Johanna Reads 7/18: Captain America, The Order, The Spirit

Something you'd better learn now -- I suck at titles. My apologies for not being as creative as the others or knowing as many song lyrics. Captain America #28 -- I think this is what's meant by superhero comics for adults. Writer Ed Brubaker attempts to tackle weighty issues through expository conversation, even when those debating are wearing gaudy spandex.

There's the hero left behind vowing to find out what really happened to Captain America, shot dead; telepathic erasures; and a sadistically violent robbery (welcome only because it provides some red to the comic's dark color palette). Mostly it's talk, talk, killing time until it's time for the next sales-spike gimmick event, which we all know will be the hero's return.

It's one of the few superhero titles I read, because it is as well-done as it can be, but it still seems to me a bad match in attempted content and trappings, like forcing a nuanced political debate into a Harlequin. Long-time readers may find the variety intriguing, but for those looking for lighter entertainment, it's visually dull. (Art is by Steve Epting and Mike Perkins with gloomy color by Frank D'Armata.) I give it an Okay, although that would drop if we're rating for non-direct market fans.

The Order #1 -- Previously "The Champions", until Marvel was forced to realize they no longer had the trademark. (Given how often they've been legal bullies, seeing them knocked down a peg tickles me more than it ought, especially since this particular battle is meaningless in the bigger scheme of things.)

Matt Fraction introduces a new superhero team (because there aren't enough of those already). I gave it a try because I hoped it'd be a good starting point for someone not particularly interested in the bigger universe. (Although the Initiative banner across the top was a turn-off ... I don't know what it means other than "we want you to buy more comics you may not be interested in just because of this label".)

The premise is that a group of volunteers are turned into heroes with a huge publicity budget. Others have compared it to X-Statix already, although it doesn't have that sense of parody and ironic reserve.

I agree with the commenter who got a Strikeforce Morituri vibe from it. I don't think death is as certain as it was in that series (where it was part of the premise), but I do think they're aiming for that "anything can happen to these characters because they're not franchised" feeling. The marketing slant also reminds me of the Conglomerate from Justice League Quarterly because I was a DC girl.

It starts with some guy who "played Tony Stark on TV" narrating, in a way very reminiscent of Max Lord. A writer can't help it, really -- everything looks like something else given the amount of history they're struggling under. Here, the pantheon idea is explicit, with the young heroes given codenames of particular Greek gods.

Barry Kitson's art is less stiff than it was on The Legion of Super-Heroes and attractive (inked by Mark Morales and colored by Dean White). The book's biggest problem is that 20-something pages aren't enough to introduce a team and all the many supporting characters, pull a switch, set up the premise, and establish a cliffhanger we care about. To launch a team effectively, you need double or triple the space, but who's going to take a chance on the extra cost when there are known and familiar quantities out there? It got an Eh and two Goods from other Critics, and I'm afraid I'm leaning towards the Eh myself.

With the conditions Fraction's working under, it's neat that he does as much with it as he can here, but there's no reason driving me to buy another issue, no character I'm interested enough in to want to see more of, nothing that flips that "I'm looking forward to reading more" switch (especially with so many other options out there).

The Spirit #8 -- Now this is the kind of superhero comic an adult can read. No continuity needed, although if you remember previous stories the events will have more depth. Otherwise, everything's on the page, and the jokes work because of human nature, not because of shared reading lists. Action, adventure, suspense, romance, comedy -- all the biggies, all included by incredibly skilled craftsmen with an unique look (Darwyn Cooke, with finishes by J. Bone and color by Dave Stewart).

Through some machinations it's not necessary to go into (because really, this kind of thing happens all the time in this world), the Spirit and the way-cool spy Silk Satin are trapped with a nuclear bomb counting down to detonation. As if that isn't enough of a nail-biter, the government wants to destroy the whole thing -- with the two inside -- and Satin's the worse for wear after a blow to the head.

It's such a pleasure to see talented work tell a story that wraps up in one issue and still shows key qualities of the characters with significant emotional impact. This is a Very Good comic.

Music for Swingin' Muggles: Graeme looks at some Avengers-related books from 7/18

This weekend, I am a Harry Potter widower. The book arrived via UPS this morning at 9am (in a box that warned muggles not to open it until July 21st), and Kate's been reading it silently ever since. Occasionally, she sighs or pauses to tell me that "Voldermort's a bad dude," but for the most part, I think this weekend's going to be all Potter all the time for her. Me, I have haircuts and laundry and writing to do. And reviews!

AVENGERS CLASSIC #2: Man, Art Adams can do some nice covers. That's really the best part of this otherwise Eh issue; the early Avengers issues by Lee and Kirby really didn't do anything for me - I didn't start enjoying the book until Roy Thomas came on, to be honest - and the new back-up story by Dwayne McDuffie and Mike Oeming is light and nothing we haven't seen before. As much as the Avengers may be Marvel's most popular franchise right now, it's books like this that'll change that sooner rather than later...

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #4: I get that this is the militaristic New Mutants of the Avengers line, but it's still not really created enough of an identity for itself, nor a reason for it to have been upgraded from the miniseries status it was originally given. This World War Hulk crossover illustrates that point; the story in this issue could've been told using any rookie superheroes, and isn't anything new - with the exception of a subtle "Iron Man's anti-Hulk plan would've worked if it wasn't for those pesky kids" subplot - nor really anything interesting. Eh, again.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #28: He's still dead, and Brubaker's continuing to keep the book more alive than it's been for years because of it. Unlike the last few issues, though, this feels more like it's playing for time - Obviously, events are building to something big very soon, but this issue seemed more like the reaffirming what you already know calm before whatever storm's about to hit. That said, we saw Nick Fury, which surprised me; I really expected Fury to end up returning as part of a big reveal in New Avengers or something. Good, but part of that may be because of the expectation of what's to come.

THE ORDER #1: Ian Brill and I were talking about this the other night; I was pretty disappointed in this Eh opener of Matt Fraction's new series, and I think a large part of that comes down to the lack of the distinctive skewed perspective that Fraction's brought to his Punisher and Iron Fist books (as well as his creator-owned stuff, obviously); this book feels much more generic than Fraction's other superhero work, and that wasn't what I expecting, so - I told Ian - I felt let down; with the exception of Henry, the narrator of the issue, everyone else seemed cookie-cutter and rather uninteresting to me (Yes, I get that each issue will probably focus on a different member of the team, but I'm just going on the first issue here...). Ian pointed out that may have been intentional, considering the theme of the book is the interchangability of the members of the team (And also, he added sarcastically, they're not completely interchangable - "One of them's in a wheelchair!"). And that's a possibility, I guess, but doesn't having your characters be interchangable go against any dramatic tension of the fear of losing any of them at the moment's notice? If you don't have empathy with someone, surely there's no reason to care about their being in the book or not? Maybe it's Barry Kitson's art, which is in some respects always good, and in others, always kind of unexciting... Either way, not the runaway success I'd been hoping for, but faith in Fraction will see me picking up the next issue anyway... And isn't it random coincidence that Diana, Jog and I all end up reviewing the same book on the same day...?

Welcome to Burger King: Diana takes your Order, 7/18

THE ORDER #1 wasn't originally on my pull list for this week, mostly because time hasn't softened my opinion of CIVIL WAR and I prefer to avoid bad-crossover fallout when I can. On the other hand, there are occasions when keeping an open mind leads to unexpected surprises. This was one such occasion.

Matt Fraction has delivered a first issue that is, in a way, the antithesis of Dan Slott's AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE. Slott's biggest hurdle, right at the start, was that none of his characters came off as appealing or intriguing; his interpretation of the Initiative is based on forced conscription into an organization with sinister undertones. THE ORDER, by contrast, seems to have been built around the concept of brave men and women volunteering to receive superpowers for a year (and occasionally slipping up). There's a sort of everyman idealism there that isn't too common in today's Marvel Universe, and you can see it even more clearly in the first few pages, which establish Henry Hellrung as a likeable guy who wants to do "the next right thing". This is crucial for a book with an original cast, there has to be at least one sympathetic protagonist with whom the reader can identify. More than any plot twist or gimmick, the protagonists will determine the average reader's reaction to the story. That's why the Runaways, X-23 and the Young Avengers have endured the test of time where so many of their peers (Arana, Freedom Ring, the latest Ant-Man, etc.) have vanished into obscurity.

Using new characters also allows a degree of freedom, and Fraction uses that to set up a surprising twist halfway through the issue. I've always been fond of books that shake up their rosters on a regular basis, and while this tactic has a downside - Fraction basically has to introduce the Order twice in about thirty pages, so there's no room to explore any character except Henry - a fluid and dynamic cast has its advantages.

As Jog noted, the use of media awareness echoes Peter Milligan's X-STATIX (or, more recently, Ellis' THUNDERBOLTS), in that the Order is clearly part superhero team and part PR stunt, and that actually has a hand in how the story plays out. I expected Fraction to use this angle as a way of juxtaposing the Order's pristine public image with their genuine personalities off-camera, but that's not what happens. In fact, it's the public image that gets tarnished, and there's no evidence that the media is either exploiting or being exploited by the Order. So I'm not sure where we're going with that, though I'm certainly interested in finding out.

