Wait, What? Ep. 41: Not Even Us

  wait, what? podcast from palinode on Vimeo.

I could be a little better at this--although Graeme and I were delighted when Adam P. Knave (@adampknave) and his chum Palinode (@Palinode) took a second to set an excerpt or two of our podcast to video, I forgot to link on it here. If you've ever wished to see Graeme and I as our platonic ideals (inverted butternut squashes), this would be the video for you.

Or, if you would prefer to keep us two voices in your ear, feel free to listen to Wait, What? Ep. 41, now available for your audio perusal. In it, G and I discuss the conclusion to the Flash series, Flashpoint #1 and its possible ramifications, Thor: The Motion Picture, X-Men: First Class and a ton of other stuff. It's on iTunes, it's in the podcast's RSS feed, and it's also here, if that's the kind of thing that floats your boat:

Wait, What?, Ep. 41: Not Even Us

We hope it's to your likingm and thanks for listening!

(Almost) All DC, All The Time: Graeme On Some 5/18 Books

Wow, Jeff's really laid down the gauntlet with a second week of capsule reviews. Let's see what I can come up with, even with the short amount of time I have... BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #1: I talked about this some over at Techland last week, but I admit to liking this far more than I'd expected to. It's not that I didn't have any faith in Scott Snyder - I'm a fan of both his Detective and American Vampire runs - but there was just something kind of... unnecessary about the whole idea of this series from the start, as if it was being rushed out for some reason (A co-writer? Why couldn't it just be a Detective arc? etc.). But I ended up thinking it was somewhere in the region of a low Good or high Okay, nonetheless, in large part due to my being entirely sucked in by the mystery at the heart of the story... Trevor McCarthy's weird, animation-cell-esque art helped, in a strange way, as well; I'm not sure if I like how the book looks, but it's definitely got its own look, and not trying to copy the many other Bat-books out there, and that's got to count for something, right...?

BOOSTER GOLD #44: I've been on a Booster bent lately, picking up the trades to Dan Jurgens' run on the new title from the library and finding them to be... workmanlike, but nothing inspiring. Unsurprisingly, then, this issue is exactly like that, and feels like nothing as much as "An Idiot's Guide To Flashpoint." Wonder what the hell is going on in #1, and didn't quite understand the exposition there? Here's a simpler version of the same thing, with functional but generic art to make it go down easier. The attempt to raise the stakes for a series that deals in alternate timelines (The Flashpoint world is, according to Skeets, somehow the "only" timeline) doesn't really make any sense, but... Well, that's not entirely unsurprising. How else are we supposed to know that Flashpoint will change everything forever no really honestly we're not joking this time? Eh, but I can't help but feel as if it's weirdly necessary for some reason.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #57: Talking of books I've recently read from the library, I picked up Cry For Justice as well, and... I'll leave that for the next Wait, What Jeff and I record. But it has to be said, James Robinson's JLA feels a million miles away from that series and, ridiculously cliffhanger aside, this issue continued what's quietly turned into one of my favorite runs on the series. I couldn't really tell you why, beyond saying that there's something weirdly nostalgic and comfortable about the mix of ambition, rushed character dynamics and familiar faces that Robinson's turned this book into; it feels like an updated version of Gerry Conway's 1970s/1980s run on the book in ways that I can't quite explain or even understand. It also feels, for the first time in a long time, like a book that's aggressively part of the DCU in a way that doesn't feel shoehorned in or inorganic, even with the weird continuity issues with other books (This storyline apparently happens midway through the last Justice Society story? You'd think the JSA might've noticed the moon being split in two, but apparently not. Also, what happened to the Spectre's beard? Or is he not Crispus Allen anymore, and I missed that?). It's one of those comics that you end up loving, but can't really work out why. In case you've never had any of those comics for yourself, let's just call this a potentially-biased Very Good and move on quickly.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #158: I'm pretty sure that anyone who ever wants to know how to provide readers of a long-running series a wonderful jumping-off point will, in years to come, just look at these last issues of Brian Michael Bendis' run and find everything laid out for them. Never mind the entirely forced, entirely meaningless "crossover" with Mark Millar's Ultimates - in part because Bendis clearly didn't put any effort into it - what's wrong with "The Death of Spider-Man" is that it all feels heartless and written on auto-pilot, with characters reduced to machines acting out the too-obvious plot, and all of the sense of fun or family that this series has excelled in completely drained. That Mark Bagley has returned to replace the more stylish, more modern, more appropriate David LaFuente and Sara Pichelli speaks to the lack of soul here. It's Crap stuff, and so bad it kills whatever curiosity I may have had for the upcoming relaunch.

But, as the Hibbs has been known to say, what do you think?

Littlest Voice: Jeff With A Few Capsule Reviews for You.

Cue the "Hello, I Must Be Going" music: I thought it'd be a lark to do two of these in two weeks, but I admit I'm a little hampered by my lack of reading in stuff that's current (my visit to the store last week was super-quick) or complete (I feel like I've been reading that Simonson Thor Omnibus forever and I'm only two hundred pages in) and there are a few other (SavCrit) related projects I've got to work on. But, you know, considering my current writing project is all shot to hell--why not?

(And with those awe-inspiring words in mind, follow me after the jump for some thoughts on a few scattershot books, will you?)

BATMAN AND ROBIN #23: Thanks to Guillem March's cover, I've finally realized how much the Red Hood's chest logo looks like Blinky from Pac-Man.  Doesn't that seem like that could've been a fun novelty gang for, I dunno, Robin to fight at one point? And yet, weirdly, I would've been disappointed if, at the end of this issue, Jason had been sprung by three other dudes with other Pacian chest logos--in fact, I wasn't thrilled by the appearance of three Thundercats and Sgt. Dinosaur, either. I guess that's because I (still!) find Jason Todd/The Red Hood an appealing character (or idea for a character), despite how terribly he's almost inevitably handled, and think the dude deserves a little more gravitas than a toyetic shout-out.

In fact, as far as gravitas goes, this issue has very little but I still enjoyed what felt to me like any number of subtextual and metatextual shenanigans, starting with the cover.  I mean, I don't think Judd Winick is openly declaring war on the post-Morrison status quo, no matter how blatant that cover--which is very clearly Batman & Robin #1 being shanghaied by the Red Hood--might make it seem.  But certainly, that first scene, in which Bruce visits Jason and refuses to compare notes about resurrection or even to answer a question as basic as "But tell me...how are you?" doesn't work half as well with what we know of as the post-Return Bruce.  And Jason's dismissal of Bruce's death ("Darkseid fries you with his omega effect?  Please.  Too much metaphysical horse crap.") can be very easily read as a dismissal of a huge chunk of what Morrison's done in his run.

It feels like a cold war--one in which the Red Hood is fought over the way the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. did over those crucial satellite countries--but I'm not sure it's being fought on any conscious level.  I think it's just that Winick is tweaking Morrison's conception of Jason just as heavily as Morrison's tweaked Winick's and, in the process, inadvertantly points out how entrenched "gritted-teeth Batman" is for some writers and artists--and how the ancillary characters they write about interact with him.

For myself, I like the Jason Todd of this issue much more here than the one from those hideously drawn issues of B&R:  his casual, floppy-haired manner in the first scene seems deliberately modeled on Bishonen/Shojo manga to me, and I've thought for a few years that's really one of the best directions you could take the Batverse. In fact, Jason seems to me to be the pinnacle of that internal drama aspect to the Batverse--where nearly a dozen characters rotate around Batman, each with a different desire to prove themselves to him, and each with a slightly different relationship to him--that Morrison has played down in favor of a Bat-army where the relationships are far less personal but the scope is refreshingly larger.  (It's the difference between family and business, I guess.)

