11.14.12 Reviews (Part 1)

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Think Tank #4 (Image): Short version? Ready, set, go: This is the best issue of the series to date. More detail, you say? Well, it’s a wild ride from the start to the twisty-end finish and I finally figured out who Rahsan Ekedal’s art sometimes reminds me of. For me, it has a very Carla Speed McNeil vibe to it, in that it can deftly capture all of this fantastic high tech, but it’s also very Earthy and warm when it comes to human emotion. Matt Hawkins delivers a lesson in strategy vs. tactics amid the best bust-out caper in recent memory. I enjoyed the priceless “Rules of Engagement” scenarios and the fact that the book is so smart it can surprise you even when you already know going into it that the internal rules mean David Loren can outsmart and surprise you at any given moment. There are some very timely reservations embedded here about our covert drone UAV fleet and its remarkable capabilities. This issue is basically flawless, and that’s a term I rarely use. It's so smart and crisp that I found myself frantically scribbling a question in my notes: "Is Think Tank a contender for one of the best series of the year?" Only a few more weeks and you can find out when I unveil my annual list. Grade A+.

Mind MGMT #0 (Dark Horse): This is a collection of 3 webisodes that background the series, full of secret histories and so much style. The fascination with espionage and wild imagination of Matt Kindt give us things like flux houses on ley lines, with Meru investigating early mentions of the Mind MGMT organization. She’s on the trail of the Soviet “Bear,” their top agent who is pointed through the Berlin Wall at his American counterparts. The next story is a series of “perfect murders,” which interlocks with the other stories via code words. The last of the trio is about a Brazilian expedition with Sir Francis at the turn of the century. We learn clever factoids, like mind over body being the functional Fountain of Youth, as the agents Forrest Gump their way through a couple real-world historical events. One of the letters described the narrative as “Herge meets PKD,” and that’s just fine with me. This was a great issue, a mix of haunting aesthetic and background information on current events that all leads to one mysterious place… Mind MGMT. Grade A.

Saga #7 (Image): These scenes are smartly edited together, and Saga remains a very dynamically paced series, a fun world-build, and it’s good, good, good. But, something about it still bothers me. It’s perhaps smug in its ability to be good. In other words, Brian K. Vaughan knows it’s good, and maybe flaunts it a little, which is off-putting and not endearing. Anyway, I like lines like “You have no idea what I know,” and the family dynamics and refreshing acerbic female humor of Alana are all spot-on. All this happens amid an interstellar race war that echoes so many problems in our society, it’s hard not to stand up and take notice. It’s no surprise the series is resonating so well with the masses. While I did actually LOL at the slothy giant’s twig and very dangly berries, I have some mixed feelings about the art as well. Fiona Staples’ foreground figures are simply amazing. They pull you right in and engage you so much, you almost don’t notice the skimpy backgrounds. I’ve heard tell that this is some sort of intentional sci-fi aesthetic, but sometimes the backgrounds look like blurry generic shapes that the characters are green-screened in front of, and that leaves me a little cold. I like Saga a lot, yet I don’t feel it deserves *all* of the acclaim it’s getting. It’s a good series and has proven to be extremely consumable, but it’s not really high art or anything. So, if possible, I’d like to somehow issue a very contrarian Grade A-.

Great Pacific #1 (Image): The debut issue of the much-hyped Great Pacific had me squarely engaged early on and then sort of slowly lost me with a degradation in the art and scripting. Joe Harris brings what is actually a great premise full of interesting stats about the massive garbage swirl lurking in the Pacific Ocean, and it felt like some sort of distant cousin to Brian Wood’s The Massive. As time went on though, you can see the obvious influences of both Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark (not to mention the last name of one of the original X-Men), the merging of billionaire philanthropist paradigms, down to specific lines about racing in Monaco and a secret “Applied Sciences” division w/in the protagonist’s late father’s company. This is all crammed together with the enviro-apocalyptic realm in a way that violates an old filmmaking guideline, which might as well apply to comics too. “Get into scenes as late as you can, and get out as early as you can.” Great Pacific essentially does the opposite, getting in very early and taking too long to ramp up (I mean, dude isn’t even on the damn island yet, all this could have been done in half the space or in flashback), then lingering so long that it begins to telegraph its moves. For example, I knew well before I was supposed to that Chas Worthington was going to stage his own death. You can just see it coming in formulaically staged more-than-a-clue tells. Some of the science is interesting, sort of a very watered down version of what’s going on in Think Tank, with a plasma beam that makes water vapor out of oil and plastic and other hydrocarbons, yet those golf balls seem like they’re right out of Twister. Which I guess is a half-assed segue to some issues I had with the art. Martin Morazzo’s sinewy detail is interesting and 70% of the time very sharp. The rest seems too elongated in spots so that figures are distorted, and all manner of little things began to bother me. Those golf balls I mentioned, well, sitting in the bucket they have a scale that’s just way off, Alex’s hair looks ridiculously inconsistent in places, I’m not sure why two of the Maasai warriors are floating in that one panel, and why is the house wait staff all black?! It’s not the South in the 1960’s, it’s West Texas in the present day. If you’re going to rock a racial stereotype based on region, if anything, they should be Mexican or even Native-American. Grade B-.

All New X-Men #1 (Marvel): Didn’t buy this, but had a chance to read the issue. Let’s face it, Immonen’s art alone is probably worth a Grade B. It’s great. The dialogue wasn’t as bad as I was expecting; the problem for me is really in the concept and where this falls in continuity, both big and small. Last time I saw Scott Summers, he was in a SHIELD prison when his brother Alex came to visit him in Uncanny Avengers. So, I guess he’s out now? When did that happen? How? Why? There are two X-Force teams running around and NOW! this rogue group, along with whoever else I’m forgetting. There are so many fringe X-Men groups, is anyone just a regular X-Man? Not everyone can be outsiders if there’s no insiders. In a larger sense, it’s basically a time travel story, full of paradox traps that would make Doc Brown and Marty McFly seriously balk. I’m just not sure that you can get an ongoing series out of this premise. I just don’t see the need for this book to exist. How long can you really milk the basic idea of “The old X-Men meet their future selves! Ha!”? As if time-traveling alternate future reality X-Men continuity wasn’t already fucked enough. Grade B-.

4.20.11 Reviews

DMZ #64 (DC/Vertigo): [DMZ Countdown Clock™: 8 Issues Remaining] While on the one hand, it feels like this is merely a continuation of conversations already in motion, on the other hand there’s actually a lot of information being relayed here on multiple fronts. Matty is reeling with the news of Wilson, trying to unravel the news of Parco, and for maybe the first time since some of the more introspective parts of the M.I.A. arc, Matty is seeing himself as he truly is. He’s being more self-aware and operating with the type of objectivity (or at least trying to) that the clarity of time brings, in the space that allows reflection on events past. The way that Wood masterfully has Matty deliver the line “...and?” after a three-beat pause certainly implies neutrality and objectivity. It seems like the boy is finally growing into a man. In those satisfying newsfeeds, we also learn about Trustwell finally being charged with UN assassination, bits about the family of PFC Stevens from the Day 204 Massacre, and even a quick snippet about everyone’s favorite man on the music scene, DJ Random Fire. One really has to wonder though, what the end game is here for the FSA. It doesn’t make sense as to why they would give up Parco, when they have proof of their position, Parco’s innocence, and the wrongdoing of the USA. I can certainly see this from the POV of the US, taking out the FSA leadership and Parco in one swoop is the proverbial “two birds with one stone,” but damn, what’s the FSA up to? The arc is entitled “Free States Rising” after all… I guess only time will tell. More than anything, this whole issue really made me smile. This sensation that I used to get in some of the recent one-shot issues is now finally occurring in the main Matty Roth narrative. It’s this – I got the sense that Brian Wood is systematically shutting down story threads and individual characters, closing up shop in that hyper-organized way that gives emotional closure to his loyal readers who have stuck with one of the longest-running Vertigo series, and one of the most socially relevant series, from any publisher, in recent memory. Grade A.

Note: If you haven’t heard about it by now, do check out the new site LIVE FROM THE DMZ, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of DMZ, with interviews, never-before-seen art, and more. We’ll be posting new content for each volume of the DMZ saga, counting all the way down until the final issue ships in December. Currently, there’s a bit of a welcome essay from me, an introductory interview, content for DMZ VOLUME 01: ON THE GROUND, and plenty of extra goodies scattered throughout. I honestly don’t believe there’s another site quite like it and it’s done with the full cooperation of Brian Wood.

