Inside Matt's Head

Random reviews

2009-11-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Northlanders 21: I've bashed the crap out of this comic, but I also have claimed repeatedly that I really do want to like it, so to be fair I gave the new issue a shot.

It was, in fact, very good.

I know, I'm surprised too. I liked it. It didn't blow my mind or anything, but it was a nice, solid issue, with a good mix of science, religion, and cultural paranoia. Good enough that it makes me want to read the next issue, at least. Well done.

Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine: Too. Many. Colons. Anyway, yeah, the Fantomex/Marvel Boy banter was really good, especially the bit where they explain to one another why they're atheists. Marvel Boy's explanation and Fantomex's response in particular were great, with a scientificaly advanced society having factualy proven the non-existence of god. I'm a cynical agnostic, I dig it. The only thing I really didn't like was the idea that Wolverine is, apparently, a religious guy, which I don't see at all. I've always sort of assumed he was either atheist or agnostic. Although, I suppose it would be hard for anyone in the MU to be an atheist, given that they have hard, factual evidence (Thor, Ares, Hercules, Eternity, The Living Tribunal, etc) of the existence of SOME sort of higher/supreme being/beings. But then, that doesn't jibe with Marvel Boy's characterization this issue. I dunno. A collection of cool scenes and cool moments that sort of doesn't work when I think about it too much. The backup story annoys me for similar reasons, and WOW has Aaron improved as a writer since that was first published.

Wolverine: Weapon X 6: I don't normally buy this, but the comic store was having a sale and Jason Aaron taking a stab at psychological horror should sound pretty awesome to anyone who's read The Other Side. This was good - sets up the mood really well, and I though Yanick Paquette actually did a good job establishing the atmosphere through art, which isn't something I'd previously thought of as a strength of his. A nice, creepy mood to start the story. I probably won't buy the rest at $3.99 an issue, but I'll definetly get the trade or eBay it.

Double the letdown

2009-10-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

Two Marvel series recently ended big, year long epics with a double sized issues. And both were dissapointments, but for totally opposite reasons.

Invincible Iron Man has been rolling through the huge, year long "World's Most Wanted", and for a while now I (and a few other net critics) have been noticing that every issue has been a bit of the same exact thing, over and over again. Still, despite my general apathy towards a lot of Fraction's current Marvel output (Uncanny X-Men, I'm looking at you), this run started well enough, and he seemed to care about the character enough, that I maintained some hope. A lot was resting on this finale delivering, though. And it didn't.

Think back to what was promised at the start: Stark was on the run, he was going to delete his brain, he lost everything, and Norman Osborn was going to go too far. Fair enough start, good tension to begin a big, epic story. The trouble, for me, is that it ended EXACTLY where the first issue told us it would. No suprises, no twists of fate, no nothing. You could, literally, read the first two issues of this story and get the whole point. This story has just been too damn simple & sraightforward, and the ending is just "and then it ended". Totally vanilla.

I know Fraction claims the idea was to show Tony facing all his mistakes, but honestly, I didn't really see that happening. The only "mistake" he faced was seeing a couple of kids who called him the Harbinger of Death, basically, which is something that's been pointed out a million times recently. And he responded to them in cool, badass fashion, rather than with any remorse, introspection... you know, all that messy "character" stuff that Fraction seems to think is totally optional these days. It's not as if he can't do it - Casanova is all about the characters - so I have no idea what's going on with him.

Fraction has become the Metallica of comic books - his old stuff is brilliant, but as soon as he hit the mainstream he started producing bland, boring crap. Here's hoping he'll bust out his Death Magnetic before it's too little, too late for his reputation. Because the man is capable of far better.

X-Factor #50 is the other enormous letdown after a big 12-month story, but as I said, for the opposite reason. Whereas Iron Man was too simple and obvious, X-Factor was just a jumbled mess, unfortunately. The story started well, and obviously ambitious - David juggled multiple narrative threads, scattered his team across time, and ran concurrent plots that didn't obviously relate to one another for a good few months but, in retrospect, matched perfectly well. It wasn't remotely obvious where it was heading, but for issues 38 - 46 or so, the progression of the story was very organic and upon re-reading, things line up well.

It's the last few months, and this issue in particular, that are just a total mess. More and more of the story was being explained on the recap page (never a good sign). Characters that were previously supposed to be important simply dissapeared from the book. Minor mid-90's villains are trotted out without explanation. A character who's attempted murder was a major point that kicked off the story hasn't been seen in something like 8 months, and her importance isn't remotely obvious or explained anywhere in the story. There's a character who seems to probably her descendant, or something, in this final issue, but she plays a tiny role and is such a minor, easily dealt with threat to the villains that one wonders why it was so important to begin a convoluted, time-traveling plan to murder her ancestors to avoid her birth.

The bad guys entire evil plot, which bears no resemblance to the printed page, as literally explained in extensive recap form by Madrox, and it is completely, utterly ridiculous. Almost insultingly so. I love PAD's writing in general, and this has been the most consistently high quality x-book for years now, but I sure as hell wouldn't use the last six months to prove that point.

PAD, like Fraction, is capable of far better - and at least, in his case, this was more a matter of massively failed ambition than just sheer laziness. Which is why I'll stick with X-Factor despite this, and why I'm dropping Iron Man for the same reasons I didn't buy Re-Load. PAD's proven himself repeatedly for 20 years; he's allowed a misstep. Fraction, sadly, has more poor work behind him at this point than good. Which is a shame for someone I once thought would be the future of comics. Please prove me wrong.

My Zombie Senses Are Tingling!

2009-09-05T09:11:00.001-07:00

Some random semi-reviews of recent comics...

Marvel Zombies Return! #1: The provider of the above quote, and if that doesn't tell you what this comic's about, nothing will. One of the rare comics that actually made me laugh out loud while reading it - it's not exactly high-brow stuff, but the type of humor here is sort of a more groutesque version of the better Simpson's Halloween specials, which makes this extremely highly recommended. Van Lente's mock old-school captions and narrations alone are worth reading for. Awesome. Wish this came out around Halloween.

Fantastic Four #570: Not sure Eaglesham and Hickman are the right team - either one, individually would be a good fit for this book, but together, I'm not sold. We'll see. A lot has been made of Reed's buff depiciton in this book, but I'm more distracted by his rugged manly stuble - I think they're trying to play up the wild adventurer aspect of the character by giving a sort of pulp-hero, Indiana Jones look. Again, we'll see, and I think I generally have some faith in Hickman.

I have a random complaint, though - why, whenever people bring together all the Infinity Gems, do they put them on Thanos' glove? Do they all track down Thanos and steal his glove? Why not an Infinity Necklace? Or just put the damn things in your pocket? And why Thanos' glove? Doesn't it sort of have negative connotations by now? This just bothers me. I know it's a general shorthand fopr the fans so we know what we're dealing with without question, but I'm a dork and I want answers.

Strange Tales #1: I'm not really the audience for this, I think. I thought I would enjoy it, but... no. I'm not gonna bash it or anything, because I realize that I'm just not getting it. I don't really get indy comics at all, methinks. The M.O.D.O.K. story and the Dr. Strange stories are really good and funny, but the rest... like I said, I don't get it. The Paul Pope Inhumans thing was amusing, but I have to be the only person alive who doesn't really care for Pope's art. I liked it in that X-Statix fill-in issue he did, but I always think it looks self-consciously sloppy, like he's daring you to hate it. And then I think of pretentious scenesters who say they like a band that sucks or you've never heard of, just so they can sound cool & different, and I get annoyed. I have a lot of issues. None of that really constituted a point, did it? And can someone explain to me the point/appeal of that James Kochalka thing? That was the only want that actually actively annoyed me.

Iron Man #17: I'm not sure I buy Sark's mental degradation, if only because it's so uneven - he can operate the Iron Man armor, but can't spell the word "felt"? I guess it has something to do with him deleting only sections of his brain. The ending will make or break this story - if it has a strong ending, this will have been worthwhile and it may become a classic someday. Weak ending, I think a lot of people (myself included) are gonna be pretty irritated. Could really still go either way.

Young Liars #18: I didn't really understand the last few issues at all, but I've been too preoccupied with other stuff - work, going back to school, video games - to re-read them or think about them. Luckily, "getting" this comic hasn't been a part of my enjoyment of it whatsoever - just the craziness and the incredible amount of character consistency and nuances Lapham manages to build into it, hidden under the layers of "randomness". I'll miss this book, I will.

