The Savage Critic: January 15th
2003
By Brian Hibbs and Jeff
Lester
Welcome back,
my friends, to the show that never ends. Jeff here again, writing another
intro so Hibbs can actually get to the store on time. (“Get Hibbs
to the Store on Time!” Isn’t that a Sinatra song?) I didn’t
really have anything up my sleeve planned but this seems as good a time
as any to just mention something: if
Gangs of New York wins any best movie awards, maybe it’s
time to reconsider what, exactly, a movie is supposed to be.
Because I went
just the other night and although I enjoyed it, here's why: it's like
one of the best Disney rides ever. You know the first couple
minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean where you’re sitting
in the boat, and you’re moving through the bayou, and there’s
the distant plink-plink of the banjo off somebody’s porch and
you get this incredibly eerie feeling? I had that during the first
forty minutes or so of this movie—not the feeling that you’re
actually back in that place, in that time, but the equally disorienting
feeling that everything you’re experiencing has been constructed
exactly and precisely for you. I’m sure I’m not explaining
this well: at times I was overcome with almost religious awe at how
meticulously and sumptuously fake Gangs of New York is—I
was stunned at the number of extras, and how they filled the streets
in their properly aged clothing, and how each one of them had just the
right amount of dirt applied to them, and the enormity of the New York
set, and the signs in the storefronts you could fully read. Every movie
has tremendous amounts of work and care put into it, but this felt like
another level—it was like going to the royal puppet show.
And although
there is something genuinely wonderful in verisimilitude taken to an
aesthetic level that made dirt and scars as pleasing to the eye as confectioner’s
sugar is to the tongue, that something is also the sign of a pretty
bad movie. By comparison, it wasn’t until I left The Two Towers
that I started to get blown away by the level and complexity of the
craftsmanship—something I didn’t even notice during the movie
because I was so absorbed by the story. Which is the problem with Gangs
of New York—the story is handled so poorly and so piecemeal,
you can’t help but pay attention to the backgrounds. Storywise,
it’s as if the movie was shot out of focus, with all the emphasis
on the background (which would explain why Leo DeCaprio’s hair
and accent changes so dramatically through the course of the movie—it’s
as if all the filmmakers’ attention was on the jar of ears at the
bar) and only Daniel Day Lewis has the proper amount of talent and charisma
and sheer power to bring the viewer back into the foreground where they
should be: I can spend another thousand words on Day Lewis’ impressive
achievement (essentially he turns the six-fingered count into King Lear,
with some help from the screenwriters), but you get the idea. Martin
Scorsese has become the Patron Saint of Trying Too Hard, and I feel
for the guy, but I worry that all of Hollywood's gonna feel for the
guy and something is going to go horrifically wrong come Oscar time.
There’s a difference between a good movie and a superbly-mounted
bad movie, and I think it’s important for somebody keep things
straight.
Which brings
me in a super-roundabout way to the importance of reviewing comix, but
I’ve been yakking for so long here about this, I should just shut
the hell up and get to the reviews. As usual, Brian is this
color, and I’m this color. And now, it’s off to the
races!
ACTION COMICS #799: Funny,
last week I was praising the art of Carlos Meglia, even as I found it
all wrong on Elektra. Here, perhaps because of lower-quality paper,
I’m not nearly as impressed, and yet also not nearly as bugged
— I don’t have a problem with variation, even experimentation,
on at least one of the Superman titles. But Meglia strikes me
as about as wrong for superhero work on the whole as fellow Argentinean
Eduardo Risso would be — I think this guy could make as much of
an impression on the youth as Joe Mad did on Battle Chasers if
he worked with similar fantasy material. But, cojoined with Joe Kelly’s
overly glib script (Lois
Lane comes across as bitchier here than in practically anything since
the pearl earring years — and in only two pages) and a “Gotcha!
Bet you were expecting an animal abuse story, weren’t you?”
spin that feels pretty forced, it makes for a Superman story (about
a giant ape, mind you!) that just wasn’t any fun to read. Eh. Weird, because I liked it –
in fact, this was the first Superman story in a while that I liked.
A lot of it was the art – and I think the lower-grade paper really
helped here. Sue me, I thought the twist at the end was actually clever,
albeit it being left field. Plus there was Beppo, the Super-Monkey.
Sorta. Good.
BATGIRL #36: Well,
that wasn’t exactly The Bourne Identity after all, was it?
