The Savage Critic: April
16th 2003
By Brian
Hibbs
Welcome back, my friends, to the show
that never ends.
What a wild week.
First off, Tilting at Windmills
has been published. This is a collection of more eight years worth of
essays I wrote for Comics Retailer magazine, published by IDW
(www.idwpublishing.com) -- there’s a pretty
glowy feeling seeing a book on the shelf with your name on the spine,
especially when an actual publisher put it out (no vanity press here!)
As long time readers know, we here
at comixexperience.com are non-commercial – this site doesn’t exist
to sell you stuff, just to bring a ray of joy and sunshine to your day
– however, given that it’s my book, I’ll sorta bend it this one
time, and make a naked, exhorting plea for you to throw down a little
bread and support me.
Tilting at Windmills is 400 dense pages (honestly – it’s a smaller type,
and the margins are really tight) of opinion, philosophical dissertation,
analysis of comics marketing, open ranting, and historical reporting
and prediction. While ostensibly aimed at the audience of Comics
Retailer (including, well, comics retailers, publishers, distributors)
I really do honestly think that if you have any interest whatsoever
in the business of the medium you will be more than informed and entertained
by what is inside.
In fact, you who have this page bookmarked,
you already seem to like my writing style and take-no-prisoners attitude,
thus I think you, of all people are squarely in my target audience.
March into your local comics shop and
demand a copy. If they don’t have one in stock, the Diamond order code
is STAR18289. It can also be ordered from Cold Cut and FM International.
If, for whatever reason, you don’t
want to/can’t get it from your local store (though this website always
100% of the time believes you should support your local retailer), we
can do mailorder. We don’t have a secure server or anything like that,
but I am (finally!) set up to take PayPal (www.paypal.com)
under the very easy to remember account name of brian@comixexperience.com.
$24 post-paid will get you a book.
(And for the web equivalent of PBS
pledge-drive, you can also just flat out give me money at that PayPal
account if you enjoy reading the Savage Critic every week, for free,
like you do! If my PP account were to suddenly swell, it would make
the “damn, I’m not in the mood to write!” weeks go a whole lot easier...)
Anyway, end of naked, shameless plug!
Also this week, I’ve quit smoking.
After... yeesh, 18 years of inhaling death into my lungs, I’m out. As
I write this today, I’m a week done. It’s damn damn hard, but I finally
have the motivation that I needed...
Which brings me neatly to the third
point of this Wild Week – Tzipora, my loverly wife of 17 years is pregnant.
I am spawning! We heard the heartbeat this week, and it was really one
of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever heard in my life. Sounds like
a galloping horse (because it is so small, I guess?), and every time
I think “ohgodohgodohgod, I NEED a cigarette!” I just think of that
little gallop and that makes it a little easier.
Tzipora is due in October, I am personally
hoping for a Halloween Night child.
Like I said, a wild week.
Looking a little forward, NEXT week
is WonderCon, which has actually moved INTO San Francisco, and we’ve
got our big anniversary party (14 years, man) as well as trying to find
some time to hang out at the con itself, so I can virtually guarantee
there will not be a “real” Critic next week – probably just the Week/Weak/TP
picks with the arrived list. And that not until Monday, maybe.
Let’s get on with the show....
BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #40: My least
favorite “core” Batbook, because they insist on doing stories that seem
utterly left-field to me, like Bane being Bruce’s brother, or this plotline
about Alfred dying. I mean, yuck. This book really really should be
cancelled. Awful
BEWARE THE CREEPER #1: The one and
only Vertigo comic this week (when was the last time THAT happened?),
and I thought it was a solid little tale. Mostly setup, but I find the
milieu interesting enough, and the art was lovely. Good
BLOOD LEGACY YOUNG ONES ONE SHOT: One
of the worst comics I have ever read. Which is really saying a lot.
What the hell is up with Top Cow, anyway? Would they recognize a good
comic if it came up and bit them on the ass? Wretched “cheesecake” art
that can’t seem to tell a story at all, wrapped around insanely purple
prose of one of the single most predictable vampire stories I’ve ever
read. And for that genre, that’s also saying a lot. Complete Crap
BONEYARD #10: I’ve been real on and
off this book – it is charming and wonderful to look at, but it just
feels like it is endlessly spinning its wheels in place. I don’t think
I’ve read the last 2-3 issues (have I?), and there wasn’t any forward
progress made that I could really discern. It’s well done, don’t get
me wrong, but on a content-for-the-dollar basis, I gotta go with an
Eh
BRIAN PULIDO LADY DEATH #3 MEDIEVAL
TALE: Running and shouting and hitting, but for all of that it is readable,
and this has been a rare relaunch that improved the original concept.