Uncanny X-Force #8 (Marvel): Billy Tan is on art chores for this issue and he seems to be doing his best ape of Jerome Opena and/or Esad Ribic. This art is solid, and it doesn’t look much like his “Rise & Fall of the Sh'iar Empire” work, for which I guess(?) he is most known for. He renders all the characters well, nails the astral projection bits, does a great “Jim Lee-era” Psylocke, and the coloring is as good as always. Rick Remender’s writing is the real treat though; not only does he have a solid grasp on all of the personalities, not only do all of the characters get their moments to shine, but he isn’t afraid of simple amusement like Wolverine calling Deadpool “ding-dong” in the middle of his recon report. Fantomex is very close to stealing the show in this book, and I think Remember has come the closest to living up to the potential that inhabits this character since the moment Grant Morrison created him. The only spot it fell down a little for me was the anchor being used by Warren and Bets… the dice just seemed a little Inception-y to me. For the most part, Remender is clearly having fun writing this, and that makes us have fun too. The character banter is not only self-aware about its own convoluted X-Men continuity, but the cast also realizes that they are supposedly existing as anti-heroes, so it tickles a certain meta-button. Deathlok’s view of the world, that all timelines essentially lead to either man-made apocalypse, or the rise of big-A, Apocalypse incarnate, makes the whole premise of the series seem futile. Only then do we realize that in the face of overwhelming odds and seeming futility, the true heroes are the ones who rise up to fight anyway. Grade A.

Invincible Iron Man #503 (Marvel): This issue really feels like MIDDLE. Doc Ock is certainly a creepy and manipulative figure in it for his own ego and needs. I liked seeing Tony duped because he assumes that honesty is being used as a ground rule, but Doc Ock casually dismisses that silly notion. The Pimacher and Cababa sequence is heart-wrenching, and that’s a real testament to what Fraction has done with this title, make us care about intrinsically C-list characters so much. Something about the issue just kept feeling off to me, and of course, it’s the Fear Itself tie-in. I guess this issue shipped late(?) or the series has just gotten late in general and slipped off track(?) because events here seem to pre-date Fear Itself #1, which is already out. It doesn’t sync up at all. Last time we saw Thor, he was hauled off in chains by Odin, yet here he is all peachy sitting in a throne room or some shit and Odin isn’t anywhere to be found. That’s just kinda’ awful planning and/or execution of yet another big event. The back-up with Howard Chaykin is a clever premise about the meeting of Howard and Maria Stark, but if you try to follow it from scene to scene it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If it’s Stark’s hotel and Stark’s casino as he insists, then why would he be physically assaulted by Stane’s henchmen multiple times and not just have them thrown out by the security he mentions? I like Chaykin’s art, but there is something glossy and over-the-top about it, which risks pushing people out of the story. Grade B+.

Miscellaneous: So, I didn’t end up purchasing the LSH: Legion of the Damned book, as much as I love it, because it turns out that there was a printing error, so that the four chapters of the story are printed completely out of order. First off, that’s really a ridiculous cock-up and baffles me that nobody caught it until a couple days before it arrived in stores. I mean, the chapter breaks clearly indicate which issue is next, which part of the story it is, etc. If those visual cues weren’t enough, all you have to do is bother to read the damn story and you can obviously tell it doesn’t flow correctly. On top of that, DC specifically asked retailers to destroy them and not put them out for sale on their street date. But, what does Good Ol’ Sea Donkey do? Of course, he has copies for sale. I don’t know why this pissed me off as much as it did. It’s not that I suspect any unscrupulous business practices on Sea Donkey’s part, not like he’s trying to cash in on a “rare” printing error. I think it bugs me because it’s just more evidence of his woeful ignorance, disorganization, and ineptitude. He either didn’t read, acknowledge, or retain the instruction from DC. I guess I’d have more respect for a deliberate slimy schemer than a hapless dumb donkey, because at least cunning for a buck takes wherewithal. I also didn’t buy the DHP #1 anthology. Concrete has always been boring to me, the Xerxes preview was like two measly pages and honestly I’ve been a little out on Frank Miller ever since I saw what a drunken buffoon he was at the Eisner Awards a couple years ago, Chaykin did some passé thing with strippers, there was a generic Star Wars story with sub-par art, blah blah interviews, and a cute Carla Speed McNeil story… and I’m supposed to pay $8 for all that? Psh.

6.14.06 Reviews

Supermarket #3 (IDW): Can't wait to read this as my love for all things written by Brian Wood continues.

DMZ #8 (DC/Vertigo): Maybe I haven't mentioned it before, but there's this writer Brian Wood? And suddenly he's everywhere and I'm enjoying everything he touches.

The Squirrel Mother Stories (Fantagraphics): Picked up this handsome trade by Megan Kelso. I've seen bits of her work in some anthology books and am really curious to see how this holds up. Great sense of design and a diversity of art styles.

Civil War #2 (Marvel): I've never been a huge Marvel guy, but damn if this tale about a Superhuman Registration Act and the dissention it causes within the entire Marvel U isn't entertaining as hell. Some great moments here, including a chilling scene with the arrests of the Young Avengers and Spider-Man revealing himself as Peter Parker after 40-some years of existence. Grade B+.

Fear Agent #5 (Image): I don't even have to read this book and I can recommend it. It rocks. Trust me. Grade A.

Ex Machina Special #2 (DC/Wildstorm): Hoo-boy. (Seems like I've been saying this alot lately, but...) I hate to break out the ol' Criminal Justice Degree here, but there are some assertions of fact surrounding the death penalty here that really disturb me. Hundred says he may be against the death penalty because it actually reinforces that violence is "okay" in society as a means of criminal retribution and that violence rates (he doesn't say which, rape, homicide, assault, robbery?) spike after an execution. This is a common logic fallacy that in Latin is referred to as "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" or "It happened after, therefore because of." There is no way to correlate a spike in violence with an execution from a causality standpoint. He says that the cost of executions is actually greater than housing inmates on life without possibility of parole sentences. This is wholly inaccurate as well. I mean, I have the education, but it just doesn't even pass the common sense test. If you add up the cost of administering the facility for capital punishment (injection, electric chair, etc.) and even factor in the lengthy automatic appeal process and associated public defender salaries, it is still millions of dollars cheaper than housing an inmate (facility, food, exercise, staffing, etc.) for say 50 years on average. He goes on to say that the death penalty does not deter crime. Even the most in depth studies of recidivism rates and fluctuating 10-year crime patterns from the FBI's Bureau of Justice Statistics could not make a direct correlation. My favorite argument in favor of the death penalty being a deterrent surprisingly comes from Matthew McConaughey's character in the film A Time To Kill: "The only thing wrong with the death penalty Ro-arke, is that we do not use it." The inference meaning that if it was applied consistently it would surely serve as a deterrent. Perhaps the only credible argument that Hundred poses against capital punishment is how do you justify use of it in a fallible system? If even one innocent person's life is taken due to the inherent subjectivity in the criminal justice and evidentiary system, does the overall end justify the means? On top of that (let's get back to comics here, folks...), there were a number of problems I had with the book. Seems kind of silly to wait like 6 months for the second issue of a *two* issue series that could have just as easily been handled as recurring flashback sequences in the main book. I said this before, but it still rings true... why go through the bother of securing wonderfully talented Chris Sprouse as artist if all he's going to do is copy regular artist Tony Harris' style? I buy a Chris Sprouse art book for the Chris Sprouse art, not the imitation of Harris. The biggest goof in scripting seemed to be Hundred using his machine-control based powers to reverse the tape recorder. If you tell a dog to kill someone, isn't the opposite of that that they wouldn't kill someone? Seems stupid that a writer would think the opposite of that is to kill someone different. Overall, not researched or thought out very well! Sounds like someone espousing their own personal beliefs! Brian K. Vaughan, I smell doo-doo! This project was utterly pointless. Grade D.

52: Week 6 (DC): I believe it's time to officially throw in the towel here. I did like one thing, Rip Hunter's lair. All those notes on the board and little references to the multiverse *almost* want to make me come back for more in the hope that this will start to trend up, but... there were some really tough parts to swallow here. Umm, Manthrax (yeah, nice name) saying "capisce" made no sense at all if you know Italian. One would actually say "Io capito" in that context. And what the fuck was going on in China? "Man Who Stands On The Wall of Iron Breathlessly to Woman Who Caws With The Emerald Crows..." WHO CARES?! What, Black Adam? Gee, *that* didn't feel shoehorned in. There are also some bad instances of suffering from recency in here. iPod references? Haven't we learned by now that today's iPod will be tomorrow's 8-track and including those references in a comic will date it faster than leaving it on the dashboard of your car in the sun? And how many times will people have to say that the back up feature has less value than my belly button lint before something changes? Like anyone bothering to read 52 in the first place would already know all about Crisis and anyone reading 52 for the first time would be ridiculously confused, which would only be compounded by the convoluted nature of the back up story! I mean, come on! Let's take a DC character with one of the most confusing histories (Donna Troy: umm, I think she was molded from clay by the gods, then she was Wonder Girl, then she replaced Diana as Wonder Woman, then she was mortal, then she wasn't, then she was a Teen Titan, then she was Troia, then she changed costumes 3 times, then she had cosmic powers, then she was a god, then I don't know, then she went into space and became a Darkstar, oh wait, they're not around anymore, now she's replacing Diana again as Wonder Woman, but where the fuck is she in this story...) and have her explain all about the various incarnations of the Justice League and the multiverse vis-a-vis Pre- and Post-Crisis continuity? The Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and the Psycho-Pirate? Are you fucking kidding me? Avoids the F only because of the Rip Hunter scene, Grade D-.