And now it's time for Starkwatch! Ever since CIVIL WAR ended, Tony Stark has been one of the most erratic characters at Marvel. Some writers see him as a megalomaniacal douche who keeps a heart-encircled picture of Dr. Doom on his nightstand; some insist he's just trying to do the right thing in a crazy world; and some (well, just Adam Warren, really) simply have him going about his superhero tech business. Fraction's version of Stark is a little too close to Company Mouthpiece (ie: "It's what the Fifty-State Initiative is all about - and it's why THE WAR was fought") but overall, he comes off as a relatively balanced figure, quite possibly because he's at a distance from the heart of the story so the issue isn't overwhelmed by The Moral and Ethical Dilemmas of Mister Anthony Stark (or, to put it another way, "TONY IZ IN UR SHIELD, ENSLAVING UR POWURZ"). That might be the wisest way to use Iron Man in any comic that doesn't directly concern Iron Man, as he's become a very unpleasant figure and no amount of FRONTLINE damage control can fix that in one shot.

A GOOD debut, then. I had zero expectations going in, but I like what I've seen and I want to see more.

I'm serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer: Jog reviews superhero comics that were on sale at US retailers beginning July 18th, 2007.

Ok, did I do the music title thing right?

Justice League of America #11: I can pretty easily recall when I really started enjoying the attention to concept that goes into Gene Ha's art. It was his recent(ish) The Authority #1, loaded with moist, foggy color, determined to never quite allow anyone's face to be glimpsed straight-on, dotted with gruesome blur effects right out of a 1994 issue of Spider-Man Unlimited - it did a great job of selling the sad slog of the book's 'real' world setting all on its wordless own.

This comic is just as handsome, beyond even the broad setup, which sees Red Arrow and Vixen stuck in a tumbled building that seems to be crushing them, panels gradually getting narrower and narrower as the issue goes on. The real effect is in Ha's lavish character art, so rich and vivid (Art Lyon's colors are vital) it seems like a collection of bang-up superhero pulp magazine covers, all of it crunched into these teeny tiny spaces, sanded with dusty visual fuzz... he sacrifices visual characterization for broad, bombastic heroism, but it's cruel to see such superheroic images made so pained, and it really bolsters the impact of the story.

Well, as much as it can. As good as the concept here is, there's isn't actually a lot done with it, save for the gradual tightening of panels, some nicely apportioned splash pages, and an inspired page where the reader is forced to literally turn the book around to simulate the characters' movement through the ruin. That kind of stuff needs carefully measured writing to compliment it, but Brad Meltzer's script doesn't offer much beyond endless variations on desperation and struggle, which makes the story seem stretched from a great sequence to a thin issue. I can't give it more than an OKAY, but you'd better believe I'll still be looking at all future Ha.

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil #4 (of 4): Short observation #1 - writer/artist Jeff Smith’s revised character design for Mr. Mind is absolutely terrific. Sly, snot-green eyes, a mouth full of sharp cartoon choppers, and oh that headset… cracked me up every time.

Short Observation #2 - if you’re going to have a cutesy secret code thing going on in your comic, you should probably make sure the final message doesn’t translate to “TGE END.”

Anyway, I’m happy to say that this concluding issue throws its weight behind the series’ greatest strength: Smith’s keen grasp of childish daydream logic, tweaked with primal adolescent fears (icky bugs! abandonment!) as only an adult can understand them in retrospect. More than any other current superhero comic I can think of, this feels like a youthful frolic right from its core, and there's real charm to that.

Less charming is Smith's tendencies toward blunt political commentary, not so cloggy as last issue but still very present, which transform the book in a strike of lightning from an adult's youthful fancy to an adult lecturing to those fancy youths. What a drag. It's not that I'm against politics in young-skewing superhero comics like this one, but Smith's handling of Sivana's war lust slots the character firmly in the 'Malcolm McDowell stealing elephants' role for wholesome kids' entertainment, and that clashes badly with the dreamstate fancy Smith otherwise handles admirably. So long as the Captain is growing to giant size and socking monsters, it's great. So long as everyone reflects on how misplaced aggression and fear mongering is the true threat facing us today, I sort of wind up wishing Smith would at least get back to zippy gunplay-around-kids jokes.

Still, it doesn't get the better of him for the finale, so VERY GOOD end to a GOOD series.

The Brave and the Bold #5: I do appreciate what Mark Waid is trying to do with this storyline, kind of a rolling snowball effect where troubles build upon troubles as more and more superheroes team up, with the big crash presumably coming next issue - it can be fun at times.

But it can also be very tiring, especially when the plot starts to wriggle out of Waid's grip like it does this issue. Part of the problem is giving seemingly half of the 300,000 members of the Legion of Super-Heroes a panel to tangle unsuccessfully with Batman, which will probably delight established fans, though it basically snuffs any hope of less-acclimated readers getting a handle on the characters beyond "Oooh, this one's bossy! Punch his face, Batman! This one can shrink but Batman still found a way to hit her! Hit them all forever, Batman!"

But even a less character-cluttered corner like the Supergirl/Green Lantern/Adam Strange meeting resorts to a backstory summary just to keep things flowing, creating less a sense of dynamite dramatic build than the book's Wikipedia plot section getting updated right before your eyes. George Pérez is still aces with varied designs & environments, and his storytelling has enough flair that a few potentially creaky moments come off as slightly inspired (love how the reader's viewpoint dances from faces-to-book-to-faces-to-eye-to-eye-to-faces in just four panels during the Book of Destiny sequence), but the scent of EH is rising.

The Order #1: I'm not the first to make this observation, but the debut issue of this new Initiative-branded series from Marvel seems remarkably similar to that famed first issue of Peter Milligan's & Mike Allred's X-Force revamp, from the cockeyed look at unheroic superhero media savvy right down to much of the field team being taken out of action right off the top. I wonder if there's some deliberate homage at work?

If so, I liked how the particulars were tweaked a bit - there's much more emphasis on the gulf between media people's private and public lives, how fragile folks are made to seem hard and spotless in front of a world that needs gods of a sort (the 'gods' motif in the characters' names was a good touch). Writer Matt Fraction is generally good with larger-than-life characters interacting in a warm, funny manner (see also: Punisher War Journal #4, the supervillain funeral one, best of the run by far), so the small moments play to his strengths, and he's got a knack for fitting bits of Civil War fallout in with the work's larger themes, like Tony Stark's desire to keep the new team cleaner than he ever was.

The big action bits suffer from the issue's pace, though, as characters keep getting introduced at a clip that renders too many of them nondescript when Fraction has them barking action dialogue - I get the feeling Milligan kept the introduction of the new new team for his second issue for good reason. Still, even these large fighting segments leech enough character vigor that interest is not quite lost, and Barry Kitson's/Mark Morales' line art manages a few touches of facial flair in wtth the workmanlike storytelling. GOOD, and I hope it gets better.

Back in the Stacks: Jeff tackles Shiga's BOOKHUNTER, and vice-versa...

Here's a question: would you enjoy watching "The Wrong Trousers" if it was animated in the style of "The Family Guy" instead of with Nick Park's clay animation? Or would you have enjoyed "Hot Fuzz" if the roles had been filled by the cast of "Saved By The Bell?"

I bought Jason Shiga's BOOKHUNTER back at APE and have been trying to get a handle on it since. A satire of police procedural shows and over the top action films, Shiga's writing is more than top-notch: the story of a tough-as-nails library cop and his dedicated squad fighting against time to catch a rare book thief, Bookhunter is filled with techno-wonk babble so authentically sounding it puts all other techno-wonk babble to shame ("On the press itself, it looks like each plate was burned through a zincotype process. You can see the slight non-uniform deformities in the serifs here and here.") Every topic related to the theft, from how a fake book might be made to how someone would get the combination from a safe they're breaking into, is explained with what's either a virtuosic base of knowledge or an equally virtuosic ear for mimicry. On top of this, by setting the story in the far-flung world of Oakland, 1973, Shiga also provides a look at a disappearing world of library science, where the cataloguing room is a grand hall of hard-copy records. ("Why it wasn't but a year ago," one of the character notes, "that patron records occupied a room almost half this size.") Interestingly, although setting the story in 1973 causes a vast number of anachronisms to pop to the surface and a fact-thick procedural usually causes that sort of thing to knock a reader out of the narrative, the whole conceit of a top-notch library police force commanding the full fiscal support of the government is so fantastic from the get-go that the anachronisms don't stick at all. Finally, the action setpieces are absurd and entertaining as hell, with the final twelve page chase scene everything you'd want from a fight in a library. Those Hollywood dudes out there scouring convention aisles trying to score the next big film property aren't working hard enough if they haven't already offered Shiga at least some appalling pittance for his book.

So what's with the rhetorical questions and the cognitive dissonance? Why haven't I broken out my poms-poms and high skirt and exhorted you to dash out and buy this book?

