Creator On A Tear: Jeff Reviews Adam Warren's Empowered.

EMPOWERED TPB: The first twenty pages of this made me think of that old Matt Groening joke about how paradoxically the French are funny, sex is funny, and comedies are funny, and yet there are no funny French sex comedies. Initially, Adam Warren's sexy superhero manga Empowered is not sexy, uses all the superhero trappings for comedy-based blackout sketches, and Warren, while certainly influenced by manga, is not a manga artist. Really, the first twenty pages or so read like a PG-13 version of Little Annie Fanny where superheroine-in-training Empowered finds herself in one embarrassing (but relatively mild) bondage "story" after another, comically whimpering about how pathetic she is. If this had been a comic book one shot, or the next 220 pages read like the first, I would be telling you to save your money, express general frustration and be done with it. But, in fact, I pretty much exhort you to get out to the store and find a copy of this because Empowered is probably the most enjoyable book I've read in a month or so. Through an act of creative alchemy, Warren takes those first few three page "stories" (created by Warren on commission for someone who collected superheroine-in-bondage art even though Warren himself seems creeped out by such a specialized kink) and sees a deeper potential for the character. What he goes on to do simultaneously is and isn't revelatory--he develops character and mileu by building on continuity. It's not revelatory because that's what superhero comics these days do. What's revelatory is how well Warren does it, and the tricks he uses to accomplish it.

Once Empowered meets a doting hired thug who genuinely admires her, the book's story begins to shift and Warren places the bondage into a context that he feels more comfortable with: "You're, like, a hundred times braver than any of your bigshot, overrated Superhomeys teammates," Thug tells her. "How tough can it be to act all brave and courageous when you're pretty much invulnerable, like most of the Superhomeys? [...] You keep on plugging away. You keep on putting yourself in harm's way. That's brave. Or crazy. Or both." While on the surface this reads like exactly the sort of thing, say, Jim Balent would write while putting his nekked witch Tarot in explicitly titillating positions, it's far more convincing after seventy-plus pages in which we've seen nothing more explicit than a buttcheek or some side-boob. It's easy to read Empowered and feel like Warren is walking the walk while talking the talk--emotional vulnerability is sexy to him, and it's the emotional relationships in the book that go on to resonate. With that in place, Warren goes on to develop the book's mileu with his typically irreverent eye for detail (for example, he gives the Superhomeys one of the more absurd and yet rational origin stories I think I've ever read. And I won't give away any details about Empowered's "roommate" but I thought that too was tremendously amusing and satisfying).

Although I'm not gonna bore you with it, I should at least point out how Warren uses variable length stories to accomplish such a satisfying read. Starting from those brief three to five page "stories" (little more than blackout sketches), Warren builds a dizzying number of tales into the book, some as short as two pages, some as long as eighteen pages. Because Warren's pacing and command of storytelling is so spot-on, each piece pretty much works on its own, but each of these pieces also help contribute to the larger whole of the book. Really, they should probably just be thought of as scenes but that's not quite the case--they're like turbocharged scenes, or as if you got to read the first twelve issues of a superhero book with all the inessential stuff cut out. By the time I put down the book, the characters felt like ones I'd been following forever, and I can't wait for the next volume.

From ambivalently developed, compromised fan commission to extraordinarily satisfying character comedy--Empowered is a triumph of a creator's skill, craft and intuition, a Very Good work and I urge all of you to hunt up a copy. As I said, it's one of the most enjoyable books I've read this month and I can't wait to see more.

A Rolling Stone gathers no Joss: Graeme's accidental theme post about 4/4 books.

This didn't start out as a themed post, but it just kind of turned out that way. See if you can see the subtle connective thread... BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #2: Maybe I'm just getting into the Whedon swing of things, but this seemed much better than the first issue to me - There seemed to be more to it, in some way; the plot moved forward, there was the reintroduction of more characters from the TV show (although Andrew looked nothing like he did on the show, and was only recognizable through his geekdom and Star Wars references) but also character work that works within the context of the comic series itself. Also, there are zombies and fairy tales, which is always nice. More to the point, there is also some of Whedon's swagger back in play, from the switching of scenes at the start of the issue, to the dream sequence, to Amy's fake-out surrender; it feels like a stronger episode of the show, especially as compared with last issue. Very Good, thankfully, although maybe that's due to my recent reading of...

FRAY: Proof that this here site has been good for me, at least, comes with the fact that I read this purely because of people telling that I should, back when I reviewed the first issue of the new Buffy series and was somewhat underwhelmed. This book - midway between Buffy and Firefly (including the futuristic slang that really annoyed me in Firefly; Alan Moore, I blame you, purely because of your use of it in Halo Jones, all those years ago) - was precisely what I was looking for in that first Buffy issue: Fast, funny, and not reliant on you knowing continuities of anything before you started reading. The final showdown with Urkonn, in particular, resonated with the anything-can-happen feeling of Buffy at its best, along with the comedy of the finale of that scene. More than anything, it felt like the pilot for a series - I finished it and wanted to read more, almost immediately, but that's only a good thing. Perhaps when Whedon is less busy he'll get around to writing some more but, for now, this was solidly Very Good.

As if this wasn't Joss Whedon-y enough, his first issue of RUNAWAYS (#25) is also out this week, and it's... Well, it's Good, but pretty much a disappointment after Brian K. Vaughan's three-or-so years on the book. The pacing seems off, as does the dialogue, but more importantly, the bringing the book into the mainstream Marvel Universe doesn't work. On the previous two occasions that the characters were in New York, there was a feeling that it was something unusual and special, but this time, the Kingpin and Punisher appear and it's just underwhelming for some reason. The feeling may be gone, I guess, but that's not to say that I won't end up liking the new feeling.

Oddly enough, the most Buffy-esque book of the week for me might actually have SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #28. The first year of this book, and the last four or five months or so, have had a wonderfully episodic-television sense of pacing where each issue is complete in and of itself while still advancing the overall plot, with a blurb at the opening of each issue setting the scene for that continuing story as much as would be needed by any new readers. With the creative team heading towards the end of their run on the book, it's nice to see the clarity of focus that Mark Waid brought to his early issues come back, as well as the feeling that the book is about more than just superheroes in space - Both the first year arc, and this second major arc (although it went through a prolonged birth, thanks to fill-ins and what seemed to be Waid being exhausted by 52) have had an epic feel to them that's missing in most superhero books these days. Very Good again, thankfully.

What did the rest of you think about these books? You've probably picked up at least two of them...

My Country 'Tis of Thee: Hibbs starts on 4/4

A couple from this week, then: 52 WEEK 48: The inevitable comes true, though the cover obviously telegraphs it. Ultimately, I tend to think this is a mistake -- there's few enough strong supporting characters in the world that MOntoya becoming a mask isn't the choice I would have made; but it does work well within the context of both the story, and her own personal arc. I was a little annoyed that "Gotham burns" (Again?!? How can ANYONE in that town afford property insurance?), and there's also something a little strange about Robertson's art, with it's big open page gutters -- at first I thought "is he drawing on the wrong sized paper or something?", but no, many of the pages have a full bleed out to the side. It's a weird stylistic choice, and one that distracted me a lot in the first half of the issue. I also think it would be cool if Kate actually dies, since that would be absolutely unexpected, though she's in the COUNTDOWN ad so probably not, huh? Anyway, quibble quibble quibble, but I still thought this was VERY GOOD.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON EIGHT #2: Yeah, that rocked. Really rocked. And was properly dense, too -- unlike last issue, this felt nearly like a complete TV episode in itself. There's an awkward transitional bit at the end there where it cuts away from Amy and Xander for a minute, but when it cuts back it's away from Xander's beat. But other than that? Letter perfect. My only question: I'm not sure I understood the Giles scene in the beginning? Where is he in relationship to Buffy? Not in the same place? But he's training a larger number of the slayer-ettes then Buffy seems to have around her? Muh? Anyway, an easy EXCELLENT.

I am STUNNED how well the book is selling, also -- our As-Big-As-CIVIL-WAR initial order lasted us 12 days (CW was about 6 weeks or so), we got in the Largest-Single-Reorder-of-a-Comic-That-We've-Ever-Placed for the second printing, and we're halfway through THAT pile already. #1 is easily my best selling 32-page comic in the last 10 years or so -- we're not quite back up to where we were in the SANDMAN days, but if we keep selling 3 or 4 copies a day, like we have been lately, we're going to get damn close...

AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE #1: It is competently done, but there's not really any sympathetic characters here (except for maybe Cloud 9, but I think that's more from pity than actual interest), which is a pretty big problem, I think, for an ongoing monthly. Even the situation isn't sympathetic -- people being taken against their will to a training camp, and, when something bad happens, its covered up. This is supposed to be America? I was also kinda shocked there's a scene of "here is your mask, you will NOT use powers without wearing it" for two reasons: a) that seems pretty counter-intuitive to the High Concept of having an accountable nationwide super-hero task force -- I'd think things would be largely the opposite, that all recruits would be issued a visible ID card with a "badge number" they'd hvae to display openly at all times. If I were an American citizen in the Marvel Universe, I sure wouldn't be up for my government handing out MASKS; b) it is immediately undercut a few pages later in the "training room" where not ONE of the seven characters involved wears a mask. I was also deeply bothered by the "we're confiscating your weapon" scene. Take the same scene, and instead of Never-Heard-Of-Her-Girl, cast, say, Iron Man in that spot. Still feel comfortable with it? "We'll just be taking this incredibly powerful tech from you. We're the government, you can trust us." I usually enjoy Slott's work, but this is really a badly thought-out opening sequence to an ongoing *Avengers* comic. As a mini, this might have been the right way to go (and, it got "upgraded" to ongoing when Marvel got the numbers in), but as a "Hey! Buy me for the next five years!" I'd take a serious pass. AWFUL.

OMEGA FLIGHT #1: Wow. I can't even BEGIN to imagine a world where a sovereign government (not on the brink of collapse, or coup, or otherwise facing direct and imminent extinction) would just blithely hand over the reigns of its single most important military asset to a foreign government. I mean, isn't this pretty insulting to Canadians? Especially having a jingoistic nutjob like the USAgent being the first recruit? And the very idea of Mr. I-nuked-Canada-once being draped in the Canadian flag and forced on the team seems, I don't know, beyond insulting? Walter's portrayed as a completely ineffectual, out of touch loser, and there's not even the courtesy of an explanation of how he survived his previous dashed-off death. But, really, the problem is: this portrays Canada as America's 51st state, with all of the due accord being #51 comes with! I am super-curious to hear what a Canadian thinks about all of this, because I'm kind of reading this with my jaw dropping that anyone at Marvel thought this scenario was a good idea. Maybe the best way to read both this, and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, are as horror stories. AWFUL

What did you think?

-B

Out like a lamb: Hibbs wraps 3/28

Right, let's "wrap up" last week -- PICK OF THE WEEK: I'm going to tie between two books I didn't actually write about (I didn't write about many comics this week, did I?): BLUE BEETLE #13, and USAGI YOJIMBO #101. USAGI is USAGI -- every issue is terrific fun stuff full of intrigue and action and humor and chills. It is very nearly a textbook example of "how to do good continuing comics", and this issue is no exception. (issue #100 was an exception, but that's because it was about the comic rather than being a comic itself). I remember having a conversation with someone or another maybe 15-20 years ago about the "celebrity" of the comics artist, and how much money the "top" artists were making in Japan, and how wouldn't it be nice if some day American creators might do as well as Rumiko Takahashi was doing then? (this was before Image, obviously) Today we have a couple of folks that are beginning to enter those kind of rarefied heights -- Frank Miller, I would assume; possibly Alan Moore, or some of his collaborators. I know at least one artist who never has to hustle any longer because of their SANDMAN royalties.

If there was any justice in the world, Stan Sakai would be in that bracket. Why do we live in a world where USAGI doesn't sell 50k an issue?

BLUE BEETLE is another solidly fun book, in "learning the ropes of the supergame" as its core. Obviously things jostle around month-by-month, but this is almost certainly DC's best monthly solo-character super-hero comic -- it has heart, it's filled with fun action, and it is very focused on building its own ambitious mythology within the larger DCU. Everything you want in a super-hero comic, ultimately.

So hurray for both of them!

PCIK OF THE WEAK: Yeah, got to be WONDER WOMAN #6. Picoult, I'm sure, will "get" the verbal/visual blend before too long, but she ain't got it yet. I intensely dislike the current editorial direction of the book, and I can't believe that we've got Circe as the heavy given the first arc of the book. Foo!

BOOK / TP OF THE WEEK: BATMAN: SNOW is absolutely loverly work from Seth Fisher; GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH was a solid way to get Hal back into the DCU; and boy, it's nice to have GRENDEL: DEVIL BY THE DEED back in print (kinda weird that its the B&W version, wasn't expecting THAT), but the best book of the week is pretty obviously Bryan Talbot's ALICE IN SUNDERLAND. Go buy it.

And, believe it or not, I have a BOOK / TP OF THE WEAK, our first ever: DEAD HIGH YEARBOOK, horror GN aimed at kids (? Really? That's rougher than *I*'d let less-than-15 touch, but the ads for this GN, in this week's DC's [!] seem to suggest they think its for younger than that). I suppose if you've never read a horror comic before this could be fun, but they read about as well as, say, a Gold Key TWILIGHT ZONE story. And the framing sequence was just interminable. It does have GREAT production values -- look at that puffy cover, the bloody smudges on the edges of the page, and so on -- but the content was really dreadfully weak.

Semi-parenthetically to that, I read through CENTURY GUILD CHAMBER OF MYSTERY v1 with a number of pre-Code horror stories. And they are weird and lurid, but they're not really any good at all. What I found the most interesting though was the note in the indicia that said (from memory) "The contents of this book have been significantly modified, so as to constitute a new copyright", which struck me as down right odd and peculiar.

Not owning any of the originals in question, I couldn't tell you want they changed -- the lettering and art certainly looks period. I suppose it could be recolored, even. But could that possibly be enough to assert copyright on something you didn't create in the first place?

Anyway, more tonight.

-B

Wait, what's this comic about again?: Graeme starts 4/4 on time, and late.

I am, in far too many ways, a Jeph Loeb apologist. This isn't because I think that Loeb is some kind of underrated genius or anything - He isn't, although I maintain that his first six issues of Superman/Batman are a lost pop art gem - but just because I think that he gets waaay too much shit online. To read most of the things that have been written about him, you'd think that he was singlehandedly responsible for the downfall of the superhero comic through his work on things like Batman or Supergirl. It's pretty unfair, I think - There are some things that he's very good at; when it comes to big dumb old-school superhero epics that hit every fanboy erogenous zone without caring about such things as "logic", for example, he's pretty much in a league of his own (and I mean that as a compliment, believe it or not). It's just that there are some things that he's not so good at. Subtlety, for one. Sadly, FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 is the work of the Jeph Loeb who wants to be subtle and sensitive instead of the one who wants to knock your socks off. And it pretty much sucks.

You can tell that it's going to suck from the start of the book, which opens with the somber cover of Civil War: The Confession (Cap's blood-splattered shield!) above the title of the comic, followed by the somber cover of Captain America #25 (Cap's glove, with a handcuff around his wrist, against a blood-splattered newspaper!), proving that Marvel definitely tries to get the most value from their artists, didn't have any other use for those two pages, and want you desperately to feel how serious this comic is going to be. Sadly, that's then followed up with the first page of the story, which ends with dialogue so bad that you start to wonder if the two covers were there to postpone the story until the last possible minute:

"Nobody would want to see what I saw. Don't you get it? It was - - The death of Captain America."

The first thing on the next page? The words "The Death of Captain America" is red, white and blue. By page five of the comic, the phrase "The Death of Captain America" has appeared three times; it's as if someone got worried that you'd forget what comic you were reading, and took appropriate action. Sadly, this is the most interesting thing about the entire book - Everything from that point onwards is a downward spiral of pointlessness. The plot revolves around Wolverine not believing that Captain America is dead (Didn't he see the two reprint covers or the three mentions of the title of the comic?), and breaking into SHIELD headquarters to find out the truth along with Daredevil. Why does he need Daredevil, you may ask? Well, because Daredevil's heightened senses will help him question the man they think shot Cap. Sure, Wolverine himself has heightened senses that could probably do the same thing (Am I completely misremembering scenes where he could literally smell if someone was lying? I almost hope that I am), but then Lenil Yu wouldn't have the chance to draw a "cool" double page spread of Daredevil and Wolverine jumping over each other. By the end of the book, Wolverine finds a corpse (although we don't see the corpse's head except in silhouette, interestingly enough) and seems to be convinced, as he explains to Iron Man in a fine example of Loeb's increasingly odd dialogue:

"I don't see his shield. How you going to play this, Stark? That Steve Rogers is dead, but Captain America will live on? That's what you'd like, right? You people..."

