Sunday 11/30/08 standing in for Wednesday 11/24/08

I was away in New Jersey visiting the parents for Thanksgiving, and just went to the store today... new Aztek post tomorrow, BTW, for the one person who cares (me).

Wolverine: Origins #30: God, what a piece of shit crossover. Added nothing to Legacy, made me waste 10 bucks, and wasted three months of Legacy's time. Hopefully that book can get back on track next issue, but nothing about this makes me want to read Origins regularly. Deodato's experimenting with some weird layouts hwere, and while I give the guy props for trying new stuff, they don't always work. Still, he's the most interesting this about this comic, easy.

Captain America #44: Yep, I bought it again after two months in a row of saying I would drop it. This issue is an improvement though, and Brubaker's starting to flesh out not just the New Cap, but how he is responding to his role & reconciling it with the his personailty & preferred methods. The character study that Bru's been doing for so long is still ongoing, so I probably won't be able to put this down no matter how hard I try.

Thor: Man of War: OK, where are all the comic book reading metalheads to point out all the Metal references Fraction is working into these books (by "all the" I mean "three")? Good, although not quite as epic as one might hope. Still, great fun and definetly a Thor I can get behind. He does a nice job playing up how petulant and immature Thor was in the old myths, and how quickly Gods seem to completely lose focus and change their minds in those stories - for insanely powerful otherwordly beings, they have the attention of a fly. I also really like that, in addition to bringing in all those old Myth elements, and the cyclical nature of myths and stories, Fraction also managed to throw in Marvel's Thor concept - sent to earth as a crippled Doctor to learn humility - into that very same cycle, lending it a certain weight, making it seem like the logical next step in that very cycle (which I think most comic fans would say it already was, but still). Nice stuff.

Batman #681: This has been analyzed to death already, so I'm coming to the party a bit late here. There's some very satisfying and amusing moments in here ("Force of habit", indeed - I love that Batman is even planning for every eventuality when he doesn't even realize it), but honestly, this doesn't feel like an ending. The two-part follow-up to this must be more of an essential epiogue than the solicits implied, which is fine, but dissapointing to those of us expecting a conclusion.

My main problem is with the identity of the Black Glove. Some people are saying it's "implied" that Hurt is in fact the Devil. Eh? The Joker says precisely one line of dialogue which implies that, and he's not what you'd call reliable. And his final scene, running cowardly from Batman and babbling like a cross between a 60's villain (to be fair, very possibly intentional) and a total imbecile? Not exactly a horrible, "pure evil" portrayal, and I am completely unconvinced. If anything, the only convincing answer is that he is indeed Dr. Hurt, driven mad and manipulaing Batman.

By the way, I loved the Joker's implication that this whole "red and black" color scheme that he (Morrison) imposed was a red herring to send Batman (the reader) on a wild goose chase looking for symbolism that wasn't there. That's actually more and more hilarious that more I think about it.

Aztek: The Ultimate Man #3

Haven't done one of these in a while - busy reading the 8 billion comics I got recently... at any rate, the third issue is one where I had a lot of trouble picking out what bits were Morrison and what were Millar, but it's also a brilliant issue and a lost classic that serves as a reminder why this comic should get far more attention.

Issue 3 opens with a scene Morrison has used in a few places since - the funeral of the recently departed Bloodtype, attended by various Z-List villains (He's used this same idea in JLA #5 and recently in Final Crisis #2). The priest even mentions that "superheroes never stay down"; a villain states "the papers figure Bloodtype could be back in six months' time, tougher than ever". This is very Morrison, if onyl because, like I said, he used this same idea - people commenting on superhero ressurections at funerals - at least twice since. (I assume these are characters Morrison & Millar created for this, BTW, although I could be wrong.)

The villains have a very "down-to-earth" sounding speech, a casual conversation about what kind of guy he was the seems very Millar to me - he's very good at these behind the scenes moments. One of them runs off to chat with Death-Doll, Bloodtype's girlfriend, and pay his respects. A little expositon explains that she "freaked" after a "CIA wet job". Hints of much bigger things happening behind the scenes of this comic, again tieing into their ongoing theme of Aztek - and now, his comic - simply not being as important or involved as everything going on around it. Death-doll wants to know about Aztek, since he's implicated in Bloodtype's death, and says she's going to "handle" him. The scene ends in a very Millar moment of excess with the Priest shooting up in the back of a limo to show us how nasty Vanity is.

