JLA Classified #10

WHERE ARE LANE AND KENT? I WANT THEIR BLOOD.
-- Perry White, Daily Planet Editor

I was eagerly anticipating this JLA Classified arc. Warren Ellis turned the superteam on it's head with Stormwatch and The Authority, so his take on one of comics' definitive superteams seemed like it would be something to see.

The thing that makes this particular 22 pages great is the same thing that makes me question it. His Daily Planet, his Perry and Lois and Clark ... well, they're too good. Their dialogue leaps off the page, and crackles like a mad version of His Girl Friday. It's the most interesting I've ever seen any of these characters, and Ellis establishes them instantly as savvy, urban people who are very good at what they do. Perry is a cross between J. Jonah Jameson and Hunter S. Thompson, and Clark Kent finally shows some of the wit one of the fastest minds on earth should be capable of. Best of all is the one simple page where Lois gets down to work on a researching a story. It did more for her character than decades of hearing what a crack reporter she is. It's actually shown for once, and made me realize that Lois Lane is the Bob Woodward of the DCU.

LANE. KENT. I AM YOUR EDITOR. PREPARE TO DIE.
-- Perry White, Daily Planet Editor

And what's wrong with all that? What's wrong with writing the most enjoyable Lois and Clark in ages? What's wrong with writing the most impressive comics newsroom since Transmetropolitan? What's wrong is that this isn't an "Ultimate" line, or an "Elseworlds", or an "All-Star". This JLA Classified arc doesn't exist in it's own continuity, but needs to fit into the established DC Universe.

The question I have is this: how far can you go in a shared universe? These characters have been established by many other writers. They've been established as largely insipid and boring, but they've been established nonetheless. So how far is too far? Having Perry literally howling for Lois and Clark's blood is a far cry from the character that's been established. Should Ellis have to hold back because no one else seems to be able to write these characters with any sort of flash or fun?

I don't know what the answer is. While I love seeing creators like Ellis run wild in the DCU, one of the disadvantages in a shared universe is the sharing part. You can't go breaking someone's toys, or rearranging them utterly. While you play with them you need to play by the rules, and at the end of the day you need to give them back largely as you got them. And this isn't as simple a charge as a new costume or a death, the things that usually pass for "change". This is much more subtle, and it's something few writers could pull off successfully.

PEOPLE KILL THEMSELVES EVERY DAY. IN FACT, I INTEND TO KILL MYSELF AFTER I HAVE DRUNK YOUR BLOOD.
-- Perry White, Daily Planet Editor

If Marvel can have The Pulse, why can't DC have The Daily Planet? I would be first in line to buy a monthly 22 pages of this, with nary a red cape in sight. It's a shame that this kind of characterization is so shocking. It's a shame that it's even an issue that Lois and Clark and Perry sound out of character because they sound intelligent. But it is, and it will disappear when this arc is over. And all nattering about a writer's responsibility in a shared universe aside, I'm glad I got a chance to read it.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

This Week's Shopping List: August 3, 2005

And so the Great Mail Order Experiment begins.

When I decided to start back into collecting monthlies again, I made the decision to do mail order. When I last collected, I used the fantastic M&M and quite liked ordering specific issues through Previews, and then having everything show up at my door. I suppose it appeals to the anal-retentive in me. It's orderly and allows me to hop on and off titles at a whim. This time around, I researched a bit and decided to try mailordercomics.com. I was immediately impressed with their ordering interface, and then was even more pleased with their customer service when I had a few questions. I placed an order for August books with them, and was quite pleased.

Then I found the 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics, and decided that it was possibly a criminal act to not support a comic shop that was this good. I've only being going there a few weeks, but I'll miss heading down Wednesday. There are still a few issues I'll be picking up there this month, so I'll make a few stops. The round trip is too long to make for three or four titles, though. So I'll be saving a few of these titles for pickup next week, and anxiously awaiting the rest in my first shipment from mailordercomics.com.

I hear there are mad happenings afoot in Firestorm, so this was a sudden add to my pull list and will be waiting at Night Flight. Though I love Phil Jimenez, The Return Of Donna Troy really fell apart quickly for me and is only on the list because I pre-ordered it before reading a single issue (which is the biggest peril of mail order). Justice looks like quite a bit of fun, as I like the idea of an Alex Ross Superfriends. Superman should be an interesting piece of the Infinite Crisis puzzle, and Gotham Central really hooked me last issue. I just re-read 1602, so I'm all ready for 1602: New World .... though the drop-off in the creative team leaves me unsure of what to expect. Though I probably won't pick it up this week, New Avengers is probably my most anticipated title, as I'm interested to see where Bendis is going after last issue's shock ending.

• DC Special The Return Of Donna Troy #3
• Firestorm #16
• Gotham Central #34
• JSA #76
• Justice #1
• Superman #220
• Intimates #10
• Daredevil Father #1 Directors Cut
• Fantastic Four House Of M #2
• Iron Man House Of M #2
• Marvel 1602 New World #1
• New Avengers #8

Categories:

• Comics
• NewReleases

Double Articulation on "Mighty Marvel Metafiction"

My reading of this phenomenal metafictional issue has been moving outwards from the centre, into increasing degrees of abstraction. I’d like to take it one further degree: from the hybrid nature of comic book form, to the hybrid nature of comic book storytelling and creativity, to the hybrid, paradoxical nature of art as such. As always, the Impossible Man is glue that holds it all together.

There may be people who think something like the above is too academic for plain ol' comic books. And if it were to apply to comics, we'd be in the realm of Spiegelman or Eisner or other acknowledged favorites of the intelligentsia. But this is just a brilliant appreciation of a Thomas/Perez Fantastic Four from the mid-80s. Double Articulation constantly has some of the most intelligent comics commentary I'm reading right now, and this is one of Jim Roeg's best.

Hellboy: The Island

I'm feelin' ya, Hellboy.

There are some bands whose lyrics I will piece out and relish: Wilco, The Streets, Springsteen. And then there are others where I'm quite blissfully unaware of the text, focusing on the music and the voice is just another instrument: R.E.M., Van Morrison, Tom Waits.

I'm starting to think that Mike Mignola is comics' Tom Waits. At least for me. I've missed years of Hellboy, but I don't think my understanding of The Island would be a jot better if I had read every issue. My eyes glaze over almost any speech bubble that doesn't point to Hellboy himself. It all becomes a bit like a Lovecraftian version of Star Trek tech-speak: "But as Sadu-Hem was reborn out of the blood at Gorinium, so Urgo-Hem was reborn here out of my blood" sounds to me like "Reroute the flux inverters through the warp zeta beam, and channel it through the di-frambulators." I'm perfectly content to accept that the characters understand what they're talking about, and that the details aren't that important. A second and third read makes things clearer, but the bulk of issue 2 is spent explaining the backstory of Hellboy's right hand, and left me with no new information. I came in thinking it was "of ancient and powerful origin, shrouded in the mists of time", and left thinking pretty much the same. I learned some detail, but nothing that seems to actually matter in any way.