The problem for me is the cartooning: although Shiga's storytelling is solid, maybe even dynamic, his cartooning chops are weak. I'd like to think I can appreciate a lot of different styles of art, but my eyes stung through the first half of Bookhunter. As I said, it's not a problem with the storytelling, and the representation is pretty good--there's never any confusion of what you're supposed to be looking at, and all the objects and people are all part of the same aesthetic--but the actual art itself I find unattractive and rudimentary in a way that cuts against the grain of the detail-filled story: a double-page spread of Agent Bay looking from a balcony over the vastness of the Oakland Public Library is little more than hashmarks and blobs. And while there are times this juxtaposition between the art and the writing heightens the comedic aspect, for the most part I found myself thinking, again, of kids learning to draw by watching Family Guy. I think if this causes me--a guy who never much minded Dilbert or Kathy or even Ariel Schrag's early style--trouble, then I really think there's a lot of people out there who aren't going to be able to get into this book. In fact, early Ariel Schrag is a pretty good comparison--that work is rudimentary as hell but in the context of a young girl's messy emotional life, it's perfect and prettily easily overcome. But in an over-the-top spoof of Michael Bay movies and CSI shows, the artwork continually works against the intentions of the work and it's problematic.

Another problem for me? It's fifteen bucks. As you may recall, I tend to be the guy who balks at overly high prices for books: not because I'm cheap, but because price is a very real consideration on the part of any consumer, and, like it or not, it affects the appreciation of a work. I bought Bookhunter when I was at APE, when I was in the midst of spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, and that may have been the only way this would've actually ended up in my possession; it doesn't do too well on a flip-test. It's a thick book, something like 130 pages of material, and with partial color (lots and lots and lots of brown). Although I might've bought in the store at eight bucks, and probably at five, at fifteen bucks I think it's hard sell unless you've got a lot of coin in your pocket or you really, really want a good reading experience and don't mind itchy-making art.

In fact, at that price range, Bookhunter's best bet for finding the popularity it deserves may come via the main object of Bookhunter's affection-- the library. In a perfect world, every library in America should own at least a few copies of Bookhunter (librarians will *love* this book) and you could check it out and have a helluva good read, even if you occasionally have to stop and put a damp washcloth on your eyes. In that perfect world--hopefully not as far-flung as the long-lost world of Oakland, 1973--Bookhunter is a great book to check out, read, enjoy and return: a highly GOOD book by a writer with tremendous potential. In this far messier world, however, Bookhunter is conflictingly OKAY--well worth reading, but thornier on issues of appreciation and ownership.

Said "Doc, what's the condition? I'm a man that's on a mission": Graeme gets the green from 7/18.

WORLD WAR HULK #2: It was interesting to see, over at Tom Brevoort's blog, how involved what has become World War Hulk was in the initial proposal for Civil War, essentially being the final act. What's most interesting, perhaps, is the way in which World War Hulk seems to do right what Civil War did wrong - The core series works as a story in and of itself, with action scenes that deliver and characterization that fits with the way that these characters have been portrayed for years (I particularly enjoyed Sue Storm sticking with Reed Richards even as she lets him know that she's pissed at him, and the Thing doing the cliched "Clobbering Time" line. What can I say? I'm a sap) - and to such an extent that I can't really imagine Mark Millar doing anything close to the job that Greg Pak does here.

(That said, would I have liked Civil War any better if it had finished with a big issues-long fight against a big monster? It would've been a more dramatic, and more sensible, finish, I guess...)

It helps that John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson do a really rather good job on the art, offering a less santized and sterile world than Steve McNiven's overly rendered War; the more evocative and, well, kind of messier art fits the angrier and more gloriously dumb story, and Christina Strain's colors work to keep things crisp and clear. While it may be the long-planned endgame that brings all of Marvel's heroes back together in time to fight some shape-changin' aliens, it still offers pretty much all you could want in a summer blockbuster: Emotion! Explosions! And monsters from outer space! Good, then.

On the other hand, WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #2 was Awful. Paul Jenkins' three stories all fail in different ways - "Embedded" is horribly over-written ("Suddenly there was another blinding light in the sky. But this light was warm, soothing... Golden. A flood of energy filled the air... to be replaced by the crunch of metal... A rending sound... A deafening crackle of static... A hero's cry... And all that remained was the sound of our own pounding hearts against the silence." Oh, Paul...), "Costume Division" just kind of undercuts that whole "aliens coming to kill everyone" idea that the whole crossover is built on ("I'm going to kill you, but first I'm going to team up with this human cop to fight crime. It's the ultimate mismatched buddy cop movie!") and the two page comedy strip at the end is just horrifically unfunny - but they're all bound together by the fact that they all suck. Which has to mean something, right? I mean, everyone like consistency in quality, except for when it comes to spin-off books and their parent titles...

And all paths lead to a single conclusion: Graeme falls for the questionable charms of 7/18

I don't know if it's the comics equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome or something, but is it just me, or was COUNTDOWN #41 kind of... less sucky than usual?

Don't look at me like that; I'm not saying that it was very good or high art or anything, but there definitely seemed to be an uptick in quality in this latest issue in almost every department. I mean, there was actual plot development on multiple storylines for the first time in, what, ten issues or something, as well as a sense of humor (and, because of that, potentially individual writer identity; not only was the writing in this issue funnier than usual, it also had a better sense of pacing and juggling plots - there were only a couple of scenes that acted as filler this time around, for once - than earlier issues as well. I don't know if this speaks to the idea that the book is beginning to find a voice eleven issues in, or just that Adam Beechen had a good week, mind you. Maybe it's just a fluke, even. Who knows?), and the art was actually good for maybe the first time in the entire series (Plaudits go to new-to-the-book artist Dennis Calero, who used to work on X-Factor over at Marvel; his work here is an interesting and odd mix of Ryan Sook, Stuart Immonen and, weirdly enough, old Suicide Squad artist Luke McDonnell, if you remember him, and it's easily the best this book has looked since its launch. I hope he becomes a regular on the series) - Is this the influence of new co-editor Mike Carlin, a few issues into his run, or a sign that I've been reading this for so long that even an Okay issue is beginning to look like a miracle to me? You be the judge.

Something that's easier to judge is that Countdown is currently the big problem at DC. I was thinking this the other day, writing up the solicits for the latest newsletter and realizing just how many books DC is spinning out of this not-as-popular-as-they'd-like series, as if each new book that comes from it will somehow increase the core book's popularity... And not only that, but each successive spin-off seems more and more unnecessary and existing only to take up shelf space ("Lord Havok and The Extremists"? Who wants to read that?!?) - DC is trying so hard to brand itself around Countdown that it's eclipsing its other, better, books; we're at an unusual point where the Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern books are all pretty good, but DC still seems to be in terrible trouble because they're forcing the public face of the superhero line to be a series that readers are practically running away from. You'd think they'd know better, but then you remember that this is comics, and nothing makes sense here.

Ponchos and Throw Pillows: Douglas doesn't actually review a 7/18 book

As I was waiting in line to buy my comics this week at Midtown Comics in Manhattan, the power went out for a moment, and a bunch of other customers pointed out the huge plume of smoke rising up from the explosion at Grand Central, three blocks away; I figured that whatever happened over the next few hours, I'd probably want something to read, so I paid for my comics and then went down to join the crowds of businesspeople running away from the explosion site. (It was just a steam pipe that had blown up, but we didn't know that at the time.) Understandably, I didn't really feel like turning immediately to a comic book about Manhattan getting smashed, or about a couple of characters trapped in rubble. So when I finally got to sit down and read, the first thing I pulled out was Giant-Size Marvel Adventures The Avengers #1, as the indicia has it, although the cover calls it Marvel Adventures Giant-Size Avengers--cue the "where are Giant-Man and Goliath?" jokes. It's actually a perfectly normal-size 22-page-story Marvel Adventures Avengers comic, padded out to $4 size with reprints of the first appearances of Namora and Venus, from Marvel Mystery Comics #82 and Venus #1. Those two stories were also just reprinted a couple of months ago in the Agents of ATLAS hardcover, in which their creators aren't credited either. For the record: the Grand Comics Database also isn't too clear on the creators' names, although the Namora story seems to have been drawn by Ken Bald and Syd Shores.

But the real raison d'être of this comic doesn't turn up until a few pages into it: a two-page spread dedicated to a bunch of the Spider-Man merch that ties in with the new movie--a card table, folding chairs, some throw pillows, a poncho, and two photos of what an explanatory caption notes is CHILDREN'S BEDDING. Another caption: "Available at fine stores everywhere. Product may differ by store." I should hope so!

This is followed, a few pages later, by an ad for Marvel Heroes bottled water, "The Coolest Water in the Universe!" This is as good a juncture as any to point out that bottled water is almost by definition uncool (seriously, go read that story). In another ad, Wolverine is wearing boxers with his own image on them, and saying "bub." Another ad is for the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer game based on the movie based on the comic book, which features "truly destructible environments." The movie FF's likenesses advertise milk, overleaf.

The only place where you can actually live the adventure, though, according to another ad, is Universal Orlando Resort, where the pictured Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride cost $100 million to build. Just to put that figure in perspective, let's say that after "One More Day," Amazing Spider-Man starts selling Civil War-ish numbers, 350,000 copies of each issue (and that its cover price is permanently three bucks). By my back-of-envelope calculation, it will still have to sell 95 consecutive issues at that level before their cumulative combined cover price is as much as it cost to build that one Spider-Man ride. Which it's reasonably safe to assume is making money anyway.

