DEATH-RAY OZONE

Review: Winter Soldier #2

2012-02-23T18:23:00.001-08:00

Winter Soldier #2
Ed Brubaker , Butch Guice, Bettie Breitweiser

I've got a little theory about why I haven't read every issue of Captain America that Brubaker's written despite my love for his superhero game. The problem is this: Ed Brubaker so consistently puts out good comics that oftentimes a fool like me begins to take them for granted. I'm going to try to not make the same mistake with this new series because it seems to be filling a sexy, super-spy genre-sized gap in Marvel's output. Moreover, Brubaker offers up that same kind of consistent quality that can only be found in the copy for nostalgic Chevy Truck commercials.

I lost track of most of my Marvel titles right around when Fear Itself started wrapping up, and a lot of the behind the scenes ugliness has really put me off reading much of their output (save for Daredevil and Uncanny X-Force, because, you know, duh), so I didn't really know what was going on with our buddy Bucky, but I guess he died, then he got better, and it's kept mostly a secret from everyone so that he and The Black Widow can go out and do sexy spy things together. Specifically, they have to go out and find three other dudes that Bucky trained to be Soviet sleeper agent killers before they can be activated by bad guys and used to do bad guy things. I'm not worried. It's a solid premise that I'm sure Brubaker can mine for at least three arcs, and it's all there: intrigue, mystery, thoughtful internal monologues about tactical thinking, even some outlandish "a-gorilla-with-a-machine-gun-oh-shit-now-he-has-a-jet-pack?-only-in-comics!" elements are thrown in and used entirely effectively without detracting from the weight of the story, but if it were just that, it'd be yet another Brubaker book I'd end up just taking for granted and forgetting about. But in addition to added effort on my part to not being a chump, I'm sticking with Winter Soldier because it has a few things going for it that I think those issues of Captain America featuring Steve Rogers never did.

Firstly, KISSING!

(that one's actually from the previous issue, but just try to tell me you're mad that I made you look at that again.)

One of the more interesting things about these comics, and I guess about the character of Bucky Barnes in general is his romance with Natasha Romanoff. When you compare it to Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter, it's pretty similar in that neither Bucky nor Steve is known for being a swingin' bachelor or anything, but the difference is that no one who reads a Captain America book gives a shit about Steve and Sharon hanging out and finishing each other's sentences. Seventy-ish years of Captain America stories about a man who embodies the ideals of a nation have sapped out much of the potential for a sexy Captain America story, or if not the potential for one, then at least the expectations for one.

Bucky, on the other hand, gets a little more flexibility in this regard. Since Bucky doesn't have Seventy-ish years of comics about him (and also because once he came back into comic readers' collective consciousness he came back waving a giant "EVERYTHING YOU KNEW WAS MOSTLY CORRECT BUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS" retcon banner), there are less preconceptions about what to expect from stories about him. Maybe Marvel missed a chance to have Bucky rolling around the Marvel Universe in casual sex mode, but the direction that we've got works in both a character sense and in a "we're owned by Disney lest we forget" sense. Bucky's a one woman guy, and that's not gonna change any time soon, it seems, so Brubaker deals with it in a way I didn't really expect. Bucky is a monogamous James Bond, and I like that just fine. The romance between Bucky and Natasha is written as a relationship with two mature adults who've known each other for a while and who have come to a secure understanding about their relationship and their work. True, Bucky and Natasha are both people who shit where they eat, but they're superheroes, so it works out better for them and they look better doing it than any of us could ever hope to. What I enjoy best about these two characters is how it's clear that they're at that point in their relationship where they are completely comfortable with each other. Except instead of staying in and marathoning Six Feet Under they quietly infiltrate a secret super-gadget auction for criminals, and instead of being cool with being in the same room while the other pees, they're cool with watching each other shoot a dude in the chest. We don't get that a lot in comics anymore, but it's good to know that if we get tired of it, Bucky can just up and trade his memories to Mephisto for a new arm or whatever.

The other thing that is really making this book click for me is Butch Guice and Bettie Bretiweiser's art. I think there was a recent Captain America arc that Guice worked on where he was trying out his Steranko impression, and it seems that all that practice paid off. Winter Soldier doesn't look entirely like a Steranko rip, but you can definitely see the influence bleeding through. We get dynamic layout ideas, panel smashing, and some effective pop-art photo collage-type things. I think Tessa best described the look as a stack of documents strewn about a secret agent's desk. The action scenes are cluttered with tiny, misshapen panels that are interrupted by a bigger, borderless panel of a close up of the action (usually some hapless thug getting hit in the face). It's a mess, but it's a rewarding one as Guice has an expert grasp on the speed of the moments that each panel conveys. Once our heads finish reeling from all the dizzying gunplay and broken noses, the comic slows down with the talky, debriefing pages (read: exposition), and thanks to Guice and Breitweister, we get to look at stuff like this instead of just nodding along:

The panels in these sequences come at a very steady, measured pace, and the colors and all that spy-jargon-secret-eyes-only text reinforce the idea that this shit goes deep, which makes dialogue that boils down to "These are these guys we are looking for. We should probably find them because this is the premise of the series" a whole lot more lively. The Steranko influence goes a long way, but I think Guice and Breitweister have gone a little bit further in that they're completely aware of their Steranko leanings and they fully exploit them. There are panels that look zoomed in to the point where brush strokes and Ben-Day dots are visible, and since this is a modern comic, all instances of brush strokes Ben-Day dots are of course entirely deliberate. It makes these scenes look like they're about to collapse all over themselves, probably under the weight of carrying around Steranko's spy-pop on their backs.

Really the only bad thing about this comic is that I can't give my money directly to Jack Kirby's grave.

The State of The Death-Ray

2012-02-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello!

We haven't updated Death-Ray Ozone in a while (sorry!), but I wanted to put something here to let you know that we're both still alive and blogging.

Over the course of the last couple of months, I've found myself fairly burnt out on the usual superhero comics that we tend to cover here at Death-Ray Ozone, so I decided to take a little bit of a break to explore what else is out there. I'm still following a few superhero books, of course, but ever since December, I guess, I've been gradually cutting them out of my weekly routine, and replacing them with a bunch of books and mini-comics and creators that had previously only existed on the fringes of my comics-reading consciousness. It's exciting, and it's a roundabout way of introducing what's basically just going to be a "here's some stuff I've been into lately" capsule-style review post, so, hey:

Here's some stuff I've been into lately that you should probably check out sometime:

Forming by Jesse Moynihan
This was probably the best thing that I'd read in all of 2011. I picked up a copy of the print version of Jesse Moynihan's webcomic "Forming" at BCGF, and I fell in love with this book. It's a sci-fi/spiritual creation myth told with bright colors, casual vulgarities, and meaningful scoops of violence. Jesse Moynihan makes the exact comics I want to see in the world. Be sure to check out "Cosmic River" as well for further examples of the comics I want in the world.

The comics of Michael DeForge
This dude knows how to make a comicbook. Check out his series "Lose" and all the other anthology things he's been in. He's doing this thing with his comics where he's fucking around with his styles, trying to figure out what works best as he goes along, and it's a thrill to watch each page sort of unfold into something so warmly bizarre. It's like remembering the painful parts of your life with equal parts whimsy and body-horror.

POWR MASTRS by CF
As far as the independent comics creators and publishing goes, I've surmised that CF is probably the punkest dude in the scene. I'll clarify in comics terms, since "punk" probably doesn't mean shit anymore: CF is punk the way Jack Kirby was punk -- making things as they come, the urgency of the idea coming through each line on the page. CF is the kind of creator that makes things with his hands. These comics people all do, but CF makes comics with warts and gnarled teeth out for everyone to see. CF's "POWR MASTRS" series is a good place to get a look at the energy that this guy has. It's got a sort of futuristic fantasy type of tone to it, but the real magic of the series is that you really feel like you've been dropped right into the middle of this world. You've got questions and you feel a little sick from the trip, sure, but more than anything, you're along for the ride.

The comics of Ryan Cecil Smith
Ryan Cecil Smith is making some of the most exciting and enjoyable mini-comics out there and they all look so pretty and precious, like delicate little comicbook gems, filled with space action fun and humor. I'm talking about his "SF" series and the accompanying "SF Supplementary Files," of course. Ryan Cecil Smith has made an excellent scifi adventure that just revels in the overexposed tropes of the genre to such a point where it goes beyond a level of parody to reveal instead a (mostly) unironic enthusiasm for the genre. It's most especially clear that Smith loves these genre comics when he's doing straight-up retellings of manga classics (Check out "Two Eyes of the Beautiful" and "SF Supplementary File #2A-C."), and I think that's what I like most about his work: that his excitement and love for these stories sits there on the risographed print, inviting you in to see all the good that Smith sees in stories about space cops and murderous, beauty-obsessed film queens. He also scores bonus points for printing out his own publication of Epictetus's "The Enchiridion," because, you know, why not print out your own publication of Epictetus's "The Enchiridion?"

Review: Secret Invasion: Black Panther

2011-11-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Secret Invasion: Black Panther

Jason Aaron (w), Jefte Palo (a)

I’m sure you all have opinions on Secret Invasion and its Dark Reign aftermath status quo, but I’ll always remember Secret Invasion for this little tie-in arc of Black Panther by Jason Aaron and Jefte Palo.

In this little look-in on Wakanda during the Secret Invasion event, we find a team of Skrulls taking on an entire army of Wakandans. Due to some aggressive computer hacking from both ends, both the Skrulls and Wakandans find themselves without access to their advanced weapon systems, which means we get three issues of up-close-and-personal-style bludgeoning and stabbing as the only weapons left around are those that don’t run on any sort of advanced Wakandan or Skrull super-technology (You’d think someone would have thought to pack a pistol or whatever, but I’m not really complaining) as T’Challa takes on a small group of Super Skrulls on his own. Don’t worry, though. T’Challa has a plan. I mean, of course he has a plan. He’s like if Batman and Captain America got together and ran their own country funded by Bruce Wayne AND Tony Stark.

Jason Aaron gives us a face to the Skrull invaders in the form of K’vvvr, the Commander of this contingent of hapless Skrulls. K’vvvr is one mission away from retirement, and guess what? K’vvvr doesn’t even care about the Skrull Empire! All he wants to do is finish up this mission, conquer this little country, and go home to retire on a quiet planet with his wife. Bummer that this little country is Wakanda, the only country on earth that has never been conquered by anyone, a country inhabited by fierce warriors and brilliant minds armed with the most durable mineral resource in the world, a country that is protected by its King and Queen, who just so happen to be the Black Panther (the aforementioned super-rich cross between Captain America and Batman) and his bride Storm, of the X-Men, a team of people who’ve made it a habit of ducking and defeating anybody trying to hunt them. As if claiming that this would be his last mission before retirement wasn’t enough, K’vvvr has to take on Wakanda. It’s like this dude hasn’t even heard of “Retirony.”

Make no mistake, this a fight comic, pure and simple. Where I think it differs from something like a War comic is that war comics usually concern themselves with making the audience connect with a group of soldiers by looking into their motivations or reasons they’re in this war so that we are provided with an emotional stake in their survival. Secret Invasion: Black Panther does this with the previously mentioned K’vvvr, but it’s ultimately pointless. This is because the book is not called Secret Invasion: K’vvvr. The story is taking place in the Black Panther book. Through the simple virtue of not being the Black Panther and not being a Wakandan, we automatically identify him as the enemy. In a similar vein, Aaron gives the audience the benefit of the doubt and assumes that we, the discerning consumers who purchased a book called Black Panther, already know enough about the how superhero comics work to know that we are rooting for him. Whatever internal monologue he gives T’Challa is only preaching to the choir. If not, then we’ve got a bunch of murderous looking aliens who at one point threaten to beat his wife “until she is no longer recognizable as vertebrae” to really bring the point home. As such, we don’t really get any insightful peeks into the psyches of these characters that will emotionally invest us in their continued survival (or in the Black Panther’s case, we were rooting for him anyway), so all we’re left with is some moments of the Black Panther and his Wakandan soldiers acting like hard dudes, a couple of twists (one of which is kind of horrifying when you think about it, but horrifying things just kind of happen when a full-scale invasive assault is on your doorstep), and a whole lot of fighting -- which, you know, is perfect for a fight comic.

So what we’ve got on our hands is a bona fide fight comic, but I wouldn’t sweat it –– it’s a really entertaining fight comic. As they should be. It’s long been a belief of mine that fight comics are to comics in general what candy is to a balanced, healthy diet: you know you shouldn’t, but fuck it, right? You’ve earned yourself a little treat. In the context of fight comics, “a little treat” means “moments of badassery and kinetic action/fight sequences.” Here’s an example:

This arc, and any good fight comics worth its ink, is filled with these sorts of moments of tough confidence, which are usually followed by a pretty exciting set of fight panels. Brainless? Maybe sometimes, sure, but good fight comics do serve their purpose; in general to entertain, and within the context of the particular comic, to make a statement about a character, or in the case of the bloodier scenes in fight comics, to evoke an emotional, visceral response from the audience.

The only thing that bugs me about this particular comic is Storm. She doesn’t use her powers in the battles as per T’Challa’s request to stick to his plans, and I guess I can get with that, but there’s a part where she and T’Challa escape their captors and move onto the Skrull ship where they stab K’vvvr through the chest with their swords. I’m no expert on Storm, but straight up murdering someone, even during wartime, seems uncharacteristic, and I wonder why T’Challa didn’t just send her away to spare her from getting blood on her hands. It's as if Jason Aaron didn't even really need Storm so much as he did some other female Wakandan warrior. But I mean, whatever, I can go with it for the sake of the fight comic and think about how I can get my No-Prize later. It’s a fight comic, and as such, I’m too busy enjoying myself to get hung up on something as silly as how I think Storm would act during a Skrull invasion. The answer’s right there on the page: she’ll stab a Skrull through the chest if she needs to. Okay, fine.

So what does three issues worth of fights and stabbings and tough-guy talk have to tell us about the glorious nation of Wakanda?

Wakanda is like the Wu-Tang Clan -- ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.

Parlor Games For Comics Enthusiasts

2011-11-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Congratulations! You're having a dinner party! What? What do you mean you're not having a dinner party? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! I already RSVPed and bought a dress and told you (I told you) I'd be bringing the wine!

So it's settled! You're having a dinner party! What a mad tasteful way to spend an evening!

But what's that you say? You don't know what to do to keep your guests entertained, apart from feeding a meticulously chosen and lovingly prepared selection of dishes? Don't worry, broseph. (May I call you "broseph"? *polishes monocle while awaiting an answer*) I have compiled a number of delightful games to amuse the elite group you have invited to dinner.

(Presented to you in no particular order.)

DC Exposition: Maybe you all know each other, maybe you don't. Either way, you sure will by the time you finish this amusing game! You have one hour to carry on a conversation as a group. The goal is to reveal as much information about the history and relationships of yourself and the other guests within this time. No direct questions may be asked pertaining to these matters. All information must be delivered in expository style. 1 point for everything you reveal about yourself. 2 points for everything you reveal about someone else (discretion advised). 3 points for every relationship you explicate. Subtlety encouraged but not rewarded. Tally the points at the end of the hour. Whoever has the most, wins! Their prize to be determined by the editors of DC Comics.

Example of gameplay: "I should know a thing or two about untenable roommate situations! After all, when X and I lived together two years ago, we were always at each other's throats. Luckily, we remain friends to this day."

Model X-Men: Everyone writes down the names of several noted mutants and puts them into a hat. Each guest then draws out a name (discard and redraw if it is a duplicate name). The name they have drawn is their character. Assuming their respective characters roles, you will all form a model mutant U.N. and proceed to sit around the table debating policy. At some point someone will get angry and start banging their shoe on the table because that joke will never die. Let's be real, the winner is whoever opts for the eradication of humans, I'm sorry, but that's just probably what it's gonna come to, you know? Prize is a dystopian alternate future.

Example of gameplay: *Magneto walks around the table collecting everyone's forks, returns to his seat holding all the forks, glowers threateningly* (I don't think I know how diplomacy works???)

HULK SMASH: Just something to yell if you accidentally break a glass or whatever. No winners, obviously.

"I've Taken the Liberty": In this game, everyone is Alfred Pennyworth. The goal is to be the best butler to Bruce Wayne as you possibly can, and as everyone knows, that means anticipating his every need! Therefore, you will each take turns telling Master Bruce what you've taken the liberty of doing to make his life a little better. The person with the best answer gets to help clear the table because they have proven themselves such a talented servant.