As long as Mignola's drawing, though, I don't much care if it all makes sense. I'm generally attracted to writing in comics more than the art, but Mignola could illustrate a grocery list and fascinate me. I'd easily plunk down my $2.99 for Mike Mignola Illustrates The Phone Book, and I'd probably plunk down $5.99 if there was no text at all. His pages all lay out so beautifully, the odd extreme closeups of objects punctuating the page like a drumbeat. It's an incredible sense of pace that creates an effect unlike anything else in comics, and he's a master at leading you though the page and controlling what you see and when you see it. His monsters are legendary, and even when his visual storytelling fails (as in the fight at the end of the first issue) the images themselves are so powerful, they work. His art tells the story with or without the words attached, so the fact they they fall apart at times is perfectly acceptable. This is Mignola's last artwork on Hellboy for a while, though. I'm interested to see if the series can withstand other artists, with Mignola on writing and layout chores. The fact he's doing the layouts is important, as I think it's his command of the page that really makes him unique.

Comics are the great collaborative artform. where the disciplines of writing and art come together. The best comics balance both halves, and create a complete synergy. But just like not every great musician need be a brilliant lyricist, sometimes it's ok to just hum along to comics. And Hellboy's a hell of a catchy tune.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

My Superhero Movie

Over at the Brill Building, Ian has a fun post about how he'd direct superhero movies. It's all based off musical sequences, and it inspired me to share mine. I know I've thought it through a few times in my head, but here I present the simplified version. So simple, in fact, you can do it at home:

1. In your music playing software of choice, start up The Flaming Lips' "Waitin' for a Superman".
2. Then, just look at the following picture (click on it for full size):

Tags: Comics, The+Flaming+Lips

Scott Pilgrim, Vols. 1 and 2

All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music. For while in all other works of art it is possible to distinguish the matter from the form, and the understanding can always make this distinction, yet it is the constant effort of art to obliterate it.
-- Walter Pater, Studies in History of the Renaissance

I was introduced to this quote back in my theatre student days, and I return to it often. In this sort of thinking, there is a hierarchy of Art where Music is king because it simply .... is. Music does not represent anything else, it must be experienced. Though you can describe a film as "X happens, then Y happens" and approximate it's meaning, you can't describe Beethoven's 7th. It's not about anything, and it's artistic meaning is inseparable from the work of art itself. While other forms of art can continue the constant argument of "form vs. function" and "medium vs. message", in music that distinction is obliterated.

Certainly music and art have changed since Walter Pater wrote that in 1873, and I don't know what he'd make of Jackson Pollock or Finnegan's Wake. But the quote always gets me thinking about form, and about what makes each medium of art special, and why so many kinds of art end up telling the same stories in the same way. The majority of comics follow the same representational path as film, television, and prose. They are about. They envision a new reality, and then try to describe that reality in a somewhat naturalistic fashion.

And then there is Scott Pilgrim. It's no surprise that a comic so influenced by music is one of the few that approaches the "condition of music". It's great example of where the medium and the message become so intertwined, it's futile to separate them. It appears there's a movie in the works, and it will be interesting to see how it translates, because the most memorable sequences are to tied to the comic page. At the core of Scott Pilgrim is a simple postmodernism: the comic isn't describing a reality, it is the reality. Though metafiction is nothing new in comics, this isn't the head-trip of Morrison's Animal Man or the winking tomfoolery of Byrne's She-Hulk. Bryan Lee O'Malley doesn't make a point of the metafiction, because it's accepted as a groundrule. Characters refer to the book they are in and people are easily labeled and explained. The defining fight sequences are bravura sequences where the graphics are the fight, not a drawing of the "real" action. When you start to describe what it's about, it becomes apparent that you're only describing an unimportant metaphor.

In Shakespeare, when the emotion gets high enough, the characters burst into soliloquy. In musicals, they burst into song. In Scott Pilgrim, they burst into fight. Hamlet isn't really talking to himself, Gene Kelly isn't actually singing in the rain, and Scott Pilgrim isn't fighting. It's a stylistic conceit that speaks to a generation raised on comics and Capcom games more than monologues or musical numbers, but it's not that different. Whether it's asking a girl to go out (and be in your band) or "meeting the ex", it's a huge emotion that breaks down the easy naturalism of the "real-life" segments. Any naturalistic representation of the scene wouldn't do justice to the emotional power, so it needs to break out of that mold.

Scott Pilgrim has been praised for it's "game logic", and as a old-school gamer, I was interested to see. But I just don'’t think it's really that fundamental. There's some structure borrowed from classic platformers (level bosses), and there's some concepts (defeated enemied dropping coins), but it's really just an importing of a different myth structure. Scott Pilgrim falls squarely in the tradition of magical realism, but unlike Gabriel García Márquez or Jorge Luis Borges, O'Malley is using 8-bit Nintendo and old Archies cartoons as the defining myth. Where others would have ghosts and curses, Scott Pilgrim has warp pipes and power-ups. Like the magical realists, O'Malley is using otherworldly elements to tell a very human story, never forgetting that the emotions are at the center. Where pure sci-fi (and most mainstream comics) makes it's idea the protagonist and it's world a character, magical realism keeps the focus squarely on the people, not the special effects. Scott Pilgrim isn't about fight combos or wire-fu battles in the Public Library. It's about a kinda screwed up twenty-something trying to make the best he can out of his life and loves, and all the rest just serves to tell that story.

So instead of describing Scott Pilgrim as "Game Logic Fight Comix", I'd like to start calling it a "Post-Modern Magic Realism Fight Musical". Of course, labels don't really matter, and a great work like what O'Malley has going here just shrugs off categories. It doesn't matter what you call it: Scott Pilgrim is Art. I think William Pater would have approved.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

This Week's Shopping List: July 27, 2005

It's odd to troll the 'net reading about 52 and the Morrison/Lee WildC.A.T.S., then head to the comic shop to buy what's on the rack. I get excited about projects that are far in the future, when there's plenty of good stuff right now. I'll be heading out to the 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics Wednesday, and there's a lot to look forward to.

It's a close contest for my most anticipated book this week, but the idea of Ellis on the JLA really sounds like a blast, and JLA Classified #10 kicks off his six-issue "New Maps Of Hell" arc. I'm not a big fan of Wizard, but they have me by the fanboy shorthairs with a five-page preview of Infinite Crisis. That very Crisis keeps building steam, with the Superman/Wonder Woman "Sacrifice" arc wrapping up this week, and though it's been much maligned, I have enjoyed it and can't wait to see where it goes. Any week that has a new Astro City is a good week, and the Wildstorm imprint sees even more of my money with Silent Dragon, by Diggle and Yu. I wasn't interested in Godland, as it seems a bit to heavy on the homage, but this edition of "The Basement Tapes" changed my mind. A little bird told me to keep an eye out for Flash and Firestorm (though Firestorm doesn't show on the shipping lists), so they've been duly added. Last, but certainly not least, I'll try again for Hellboy, which was expected but did not show last week.

