My fourth Forbidden Geek mystery box actually is sort of my fifth. The fourth got lost in transit. Realizing it was not going to come when Forbidden Geek was setting up the next shipment, I contacted the company, which responded promptly and shipped a replacement box immediately. That was cool of them!
The resulting box had a Funko statue from Shazam! (I think it was Eugene), a copy of the Batman/Superman: Their Greatest Battles trade collection (a duplicate for me, so I earmarked it as another eventual gift for one of my nephews in Maine, whenever I get to see them and/or ship off the stuff I've been collecting for them), and the following comics:
(Nothing older than 2011 this time, but that's okay.)
Ame-Comi Girls #1 (DC)
from December 2012
The bulk of this is the Palmiotti/Gray/Palmer version of Wonder Woman's origin, with Amanda Palmer happily on art. Until, for whatever reason, a far inferior artist fills out the issue. I've mentioned before how inexplicably terrible I find the title of this series, but the contents are good.
Batman: Arkham Knight #8 (DC)
From November 2015
One of several Howard Porter covers in this selection. Even though Tomasi is writing, I don't really care about this one.
Before Watchmen: Moloch #1 (DC)
from January 2013
I love being a fan who isn't pissed off that Before Watchmen happened. I have a theory that the New 52 wasn't officially written off by fans until Before Watchmen happened. Anyway, I was very happy to see this comic in the selection, as I'm pretty sure I didn't read either issue of Moloch on original release. The creative team is J. Michael Straczynski and Eduardo Risso (a typically strong team for Before Watchmen, typically performing at peak capacity). This first issue explains Moloch's origins, how being treated as a freak (because of those ears, chiefly) led him astray, and how he entered a path of redemption. Until, y'know. At its best, Before Watchmen brilliantly expanded (rather than needlessly duplicated) Watchmen lore (here I'm thinking of Comedian, which I recently reread), and Moloch, it seems, was Before Watchmen at its best. I'm not always Straczynski's biggest fan, but this really is him functioning at peak potential.
Birds of Prey #12 (DC)
from July 2011
One of the 2011s! I'll get back to the significance of this a little later, but as for this comic: Gail Simone. I'm just not a fan.
Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #4 (DC)
from April 2018
Because blogging, I somehow ended up following Tony Isabella's blog. Isabella is Black Lightning's creator, and is still basically all he's known for, including his periodic revisits of the character (including a great-looking '90s run that I still want to check out). If not this issue specifically, then this mini-series was featured on his blog just before I got the box, so it was pretty fortuitous when I opened it up and found this comic. But, alas, I didn't much care about its contents. Sort of like the CW series (although it was still great to see the character finally show up in the Arrowverse during Crisis).
Earth 2 #24 (DC)
from August 2014
Still one of my favorite things from the New 52, this issue is from the Tom Taylor period (years before he wowed readers with DCeased), already proving his dynamic understanding of DC lore. This issue is pretty neat, as it features both the new Earth 2 Batman (Thomas Wayne) and Superman (Val-Zod), which sort of stole the thunder from the quasi-Justice Society but still made for fantastic developments in that continuity.
The Flash #55 (DC)
from November 2018
The other Howard Porter cover in the selection (this time a variant), featuring the budding expanded "forces" concept Josh Williamson brought to the Scarlet Speedster, sort of his version of the emotional spectrum in Green Lantern lore.
Green Lantern Corps #19 (DC)
from June 2013
The final issue in the Green Lantern family of titles before Geoff Johns' final issue of Green Lantern, as "Wrath of the First Lantern" weaves its way through them. Volthoom! Still a great name, right up there with Larfleeze. I'm not kidding! (I still want another Larfleeze series!)
Red Robin #21 (DC)
from May 2011
Tim Drake borrowing the name and costume from Dick Grayson's Kingdome Come future, but it's not all one-way, as the issue also features an appearance of a version of the red variant of his own costume Nightwing was going to sport in the New 52. Don't think I didn't notice, DC!
Superman #20 (DC)
from July 2013
Clearly DC thought this issue was going to leave a far bigger impact than it did (hyped in the "News Channel 52" feature as it was, a war between Wonder Woman's "two suitors"), as the Man of Steel clashes with Orion! But it's a fun story all the same, which makes the New Gods' lackluster presence in the New 52 all the more painful. There was such potential!
The Unwritten #29 (Vertigo)
from November 2011
I just read the two collections from The Unwritten: Apocalypse, the sequel series that ended this saga, so it was great to get a further glimpse into more of what happened previously (someday I will probably read the whole thing). But more importantly: 2011! So here it is. Just before the New 52 era, DC tried a few things to lure fans back, including "drawing the line at $2.99" and...bringing back letters columns! Which means, all three comics from 2011 featured...letters columns! DC quickly dropped them again with the New 52, which was kind of disappointing, but not before making it clear that they did have their value, a concentrated forum for fans (not angry internet people) to share knowledge and appreciation (which again, not angry internet people). I remember visiting DC's official message boards when they had switched from letters columns to the belief that the internet somehow replaced them, and that's where I found the fans hopelessly devoted the return of Hal Jordan as a clear-cut good guy (I think there was even a dorky name for the movement, but I don't remember what it would have been). I just don't think anyone realizes what's lost when there are big shifts in how things are done, that it matters that some things are lost even while other things are gained. I never understand the rush to shuck off old things, things that can't be replaced, no matter how much change improves things. On the other hand, we now live in an era where the margin for success is wider than ever, that things with a smaller audience can still thrive for years, where they would've been aborted quickly before. So the more things change, the more they stay...interesting. I bet DC brings letters columns back, again, at some point. After all, the more things change, the more they stay the same, too. Sometimes you just have to wait. Like those Hal Jordan fans.