Yes, it really does mix bold and italics like that, with the strange emphases; it's like that all through the book, for no immediately obvious reason, as in the following:

"You want me to go back and tell them. Anybody who had hope. Who are in denial. Luke Cage. Spidey. The other Avengers. That I've got proof."

As you can tell, by the end of the book, Wolverine is convinced that Cap is, indeed, dead - Good thing too, considering there's another four issues of this series left - but that still doesn't really give you enough story for 32 pages. It's literally "Wolverine doesn't believe he's dead. Then he sees the body, and he's convinced. The end." Everything else is what we've seen far too much of from Marvel since the start of Civil War: Characters telling each other how important the stories are. That's what the whole issue is about - The idea that Captain America is "really" dead, and that this is serious and for keeps this time (as emphasized at the open of the issue, when the formerly-dead Bucky and Wolverine discuss the fact that people don't tend to stay dead in the Marvel Universe). The only problem is, it's not for keeps; we all know that, and spending 32 pages to try and tell me any differently isn't going to convince me or seem like anything other than a waste of time, an insult to my intelligence, and an attempt to try and milk this storyline for all its worth. Awful, despite the pretty art by Yu.

Hibbs: Tired & sucky

Yes yes, I'm a whiner. Books were late AGAIN this week (about 3:45, so when Graeme came in at 4:30, I was still counting stuff in!)

Then I waited MORE THAN AN HOUR for the 24 (5 buses went North, none came back South) -- you know how you wait for a bus for so long you realize you CAN'T start walking because as soon as you do, the bus will come roaring around the corner/over the hill/whatever? Yeah that one.

Anyway, I have nothing by runny brains right now, so... I'll be back tomorrow to do the last week wrapup, and the start of the next cycle....

-B

Counting Hits, Living Crits: Jeff With a Few More 3/28 Reviews

Mentioned work was a big nightmarish, yeah? SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #36: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's first few issues really underwhelmed me, but I thought I'd pick this up to see how it's been since. I think the hook for this--a mysterious scientist is picking up orphaned youth and giving them spider powers to see just how anomalous Peter Parker is--was both kinda interesting and charmingly goofy (and the ultimate identity of the mysterious scientist successfully upped the interest and the goofiness). Despite the book's title, it's not really sensational, but it was surprisingly solid, highly OK, and I'll make it a point to check out next issue.

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #4: Felt kinda dashed-off to me--particularly in Sale's art, which is frequently blocky (but rarely this clumsy), but also in Cooke's script, which just hasn't wowed me here. It's on time (I... think?) and not a fill-in, however, which is more than you can say for the other Super-books. Deeply Eh, if you ask me.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #40: God, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that I was enjoying this book more when Mark Millar was breaking out his usual big moment, comic-book-equivalent-of-power-chords shtick than when Mike Carey whips up intelligent, yet turgid, reinventions of minor FF villains but, to be honest, yeah, I think I did. I don't know if there's some verbal/visual blend that's off, or a mismatch in the creative team, or what, but the first five pages of every issue since Carey has taken over feel like a chore to read. Or maybe it's that the most dynamic interpretation of Diablo is still, let's face it, Diablo. Whatever it is, I found this sadly Eh.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #107: A really enjoyable little issue, as Bendis manages to skip all the expected high school drama from the Kitty-Peter showdown but still manages to make it dramatically interesting, and gives us a nifty, potentially complex set-up for a Kingpin story. Another really Good issue and seems like it's back on the rails for good (by which I mean, until the next time Bendis takes on too many assignments or something).

More tomorrow, and hopefully work won't feel like an elephnat standing squarely on my forehead by then.

Je vais prendre ta douleur: Graeme likes the French Canadians, really.

If ever there was a back-cover blurb to strike fear into the heart of the average reader, it's probably going to be one that starts "Guy Delisle is a wry 37-year-old French Canadian cartoonist..." Not, I should immediately add, that I have anything against Mr. Delisle himself, as you're just about to read. But there's just something so matter-of-fact and dry about that opening that your average - if you will - "punter" will read it and more than likely think "Wow, that sounds like something I'd avoid on NPR" and go on to the latest issue of Tarot or something to make fun of it. And that's a shame, because PYONGYANG: A JOURNEY IN NORTH KOREA is Excellent. (A small aside, though, about that NPR line above. I was listening to This American Life the other week, and Ira Glass talked about hearing Summer Roberts from The OC describe his show as "that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are," and if I didn't already love This American Life, Glass's reaction would've sealed the deal for me: "I had this experience [after hearing that] where I was like, it was like having fictional characters from the Fox network saying... They said my name... And, like, did that just happen? It was totally just like, Is this on everybody's TiVo?" Arune, if you haven't heard this episode, you have to track it down - Glass then talks about his OC fandom (And I feel completely vindicated for loving the show, now; Ira Glass likes it, you snarky bastards) and admits that not only did he and his wife sing the theme song every week, but he also cried during the last episode. It's almost enough to make me sign up for Showtime to see the new TV version of TAL, I'm telling you.)

(Anyway, back to Pyongyang.)

It's not that there's anything wrong about that clinical back-cover blurb, as such - certainly, it's factually correct - it's just that there's so much more to the book than the just-the-facts presentation that the blurb provides. Yes, Delisle does "depict [the] sojourns into the heart of isolation" of working in North Korea as an animation producer while living in "'cold and soulless' hotel rooms where he suffers the usual maladies of the long-term boarder," but it's the way in which he does that that makes the book so special, so worth reading. Delisle's is both present and absent from the book, giving the book warmth and humor without overpowering the experience of the alien culture to the point where all you can perceive are his perceptions. He gives his opinion full rein on the people that he meets, and even on his work experience in North Korea, but allows the reader to make up their own minds when it comes to the oppressive regime of "the world's only Communist dynasty," as he calls it in a throwaway gag midway through the book. It's a skillful mix of reportage and memoir, each balanced perfectly against each other in a way that humanizes the reportage and legitimizes the memoir, if that makes sense - There are two pages towards the end of the book where another cartoonist takes over to tell one of their own experiences, because it adds to Delisle's own experience and also to his own fears and expectations of North Korea itself (perhaps going so far as to fulfill his fears). Going from those pages back to his own, the next line of dialogue is the perfect "It's always interesting to get another perspective on things!" which may be Delisle's guiding principle in the creation of this book.

The art also follows the same principle: Abstracted and cartoony enough so as to allow interpretation, but not so much as to genericize everything. For want of a better way of putting it, Delisle makes himself very French - a particularly European-looking cartoon for reasons I couldn't really explain coherently (It's something about the angles, and the nose in particular) - which helps him stand out against the more detailed Koreans he encounters. The greyscale wash adds weight (both visual and dramatic) to the simple linework, and the whole thing works in unison with the writing, invisible in the best way in service of the overall story.

It's a wonderful book, and highly recommended - I picked up my copy second-hand at Green Apple this weekend on one of my traditional "I have trade-in credit, so feel as if I can take a bit more of a chance on what I'm buying" visits, but as soon as I'd finished it, I immediately wanted to read Delisle's second travelogue, Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China even at full-price. And when you're as cheap as me, that means a lot.

The Name of The Game is... Meh: Graeme finishes his 3/28 reviews, and is sick.

In a stunning return of a Savage Critic theme, I'm sick today. This isn't the usual kind of sickness that one or all three of us tends to befall, though; it's just food poisoning or something, although Kate keeps pointing out that she isn't sick, and she ate the same things as me yesterday. That said, she doesn't write for this blog, so perhaps her immune system is just inherently stronger than mine, who knows? And just as I'm about to post this, I see that Lester's said more or less the same things as me below. Dammit. GUY RITCHIE'S GAMEKEEPER #1: Which, for those with long enough memories to remember Tekno Comics, is roughly equivalent to "Isaac Asimov's I-Bots," which is to say, Guy Ritchie was probably being harrassed continually by Richard Branson to come up with some kind of idea for a comic that would bear his name and came up with something that's less a plot or character concept as much as it is a rushed one-liner created out of desperation and the desire to be left alone.

