In the last edition of this particular column, I mentioned the work of Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett on the character of Superboy. Good timing, since this edition will be all about it, with a launching pad of:
SUPERBOY #25-30 (DC)
From March through August 1996.
I don’t know how many fans will recognize this detail, but these issues comprise the “Losin’ It” arc, something I was unlucky enough to miss the first time around. I don’t remember how or why, because I was definitely reading comics regularly at this point, but collecting this arc was an obsession for years. If you’re a Green Lantern fan, think of it almost like “The Sinestro Corps War,” something Geoff Johns had been building toward ever since GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH, a story that resonated backward and forward in the grand design of a maestro.
“Losin’ It” might not sound like a terrifically dramatic title for such an important arc, but trust me, even after fifteen years, I was still thrilled, both to finally read it and while actually reading it, not out of some nostalgia, liking it because I always believed I would (and certainly not because a lot of people had constantly been raving about it, because that was simply not the case). For years I’d hoped DC would make a trade collection of it, to make it easier (and acknowledge its importance, I guess). I knew, though, that it was a foolish wish. Very few people ever held SUPERBOY in quite the same esteem I did. It was a necessary spin-off of an acclaimed and popular arc, a durable one that lasted a hundred issues (then again, so did the original AZRAEL), and even garnered a spin-off of its own (the even better SUPERBOY AND THE RAVERS, which I will at some point in the future obsessively document). It’s hard even these days to achieve something like that, unless you have “Bat,” “X,” or “Avengers” in your name (or you shamelessly hope to flood the market with Deadpool for god knows what reason). Still, there wasn’t a lot of respect, much less trade collections, even in SUPERBOY’s prime. (If you need any further proof of this, and discounting legal matters that had a hand in altering his fate, Superboy in short order lost his trademark costume and, even though his story drove the early issues of Geoff Johns’ TEEN TITANS, never seemed to seriously merit another run, and even when he finally did, all his previous continuity was completely ignored. Harsh.)
What great sin did Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett accomplish? Nothing short of excellence. “Losin’ It” concerns Superboy’s climactic tangling with Knockout, who would eventually stand reveal as a fugitive of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, which alienates him from all his friends, especially Supergirl, who in those days was the source of an unrequited crush, someone he looked up to with almost as much fervor as Superman. His “S” shield was literally ripped from his chest! Aside from the Superman family of books themselves, Mark Waid’s THE FLASH, and Ron Marz’s GREEN LANTERN, no one was doing better character-based material. Okay, so I wasn’t reading James Robinson’s STARMAN. The point is, Kesel and Grummett were doing this with the least likely character imaginable, a punk kid who couldn’t seem to realize there was anyone else in the whole world besides him, who played fast and loose even with people he respected, and treated every girl as if they were just an inevitable conquest. It was Knockout, and “Losin’ It,” that changed everything. If you want to know how Superboy eventually developed the maturity to handle finding out he shared DNA with Lex Luthor, look no further. If Superboy’s editors at the time hadn’t laughed Geoff Johns out of the letters column at the time (seriously!), this would have been a natural for Kesel and Grummett to handle.
Sure, they began to take their Kirby fixation a little more seriously in later years (and darn if I wouldn’t mind DC allowing them to do so again, even if it has nothing to do with the Boy of Steel; Kamandi returned in the pages of COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS, after all), but they also helped launch the concept of Hypertime, which heralded the return of the multiverse. They could look backward and forward. They were always keeping their eye on the future of Superboy. Their run in its scope far exceeded the grasp of the continuity commentary that was Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN.
And again, I have to point at “Losin’ It” as a prime example. (Before you actually track these issues down for yourself, let me just say for the record that I know Grummett didn’t provide the art for every issue. That’s beyond the point here.)
All of this is to say, Superboy demands more respect. Don’t make me explain it in greater detail…
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Whatever Happened to the Lex Luthor of Tomorrow?