This is one weird, sort-of-guilty secret of superhero comics: they're really just caretakers for the licenses that go on CHILDREN'S BEDDING. The money isn't in Batman comic books, it's in Batman video games and throw pillows and coloring books. The comics' responsibility is to keep each franchise alive, in the "they still make those?" sense, and maybe if they're very lucky give it a little bit of cultural currency. As long as Iron Man and Wonder Woman don't do anything shocking enough to get their likenesses permanently removed from theme park rides, they're golden. The Big Two's market-supremacy skirmishes don't matter in the grand monetary scheme; I don't even know if superhero comic books' profitability matters. All that matters is that people keep wanting boxer shorts with Wolverine on them, which means that Wolverine has to keep being a thing of the present rather than of the past. This is not news, but it's irritating to have the comics themselves rub it in your face.

On the other hand, there's a curious kind of freedom that goes along with the way superhero comics are locked into a much bigger system of superhero commerce: as long as Marvel and DC don't rock their franchises' boat too much, they can do whatever they want with them. That's how projects like Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and The Irredeemable Ant-Man and Paul Pope's Batman: Year 100 (and, thinking back a few decades, the Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants period) happen. On the rare occasions when comics do give a superhero franchise more cultural (not just subcultural) currency, it comes from cutting loose within the limits of the franchise. Which is something I'd like to see a lot more of--Kirkman and Hester's Ant-Man hasn't caught on for a bunch of reasons (I'm convinced that one big one is the five-syllable word in its title), but it doesn't look or read like any other comic book right now, and that means it at least had a better shot at staying power than, oh, World War Hulk: X-Men.

GSMATA also includes a fun Avengers story by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk (involving the Agents of Atlas, Kang, time-travel, what would have happened if Captain America had been thawed out too soon, etc.). Kirk is credited as "penciler" only; there's no inker credited, but then again Marvel hasn't been crediting its inkers at all in solicitations for the past few months. I'm not gonna review the story as such, other than to say I enjoyed it, for the same reason I'm not giving it a rating (although I'll be giving other things ratings, never fear): partly because the commercial realities of superhero comics are clawing at me more than usual today, and also because I'm on a panel with Parker on August 1 (at Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon!), and if I started logrolling now I'd also have to point out that Jim Ottaviani and my pal Dylan Meconis's Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love is out this week from G.T. Labs, and will tear your heart out if you care about monkeys, parental love or both.

Finally, a bit more self-introduction and self-promotion, which you can skip if you don't like that stuff: Hi! I'm Douglas. I've got a new book out called Reading Comics, I do semi-regular graphic novel reviews at Salon, and I also write about comics for Publishers Weekly and its free email newsletter companion PW Comics Week, as well as a few other places. And I'm pretty sure I'm the last of the Legion of Savage Critics to post something; does that make me the Whilce Portacio of this crew?

Speed! Speed! Speed! Just wouldn't believe it!: Graeme gets Flashed, 7/18

Johanna may have covered it on Tuesday - Goddammit, now I have competition for who's going to get to the books first! - but I have to admit, I kind of like ALL-FLASH #1. The strange thing is, I actually have some of the same reservations to the story that Johanna did - It's certainly a choppy read, and something that's very much set in contemporary "Countdown" DC continuity (it ties in with the recent JLA/JSA crossover and the last Flash series), but what won me over ultimately is the haste - hey! - it has in moving away from the dark and gritty story that you expected.

Waid was kind of handed a pretty dark plate when he was given the Flash as a book this time around: His Flash - and really, this issue shows how much that Wally West is Waid's character; Wally sounds more like himself, albeit an older version of himself, than he has done since Waid left the series years back. The key, weirdly enough, may be the optimism of Waid's take, which I'll get to later - is stolen back from contentment in some kind of mystical retirement to find that his former - and formerly pretty ineffectual - villains have murdered his successor. If that were almost any other modern superhero writer with the exception of Grant Morrison perhaps, that would be the start of a six-issue (at least) storyline about how wracked with guilt Wally was for leaving in the first place, and how much he thirsted for revenge and the ways in which it pushed him past his breaking point so that he acted way out of character because of the death of a loved one. Hell, he could be so upset that he could put his Dark Flash costume on from ten years ago, and you could call it "Back In Darker Red" or something. But that's really clearly not the way that Waid sees the character or the book, and so that entire hanging plotline of depression gets tied up in this one-shot, outside of the regular run - no pun, yadda yadda - of the book. It's as if Waid is saying "Yes, I know that this has to be dealt with, but let's get it over as soon as possible so that we can get to the fun stuff, okay?"

And the way that Waid deals with it also avoids the stereotypical superhero realism schtick; Waid points out that Wally isn't the kind of character who'd kill someone, even a murderer. Instead - like Black Adam in 52, before that got undone within a month - the character responsible for the previous Flash's death is left alive, but punished in a fitting (and appropriately Flash-y) way. It's an inventive alternative that also leaves the door open for a possible return of the character down the line, something both unexpected (the punishment) and retro (the possibility of the character returning to plague our hero!) at the same time... which, in itself, feels very fitting for the Flash, which has been about mixing the two since Barry Allen gave himself the name to honor his favorite fictional hero, even as he started off the Silver Age.

The end of the book is where the real point of the issue is, though; having dealt with the dangling plot, Waid teases out what's to come in his next run on the book, and it's superpowered kids and monsters and the Justice League and two things most importantly: People smiling while we're promised "it's going to be one hell of a ride."

And that's what I want to read from the Flash, and that's what I've wanted to read from the Flash since Waid left, I think. Geoff Johns did good melodrama, but the Flash isn't really about that, for me. It's about family (Yeah, even the Barry Allen Flash - Look at how many recurring guest stars he had, even early in the run) and about speed and maybe more than any other superhero comic, it's about fun. Yeah, sure, throw in high action and adventure, but make it fun, you know?

All-Flash #1 is Good, not because of the plot - which may be the best possible resolution to where everything had left off, admittedly, but still - nor because of the art - which has moments of wonderfulness (Karl Kerschl and Daniel Acuna's work is great) and moments that aren't so great (Hi, Ian Churchill!) - but because it cuts through all the crap that's grown around what should be a great concept and brings it back to basics pretty damn fast. And, really, it's all about the speed.

My Life is Choked with Comics #1 - Rogan Gosh

Hi there. My name is Jog. I will write short reviews for this site. But I will also write this.

I hope you’re enjoying your evening. Or morning. Or whatever time it is. It’s about 2:00 AM here, as I type this. That is fine by me, since I can see the stars very nicely on a clear night like this, and I’ve been thinking about outer space lately. Space travel and comic books. Humor the titanic nerd for a paragraph or two.

If access to the breadth of comics is like access to the eyeball-melting scope of outer space, I dare say we’re living an archetypical 1950s martini-with-your-ray-gun steel rocket dream these days. Oh, there are problems, when you look toward the contemporary. Distribution tremors, complex anxieties over creator recompense, the rock and sway of culture... fan culture, critical culture, genre culture, all of it vibrating with the speed of instant online reaction.

But aesthetically, historically… geographically! Now more than ever we can muster our individual resources to plunge between worlds, darting through star systems and glimpsing ancient sights. Few things need be obscure to those lit with burning spirit and chased with atomic rockets. The same internet that amplifies our anxieties can lead us to all sorts of works. Past, present - one hundred styles, many tongues. Today you can purchase books from all around the world with a flick of your wrist, like playing with your Wii. A library of pamphlets and bookshelf items are in orbit around the determined. Information is not always reliable, but triangulation is consummately possible. Why, I hear you can even access certain items on your computing machine, if you feel like making Liberty cry and Terrorism clap. All of us can be great space travelers today, if we so choose.

And we do not have to choose. But if we want, it can be done.

That was all a fancy way of saying that I own far too many comics, and that the internet has made it far too easy for me to get more more more. I have no plans of stopping this tragedy from continuing, but I thought I might as well share some thoughts on what I’ve found, and what I’ve found to be interesting. Sometimes I’ll talk about old works, sometimes new(ish) works. Popular works, unpopular works. Whatever I’ve found.

This particular work, for example, can be considered both popular and unpopular, in that it’s apparently ‘sought after,’ even though it’s (to my understanding) only so elusive because nobody bought it in the first place. I found in a bargain bin for one dollar. It is a 1994 Prestige Format one-shot from Vertigo, although it’s actually a collection of a serial that initially ran in the short-lived 2000 AD spin-off magazine Revolver in 1990. It is by Brendan McCarthy and Peter Milligan, apparently produced in a ping-pong manner that demanded the visual credit come first. I commend to you this site for creator commentary and lovely art samples.

Milligan & McCarthy are one of my favorite comics teams - every single one of their collaborations is worth searching out. Weird, pulsing, alive comic books, littered with literary love and goodly fucking garish. Unfortunately, you’ll indeed have to search for them, since none of them happen to be in print and some of them possibly don’t exist in even semi-complete form anymore (unless you stumble upon a cache of the News on Sunday from 1987, let’s say), but that’s the life of a space traveler, eh? I recommend sniffing out the first three issues of Vanguard Illustrated (1983-84) from Pacific, the three-issue Strange Days (1984-85) from Eclipse, and at least issue #1 of the two-issue Paradax (1987) from Vortex. None of it’ll cost you much. Easy to purchase online.

