of Jonah Hex.

The Form of Comedy

Plastic Man: On the Lam

(Yet again I can't seem to get images to upload)

I was shockingly satisfied by this collection. I thought it would be an annoyingly cartoony book with a boatload of bad puns and off-colour commentary passing as humour. I was dead wrong.

I had more fun reading this book than I’ve had reading superhero comics in a while. Yes it was goofy and the art is cartoony. The brightness and cartoon based nature of the art work in perfect conjunction with the whole basic idea of a man made out of plastic. It’s not necessarily about Plastic Man being able to shape himself into anything he likes that works with the art style, but the fact that the character is based on exaggerated movement, expression and emotion because of his physical properties being exaggerated. Plastic Man is the ultimate squash and stretch character so he works better when presented in a form that allows for stretching and squashing.

Now, I know his original books were more serious in tone, but I think running with the outrageousness works in this presentation. I mean, there is generally a reason that these books win awards. It’s because they are actually as good as people think they are (well occasionally something will sneak by or differ from your personal tastes). Kyle Baker understands comedy and shows it here. I don’t mean he just knows what is funny but the whole form of comedy. Strap on the edu-caps.

Comedy is only obtainable when there is an intimate distance between the characters and the readers. We need to connect with the characters and see ourselves in them but we must also be distant enough so we don’t see their pain of existence. It is a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Both involve physical peril but our distance form the situation allows us to interpret these forms differently. To help force our perception, comedies will present full body shots a lot more than tragedies will. On the flip side, Tragedies will have a lot of intimate and close up shots. Watch a black and white comedy sometime (anything with Chaplin) and you’ll be able to see all of him for most of the movie. He’s far enough away so we can see him trip and land on his arse. If we were closer we’d be able to see him wince in pain and the comedy of the situation gets reduced or removed.

This book follows that rule as well. We pretty much see all the characters all the time. But just like movies, when we want to amp up the emotion we get a close up. Watching someone cry at a distance can be funny with their exaggerated motions but zooming into the person’s face and it becomes a lot less funny. Same with this book. There’s a lot of physical humour, then you’re struck with some genuine emotion in the middle that you didn’t see coming and it makes everything that much better. The tragedy is that much more tragic because you were so distant from these characters for so long and you get to know them that way. But the humour remains as soon as the camera is pulled back, so to speak. I do realize there isn’t a camera in comic book creation (well at least not with this artist).

The humour isn’t all physical, thankfully, as that can get tired rather fast. There is a lot of playing with the form of comic books and the history of comics as well. There’s some mystical monks who seem a bit familiar (there’s four of them). And there’s a great deus ex machina at the end which is wonderfully executed because it is so bloody obvious about being a deus ex machina. Again, one of the characteristics of comedy is that the end must put the world back into harmony. Ever read a Shakespearean comedy? They all end in the wedding of the two people who need to be together because they reflect the harmony of the world. Same here. Superhero comics are only harmonious with the illusion of change. The good guys need to win but without becoming something completely different. The sidekicks need to be there and so does the love interest. Now, this isn’t Shakespeare, don’t get me wrong, there isn’t enough puns to be Shakespeare, but it is almost a text-book example of what a Comedy should be and needs to contain.

Hey, if you want a plot synopsis you’ll have to go somewhere else.

Last Wednesday's Loot - 30 August 2006

I'm almost back on track. In the meantime this is a fast and dirty recap of what I bought last week and maybe one complete sentence on each.

52
Ah the space bound. I like Animal Man and I've always thought I'd like Adam Strange so having them together is like old sci-fi fun to me. I know a lot of people are ragging on Adam's eyes reappearing every now and again, well to me this is like when Superman's boot was yellow in a panel or Thor was purple. It's like old time comics because they're keeping a tight schedule. It's something I appreciate and, quite frankly, enjoy more than a late comic.

All-Star Superman
Great Clark Kent action and a creepy Luthor, not because he's evil but because he's evil in shorts he stole off a Hooter's waitress in a maximum security prison. I like these toned down episodes as much as the smashy-smashy.

Justice
Evil side-kicks and a great meta-texual moment about Aquaman not being seen at his full potential.

Solo
This was just fucking weird.

Yay, it's Thursday

But I'm still not ready to start blogging again. Sorry, still exhausted, although I had requests to bring the X-box to work today. That'll be fun until the new boss inevitably shows up.

I haven't even read yesterday's books yet and they're home so I can't read them at lunch.

No post for you - well, with any content anyway.