(There's an interview with Ritchie at the back of the book that shows how little he gives a shit about the project in his use of exceptionally generic responses to each question - "By my creative nature, I am interested in the extreme, animated world... By its design, [comic storytelling is] animated, which to me implies that you can cut to the meat and potatoes and skip the first course." What does that even mean? And why does he keep calling comics animated? Does he even know that a comic isn't a cartoon? The answer to how he got involved with Virgin Comics is hilarious for all the wrong reasons: "Errhh, can't really remember... I think Gotham [Chopra, Virgin's CCO] gave us a call... I am drawn to the arena where film meets highly animated concepts. The call came at the right time.")

The problem with this kind of approach is that it leaves the book with nothing worth reading at its center - There's nothing here that hasn't been done before, and although Andy Diggle does the best he can with such a cliched set-up - The gameskeeper on a Scottish estate is an honorable ex-soldier who has done terrible things! Because war is terrible! But now war has followed him to his new life! And now he has to get his hands dirty again! With lessons learned in war! Which is terrible! - it's nowhere near enough to keep your interest, except perhaps for trying to guess the next line of tough guy narration ("Only a fool would set up camp here. A fool... or a fugitive."). What's maybe more interesting is that everything that happens in this first issue would play much better as a movie, where the action sequences would have more noise and movement to excite, and the dialogue could be saved by performance, but more importantly, you'd get more than just the set-up for whatever comes next (I'm guessing violence and murky morality plays, but I may be wrong) in one sitting; if this issue wasn't a 32-page, $2.99 experience in and of itself but the opening twenty minutes of the next James Bond film or whatever, then I'd probably not have half the problems with it that I did.

It also wouldn't have Mukesh Singh's artwork, which is nice enough but completely wrong for the story; his colors in particular are waaay too bright for what's happening, even factoring in arty noir lighting and everything else - There is no reason for outside scenes to be bright blue when juxtaposed by internal scenes where everything is bright read; it overpowers the flow of the narrative, and just emphasizes how false the whole thing comes over as. The grass is bright green, the sky, bright blue, and it pulls you out of the story enough so that you see it as art that is accompanied by dialogue balloons, as opposed to a complete comic experience.* Overall, then, most definitely not the sum of its parts - Diggle has done better, Guy Ritchie used to be a semi-decent filmmaker once, and Singh would be better used elsewhere. Pretty much Eh, at best.

(* - Yes, I did have to stop myself from spelling comic "comix" just for the pun. Thank you for noticing.)

Tomorrow: A book I really liked, for once.

And Then A Few More: More Reviews of the 3/28 Books from Jeff

Oh, man. The day job has been cuh-razy. Would you believe I've been meaning to post these for over seven hours? But for those of us who aren't as number wonky as B:

CROSSING MIDNIGHT #5: As you may remember, last issue really hit its stride and this issue, while not quite as strong, continues the pace. After all, when you've got the origin of the word "yakuza," mysterious demonic pacts (both figurative and literal), a blind gang leader who has a hyperarticulate henchman explain everything as it unfolds, gorgeous art, and people being sliced to ribbons (oh, and I forgot to mention the line about having sex with strippers after violence to avoid infecting one's wife with negative chi), what more do you need?

No, really, what more do you need? If I had to guess, I'd say it needs a bit less helplessness on the part of its protagonists--like the children in fairy tales, their only power seems to be in bargaining with devils to overthrow each new threat. It's a disempowering read, precisely the opposite of your standard superhero wish-fullfillment. That's not bad, but it makes the book an even tougher sell--and tougher read--than it might be otherwise. Good stuff, but I hope it finds the right balance in its tone as time goes on...and that it has the time to do so.

DAREDEVIL #95: Lots of neat little bits--I liked that we got to see an argument between Foggy, Matt and Becky that actually got resolved, and was more than fodder for a subplot--but the bulk of the story concerns Melvin Potter, The Gladiator, who was probably the weakest of Miller's triumphs from his first run on Daredevil (Miller managed to give the character an extra dimension of pathos, thus bringing the Gladiator's sum dimensionality all the way up to...one). If you still find the old trope of prisoners teasing mentally deficient powerhouses believable or palatable, you'll find this a Very Good issue. I found it highly Good, myself, just built on a bit I don't have much patience for. We'll see if the creative team can woo me when part two of the story comes out.

DEVI #9: Haven't read this for at least nine issues--it went from looking like Witchblade to Witchblade Adventures at some point, which is more of a bummer than you might think. I'd be interesting in checking out the trade of this at some point--they try to make the characters at least a little bit emotionally complex--but this issue was more or less Eh.

DMZ #17: Sorta spaced out around Part 2 of this arc, came back for the end to see how things had progressed. It was interesting enough that I'll probably check out the trade and give you a review of the whole arc later. No Rating, but seemed promising.

ELEPHANTMEN #8: I thought it would be fair to Rich Starkings, after he was kind enough to post here twice, to check out this issue and review it but didn't get a chance. I'll try to get to it next week.

FANTASTIC FOUR #544: For an old school Marvel geek like me, this issue was probably worth it just for the "I mean, who hasn't met the Watcher by now? C'mon, raise your hand if you haven't met the Watcher!" bit. And I'm glad to see there's gonna be some follow-up to that Beyond mini. And the art was nice. So, you know, Good, although if you ask me, Dwayne McDuffie has a big ol' achilles heel and it's called Deathlok. I know he's necessary to get the ball rolling on the storyline but I wonder why, exactly, he had to come along other than, y'know, McDuffie's heel and all that...

GAMEKEEPER #1: So. A Chechen gamekeeper with a mysterious past is the only thing in the path of a mysterious strike team who are after the gamekeeper's employer, who has an even more mysterious past. As you can imagine, it's all so mysterious at this point as to be absolutely 100% generic. However, it is competently done, and I'm always a big fan of "dude with a mysterious past kicks ass of mysterious bad guys" so I'm willing to give it an OK and see what comes next. Weirdly, this and Hellblazer last week both feature characters who use so many anglicisms I'd swear Diggle wasn't from the U.K. Maybe he just overdoes it when trying to write slangy street-smart characters? Really weird.

GREEN LANTERN #18: Like G., I'm in the "art on this was lovely" camp--Acuna's work here makes me think of, I dunno, if Toth had worked in watercolors or something: the characters are all vital and expressive with dynamic brushwork, but there's also a lushness to it. Between it and the back-up story--which like a lot of the old Tales of the Green Lantern Corps stories was less a story and more a little slice of coolness--I'd say this was Good issue, even if the main story was both truncated and kinda cheesy.

Arriving 4/4/2007

My last bit of work for the day (passing on reviews, as I think you can understand?), here is what is arriving to Comix Experience on Wednesday 4/4 52 WEEK #48 ALL NEW ATOM #10 AMERICAN VIRGIN #13 ANNIHILATION HERALDS OF GALACTUS SILVER SURFER FIRELORD AVENGERS INITIATIVE #1 CWI BOOKS WITH PICTURES #2 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #2 DANGER GIRL BODY SHOTS #1 (OF 4) DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #3 (OF 7) DETECTIVE COMICS #831 FALL OF CTHULHU MAVLIAN CVR A #1 FALLEN ANGEL IDW #14 FALLEN SON DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA WOLVERINE FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #19 GHOST RIDER TRAIL OF TEARS #3 (OF 6) HULK AND POWER PACK #2 (OF 4) IMMORTAL IRON FIST #4 INCREDIBLE HULK #105 IRON MAN HYPERVELOCITY #4 (OF 6) IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #7 JACK OF FABLES #9 JONAH HEX #18 JUGHEAD #180 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA CVR A #7 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA CVR B #7 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #32 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #125 LOONEY TUNES #149 MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #1 MAINTENANCE #3 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #26 MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY OF DARKNESS #2 (OF 5) MIDNIGHTER #6 MS MARVEL #14 CWI NEW EXCALIBUR #18 NIGHTWING #131 OMEGA FLIGHT #1 CWI (OF 5) PAINKILLER JANE #0 PTOLUS CITY BY THE SPIRE #6 (OF 6) PUNISHER #46 RAISE THE DEAD #1 RUNAWAYS #25 SAVAGE TALES #1 SCALPED #4 SECRET #3 (OF 4) SONIC X #18 SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #2 STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION THE SPACE BETWEEN #3 (OF 6) SUPERGIRL #16 SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #28 SUPERMAN #661 SUPERMAN BATMAN #33 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #19 THUNDERBOLTS PRESENTS ZEMO BORN BETTER #3 (OF 4) TMNT MOVIE PREQUEL 4 APRIL TMNT MOVIE PREQUEL 5 LEONARDO WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #5