Example of gameplay: "Master Bruce, I've noticed you seem a little bored and restless lately, so I've taken the liberty of removing the lids from all the vats of acid in Gotham City." (Credit to one Vince Reyes, who has neither a blog nor a Twitter to link to. PROBABLY FOR THE BEST.)

Daredevil Murder Mystery: Basically just the same as those murder mystery parties, except you have to solve it blindfolded and then actually convict the murderer in a court of law. Winner is whoever accomplishes this, and their prize is having Mark Waid finally giving them a fucking break from their years of unrelenting misery.

Example of gameplay: "Counsel requests another drink?" (Just because you're solving a high-stakes murder mystery doesn't mean it's not still a party!)

Frank Miller Screed: Each guest at the table is assigned a number, one through however many guests you have in total. Each guest's number represents the order in which they will take on the role of Frank Miller. A series of timers/alarms is set, such that one will go off every twenty minutes. Conversation goes on as normal. When the timer goes off, the guest whose turn it is to be Frank Miller will respond directly to the topic of conversation immediately preceding the timer with a hateful rant. Any guest who fails to mention Al Qaeda in their rant will be disqualified. Game goes on until everyone has had a chance to be Frank Miller. Whoever has the angriest and most Milleresque rant will be determined the winner, and their prize will be the disappointment and outrage of the other guests, tempered by a grudging respect for the winner's (still problematic) earlier work.

Example of gameplay: "And this enemy of mine - not of yours, apparently - must be getting a dark chuckle, if not and outright horselaugh - out of your vain, childish, self-destructive spectacle. In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas' basements and play with your Lords of Warcraft."

Alright, you guys! Have fun! I'll be expecting comments/emails about how these games went over at your dinner party/explanations as to why I wasn't invited to your dinner party!

Matt Furie, Johnny Ryan, and The New Juvenilia

2011-11-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

Oh dang, that was probably the most academic sounding title that’s ever popped up on Death-Ray Ozone. Rest assured, I’m not here to talk to you about school. You know how it works because you’ve been there: School sux. Homework sux. Girls are weird. And all I wanna do is hang out and blow shit up with my friends.

Discussions about both Matt Furie and Johnny Ryan’s work will eventually circle back to reminiscing about the doodles drawn in the margins of your English notebook in Junior High School while you were trying to look busy as your teacher droned on about The Giver or whatever, which I suppose is fairly accurate, but I think we can refine this discussion a bit further when we consider the idea that Ryan and Furie’s comics voices belong to the same young man at different stages of immaturity.

I like to imagine that Johnny Ryan’s voice in Prison Pit belongs to the ugliest, angriest twelve-year-old boy in the world. He’s fascinated by blood and gutz, swearing is awesome, and the very idea of sex is a weird, gross mystery to him. Prison Pit is the voice of the angry id-child in all of us, screaming for more violence, more cursing, more bodily fluids spewing out of EVERYTHING because it would be so cool if that happened. That Prison Pit offers all of these with the added bonus of the violence begetting more bodily fluids, which in turn begets more cursing, which leads right back into more violence speaks to an indulgence that can only be enjoyed by kids with barely a shred of self-awareness and luxury yacht owners.

Matt Furie’s Boy’s Club has the same sort of immature indulgence, but the voice is a little bit older. With Boy’s Club we’ve got a group of fine young anthropomorphic men who, through some sort of magic or clerical error, have managed to pay rent on a modest house where all they do is hang out, do all kinds of hallucinogenic drugs, and try on different hats and t-shirts. The sense that I get from Boy’s Club is that Furie is using the voice of a young man who graduated from high school and just decided that he didn’t need to go to college because he was just done with going to school. If Ryan’s Prison Pit is an angry twelve-year-old kid’s wish fulfillment, then Furie’s Boy’s Club is wish fulfillment for the burnout slacker crowd. The same sort of indulgence is still there in Boy’s Club, but the priorities and tastes have *ahem* matured. Blood and gutz have been supplanted by drugs and snacks, swearing is just a part of the day-to-day vocabulary, ~~no different than a writer casually throwing in masturbatory asides,~~ and girls are still a weird mystery, but at least they’re not so gross anymore?

It just occurred to me that with the exception of Ladydactyl in Prison Pit, there are no female characters in either of these books, which I suppose makes sense when you consider that the voices that Ryan and Furie use in their respective works are informed by the idea that girls still largely remain a mystery. Ryan’s voice in Prison Pit sees girls as a mysterious other, not necessarily an opponent or a “bad guy.” Since Ryan’s voice doesn’t know how to interact with girls, or even people at large for that matter, Ladydactyl is depicted as some sort of shrieking, irrational beast who is dealt with like everyone else is dealt with in Prison Pit: EXTREME VIOLENCE.

Boy’s Club is a bit friendlier to women in the sense that women can’t be violently assaulted if they aren’t even there to begin with. I don’t think there’s a single mention of a female character in Boy’s Club. I suppose if we were to apply this to what this means for Furie’s voice in Boy’s Club, it would mean that Furie’s voice, via the boys of Boy’s Club, is not all that concerned with girls to begin with. The characters in Boy’s Club are all too busy hanging out with each other to even consider what having a girlfriend would mean. Hang out with only one person who’s probably only gonna be grossed out by my fart pranks and tremendous drug use? Um, no dude, I’ll stick with the fellas. You know, the guys that actually appreciate a good fart in the face.

What I’m getting at is that Prison Pit and Boy’s Club both tap into that id within us, but each work speaks to a different id with different priorities that change in us over time. Both Ryan and Furie are skilled comics creators and artists who are able to expose that immaturity to us, the grown men and women of taste and a degree of class, and have it be simultaneously appealing and repulsing in the sense that we enjoy this, but we should know better, shouldn’t we? Blood and guts are gross, drugs are illegal, and cursing isn’t polite.

Girls, however, might still be a mystery.

Co-Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #1, Uncanny X-Men #1

2011-11-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Tessa: X-Men!

Geoffrey: Yeah. The world still hates and fears them. Like, A LOT.

Tessa: Because, as with money, people apparently think it matters how you get your powers. Unlike with money money, they don't prefer for you to be born with them.

Geoffrey: So did you choose sides, or what?

Tessa: I did, although my sympathies are, admittedly, divided.

Geoffrey: I liked that about the conflict of ideologies that Schism presented. A sort of civil-war-style thing that didn't have that sweaty Mark Millar all over it.

Tessa: Yes, and I think it gets to the heart of something that has always been a part of the X-Men, which is the division of people with a common goal and different ideas of how that is to be achieved. You saw it with Xavier and Magneto, and now it's playing out, albeit very differently, with Wolverine and Cyclops.
It's both progressive and a return to form.

Geoffrey: It's not entirely the same conflict as Xavier/Magneto, which is nice.

Tessa: Yes, exactly. Because that conflict is fairly outmoded at this point.

Geoffrey: We get Wolverine as the new Xavier, albeit more isolationist, and we get Cyclops as the new Magneto, but acting more on the defensive.
So the question remains (well, two questions, actually): 1. WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?? and 2. Whose face will it blow up in first?

Tessa: 1. In spite of the fact that most of my favorite mutants are going to be living in the pages of Uncanny, I like Wolverine's angle better.
2. Obviously Cyclops because that guy cannot catch a break.

Geoffrey: The only reason you're conflicted is because Emma Frost is in Uncanny. But, 1. I picked Wolverine too. And, 2. I think it's going to be a real slow burn for Cyclops's inevitable face-to-palm at humanity.

Tessa: Yeah, I think Cyclops has chosen the more difficult mission for himself. Wolverine is fun dad, but Cyclops is forever the guy concerned with the X-Men's image. He wants so badly to be seen like The Avengers or the FF, and his resentment that he can't make it happen really eats away at him.

Geoffrey: But it looks like now he's kind of taking that back and folding that in to the new image of mutants he's crafting with The Extinction team.

Tessa: Yeah, which is no mean feat.

Geoffrey: Especially with a name like "The Extinction Team." Still, though, leaps and bounds beyond "The Science Club" or “The X-Club” or whatever stupid name Beast came up with.

Tessa: Indeed. One thing I appreciate about both books is how clear the guiding mission is behind them. I think it's easy to get a little lost with the X-Men if you don't come out strong, so Schism was a good opportunity to define those directions for the two teams. That said, it got a little Red Rover-ish during the transition.

Geoffrey: Yeah, I didn't bother with the Regenesis special. How'd that work out?

Tessa: If you read the infographics at the back of Wolverine & the X-Men and Uncanny, you basically know. The only part I enjoyed was Cyclops meeting up with Dazzler at a cafe.
Because who does the militaristic half of the X-Men need? DAZZLER. Love it.

Geoffrey: Whatever, Dazzler is great.

Tessa: I agree!

Geoffrey: She's a mutant superhero disco ROCKSTAR. She's the "Rain" of X-Men. OH MY GOD CAN WE PLEASE GET RAIN IN THE NEXT X-MEN MOVIE??

Tessa: And for this we at Death-Ray Ozone commend her. Speaking of characters I was pleasantly surprised to see, I am so glad that Doop is an administrator at the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning.

Geoffrey: Oh yeah, I hope there's more Doop.
All of the characters that Jason Aaron got for Wolverine and the X-Men are solid gold. Plus I'm always onboard for some teen hero school antics, and it's great seeing these characters in teacher positions.

Tessa: Absolutely, and it's fitting that they'll be going toe-to-toe with the Lil' Hellfires, because that's the horrible name I have given them.

Geoffrey: That is horrible. I'm more excited for the football match with Avengers Academy, actually. I really do hope that we get more of the school angle than the big action superheroics from this book, though. And I’m not saying it should be left out, but I like that Jason Aaron is bringing back this group of X-Men to those spots in the Claremont era when he would just let the X-Men hang out and run with it. Plus, it seems like we'll be getting plenty of dudes hitting each other in Uncanny X-men.

Tessa: Yes, that one's all about the big ideas and the big action.

Geoffrey: Wolverine and the X-Men seems like lower, more personal stakes, which I'm fine with, but Uncanny seems like the "important" book in terms of how mutants are going to be seen by the rest of the Marvel Universe

Tessa: Right.

Geoffrey: Both are fun, though. Wolverine in a more sit-commy, light hearted way. Uncanny in a "Namor just punched that giant floating Mr. Sinister head to the ground / I wonder how the humans are going to find a way to hate and fear them this time” way.

Tessa: One thing I like about Uncanny, re: the characters on the team, is that Kieron Gillen excels at writing bitchy, supercilious characters, and Uncanny has Emma Frost, Magneto, Storm, and Namor. So as far as characters are concerned, Gillen should be able to play to his strengths.

Geoffrey: Jeez, how great was that bit where Storm asks everyone to raise their hands if they weren't formerly villains?

Tessa: It was a funny moment, but it also did a good job of revealing the stakes. The team in charge of the X-Men's image is full of PR nightmares.

Geoffrey: But that's the point. And it's really effective. As I was reading Cyclops's train of thought on the Extinction team, I was simultaneously nodding my head in agreement, but also thinking, "Oh, this only can end horribly."

Tessa: It's pretty clear that both teams are in over their heads.

Geoffrey: Sure, but I think Wolverine's team less so by virtue of it being a bit lower stakes than Cyclops's team. But there's a lot of potential for all of Jason Aaron's characters to just end up hating each other anyway. Also I thought it was interesting that he chose a team with a good number of new characters

Tessa: I think that's a smart move, given that he's placing them in a more familiar context. Granted, it has been rebuilt and altered, but it's still the basic "school for mutants" formula. Fresh blood is a necessity to make that work.

Geoffrey: I'm pretty excited about this new era of the X-Men mostly because it actually does feel like some new ground being tread. The world still hates and fears them, but the different angles to the whole central conflict of ideologies is something that I don't think has been touched upon in the forty-ish years of X-Men comics.

Tessa: Yes, it's nice to see distinct and meaningful conflict in the mutant community and well-defined missions for those factions. Which is, as we discussed, isn’t really a new formula, but it’s being revisited in a new way. I think veering too far into outside threat/inside bickering model over the past years has caused a lot of stagnation in the X-books, so this is a necessary jolt.

Geoffrey: Being the victims of countless attempts at genocide is bound to steer any group towards isolationism.

Tessa: Anything else we want out of the X-Men before we sign off?

Geoffrey: I just hope Cyclops can get a day off sometime. Because it looks like he's headed down a path that Matt Murdock previously walked, and it didn't really work out too well for him -- Although Daredevil IS being written by Mark Waid now, so maybe if things take a turn for the worse, we can take comfort in the hope of a Mark Waid / Marcos Martin Cyclops series. WHICH I WOULD READ THE SHIT OUT OF, BY THE WAY.

I don't think I have anything else to say about these books except that I'm excited to see where both are going.
And I can't wait to see more of Quentin Quire to start REALLY being a snotty shit.

Tessa: And for Emma Frost and Namor to totally get it on.

Geoffrey: Namor and Emma aren't going to get it on.

Tessa: Shhhhhhhh, let me have this.

Geoffrey: She likes the power too much to give in to his Atlantean seduction techniques (read: being shirtless ALL the time). If there's one thing Emma Frost enjoys more than shirtless pecs, it's power.

Tessa: Gurl, I feel you.

Geoffrey: OH GOD HAVE I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS TOO MUCH?

Tessa: Correct, Geoffrey.

Tessa Paraphrases Swamp Thing, Vol. 2

2011-11-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

OH GURRRRL, looks like like Swamp Thing really stepped up to the plate this issue (check that cover--it has both a gun AND a motorcycle) and stopped being an exhausting yet promising catalog of exposition. I'm going to recap it anyway for reasons that are semi-justified but mostly self-indulgent.* Here goes.

ISSUE THREE:

We open in a hospital! A doctor is being condescending to a kid in a hermetically sealed bubble, telling him he needs to make more friends and have more fun. Said kid (William) is allergic to chlorophyll (SUCKS), as the doctor explains to him for what must be the thousandth time.** Doctor tries to use a metaphor as an excuse to brag about his trophies from scuba fishing because he is completely intolerable. Also he has a tiny ponytail. One of the mounted fish starts speaking to William even though it does not seem to be a Big Mouth Billy Bass.*** Terrifying.

During fun social time, it becomes clear that the reason William has no friends has everything to do with the fact that his fellow patients are sadist bullies who are constantly threatening to cut open William's bubble.****

Now we are in the woods with our ol' pal Alec Holland and the sexy white-haired lady on the motorcycle. She has, unequivocally, the nicest eyebrows I have ever seen. She threatens Alec with a gun, saying that if he doesn't prove that he's "The Real Alec Holland" (Gurl you never knew the real Alec Holland! Did you not read Issues 1 & 2 of Swamp Thing or at least my recap?!), she will shoot him in the face. Alec responds by restraining her with vines that he apparently can control in times of stress.

White-haired lady is sufficiently impressed, and introduces herself as Abigail Arcane. Abigail and Alec reminisce about how they totally dated in Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing (except Alec knows these aren't really his memories and it's weird). She's all "Come with me if you want to live" (just kidding, but not really?), and Alec jumps on her motorcycle because they are going to go save a hospitalized boy (I WONDER WHO IT WILL BE) "with the power to end the whole world."

Meanwhile at the hospital, William is instructed by the dead fish on the wall to mangle the everloving crap out of his horrible bullies, which he does, to appallingly gross effect. Then smug ponytail doctor shows up and starts coughing up blood because William what have you done now?

Back on the motorcycle in the woods, Abby informs Alec that just as he is connected to "the green," some are connected to "the black" (the rot), and that this kid is one of them. It is worth noting at this point, that if you picked up Animal Man this week, you are also aware that "the red" (fauna) are marshaling their forces against the rot. Looks like we're all going to learn the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season.

So Abby apparently has a family history of the rot, and ever since she stopped making out with Swamp Thing***** the rot has been calling to her, and it's saying "MY TEAM." It's pretty imperative that they get to this hospital to rescue this boy or else he will become the king of the rot or something, and it will be biblically catastrophic. Also he's Abby's brother. So there's that.

They arrive at the hospital and find mangled bodies and the smug doctor literally vomiting his guts out. Abigail makes the same concerned/disgusted face I made when I found out how highly rated a show NCIS is.****** Apparently it was Abby's smart idea to "keep him safe" in a hospital, because it's always a smart idea to keep a ticking time bomb of armageddon somewhere you can't keep track of him. And boy can't they! Because homeboy has made off with smug doctor's scuba gear and is off to cause destruction. (I'm going to add here that if William's chlorophyll problem were respiratory alone, he wouldn't have needed the bubble in the first place, and if Snyder doesn't address this later I am seriously going to flip my shit.)