• Albion #2
  
• Astro City The Dark Age #2
• Flash #224
• Firestorm #16
  
• JLA Classified #10
• OMAC Project #4
• Outsiders #26
• Silent Dragon #1
• Superman/Batman #21
• Wonder Woman #219
• Fantastic Four #529
• Pulse #10
• Pulse House Of M Special Edition #1
• Hellboy The Island #2
• Godland #1
• Wizard Comics Magazine #167
  

Categories:

• Comics
• NewReleases

ScatterThoughts: The Books Of June 20th

I had planned to not get involved in the capsule review biz, but I realy can't find enough in last week's books to get anything substantial written. These won't be capsule reviews, as such, but just some thoughts. I don't relish grading someone else's work, and don't want to tell anyone how to spend your money. These are just the things that I interest me in the books shipping June 20th.

Ultimates 2 Issue 7
What I'm most enjoying is the way that Ultimates 2 out-Blockbusters the Summer Blockbuster. This is a Summer Blockbuster where you can have a true ensemble, with no real lead. It's a Summer Blockbuster where you can get past the halfway point, and still have major mysteries. It's a Summer Blockbuster where there are serious political issues raised. It's a Summer Blockbuster where not all your heroes are likable. It's a Summer Blockbuster where certain lines are crossed (on the next-to-last page) that would horrify the potential Happy Meal marketing partners.

This is not Watchmen - it's an action thriller with capes and tights. But it's also staying intelligent, and is a clear vision of what superhero comics can be at their best. I like being swept along in something big, and since it's not obeying the rules of Hollywood, I am never sure what's going to happen next.

JSA Classified Issue 1
Does it make a difference if it's a woman doing the exploiting?

I don't think it should, but I admit that if the name of the cover was Jeff McTestosterone instead of Amanda Conner (who's work I've always enjoyed), I'd probably have a different reaction to the artwork in JSA Classified #1. That's probably not fair to Jeff McTestosterone, is it? Or to Jim Lee, for that matter.

It never gets offensive, at least partially because this is Jessica Rabbit territory, and Conner seems to have a blast with it. I feel there's a knowing wink here - that Conner is exaggerating for the effect ... and that effect isn't just titillation.

The Black Diamond: On Ramp
In my quest to broaden my horizions, I picked up The Black Diamond: On Ramp, which contains extensive previews of two upcoming AIT/Planet Lar series: Smoke and Guns and The Black Diamond. There's large text pieces for eack of these, as well as more than a few sample pages. There's also a 1 page teaser for Five Fists of Science by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders.

I think it says something about me that it's Five Fists of Science that will be getting my preorder dollar. I just don't know what that "something" is. But this description from the AIT/Planet Lar site .... well it makes my heart sing:

1899: Mark Twain decides to save the world. With the help of a terrifying invention created by millionaire playboy/scientist Nikola Telsa, the two get into the business of selling world peace. The problem? Nobody’s buying. When they run afoul of an evil science-cabal led by J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison dedicated to infusing the Black Arts with the spirit of the Industrial Age, New York becomes the backdrop for a war over soul of man — and maybe even Earth itself.

There isn't enough steampunky western historical sci-fi. Not. Nearly. Enough.

Five Fists may partially redress that imbalance, however.

Tags: Comics, Ultimates, Five Fists Of Science, JSA

DC's "52"

NEWSARAMA - DAN DIDIO SPILLS ON DC'S "52"

"The story of 52 begins the week after Infinite Crisis concludes and runs weekly thereafter," DiDio told Newsarama. "It answers most of the outstanding questions from the missing year, but more importantly it sets the tone for our world and the direction of the DC Universe for the years to come."

The series will be DC'’s first attempt at an intentionally weekly comic since turning Action Comics into Action Comics Weekly between 1988 and 1989. Moreover than just running a weekly series, as DiDio explained, 52 will run in real time (or as close to real time as comics can approximate) "that is, when it'’s winter outside your window, it will be winter in the United States of the DCU.

"With each issue one week passes, and yes, we plan to show the change in time as the series progresses," DiDio said. "“We get to show how the life of the DC Universe changes over the course of a year, in real time. With plans like this, it is imperative that we insure that the entire series ships on time. For 52 to ship late it would be like Time Magazine shipping late.

"That said, I wouldn'’t go forward if I didn't believe we were going to hit all our shipping dates. Pre-production is the key to everything and we have the full support of the company to make sure we do this right."

I don't know where Infinite Crisis is going. I can't tell if One Year Later is crass hackwork. I don't know if rumors like the one in today's "Lying In The Gutters" are true, or if they'll be any good.

But something like 52 is at least bold. It's something different, something fun, and has the arrogance of TV's 24. And that went pretty well, didn't it?

I'm hoping they're as bold with pricing and format, as a weekly hit of $2.99 will do a lot to dilute my excitement. But this sounds like a fun event, and will get me running to the shop each week to see what happens next. If they fail at keeping it on-time, it will be a disaster, but if they succeed, I think 52 could prove to be an event to be remembered.

Lee/Morrison WildC.A.T.S. IN '06?

With the San Diego Comic Con just finishing, why is the biggest news I've heard in a while coming from a Wizard Magazine leak? I first saw this in a thread at MillarWorld, and it's now been picked up by Newsarama:

NEWSARAMA - JIM LEE & GRANT MORRISON ON WILDC.A.T.S. IN '06?
In the bios of their Guests of Honor for next month'’s WizardWorld: Chicago convention, Jim Lee and Frank Miller, Lee'’s bio indicates that in 2006 he will pencil a relaunch of his original Wildstorm creation WildC.A.T.S., to be written (according to this Wizard bio) by Grant Morrison.

Though Lee has his faults, I think he and Morrison would make a top-flight team. Morrison's a pop-art master, with explosive ideas and characters. That plays to Lee's strengths. Subtlety is Lee's weakness, but that's not something that's often an issue in Morrison's cape-n-tights work. WildC.A.T.S. have never been anywhere near my favorite group (though I liked the Moore/Charest run), but I this instantly becomes one of my most anticipated books.

This is the kind of eye-popping news that I expected out of San Diego, but I guess it's all saved for Chicago these days.

This Week's Shopping List: July 20, 2005

I won't be hitting the 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics today, but will be heading down tomorrow early. This week doesn't promise quite the same quality as last, but I'm looking forward to both Astonishing X-Men and the start of a new storyarc in Ultimates 2. I also completely missed Seven Soldiers: Guardian last week, so there's no way this week's shopping bag will be a complete loss.

I'm also making a point to start picking up something each week that will expand my horizons a bit ... something unexpected that isn't on my list, and isn't on the mainstream racks. Truth is, I loved writing last week's piece on Desolation Jones. (And getting some nice attention ... well, that doesn't hurt.) However, there's nothing in this week's pull list (apart from, perhaps, Ultimates 2) that looks .... meaty enough.

I've completely missed the Manga revolution while out of comics, and am bringing a short list of titles to look for culled from "The Most Beautiful Manga Thread in the World". So I'll be looking at that, and at the indy racks.