A decent story about redemption and hope – which is really what
comics should be doing more of. As always, there’s probably too
many “filler” pages of silent martial arts (For $2.50 those
always make Batgirl a speed-reader’s delight), but otherwise
I’ll be the Happy Shiny Critic and give this, too, a Good.
Uh, I know I’m apparently the Designated Harsh Guy (“DHG”)
this week, Bri, but it was pretty darn close to The Bourne Identity
(at least the Matt Damon version) to me: super-killer gets a chance
to be somebody better than he’s been, right? (By the way, I love
how the “soon-on-DVD” ads for The Bourne Identity mention
Matt Damon as “Academy Award Winner” Matt Damon. I mean,
the guy won for best screenplay. Isn’t that deceptive, kind of?)
I do like the accent on humanism that Puckett puts into his scripts,
but this could have been done in one issue instead of two, easily, and
it could have even been surprising, if he had wanted to. Eh.
BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #37: Two
bomb threats in two Bat-comics, with everything down to a female apprentice
— perhaps not the best bit of scheduling here. Although Beatty
does it all in one issue, I didn’t really like this any better:
if you see the story’s twist coming, there’s absolutely no
drama at all, and if you didn’t see it coming, you spend most of
the time thinking Batman’s acting out of character. And I’m
not sure what was going on with those last two pages — were we
supposed to think that was Spoiler on the last page, not the Huntress,
even though the previous page was, out of nowhere, all about the Huntress?
Eh. That’s the problem with
the purple costumes – the two characters are visually too much
alike. You’re absolutely right that the Bat-editors maybe should
talk to one another so they don’t get weird scheduling problems
like this one, but I thought this was a good stab at showing just why
Batman doesn’t think Steph is “good enough” for the job.
They’ve been talking about it for months, and the showing (not
telling) was a fine step. OK
DAREDEVIL MOVIE OFFICIAL ADAPTATION:
Normally the way we do these co-reviews is
Jeff writes lead on every other book, sends that to me, then I write
the follow-up and my own lead. The reason I mention this is because
Jeff actually sent me an e-mail saying how much he hated this, but he’s
in “second position” of this one, and I’m in the peculiar
position of responding to something he hasn’t yet written in this
column. I had wondered, and I mean seriously wondered, how on earth
they were going to cram all four of these characters into the story
that can’t be more than 2 hours of screen time. And I was fascinated
by the way they did it. In terms of a straight narrative for people
who don’t know anything about the characters, I think the changes
made a lot of sense. It’s not any Daredevil you know – especially
if you’re a Miller fan – and I now suspect I’m going
to like the film even less than I thought I would have from the trailers
– but it was miles better than the tragic Ultimate DD that
concluded last week. In fact, it really makes me wonder what the heck
they were thinking with UDD – current “regular”
DD is a lot more like the movie than UDD! Anyway, I give it an Eh,
which is better than the “Awful” I was expecting to write.
Anyway, now to Jeff and a rant....Okay,
Bri, you asked for it…almost all movie-to-comic adaptations suck,
and I’ll be honest, this is the first comic-to-movie-to-comic adaptation
I’ve ever read, so I don’t know what the usual standard is.
But this is either an Ass adaptation of the movie, or the movie
is itself an incredibly ass adaptation of Daredevil:
the origin (they sacrificed the pathos of the original for dramatic
expediency and extended Quesada name-dropping), Elektra (Murdock flirts
with all the nuance of a date-rapist), Bullseye (he’s given exactly
two characteristics, one of them being the nationality of the actor
playing him), Matt’s blindness (he walks up and shakes hands with
people, knowing who they are before ever being introduced to them) and
on and on and on, all of it swimming in the stupid catchphrases that
pass for dialogue in the worst of today’s Hollywood screenplays.
I think there is the temptation to let a lot of this slide because one
can see the thinking behind most of the changes to the mythos and a
lot of those changes make good sense. I’d like to think I’m
not some continuity-chained fanboy who froths at any change, and hollers
at any slip-up. But I think I hated it because it was just cheesy junk,
and I would’ve felt the same whether it was Daredevil or
some “original” character the moviemakers had created. I
do have to admit that because it was Daredevil, though, I cringed all
the way through it. Ass.