Books / Mags / Stuff ABSOLUTE BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN HC ALPHA FLIGHT CLASSIC VOL 1 TP ALTER EGO #67 AMERICAN SPLENDOR ANOTHER DAY TP BATMAN DETECTIVE TP BLEACH VOL 18 TP BLUE BEETLE COMPANION SC CONFESSIONS ROMANCES SECRETS & TEMPTATIONS SC CROSS BRONX VOL 1 TP DOMIN-8 ME GN (A) ELKS RUN GN ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN VOL 8 TP G FAN #79 GREEN LANTERN PLASTIC BUST BANK (O/A) HEAVY METAL MAY 2007 JONAH HEX VOL 2 GUNS OF VENGEANCE TP JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED BATMAN PLASTIC BUST BANK (O/A) LEES TOY REVIEW APR 2007 #174 MURDER PRINCESS VOL 1 GN OLD BOY VOL 5 TP RED SONJA VOL 1 HC SGT ROCK THE PROPHECY TP SHAZAM VINTAGE MESH CAP SHOWCASE PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL 1 TP SIX FROM SIRIUS VOL 1 MASS MKT CVR TP SMOKE & MIRROR VOL 1 TP SPAWN COLLECTION VOL 3 TP SPIDER-GIRL VOL 8 DUTY CALLS DIGEST TP TEENS AT PLAY SPOILED BRATS GN (A) TEZUKAS BUDDHA VOL 6 ANANDA SC TWO WHITE WIZARDS GN UNUSUAL SUSPECTS ORIGINAL GN WOLVERINE ORIGINS VOL 1 BORN IN BLOOD TP

What looks good to you?

-B

Comix Experience Subscription orders for April

I haven’t done a lot of charts here, mostly because the response is always so muted. I know only a small number of people have the Numbers Wonk gene, but if you’re one of those people, here’s a peek behind the curtain of Comix Experience, so you can see how things work. That’s because it’s paperwork day here at Casa Hibbs, and one of the things I’m working on is the April subscription orders. Unlike a lot of stores, we ask subs to order month-by-month. You don’t say you want “Batman” – you say you want “Batman #665” followed by “Batman #666” and so on.

The following list is our top 40 sub orders for the month of April 2007. The deadline to turn this in was February 14th, so most of our customers made their decisions 6-8 weeks ago – this especially means on books that are on #2 or #3, sub counts tend to be lower as customers haven’t SEEN #1 with their own eyes yet. People tend to be willing to “take a flyer” on a new #1, much less so on the #2 and #3. Once you hit #4+, these numbers get increasingly accurate.

The first column is the numeric rank, the second column is the percentage of our total subscribers who ordered the book, and the third column is (obviously) the title. That is to say: our #1 preordered book for April (Astonishing #22) was preordered by 41% of our subscription customers.

Hopefully this will format OK as I transfer it from Excel to Word to Blogger. If not? Deal!

1 41% Astonishing X-Men #22 2 36% 52 Weeks 48-52 3 34% JLA #8 4 31% JSA #5 5 29% Batman #665 6 27% Justice #11 27% The Spirit #5 8 26% Daredevil #96 9 23% Brave & Bold #3 23% Fables #60 11 22% Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 22% Buffy Season 8 #2 13 20% New Avengers #29 14 19% Detective #831 19% Shazam: Monster Society #3 19% Runaways #25 19% Ultimate Spidey #108 19% Uncanny X-Men #485 19% Thunderbolts #113 20 18% World War II #1-4 18% Midnighter #6 18% Iron Fist #5 18% Punisher Max #46 18% Ultimate Power #5 25 17% Teen Titans #46 17% Y, The Last Man #56 17% Ex Machina #27 17% Stephen King's Dark Tower #3 17% Ultimate FF #41 30 16% Green Lantern #19 16% Jack of Fables #10 16% The Boys #10 16% Mighty Avengers #2 16% X-Factor #18 35 15% BPRD Garden of Souls #2 15% Dr. Fate #1 15% Ultimate X-Men #81 38 14% Supergirl & LSH #15 14% Optic Nerve #11 14% Love & Rockets #19 14% Fantastic Four #545

Anything interesting pop out to you? (this isn’t a test or anything)

-B

Comix Experience orders for April by pieces

Here’s a list of the “top 40” comics “expected to arrive in April 2007”, and how I ordered them. These are my gut-reaction orders from about 8 weeks ago when I did my first pass through the catalog. These numbers may have switched around a bit at FOC time, but there’s usually not a TON of adjusting going on. Like above, we’ve got three columns. Again, rank, followed by a let’s-use-Diamond’s-percentage-of-BATMAN-metric, followed by title.

(note: some of this WON'T ACTUALLY SHIP IN APRIL 2007!)

1 231% Buffy Season 8 #2 2 169% Astonishing X-Men #22 3 138% JLA #8 4 131% 52 Week #52 131% Stephen King's Dark Tower #3 6 123% 52 Week #50 123% 52 Week #51 123% Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 9 115% 52 Week #48 115% 52 Week #49 115% JSA #5 12 108% Brave & Bold #3 108% Justice #11 14 100% Batman #665 100% Runaways #25 16 92% Mighty Avengers #2 92% Optic Nerve #11 92% World War II #1 92% World War II #2 92% World War II #3 92% World War II #4 22 86% Ultimate Power #5 23 77% Madman Atomic Comics #1 77% New Avengers #29 77% Shazam: Monster Society #3 77% The Boys #10 77% Wonder Woman #7 77% Wonder Woman #8 29 71% The Spirit #5 30 69% Daredevil #96 69% Uncanny X-Men #485 69% X-Men #198 33 66% Thunderbolts #113 34 62% Army @ Love #2 62% Avengers: The Initiative #1 62% BPRD Garden of Souls #2 62% Detective #831 62% Fables #60 62% Iron Fist #5 62% Love & Rockets #19 62% Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness #2 62% newuniversal #4

As you can probably see, I’m a lot bolder than my preorders in some places – especially “civilian friendly” material and new books. And there’s some places I’m decidedly more timid.

-B

Comix Experience orders for April by Dollars

Traditionally everyone stares the most at the quantity list. But, at a retailer, the DOLLAR list is probably more important. Same set up as above, but often different results. (note: several of these have already been cancelled, or won't otherwise actually ship in 4/07!!)

1 231% Buffy Season 8 #2 2 216% Y, The Last Man v9 TP 3 175% Stephen King's Dark Tower #3 4 169% Astonishing X-Men #22 5 154% Shazam: Monster Society #3 6 138% JLA #8 7 126% Justice #11 8 123% Hellboy: Darkness Calls #1 9 122% Optic Nerve #11 10 115% JSA #5 11 109% 52 Week #52 12 108% Brave & Bold #3 13 103% 52 Week #50 103% 52 Week #51 15 103% Wonder Woman: Who is WW HC 16 100% Batman #665 100% Runaways #25 18 96% 52 Week #48 96% 52 Week #49 20 93% Love & Rockets #19 21 92% Wizard #187 22 92% Mighty Avengers #2 23 90% Mouse Guard v1 HC 24 86% Ultimate Power #5 25 82% 52 volume 1 TP 26 82% Art of Bone HC 27 77% World War II #1 77% World War II #2 77% World War II #3 77% World War II #4 77% Golden Age Dr. Fate Archives 32 77% Eternals by Gaiman HC 33 77% Alpha Flight Classic v1 TP 34 77% EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories v2 HC 77% The Plain Janes GN 36 77% Hellboy Companion TP 77% Madman Atomic Comics #1 77% New Avengers #29 77% The Boys #10 77% Wonder Woman #7 77% Wonder Woman #8

Any thoughts?