• Adventures Of Superman #642
• Day Of Vengeance #4
• Plastic Man #17
• Teen Titans #26
• Astonishing X-Men #11
• House Of M #4
• Secrets Of The House Of M #1
• Spider-Man House Of M #2
• Ultimates 2 #7
• Hellboy The Island #2
• Conan #18

Categories:

• Comics
• NewReleases

Sean Maher's Quality Control

There’s a term that’s been lost to comics as far as I can tell, a hell of a thing called constructive criticism. Look, anybody with the balls to put together their own comic and send it out into the world has a couple of points in my book. That doesn’t mean I have to dig what they’re trying to say, or how they’re saying it. But what I do see there is potential and passion. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: people create comics because they love the hell out of them. These are people who are genuinely looking to make a real contribution to their chosen art form. And frankly, I think that means I owe them some consideration in return. Will every review you see here be a positive one? No, definitely not. But when I find something I don’t think is working, instead of panning it and tossing it in the bin, I’m gonna try and figure out what’s wrong with it and how it could be made better.

MillarWorld regular, blogger, and weekend retailer Sean Maher has had a reboot. It looks like his weekend in retail (and his cool work with kids) has rejuvenated him, and he's relaunching his blog with a new mission statement: Sean Maher's Quality Control.

Tags: Comics, Blogging

2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award

Will Eisner
Spirit of Comics
Retailer Award

2005 Recipient:
Mimi Cruz and Alan Carroll
Night Flight Comics
Salt Lake City, UT

I haven't blogged about the San Diego Comic-Con, or about the Eisners. But in reading Tom Spurgeon's hilarious recap of the ceremony, the retailer award popped out at me. I must've glazed over the other 300 times I've read the list of Eisner Award Winners, because I hadn't noticed that Night Flight Comics won! This is my new regular comics shop, and I've blogged about it the past few weeks. I've dropped the idea of mail order, and will start doing all my business there in September, accepting the 2 hour round trip because it's simply a fantastic store: Helpful and knowledgeable staff, excellent stock that covers both indy and the mainstream, a pleasant layout, community involvement, and a fantastic location in Library Square.

Can it be a coincidence that last Wednesday I set up my pull list, and a few days later, it receives the "Spirit of Comics Retailer Award"?

Well .... of course it's a coincidence.

But it's still pretty cool! Congratulations to Night Flight Comics!

Ian Brill on All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder

It's easy to see why DC wanted to put Miller and Lee together. This is a book that will sell very well, at least in the direct market (where DC would still own half of the market no matter what, big victory there!). The teaming up of these two doesn'’t yield anything more worthwhile than that. We have a comic where the two main talents behind it are going in different directions. No matter how much I liked a lot of MillerÂ’s choices in the script the end result is a comic that doesn'’t work.

The critical response to All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder has been fascinating to me - this will be my third post about it (here and here). But while I was fumbling towards describing a disjoint between Miller and Lee when it came to the cheesecake, Ian's delivered the best analysis I've read so far by realizing that disjoint is the fundamental problem with the book. Sometimes there are two great tastes that don't taste great together.

Unlike Ian, I don't believe the blame falls squarely on Lee's shoulders. Miller's become a language unto himself, and I don't think he's scripting with the realization that he's not doing the art. It'll be interesting to see if Lee's art develops over the course of the series. From some of his posts over at Sun of Gelatometti, it seems like he can really criticise his own work. Either these two guys will sit secure in the knowledge that they are among the best at what they do, or they'll take it as a challenge and a chance to grow.

Either way, it just makes me realize how much I'm looking forward to Morrison and Quitely's All-Star Superman. Here is a case of two huge talents that already work together brilliantly.

Desolation Jones #2

The first panel strikes a real chord, and serves as an excellent setup to the issue. Jones' "alien spaceship" house hovers behind him, as he sits dragging on a cigarette. Somehow, in the midst of the Los Angeles hills, Jones manages to stay in the dark. It would have been an easy trick to set most of the scenes at night, but a scene like this first panel makes the character clear: Jones lives his life in the shadows, and he's a fish out of water in the glaring California daylight. I don't know where J.H. Williams III lives, but he knows California well. Though it's a small thing, as a former denizen of the Sunshine State, that cinderblock wall with weeds and grasses poking out along the bottom nails the location. L.A. is a character in this book, and Williams draws it well.

The first issue ended with a full-page splash of Jones looking out over Los Angeles as a vision of golden angels swirls before him. We see this again on page 3, as Jones removes his sunglass goggles, and once again literally inhabits the "City Of Angels". This vision is more brutal than what we saw in the first issue, with these angels chained and streaming blood. Last issue's angels were out of Blake, these are out of Bosch. As the series progresses, I think Jones is seeing more of the true nature of the city he inhabits.

Ellis has acknowledged his debt to Chandler, and like Chandler's best work Desolation Jones is not actually a mystery. Though the central figure is "a private dick on a case", it's really an excuse to journey through the fantastic worlds contained within Noir Angeles. The search for the Hitler Porn isn't the point, and neither is the complicated web of who's "in the business". Instead, the mystery is just a motivating factor to explore characters like Dirty Sanchez in the first issue, or the stunning Emily Crowe in this one.

Emily Crowe steals the issue out from under Jones and his mystery. Though the concept of the Black Widow is familiar to anyone who's read or seen much noir, Ellis takes the concept of the deadly vamp and spins it on it's head.

She's ex-Agency, like you and Jeronimus. And, like Jeronimus, she had surgical alteration. She was supposed to be the ultimate honey trap. Overproduction of sex-trigger pheromones.

Didn't work.

What she produces is something that hits the arachnid reaction. It's fear and revulsion and the disturbance of proximity to something alien.

Williams draws her as a goth beauty, but with a small smile as she clearly enjoys spending time with Jones. When I think of Warren Ellis' work, one of the last adjectives I'd ever use is "touching", but this passage most certainly is. Crowe provides Jones with information, and draws him out about the mystery he's trying to solve. Like a spider, her web of information spreads out from her lonely home, and she's only too willing to share the vibrations she picks up on each sticky strand. Williams even sets the background of this scene with webs in the gutters along the sides of the pages, and Jose Villarrubia steeps the scene in arachnid blacks and blues. There's a growing feeling that perhaps Jones will be a fly caught in her web, but Ellis flips the convention again. Where the femme fatale attracts people only to end up alone, Crowe is repellent but only seeks human contact. The gut-punch of the scene comes as she confesses her fear of loneliness:

Jones, there's a long mirror in the bedroom, laid on it's side on the floor. Sometimes ... Sometimes I have to lay in front of it and look at it. Just to pretend there's someone else with me.

Just to not be alone, for a little while.

And then I have to lock up every sharp thing in the apartment.

She begs Jones to stay, and he does. Two utterly broken people trying to find comfort from their past sins.


The panel spreads across two pages (my scanner can't handle it), and it's a quiet moment of repose that caps this incredible scene. It's as emotionally powerful as I've seen Ellis write, and gets to the heart of what this series is about. Jones and the others have been left unfit for the world they live in, and need to somehow fill the voids inside them.

Good noir is often a good ghost story ... they're not dead yet, but the haunting has begun. Williams again ends the issue with a stunning splash page, showing us the scarred body of Jones. He looks like a lifeless corpse.

