Batman Incorporated #9 & 10 (DC)
The issues that follow the death of Damian Wayne are pretty interesting and speak to the significant impact of the event as well as how it fits into the rest of what Grant Morrison has been doing in his final Batman arc. #9 cuts between the immediate aftermath of Damian's death as Batman and Nightwing attempt to handle the other Damian (a clone matured to adulthood by proud mama Talia, who was nonetheless displeased that one killed the other) and the funeral, where Bruce lets Alfred know that he too is displeased in the butler's tacit approval of his late son's last caper. That's probably the best moment of the issue. The former Squire also decides to replace the late Knight (the two were the most prominent members of Batman Inc., featured in an excellent and very British mini-series by Paul Cornell). The city of Gotham, meanwhile, gives in to Leviathan a.k.a. Talia's demands and officially outlaws Batman, the agent provocateur. #10 sees Morrison circle back to his earliest issues in this run, where Manbats were flying about. It's also a direct evocation of Batman's origins, as Bruce decides that the only way to defeat Talia is to literally become a bat, thanks to the Manbat serum. It's a powerful, meaning-filled development. There are three issues left, plus a jam issue a month later featuring the international heroes technically represented in the title of this series.
Batman: Li'l Gotham #1 (DC)
I've been following the blog of Derek Fridolfs for a while now, and by extension his Facebook posts, and it's always been a little weird because Fridolfs is mostly a digital-first creator, his stories originally appearing on the DC website and then being printed later. He's best known for his comics based on the Arkham City games (and as such that was the basis of the excellent Endgame Joker story I read last year) and Batman Beyond landscape, though recently he's been collaborating with the great Dustin Nguyen on Li'l Gotham. This issue is a collection of the holiday specials that served as the introduction of these incredibly fun tales. Fridolfs is clearly a fan of continuity, and he's always finding new ways to explore it, mindful that for some readers, especially in these fringe adventures, it could very well be their first exposures. Since he doesn't write New 52 material, Fridolfs can do whatever he wants. Li'l Gotham is technically considered a young readers title, but it can easily be enjoyed by anyone strictly as a humor series.
Before Watchmen: Comedian #6 (DC)
The conclusion of this mini-series and the whole Before Watchmen event, I've been waiting months for this. Comedian became the only part of the event I tracked for every issue of original publication thanks to Brian Azzarello's masterful character study of Edward Blake and his relation both to the Vietnam War and the John/Robert Kennedy saga. Azzarello made a few changes to Blake's classic arc; for instance the infamous face scarring that forced him to wear a mask doesn't occur in this comic. The lead character in this series remains more of a hero than antihero, though certainly stained by the events of his times. Edward and Bobby end the issue trying to make the best of a bad situation and not really succeeding. Bobby, of course, is assassinated. Edward's demons are more psychological, but they're impactful. I read someone's assessment of the Before Watchmen project, and they labeled Comedian as one of the disappointments. I still contend it was the best of the whole thing, and I think history will side with me, just as anyone who read Watchmen itself ended up thinking a lot differently about Edward at the end of it than they did at the beginning (or...every other point). That's the magic of the character.
Django Unchained #3 (Vertigo)
Now that I've actually seen the movie, it's a different experience reading the comic book adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's complete script. With the first two issues, I was discovering the story outside of the movie's direct influence. Now it's harder to separate the two, although the adaptation is still making the story its own, retaining all the distinct advantages of the comic book format, and new artist Denys Cowan continues to keep the art equally distinctive, evocative and yet unique. The series is halfway through, and on the final page introduces Calvin Candie, the character portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film.
Justice League #18 (DC)
This will probably be my final issue of the series. While Geoff Johns continues work on Justice League (and its spin-off I'll be talking about next) and is gearing up for "Trinity War," the event that he's been working toward since the start of the New 52 and introduction of the mysterious Pandora (very soon to be featured in her own series), I'm not really in the financial means to continuing reading new comics on a regular basis. I've been in the position to have a much smoother conclusion than in 1999 (known as cold turkey) or my abortive efforts in 2011 (when Flashpoint and the start of the New 52 sabotaged a similar design). Grant Morrison concludes his Superman and Batman stories this year, and Johns is stepping down from Green Lantern. I couldn't ask for a better exit. Justice League has been consistently excellent, and this of all issues is a fine place to stop (and just as well to begin for readers in a different situation than me). It's the customary recruitment issue. Morrison did something similar in his JLA run, and it's been a staple for subsequent writers like Brad Meltzer. Lots of new faces are here. The issue also features the tenth installment of the Shazam! backup feature from Johns and Gary Frank, where the erstwhile Captain Marvel and always-kid Billy Batson finds it increasingly difficult to avoid the inevitable confrontation with Black Adam.
Justice League of America #2 (DC)
Another comics blog I follow, Crisis on Earth Prime, found this Hawkman/Vibe moment pretty memorable: Vibe says "Are you okay?," to which Hawkman responds "Why?" Vibe next says "You're covered in blood," and Hawkman says "It's not my blood." Vibe spends the next two panels putting some distance between them, and there are no words. They're not necessary. Johns wrote Hawkman both in the pages of JSA and his own title for years, but this may be the best scene he's ever done with the character. There's also a pretty interesting Catwoman moment where she realizes how similar she is to Steve Trevor in the department of being spurned by giants. This is the strength of the series, that Johns is able to write characters who aren't necessarily icons. He actually writes both his League books in much the same way, but this one just feels more intimate. These characters all have something to prove and they know it. There's a backup feature in this series, too, featuring Martian Manhunter, who gets my vote as the best character too many people don't really care about. He would make for an excellent movie.
The Mice Templar, Volume IV: Legend #1 (Image)
The series featuring fuzzy rodents that everyone who cares knows about is Mouse Guard, but Mice Templar has always had my vote for the better of them. It's an iconic new take on the traditional hero's journey, always taking original twists and turns. After a considerable absence, I'm glad to see it return. I started reading these adventures in 2007.