I would call it something of an irony. No, not that I will be talking about yet another trip to Escape Velocity after I’ve “quit reading comics.” When DC unleashed INFINITE CRISIS some five years ago, it accompanied the event with a “One Year Later” gimmick across its line of titles, a chance for every character to reboot with a new starting point in the near future. I mention this in relation with the “Up, Up, and Away” arc that Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek wrote for ACTION COMICS, a story that pitted Superman once again with his archnemesis Lex Luthor. Recently, within the pages of the same series, Paul Cornell brought Luthor through “The Black Ring” arc, and once again a defining showdown with the Man of Steel, culminating in ACTION COMICS #900. And then DC announced that it would be rebooting its entire line, this time from a newer, earlier starting point, in conjunction with another Geoff Johns event, FLASHPOINT.
Anyway, that’s the irony. Don’t know how many others have made that connection. Last time DC rebooted, it was Superman everyone wondered about. You know, Alan Moore’s classic “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” It’s nice to see Luthor at the center, since in many ways, he’s never seen better character work than in the past fives years, notably “Up, Up, and Away” and “The Black Ring,” of course, stories that not only justified his legendary rivalry with Superman, but pushed it to cosmic proportions, yet never forgetting that unlike his enemy, Luthor is just a man, someone driven so insane with jealousy that he can ignore a great deal, even a scenario that gives him all the power in the world, quite literally. That’s what you call understanding character. And where does he go from there, anyway? Where else but a reboot, so he can start all over again?
Only DC knows the specific details about what will actually happen at the end of the summer, so I won’t spend a lot of time speculating, and yes, I’m not technically, actively reading comics anymore, so why should it matter to me? Because I still like to consider myself as a champion of the medium. Comics have only gotten better, off the backs of WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, James Robinson’s STARMAN, Mark Waid’s THE FLASH, Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN, Y: THE LAST MAN, Geoff Johns and Green Lantern, Grant Morrison and Batman. If you still choose to consider them as juvenile, then that’s your choice. That’s your loss. It’s the whole reason I can’t take manga seriously. Those are comics which are hopelessly lost in juvenile ideas. That’s their whole point. That’s why they’re synonymous with their animated counterparts, anime, and why American comics are better translated into live-action film, like THE DARK KNIGHT. Christopher Nolan can do Batman. I don’t think anyone would care to see him do NARUTO.
The unabashed excuse for this most recent trip to Escape Velocity was the second chance to read ACTION COMICS #900, both for the “Black Ring” conclusion and the already-controversial Superman-renounces-American-citizenship story, which as it turns out isn’t in Paul Cornell’s main story but one of a few celebratory shorts, and is from the hand of screenwriter David S. Goyer. The whole comic is exceptional, from Cornell and Pete Woods (on his final work with Superman, at least for a while), which both concludes their own story and segues into “Reign of the Doomsdays” (the eventual trades will probably help distinguish them) to the Goyer piece that is eerily prescient for the wave of revolution in the Middle East he couldn’t have fully appreciated when he was writing it, to a Geoff Johns and Gary Frank personal interlude (something they rarely had a chance to do when they were on the book) to excellent additional contributions from Damon Lindelof (exploring a little-considered moment in Jor-El’s famous story with Ryan Sook), Paul Dini (with an instant-classic that takes a far wider examination of Superman than almost anyone else has ever considered), and finally, Richard Donner, who proves he still has a keen understanding of the character he once emblazoned onto the big screen. I knew I wanted to read two of these stories, but all of them are better than anyone had a reasonable ability to anticipate. A strong contender for best single issue of the year.
Do I feel ashamed to have once again broken my vow? Well, considering that I successfully broke the regular habit, not at all. Even if I’ve read perhaps more comics this year than I technically should have, I figure it’s worth it, especially when something like ACTION COMICS #900 comes together. The rest is icing:
FLASHPOINT #1 (DC)
I’ve already mentioned my extreme interest in this one, my enthusiasm for clever alternate versions of familiar characters and situations. But reading this, which many readers and critics seem to have found very easy to either downplay or outright dismiss, is far, far better than I might have expected, too. The narrator comes out of leftfield, and makes the whole issue read even better than it does initially. Geoff Johns is becoming a true master, and this one may actually be his masterpiece.