Squadron Supreme #4 (Marvel): This book has quickly degenerated into generic superheroics. It is a far cry from the insightful, slightly counterculture, intelligent paradigm analysis it was under the MAX line. Gone is the understated subtlety that was intriquing. Here we have... an unwieldy cast that lacks focus. Overwrought political analogues. Overstated plot points. Horrible panel transitions (Where did those roses come from? Why was there no puke when all the soldiers were incapacitated?). Hokey dialogue like "...as the kids say, woofing one's cookies." What kids exactly talk like that? Insulting the audience (Ohh, I get it! She was raped and her dad beat her so now she's a hero!). That's not character development, that's called cliche. And Gary Frank's strong art is terribly hindered by poorly scripted, boring fight sequences and people standing around expousing. Time to throw in the towel on yet another. "F" Squadron Supreme and long live my Supreme Power trades under the MAX line. What a disappointment, this used to be one of my favorite books. The only interesting thing about this book was a house ad for Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.'s Eternals. Check, please. Grade F.

Checkmate #3 (DC): I want to believe that this book is just borderline enough for me to keep buying it, as it struggles to prove to me that it has some redeeming qualities. But the theme this week sure seems to be clear, make some decisions about what you support. Vote with your wallet. There just isn't enough here for me to continue to reward financially in good conscience. Third issue and already a wonky fill in artist with a poor mastery of perspective that I've never heard of. The sheer magnitude of characters and code names (known as the "White King's Bishop to Black Queen's Knight" factor) has officially become annoying and something I don't care enough about to devote the time to memorizing. It all feels pretty inconsequential in spite of its globetrotting political aspirations. The end scene with a desperate continuity link to this week's appearance of Chinese Government superheroes in 52 was the capper. Towel. Thrown. In. Grade C-.

Captain Atom: Armageddon #9 (DC/Wildstorm): A nice tidy wrap up to this 9 issue mini-series starring The Authority, Mister Majestic, The Wildcats, Captain Atom of the DCU, and some assorted members of the Wildstorm U. I've gotta' give Editorial Director Jim Lee kudos for pulling off this quiet little coup d'etat that functionally reset the Wildstorm Universe after like 15 years of existence. Wildstorm just goes to show that a reboot can be somewhat story driven and not the empty contrived grand spectacle of its big brother DC. The board has been wiped clean for the return of many popular books, including my personal favorite, The Wildcats (starring a not-dead-yet Cole Cash as Grifter!) written by Grant Morrison and penciled by Jim Lee himself. Really exciting times. Anxious to see what they can do and will probably check out some of the other titles. Grade B+.

Civil War: Frontline #1 (Marvel): Even though this book was not released this week, I just couldn't resist bashing it. So horribly offensive that I quite literally wripped it up and threw it away, then called everyone I knew who buys comics and told them not to buy it. Murky art, boring dialogue, and severe inconsistency with Spider-Man's actions in this book and his actions just a couple weeks earlier in the main Civil War book - but those were the relatively *good* parts. And what the hell does Tony being an alcoholic have to do with unmasking himself publicly as Iron Man? That's got to be the most horrifically misplaced line of dialogue in memory. I mean, these things sucked, but they didn't make my blood boil. Here's what did. So the Marvel Civil War was basically precipitated by "some guys flying two planes" into the World Trade Center? Umm, like, I'm all for social relevance in my art and everything, but that's a fucking painful 5 year stretch. What a fucked up way to try to politicize your comic and dishonor the memory of those fallen Americans. And the kicker... so somehow this whole ordeal in fictitious superhero land equates to the West Coast Japanese Internment of WWII? I know two Japanese families personally involved with this and last time I checked they classified it as one step short of the Holocaust. So shamelessly disrespectful that I almost want to burn everthing I own with a Marvel logo. As if that's not bad enough, not only do they insinuate, they flat out make it a point to say "oh, this wasn't so bad, they had health care and food and shelter and stuff, so essentially, what's the big deal?" That's like saying they had indoor heating at Auschwitz. Jesus. Everyone at Marvel who touched this or knew about it should be so ashamed. I mean, I'm a huge advocate of Freedom of the Press, I donate annually to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, but this is downright irresponsible publishing and needs to be censored. The first ever from 13 Minutes... Grade F-.

2012: The Year Creator-Owned Comics Won

“Kirby cooked up some tasty comics. Should we keep warming up his leftovers, or get in the kitchen and start cooking?”

-Kody Chamberlain, Twitter, April 2012

There’s an early episode in the second season of Game of Thrones that opens with young Arya Stark squatting to take a piss near a stream right before the Gold Cloaks from the City Watch at King’s Landing come to serve a warrant for her friend Gendry, the bastard son of the late King, Robert Baratheon. Now, the only relevant part of that sentence is that this little girl is taking a piss. It’s just this small touch of realism. There’s an uncomfortable impermanence to real things. Real things piss, shit, fuck, tarnish, lie, and even die. You won’t see anything like that in Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Sam trek to Mordor to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom for something like six months. In that entire trilogy, you never once see them go to the damn bathroom. Game of Thrones doesn’t trade in that type of illusion. The needs of story authenticity trump the needs of everything else; it’s gritty in a way that mainstream work can never be. It’s because HBO operates with a sort of creator-owned carte blanche, if you will. NBC, ABC, and CBS were once thought of as “The Big Three” networks. In the wake of FOX coming along to disrupt the status quo, we witnessed the rise of original programming on networks like HBO, Showtime, AMC, and FX. Before that analogy gets away from me, I’ll bring this back around to comics…

The criteria I use to buy monthly comics have changed a lot over the 30+ years I’ve been doing so. I’m sure I could dive into all the byzantine personal criteria about what type of writing and art I’m drawn to, but I’ll save you most of that convoluted agony. Most people think I only like dystopian style writing (which isn’t entirely true), and since I grew up on stuff like Dave Gibbons art on Green Lantern and George Perez on New Teen Titans, it’s easy to see how that’s informed my interest in the clean austere styles of artists like John Cassaday or Jamie McKelvie. But, it’s actually a lot simpler than all that.

When I was a kid, I was limited to however many books I could get with about $5 a week, sometimes less, depending on the odd jobs I picked up around the neighborhood and whether or not I wanted to have anything left over for a movie that weekend. This was when new comics came out on Fridays, and it was a glorious time. Even though $5 went pretty far back when floppies were 75 cents a pop, there were always more that I wanted. I could never get my fill.

So when I got older and started earning the type of discretionary income that allowed me to throw it at any passing interest, I just bought everything I liked. Period. It was a simple method. It also required a lot of money. While it made me pretty well-versed in comic book lore and canonical creative teams, it was also nothing more than a gigantic revolving door policy. There was lots coming in, and lots going out, with precious little actually being retained long term.

After some time, it became buy only what you love. This was a little more stringent. It required really paying attention to what I was truly enjoying and consciously avoiding purchases made out of sheer inertia. I had to love both the writing and the art, one never guaranteeing a purchase based solely on its own merit. About this time, I also made the mental decision to follow creators over characters or companies. And that felt good, like a step in the right direction. Yet even with this more focused practice, some chaff still managed to find its way into the wheat. I’m a pretty adventurous consumer. I like to try new things. I was still buying quite a bit, but retaining only a small percentage of the overall haul long term. In fact, a recent look at metrics revealed that I only continued to support 17 titles out of 91 new #1 issues that I tried during a one year period.

One day it became – and this is basically where I’m at today – continue supporting only what you love so much that you’d actually be willing to pay for it again in a collected edition. It wasn’t as elegant a sound byte, but it made sense to me. In short, if it wasn’t good enough to go on my bookshelf one day, then why even bother? Wasteland by Antony Johnston, Chris Mitten, and Justin Greenwood (published by Oni Press) is an excellent example of this practice. I buy the single issues. I then upgrade to the trades, while passing on runs of singles to people in an effort to hook them. Later, I buy the oversized hardcover Apocalyptic Editions when they come out. Can you hear me in the back? I buy this book three times. That’s true love. That’s voting with your wallet. That’s taking a stand.

But, something’s still been bugging me about my comic book purchasing habits in the last couple of years, and I could never quite articulate what it was. I was getting bored, or frustrated, or something, by some specific part of the holistic experience. There was something cyclical and predictable about it. I enjoyed supporting the select cadre of creator-owned titles I was loyal to, loved turning people on to lesser known work, and didn’t have moral or ethical beef with any of the creators I supported. But, occasionally I’d still get hooked into some dumb crossover event or some new rebooted #1 issue from Marvel or DC in their tired vain attempts to further recapture the junkie high with THE GREAT ILLUSION OF CHANGE surrounding a company-owned property. I mean, really, how good can a new Moon Knight or Mister Terrific series really be? I needed to look at the approach I’d been taking to my buying habits in a different way. I needed some new mechanism of delineation.