Nova #2 (Marvel)
I loved the first issue of this new Jeph Loeb series, an integral element of Marvel's renewed Guardians of the Galaxy push (seeing that there's going to be a movie and all). I didn't just love it, I adored it, one of the best single issues I've ever read. You may have guessed at this point that I wasn't so wild about the second issue. That's okay.
Saucer Country #13 (Vertigo)
The penultimate issue of this series (although Paul Cornell contends that he will attempt to revive it elsewhere) busts one of the key bits of mythology. The previous issue had a distraught Professor Kidd apparently about to commit suicide, which turned out to be a ruse in order to get the "Pioneer space probe couple" stand revealed as a hoax. The whole series has been about perception and reality in the world of alien abduction, following the presidential campaign of Arcadia Alvarado, who has been trying to come to grips with her own apparent abduction, which has only been complicated by the fact that she shared it with her estranged husband Michael. It's been a fascinating ride.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive #4 (IDW)
The conclusion of this Borg epic that represents Brannon Braga's ultimate vision for the Collective and the roles Jean-Luc Picard and Seven of Nine (featured in Voyager) play in it. In a lot of ways, it's a rephrasing of Voyager's final episode "Endgame." There's also a little of a Star Trek Nemesis hangover involved as Future Data reveals how he returned (and not because as fans thought simply reborn as B4), which serves as an excellent ending after an emotional farewell to another character. Pretty good stuff, although it would certainly be interesting to watch as filmed material.
Star Trek #19 (IDW)
This series is based in the rebooted continuity of the 2009 J.J. Abrams film and was originally set up to adapt classic episodes from the original series with the new interpretations of the familiar characters. I don't know how many issues have deviated from this mission, but this one in particular certainly does and it's well worth enjoying for it. Simply put, this is the secret origin of Scotty, from his family heritage to the incident with Admiral Archer's beagle (evoking similar characters from Enterprise but not the exact ones, because that was a hundred years in the past). Good stuff.
(Justice League of America's) Vibe #1 (DC)
I had to go back and catch this one after initially skipping it. Both spin-offs of the new series look like they're well worth checking out, this one and Katana. What's intriguing about Vibe is that it follows a character who in his previous incarnation was all but a punchline, more famous as a casualty of a forgettable League lineup than anything he did or represented personally. As with Earth 2, this is another series that builds on the initial Darkseid arc of Justice League, and brilliantly at that. Departing Earth 2 writer James Robinson is still most famous for Starman, a series he cleverly hinged around legacy, but in a twist that no one would have seen coming when Jack Knight quickly replaced his more traditional brother David as successor to their father Ted. Geoff Johns does something very similar here with the new Vibe, who is also notable for having the ability to see beyond the regular limits of this particular reality. It's Geoff revising his own Booster Gold revision, the also-ran who became a multiverse champion following the breakthrough 52 experiment. I don't know how long this series will last, but to my mind Vibe has everything to gain from all of this. He's just become one of the most fascinating characters in DC.
Showing posts with label Comedian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comedian. Show all posts
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Quick Hits: Comedian #5 (DC)
I don't know why the publication of this particular Before Watchmen book has been drawn out for so long, but I've continued to enjoy it, and have even figured out why it's remained in Vietnam for several issues now, because Brian Azzarello figured out that it has more significance than what fans probably assumed just from the original Alan Moore story, along with everything else that's been done in Comedian. I'm pretty convinced that I won't be the only one calling this one the most significant part of the whole project once it's all done and sitting on bookshelves, maybe as regularly as Watchmen itself.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Before Watchmen: Comedian #4 (DC)
writer: Brian Azzarello
artist: J.G. Jones
I stopped reading Before Watchmen regularly a few months back. As it stands, I've read issues from Minutemen, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, and this one, Comedian, but not Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, or Moloch. Eventually I will most likely read the complete story, in collected form (which was how I first read Watchmen itself), but for now I've limited myself to the story of Edward Blake.
So far Brian Azzarello has put a big stress on Blake's relationship with the Kennedys, his revision of Alan Moore's original suggestion that Comedian theoretically participated in the assassination of JFK. What Azzarello has done instead is put new emphasis on his moral development, from the idealism of Camelot to the quagmire of Vietnam, where we've been the last few issues. This issue, in fact, is more or less the birth of the Comedian we know from Watchmen (incidentally the one we know from his relationship with Silk Spectre might as well at this point be folded into his relationship with Jack Kennedy, himself a notorious womanizer, though not exactly the would-be rapist that all but defined Blake for Moore).
Comedian was the cynic's superhero, the one who looked at the world through a cracked lens, who saw the joke that was its idea of justice, which he quickly saw as not being particularly fair. (Although the cracked lens and fairness parts also speak to each of Moore's heroes. Edward Blake simply saw it before the rest of his old teammates, and not just Ozymandias's plans.) He was ahead of the curve, but in Vietnam he's behind it, at least as the civilian population goes. Last issue he memorably had a hard time reconciling his patriotic idealism with what was developing stateside. Now he's hoping for the war to end and finding it increasingly difficult to cope. The problem for Blake is that he's Captain American in the Vietnam War.
The drug culture introduced last issue (and at the same time in Silk Spectre) finally claims the Comedian, which is the major development of the story this time. Bobby Kennedy has declared his intention to run for the presidency, but won't accept Blake's calls, another sign that the times are indeed changing. Soon he's going to be everything we thought he was all along.