We cut to Aztek "subduing" some muggers - as soon as he interrupts them, the head guy starts talking about "standard procedure - no hits to the groin or the face and we go down like bowling pins". I'm not sure who to attribute this idea of a sort of "back alley code" - the criminals and heroes have a srt of backdoor deal about how situations like this are handled. I tend to attribute the more street-level, behind the scenes stuff like this to Millar and the bigger, thematic stuff to Morrison - Millar has come back to this idea several times in his career, with both Wanted, for example. But, Morrison loves to take apart and play with superhero tropes as well - and back alley muggers being swept down upon by the hero is definetly a superhero trope. Let's call a draw to this and the following page, which I've scanned.

Again, this scene makes great use of Aztek's pacifism, and generally very non-90's attitude. He has no interest in being cool, he just wants to help this guy. He pays the mugger out of his own pocket so they won't bother anyone else. He doesn't arrest them, either - a reminder that this guy is not from the society, so he doesn;t think the way we do. The muggers, being freaked about by his behavior, spray him with something - which we'll come back to - and run off. Their victim - again, coming back to him - helps Aztek to his feet. This entire scene is a wonderful example of how far ahead of its time this book was, in 1996.

We cut to Nurse Page waiting for Curt Falconer - aka Aztek to show up for their date. Once he finally arrives, he realizes he's broke b/c he gave the muggers his cash - she says it's on her, kisses him, and mentions how badly he stinks (from the stuff the muggers sprayed on him). Not sure who to attribute this to.

Cut again, to Death-doll buying some weapons from the old man - now revealed as an arms dealer named Fixer. The stuff Aztek was sprayed with will allow her to track him anywhere (so the muggers were phony as well). Some of Fixer's dialogue - "it's our business to meet the needs of the modern super-criminal" - is very Morrison. They chat about Bloodtype, ad we get a flashback to Bloodtype and Death-doll when they were Mr. America and Libert Lass, more pure heroes who were eventually corrupted and darkened by the town of Vanity and shady government work. A pretty clear reference to the Post-Watchmen darkening of heroes in the 80's and 90's, and an idea that seemes pretty Morrison. Death-doll rips off the fixer, and we cut to Aztek displaying how goofy and alien he is by having no clue how to order in a restaurant & being impressed by the gimmicky atmosphere. He's surprisngly forthcoming about his background here, another sign that he's not very good at this secret identity thing - he has no backstory. Their boss, Dr. Frostick, is there with her fiance, who immediately notes that this dude is not Curt Falconer. Alot of the dialogue in this scene seems Morrison in its cadence, to me.

We're interrupted by Death-doll teleporting in, having traced Aztek through Fixer's gadgets. Aztek runs off to costume up, abandoning Joy, and the fight carries to a graveyard where the thugs Aztek paid off earlier are waioting, no being on Death-doll's payroll. One of them makes some surprisingly star-struck comments about watching super-people fight. Aztek gets very easily outsmarted - turning on the light amplification in his helmet, and Death-doll flashes floodlights at him to blind him, and proceeds to kick his ass. She's about to kill him when one of the thugs hits her in the arm with a shovel, saving Aztek since he was a decent guy to them. Aztek catches her in a net, and when she teleports out, she accidentally materializes inside Bloodtypes tombstone, as the shovel smack broke her teleporter. Let me note again that Aztek is a completely ineffective hero - he doesn't get a single shot in, his only offensive maneuver (if you can call it that) is firing a net at his opponent, and some nobody bystander saves his ass. Aztek is not good at this, and he really isn't even the hero in his own comic. However, inspired by Aztek's heroic example, a simple henchman elevated himself to saving the day. The hero inspiring others through his deeds is one of Morrison favorite ideas - that heroes are more meaningful for what they represent, not what they do.

We end with Nurse Joy on the phone talking to her friend about what a weird, boring guy Curt is, and mentioning she only went out with Curt as a favor to their friend. We pull back the camera to see Aztek evesdropping and flying away - his face is shadowed so that we can't see his emotions, but the general mood is a sad one. Issue done.

This issue is exemplary of why I say this series deserves far more attention - it has many of Morrison's favorite tropes and ideas that he's used many times since, and utilizes one of Millar's greatest skills as a writer - pulling back the curtain on the characters - to great effect. A perfect issue.

Aetheric Mechanics

You know when you hear great things about something, and then when you read it, it can't possibly live up to the hype, so it's kinda dissapointing no matter what?