Greek Street #3: Still sticking with it out of faith in Milligan, but still also not really being drawn into it very much. I'll stay through this storyline and then we'll see. I really am not crazy about this artwork - the book has a very diverse cast of characters and the art really doesn't do nearly enough to differentiate them, which makes it harder to follow the story and thus care. When I'm wondering "who the hell is that guy?" every other page, it annoys me. I actually sort of like the basic look of the art - it has a little bit of a Walt Simonson influence going, a hard thing to pull off without actually being Walt Simonson. But it needs work.

Incognito #6: Weirdly, I read this the other night and have virtually no memory of it. It can't be that it was boring, right? I wouldn't think so. I must have been tired.

Scalped #31: Another perfect issue, pretty much. The little glimmer of hope Aaron gives Dash here is even better knowing it'll probably end horrifically. Aaron and Guerra build logically on Red Crow's moment of pride & frustration last issue, with a genuine sense of things building to very ugly head. Best comic on the stands, month in and month out. Guaranteed.

Sweet Tooth #1: OK, I was pretty pleasant for once. I saved all my bile for this. This book is everything I hate about indy comics and their fans. Yes, I know it's not really an indy comic, being published by Vertigo, but work with me. A big stack of pretentious cliches, even by the authors own description in his essay: "it's about fathers and sons, it's about redemption, it's about family, it's about the friendships that can form in even the darkest of places...". All a bunch of crap I have read a hundred times, with no indication it will be any different here. There's a decent moment where the kid doesn't even know enough to understand that his dad is dead and rotting, but it's the sort of quiet horror that just seems predictable in a book like this. But I can only imagine all the little arthouse fans talking about quiet power of Lemire's storytelling, or the passionate linework of his art, or whatever other nonsensical non-statements they can string together from their vocabularies. I barely slept last night and I'm cranky. Lemire's art is adequate. There, I said something not mean. I want my dollar back.

Asterios Polyp

2009-08-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

I just received this in the mail from Amazon as a birthday present a few days ago, and read it over the course of two days. While I need to re-read it before I can really say anything about it, I can verify that it's really good and deserving of the praise being heaped upon it. My favorite thing about, really, is not so much the story - which is good - but the fact that it embraces the fact that it's a comic book. The story, as told, wouldn't work in any other medium, and really uses the format and language of comics more than just about anything I've ever seen. As an example of what exactly sets comics apart from any other storytelling medium, it's pretty much a textbook. It's really phenomenal in that regard.

My other favorite thing: the logo. Seriously. It's perfect: a set of seemingly random shapes and colors, placed on top of one another in ways that would appear sloppy and random, except that together, they perfectly spell out the title. If you read the book, it's perfect for the story. It's a really, really brilliant design that blows me away the more I look at it.

One other minor note (minor spoiler alert): I see a lot of reviewers mentioning Asterios watching a video of he and his wife having sex at the beginning. He's actually not: he's watching a video of her enjoying a dinner he made for her, which is more appropriate and somehow even sadder - he doesn't miss sex as much as the little moments that made up their life.

Marvel's October 2009 Solicitations

2009-08-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

I turned 30 two days ago, so I am officially a crotchety old man. As always, only comments on stuff I actually have an opinion, so not a comprehensive look...

The Marvels Project #3: A book I'd really like to get, but I don't think I'll be able to afford...if it's double-sized, I'll probably check it out, but I'm going to have to stick to my $3.99 rule (as in, not paying it for 22 pages). It looks interesting....even if it didn't, I'd assume it was, since Bru generally knows what he's doing.

Armor Wars: Ellis' Marvel stuff over the last few years has been really awesome (actually, his stuff in general over the last few years has really hit new levels), so I'd like to check this out, but it looks like another "wait for cheap prices on eBay", unfortunately. The old Armor Wars story came out right around when I started seriously collecting comics (Hulk and Iron Man being the first series I collected), so this is extra frustrating for me. Eh, I'll probably cave and buy it (I buy No Hero, and that's $3.99, so I'm full of it anyway).

Spider-Man: 1602: Apparently, the 1602 and House of M's sell well in book stores... may as well go straight to trade with it, in that case, but whatever. Parker can probably squeeze a story out of this, he's good.

Dark Reign: The List: More of me being a big phoney, as I may well cave and get some of these, especially Secret Warriors since I buy it anyway. I've grown to love Romita Jr's art, and I've been a fan of Remender since I discovered Fear Agent, so I may get Punisher as well - especially since I got all the stuff I missed since the first issue of his relaunch, and it's been great stuff. Probably just those two, though.

Doctor Voodoo: Speaking of Remender, this should be good. He does better on the slightly off-kilter projects, and voodoo witch man/surgeon/superhero seems like it'd be up his alley. This should be a good series; good to see Remender's stock rising - hopefully this will be another Fear Agent/Gigantic in quality. Also, when you saw "Artist to be revelaed at SDCC", didn't you assume it'd be someone you'd, like, heard of? I'm sure Jefte Palo is good and all, and his preview art looks nice, but still. Am I just clueless?

Fantastic Four: Jonathan Hickman writing Reed Richards Solving Everything. Seems like a match made in heaven, though Eaglesham, while a great artist, doesn't seem like the right fit for that concept. Then again, I haven't seen it yet.

Incredible Hercules: If you're not reading this, you're stupid and I don't like you.

Invincible Iron Man #19: Holy Crap, this story is finally ending? I think I was still in pre-school when it started. Why do I save all my most snarky comments for Fraction, anyway? What the hell did he ever do to me? For the record, I LOVE a lot of the guy's output, and I tend to get frustrated when I dislike his comics BECAUSE I love most of his stuff so damn much. Also, I'm a jackass. Fraction, if you ever read this, know that your comics will always hold a place in my heart because you named a character after a Black Sabbath song in the same comic that you made a Rocky 4 reference. How's that for a tangent?

Mighty Avengers #20: Slott's Mighty Avengers has gotten better by the issue. I wasn't crazy for the first part, but he combines retro fun with a modern intelligence & story logic that I find very appealing.

Secret Warriors: Another really great series, and I notice Bendis' name is off it entirely, in the solicits. Interesting.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #2: I'm not buying this, because I don;'t care about Moon Knight or the writer, but I wanted to remind you that Jerome Opena is awesome and will be the next big art star at Marvel, and should damn well be a "Young Gun" or whatever in 2010. I look forward to seeing him on an Avengers or X-Men book.

Strange Tales: This will probably be worth it entirely for Peter Bagge's Hulk, if nothing else... and that Red Hulk variant cover is brilliant.

X-Men: Legacy #228: I stopped reading this a few months back, right after the book turned crappy immediately after I wrote a blog praising it. Dammit. Daniel Acuna's coming on board as artist, and while I'm still not a fan, I recently read his Green Lantern story from a couple years back and have to admit that his art works really well on the right story - a fun, light hearted story like that played to his strengths. This won't actually be the right story, given the tone of the comic, but I'm tryingto be moere positive.

X-Babies: If this were by Fred Van Lente and Skottie Young, I'd say "brilliant". It isn't, though. I love how gigantic Young draws Baby Cyclops' visor on that cover.

Why the hell are they repinting THAT in HC? Marvel's bizarre hardcover release of the month is The Thing: Project Pegasus, an obscure run of stories from (I think) the late 70's, notable for introducing the world to Quasar. I'm sure this story has its fans, though, and it's not nearly as insane a release as "Mephisto Vs." from last month. I would say it shouldn't be a hardcover, but then, noone under 40 is buying this anyway, and we old dorks do like our hardcovers.

DC's October Solicitations

2009-08-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? Jet skiing around Lake Tahoe; reading comics and not writing about them; playing Smackdown vs Raw 2009 and Super Mario Brothers 3 obsessively; wondering why I appear to be the only person who still cares about things like logic and well told stories that don't rely on "kewl!" factor, hence the all-new, all-arrogant headline up there. By the way, I did not get laid off and still have a job, in case you are the only person who remembers me mentioning that and actually care.

On to the solicits...

Blackest Night #4: I probably would be buying this if I could afford it. That is kind of an ugly cover, BTW. Reis is a great artist and I obviously get what they're going for with the coloring, but it kind of ruins it. I really want to know what's up with Bruce Wayne's skull, since we know that isn;t Bruce Wayne.

Blackest Night: Superman #1: Uncomfortable Fact - James Robinson is not a great writer. His dialogue is often very awkward an forced, and he relies far too often and purple, bloated narration that Stan Lee would cringe at. I thank him, though, for Cry For Justice #1, as it finally allowed other people to see what I see when I read his comics. People, the collective reaction to that comic was pretty much my reaction to The Golden Age. Anyway, yeah, not buying this either.