That's the value of Before Watchmen, revisiting and expanding on the familiar story so that new truths can be found. Why I keep reading about Edward Blake specifically is because in Watchmen he can almost be the boogeyman, the other hero-turned-villain who just happened to be eliminated by the other one, though granted a shot at redemption in the memories of those he leaves behind. He looms over the whole story, but almost entirely in the background. It's nice to see him at the front, and Azzarello is taking full advantage of the opportunity.
artist: J.G. Jones
(via dccomics.com)
I stopped reading Before Watchmen regularly a few months back. As it stands, I've read issues from Minutemen, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Ozymandias, and this one, Comedian, but not Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, or Moloch. Eventually I will most likely read the complete story, in collected form (which was how I first read Watchmen itself), but for now I've limited myself to the story of Edward Blake.
So far Brian Azzarello has put a big stress on Blake's relationship with the Kennedys, his revision of Alan Moore's original suggestion that Comedian theoretically participated in the assassination of JFK. What Azzarello has done instead is put new emphasis on his moral development, from the idealism of Camelot to the quagmire of Vietnam, where we've been the last few issues. This issue, in fact, is more or less the birth of the Comedian we know from Watchmen (incidentally the one we know from his relationship with Silk Spectre might as well at this point be folded into his relationship with Jack Kennedy, himself a notorious womanizer, though not exactly the would-be rapist that all but defined Blake for Moore).
Comedian was the cynic's superhero, the one who looked at the world through a cracked lens, who saw the joke that was its idea of justice, which he quickly saw as not being particularly fair. (Although the cracked lens and fairness parts also speak to each of Moore's heroes. Edward Blake simply saw it before the rest of his old teammates, and not just Ozymandias's plans.) He was ahead of the curve, but in Vietnam he's behind it, at least as the civilian population goes. Last issue he memorably had a hard time reconciling his patriotic idealism with what was developing stateside. Now he's hoping for the war to end and finding it increasingly difficult to cope. The problem for Blake is that he's Captain American in the Vietnam War.
The drug culture introduced last issue (and at the same time in Silk Spectre) finally claims the Comedian, which is the major development of the story this time. Bobby Kennedy has declared his intention to run for the presidency, but won't accept Blake's calls, another sign that the times are indeed changing. Soon he's going to be everything we thought he was all along.
That's the value of Before Watchmen, revisiting and expanding on the familiar story so that new truths can be found. Why I keep reading about Edward Blake specifically is because in Watchmen he can almost be the boogeyman, the other hero-turned-villain who just happened to be eliminated by the other one, though granted a shot at redemption in the memories of those he leaves behind. He looms over the whole story, but almost entirely in the background. It's nice to see him at the front, and Azzarello is taking full advantage of the opportunity.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Robbin'
Batman and Robin #0 (DC)
writer: Peter J. Tomasi
artist: Pat Gleason
One of the things I absolutely loved about the idea of Zero Month (Version 2) was the chance for creative teams to refocus their attention on the characters who star in their books, and one of the great beneficiaries was Tomasi and Gleason's Damian. Introduced in 2006 by Grant Morrison as the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul (spinning off from an earlier graphic novel, Son of the Demon, which had previously given Mark Waid a totally different interpretation in his Kingdom Come stories), the newest Robin is easily the most inspired one in franchise history. The series was hottest this year when focusing directly on Damian, and so this issue was a no-brainer. Exploring his relationship with Talia before being introduced to his father, Damian must prove his worth, a little Alexander the Great (most comics fan will here think of Ozymandias, but I prefer to think more directly on Alexander himself, and the underrated movie Alexander). Though only Morrison's own Batman Incorporated deals with the current Talia storyline, the issue also serves as a good primer on what you need to know about that.
Batman Incorporated #0 (DC)
writer: Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham
artist: Frazer Irving
Well, speaking of the series, its own Zero Month contribution finally brings the concept of the book back to the forefront. Let me go back a step or two. This incarnation of Batman Inc. follows a previous one that did feature the Batmen of the world concept pretty heavily, but eventually started to emphasize the concept of Grant Morrison's concluding Dark Knight arc, featuring the threat of Leviathan, who turned out to be Talia as explored in the first issues of the relaunch. All the Batmen were previously introduced in earlier eras, and were recently reclaimed by Morrison, first as the Club of Heroes and then as members of the organization Batman put together to tackle the threat of Leviathan, realizing after his return from a journey through time that he's never been alone and should probably stop thinking of himself as so isolated. (This is a point reiterated in the issue as well.) The most famous members of Batman Inc. are Knight and Squire, who had their own mini-series from Paul Cornell (well worth checking out). Hopefully there will be more from this element of the series in future issues. Another interesting aspect of the issue is that Morrison works on the script with Chris Burnham, who has been the artist on Batman Inc., and this is interesting because another artist Morrison collaborated with during his Dark Knight run, Tony Daniel, has since gone off to a successful career as writer-artist, and is rumored to be assuming these duties on Justice League when Geoff Johns departs.
Before Watchmen: Comedian #3 of 6 (DC)
writer: Brian Azzarello
artist: J.G. Jones
Recently I've been modifying my comic-buying decisions, and one of the things that means is that I will not be reading individual issues of the whole Before Watchmen project. I realized that my favorite so far has been Comedian, and so here I am with another issue, in which Edward Blake has a conversation with Bobby Kennedy concerning events that transpired when Blake came back to the States from Vietnam, and was shocked to discover that hostile reaction to the war extends even to him, creating a sticky situation. Which he compounds by actually aiding a riot to help end it, logic that only he seems to appreciate. Makes sense, if you're the Comedian, or understand his psychology, which Azzarello clearly does. I suppose what this one's helping me realize is that Comedian was my favorite character from the original Watchmen, even though he was technically dead throughout the present-day events, more of a catalyst for pretty much everything that happens. What happens when he gets to carry the story? Apparently still the best of the project.