BOOM. To be continued.

*Whoops, I described all of blogging.

**Fun dinner party game, I call it DC Exposition, wherein you and your cohorts find excuses to tell each other things you already know.

***I had a high school English teacher who had a Big Mouth Billy Bass in her classroom that she would activate every so often, to her students' horror.

****Whoops, I described all of the internet.

*****Dendrophilia seems to be having a cultural moment. See also: Rihanna's recent Esquire cover, where she is naked but for a piece of wilted lettuce on her shoulder.

******ZING.

Review: Elektra Lives Again

2011-10-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Elektra Lives Again
Frank Miller & Lynn Varley

Yes, I understand that I'm about ten years too late for this party, but I was inspired to pick this up at a used bookstore after reading David Brothers's excellent Frank Miller pieces on 4th Letter. Say what you will about Frank Miller (I'm sure some variations on "racist" or "misogynistic" are included in there), but the man has had a long career filled with A LOT of comics that have done a significant amount of work to move comics forward (and also set it back, sure). His work can't be ignored.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Miller's work with Elektra is very well-regarded, and much different from the "whores whores whores" kind of mentality that's been so commonly associated with Miller in the past few years. What we’ve got here is about seventy-five pages of watching a man work through the grieving process. Elektra is dead, and Matt Murdock is having a hard time sleeping. He’s being kept up by dreams of his assassin girlfriend being chased down and killed by the ghosts of everyone she’s ever murdered. In order to deal with it, Matt goes down all the dead end roads of calling an ex-girlfriend, working out, confession, and general brooding. One morning after having coerced grievance/pity sex out of a client (just another, more unethical, dead end road), Matt wanders over to Elektra’s grave, and because this is comics, he gets attacked by a group of ninjas demanding he tell them where Elektra is. Before he can even think to be like, “Did you even read that issue where Bullseye stabbed her through the chest with her own sai?” Matt has to defend himself from a ninja assault. Which he does, because he’s Daredevil, and beating up ninjas is kind of his thing. Captain America has Nazis, Spider-Man has muggers, Thor has frost giants – Daredevil has ninjas. The battle’s in full swing, and Matt’s probably just happy to have a problem he can hit when Elektra explodes out of her own grave, killing something like at least thirteen ninjas in the space of about seven panels before she stares down Matt and knocks him out with a poison throwing star.

Let’s take a second to appreciate the art here. One thing I love about Frank Miller’s art is that it’s so heavy and bold. Everyone looks like a physically strong person. Miller makes everyone look just the right combination of ugly and hard, but it works for the characters and the stories he puts them in. One thing that is especially good in this book is how big and open the art feels. Elektra Lives Again is mostly composed of very large, wide panels, giving Miller’s art some space to breath, allowing for some very beautiful scenery. The pages where he chooses to use many smaller panels are perfect for those pages where Matt is alone, crowded by his own thoughts, the many small panels reflecting Matt’s immersion and entrapment in the space of his own introspection. Miller is incredibly skilled at using his panel layouts to best reflect the pacing of his stories, and this panel where Matt and Elektra see each other for the first time since her death is a perfect example of Miller’s great sense of rhythm and pacing. The previous seven pages are set at two panels each, creating a very steadily paced action sequence. Each panel is a steady beat of Matt’s heart as we see the violent snapshots between Matt’s controlled heartbeats. When this panel comes up on the eighth page of the scene, there are no borders, meaning this panel is meant to be big, something that will force the reader to stop and breath it all in. Matt sees Elektra, and his heart stops cold. His reflexes are quick though, so it doesn’t take him an entire page to get back into it. Within the space of the same page, Matt’s regained his footing, and we’re back into it with four quick panels, four quick little heartbeats, bringing the action to an abrupt halt with the help of a poison throwing star. It’s a thoughtful layout that really works to pull you in deeper to Matt’s confused and grieving mind.

And this is where the comicbook does what all good comicbooks do – this is where Frank Miller uses the art of the superhero story to present a hyperbolic look into our own lives. The best superhero comicbooks are the ones in which we see ourselves. We see our heroes, idealized and exaggerated versions of ourselves or at least who we want to be, tackling our own problems and our own emotions that have manifested themselves on the comicbook page as alien invasions, tyrant gods, and resurrected ninja ex-girlfriends. Elektra Lives Again is a story about facing the pain and the grief of loss, and this is where it comes out to face our hero.

Except at this point, Miller’s been at it for a while, and subversion is a fine tool at his disposal. This is not to be confused with subtlety, which is a tool that Miller may have lost at the bottom of his toolbox since forever, but if there’s a place where a lack of subtlety is at least a little bit acceptable, it has to be superhero comicbooks, right? What sets apart Elektra Lives Again from all those other hyperbolized confrontations on the comicbook page is that while Miller does give a tangible form to the confrontation of grief and loss in the form of a resurrected Elektra, it’s not something that Matt can flip around and billy-club into submission. This is because Matt is never really let in on the more fantastic, comicbook-y elements of this particular story. Elektra is back from the dead, she’s being hunted by The Hand, and Bullseye is killed and resurrected to be more powerful than ever, but for all his determined bluster and skill with a billy club, Matt Murdock is set apart from the inner workings of the mysticism centered around Elektra’s resurrection, and he doesn’t get a lot of answers. Sure, we get some hints as to why all of this resurrection and murder is happening, and Matt has to deal with some ninjas trying to kill him, but the central conflict exists between Elektra and The Hand – Matt is just an incidental inconvenience. However, because Matt is the main character that we are following around, the last half of the story is not about Elektra vs. The Hand, but rather it is still about Matt’s dealing with the pain of losing Elektra, although now with the added element of unanswered questions about how and why Elektra is back. Matt’s futile investigation and bath tub introspection about Elektra’s resurrection acts as a version of our own search for meaning behind our own pains of loss, be it from losing a loved one or a relationship ending.

By the end of the book, we have a big Elektra vs. Bullseye rematch that doesn’t end well for either party, and as Matt looks into Elektra’s eyes as she once again dies in his arms, we realize along with Matt that the only way to deal with grief and loss is to move on. It’s difficult to say goodbye, but it’s something that must be done if Matt is ever to continue his life. When Elektra says goodbye before dying, we get Matt’s pain and acceptance of letting go, and maybe further, we see Frank Miller saying goodbye to his time writing Elektra. He’d created a great character and he’d told some great stories, but it was time to move on and make something new. His determination to push his art further and his willingness to lay his bare emotions on the page are why, even if I may not much care for certain items in his catalogue of work, I will always have respect for Frank Miller.

Tessa Paraphrases Swamp Thing [As Best She Can] - Vol. 1

2011-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that we at Death-Ray Ozone love Scott Snyder, bless his opening comic books by reflecting on something a mentor once told him heart. But guys. Guys. I am having a hard time figuring out what the hell is going on in Swamp Thing. Which would be something I'd take for granted if it weren't part of DC's New 52, which is laughably supposed to introduce new readers to the DC Universe. So (presumably) the only rule is that the new series have to stand alone, no wait the only rule is do whatever, no wait the only rule is do whatever but you have to put Superman in that dumb new costume. Zing! Those are the rules.

Swamp Thing is among those books that was all, reboot=retcon, right? (NOPE.) But the universe itself is rebooted (we know this because of, say it with me, Superman's dumb new costume). So it can be best described as a retcon within a rebooted universe? (DC, I can't believe you made me write that sentence.) I know. I KNOW. Shhh, shhhhhh, I'm here now. And we're going to make sense of this together, one issue of Swamp Thing at a time.

ISSUE ONE (The McLaughlin Group? Anybody?*):

The first line is "My father was a florist," so don't worry, you guys--Scott Snyder is definitely writing this book. Some sort of metaphor seems to be happening in the narration while Clark Kent is in the Daily Planet building (which according to George Perez, doesn't exist anymore, so does this take place before page one of his rebooted Superman? Must be! REBOOTS. Love it.) with Lois Lane & Perry White, watching a whole mess of pigeons fall out of the sky dead. It's super gross because pigeons are gross and so is death.

Meanwhile, in Gotham, Batman is distressed to see the same thing happening to bats. In addition to being a personal thing for Batman, bats are also more useful to society than pigeons because they eat pests, so this is objectively sadder. Under the sea we join Aquaman for some dead fish action. Also presumably sad (though who knows with Aquaman these days).

We are now at a construction site in Louisiana, where we realize that Alec Holland has been our narrator all along, and boy does this guy have feelings about plants. We are meant to think he has put his plant doctor life behind him for a life of construction work, with occasional allusions to plant doctoring. In Arizona, both recently (lizard!) and long-dead (mammoth!) animals are becoming mysteriously disinterred.

Back to Alec! He's hitting us with some more Plant Facts (like Flash Facts, but for botany and horticulture enthusiasts). And then, IMPORTANT EXPOSITION. While working on a bio-restorative formula that could grow plants wherever, there was a lab explosion, and Alec straight-up died. What? Yes. He woke up alive six weeks ago in a swamp with memories of being, ahem, a SWAMP THING during the intervening time.

Superman arrives! I won't tell you what he's wearing, but I'm sure you can guess.** He couldn't find Alec because bro quit his lab job (SWAMP THING NO MORE). Superman is concerned about the dead animals, Swam--I mean Alec thinks it's kind of no big deal because this stuff happens (like in Magnolia or the Bible). He also denies ever having been Swamp Thing. No sir, not him. Superman gets down to brass tacks and is like "I'm worried about you, bro." And Alec is like "RIGHTLY SO." He has weird swampy memories and a crush on a white-haired lady he's never met. Superman suggests Alec goes back to being a Superbotanist but he's not having any of it.

In Arizona the guys who were excavating the mammoth are like, "Where's our mammoth?" One of them sees something disgusting and unspeakable and then a fly flies into his ear even though he kept saying that he was a scientist! At which point his head twists backwards, his eyes go white, and he becomes a disgusting fiend. Same thing for everybody else in the party. Then we glimpse this huge corpsey monster.

Back to Alec, who is chilling in a motel that Original Eyeball of the Mindless Ones pointed out is named after former Swamp Thing artist John Totleben (good catch!). Alec is beset by vines to the point that he's all set to throw away his bio-restorative formula when he meets, a creature I can only describe as a Swamp Thing.

ISSUE TWO:

We open in a WWII flashback, where A. H. Rogers is flying a fighter plane. He is killed in a crash and pretty unhappy about it because he became a pilot to avoid his swampy destiny and now he's in a swamp, being overtaken by destiny.*** So this is the Swamp Thing standing before Alec right now. He was Swamp thing for awhile, then took root at the Parliament of Trees and is only now hauling his ass away from said Parliament to have some words with Alec, who is being a good ol' fashioned Joe Campbell reluctant hero. Swamp Thing Rogers is pretty insistent about having this chat, so Alec relents.

So there is this amorphous plaguey villain called Seethe that Swamp Thing Rogers is pretty worried about (we can assume said villainous plague force is responsible for the gross stuff we saw in #1). Seethe has a long history of pulling horrible, life-destroying stunts like what it's doing in Wrightson Diner (hey, paying attention to the signs now, that one's Bernie Wrightson, another former Swamp Thing artist). And he's gathering an army! Like those paleontologists whose heads he twisted! Seethe looks an awful lot like the Hunters Three we've been seeing in Animal Man, so it looks like we're inching into crossover territory (which make sense given that Snyder and Jeff Lemire are buddies, and that Animal Man and Swamp Thing are natural hippie allies--we'd invite Aquaman but he thinks he's too cool for that shit now).

So Swamp Thing Rogers is pulling the prophecy card and saying that it's time for Alec to step up and join the fight. Alec is miffed because he insists he was already a Swamp Thing, but Swamp Thing Rogers says that actually what happened is that the explosion prevented Alec from becoming Swamp Thing. So basically the Parliament made a facsimile Swamp Thing Holland with Alec's memories (the one from Alan Moore's run), and somehow Alec is now alive again and has those memories but they aren't really his but they kind of are. They...swapped memories? I think? So each has memories of a time when he was not alive? Tradesies?

Swamp Thing Rogers starts dying (because he uprooted himself from the Parliament, which is apparently a pretty serious thing), still with his "Don't write off this Swamp Thing thing, we think you'd be pretty good. Either way, avoid that white-haired lady you've never met but have a crush on." Sounds easy enough. Alec goes back to the motel, feeling weird. The manager? Owner? Something? of the motel gets attacked by the super gross flies and then shows up at Alec's door all head-torquey and bearing an axe. To kill him! Everyone else in proximity: same deal.

Alec responds, as any rational human would, by jumping on a motorcycle with a stranger who will no doubt turn out to be the very lady Swamp Thing Rogers warned him about, because come on. They outrun Seethe's hordes, and Alec wants to stop the bike. Motorcycle person is like, "No big deal, because not only am I the white-haired lady you were warned about, but I have a gun and am totally pointing it at you."

[DEAFENING PIPE ORGAN CHORD]

So that's where we are so far. Thanks for joining me! I'll be back with future editions unless Swamp Thing becomes really straightforward somewhere down the line.

*Hey, it's a totally relevant allusion because The McLaughlin Group made a cameo in Watchmen, written by former writer of Swamp Thing and guy with formidable beard, Alan Moore. BOOM.

**Credit where credit is due, Yanick Paquette gives us the least terrible rendition of Superman's new costume that I've seen so far. His art on this book is pretty damn exceptional.

***We get into the whole Swamp Thing mythos with successive Swamp Things who are born as humans with fancy special earthy blood and are selected by the Parliament of Trees and when they die they get Swamped and when they're done Swamping they join the Parliament where they can hang out forever and presumably choose future Swamp Things?

Review: Wonder Woman #1

2011-09-22T12:01:00.001-07:00

Wonder Woman #1

Brian Azzarello (w), Cliff Chiang (a)

Wonder Woman is in many ways a sterling example of everything that is right and wrong with DC. Here is a character noteworthy more because of her legacy and her potential than anything else. Here is a character with a long history of being more iconic than well-rounded. Here is a character who has become notorious for being difficult to write or to understand. Here is a character the public (even the non-comic-reading public) is invested in but doesn't know why.

In short, Wonder Woman is the kind of character the DC reboot was made for: an iconic character with a long, confused history who would benefit from a fresh start. That said, given all the missteps and regressive creative decisions that have hampered the reboot so far (barring a few extraordinary exceptions--like the rest of the internet, I am smitten with Animal Man and certainly onboard with a few other titles), I had very low expectations for Wonder Woman.

Boy was I wrong.

Wonder Woman #1 is as straightforward and intuitive a reboot as I could have asked for. There are a million things this book does right, and nearly all of them stem from the fact that Azzarello has put Diana in a context that actually makes sense for her and her varied influences. It's what we in the biz* would call "mad coherent."**

The first instinct in dealing with Wonder Woman always seams to be "run screaming from her mythic origins" or else "flashback to Amazons playing badminton near a babbling brook where some of them are swimming and giggling, delightedly, to (ONE WOULD HOPE) every reader's embarrassment." Happily, Azzarello doesn't fall into either trap. Instead he acknowledges both the strangeness and grimness of the Greek mythological landscape and grounds them in a contemporary American setting (kind of like what Jason Aaron's run on Ghost Rider did for Judeo-Christian mythology). It's simultaneously gritty and fantastical (and hey, so is the phrase "warrior princess," taken at its most literal meaning), and it lets readers flex those "Greek mythology allusion-spotting" muscles.***

More than that, drawing on Greek mythology gives Azzarello a straightforward plot that can be as self-contained or expansive as he chooses. "Diana protects a mortal woman impregnated by Zeus from Hera's wrath." LOOK AT HOW UNFUSSY THAT IS: instant threat, instant world-building, instant direction, instant relationships. Almost as if he were writing the first issue introducing a character and storyline!

His approach to Diana as a character is also refreshing in its clarity. Her compassion is tempered with a soldier's terseness. Zola on the other hand (the woman gestating a McGuffin), is hot-headed and impulsive, making her a good foil to the guarded and dutiful Diana. Sensing a pattern? Azzarello isn't breaking new ground here; he's just telling a tight, clean story with boldly drawn characters. And he makes it look easy.