This is not one of those times.

Aetheric Mechanics is a Warren Ellis one-shot through Avatar Press (this pas summer, I believe), and it's damn near perfect. I'm not going to try and go too deep into the plot as any description will not do it justice. Suffice to say its 1906 in a sci-fi London with a Holmesian character working on a bizarre case. To say any more would ruin the completely perfect, brilliant twist at the end of the book. Warren Ellis is in fine form these days.

Artist Gianluca Pagliarani does a beautiful job here, capturing facial expressions and body language perfectly and putting a level of detail into this comic that is jaw-dropping. What's amazing is that, unlike another Ellis artist, Juan Jose Ryp, the focus is never lost, despite the detail: the eye feels comfortable looking at everything, even in black & white. Ryp's art (to me) feels very cluttered and hyper-rendered, even in full color. This is the way it should be done.

You should read this.

Wednesday 11/19/08

Uncanny X-Men 504: OK, I take everything back, because that first arc must have beenn either a fluke or more Brubaker than I assumed - this not only feels more like Fraction, but it's also a damn good issue that s more what I expected. And THIS is a Cyclops I can get behind - explores his repressions and neuroses well and makes them seem more believeable - i.e., still there - than they'd seemed. Great stuff, no complaints whatsoever about this issue. Finally working.

X-Men Legacy #218: This crossover is still not working and I can't wait for it to be over. It's derailed the plot of this comic, and it's still more Wolverine focused than Xavier. It's an improvement from last issue, but honestly, I just don't care about this story. Please stop it.

X-Factor 37: Oh, what a difference an artist makes. I can tell what's going on! Wow! Plus we're getting back to the ongoing subplot of Madrox's dupes being unpredictable, which was one of the more intriguing aspects of this series which seemed to have gotten dropped. Lookign like it's getting back to firing on all cyldiners, at last. Hopefully we're keeping deleandro as artist because he's a big improvement on Stroman. Sad, because I was excited at first.

Some more stuff I got from the 50 cent bin:

The Core #1: My first exposure to a Jonathan Hickman book, and I gotta say, I liked it. It had a fairly familiar seeming premise but it seemed to have an interesting enough take on it. It had me engaged, at least. His dialogue sometimes seems like I'm reading a list of facts rather than actual characters talking, but it's cool.

Northlanders 9-10: I gave it another shot because I wasn't impressed with the 5 issues I read, but I hear good things. Still doesn't work for me. Just very predictable; it went exactly where I figured after reading the first few pages. Maybe I'm missing the point? I don't know...same thoughts I had about the other issues I read - weak, stock characters, predictable plotting... just very flimsy & amateurish. This does not deserve the praise it's getting.

I also got The Last Defenders in the 50 cent bin - whole series, but I haven't read it yet. Also, from Amazon, I got The Nightly News, 100 Bullets Vol 12, and Aetheric Mechanics, so I have much interesting stuff to look forward to reading over the next week. Viva la comics!

Some reviews

The comic store at the downtown mall here was having a 50 cent sale on some stuff, surprisingly recent stuff in some cases so I was able to check out some of the stuff I passed up for price reasons. I bought issues 6-7 of Countdown to Mystery, a series I bought & enjoyed the first 3 issues of and then just forgot about it, but I'm waiting till I get issues 4-5. But Steve Gerber is pretty awesome.

Unknown Soldier #1: This is a very interesting way to update the concept, by placing him into the modern Ugandan conflicts. I don't know a whole lot about the original character, but I did read the Garth Ennis series which was pretty awesome, and this series seems to be following somewhat from Ennis' model of the character, at least - a killing machine who faces the horrors of mankind and meets them on their own terms. The twist here, and presumably what's going to give it the strength to carry an ongoing, is the the Unknown Soldier is in fact a pacifist doctor who is struggling to fight these urges - I suspect we're heading towards a brainwashing/suppressed memory plot of some kind. But you never know. This was a pretty good issue, although it had the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I may wait till issue 4 or 5 and then pick up a bunch of issues at once; that seems to be the best way to judge a Vertigo book. But not bad.