Cobra #17 (IDW)
writer: Mike Costa
artist: Werther Dell'Edera
A patented piece of the Cobra experience is the character study, and that's what this issue does with Major Bludd, exploring his origins and what they mean for the present. Costa and his collaborators perfected this long ago (to the point that Chuck Dixon copied the formula for this year's Annual that had a look at the new Cobra Commander), and still know how to use it. As with Comedian, Cobra is a book that respects psychology, which Bludd is careful to employ in trying to explain how a man of his comparatively lowly origins was able to become a trusted and valued member of the organization, with interesting insights for characters the series (and its predecessors) have been following, including the Paoli twins (Tomax and his late brother Xamot). And if that's not enough for you, or not traditional enough, the end of the issue promises the return of the Oktober Guard!
Happy! #1 of 4 (Image)
writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Darick Robertson
I've been waiting for this one (not as long as fans have been waiting for Multiversity, but that's a whole different story!), so it seemed like it was something like a miracle to finally see it released. Once again, Grant Morrison takes a side project to another publisher (see also: 18 Days, Dinosaurs vs. Aliens, the latter of which I'll be writing about in the coming weeks), and perhaps part of Happy! is something Vertigo wouldn't have touched even in its woollier days, with a good chunk of its debut issue very reminiscent of artist Darick Robertson's more famous collaborator Garth Ennis (as in The Boys), foul-mouthed and featuring nasty characters looking for nothing good in relation to each other. And yet Morrison pulls yet another rabbit out of his hat with the introduction of Happy, a tiny blue horse who comes to Nick Sax in his hour of need, when he's about to be brutally tortured for information. It's this glimmer of the bizarre and the push against the boundaries of reality (best demonstrated in Morrison's own favorite work, The Filth) that elevates this book past shock value and novelty to something that in the next three issues will once again redefine comic book storytelling as we know it.
Justice League #0 (DC)
writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Gary Frank
Since the seventh issue of the series Johns and Frank have been exploring a new origin for the hero once known as Captain Marvel, following a rebellious orphan called Billy Batson as he struggles to find a new home with a family whose belief in mankind contradicts everything he's come to experience in his short life. This issue he finally meets the wizard who gives him the power to become Shazam, and Johns takes the opportunity to reinvent the character, defining him first and foremost as a practitioner of magic. Previously he was all but a version of Superman with a few quirks, not the least being the famous (and since oft-duplicated) transformation from boy to man. There's so much potential in all of this, it's almost disappointing to know that in the near future we're simply going to see Billy figure out what to do with his new powers. But he's a boy, after all. A backup story from Johns and Green Lantern collaborator Ethan Van Sciver features New 52 newbie Pandora, who's still trying to live down sins of her past, while the Question makes his debut in the new continuity.
Nightwing #0 (DC)
writer: Kyle Higgins, Tom DeFalco
artist: Eddy Barrows
The exact character of Dick Grayson has always been a little difficult to define. For much of his existence, he was simply the second orphan in Batman mythos, the acrobat whose parents were murdered by a mobster and became Robin as a result, and later Nightwing. What motivated him, other than the presence of Bruce Wayne, to take on these roles? This Zero Month effort posits that it was an essential part of him long before his life changed, that Dick always had the instinct to look before he leaped, even though he always possessed the ability to know exactly where he was headed. His problem is that he didn't always consider the consequences. Like most youths, he was impulsive. What made him different was what happened to him. Higgins has been doing a good job grounding Dick back into his own particulars, and apparently now has Marvel veteran Tom DeFalco to assist him. Since the New 52 relaunch was all about getting back to the basics, Zero Month was necessary to remind fans where those basics began, to ground the new stories after a year's worth of development back to what it was all about. In some cases, I think this was as important to fans as it was for the creators, and Nightwing (and I'd say Batman and Robin, too) benefits a great deal from this issue.
Punk Rock Jesus #3 of 6 (Vertigo)
writer/artist: Sean Murphy
I became a fan of Sean Murphy after Joe the Barbarian, his epic collaboration with Grant Morrison. When Punk Rock Jesus was first advertised, I knew it was a project worthy of Murphy's talent and ambition, and now that I've had a chance to experience it for myself, I can say that he's absolutely nailed it. The first thing to note for those who may now be intrigued is that it's a rare black-and-white book from a major publisher. Not that it matters. Murphy's art is easily strong enough to sustain itself without color. The story is sort of like the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show if it featured a clone of Jesus Christ (as PRJ actually does). As I like to say, the strength of any story is proven if you can come into the middle of it and still completely appreciate what's being done. This is definitely the case here. This issue handles the relationship between Chris, star of the unorthodox reality series "J2," and his troubled mother, who has grown increasingly wary of the affect of her son, who to her is simply her son, being trapped in the confines of a manipulative environment. She has very different ideas than the producers on how to raise Chris, but the producers have all the power, and by the end of the issue, prove it. This is brilliant, brilliant material, even if you only view it as a variation on The Truman Show and ignore its religious connections, and a revelation on the full impact of Murphy's talent.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 (DC)
writer: Scott Lobdell
artist: Pasqual Ferry
Completing my survey of Robin origins in the New 52 (technically Tim Drake gets his due in Teen Titans #0, but I didn't know that last Wednesday or Muse simply didn't have the issue, as it was missing several of the comics I was looking for, including that issue of The Ultimates that makes Captain America president of the United States), Jason Todd as star of this book is featured in the Zero Month issue. Though comparatively recently much of this story has already been retold (when Jason originally came back as the Red Hood), it's worth exploring the full story again, how he was a troubled youth even before Batman rethought his decision to name him the second Robin. I'd been waiting for Jason to get his own book for the past few years, so I was always going to be excited to see it in the line-up last fall. It didn't hurt subsequently when Lobdell proved that he understand exactly what to do with the character, or to surround him with characters who instantly had more chemistry with him than Dick Grayson, whom Starfire and Roy Harper had more history with (which is to say any history at all). Neither of them appears in this issue, however (I suspect they're in the book at all because some people in the DC offices questioned whether Jason could or even should have his own series). The truly brilliant element of the issue, however, is the backup feature wherein the Joker explains how he manipulated all the events of Jason Todd's life, except his resurrection. Just how much will that affect the "Death of the Family" event, which clearly calls to mind Jason's bloody death at the hands of the Clown Prince of Crime?