FATE OF THE BLADE #4: My
first issue of this — no recap, but it’s just chick exploitation
movie 101 with a cyberpunk fringe so who needs it — but I can’t
imagine what they did with the first three issues considering the ground
covered here. The colors are super-murky to hide the artist’s lack
of detail (and presumably talent) in almost everything but some vividly
captured faces, the writing has faint glints of promise in the dialogue
but is largely forced and draggy. Ultimately, when you’ve got a
revenge drama where the villain can run out a back door anytime he wants
and the protagonist doesn’t even care, I’d say you’ve
got a book too amateurish to read. Awful. Simpler
for me to say “ditto”. I think this is the first book this
week where we actually agree. Awful
GREEN LANTERN #158: An
“old style” GL story – one that could have easily starred
Hal and Katma Tui interchangeably. I’m really doing my best to
(jeez, nearly a decade later, get OVER it, Hibbs!) accept Kyle as Kyle
and not as “Not Hal”, but a story like this makes me pine
for the old days of the Corps something fierce. OK.
I have the horrible nagging fear Winick’s gonna pull a horta on
us; and that’s the only tension I felt reading the book: Is Judd
gonna pull the horta? Eh.
HUNTER THE AGE OF MAGIC #19:
I missed a couple issues so I’m not the best guy to write lead
on this. Plus, I don’t have the slightest idea who this chick is
who Tim got jiggy with because I never read any of the previous incarnations
of this title. But the pacing seemed off for me: the big fight at the
finish felt rushed and perfunctory, and Tim seemed out of character
from several issues ago. I have enough faith in the creative team to
assume this would’ve been an eh if I were up to speed, but
as an issue for a new or returning reader, this was awful.
I’ll give it an OK as a “regular reader” myself.
IRON MAN #64: The
second part of “Showdown”, and it was Big Marvel Action as
it should be. I don’t really suspect this story will have many
ramifications (I guess we’ll see in 3 weeks or so), but as a stand-alone
arc, I think this would work great for anyone wanting to dip their toes
into a Big Marvel Action story. Good (though half of that is
Alan Davis). I know it’s pretty
dumb, but I found something kinda appealing about a God who actually
answers prayers, and the trouble that can cause. But why didn’t
Thor just whip his hammer around and remove all these followers to Asgard?
Would that just resolve things too easily? Dumb, but I thought it was
OK.
LUCIFER #34:
It doesn’t get less subtle than “new storyline” slapped
right on the cover. But in that case, why not cut a page of Vertigo
in-house ads and give a decent summary page at the start? A good
issue, but the bungled opportunity, particularly on Vertigo’s best
title, chaps my butt. Yah, I liked it
too – but then I usually do like Lucifer. And, yes, it would
have benefited from a Sandman #8-style recap page. Very Good.
MEK #3: Again,
I wish the leads were reversed on this review, because I think Jeff
might be more insightful than me this week. I very much liked the shift
in tone and the reversal at the end, though I’ll have to reread
the first two parts to see if any of this was properly set-up. Going
from months-old memory, I don’t think it does – but the conclusion
mostly redeemed my memory. Good. No,
no, I think you’re the go-to guy this week, Hibbs: I feel like
I’m the Troll Who Hated Comics. This series just wasn’t for
me. Didn’t like the art, never got the concept, and, unlike you,
I didn’t like the turn the protagonist took this issue. At least
Ellis didn’t drag this out, like Fate of The Blade’s
doing. Eh.
NEW X-MEN #136: Kinda
like with Millar’s UXM, I’m getting the feeling Grant’s
just not that interested in the actual X-Men — the focus for the
last several issues has been on the next generation of students with
varying degrees of success: I like the humor of the mutant “special
class,” and enjoy the characterizations of Xorn, Angel and Beak.
But Morrison’s other group of students — his rebels —
radiate nothing like an actual threat, no matter how Morrison and Quitely
try, nor are they particularly sympathetic… which is surprising
and disappointing coming from the author of St. Swithin’s Day.
Toss in an editorially mandated recap page that necessitates a jolting
ad on page 2 (because it’s for an X-Man video game, I actually
though it was the first page of the story for a second… and besides,
there’s a recap already on the two-page splash) and you’ve
got a messy comic that’s getting messier by the issue. Because
this issue focused mainly on the special class, this gets a good
from me, but I recommend the buyer beware.
It’s true that the “rebels” seem like a huge non-threatening
joke to me as well, but I see this as more of “adding to the mythology”
and taking concepts like the “school” to their logical results,
rather than Millar’s “No, I like the Brotherhood better”.