Here’s one from me. By SUBS, OPTIC NERVE #11 is a Top 40 hit. By quantity ordered, it is a Top 20 hit. By the amount of money I expect to make from it… it’s a Top 10 book.

-B

Look! Up in the sky!: Graeme takes on DC's trinity for 3/28.

DC's 52 may be a year without Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman, but by coincidence and the magic of fill-ins to try and get books back on schedule, this week couldn't make that claim. Admittedly, now that there are four Batman books and four Superman books (although those numbers both include the All-Star books), every month should, in theory, be able to have a week starring the Big Three... ACTION COMICS #847: I think Hibbs and Lester have already covered most of my feelings about this fill-in - It's well-written, and more substantial than the filler than you may have expected considering its "between the panels of the ongoing story" origin, and provides a return to the classic "Superman is a hero throughout the universe" feel that really hasn't been around in the main books for years - but what really stood out in this high-Okay book for me was the art: Renato Guedes has provided some fill-in art through other DC books over the last year, but his effort here, where he also does the coloring, is really rather wonderful - I'm looking forward to the next three months-worth of Action fill-in now, just to see how lovely the art looks.

BATMAN #664: See, and this is what I expect from Grant Morrison's Batman, unlike the last issue text piece. Dense, sarcastic, throwing camp back into the bat-bowl with abandon ("He says you're cool, like James Bond." "Oh, I'm much cooler than he is," followed by a two page action scene that is very clearly a Bond rip-off), while the two sections of the issue seem to point towards the idea that there's more of a continuing story throughout Morrison's run than was apparent until now. Very Good, and wouldn't it be nice if this is Morrison getting back on track now that 52 is winding down...? Maybe we'll even see some of the missing Wildstorm books before too long.

WONDER WOMAN #6: This is a weird one; there's a lot wrong with this issue, as Hibbs has pointed out already - Since when was Diana so naive, and the Circe reveal at the end of the issue (complete with her amazing shrinking leg, a bum note in otherwise pretty strong art by Drew Johnson - I'd like to see him come back to this title on a regular basis if the Dodson's can't stick around) ruins the one thing left to spoil about the end of Allen Heinberg's unfinished arc - but nonetheless, I actually really enjoyed it. If you can completely ignore everything about continuity or common sense, as I was somehow able to do, then there's a kind of goofy charm to this. It may not actually be good, but somehow it manages to seem Good, if that makes sense.

What's interesting about these three books is the variety of tones between them - Batman and Wonder Woman are both kind of dumb and not-to-be-taken-too-seriously, I guess, but Batman in a more "arched eyebrow" way against Wonder Woman's innocence (both the character and book; it reads like a curiously sincere attempt at the character, even though it also reads out-of-character. Maybe it's that sincerity that I responded to?) - I've seen some complaints online about the lack of consistency in DC's superhero books recently, and Mark Millar's comments that he doesn't know what's going on in the DC Universe anymore, but I tend to see this thing as a strength: Why should a line of 30+ (and I'm being conservative, but I can't think offhand of how many superhero books DC publishes each month and can't be bothered to check) books have one feel, or one throughline of story? As much as I may be responding to some of the post-Civil War Marvel Universe (Hello, Fantastic Four), that's much more to do with the individual creators' efforts than any kind of linewide "new status quo" that's been forced upon everything. I don't know; is this my inherent DC-centricness coming to cloud my mind? Would everyone else want to see some kind of superconsistency in tone on all DC's books?

And now? She can Vote!

Tzipora wonders why I go to bed at 1 am every night, and it's because it is midnight and I'm still typing. BUT, now that it is Midnight, that means it is April 1, which means you're going to read a lot of stupid stuff on the 'net today that you shouldn't believe. This one is real, however.

Comix Experience is 18 years old today. Give her a round of applause!

(you have no idea how old this makes me feel, by the way)

-B

Dumb ol' 'murican: Hibbs on 3/31, part 2 (?)

Yeah, back for the second round of the day (and that worked PERFECTLY, too, both G & J posted between me so it doesn't like I'm bloviating as much as I am), but, man, it's already 10:30, and I'd like to have some "me time" today, so let's see if I can keep this shortish and still retain some meaning: ALICE IN SUNDERLAND GN: Bryan Talbot is a creator that I feel doesn't get enough respect, though that may be largely because he seems to disappear for years at a time then releases ginormous works that just blow your tiny little mind, man. ANd this piece of work is a very radical departure for Talbot -- multimedia collage and photoshop enhances his already utterly amazing line work to a degree that I've never seen him approach before. And there's 300+ pages of this tooth-achingly beautiful work here, certainly the largest project he's tackled. I, really mean this, this is some of the best work of his already long and illustrious career.

But while I wholly and steadfastly recommend it in terms of sheer craft and presentation (an oversized HC original 300+ page GN for $30? It's a steal!), I'm a little less excited about the actual content. This is largely because I'm a dumb ol' 'murican, who likes a certain amount of linearity in my content; whose never particularly liked historical content (except as insofar as I can relate it to my individual life), and prefers fiction to non-. These are my biases, and while they make me a poor "critic", they are what they are.

There's an astonishing level of "dream logic" going on in ALICE IN SUNDERLAND, as Talbot relates historical information about the city/region of Sunderland in the UK, both of the physicality of the environment, and the colorful connections between many of its most famous residents over a (let's say) thousand year period -- it jumps willy nilly between decades and centuries, and always circling back around and through and between Lewis Carroll and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and it's done in a constant array of ever changing styles -- going from an "Arkwright" style to nearly Dave McKean, to Herge, to historical period work, to rubber-faced cartooning, and back and around again, always changing, never standing still.

And I only made it through about 50 pages of the narrative before I finally gave up and decided to just look at the pretty pictures instead.

If I had to compare it to something narratively (and it's a shitty comparison, to be sure), it might be the tour of London in the middle of FROM HELL, where you find out about the giant pentagram inscribed on the soul of London. Except there's not a pentagram, or even an underlying murder. And, let's say, ten times as long.

There is so much craft and skill and deep understanding of comics on display here that you'll shake your head in wonder. The question is whether or not you're interested enough in the subject matter to have it carry the work. For me, that answer is no, but I still took home a copy for my personal collection because I know I'm going to want to look through it again and again, even if I never end up reading it at the end of the day.

That's kinda the worst review ever, isn't it? And yet... I'm still going to give it a VERY GOOD, because I can not heap enough superlatives on Talbot's craft, and I really do think you should seriously entertain buying it despite my aesthetic failures as a critic.

OPTIC NERVE #11: The sharp-eyed of you will notice that this wasn't on the Diamond shipping list. The regular customers amongst you will say "hey, that wasn't in on Wednesday! (or Thursday!)", and you'd both be right. Direct shipped from D&Q, arrived on Friday, partly because we can make thier (wickedly absurdly high) minimums, but also partly because Diamond isn't going to have this out for a few weeks, as I understand it. So, your LCS may not have it yet. Just saying.

Anyway, the box came, I unpacked it, and seconds after throwing it up on the rack me and Jeff both dived in and read it. What followed is why, really, I need to mic the store, and record every word that we say on Fridays, and edit into a podcast. It was a really fascinating conversation about authorial intent, and comparative analysis, and artistic influence (this issue is just DRIPPING with Tatsumi), where I took a point counter to Jeff's.... not because I thought he was wrong, but because it's the proper kind of conversation one should hear when one enters a comic book store. As opposed to our usual "Dur, who is stronger? Hulk or Thor? Dur!"

Anyway, Jeff made some rather excellent points about why similarly veined work by Tatsumi or Clowes works, and this doesn't, but they're his points to make and I'll let him do that... next Sunday if he keeps to his ABCs! (though he's crazy swamped with stuff too right now, so don't expect that essay to necessarily be the next thing he writes)

So, let's put that conversation to the side, and get to the heart of the comic itself: it sucked.

Sorry, thoroughly loathsome protagonist, systematically acts like a jerk because he can't handle change, and he ends up alone and unhappy at the end. The End.

That's nothing I want to read, when it comes down to it.

I gave #10 a GOOD, let me remind you (Heck, that's the WEEK Graeme joined us!), and I gave #9 a VERY GOOD (look, pre-Lester Critic, even!)

And this one was AWFUL.