Showing posts with label Tom Taylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Taylor. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Watching the Walmart Giants 2 "September 2019"
This month saw the latest revision of the Walmart DC 100-Page Giants line. I haven't had a chance to read them yet (and it's worth noting that my store apparently wasn't carrying the Aquman, Teen Titans Go or Super Hero Girls Giants), but I figured it was worth outlining the contents:
Batman Giant #1
Batman Giant #1
- A new story from Michael Grey & Ryan Benjamin featuring Clayface.
- A new story from Steve Orlando & Tom Mandrake featuring Batwoman.
- Batman #1 from the New 52 (Snyder & Capullo).
- Detective Comics #23.2 from the New 52 featuring Matt Kindt's brilliant Harley Quinn origin.
- Nightwing #1 from Rebirth.
- A new story from Gail Simone & Clayton Henry.
- A new story from Jeff Parker & Miguel Mendonca.
- The Flash #13 from the New 52 (still featuring the sweet art of Francis Manapul.
- Green Arrow: Rebirth #1.
- Blue Beetle #1 from 2006, the first of several ongoing series featuring the Jaime Reyes version of the character Still ashamed to admit I stopped reading after this series ended.
- A new story from Dan Jurgens & Scott Eaton featuring the Spectre.
- A new story from Keith Giffen & Priscilla Petraites featuring Gentleman Ghost.
- A new story from John Layman & Andy Clarke featuring John Constantine.
- Various shorts from Cursed Comics Cavalcade, DC House of Horror, DCU Halloween Special 2010, and Justice League #35.
- The penultimate chapter of Tom King & Andy Kubert's twelve-part "Up in the Sky" series.
- Superman/Batman Annual #2.
- Beach Blanket Bad Guys, featuring Lex Luthor.
- The Terrifics Annual #1 featuring new writer Gene Luen Yang.
- A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Marco Santucci featuring Swamp Thing.
- A new story from Andrew Constant & Tom Mandrake.
- Swamp Thing #1, the 2016 miniseries from Len Wein & Kelley Jones.
- The Hellblazer #1 from Rebirth.
- Zatanna #1, a Paul Dini miniseries from 2010.
- A new story from Mark Russell (!) & Victor Bogdanovic featuring Batman and Joker. Russell's involvement in these things is a further example of DC's expansion of his visibility, and a good thing, in my mind, in establishing him as a future lead writer for the company.
- A new story from Tom Taylor & Daniel Sampere featuring Deathstroke. Taylor's profile has risen considerably thanks to DCeased, so his presence in these things is also a sign of confidence from the company.
- A new story from Gail Simone & Priscilla Petraites featuring Harley Quinn.
- Justice League #23.1 featuring the New 52 version of Darkseid's origin from Greg Pak.
- The Flash #8 from the New 52, featuring the origin of the Reverse-Flash.
- Secret Origins #10 featuring Poison Ivy.
- A new story from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti & Inaki Miranda featuring Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn. (Knew Conner & Palmiotti would turn up somewhere.)
- Wonder Woman #2 from Rebirth, the Year One arc.
- Green Lantern #29, skipping the Sinestro Corps War to "Secret Origin."
- Sword of Sorcery #0 from the New 52 featuring Amethyst.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Reading Comics 227 "Ascender, Heroes in Crisis, The Green Lantern, Batman, DCeased"
Ascender #1 (Image)
The sequel series to Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's robot saga Descender, has already been compared to and/or described as Star Wars. I'm very glad to see the story continue. At some point I figure I will add the complete collected editions to my library. Among all the comics I've read from Lemire, it's my favorite.
Batman #70 (DC)
Tom King seems destined to anger and/or fascinate readers (see below!). His most recent arc in the series featured a series of nightmares. I've been adding every collected edition to my library, and have yet to be disappointed in reads or rereads. I haven't read the complete nightmare sequence; that'll follow in the collected edition (see above!). This issue sort of wraps it up and begins a new arc. Batman marches on Arkham!
DCeased #1 (DC)
Tom Taylor, who had some excellent material in the most recent Batman collected edition (Tyrant Wing), and has been toiling away in digital-first comics for probably too long, finally gets to seize the spotlight in a comic I think has been wrongly characterized as the DC equivalent of Marvel Zombies. But then, I haven't read Marvel Zombies and this is only the first issue of DCeased. But I like what I see. Besides Taylor, the coup here is art from Trevor Hairsine (Divinity).