Green Lantern #47: I'm glad Mahnke managed to finally get a regular, high-profile gig, because he's really an awesome artist and has been forever. He deserves the profile.

Batman & Robin #5: I don't really have an opinion on Philip Tan's art, since I'm unfamiliar with it. Common wisdom on it seems to be negative, so me being a disagreeable ass I'll probably go out of my way to find a reason to like it. I wasn't insanely happy for Morrison's Batman work, although read as a whole it stands up well, but I loved the first two issues of this series. But the, they had the Quitely Advantage, so we'll see. Writing Grayson as Batman seems to have reinvigorated Morrison's take, though. The whole dynamic is so different now that it really opens up the way the stories can be told.

Detective Comics #858: Speaking of crazy good Art, William's work on this book has been friggin' CRAZY ridiculous awesome. Seriously, he's re-writing the book on comic book art.

Strange Adventures #8: I've recently been re-discovering Starlin's work, and though his recent DC stuff hasn't been nearly as good as his Warlock work in the 70's (which was good crazy fun), I kind of have liked it. A lot of it has been goofy, but it's been goofy in an old-school way I can deal with. Plus, I love that his villain's goal is to basically kill & replace God, and he actually has the cajones to write heroes defending this with good, rational logic ("the one we've got doesn't seem to be doing a great job").

Planetary #27: Holy crap, really? This thing has been subject to Youngblood-like delays. I'm sure it will be good. I have to re-read the series now.

Greek Street #4: I was sadly underwhelmed by the first issue, as I'm a big fan of Milligan and really wanted this to be his next great long work, but it was just the first issue. I'll probably stick with this for a little while. I wasn't crazy about the art, either, which made it difficult to tell apart a lot of the younger characters.

Hellblazer #260: And yet, I don't read this, even though Milligan's writing it. I'm weird.

Northlanders #21: You know, I really don't look for reasons to bash things, I don't. I'd prefer to like stuff and be happy. And I remember reading about this series before its release, thinking it sounded like a cool concept and I wanted to like it. So when I say this is a terrible, boring comic, and that it receives completely undeserved praise simply on the basis of being different (and the internet being the equivalent of that guy who hates popular shit but likes to tell you about all the obscure shit you're never heard of because he likes feeling smarter than you), it really does pain me. But it's another Uncomfortable Fact: this is a very bad comic, filled with cliches, one-dimensional characters and predictable as hell. And I keep trying to give it another chance to impress me, because I really want it to be good. That's a nice cover, though.

Scalped #33: This, however, is a really great comic. Possibly the best thing beng published, by anyone. You want to talk about complex characterizations, situations that don't go the way you're expecting, really innovative? This is the book to read.

Shade, the Changing Man volumes 1 &2: Hey, this is finally coming back into print! Come see Bachalo's art back when he was terrible! Only for like 6 issues, though. He improved quick. And even when he was bad, you could see he was onto something really different - a lot of the missteps in those early issues are him sort of experimenting with the tricks he would later perfect. And who can bash that? This is a really good series, and though for my money it wouldn't really hit its stride till about a year in, these are still good stories. Please buy these so they'll publish the rest. Milligan doesn't get enough credit for developing the Vertigo "style" - a lot of the credit (rightfully) goes to Gaiman and Morrison for Sandman and Doom Patrol/Animal Man, but you can really see the Vertigo seeds being planted in the first 2 years of this book. Hopefully, if they actually get the whole thing in print, he'll get some recognition.

The Unwritten #6: I actually stopped buying this after issue 2, but with the plan of eventually getting back issues. Another one I want to like thanks to an intriguing premise and a trusted writer, but the story seems like one that will do more for me in big chunks.

Wednesday Comics? So what?

2009-07-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

Am I the only person in Comicdom who doesn't care about this series? And I don't mean that in my usual overly-negative "bitching about stuff like a typical know t all blogger jerk" way. I mean, I have virtually no interest in it, one way or the other. The only story I am particularly interested in reading is the Gaiman/Allred story, because, you know, it's Gaiman and Allred. They'd pretty much have to actively TRY to suck for it not to be good.

I freely admit that this is partially because I am a shallow, mainstream superhero comic loving nerd with only a superficial understanding of the works of people like Kyle Baker and Paul Pope. I'm aware of their work but have never really followed it at all. So I don't care, you know? I appreciate what they're trying to do as an experiment in form and all that, I do. I just don't really care about it.

I do hope it succeeds, if ony to open the doors for some other experiments, and because I have nothing really against it. But am I really the only person not salivating for it? Can I possibly be the only comic fan with a "meh" attitude towards the whole thing? Why am I so goddamn weird?

I really need to do a positive post sometime.

Reborn: a public Retraction

2009-07-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

So, this was actually good. And yeah, I was totally talking out of my ass and wrong when I said this would turn out to be a swerve a few months ago. Hey, sometimes I'm an idiot. I won't even point out how much it rips off Lost (to be fair, Vonnegut beat both by about 40 years, but that stuff about "The Constant" is pretty damning).

Random Stuff

2009-07-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

So first I was busy with work and related stress, then I was just completely apathetic to the stuff coming out from both the majors, and more recently I've been pre-ooccupied playing with my Wii. Which sort of sounds dirty. Here's some random comic-related stuff that's been infesting my brain lately:

- The most recent Captain Britain was not very good. I won't miss this comic very much, to be honest, which sucks because it started so well. In regards to this issue, "It was all just a dream!" is, in fact, the very definition of a cop-out, and condescending reviews telling you otherwise should be ignored.

- Gigantic is hilarious. Rick Remender is just so damn speaking my language with that book, man. It has VERY thinly-veiled attacks on pompous, arrogant pricks who act like they're smarter than everyone else to the point of self-delusion. If you've ever been pissed off at self-absorbed, myopic scenesters, this is the book for you.

- Iron Man has been pumping out the same issue for about 8 months now, and it's getting annoying. This story is WAY too drawn out. Frankly, between this and X-Men, I kinda wish Fraction had a few more years on smaller books like The Order to hone his craft (that said, I understand needing to, you know, eat and feed your child). I still believe he's a brilliant writer deep inside, but he really seems lost right now. Can't wait for Casanova volume 3.

- Is Land really all that's wrong with Fraction's X-Men? No. The land issues have been far & away worse because of the art, and I'm sure his stories would have been merely mediocre with a better artist, rather than awful (and Sisterhood was really awful). The Dodson stories have been better, but Fraction's characterization in particular has been terrible, and that's what has really ruined his stories for me. Everyone just comes right out and explains their feelings and motivations, rather than allowing things to be subtly illuminated. That's lazy writing. Yes, this is me re-iterating and venting my opinions from the recent Callahan thread, but it's my blog, baby.

- Are things going to improve with the Dark Avengers crossover? I believe so, actually, but at 4 bucks an issue, it frankly isn't worth the risk, based on the low qualiy of his work thus far. Goodbye, Uncanny; Hello, Incredible Herc!

Uncanny X-Men #510

2009-05-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

Fraction's run on Uncanny has, thus far, been a very mixed bag. I was a bit quick off the mark to condem this run after the first few issues, which were somewhat lackluster. Those issues suffered badly from the unsubtle, overly airbrushed artwork of Greg Land. Fraction's scripts have had a fair amount of overt sexuality (no more so than this issue, though), and Land's cheesecake figures pushed it over the edge into parody. There were some solid ideas, though they were hard to see through the art. A lot of Fraction's first arc, though, was simply classic X-Men ideas through a modern filter, similar to Morrison's run. The internet critics praised their new wonderboy Fraction, (see also: Crisis, Final) although while Fraction started solidly, he certainly didn't reinvent the wheel.

The Dodson issues were vastly superior - characters that had actual facial expressions, that could emote, had body language - and their brand of slightly cartoony, yet realistically expressive art managed to suit the story just right. It hit just the right tone for Fraction's script, which even managed to start bringing in some new ideas - expanding the cast to include a "think tank" of scientists, both classical and fringe, is one of those "why the hell didn't anyone think of that yet?" ideas that really earned Fraction those internet props. Combined with an amost savant-like ability to balance all the 8 million subplots in the various X-books and wider Marvel U and make them all seem like an actual cohesive whole, the second arc had Fraction firing on all cylinders and me eating my words after criticising that first arc.