The Jones/Crowe relationship isn't about the usual noir trappings of sex ... and, of course, neither was noir itself. Not really. What Desolation Jones sees is that noir's always been about loss and loneliness and need.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

Miller, Lee, and T&A

I've been taking part in a reasonably civil discussion over at Millarworld about the gratuitous T&A in All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder. There's a lot to discuss, but my primary concern was that this was a great way to reach new readers, and those pages mean it'll be a squandered opportunity. I'm not even worried that it's kid safe ... here in Utah, adults would put that down as being too much. It's tasteless and it does nothing for the plot or the character.

However, as I keep thinking on it ... it's Frank Miller. This is classic Miller ... the vamp, the sass-talking sexpot, the femme fatale. Part of the problem here is that I think the scene would work as drawn by Frank Miller... but Jim Lee's a whole different kettle of fish. Lee is one of today's top artists, and is famous for his sexy women, but they're often sexy enough in costume. Having Jim Lee draw Victorias' Secret layouts is overkill. Lee's style becomes artless in these shots ....

I'm using a thousand words when some pictures could suffice:

Frank Miller	Jim Lee

I don't think I would have found those Vicky Vale pages such a problem if done with the composition and art of Miller's Sin City work. As it turned out, though, it's a slap in the face to those retailers who thought this could be a great way to bring new fans aboard ... at least if they were hoping for any new fans outside of white hereosexual unmarried males around their college years.

What to do, what to do ....

To a large extent, this blog is driven by the old dictum that "Writers write." The best way to get better is to just keep doing it. I love writing at my internet home of Operation Sports, but there I am part of a staff and am always cognizant that I am representing a site, not just myself. Also, I don't find myself with that much to say about sports gaming these days. Focused Totality presents the entirely different challenge of a blank slate.

• A weekly round up of capsule reviews? Lots of people do it, but A Finer World is my favorite.
• Boundless enthusiasm and energy? Zilla's yer man.
• Laugh-out-loud funny? Dave's Long Box does it better than I can.
• Whatever you'd use to describe DIAL B FOR BLOG! is done as well as it can be by Robby Reed.
• A woman's view of comics? Johanna and Peiratikos write wonderfully on the subject. (And, of course, I'm not a woman.)
• Rounding up the Comics Blogosphere is the Rampage Way, and there's no need for two.
• All the inside dish? Besides the fact I'm not privy, who can beat THE BEAT?

I could go on - there are many, many blogs that are incredibly interesting and provide unique voices.

So where does this blog fit in? Now that I can do what I want ... what do I want to do?

I've been thinking about where I should be focusing my energies, and where I should go with Focused Totality. My plan, as of now, is to continue commenting on things of interest ... but to lock down my reviewing to two types: One "Book Of The Week" which will be a longish (500-750) word essay on the single issue I found most interesting out of that weeks' books, and longer pieces dealing with complete storylines like the "Catching Up" pieces I've been doing, but without the cop-out of the bullet points. That's just sloppy writing, and I can do better.

P.S. - I know this isn't vital knowledge to anyone, but publishing this plan means I might do a better job of sticking to it. Also, I get to pimp some of my favorite blogs. Expect the first "Book Of The Week" later today ... I'll be discussing Desolation Jones #2.

P.P.S. - I also know that the sort of long-form criticism I'm looking at is handled well by many, most notably Ian Brill, Jog and The Fourth Rail.

Cheers to Tom Fowler

I know comics are a visual medium, but I'm really mainly in it for the writing. Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Neil Gaiman are the names I'm looking for, regardless of the artist. When it comes to art, there's a real short list of artists I'll follow regardless of writer.

The flipside is that there are very few times where the art is bad enough to drive me off a book. Art doesn't generally alter my appreciation for a comic either way.

Well, I suppose to every rule there are exceptions. Allow me to introduce Green Arrow Issue 52, with art by Tom Fowler:




What is up with Flash's face? Is he suddenly Plastic Man? Or did he just get the snot beat out of him (I suppose that would explain the broken neck in the second pic)? Because that does not look like a normal human face, speedy or otherwise.

Now the Judd Winnick writing isn't any great shakes, either. But it's a decent Identity Crisis tie-in, where the chickens really come home to roost. This is the first Green Arrow I've picked up since coming back to comics, but it sure isn't going on my pull list while Fowler's on board. I don't ask for much from the art, but it shouldn't actively distract me with panels like the above.

So cheers to Tom Fowler, for getting me to care about the art.

Comic Book Resources Announces New Kirkman Column

Comic Book Resources - CBR News - The Comic Brief

Los Angeles, C.A. - July 21st, 2004 - Comic Book Resources (http://www.comicbookresources.com), a leading comic book news and resource Web site, is proud to announce a new weekly column from writer Robert Kirkman ('Marvel Team Up,' 'The Walking Dead,' 'Invincible') called BUY MY BOOKS. A rising star within the comics industry, the column will be an unusual one, as you can tell from the title.

I know somewhere Zilla's smiling.

Jog - The Blog on All Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder

I had planned to blog on All-Star Batman, but may look elsewhere, as Jog - The Blog knocks it out of the park.

And while I can'’t really say I enjoyed this book (of course, neither can I say I totally hated it - guilty and possibly unintentional laughs work as a mitigating factor with me), I can say that it'’s garbage of a resolutely Frank Miller vintage. Anyone who was afraid that the All Star designation would dilute the Miller feel can exhale now.

The reaction across the Comics Blogoshpere has been decidedly mixed, but I think Jog nails it: why were we expecting "iconic" from Frank Miller? The man's spent his career subverting expectations, and there's no reason to expect he'd stop now. I think I'll like this better once I accept the fact that it's not "definitive" or "timeless".

It's Jim Lee. It's Frank Miller. It's Batman. 'Nuff said.

Catching Up: New Avengers

Have you ever had White Castle? When I lived in Chicago, I loved 'em. Ate 'em by the sackful. But I always thought it strange to call it a "hamburger". It patently is not a "hamburger". It's American tapas, a snack. It bears all the relation to a hamburger that a Chicken McNugget does to a chicken. White Castle's a great thing, but if you walk in there expecting a hamburger, you're going to walk away sorely disappointed.

And if you walk into Brian Bendis' New Avengers expecting, well ... The Avengers? Yeah ... you're going to be disappointed. Or at least I am. I've just "Caught Up" through issue #6, and can't shake the feeling that I'd enjoy the book more if it wasn't named New Avengers. If it was called something else, perhaps I'd enjoy the title better, but the name "Avengers" carries with it certain expectations.

At least part of the idea for the New Avengers is to give the team more of a JLA-style big-hitters lineup. All your favorite characters in one book .... two problems here are:

• If that's the idea, what is up with Luke Cage and Spider-Woman? There are obviously Bendis' pet characters, but they don't belong in a "all the great characters" lineup.
• With Spider-Man and Wolverine in the lineup, I can't help but be reminded of an old Fantastic Four, where the team became Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Spider-Man and The Hulk. Though at least that was poking fun at crass commercialism, where New Avengers seems to take it seriously. (Cover scan from The Grand Comics Database.)
  