Top Ten: Season 2 #1-2: Jesus, that artwork is beautiful. This actually does capture a lot of the feel of the original series, not surprising since at least it looks like the real thing. Cannon does a good job of capturing the characters' voices and makes the smart decision of avoiding Moore's pet characters for the most part, expanding instead on some of the background characters who Moore didn't really use. I'm guessing new guy Slipstream Pheonix is going to end up having some sort of religious/christ symbolism or powers. Darwin fish shapes around his eyes, sent here from a higher reality to bring a message, worries about living up to his father... maybe I'm reading way too much into it. The only problem I have with this is that without Moore, it seems to be all about the core concept, rather than the cool ideas & crazy situations Moore was so good at. The book's got time to surprise me yet, though. Still excellent, and Gene Ha really is one of the Top 5 artists in the industry.

Aztek: The Ultimate Man #2

The second issue, to me, has Millar's fingerprints all over it. We open on some criminals robbing a department store, talking about what easy pickings the city is since Bloodtype's death. They're interrupted by Major Force, who's crushed their getaway car (with driver) into a perfect square. We cut to their bosses, some mobster types lamenting this new supwerpowered arrival elbowing in on their territory; Aztek is mentioned in passing as another new arrival, and we're reminding that the mobsters, using Synth, still have the Ppiper's daughter. In his own comic, Aztek is completely secondary to everyone else's plots. The guy doesn't even have his own arc yet. The over-the-top cartoon violence and exposityory dialogue of this scene make me think Millar, although that sounds meaner than I intend it to.

We cut to Azte (at work as Dr. Falconer) watching as news report about the missing girl, feeling guilty (since he's using her dead father's identity), while Nurse Joy tries flirting with him. Another Doctor, Moseley, interrupts to let him know their boss is looking for him and to basicaly call Nurse Joy a slut; Aztek dives into a storage closet to change into his superhero ID just as their boss, Julia Frostick, arrives and misses him.

Rather than cutting to a scene of Aztek on the hunt we cut to...Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner, still a newbie at this point) on the hunt? Aztek is still secondary in his own comic, it seems, and this remains a theme throughout the series: Morrison & Millar just can't help but play with the meta-irony of having their B-List hero be B-List, even in his own comic. Lantern's consulting with local police over major Force's arrival, and is upset to discover Force is, supposedly, dead. The subtle acknowledgment of continuity here, that Major Force murdered Lantern's girlfriend, is handled very well and reads like it could have been either Morrison or Millar's doing.

Next we find Aztek asking some construction workers for directions to where he believes that girl is being held. It's these little, "slice of superhero life" moments that Millar excels at that I wish we'd get more of these days. Lantern interrupts him by capturing him in a bubble. Aztek outsmarts him, gets his ring, and asks Lantern to promise to have a civil conversation with him. Once again, we get a pacifist response to genre conventions: rather than the "misunderstanding battle" we get 2 pages of non-violent competition, ended reasonably. The two end up chatting about how weird Vanity is (a plot thread that goes nowhere as the series gets cancelled at 10), and what might be a good superhero name for Aztek (who still hasn't been named). They find the building, and sneak in to find that the girl is in fact double-crossing the mobsters: Major Force is actually Synth, in disguise, and the dialogue in this scene SCREAMS Millar "You and your boyfriend just walked into the biggest man-trap since Donald Trump met Ivana", "Just my way of pulling a job and laying the blame on some other clown", etc. That self-congratulatory witty thing he does.

Our heroes bust in and make suprisingly short work of the villain in question: there's a brief play at a typical "mistaken identity" scene, as the shape-shifting Synth mimics Aztek to confuse Lanter, but Aztek makes short work of him with a blast of 4-D energy. Again, Morrison & Millar aren;t interested in making a typical superhero comic: they're playing with genre conventions, and with superhero team-up conventions, in this issue specifically. They've undermined the "misunderstanding battle", the "mistaken identity battle", and even undermined Aztek as the star of his own comic by giving Lanter the emotional connection the mission (and then undermining that by revealing Major Force as a fraud). They just keep pulling the carpet out from under the plot. Finally, Synth, whose IQ shifts from genuious to idiot every day, becomes an idiot as the clock shifts to 12:01 and shoots hs girlfriend dead, ending that arc. Again, the heroes didn't even really do anything: this pretty much would have happened with them.

Lantern and Aztek muse on the days events and how little they actually accomplished, with Lantern taking the everyman-voice-of-reason approach Morrison wrote him with in his JLA run.

Finally, at the very end, we get a superhero genre convention fulfilled: some reporters name our hero Aztek. But, typically to this comic, it's not some spontaneous moment of inspiration and creativity: some reporters and their editors are in a room, basically focus grouping & narrowing down a name till they come up with Aztek. The mobsters see his new name in the paper, and give the general impression of having it out for our hero, now. Nothing ever comes of this, oddly. The end.