Rogan Gosh, however, was one of their later collaborations. And it’s the perfect comic to illustrate a journey through space, and many types of space at that. The plot is somewhat difficult to summarize, since the book has no interest in providing a single thoroughfare of narrative. Rather, it presents a variety of little stories that occur at essentially the same time, our perspective shifting from one to another, sometimes page-by-page.

The perspectives of the characters shift as well - everybody in Rogan Gosh is constantly imagining or hallucinating or dreaming of themselves as characters or items in everyone else’s story, and most characters are convinced that their reality is the real reality. There’s author Rudyard Kipling, searching for a way out of his guilt-ridden hell of a life in a curious opium den. There’s Raju Dhawan and Dean Cripps, an aloof waiter and boorish patron in an Indian restaurant who find themselves caught up in a dimension-shifting adventure. There’s the Boy, a directionless young comics reader who’s despairing over the departure of his girlfriend and eventually committing suicide while talking to whomever will listen on the telephone. And then there’s Rogan Gosh, a legendary Karmanaut who’s been tricked by the trickster Soma Swami into taking on “my embarrassingly huge backlog of terrible deeds,” including no less than the Curse of Kali.

Fortunately, Rogan Gosh can die and be reborn, plus he can leap through time and reality to affect his other selves in dreaming. Like Raju Dhawan, the waiter. Although he also seems to be the Boy’s imaginary idealization of his lost girlfriend, while the Boy himself is possibly an alternate Dean Cripps, which naturally leads to Raju and Dean having uncontrollable sex in one memorable bit. Certainly the Boy’s actual girlfriend seems to be the same as Dean’s errant fiancée, even through the girlfriend’s current boyfriend has just died, and also might be narrating the comic omnisciently. Except for the fact that the narration often switches from omniscient to first-person, leaping from character to character, and later openly mocks the story itself. Rudyard Kipling, by the way, is also the Soma Swami, occasionally a statue, and sometimes a talking monkey with a mustache. At one point a pair of skulls around Kali’s neck address the comic’s authors directly. The starts and stops of the serial format are worked right into the story as a dimension-hopping stylistic tic. Everyone learns something in the end, although they’re different things, and some of them forget it immediately.

The beauty of this comic, however, is that none of this dizzying narrative play is around simply for bedazzlement. At heart, Rogan Gosh is an exploration, “a parable” as Kipling puts it, of the illusions and confusions of earthly sensations that prevent people from grasping peace and enlightenment. Everybody in this comic is longing for something, but even the inner/outer space explorer of the title cannot always tell where the illusions of living begin. The Boy speaks to us about his uncertainty about whether love exists, not just for him but as a common thing, like it might just be mass hypnosis. His words are painted right on the page, as if his sadness cannot be held back by panels.

Much like, say, Watchmen, Rogan Gosh could not possibly function as effectively as it does as anything other than a comic. This is not because McCarthy and Milligan have mastered the clockwork planning of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons -- actually, the loose and stringy Rogan Gosh is practically Watchmen’s tonal and stylistic opposite -- but because their storytelling rigorously interrogates the medium’s form, forcing the construct of the comics page itself to act as a metaphor of alternate realities pressed up against one another like panels and pages in a strip, superficial flourishes contextualized as elements of an individual state of being, Kipling’s dreary coloring and distanced narrations emphasizing his intellectual malaise, while the Boy’s world is sickly and slopped with paint. Trawling the pages is like voyaging through the cosmos, and you can stop and jump backward just like the title character. Ha! Didn’t I tell you we’re space travelers now?

But such formal sensitivity also pokes the reader toward paying attention to the work's total package. I very much like the Prestige Format, and I suspect the work's interwoven narratives function much better as a single unit, rather than spread out over a series of magazines. But there's an odd unease to some of the supplemental material - Milligan provides a short Afterword that basically sits the reader down and explains to the them the plot(s), pointing out the various points of view in handy outline format and alluding to some problems that readers of Revolver seemed to have in making sense of the work. On one hand, it's an affable piece, good-humored and all that. But it's also a little weary, indicative of a writer who's probably been told something like 'wow, you must have done so many drugs' a few too many times. It's really a bit like Milligan pulling his pants down in front of everyone - too much revealed, though it probably gets annoying parties to go away fast.

All concerns of that nature aside, I think it’s a wonderful comic, boundless in intuition and imagination, one that convinces you that ‘comics’ as a medium is capable of anything. Some have been touched by it over the years - certainly one Grant Morrison (whose Doom Patrol is paid homage) seems to have taken away more than a little influence (along with an entire telephone suicide plotline) for his and Frank Quitely’s own elusive Vertigo project, Flex Mentallo, a far tighter-in-focus thing that essentially replaces formal considerations with genre considerations, resulting in a vividly personal statement of superhero purpose.

Hmm. Maybe I'll pencil that in for another time in a couple months, after I defend the honor of Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again and get in a few good pornography posts. But until then, good night or good morning. Or whatever.

Okay, Game On, Let's Do This Thing or Whatever, Says Abhay; FACE!

Finally, my writing is where it belongs-- beneath the words "Ass Crap" in letters glowing white hot, Ass Crap big as day, a warning, a promise, a taunt, a seduction. Hot damn-- here we go again!

Hello-- for the next two or three weeks, I'm going to be writing primarily about New Avengers #32 (Marvel Comics), Supergirl & the Legion of Superheros #31 (DC Comics), and Cold Heat #1 (PictureBox, Inc.). I haven't done this in a while so let me start slow and spend a little while on those three books, before we risk branching out. Indulge me. Hand-feed me grapes. Let me suckle from your teat. Be around until I want you to go away, but come back right away if i text you. Put me in diapers just like Senator Diaperman.

We'll talk about Cold Heat more in the coming weeks, I think, than this one. Cold Heat stands at the opposite end of the spectrum from the other two books, in nearly all respects: it is less commercial in execution, intention, style, though maybe not substance. It's a comic my benefactor and patron, the good Mr. Hibbs, once called "one of the worst, least professional, and most overpriced comics I've ever seen," published by what fellow ... Savage(?) Douglas Wolk called an imprint "at the intersection of the fine arts, comics and music worlds"-- in an article that announced nothing less than the cancellation of Cold Heat following the release of Cold Heat #4! Awww, fuck, I've done my homework, son! Tell your kids you were alive to see this!

But NA and ... er, SLOSH(?): twinning those books is kind of an obvious starting point, yes? They're both revamps and re-imaginings of long-running comic series by two big companies; both idiot-children of company-wide events and gimmicks and gotchas, of this place, this time, this horrible-fuck-bummer of a decade. But, but: after 30+ issues each, NA is a big hit book, a Top 10 book, while SLOSH hovers alone near the bottom half of the Top 100.

Both are artifacts of the industry of their creation: both are instantiations of long-term editorial strategies; written, re-written, considered, reconsidered; drawn panel by panel, page by page, at risk of repetitive stress disorder, loss of sleep, over long hours, late hours; inked, embellished by craftsman until pages are ready to be colored and lettered by dedicated crews, all while editors review the results, checking, rechecking. Finally, months of labor culminate in these comics's ultimate destinies: a one-paragraph online review written in ten seconds what concludes with "Fart" or "Jism" or "Bunghole" in italics.

Both comics primarily engage in refluxing up old, well-worn properties. Which… let’s stop and consider that: what the hell is going on in this country? Every movie's a sequel to a remake of a tv show that was originally a BBC show. What is that? Are we living in a culture out of lies to tell itself, rushing into the past to keep from thinking there’s no future, to keep from wondering if it's run out of time? Are we just picking through the ashes of a cultural heat-death, here? Or when you look out over the world, does any institution, establishment, authority-- does it all just seem to have been fucking cratered to you at some point? Do you ever stop and think "Oh, hey, maybe Issue #32 of the New Avengers comic book series is just a symptom of a dying empire having one last orgasmic death-spasm?"

Do you people even read the Guardian Unlimited? It’s all going down in flames, brother. It’s coming apart at the seams-- we’re one good flood from mass cannibalism in the streets—I will eat your face! And we’re supposed to be talking about New Avengers #32 in a polite and calm fashion? Don’t buy New Avengers #32—invest in water, rations and guns!

The Legion of Superheros is essentially a post-World-War-2 fantasy: "We may struggle, but our children will live in a shiny utopia future and they will be superheros." Which is fine circa 1950 or 1960, but right now, right this second: Does anyone with any sense in their head really believe any of that anymore? I've seen the children of the future-- they are morbidly obese and they are blowing each other constantly. A legion of Overweight Dumb Sluts will inherit this Earth and when you close your eyes to sleep, they will find you and hunt you as civilization comes crashing down all around in an ecological, sociological, economic and spiritual collapse. Cosmic Boy? Lightning Lad? Cut the bullshit-- somebody secure the water supply before the Children of the Future get bored and try to dose us all with their psychiatric meds!