Road to Oz #1 of 6 (Marvel)
writer: Eric Shanower
artist: Skottie Young
Following their work in four previous L. Frank Baum adaptations (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz), Shanower and Young continue their efforts to remind modern audiences of the true character of Baum's legacy, distorted for years by the Judy Garland film as almost nothing but a series of memorable songs. Baum was an incredibly clever and playful writer, and together Shanower and Young have perfectly embodied that spirit. I haven't read all of their work (though at some point I will correct that), but arguably it's more important than the ambitious Stephen King projects (the Dark Tower franchise, The Stand cycle) Marvel has been doing concurrently in the past few years, more essential. In this one, Dorothy is back once again, and the Shaggy Man is her somewhat dubious guide to Oz. (It should be noted that even in Young's depiction he seems little better than a pedophile in the making.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive #1 (IDW)
writer: Brannon Braga, Terry Matalas, Travis Fickett
artist: Joe Corroney
For a lot of Star Trek fans, Brannon Braga was a chief architect of the franchise's destruction, driving it into the ground with one too many series and one too many ill-advised ideas. It's an historical irony that he gets another shot, in the comics, to bring his vision to the public. Conceiving a new Borg story (especially after all the work in Voyager and that one episode in Enterprise) seems to be one of the things you'd least expect from him, but perhaps it's worth remembering that he co-wrote Star Trek: First Contact, the one Next Generation movie that everyone loved that happened to introduce a major new element to Borg Collective lore, the Borg Queen. The movies never returned to the Borg, though, and Voyager was consumed by the Seven of Nine arc and Captain Janeway's efforts to survive and take advantage of the Collective (ultimately use its technology to get home in the final episode). Hive presents a version of what might have been, returning the Borg story to Jean-Luc Picard and his "Best of Both Worlds" alter ego, Locutus, the human representative (fully assimilated) of the Collective. It's a truly epic vision, one if executed on the screen may have totally revolutionized the popular conception of Star Trek's ability to present an expansive saga. To be completely honest, I was always a fan of Braga, and this only further confirms my respect for him.
Thanos: The Final Threat (Marvel)
writer/artist: Jim Starlin
Another reprint one-shot, this time from still earlier in Marvel lore, 1977 (there's a ton of Star Wars influences here, although some references seem to look forward as well as backward, interestingly enough), as Thanos presents a sufficient threat to unite his natural foe Adam Warlock with Captain Marvel (Marvel's version, who would famously die of cancer in a story that also features Thanos), the Avengers, as well as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four's Thing. The story reads like an earlier version of later epics (and seems to contradict Starlin's own efforts in the Thanos Quest reprint from some thirteen years later), including the definitive Infinity Gauntlet that in all likelihood inspired this summer's The Avengers to include the character in the end credits. This one's far more conventional than Thanos Quest, but that only means it's easier to see what Thanos is like in context. I suspect a lot of exclamation points were edited out of the dialogue, however, because that was the style at the time, and they're notably (mercifully!) absent. More reprints should do this. It would make it so much easier to appreciate older material.
Westward #1 (Kinetic)
writer/artist: Ken Krekeler
It's always worth checking out some of the smaller press efforts on the market, and always nice to find these things at my local comic book store (in this case Muse in Colorado Springs), and this is probably one of the more random ones, though very welcome, to have available, from a very small press indeed (currently soliciting Kickstarter support for future issues). If you haven't caught on to my predilections by now, rest assured that Westward has a strong emphasis on character (and like Punk Rock Jesus also features black-and-white art), specifically Victor West, who wakes up in a hospital with barely even a vague idea on how he got there. In a previous life, he was the spoiled son of a visionary who angered his father with irresponsibility. As Victor stumbles into the new truths of his life, we receive clues about what's been done to him, the secrets of the West family, and the unease of the world around them, which takes into account how us folks in the real world are living. It's impressive storytelling, hugely intriguing, even before the big reveal at the end.
writer: Peter J. Tomasi
artist: Pat Gleason
One of the things I absolutely loved about the idea of Zero Month (Version 2) was the chance for creative teams to refocus their attention on the characters who star in their books, and one of the great beneficiaries was Tomasi and Gleason's Damian. Introduced in 2006 by Grant Morrison as the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul (spinning off from an earlier graphic novel, Son of the Demon, which had previously given Mark Waid a totally different interpretation in his Kingdom Come stories), the newest Robin is easily the most inspired one in franchise history. The series was hottest this year when focusing directly on Damian, and so this issue was a no-brainer. Exploring his relationship with Talia before being introduced to his father, Damian must prove his worth, a little Alexander the Great (most comics fan will here think of Ozymandias, but I prefer to think more directly on Alexander himself, and the underrated movie Alexander). Though only Morrison's own Batman Incorporated deals with the current Talia storyline, the issue also serves as a good primer on what you need to know about that.
Batman Incorporated #0 (DC)
writer: Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham
artist: Frazer Irving
Well, speaking of the series, its own Zero Month contribution finally brings the concept of the book back to the forefront. Let me go back a step or two. This incarnation of Batman Inc. follows a previous one that did feature the Batmen of the world concept pretty heavily, but eventually started to emphasize the concept of Grant Morrison's concluding Dark Knight arc, featuring the threat of Leviathan, who turned out to be Talia as explored in the first issues of the relaunch. All the Batmen were previously introduced in earlier eras, and were recently reclaimed by Morrison, first as the Club of Heroes and then as members of the organization Batman put together to tackle the threat of Leviathan, realizing after his return from a journey through time that he's never been alone and should probably stop thinking of himself as so isolated. (This is a point reiterated in the issue as well.) The most famous members of Batman Inc. are Knight and Squire, who had their own mini-series from Paul Cornell (well worth checking out). Hopefully there will be more from this element of the series in future issues. Another interesting aspect of the issue is that Morrison works on the script with Chris Burnham, who has been the artist on Batman Inc., and this is interesting because another artist Morrison collaborated with during his Dark Knight run, Tony Daniel, has since gone off to a successful career as writer-artist, and is rumored to be assuming these duties on Justice League when Geoff Johns departs.