But past the lineup, this book just doesn't feel like the Avengers. It feels too conspiracy-ridden. Too street-level. Too grim-n-gritty. There are plenty of titles in the Marvel Universe for prison breaks and S.H.I.E.L.D. skullduggery and traitors. The Avengers is the big adventures title: Kang, Ultron, and the Kree/Skrull War. It's giant stuff that pushes the collected might of Marvel's greatest heroes to it's limit. And New Avengers isn't providing it.

The next story arc featuring the Sentry seems interesting, and I'll give New Avengers at least through that. I'm not familiar with the character, but the premise sounds interesting. Perhaps now that the team's set up and the groundwork is in place, we can see some real Avengers stories out of this book.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

This Week's Shopping List: July 13, 2005

Heck of a week, here. That's why I'll be making the 2 hour round trip to Night Flight Comics again. I called my local place, asking when I could get there to actually find copies on the shelf, and it was explained that they just don't order any extras on most titles. I understand the finances of running a shop ... but that just seems off. There's always interesting debate on what makes a good comic shop. I'd like to humbly submit that stocking some comics is a good start.

In any other week, All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder would be the obvious top pick. Or Serenity, as I'm a huge fan of Firefly and so is my wife. Or Desolation Jones, as I'm a whore for Ellis, especially his creator-owned work. Or the start of Mark Millar's Ultimate Fantastic Four run, which sounds just like the sort of high-concept sci-fi fun that suits the team best. And there's more Seven Soldiers, the "Sacrifice" plotline in Action Comics, and the "Crisis of Conscience" arc in JLA.

But this week's real top book? The Boy Who Lived, of course. Preordered from Amazon, and Saturday can't come soon enough.

• Action Comics #829
• All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder #1
• Desolation Jones #
• JLA #116
• Rann Thanagar War #3
• Seven Soldiers Guardian #3
• Wonder Woman #218
• Green Arrow #52
• New Avengers #7
• Ultimate Fantastic Four #21
• Serenity #1
• Smoke #2

Categories:

• Comics
• NewReleases

Pimpin': Dave's Long Box

Nothing wakes one up in the morning like spurting hot black coffee out one's nose due to laughing at passages like this:

As Annie and Phantom Sylvia dive for cover, notice that the bound Balder the Brave talks shit from the sidelines. "Thee shall ne'er tame my fiery steed, mud-thing!" Not only is that darn rude, but I think it's grammatically incorrect. I may not be up on my Olde English, but I'm pretty sure it's "Thou shall ne'er tame my fiery steed..." I could be wrong about that, but regardless of how you say it, I'm pretty sure it's impossible IF YOUR MOUTH IS GAGGED! Yes, the communication between writer and artist(s) breaks down even further as Balder utters dialogue despite having his mouth gagged.

One of my favorite comic blogs is the snarky joy of Dave's Long Box. Dave's been a bit light on the sarcasm lately, but seems back in fine form with his two-parter on Thor #499. Follow these finely crafted homemade links to Part The First and Part The Second.

Why I Like Grant Morrison

Why I Like Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison: You see, Paul, I think of the DC Universe as fulfilling many of the requirements of a living thing. It grows, it changes over time, it reacts to its environment. In fact, considering that the creations in the DC Universe have outlived many of their creators, you could say that the DC Universe is more alive than we are, something that will continue to exist long after you and I are dead.

Paul Gravett: All right.

Grant Morrison: Now, although it is alive, it isn’t what we would call conscious. It growth and its actions are essentially reactive, like a plant, or an oyster, or John Byrne.

Paul Gravett: I see.

Grant Morrison: Unlike the oyster or John Byrne, this isn’t because the DC Universe lacks sufficient complexity. Its level of complexity, as you might expect after sixty years of monthly development and refinement, is staggering.

What I plan to do is, much in the same way a crucial lightning bolt hit the primordial soup and started the chain reaction which created life as we know it, write a comic series that will bring the DC Universe to consciousness. To wake up an entity that is largely dormant. My belief is that this is very similar to the way our universe was created. We existed largely as a fiction that became sufficiently complex, and then a final story gave us our independence and brought us to consciousness.

Paul Gravett: Absolutely fascinating.

Grant Morrison: Thank you. This is the point where somebody’s supposed to jump up and yell “He’s absolutely mad!” and then a bunch of villagers chase me with burning torches to an abandoned windmill.

I know this is old, but it's new to me. I can't help a small giggle of fanboy delight when I know that they just handed him the keys to the family car. I'm deeply looking forward to All-Star Superman, and am hoping these Detective rumors are true.

Catching Up: Identity Crisis

Well, I finally got my hands on Identity Crisis and feel like I can start "Catching Up" with the DC Universe. This was the series that set the upcoming crossover Infinite Crisis in motion (or at least is a huge trigger), and set things in motion that will take years to resolve. Though I wasn't reading comics at the time, I gather it was quite the controversy. I'm sure it's all been discussed to death, and that my contribution to the debate means little. I will forge ahead anyways (there will be plot points discussed, so this is your spoiler warning):

• Not only is the rape of Sue Dinby a case of "Woman In Refrigerator Syndrome", it's flat-out cheap. There's no need for it plot-wise, and it's never handled afterwards. I'm not even talking about well handled. It's simply not handled. Though the attack on her motivates much of the backstory of Identity Crisis, it didn't need to go beyond battery. Cut out those panels, and re-read the series and you'd find no plot holes. The attack starts with battery, and that's all that's referred to again. The rape itself serves no point beyond shock value and the good ol' "You Wouldn't Believe What Those Silver-Agers Were Up To!!!" And that offends me. Ultraviolence is part and parcel of the men-in-tights genre, but sexual violation of women needn't be. It's a serious subject that deserves to be treated with more gravity than as a writer's cheap trick.


• So the incident with Dr. Light? The history of mentally altering opponents? Of snipping 10 minutes of Batman's memory? The events that will reverberate through Infinite Crisis and change the face of the DCU? .... It all comes to light because they jump to conclusions? Because they ran off half-cocked letting their guilty conscience guide them? Again, it feels cheap and unorganic.


• Not only am I glad to come back after 5 years away and find Ollie returned to life, but I'm even happier to see him placed in a central role. It's not the boxing glove arrows that make Green Arrow work, and that's why Connor could never quite replace him. It's his conscience and political thinking. The thing I liked most about his characterization in Identity Crisis was that while he opposed the decision, he supported his friends and teammates once the decision is made. That's the integrity that makes him a unique character.


• Maybe I'm missing some sections of Jean Loring's backstory ... was there an issue of something where she was revealed to be a complete idiot? An amoral idiot, to boot? Not only is her scheme to scare her marriage back to life crackpot to begin with, but when it goes horribly wrong ... she just keeps going, like some murdering Energizer Bunny. Perhaps staging the attack on herself can be explained as cover-up, but then planning the attack on Jack Drake? That's just flat idiotic to try to "scare" someone when you just killed a friend by doing the same thing a few days before. Either her story's a lie, she's dumb as a bag of hammers, or Brad Meltzer writes cheap fiction. Or all of the above.


