Graphic Novel Of The Month: Give 'Em Hell 54

DMZ: Volume 7: War Powers (DC/Vertigo): Let me caveat this heavily up front by saying that I don’t know how much of a proper “review” this is going to be. It’ll probably be somewhat anecdotal and rambling since it’s very much fueled by a recent re-reading of all seven volumes of DMZ over about a two week period. What follows is likely to be just as sprawling in scope. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating – one of the consistent motifs in all of Brian Wood’s projects is the notion of character identity. He’s fascinated with what makes people tick, what comprises their personality, what compels them to act, what causes them to change, and ultimately why they do the things they do and what that says about them as human beings. That broad theme is certainly very much at play in this particular volume, but another dynamic is that DMZ taken in as a whole strikes me largely as a big long love letter from Brian Wood to New York City. It’s personal for him. It’s a love letter to a city he clearly loves, to the city that “you can’t kill.”

New York may change and evolve, but most pertinent – it’s a survivor, capable of enduring even the Second American Civil War. I’ve been to New York a couple of times for work and it always struck me as the type of place where it’s easy to understand the pride its residents feel. It’s understandable why people would be proud to claim the moniker “New Yorker.” There’s that saying that if you can make it in New York, well hell, then you can make it anywhere. As fascinating as it is from a cultural anthropology standpoint, I know New York isn’t for me per se. Boston? Sure. San Francisco? Sure. San Diego? Sure. See, I’m a California boy. I’ve travelled all over the world, I’ve lived all over the United States, but I was born in California. I’m a Native Californian – we make the distinction. My family’s roots are deep here. I’m proud of that. I’ve lived in, let’s see… 9, I think it is… 9 different cities in California. I think that California might be the only other place in the US where people feel that particular sense of intense inborn pride that New Yorkers feel. Because of that, there’s a part of me that wants Wood to explore what’s going on in California in his epic. What happened in the bastion of liberal thought that is the Bay Area? With California and New York basically united against the Red States on most sociopolitical issues, it’s hard for me to believe that The Golden State simply threw in with the Free States movement, especially in particularly crunchy areas like Berkeley. Does downtown LA look like the DMZ too? There sure are a lot of military bases in Southern California. Was there fighting out West? Are there still trouble spots? I know that would probably diverge largely from the main thrust of DMZ, but I so desperately and selfishly want to see that, a one-shot issue highlighting San Francisco or, hell, even just a couple of throwaway lines would probably satisfy me.

Once when I was in 8th grade, and this is really the first feature length story idea I ever had as a budding writer, I tried to write a story about California seceding from the Union. There were some interesting RAND Corporation studies at the time that suggested, based on GNP and some other factors I can’t recall, that California (The “Independent Republic of California,” that is) would be the 7th most powerful country in the world. The San Joaquin Valley alone, as an agricultural entity, is responsible for approximately 80% of the world’s produce. Think about that. When you factor in the revenue streams from Hollywood to the south, Silicon Valley to the north, the impressive rail network, port cities dotting the coast, and the highly concentrated array of Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force bases, it gets really interesting. If California was able to take Las Vegas and say, the Hoover Dam along with it, or even a couple of “minor” states like Oregon and Washington (to lock up the coast), well it gets downright scary. Looking back, my story was not very serviceable. It flipped back and forth incessantly from first person narration to omniscient third person. It lacked an essential POV character like Matty Roth, and was actually more an outline of cool “what if?” prospects, but I remember the really amazing tipping point being New York and the New England states throwing in with the Independent Republic of California and forming this bicoastal alliance. The Red States (even though we didn’t refer to them as that back in the mid-80’s) would then be forced to fight a bloody war on two fronts in an attempt to preserve the Union – and lose. Man, I’m really digressing.

Somehow, this brings me back around to DMZ and maybe explains why I have such a fond spot in my heart for the underpinnings of this series. Much like California is a part of my identity, this book feels like a personal experience too. In DMZ: Volume 1: On the Ground, Brian Wood embeds us violently into the city; he introduces us to The Ghosts of Central Park, one of many vying factions to come. Volume 2: Body of a Journalist offers a closer look at the FSA and strong personalities like Viktor and Zee. The “universe” that DMZ inhabits really gets fleshed out in Volume 3: Public Works. It’s here that we see the dueling perspectives of the United States, the Free States, Liberty News, Trustwell, and the UN. Multiple POVs abound; the US is not simply some benevolent force trying to keep the country together, but sometimes acts with malfeasance. The FSA are not simply redneck militia, but possess some genuine and valid points, and the DMZ inhabitants are caught right in the middle. Trustwell backs an insurgent cell, ensuring their continued presence. Liberty News is heavily aligned with the government. The web of influence is endless. Everyone has an angle for sale, and the PR war is just as high priority as the ground war. Volume 4: Friendly Fire focuses on the Day 204 Massacre and proves to be a very pivotal moment for protagonist Matty Roth. In this arc, Matty decides to stop being an impartial journalist. He’s learned that fundamental survival in the DMZ means taking a stand, picking a side, and having an agenda. It plants the seed that needs just a little water to flourish. After some rousing storytelling detours in Volume 5: The Hidden War, which highlights Wood’s version of contemporary artist Jenny Holzer (who awesomely enough has this red LED piece right outside my office door at work) in his character Decade Later, the ever-interesting and charismatic Wilson, or my personal favorite thanks to Nathan Fox – DJ Random Fire, Roth gets his water in the form of Parco Delgado in Volume 6: Blood in the Game. He is journalist turned political activist with The Delgado Nation. His involvement begs me to invoke the Hawthorne Effect – if a detached third party journalist observes a campaign, does the very act of observing it change the dynamic fundamentally and scientifically alter the outcome? The Delgado Nation is about an iconoclast leader, about a political atmosphere more relevant than we’re probably comfortable admitting. If you get the sense that your country is rigged and all of the Michael Moore-isms are true, if dissent is patriotic, if the blood of tyrants enriches the soil of democracy, what happens next? Matty Roth begins to act out his answers to these questions.