RASL #10 (Cartoon)
Jeff Smith, meanwhile, continues his subtle storytelling in RASL, not a marked contrast from BONE so much as a welcome evolution of it, with most of the fuzzy layers entirely removed, but not the intrigue. In fact, that’s what this book is all about, a heady trip that proves endlessly fascinating, even though it’s a long wait between issues, especially for something this fascinating. I hate to keep using the same terms with completely different books, because it begins to seem as if I view everything the same way, and therefore diminishes the impact of all my opinions. But I like to read what I like, and if what I like doesn’t compel me to similar observations, then I’m just wasting my time, aren’t I?
KIRBY: GENESIS #0 (Dynamite)
Alex Ross has finally hit on his next great comic, and it’s been a long time coming. To my mind, he has only two great titles in his career, the big ones, MARVELS and KINGDOM COME, and everything else has simply been him attempting to milk the reputation he gained on those books, any way possible, any way necessary, and that was never more evident than with the generic material he worked on with PROJECT SUPERPOWERS. The problem was that he began believing that he was as much a part of the creative force that resulted in his two great works as all his supporters kept saying. That simply wasn’t the case. He needed substantial help to reach those levels, and he had it in Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek, the latter of which is back to help bring this ode to Jack Kirby’s legacy into reality. It also doesn’t hurt that, once again, though Ross isn’t providing the regular interior art on his own, he finally has someone worthy of making it look respectable, even sensational, in Jack Herbert. That was another failing of PROJECT SUPERPOWERS. In short, everything comes together nicely in this book. Should definitely be worth reading.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #22 (DC)
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason worked magic in the pages of GREEN LANTERN CORPS, and were rewarded with another tandem assignment. Even though few readers were ever to likely care as much about this title upon Grant Morrison’s departure, Tomasi and Gleason are reason enough to justify keeping it around, no matter how much longer that actually is. The biggest question of the post-reboot DC line is what will become of everything that has developed with the Batman titles in recent years. Will Morrison get to finish his epic in a kind of pocket universe? I certainly hope so…
THE L’IL DEPRESSED BOY #4 (Image)
One of those indy books with a great level of buzz to it, and certainly enjoyable. But really, I can’t help but think of Image as a whole as something of a USA Network of the comics medium, where quirky diversions come to stay.
DC COMICS PRESENTS: SON OF SUPERMAN (DC)
One of the deluxe reprints DC has been doing recently, in one-shot form, when the possibility of a standard trade isn’t particularly relevant. This one’s a real find, an alternate version of Superman from the mind of Howard Chaykin (but probably owes its return to the art of J.H. Williams III). Wondering what would become of Superman if he were to actually produce an offspring, this is truly fascinating, landmark material, almost a DARK KNIGHT RETURNS for the Man of Steel.
From here, a couple of not-necessary recent dollar reprints I decided to pick up:
HELLBLAZER #1 (Vertigo)
Circa the “What’s Next?” campaign inspired by the WATCHMEN film, a reprint that conveniently now allows me to sample John Constantine upon his recent return to the DC mainstream.
I KILL GIANTS #1 (Image)
Like L’IL DEPRESSED BOY, quirky material, satisfying and enjoyable, but still begs the question, if Image allows its creators complete freedom and this is the material they produce, doesn’t the company ever bang its head against the wall and wonder where all the truly epic, literary stuff might be? Sure, you can have your SPAWN, your WALKING DEAD, and all the fun comics you can shake a stick at, all the stuff fanboys say is “missing,” or simply isn’t superhero material, but I figure there should at least be some part that yearns for real posterity.
SERENITY #1 (Dark Horse)
For some reason, I’ve found it easier in recent years to support Joss Whedon’s FIREFLY franchise than when it was actually on TV, or the big screen, possibly because, in many ways, this is, well, Image material at heart. If Joss ever got out of his own way, he could produce truly great stories. But he still seems perfectly happy to be shackled by his own irony. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Anyway, that’s the irony. Don’t know how many others have made that connection. Last time DC rebooted, it was Superman everyone wondered about. You know, Alan Moore’s classic “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” It’s nice to see Luthor at the center, since in many ways, he’s never seen better character work than in the past fives years, notably “Up, Up, and Away” and “The Black Ring,” of course, stories that not only justified his legendary rivalry with Superman, but pushed it to cosmic proportions, yet never forgetting that unlike his enemy, Luthor is just a man, someone driven so insane with jealousy that he can ignore a great deal, even a scenario that gives him all the power in the world, quite literally. That’s what you call understanding character. And where does he go from there, anyway? Where else but a reboot, so he can start all over again?