Before Watchmen: Comedian #3 of 6 (DC)
writer: Brian Azzarello
artist: J.G. Jones
Recently I've been modifying my comic-buying decisions, and one of the things that means is that I will not be reading individual issues of the whole Before Watchmen project. I realized that my favorite so far has been Comedian, and so here I am with another issue, in which Edward Blake has a conversation with Bobby Kennedy concerning events that transpired when Blake came back to the States from Vietnam, and was shocked to discover that hostile reaction to the war extends even to him, creating a sticky situation. Which he compounds by actually aiding a riot to help end it, logic that only he seems to appreciate. Makes sense, if you're the Comedian, or understand his psychology, which Azzarello clearly does. I suppose what this one's helping me realize is that Comedian was my favorite character from the original Watchmen, even though he was technically dead throughout the present-day events, more of a catalyst for pretty much everything that happens. What happens when he gets to carry the story? Apparently still the best of the project.
Cobra #17 (IDW)
writer: Mike Costa
artist: Werther Dell'Edera
A patented piece of the Cobra experience is the character study, and that's what this issue does with Major Bludd, exploring his origins and what they mean for the present. Costa and his collaborators perfected this long ago (to the point that Chuck Dixon copied the formula for this year's Annual that had a look at the new Cobra Commander), and still know how to use it. As with Comedian, Cobra is a book that respects psychology, which Bludd is careful to employ in trying to explain how a man of his comparatively lowly origins was able to become a trusted and valued member of the organization, with interesting insights for characters the series (and its predecessors) have been following, including the Paoli twins (Tomax and his late brother Xamot). And if that's not enough for you, or not traditional enough, the end of the issue promises the return of the Oktober Guard!
Happy! #1 of 4 (Image)
writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Darick Robertson
I've been waiting for this one (not as long as fans have been waiting for Multiversity, but that's a whole different story!), so it seemed like it was something like a miracle to finally see it released. Once again, Grant Morrison takes a side project to another publisher (see also: 18 Days, Dinosaurs vs. Aliens, the latter of which I'll be writing about in the coming weeks), and perhaps part of Happy! is something Vertigo wouldn't have touched even in its woollier days, with a good chunk of its debut issue very reminiscent of artist Darick Robertson's more famous collaborator Garth Ennis (as in The Boys), foul-mouthed and featuring nasty characters looking for nothing good in relation to each other. And yet Morrison pulls yet another rabbit out of his hat with the introduction of Happy, a tiny blue horse who comes to Nick Sax in his hour of need, when he's about to be brutally tortured for information. It's this glimmer of the bizarre and the push against the boundaries of reality (best demonstrated in Morrison's own favorite work, The Filth) that elevates this book past shock value and novelty to something that in the next three issues will once again redefine comic book storytelling as we know it.
Justice League #0 (DC)
writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Gary Frank
Since the seventh issue of the series Johns and Frank have been exploring a new origin for the hero once known as Captain Marvel, following a rebellious orphan called Billy Batson as he struggles to find a new home with a family whose belief in mankind contradicts everything he's come to experience in his short life. This issue he finally meets the wizard who gives him the power to become Shazam, and Johns takes the opportunity to reinvent the character, defining him first and foremost as a practitioner of magic. Previously he was all but a version of Superman with a few quirks, not the least being the famous (and since oft-duplicated) transformation from boy to man. There's so much potential in all of this, it's almost disappointing to know that in the near future we're simply going to see Billy figure out what to do with his new powers. But he's a boy, after all. A backup story from Johns and Green Lantern collaborator Ethan Van Sciver features New 52 newbie Pandora, who's still trying to live down sins of her past, while the Question makes his debut in the new continuity.
Nightwing #0 (DC)
writer: Kyle Higgins, Tom DeFalco
artist: Eddy Barrows
The exact character of Dick Grayson has always been a little difficult to define. For much of his existence, he was simply the second orphan in Batman mythos, the acrobat whose parents were murdered by a mobster and became Robin as a result, and later Nightwing. What motivated him, other than the presence of Bruce Wayne, to take on these roles? This Zero Month effort posits that it was an essential part of him long before his life changed, that Dick always had the instinct to look before he leaped, even though he always possessed the ability to know exactly where he was headed. His problem is that he didn't always consider the consequences. Like most youths, he was impulsive. What made him different was what happened to him. Higgins has been doing a good job grounding Dick back into his own particulars, and apparently now has Marvel veteran Tom DeFalco to assist him. Since the New 52 relaunch was all about getting back to the basics, Zero Month was necessary to remind fans where those basics began, to ground the new stories after a year's worth of development back to what it was all about. In some cases, I think this was as important to fans as it was for the creators, and Nightwing (and I'd say Batman and Robin, too) benefits a great deal from this issue.