Even more so when I went back and reread #9 & 10, because, let's face it, this story started in 2004 (January to be exact), so I thought "I must be missing something from the previous issues, which I remember liking". No, on reread, I STILL thought the first two parts were good comics, and act 3 just a waste of time and paper. Yes, it's possible to have an anti-protagonist, I guess you'd call it, where their character arc doesn't triumph, but deflate -- the problem is, there has to be something compelling about the protagonist, or their situation, to keep me interested. Here, not so much.

Interestingly, Rob Bennett opined to me today that he liked it very much. And Tomine is about as far from what one would consider Rob's normal tastes.

That's what I thought. How about you?

-B

Time Keeps On Slipping Into The Fyooo-Chaaaah: Graeme on 3/28 and the deadlines.

Is it just me, or did everyone else feel as if we'd never get to the weekend this week? God knows why, but the last five days seemed to go on forever... Luckily, there's always comics to make things go quickly, even as the work sometimes looks as if things have gone too quickly for the creators involved... GREEN LANTERN #18: There's one good thing, and one good thing only about this issue, and I say that as a fan of Green Lantern in general and someone who's semi-enjoyed this series in particular (It's always nice enough, but seemingly directionless for the most part - The stretch between the first three issues and One Year Later was especially bad). It's not the story, however; Geoff Johns phones this one in two different ways - Firstly, the plot is pretty much non-descript beyond "An old villain returns to threaten Green Lantern," which feels like almost every arc from this series so far (First arc - Manhunters, Second arc - The Shark, Third arc - Mongul and those plants from the Alan Moore Superman annual, Fourth arc - Cyborg Superman, Fifth arc - Abin Sur's kid). More to the point, there's nothing else to the writing in the main story - Maybe because it's only sixteen pages long? - that we haven't seen before. Hal Jordan is irresistible to women, yeah, we get that. But the idea of the Star Sapphire - which is another anti-Green Lantern ring, like the Sinestro ring that gives us our back-up strip this time out, jumping between Hal's girlfriends is just kind of retarded, and not helped at all by the amount of full-page splashes and dialogue like "Tell me, Hal... Do ya want this body instead? It's awfully yummy."

The one good thing about this issue isn't the back-up strip, either. It's fine enough, but the presence of Dave Gibbons on art makes it feel even more like a 2000AD Future Shock than anything else, especially with the twist ending (which is, admittedly, cute).

No, the good thing about this issue is the art. Daniel Acuna has shown his chops before, whether it be his covers for the DC books around Infinite Crisis or his Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters series, but there's something less polished about it, something rushed, that makes it even more attractive than before; the wonderful use of color and texture is still there, but the rougher edge gives it a more approachable quality that I'd like to see again. That's not enough to make this any more than an Eh comic, though.

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #4: Again with the strangely rougher looking art, as Tim Sale seems to be either working with thicker brushes or on a smaller scale than usual - the fight scene in the first half of the book looks particularly blocky compared with Sale's usual linework - which may be something to do with Sale's extra-curricular duties on Heroes taking up more time than expected. Writingwise, Darwyn Cooke's story continues to be light on plot but filled with unexpected moments that save the book; Superman's dream while unconscious, or the long-running nostalgia trip of the kryptonite explaining the secret origin of the story's second villain. As the series continues, this story seems to be losing steam, but still enjoyable - a high Okay to low Good depending on your love for Jimmy Olsen - but who knows? If the other Superman titles weren't as strong as they are right now, I may be more forgiving.

And am I the only one really really curious about Hibbs' both potential and exciting (in whatever permutation works for him) news that he hints at below? You big tease, Brian.

Not comics: Hibbs on TV

Missed my last night deadline, but I got some potentially exciting news (or maybe exciting potential news... or maybe even exciting news, potentially) that focused me on that during my (ha ha) "free time" last night. So today I'm going to shoot for TWO posts -- one now, one tonight. We'll see if that works.

It’s not comics, no, but I've been wanting to make a television post for a while. Up until last year I was maybe watching 4 hours of TV a week, but I've been sucked in by the glass teat this season a lot. Modern TV is so strange -- there's almost barely things like traditional "seasons" any more; shows start and stop more or less willy nilly, it seems. And the advent of boxed set makes that a really superior way to watch a lot of shows. I'll be skipping our box set adventures (like, say THE SHIELD), for stuff I've been watching "live"

There will probably be some spoilers in here (especially on some shows, like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA), which makes this a post a number of you (= Jeff Lester) can't read... because YOU're waiting for the boxed sets. Funny.

In more or less alphabetical order, here's what I've been watching lately:

24: I really loved the first season, because the idea itself was so fresh -- "real time TV". I pretty much hated the second season, with its "we have no idea how to stretch this" scenes of Kim-in-Peril. I watched maybe 3 episodes of season 3, and decided I no longer cared. Totally skipped season 4. But something drew me back for season 5 -- maybe it was the Nukes. All of the problems the show has are still very much on display here: it is really really hard to break a story into twenty-four satisfying chunks without stretching dumb things out dumbly. We're what? halfway through this day? And my attention is flagging again. I don't think I am going to make it all the way through this season. It's been very very EH. At best.

30 ROCK: The single non-animated sitcom I watch these days, and its getting better and better with each episode, becoming more topical, and more adventurous in its storylines. I quite like it, and think it is consistently GOOD.

AMAZING RACE: Every man is allowed one thing that they KNOW is shit, and that they watch it BECAUSE its shit, and THE AMAZING RACE is my one main "I have no excuses" show. I was a real early adopter of reality shows -- *I* was the one who turned all of the CE's onto SURVIVOR, for example (stopped watching that around season 5, I think?) -- and this is my sole reality show left. It's very very not "real". Really, I'd like to see all of the extra footage where a producer has to intervene with the police; or where a contestant is delayed because the cameraman trips getting out of a car, or things like that. Still, I keep being entertained by Ugly Americans running all over creation and being the fools they can be -- I especially love how Charla and Mirna affect this weird spanish-tinged accent everytime they talk to anyone whose primary language isn't english. I do wish the show had a few more metrics as it was running -- a clock or miles traveled or something, but I can see how that would be an editing nightmare. I suppose what I like about the show is that it isn't hermetically sealed in a house or an island or something like that. There's a SENSE that "anything could happen", because there's only so much you can stage manage the WORLD. Its the one reality show that I'd like to watch a documentary about the making of it, and of what happens "backstage". Plus, watching Rob and "Ambuh" getting thier asses kicked by the midget and her idiot cousin? Pure Television gold. In any objective reality, the RACE is merely OK< but I like to fool myself that it is GOOD.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: I love this show, I really do. And, in fact, I've even got Tzipora (who HATES all things Sci-Fi or Fantasy related) hooked on it. She's a season and a half behind, because I REFUSE to buy separate 2.0 and 2.5 box sets, and the library hasn't gotten 2.5 in yet. But it is everything you want SF to be -- thought-provoking, action-packed, twisty, human-driven.

Up until a point, at least.

I'm probably one of the few people who actually went "Hm, maybe not" when they announced a full 22 eps for Season 4; because I'm pretty unconvinced at this point that they actually have more than 12-13 viable stories each season -- because, let's face it, a really significant chunk of Season 3 was "filler" that neither moved the mythology forward, nor focused on areas that I cared too much about. When the show is "on", it is ON, but when it's not? Well, it's still some of the best TV on the air, but I don't care that much.

The season finale bugged me a lot -- not just because we have to wait until January (wtf?) to find out what happens next. I was especially annoyed by the "All ALong The Watchtower" use (that's like the Steppenwolf in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, yeah?), and the reveal of 4 of the final 5. Especially Tigh. And that between Tyrol & Boomer and Kara & jock resistance guy (I'm blanking), there's too much Cylon-on-Cylon action going on. I'm pretty unconvinced they can make either Tyrol or Tigh "work" as Cylons, but the show has certainly given enough reason to offer them the Benefit of the Doubt. But, man, January? There are certain episodes within the season that I'd call VERY GOOD or EXCELLENT (the finale itself probably even rates a GOOD), but over all I'd give Season 3 a strong OK, which is a prodigious drop from s1 & 2.

BLACK DONNELEYS: Probably going to drop this in the next week or two. The structural conceit of this being a flashback told by an unreliable narrator is kind of grinding, and the characters are kind of all too young & pretty for me. Basically, it's (Irish) SOPRANOS Jr., and while there's an appealing denseness to the episodes (esp for network TV), I'm not finding any of the characters memorable enough to care about them as characters. Its OK, though.