During the recent election, I think it was John King at CNN that characterized (then) Senator Barack Obama as “part professor, part preacher,” and (then) Senator Joe Biden as “part steelworker, part statesman.” I always liked that. It makes me think about the unlikely pairing of Parco Delgado and Matty Roth, which culminates in DMZ: Volume 7: War Powers. Somewhere early on in DMZ, Brian Wood promised to deliver us the “post-9/11 New Yorker.” I think Matty Roth could be that archetype. He is the post-9/11, post-Obama, post-United States, citizen and resident of the DMZ – itself becoming a sovereign state, himself growing from boy to man, mirroring the path his city is on. He represents a brand of asymmetrical citizenship of a truly modern world, with an ability to cross political boundaries and warring factions, to ignore imposed demographic and artificial geographic boundaries, to consider the multi-faceted positions of any given issue. He understands the power of words, why the remnants of the US Government refer to the FSA movement simply as “those insurgents” as a way to discredit their position and not acknowledge them as a legitimate entity.

Volume 7: War Powers is a game-changer. It now feels like everything is just teetering on the edge of chaos. In this arc, Matty Roth found a cause he believes in. Matty walks with a purpose. He’s become a player. As a writer, Brian Wood is careful not to use outright analogy, but to employ the use of allegory. See, analogies are prescriptive: Trustwell represents Blackwater or Halliburton, that’s analogy. But allegory is subscriptive; it allows for wider inductive reasoning and interpretation on the part of the audience. Something like Trustwell can then become your corrupt local government, the tyrannical HOA, the morally questionable employer, the crooked cops you dealt with as a kid, the oppressive parents, or whatever else the reader needs it to inhabit in order to hold meaning and power for them. DMZ is a visceral piece of work; Civil War, by definition, means that we’re literally killing each other. Perhaps Wood’s greatest contribution is educating people to consider all sides of an argument, that the modern labels being thrown around by the media and the government are too easy, too fast, and too clean. That “right and wrong” depends on point of view, and you have to get a little dirty to fully comprehend complex issues.

Shit, I haven’t even talked about the art yet. You know, I have some favorite moments. Nathan Fox, doing his post-Paul Pope impression of DJ Random Fire, was an instant classic in my eyes. Danijel Zezelj’s murky inky art came with just the right touch of paranoid claustrophobia. Kristian Donaldson’s stark bold lines give a particularly well suited cold aesthetic. Nikki Cook’s soft supple lines lend a sense of compassion in an otherwise heartless set of circumstances. But as far as artists go, series co-conspirator Riccardo Burchielli does the bulk of the heavy lifting here. His crisp detail and lithe figures were the perfect match to the themes Brian Wood wanted to explore. Burchielli just delivers over and over again; his art is disarmingly charismatic. The gritty pencils lure you in, making you feel as if you’re walking down a side street in the city, right alongside one of Wilson’s grandsons, or peering out a broken window right next to an eager sniper rifle. You can feel the grime against your skin, smell the acrid smoke in the air, hear the bullets whizzing by dangerously close to your head, sense the weariness in Zee’s eyes, the quiet rasp of malnourished Matty Roth, the determined growl of an energized Parco Delgado, the desperation in Amina’s whisper, or even the threatened ennui of a random UN peacekeeper.

So yeah, I don’t know how to wrap this up properly since it’s so divergent from the type of review or analysis of a book that I’d normally write. I guess it’s just my personal impressions of the book as a whole and what it’s meant to me. Here’s to you, DMZ. I’m looking forward to the next couple years of stories, likely as full of twists and unexpected surprises as the first 45 or so have been. It’s been a catalyst for introspection on the craft of writing or what’s going on in the news every day of our lives – not to mention, just damn fine entertainment. This book couldn’t have existed 10 years ago, it’s a true product of its time; I sincerely predict that it will be recognized in the future as an example of the works emblematic of early 21st century fiction. Grade A+.