OK
CAPTAIN MARVEL #8: Part 2 of the best
Thor comic I’ve read in a long time, but, especially with the
$2.99 price hike, I’ve decided that I hate the protagonist enough that
I really dislike reading it. I guess Peter David ended up losing, because
the whole point of “U Decide” was to keep the book from $2.99, right?
Time to untangle Rick Jones from this mess, I say. Eh
DARKNESS VOL 2 #3: Nice art (though
why does it bounce around from pastels to standard coloring?), but this
is as thin as a steamrollered cat. For over-30 metalheads only, I think.
Eh
FLASH #197: Zooooooooooom! That was
a clever, properly long-term set-up, and wonderfully motivated. The
all-flashback storytelling got a little tiresome by the end of the comic,
and I do wonder just HOW Zoom got the Treadmill up to enough speed for
it to explode in the first place, but hey, this is good solid superhero
stuff, and I’m really looking forward to the next arc. Very Good.
GREEN LANTERN #162: Yadda yadda yadda.
I can’t believe this crossover is going to be six parts. And Ollie shouldn’t
be fighting aliens, in any event. Eh
HERO #3: Despite the end (or what we
were shown, at least – I’m willing to believe that’s a feint) being
too telegraphed, this is one of the most intriguing new superhero launches
in like forever, wonderfully deconstructing a lot of the assumptions
about hero-ing. I really like this book, and think it is Very Good
JLA AGE OF WONDER #1: Despite my general
aversion to $6 Elseworlds, I thought that this “Justice League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen” was both clever and pretty. A solid Good
JLA SCARY MONSTERS #2: The Claremontisms
are still there, but they’re largely toned down. I think the set up
is kinda preposterous, and eliminating half of the team only kinda makes
this a JLA book... but I’ve certainly read worse. OK
JSA #47: Big threat adds to bigger
threat adds to bigger threat, and I find it decent super-power action,
but kinda dull to read in any human or affecting way. I think this book
may be suffering from X-men-itis where thread after thread is introduced
and then largely ignored as the next thread comes along. Still, if you
want some neat twists (that league of Fates at that back looks fun),
big punchouts and a clever one liner or two, you can’t do much worse.
A strong OK
JUDGE DREDD VS ALIENS INCUBUS#2: I
suspect this read better in 6 page chunks every week. Not bad, but nothing
you didn’t expect. Eh
KODT MINISERIES PX SPECIAL #2: “KODT”
being “Knights of the Dinner” Table, and “PX” being “Previews Exclusive”
(except it’s not, actually, because Alliance [a game distributor also
owned by Diamond] also carries it) – but either way, I find this stuff
wonderfully funny, as always. I know you’re sick of me pimping KODT,
but it’s usually one of the best reads any given week. Very Good.
NEW X-MEN #139: Nice nice Phil Jimenez
art, and a solid last panel revelation. This isn’t Morrison’s best work,
but it is the most readable X-Men has been in years. Very
Good
NIGHTWING #80: Not to sound like a
broken record, but I wish this cop shit would go. Anyway, Deathstroke
is in this, and it was kinda fun. OK
RAWHIDE KID #4: More padded than a
training bra, and the “in jokes” (especially this issue’s Bush appearance)
are totally tiresome, but Zimmerman’s scripts are certainly getting
better, and Severin is a god among artists. Still, padded enough I can’t
do better than a strongish OK
ROBIN #113: The Wrestling town was
a little... stupid, but I liked the Riddler pages OK. Eh
RUNAWAYS #1: Liked this. Not sure if
it has legs past, say, 4 issues or so, but it’s an interesting enough
set up. I wish the kids were a little less Central Casting, however.
I’ll go with a tentative Good, which when added to Sentinel means
Tsunami is actually a decent imprint.
SAVAGE DRAGON #106: Christmas story?
In Spring? What’s the emoticon for “rolls eyes”? Too cutesey to be hardcore,
too hardcore to give to kids... the Dragon has become the biggest fish
out of water on the stands. Eh
SLEEPER #4: Well done, but by the numbers
(sex scene? Check. Telegraphed Twist? Check), I want to like this more,
but something is holding me back. OK
SOJOURN #22: Just checking back in
with this book to say, “Yup, still gorgeous but formulaic” OK
SOLDIER X #10: Another nice art, but
so what? story. Directionless character. Was this the last one, or is
there one more to go? Who can keep track of these things? OK
SUPERMAN METROPOLIS #3: Some cute ideas,
I guess, but I really really wonder why this is a mini of it’s own.