Punk Rock Jesus #3 of 6 (Vertigo)
writer/artist: Sean Murphy
I became a fan of Sean Murphy after Joe the Barbarian, his epic collaboration with Grant Morrison. When Punk Rock Jesus was first advertised, I knew it was a project worthy of Murphy's talent and ambition, and now that I've had a chance to experience it for myself, I can say that he's absolutely nailed it. The first thing to note for those who may now be intrigued is that it's a rare black-and-white book from a major publisher. Not that it matters. Murphy's art is easily strong enough to sustain itself without color. The story is sort of like the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show if it featured a clone of Jesus Christ (as PRJ actually does). As I like to say, the strength of any story is proven if you can come into the middle of it and still completely appreciate what's being done. This is definitely the case here. This issue handles the relationship between Chris, star of the unorthodox reality series "J2," and his troubled mother, who has grown increasingly wary of the affect of her son, who to her is simply her son, being trapped in the confines of a manipulative environment. She has very different ideas than the producers on how to raise Chris, but the producers have all the power, and by the end of the issue, prove it. This is brilliant, brilliant material, even if you only view it as a variation on The Truman Show and ignore its religious connections, and a revelation on the full impact of Murphy's talent.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 (DC)
writer: Scott Lobdell
artist: Pasqual Ferry
Completing my survey of Robin origins in the New 52 (technically Tim Drake gets his due in Teen Titans #0, but I didn't know that last Wednesday or Muse simply didn't have the issue, as it was missing several of the comics I was looking for, including that issue of The Ultimates that makes Captain America president of the United States), Jason Todd as star of this book is featured in the Zero Month issue. Though comparatively recently much of this story has already been retold (when Jason originally came back as the Red Hood), it's worth exploring the full story again, how he was a troubled youth even before Batman rethought his decision to name him the second Robin. I'd been waiting for Jason to get his own book for the past few years, so I was always going to be excited to see it in the line-up last fall. It didn't hurt subsequently when Lobdell proved that he understand exactly what to do with the character, or to surround him with characters who instantly had more chemistry with him than Dick Grayson, whom Starfire and Roy Harper had more history with (which is to say any history at all). Neither of them appears in this issue, however (I suspect they're in the book at all because some people in the DC offices questioned whether Jason could or even should have his own series). The truly brilliant element of the issue, however, is the backup feature wherein the Joker explains how he manipulated all the events of Jason Todd's life, except his resurrection. Just how much will that affect the "Death of the Family" event, which clearly calls to mind Jason's bloody death at the hands of the Clown Prince of Crime?
Road to Oz #1 of 6 (Marvel)
writer: Eric Shanower
artist: Skottie Young
Following their work in four previous L. Frank Baum adaptations (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz), Shanower and Young continue their efforts to remind modern audiences of the true character of Baum's legacy, distorted for years by the Judy Garland film as almost nothing but a series of memorable songs. Baum was an incredibly clever and playful writer, and together Shanower and Young have perfectly embodied that spirit. I haven't read all of their work (though at some point I will correct that), but arguably it's more important than the ambitious Stephen King projects (the Dark Tower franchise, The Stand cycle) Marvel has been doing concurrently in the past few years, more essential. In this one, Dorothy is back once again, and the Shaggy Man is her somewhat dubious guide to Oz. (It should be noted that even in Young's depiction he seems little better than a pedophile in the making.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive #1 (IDW)
writer: Brannon Braga, Terry Matalas, Travis Fickett
artist: Joe Corroney
For a lot of Star Trek fans, Brannon Braga was a chief architect of the franchise's destruction, driving it into the ground with one too many series and one too many ill-advised ideas. It's an historical irony that he gets another shot, in the comics, to bring his vision to the public. Conceiving a new Borg story (especially after all the work in Voyager and that one episode in Enterprise) seems to be one of the things you'd least expect from him, but perhaps it's worth remembering that he co-wrote Star Trek: First Contact, the one Next Generation movie that everyone loved that happened to introduce a major new element to Borg Collective lore, the Borg Queen. The movies never returned to the Borg, though, and Voyager was consumed by the Seven of Nine arc and Captain Janeway's efforts to survive and take advantage of the Collective (ultimately use its technology to get home in the final episode). Hive presents a version of what might have been, returning the Borg story to Jean-Luc Picard and his "Best of Both Worlds" alter ego, Locutus, the human representative (fully assimilated) of the Collective. It's a truly epic vision, one if executed on the screen may have totally revolutionized the popular conception of Star Trek's ability to present an expansive saga. To be completely honest, I was always a fan of Braga, and this only further confirms my respect for him.
Thanos: The Final Threat (Marvel)
writer/artist: Jim Starlin
Another reprint one-shot, this time from still earlier in Marvel lore, 1977 (there's a ton of Star Wars influences here, although some references seem to look forward as well as backward, interestingly enough), as Thanos presents a sufficient threat to unite his natural foe Adam Warlock with Captain Marvel (Marvel's version, who would famously die of cancer in a story that also features Thanos), the Avengers, as well as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four's Thing. The story reads like an earlier version of later epics (and seems to contradict Starlin's own efforts in the Thanos Quest reprint from some thirteen years later), including the definitive Infinity Gauntlet that in all likelihood inspired this summer's The Avengers to include the character in the end credits. This one's far more conventional than Thanos Quest, but that only means it's easier to see what Thanos is like in context. I suspect a lot of exclamation points were edited out of the dialogue, however, because that was the style at the time, and they're notably (mercifully!) absent. More reprints should do this. It would make it so much easier to appreciate older material.
Westward #1 (Kinetic)
writer/artist: Ken Krekeler
It's always worth checking out some of the smaller press efforts on the market, and always nice to find these things at my local comic book store (in this case Muse in Colorado Springs), and this is probably one of the more random ones, though very welcome, to have available, from a very small press indeed (currently soliciting Kickstarter support for future issues). If you haven't caught on to my predilections by now, rest assured that Westward has a strong emphasis on character (and like Punk Rock Jesus also features black-and-white art), specifically Victor West, who wakes up in a hospital with barely even a vague idea on how he got there. In a previous life, he was the spoiled son of a visionary who angered his father with irresponsibility. As Victor stumbles into the new truths of his life, we receive clues about what's been done to him, the secrets of the West family, and the unease of the world around them, which takes into account how us folks in the real world are living. It's impressive storytelling, hugely intriguing, even before the big reveal at the end.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Unbeatable Comics: Comedian #1
writer: Brian Azzarello
artist: J.G. Jones
Before Watchmen continues, creating a new ripple in the canon by emphatically stating Edward Blake, the Comedian, was not involved in the assassination of JFK.