I’ll give it a Good, too
NIGHTWING #77: When
Babs Gordon is handled “right”, she does a good job of being
“everyman” perspective – like here where she says “what
the hell are you still doing in the policeman’s suit?” I think
that’s what most of the audience is thinking, too. And yet... he’s
staying in it. Gah. Still, besides that one thing (well, sure, it’s
a BIG thing), Devin seems to have a solid handle on what makes Dick
tick. I especially liked the scenes with Tarantula, which was a nice
counterpoint to how Bruce would have handled things (See: Gotham
Knights this week). OK. I
really liked the art this issue, and here’s a horrible fanboy confession
for you: I would like the sexual tension angle Devin’s working
with (I feel like that’s supposed to be the hook, anyway) if I
didn’t think it meant Barbara Gordon’s going to get hurt.
Embarrassing to type, but there it is. If it wasn’t for not wanting
Nightwing to act like a cad to Oracle, I’d like the idea of the
young stud hero whose girlfriend is always peeking over his shoulder.
Jeezis. Time to go back on the prescription meds again. Eh.
POWER COMPANY #12: A
lot of stuff I liked here, from the ever-entertaining Trinus Lords (“May
you be eaten at a great age, strong one, and only by your strongest
offspring”) to the humble associate’s lunch. Kurt’s got
a way to go to catch the weirdo power dynamics of law firms (I missed
the issue, but there’s no way in hell that Firestorm would be hired
as an associate—it’d be like hiring Johnnie Cochrane as an
associate—and partners would almost never yell at each other in
front of associates) but he’s got the nature of the places, the
very real tug-of-war between greed and good, down pat. There were downsides
to the story (no actor’s more expendable than one in a funny-animal
suit and the Witchfire scenes had less than no payoff) but I can overlook
them. I hope this continues to improve, and that it starts to catch
on with the superhero crowd: it’s good. Again,
I think Kurt missed the boat by introducing a “fan favorite”
character like Firestorm, and then having him appear in, what, 3 panels?
I also think the lack of ANYthing in the Witchfire scenes really hurt
this as an individual issue, so I can’t go more than OK
SAVAGE DRAGON #103: One
gets the impression that Erik Larsen has either a short attention span,
or doesn’t have the foggiest notion what he is doing – how
many times is he going to “reboot” the concept of this book
before he settles on a direction that he can actually take? Once this
was the “funnest” hero book on the racks, but it’s horribly
off the rails now with all of this alternate world crap. Awful.
God help me, am I such a slave to Kirbyisms
that I’ll enjoy a book that retells the Galactus Saga in order
to skimp on the characterization and maximize the empty spectacle and
brainless fist-throwing? I guess so. Good.
SOJOURN #19: Lovely
art, but it felt more like a viewmaster reel than an actual comic: read
the caption, look at the art, lather, rinse, repeat. As Gertrude Stein
once said of my neighboring city of Oakland,
“There’s no there there.” Eh. Yeah, what the fuck was that? “When
is a fill-in not a fill-in?” Awful.
SOLDIER X #7: So
Cable is now apparently God? When did that happen? While the jettisoning
of much of the prior continuity with the “Oh I lied about that”
scene at the end was... well, not quite clever, but at least interesting,
it seems like this book is going to be left in worse shape than they
took it over as Cable. Which is fine, because I can’t see
it lasting another year, but it makes you really wonder if there are
any editors, y’know, editing, up at Marvel. Eh.
I could’ve done without the fourth wall goofery on the last page
but I didn’t mind too much, since I actually liked a good chunk
of this. It’s kinda like if you got two Croatian smartypants to
do Miracleman. Don’t know if the other issues have been
like this, since it’s the first issue I’ve read. I can’t
imagine anything your average x-zombie would like less but I’ll
be back for next issue to see where it goes. Good.
SPAWN #121:
I’ve always thought Spawn had a lot of potential, what with
its cosmic storylines and quasi-existential philosophy, but as here,
it’s always fallen far short of my hopes. For one thing, it never
manages to have any relation to reality (the prisoner in for two days
boasting about being the Baltimore Razor) and for another, it’s
so damn frugal with its ideas. This whole amnesiac Al and shadow Spawn
idea could be dragged out for the better part of a year before there’s
anything like a payoff. Sadly, the most entertaining part of this book
is the ad for the Image 10th anniversary figures. Did Todd
even manage to get those out in time for the 10th anniversary?
That’s sad. Awful. Another
fine “I can’t say it any better than you”. Thanks Jeff!
Awful
SPECTRE #25: The
last 3-4 issues have found direction, put the book back square in the
DCU, and allowed JMD to do his Redemption shtick in a way that doesn’t
feel all that preachy. Shame, too, because the book is now cancelled
as it finally has found it’s legs. OK. Somehow
I just couldn’t suspend enough disbelief on this one, and the contrivances
undercut any possible emotional connection. I kinda like Breyfogle’s
art looked a bit like Mike Zeck’s, though. Eh.