The second Land arc, "Sisterhood", managed to get off to a stronger start than the first. Yeah, he still drew all the women looking the same, but I was intrigued to see what was going on with Maddie Pryor, and admired the challenge Fraction undertook (and met) in explaining Psylocke's continuity in less than a page. He had some solid ideas, continued his "think tank", and completely won me over by having Northstar outright refuse to be a "mutant queer mascot. Even Land seemed to add a third or fourth facial expression, drew backgrounds in most panels, and managed to generally keep things moving inoffensively along. For two issues.

This issue, though... god, what a disaster. This is a battle between the Sisterhood, comprised entirely of "hot" women, and the X-Men. The only X-Men used in this issue, aside from Wolverine, are: X-23, Armor (who is supposed to look terrified on the first page, but appears to be giving the reader her finest "come hither" look), Emma Frost, Pixie, and the Stepford Cuckoos. Cyclops, that healer guy, and Nightcrawler all make cameos but do nothing.

So: an entire issue of Greg Land, who can only draw one woman with two facial expressions - maniacally happy and maniacally slutty - drawing a big crowd of women fighting, under flickering lights, while subscribing to the Rob Liefeld school of drawing backgrounds (that means he didn't really draw any). If you're thinking that the action was difficult to follow, you're right. In fact, you could realistically only read the dialogue to about 2/3 of the issue while ignoring the pictures and get about as much out of it as you would by actually looking at it. I know, because that's what I did on the first read - I couldn't take the art and gave up. I found things not much clearer on my second look though, when I did look at the art.

It's tempting to lay the blame for this issue's falures solely on Land - and indeed, the blame does fall largely to him, and it would certainly be improved by a better artist. But Fractions script appears to be attaining a similar level of subtlety - the scene in which the Stepford Cuckoos basically offer Elixir a 4-way (which is pretty creepy, since they're triplets and that's kinda incesty) being a not-so-stellar example of Fractions' writing. A scene like this wouldn't be out of place in Casanova, where the themes are indulgence, gluttony, and over-exuberance (perhaps an eventual comparison of his Uncanny and Casanova runs might be interesting, once we have more of both). But aside from it being a better fit for Cass' themes, Cass also benefits from two of the best artists in the industry drawing it. Uncanny X-Men has Greg Land. There's a disparity in quality here.

It's not Fraction's best work ever, but with a decent artist this could still have been a perfectly fine middle chapter of the longer story. Hell, I remember thinking the "FSU" issue of Casanova was dissapointing until I re-read the whole story and thought it was deadbrilliant, so this may similarly benefit from eventual context. But the art is what drags this book from "mediocre" to "awful", which is a damn shame.

Captain Britain cancelled... poor Leonard

2009-05-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

I am neither upset nor surprised. I was considering dropping this anyway, so this saves me the struggle of the decision. I like the book on principle and I like a lot of things about it, but for the most part it's been falling very flat for me since the end of the first arc. It's a book I wanted to support to see something different and intelligent on the stands, but I'm not enormously sorry to see it go. I'm sure Marvel will find more work for Cornell - Joe Q seems to like him well enough, and he is a hell of a writer.

My major problem with this book was largely the magical focus (not actually a criticism of the book at all, so calm down, internet snobs) - I never really care about magical stuff. Even Hellblazer, where the focus really isn't on the magic so much, falls flat for me. I'm a science nerd - I like rules, workable theories & possible explanations. Magic is too vague for me. Still, this book made it work better than anything else I've read and kept me reading for a over a year, which says a lot for it. Any writer that can actually make me enjoy friggin' BLADE as a character is doing a whole lot right.

If I had to level any criticism at the book, I'd say it tried too hard to make itself different. Characters who walked around being polite too each other; writing in a style that was too similar to the style that confused the hell out of Morrison's readers recently in FC; new & obscure characters... I originally predicted this book as getting cancelled by 12, and I'm glad it went longer than that, but I'm not surprised.

People don't like different, they don't like original, and they don't like challenging. Look at FC as a comparison - people hated it just because it seemed confusing. Not even that it was, but that it seemed like it may have been, so they just didn't try. Readers weren't going to give this a chance, past that first Secret Invasion tie in arc. Don't damn Marvel for "not supporting it" enough, or for underpromoting it, or whatever else. People are shallow, predictable, and lazy. This book never stood a chance. Don't blame Marvel.

I'm not worried about Cornell, like I said - he'll get more work. I feel bad for Leonard Kirk. He is, to my mind, the most underrated artist in comics. Capable of drawing damn near anything, excellent body language and facial expressions, perfect storytelling, able to shift moods and setting... yet all his assignments are either on underpromoted books with niche appeal, or get cancelled quickly. If Marvel really want to see something good spin out of this, they'll get Mr. Kirk placed on a higher profile book posthaste.

P.S.: Take out "Captain Britain", replace it with "Young Liars", edit a few sentences, etc.... same thing.

After Watchmen - THAT'S Next? Really?

2009-04-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

DC has a "After Watchmen - What's next?" program aimed at potential new readers drawn to comics by their viewing of Watchmen. Now, whether that monstrosity of a movie will actually make anyone want to read a comic (which I doubt) I save for later. My issue is with some of the choices for their "what's next?' program.

Several of the choices are very good - Transmetropolitan would appeal to anyone interested in the intellectual possibilities of comics; it, Fables, and Preacher would appeal to anyone just realizing comics don't simply have to be about superheroes. All-Star Superman should appeal to anyone who enjoyed a high-quality take on classic superheroics, but I wonder whether this is really a smart follow-up to Watchmen. Maybe as a palate-cleanser.

No, most of them are OK choices. Maybe not necessarily as follow-ups to Watchmen, but as generally fine examples of high-quality comics and the endless possibilities of the format, it's a good list, mostly.

But...

Batman #608? Really?
To a lesser extent: Green Lantern: Rebirth #1? Really?

OK - Green Lantern isn't a bad comic, and it's certainly not as risibly bad as anything written by Jeph Loeb. But I know long-time comics fans who are turned off by how impenetrable Geoff Johns continuity-laden fanfic events can be. I very much doubt that any newcomer to superhero comics, or comics in general, looking for something as intelligent and thought-provoking as Watchmen, would get further than a few pages into this. I don't even mean this as a criticism of the comic - it's just not a new reader-friendly book.

Batman #608? By Jeph "I write scripts while on the toilet" Loeb and Jim Lee? THIS is being held up as a shining example of modern superhero comics, on a par with Watchmen? For the love of god. This is maybe good material for "After Heroes, What's next?". Then again...

...Given the quality of the Watchmen movie, I don't expect people to want to flock to comic stores to buy more comics. It simply wasn't a good movie. I thought it was sickeningly awful and a total failure on every level (other than Dan Dreiberg and Rorshach's performances). But what I hated about the movie most was that it reduced Watchmen to its own pale imitators. It played up the violence, the sex, the sleaze, at the cost of subtext, subtlety and meaning. It turned Watchmen into a Rob Liefeld comic - into all of the late 80's/early 90's crap that totally missed the point of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. That was the film's greatest, unforgiveable sin.

So maybe Batman #608 actually is a smart follow up to Watchmen: The Movie. It certainly has more in common with the hollow, senseless display of violence & "kewl!" that Snyder managed to reduce Alan Moore's work to. Anyone who actually wants more of the same after seeing it would probably be completely turned off by anything intelligent, like Transmet. And they'd only really be attracted to the purile humor of Preacher, finding all those scenes of real people having actual, breathing & growing relationships boring and stupid.

No, a fan attracted to the pointless glamorization of sex & violence of Watchmovie would certainly find Loeb's writing more to their taste. I take it back, DC - smart choice.

DC's July Solicitations

2009-04-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

Comics I have actual thoughts & opinions on only, and so not a comprehensive look.

Blackest Night #1: I may buy this. I could go for a good, solid Big Fun Event, and Johns usually crafts those well. I'm worried about not actually following the plot but we'll see if the zero issue recaps that well (can't beat free).

Green Lantern 43 & 44: The problem with buying Blackest Night is feeling obligated to buy the GL tie-ins, since I think it is a safe assumption they will be most closely tied to the plot. Also, am I the only oen who thinks Black Lantern Martian Manhunter doesn't look anything like MM? I needed it pointed out to me that that was supposed to be him.

Wednesday Comics: I don't care how interesting this looks - $3.99 for 16 pages, at any size, is ludicrous. Pass.

Batman & Robin #2: I'm surprisingly unenthusiastic about this. I don't know why - I'm sure it will be awesome, but I was underwhelmed by Morrison's entire Batman run, the ending in particular. I'm certain these will be good comics, but it remains to be seen if they will be transcendently awesome, timeless works like past Morrison/Quitely collaborations, or if they'll just be more of Morrison's "Batman sure is a badass! And his continuity is fun!" stuff that I didn't care about in the first place.