4.03.13 [Weekly Reviews]

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Godzilla: Half Century War #5 (IDW): James Stokoe is a one-man band who’s delighted and impressed with this rock-em sock-em series. I don’t want to give it short shrift though, it shouldn’t be dismissed as just a monster book. While it does offer plenty of nostalgic action, it’s got a warm emotional center as well that hooks the reader. Murakami realizes, here at the end of his life, that’s he’s spent the better part of his existence doing something that he doesn’t fully understand. In a last ditch effort, he confronts Godzilla, along with two other creatures, inside a Mecha-Godzilla suit fashioned by the AMF. Murakami ultimately succumbs, attempting to get Godzilla to simply acknowledge him as a man, as an opponent, to give his life some meaning, instead of just being swept away and dismissed like a gnat. One of the big themes of this series, and the original to some extent, is not just that Godzilla was steeped in post-war atomic paranoia, but a message of “Don’t Fuck With Mother Nature!” because she’ll bite back. Of course, we all know that Stokoe is a staggeringly good artist, in this new school of artistry in the same category as people like Brandon Graham or Paul Pope, which may have been influenced by people like Geoff Darrow in their detail insanity, but also incorporate a more global style, with European, Manga, and other tendencies in their work that relies more on visual iconography to tell stories… you’re sensing a “but,” aren’t you? But, the insane thing is that Stokoe is a really strong writer as well! He cranks out some choice turns of phrase with very deliberate words choices. I enjoyed how Godzilla has left “half the globe in cinders,” as well as the talk of him “making landfall,” emphasizing his impact being like a force of nature. While there are some issues with the timeline (the war would have been more than 50 years ago, not “nearly 50 years ago”) and the book was more than a couple months late, this was still a very enjoyable old fashioned monster jam with a modern heart. Grade A.

Locke & Key: Omega #4 (IDW): This is issue 4, but the indicia says issue 3, while the cover dress says 3 issues left when I think it’s actually 2, and what the hell happened to the thicker cover stock while we're at it?! So, yeah, the book is kind of all over the place even before you dive into the story contents. The good news is that the interior is a barnburner on all levels. Gabe Rodriguez has got to be one of the best, most underrated artists working in the industry today. He’s like the bastard lovechild of George Perez and John Cassaday, with all the slick sheen of the latter and the emotive detail and sense of place of the former. He nails the action, the talking heads, the quiet character moments, the big jaw-dropping double page spreads, and the slick layout tricks like the panel-within-a-panel x-ray device showing Duncan and Tyler hiding in the trunk of a car. I can’t really say too much about the story without heading toward spoiler territory, but needless to say the shit starts to hit the fan. There are two major “oh shit!” moments here that should have lasting consequences, but… oh, god, that’s all I can really say. Just read it. Dodge/Bode breaking character is one of the most chilling scenes I’ve see in comics in quite some time. Grade A.

Ultimate Comics: X-Men #25 (Marvel): As the US Senate votes to suppress the resource rights of a fledgling mutant nation within its borders, Kitty and company struggle to keep it all together within their own borders. Brian Wood has done a great job in the latter issues of this series providing some balance, and presenting both sides of the argument instead of just soapboxing his own beliefs. Whether adopting a pacifist stance or one more aggressive, each approach has it’s pros and cons that test the mettle of Kitty’s leadership capability. Even Nomi appears to be losing control of her splinter faction to some degree as a handshake deal is struck between soldiers on the ground for the future defense of Utopia. There’s pressure from all around, from the US, from within Utopia, and now from Jean Grey infiltrating at the same time. While this issue is lots of talk and no real action, Wood is staging the pieces on the board for another high stakes showdown, which the series has offered in waves. It’s the second issue with Mahmud Asrar on art and I think it’d be a coup if he was somehow snagged as the regular series artist. His work reminds me of early Sean Phillips, a style that’s lean and angular, but never ceases to bear emotional weight in the lines, particularly the facial characteristics. Grade A-.

Amazing Spider-Man #583 Rant

I don’t know how it was at your LCS today, but how annoying was it to see the throngs of nutballs coming in to pick up the Obama Variant Cover Amazing Spider-Man #583? These are people who have never been in a comic shop before and will never step foot in one again. True, I’m generalizing, but that’s what rants do. By my rough calculations, there was at least four times the number of people who are normally in the store at that time of day. I looked carefully and none of them picked up anything beside the much ballyhooed Amazing Spidey, so let’s just head that argument off at the pass – that at least it gets them in the store to buy other things. Umm, no.

I witnessed a fascinating debacle with a woman who must have been in her 80’s that’d shuffled in looking for the book. She wandered in, looking even more out of place than many of the suits with their greedy eyes and eBay on the brain, more stupefied than the obnoxious teenagers wandering around looking lost and timid, like they’d stepped into some porn shop for the first time, and she approached a store employee. The employee explained that the books were behind the counter and not on the shelves with the “regular” books. That word jabbed at my senses, the “regular” books, because this one was, of course, somehow special. The old woman seemed perplexed by this and annoyed in that special way that only the elderly can exude. She finally got to the counter after waiting in line, was annoyed that the limit was two, and then became very agitated when her total was over $30. “But, I thought they were $3 each,” she pleaded. “I don’t understand why I have to pay more.” Nor do I understand, I agreed silently. The clerk then tried to give her some dismissive answer, as the six other people in line jonesing for their precious “collector’s item” continue to grow impatient. She then questions why she had to pay .50 cents extra for bags and boards. She stated firmly, “I don’t want to pay .50 cents for that junk!” Good for you, Granny! Fold those suckers up and put ‘em in your back pocket! I smiled to myself, morbidly enjoying the whole fucking debacle. Please, just walk out and don’t pay for them, I began mumbling to myself. But alas, she paid her $30, sans bags and boards, and disappeared.