THE DAILY SHOW: OUr DVR (not TiVO) via the DISH network is funny with THE DAILY SHOW -- we can't set up "record series", or it attempts to tape every broadcast of each episode. Its the only show we tape that acts like that. So, we've got to manually set the episodes each week. Fairly annoying, and sometimes I forget. A lot of time I don't watch daily -- I'll watch 2-3 at a go, but there's a lot of things to genuinely love about the show. Not only is it (usually) very very funny indeed, but I especially like the way they book authors of political or cultural books that would be lucky to break 5k copies, and give them a chance to engage in an often substantiative dialogue in front of millions of people. You don't get the sense they're booking these people because they *can't* get the a-listers, but because they truly believe its good to expose people to other points of view. So damn good for them. and damn GOOD, even at its worst no-news days, and plug-a-movie interviews.

DAYBREAK: Didn't even make its full season on the air, so I guess no one liked the GROUNDHOG'S DAY-meets-THE-FUGITIVE show. And, yeah, the execution wasn't stellar, but I liked the concept enough that I actually went and watched the unbroadcast episodes on ABC.com. Took me a while to get through them because I don't like watching TV at the computer, but all in all, I thought they did an OK job. Bonus points to ABC for actually putting the second half of the season on-line, for free. That's pretty classy, really.

HEROES: I'm ready for it to come back, already. If they can pull off the endgame as well as they handled their middle section, this is going to be one of those shows you're still talking about in 10 years. It took a while to get going, and there were definitely some stumbles in the early episodes, but, pretty much around the time we met Sylar, and the "save the cheerleader" plot got started, this became one of the most fun serialized shows on TV. Largely because they seem to have a clear end for this story planned, and it's THIS season, not strung out indefinitely like BSG or LOST (that's also what I liked about DAYBREAK). I like most of the characters (except for Mohinder, yeesh, he's the worst Prof X-type ever), and it just zips along with multiple cliffhangers, and more importantly, revelations, every issue. Based on where we're at so far, this is an easy GOOD, and, depending on how well they resolve it all, it could be VERY GOOD.

LOST: This show, on the other hand, drives me fucking bugshit crazy most weeks, where things move along glacially (if that), and the "mystery of the island" is CLEARLY being made up as it goes along. I also can't really stand most of the "others", and think the show jumped the rails when it started to be ABOUT them, rather than "our" survivors. If, next week, Locke were to find a button, and, upon pushing it all of the others seized up with black smoke pouring from their ears saying "norman, coordinate", I'd be happy with that I think. Each week this season I've been muttering, "man, I should stop wasting my time with this crap", but then I'm all whining to myself "but I've already invested 40+ hours in this, I don't want to walk away after that!" Thankfully, this week's episode, with Nikki & Paulo made me glad that I've stuck around. Yeah, it is kind of the definition of "filler", but it was nice to see seom actual suspense on the show again, and to have something introduced AND resolved in one go. Plus, all of the cameos were cool (I wonder how much of that was "leftover" footage from previous seasons, and how much was freshly shot?) -- it was basically the best episode of TALES FROM THE CRYPT ever shot. I'm always a fan of ironic justice. So, most of this season: anywhere from AWFUL to OK (probably EH on the balance); this week's episode? VERY GOOD.

THE RICHES: 3 eps in, and the contrivances are starting to creak (and the sooner they resolve the Traveller boss thread, the better -- what a 2-d character and story there), but Izzard and Driver make this show very watchable, and I'm in for at least a dozen. Overall, I'll go with a GOOD.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: When I was a kid in the 70s, I would beg my parents to let me stay up late for SNL, and growing up into an adult, it's a habit at this point. There were years, decades maybe, where you could watch SNL on "Fast Forward", taking maybe 20-30 minutes to get through the whole show. This season has been markedly better though -- I'm probably up to 40-45 minutes of actual watching, and they've been taking more chances (not a lot, but some) of doing more surreal humor, or tinkering with rhythms. There also seems to be a greater emphasis on new ideas, rather than relying solely on a character being endlessly repeated into the ground. Overall, the show seems to have found a new stride this year, and while there still LOTS of not-funny, the ratio seems to e getting better. Overall: OK

THE SIMPSONS: Two weeks ago I think they reached the bottom of the bucket. The plot was Granpa marries Selma (or Patty, whatever), and that was pretty much it. No act 1 leads to a radically different act 2 leads to a radically different act 3 -- just a straight line through on a very unfunny premise, that probably should have had a laugh track attached to it. I didn't even bother to watch last week's ep. I think they may have finally cured me of this particular habit -- I'm having a hard time remembering the last genuinely funny episode I've seen. (probably last year). Very very very depressingly EH.

SOUTH PARK: When its about the kids being kids, the show is honest and often very wise... but frequently dull. I mean, lice? But when they comment of celebrity or politics or just the dopiness of mankind, it always has the potential of hitting the home run. I'm sometimes amazed just how precisely topical they can be on waht would seem to be an impossible time frame -- there's times they appear to be writing, animating, and voicing an entire show in a matter of days. SO far this season has been a bit weak (I mean, seriously, lice?), but it is never less than very very OK.

That's what I'm watching, at least. What do YOU think?

-B

You run around and groove like a baggy: Graeme, 3/28, and so on.

I really don't know what's worse; that I have a Happy Mondays song stuck in my head from out of nowhere, or that I can't remember the name of it. Is it "Loose Fit" or "Kinky Afro"? It's the one that rips off "Lady Marmalade" - That's "Kinky Afro," isn't it? I have no idea where it came from or why, but all I can tell you is that it's making me want to see what Mondays songs are available on iTunes, which can't be a good thing. Let's try and distract me, shall we? TEXAS STRANGERS #1: In the nicest way possible, Texas Strangers is the best Saturday morning cartoon that you never saw. The set-up is a weirdly perfect mix of different influences: Harry Potter in the Wild West meets Shrek (A giant green Scottish monster?), but it's done in such a way that I'm convinced that it's not going to succeed in the direct market, if that leap of pessimism makes sense. It's all about the format, more than the work itself - I simply don't feel as if a $2.99, 32-page monthly book is the right kind of book to make kids want to pick it up, for some reason. And that's a shame, because the book itself is a lot of fun - writers Antony Johnston and Dan Evans waste no time setting up the overall arc of the series before getting into the plot for this particular story, which is full of all manner of western cliches given a twist. There's nothing especially new about anything in the story, but it's solidly done and with enough energy and abandon to work - there's something weirdly early-2000AD-esque about the way that it pulls together pop culture artifacts in order to make a story for kids, but the difference here being that it's not the latest horror movie or TV show that kids wouldn't be familiar with being presented as something new and exciting, but instead things that kids would be very familiar with being used because of the familiarity. But there's more to this than the (perfect) high concept; it's things like the ridiculousness of the cliffhanger ("He's been kidnapped! And he's lying in a truck full of dynamite! While being shot at!") that make this worth reading.

Also a plus for the book is Mario Boon's art, which is blocky and clear, like Mike Parobeck trying to do Scott Pilgrim. It's not perfect artwork (It's just a little bit too blocky, for my liking) and, again, looks like it's a pitch for a cartoon series that should be watched while in pyjamas and eating cereal, preferrably at age seven, but it works for the series and the story. It's helped immensely by Traci Hui's colors, which add atmosphere and impact where the linework itself is lacking. But, like the story itself, it's something that makes me want to read the book in another format; the scale and clarity makes it perfect for being shrunk down into a color digest like Marvel's Runaways and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane collections, where pushing six issues of the series together will provide a chunky block of story that just feels more worth kid hands and minds to me. As it is, this first issue is a high Okay, but I feel as if the eventual collection could be much better.

This makes me wonder - There are certain series that I only follow in trades (Runaways, Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane - I really like that Marvel digest format, for the price alone - and Fables, to name just three), and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's something about how much story I feel I get for my money, or that the individual issues don't feel so good alone? It's an entirely different reading experience, of course, but what I'm really wondering is what series you lot feel should only be read in large blocks. Ultimate Spider-Man, for example, has always kind of tempted me... Should I be picking that up? Give me fun recommendations of things to pick up and avoid, people.