The Green Lantern #7 (DC)
I've kind of officially become a trade-waiter. I haven't made an effort to read an issue of this Grant Morrison comic (!!!) since the first one. Issues like this are a surefire way to ensure I will get the trade. Morrison spends most of it in a literary disposition as he casually rewrites Green Lantern ring lore. Great issue.
Heroes in Crisis #8 (DC)
Well, it's official. Wally West did it. It's a Tom King comic, so of course it's controversial. A website I follow posted a bad review, which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt, as it's admittedly a Flash site, and of course Wally West was the Flash, at least solidly in the '90s (most famously in the Mark Waid run, and how Geoff Johns first made his name writing Flash comics before solidly redefining it with Flashpoint).
Anyway, the site argued that King, who's made his career in comics drawing on his war experiences, somehow goofed the issue, which is clearly a PTSD story in an event comic about PTSD. Another site I follow gave the issue a poor review claiming it definitely betrays King having altered his original plans for Heroes in Crisis, which does have a documented history of change (first solicited as Sanctuary and as seven rather than nine issues).
Clearly I disagree with these negative reviews. I'm a fan of King, but I'm not a reader who uncritically accepts things. Every new project (whether a new comic, or a book, or a movie, or music, etc.) has to justify itself. Being a fan of a creator or franchise is merely a way to guarantee my interest.
King's thought process is clearly spelled out in the issue. He even goes back over ground he covered previously. This issue is mostly about explaining exactly how Wally did it. The Flash site claims the issue is a poor representation of PTSD. I respectfully disagree. I think everyone who suffers from it (or from anything) believes their suffering is unique. That's Wally's perspective throughout the issue. Believing a predicament is unique is intrinsic to human nature; believing any condition is unique is intrinsic to the species. We're often entirely bound up in our egos. But in pain it's worst, as we become despondent, and the pain only encourages itself to continue.
Wally reaches a breaking point. Interestingly, King actually explains it by expanding on Flash lore, the idea of the Speed Force and what it takes to use it, which has always been Wally's hallmark. His ability to command the Speed Force became Waid's ticket to a series of great stories. And yet, in his new circumstances Wally has been cut off from everything he once took for granted, the family Waid ultimately left him with. Even Barry, his famous "Trial of the Flash," endured considerable mental torment (with or without the intervention of Eobard Thawne). He loses control for a moment, and accidently kills a handful of heroes.
In panic, he deliberately takes more lives. At this point it becomes a Parallax situation. Parallax was the fear entity that took over Hal Jordan following the loss of Coast City. A momentary lapse of willpower compromised Hal for years. This is really no different. A Wally already suffering makes a terrible decision. That's it.
There's one more issue. And, folks, this is comics. Wally West will run again. He will be a hero again. And regardless, we have those great Waid stories. Hopefully, if nothing else, Heroes in Crisis will lead readers to read them for the first time. They're among the all-times great. I've listed "The Return of Barry Allen" as my all-time favorite in the past. One story can't change that. Why in the world would it? Could it?
This would be one thing if King were just mucking around. But King doesn't muck around. He tells compelling stories, that challenge, that go well beyond the scope other comic book writers typically conceive. Heroes in Crisis is no different. Fans heaped praise on King for The Vision. DC clearly expected that for Mister Miracle. He delivered, regardless of fan response, and he has delivered again with Heroes in Crisis. This guy's one of the all-time greats.
The sequel series to Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's robot saga Descender, has already been compared to and/or described as Star Wars. I'm very glad to see the story continue. At some point I figure I will add the complete collected editions to my library. Among all the comics I've read from Lemire, it's my favorite.
Batman #70 (DC)
Tom King seems destined to anger and/or fascinate readers (see below!). His most recent arc in the series featured a series of nightmares. I've been adding every collected edition to my library, and have yet to be disappointed in reads or rereads. I haven't read the complete nightmare sequence; that'll follow in the collected edition (see above!). This issue sort of wraps it up and begins a new arc. Batman marches on Arkham!
DCeased #1 (DC)
Tom Taylor, who had some excellent material in the most recent Batman collected edition (Tyrant Wing), and has been toiling away in digital-first comics for probably too long, finally gets to seize the spotlight in a comic I think has been wrongly characterized as the DC equivalent of Marvel Zombies. But then, I haven't read Marvel Zombies and this is only the first issue of DCeased. But I like what I see. Besides Taylor, the coup here is art from Trevor Hairsine (Divinity).
The Green Lantern #7 (DC)
I've kind of officially become a trade-waiter. I haven't made an effort to read an issue of this Grant Morrison comic (!!!) since the first one. Issues like this are a surefire way to ensure I will get the trade. Morrison spends most of it in a literary disposition as he casually rewrites Green Lantern ring lore. Great issue.
Well, it's official. Wally West did it. It's a Tom King comic, so of course it's controversial. A website I follow posted a bad review, which I'm inclined to take with a grain of salt, as it's admittedly a Flash site, and of course Wally West was the Flash, at least solidly in the '90s (most famously in the Mark Waid run, and how Geoff Johns first made his name writing Flash comics before solidly redefining it with Flashpoint).