Cliff Chiang's standout art is a big part of that. His character designs for the mythical figures are clever and imaginative (Hermes as a bird/man hybrid, Apollo's sunlit brilliance peeking out of what appears to be a dark metal suit), and his action scenes are violent and kinetic. My only complaint (and it isn't really a complaint because I actually loved it) was a scene where Diana is awakened while sleeping naked under the sheet. In the space of one panel she fashions said sheet into a smart little outfit, which she then uses for the sole purpose of walking across the room and dropping the sheet to change into her armor. THAT'S RIDICULOUS. But if a Wonder Woman comic isn't a safe space for bizarre and campy moments like that, then I don't know what is.****

Wonder Woman #1 is smart, simple, and a ton of fun--the kind of comic I hoped the reboot would foster. Next time on Death-Ray Ozone, I show everybody how to make their very own Wonder Woman duct tape wrist gauntlets!*****

*Blogging for free

**I'm so sorry

***Want to know one of the cheapest ways to get a laugh at a college improv show? (Not dick jokes, surprisingly.) Break out your damn Greek mythology references. Everyone gets it, everyone feels smart for getting it, everyone is so excited that they got it that they laugh (if for no other reason) because they are totally pleased with themselves.

****Answer: every episode of Gossip Girl.

*****No, I don't.

Review: Prison Pit, Book 3

2011-09-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Prison Pit, Book 3
by Johnny Ryan

If you're onboard for the third installment of something so purposefully vile as Prison Pit, you know what you're getting into. You're not going to be shocked by violence and gore, but you're still going to have a great time, and as you flip through Book Three you're still going to be muttering middle school interjections to yourself to the tune of "oooh GROSS" or "siiiiiick" or whatever you would yell out when Rodney Hagelman put mustard on cottage cheese during recess. What makes this book different is that now that we know that we've got the stomach for it, we're going to need something more than just an increased level of brutality, and fortunately for us, Johnny Ryan gives what our sick minds didn't even know we needed from something like Prison Pit. He gives us some beginnings of what may be... a plot?...

Man, the more I'm thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I'm just being an asshole reaching to find meaning in the depths of the Prison Pit abyss. On the surface, we get the incredibly enjoyable and somewhat mindless game of a strong guy mangling other strong guys with ridiculous violence and cursing at a ninth-grade level, but beneath that I suppose we get a blank space to bring in whatever meaning we can dig up from Prison Pit. And maybe there isn't anything more to it than a bunch of ugly things smashing each other into uglier, bloodier things. Sure. Fine. But Johnny Ryan makes sure that that surface take on the material is entirely enjoyable in its own right. We get a collection of creatures and monsters beating the shit out of each other in the most juvenile way possible, but Johnny Ryan does such a handsome job of designing these creatures to be as ugly and awful as possible. It's an ugliness that you see in the margins of your seventh-grade notebook when you were drawing pictures of horrible things because this was the only thing that could excite you during social studies or whatever, and it's exciting to look at because you never know what you're going to see next.

Anyway, there seems to be some semblance of a more complex plot forming here in this volume, which is a good move since it'd be futile to try to make things more violent. The violence curve had been set so high in the first two books anyway, it'd be impossible to top it now that the audience is expecting this kind of caliber of violence from this book. Instead, Johnny Ryan takes the unexpected route of hinting at a plot bigger than "Some mean motherfucker fights other mean motherfuckers while trying to escape the desert wasteland he's trapped in," and he does this with the introduction of a new, unnamed character who we are led to believe is the archenemy of our *ahem* hero, Cannibal Fuckface. With the introduction of this new character, Johnny Ryan hints at a few new possibilities for the story of Cannibal Fuckface. We are left with the potential for some sort of backstory or history between the two characters, and more importantly there is the hint of something resembling consequences to Cannibal Fuckface's actions. It also helps that this new character carries himself in a way much different from the rest of Prison Pit's inhabitants. While everyone we've seen so far is aggressive and over the top, this new character is quiet, understated, and driven only to find and, presumably, kill Cannibal Fuckface. The new character and the new plot elements he hints at are a well-timed break from the usual 100+ pages of violence. I mean, it still is 100+ pages of some of the goriest violence out there, except that this particular volume gives you a little bit more substance in the form of the loose outlines of plot.

But none of that is why we pick up a book like Prison Pit, is it? We can intellectualize Prison Pit all we want, but the real appeal of Prison Pit is that it's fun on a purely visceral level. It doesn't require a lot of work to enjoy it because we don't really care about something so trite as a plot. We pick up Prison Pit for the carefree thrill of wonton violence and escapism. We pick up Prison Pit to feed our id, deeper meanings and criticism about form and structure be damned. We pick up Prison Pit to remind us of that time when we could've beat up Gregory Clauss if we'd just held our ground, but instead we ran away and drew pictures of him getting his throat stepped on. Maybe that says more about us than it does about Prison Pit, but c'mon, man. This isn't about us, this is about some ugly dudes beating the shit out of each other, and if that's not your thing, don't worry about it, I'll be around later to talk about that new issue of Optic Nerve that came out this week, but for now, fuck off for a second, I think I see a guy getting his guts pulled out through his dick.

Review: Casanova - Avaritia #1

2011-09-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Casanova: Avaritia #1

Matt Fraction (w), Gabriel Bá (a)

It's September! The start of fall! The best and weirdest time of the year! A time of transition, new beginnings, false starts, reboots, fuck-ups, manning up, getting real! DC is pretending to start over from scratch again, we're pulling our sweaters out of storage (or fantasizing about it, depending on your climate), and Casanova is back and having a terrible time.

Are you having a terrible time? I know I am. America is. The comics industry is. If I could name the current zeitgeist, I would call it "WE'RE HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME." Suffice it to say, this new arc of Casanova feels relevant as hell.

If the first two arcs of Casanova were about pushing escapism to its limits, Avaritia is about the consequences of doing that. You can run, but you can't hide. If you're going to tear a hole in the multiquintessence, you have to rebuild it, painstakingly, at whatever cost. Doing the right thing is almost never fun, and responsibility and autonomy are almost always mutually exclusive. You start out as Diabolik and end up as George Bailey. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

As presaged by the death of Ruby Seychelle in Gula #3, killing is no longer fun or impermanent. Violence is mean, exhausting, and (literally) sickening, right down to the bruisey, rotting fruit color palette (equal parts gorgeous and nauseating). There are literal Xs over the twinkles in Casanova's eyes. The breakneck speed and crowded pages that made the first arcs of Casanova an exuberant romp make Avaritia like running an obstacle course with a hangover.

It's basically fantastic.

As much as, in my innocent heart-of-hearts, I would love to see Casanova keep being the fun, sexy, super-spy forever, there is something sad but heartening about watching him take the tough road, even though it means endless misery (this is why The Long Goodbye is my favorite Raymond Chandler novel--a moral compass is a white elephant of a gift). Fraction makes much, both in this issue's backmatter and in this excellent interview with Laura Hudson on Comics Alliance, of the fact that his creator-owned and work-for-hire comics are apples and oranges. That said, a lot about this issue reminds me of so much of what I liked about his run on Invincible Iron Man (especially #500). It's safe to say, between the two comics, that responsibility is a big concern for Fraction, which makes sense, given his history as a recovering alcoholic. Not to mention, you know, America. "WE'RE HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME." (Not that Fraction is having a terrible time--it sounds like he's doing pretty great, actually! Nice going, Matt! You've earned it! Your wife seems cool as well! Dinner Thursday?)

So, much as it was an unmitigated delight to run away from our problems with Casanova in Luxuria and (to a lesser extent, given the shades of darkness to come) in Gula, it is also reassuring to muscle through the shit with him in Avaritia. God willing we'll all come out of it like an army of Iggy Pops, worn and tattered but still laughing, fighting, and fucking.

Review: The Ultimates #1

2011-08-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Ultimates #1
Jonathan Hickman (w), Esad Ribic (a)

The Ultimate universe is starting over, sort of? Well, not really starting over, but maybe it's a new direction? I'm not too sure, I haven't kept up with The Ultimate universe in a good long while. From what we've got in here, it doesn't really look like a new direction. We've got more of the same world crises that only a worldwide force of Superheroes led by the biggest, best team of American Superheroes (read: The Ultimates) can face, we've got Nick Fury multi-tasking with the fate of the world at his no-nonsense fingertips, we've got Tony Stark being a cavalier party-boy throwing rich kid quips as freely as he throws back champagne bottles and dollar bills, and we've got Thor in the center of a superhuman bar fight. Oh, and where is Captain America? (Seriously, though, I don't know what's up with Ultimate Cap, and as far as I can tell, Nick Fury doesn't either. I'm not sure if this was a plot point from previous Ultimate Universe stories or if this is going to be one of the mysteries that Nick Fury's going to tangle with in this first arc, but I do want to know what's up with the dude who takes up the biggest chunk of cover space.)

Nothing too new or exciting, but it's that entertaining flavor we feel safe with coming from a book like The Ultimates.

Now, I'd have no problem writing off the book right here and moving on, but the problem with that is that Jonathan Hickman is leading this run of The Ultimates, and this man has earned the benefit of the doubt in my book. Really, the thing that I enjoyed most from this book was the most Hickman-esque scifi first page. We have a bunch of unidentified superhuman-types standing around in the desert talking about building, and a giant dome appears out of nowhere while someone goes on about the disappointment of creation. Great. Amazing. Sign me up. I want to know more. The problem comes with everything after that first page. It's not much different from the all-out action and dancing around arm-chair politics that Mark Millar so deftly constructed in the first two volumes of The Ultimates, and that stuff was really cool and exciting and probably the best action movie I've ever read, but we live in a post-Ultimates, post-Authority world where that blend of politics and action has become standard practice. It's not that it's a bad way to go about writing a comic, it's just that it's all been done before.

I mean, yes, most things in superhero comics have been done before, but this is a new first issue that Marvel has been building up as a new direction or a new beginning for the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Why not actually take a new direction and find a different approach for The Ultimates? I mean if anyone can do it, Jonathan Hickman can, and that first page did give me some hope that we'd be seeing some new, different Ultimates stories, and yes, I understand that this is a first issue and Hickman probably needs some space to let his story grow and develop and all that, but we've been getting years of this stuff, haven't we? Isn't it time we get something new? As a lapsed Ultimates reader I was disappointed that this Universe that had prided itself on change and progressive storytelling was pretty much exactly in the same state that I'd left it in, but I'm a fan enough of the creative teams behind this Ultimate Universe revival that I'll indulge my hopeful curiosity.

Co-Review: Detective Comics #871-881

2011-08-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Geoff: Let's talk about Detective Comics!

Tessa: Crackerjack! It's been a hell of a run. I'm sorry to see it finished but very excited DC is giving Scott Snyder more to do, because boy did he prove his mettle with this one.

Geoff: Yeah, I can't think of a single issue I didn't like. Plus, Jock and Fracesco Francavilla were consistently great too.

Tessa: Yes, absolutely

Geoff: I'll go out and say that it's the freshest that Batman and Commissioner Gordon have been in years. right up there with Morrison's stuff, but a different flavor of it.

Tessa: Absolutely, I think one of Scott Snyder's greatest gifts is how he manipulates tone. He works in a genre that people don’t talk about much these days. You hear about thrillers and horror and action, but no one really uses "suspense" as a stand-alone term, and I think that's the best description of what he does. Snyder was incredibly skilled at maintaining that sense of eerie disquietude over this entire run.

Geoff: And I think keeping Dick Grayson in the middle of this eerie tone is part of what made it so great. He's a good, light-hearted counter balance to all the unsettling darkness that's happening all around him. I mean, he's always been, and I think that's what Snyder was exploring with this run on Detective Comics. We've always seen Dick act as the lighter side to Bruce's Batman, but now that he's Batman, the focus is wider. Dick's now acting as the light in the darkness of all of Gotham, and this run is all about whether he's up for it.

Tessa: Yes, and Snyder gives him a lot to contend with. The gritty awfulness of Gotham City has gotten a lot of play in the past few decades, but never has it seemed so threatening. Snyder really plays with Gotham as the haunted city, whose grim history is practically oozing out of the mortar.

Geoff: This is one of the few instances in superhero comics where I've actually been concerned about the safety of the main character. I mean, judging by genre conventions, it's pretty stupid to worry about what's going to happen to the title character of the book, but there were a few times where I was totally worried about whether Dick would make it out alive. Like when all of the people in the Black Mirror auction were ready mangle him, or that one hallucination where Dick wakes up with no legs.

Tessa: Yes, having Dick and the Gordons at the center of the book definitely adds this quality of vulnerability. These are people who can and have been hurt, and it seems like the entire city is rising up against them almost of its own will. And James Jr., of course, is the perfect foil to this group of relatable and (for the most part) morally rock-solid characters.

Geoff: He has that great monologue in the last issue of the run about how Barbara, Commissioner Gordon, and Dick all try to shape Gotham because of their compassion and empathy -- things that James Jr. has written off as weaknesses -- which makes sense as to why he gets along so well with the dealer from the Black Mirror auction house. There's that great bit in the second issue where the dealer is shouting about how purposeful evil is the true evolutionary mark that sets men apart from beasts, and how things like compassion and empathy are traits that belong to weaker, less evolved people.

Tessa: That, to me, was one of the strongest issues. It also played on one of my favorite ideas about Gotham City, which is that the upper crust is always throwing gala events that are being crashed by supervillains. So seeing a supervillainous gala event in Gotham was incredibly satisfying.

Geoff: But this Time-- the upper crust ARE the villains!

Tessa: Right, and also the notion that they've been in on it all along to some degree --that they get off on being close to danger and evil, and always have, which really ties into Dick reminiscing about his circus days, and what visiting Gotham meant: "It meant putting on the biggest, riskiest show of the season. No catch wires. No safety nets. Everyone pushing themselves to the limit." And that narration is revisited in the final issue.

Geoff: But when it opens the first issue there's another part that isn't repeated in the final issue. After the bit about pushing yourself to the limit, Dick's father goes on to talk about how "some places just have a hunger about them [...] and you either feed them what they want, or you stay far, far away." Gotham's hungry and it wants something from Dick Grayson. Because of that Gotham seems to be challenging him by confronting him with a dark reflection of himself. Same thing with Commissioner Gordon. Gotham has been challenging Gordon for years, and now Dick and the Commissioner are both faced with a Gotham that has become a dark reflection of the two of them, challenging them more than ever to be the beacons of light that they’ve been by coming at them with a relentless darkness that invades every aspect of their lives.

Tessa: And it's acknowledged, even at the end of the run, that it's always going to be an uphill, and possibly losing battle. That in some ways, Dick and Jim shoulder a bigger burden than Bruce did/does, because they ARE defined more by their compassion. Their lives are a little fuller, but their vocations no less demanding. Not that Bruce lacks compassion exactly, but more that he is defined solely by being Batman.

Geoff: Well, James Jr. even says that he sees that the old Batman works differently in that he's trying to shape Gotham out of an obsession or a pathological need.

Tessa: Yes, that seemed a very important point to me, that Jim and Barbara and Dick are more driven by wanting to do the right thing than anything else, and James is right in saying that this is a liability for them. And I think that's why, as you brought up, it's scarier to see them imperiled than it is with Bruce -- they are vulnerable in a way he isn't.

Geoff: I love that James Jr. is the big test for Dick and Commissioner Gordon, but my one problem was that the conflict between Dick and James Jr. didn't feel as personal or meaningful as it did between James Jr. and Commissioner Gordon. And it makes sense that it doesn't, but I just wanted Dick to have stronger feelings about James Jr. Dick's conflict with James Jr. is working on a separate level, though, which I appreciated -- the idea of James Jr. as the flesh and blood embodiment of Gotham's darkness, the thematic black mirror to Dick Grayson

Tessa: Right, subtle in his imagery, Snyder is not, but deft with it nonetheless.

Geoff: It's not that apparent at the beginning of the run that this is what James Jr. is becoming. I think maybe some subtlety was undercut by James Jr.'s big villain parlor speech, sure, but for the first half of the run there's a big question about whether James is actually still a killer or if Commissioner Gordon is just getting suspicious because Gotham's warped him so much that he can't even believe his own son.

Tessa: Right. One of the things I also found interesting about James is his obsession with totems. Which is actually more a mirror to Bruce than Dick.

Geoff: The key thing?

Tessa: Not just the key, but also his involvement with the Black Mirror organization. I mean that's their whole deal. The scene at the auction wasn't scary to me because of the mob, it was scary because of the crowbar. Bruce's connection to totems was really heavily explored by Morrison, particularly in ROBW, but Dick isn't as attached to symbolism. And as such it's compelling to see the way that symbols can be used against him. The crowbar, the key, the orca. Lots of big, dramatic, unsettling imagery. He IS emotional, so those things resonate more.