Morrison used Jason as a prop, as a way to examine where a grim and gritty conception of Batman led (deformed sidekicks, absurd villains who are unstoppable, uninteresting killing machines), but based on this issue, I don't think that very valid point is going to stop Winick or anyone else from writing Batman as the hardasssed father figure whose overwhelming responsibilities drive him to withhold affection from all his many sidekicks and satellite characters.  It's that conception of the character, as much as any desire to conjure the ghost of Frank Miller's Dark Knight, that is going to keep this little cold war going--because it's true to the ancillary characters as established, it's a quick way to provide drama to all the non-punching exposition, and it feels like something recognizably human (to me, at least).

All that said?  The scenes with Jason in prison are rote and dull, the breakout stuff equally so except where it's muddled (so Jason's whole plan was to get into prison, kill a bunch of dudes and then just go back to Arkham?  That's...limp.)  This issue is no more than GOOD, if that. It' s just I like this conception of the Red Hood--the wayward son acting out to get his dad's attention and to take revenge on his dad's disapproval--and I guess I read comics for the characters as much as I do for the crazy, big ideas.  And so the parts I like, I liked a lot.

FEAR ITSELF: SPIDER-MAN #1:  That scene with the Iranian cab driver getting beat up by a fear-crazed crowd of New Yorkers really reinforced for me how essentially cowardly I found the robo-Nazis at the end of Fear Itself #2.  In fact, although I found Chris Yost's listing of various fears running through various characters in the storyline maybe a bit too ripped from the headline and on-the-nose, at least I felt like I was reading what had been sold to me as the event's pitch. But, man, if Fear Itself #2's ending is that everyone--as they are here--are flipping out so much the heroes can't respond to respond to Cap's call? I did not get that from the ending of that book at all...which is not great.

KISS & TELL & EMITOWN TPBs:  Agh.  It must be so annoying to be a female creator and find yourself  habitually thrown into the critical gladiatorial pool, again and again, with other female creators.  (Unless you're married to a male creator, in which you can count of having your work compared to and weighed against his, again and again and again...)  And yet, I picked up these two books within a month or so of each other and realize now they've got enough in common that their differences and similarities can highlight stuff I wanna say.

Which is:  Emitown is a 400 page cartoon diary by Emi Lennox and is $24.99; Kiss and Tell is a 330 page romantic memoir by MariNaomi for $15.99.  Emitown is gorgeously drawn, consistently clever, alternately gossipy and elliptical.  Kiss and Tell's art style is little more than functional (to my eye, it looks a lot like Marjane Satrapi but without Satrapi's limited abilities), a little pedestrian, and sticks to its concept (a memoir centered around every romance from earliest childhood to earliest adulthood) in the most superficial way possible.

And so it says a lot about the essential hook of "and then what happened" that I much preferred Kiss and Tell.  Emitown has just about everything going for it, but with each page representing a day and having no real flow to the next, it rapidly turned into an exercise in bored page-flipping for me.  I loved what I was looking at but I had mistakenly thought when I bought the book sight unseen I would get a narrative--even if that narrative was no more than the rise and fall of the diarist's obsessions.  Lennox has a lot of talent--really, just boatloads of talent and charm to burn--but Emitown was not the book for me. That's very much my fault:  I know enough to take praise from well-connected types with a grain of salt, and it's not like I couldn't have gone online and read the archives to get a taste for it first.

By contrast, Kiss & Tell does indeed give you a string of narrative and MariNaomi is committed to the book's essential propulsive gimmick--who's she going to hook up with next, and why is it going to fall apart?-- all the way to the end. In some ways (okay, a lot of ways), it feels like David Heatley's "My Sexual History" stretched out from 15 pages to 300 and downshifted from an NC-17 rating to a soft R...which means the impact and the candor of that work is diluted, hopefully in exchange for more insight or context.  But Kiss & Tell is exasperatingly contextless, and even when lovers get more time on the page, there's no added depth to them: the model who speaks six languages and ends up in prison isn't any less of a cipher in 14 pages than the punk rocker who gets one.

In fact, although I give MariNaomi credit for breezily skimming through topics other authors would happily make hay with--three months of homelessness gets distilled to one page with a decent punchline--only the cartoonist's first acid trip, with its combination of telling detail and narrative shape, is truly memorable. And yet still I gotta admit it:  I did pick this book up and read it all the way through in one go.  It sounds like the most damning praise ever, but it is more of an accomplishment than we tend to realize.  And it was pretty cheap, too.

Although I give both Kiss & Tell and Emitown the quasi-dreaded EH rating, I suspect it's Kiss & Tell that will end up checked out of libraries and or bought and read by bored teens and adults browsing the shelves. On the other hand, I suspect Emi Lennox could easily give more to the medium in the long run.  Or, if you don't care as much about narrative as I do, but are happy to peruse a thick pile well-put-together pictures and pages, Emitown is for you.

ORC STAIN #6:  Had a surprising amount of trouble jumping back into this storyline.  Perhaps that would be different if I'd just sat down and re-read the first five issues before doing so (something I just don't do anymore, nor was I ever one of those dudes who would re-read every book in a series before the new book came out, the way some did) but I feel like it's more than that--I wanted more of that patented Stokoe over-saturation of detail but the first dozen pages of this felt a little slight--admittedly by Stokoe standards, if nobody else's.  Fortunately, I made it to the end, where a crucial flashback for One-Eye (and a related gorgeous two page spread on the very final pages) gave me everything I wanted and then some.  And along the way, I realized how well-thought out the cartoonist's world view is and how sharply the story turns are sculpted.  (When one character throws everything away in the name of his blood oath, it's that much more chilling when another character takes up his at the end.)  Everything in Stokoe's Orc Stain is too much--much too much--but that gives any of the subtle bits unexpectedly satisfying heft.  I came for the David Cronenberg's Flintstones by way of Ralph Bakshi's Conan, but I think I'm now staying for the story and I don't think there's anyone more pleasantly surprised by that than me.  Highly GOOD stuff.

POWER MAN & IRON FIST #4:  It's weird how quickly "densely plotted" can become "exasperatingly overstuffed," isn't it?  Almost everything I liked in the first three issues--a surplus of new characters, new situations, and constant action--led to me making unhappy faces as I quickly turned the pages here.  Probably that's because there's not nearly enough interaction between the new Power Man and Iron Fist and what there is feels really forced. Van Lente has put more on his plate than he can probably handle (certainly more than Wellinton Alves can handle) and the feeling is exacerbated by the murder mystery hook supposedly driving the story.  As mysteries go, it's definitely more "The Two Jakes" than it is "Chinatown." By the time I reached the last two pages, the stakes had never been higher...or my interest lower.  God-damned shame too because I was enjoying the book until now.  EH, but I'm really hoping the final issue of the mini makes up for it.

XOMBI #2:  Pretty god-damned great, right?  I hope you guys are still buying this because it really does scratch my "Man, remember how good Vertigo books could be in the early to mid-'90s?" itch in a way that hasn't been scratched since...well, the early to mid-'90s, I guess.  VERY GOOD stuff and well worth you searching out.  Seriously.

Arriving 5/25/2011

If you like DC comics, I hope you like the color green this week.

I'm sure I just wrote a column about that, didn't I?