Only DC knows the specific details about what will actually happen at the end of the summer, so I won’t spend a lot of time speculating, and yes, I’m not technically, actively reading comics anymore, so why should it matter to me? Because I still like to consider myself as a champion of the medium. Comics have only gotten better, off the backs of WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, James Robinson’s STARMAN, Mark Waid’s THE FLASH, Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN, Y: THE LAST MAN, Geoff Johns and Green Lantern, Grant Morrison and Batman. If you still choose to consider them as juvenile, then that’s your choice. That’s your loss. It’s the whole reason I can’t take manga seriously. Those are comics which are hopelessly lost in juvenile ideas. That’s their whole point. That’s why they’re synonymous with their animated counterparts, anime, and why American comics are better translated into live-action film, like THE DARK KNIGHT. Christopher Nolan can do Batman. I don’t think anyone would care to see him do NARUTO.
The unabashed excuse for this most recent trip to Escape Velocity was the second chance to read ACTION COMICS #900, both for the “Black Ring” conclusion and the already-controversial Superman-renounces-American-citizenship story, which as it turns out isn’t in Paul Cornell’s main story but one of a few celebratory shorts, and is from the hand of screenwriter David S. Goyer. The whole comic is exceptional, from Cornell and Pete Woods (on his final work with Superman, at least for a while), which both concludes their own story and segues into “Reign of the Doomsdays” (the eventual trades will probably help distinguish them) to the Goyer piece that is eerily prescient for the wave of revolution in the Middle East he couldn’t have fully appreciated when he was writing it, to a Geoff Johns and Gary Frank personal interlude (something they rarely had a chance to do when they were on the book) to excellent additional contributions from Damon Lindelof (exploring a little-considered moment in Jor-El’s famous story with Ryan Sook), Paul Dini (with an instant-classic that takes a far wider examination of Superman than almost anyone else has ever considered), and finally, Richard Donner, who proves he still has a keen understanding of the character he once emblazoned onto the big screen. I knew I wanted to read two of these stories, but all of them are better than anyone had a reasonable ability to anticipate. A strong contender for best single issue of the year.
Do I feel ashamed to have once again broken my vow? Well, considering that I successfully broke the regular habit, not at all. Even if I’ve read perhaps more comics this year than I technically should have, I figure it’s worth it, especially when something like ACTION COMICS #900 comes together. The rest is icing:
FLASHPOINT #1 (DC)
I’ve already mentioned my extreme interest in this one, my enthusiasm for clever alternate versions of familiar characters and situations. But reading this, which many readers and critics seem to have found very easy to either downplay or outright dismiss, is far, far better than I might have expected, too. The narrator comes out of leftfield, and makes the whole issue read even better than it does initially. Geoff Johns is becoming a true master, and this one may actually be his masterpiece.
RASL #10 (Cartoon)
Jeff Smith, meanwhile, continues his subtle storytelling in RASL, not a marked contrast from BONE so much as a welcome evolution of it, with most of the fuzzy layers entirely removed, but not the intrigue. In fact, that’s what this book is all about, a heady trip that proves endlessly fascinating, even though it’s a long wait between issues, especially for something this fascinating. I hate to keep using the same terms with completely different books, because it begins to seem as if I view everything the same way, and therefore diminishes the impact of all my opinions. But I like to read what I like, and if what I like doesn’t compel me to similar observations, then I’m just wasting my time, aren’t I?