While this is going on, some other douchebag walks in and just starts yelling “hey man, you got those Obama comics?!” The clerk says back, “yes, we do.” The douche stammers around confused for a moment, looking around wild-eyed like he’s just come down from the speedball he had for breakfast and has to get the next fix in before his skin starts crawling. “Well, where would I find them?” he asks. “We’re hiding them,” the clerk says with a sickly, wry grin. Everyone in line laughs. My heart sinks. Inside, I die a little bit. You’re hiding them? What do you hide? What does one hide from the world? That which is coveted. What do you covet? Something you desire wrongfully. Really, that’s the definition of the word. Fucking hell, this scene is killing me, I thought. I hate this. This is a disgusting showing. I’m ashamed.

I hate comics right now.

It bugs me that the whole flustered, spastic, dithered affair is a story on CBR, as if that somehow legitimizes it as newsworthy. “There hasn’t been any excitement like this in comics since they killed Superman in 1992," stated WonderWorld co-owner Dennis Barger. Doesn’t that just say it all? That’s not supposed to be a positive thing there, Dennis, it’s not supposed to be remembered fondly. That was supposed to be a part of our darkest hour. This is a comic that should sell for $3, but was going for something like $14.95 with reports that other shops in town were charging as much as $50 and $60, and up to $200 online. Why? Nobody seemed that interested in the Savage Dragon comic featuring Obama, or even the IDW specials that came out a while back. Is it because it’s Spider-Man? Has the Marvel marketing juggernaut played the media to their satisfaction? Is it because Barack has publicly stated that he likes Spider-Man? Let’s face it, this is a comic that will never be rare because millions of copies will be sold, a second print is already coming out next week. While it may pull in these bizarre, frakked up speculator prices during this week’s news cycle, largely because of a blinded populace being misled by their uneducated perceptions and media hype, let me assure you that all the copies you ever wanted will be available in a dollar bin near you a year from now (right along side that issue of Superman) and nobody will care, much less remember or understand the justification for the frenzy they were in. This is an example of one of the many things wrong with the industry and the public at large’s perception about the medium, the incessant locked horns of commerce vs. art.

I will now go and read the issue of Wasteland I picked up today in an effort to cleanse my soul.

11.14.12 Advance Review [The Massive #6]

The sixth issue of The Massive follows the crew of The Kapital to a drifting UK corporate container ship called The Caledonia (Word Nerd Alert: It’s the Roman/Latin name for Scotland, coincidentally also the subtitle of the Supernatural mini-series based on the WB show that Brian Wood wrote for DC), which has ostensibly been abandoned and is fair game for boarding and salvage under applicable maritime law. But, if you’ve been reading this series with any semblance of regularity, you know that it’s unlikely events will play that simple. Not only does the mission go a little sideways, but Wood and artist Garry Brown (also from Scotland) lace it with more important flashback sequences that build the world and the characters in the process. Let me mix my metaphors all to hell, and say that if you buy my old theory that this theme of “identity” is some sort of endemic connective tissue supporting the apothecary of diverse series in the Wood library, then you can probably focus your microscope to an even more granular level and say that this story is increasingly becoming about identity crisis.

From the Congo, to Sri Lanka, to Gulf War I, with burning oil fields, assorted dictators, and obtuse blanket orders, it’s all a quick crash course in the type of “just following orders” atrocities man is capable of. It would be easy for a lesser writer to use this breed of vignette to dutifully explain why war should always be a last resort to avoid at all costs, or some rote lesson in preachy morality, but Wood moves a step further to personalize the horror and show us a couple historical moments when men like Cal and Mag need to decide precisely what kind of men they want to actually be. Or, at the very least, what kind of men they don’t want to be. We’re seeing in these systematic “building the crew” flashes sprinkled across the series how the main characters have all been pushed toward Ninth Wave as an outlet for redefining their identity when it was either listless (Ryan) or actively going down the wrong path (Cal, Mag). Even during their present Ninth Wave tenure, as they decide what to do about this ship on a sliding scale of ethical conundrums (ie: break the law to confirm they can legally salvage an adrift vessel?), their identities are in a constant state of flux, begging for further clarification in this post-Crash world. Everyone has their moment, and one we get to see in this issue is Mag’s moment of satori, involving a child, the hint of family, evidence that everyone has their unique trigger points to force a decision favoring a personal sense of integrity over a professional sense of duty. For what it’s worth, I also loved his ultimate Jed Bartlett line “So… what’s next?” It doesn’t stop there.