Anyway, the site argued that King, who's made his career in comics drawing on his war experiences, somehow goofed the issue, which is clearly a PTSD story in an event comic about PTSD. Another site I follow gave the issue a poor review claiming it definitely betrays King having altered his original plans for Heroes in Crisis, which does have a documented history of change (first solicited as Sanctuary and as seven rather than nine issues).
Clearly I disagree with these negative reviews. I'm a fan of King, but I'm not a reader who uncritically accepts things. Every new project (whether a new comic, or a book, or a movie, or music, etc.) has to justify itself. Being a fan of a creator or franchise is merely a way to guarantee my interest.
King's thought process is clearly spelled out in the issue. He even goes back over ground he covered previously. This issue is mostly about explaining exactly how Wally did it. The Flash site claims the issue is a poor representation of PTSD. I respectfully disagree. I think everyone who suffers from it (or from anything) believes their suffering is unique. That's Wally's perspective throughout the issue. Believing a predicament is unique is intrinsic to human nature; believing any condition is unique is intrinsic to the species. We're often entirely bound up in our egos. But in pain it's worst, as we become despondent, and the pain only encourages itself to continue.
Wally reaches a breaking point. Interestingly, King actually explains it by expanding on Flash lore, the idea of the Speed Force and what it takes to use it, which has always been Wally's hallmark. His ability to command the Speed Force became Waid's ticket to a series of great stories. And yet, in his new circumstances Wally has been cut off from everything he once took for granted, the family Waid ultimately left him with. Even Barry, his famous "Trial of the Flash," endured considerable mental torment (with or without the intervention of Eobard Thawne). He loses control for a moment, and accidently kills a handful of heroes.
In panic, he deliberately takes more lives. At this point it becomes a Parallax situation. Parallax was the fear entity that took over Hal Jordan following the loss of Coast City. A momentary lapse of willpower compromised Hal for years. This is really no different. A Wally already suffering makes a terrible decision. That's it.
There's one more issue. And, folks, this is comics. Wally West will run again. He will be a hero again. And regardless, we have those great Waid stories. Hopefully, if nothing else, Heroes in Crisis will lead readers to read them for the first time. They're among the all-times great. I've listed "The Return of Barry Allen" as my all-time favorite in the past. One story can't change that. Why in the world would it? Could it?
This would be one thing if King were just mucking around. But King doesn't muck around. He tells compelling stories, that challenge, that go well beyond the scope other comic book writers typically conceive. Heroes in Crisis is no different. Fans heaped praise on King for The Vision. DC clearly expected that for Mister Miracle. He delivered, regardless of fan response, and he has delivered again with Heroes in Crisis. This guy's one of the all-time greats.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Digitally Speaking...53 "Impulse, etc."
This column covers material read digitally, oddly enough, from my comiXology account...And this particular edition covers: Impulse #1, The Infidel #1, Inhuman #1, Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three #1, The Mire #1, and Invincible #s 1 & 118...
Impulse #1 (DC)
From 1995.
This is not the first time I've read it. Back in the '90s I was as big a fan of Mark Waid as you could find, and especially of his Flash comics. And then he launched Impulse and I found something I loved even more.
Going back to this issue is something like rediscovering it. In the early going it reads very much like Edward Furlong in Terminator 2, and even the great Humberto Ramos, in these pages, looks like that's exactly what he's evoking in the art. It's not until Bart Allen is in the same room as Max Mercury that the issue truly becomes alive. Now, Max was always my favorite. From his introduction in the seminal "Return of Barry Allen" arc, Max was a brand-new character, a mentor who wasn't really a mentor at all, more like a reluctant observer/guardian, especially once given responsibility for the ADHD poster child Bart, Waid's vision of video game corruption as feared for years by excitable parents and social watchdogs everywhere. Reading Max now is like discovering that he could easily be Arnold Schwarzenegger as seen in Maggie, that hulking figure who seems completely incongruous in the given situation but otherwise tries to make the best of it...
And Bart? Never mind that Ramos finally becomes recognizable as Bart and Max interact, Bart suddenly seems like an emissary from the future. No, not the fictional one from his origin, but from Pixar, from films like Frozen. Yes, a full twenty years ahead of his time, instead of a teenager culled from a movie four years in the past.
Needless to say, but Bart didn't stay like that for long. Even before Geoff Johns revamped the character in the pages of Teen Titans, Bart had become a victim of his own quirks, bereft of the innocent charm Waid and Ramos gave him and made into a cartoon of a cartoon. And I liked that version. But it wasn't Bart at his best. That was always Waid's Bart. And Humberto Ramos on art. Ramos has actually aged the best out of all three. He later graduated to another youthful character, Spider-Man, and seemed perfectly at home from the start. More people know this work than ever cared about Bart and Max. This is okay, because it's a rare second act in comics that builds on the first effortlessly. Usually when a given act is transplanted, something is definitely lost in translation.
But this is to say, there's a good deal to rediscover. With DC delving into its past so gleefully these days, now might be a good time to dig up this version of Bart Allen. Something tells me that at the very least, a really good movie could be made out of it.
The Infidel, featuring Pigman #1 (Bosch)
From 2011.
For people who want a sanitized version of Frank Miller's Holy Terror. The cover image even seems to evoke it.
Inhuman #1 (Marvel)
From 2014.