SPIDER-MAN TANGLED WEB #22: As
a police procedural story disguised as a Spider-Man story, this was
very good. Walsh didn’t hit you over the head with the tiny
details (like the cups of coffee), and Dose did a great job using the
body language of the two detectives to show them wordlessly communicating
throughout the interrogation. I would’ve liked it if the tight
deadline had been played up a bit sooner, but that was a quibble. I
liked this more than I thought I would. When
I picked it up, I thought “Why is Risso doing a Spider-Man comic?”,
then as I read through it, I thought “Why does his art look so
sketchy”. Then I looked at the credits and saw it wasn’t Risso.
Other than me thinking that the coloring was too “loud” for
this style of art (it would have looked TONS better if it had been done
“flat”), I concur with your analysis, though I only give it
a Good
STRANGERS IN PARADISE VOL III#55: OK,
OK, “Tambi isn’t nice” – I got that. We don’t
really need to be reminded of this every few issues. I really wish the
story would start going someplace again... I’m edging back towards
“gonna drop this” territory. Terry has 5 more issues from
me (I’m a sucker for round numbers, I guess), even though I can’t
pin down exactly why this book is on my personal ledge. It sure looks
nice, though. Oh, and his letter’s pages are getting a little too
fawning, damn it. Eh. I fear
I keep pushing it on that ledge for you, Bri—all I ever do is bitch
about it. The art was nice, and the big intimidation scene was well-handled,
but it also felt like vamping. The entire book feels like vamping
to me now, and I’m just not in love enough with Terry Moore’s
stuff to kick back and enjoy the ride (like I do with, say, the Hernandez
Bros). I’m also giving this an eh.
THUNDERBOLTS #75: One
of the kooky things about this gig is something like this: reviewing
the last issue of a title I never read (except maybe an issue or two
for this column). I can only give you my impressions of the issue itself,
and should plead ignorance on whether it satisfyingly wraps up the Thunderbolts
overall. Basically, it was a whole lot of talking. Lots and lots of
talking. There was action on the first six pages presented in a stultifyingly
boring way, and then scene after scene about who’s reformed and
who hasn’t, and what to do now, and like that. I’m actually
a big fan of talk, and on a page by page basis, I wasn’t bored.
But not only did I get restless and twitchy toward the end, the last
page itself was a “shock twist” that actually undermined a
lot of the earlier pages. Overall, I guess I’d have to say the
Thunderbolts died as they had lived: as a gimmick. Eh.
That “shock twist” undermined the
ENTIRE series, if you ask me. Yee-ikes. Awful.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #35: While
this iteration of Venom “makes more sense” as a plot device,
I’m still pretty unsure as to why an “anti cancer suit”
would function this way. Maybe part of it is I just don’t see the
need or desire for an “Ultimate” Venom. OK.
All good points (well, kinda. I think they
talk in a previous issue about how the suit heightens the natural strengths,
such as the immune system, of the wearer—which is why it does all
this Spidey stuff when on Peter) but I still liked it. If there’s
a problem with USM, it’s that Bendis hasn’t quite mastered
Stan’s trick of explaining why Peter has to keep getting in the
suit instead of taking the time out to get his life together (to be
fair, Stan never quite mastered Stan’s trick, I felt). Unless
Peter is proven to have ADD, his preference for jumping around saving
celebs instead of working things out with Mary Jane makes him seem a
bit too callow for my tastes. This was the first issue, by the way,
where I actually thought Bendis was trying too hard (the celeb baiting,
the “wackiness” of the fight scene in the limo, that last
page) but I still thought it was very good.
ULTIMATES #8:
Hoo, boy. Well, I took someone else to task for ripping off movies that
we’ve all seen, so I can’t let this crew off the hook: no
matter how talented Millar and Hitch are, a scene from The Matrix
is a scene from The Matrix. And it’s almost four
years old now. That said, it was pretty well done, and a lot better
than the whole “shape-changing aliens have been living among us
since Seventeen-Blabbity-blab, and were responsible for both world wars,
the Great Depression, and the invention of the word ‘moxie’”
scenario in the last third of the issue. I realize it’s really
just Millar trying to come up with a fresh twist on the Space Phantom
(a shape-changing alien invader himself) from the second issue of Avengers
but somehow it just seemed kinda absurd and dumb and maybe even ripped
off from John Carpenter’s They Live, which is even older
than The Matrix. I know I haven’t been lavishing praise
this week, but I can’t give this more than a disappointed eh.