Part of what I was feeling was that I’d already seen the best of what corporate superhero properties had to offer. I’ve seen the pinnacle of what Superman can be with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman. Sorry, but unless you can do better than that, I’m not interested. I’ve already seen the best Batman stories too. I’m skeptical that anyone can further the enduring mythos of the character better than Paul Pope’s Batman: Year 100. I’ve seen the strong women of Greg Rucka and the inventive art of JH Williams III on Batwoman. Topping that is harder than bottling farts in the wind. I mean, DC can’t even get their act together enough to continue it, let alone surpass it. I’ve enjoyed the DC history lesson depicted in the quintessential liminal state between Golden Age and Silver Age in Darwyn Cooke’s The New Frontier. The thought of diluting that magical Absolute Edition with some dopey Earth 2 book from the so-called “DCnU” is horrifying. Tell me, is that book better or worse than the aborted First Wave line? Barf. Can I interest you in a can of lukewarm New Coke? Over at Marvel, is it reasonable to expect that a better looking X-Men book than Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men will ever come about? Will the raison d’etre of an amoral covert mutant hit squad ever be more carefully considered or lushly rendered than the Rick Remender, Jerome Opena, and Dean White issues of Uncanny X-Force? Can anyone deliver better flash fiction renditions of Iron Man than the fertile minds of Warren Ellis and Matt Fraction? I doubt it. Yeah, I can still quote lines from the old Kurt Busiek and George Perez Avengers run: “Ultron… we would have words with thee.” To me, that run will forever be what the Avengers are supposed to be. These are all good books. I like them. I own them. I also feel as if forthcoming creative teams will forever be chasing their magic. It’s what Kody Chamberlain was talking about in that tweet. They’ll just be reheating leftovers ad infinitum, ad nauseum. There’s a glass ceiling on how special you can make something simply by retooling what’s come before at the hands of others, without offering up some original part of yourself in the process. I’m hungry for something new.

Those comics I mentioned have capped the properties in such a way that I feel like I never have to return to that particular well. What’s the artistic objective of going back to extremely well-tread ground? I’m burned out, because they’re played out. My intention here is not to sound like an elitist snob by proclaiming I’m done with Corporate Cape Comics. But, the game’s changed. So has this player. People change. People move on. The industry evolves. Genres, characters, properties, the thing is that their creative paths can mature to the point of conclusion. It’s possible to achieve a state of creative bankruptcy. Besides, given the choice between any of those great takes on company-owned properties I mentioned above, I’d actually prefer the creator-owned vision of Planetary, Heavy Liquid, Desolation Jones, Queen & Country, Battle Hymn, Automatic Kafka, Arrowsmith, I Am Legion, Danger Club, Prophet, The Massive, or 20th Century Boys. Amid all the controversy surrounding Before Watchmen, I’d strongly prefer to see pitches from those same writers and artists for original creator-owned series of their own. I’d buy some of those instead. That’s what’s going to keep the future of the industry vibrant. Creativity lies ahead. Looking back is fleeting.

It’s impossible to talk about this stuff and not acknowledge the work of a few people that acted as some sort of thought-catalyst for me. There was the tipping point of Chris Roberson essentially being fired from DC Comics because he spoke out on the creator rights issue and ethical concerns about their practices, as well as Roger Langridge quitting Marvel and DC work over the same concerns. I was also inspired in part by David Brothers’ public cold turkey “quit” of all Marvel and DC books, but want to differentiate that what I’m doing is different, and for different reasons. Bloggin’ buddy Keith Silva’s swearing off of Marvel and DC material in favor of creator-owned comics led to some healthy exchanges between us. I started asking myself questions. Could I do that? Would I be able to give up Marvel and DC books? Yeah, no problem with the mainline universe titles. I mean, I’d woken up one day and the Marvel U and DCU had suddenly become “616” and “DCnU” or some fucking thing. No sweat ditching that mess. The gray area became imprint books at places like Vertigo or ICON. Those were creator-owned after all. Would I be willing to drop books like Scalped or Casanova? Well, no. That’s not what I wanted to do. Not exactly. My main objective wasn’t to shun Marvel and DC in their entirety for unethical business practices associated with Before Watchmen or the Avengers movie. That’s a good fight, but what I wanted to do was slightly different. After verbally water-boarding me like I’d been deemed an unlawful combatant at Gitmo, Keith cornered me with a phrase that stopped me dead in my tracks: “So… you’re saying you only want to do creator-owned, then?” The words still ring in my ears like truth. That was it. I wanted to support creator-owned titles, exclusively.

In less than sound journalistic fashion, I always tend to bury my lead. So, yeah, here’s the news: I’m no longer buying Marvel or DC books unless they’re creator-owned. But this has less to do with being a punitive move against Marvel and DC than it does with me just really wanting to support creator-owned titles exclusively. There will be one exception. If you’re reading this, it’s probably no surprise that I’m something of a Brian Wood completist. He’s a creator I’m loyal to, and I’ll ride with him to whatever end, be it creator-owned, company-owned, or licensed work. I’m planning on buying X-Men and Ultimate Comics: X-Men when he jumps on with their next issues. That’s just the way it is. It’s non-negotiable. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time writing about his work and the arc of his career. I absolutely plan to continue examining his books as long as he keeps writing them. I realize I don’t really need to seek anyone’s approval other than my own about what monthly floppies I buy, but y’know, transparency and all.

Honestly, it didn’t take much effort to make this deliberate shift. I was actually already leaning into this position through natural attrition, but this stance is now by design. In terms of what I’m buying today, here are the substantive changes, which will be put into effect immediately. I wasn’t actually buying a single Marvel book regularly, so that’s easy. The closest thing I have in the line-up is Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba’s Casanova, and since it’s technically creator-owned under the ICON imprint, it gets a pass. On the DC side, the titles on the chopping block are Batman, Batwoman, and Worlds’ Finest. Who doesn’t love George Perez art? I’ll miss that about Worlds’ Finest. But you know what I don’t really care about? Power Girl and Huntress. I love Greg Rucka and JH Williams III’s Batwoman run that originally aired in Detective Comics, and I’ll keep that Elegy hardcover on my bookshelf, but this new run has degenerated from that rapidly. I don’t mind giving this up since I was already considering it. Batman is a book I enjoy reading for straight-up mainstream done right. But, I also came to the realization it’s a sad commentary that this above-average effort is basically the best thing DC could muster from the flaccid New 52 initiative. It should actually be the bare minimum level of quality allowed, yet the cold hard truth is that this is actually the best book in the line. That’s ridiculous to me. So, farewell Batman. It’s like Michael Corleone said when he wanted to off Captain McCluskey and “The Turk:” “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.” No hard feelings, I hope. Next time Scott Snyder and/or Greg Capullo launch a creator-owned book, I’ll check it out. As far as DC imprints go, my only other books at the moment are actually Scalped and Saucer Country. Scalped has only two issues left, so that will soon be a moot point. I’m enjoying Saucer Country, but who knows how long that will hold. So, it’s kind of interesting that even including imprints (which get passes for being creator-owned anyway), that’s just two books I’m currently supporting through Marvel and DC. Essentially, everything else in my current line up, or on the horizon, is from Dark Horse, Image Comics, and Oni Press, with a whole slew of self-published mini-comics and small-press boutique publishers.

This is something that I already decided to do a while back, but I want to reiterate it and maybe encourage others to do the same(?). I’m no longer using the verbiage “The Big Two” to refer to Marvel and DC. Words are powerful. I just think it’s unduly empowering. It’s become this weird default nickname. I think people use the term a lot without even thinking about what it means. They don’t consider if that’s truly what they intended to say. They don’t consciously acknowledge the embedded messaging the phrase contains: That there is a hierarchy. That they dominate. That there can only be two. That everyone else is small by comparison, and thus, of lesser inherent value. It’s artificial segregation. It’s a closed paradigm, and I don’t like that. Maybe it’s not even accurate in some circumstances. I mean, when I ran my own personal metrics on the last year of purchases (I track everything), I found that in a statistical heads-up comparison, I was buying 64% more Dark Horse and Image Comics alone than Marvel and DC. If you factor in Oni Press and a few others, the numbers get even more compellingly lopsided. With the creative push that Image Comics alone is on this year, I only anticipate that rift widening. As it stands today, Image Comics and Dark Horse are basically my “Big Two” in terms of actual financial market-share. Should Dark Horse and Image Comics be called “The New Big Two?” Should I refer to them as “The Twins?” (yes, another Game of Thrones reference). With Oni Press, are they “The Medium Three?” Somebody invent a term for this that I can use. Nah, I’m just playin’. Inventing new language like that to label these publishers would only further marginalize their status and reinforce the practices of a flawed system.