For me, there’s one moment in this issue that’s absolutely key. Not only is it the precise moment Cal quits his former life (physically this time, not just spiritually as he did in the North Sea), but it’s a point where the art also converges with this story thread to act in perfect unison. It’s a silhouette shot of Callum Israel in a doorway when he finds the clinic. That quiet crescendo says everything. It’s a moment when the mission is abruptly aborted, Cal is emotionally deflated to his core, and his very identity is called into question. It’s the moment he quits, literally laying down his weapon and choosing a different path. It’s a powerful scene that you can sort of just gloss by, so don’t miss it, go back and look for it, realize what’s happening in that small space. The silhouette also makes me think of a similar moment in DMZ, when Matthew Roth seems to accept his final fate and give into the tide of events, walking out into the wilds of war torn NYC – danger be damned. But, I’m digressing when this is supposed to be about The Massive. Wood isn’t one to analyze his own work too deeply for meaning, and who knows if these silhouette shots were on-the-fly artist interpretation and not even scripted in the first place. However, I do wonder if there’s some subconscious connection at play for Wood, with characters obscured in shadows at precarious moments of uncertainty, knowing their lives will be irrevocably altered depending on the judgment call at a singular intersection in time. These realistic moments, which are not the tidy fait accompli we so often see in fiction, are something Wood has acknowledged he favors and is fascinated by, so it’s hard not to jump at the idea that they’re not just being written from the gut, but that their portrayals carry more intentional meaning.

Speaking of art, Garry Brown needs to be commended yet again for an affable visual style with tons of dramatic versatility. He can handle pure blockbuster* shoot-‘em-up action scenes, relatively quiet (but no less important) environmental establishing shots, or the emotive facial expressions during intimate character moments that offer all the insight lying somewhere in between. On rare occasion, I found the types of automatic weapons he was depicting drawn a little too small for the scale of the figures holding them, but that’s admittedly being super nitpicky. For the most part, the figures are lean and muscular, but in a realistic way, not some superhero-influenced parody of a style. I enjoy little things like the stray wisps of hair out of place, or stubble that logically hangs on the characters, and the heavily inked lines that almost remind me of Sean Murphy in spots for how well they relay a level of grit and weariness that strikes just the right tone for a series like The Massive. Dave Stewart’s colors are always worth discussing and work particularly well in the shadow of Brown’s warm pencils. Stewart tends to work in tonal palettes, obviously so here, with sepia for panic and violence, black and dark blue for oceanic depths, light blue for the icy chill of a winter kill, the green lush of a Sri Lankan forest full of Tamil Tigers, and brown hues that saturate a sunbaked ocean surface. The colors make you feel a certain way, as imperceptibly as a good musical score in a film. They’re all smart choices that are so seamless they might actually go unnoticed if not called out for being precisely what they are.

Beyond wordy themes and artistic craftsmanship, authenticity also plays a starring strong role in The Massive. It’s all over the place, permeating the book with the voluminous research Wood conducts, so it’s difficult to whittle it down to one perfect example. That said, I’ll just note a few assorted ones. I like stuff like “motion detectors” and “line of sight,” specific word choices in the dialogue that are a language I speak, smacking of my day job and appealing to me from familiarity and their logical placement in a tactical situation. The way that Mag and Georg quickly banter about snipers is a very small throwaway piece of dialogue, but it’s the type of non-expositional jocular conversation these two would likely trade in. The lower floors of Ursk-Holler corporate HQ being under the Thames is evidence of how a small flick of a writing flourish can world-build, letting us know that the UK is just as impacted as the rest of the world, even though we’ve never seen it, we’ve never been there in the book, but the image is quickly painted in our mind’s eye. There’s that massive field of containers on The Caledonia; the way Mag’s field interrogation quickly deduces there’s more than meets the eye. Yes, just what are those people doing there for whatever that is? It’s Mary either thinking like Cal or knowing him so well she can anticipate his next line. It’s Georg saying “From Grozny. With love.” It’s stylish as hell, with movie-like* panache, but it also speaks volumes about the nature of his character. The way sudden violence is a total silent surprise that had me quietly whispering “fuck” when it happened. ‘Nuff said on that one without spoiling more. The derogatory term “wog” lends a well-placed sense of authenticity. There it is, one word, three little letters, an apt pejorative given the speaker’s culture of origin, establishing one person’s worldview, and building dramatic tension in the process. It’s all just very effective.

The issue closes when you think there’s been some sort of satisfactory denouement of the mission aboard The Caledonia, and the overarching character arcs we’ve seen in flashback. But like I said up top, it’s just never quite that simple. There’s some division in the ranks brewing, small secret favors being dealt, and let’s not forget the proverbial North Star driving the primary narrative – The Massive is still lost at sea (radar blips being tracked in the backmatter, along with other notes on deteriorating global status in Cal’s “Ninth Wave Dispatches” forming a set of compelling journal entries). I can’t wait to see what Wood and Brown (now the regular series artist) have in store next. It’s also worth pausing to note that #6 marks the end of this arc and issues 1-6, along with the three 8-page prequels from Dark Horse Presents, will be collected in the first trade due out in March 2013. In the wake of still raw and palpable evidence of planetary climate change in the form of “Superstorm” Hurricane Sandy, the world of The Massive is more relevant than ever. The Massive can literally go anywhere, do anything. This is creator-owned comics at their most potent. The Massive plays a high stakes game that not only leaves you thinking, but begging for more. Grade A.

*If you don’t believe the series has movie-like qualities, then I dare you to check out The Massive Motion Comics.