Hmm. So, maybe the Inhumans are not completely pointless after all. You'll forgive me for believing that all this time, because as far as I could tell previously, even with potential they had been completely pointless for, oh, fifty years. They were an attempt to duplicate the idea of mutants but in a different context. Handled better they could very easily be the best thing Marvel has ever done. Well, imagine that.
This isn't the first step in making them relevant, but it's a neat little package and it's written by Charles Soule, signer of that infernal exclusive deal with Marvel that took him away from a lot of good DC work. I can't ascribe all of this new potential to Soule, but as far as I'm concerned...why not? Because there's the hallmark of work I am familiar with from the pages of Red Lanterns, blown up to epic proportions. The Inhumans are the product of genetic engineering from an ancient Kree visit to Earth, and a society that until recently was pretty exclusive and self-contained. Except now things have gone all to hell. The Terrigen Mist was released as Inhumans are popping up left and right. It's kind of like what Marvel tried doing with mutants once it had done a complete hash job of keeping them relevant, but done...better. Possibly because this is a story that's building rather than attempting to continue.
And this may be one of the many reasons I finally give up on Ms. Marvel, because technically its premise is entirely predicated on this bold new Inhumans arc but without any real understanding as to its potential.
Here, as in something Brian Michael Bendis was the last X-Men writer I've seen trying to salvage the mutant version therein from the early issues of All-New X-Men, new Inhumans are being inducted to the ongoing war of ideology among this clan. And I use clan because the full potential of all this could very much be a Game of Thrones situation, completely subverting the biggest weakness that had previously plagued the Inhumans in that they used to be just another superhero team with a quasi-gimmick to try and set them apart (which didn't work or didn't seem interesting, and so this long fallow publishing history). Soule did some of that in Red Lanterns, and even Swamp Thing was ultimately about this very concept.
If he and/or other writers actually pull it off, the Inhumans really could be the next big thing. As represented in this particular issue, it really could be. If he's built on this foundation profitably in the meantime, that time could actually be now. (Marvel Now! Heh.)
I'll have to have a look around...
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three #1 (DC)
From 2014.
Based on a video game...and wouldn't you know, that is not all you need to know! Like Inhuman above, this is a pleasant surprise. As the somewhat laborious title suggests, this has been going on for some time already. This particular debut issue drops the reader in the middle of the action with minimal context (basically, key good guys are kind of key bad guys, leaving some of the more unconventional good guys to do the good guy bit), starring John Constantine (late of his own TV show these days) as he attempts to protect his daughter from things that go bump in the night. Along the way we also come across Zatanna (along with Black Canary, perennially doing what she can to keep the spirit of fishnets alive!) and Dr. Fate (Constantine has a good quip against him). And finally, Detective Chimp. A veteran reader of Shadowpact, I know how awesome Detective Chimp is. I'm curious what other readers (and/or game players?) think when they see him dropped into the story, with such an auspicious introduction. I've heard that the Injustice comics were good, but I'd avoided them because, y'know, based on a video game. But seriously, DC takes this stuff seriously. You could very easily read this exclusively and get a very healthy DC fix. The writer on record is Tom Taylor, who also helped out Earth 2 for a while. But I think he's since slipped away from DC. Either way, the dude's got talent.
The Mire #1 (Ink & Thunder)
From 2012.
...This is the kind of comiXology session you always hope for...Which is to say, I keep finding stuff that's fantastic today. This was listed under Ink & Thunder, and so I listed that here as publisher. But it's self-published by Becky Cloonan, a name I keep coming across, apparently because she's been around DC and/or Vertigo for a while now. And suddenly she's another thing I want to further investigate. Because The Mire is kind of that version of Lord of the Rings without all the quasi-epic history involved, just the intimate, character-centric kind you always suspected Tolkien could have focused on and made his work better, which is the thing Peter Jackson did that was absolutely the best part of his films (and so yes, when he went back with the Hobbit trilogy, you know exactly what I think he did best there)...And I guess this was pretty much a standalone tale, but I absolutely loved it. Good stuff, Cloonan.
Invincible #1 (Image)
From 2003.
Launched before Walking Dead, this is Robert Kirkman's original breakout series, one of those this-is-a-self-contained-superhero-comic-that's-not-even-published-by-DC-or-Marvel efforts that attempts to give readers a new venue with which to explore the genre. And it's probably a good way to know where Kirkman eventually takes Walking Dead, because unlike that series, he's already pushed Invincible to at least one climax (it's an Image thing; over in Spawn and Savage Dragon, the other long-lived superhero comics published by Image, definitive arcs have come and gone, and for some reason they keep getting published until the creators come up with, I don't know, another). Launched a few years after Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, it's kind of the same experience as that, too. And for some reason, even though Walking Dead has since gone onto massive crossover success, Invincible is still sitting there pretty much ignored but still in publication. Probably because, Robert Kirkman, I guess. The beginning is all sweet and innocent, actually not so different from the Impulse experience. As a massive spoiler alert from the past, things become much, much more complicated. And anyway, as I said, if you don't want to wait decades (or however long Kirkman can actually draw it out), you probably can find out Walking Dead's future, because really, the two comics aren't really that different thematically. This is not a knock on Kirkman. Good writers have resonant themes in their work. This is the first time I realized Kirkman was probably doing that, too.