New Avengers #32 begs a conversation whether the central plotline too closely resembles the plotline of the current Battlestar Galactica TV show, which is a remake of the 70's Battlestar Galactica TV show, which was an attempt to do a TV version of the 1st Star Wars movie, by which I of course mean the 4th Star Wars movie. New Avengers #32 features an ad selling action figures of Dale Keown's PITT. What is there to say to all that but "Repent, repent, for the end is nigh?" And by "nigh," I mean move! Move! Water supply! It’s catnip before the apocalypse!

I don't know: I don't want to be a downer. All these comics have positive qualities which I'm sure we'll touch on. All I'm saying is we're all going to die and soon, and the last thing we’re going to hear is a loud, crashing sound. That's all.

Next Week: We’ll talk about the actual plots of New Avengers #32, SLOSH #31, and Cold Heat #1. Plots—do people like hearing about those in reviews? I sure hope so, otherwise there will be egg on my face next week! SUNNY SIDE DOWN.

Rating: Ass-Crappy Barf-Tits Slapped with a Stinkpalm; Pick of the Week: My Nose.

Goodbye, Clunky Rice: Diana buries Martha Washington, 7/11

In an interview that took place prior to the release of MARTHA WASHINGTON DIES, Dark Horse Executive Editor Diana Schutz had this to say: "I can tell you that before I first read the script, Frank had told me that I was going to cry when I read it."

Yes, Ms. Schutz. I'd cry too if I had paid Frank Miller for this dreck.

To prepare for this story, I reread the Martha Washington trilogy (GIVE ME LIBERTY, MARTHA WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR and MARTHA WASHINGTON SAVES THE WORLD). Boy, that was a waste of time. Not only does MARTHA WASHINGTON DIES fail to make any sense on its own merits (Grandma Martha turns into fireworks because... she met an alien once?), it doesn't even have anything to do with the previous stories, which ended on an optimistic note; suddenly barbarians have taken over the world and it's humanity's last stand (someone's been playing too much WORLD OF WARCRAFT). The switch is so bewildering - and so poorly explained - that you're left completely baffled whether you're familiar with the earlier Martha books or not.

For what it's worth, I do see what Miller's trying to do here; Martha dies while stuck in the same cycle of violence that defined her entire life, and there's certainly something poignant about the fact that she never got out, but she didn't die alone either. However, as is usually the case with Miller in recent years, there's a rather large gap between what you think he might have been aiming for and what actually sees print. Any genuine emotion this one-shot is meant to evoke gets smothered under clumsy, anvilicious political overtones.

I submit MARTHA WASHINGTON DIES as the final, definitive proof that something AWFUL has happened to Frank Miller; not only has he lost any semblance of talent, he's now actively undermining his own legacy by appending such horrors as this epilogue and ALL-STAR BATMAN to his past successes. A word of advice, Frank - sometimes it's better to get off the stage before you're thrown off.

Believe it or not, it's still last week: Graeme does the end of 7/11.

Day two in the Big Brother House, and we're all still settling in and trying to work out who gets the big bedroom and who has to sleep on the couch (Jeff, I'm looking at you for that last part). But while we're sorting things out, why not look at everything else that I read from last week?

COUNTDOWN #42: Worth mentioning for two reasons only, as all the usual complaints about the scattered and uninvolving writing still apply: Firstly, artist Carlos Magno really needs to look at human proportions just a little bit more (The opening double-page spread could easily see the book renamed "Attack of the Tiny-Headed People", and he also clearly enjoys Holly Robinson's breasts), and secondly: Did they really color Ryan Choi with bright yellow skin? Considering how many colors are available in modern comic book printing, that is both really surprising and kind of offensive. Seriously, what were the editors thinking when they let that through? This continues to be Crap.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #7: The best part of this otherwise Eh issue (I really don't know why superpowered neo-Nazis bore me, but they have done so far in this book's run) is seeing Hawkman wear his Hawk-helmet under his metalwelding mask: There's something dumb and fun about that that just seems wrong in the best way possible. Otherwise, I'm wondering where the momentum of the first few issues of the series went; did the JLA crossover just kill it, or am I just jaded...?

THE NEW AVENGERS #32: Amazingly, more than half this book feels like filler - Did we really need eight nearly-dialogueless pages of the plane about to crash, followed by four more nearly-dialogueless pages of what happens afterwards? - which completely ruins the impressive and chatty opening of the book, which manages to ramp up the paranoia of the Invasion of The Body Snatchers-esque Skrull plot and made you think, momentarily, that perhaps they knew what they were doing. Considering how light the last issue felt, I almost wonder if there was a last minute decision to split one issue into two (perhaps in order to let Mighty Avengers catch up? Has #4 of that even shipped?)... Either way, another depressingly Eh issue of what was, for awhile, a lot better.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #9: Wait, did Frank just kill that woman? Even the "you're bathed in Hate Rays" excuse still didn't prepare me for that, and it's something that I weirdly have a problem with for reasons that I'm not sure of... It's not as if I think that the Punisher shouldn't kill people, but... I don't know. I'm still with the book, but beginning to feel impatient with this pace of this particular storyline. Okay, I guess.

SUPERMAN #664: Kurt Busiek's run on the book continues to offer unexpected challenges to the Man of Steel - After attacking his sense of doing what's right, now we're seeing his public standing being tackled. As much as this storyline, too, feels as if it's starting to drag (Maybe because it's also seeming shapeless right now? What with the introduction of a Federal task force with the mission to take care of Crazy Superman, as well the New God Kids hanging around, and the mysterious nature of Arion, it feels as if too much is happening, almost), there's still enough of interest here for this to continue to be a low Good.

VOODOO CHILD #1: Mike Carey, I continue to be impressed with the breadth of subject matter in your work, but there's very little else appealing in this new book based on ideas provided by Nicholas Cage and his kid. If you're looking for something that reads like a cross between a Vertigo book and an Avatar one starring Chris Claremont's Gambit, then this is for you, but I don't know how large that target market is really likely to be, to be honest. Awful, then.

WORLD WAR HULK: GAMMA CORPS #1: Wow, it's Sentinel Squad ONE, or whatever that pointless spin-off from Decimation was called - Another group of governmental nobodies put together to deal with a super-threat. And, unless something major is going to happen in the next few issues, this series will be as quickly forgotten as the Sentinel Squad's was. A cash-in carried out with the opposite of verve and style. Truly Crap.

And because Hibbs asked - Yes, it was me that fixed the little icons at the start of the posts, and they're handcoded in there. It's an easy enough piece of HTML, so there y'go. Kate, meanwhile, can be smug that people want them in color, because she was arguing for that in the first place, while I was all "No, line art will be fine." You kids with your opinions, I don't know...

Johanna Runs Her Mouth: All-Flash #1

My second post and already I'm going back on my word. I was going to start here by talking about manga, but then DC sent me a copy of ALL-FLASH #1, their attempted relaunch of the speedster's series. Why would someone want to try this one-shot issue? Well, for me, the only reason is the writer, Mark Waid. His first run on the Flash was considered one of the best superhero comics of its era, back in the mid-90s. (I'm astounded to note that it lasted for eight years! And it was the subject of lots of well-remembered online discussion. We've all learned a lot since then.)

That's not the only throwback element of this comic. The title itself was first used in 1941. Wally's kids are dressed in outfits reminiscent of the Tornado Twins, Barry Allen's children introduced in a Legion of Super-Heroes story from 1968. The issue opens with Waid's trademark narration from that first run, "My name is Wally West. I'm the Flash. The Fastest Man Alive."

The story is the most modern thing about this issue, picking up from the recent DCU death of Bart Allen (aka Kid Flash, another retro element, but best remembered to me as Impulse). Even that, with the Rogues gathering, committing a crime whose scope they don't understand, and then bickering among themselves, reminded me of Waid's big fifth-color event, UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED. (Fifth-color: DC's printer had just developed the technology to use five colors, instead of the standard four, meaning that the comics had a bilious neon lime green added for emphasis. Sad that the only things I remember about that story are that, Blue Devil's wonderful supporting cast being unceremoniously killed off because no one at the time understood their appeal, and the Joker selling his soul for an exploding Cuban cigar.)

This is a hard sell to me. I don't like the current DCU. I don't like the emphasis on death and morbidity, on loved ones in constant danger (as though sweethearts and dependents are nothing but causes of worry), on heroing as a sad, lonely thing instead of concentrating on the wonder and fun amazing abilities would bring. I don't care to wallow in more of it or watch more heroes slurped down into its mud. Sure, the Flash is an important part of the universe, but I want comics that can be read on their own.

For some reason, it took five artists and teams to draw this thing. I'm not even going to speculate on what that means about deadlines or last-minute plans. For all I know, it's a style choice, meant to evoke the different eras of the hero. The first change, from Karl Kerschl to Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund, makes me think that's plausible, because it reminded me of last-millennium art, scratchy with speed lines. I just hate having to flip back and forth to the credit page to see who's doing what, especially since I have to keep count of what page I'm on. This many credits work much better if the staff remembers to add internal page numbers.

I'm new to the rating thing (and not sure I really agree with using them), but my reaction to this comic is "eh". I'm apparently part of the target audience -- I remember Waid's first run fondly, I understand the appeal of the nostalgic hints -- but there's nothing in this issue to bring me back for more. The disposable, interchangeable villains, craven and venial as they are, have more personality than the hero. Wally is upset because his ward (too old-fashioned a word?) has been killed, so he grits his teeth and takes revenge that's more sadistic than murder.