I guess it's implied in the comic, and strongly suggested in the movie, but the beauty of revisiting this world is that another writer can given another interpretation of both the character and events as we've come to know them. Blake famously took up the role of the Comedian because he came to believe that the world was a big joke, and he would provide the punchline, but I was never convinced that his motivations were properly explained, nor his particular worldview explored. He was the fall guy for Ozymandias's master plan, the one who figured it out long before anyone else. But he's mostly known as the maverick with violent tendencies and the tenuous link between generations.
I've never really gotten into Brian Azzarello as a writer, and so can't begin to form a basis for comparison with his other work, only that it seems I've more or less avoided him until now, or so it seems. He's a name writer who seems to have avoided being identified with the mainstream. He wrote Superman with Jim Lee on art, and no one really remembers that. (Maybe I'll have to investigate it now.) Anyway, he starts his tale off pretty deliberately, with Blake being good friends with the Kennedy boys, who J.G. Jones draws very much as boys, actually, and I think that's fairly deliberate, and a telling element of the issue. With everything that's been said and seen about John and Bobby over the years, a lot of things have been obscured. I've read that some people found Azzarello's depiction of Jackie as offensive and unlikely, but I take it up with everything else he does in the issue as a way of removing that barrier that's existed for fifty years, and revealing the whole clan as living human beings again. Blake joins this ride as another pragmatist believing the Kennedy vision, assassinating an American legend (Marilyn Monroe) and crying with Moloch over the fall of his good friend. Where do we go from here? That's what the question is in the story, and that's what Azzarello successfully challenges his reader with, too.
Like the Comedian, JFK's legacy has been obscured by the reports of his womanizing. It becomes hard to reconcile the visionary with the man, especially after one of his disciples tried to follow that pattern without any of the vision. (What Clinton never seemed to realize was that Jack wanted anything but to become a politician. It just so happened that he and Bobby were better at it than anyone else in their family.) Yet there's the man and the vision, wrapped up in a tidy, tragic package. The tragedy of the Comedian is that he never really got to play the hero. In fact, Azzarello goes out of his way to suggest that not only was Blake not responsible for the death of JFK, but that he was probably the only man who could have prevented it.
It seems like incredibly heady stuff, and maybe stuff that doesn't even belong in a comic book, much less one that some say by definition impugns a rich legacy. Yet this issue proves beyond a doubt what this project is capable of accomplishing, what someone like Azzarello can give both to fiction and history, because in this case the two are intertwined, inextricably, much like the man and the vision were in JFK, and how we'll learn the same is true of the Comedian.
The real joke is that the story of Edward Blake is just beginning, twenty years after everyone assumed the book had already been completed.
artist: J.G. Jones
Before Watchmen continues, creating a new ripple in the canon by emphatically stating Edward Blake, the Comedian, was not involved in the assassination of JFK.
I guess it's implied in the comic, and strongly suggested in the movie, but the beauty of revisiting this world is that another writer can given another interpretation of both the character and events as we've come to know them. Blake famously took up the role of the Comedian because he came to believe that the world was a big joke, and he would provide the punchline, but I was never convinced that his motivations were properly explained, nor his particular worldview explored. He was the fall guy for Ozymandias's master plan, the one who figured it out long before anyone else. But he's mostly known as the maverick with violent tendencies and the tenuous link between generations.
I've never really gotten into Brian Azzarello as a writer, and so can't begin to form a basis for comparison with his other work, only that it seems I've more or less avoided him until now, or so it seems. He's a name writer who seems to have avoided being identified with the mainstream. He wrote Superman with Jim Lee on art, and no one really remembers that. (Maybe I'll have to investigate it now.) Anyway, he starts his tale off pretty deliberately, with Blake being good friends with the Kennedy boys, who J.G. Jones draws very much as boys, actually, and I think that's fairly deliberate, and a telling element of the issue. With everything that's been said and seen about John and Bobby over the years, a lot of things have been obscured. I've read that some people found Azzarello's depiction of Jackie as offensive and unlikely, but I take it up with everything else he does in the issue as a way of removing that barrier that's existed for fifty years, and revealing the whole clan as living human beings again. Blake joins this ride as another pragmatist believing the Kennedy vision, assassinating an American legend (Marilyn Monroe) and crying with Moloch over the fall of his good friend. Where do we go from here? That's what the question is in the story, and that's what Azzarello successfully challenges his reader with, too.
Like the Comedian, JFK's legacy has been obscured by the reports of his womanizing. It becomes hard to reconcile the visionary with the man, especially after one of his disciples tried to follow that pattern without any of the vision. (What Clinton never seemed to realize was that Jack wanted anything but to become a politician. It just so happened that he and Bobby were better at it than anyone else in their family.) Yet there's the man and the vision, wrapped up in a tidy, tragic package. The tragedy of the Comedian is that he never really got to play the hero. In fact, Azzarello goes out of his way to suggest that not only was Blake not responsible for the death of JFK, but that he was probably the only man who could have prevented it.
It seems like incredibly heady stuff, and maybe stuff that doesn't even belong in a comic book, much less one that some say by definition impugns a rich legacy. Yet this issue proves beyond a doubt what this project is capable of accomplishing, what someone like Azzarello can give both to fiction and history, because in this case the two are intertwined, inextricably, much like the man and the vision were in JFK, and how we'll learn the same is true of the Comedian.
The real joke is that the story of Edward Blake is just beginning, twenty years after everyone assumed the book had already been completed.
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