Invincible #118 (Image)
From 2015.
And...as it happens, the future is now. I had an issue from this year waiting for me, too. It's an isue designed to be a jumping-on point. Or at least intended to be. There's a massive recap of the series to date to start things off...and then we're dumped into the middle of the next arc just as if everything that follows makes perfect sense. Just 'cause! As I...may have suggested...I'm not really sure why Kirkman is still writing Incincible other than that it's a steady gig, and people...like steady gigs. It gives them stability. Life rarely comes prepackaged with that. But this issue makes the whole series, everything that's recapped, seem like just another series of stories, and that's kind of wrong for a series that seems predicated on breaking the mold, making it okay to delve into a superhero's life, because this is one creator's vision, everything means something, and the future isn't something that's as fictional as the character himself. Except...one-hundred and seventeen issues later, the lead character is still incredibly youthful, plopped into the middle of what comic books inevitably think growing up means, wife and one kid (see: Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows), trying desperately to figure out of that's a mistake or not. Comic book creators are amazingly bad at making sense of such developments. This issue also deals with the less-publicized notion of male rape victim, another thing comics inordinately fixate on (Dick Grayson was infamously such a victim, which fans reacted to as if this ruined the character, somewhat the obverse of the point I'm trying to make, and also a black stain on readers instead of just creators). Not something I'm taking lightly, but...well, maybe victims of either gender will benefit from it being explored regardless. Anyway, the greater point (that makes it sound like I'm sweeping aside the issue...) being, it doesn't paint the series in the best light, any of this. Even Bendis eventually moved on to a different Ultimate Spider-Man. Maybe Kirkman should do that?
Too bad I'm ending on a bad note, because most of this stuff really was good. In the random way I tend to collect comiXology material, that is never a given. So it really is good when it happens.
Impulse #1 (DC)
From 1995.
This is not the first time I've read it. Back in the '90s I was as big a fan of Mark Waid as you could find, and especially of his Flash comics. And then he launched Impulse and I found something I loved even more.
Going back to this issue is something like rediscovering it. In the early going it reads very much like Edward Furlong in Terminator 2, and even the great Humberto Ramos, in these pages, looks like that's exactly what he's evoking in the art. It's not until Bart Allen is in the same room as Max Mercury that the issue truly becomes alive. Now, Max was always my favorite. From his introduction in the seminal "Return of Barry Allen" arc, Max was a brand-new character, a mentor who wasn't really a mentor at all, more like a reluctant observer/guardian, especially once given responsibility for the ADHD poster child Bart, Waid's vision of video game corruption as feared for years by excitable parents and social watchdogs everywhere. Reading Max now is like discovering that he could easily be Arnold Schwarzenegger as seen in Maggie, that hulking figure who seems completely incongruous in the given situation but otherwise tries to make the best of it...
And Bart? Never mind that Ramos finally becomes recognizable as Bart and Max interact, Bart suddenly seems like an emissary from the future. No, not the fictional one from his origin, but from Pixar, from films like Frozen. Yes, a full twenty years ahead of his time, instead of a teenager culled from a movie four years in the past.
Needless to say, but Bart didn't stay like that for long. Even before Geoff Johns revamped the character in the pages of Teen Titans, Bart had become a victim of his own quirks, bereft of the innocent charm Waid and Ramos gave him and made into a cartoon of a cartoon. And I liked that version. But it wasn't Bart at his best. That was always Waid's Bart. And Humberto Ramos on art. Ramos has actually aged the best out of all three. He later graduated to another youthful character, Spider-Man, and seemed perfectly at home from the start. More people know this work than ever cared about Bart and Max. This is okay, because it's a rare second act in comics that builds on the first effortlessly. Usually when a given act is transplanted, something is definitely lost in translation.
But this is to say, there's a good deal to rediscover. With DC delving into its past so gleefully these days, now might be a good time to dig up this version of Bart Allen. Something tells me that at the very least, a really good movie could be made out of it.
The Infidel, featuring Pigman #1 (Bosch)
From 2011.
For people who want a sanitized version of Frank Miller's Holy Terror. The cover image even seems to evoke it.
Inhuman #1 (Marvel)
From 2014.
Hmm. So, maybe the Inhumans are not completely pointless after all. You'll forgive me for believing that all this time, because as far as I could tell previously, even with potential they had been completely pointless for, oh, fifty years. They were an attempt to duplicate the idea of mutants but in a different context. Handled better they could very easily be the best thing Marvel has ever done. Well, imagine that.
This isn't the first step in making them relevant, but it's a neat little package and it's written by Charles Soule, signer of that infernal exclusive deal with Marvel that took him away from a lot of good DC work. I can't ascribe all of this new potential to Soule, but as far as I'm concerned...why not? Because there's the hallmark of work I am familiar with from the pages of Red Lanterns, blown up to epic proportions. The Inhumans are the product of genetic engineering from an ancient Kree visit to Earth, and a society that until recently was pretty exclusive and self-contained. Except now things have gone all to hell. The Terrigen Mist was released as Inhumans are popping up left and right. It's kind of like what Marvel tried doing with mutants once it had done a complete hash job of keeping them relevant, but done...better. Possibly because this is a story that's building rather than attempting to continue.