68 (SIXTY EIGHT) #2 (OF 4)

ACTION COMICS #901 (DOOMSDAY)

ALTER EGO #101

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #662

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #15

AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #11 (OF 12)

ANGEL YEARBOOK ONE SHOT

ARCHIE #621

ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN WOLVERINE #6 (OF 6)

BUTCHER BAKER RIGHTEOUS MAKER #3

CAPTAIN AMERICA #618

CARBON GREY #3

CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #60

COBRA ONGOING #1

CONAN ROAD OF KINGS #5 (OF 6)

DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #9 POINT ONE

DAOMU #4

DC COMICS PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN WILLWORLD #1

DEADPOOL #37

DETECTIVE COMICS #877

DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #5

DUCKTALES #1

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #7

FF #4

FUTURAMA COMICS #55

GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS #3

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #23

GREEN ARROW #12 (BRIGHTEST DAY)

GREEN LANTERN #66 (WAR OF GL)

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #60 (WAR OF GL)

GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #10 (WAR OF GL)

HACK SLASH #4 CVR A SEELEY & BADILLA

HELLRAISER #2

INCORRUPTIBLE #18

INCREDIBLE HULKS #629

IRON MAN 2.0 #5 FEAR

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #51

KATO ORIGINS #9 THE HELLFIRE CLUB

KING CONAN SCARLET CITADEL #4

KIRBY GENESIS #0

MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #4 (OF 4)

MEDITERRANEA #4 (OF 14)

MIGHTY THOR #2

MISSION #4

NAMOR FIRST MUTANT #10

NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD #5 (OF 5)

ONE #4 (OF 5)

ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #4 (OF 4)

ORSON SCOTT CARDS SPEAKER FOR DEAD #5 (OF 5)

PLANET OF THE APES #2

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #5 (OF 5)

ROUTE DES MAISONS ROUGES #4 (OF 4)

RUSE #3 (OF 4)

SECRET AVENGERS #13 FEAR

SECRET WARRIORS #27

SIMPSONS SUMMER SHINDIG #5

SKULLKICKERS #7

SPIDER-GIRL #7

SPIDER-MAN #14

STAN LEE TRAVELER #7

STAR WARS DARTH VADER & LOST COMMAND #5 (OF 5)

STAR WARS LEGACY WAR #6 (OF 6)

STRANGE ADVENTURES #1

STRANGE CASE OF MR HYDE #2 (OF 4)

SUICIDE GIRLS #2 (OF 4)

SUPER DINOSAUR #2

TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #68

TATTERED MAN ONE SHOT

TRUE BLOOD TAINTED LOVE #4

UNCANNY X-MEN #537

VENOM #3

WALKING DEAD #85

WOLVERINE #9

X-MEN EARTH'S MUTANT HEROES #1

X-MEN LEGACY #249

XOMBI #3

Books / Mags / Stuff

5 RONIN HC CASSADAY CVR

AMERICAN VAMPIRE HC VOL 02

APPROXIMATE CONTINUUM COMICS GN

BATMAN BRAVE AND THE BOLD EMERALD KNIGHT TP

CAPTAIN AMERICA MAN OUT OF TIME PREM HC

CHAOS WAR X-MEN TP

CLONK GN VOL 01

CROSSED 3D GN VOL 01

DEEP SLEEPER HC

DOC MACABRE HC

DUNGEON MONSTRES GN VOL 04 NIGHT O/T LADYKILLER

DV8 GODS AND MONSTERS TP

EVEN THE GIANTS GN

GUTWRENCHER TP

HOUSE OF MYSTERY TP VOL 06 SAFE AS HOUSES

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 07 MY MONSTERS

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL TP VOL 06

MARVELS PROJECT BIRTH OF SUPER HEROES TP

MYSTIQUE BY BRIAN K VAUGHAN ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP

NARUTO 3-IN-1 ED VOL 01 (NOTE PRICE)

PUNISHER IN BLOOD TP

SLAINE THE HORNED GOD HC (S&S ED)

SMURFS GN VOL 06 SMURFS & HOWLIBIRD

TAKE A JOKE TP

TOM STRONG AND THE ROBOTS OF DOOM TP

ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA PREM HC

ULTIMATE WAR PREM HC

UNCLE SCROOGE MESSES BECOME SUCCESSES TP

UNKNOWN SOLDIER TP VOL 04 BEAUTIFUL WORLD

YEAH GN

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Tilting at Windmills #202 is up

Yeah, I skipped a month there, but hey I'm back!  

Go and read it here.

Thoughts and opinions can be put here if you don't want to post on CBR

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 40.2: Earth JKGM

It's the wrap up of Episode 40, with Graeme and myself answering questions from listeners on Twitter. (Really good questions, I should add--the kind of questions you want to get when you're fully rested and you have the breadth of your comic knowledge at the tip of your fingers. Sadly, I was kind of stressed and I'd just eaten a Twix PB bar and the comics seemed so very...so very far away...) Our least favorite characters, our favorite writers or artists not getting any work, truncated runs we wish had been properly completed, and much more...all wedged in to a hair more than an hour.

Savvy types who have us on iTunes and those following the RSS feed can grab this fine bit o' podcasting now. Or you can listen to it right here:

Wait, What?, Ep. 40.2: Earth JKGM

We hope you enjoy it, and (as always) thanks for listening!

Public Service Announcement

This is not directly tied to  Savage Criticing, but I figure cartooning jobs are few and far enough between for it to be good Karma for me to mention this.  

In going through this week's San Francisco Bay Guardian, I espied a little blurb that said "Cartoonist wanted. The Guardian is looking for a cartoonist to take the place of the retired TROUBLETOWN. Must be: Funny. Different. Political. Have Some Local Connection. email samples to cartoons@sfbg.com. No calls, please."

If you get a gig because you saw this here, you owe me lunch!

-B

Yes, Why Not? Jeff Does Some Capsule Work As Well....

I admit it--I'd kinda thought I would post a round of capsule reviews for the anniversary, then I thought, eh, maybe I should hold off for my actual anniversary of appearing on the site?  (which is something crazy like May, 2002--which doesn't sound right to me at all...)  And I was/am a little burnt, what with podcast editing and this other SC-related thing I worked on today. However, since Graeme was kind enough to post...let's see what I can come up with after the jump, shall we?

UNCANNY X-FORCE #9: Ugh, that stunk up the joint, didn't it?  I actually didn't mind Tan's first issue--the inker did some kind of crazy magic to make it feel not unlike the amazing four or five issues or so--but this was genuinely terrible.  To be fair, though, I've seen elephant vaginas tighter than the scripting in this story so I don't know if any artist could've made this work.  (David Aja? Jim Steranko? Bernie Krigstein?)  It could've been a kinda okay eight pager, but for whatever reason, Remender thought he'd blow it out to twenty-two fucking pages.  Good will can be earned and good will can be spent--it says something to how much I enjoyed the first half-dozen issues of this title that I can consider this issue a big old pile of CRAP and yet still be kinda looking forward to next issue.  Please don't break my heart, gentlemen.

FF #2 and #3:  Speaking of squandering good will, did you catch those two pages in FF#2 where Valeria mentions Doom needing a back-up of his brain and then waiting for Doom to catch on?  That same panel, ten times, spread across two pages, with only minor changes to Doom's and Reed's heads on two panels. Easily the most convincing case made yet for bumping comics back to 20 pages.  (By the way, what is it with Marvel writers and their obsessions with brain back-ups?  (I'm thinking of here, Fraction's Iron Man, and I'm sure there's another bit I'm forgetting.)  I'm secretly convinced there's some kind of weird anxiety about identity going on with the writers in that place if they keep coming back to personality as something you can plug and play at will. (Oh, and the future is a big scary place--all of it seems predicated on the idea that there are big scary things coming down the pike and the only thing that will save us is being able to whip out a USB stick with a better version of ourselves on it.  Is this what it means to be a freelancer with a mortgage during the peak oil/global warming era?)

As for FF #3, it finally answered some questions and I thought did so in a relatively clever way.  Should that cancel out the fact I found it pretty obvious and everything still seems predicated on an exasperating passivity on the part of the FF? I'm gonna give #2 an AWFUL and #3 an OK.  The Internet would probablygrade these a little higher, I admit.