So: two issues in, and the title character has done nothing other than interfere in other people's fights, express distaste for violence, and steal a dead guys identity. Not an auspicious debut, but definetly setting the tone for this series. It's no major shock this series didn't last: this was certainyl ahead of its time for 1996, and really, how long could this series have gone with a pacifist hero who is only a "hero" to occupy himself till the real mission comes along?

Aztek: The Ultimate Man #1

Aztek was a superhero comic created by Grant Morrison & Mark Millar, which lasted only 10 issues from 1996-1997. This was before the two were major comics superstars, although Morrison was well on his way at that point, with the beginnings of his acclaimed JLA run going at the same time. Aztek is a superhero raised in seclusion by the "Q-Society", named after the god Quetzalcoatl, and he has been trained since birth to battle the "shadow god" when he returns to earth. His armor is powered by "four-dimensional energy" and has a variety of powers/abilities, which we'll get into as they come along. His helmet contains the combined wisdom & experiences of previous Azteks, for him to draw upon.

This is all very Morrison - Latin American deities, secret societies, dark gods from previous universes... all of this is straight out of the Invisibles; volume 1, if you want to be precise. It's almost a superhero take on the concept, which makes it an interesting companion to that series. Millar's influence on the book's premise is all in how Aztek's story is told. We see him fumbling through basic mores of society, like not releasing he's supposed to stand in line at the bank; adjusting to flying among skyscrapers; difficulty fitting in while in his alter ego since he's been raised in, basically, another world. That part of the concept screams Millar to me, since while Morrison has been known to go into that side of heroism with Animal Man & Doom Patrol, at this stage of his career he was more interested in "superheroes as demigods", like in Flex Mentallo and JLA.

The book opens with, suprisingly, a very Millar scene: some local gangsters are berating Z-List villain "The Piper" for his ludicrous costume. They're blackmailing him into doing a "job", threatning the life of his daughter. Their muscle, another villain named Synth, is again a very Millar character: his IQ goes from imbecile to genious every day - one day he's brilliant, the next a moron. Everything about this scene, down to the cadence of the characters speach, is Millar.

We switch to Aztek road testing his powers in his new urban environment, the town of Vanity: adjusting to the sights & smells of urban life, practicing with his powers, and musing on how terrifying the prospect of living in this environment is. I'm guessing Morrison for this scene, again relying on the cadence of his speech as well as some of the metaphors: "I can still remember how difficult it once seemed to think the suit into a higher vibrational key. Now it's as easy as humming a favorite song". Morrison does love music metaphors.

We continue to see Aztek struggling with the basics of life. Living in his secluded world, he's unaware and unprepared for such basics as money, a social security number, and a job. It's worth noting that 7 pages into his first appearance, we've seen him doing nothing other than practicing and trying to figure out what the hell to do with himself. He's terrified, not of his mission, but of the basic prospect of having to carry out in what is to him a totally bizarre and alien environment.

These musings are interrupted by the arrival of The Piper and his cute little walking, talking pipes (which seem very Morrison to me), and he is in turn interrupted by the arrival of Vanity's resident superhero, Bloodtype. Not sure who to credit Bloodtype with - he speaks in typical macho, mid-90's hero tones, has the bloodthirsty "cool" anti-hero attitude we expect from the basic Punisher-parody that he is. He does have the typical Morrison one-eye motif, but I can't figure out what that may symbolize. The battle between Piper and Bloodtype is very Millar: it's brief, it's bloody, and it's unglamorous. It completely deflates any expectation of the hero/villain battle, with Piper reduced to a begging, bloody mess within panels and Bloodtype standing over him like a bully. This is a very Millar-esquedeflation of superheroes, and of superhero violence, and it works very well (years before The Authority).

Aztek intervenes, by politely but sternly asking Bloodtype to stop. Bloodtype continues to do nothing other than bully the smaller Aztek, and guns down Piper as he tries to escape. Aztek's internal monologue is, again, a subversion of expectation: while you'd expect perhaps him to narrate his shock at the actions of this so-called "hero", we get a slightly detached but extremely rational analysis of his tactis: reasoning that he needs to end the battle swiftly to reduce the harm to innocents, he plans his attack accordingly. He even hopes that, when Bloodtype sees that he has an impenetrable forcefield, he might "get the message and back off". This borderline pacifist attiotude is very Morrison, although I wouldn;t be shocked if this was Millar: he was much more subtle before he wrote Wanted.