Batman Confidential #31: Milligan's a weird guy - he dissapears from comics for like a year at a time, but when he comes back he has a ton of stuff out. Does he just stockpile this stuff? That cover is fugly, btw.

Action Comics/Superman: I love Superman, and I couldn't care less about what's going on in these books right now. Publishing Superman with a different character starring is dumb, also. And yes, I recently read all of New Krypton as well as the new stuff since then, and I didn't like any of it. I've already ranted about how I feel DC is ruining Superman's character with all of this nonsense.

Flash: Rebirth #4: I hate to continue to be so negative, but Rebirth #1 was one of the worst things Johns has ever written. I have no interest in this anymore.

The Last Days of Animal Man #3: That's a pretty awesome cover.

Greek Street #1: Does anyone else recall an issue of Shade (also written by Milligan) where he animated a statue of Pandora, and she proceeded to tell a wacked-out, postmodern version of the story of Pandora's box? If this series is like that issue, it is going to be freakin' awesome, because that was one of my favorite single issues of that entire series. The premise of this book sounds vaguely like it may be along those lines, and for one dollar, it's certainly worth finding out if it is.

The Unwritten #3: I actually was thinking of giving this a chance, but the preview at the back of the Vertigo books lately kinda killed my enthusiasm. It didn't seem very good. Man, that backfired, huh? God, I'm negative.

Scalped #31: A long time ago, I read Scalped volumes 1 & 2 and said something like, "these were OK. No big deal". I must have been really stupid that day, as are you if you are not reading this comic. One of the single best series being published by anyone.

Marvel's July Solicits

2009-04-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

As usual, I am commenting only on stuff I have an opinion about, so this is not a comprehensive look.

Reborn #1: Clearly we are meant to assume the contents of this book, given the recent "spoiler" ads and the fact that Brubaker is writing this. I'm torn: Hitch is drawing it, which screams "event" but also screams "will have massive delays between issues". I raise this point because Marvel probably is thinking the same thing (Hitch's track record being what it is), and they usually do a good job of planning continuity around the capablities of their "big" artists. So I don't actually expect this to have a major impact on continuity (least not immediately). Plus, Bru's done such a careful job of containing his story tothe main Cap book, that I'd be surprised if a major development came elsewhere, even if it is drawn by him. I suspect we are being swerved. I could be wrong.

Captain America #601: Odd that they'd choose this volume of Cap for renumbering since Bru has had such a tightly focused run; then again, he has been using continuity & past stories all along. 3 double sized issues in a row? If I'm paying $3.99, at least I'm getting more.

Dark X-Men: The Beginning: This might be gratuitous or really interesting, depending on the creators involved. I'm actually interested in the Dark X-Men thing, though I won't be reading it for reasons I'll get to in a moment. This actually does sound like a fun, and logical, idea for a story, which saddens me because...

Uncanny X-Men #513: ... as X-Men jumps to $3.99, it jumps off of my list. Sorry, Fraction, I was really enjoying this run - Greg Land art being the exception - and I've actually been loving it more and more with every passing issue, which makes this really frustrating for me. I simply will not pay $3.99 for a 22 page comic (Avatar being a rare exception). 512 will be my last issue, but I may get the trade of the Utopia crossover eventually - doubly frustrating because I'm actually really, really loking forward to this story and was almost willing to break the 3.99 rule for the Dark Avengers tie-ins. Goddamn Marvel and their price-gouging (and goddamn DC for not producing enough quality books that I actually want to purchase, instead).

Secret Warriors #6: Thank goodness this is staying at 2.99, because this comic is several different kinds of awesome. Castellini has been getting a rough time from critics on the art, so let me defend him: I like his art. I think he does a very good job of body language, a rarity in comics artists, and a better-than-good-but-not-very-good job of facial expressions - he's slightly too cartoony for the tone, but not enough to be jarring. His panel-to-panel storytelling is excellent, and I actually find the coloring the most distracting thing about the art. Too many scenes are far too monochrome - the colorist wants to play up the espionage, noir-ish elements of a book that really is basically a superhero comic filtered through a different lens. But this is a great, dense comic that you should be buying.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #5: I dropped this after one issue, but I guess I'm vaguely curious about the twist ending. I still plan on buying his FF run, at least at the start.

Agents of Atlas #7 & 8: Actually, this book may replace Uncanny for me: I read the first 3 issues and they were pretty awesome.

Amazing Spider-Man #600: I actually might buy this. I almost never buy Spider-Man comics - he's the only "iconic" character I actually actively dislike, although for no particualrly good reason. But Slott's writing is really good, and a lot of the Brand New Day stuff I read recently was actually very solid. A good one-off story now and again is a good thing.

Captain Britain & MI: 13 #15: I May drop this after this story. I'm actually not crazy about this series, and haven't been since the first storyine ended. I can't put my finger on why - the book isn't doing anything wrong, really, and Leonard Kirk is the most underrated artist in comics. It may be that it's too "magic"-y for me. I never like Magic stuff. I'm a stickler for rules & logic and magic gets too fiddly.

Incredible Hercules #131: Or maybe this will replace Uncanny - I got a big chunk of this run on eBay and it's amazingly good. #1 Candidate for my 3 bucks a month.

Immortal Weapons #1: Fat Cobra by Jason Aaron? Sign me u... oh, wait, 3.99. Bye.

Mephisto Vs: Is there really a big call for obscure '80s mini-series noone has even mentioned in 20 years to be reprinted in expensive hardcover format? Are they really getting THIS back in print, but not Milligan & Allred's X-Statix (for example)?

Lost: LaFleure

2009-03-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Is there anything to discuss aside from the statue? Really?

Originally, my brother had me convinced that it's Anubis, Egyptian Lord of the Underworld. It may be, especially given the thematic connection between Anubis and Abaddon (Matt Abaddon being the name of Widmore's minion who was instrumental in getting Locke to the Island and orchestrating the arrival of the Freighter last season).

And then I realized: (the apparently immortal) Richard Alpert appears to be wearing eyeliner. Sawyer even pointed it out on Wednesday in a casual comment. The ancient Egyptians wore Kohl to paint a dark ring under their eyes as a stylistic choice - further cementing the Egyptian connection. And then, my brother Ed completely blew my mind with the stunning revelation that Richard's initials are R.A. - Ra, the Sun-God!

Ra is typically portrayed as wearing the Sun upon his head as a crown, and the statue very clearly has some sort of disc-shaped object on his head. So the possibility is certainly still open that it's Anubis (and that does still fit quite a bit of evidence - Anubis is closely associated with Cerberus, the hound of hell. Cerberus is the name of the Smoke Monster, which we found out 2 weeks ago lives underground, by the temple with the Egyptian markings - which match the markings on the countdown timer in the hatch when the button isn't pressed). But Ra seems to be an equally likely choice at this point, as the Lost mysteries finally begin to unravel.

Lots of credit to my brother Ed for this post, as well as the fun folks at Orange Peel Mouth.

Wednesday 2/25/09

2009-02-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

Gigantic #3: I didn't know I was waiting for a parable of the comic book industry told in the form of giant robots battling at the core of the Earth until I read it. Neat. A very small part of me wants to roll my eyes, but a much larger part of me giggles inside at the obvious joy Remender is taking in writing Iconoclast's dialogue ("No amount of sycophantic studio toadying will save you now!"). You've got to remember, I despise pretention (go read the comments thread at Callahan's blog on his most recent FC post), so the "indy" guy's whining about how he stayed true to himself and didn't sell out to a mainstream form of giant robot fighting is hilarious to me.

That this is coming out just as Remender's "mainstream" career is starting to take off makes it even funnier and endears the writer to me that much more. He's making a mockery of every band, writer, artist and fanboy who ever insisted on hating something for no other reason than that it's popular ("I could've been you! Could've prostituted my talent! I stayed true to myself - TRUE TO MY OWN STANDARDS OF PERFECTION!" screams the giant robot with big, goofy smokestacks on his back battling another big robot at the earth's core) I tell you, when Remender's on point, he's brilliant, and this series is on point. Beautiful artwork from Eric Nguyen, too. This series is so much better than the premise makes it sound.

Another thing that strikes me (aside from the fact that, for all of Iconoclast's bellowing that he doesn't appeal to mainstream audiences and that he's a "true artist", he's basically exactly the same as Gigantic) is Iconoclast's design. A hothead covered in spikes with two large "claws" on the back of each hand similar to Wolverine, he appears to be recalling the mid-nineties trend of angry Wolverine-clone loners.