Seriously, I’d rather just say this: “I only buy creator-owned comics.”

And You Want To Be My Latex Salesman?

Sigh.

With alarming, yet frustratingly unpredicatable frequency, Sea Donkey just never fails to really screw the pooch. You never know when he’s going to strike, and he really got me good this week. Exhibit A is Aya: The Secrets Come Out (Drawn & Quarterly), which was a complete no-show. This book was not in the store. This book was not ordered. The second volume of the book is nestled away on the shelves, but no, not this one. Previous volumes of this book have been released to considerable critical acclaim. They typically make appearances on many best-of lists toward the end of the year. Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie are major talents. I just don’t understand. Is there actually a decision-making process involved here? Does Sea Donkey look at the book and think “Hrmm, shall I order this book? No, no, I don’t think I will for these (wrong) reasons.” Or is it more haphazard? Does he simply throw darts at the Diamond catalogue and blindly order whatever The Great Sea Donkey Gods of Old have divinely instructed him to?

Next up, we have Exhibit B, which is the Book of Genesis Illustrated by Robert Crumb (W.W. Norton). Good ol’ Sea Donk ordered one (1) copy of this book. Last time I checked, Robert Crumb was a pretty important figure in the field of comic books. I mean, seriously… one copy? Why even bother? I come into the store at like 12 noon, Sea Donk has only been open one hour, and of course the lucky bloke in front of me gets to it before I do. Good on him. Man, if I had only made that last green light things would be different. Why am I forced to think this way? As Wiki waxes, “Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry.” I feel like adding to that last sentence “Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry AND poor retailing practices like that of Sea Donkey.” Wouldn’t you order a minimum of like three copies or something? As far as I know, this is the first time it’s been collected since it originally ran serialized in The New Yorker. Robert Crumb! The New Yorker! One copy?!

After striking out on my first two preferences of the week, I move down to my “Considering” list to see what’s available. Exhibit C: Of course, Sea Donkey has the JLA: 80 Page Giant (DC) available. Of course he does. See, it’s published by Marvel or DC, so we can’t miss out on those books can we? I thumb through it. Hey, there’s Zatanna. There’s The Crimson Avenger. Cool. It looks like Silver Age fun, but the art, oh the art. It is passable at best in spots, but mostly it’s full of disproportioned awkwardly posed people and the few and far between bright spots just can’t justify the $6 price tag as I ponder it in my mind. The quality of the JLA 80 Page Giant isn’t Sea Donkey’s fault of course, but it does its humble part in creating the perfect retailing storm for me. I start panicking. Holy shit, what am I going to buy? I don’t remember the last week that I have actually had nothing to buy. What else is on the list?

Ah, Exhibit D: Best American Comics 2009 (Houghton Mifflin). Surely, His Sea Donkiness will have that book. I’ve seen previous volumes on his shelves. I think I even bought last year’s here amid the morass of Mighty Muggs and Spawn POGS. Oh dear readers, do you hear the crickets chirping? I know I do. I scan the shelves. I ask the hired help. No. No. No. We didn’t order that book either.

I walk around the store aimlessly. I guess I’m not going to buy any comics this week. Sniff. Whatever. I don’t want to give him my money for those books anyway. But then I see it. Scrublands (Fantagraphics) by Joe Daly. Yes, this looks good. I didn’t know this was coming out. A short story about meeting down-on-his-luck Bruce Springsteen? Sold. My single, unanticipated, dejected, review for the week is coming soon.

Oh, and the hunt for a new LCS is officially on. This is the straw that broke the donkey's back. Eff you in your big salt water beast of burden belly, Sea Donkey. That way I see it Donk, your Latin name is Equus Africanus Asinus, and you don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that translates loosely to something like “Equine African Ass.”

9.17.08 Reviews

Local HC (Oni Press): As I handed over the single issues of this series to a coworker (my standard practice when upgrading to a better format), I remember saying something to the effect of “this is one of my favorite recent series, from one of my favorite writers, from a hot artist, and in every issue there’s at least one scene, or one line of dialogue, or one moment that totally blows me away,” much like that “ex you can’t get out of your head” that Brian Wood describes in one of the essays. Sure, Local is about Megan, and the sweeping arc of her life. It’s about all of the various “Locals” that get showcased in each issue, and how the cities themselves become crucial characters and story elements. Most importantly thought, local is about us. Wood and Kelly have given us, in Megan, a character that we can view the world through and identify with. We are all Megan. At times, all of us have struggled with identity, family, connecting to a new environment, have used others, and have been used on our journey to adulthood. In the ways that Scorsese used to describe film, and Wood himself has posed questions here (what does your Local say about you?), this work challenges us to ask questions of ourselves, and better define us. Like any truly great work of art, we learn about ourselves when juxtaposed against another strong set of ideas. I can say that Local is my favorite Brian Wood series, or my favorite mini-series, or one of the best books from Oni Press, but all of those qualifiers sound too limiting for a work that truly needs to get out there and breathe. I can develop sound byte style tag phrases that I envision being used as alliterative pull quotes, such as “an ingenious slice of pop fiction perfection,” yet that still doesn’t capture what I want to say. Local is one of my favorite books, ever. Period. There, I said it. Grade A+.

All Star Superman #12 (DC): Morrison and Quitely’s swan song on the title hones in tightly on one of the only truly interesting things I've ever personally found about Superman – the fact that this really is The Last Son of Krypton. There are no more Kryptonians. He can’t produce offspring. When Superman perishes, not only does the line of the House of El die out, but so perishes the people of an entire planet. Aside from some interesting theories on the soul, the ability to master and guide soul as pure energy with the power of the star Rao, harnessing the “solar radio-consciousness” in a death dream, that inborn fatalism is the core idea here. What is the significance of the cultural, artistic, and technological loss that poses to the universe when Superman is gone? How does Kal-El deal with this? What is Superman’s legacy? Perhaps Superman’s demise will be sooner, we hope later, but here Morrison suggests the former. Yes, he can inspire a future organization like the Legion, the JLA will no doubt remember him, his reflection will always help define Batman, the Kryptonian tale of Flamebird and Nightwing will live on, in part, with Dick Grayson, but the most important aspect of his lasting presence on Earth is the ability to inspire hope. For that he is truly the Man of Tomorrow; he can challenge man to be his best, to survive without Superman. He has given humanity hope for the future, a true testament to his ideal, an aspiration for all men to be supermen, capable of the ingenuity that drives our race forward. What Morrison suggests is that his most compelling “power” is not the heat vision or the ability to leap tall buildings, it’s this idea. The idea that Superman never dies if we accept that challenge of bettering ourselves. Grade A+.

Scalped #21 (DC/Vertigo): Mr. Brass and Chief Red Crow trade Indian and Hmong insults in one of the most intense scenes ever captured on paper. This arc is already really living up to its name “The Gravel in Your Guts,” asking the engaging basic question “What are you made of?” It’s evident in the crime boss face off, the task that Red Crow is asked of, and Dino’s quest for somewhere to just… belong. DC/Vertigo gives us an amazing page long look into “19 Things That Fueled Scalped,” getting behind Jason Aaron and this title in a big, big way. Bravo on that; that’s just a really stand up thing to do. It was fun to see Springsteen, Cormac McCarthy, State of Grace, Johnny Cash, and Weird Western Tales, but even better to know that the DC powers-that-be are making a real effort to showcase one of their best books and most capable new writers in a generation full of breakout talent. If you’re not buying Scalped, you don’t like great comics. Reconcile. Grade A.

Greatest Hits #1 (DC/Vertigo): For some reason, I entered not wanting to like this book by David Tischman and Glenn Fabry (interior art too!). With a casual superficial glance, it felt, I don’t know, a little too kitschy? Too smart by half (as the Brits would say), with its overt Beatles references and dodgy brand of humor. For what purpose, I asked myself? But then, I really started grooving on it. What if Tischman, frequent collaborator of Chaykin, wasn’t stopping at the Beatles references, and was pushing a step further into industry commentary territory? What if he was commenting on another sort of “British Invasion?” When I began to re-read it in that context, it suddenly came alive. The descriptions used to introduce us to the characters seemed to fit. The Crusader is the stable one who captured our hearts and minds. Neil Gaiman. There’s the Vizier, the one obsessed with magic and the occult. Alan Moore. There’s the Solicitor, the one full of techno-craziness. Grant Morrison perhaps? There’s the one who jumps around, buzzes in your ear, the “new” kid dropping ideas. Warren Ellis as the Zipper? In addition to these character-to-creator correlations, there are some other interesting nods to comic culture and beyond. The Crusader himself is the product of a failed British super soldier experiment, (oddly coincidental that this week’s episode of Fringe was about the same thing, is this stuff in the zeitgeist or what?). I enjoyed Ethel as the talent handler, giving us a little insider tour through what packaging a project in Hollywood looks like these days. There’s the interesting formation of the original team and histo-documentary style. A subdued sexuality permeates the text; it also feels like a band, where one of the original members leaves right before they really hit it big (think of No Doubt, Maroon 5, etc.). I could be reading into this too much, but nevertheless, I’ll be reading. Grade B+.