Geoff: I don't know if I'd consider the orca a totem so much as it is just a big scary recurring image, but it does carry emotional resonance still, of course. the thing with the crowbar was a bit strange to me, though. I get that it's totem for the idea of a "Robin" character: a symbol for all the bad things that could happen, but that was Jason's crowbar, and since then it was a warning to all the Robins after Jason, and Dick had quit being Robin by then. I see the crowbar for Dick, again, not so much a totem, but more a thing that does still carry some sort of resonance. I don’t think it’s personal enough to be listed as a totem. Dick is aware of its significance, but I don't think it carries any totemic power to be used against him. In fact, Dick actually uses the crowbar to his advantage as he's trying to escape from the mob. The best thing about that crowbar is that at the end of the story, Dick doesn't keep the crowbar around, he just tells Alfred to toss it into the river, taking away its power as a symbol. It says something, though, that Tim is the one who initially keeps it around waiting for Dick to make the decision about what should be done with it. The crowbar is a symbol to the later Robins, and they turn to the original Robin, the one who can remain unaffected by its power, for guidance

Tessa: You make a lot of good points here, but I don't really think we're on such different pages as you seem to think. Where I disagree with you is that I think the crowbar transcends Jason and has a lot of significance for the whole Bat Family. I do think it's interesting that Tim doesn't feel like he has the choice of what to do with it, which does suggest that it still carries more symbolic weight for him than it does for Dick. But I think that escaping from the mob scene, him turning the crowbar to his advantage is a way of tying him to that mythology as well, the same way Damian bringing the crowbar into a locked room meeting with the Joker in Batman & Robin is his connection to it. I hadn't really thought about it, but Tim's not being sure what to do with it kind of speaks volumes.

Geoff: Of course, but I still think Dick's connection to it isn't as meaningful as it is with the other Robins. Tim sees it as a symbol of warning because he was the Robin after Jason. Damian's use of the crowbar is more of a subversion of expectations because he uses this power against the Joker, the man to whom the power belonged in the first place. Dick uses it to escape a mob. Then he throws it away without thinking twice.

Tessa: I guess I read a lot into the fact that the appearance of the crowbar is the exact moment when Dick begins to feel the effects of the mind-altering drugs he has been dosed with. And also that it's reflected in his goggles on the cover of the second issue.

Geoff: I actually see the inclusion of the crowbar in Dick's story as more of a fan service than anything. Especially the bit on the cover. the whole idea behind Dick in the last 20ish years has been his power to move on. he moves on from his parents' murder. he moves on from being Robin. he moves on from being Nightwing.

Tessa: Thank god.

Geoff: (Yeah yeah yeah. . . I know how you feel about Nightwing. . .) He's a character who is always moving forward. (At least until next month's reboot. But that's another topic)

Tessa: I don't really think we're at odds here. I think part of Dick's ability to move forward lies in his ability to confront the past rather than be defined by it. Which is a motif that saturates this whole arc.

Geoff: Right.

Tessa: Zucco's daughter, James Jr., I don't see how that's any different, I guess. These are things floating to the surface that he confronts and moves past. And he doesn't do that by being indifferent. But he doesn't allow himself to become obsessed either. There is a middle ground in there.

Geoff: Sure, I'm just saying the crowbar thing was never really a direct part of his past. He was nowhere near any of that when Jason was murdered.

Tessa: I get that, but being Batman comes with a lot of baggage that isn't necessarily your own, but matters nonetheless.

Geoff: Of course it does. I'm just saying that particular crowbar matters less to Dick than it does to the other Robins. But maybe less is the wrong word. He is affected by the crowbar imagery in a different way. A way that comes more out of that compassion that Gotham's been trying to break.

Tessa: That's what I was trying to get at.

Geoff: Well it's a good thing we're so good at arguing about something we agree about, then.

Tessa: No it most certainly is!

Geoff: What I was getting to was the idea of Dick moving on. The whole transient, circus folk thing. Snyder's run is kind of bookended by this idea of Dick being reluctant to really settle down in Gotham.

Tessa: Right.

Geoff: There's this idea that he's lived there for years, but he's never really settled down.

Tessa: Which makes sense, given that Gotham is, you know, terrifying. But yes, transience and a willingness to transform have always been a part of Dick's character.

Geoff: Exactly.

Tessa: Which is why he was a natural choice to take over for Bruce.

Geoff: And the realization he comes to on the last page of the last issue of the run, the big lesson learned, that if you survive Gotham's vicious trials, you come out stronger -- I think it was a pretty obvious answer, but it was nice to see that Dick had a conclusion to this little character arc he was going through.

Tessa: Yes, and it's sort of a nice way to give closure to his pre-reboot story. It's the "Dick Becomes His Own Man" resolution that he's earned.

Geoff: He's earned it, he's a good kid.

Tessa: Yeah, nicely done, Grayson. Knew you had it in you.

Some thoughts on the new Ultimate Spider-Man

2011-08-02T22:34:00.001-07:00

Marvel recently revealed that the new kid under the Ultimate Spider-Man mask will be a half-black, half-hispanic teenager named Miles Morales. It’s a great move, and definitely something that I will support with both my praise and my money, but it’s also got me wondering if this is even really that big of a move on the part of diversity in comics.

I mean, yes, of course, it’s a huge deal having a multi-racial character as the star of one of Marvel’s biggest selling comics, but is it a huge deal on its own merit, or is it a huge deal because comics have been starved for diversity since forever? There have been historically very few non-white characters in lead roles in their own titles, and it’s my understanding that they don’t last very long. The two most prominent in recent memory were Jaime Reyes in The Blue Beetle and Ryan Choi in The All-New Atom. Jaime Reyes’s title got cancelled, forcing him into supporting roles in The Teen Titans. Ryan Choi’s book also got cancelled, except instead of showing up as a member of someone’s supporting cast, he got relegated to the role of cannon-fodder, another notch in the belt for Deathstroke the Terminator, a character who hasn’t really done anything that noteworthy since menacing the Wolfman/Perez-era Teen Titans. It seems, however, that fandom is pretty much incapable of letting this character go, so every now and then DC lets him kill or maim a batch of heroes to boost his aging ego, sort of like an aging lion being fed in the zoo. But once again, my distaste for Deathstroke the Terminator has made me digress. As good as The Blue Beetle and The All-New Atom were, sales just weren’t strong enough for them to maintain a spot on the comicbook shelves.

The market for comics has always been pretty harsh on new series. Make it a new series featuring a new character and it’s even harsher. Make this a new series featuring a new character who is not a white male and one begins to wonder if you’re stupid or just crazy. It’s sad that the comicbook marketplace is so dead set against most new things, but that’s the world we’re living in, which is why whenever a title like The Blue Beetle or The All-New Atom is being received so well it’s so refreshing and welcome. My problem with holding up Jaime Reyes and Ryan Choi (and now, Miles Morales) as the great, non-white hopes of superhero comics is that the mantles they’ve taken over belonged to white men. I think there are inherently upsetting implications in the fact that these recent non-white, non-male characters starring in their own superhero comics titles took over the titles from white men. It says that these heroes wouldn’t be heroes without those white men taking those first, brave steps. It says that these heroes can’t be their own original heroes -- if they want to be taken seriously, or even just plain acknowledged by fandom they have to be a derivative of a white male superhero or they have to be the next in line after the original white male hero; and even then you’ll have a legion of fans up in arms, whining about how this version isn’t their superhero, that this version is somehow something less because it’s not the same character they’ve been reading about for the last thirty years.

It’s definitely admirable that Marvel and DC have been trying to give the spotlight to new, non-white, non-male characters, but one has to wonder if they are really risking all that much when the character that they are featuring is a derivative of a white male hero. In the case of Ryan Choi, DC still had the previous Atom, Ray Palmer, floating around in character limbo. They could return to him whenever they pleased, and they did, but did they really need to kill off Ryan Choi? If they can have 3600 Green Lantern Corpsmen couldn’t they have had two Atoms? (And for that matter, can’t we just give it a rest with Deathstroke the Terminator?) With this new Miles Morales character, Marvel gets to have it both ways. They get to utilize a multi-racial character as the lead in one of their most popular books, and since it’s set in an alternate universe they can still have their every(white)-man Peter Parker in the universe that “counts.” There’s not a lot of risk involved for Marvel when they don’t have to tell their audiences which version is the “definitive” version. The definitive version is entirely up to you, the reader, and your own personal preferences and how they relate to your personal experiences. Perhaps this is why a company like DC that is so focused on fandom’s idea of continuity and what “really” happened couldn’t work with two Atoms. It’s a silly reason, and I mean no offense to DC, of course, but that’s just an observation I’ve made about how they choose to present their stories in their shared universe. It just seems that Marvel tends to allow more leeway in terms of their continuity if it helps them tell a better story.

All of that being said, I really am very excited for the introduction of Miles Morales as the new Spider-Man. One of the great things about the original Spider-Man is that he was an everyman with relatable problems. He was a regular person like you or me, and under that mask and that costume that hid his entire face and body, he could be anyone. Having Miles Morales under that mask is a wonderful way to put a new face on that Peter Parker everyman sensibility and present it to a twenty-first century audience of new comicbook readers.

Review: FF #6

2011-07-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

FF #6
Jonathan Hickman (w), Greg Tocchini (a)

Marvel's cosmic stories always seemed to escape me. Don't get me wrong, I love Marvel's cosmic stories, but I haven't been keeping up with them lately (my loss since, apparently, all of the stuff that's been happening over in the cosmic section of the Marvel Universe has been some pretty quality storytelling for the last few years), which means the big reveal of Black Bolt leading the Inhumans last issue didn't have as much impact as it should have for me. Apparently, Black Bolt died fighting the third Summers brother, Vulcan, in the War of Kings storyline a while ago, and now he's back (surprise!) to lead the Inhumans in another impending war, the long(ish)-heralded War of the Four Cities. This begs the question: Does this even really matter?

I'm more than willing to give Jonathan Hickman the benefit of the doubt on this one. In his last few years with Marvel, he's developed a reputation for creating some long-game, epic plots. Black Bolt's return is just another piece of the Fantastic Four/FF puzzle, I'm sure. I trust that I'll be given a reason to care within the next couple of issues. But that's kind of the problem, isn't it? I understand that Hickman is telling a long-form story with a grand design, but he's doing it in a serialized medium, which means that he has the extra challenge of making sure each of these monthly installments matters. It's difficult because when you're telling a big story like Hickman is, the issue has to serve the grand plot design, but, since he's working in a monthly format, the issue also has to be entertaining on its own.

This issue definitely works to set up another moving part in Hickman's big plan for the Future Foundation, but there's not a whole lot that we can sink our teeth into as a single issue. Half of the issue is devoted to what the Inhumans are up to after Black Bolt's death (I'm guessing here since I'm not too clear about the timeline of this section of the issue), which seems to mostly involve some standing around and some cryptic arguing. The other half flashes back to the Kree Empire thousands of years ago. This part was actually pretty enjoyable for me. We get a lot of high-science techno babble concerning the Kree's galaxy-spanning eugenics experiments, and there's a cool look into how the Kree Supreme Intelligence works. However, as cool as it all was, and as fascinating as it is to take a look into how an alien warrior-race like the Kree handle their empire, in the end, the only development we get from this half of the issue is that Black Bolt is basically "The One" destined to explode The Matrix and die for our sins or something, which boils down to "Black Bolt is a tough dude and he's bad-ass" -- something we've known for almost fifty years now.

All in all, it's a pretty frustrating issue because it's not bad, it's just mostly inconsequential. We get a new piece to add to the puzzle, but it's a small piece, and we already knew quite a bit about it to begin with. Now that we've been reintroduced to Black Bolt, maybe next up we'll get a look at what this means to our buddies in the Future Foundation, which is, after all, what we paid our $2.99 to see.

Comic Book Movie Adaptations That I Wish Existed

2011-07-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

Comic book adaptations have been mainstays of Hollywood for a while now, with no signs of slowing down (this summer alone: Thor, X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, Captain America), so I thought I'd weigh in on the comic book adaptations I'd most like to see, but probably never will.

The New Frontier: Adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier, done in the style of a tasteful Ken Burns documentary. Olds (like Robert Duvall! can Robert Duvall play everyone? maybe just Hal Jordan) will be cast as the Justice League heroes in the talking head segments from the present, younger actors (like Patrick Wilson! can Patrick Wilson play everyone? maybe just Hal Jordan) will be the heroes in the photos and newsreels/clips from the past. Oh my god you guys, it will be everything Watchmen wasn't, AND WE WILL ALL LOVE IT.

Gotham City Police Department cop drama: It always bothered me that The Dark Knight got so caught up in allegory and philosophizing rather than fully embracing the crime movie it wanted to be. Taking Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka's Gotham Central as inspiration, I would love to see a movie about Jim Gordon and the Gotham PD, with Batman as an ancillary character. Kathryn Bigelow will direct, and while we're fantasizing, Patrick Swayze will be still alive, moustachioed, and playing James Gordon. Michelle Rodriguez can play Rene Montoya because basically she's been doing that her whole career anyway.

Plastic Man: Ugh, you guys, Michael Ian Black is too old for it now, but wouldn't he have made the best Plastic Man like ten years ago? LOST OPPORTUNITIES.

Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman is a tricky character, and I think one of the major problems facing anyone trying to tell her story is how to make her relatable. Which, given that she is a princess of a fictional race of superpowered female warriors, is probably a fool's errand. So I nominate Quentin Tarantino for this one, since he knows a thing or two about A) making an action movie, and B) making audiences care about characters who are far from ordinary (see especially: Kill Bill). Wonder Woman should be played by Beyonce, who obviously has the right kind of dynamic and magnetic presence but who isn't necessarily an accomplished actor yet. Which is perfect, because Tarantino is great at getting the best out of that type of performer.

X-Statix: Paul Verhoeven directs, and the entire cast is made up of internet celebrities and reality show contestants who are at best okay at acting. All non-action scenes will be only partially scripted.

Smallville (credit also to Geoff on this one): Not technically a movie, but I propose we pretended this show never existed and start over completely from scratch (DC loves reboots, so this should be an easy sell!) with David Lynch at the helm. If Twin Peaks proved anything, it's that David Lynch loves examining the strangeness of small town America and that he knows how to make a character who is pretty much better than anyone (Dale Cooper) compelling and sympathetic in spite of his near-perfection. He also has a gift for dealing with the supernatural without getting bogged down in cheesy special effects. Give the show a limited run (say, two or three seasons) so the arc of Clark Kent into Superman can be thoughtfully plotted, and I'm pretty sure this would be the best television show ever on television ever. Of all time. Ever.

Let's talk about Arnold Drake's Doom Patrol!

2011-07-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Before Grant Morrison had the famous idea of writing the Doom Patrol as a group of misfits using their handicaps as a means of empowerment amidst the discomfort of a support group by way of superhero team, Arnold Drake was writing them as a set of strange heroes who acted as tough and important as any Justice League or Avengers team despite the fact that you'd probably never heard of them. The seeds for Morrison's famous run on the title were there, of course: Cliff hates his robot body and wants to be human, Rita finds herself doing less acting and doing more freaky superhero stuff, The Chief keeps secrets from his team, Larry is ~~a hermaphroditic being created by an immortal negative spirit~~ kind of a dick -- but Drake's silver age incarnation is more about a group of friends (maybe not the most popular group of friends) who were always out having exciting adventures that were important to them even if they weren't all that important to everyone else. And, yes, I am aware that likening Arnold Drake's Doom Patrol to a group of neighborhood kids with a treehouse totally downplays how FUCKING INSANE Arnold Drake's Doom Patrol stories are, but please just roll with me on this one, you'll like it.

To say that no one had heard of the Doom Patrol is pretty misleading, I suppose, but the Doom Patrol has never really been that popular. Sure, people have heard of them, but if you live in the DC universe, your first choice for world saving will always be the Justice League. And if you're reading Doom Patrol comics in this post-Morrison age, you're definitely not coming to the Doom Patrol for straight up superheroics -- you're coming to the Doom Patrol for something offbeat, something strange. The superhero stuff is just the chaser.

It's fitting then, that the creators of the Doom Patrol didn't really come from the world of superhero comics writing. Arnold Drake wrote It Rhymes with Lust, and Bruno Permiani was an Italian romance comics artist. The Doom Patrol is a superhero team whose creative roots come from pulp/noir and romance -- stories that deal with regular people, not necessarily heroes. Cliff, Rita, and Larry are regular people (even though they may not look like it-- Cliff is a brain in a robot body, Larry is wrapped in bandages, and, conversely, Rita is a beautiful movie star) but they are regular people who are also heroes. Not so much because they chose to be (at least not at first), but more because of the circumstances of their afflictions.