Is Remender actually saying that indy comics are really just bitter that noone reads them and would really just like to be exactly like Marvel and DC, if only someone would pay attention to them? I think I'm falling in love with this comic. Not that I necessarily agree, although there is a LOT of truth in that insight - much more than most readers would be comfortable with, I would imagine. But I admire the cajones it takes to put it out there.

Captain America #47: Brubaker's exploration of Bucky's psychology continues here, as this series re-asserts itself as one of the best things Marvel publishes. Some of the dialogue is a little too on the nose when it explains to the reader how guilty Bucky is feeling about his past, but then again I was a little slow on that last issue, so who am I to complain? Butch Guice's art is always welcome. Also, I've really never had a problem with D'armata's coloring - i think it's fit the mood very well since issue 1 - but the last few issues have started to look a little muddier than usual. Not sure if that's a coloring or inking problem. There's really no reason, however, for anyone to not be reading this.

Fear Agent #26: Seriously, what is up with these 16 & 17 page issues? Don't tell me the backup strips make up for it - they're basically fill-in stories by work for hire writers and don't amount to anything. This series would be a perfect fit for the Casanova/Fell $1.99 treatment. I'm guessing that "Heaven" is going to turn out to have been some parting gift from the jellybrains in return for using Heath's DNA over thousands of years, which somehow got corrupted by the war and Heath's geerally crappy reputation, but who knows. As an exploration of his psychology and what keeps him going, this was a major turning point for Heath, although Char's dialogue - "You'll never be alone again" - seems to be setting him up for some major heartache in another issue or two. A good issue that unfortunately will make little sense to anyone not familiar with the background.

NYCC 2009

2009-02-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

Some of the stuff I wasted money on this weekend...

Scalped 1-18: I realized when I got home I somehow missed #17 (I already had 19-24). I'm dumb. Jason Aaron signed issues 1-11 for me, offering to do 2-11 out of the kindness of his heart, and chatted briefly with my brother and I about The Other Side and The Short Timers. Jason Aaron is a good dude. This series is badass in all the right ways.

Pax Romana 1-3: Previously downloaded. Sorry. I couldn't find issue 4.

Deathblow: And Then You Live!: 5 bucks, brand new, and I recalled reading Chad Nevett's review of it and being curious about it. It is indeed an ambitious failure, and I read it twice on the plane back. I actually thought it was more successful in what it was trying to do than Chad did, maybe because I went into it all at once and expected it to be a bit of a mess. It definetly overextends its reach, with its commentary on the birth of superheroes not really attaching itself well to all the post-9/11 America thing, and I generally otherwise agree with his review. But, there was one thing I noticed that he didn't mention - Deathblow's "kids" are named Johnnie and Martha - as in Jon and Martha Kent? And then all of the superheroes born at the end are clearly Marvel heroes. Sooo.... is Azzarelo saying that the Marvel Age of heroes is more of a younger sibling to the Golden Age than a child or evolution, with characters like Deathblow - soldiers, or possibly more Pulp-inspired characters - as their progenitor? I dunno. It's certainly a very ambitious work, so I give it that. (BTW - the character the "Liberators" pass over on their way to saving Deathblow in issue 1 is named "Steve" - an allusion to Steve Rogers?)

Metal Men: I got the hardcover, brand new still in shrink wrap, for 5 bucks. Can't beat that. This was probably another ambitious failure. I read it on the plane while exhausted on three hours of sleep so it was even harder to understand that it would have been otherwise, although I did get it, for the most part. Roleau was definetly onto something here, and had he just reigned in some of the layers of meaning here - and there's a ton - it would have worked better. He also tried to get a little too fancy with time-jumping plot-mechanics, but maybe I was just too tired to follow. There's a lot of little meanings that I kept thinking he was going for - comparing the Metal Men to other robotic-themed characters to show their uniqueness, comparing them to faceless corporations to show their personality, comparing them to ancient Stone Men to show their modernity - that it all just sort of drowned under its own weight at some point. Still, it was a hell of an entertaining and interesting read, and I'll certainly jump on board whatever Roleau is writing/drawing next - he shows potential and hell, it'll be interesting. I wish this was an oversized book so I could make out all the detail in his art, there's so much going on at times it borders on sensory overload.

Barry Windsor-Smith's The Freebooters and Young Gods & Friends: Something I've never mentioned on this blog: I LOOOOOOOVE BWS. He is the shiznit. Archer & Armstrong is one of those series that will always hold a very special place in my heart and I have longed for these hardcovers for a long time. They collect, and (partially) conclude, some of the stories from his sadly short-lived Storyteller series. I haven't read them yet because I want to clear out my reading list so I can focus just on them, because BWS is the bomb and if you disagree you're wrong. I've flipped through them a bit, and his art is every bit as stunning as I recall. Just jaw-droppingly beautiful. BWS is, to me, one of the unsung masters of the form, and getting the Young Gods collection now, just after Final Crisis has ended, is a nice little bit of serendipity. They look to be interesting reads aside from the stories - pages & pages of notes & correspondence detailing what went wrong with his Storyteller experiment, on creative & publishing levels. I can't wait. Definetly the highlight of my purchases, and I haven't even read them yet.

Lost: The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham

2009-02-25T22:17:00.001-08:00

I direct your attention to Orange Peel Mouth for some Lost-related discussion.

A) Those who know me know I like nothing more than being right, so it pleases me to discover that I was correct in my assumption that Widmore had been exiled from the island by turning the wheel.

B) My new question: was Widmore telling Locke the truth? We only have Ben's word for it that Widmore is a bad guy. Keamey went rogue and took over the freighter, and he's not exactly alone in wanting to kill Ben. Being a pompous jerk doesn't make someone a murderer. Have we been misled in thinking he's the "big bad"?

C) Locke & Ben ended up on the smaller island (just off the coast of the Island, with the Hydra station) with the rest of the plane. This was the present day, which we know because the Hydra had been abandoned. Did the Oceanic Six end up in the past on the main island, or present day? My bet is the past, if for no other reason than plot convenience (and the fact that Jin's Dharma van looked brand new).

D) Of course Lapidus didn't crash the plane. What kind of pilot do you think he is?

E) I loved Widmore's Meta-Joke of naming Locke after a philosopher, and then pointing out that his parents must have been laughing when they named him, to.

Marvel's May 2009 Solicitations

2009-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

- Alas, Ultimate Universe. You used to be interesting & dynamic & new. Now you are Jeph Loeb's plaything, like a cat toying with a mouse. Hopefully post-relaunch they can get things back on track, but I feel kind of bad to see Marvel basically bashing some of their creators - like Kirkman and Vaughan - who did really good work on the Ultimate books, by saying that the Ultimate line took a hit by not having "top-notch, A-List" creators on them. They totally ignore the massive damage Loeb did to the Ultimates with his 5 issues, which in the long run was far worse for the Ultimate line than Kirkman playing continuity-connect-the-dots.

- Spider-Man: The Short Halloween may be pretty funny, actually. Hader's a funny guy and Maguire is awesome. I have no opinion on Seth Meyers, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

- I just read "New Ways to Die" and am reading "Character Assassination". The current direction for the Spidey books seems to be working from that admittedly limited sampling, so I'm curious about this arc.

- Like many, I wonder how long Dark Avengers can realistically last? Shouldn't the premise have an expiration date?

- I wasn't toally sure I was getting Dark Reign: FF, but apparently Hickman's also writing the FF ongoing, so I guess I'm on it. Presumably it will serve as some sort of lead-in.

- Nerd complaint about SpiderWoman: she has been a Skrull literally the entire time Bendis has been writing her. They replaced her when she went to Hydra to get her powers back. That means this Spiderwoman, who hasn't been around in forever, should be powerless. I am the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, yes. But I'm right.

- Here's to hoping Carey gets Legacy back on track when the new direction hits in June (or July)...the book has drifted severely off-course.

- I am skeptical of the new New Mutants book. I really love the character work that has been done on Cannonball over the years - he should be, at this point, the X-Books' equivalent of Nightwing. Someone raised & taught by all philosophies (Xavier, Magneto, and Cable), his own man, a natural leader, generally likeable guy. Relegating him back to B-book status when he should be leading & starring on a main team is frustrating for fans of the character (like myself). Ditto for Sunspot, to a lesser extent - he's been through so many transformations that I can understand a need for a "back to basics" approach, but surely they could move him forward, make him his own man?

- Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert is a good enough creative team to make those two issues of Wolverine worthwhile, btw. And I see they're handing one of his books over to Daken, which means one less Wolverine title a month. Thank god common sense struck someone over there.