On the positive side, this doesn't seem necessary for those interested in trying the new Flash series. It gets the hero from where he was to where the writer wants him to be going forward. If you don't care how he got there, skip it and try the first issue of the relaunch. The best part of the book, the small element that gives me hope, is that Wally is inspired instead of tied down by his family.

Blame it on the Weatherman: Diana chases the 7/11 Storm

Wildstorm confounds me. It's no secret that the Worldstorm revamp pulled a Britney and went completely off the rails. What's shocking is that it's been almost a year, and no steps have been taken to realign the imprint.

For those unfamiliar with the plight of DC's redheaded stepchild, here's the Sparknotes version: WILDCATS and THE AUTHORITY were meant to be Wildstorm's flagship titles, only neither of them got past issue 2 before disappearing. The gap was unofficially filled by GEN13 and STORMWATCH: PHD, and they ended up becoming the de facto core series.

All well and good, except no one's treating them that way.

I'm no marketing expert, but when you have two books that set the agenda for the entire line (by virtue of being published while Morrison, Ha and Lee play Dance Dance Revolution or whatever the hell they're doing), it's probably not a great idea to have them come out on the same week every. single. month. Factor in a serious case of underpromotion, resulting in abysmal sales, and it certainly seems like Wildstorm is doing everything in its power to self-destruct.

The real sticking point? Gen13 and Stormwatch are probably the best series currently under the Wildstorm banner.

Let's start with STORMWATCH: PHD #9, the conclusion of a two-part "whodunit". John Doran and his team are investigating the attempted murder of Stormwatch overseer Jackson King, and this is where Christos Gage's background in procedural drama really comes into play; most of this issue strongly resembles the middle act of a typical "Law & Order" episode, where the detectives go about questioning suspects and, through these interrogations, we learn more about the various people involved. It could've gotten tedious rather quickly, but Gage also uses these scenes to reintroduce Stormwatch Prime, and the subtle comparisons between the superhero squad and the detective squad lead to some solid character beats.

If there's a drawback inherent to this issue, it's that Gage is working with a heavy backload of Wildstorm continuity: not only is he running his own storylines, he's also integrated the cast and history of the pre-Authority Ellis run from the late '90s. I don't know how confusing this would be to new readers - technically, you're given all the information you need about Diva, Blademaster, Cannon and the others, but I can definitely see how it might be a little daunting.

Overall, though, it's a GOOD issue: the large cast is balanced well, everyone gets a scene or two to shine, and the twist ending was foreshadowed months ago yet still manages to come off as a surprise.

Moving on to GEN13 #10, which is sort of an antithesis to the cool, professional veneer of Stormwatch: this series is all about a bunch of amateur superkids running blind and wreaking havoc. In a way, it's DC's answer to RUNAWAYS: a group of distinctively characterized teenagers discover they have powers, their parents aren't who they seem to be, and they decide to stick together while being chased by evil forces. But while Brian Vaughan mostly played it straight, Gail Simone prioritizes comedy, and that makes a big difference in how the stories play out.

There's actually a lot going on this month: we're at part 3 of an indirect crossover with Simone's other Wildstorm series, WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY. The Gen13 kids have stumbled onto the quaint but quirky superhero retirement community, and almost immediately run afoul of the resident teenagers, who call themselves the Liberty Snots. ("We're thinking of changing it. But we had T-shirts and everything made already.") Meanwhile, Bobby's backstory is revealed, and a third group of superteens prepare to attack.

It's a VERY GOOD issue from start to finish, funny in all the right places and satisfyingly unpredictable at times - I can't think of another teen hero whose primary influence is Bob Marley, and Eddie's choice of codename is accompanied by a poignant moment that gives a degree of depth to the giant goofball.

And that's it for Wildstorm. Why do I have the feeling I'll be saying that in a broader context within the next six months?

That old tyme music: Hibbs' blast from the past

I love Harris Miller II, attorney to the comics stars. Upon seeing my "reintroduction" to the site, he sent me this email. Obviously, from the intro, this isn't the FIRST Savage Critic, but here's one Harris archived from 10/6/1993! So, it's been at least 14 years...

Don't try to email me at that address below (if it survives posting) -- haven't used it since the end of the 20th century!

Look how much longer the ratings list was back then!!!!

I like my new format better though....

Thanks, Harris!!!!

-B

**************************

From: Brian Hibbs (Comix Exp.)

Newsgroups: compuserve.cs2outlookexpress.forum.CIS.COMIC

To: All

Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1993 10:29 PM

Subject: The Savage Critic 10/6:

Because YOU demanded it! The exciting, no-holds-barred return of the Savage critic, featuring the best one word review column in town! We'll start this week with part 2 of the 9/29 shipment, but first, let's put thel rating system in perspective. In ascending order:

Unreadable Crap Terrible Awful Sucks Thud Yawn Eh O.K. Good Very Good Excellent

One special "rating" that doesn't fit on the chart: Don't care. This is reserved for subject matter that I couldn't care less about or am unqualified to judge. Additionally humor comics will be judged as "funny" or "not Funny"

Other superlatives are more or less equal to excellent.

Also, I reserve the right to change or add to the ratings at anytime, for any reason. You'll just have to muddle along.

I will not personally spend my money on any book rated merely good or lower.

Onto the final batch from last week:

Dances with Demons #3: O.K. Blazing Combat: Vietnam & Korea #2: Eh Vietnam Journal: Khe Sanh #3: Eh Days of Wrath #2: Eh Death's Head II #12: Awful Incomplete Death's Head #11: Crap Genetix #2: Unreadable crap Killpower #3: Unreadable Crap Chiller #1: Good, but not worth $7.95 for an incomplete story Dinosaurs for Hire #8: Funny Ferret #5: Terrible Protectors #13: Terrible Tor #4: Good Go Die: O.K. Femforce #65: Crap Good Girl Art Quarterly #13: Crap Flare #13: Unreadable Tigress #6: Unreadable Murcielaga she-bat #3: Crap Elfquest: Blood of 10 chiefs #2: Good Hugo Tate: O, America: Very Good Jason Goes to hell #2: Unreadable crap Jurrasic Park #4: O.K. Kip #3: Awful Lost Laughter #3: Good Meteor Man #4: Terrible Post Brothers #33: Very Good Ninja High/Speed Racer #1: O.K. Speed Racer w/ Ninja High #2: O.K. Zillion #1: Crap TekWorld #15: Terrible Vixen Wars #5: Unreadable crap Xenotech #1: Yawn Mia Farrow-Woody Allen Story: Unreadable crap Raven #1: thud Wandering Star #3: good

That covers *every* non-reprint, or children's comic that came into my store on 9/29. Let's move on to the first half of 10/6:

Team Titans #14: Awful Darkstars #14: Awful Nightstalkers #14: Yawn Guy Gardner #14: Yawn Kamandi #6: Thud JLI #58: Sucks Eudaemon #2: O.K. Negative Burn #3: Good (if a little uneven) Children of the Voyager #4: Very good Shadowman #21: O.K. HArbinger #24: Yawn Magnus #31: Eh Hard Corps #13: Yawn X-O #23: O.K. Deadpool #4: Thud What if? #55: O.K. Action #693: good Warriors of Plasm #3: Crap FF #382: Crap Spidey 2099 #14: O.K. Freex #3: awful Hardcase #4: Good Sludge #1: Very Good (W/ Rune #A: Eh) The extra 55 cents for 3 pages of BWS, 1 page of Magnor, and more (effectively) ads *is* a supreme burn. 3 pages just don't cut it - this wasn't even a *taste*. And FIVE dollars for shipping the "free" comics you get for buying ELEVEN others is a monumental ripoff.

Saint Sinner #3: Unreadable Lethal Foes of Spidey #3: Crap Night Thrasher #4: Crap Static #6: Very Good JL Task Force #6: Eh Ren & Stimpy #13: Funny Cable #5: Eh Warlock Chronicles #6: Crap Showcase #11: Good Titans #103: Unreadable Robin #1: Good Catwoman #4: O.K. X-Men Annual #2: Eh. Batman & Superman Magazine #2 (comics): Way excellent (the Rest): Don't care Law Dog #7: Very good Monster Menace #1: Cool Batman Adventures #14: Excellent ("The Goy Wonder", indeed!) Spawn #14: Very Good Hitchhiker's Guide #1: Good adaptation Wolverine: Killing: Excellent Animal Man #65: Very Good Swamp Thing #137: Stupefyingly terrible Hellblazer #71: Excellent Batman/Houdini: Devil's workshop: Excellent The Upturned Stone HC: Excellent

That's it for now -- more as I get to it (todays' batch represents 6 and a half hours of my time!)

That was my opinion, now what's yours?

Brian

Hello, Hello and welcome to the show tonight: Graeme reintroduces himself, thanks his wife and reviews a book that's coming out on Wednesday.

So, yeah. I'm not sure if I have to do an introduction, being one of the old guard here - and yes, that's pretty depressing, given my immense personal vanity and desire to think of myself as young and beautiful all the time - but, hello to anyone who came here for the first time via the press releases; I'm the one who tends to post a lot and swear. I'm also the husband of the woman responsible for the new look of the site (although I may be responsible for the green. Kate's also the one who got everything up and running on the new URL and everything else, as mad as it drove her last night when Blogger suddenly ate the post titles for no immediately apparent reason), and would like to push another round of applause in the direction of Kate, just because.