AXE COP BAD GUY EARTH #3:  You know that old screenwriting dictum, "show, don't tell?"  I'm wondering to what extent superhero comics used to function as a weird, unholy mix of showing and telling--the narrator in superhero books from the '50s, '60s, and '70s was pretty much omnipresent and it allowed the story to zip from scene to scene, from event to event, with the writer telling you stuff and the artist showing you stuff. It led to some inelegant storytelling (as, say, in the panels here where Bear Cop buys a cup of zombie blood, drinks it, and becomes Zombie Bear Cop, then eats the President and becomes President Zombie Bear Cop) but, on the other hand, it allowed for some motherfucking economy.

As a result, this issue has Shabaccus, a monster that can fly and shoot lava out of his feet and has machine gun ears, an evil fat lady who bounces around and smashes dogs with her huge bottom "and fire farts on them," the bad guy axe cop team, the death of axe cop's team, yo-you man, a squish machine, a battle in the Age of Swords with two psychic brothers armed (unfairly) with machine gun jetpacks, Rat Cop, Axe Cop Lava Bull, and the President of All Presidents.  THIS IS ALL IN ONE ISSUE. (AND I LEFT STUFF OUT!)  Fear Itself and Flashpoint are currently running a distant third to me  behind Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth.  And while that sounds kinda dumb, I feel like "Hey, remember when everyone was all excited about the return of Big, Dumb Ideas? They don't come much bigger or dumber than this."  I enjoyed this miniseries from start to finish and really gotta rank it in the upper end of the VERY GOOD spectrum.

BATMAN INC. #5 and #6:  And this is where things gets tricky--because if I rate Batman Inc. by the same standards I rank Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth, then it should also be in the VERY GOOD spectrum, right?  I mean, you've got a guy in a wheelchair and a Mexican wrestler's mask being punched, a member of "Her Majesty's Super Secret Service," a chick named in a modified helmet, swimsuit and laser scorpion tail called Scorpiana, Dr. Dedalus, Leviathan...and that's all just issue #5.

But, I dunno.  You ever have a friend fuck with the balance on your stereo while a song is playing?  You know, bounce the sound from one set of speakers to the next and back in time to the music?  I almost feel like Morrison is doing something like that with Batman, Inc. where he pushes what the artist shows, and then entirely drops the sound out of what he as writer tells, and then will crank the shit out of the tell side of things while barely giving you enough show to hang your hat on.  There are probably lots of good reasons why he's doing it--to keep us off-balance, to break up the rhythm of his own storytelling patterns--but it just kind of leaves me headachy and cross and waiting for David Uzumeri to tell me why I should give a shit.  Is it that my expectations are higher for a Batman comic than for Axe Cop?  (And if so, why?)  Or just that I'm an old, old man incapable of zipping up my pants without catching the hairs of my gray, waist-long old man beard? I wish I could say.  But either way, I feel squirrelly giving these issues anything more than just an OK.

Graeme Tries To Remember How This Capsule Thing Works For Some 5/11 Books

Call me a sentimental old fool if you must, but it feels to me like the best way to do a post on the 10th birthday of the Savage Critics is to go old school, and try and remember how those capsule reviews of yore worked... (Click through for nostalgia! But scroll down to read Hibbs' post, if you haven't already!) BATMAN INCORPORATED #6: This has been a really curiously uneven series - Not helped by equally uneven scheduling - but this issue really feels like it's trying almost too hard to say "No! Wait! There is a bigger picture behind everything! It's not just camp and New Batman Of The Month shenanigans!" I really liked some of it - Red Robin and the Outsiders, in particular, is something that I hope sticks - but other parts really just felt awkward and desperate (Who Is Wingman? feels out of nowhere and, at this point, uninteresting). Okay, I guess, but I'm going to need some more issues like #4 to convince me that this book is worth keeping up with longterm, I think.

THE FLASH #12: On the other hand, ending the latest Flash series with this issue really feels like an admission that the whole thing was a failure. There are a lot of reasons why this run of Flash hasn't come together (Again, terrible scheduling, the fact that neither Scott Kolins or Francis Manipaul really worked on the book, as good as their art could be at times - although Kolins art here is clearly rushed and nowhere near his best, the black hole of character that is Barry Allen), but what really struck me after I finished this issue was that nothing actually really happened in the entire series. Every story was a prelude to something else, whether it was "The Road to Flashpoint" or the Rogues from the future in the first arc, who were here to warn about future events that may or may not be about to happen, or even the Reverse Flash origin that was, also, a Flashpoint tease, it seems. There was, to overuse the metaphor, no forward motion to be found in the entire series... and who really wants to read a year of books about a character running in place? This issue was Awful, and the entire series, at best, has been Eh.

FLASHPOINT #1: So this was... Okay, I guess? I don't know. I liked it more than I expected to, but the more I think about it, the more I wish it were just a Flash arc and not a "This Event Will Forever Change The Comics World Forever No Seriously" thing. I'm curious about how Barry will find his way home - I am completely expecting the ending to be that Barry has to recreate "our" DCU somehow, and whatever changes occur are a result of him essentially having a bad memory - but I find almost no interest whatsoever in anything else about the alternate reality. Still, at least it's only four months long.

G.I. JOE #1: As listeners to Wait, What? already know, I have somehow become a GI Joe fanboy in my old age - I know, I'm as surprised as you are - but I'll admit, issues like this one might make me change my mind again. There's nothing particularly wrong with this relaunch, it's just that it pretty much covers much the same ground as we've just read in the #0, and as a result feels ridiculously light. Let's go with Eh, then, and hope that next issue is something more than being told that everyone in Cobra is trying to kill as many Joes as possible again.

SUPERMAN #711: I'll admit it, I'm not entirely sure where "Grounded" is going right now - It feels as if Chris Roberson is taking as much advantage of the "done in one/guest-stars every issue" format as humanly possible, but the overall arc of the story seems to have fallen into the background as a result. I'm not that bothered about that, it has to be said (Did anyone really expect any other outcome than "Superman feels good about himself and has his faith in humanity restored"?), but it lends a weird shape to the issue, as we get a Good Superman story and a couple of pages of the "Grounded" villain being in a strop, seemingly out of nowhere. Also out of nowhere: Iron Munro is back! Somewhere, Roy Thomas is a very happy man.

...And now I wish that I'd bought more books last week, if only to complain about them here. Maybe I should start doing this weekly again, after all. But anyway: Happy Birthday, Savage Critic, and congratulations to the Daddy Duo that's responsible, Mr. Brian Hibbs and Mr. Jeff Lester. As ever, this site - my posts, or lack thereof, aside - continues to be Excellent.

Arriving 5/16/2011

Hiding this one under the jump because I don't want the anniversary post to be too far down the page...  

Oh, here we go! It's comics!