Captain Britain & MI-13 #5 (Marvel): What I like about Paul Cornell’s take on these characters and this little corner of the Marvel U that he’s carved out for himself is that it fits the Roger Ebert rule – just substitute “comics” for “movie,” when you hear “a great movie is not about what it’s about, it’s about how it’s about what it’s about.” Now, if you told me that I’d be reading about a bunch of leftover British heroes and it was all about the supernatural and fighting evil and magical realms and that it spun out of the Skrull Invasion, I wouldn’t be that interested. But… when it’s suddenly handled like this, and told not from a plot-driven perspective, but from a very character driven place, it’s suddenly quite intriguing. In so little time, I find myself caring a great deal about these characters. I was already wondering how they’d handle the umm… tension between Blade the Vampire Hunter and the vampire-turned-hero Spitfire. We get to see a caring side of the Black Knight. We get to see real people navigating all of the paramilitary intelligence agency procedural bits of MI-13. We see all of the recruitment issues around Faiza joining up, the vetting process, the impact to her family, etc. We see Pete Wisdom literally creating an agency from the ether, out of sheer will, because of who he is. This is just smartly written. I can’t stress enough how it’s like the opposite of something event driven like Secret Invasion. It’s not about the plot or the event, it’s about the people, and that’s really made me care. Grade B+.

Uncanny X-Men #502 (Marvel): Note to Cyclops: I guess the new information classification and security protocol at Greymalkin Industries to protect the confidentiality of sensitive files is working wonderfully, because when you print your roster page in dark blue ink on black paper, it’s basically illegible. I’ve been a fan of the book, but there’s just no other way to say it – this issue felt a little off. The top row of names on the roster page is in all CAPS, while the bottom row isn't - why? Maserati is spelled like that (<-), not like this: Masarati, as it's spelled twice in the book. If you're going to bother to pick a song with an overt car reference, shouldn't it be the same kind of car as you're showing(?), which is a 60's Mustang. During the raid, Scott says "Peter and Emma guard the..." Only problem being, there is nobody named Peter on the strike force! What the hell? The quips during the fight scene seem a bit too jovial considering the gravitas of the overall book. If this is a last ditch effort to save homo superior with new tactics as the species is fading out, would you really be making jokes? Land’s art also feels too light and confectionary somehow; it’s out of place with the tone of the book. Maybe it needs to be inked darker, or include more night scenes or something. That tonal dissonance aside, there are still some redeeming qualities in the script that make this worth checking out. One, Scott is resorting to torture, with a scene that serves as an analog for the infamous water-boarding technique popularized at Gitmo. If the government says you possess information about a threat, then you do, and your rights fly out the window, governmental conduct accountable to no one. And this is such a departure from the days of Xavier’s Dream that I wish more people were talking about it. Two, Pixie is the new Kitty Pryde. We’ve been given a new young character to see the world through as she’s indoctrinated from her old life into the X-Men. Grade B.

I also did not pick up;

Echo #6 (Abstract Studio): I want to buy this book. Really, I do. There it is on Diamond’s New Releases List for the week. So, why didn’t three whole shops in the San Diego area get this book? At least one of them didn’t get it perhaps due to the title being “Terry Moore’s Echo,” located in the “T’s” and not the “E’s” as the owner assumed. The other two, psh, who knows? They wouldn’t know an independent comic if it slapped them on the ass and called them Susan. Is this further proof of the ironic lackluster LCS experience, in San Diego of all places, or just some sort of distribution error?

12.06.06 Reviews O' Plenty!

Desolation Jones #8 (DC/Wildstorm): Jones has a great conversation with his younger self here in a dream sequence that deserves props alone for not insulting the reader's intelligence. I'm still really enjoying the detective work and colorful characters. Ellis' writing is firing on all cylinders here... "See, that's why he didn't care you were armed. Mr. Jones here probably knows eight ways to kill you without moving. That is so cool." His characters refuse to edit themselves. He offers us a nice review of Philip K. Dick's Fullerton Period, which was dubbed "2-3-74." It's coincidentally the address of the movie honcho and I also found it quite disturbing that it's also my birthday(!). Eewww! Nice commentary on living in a post-PKD, "science fictional" world, complete with Blade Runner-esque cloned sheep. There's even more priceless dialogue from Evers Chance, who ran a major movie studio, "lived the sixties, ran the seventies, and closed the eighties." The script is very dense but crisp, as Jones tells Chance's man Croker "Listen: holstering your gun there, it shows when you move and it makes you shift your weight. Put it on the back of your belt, base of your spine. Otherwise someone will turn up at the door and they'll know. And they'll shoot you first." Croker: "That's not how I learned it in the LAPD." Jones: "Thats why cops get shot and I'm still here. Take it easy, mate." And Emily Crowe is further proof that Zezelj's art is perfectly moody for this intriquing and unique title. Grade A+.

Superman: Confidential #2 (DC): Tim Sale's art feels stronger than ever, with a shout out to Dave Stewart for some absolutely brilliant coloring. The pages pop with the right tone and feel. I sensed real drama here, boys. Bravo! It was downright scary to see Supes in a fit of panic and freaking out, losing his way in the lava, forced to breath the flaming liquid in, "drowning in a sea of fire." We don't often see a truly vulnerable Superman. And for someone who can't get into the character and often cites this as a chief complaint, I don't say this lightly - this tale of his early career was extremely well done. Grade A.

Agents of Atlas #5 (Marvel): Really liked Namora's explanation of Venus' true self. "Merpeople rarely use the Roman names of mythology" is a true testament to the intelligence of Parker's writing potential. Plenty of old school Marvel continuity, action, and crafty dialogue. And I still dig SHIELD Agent and Wakandan extraordinaire Derek Khanata and the sumptuous and clean lines of Leonard Kirk. Grade A-.

Dr. Strange: The Oath #3 (Marvel): I read this book (and Jonah Hex) last night while hopped up on meds trying to fight off the onset of what feels like flu (achy body, insane headache behind the eyes, aversion to light, slight nausea, and the hint of a sore throat coupled with a dash of nasal congestion...), so you've been forewarned about possible crankiness or sketchy details. Marcos Martin's art still looks great with single forms, check out the cape swirl around Stephen... but I remember making a mental note that his background detail was really lacking in this issue. Overall though, the plot feels like it's coalescing nicely and Vaughan is taking stray bits (Night Nurse!) and weaving them all together with just the right balance of cool action, sorcery (poking fun at the implausibility of it all, I mean, Strange can weave an incantation together to save the universe, but can't seem to summon an aspirin for Wong because "science did it already?!"), humor, and general immersion in some kooky corners of the Marvel U. Grade A-.

NewUniversal #1 (Marvel): This title will probably never escape comparisons to TV's Heroes or Straczynski's Rising Stars for its use of an anomalous event that affects multiple (as yet) unrelated people. But since this is a reimaging of an old 1980's Marvel idea that came first, I can forgive a large amount of that. Larroca's art looks really clean, with some fine details (reminiscent of Travis Charest in spots), a photorealistic flair (reminiscent of Greg Land in spots), and some blocky, thickly inked charm (reminiscent of Sean Phillips - did Larroca ink himself here?)... so how's that for an artistic smoothie? The "White Event" is depicted beautifully and struck me as a tiny bit JH Williams inspired in spots. Though the Greg Landistic photo-refs were too thick, to the point of distraction, for my taste in spots (Gene Hackman, Tony Soprano, Sawyer from Lost, anyone?), overall this book has a charm and intelligence that has me interested. I liked the clues about an alternate timeline and the tutorial on Bronze Age civilizations in the Marvel U. Grade B+.

The Nightly News #2 (Image): Filled with tasty and rebellious truth-illuminating one-liners like "the essence of propaganda is not in variety... but in limiting choice." Enjoyed the "Errors in the News: Greatest Hits" collection, which highlights some classics with low visibility. Just when I thought the spelling and grammar errors were in check, they returned with a vengeance in the back half of the book. Yo, Jonathan Hickman! Stay with me! Eyes on me, bro... It's exaggeration, not "exageration." It's McDonnell Douglas, not "MacDonald Douglas." Your line "So, what are talking about here?" desperately needs a noun. As in "So, what are you talking about here?" And finally, Picasso's infamous quote is actually "good artists copy, great artists steal," not whatever shlock you wrote. In this case, "good comic book writers fact check their sources of inspiration for accuracy, great writers use spelling and grammar check tools, and editors should... you know, edit." Too bad that this was so distracting from what was otherwise a good time. It pushed me right out of the story; I was frequently sighing and getting upset, looking out for errors instead of enjoying the ride. I warned you with the first issue; if this continues I will begin deducting points, first to B-, then to C+, and on to C, so that by the end of your series, all other things being equal, you will not be where you want to be and this will be the very last... Grade B.