And just because this is a review site...

I'll say this about pull-quotes: Sometimes, they work. The evening that I got my copy of the new AiT/PlanetLar graphic novel MONSTER ATTACK NETWORK in the mail, Kate found herself reading the testimonials on the back cover from the likes of John Rogers, Jeff Parker and Ivan Brandon and becoming more and more excited to read the book itself. Me, I was sold on the name alone, and the realization that the acronym was M.A.N.

Like the recently-released first issue of their Wildstorm series, The Highwaymen, Monster Attack Network shows that Marc Bernadin and Adam Freeman have absolutely no problem writing popcorn action fiction - There are set-pieces here that are perfectly constructed in terms of mixing the spectacle of the main action with the cutaways to add scale and humor (I especially liked the massive monster slug-riding rushing past the window of a restaurant, with the shouted "Shit! Shit! Shit!" as parents talk to their son), and their High Concepts and snappy dialogue hits the spot repeatedly. Where they're lacking - and considering this was their first book, despite it coming out post-Highwaymen, it's really not that bad a flaw - is the ability to slow down; the story feels like it's always "on", and even the scenes that should be quieter and more still end up vibrating with the energy of the crazy.

The art has a similar problem; Nima Sorat's work is stunning in places, Paul Pope does the Venture Bros does early Marvel monster books, but there are times when the desire to wow the viewer overwhelms the clarity of the storytelling (There are, to be fair, other times when the art just clicks and sells the story to you - I don't want to imply that this isn't good art, because it is); it's as if everyone involved is so excited about working on the book that they can't stop wanting to really, really impress the reader and maybe go slightly overboard.

They needn't have worried; this is a really enjoyable book, despite the overeagerness: The central idea and plot are so strong that, even if the execution hadn't been as Good as it is, it still would've been worth a look. Like I said; I was sold on the name alone.

Self-referential text is the new rock and roll: Graeme on more from 7/11

A short one today, because there's work to be done before tomorrow... (And I'm not just talking about Hibbs' big news - I also have deadlines for the newsletter and Comics International to deal with this weekend as well. I'm not quite sure how all of that happened...)

DEADPOOL/GLI SUMMER FUN SPECTACULAR: You know that criticism that often gets applied to things, that those involved in the creation clearly had a lot of fun making it, but forgot to be able to translate that to the audience? If there's ever a need to defend that in a court of law, then the majority of this book could easily act as Exhibit A. There's absolutely no doubt that Dan Slott and Fabian Nicieza are having a ball as they co-write each of the shorts in the vaguely-connected collection, but almost none of that fun comes over for the audience. The "main" stories are all pretty generic and throwaway pieces - enough to raise a half-smile, maybe, but that's about it - but, it's the Squirrel Girl interludes, where she discovers what happened to Speedball in Civil War and sets out to save him, that the true interest (and true fun) of the book lies. Those interludes are genuinely funny and have some purpose to them, as if they're the entire reason for the oneshot, and the other stories were the price paid in order to get their snarky dissatisfaction with the fate of Speedball into print.

But if that's the case then, the price was worth it. And the book itself is worth it just for those scenes, and in particular, the scene where Squirrel Girl meets the current-day Speedball, Penance.

The fact that the writers find Speedball's transformation into Penance ridiculous and at odds with both the character and the general tone of the Marvel Universe is very, very obvious. Not only do they poke fun at the plot of Damage Control being responsible for Nitro exploding at the start of Civil War - "No! That couldn't have happened! I know Damage Control! I've worked for them! They're funny, silly, and goofy! They'd never do anything that... dark!" "Uh... Rob, you shouldn't be dark either. You're Speedball! You bounce! With balls!" - but they also point out the holes in Civil War's "everything is different! Stamford was destroyed!" reasoning by referring to recent Marvel history: "The Avengers blew up half of Washington not long ago. Thousands died, and they did just fine... Iron Man killed a U.N. Ambassador - - while he was drunk - - on TV! And now he's running SHIELD!" Penance's response is priceless in its barely-concealed amusement/despair: "You just don't get it, do you?! This self-punishment thing? It's too deep for you! See?! I'm deep now! And that means I do deep stuff!"

It's a (if you'll pardon the pun) weirdly ballsy scene, and the kind of thing that makes me hope that people in Marvel aren't taking all of the Civil War fallout stuff as seriously as they sometimes seem to. Don't get me wrong; the book is still pretty Eh overall, but you should definitely leaf through it just to read the bits in between the stories...

Space Is The Place: Graeme heads out for interstellar policemen from 7/11

It's the war of the space opera epics this week, as the first non-special-oneshot chapters of both DC and Marvel's star-crossed slam-bang-fests shipped, inviting comparisons that'll probably do no-one any good. But let's try anyway, why don't we?

ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST: WRAITH #1: Maybe it's Kyle Hotz's artwork - which, especially on the title character here, reminds me of Sam Keith's stuff - or maybe it's the choice of inverted word balloons for the eponymous hero, but I couldn't quite shake the idea that someone, somewhere, at Marvel sees this as "What if Sandman was a butt-kicking space mercenary?" It's an entirely unfair comparison, of course, because the story owes nothing to Neil Gaiman's gift to DC's intellectual property (although if you suggested that Wraith is Sandman meets Lobo, you're actually not a million miles away from the truth), but also a sign of how disinterested I found myself in the story and looking for distraction. There's nothing bad about the story, necessarily, but also nothing that makes me particularly excited about the prospect of checking out the second issue, nor about the idea that this will be a necessary piece of the whole Annihilation: Conquest larger story. Eh.

NOVA #4, on the other hand, is much more successful. While the superhero snob in me wonders when we're going to see an issue of the book that isn't a crossover with some larger event (even the first issue was pretty much an epilogue to the original Annihilation), the reader in me has to admit that the sudden intrusion of A:C brings a very enjoyable intensity and sense of disaster to the series. I'm not falling for the idea that Richard Ryder is, as suggested by the last few pages, dead, but I'm very much liking the idea that the creative team are ready to throw away the title character for awhile so early in the book's run. Good, and offering enough insight into the Phalanx that I'm even more curious as to where the larger story is going next.

Meanwhile, over at DC, GREEN LANTERN #21 takes the Sinestro Corps War storyline to the individual books, with surprising restraint - I have to admit that I was expecting some kind of obvious "Hal Jordan! I, Sinestro, am going to kick your ass!" moment in this issue, but instead the big guns seen at the end of the opening oneshot are purposefully kept in the background while the new Parallax essentially goes solo on a revenge mission against Hal. It's another well-done issue, giving this book an organic separation from the Green Lantern Corps book, even though the two series will be carrying the same story for the next few months, while also giving new readers all the backstory they may need both in terms of plot and psychological motivation. It's the wonderful lack of what you'd expect that made this so Good; much more subtle than something like Infinite Crisis, maybe Geoff Johns really did learn some tricks from the rest of the 52 writers after all...

The ghost of Justin Hartley looms large: Graeme goes green from 7/11.

Is it that wrong of me that I couldn't stop thinking of Smallville as I read GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #1? It's not just the high concept "Superheroes before they were superheroes" aspect that reminded me of the show, but the execution of same - the wooden expositionary dialogue, the repurposing of the character as an EXTREME THRILLSEEKER, DOOD, the weird villain as security guard to rich boy thing... This first issue curiously captured the feel of the Smallville show much better than the Smallville comic did, which is even more unexpected considering that it's by the Losers' creative team of Andy Diggle and Jock.

It's tempting to say that neither of their hearts are in the book, but I'm not really sure that that's the case; Diggle's script, while featuring some show-stopping moments of clunkiness (The villain's speech when confronting Ollie towards the end of the book is stunning in its laying out not only the character of Ollie as the book starts, but of the signposting of what's going to happen to him during the course of this series: "Look at yourself. You're not Robin Hood. You're Peter Pan. You're the boy who never grew up - - because you never had to. You don't value anything, because you never had to earn it. You don't think the rules apply to you, because you've always been able to buy yourself out of trouble. And you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself - - Because you're still the same spoiled selfish little brat you were when your parents died... Because there's never been anyone there to say no." You kind of have to wonder if Diggle finished writing that and thought, "You know, I'm kind of done."), still has some nice moments, and Jock's art here seems a lot less rushed than his Faker, last week (His cover is beautiful, if entirely destroyed by the barcode and credits - Look at the naked version on the DC Nation page, and see how good the art itself is). Perhaps it's that there was some kind of editorial guidance pushing them towards the Smallville gene, or perhaps presenting heroes as self-centered teenagers (or whatever age Ollie is meant to be here - early 20s, I think...?) is the way to go when trying to reach a new market.

Despite all that, this isn't actually that bad an opener - Everything gets set up easily enough, even taking into account the signposted dialogue, and if everything feels somewhat tensionless, the fact that this is almost intended to be the least exciting part of the story has to be taken somewhat into account. An Okay opener, then, and here's hoping that it picks up the further we get into the story.