- You know something? They should have given Claremont this X-Men: Forever book years ago. It's perfect for him and his fans. Enough fussing around with various alternate-reality and semi-continuity books, just let the guy do his thing and please his fans. I'm surprisingly supportive & positive of this book. At least it serves a genuine purpose and pleases a very vocal section of the fanbase. And the dude's earned it.

- X-Factor has been awesome lately. Start reading it.

DC Comics May 2009 Solicitations

2009-02-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

- Casey & ChrisCross are a good creative team, especially on that particular series. That might be really good.

- DC have successfuly made "Dead Batman" into a brand. Well done.

- I know this is a close-minded statement, but if Morrison's not writing Animal Man, I'm not interested.

- Ragdoll trying to be the new Robin sounds really funny, actually.

- I generally like Mike Carey, so for a dollar, I see no reason not to purchase The Unwritten #1.

- Scalped & Young Liars are both awesome, and both of the May issues sound awesome as hell.

- Hitman is finally being reprinted; hopefully this means they'll do the whole series.

I don't have much to say about DC, apparently. I'm trying to refrain from openly critical or mean statements and just note what looks interesting, but frankly, very little of it seems interesting. The Superman line, in particular, appears to be actively focused on making the character less special by shoehorning in multiple version of the character, and destroying his origin/background of being the last of his people, thus turning him into, basically, one of about a million Superman Analogues and not the real thing anymore. Geoff Johns' fanfic writing works wonderfully on Green Lantern, and extending the concept to alternate version of the lead doesn't dilute it as badly when the lead is an entire army already. But Superman doesn't deserve such shoddy treatment.

Wednesday 2/18/09

2009-02-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Great Unknown #1: I said I'd be on board for Rouleau's next project, and in a nice little moment of serendipity, I found out his next project was just around the corner. The premise of this series is original (to me, at least) - a potential Tony Stark/Reed Richards level inventor genius whose life has stalled at his parent's house because all his ideas seem to keep popping up elsewhere. Except that maybe someone's stealing his ideas right from his brain, and he's at the center of a conspiracy. Rouleau is definetly a lot more restrained with this series than he was on Metal Men, with each page not quite as densely packed with visual information, juggling fewer plots (but enough to keep things moving), and moving (mostly) in traditional, linear time. I enjoyed the complete, overkill craziness of Metal Men, but it's nice to see the evolution of a writer this way as he tries to find the line, so to speak. It's solid work, with the lead being obnoxious and annoying but not too the point of being unlikeable. Rouleau colored this himself, apparently, and it looks pretty good. I thought at first it was going for a Casanova-esque monochrome color scheme, but there are the occasional flashes of color, in some very odd places - like a character vomiting out a window, for example. Thematically, everything that is intruding into thje character's world (vomit, ads, logos, etc) seem to be in bright color, while his own world is fairly drab and restrained.

It's a good start and a good look at an evolving writer/artist who could be a big thing ina few more years.

Uncanny X-Men #506: Back on track after the annual. I love how effortlessly Fraction incorporates other books' plots - like the sideways glance between Warpath & Logan during Cyclops' debriefing, or Emma's vague detachment during that same scene, credit for which also goes to Dodson for giving every character individual body language and facial expression. I've knocked Fraction's run on this book here and there (a little more so with the Annual, yes), but it's mainly been artistic complaints. He relies heavily on the Dodsons to carry the character work here, which is fine by me and uses the skills of his artists wisely. I know Land's issues of this book made everyone seem a bit vapid in comparison, as his characterization is very much a case of words & pictures combining. I'm hoping Fraction can find a way to make this book continue to work with other artists, because the last 3 issues have really been firing on all cylinders. By the way, apparently Fraction will in fact be handling this book solo - Bru's not coming back. Fine by me, really. Bru's a great writer, but he wasn't ever really a good fit for the X-Men.

I'm loving Beast's storyline in particular - not only does it (finally) seem like a logical & natural thing to do, but it's also a very fun, Fraction-style plot if you've read Casanova & Mantooth. Crazy inventors! Robotics experts! Giant monsters! Science unhinged and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world! The tomorrow you dreamed about yesterday, today! It's a lot of fun. It's like a Matt Fraction primer.

X-Factor #40: Peter David is definetly getting this book back on track after some crossover related distractions this past year. Great characterization on Madrox, and PAD's writing is following a pattern I've noticed over the years. After about 3 or 4 years of stories, he tears down his characters to build a new status quo. I'm fine with it if that's what he's doign here, the book needed a shot in the arm and these last two issues have been two of the best of the entire run. DeLeandro's art is growing by the issue, too - very moody & atmospheric without going too far, good body language & acting. This damn sure isn't a cheery comic, but it does have a glimmer of hope at the end, that must have been pretty hard for PAD to keep quiet about at convention season. If you dropped X-Factor because it seemed to be meandering, get issues 39 & 40 and jump back in.

X-Men: Legacy #221: This has become the most frustrating thing I read every month. I loved the first few issues, and while I can't disagree with recent reviews claiming this book is nothing but a naval-gazing tour of X-Men contiuity, thhe first arc was not simply that. The first arc took a look back at Xavier & Magneto's relationship, but with the explicit, and well-accomplished, purpose of closing the door on it and their respective roles in the mutant community. It took stock of the characters' roles for the purpose of setting them up for the next step, which was good & necessary.

The second arc may have meandered a tiny bit, but I admired the skill with which Carey pulled together such disparate threads of X-history and forced a workable story out of some of the X-Men's dreariest moments - it was almost an apology for the entire 1990's. But since then, the book's been spinning its wheels and it's starting to seem as if Carey doesn't quite know what to do next. If this was the second issue of a Rogue miniseries it would be barely acceptable, but as the next step in Xavier's story, nothing is happening, and that's a shame. Potential is being wasted. Hopefully the book will be interesting again when it changes form & direction once more after issue 225.

Wednesday 2/11/09

2009-02-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

This was a great week.

Young Liars #12: Even though I know Lapham's always going to do the unexpected, he manages to catch me off guard by doing the unexpected. I don't think anyone saw that first page coming, and after that first page, I don't think anyone so the rest of the issue coming. Strangely, and in a really weird sort of way, things are actually starting to make sense and come together for me. I really need to re-read the whole series this week. These "Spiders from Mars" issues seem to have both revolved around Sadie & Danny sharing some sort of mental connection. I say it again, this book reminds me of Morrison's more drug-soaked works, in a good way.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: A

Batman #686: Wow. Not to the issue in general, but to Kubert's art. I've been hard on him in the past, but this is possibly career-best work from him. Well done. Very subdued, detailed, atmospheric, and he clearly thought out and planned all the little bits ahead of time. Nice stuff. I enjoyed the story, but I'm not too sure what to think of it yet - I'll wait till part 2 to take a look back on it. For what it is right now, it was an entertaining story, (seemingly) examining the strangeness & inevitability of Batman as a character as well as a few key characters wishful thinking about him. The dream-like surreal atmosphere holds it together well.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: A

Scalped #25: Just when Bad Horse thought things couldn;t get worse, and evil version of the Human Target wanders in to complicate things. Aaron really does write depraved scumbags remarkably well, and the new characters' (did we even get his real name?) internal monologue is extremey well-executed, revealing all sorts of little tidbits, making him fascinating and deplorable all at once. Actually, I wouldn;t mind seeing Aaron write the Human Target after this - he'd be an easy second choice behind Milligan himself. Guera's artwork has very slowly, almost imperceptibly, cleaned itself up over the course of the series as well, retaining all of its ugliness, body language & harshness while getting much better at clear action & storytelling. Great stuff again.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: A

Captain Britain #10: You know who Cornell writes like? Grant Morrison. Noone points it out, but he does the same quick-cut/jumping between scenes technique that Morrison does, except that he seems to use it a little differently - his action issues cut quickly between the action the same way Morrison's does, but then he'll do a quiet, character-driven issue like this using the same technique. Except that Cornell uses it to cut straight to all the most interesting character bits and leaves out the action, travelling, etc. This issue, by the way, is a virtual masterclass in "how to make C-List characters more interesting", and I went from barely tolerating to abolsutely loving Blade in a single panel.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: A

Incognito #2: I forgot this was coming out. I'm not liking this series quite as much as Criminal or Sleeper, but it's only issue 2 and it is very good. Really, the Bru/Phillips standard is pretty high, and Phillips' art is as brilliant as ever. I think my main problem is that the lead character isn't tortured or evil enough, but that's probably more my personal problem than anything.