• As much as I deride Meltzer's plotting, I really don't mind his writing. The main characters were well developed, and there is nice thematic work. Secrets and famliy kept being repeated again and again, and it developed into an interesting look at all sides of the coin in the DCU. I also quite liked the development of Calculator and the story of Digger Harkness.

Hopefully, Infinite Crisis will work out well, and this will have proved a great starting place. But as a series of comics (apart from it's storyline impacts), I just don't care for it. There were a lot of cop-outs, and a lot of cheap tricks being played on the audience.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

DESOLATION JONES #1: Author's Commentary

Warrenellis.com - DESOLATION JONES #1: Author's Commentary

For fans of Warren Ellis or Desolation Jones or just behind-the-scenes comic stuff, Ellis has just posted his commentary on issue #1. Like the commentary track on a DVD, he walks through the issue page by page making observations and explaining sources of the book.

Me? I'm printing it out, and will re-read Jones with it in hand, then store them together. This is fun stuff, and you don't need to purchase a "Director's Cut" to get it.

Catching Up: Ultimates 2

Earlier this year, I decided to dip my toe in the waters of comics again with a couple of hardcovers. The prices were good on eBay, and I wanted to see if I had missed anything cool. The Ultimates, Vol. 1 was one of the first I read. And sitting that pre-coffee early Saturday morning, ripping through it while my girls watched cartoons, colored, and dressed up as princesses, I thought: "Oh. Yes. Now I remember ... comics are damn fun! Why did I ever stop?". I suppose a lot of the terminology and style of the last few years of comics escaped me, so the "decompression" and "widescreen comics" of the series were completely new. The Ultimates floored me, both in concept and execution. It was big, ballsy, and truly modern. I felt as I did when reading Ellis' Stormwatch/Authority that this was a remarkable take on the superteam, and the superhero genre as a whole. It's with near-certainty that I say that if not for The Ultimates, I would not have sought out more hardcover trades of the past few years of comics, and started down the slippery slope into collecting comics again.

So how fitting is it that it's The Ultimates that forced me off the tradewaiter ledge into the pool of full-blown collecting again? I simply couldn't wait for the trades on this, so caught up with the series through issue 6.

• I was able to catch up in no small part thanks these great "Marvel Must Haves" which collect three issues into a single comic. $5 for three issues of The Ultimates 2? And they include a script, as well? That's a great deal, and I hope it's something we'll see more of from Marvel. I'm sure they're not "collectible" in any way, but I love the opportunity to catch up on a series I may have missed.


• For a series that seems to exemplify widescreen explodo comix ... the first six issues have gone pretty quietly. I suppose anything's quiet after the goes-to-eleven brilliance of the Interdimensional Space Nazi War that capped volume 1, but ... this is quiet. And it works. I'm really involved with these characters, and simply enjoy spending time with them. What sells it for me is the maturity of the characters. It's no the faux maturity of swearing and sex that characterizes many "adult" comics, but simple scenes like two couples watching TV together. Something about it - much of it coming from the relaxed comfort Hitch puts in the scene - rings true. These are actual adults, not caricatures.


• I'm not a big fan of politics in my comics. Many comic writers have a pretty limited political vocabulary, and see things in black and white with large brushstrokes. So I'm surprised to be liking the political backdrop of this series. It's much more pronounced than in the first series, but Millar is not being too heavy-handed with it. At least so far, he's letting the action speak for itself, and simply telling the story of superheros being used as political weapons in the Middle East without a definitive authorial comment.


• Bryan Hitch once again delivers the goods. He's able to move from big action to small character moments equally well. His art is clean and tells the story well, but still retains character. My only complaint is the photoreferencing that I started to notice in the series. I don't see it as 'cheating', but it throws me out of the comic for a second. I'm not seeing Professor X or Thor in these images ... for a second I snap out of that world and am only seeing Patrick Stewart or Sean Bean.
  


• Thor's easily my favorite character in the series, and his "madness" is being handled really well. I'm assuming that his vision of the world is accurate, but Millar and Hitch leave just enough doubt in my mind that I'm not sure where they are going. Same with the "traitor": I'm lost, and I like it. As someone who knew the ending to The Sixth Sense a few minutes in, I love any story where I'm really in the dark.

This is easily one of the best comics on the stands today, and I'm very glad I made the leap into reading the monthlies. This is a real treat, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes from here.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

This Week's Shopping List: July 7, 2005

I'm bloody tired of heading to my local comic shop, only to find that I can't fill half my want list. I understand that shops need to cut it tight, but there should be a few copies of major releases still around in the afternoon of release day, right? I'm not talking about obscure items, either. I'm talking about Fantastic Four and OMAC and Green Lantern and the like being unavailable at 3:30 in the afternoon. I'll be starting mail order in August (with MailOrderComics) and have been supplementing with Midtown to fill the gaps, because I'm lucky if the local shop has even one or two books I'm expecting each week.

But today, I'm treating myself to a trip to the best comic store I've found in these parts: Night Flight Comics. They have a great location in downtown Salt Lake City, in the brand-new library complex. Most festivals are held here, and this comic store is right in the middle it. Far from your typical hole in the wall, this shop boasts excellent stock, pleasing layout, and intelligent and informative staff. It's family-friendly, and just an overall great place. The 45 minute (or more) one-way drive isn't something I can see myself doing every Wednesday, hence the mail order route.

And on my trip to Night Flight Comics? What will I be purchasing, you ask? Well, it sure is a crossover-heavy week, ain't it? I'm looking forward to House Of M #3, as I can't wait to see the internet break in half.

• Gotham Central #33
  
• DC Special The Return Of Donna Troy #2 (Infinite Crisis)
  
• Superman #219 (Infinite Crisis)
• Villains United #3 (Infinite Crisis)
• Fantastic Four House Of M #1 (House Of M)
• House Of M #3 (House Of M)
• Incredible Hulk #83 (House Of M)
• Iron Man House Of M #1 (House Of M)

Since Night Flight often has recent issues available, I will also look for some Solo and some of the Busiek/Nord Conan.

Categories:

• Comics
• NewReleases

Catching Up: Young Avengers

This covers Young Avengers 1-5, a new series that sprung from the literal and figurative wreckage of Avengers: Disassembled. Though I didn't care for Disassembled, I can't hold a grudge against it if Young Avengers is one of the results. Though the idea of a writer from The O.C. writing a Avengers spinoff featuring what appeared to be all-new teen sidekick versions of the classic Marvel heroes seemed eminently avoidable, the buzz on this book convinced me to give it a try. I'm now "Caught Up" on the book, and here are some thoughts:

• I love the character designs, especially Patriot. I really didn't think you could do much more with the "patriotic hero" look, but they managed something that was classic without feeling like I'd seen it all before. Hulkling's a blast: a thoroughly derivative design that actually manages to look cool - he's a big, green Boy Band kid. Teen People would be all over him.


• I'm not familiar with Jim Cheung's work, but I already will be keeping an eye out for everything he does. The fight and action sequences are staged well, and he handles the quite soap opera stuff just as well. He conveys a lot of character and emotion, and it particularly good at showing that these are kids. It's something that a lot of artists miss when doing teen books, but the Young Avengers have the right build and softness. They're not just short adults.