Arnold Drake's Doom Patrol may look like an expert team of superheroes, but the uniforms still feel ill-fitting on them. They don't call each other by their codenames (in fact, when the shape-shifting Madame Rouge infiltrates the team, Robot Man finds her out when she calls them by their codenames), they agonize over their ruined civilian lives, and ultimately I don't think they're fighting to save the world-- rather, they fight to save themselves. The Doom Patrol is a team because they give each other a reason to keep fighting. Without each other, it's easy to imagine the members of the Doom Patrol sinking deeper and deeper into their own depressive states. Being a part of this superhero team gives Cliff, Larry , and Rita something else to think about, some other external conflicts to keep them from their own internal conflicts. In the end, the Doom Patrol are not a team of superheroes, but a group of friends-- people who need each other, people who realize that the traumas of life, much like evil brains, bloodthirsty gorillas, and time controlling despots, can't be faced alone.

Some thoughts on Gotham City and the art (read: common courtesy) of the Introduction

2011-04-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Volume One of Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark's Gotham Central, and I know I'm late to the party, but that is some damn fine comicbook storytelling. Nothing much more to be said here other than if you're a fan of crime comics, noir, and Batman, you should definitely be reading these collections.

What I want to talk about here is Lawrence Block's introduction to the book and how phoned in it seems. The basic premise is that Block believes that Gotham City is actually New York City. An interesting idea, especially given all the fun facts he provides about New York history, but as an introduction, it makes it look like he didn't even read the book he was introducing. Not once does he mention any of the creators involved in the book; he barely even mentions any of the characters who are introduced, and I'm pretty sure none of the plot elements are brought up at all. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm of the opinion that if someone invites you to introduce his or her book, you should probably say a couple of things about the people who worked on the book, or at least mention something about the book, something that shows the readers why you agreed to writing an introduction in the first place. It just seems like kind of a dick move, giving no clear reason for us readers to believe you even read this book in the first place. Complaining any further about what Block should have done with his opportunity of writing an introduction is just another exercise in futility since it's already been written, published, and read, so let's move on to the heart of his "introduction": his ideas about Gotham City.

Block talks about his belief that Gotham City is actually supposed to be New York City. He brings up a lot of interesting tidbits about different writers' varying fascinations with New York City (none of which have anything to do with comics or Batman), then when he finally gets around to mentioning Bob Kane's art in 1939, his only reasoning for Gotham actually being NYC is that at the time, NYC was the only city with a skyline anywhere near resembling that of Bob Kane's Gotham. But then Block goes on to say that NYC's aesthetic has changed. He points out that NYC is no longer the only city with a vast skyline and that the streets of NYC aren't as mean as they once were. So what is it, Mr. Block? Why is it that you believe Gotham City is still actually New York City? Here's his explanation:

So it's not the crime rate, and it's not the tall buildings. What is it? the answer's somewhere in the following gag: Tourist to New Yorker: Can you tell me how to get to the Empire State Building, or should I just go #%!&#!!! myself?

The New York energy goes beyond anything you'll find anywhere else. It's too much for some people and it grinds them down, but it lifts up and animates the rest of us.

It gives us the New York edge, which is attitude and something more.

He goes on to ask if we can picture any of Batman's villains committing their crimes in other cities like Albuquerque, Fargo, Cleveland, Peoria, or Fresno. And that's it. That's Lawrence Block, big time crime fiction writer of world renown Lawrence Block's reason for Gotham City being a pseudonym for New York City: because he can't imagine it as anywhere else. Because he just thinks New York City is so great, how could Gotham City not be New York?

WHAT?! That's the reason?! Lawrence Block! You mean to tell me that your reasoning as to why Gotham is actually NYC basically boils down to "just cuz?"

I'll admit, Lawrence Block knows his stuff when it comes to New York City, but based on what I've gathered from his phoned-in introduction to this comicbook, it's clear to me that Mr. Block needs to learn a little bit more about Gotham City.

I got some ideas, in case you were interested.

Gotham City is NOT New York City. Maybe at one point early on in its inception it was loosely based on New York City, but Gotham City and its most famous vigilante have been around for over seventy years at this point. Things have changed. Gotham City is now something else, something that is distinctly Gotham City.

Let's get one thing out of the way first. It seems that much of Lawrence Block's reasoning for Gotham actually being NYC stems from Block's NYC pride. Having recently moved to NYC from the small town of Los Angeles, I totally identify with harboring a strong sense of hometown pride. While I do think it is important to take pride in where you're from, it is more important not to let your hometown pride completely overtake your perspective. I find that this is a common problem among Angelinos and New Yorkers. These are two great, major cities that are easy to love when you're from there, but just because you're from there doesn't make you any better than anyone else, and it doesn't make anyone else's experiences with his or her hometown any less authentic or valid -- even if that city is entirely fictional.

While it is entirely possible that Bob Kane may have used New York City as inspiration for Gotham City, the fact is that Gotham City has been around for over seventy years. Anything that has been around for seventy years has experienced its fair share of changes. Gotham has definitely changed -- so much so that it certainly is no longer an analog for New York City. Gotham is something different, something more. The most memorable takes on Batman almost always include a memorable take on Gotham. Bruce Timm's art-deco noir Gotham City of Batman: The Animated Series, Frank Miller's cesspool of corrupt politicos and street gangs in Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, Doug Moench and Kelley Jone's haunted, gothic atmosphere that made us feel like the entirety of Gotham City was nested deep in a dark cave that would never see light, Grant Morrison's hip, pop-art socialite hotspot, and more recently, Scott Snyder's take on Gotham as a black mirror of the soul. All are great Batman stories. All are distinct interpretations of Gotham City that extend beyond referring to it as a stand-in for New York City. (And we're not even going to get into the can of worms that is the Batman movies.)

If Gotham is actually New York City, why not just set the stories in New York City? Could DC not get the rights for it? Did all of New York City refuse to have something written about them? Because New Yorkers are historically known for HATING depictions of New York in movies, television, and books, right? If this were the case, Scorcese and Woody Allen would just be that intense Italian guy and the stammering Jewish guy you'd find any day at Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli, The Sandwich King of Astoria, and not the New York institutions that they are (and that The Sandwich King of Astoria should be). Gotham City is called Gotham City because it is Gotham City. If it were New York City, it would have been called New York City.

I will say that there is some value to Lawrence Block's assertion that he can't imagine any of the rogue's gallery's capers taking place in any other place than Gotham City (or, ahem, Lawrence Block's stand-in for New York City), but I will disagree with him on the implied knowledge that what he actually means by Gotham is NYC. (Also, a Mr. Freeze in Fresno story would definitely be something I'd read.) What has merit here is the idea that Batman and his villains are institutions of Gotham City. You see Batman, you see the Joker, you see Two-Face, you think Gotham City. However, just because they are institutions of Gotham City doesn't mean they can't be enjoyed outside of Gotham City. You can watch "Annie Hall" in Los Angeles and still enjoy it. The conceit of trading supervillains is always a pretty entertaining convention in superhero comics taking place in a shared universe. Grant Morrison's new series Batman, Inc. is all about taking that fixture of Gotham City, the Batman, and taking him to other parts of the world, spreading a gospel of crime-fighting and justice. So while, Batman and his allies and villains are institutions of Gotham, the fact remains that they are all excellent and well-developed characters independent of the city they came from. Being from Gotham, being from New York, being from Los Angeles, being from Keystone, or being from Metropolis doesn't make you an interesting person. Being an interesting person makes you an interesting person, and interesting people always travel well.

Anyway, read Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark. It's a great book made by great creators. Maybe in a few years they'll re-release this volume with an introduction written by someone who isn't so full of himself.

Review: Secret Six #31

2011-03-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

Secret Six #31
Gail Simone (w), J. Calafiore (a)

It's been a while since I've read an issue of Secret Six. I remember loving that first arc that Gail Simone did with Nicola Scott, but then I lost track of the title because my LCS would always seem to sell out of it by the time I made it over. But I loved it, I did. It was violent, it was disturbing, it had Batman revealing that he eats burritos sometimes while he's hanging out in the Batmobile. Probably my favorite thing about it was that, yes, it was funny, but most of the time the funny came from a really dark place that made you feel a little bit uncomfortable about laughing. "Dark" humor is a very difficult thing to do well, but Gail Simone consistently does humor with such skill. No surprises there if you remember reading her work on Marvel's Agent X or her You'll All Be Sorry column on Comic Book Resources. Part of what made the humor of Secret Six work so well is that beneath all of the super villain violence and mayhem was a group of real, damaged individuals under those bloodstained costumes. Not only that, but in addition to being damaged wrecks of humanity, they were charming. Month after month I was surprised at how hard I was rooting for this group of murderers.

So here we are a few years later with a mostly familiar group of team members with a couple new additions. Scandal Savage is still hung up on her dead ex-girlfriend, Bane is still weirdly protective of Scandal, Catman is still an ultraviolent hard-ass, Deadshot still gives an infinitesimal amount of fucks, Ragdoll continues to be the creepy comedy relief, and Jeanette is still one of the toughest ladies in all of comics (although, much to my disappointment there wasn't a lot for her to do in this issue aside from threaten Etrigan, but that's not too bad considering he is a rhyming demon from Hell -- fingers crossed for more Jeanette action next issue). New to the team, or at least new to me, is King Shark, who looks to be the comic relief of the big and dumb variety, and Black Alice, who I'm guessing is a sort of teen sidekick to the Six.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't entirely lost as this issue deals with the focal point of the first Secret Six arc: The "Get Out of Hell Free" Card. Once again, the Six are fighting over maybe the most important item in the history of Crime, but this time it's one of their own that turns against them.

[SPOILERS ON, if you're worried about that sort of thing]

So Ragdoll has stolen the card from Scandal, and it has literally dragged the entire team into Hell. I don't know what's been going on with previous issues, so I don't know if this betrayal is supposed to be a big surprise, but given the history of this team being a bunch of awful super criminals, I'm sure betrayal is not really that big of a surprise. I mean, way back in that first arc, we had everybody in the Six turning on each other because of that card (which led to one of my favorite moments in comics, when Deadshot tries to make it look like he's murdering everyone, but really he's trying to save them -- long story, so check out that first Secret Six arc), so I can't imagine Ragdoll having taken the card could have come as a big shock to anyone.

What's on display here isn't a big twist of betrayal or the shock of a traitor in the team -- it's the idea of a friend hurting another friend because of a building resentment. What has been the driving concept with the Six as a team is that despite all of their damages and their flaws and their general capacity for awful, violent things, they have each other's backs. They're DC's dysfunctional family. Maybe the most shocking thing about this issue is that Ragdoll has been harboring feelings of resentment about Scandal's hangups over Knockout for the entire time. Ragdoll knows that Scandal wanted to use the card to get Knockout out of Hell, but his question is why she didn't even think to ask any of her friends in the Six if they wanted to use the card for any of their friends. The way Ragdoll sees things, Knockout couldn't have meant all that much to Scandal anyway if after her death all she does is replace her with another girl who looks almost exactly like her. The shock comes from the idea that Ragdoll, a character that Gail Simone used mostly as a creepy comedy relief, has actual feelings, that this hideous monster of a man is emotionally vulnerable (albeit in his own creepy way: in this issue we see that Ragdoll keeps the taxidermied body of his best friend Parademon in his room). It's the comedy relief finally making a stand and demanding to be acknowledged as an actual person, as something more than everybody's strange buddy, a refusal to be written off, all filtered through a lens of super violence at the gates of Hell. Again, what makes all this violence palatable and what makes the humor so effective is the heart that beats inside of each of these characters, and their willingness to show it even if it means they have to tear it out of their own chests.

Co-Review: Invincible Iron Man #500

2011-01-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

Tessa: Howdy.

Geoffrey: Hi. I'm trying to fix up my books on my phone, but it keeps deleting my music. I'm trying to kill print media, not my music. It's rough out here three hours into the future.

Tessa: TRY 41 YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

Geoffrey: WHAAAT?

Tessa: Riiiiight?

Geoffrey: So I don't think I'm off base when I say that Iron Man #500 was probably the biggest, most ambitious Iron Man story I'd ever read, right?

Tessa: No arguments here, there was A LOT going on.

Geoffrey: 3 generations of Stark! 3 generations of destruction! One deadly secret! ALL IN THE MIGHTY MARVEL MANNER!

Tessa: Yes! What I loved is that we're seeing two big comics tropes at work here: the team-up and the dystopian future. And damned if I'm not a sucker for seeing them both done well.

Geoffrey: Yeah, I loved this issue because it centered around my two favorite superhero comics tropes, but what made it better was that they were pushed further than the standard "fight and team up" and "let's see how shitty the future is" moves. On the team-up side of things, we had a team-up with Spider-Man and Iron Man, but we also got to see them team up in their secret identities, and every time we get to see Peter Parker being smart I have a great time.

Tessa: Yes, it's so fun to see those characters interacting with each other, both as superheroes and civilians, but in some ways more so out of uniform.

Geoffrey: And in the future dystopia we get all the standard future tropes AND another team-up of sorts this time utilizing the whole legacy of Tony Stark to push it along.

Tessa: And of course, both team-ups in the future and the past are intrinsic to each other. The Spider! That's one of those things that you see coming, but it doesn't make it any less rewarding. It's just nice, clean storytelling.

Geoffrey: Definitely, and having Peter be the one to suggest it to Tony was just gold to me. He also got to sneak in that Human Torch joke which is just classic "Peter Parker being a funny dork." People usually remember to write Peter Parker as a funny guy, but they usually don't play up the smart guy angle, so I'm glad we got that in this issue.

Tessa: Yes! I love the way Fraction writes Peter Parker/Spider Man. My issue with Spider-Man is he so often comes off as just quippy for the sake of being quippy. Like, he makes jokes because that's in his character description. But what I liked in this issue is that his joking came off so naturally. It didn't seem like forced superhero banter, which was so refreshing!

Geoffrey: Yeah it seemed to come from a nice place of being frustrated with what Tony had done to him, but still wanting to help him anyway because he's a good guy. Man, I don't Tony's ever going to stop looking for redemption. That seems like all he does anymore since the Marvel Civil War event a few years ago. I guess he's been doing it ever since he stopped manufacturing weapons, but it seems like ever since Captain America died that's all Tony ever does. Being indirectly responsible for wars and the deaths of countless people is his Uncle Ben.

Tessa: Yeah, I guess I would find it tedious, except Tony's brand of redemption is always so whiz-bang.

Geoffrey: Yeah, Tony's plans are always great to see, but Tony's never going to get over it.
my fear is that this will be the only kind of Iron Man story, the one where Tony feels guilty about something that's in his past so he unveils a flashy plan that nobody really gets at first, but once it starts working they're all like "Well, we should have trusted Tony because he knows what he's doing-- hey, he's not such a bad guy after all."

Tessa: Right, I think if we're talking specific formulas, I could stand to move away from the "Tony puts out fires that he indirectly started by repurposing his inventions for good" plot,
BUT I don't know that he really should have to get over it in the broader sense. We could maybe stand to lose some of the literalism in terms of redemption plotline, but he kind of does have a lot to atone for. That's part of what makes the Spider-Man/Iron Man team-up so interesting--Tony Stark and Peter Parker have such a great balance of similarities and contrasts, so you get the distorted mirror effect. They're both funny, guilt-ridden science geniuses, but here's Tony who (being rich and good looking) has had the opportunity to fuck up on a way more global level, compared to Peter, whose guilt is more personal. So I don't know if bringing them together is a way of signaling that this is kind going to be the tone for a while or if it's a sign that we're going to kind of broaden those themes, but I think it's an interesting way of addressing it.

Geoffrey: Totally. But I'm not calling for Tony to stop feeling guilty all together I'm just concerned that that may be the one thing that every writer of Iron Man to come will be latching onto forever.

Tessa: Right.

Geoffrey: I mean, Batman just now got over being written by Frank Miller.

Tessa: Yeah, I think the movies play a role in that as well. You end up seeing comics parrot storylines that sell well as movies because they received so much exposure that they take precedence over other interpretations. Which was absolutely the case with Batman--if the Joel Schumacher movies had actually been any good at all, Batman probably would have regained his sense of humor a lot sooner. And for movie audiences, I think the "Tony Stark is sorry and he's going to fix it" angle is an easy one to latch onto. So I think you may be right in worrying we'll be seeing that for a while.

Geoffrey: Right. How else are you going to root for a billionaire/industrialist/mass murderer if not by giving him a guilt complex?