Dreamcasting The New 52 (Again)

Now that I’ve had a chance to sit with The New 52 for a while, I thought I’d try this again. When this list was originally created back in June, nobody had seen any of the books, so armed with my current knowledge, highly subjective personal taste, and the realization that I’ll probably only keep buying 3 of The New 52 as is (Batwoman, Batman, Wonder Woman), I’m going to revisit the list and make some tweaks for this fun dream-casting project. I think we’d all like to imagine ourselves as Omniscient Uber-Editor w/ Magic Wand. It’s scary to think that I’d be buying all of these books. I hope you enjoy it!

1) Action Comics by George Perez (sorry, but this would be one of just two titles not switching to the renumbering and allowed to continue for honorary purposes, we just have to get it to a “natural” #1,000, would alter the trade dress to look like all the other “new” titles though, love the idea of George Perez on the general property, but would switch him to this title instead of the main Superman book since we’ll have the need for plenty of guest stars in the Superman corner of NuDCU, Perez has been around long enough to warrant a stint as writer as well, this is an adventure book)

UPDATE: People seem to be enjoying Grant Morrison’s take, but it doesn’t do much for me. I still have a big yearning to see Perez’s art on a monthly basis, no matter how unfeasible it sounds. I also really want to keep Action and Detective on the old numbering, just for old times’ sake.

2) Detective Comics by Greg Rucka & Davide Gianfelice (see above re: numbering, must reach #1,000, this is a hard core crime book, loads of guest stars, the companion to the superhero Batman book, as Action Comics will be the companion title to Superman, think Rucka on Gotham Central and Gianfelice’s gritty style as seen in Northlanders and Greek Street)

UPDATE: This totally stays the same.

3) Superman by Brian K. Vaughan & Tony Harris (the big superhero book with primary focus on Kal-El, not the ensemble that Action Comics will be, big and iconic, the team is now free from Ex Machina duties and that 50 issue run)

UPDATE: Stays!

4) Supergirl by Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly (I know BW is no longer exclusive at DC and was worked out of the relaunch (lame!), but speaking purely as a fan, this project really needs to happen, so as long as we’re dream-casting I can do whatever I want, this will be accessible to young women, yet strong enough to contend with the big superhero titles the boys like)

UPDATE: Stays!

5) Batman by Joss Whedon & Carlos Pacheco Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo (prime time superhero book, no holds barred, Bruce Wayne as Batman, slick memorable lines with high gloss art)

UPDATE: While I still think Whedon would be an interesting choice, I’m totally happy with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s work so far, so let’s keep it as is! I can admit when I’m wrong.

6) Batman Inc. by Grant Morrison & Chris Burnham (ok, I too want to see G’Mo finally wrap up his take on the character after 6 years or so, this should be the 12 issue maxi-series, ala All Star Superman, that finally is the definitive take on the character, if Burnham isn’t on board, then I’m not interested)

UPDATE: Stays!

7) Batman & Robin by Kurt Busiek & Scott McDaniel (kids book, Bruce as Batman, Damian as Robin, Talia shows up with Ra’s Al Ghul, lots of father and son stuff, high octane poignancy, see Busiek’s coming of age book Arrowsmith)

UPDATE: Stays! Not at all impressed with Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s boring attempt.

8) Red Robin & The Outsiders by Peter J. Tomasi & Kenneth Rocafort Suicide Squad by Joss Whedon & Carlos Pacheco (I sort of like Tim staying on as Red Robin since Damian will be regular Robin, Bruce will be Bats, and Dick will return to the Nightwing role, this should be the relatively dark and grim one, I actually kinda’ dug the whole Red Hood, Arsenal, Starfire casting of Red Hood & The Outlaws, but felt it needed some tweaks, should serve as the counterpoint to the relatively cheery Teen Titans)

UPDATE: It goes without saying that this was an unmitigated disaster, so let’s scrap it completely and plug in something totally new. Since we just freed up this creative team, we can let Whedon do his team thing and Pacheco’s clean style should be well suited to handle the diverse, rotating cast.

9) Oracle by Gail Simone & Carla Speed McNeil (sorry, but I think Babs is infinitely more interesting as Oracle, why have Batgirl when we’ll have a Batwoman?, would like to see her as the primary information broker in the DCU, story arcs with lots of rotating guest stars from all these other titles)

UPDATE: Stays! I would love to see this book!

10) Nightwing by John Cassaday (since DC wants to let artists wet their hands at writing, let him write it too, I actually don’t mind the costume redesign with the red parts, Dick Grayson is probably my favorite mainstream character, so don't fuck it up please)

UPDATE: Stays! I really want to see this. The new Nightwing book is so boring!

11) Batwoman by JH Williams III (duh)

UPDATE: This is one of the very few books that DC got right, funny since it pre-dated the whole initiative. It’s by far the best thing coming out of the mainstream DCU.

12) Justice League by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee Warren Ellis & Steven Sanders (still don’t think this creative team will last long, but fine, keep it, prove me wrong, Cyborg needs a redesign though, that’s horrible)

UPDATE: I gave this a chance but was not at all impressed with it, so let’s just get crazy with this creative team. I know Warren would have a hard time keeping a monthly schedule, but I’ve long wanted him to take on this property. Sanders’ style is highly divisive judging by his S.W.O.R.D. run, but I dig it. And it’s my list, so shut it.