28 DAYS LATER #23 ALPHA FLIGHT #0 POINT ONE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #661 ASTONISHING X-MEN #38 AVENGERS #13 FEAR AVENGERS ACADEMY #14 B & V FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #214 BATMAN #710 BATMAN AND ROBIN #23 BATMAN GATES OF GOTHAM #1 OF(5) BOOSTER GOLD #44 (FLASHPOINT) COURTNEY CRUMRIN TALES #2 LEAGUE ORDINARY GENTLEMEN DARKNESS FOUR HORSEMEN #4 (OF 4) DARKWING DUCK #12 DC COMICS PRESENTS BATMAN DARK CITY #1 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #8 DEADPOOLMAX #8 DMZ #65 DOCTOR WHO FAIRYTALE LIFE #2 (OF 4) DRUMS #1 (OF 4) FABLES #105 GENERATION HOPE #7 GREEN HORNET AFTERMATH #2 HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT #4 (OF 4) HELLBLAZER #279 HERC #3 FEAR HEROES FOR HIRE #7 HULK #33 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #504 FEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #57 KODT BLACK HANDS 2011 ONE SHOT LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #5 LAST MORTAL #1 (OF 4) LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #13 LIL DEPRESSED BOY #4 MALIGNANT MAN #2 (OF 4) MICKEY MOUSE #308 NAMOR FIRST MUTANT ANNUAL #1 NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD DEATH VALLEY #2 (OF 5) OUTSIDERS #39 POWER GIRL #24 RED SONJA REVENGE O/T GODS #3 (OF 5) ROCKETEER #1 100 PENNY PRESS ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #1 (OF 4) SCIENCE DOG SPECIAL #2 SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #4 SIGIL #3 (OF 4) SILVER SURFER #4 (OF 5) SIMPSONS COMICS #178 SNAKE EYES ONGOING (IDW) #1 SONIC UNIVERSE #28 SPIRIT #14 STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #8 STAR WARS JEDI DARK SIDE #1 SUPER DINOSAUR ORIGIN SPECIAL #1 SUPERGIRL #64 SUPERMAN BATMAN #84 TANK GIRL BAD WIND RISING #4 (OF 4) TEEN TITANS #95 THUNDER AGENTS #7 THUNDERBOLTS #157 TINY TITANS #40 ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES #4 (OF 6) DOSM ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #158 DOSM UNCANNY X-FORCE #10 VAMPIRELLA SCARLET LEGION #1 WITCHBLADE #144 X-23 #10 X-FACTOR #219 X-MEN GIANT-SIZE #1 X-MEN PRELUDE TO SCHISM #2 (OF 04) YOUNG JUSTICE #4 ZATANNA #13 ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS UNDERCITY #2 (OF 4)

Books / Mags / Stuff ADV OF DR MCNINJA TP VOL 01 NIGHT POWERS AGONIZING LOVE GOLDEN ERA OF ROMANCE COMICS SC BART SIMPSON PRINCE OF PRANKS TP BATGIRL THE FLOOD TP CHAOS WAR INCREDIBLE HULKS TP DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG #81 BATWOMAN DEADPOOL MAX PREM HC NUTJOB DEADPOOL WADE WILSONS WAR TP DEATH OF DRACULA TP DISNEY TREASURY DONALD DUCK TP VOL 01 DONG XOAI VIETNAM TP ELECTRIC ANT TP EYE O/T MAJESTIC CREATURE GN FLASH OMNIBUS BY GEOFF JOHNS HC VOL 01 HELLBLAZER CITY OF DEMONS TP ILL GIVE IT MY ALL TOMORROW TP VOL 03 ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #33 JUXTAPOZ #125 JUNE 2011 LIARS KISS HC PAYING FOR IT HC POSEURS GN POWERS PREM HC VOL 01 WHO KILLED RETRO GIRL SHADOWEYES GN VOL 02 SHADOWEYES IN LOVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ARCHIVES TP VOL 15 STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO TP VOL 01 ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN STAR WARS BLOOD TIES TP VOL 01 TALE OF JANGO & BOBA FETT STAR WARS OLD REPUBLIC TP VOL 02 THREAT OF PEACE SUPER HERO SQUAD SQUAD FOR ALL SEASONS GN TP SUPERBOY LEGION OF SUPER HEROES THE EARLY YEARS TP THOR WORLD EATERS PREM HC TROUBLE BY MARK MILLAR PREM HC ULTIMATE COMICS DOOMSDAY HC ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 02 CHAMELEONS X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE PRELUDE TP ZERO JM KEN NIIMURA ILLUSTRATION TP

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Why am I starting to feel old?

Internet time is compressed and strange, and it is a whole lot of new all of the time, and so when things last it feels a little weird, doesn't it?  

It was ten years ago today that I started posting openly to the web using the Savage Critic name -- that was on comixexperience.com, and something broke that I hadn't noticed until a week ago, and I don't know how to fix it and anyway, that site will be revamped (and hopefully properly restored) sometime in June-ish, so sorry you can't go back and look at Public post #1 at this very second.

I had posts on Doug Pratt's long-gone Comics & Animation Forum on CompuServe (Wheeee, dial-up connections!) under the name maybe 4-5 years before that, but since that was only for CompuServe members, and, anyway there's no way to search those to day that I know about, I don't know if I can count any of that ? Either way, I'm one of the older (f not oldest) "named" internet comics commentators. Rich Johnston changed names 3 or 4 times since then; I believe I predate Johanna's Comics Worth Reading... who else am I missing?

Things were different then -- this whole name thing started from me doing one-sentence-or-less reviews for pretty much every single comic that shipped each week. It was on a bet. I'd lose that bet today (there's more new material than I have hours, in an average week of 2011). I had an awful lot of one-word reviews as time went on, I recall.

Now, The Savage Critics is  collection of voices -- you probably don't like how often any of us post, but since I think total donations to the site last year were like $20, maybe, so I'm not so sure that you really get to complain, hoss -- and I want to thank all of my co-voices over this last public decade. Most especially Jeff Lester without whom which there's probably no chance you'd be reading ANY of this (what did I know from setting up websites?), and who is something like 9 3/4 years of talking about comics on this site. Plus he's been leading weekly (!) podcasts for longer than I want to think about, and everyone should love Jeff....

...love him....all....night....long....

(Wow, I could hear him shudder, all the way from over here!)

I also want to super-thank Mr. Graeme McMillan and the lovely Kate McMillan (who keeps control of the site for me) -- I think it's actually Graeme's world of comics, and we just live in it... I mean, seriously, is there a website you don't see a post from G on at some point? I'm not wrong, am I? He's the only man who is on Robot 6 AND Blog @ Newsarama, right?

And I want to thank in no particular order the rest of my fellow Critics through the years: Jog and Abhay and Tucker and Douglas and Sean and David and Chris and Johanna and Diana and even the late and lamented Dick Hyacinth who made three lovely posts and then never said another word since, or even responded to email. We miss you, Dick! ET phone home!

And, I guess this is the place in the speech where I thank you, The Readers? I mean, clearly, I like the sound of my own voice, but if other people didn't say "Hey, I kinda like it, too", then I'd be a lot quieter, I think. So, thank you, the silent ones as well as the ones who take the time to comment, I wouldn't bother if I didn't  think I entertained you.

So yeah ten years, here's to another ten and whoo-freakin'-hoo to comics, right?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 40.1: Anniversary Babies

Okay, I admit it: the title doesn't really fit with anything Graeme and I mention in this first installment of our 40th podcast. However it is appropriate to when this post goes live--the Tenth Anniversary of the Savage Critic website. It's kind of a big deal for me as I've been here since the site went live (although with much more distance for the last five years or so) and I hope to be here for a while longer yet. I could go on about my feelings for some length--being raised a Spider-Man, I'm pretty much guaranteed to be able to fill one to two pages with internal monologue (though I never did get the hang of that web-swinging thing)--but I'll be merciful and spare you all.

Instead, lemme just say that I did bust the proverbial hump to get this first installment edited and uploaded in time for the big day and we hope you enjoy--in it, Graeme and I talk Time Masters: Vanishing Point and the work of Dan Jurgens; the publicity and marketing of Flashpoint #1, how the heck something like Spider-Island comes about, and I use an extremely inappropriate metaphor to describe Avengers 12.1 (actually, two extremely inappropriate metaphors now that I think of it). Should be available on iTunes by now, as well as the RSS feed for the podcasts, *and* you can listen to it right here, right now:

Wait, What?, Ep. 40.1: Anniversary Babies

We hope you enjoy, and thanks for listening! Crack open a long box in celebration of the anniversary, will you?