And this may be one of the many reasons I finally give up on Ms. Marvel, because technically its premise is entirely predicated on this bold new Inhumans arc but without any real understanding as to its potential.
Here, as in something Brian Michael Bendis was the last X-Men writer I've seen trying to salvage the mutant version therein from the early issues of All-New X-Men, new Inhumans are being inducted to the ongoing war of ideology among this clan. And I use clan because the full potential of all this could very much be a Game of Thrones situation, completely subverting the biggest weakness that had previously plagued the Inhumans in that they used to be just another superhero team with a quasi-gimmick to try and set them apart (which didn't work or didn't seem interesting, and so this long fallow publishing history). Soule did some of that in Red Lanterns, and even Swamp Thing was ultimately about this very concept.
If he and/or other writers actually pull it off, the Inhumans really could be the next big thing. As represented in this particular issue, it really could be. If he's built on this foundation profitably in the meantime, that time could actually be now. (Marvel Now! Heh.)
I'll have to have a look around...
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three #1 (DC)
From 2014.
Based on a video game...and wouldn't you know, that is not all you need to know! Like Inhuman above, this is a pleasant surprise. As the somewhat laborious title suggests, this has been going on for some time already. This particular debut issue drops the reader in the middle of the action with minimal context (basically, key good guys are kind of key bad guys, leaving some of the more unconventional good guys to do the good guy bit), starring John Constantine (late of his own TV show these days) as he attempts to protect his daughter from things that go bump in the night. Along the way we also come across Zatanna (along with Black Canary, perennially doing what she can to keep the spirit of fishnets alive!) and Dr. Fate (Constantine has a good quip against him). And finally, Detective Chimp. A veteran reader of Shadowpact, I know how awesome Detective Chimp is. I'm curious what other readers (and/or game players?) think when they see him dropped into the story, with such an auspicious introduction. I've heard that the Injustice comics were good, but I'd avoided them because, y'know, based on a video game. But seriously, DC takes this stuff seriously. You could very easily read this exclusively and get a very healthy DC fix. The writer on record is Tom Taylor, who also helped out Earth 2 for a while. But I think he's since slipped away from DC. Either way, the dude's got talent.
The Mire #1 (Ink & Thunder)
From 2012.
...This is the kind of comiXology session you always hope for...Which is to say, I keep finding stuff that's fantastic today. This was listed under Ink & Thunder, and so I listed that here as publisher. But it's self-published by Becky Cloonan, a name I keep coming across, apparently because she's been around DC and/or Vertigo for a while now. And suddenly she's another thing I want to further investigate. Because The Mire is kind of that version of Lord of the Rings without all the quasi-epic history involved, just the intimate, character-centric kind you always suspected Tolkien could have focused on and made his work better, which is the thing Peter Jackson did that was absolutely the best part of his films (and so yes, when he went back with the Hobbit trilogy, you know exactly what I think he did best there)...And I guess this was pretty much a standalone tale, but I absolutely loved it. Good stuff, Cloonan.
Invincible #1 (Image)
From 2003.
Launched before Walking Dead, this is Robert Kirkman's original breakout series, one of those this-is-a-self-contained-superhero-comic-that's-not-even-published-by-DC-or-Marvel efforts that attempts to give readers a new venue with which to explore the genre. And it's probably a good way to know where Kirkman eventually takes Walking Dead, because unlike that series, he's already pushed Invincible to at least one climax (it's an Image thing; over in Spawn and Savage Dragon, the other long-lived superhero comics published by Image, definitive arcs have come and gone, and for some reason they keep getting published until the creators come up with, I don't know, another). Launched a few years after Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, it's kind of the same experience as that, too. And for some reason, even though Walking Dead has since gone onto massive crossover success, Invincible is still sitting there pretty much ignored but still in publication. Probably because, Robert Kirkman, I guess. The beginning is all sweet and innocent, actually not so different from the Impulse experience. As a massive spoiler alert from the past, things become much, much more complicated. And anyway, as I said, if you don't want to wait decades (or however long Kirkman can actually draw it out), you probably can find out Walking Dead's future, because really, the two comics aren't really that different thematically. This is not a knock on Kirkman. Good writers have resonant themes in their work. This is the first time I realized Kirkman was probably doing that, too.
Invincible #118 (Image)
From 2015.