Aztek tends to the dying Piper, who shares with him that his name is Curtis Falconer, a doctor meant to be starting work today at ST. Bartholomew's and that his daughter has been taken. We see that one of his pipes - who he says isn't his - suddnely explodes, causing massive injuries. Aztek survives, presumably because his powers include controlling his density, and a forcefield. Bloodtype dies of injuries at the hospital and we meet Nurse Joy, who we'll see more of. After saving a patients life at the hospital (while in civilian clothes), Aztek claims to be Curtis Falconer, the new doctor on staff. The means by which he comes across his new secret ID are a tad contrived - with his dying breath, he shares his name and occupation? - but I suppose they had to get there somehow. The book ends with Aztek meditating, blaming himself for Bloodtypes death, that he may have been showing off a bit much, before deciding to be a superhero himself. He sends this report to his leaders at the Q-Society, who don't really say anything of note in their two panel appearance. I can't tell who wrote these last two scenes.

So, we've got a superhero (who hasn't been named yet, other than the title) who is uncomfortable with violence; is terrified of the concept of western, urban life; and living under a dead man's name. We were briefly introduced to a possible syuperpowered supporting cast, but they were swiftly killed. I certainly can't think of anything else being published at the time that was anything like this, and it's not really very surprising this died a swift death: poor market, unknown character, no big-name creators.

I have no schedule in mind for this series, hopefully I'll get to issue 2 in a day or three.

Aztek: The Ultimate Man

I actually already had issues 1-6 and 10 of this series, but couldn't find the other three. I got the tpb from the library, of all places, and I'm considering doing an issue-by-issue look at it in an effort to rip off other, more successful blogs. Actually, I'm not awesome at literary analysis and stuff like that, so I'm not going to be doing anything too deep with it. I'm only going to focus on two things: what scenes do I think were written by Morrison and which by Millar, and what is the point of every scene? The first i want to address only because it amuses me, but the second point needs to be addresed because, of everything I've ever read, few comics feel like they have virtually no wasted pages or dialogue - and Aztek is one of the few. It's a masterpiece of getting nothing but important info to the reader and deserves to be recognized for that.

Wednesday 11/12/08

Young Liars 9: Well, I think the least expected thing to do would be to explain issue 7 so soon, right? It's funny how everyone figured it was Sadie's view of events, as a dream - but it was treally Danny's dream, and he thinks the same stuff we did. And since it's all his interpretation, who knows if he's right? Danny is still a a pathetic weasel, but I do feel bad for him now - I had gotten the impression that his "Mr. Johnson" had been sewed back on, not that he was now Johnson-less. He sure is taking it well, though. Lapham is throwing out another potential premise of the book - hunting down the "five spiders" that are hunting Sadie - but I have a feeling that'll get eliminated quickly, too.

Captain Britain and MI13 7: Something isn't working here. I still really like this comic, and everything about it is just fine, but this is the second issue in a row where I had to flip through it again before writing because I just couldn't remember anything about it. That's not a good sign. I still really love that Captain Midlands is the only one completely uncorruptable - he's a shitty hero, but goddamit, he's still a hero. I don't know, something about that is just very touching to me.

Captain America 43: I actually dropped this to switch to trades on this series, but since only two things came out, I figured what the hell. I wish I hadn't. This is actually a very dull issue, possibly the least substantial of the entire run thus far, and I didn't realize how little I had been missing this series (I hadn't, at all) since dropping it. Back to dropped, I'm afraid.

REVIEW REWIND: Gigantic 1: I still like this issue, but the first three pages frsutrate me. Not that I dislike the premise, because I actually like it very much. But imagine the entire first issue was presented straight, as is, with the last page (of aliens talking about "channel earth" being great this season) providing a twist ending to a supposedly straightforward giant monster story. Then the premise gets explained in issue 2. That would've been so much more powerful.