Yah the whole “Hitler wasn’t
an evil man, he was an shapechanging Alien” tore me completely
out of the story, and I wasn’t ever able to get back in. There’s
a good piece of setup at the end which makes me think the next issue
might actually smoke, but this issue made me think “Huh, maybe
the book is ‘over-rated’” In large measure it
might be the time between issues that’s dulling the thrill, or
residual memories of wholly generic Ultimate War. Big Eh
from me, too.
WOLVERINE #185: I’m
late for work again, so let’s just go with Awful,
and leave it there. Jeff’ll flesh it out! Shit,
I was hoping that you’d have something to say about this
one. I thought this was dumb, and dumb in a smug way what with the
bad guy being named Fredo and having him watch The Godfather, Part
II. And they blackmail Logan
into bumping off an important witness, and then never bother to check?
Huh? I’m sorry, but I can’t wait for the relaunch. Awful.
For Sake
of Completeness, here’s a list of all of the OTHER comics that
CE got in this week, that I did NOT read (and, therefore, am unlikely
to review!). Note, that in most cases this is limited to 1) Manga, which
I try to read as it is collected; 2) “Kids” comics like most
of the Archies; 3) titles that were subs-only, either by design or accident;
4) Porno [oh, like you need me to REVIEW it!], 5) Things that looked
SO bad on the racks that I didn’t bother, and 6) stuff that I’ve
assessed before, and I care so little about that I don’t want to
waste my time reading anymore. You decide which is which.
ALICE IN SEXLAND #8
AZRAEL AGENT OF THE BAT #98
BATTLE OF THE PLANETS #6
BLACK SUN #5
CANNON GOD EXAXXION #13
FOREVER MAELSTROM #3
GI JOE FRONTLINE #3
HEAD #3
HELLSPAWN #14
HSU AND CHAN #1
INU YASHA PART 7 #6
KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE ILLUSTRATED #18
KODT EVERKNIGHTS #4
LAUGH DIGEST #181
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE SANTALUCIA CVR #2
NEGATION #14
POWERPUFF GIRLS #34
PRIVATE BEACH #7
QUEEN & COUNTRY #13
SIGIL #32
SPIDER-GIRL #56
VAMPIRE YUI VOL 5 #1
And, for
even MORE completeness sake, here’s a list of books, TPBs, GNs,
magazines, and other things that CE got this week. I generally haven’t
read any of this by the time I post these reviews. Though I generally
attempt to give at least one recommendation amongst the TPBs each week,
since I HAVE read the material at SOME point.
ANIMERICA EXTRA FEBRUARY 2003VOL 6
#2
DAREDEVIL ELEKTRA LOVE & WAR HC
DAREDEVIL THE MOVIE TP
EGOMANIA MAGAZINE #2
FIST OF NORTH STAR MASTER ED VOL 1 GN
FIVE STAR STORIES ENG LANG MANGA #3
FIVE STAR STORIES ENG LANG MANGA #4
HEAVY METAL MARCH 2003
JLA THE GOLDEN PERFECT TP
MIDNIGHT NATION TP
RANMA 1/2 VOL 21 TP
STORM RIDERS GN #8
ULTIMATE DAREDEVIL AND ELEKTRA TP
ZORA SHE VAMPIRE GN VOL 1
This Week’s TP recommendation
is: Not
that it’s the strongest week for these things, but absolutely positively
Egomania Magazine #2 which features a gargantuan interview
with Alan Moore about his magical development and its influence on his
creative work (and vice-versa, I should add). It probably helps to be
a fan of Moore, but maybe not: I found
it so consistenly mind-blowing I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S.
authorities classify it as a restricted drug.
Heh. I want to smack Marvel for putting out the Ultimate DD TP
the WEEK AFTER the last issue of the mini shipped, but this is the recommendation
section, ennit? I need to flip a coin between Midnight Nation
and DD: Love & War, but I think on pure value alone I have
to give it to DD. That there is a lot of comics, and if I didn’t
already have Graphitti HCs of both of the books there I’d be snapping
this up in a heartbeat. Can you imagine a person watching the DD movie,
then buying either UDD or Daredevil Elektra Love &
War? Either their minds would explode from the contradictions,
or they’d say “I don’t get comics!” Still,
anything that keeps this work in print is a winner for me.
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