Wait, What? Ep. 39.2: Hipster Cap

Hey, can I take a moment and mention that you guys are awesome?  (If this was happening in real life and you were Hibbs, you would say, "No.")  As you'll discover from listening to this ep., I read and quite dug the trade of Wolverine: Insane in the Brain, a page of which you can see above, "courtesy" of IGN, and I definitely owe that to listener/commenter Cory Nalder who mentioned it back in August of '10 in a way that made me think I would enjoy it.  He was totally right.

That and recent reviews on iTunes from Anthony Casaldi and Dasbender on iTunes, as well as the discussions that pop up on our comments, just make me really aware how lucky Graeme and I are to have a place for our podcast, and a group of like-minded people that appreciate it and can help expand our (by which I very much mean "my") horizons.  Thank you.

So. Ahem.  Yes, and but so here's the conclusion of Wait, What? Episode 39 for you, wherein Graeme and myself talk Simonson's Thor Omnibus, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty; Wolverne: Insane in the Brain trade paperback by Jason Aaron, Yanick Paquette, and C.P. Smith; Moon Knight #1 by Bendis and Maleev, Thor #1 by Matt Fraction and Oliver Coipel, the aftermaths of Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost....and our speculation about Flashpoint (I wasn't quite nerdy enough to put this underneath our discussion, but I admit to being nerdy enough to seriously think about it). All in under an hour.

Perhaps you've already downloaded via iTunes. If not, why not listen to it here and now?

Wait, What?, Ep. 39.2: Hipster Cap

As always, we hope you enjoy, and thanks for listening!

(Inset witty title here)

Why is it that that the weeks with lots and lots of things to discuss are weeks where I have some other deadline driven project (order form, ONOMATOPOEIA, whatever), but the week's I have time to write there's not a lot I actually want to say?  

Still, I've been horrible the last few weeks, and while I did a lot of writing for the next Savage Symposium, I don't think you'll see that for another week or three? So let's me dive into what I have to say here...

PUNISHERMAX #13: This book seriously lost its momentum when it went on that hiatus (seriously, we lost like 1/3 of our sales here at Comix Experience), but I have to say that this current "Frank in jail" story is pretty terrific. Ultimately I care little about Frank in jail, because I've seen it so many times, but I thought the rapid intercutting between in-jail, and returned-from-vietnam was pretty astonishing well done. VERY GOOD.

One editorial note, however: Story page 11, panel 2, speech balloon. the word you want there is "grisly", not "grizzly". How that slipped past AT LEAST three sets of creative eyes (writer, letterer, editor) I couldn't possibly tell you. "Editors" don't really edit, do they?

FLASH #12:  If you want to know what happened in FLASHPOINT #1, you sort of need to read this... though by the same token you really sort of don't NEED to, because it kind of doesn't matter, and it's all kind of chatty nonsense anyway. (Though I sorta liked what happened with "Hot Pursuit")

This is also the final issue of this version of FLASH -- the solicited #13 is apparently NOT coming out, and I gotta say, looking back over this "volume", man this series has been a creative failure. I know Graeme liked the art, but I still really don't even know why Barry was back, etc. FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE (the Bart allen series just before this) was as strong creatively.. and everyone hated that book.

Also, F:FMA #13 (the last issue of that series) sold in 76,860 copies back in 6/07. FLASH #9 (the most recent one that we have numbers posted for) sold... 55,980 copies. Hrm.

FLASHPOINT #1: Now having said that.... I really really liked this. It might be like the thing about the THOR film -- my expectations were so low, that it couldn't help but exceed them... but I don't think it's quite that either.  In fact, after I read the FCBD bit, I opined to Matt, "Wow, that didn't whet my taste, and, it actually made me not want to see what happens next", so when I picked this up and found out the FCBD stuff was just the FIRST SIX PAGES OF #1 I got extremely leery.

Thankfully, the rest of the issue picked right up, maybe as soon as the next page when we find out the Flash isn't even in this comic book series, which makes that cover pretty weird, really.

Anyway, I was pretty happily amused with all of the world-building here -- probably not amused enough to actually want to read any of the individual mini-series, but that whole rooftop sequence was extremely crisp and strong. The last page twist was also amusing, but not as jaw dropping or game changing as some people have said. It was also deeply undercut by the three pages of badly placed ads.

I have a lot more to say... but well I think this is part of the next Savage Symposium, so I'll keep it to myself right now. What I will say, however, is that given the end of the book, most of that initial narration doesn't actually make any sense whatsoever, it being stuff the narrator *can't* know.

I might be premature here, but I did like this, and I think I'm going to give it a VERY GOOD. I sure hope they can pull of the ending though -- if it turns into another BRIGHTEST DAY fiasco, I'll be extremely sad.

Right, so who wants to place early bets on who/what will Nate Gray this?

NEW MUTANTS #25: Speaking of Nate, NM gets a "new direction" which made me laugh -- "cleaning up old X-Men business". Man, there's a premis that could last you another 20 years or more! Abnett & Lanning take over the scripting, and it works as well as you'd expect it to, though the art bored me to tears. I also really liked the Ilyana scenes, and hope that she has a chance to stay in this new remit. Solidly OK.

X-MEN LEGACY #246: The other bit of the post "Age of X" storyline, and this one seems a little more ragged to me -- while NM gets a clear new path, these sort of seems like more of the same to me, except people's memories are jumbled. It isn't just that the AOA stuff adds something  new to the characters (though you certainly can argue that), but the problem is that it does so in such a way that you need a thousand word preface to explain it before you can actually begin to deal with it. Many impacted characters will have it "mindwiped" away according to this issue, but those that don't... I really don't see anyone other than Carey making any hay from this? Especially with a major character like Cyclops? I don't think I can do better than EH here.

BATMAN INC #6:  I just loved this issue. Have I said that I hope Chris Burnham stays on this book for a good long while? I don't know, that cover just made me giddy with joy, and the notion that Bruce indulges in internet sock-puppetry made me howl with glee. But the best parts are how many times Bruce smiles. VERY GOOD.

And that's it for me this week -- what looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 39.1: Where Jeff Yells at Graeme in Spanish

Hello, all!

I hate to again be god-damnably brief, but there are many, many things on the plate (including a wife who is waiting for me so we can watch the second ep. of Life on Mars (U.K. version, natch)) and I cannot tarry. But I do have a big heaping handful of Wait, What for you, in which MC Mc and myself talk Fear Itself #2 and expectations for crossover events, a few select movie trailers, the importance of capitalism and/or water, and more (a little bit more). Just a hair over an hour, with a second installment later this week.

Savvy listeners have probably already downloaded this installment via iTunes or the RSS feed, but you are certainly welcome to listen at your leisure here:

Wait, What?, Ep. 39.1: Where Jeff Yells at Graeme in Spanish

As the Asgardian-types say: enjoy!

Arriving 5/11/2011

Small post-FCBD week.  I'll try to liven things up later this week, then...  