Irredeemable Ant-Man #3 (Marvel): The ant monologue recap won some points right off the bat. I'm starting to enjoy the inner conflict of the protagonist, as he's torn between trying do the right thing and dealing with the death of his best friend, with more base motivations like just being a guy with a cool stolen Ant-Man suit, and scoring chics. The dichotomy (are we supposed to root for this guy or despise him? root for him because he's so despicable?) makes for an interesting read. I'm still cautious with Kirkman, that he really needs to follow a throughline for the title character's arc to work, but cautiously optimistic nonetheless. Hester's art is clean and cool. Grade B.

Manhunter #26 (DC): Hrmm... this book goes on a multi-month hiatus, they attempt a "relaunch" to grab a wider audience for a title with critical buzz that doesn't sell and is in danger of cancellation, they bother to get Wonder Woman as a recurring guest star, continue to include fan favorite Cameron Chase, and have Art Adams do the cover... why the fuck *wouldn't* you start over with a #1 issue? That's just poor. Other than that marketing gaffe, this is a typically great issue of Manhunter that provides a nice intro to the principal characters, establishes who's who, and most importantly who Kate is motivationally as Manhunter. Loved the touch of Kate having Diana train her in exchange for a pro bono legal defense. Grade B.

Jonah Hex #14 (DC): While I liked the first issue of this origin revealing arc tremendously and still think Jordi Bernet's art is beautiful to behold, I can't escape the feeling that this issue is horribly overwrought. I was satisfied with Hex having a "regular" childhood and his slant toward the bizarre beginning with his Civil War days. But here, we see him being abused as a child, learning some strange lessons from his father, and being taken in all Dances With Wolves style (cliche alert! cliche alert!) as the sole "pale face" among an Indian tribe. I'm sad that such potential with a great Western character was squandered, and only one more issue to get it back on track. Grade B-.

Justice Society of America #1 (DC): Are acronyms out now? Instead of JLA, we get Justice League of America. Instead of JSA, we get Justice Society of America. Is that how it's going to be? Ok... Well, Eaglesham's art is serviceable. No more, no less. If I was being generous, I'd say he does a nice Liberty Belle, Stargirl, and Jack Knight. If I was being critical, I'd say what the hell is up with Superman's face, why on Earth would Liberty Belle and Hourman be posed that way, and why is the opening page so stiff (really, I've never seen a worse Wildcat or Flash)? So, we'll just leave it at "serviceable." Gathering the team issues are always fun (thank heavens, this is done in one issue, unlike JLA - paging Mr. Meltzer!), so there's some mileage to be had there, and in general, there are some interesting revelations to be had with Wildcat's family, a clinically schizophrenic Starman, and the sudden appearance of Mr. America on the last page. My biggest pet peeve is getting some consistency with the culture of the hero generations. In numerous other DC titles, we've been told (and I'm paraphrasing Dick Grayson here) that "the JSA teaches you how to be a hero, the JLA teaches you how to fight, but the Titans teach you how to be a family." Yet, here we have contradictory info... Batman says the JSA is a family, no, wait... Diana says the JSA teaches you a moral compass, no, wait... Wildcat teaches you how to fight, no, wait... the JLA is a strike force, umm.... what? Grade C+.

Midnighter #2 (DC/Wildstorm): Like much of Ennis' writing, I feel that this leans toward sensationlism merely for the sake of itself. It's intended to be a bit over the top and create a reaction solely to that end, instead of delivering an artistic voice that's framed in a point of view with a compelling moral or intellectual argument. Essentially, there's no position here except "check out what I can do with Hitler, mindless violence, and a smattering of gay jokes!" As evidenced by lines like "In summary... I'm going to come back and kill every single one of you" and "Watch the lip, trouser pilot." Lines intentionally designed to shock rarely do. Those strong reservations aside, we have some beautiful Chris Sprouse art; my how I'd love to be buying a book regularly that he's on. And just when I start to poke holes in this time travel story, the last page gets me thinking that maybe Ennis will address some of my concerns. I think I can hang on one more issue to see if this is worth pursuing further. A flimsy as hell plot (Hitler killed my parents so I'd like you to fuck up the space-time continuum and alter history so I can exact vengeance!) that's superficially entertaining if you don't think about it too hard. Grade C.

52: Week Thirty-One (DC): Oh, I don't know. It's the usual shotgun blast of ideas that never seem to congeal, like a tray of jello that's 15 degrees too warm. Green Lantern Thormon Tox is cool for a second. Why does it look like one of the "Glorifiers" is in a Darkstar uniform on the cover? Wouldn't a cooler, more in continuity, villain have been The Blight from Legion of Superheroes? Seems that they pretty much do the same thing as the "Believer Cubes" and "Glorifiers." I still can't get over the issue of too many characters being introduced and seemingly abandoned with no sign of any resolution (the only real resolution in this ish being that Supernova is not Superboy, but that introduces more questions as to who he really is...). Now we have Captain Comet. Was he meant to have sent a psi-projection to Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange? That wasn't quite clear. Kinda' sad how the cricket Green Lantern got denied aid; cold-hearted Guardians even turned his damn ring off. And I don't even want to get into the Freudian undercurrent of Sierra's comment "you don't think he was looking for something of mine to eat?" Nice Freddie E. Williams art on the Robin origin. Grade C-.

Marvel Holiday Special (Marvel): The only thing really amusing about this was Fin Fang Foom's generally detached attitude and his disdain for humans, culminating with "Death to the impostors!" in order to incite a riot between warring Hydra factions. Otherwise, the jokes fall pretty flat. I liked the idea and set-up of an Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) office party with its fresh art, but it never really got off the ground (and why did it have to be split up six ways to Sunday in between other pieces?). Jokes that center around punchlines including New Coke, Dot-Coms, and Tivo are a little too dated, folks. I kept hearing the "ba-dum-dum!" in my head when I failed to laugh. The alphabet game was excruciating to endure considering how so much work went into the piece just so it could lay there and get zero chuckles. Grade C-.

Spider-Man: Reign #1 (Marvel): First of all, isn't the artist's name Jean-Michel Basquiat? Never heard of "Basquiet." Well, you might as well call this "The Red Spider Returns." Or how about "The Arach-Knight Returns?" Oh, let's just cut right to it and call it "Spider-Man Returns." Because when you have an aging hero in retirement, a bleak, dystopian big-brother future, a government controlled media with staged talking heads, a plot full of 1986 style paranoia that stems from nuclear proliferation and civil rights issues from the Reagan/Gorbachev/Thatcher era, hint at psychosis by referring to the costume in the third person, and flirt with a repetitive grid for your panel layouts... WHAT DO YOU GET, EVERYONE? Yes! It's Marvel's version of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, starring Peter Parker! It's quite a shame too, because that outright act of duplication spoils some nice Kaare Andrews art (except for those CGI cars and cityscapes, why was *that* necessary?). If this wasn't so heavily derivative, it might actually be a cool story if it could stand on its own without the constant swipe chatter in my mind. It's not homage. It's not reference. It's not a jab at the Distinguished Competition. It's outright imitation and duplication, which = swipe. Grade D+.

Welcome to Tranquility #1 (DC/Wildstorm): There's a really cool premise lurking about here, that of a retirement community comprised of former heroes and villains, with a first arc kicked off by an unexpected closed room murder. And that's about as far as it gets because the execution is rather flawed. The "Mixy Motor Car" looks like Ace & Gary's car from The Ambiguously Gay Duo on SNL, which kinda' brings up the whole undercurrent of homophobia here that basically fetishizes gay women, but simultaneously demonizes gay men. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it's embedded nonetheless. Sorry, but I can't tell who's talking or who's who in the first few pages or what those ants are supposed to be doing. It all feels pretty haphazard, like too much is being crammed in here and there's not time to explore any one single idea sufficiently. It's almost like this book is already afraid of being cancelled and is desperately trying to get all its ideas out on paper before the hammer drops. I know she has a loyal following, but I think I'm learning that I just don't like Gail Simone's writing. The art ranges from being ok, read that as "passable" and "almost kinda' cute," to just weird and misproportioned with wonged out head shapes and facial features. Really, why are there circles on everyone's nose? What's *that* about? All in all, feels kinda' gimmicky with the menus and recipes and mysteriously recurring chicken motif. Lastly, The Emoticon? Really? As a villain? Really? Umm, no. As the last of the Wildstorm relaunch titles hits, the whole line is pretty much shaping up to be ass. Grade D-.