It’s certainly selling to less people because it isn’t an arc in the
“real” Super books. I suspect this will also hurt the upcoming Waid
Super-mini by association. A strong OK
TECH JACKET #5: Breezed by a little
too fast, but solid, if uninspiring super-comics here. OK
WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #9: I think if
I knew where this book was trying to go, I’d probably enjoy it a lot
better. Liked this issue better than usual, though. I just don’t understand
any character’s motivation. OK
WOLVERINE #189: Decent issue, though
I have no idea why this was a Wolverine comic – with one tiny beat change,
this could have been with literally any protagonist. OK
WOLVERINE XISLE #3: I liked Bruce Jones
a lot better when he did 8 page stories. This is 8 pages worth of comic
streeeeeetched out to 5 issues. Poo! Awful
X-MEN UNLIMITED #44: No reason for
this to be in XMU... in fact, it was basically just an issue of Uncanny.
Little preachy, too. Eh.
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 [this can
include being shorted by Diamond as well]; 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. There’s also the occasional “whoops we forgot
it!” in here as well!
ALICE IN SEXLAND EXTREME #1
ART & BEAUTY #1
ART & BEAUTY #2
BETTY & VERONICA #187
BLOWJOB #5
DEFIANCE #7
DILDO #2
ELIZABETH BATHORY #4
FOOTMAN 15 FAIRY FIRE ONE SHOT
HELLSPAWN #16
KORE CAPULLO CVR #1
NEGATION #17
OH MY GODDESS #96
POWERPUFF GIRLS #37
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #122
SPAWN #124
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #9
THUNDERBOLTS #78
THUNDERCATS THE RETURN #3
TRANSFORMERS GENERATION ONE VOL 2 #1
VAMPIRELLA #18
WITCHBLADE #63
YOUNG WITCHES VOL 5 THE LEGACY #5
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.
2000
AD #1331
2000 AD #1332
ADAM STRANGE THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS TP
ALIAS VOL 1 TP
ALTER EGO #23
ANIMERICA MAY 2003 VOL 11 #5
BATMAN HARVEST BREED SC
BROOKLYN DREAMS TP
HOGANS ALLEY #11
ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #6
INCREDIBLE HULK VOL 3 TRANSFER OF POWER TP
JOHNNY DYNAMITE TP
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #204
MARSHAL LAW BLOOD SWEAT AND FEARS GN
NEGATION VOL 2 TP BAPTISM OF FIRE
OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GD VOL 33 ALL STAR #8 HC
OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GD VOL 33 ALL STAR #8 SC
OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GD VOL 33 MARVEL COMICS #1 SC
PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN VOL 4TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS TP
RAYMOND CHANDLERS THE LITTLE SISTER GN
ROUTE 666 VOL 1 TP HIGHWAY OFHORROR
SCREEN POWER THE OFFICIAL JACKIE CHAN MAG VOL 5 #1
SPIRITED AWAY DVD
STAR WARS INSIDER #67
SUPER FRIENDS TRUTH JUSTICE AND PEACE TP
SUPER FRIENDS WONDER WOMAN AND CHEETAH DLX ACTION FIGURE SET
SYNCOPATED COMICS VOL 1
TILTING AT WINDMILLS TP
TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST APR 2003 #109
TOYFARE NIGHTCRAWLER TOY CVR #70
This Week’s TP recommendation is:
I guess I really shouldn’t say the best book is Tilting at Windmills,
huh? Jeff and I had the most fun at the store with Super Friends
V2 – reading sections of it out loud, busting up over the wacky,
drugged up adventures of the Justice League (That Black Orchid story
has to be one of the most insane and fucked up comics I’ve ever
read!) And I considered the second Marshal Law book, but the
middle story is really terribly hurt by being out of context from Toxic
magazine where it first appeared. I’m also tempted by Alias V1,
but Bendis gets too much ink to begin with, and besides, this was released
AFTER the v1 TP. All of those ARE really good choices, but, actually,
the best book of the week was Brooklyn Dreams – the best
thing JM DeMathies ever wrote, and the best thing that Paradox ever
published. Completely and criminally overlooked when it was first released,
this is Eisner-contender material, utterly human and real. Go buy it.
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