30 DAYS OF NIGHT NIGHT AGAIN #1 (OF 4) ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #7 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #660 ARCHIE & FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #5 ASTONISHING X-MEN #37 BATGIRL #21 BATMAN ARKHAM CITY #1 (OF 5) BATMAN INCORPORATED #6 BIRDS OF PREY #12 BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR #518 BREED III #1 CHEW #27 CINDERELLA FABLES ARE FOREVER #4 (OF 6) CROSSED PSYCHOPATH #2 (OF 6) DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #9 DAREDEVIL REBORN #4 (OF 4) DC COMICS PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #1 DC COMICS PRESENTS THE FLASH #1 DEAN KOONTZ NEVERMORE #2 (OF 6) DEATH OF ZORRO #3 DOC SAVAGE #14 DONALD DUCK #366 ELEPHANTMEN #31 EMMA #3 (OF 5) FALLEN ANGEL RETURN OF THE SON #4 (OF 4) FEAR ITSELF YOUTH IN REVOLT #1 (OF 6) FEAR FF #3 FLASH #12 (FLASHPOINT) FLASHPOINT #1 FORMIC WARS BURNING EARTH #5 (OF 7) GI JOE VOL 2 ONGOING #1 GRIMM FAIRY TALES #59 A CVR PASQUALE QUALANO HELLBOY BEING HUMAN ONE SHOT INCREDIBLE HULKS #628 JOHN BYRNE NEXT MEN #6 JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #623 FEAR LONE RANGER #25 LOVE AND CAPES EVER AFTER #4 MEGA MAN #1 MICE TEMPLAR VOL 3 #4 MICHAEL AVON OEMING CVR MORIARTY #1 NETHERWORLD #1 (OF 5) CVR A NEW AVENGERS #12 NEW MUTANTS #25 NORTHLANDERS #40 PUNISHERMAX #13 REBELS #28 RED ROBIN #23 ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD #10 SPAWN #207 (RES) STAN LEE STARBORN #6 STAND NO MANS LAND #4 (OF 5) SUPER HEROES #14 SUPERMAN #711 TITANS #35 TOTAL RECALL #1 UNDYING LOVE #2 UNWRITTEN #25 VERONICA #206 WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #3 WOLFSKIN HUNDREDTH DREAM #6 (OF 6) WYNONNA EARP YETI WARS #1 X-MEN #11 X-MEN LEGACY #248

BOOKS / MAGS / STUFF 28 DAYS LATER TP VOL 04 GANGWAR ALEXANDRO JODOROWSKY SCREAMING PLANET HC AVENGERS WE ARE THE AVENGERS TP BACK ISSUE #48 BATMAN AND ROBIN DELUXE HC VOL 03 BATMAN MUST DIE BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM TP VOL 01 HUSH MONEY BIRDS OF PREY HC VOL 01 ENDRUN CHRONICLES OF KING CONAN TP VOL 02 DANGER GIRL TP VOL 01 DESTINATION DANGER DEADMAN TP VOL 01 DRAW #20 ELIAS THE CURSED GN FIGHTING AMERICAN TP GARDEN GN GOON TP VOL 01 NOTHIN BUT MISERY 2ND ED HEAVY METAL JULY 2011 #140 IRREDEEMABLE TP VOL 06 JEW GANGSTER TP LITTLE LULU TP VOL 27 TREASURE MAP & OTHER STORIES MARVEL ADVENTURES THOR SPIDER-MAN DIGEST TP ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS TP PUNISHERMAX PREM HC BULLSEYE RUNAWAYS TP VOL 03 GOOD DIE YOUNG DIGEST NEW PTG SEDUCTION O/T INNOCENT HC SIZZLE #49 (A) SPIDER-MAN EXTREMIST TP SPIDER-MAN MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH PREM HC STAR WARS ADV TP VOL 05 BOBA FETT & SHIP OF FEAR SUPERBOY THE BOY OF STEEL TP YOSSEL TP YOUNG MARVELMAN CLASSIC PREM HC VOL 01

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 38: The Day That Comes Afterwards

Why yes, I did quote Rebecca Black's Friday and reprint one of the worst things Rob Liefeld's ever done (well, or pretended to do, really).  It is the Bizarro Wait, What?, filled with nothing but the desire to inflict pain rather than love.

Although to be fair, we do talk about Shrink, as well as Russel T. Davies's The Writer's Tale, Dave McKean's Celluloid, Action Comics #900, Casanova, Brightest Day, the idea of Black Avengers, and the appeal of superheroes.  Honestly, as Bizarros, we probably could've done worse.

It's available now on iTunes (probably), and you can also listen to it here:

Wait, What?, Ep. 38: The Day That Comes Afterwards

We hope you enjoy and, as always, thanks for listening! (Man, I'd make the worst Bizarro ever....)

Geeks on Film

I'll get back to print in the next day or so, but I wanted to dive into a few things-on-film for a moment.  

(I quite imagine there will be SPOILERS here, so be careful, kiddo!)

THOR: Saw an advance screening on Saturday morning (10 am, what an odd time for a preview screening!), and yeah, pretty decent film. My reaction could possibly be the result of low expectations -- I mean, seriously, did anyone ever think there could possibly be a Thor movie based on the comic, prior to 3-5 years ago? Let alone a good one?

It largely kept my attention, and it has some astonishing design on display -- I particularly liked their interpretation of the Rainbow bridge -- but while it won't win an Oscar or anything, it will keep you chewing through your popcorn just fine. I'll call it an easy GOOD.

It has problems, to be sure. For the first thing, I couldn't figure out Loki or his motivations AT ALL. Loki *should* be the master trickster and manipulator, but as on display here he was far more capricious than clever, actually telling his family about his betrayals, rather than playing it off. Plus the denouement was a PHYSICAL FIGHT between Loki and Thor which is... well, that's just stupid, isn't it?

I also think that most of the earth-based stuff really didn't work -- part of that stemming from the SHIELD-centric nature of the earth stuff, part of that from giving Jane Foster a comedy-intended sidekick -- but mostly going off the Odin arc.

Odin, as we all know, sends Thor to earth to learn humility. In the comic, Odin does so by binding Thor to a mortal man, where here he just depowers Thor entirely. The thing of it is, when Thor eventually regains his powers, I can't see HOW he learned humility? There's a thing that happens that I think is meant to be "ultimate humility", but it really isn't. Let's try this for a strained metaphor: it's like I take you to a batting cage, but put you in handcuffs. Yes, sure, you will then learn "I need to use my arms in order to hit a ball", but you still aren't even a single step closer to learn HOW to hit a ball.

Then there's the whole Big Kiss at the end, and, again, I was thinking "where the hell did THAT come from?" -- it's not like there's ANY reason for Thor to be majorly into Jane like that was presented on the screen. And, anyway, he should have a thing for Lady Sif, shouldn't he?

I mean, I guess if felt to me like the movie was still getting rewritten up to the very moment they shot it, or something. Or maybe a bunch of stuff ended up on the cutting room floor, or something? If you know the story that already exists, in terms of Loki's motivations, Odin's or Jane's actions, whatever, then you see that they "got to where they should be", but what's ACTUALLY UP ON THE SCREEN doesn't really support any of that happening.

I also thought it a smidge unusual that there was much taken from THE ULTIMATES, rather than Stan & Jack proper -- particularly  that interrogation sequence, and the implication that Thor is just nuts (except that the audience, in this case, KNOWS he's who he says he is, so it kinda doesn't work), and the look of "Hawkeye" (who I don't think is actually called that in the film -- just "Barton")

But despite all of that, I still liked it fine -- and seven year old Ben who I was with proclaimed it EXCELLENT! which is maybe all that matters?

Last note: because of the preview nature, and wanting to sit in our 4-person group, rather than scattering in the theater, we ended up in the first row, which is normally just fine, but in this case, made the 3-D nearly unwatchable. It was 100% fine in any dialogue scene, but once things switched to heavy action, with shaky zooming cameras and all of that usual modern film trickery, it was nearly impossible to tell at all what was going on. I imagine it was better if you were in the "sweet spot" of the middle of the theater, but, based on my experience, I absolutely suggest trying to find a non-3-D showing.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: Not any particular episode, really, but this whole new season has been pretty batshit insane, so far. Absolutely embracing the Morrison-thought that every Batman story is true, we've had utter insanity like adaptations of the Bat-Manga, Bat-Boy and Rubin, and Scooby Doo team-ups; we've had a joker-POV episode (including changing the opening titles to be "The Joker: The Vile and the Villainous") where, among other things, he entirely explodes Kamandi's future; we've had mummy-Batman, and Aqua-Batman, and a really really fucked up episode where Batman becomes a Vampire and kills all of the JLA; hell we've even had an episode with (cowboy) Vigilante breaking out a git-tar and singing about the legend of the blue and the gray.