Two brief thoughts in defense of Fraction's X-Men

Thought 1: Going back to my "Fraclash" post a few weeks ago - a work of staggering intellect that your life would be richer for reading, to be sure - I said that I don't mind Land's art, that it wasn't great but not bad enough to damage the comic. I also complained about Cyclops' goofy, sex-addled frat boy characterization and that this too much of a departure for the character, and too fast. Development is fine, but it feels like his character jumped ahead to "developed" and skipped the "development". I stand by that thought. But, I need to amend something - Land's art may, in fact, be damaging the story and affecting my opinion on this. It's that big, stupid, dickhead grin he draws Cyke with in every fucking panel, and his permed hair. What is with that? Does Fraction's script actually call for Cyclops to look like a giant euro-trash douchebag in every panel, or is that Land's doing? Actually, now I'm convincing myself to dislike his art.

Thought 2: Something I forgot to mention, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere and was actually one of my favorite little tidbits of story. Issue 500 ended with the reveal that the High Evolutionary is up to something, and it involves mutant powers. Issue 501 reveals that the Beast, the X-Men's walking, talking poster boy for mutant evolution, seems to have spontaneously developed an opposable thumb. There's no way that isn't a huge red flag as to where that arc is eventually heading, and it was done with admirable subtlety. Well done.

Young Liars - too soon to call it one of My Favorite Monthlies?

I just re-read Young Liars 1-8, and found it much more straightforward. Actually, having re-read it, I'm more comfortable with my Grant Morrison comparison from last week. The structure of the series, at least so far, reminds me very much of The Invisibles: multiple perspectives, jumping around in time, an entire issue full of weird symbolism which appears to take place outside the "reality" of the series (or maybe not).

The basic plot so far, as far as I can tell: Danny Noonan is a wannabe rock star living in Texas, living a fairly pathetic life of big dreams and small talent. He sees Sadie Browning at her dad's store (where he works), and immediately develops a deeply unhealthy obsession with her, which grows stronger after spending an evening with her that Friday. He takes a job at her Dad's mansion in order to be closer to her, an early clue as to how messed up Danny really is. At her Dad's mansion, Danny gets an inkling of just how fucked up her family is, as he is forced to carry out his tasks dressed as a clown. He also witnesses various other fucked up things, which are only semi-reliable to us (the reader), since the comic is called Young Liars and Danny is clearly a fucked-up individual himself. His obsession with Sadie quickly becomes a hero complex as he seems to think it is his duty to "rescue" her from her life, although she doesn't remember their night at the concert (bc she was drunk), and has only "seen" him in clown makeup. He helps her escape, and she heads out to LA. Danny moves out after her, and takes a job at the same coffee shop as her, without telling her he already knows her, because he's really, really creepy.

While in LA, the two begin their codependent, and eventually abusive, relationship: Danny tries desperately to keep Sadie to himself as the singer in his "band", while Sadie is clearly a little annoyed by him. Her Dad has managed to track her, unfortunately, and sends the "Pinkertons" (his personal assassins/bodyguards/what-have-you) after her. While trying to keep Sadie safe, Danny kills one of them, and convinces her to move to NY with him, all without even telling Sadie they found her.

Once in NY, the pair grow even more distant, until the fateful day when Sadie goes off with a "record producer" - and we still don't know the specifics of this" - and ends up killing him. She promises to have sex with Danny if he helps her get out of this, which of course completely convinces him, since he's a creepy, Sadie-obsessed nutjob. Sadie eventually completely flips out on him, calling him on how sad & pathetic he really is, and Danny ends up threatening her with a pistol. We're meant to be believe that he shot her at this point, leading to the series opening premise - that she's insane and uninhibited from the bullet in her skull), but I'm not sure I buy it. We've already had one bait-and-switch in the flashbacks to this scene, and the last flashback ended in a cliffhanger (plus, again - it's called Young Liars).

Following the bullet in her brain, Sadie is unpredictable, unhinged, and completely horny for Danny, who claims to feel guilty for basically taking advantage of a brain-damaged girl but really, hides his bottomless creepiness under a camouflage of concern for her. Really, Danny is entirely motivated by self-interest and the fact that he is entirely dependant on Sadie's approval, to the point that he puts a gun in his mouth immediately upon fearing she may be dead.

There's more to it than all that - the Spiders from Mars, the Pinkertons, and what's really going on with those two plot threads, as well as how much of the above is really accurate. Along the way we see a few of Danny's other suicide attempts & general suicidal ideation, including the wonderfully self-centered and attention seeking attempt at self-immolation which fits so perfectly with his image of himself as some sort of selfless martyr to Sadie's cause. I actually believe that all of the Spider from Mars stuff is totally straightforward, or at least that there's much more to it than that.