Tessa: Yeah, and the mustache doesn't help.

Geoffrey: That reminds me that Matt Fraction made it clear at Comic-Con that he made sure that Tony had that mustache. He said that they had told Sal Larocca to make Tony look like RDJ, so he was gonna draw him with the goatee, but Fraction made him keep the mustache.

Tessa: You know what? I respect that. Wholeheartedly. Tony Stark deserves his 'stache. Everyone else may endeavor to deserve theirs.

Geoffrey: Also by that same token, how'd you like Jake Gyllenhall as Peter Parker?

Tessa: Nothing much to say on that score. It wasn't too distracting.

Geoffrey: Sal Larocca takes a lot of shit for his photoreference. RDJ (and later Sawyer from LOST) as Tony Stark, Tommy Lee Jones as Norman Osborn, he had Nicole Kidman as Pepper Potts. But I don't really mind the photoreferencing, especially since it usually comes out on time.

Tessa: Right? I hate to use a quasi-fascist rationalization for anything, but punctuality covers all manner of sins.

Geoffrey: If it didn't come out on time it'd be a different story, but the title's been pretty consistent for Fraction and Larocca's run, which is much appreciated in these times.

Tessa: Yeah, what are we supposed to do while we wait, BLOG about it?

Geoffrey: Oof.

Tessa: Sorry, that was a groaner.

Geoffrey: But speaking of the bleak future--dystopia, right?

Tessa: Yeah, nobody ever seems to have fun in the Marvel future.

Geoffrey: Yeah, I was thinking about this, and I'll probably expand on this in a future essay, but Marvel futures are usually dystopian and not a lot of fun. They're much different from DC futures. I mean, kingdom come wasn't any fun for anyone, but any other time we get a glimpse into a DC future it's always markedly more optimistic than Marvel ones, and I think this stems from the core differences between Marvel heroes and DC heroes. Marvel is all about the underdog. Marvel heroes have big, human flaws. The whole "they're just like us" mentality. "They're just like us, and they're being heroes, so it makes it more heroic." So the natural progression is a dystopian future where everything is against the hero and the odds are tangibly insurmountable.

Tessa: Whereas DC is more of an aspirational brand.

Geoffrey: Yes, DC comes from a place of aspiration and legacy. If Marvel is who we are, DC is who we want to be. Therefore the legacy angle is played up in DC futures. We see the future versions of the heroes we want to be, descended from the heroes of the present. The very fact that there's a legacy means that heroism has won in the end, that the fight for good will continue, and in a Marvel dystopia it's a wonder that the fight for good is still even happening.

Tessa: Right, and moreover a sense that even acting with the best of intentions, the good guys could have contributed to the disasters in the world.

Geoffrey: Which is a big key of this future in Iron Man #500. I read a review up on CBR where the reviewer described it as another adventure of Tony Stark and "the brain that always gets him in trouble," which is probably the most apt description of Fraction's Iron Man plots thus far.

Tessa: Motivations aside, I think it's pretty compelling watching Tony Stark play chess with himself, which he's been forced to do a lot. In this case, even more compelling because of the anticipation involved. He has to figure out how to beat moves that haven't even been made yet.

Geoffrey: I think what hit hardest about this future is that there was no insistence about it being a "possible" future.

Tessa: YES.

Geoffrey: There's a very real sense that this is something that WILL happen, no matter what Tony does.

Tessa: And that's borne out not just in the future segments, but in the fact that his solution, in the end, is not to prevent disaster, but rather to create a failsafe in the event of, which is pretty grim.

Geoffrey: Right, Spidey's suggestion of a failsafe is just delaying the inevitable.

Tessa: I think there's something so uncomfortably adult about this issue. Taking responsibility in the event that you really can't cut corners anymore. It's very anti-escapist.

Geoffrey: Yeah, that's something that's really been missing from a more "adult" look to comics: the accountability.

Tessa: It's kind of thrilling to see it, but also pretty damn sobering.

Geoffrey: If there's something that Tony Stark's always needed it's sobering. I mean AMIRITE?!! HEY-YO! I'll stop. But I am kind of serious about that. Tony's actions have gone unchecked for the most part. He's made a crazy huge amount of destructive weapons, he was director of SHIELD, he's super rich, and i think he got off kind of light with an alcohol problem. He kicked that, but now it's time for him to deal with everything else. And all at once, at that.

Tessa: Right, up until now he's always been one step ahead, even when he's in deep shit. For the first time, there's no easy fix. And that's a different kind of struggle than we've seen before.

Geoffrey: The most "one step ahead" he can get is a haphazard failsafe. But I mean, that being said about Tony being one step ahead even in deep shit-- he does come up with a pretty great plan.

Tessa: Well, it'd be a drag if he didn't.

Geoffrey: I mean beyond the actual failsafe thing, the plan with Ginny, Howard, and himself is pretty great. Maybe not the most clever plan, but definitely ballsy as fuck, especially considering that a large part of it involves having his son Howard get repurposed as a soldier in the Mandarin's army, and that furthermore a large part is contingent on Howard retaining his humanity.

Tessa: Well, and that the whole endgame here is just "We'll start from scratch when it's all over!" Not that Tony Stark has ever shown any qualms about that, given that he erased his own brain that one time.

Geoffrey: Yeah, I like that Tony's victories are largely damaging to himself and his legacy. It's a different kind of selflessness in that it's as destructive as it is heroic, which is a nice commentary on Tony Stark.

Tessa: Absolutely, bit there's a lot of ego to it as well. In the sense that he gets the last word on who he is and what he's done. Reputation be damned.

Geoffrey: It's sort of like the kid getting fed up and taking his ball home with him, although more heroic than immature, but still a little bit selfish.

Tessa: I think that one of the strengths of this issue is that it really does get into the meat of all those complexities in his character.

Geoffrey: Definitely. And we see some reflections of different aspects of his personality in his descendants. It's the DC approach of legacy filtered through the Marvel lens of dystopia. We get his heroism and stubbornness in Ginny, and Howard acts as a look into one of the things that Tony fears he'll turn into.

Tessa: Right, it really gets to the heart of the fact that, even without the suit, Tony's wealth and intellect basically make him a weaponized human, whose work can be used for good or ill.

Geoffrey: speaking of reflections and weaponized humans I love the use of the Mandarin as a dark mirror to Tony Stark's empire. Tony had an industrial empire, the Mandarin has an empire of world domination. Tony has his technology, the Mandarin has his rings and now Tony's technology. Tony has a parade of hot models for meaningless sexual encounters, the Mandarin has a harem.

Tessa: Absolutely. And again, looking at reputation, he is the reverse of Tony, in that, as we've seen in the past, he is very concerned with having a positive image and is meanwhile committing huge atrocities. He's kind of the iron fist to Tony's velvet glove, ironically enough.

Geoffrey: Yes. And Tony's eventual victory over the Mandarin is of course, a victory over himself and his flaws.

Tessa: I am so resisting the urge to compare this to both Tron: Legacy and Black Swan.

Geoffrey: Well, don't because I haven't seen either of them.

Tessa: I won't (I will, however, shamelessly link you to an essay I wrote about those two films), but the point I'm making is that this kind of dark double is kind of having a cultural moment right now.

Geoffrey: Why do you suppose doubles are back in the zeitgeist?

Tessa: If I had to venture a guess, I'd say right now, at least in America, we're in a mess of our own creation, economically, environmentally, globally, and in some ways we fear ourselves as much as, if not more than, anything else. Both the fear of our capacity to destroy and the fear of the responsibility and potentially ruinous self-sacrifice it may take to repair our mistakes.

Geoffrey: Sounds an awful lot like a certain Tony Stark.

Tessa: It certainly does, doesn't it? Except I don't think our generalized cultural anxiety is quite so handsome and charismatic. But I guess that's the escapism part.

Geoffrey: Yeah, our cultural anxiety would be a lot easier to deal with if we could just wear our iPhones. Or maybe it'd make things worse. SPECULATIVE FICTION.

Tessa: SCIENCE! OUTER SPACE! THE FUTURE!

Geoffrey: I think that means we've reached the end.

Co-Review: Casanova Gula #1

2011-01-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

Tessa and I follow a few of the same books and sometimes we'll talk about them over GChat, copy and paste it, then call it a post.

Geoff: Hi.

Tessa: Hello! Let's talk Casanova!

Geoff: Cool. I haven't finished reading the backmatter yet. But they're talking about Kanye, which I'm always interested in.

Tessa: It's great, but it will make you kind of miserable.

Geoff: Miserable how?

Tessa: I think the Scott Pilgrim media blitz and subsequent lack of success had really got to Bryan Lee O'Malley. Which makes sense, but I keep forgetting that the movie tanked because it was such a huge thing for the circles we run in.

Geoff: Pfft... did you ever read his twitter before the movie even? Dude is usually a downer.

Tessa: Man after my own heart then.

Geoff: But I am surprised to find that Fraction used Kanye as an Iron Man villain. I don't think it's any of the ones we've seen so far, is it? Maybe Zeke Stane?

Tessa: The Mandarin???

Geoff: Nah…

Tessa: He talked about a bad experience on a video set…

Geoff: Really?

Tessa: Come on, image control freak, self-aggrandizing, my money's on The Mandarin

Geoff: That'd be insane. And so good. What'd you think of this issue?

Tessa: Dynamite. Casanova is so rewarding to read in single issues. I think with so many books, if you have the patience, it doesn't make much difference to wait for the trade, but Casanova is so dense and energetic, the small doses don't feel unsatisfying.

Geoff: It helps that Fraction's approach when it comes to writing each issue is to cram in as much shit possible.

Tessa: Yes, and I think if you do it right (which he does), "more is more" is a totally viable style.

Geoff: True. Minimalism is for weenies.

How are you liking Fabio Moon's art?

Tessa: Pretty gorgeous.

Geoff: I'm not as keen on it as I was with Bá, but I do like Moon. I feel like Fabio Moon is better with people, but Bá is better with the high action sci-fi shit.

Tessa: I think where Bá had the advantage as well is that his style is a little cleaner, I guess you'd say, which is good when there are already a million things going on – but I feel nitpicky even saying that.

Geoff: I'm with you there. Both of them are brilliant.

Tessa: And both stylish, which is so necessary for this kind of material.

Geoff: But I think that Bá's more stylized stuff is a better fit.

Tessa: Agreed. He really nails that sophisticated, yet cartoony thing, which is basically the crux of the whole book.

Geoff: Yeah, I think the main selling point for this book is just how big all the ideas are.

Tessa: Yes, how big and how many.

Geoff: The whole deal with Sasa Lisi is that she works for an agency that ensures the "survival of the multiquintessence" — doesn’t get much bigger than “everywhere and everywhen and everything in every way.”

Tessa: Yes, but what I love about it is that there are no demands on the reader to understand. It's "welcome to the party," not "I see you haven't done your homework." It rewards re-reading without strong-arming you into it. You don't have to "get it" to get it

Geoff: It's amazing that Fraction can build an entire multiverse with its own context and history without being entirely alienating. He's also really good at pulling out those action one-liners and over the top "comic book" phrases that would normally be too cool/silly. And he uses them effectively in that he makes all these characters seem so huge and big and important.

Tessa: Absolutely. It's the right combination of sincerity and self-awareness, which is a tough line to walk without ending up being too cutesy or too arch.

Geoff: Too arch?

Tessa: Like, smug and pretentious. Which would be sooooo easy to do.

Geoff: Definitely.

Tessa: But Fraction's always just having such a good time, and that's totally infectious.

Geoff: Right, by any other count it may be smug, but because it's totally apparent that Fraction is into it and he believes every word he writes it just comes off as insane, big-ideas fun that you’re happy to be a part of. Compelling and ambitious stuff. Yeah, ambitious is probably the word for it. Fraction's going for something huge, and what I like best about it is that we can feel how big it is.

Tessa: I know, it's like watching a really smart, creative kid play with legos.

Geoff: In a character sense and a plot sense it's huge and unpredictable. With some of the mainstream superhero stuff, it's huge, but we've seen the story so many times, it's difficult to get surprised.

Tessa: Right, and there's not nearly as much leeway when you have to adhere to continuity.

Geoff: And I don't want to shit on mainstream superhero stuff, but most of it just doesn't carry the same feeling I had reading that stuff when I was a kid. That's how I feel when I read Casanova. I feel like I did when I was ten reading x-men comics for the first time. I'm surrounded by these characters and I'm immersed in this world that is so much bigger than me, and i HAVE to find out what all of this is

Tessa: There's also an immediacy to it that's really great. Instant gratification and infinite mystery combined. See, I didn't read comics as a kid, and while I've read a lot of great ones, the ones that have really sucked me in and taken me out of myself have been few and far between

this is one of them. The word "escapism" gets tossed around a lot when people talk about comics, but I think true escapism is more rare than it's made out to be.

Geoff: Explain.

Tessa: Like what you're talking about, the ability to sit down and devour something without distraction and actually feel the real world melt away, like sentimental literacy PSAs are always talking about. As an adult, that can be really hard to come by.

Geoff: Yeah. If I can borrow from another TV commercial: the kid in me likes the escapism that I get from reading, the adult in me likes being able to deconstruct and map the influences. That would make a pretty shitty TV commercial, I’d bet.

Tessa: Man, that sounds so cheesy, but it's really true.

I'm glad newman xeno is back.

Geoff: Zephyr and Xeno being awkward was gold.

Tessa: Hahaha, yes.

Geoff: I also really liked Cornelius Quinn's desperate father bit.

For a dude who's the super-gruff director of E.M.P.I.R.E. he's awfully emotional about his kids.

Tessa: Indeed. Probably my favorite thing in this issue is zen crime

Geoff: Yeah, that's another one of those big ideas that makes this series so cool.

Tessa: But I love that while it's a big idea, it's so low-stakes and yet not treated any differently than anything else: "It's like crime, only there're no victims, and really, no crimes," but there's still a body count to put a stop to it.

Geoff: I also really liked skipping past the inevitable Short-Round sidekick phase and seeing Kaito come into his own, blowing up experimental aircrafts and fucking Ruby Seychelle.

Also that reveal that it's Kaito in the spy suit is just gold.

Tessa: Yeah, his introduction was kind of a groaner, but then the stuff I was dreading was just bypassed totally.

Geoff: Plus, that action sequence with Kaito and Cryptomech was so cool. The two panels with Cryptomech flying and shooting his missiles in particular. I still wish we'd gotten Bá on art for moments like that, though.

Tessa: Oh well, it's like that Rolling Stones song -- "Street Fighting Man."

Also I'm in love with the cliffhanger ending. Xeno gets the best asides apart from god. I could go all day on this, but I don't know that a panel-by-panel breakdown of things that I find delightful would be particularly stimulating to read.

Geoff: Why not? Too much good stuff?

Tessa: Yes!

Geoff: That page with the trees going through the seasons was just the best.

Tessa: I can't tell if you're joking or not.

Geoff: What? No. Entirely serious. I loved that page. Time passing without a narration box, Kaito disrupting the peace of nature with big action spy chase – that page was great. That page was good comics work.

Tessa: No disagreement here. I find it hard to point out specific things I like in this series because it's so overstuffed with things I like.

Geoff: I know, but we're just talking about this issue.

Tessa: I mean within individual issues!

Geoff: Ha, well that's a good problem to have.

Tessa: Right? The in-house batman curmudgeon is not without a heart. Her advice to all creators of comics is to put everything she likes into them.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

Geoff: You're the only person who calls you that.

Review: Batman Beyond #1

2011-01-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Batman Beyond #1
Adam Beechen (w), Ryan Benjamin (a)

Batman Beyond has seemed like an obvious candidate for a continuing series for a while now, and while I'm excited to see that come to fruition, I have more than a few qualms about the first issue.

Two things I want to admit up front:

1) I am a huge fan of the Batman Beyond TV show.
2) I didn't read the miniseries that preceded this 1st issue of the continuing.

What I gather about the miniseries is as follows: Terry McGinnis Batmans around Neo (why not "New"? because the future is Ancient Greek prefixes, you dreg!) Gotham with the help of mentor Bruce Wayne, tragedy/mystery strikes when an unknown evildoer starts offing people from Bruce's past, resulting in a body count approximately equivalent to Jim Carroll's angstily catchy "People Who Died", and then we find out it's Hush (who is starting to feel like the cheap and obvious answer to the eternal "Who could possibly be behind complex revenge plot?!" question), only it's new Hush (who is a clone of Dick Grayson?!), and then Terry's family and girlfriend get mad at him and then he gets mad at Bruce, and then everything gets sorted out, and Amanda Waller is all "It's okay if you want to be Batman." I think that's about the gist.