13) Justice League International by J.M. DeMatteis & Kevin Maguire (love the idea of a JLI title, but the creative team really needed shaking up)

UPDATE: Stays! The current book is competent, but just so generic and boring, so let’s bring the funny.

14) Justice League: Dark by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang (I’m ok with the title and think it makes sense to house all the “magic, science, and religion” types here, rotating cast depending on missions, Swamp Thing, Deadman, The Spectre, all those clowns, but Traci 13 must be the team leader forever or I’m out, gotta’ reprise the Dr. 13: Architecture & Mortality creative team too)

UPDATE: Stays! The current version has been a little slow for me, and the art ranges from good to wonky, I think these guys have more than proven themselves on Wonder Woman.

15) Teen Titans by Nick Spencer & Kevin O’Neill (Spencer is proving himself on team books and the gravitas of the art should sell this one, still need to work out the specific team members, but you get the idea)

UPDATE: Stays!

16) Planetary by Brian Wood & Danijel Zezelj (a long shot considering the property and creative team, but there’s nobody I’d rather trust with a Warren Ellis legacy property and with Zezelj’s murky style on art, and their proven collaborations, this would take it all new places, with the universes effectively merged, there’s no limit to what types of missions/investigations the team can have)

UPDATE: Stays! Out of this entire list, this is probably in the Top 3 of the ones I’d most want to see.

17) Wildcats by Christopher Priest & Eduardo Risso (yep, WildStorm in the house in a very noir way, Grifter, Voodoo, Spartan, Zealot, the whole gang, show 'em how it's done guys)

UPDATE: Stays!

18) Doom Patrol by Joe Casey & Sean Murphy (these two can go crazy in all the unexplored corners of the NuDCU, psychedelic pop comics in Murphy’s kinetic and dangerous style)

UPDATE: Stays!

19) Elongated Man & Plastic Man: Stretching Logic by Noah Van Sciver (kids book, title might still need some work, but these two need to team up for ridiculous adventures with this indie talent)

UPDATE: Stays! The sooner the planet realizes what an immense talent Noah is, the better off we’ll all be.

20) Kamandi: The Last Man on Earth by Paul Jenkins & Jae Lee Antony Johnston & Christopher Mitten (while everyone else has gotten younger in the NuDCU, Kamandi has been aging in the apocalyptic future, he is now the last MAN on Earth, reunite the Inhumans team of Jenkins and Lee for the right look and feel)

UPDATE: I had sort of an epiphany with this one. How cool would this be? Imagine the energy of Wasteland infused into the DCU. I think it would have to be in color too to help Chris stay on track, so let’s swing for the fences and get Laura Martin on that.

21) Solo II by Various (quarterly, lots of pages, creator spotlight just like the first, it will lose money, but it’s a commitment by DC to creators because the properties shouldn’t solely come first)

UPDATE: Stays! Get Mark Chiarello on the horn!

22) Wednesday Comics II by Various (weekly, ambitious, healthy mix of veterans, up-and-comers, and indie talent)

UPDATE: Stays! Ditto Chiarello!

23) Birds of Prey by Paul Cornell & Yanick Paquette (I’m a little dubious about the need for this book, but let’s give it a go, the roster needs work and Manhunter needs to be on the team, limit interaction with Oracle to distinguish titles, Cornell has been on my radar since Pete Wisdom and MI-13, and Paquette has done some good X-Men work)

UPDATE: Stays!

24) John Constantine by Kody Chamberlain & R.M. Guera (hot off of Sweets, DC should sign Chamberlain before Marvel does, and Guera has more than proven himself on Jason Aaron’s Scalped)

UPDATE: Stays!

25) Tiny Titans by Whoever Does It Now Batman: The Brave & The Bold by Sholly Fisch and Rick Burchett (if it ain’t broke…)

UPDATE: I was so impressed with Batman: The Brave & The Bold #13!

26) Aquaman by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis (I could really care less, so we’ll let this one stand and see how she goes)

UPDATE: It’s really not my cup of tea, but people seem to be enjoying it, and it seems to be selling, so I’ll just leave this one alone.

27) Flash by Geoff Johns & Kyle Baker (hopefully Geoff can keep up on the writing chores of so many books and his executive duties, because I really want to see Baker pencil this in the style he used for Hawkman in Wednesday Comics)

UPDATE: Stays!

28) Green Lantern by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy Terry Moore (fine, I’m not changing this either, because apparently the market has spoken and will support such nonsense, but this should be the main Hal Jordan, primarily Earth-based book, because…)

UPDATE: Anyone who read Echo knows that this would be perfect! It would make a nice counterpoint to the insanity of...

29) Green Lantern Corps by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (swiped from some Wednesday Comics dreamcasting I did a while back, Drunken Scotsman will need something to do since I booted him off almost everything else, this should be bizarre psychedelic space adventure, ala John Stewart in Green Lantern: Mosaic, I expect it to cross paths with Paul Pope’s New Gods to get supremely weird)
UPDATE: Absolutely stays!

30) Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang (really the only keeper from the actual relaunch that I like the creative team and am excited to be purchasing, at least for three issues, can’t think of any other team that would really make me long for Wonder Woman)

UPDATE: One of the few that DC actually got right in my opinion.

31) Jonah Hex by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Simon Gane (I’m as surprised as the next guy that there remains a market for Hex, but DnA are versatile and Jordi Bernet should be brought in for rotating arcs with Gane, his work on Northlanders was breathtaking)

UPDATE: Stays!

32) Blackhawk by Kevin Nowlan Dial H For Hero by Matt Fraction & Frazer Irving (he’s done just about everything else, so here’s another instance where we’ll let an artist try his hand at writing)

UPDATE: Had to scrap this altogether and go with this crazy duo, imagine the possibilities!

33) Shazam! by Neil Gaiman & Ryan Sook (not a kids book, Gaiman can sort out the magic bits no doubt and Sook will bring in the right gravitas)

UPDATE: Stays!

34) The New Gods by Paul Pope (self-explanatory, but let him run wild with weird Kirby style sci-fi futurism)

UPDATE: Definitely stays!

35) House of Mystery by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Tom Neely (infusion of indie art talent with reliable writing duo, throwing the old DC fans a bone, should have a very EC Comics feel, swiped from my recent Wednesday Comics dreamcasting)

UPDATE: Stays! More indie talent!

36) House of Secrets by Devin Grayson & Julia Gfrorer (infusion of indie talent with MIA female writer, expect The Endless to show up a lot here, more ethereal than the pragmatism of the above title, also swiped like the above idea)

UPDATE: Stays! More indie talent!

37) Atom & Hawkman by Karl Kerschl & Juan Jose Ryp (I actually like this character pairing, and it’s another example of trying to placate older fans who will complain that we’re ruining everything, The Atom portion was swiped from my Wednesday Comics idea, but I added Hawkman here to round out the use of characters)

UPDATE: Stays!

38) Zatanna by Darwyn Cooke & Riccardo Burchielli (rogue magi, she’s not interested in the team up of JL: Dark, lots of tension, crossovers with John Constantine)

UPDATE: Stays!

39) Firestorm by Chuck Dixon & Nathan Fox (loud crazy action, garish colors, he's friends with Blue Beetle, also… when not powered up, the new Firestorm is a wheelchair bound teenager, a gay Filipino kid from LA, parents have $, college educated, let’s just get all of the character diversity issues out of the way at once)

UPDATE: Stays!

40) Red Tornado by Warren Ellis & Jason Shawn Alexander (big red robot, crazy sci-fi, lots of time-jumping, also swiped from my ideas for a Wednesday Comics follow up)

UPDATE: Stays! I think this would be amazing, that it’s one of the best pairings I’ve created.

41) Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz & Amanda Conner (classic LSH writer with modernized artist, primary title)

UPDATE: Stays! I don’t think the current Legion books are really working.

42) Legion Lost by Mark Waid & Joe Quinones (really pushing for a reinvigoration of the Legion, nice to see NuDCU embrace the idea and while the “Legion Lost” title isn’t new, it’s a solid one, Waid has the chops to handle continuity and cast, and Quinones’ slick style should keep up nicely)

UPDATE: Stays!

43) Dr. Fate by James Stokoe (yes!)

UPDATE: Stays!

44) Hawk & Dove by Rafael Grampa (Rob Liefeld? Are you kidding?)

UPDATE: Stays!

45) Animal Man by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman & Dan Green (I have some issues with this, but we’re getting toward the end, so I’m just powering through)

UPDATE: Again, not my cup of tea, but people are raving about it so we’ll let it stand.

46) Mister Terrific by Scott Snyder & Sergio Cariello (I’m actually kind of interested to see what can be done with this character on a solo title, this is a proven writer, and Cariello is now free since his Dynamite book The Lone Ranger has wrapped)

UPDATE: Stays!

47) Static Shock by Sterling Gates & Scott McDaniel (good choice for artist, but needed to tweak the writer)

UPDATE: Stays!

48) Green Arrow by Peter Milligan & Matthew Southworth (I’m not sure why, but this creative team sells me on an otherwise uninteresting character)

UPDATE: Stays!

49) Captain Atom by Christos Gage & Travis Charest (the artist selection is a long shot, but if it could be done, would certainly be a destination book)

UPDATE: Stays!

50) Grifter by Jason Aaron & Mario Alberti (the choice of writer seems golden, though I’m not sure how you’d pull him from Marvel for a company owned property, and Alberti’s sly work on the X-Men/Spider-Man stuff was inspiring)

UPDATE: I think this would be a great book!

51) Voodoo by Dave Gibbons (hey, I have a soft spot for this Wildcat, was surprised to see DC giving it a go, but I’d let Gibbons write and draw it for as long as he wanted)

UPDATE: Stays! It sure as hell ain’t workin’ as is.

52) DC: Silver Age Adventures by Darwyn Cooke (the final bone I’ll throw to the whiners, endless mining of prior continuity, yes, those stories still “matter” and can be used for entertainment, think The New Frontier, only monthly)

UPDATE: Stays!