Wednesday 2/4/09 & Predictions

2009-02-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

It's overdue, but I have a good excuse - I was in NYC going to nerdfest and visiting my family. I also met Tim Callahan, who was totally in awe of me.

Secret Warriors #1: Marvel fans, meet Jon Hickman. I actually dorked out really, really badly at the Dark Reign panel at Comiccon and asked Hickman if he's going to use the "huge graphs & infodump" approach to his FF run. He said no, which seems a shame, but he said he has another approach planned so I'm sure it will be awesome. Anyway, SW#1. Good stuff. Hickman shows a stronger voice for characterization here than he has in the past, but the plot is as tight as ever while just accessible enough for the mainstream. A lot has been made of the revelation at the end, but I think I do see where he's going to go with it. If I'm right, it's still a good angle, so I'm not complaining. Great issue, and a rare $3.99 comic that earns its price - the storie's 22 pages, but the infograph backups took me longer to read than the comic itself. The art from Caselli is fine, good body language but a bit histrionic in the faces.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: A

Invincible Iron Man #10: You know, I read this on the plane on Thursday, and for the life of me I barely remember it. I remember thinking it was a good issue. But I can't really recall the contants - that may be a bad thing, but it's more likely a sign of comic book overload post-NYCC. A quick browse through the contents and I'm reminded of Fraction's great Osborn dialogue being a highlight; otherwise, a solid issue that advances the story well enough but will ultimately be what it feels like, a middle chapter. I hate when I sound negative but actually mean to be positive. Sorry.
Predicted Rating: A; Actual Rating: B+

This week: I just landed a few hours ago, I'm tired & have a million things to do, so I'll do these quick:

Young Liars #12: This will blow my mind like an episode of LOST and make me giggle like a girl.
Predicted Rating: A

Batman #686: You know, Kubert's art looks really good in the previews, so I'll be cautiously optimistic and say he won't ruin it for me this time. Gaiman is always awesome, and this story has no reason to suck.
Predicted Rating: A

Scalped #25: You win, Callahan. Actually, this will be an experience, since I've never read one issue cold and right off the rack - I recently read them all, and then bought the whole series Friday at NYCC (and Jason Aaron signed a bunch of them, because he's a cool guy). A lot of the appeal is in the small character moments, loaded with meaning and significance from previous issues, so I'm sure it will hold up fine on an issue to issue basis. Double sized, too, I believe.
Predicted Rating: A

Captain Britain #10: I came reeeallly close to buying some original Leonard Kirk art at the show but couldn't bring myseLf to spend more money. Anyway, let's keep this wave of overwhleming positivity going and call this a winner.
Predicted Rating: A

Wednesday 1/28/09 & Wednesday Predictions

2009-02-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

Final Crisis #7: I already wrote about this at length earlier, and got all potential negativity out there, pretty much. This was a really great issue, and after re-reading the Superman: Beyond sidebar as well as thi s issue, I'm even more certain the The Invisibles is a closer point of comparison than anything else in Morrison's catalogue ("And so we return to begin again" was floating through my head on that last page). I maintain my major complaint that Barry Allen doesn't really add anything to this story, and I'm confused as to whether Hawkman is supposed to be dead or what, but overall this was a really fun story and an interesting experiment. I get why people are frustrated by it, like I said, especially since a major part of my enjoyment is just watching Morrison play with comic books, basically. That's not to everyone's tastes. Mahnke's art is also a major selling point - sloppy or rushed work would have been annoying but understandable and forgiveable, but even his "rushed" pages still look better than a lot of toher artists work. If he doesn't get a high-profile regular gig out of this, DC is nuts.

Unknown Soldier #4: I think I'm done with this. In this day and age of 3 and 4 dollar comics and layoffs, this just isn't earning it's price, I'm afraid. The story has been spinning its wheels for just one issue too many. It'll be worth coming back to in more lucrative times to see where it went eventually, certainly, but on a monthly basis this isn't cutting it anymore.

Captain America #46: I was weirdly happy to have Epting back on art. I missed him, despite the fill-in guy mimicking his style. I'm actually a little annoyed to see the new Cap back in his Winter Soldier constume already - so many people are still calling him Bucky or having trouble accepting him, that doesn't really help. But still - as consistent a comic as is being published by anyone, and I always love Namor. The new Cap has a really good dynamic with him - he goes back far enough that he isn't fazed by his imperious attitude, and Namor actually seems to like the guy and shows it as much as he can stand to (I still crack up at his "I'm not unhappy that you're not dead" line from the Winter Soldier Special a few years ago).

New Avengers #49: Huh. Bendis is doing pretty damn good with this series. I kind of cringe at what Cage is bringing upon himself and his family through his actions here, but it's consistent for his character and I like that Jessica isn't mad at him at all about the deal he made - that would have been an easy route for the story and Bendis doesn't take it. Good stuff. He also seems to be finally recalling that Hawkeye has actually been the leader of a few teams himself, and he's stepping up here. I'd buy him as leader of this group, actually. Cap looks a little out of place with other superheroes and as part of a team, but Bendis and Tan seem to know it and are using it. Damn good. Shockingly so.

Wednesday's Comics...
Secret Warriors #1: I'm looking forward to this like a mofo. I've gotten on the Hickman bandwagon big time the last month or two and I've been super-impressed with Bendis lately, plus Caselli's art is always nice looking. Maybe a little too cartoony for what I'm expecting from this book, but whatever, long as the story gets told I'm fine. I'm actually not too sure what to expect from this book, and that's a good thing. I'm sure it will be excellent, and I'll be surprised by it. Good mix.
Predicted Rating: A

Invincible Iron Man #10: I've been loving this series since issue 1, and I expect to enjoy this all the same. I'm interested in where Fraction is going with this story, as we've seen "Tony loses his money & company" a bunch of times before, and I have a feeling he's losing Extremis shortly as well, which is dissapointing but unsurprising. I'm curious to see how Fraction plays this story out at any rate; he has an awesome handle on Stark's character and writes the second best Norman Osborn (after Ellis) around.
Predicted Rating: A

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #1: Bit of a cheat since I actually read this recently, bt I'll get this reprint in preparation for the rest of the series over the next few months. This was a cool story, done slightly in the LOST style (flashbacks, jumping around in time, etc) but otherwise unconnected, but compenent. Lindelof has a good handle on both the characters involved and gives this story far more intellect than that title would indicate. Could have been a much lesser series in the hands of a writer like Loeb that would basically have written the title for 6 issues.

Lost 5.3 - Jughead

2009-01-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

My 100th post!

I'm noticing a weird little duality/symmetry developing between Locke & Jack (Final Crisis has me thinking about these things, I guess). Locke believes that he lives at the hand of inexorable fate, that nothing is in his control, and he likes it that way. But in truth, he is directing his fate - Richard only knew to look for him as a child because Locke told him to. Jack believes he is in control of his life, that there is no such thing as fate or destiny - but by season 5, he is broken, and has completely given control of his fate to Ben.

Was anyone else thinking of the Hatch when Faraday was talking about burying the bomb in concrete? Recall Sayid's comments, way back in Season 2, about everything seeming like concrete was poured all over it down there (plus, of course, the radiation).

As an added bonus, I'm sure my brother Ed will not mind me posting a bit from an e-mail he wrote me on the above subject:

"The whole idea of free will vs. determinism is also prominent in Desmond Hume and Ms. Eloise Hawking's discussions. She explained to him in a previous episode that things are pre-determined to happen a certain way, no matter what we choose to do. Desmond David Hume comes to accept it as true that the universe has a way of staying on course, but nevertheless he acts as though he can save Charlie's life, even though he believes that Charlie is pre-determined to die. Desmond has allowed himself to believe in the illusion of free will.

These two characters actually parallel two very famous people in real life. The physicist Steven Hawking, for whom Ms. Eloise Hawking is apparently named, also believes in determinism, that the laws of nature ultimately determine everything that happens; according to Steven Hawking, even human decisions and actions can be explained by physical events within the brain - physical events that are determined by the laws of nature. The great eighteenth century Scottish philosopher David Hume, for whom Desmond David Hume is named, also believed this and wrote about it. HOWEVER, David Hume, for utilitarian reasons, also concluded that we ought to act as though we have free will anyway - in other words, he acknowledged that everything is determined by the laws of nature and that we have no free will, but he said that we should live with the illusion of free will and pretend like we have free will. This parallels Desmond Hume's choice to try to save Charlie's life, despite the fact that he acknowledges that the universe has a way of staying on course."