• I suppose it's his background in primetime soaps, but Heinberg knocks the characterization out of the park. Though the first arc still feels built-for-trade, it manages to feel compressed. It's not heavy on plat, but the characterization is rich and dense, and is revealed through actions. Only 5 issues in, and I have a real sense of who these kids are, and it's not because they stopped and told me. They had actions (including dialogue) that revealed their personalities without having to resort to tons of exposition. That's not an easy feat when you're starting off with four new characters all at once, and finding them in media res.


• Kang usually makes my head hurt. Heck, whole miniseries have been written about Kang's head-hurting abilities. Ancient Egypt, the far future, multiple timeline-jumping selves ... it all makes me dread seeing him pop up. But Heinberg handles it all skillfully, and while he plays with all the time-hopping conventions of the character, it never gets bogged down. I think that Kang has trouble in modern comics because now everything needs to be consistent and explained. Kang works best if you don't connect all the dots, because it's all the dot-connecting that has me reaching for the Excedrin. He also writes a Kang with some character: arrogant and haughty, but utterly competent and firm in the conviction he's right. I don't know if Kang will become a fixture in the series .... but I hope to see Heinberg write him again.


• Reading this, I was reminded most of all of the great Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans of the 80's. Unlike the angst of the X-Men, this is soap opera that's also a fun superhero read. It's clean and snappy, but still weaves great relationships. I feel like he's managing the secrets well, unlike the usual Marvel Way. Heinberg's letting a few cats out of the bag as we go along, not content to hint indefinitely (see Claremont, Chris). There are still plenty of mysteries, but I don't have the feeling I'm getting a carrot-and-stick routine.


• Looks like I missed a good deal of controversy on the matter of the Asgardian/Hulkling relationship. It was interesting watching it play out in the letters page, and I give Marvel a lot of credit for publishing those letters and Heinberg for handling the situation with class.. If they are an "item", Heinberg's handling it the right way. It's not shocking or controversial, at least not to the characters involved. It's simply a fact of their lives, like the color of their hair or eyes. I'm really interested to see this relationship develop, as well as the equally intriguing developments between Kate and Patriot.

Categories:

• Comics
• Reviews

Dial P For Pimpage

DIAL B for BLOG is one of the best comic-related blogs out there, kiddos. It's inventive, well written, and just plain fun. The scans and original artwork are great. It's a labor of love, and a regular stop on my blogosphere journeys. The image here is just one great example.

Robby's recounting the "Secret Origins of the Fantastic Four" and it's relation to .....

I won't spoil it. Go. Read.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

A frabjous day if ever there was one.

Though my eBay purchase of Identity Crisis is still missing and presumed dead, my much anticipated "Catch Up" order has arrived from the good folks at Midtown Comics and MyComicShop.com. This is mainly stuff that I thought perhaps I'd wait for the trade on, but I broke down.

My plan here is to post my impressions of each of these runs/storylines up to the current point. Look for "Catching Up" posts over the next few days on:

• Planetary


• Young Avengers


• New Avengers


• Astonishing X-Men


• Seven Soldiers


• Ultimates 2


• Smoke


• Iron Man

Infinite Crisis and all it's Countdowns, Prologues, and attendant miniseries is all in this shipment as well. I'm just waiting on Identity Crisis.

Heck, my entire reading in the DCU is waiting on Identity Crisis. Seems like everything is tied to it.

There are a few other items in here, and I'll blog 'em as I see 'em.

Blogging Survey

I got led to this from the great Cognitive Dissonance. It's a short survey, and seems pretty spam-free. It just asks a few questions about your blog.

Sexy Superbabes!

Sorry for the title ... but according to Wizard , this is the way to get people to pay attention to all things comic-book-related.

John Riley of Grasshopper's Comics posts this over at ICv2:

As a retailer who has worked long and hard to establish a family-friendly, kid-positive atmosphere, I find these covers to be irresponsible. These days we all work daily to dispel the stereotype that comics are little more than soft-core porn, and yet the headline on our industry fan magazine is primarily concerned with 'Superbabes That Make You Sweat' and 'Jessica Alba's Push Up Bra.' When a mother comes to the counter to purchase something for their child, whether it be comic or game related, they naturally survey the counter to see what this hobby is all about. Is this really what Wizard wants to communicate to the non-hobbyist? That comic fans are primarily interested in Superbabes and push up bras?

Bravo, Mr. Riley. If I ever find myself in Williston Park, New York I will seek out Grasshopper's Comics. You're my kind of store.

I often hit comic shops with my daughters in tow. Or sometimes my wife. I'm trying to pass on a love for comics to my girls, and my wife's been interested in some series in the past. If any of the ladies in my life feel comfortable enough to look around, they'll find stuff they enjoy.

It's that "feeling comfortable" part that's the issue. For the guys reading this, up to and including shop owners and Wizard staffers: you know how you feel going into "Victoria's Secret" with your wife/significant other? That vaguely uncomfortable feeling? That feeling that you don't quite belong there? That maybe you're not really welcome? That probably stopping by weekly to chat and buy new product would be .... wierd?

"Summer's Sexiest Superbabes!" doesn't do anything to dispel the idea that comics has a sign on the clubhouse door saying "No Girls Allowed!".

I'm not even sure who this "casual consumer" is that the cover is aimed at. Most people buying in a Local Comic Shop are the hardcore - they read Wizard or they don't, but it's not based off the cover image. It based on content, habit, or both.

And the mythical "newsstand"? I know at my local grocery, Wizard is shelved next to Nick, Jr. Magazine and coloring books. It's targeting kids asking their mom to buy them Wizard because they've been "really good this week". Seeing "Superbabes That Make You Sweat" will simply send Mom the message that she should pick up a videogame magazine instead.

Or that nice Nick, Jr..

I'm not saying comics all need to be rated G. But mainstream comics don't need any help crawling into a straight white male ghetto. We don't need Wizard .

Categories:

• Comics
• Opinion

Happy Birthday Supes?

My thoughtful mother-in-law forwarded me today's entry from a "Writer's Almanac" mailing list she's on:

It was on this day in 1938, the Superman comic book made its first appearance. The "Man of Steel" was created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, both teenagers. Superman hid behind the persona of the mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. He could leap tall buildings in a single bound, run faster than a speeding bullet, and possessed the strength of 200 men.

For whatever reason, Garrison Keillor thinks that Superman made his debut this day in 1938. The cover date on Action Comics #1 is actually June 1938 .... but I suppose anything's possible. Perhaps a newsstand in Lake Woebegone was a bit behind the times.

It seems Superman's actual birthday has been established as February 29, at one point or another. So today's not his birthday, nor his first appearance, nor really much of anything.

But .... do I need an excuse to celebrate Siegel and Shuster?

Thanks, Jerry and Joe. Whatever that exact day was in 1938 ... you created something lasting that profoundly affected a lot of people's lives. You created an American myth of what we could aspire to be, and used an alien to show us the best humanity had to offer.