3.18.09 Reviews (Part 1)

Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead #2 (Radical): While it’s easy to fall in love with that Alan Brooks cover, my enthusiasm for this title has cooled a bit. The first couple of pages have some blurry looking art and I’m not sure if “scarey” is a typo or just common British spelling (nor do I really care enough to even check). Little details like the times on Hotwire’s phone bother me. How can the times listed go 5:04am, 5:04am, 5:55am, 5:45am, 5:32am? Really, look at that. The call log moves forward in time and then… back in time? How is that possible? All that said, you can still detect the Warren Ellis influenced sci-fi concepts, I really like Detective Mobey as the “straight man” to the exorcising Hotwire, and for $2.99, Radical deserves kudos here for putting out a package packed with content. Not sure if I’ll want it all collected someday, but I’ll certainly ride out two more issues and see where this goes. Grade B+.

X-Force #13 (Marvel): Ah, it’s the little x-title that could. I felt like it was back on track as soon as I took in the full page of Archangel scooping up Laura and carrying her away from the blast we were left with at the end of last issue. The interaction between Scott and the team, along with Wolverine’s narration, really makes you realize that Scott has been trained to lead this army his entire life, he’s been conditioned and prepared to fight this fight. His destiny is finally playing out. When all this stuff happened with Bishop and just who the heck Sooraya is are head-scratchers to me, but are more than made up for with the subtle humor of Domino and plans (such as Pierce’s deliberate plant) becoming clear. The abduction of the three familiar kids (I won’t spoil it) plays quite chilling and overall, this title continues to be crisply written and visually engaging, provided the Kyle/Yost/Crain dynamic is in effect. More than anything, I just appreciate the coherent storytelling at work here, compared to the incessant scene jumping and dangling thread approach of Uncanny, which seems to have gotten away from Fraction. It’s clear that the books inhabit a closely shared world and that makes me more at ease with the decision to scuttle Uncanny and stick with (whodathunkit?) X-Force. A bit disconcerting that Marvel is putting out the next installment of this story in an X-Force/Cable one-shot vs. the regular series, so for that we’ll downgrade to a Grade B+.

Uncanny X-Men #507 (Marvel): If I were looking for reasons to keep purchasing Uncanny, I’d cite lines like “We are all but ghosts now” or “Watch out. Big bastard’s gotta’ fall somewhere.” I might notice the cool moments between Hank and Warren during the Archangel reveal or the entire panel with Armor and Pixie (Sugar Bombs! Newbridge!). I’d tell myself that the political ramifications the Mayor mentions are worth exploring; the entire phrasing of her conversation with Scott is spot-on and almost redeems the whole affair. But alas, I was looking for reasons to drop the title this issue and there are certainly more of the latter to be found. Beast’s soliloquy during the fight scene with Godzilla(?) seems painfully expository, Dodson’s 2/3 page panel with Emma horrifically depicts her face and an awkward pose, and lines like “Hit them until they all stop hitting back” play so one-dimensionally that I realize how much more I need from this title. I felt like that line was Fraction expressing frustration at trying to wrangle all of this unwieldy flitting plot threads into submission. His attempts at dual narration with some injuries and lack of plans play thin and ineffective. There are disconnected action scenes, evil guy exposition, irregularities with Scott’s visor (again!), a weak cliffhanger, Emma is horribly out of character with misplaced support for Peter, and really… is there actually a Russian word for “hick?” I think it may have completely derailed when Fraction used a lifted line from Godzilla with “What do you see, old man? What do you see?!” All that was missing was an aged Japanese man mumbling “Gojira!” on his deathbed. I wanted to stick with Uncanny, but there just aren’t enough reasons to. I will definitely pick up Fraction’s run someday in a dollar bin – that’s really not supposed to sound as mean as it does. Grade C+.

3.25.09 Reviews

X-Force/Cable: Messiah War (Marvel): This is a stand alone issue that really sets things in motion for the crossover event. I’m still struggling to understand why this one shot was necessary when the crossover will already take place in three issues of X-Force and three issues of Cable. Perhaps this was for potential readers who buy neither title regularly(?), though I don’t see why those potential readers would suddenly be interested in a story which has already been gearing up for an issue or two and rush right out to get this special. Anyway. For me, it’s also hampered a bit by not featuring Clayton Crain’s art, though I will say that Mike Choi is steadily improving. The entire premise of the event is intriguing, Scott essentially propelling X-Force into the future with the orders to “find Cable, kill Bishop, and protect Hope.” I like how Wolverine has become the de facto field leader of the team; the uneasy bond between Scott and Logan is always fun to watch. This issue pulls a quick and effective recap of M-Day, the Xavier Institute attack, the creation of X-Force, the Cooperstown Massacre, Cable and Hope, and now Bishop’s pursuit of them. There’s a lot of information offered here, but it’s effortless and never expository. Scott’s narration about the survival of his species against seemingly insurmountable odds is chilling. It has the feel of something that Ron Moore or James Cameron would have created to lend a dangerous and important tone to their work. Scott’s continual references to “my son” (referring to Cable) and Xavier being “the man I think of as my father” are quite considerable. There’s deliberate effort on the part of many x-writers (Kyle, Yost, Fraction, and Ellis) to portray Scott as finally accepting his destiny. And it extends even beyond him as a character to the (only) other Summers brother I care about – Havok. While Scott leads the mutants on Earth, Alex is somewhere in the stars leading that band of mutants in space. The Mutant Marvel U feels more cohesive than it has in years. I’m hoping that the decision for Cable to be in the year 2973 and heading for Westchester (when it would have already been destroyed for 9 hundred and 60-some years) will pan out and make sense. Wow, I just can’t stop gushing about this issue. I'm still in shock that I'm enjoying... ahem... X-Force so much. Not only is the overarching story great fun, but there are plenty of little nuanced touches here and there. In no particular order… liked the scene between Hank and Scott, the secret of X-Force is starting to leak out. I like how the middle of this issue (dropping the team into the future) picks up directly from the action in the last issue of X-Force. I like the odd mélange of the team roster. We’ve got everyone from Archangel (one of the original five X-Men) to X-23 (the chic Wolverine clone, Laura) and everyone in between. We’ve got tons of comedy here from Domino, Wolverine, and the surprise appearance of Deadpool(!), who is just hilarious. Lines like “What the f--" followed by “Language, Wolverine” made me chuckle out loud. I want to know why Laura did what she did to that metal plate. This issue is paced and organized perfectly. The inclusion of Stryfe’s Strike Files harken back to the early 90’s X-Cutioners Song crossover, which was a bit hoary, but certainly had it’s dramatic moments. For $3.99, the extra pages are a welcome treat and feel like good value. As enjoyable and fun as this is shaping up to be, the name “En Sabah Nur” certainly lends some gravitas. Overall, this was a very satisfying read. Highly recommended. Grade A.

I also picked up;

A Drifting Life (Drawn & Quarterly): This is a humongous brick of a softcover book, about the size of Blankets or Bottomless Belly Button, being the fourth of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s translated to English works, courtesy of Adrian Tomine and D&Q.

Planetary #1 (DC/Wildstorm/ABC): Actually, I didn’t buy this book. Because… *SEA DONKEY strikes again! DC’s doing a cool thing by reprinting some tasty #1 issues for just a dollar. Now, if your LCS got Transmetropolitan #1, wouldn’t you expect they’d also get Planetary #1 the following week? If you’re going to bother getting any, wouldn’t you just get them all? So lame. I didn’t even want it for myself, I mean I own the Absolute Edition and all of the Hardcovers, but my coworker has been on an Alan Moore kick and wanted me to pick up Volume 3 of Promethea for her – so I did. She’d given me a $20 bill. I had like 4 bucks leftover and thought, hrmm, maybe I’ll pick up the first ish of Planetary for her, it’s only a buck, total no risk read. But alas, Sea Donkey squanders yet another retailing opportunity.

* For those who may not recall this recurring riff, “Sea Donkey” is the name I give my LCS guy when he does something lame, like not order a book I want, pull a poor customer service move, etc. May be accompanied by the non-PC prefix “retarded,” as in “he was doing the retarded Sea Donkey dance again.” That is all.

"It Does Not Bother Me To Say This Isn't Love"

I understand that there were some printing issue with Phonogram 2: The Singles Club #5 (Image) that resulted in it being largely pulled from distribution and pulped, so that explains that one. But once again, Good Ol’ Sea Donkey mysteriously didn’t get Terry Moore’s Echo #16 (Abstract Studio) today. Whatever, dude. I also didn’t pick up the Batman/Doc Savage Special #1 (DC). The premise for the “First Wave” line still intrigues me, and I might pick up the mini-series with Rags Morales’ art, but this just didn’t pass the casual flip test. Phil Noto’s art just looked very stiff, cold, and sterile, with fairly skimpy backgrounds. The advance reviews have also been less than stellar.

PS - I think this is my favorite pic of Sea Donkey that I've come across thus far in my travels across the netwebs.