And...as it happens, the future is now. I had an issue from this year waiting for me, too. It's an isue designed to be a jumping-on point. Or at least intended to be. There's a massive recap of the series to date to start things off...and then we're dumped into the middle of the next arc just as if everything that follows makes perfect sense. Just 'cause! As I...may have suggested...I'm not really sure why Kirkman is still writing Incincible other than that it's a steady gig, and people...like steady gigs. It gives them stability. Life rarely comes prepackaged with that. But this issue makes the whole series, everything that's recapped, seem like just another series of stories, and that's kind of wrong for a series that seems predicated on breaking the mold, making it okay to delve into a superhero's life, because this is one creator's vision, everything means something, and the future isn't something that's as fictional as the character himself. Except...one-hundred and seventeen issues later, the lead character is still incredibly youthful, plopped into the middle of what comic books inevitably think growing up means, wife and one kid (see: Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows), trying desperately to figure out of that's a mistake or not. Comic book creators are amazingly bad at making sense of such developments. This issue also deals with the less-publicized notion of male rape victim, another thing comics inordinately fixate on (Dick Grayson was infamously such a victim, which fans reacted to as if this ruined the character, somewhat the obverse of the point I'm trying to make, and also a black stain on readers instead of just creators). Not something I'm taking lightly, but...well, maybe victims of either gender will benefit from it being explored regardless. Anyway, the greater point (that makes it sound like I'm sweeping aside the issue...) being, it doesn't paint the series in the best light, any of this. Even Bendis eventually moved on to a different Ultimate Spider-Man. Maybe Kirkman should do that?
Too bad I'm ending on a bad note, because most of this stuff really was good. In the random way I tend to collect comiXology material, that is never a given. So it really is good when it happens.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Digitally Speaking...36 "The Deep"
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| via Gestalt Comics |
From 2013.
For a lot of comics fans, Tom Taylor seemed to come out of nowhere when he succeeded James Robinson as writer of Earth 2. Thankfully, he does have a secret origin, that may or may not involve fire-eating and doomsday weapons.
And The Deep.
Hey, you know Pixar, right? It's the animation studio that rewrote all the rules that used to govern animation studios, not just in converting them from being hand-drawn to digital playgrounds, but in their whole mindset. They became a lot more playful.
Even if every other animation studio does things more or less the Pixar way these days, you can still tell when it's a Pixar movie.
The Deep is the first time I've seen a Pixar movie done by someone else. Much less in a comic book rather than in a movie. Hang around enough aspiring writers and you will see them trying to ape what they see in movies or TV shows (I'm sure it's the same with what they read, too, but our cultural currency split off from the common reading experience long before it happened with TV shows and to a far less extent, movies). I don't think Taylor set out to do this, but I think the Pixar language itself has permeated popular culture so, ah, deeply at this point, it's not surprising to see something like this happen.
The Deep concerns a family that could very easily be the stars of a Pixar movie (probably one better than The Incredibles, which is a statement I will not continue because it would be an even longer digression than talking about Pixar in general), and Taylor's best move is clearly how well he gets their dynamics, especially the two children, one of whom is trying to teach his fish Jeffrey how to fetch, and the other of whom thinks this is stupid. That sequence alone is gold.
I totally get in an instant why Taylor became in an instant such a hot commodity. The only thing that's odd about all this is that The Deep was published by Gestalt rather than, y'know, a company anyone actually knows. This is the kind of comic book that could very easily help younger readers become fans of the medium. Instead, most of the typical material for this mission is directly based on known commodities.
Better lead the job to an oddity. A good one! And yes, Tom Taylor.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Earth 2 #25 (DC)
writer: Tom Taylor
artist: Nicola Scott
Earth 2 began as a series that relaunched the classic Justice Society characters in a New 52 context, set in an alternate reality that spun off the events of the Justice League opening arc of Darkseid's first appearance. Big dramatic developments became a matter of course.
artist: Nicola Scott
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| via Comic Obsessed |
The latest big dramatic development is the debut of the new Superman. Likely this is a character that will remain (mostly) unique to Earth 2 canon, even though he's another Krypton survivor (who teases "...another," and is not referring to Supergirl).
Tom Taylor took over writing chores from the departing James Robinson last year, and seems to have dramatically ramped up the big dramatic development machine. He's the one who explored the new Batman (I'd still love to read Earth 2 Annual #2, where the full story of how Thomas Wayne adopted the cowl unfolds), and unleashed the returned original Superman, now apparently a force for evil and soldier of Apokolips.
So now Evil Superman has some competition. Since this is a series that has a story that has continued nonstop since its first issue, it's maybe not an ideal one to randomly sample. Which is not to say it can't be, but I think the impact of any given issue drops when you're no longer connected to the arcs of given characters, like the revamped Jay Garrick Flash or Alan Scott Green Lantern, both of whom were original stars of the series but are supporting characters these days. Batman doesn't have a huge role in this issue, either, and even the new Superman only shows up for a few pages. The most dramatic development actually involves Evil Superman. Suffice to say, but if Evil Superman asks you to dinner, find a way to refuse. If you can.
I'm not familiar enough with Taylor's run on the series to know if this is typical for him. Nicola Scott has been the artist on the series since the start. She's one of the few female artists working on an extended high profile project in comics. Perhaps it's a good thing that even she seems to have keyed in most passionately with Evil Superman's moment.
With the upcoming Earth 2: World's End weekly series, more attention is going to be drawn to this corner of the New 52. I'd suggest at the very least to begin with that second annual, then the issue previous to this one, so you know how the new Superman's existence is first exposed, and then continue reading, so you know how Evil Superman and New Superman measure up against each other...And then maybe you'll see how any of this relates to the rest of DC continuity, probably by next spring. Nobody knows what's coming up. There's speculation. But I'm saying, maybe this is important.
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