This show is OFF THE CHARTS CRAZY, and in an utterly great way. I'm horrifically disturbed it hasn't been picked up for more, because this is everything you want in a Batman cartoon (that isn't TAS) -- this is KITCHEN SINK BATMAN. I truly hope they put out a complete series boxed set at some point, because this is just way too good of a show to not preserve. I love this show, and will give it an overall EXCELLENT rating.

A GAME OF THRONES: I love love love love love the books (even if I'm afeared JJM is going to croak before he finishes all seven), which I would liken to the same kind of thril you get from WALKING DEAD -- that is, NO CHARACTER, even the leads, ARE NOT SAFE, and the most crazy fucked up shit happens to these people. I was pretty nervous about the show, but, so far (I've seen the first two), I'm thinking its doing a really good of adaptation of the books.  Adaptations are always hard, and usually butchered, but they got the gist pretty close here.

If you've seen the show, but not read the books, then I really urge you to pick up the books; and if you've done neither, then, yeah, pick up the books. EXCELLENT stuff there.

I'll give the show a VERY GOOD, mostly because I don't care for how they framed a few shots (the finding of the direwolves was pretty weak), and I'm largely unsure if the actress playing Daenerys has half of the chops needed to make it work -- her thread in the novels is my favorite, and so far my lest favorite in the TV show. Peter Dinklage is AWESOME as Tyrion, though.

ACTION #900: I'm putting this in the "television" column mostly because of the crazy coverage the news media put on this. When I read the comic (before the story of Superman's citizenship broke) I thought "Man, is that a poorly phrased way of putting that" because OF COURSE Superman isn't a US Citizen -- he's a citizen of the world, and always has been.

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, anyone? Here: from wikiquotes:

***** Superman: Madam Chairman, I don't represent any one particular country, but I'd like to address the delegates. U.N. Chairwoman: Well, in that case, you will need a sponsor. [ALL delegates raise their hands] I believe that will do. Please.

*****

Superman is not an American, per se, and hasn't been for at least 24 years (and I'm certain I've read 60s era comics espousing the same principle, so probably more like 40+ years)

Either way, "Superman" couldn't possibly be a citizen of anything -- it's an assumed name!

Anyway, what did YOU think?

-B

Arriving 5/4/2011

Hey, don't forget that FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is on Saturday! The happiest day of the year!  

Medium sized week this week.

ADVENTURE COMICS #526 ANNIHILATORS #3 (OF 4) ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #218 ARTIFACTS #7 (OF 13) ASTONISHING THOR #4 (OF 5) ATOMIC ROBO DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE #5 (OF 5) AVENGERS ACADEMY #13 AVENGERS ACADEMY GIANT-SIZE #1 AXE COP BAD GUY EARTH #3 (OF 3) BATMAN BEYOND #5 BLUE ESTATE #2 BOYS #54 BPRD DEAD REMEMBERED #2 (OF 3) CAPTAIN AMERICA HAIL HYDRA #5 (OF 5) CHIP N DALE RESCUE RANGERS #6 DC COMICS PRESENTS SON OF SUPERMAN #1 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #7 DEADPOOL ANNUAL #1 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #22 (OF 24) DOOM PATROL #22 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DARK SUN #5 (OF 5) EDGE OF DOOM #5 (OF 5) FEAR ITSELF #2 (OF 7) FEAR FEAR ITSELF HOME FRONT #2 (OF 7) FEAR FEAR ITSELF SPIDER-MAN #1 (OF 3) FEAR FREEDOM FIGHTERS #9 GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #3 GLADSTONES SCHOOL FOR WORLD CONQUERORS #1 GREEN LANTERN SUPER SPECTACULAR #1 GREEN WAKE #2 (OF 5) HERC #2 HEROES FOR HIRE #6 HOUSE OF MYSTERY #37 INTREPIDS #3 IRREDEEMABLE #25 IZOMBIE #13 JONAH HEX #67 JSA ALL STARS #18 KUNG FU PANDA #1 (OF 4) LIFE & TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK #1 BOOM BLAST ED LOONEY TUNES #198 MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME #4 (OF 5) MOON GIRL #1 (OF 5) MOON KNIGHT #1 MOUSE GUARD BLACK AXE #2 (OF 6) OZMA OF OZ #6 (OF 8) POOD #3 RED SONJA #56 RED SPIKE #1 (OF 5) RICHIE RICH #1 (OF 4) SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #9 SECRET SIX #33 SOLOMON KANE RED SHADOWS #2 (OF 4) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #224 SPIDEY SUNDAY SPECTACULAR #1 SPIKE #8 (OF 8) SUPERBOY #7 SWEET TOOTH #21 UNCANNY X-FORCE #9 UNCLE SCROOGE #403 USAGI YOJIMBO #137 VAMPIRELLA #5 WALKING DEAD SURVIVORS GUIDE #2 (OF 4) WEIRD WORLDS #5 (OF 6) WITCHFINDER LOST & GONE FOREVER #4 (OF 5) WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #6 WOLVERINE HERCULES MYTHS MONSTERS AND MUTANTS #3 (OF 4) X-MEN PRELUDE TO SCHISM #1 (OF 04)

Books / Mags / Stuff ALEXANDRO JODOROWSKY SCREAMING PLANET HC ANGEL ILLYRIA HAUNTED TP BAKUMAN TP VOL 04 BAT BOY WEEKLY WORLD NEWS STRIPS HC BY PETER BAGGE BATMAN LONG SHADOWS TP BRIGHTEST DAY HC VOL 02 CONAN TP VOL 10 IRON SHADOWS IN THE MOON CYCLOPS HC DELIRIUMS PARTY A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK HC DMZ TP VOL 10 COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT DODGEM LOGIC MAGAZINE #8 ESSENTIAL X-MEN TP VOL 07 NEW ED EXECUTOR TP FARSCAPE TP VOL 04 TANGLED ROOTS HELLRAISER MASTERPIECES TP VOL 01 HOUSEWIVES AT PLAY DO YOU WORK HERE GN (A) HUNTINGTON WEST VIRGINIA ON THE FLY GN (RES) I WILL BITE YOU AND OTHER STORIES GN JINX GN HC ESSENTIAL COLLECTION JONAH HEX NO WAY BACK TP LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK HC NEW PTG NEXT DAY GN NIGHT AT COMIC SHOP TP SECRET SIX THE REPTILE BRAIN TP SEX-ED 101 GN VOL 01 (A) STUFF OF LEGEND TP VOL 02 THE JUNGLE TAKING PUNK TO MASSES SC TASKMASTER TP UNTHINKABLE THOR FOR ASGARD HC TINY TITANS TP VOL 05 FIELD TRIPPIN X-MEN FIRST CLASS MAGAZINE #1

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 37: Scrapper Troopers

Hello, everyone. After some delay, I'm happy to report Wait, What? Ep. 37 is here for you. Despite a giant laser sword cutting my home planet in half, I was able to persevere and get this (and Ep. 38) put together for you.  It is the hope of Graeme and myself that you enjoy them.

First, Ep. 37.  While not short (ninety five minutes or so), it's actually surprisingly full-bodied on flavor, as Graeme and I talk about our expectations for Chester Brown's Paying for It and Dave McKean's Celluloid, as well as review Gingerbread Girl by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, FF #1, Fear Itself, Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth #2, One Piece, Secret Avengers and a title you probably haven't heard of that we've never discussed before:  Final Crisis.

Oh, and for those of you who like it when Graeme and I bicker, we've do some world class scrappin' over Superman #710, oh my yes.

This feast of the audible should be available on iTunes by the time you read this, but it is also available for you here:

Wait, What?, Ep. 37: Scrapper Troopers

We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!