It's the characters motivations that I find really fascinating in this series, particularly Danny (if this Danny-centric plot synopsis didn't make that obvious enough). All the characters actually have very clearly defined motivations and needs if you're paying close enough attention, but they never outright say them or point to them - a testamwent to Lapham's skill as a writer.

This is a very impressive piece of work so far, and I'm in for the long haul. I've only been on the Young Liars bandwagon for a week, so is it too soon to call this one of My Favorite Monthlies? I have a feeling it will be.

Wednesday 11/5/08

Gigantic #1: Man, Rick Remender really hates people, doesn't he? The first few pages are pretty unsubtle, but they're fun, in their own Hitchiker's guide ripoff way. A little bit insubstantial for a debut issue, and upon reading it I realized I actually have read virtually this whole thing in various previews online, but overall it's a good comic with an ending that makes me want the next issue. Awesome design work from Eric Nguyen, too, with aliens that really look alien. More cynical fun from Remender. Is this ongoing or a mini?

Invincible Iron Man #7: Fraction writes a great Ben Urich, with the first 6 pages or so stealing the show, here. His Spiderman is actualy pretty annoying, which I kind of like because a) I never liked the character and b) motormouths who never know when to stop are fucking annoying. Plot wise, I can't help but feel likwe this issue was pretty hollow. Iron Man takes down a bunch of Z-Listers in some kind of "What The?!" version of "Armor Wras"...sorry, no.

Young Liars: I bought 1-6 on eBay, and just bought 7-8 today. I was intrigued by the first six issues, and I'm completely thrown by the last two... I thought #7 was maybe some kind of fever dream Sadie was having in her coma, till #8 seemed to indicate some of that was real... since the events in issue 8 aren't being directly commented on or narrated by anybody, does that mean theyre the "true" version, and not just one of the characters' takes on them? Most other issues had a clear narrator, this onwe didn't. This comic reminds me of the days you needed a team of experts, a guide to the kabbalah, some LSD and a Jungian psychotherapist to decode Grant Morrison's work. Fun. I remember when this dude was drawing Harbinger for Valiant... ah, memories.

Black Summer vs No Hero

I just recently read and re-read black summer (purchased off ebay for ten bucks), and Ellis & Ryp's follow up, No Hero is currently on issue 2. It's very tempting to draw a comparison between the two; same creative team, giving them a similar look & mood, similar commentaries on the nature of heroism, similar "look behind the curtain" of superheroes. But I'm thinking that by the end of No Hero, the two book swill stand very seperate, and No Hero looks to me like the stronger, more interesting work.

The most obvious flaw of Black Summer is, as Chad Nevett has already pointed out, that you can't call your characters "twice as smart as everyone else", and then have them do the same stupid things as everyone else. That's the pitfall of writing a character who's smarter than the writer.

But the thing that kept nagging in my mind while I was reading this was that Ellis was clearly trying to go back to his Authority model of the fascist superhero enacting real, palpable change on the world. It's a good idea, and he's obviously the writer to tackle it since he sort of brought it to the table in the first place. The problem is that The Authority has been deconstructed, reconstructed, and deconstructed again so many times in the past decade, that we've seen every possible variation on this. Even the central premise, of superheroes overthrowing a corrupt government, was done in a post-Ellis Authority story, Coup De'tat. There's almost nothing left in the concept, sadly. The government co-opting the ideas of the superheroes to create their own fascist black ops team has also been done (I'm tempted to draw a comparison to Tom Peyer's authroity story here, but that was a bit too overtly comedic to work as a comparison here); Ellis gets some mileage out of the concept but ultimately, it just ends up a big bloodbath and doesn;t do anything really new.

No Hero, on the other hand, seems more like a look at what kind of person chooses to do this to themself, to make themself more than human. The kind of person who possesses the ego to think they may not be better than humanity now, but they damn well should be. True, this has been done before also - but at least it doesn't feel like a story I've just read 10 straight years of, over and over again. Ellis even seems to be managing to avoid his body modification fetish, which would be an easy trap for him to fall into here.

I may be wrong about where No Hero is heading, and at 8 issues (including the zero issue), the concept might get stretched thin, but I don't think it's necessarily going to be a direct counterpoint to Black Summer, like a lot of people thought.

Also, am I the only one who finds Ryps' artwork distractingly detailed? There's actually too much attention to detail, I don't know what to look at in every panel. Part of it might be his inks, every line has the same weight to it so it all starts to blend together. Maybe he'd benefit from not inking his own stuff?