The miniseries plot seems to have little bearing on this first plot arc in the continuing series, but I mention it because I do think it has some bearing on the issue of tone, which I suspect is going to be one of a few ongoing challenges for Batman Beyond. The miniseries (as far as I can tell) had more in common with the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker movie in terms of its darker content and higher stakes. The continuing series, if this first issue is anything to go on, seems to be hewing pretty close to the more easily digestible aspects of the show. This is not problematic in terms of keeping things light and funny, but the plot set-ups are so formulaic that there is little sense of actual peril or surprise. Terry says "I wouldn't miss it for the world"? Easy money says he's going to miss it. Mom and brother at the mall? No surprise to learn that the very same mall is getting menaced by our villain later. Lightheartedness is fine, but it's no excuse for weak storytelling, and Batman Beyond is going to have to push the suspense if it wants to remain engaging.

The risk of redundancy and confusion with both the TV series and the DC continuity is another minefield for the Batman Beyond. Since it is set in the future, the lines can get blurry on how it is meant to connect with the present-day DC continuity. Completely diverging could lead to some missed opportunities to explore what other writers have added to the world of Batman (lord knows Grant Morrison has given us all kinds of compelling hints about the future of Batman/Gotham), but staying married to the current continuity could lead to overly cautious storytelling or an all-out retconfest (let's be honest--probably both). Writer Adam Beechen seems to be playing it safe right now, which is perhaps a smart move while the series is in it's infancy, but unless he starts taking risks, he runs the risk of simply making print episodes of the TV show, rather than a series that can stand alone.

Tone and plotting aside, I think the series has potential. Terry is a character with a lot of humor and energy, and the notion of the risks and frustrations that come with being a Batman with a real family and social life has always been one of the chief ideas worth expanding on in Batman Beyond. I would love to see Terry's relationships fleshed out a little more and also to really explore the world of Neo Gotham (slang and all). With half a million (give or take) Batman titles on the shelves, the characters and worldbuilding that make the series unique are Batman Beyond's biggest assets, and if Beechen finds a way to utilize them to their fullest, the series may develop momentum and become something worth dropping your creds on.

Review: Superboy #3

2011-01-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

Superboy #3
Jeff Lemire (w), Pier Gallo (a)

I really want to like Superboy. And I do, but let me explain: I am a child of 90's comics. My first experience with Superboy was with a Superboy who wore round sunglasses, a leather jacket, and a stupid haircut. My Superboy lived in Hawaii and partied with a group of space teenagers. Maybe it wasn't high art, but damned if it wasn't some fun comics. So I think it's pretty safe to say that the Superboy we've been privy to since Geoff Johns's run on Teen Titans isn't quite my version of Superboy. Sure, I guess it's the same Kon-El, but gone are the sunglasses, the leather jacket, the stupid haircut, and the exotic locales. And, sure, I'll say it: gone is the fun of being Superboy. Johns introduced a Superboy who was more filled with self-doubt, angst, and ennui; a Superboy who didn't party in space because he was busy whining about how he was a half-Lex Luthor clone, a Superboy too paralyzed by the fear of someday growing up to become the man he hated rather than the man he admired. A compelling inner conflict, yes, but not one that stays fresh when it's the only sort of inner conflict that Johns put Superboy through for four or five years. It always seemed that when he wasn't busy whining about being different from Superman he was busy whining about being afraid of turning into Lex Luthor. Whatever happened to the carefree, self-promoting party animal who just wouldn't shut up about how great tactile telekinesis is?

Which is why I come into this iteration of Superboy with an "Okay, I guess this will do" mindset. While I will eternally be a fan of 90s Superboy, I am pretty interested in the emphasis being placed on the weirdness of living in a small town. The fact that it's Jeff Lemire writing it is the main selling point for me, as I hear that Lemire is who to go to for small town drama (if you haven't read his Sweet Tooth yet, where have you been?). Having a cameo appearance by David Lynch in the first issue has already earned this book the benefit of the doubt. Lemire's Superboy seems like the logical next step from Johns's Superboy in that he's stopped whining about the things he's been whining about since 2004 and he's moved on to other things. Thankfully, those other things are presented in an entirely readable and relatable fashion thanks to the work of Lemire.

While it lacks the fun and excess of the 90s Superboy, Lemire's version gives us an updated presentation of stories with a silver-age feel, one of its main strengths. We get the whole "aw shucks, being a teenage superhero is hard, but being a teenager is harder" vibe that the silver-age stories would present, but with the added emphasis on emotional impact that has developed over time in comics storytelling. And! Special bonus! We get all of this without having the drama come from a tacked on drug addiction or rape trauma. (That's the sound of my sigh of relief.)

We've got a nice handful of silver-age teen superhero tropes that Lemire works with: over-eager/mostly unwanted sidekick, love interest, wacky sci-fi elements, and unexpected guest stars. The opening page is even a nice throwback to the old silver-age splash pages that would tease you with the action to come. Superboy's familiarity with these tropes is one of its most charming elements, and the way Lemire wields them with confidence allows him to throw in some modern complications -- namely those that arise in the supporting cast's relationships with Superboy. Love interests will always be a complicated thing, but Lori Luthor being Luthor's niece and Conner's sort of half-cousin gives it that extra degree of difficulty, and Conner's rejection of Simon looks like the kind of dick move that will make Superboy wish he'd just given him a signal watch and called it a day. It's fun stuff like these weird relationships that I hope to see more of in this book.

The hook of the series is apparently that there are some weird things going on beneath the surface of Smallville. We're getting hints of it, but I think so far what's been driving this story is the fact that Conner Kent is just a good kid. Yeah, he's got superhero and teenage problems, but despite all the angst, he is, at his core, a genuinely good human being. In these first three issues so far, he takes care of Ma Kent and the Kent farm, he plans to clean up all of the damage done to Smallville after school, he sets up a charity event -- really the only less than good things he does are rejecting Simon's friendship (but that's out of that desire to protect his friends) and being skittish with Lori (and that's because any teenage boy acts weird around girls, nevermind a teenage boy who is the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, and nevermind that the girl in question is the niece of Lex and sort of his cousin so getting together is a double taboo [or at least a taboo and a half]). And that's what I'm liking about Lemire's Superboy: sure he's not outrageous and fun like the Superboy of the 90s, but it's nice to see a character that has evolved from both the silly 90s version and the angsty Geoff Johns version into a character who has his priorities in line, not allowing himself to be sidetracked by his own hangups about who he is and where he came from. It's great to see that Lemire allows Conner Kent to be a hero first regardless of whether he is working in a teenage capacity or a superheroic capacity.

I do have some gripes with the series so far, though. Pier Gallo's art being the main one. Gallo's art is serviceable, and the storytelling is clear, but it lacks the kinetic excitement that I'd want from a superhero book, and it's too middle-of-the-road to convey the weirdness of Smallville that Lemire is trying to hint at. Each character looks a bit plastic-y and I'm not sure that emotional moments are rendered strikingly enough to convey the weight behind some of the character moments that Lemire writes. And while we're on the topic of Lemire's writing, there were parts of this issue as well as in the previous two issues where the largely teenage cast of characters sounded pretty far off from a cast of bored small town teenagers. This issue in particular had a line about Simon seeing the world as a videogame that had Conner sounding like your dad after he just picked you up from the Sheriff's office or something like that.
One particular point of contention I had with this issue was its narrative structure. Lemire opts to go for a fragmented timeline sort of approach where we start with some action and we go back and forth between the in the moment action and the events leading up to it. I just didn't particularly understand the reasoning behind this choice, as there would have still been a mystery as to what was causing all the headaches/fainting should the story have been told literally.

But these are, of course, small gripes that can be set aside due to the strength of Lemire's promise of the underlying weirdness in Smallville and his completely enjoyable version of Superboy. He may not be writing the Superboy I'm familiar with, but Lemire has already established such a strong mission statement with his handling of Conner's character that I am more than willing to get to know this more Smallville-centric version of Superboy. But if we get a guest appearance by the Ravers, I'm definitely not saying no.

A Risky Enterprise: Preliminary Thoughts on Batman Inc.

2011-01-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

I feel comfortable saying that I trust Grant Morrison. That's understating it, really. Morrison is a writer who so routinely astounds me that reading his comics often dulls the experience of reading others (regardless of their quality) immediately after. I call this phenomenon "The Morrison Effect" (better name pending). After the conclusion of The Return of Bruce Wayne and his run on Batman & Robin, which also tied back to both Morrison's run on Batman, as well as Final Crisis, I was fully expected that the next few comics I read to suffer from Morrison Effect. Hard. What was unprecedented was the fact that the victim ended up being Morrison's own Batman Inc.

To be fair, Morrison gave himself a hell of an act to follow. Batman Inc. arrives on the heels of the payoffiest of payoffs after years of already game-changing work with the character. All-Star Superman proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the man knows how to get to the kernel of a character, but in Batman he faced a far greater challenge, a character who had been portrayed as everything from a glib boy scout to a downright sinister madman. And he somehow managed to do service to all of those interpretations, without ever making the character feel fractured or incoherent. Moreover, he crafted a complex saga, years in the making, whose culmination even managed shed light on his nearly unintelligible Final Crisis. The long-awaited conclusion was simultaneously intellectually thrilling and emotionally moving (the bell, good god, the bell), and it left me dewy-eyed and exhilarated, because what, am I made of stone?

And so we set sail for new adventures! And Morrison, as ever, has prepared us for them. Return of Bruce Wayne serving as a teaser of sorts, proof that we can take Batman anywhere, and he will adapt, and we will follow. Batman & Robin got us comfortable with the idea that Batman also transcends Bruce Wayne, that even an alternate Batman can be an equal and not just a pale imitation of bereaved billionare. I could go on. The point is that it's all been building to Batman Inc., and if we've been along for the ride this far, we should feel more than ready. So why do I feel so ambivalent about it?

I'll say it again: I trust Grant Morrison. I do. He will probably make me feel foolish for writing any of this, and I will be happy if he does. But two issues into Batman Inc., I'm a little underwhelmed. And it's hard to put my finger on why. On paper (heh), the series is great. It's strange, it's kinetic (both in Morrison's writing and Yanick Paquette's art), it's funny, it's fresh, but I just can't seem to get invested in it. The lightheartedness doesn't bother me (say the word "Milleresque" to me if you want to see how far I can roll my eyes); in fact, I find it refreshing. Bruce Wayne killed Darkseid and fought his way back from prehistory to join us in the present--the man deserves a vacation.

But there is a difference between lightheartedness and low stakes, and herein lies the problem. Batman Inc. is a new series, and I'm not fool enough to think that all the cards are already on the table. That said, fun as it is to see Bruce Wayne go on a sexy, globetrotting adventure assemble his team, the whole thing feels so damn casual. After the quasi-orgiastic conclusion of ROBW and it's tie-in with Batman & Robin, Batman Inc. needed to hit the ground running, and I can't help feeling like Morrison is biding his time, telling a story that is more episodic than serialized (although the two-part adventure format is a fun nod to the Adam West TV series).

It's a tricky line to walk, because Batman has, without question, earned the right to be at least temporarily unburdened by heartache and calamity of the highest order. However, Bruce has shown himself to be so prepared, poised, and capable in the face of said heartache and calamity that removing him so jarringly from that context feels unsatisfying. The deck is stacked in his favor; he's almost too good at his job to be truly engaging. I'm not saying that Morrison is pulling his punches exactly, just that, in the interest of not punishing Bruce, he isn't really challenging him either. Yet.

What is exciting right now is the sheer diversity of the current Batman titles, with Paul Cornell bringing the jovial whimsy in his brief run on Batman & Robin and Scott Snyder leading us into an engagingly human dark [k]night of the soul in Detective Comics, to name only two. If anything, this broader context puts more pressure on Batman Inc. to be the powerful heart of the whole enterprise, and not only in terms of forming the center for an overarching plot. We've just seen both Bruce Wayne and Morrison at their respective bests, and while they have earned a brief respite from chaos, I'm ready for them to answer the red telephone and really swing into action.

Review: Detective Comics #872

2010-12-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

Detective Comics #872
Scott Snyder (w), Jock (a), Francesco Francavilla (a)

Wow. Now this is a Batman book. For the last few years, Grant Morrison's Batman stories have been my favorite Batman stories I've ever read, convincing me that no one could ever write a Batman story like Morrison can. And it's true -- NO ONE can write a Batman story like Morrison. But then along comes Scott Snyder with a Batman story of an entirely different flavor, one that I didn't even know that I wanted, forcing me to add another Batman book to my monthly purchases.

What works with Snyder's Detective is that he's offering a different Batman, which makes sense since we are working with Dick Grayson, an old friend but a new Batman. Some of the best moments that come from this book are when we see how Dick's Batman deals with people differently than Bruce Wayne's Batman. I mean, the cops actually like this Batman? They're not terrified that he may just growl at them and break their collarbones if they make the slightest misstep? And, yes, we already know that Dick's a different kind of Batman. We saw it in those first sixteen issues of Morrison's Batman & Robin, but I would argue that series focused more on the change in the Dynamic Duo's (ahem) dynamic. Snyder's Detective has its focus firmly rooted on Dick Grayson -- who he is and how he's dealing with this new situation of being Gotham's Batman. Dick's relationships with the supporting cast are the most satisfying parts of the story. This issue we get Dick and Barbara playfully jabbing at each other the way that only lifelong friends can, Dick and Tim's big brother/little brother dynamic, and Dick and Bullock actually cooperating with each other, each relationship working to shed some light on Dick's character as well as set up some key plot points.

Snyder gives us great character moments, but he doesn't forget that Batman is a superhero, and superheroes mean BIG ACTION and palpable danger. Snyder sets up some great action moments, but it's Jock's art that really takes it to the next level. The issue opens with a chase sequence that makes a one-wheel motorcycle seem cool (but to be fair, most everything that Batman has looks awesome when Jock's drawing it), we get a great splash page of Batman jumping out of Oracle's space needle-esque headquarters, and Jock breaks out his horror style with heavy blacks and reds to give us a genuinely terrifying final page cliff-hanger.

A sense of true danger is something that I think has been missing from the Batman books. Sure, there's been plenty of danger in Morrison's Batman stories, but I've never been too concerned about whether or not Bruce would escape and save the day because Morrison's take on Batman gave us a Batman who was prepared for EVERY eventuality and EVERY situation. We're talking about the kind of Batman who has robot doubles of the Justice League in storage on Pluto just in case the Justice League disappears. We're talking about a Batman who came up with a backup personality just in case he got shot up with weaponized heroin in an attempt to break his mind. The man killed Darkseid and fought his way back to us from the distant past for god's sake! It was never a question of if Morrison's Batman could survive, but how he was getting out of this one. Dick as Batman is compelling because we get a genuine sense of danger by virtue of Dick not being Bruce. We know Dick is capable. We know that Dick can be Batman. But we don't know how he's going to make it out of being drugged up while being mobbed by a group of blood-thirsty crime fanatics. We're reasonably certain that Dick will make it out of there since he is the lead role in this book, and of course, he is Batman, but because he's new to the role and because we've never seen these kinds of villains before, there is certainly a level of concern to be experienced when we watch things go south for Dick at the end of the issue. It's that kind of danger, that kind of concern that makes a compelling cliffhanger, and it's those kinds of moments that have me eagerly awaiting the next issue.

And let's not forget the Commissioner Gordon backup! I love that Dick's story and Gordon's story are intersecting, and I can't wait for the moment when both of these plots come to a head. Francesco Francavilla's art is muted and clean, providing a nice counterpoint to Jock's frantic, sketchy linework. This installment centers around Gordon telling Barbara that James is back in town. I'm not entirely clear on the dynamic concerning Gordon's family, but a look at his wikipedia page makes it clear that no one really knows what James's deal is and why it's so unsettling to have him back in the picture. We've got a great mystery developing, and Snyder has me excited for more Commissioner Gordon detective work.

Introduction

2010-12-22T17:47:00.000-08:00

Hello!

My name is Geoffrey and this is a blog about the comics I'm reading.
You can find me on other parts of the internet too.
twitter.com/gwarrenl -- My twitter page
geoffreyisworking.tumblr.com -- My "work" blog
I also have a webcomic that I make with my good buddy Dav Yendler. You can find it at miskatoniccomics.com

I write this blog with Tessa, who is also reading comics.
twitter.com/tessastrain -- You can find her on twitter.
tessastrain.tumblr.com -- and you can find her on tumblr, tearing it up.