KIRBY: GENESIS #0 (Dynamite)
Alex Ross has finally hit on his next great comic, and it’s been a long time coming. To my mind, he has only two great titles in his career, the big ones, MARVELS and KINGDOM COME, and everything else has simply been him attempting to milk the reputation he gained on those books, any way possible, any way necessary, and that was never more evident than with the generic material he worked on with PROJECT SUPERPOWERS. The problem was that he began believing that he was as much a part of the creative force that resulted in his two great works as all his supporters kept saying. That simply wasn’t the case. He needed substantial help to reach those levels, and he had it in Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek, the latter of which is back to help bring this ode to Jack Kirby’s legacy into reality. It also doesn’t hurt that, once again, though Ross isn’t providing the regular interior art on his own, he finally has someone worthy of making it look respectable, even sensational, in Jack Herbert. That was another failing of PROJECT SUPERPOWERS. In short, everything comes together nicely in this book. Should definitely be worth reading.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #22 (DC)
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason worked magic in the pages of GREEN LANTERN CORPS, and were rewarded with another tandem assignment. Even though few readers were ever to likely care as much about this title upon Grant Morrison’s departure, Tomasi and Gleason are reason enough to justify keeping it around, no matter how much longer that actually is. The biggest question of the post-reboot DC line is what will become of everything that has developed with the Batman titles in recent years. Will Morrison get to finish his epic in a kind of pocket universe? I certainly hope so…
THE L’IL DEPRESSED BOY #4 (Image)
One of those indy books with a great level of buzz to it, and certainly enjoyable. But really, I can’t help but think of Image as a whole as something of a USA Network of the comics medium, where quirky diversions come to stay.
DC COMICS PRESENTS: SON OF SUPERMAN (DC)
One of the deluxe reprints DC has been doing recently, in one-shot form, when the possibility of a standard trade isn’t particularly relevant. This one’s a real find, an alternate version of Superman from the mind of Howard Chaykin (but probably owes its return to the art of J.H. Williams III). Wondering what would become of Superman if he were to actually produce an offspring, this is truly fascinating, landmark material, almost a DARK KNIGHT RETURNS for the Man of Steel.
From here, a couple of not-necessary recent dollar reprints I decided to pick up:
HELLBLAZER #1 (Vertigo)
Circa the “What’s Next?” campaign inspired by the WATCHMEN film, a reprint that conveniently now allows me to sample John Constantine upon his recent return to the DC mainstream.
I KILL GIANTS #1 (Image)
Like L’IL DEPRESSED BOY, quirky material, satisfying and enjoyable, but still begs the question, if Image allows its creators complete freedom and this is the material they produce, doesn’t the company ever bang its head against the wall and wonder where all the truly epic, literary stuff might be? Sure, you can have your SPAWN, your WALKING DEAD, and all the fun comics you can shake a stick at, all the stuff fanboys say is “missing,” or simply isn’t superhero material, but I figure there should at least be some part that yearns for real posterity.
SERENITY #1 (Dark Horse)
For some reason, I’ve found it easier in recent years to support Joss Whedon’s FIREFLY franchise than when it was actually on TV, or the big screen, possibly because, in many ways, this is, well, Image material at heart. If Joss ever got out of his own way, he could produce truly great stories. But he still seems perfectly happy to be shackled by his own irony. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Quarter Bin #9 "Nightwing: The Target"
Continuing our themes editions of this column, let’s have a look at:
NIGHTWING: THE TARGET (DC)
From 2001.
A little-known prestige format one-shot (hell, the idea of “prestige format” is itself something of a lost art at DC these days), and a comic I only even heard about last year, the main appeal of it was the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel. Since neither name carries the same weight in 2011 as it did ten years ago, let’s take a look back at why exactly I would care so much.
While there are in fact many reasons, the most relevant one is that Dixon and McDaniel were the original team behind the NIGHTWING series launched in 1996. Dixon was a company writer, who’d helped make his reputation on books like ROBIN and GREEN ARROW, while McDaniel was known for a run on DAREDEVIL, a comparable vigilante figure, whose style would be well-suited to conveying the animated look of a title featuring Dick Grayson, a former circus performer who had become better known as a stalwart Teen Titan and former Boy Wonder than for his ability to hold his own. Incredibly, he’d never carried his own ongoing series to that point. Dixon was needed to give the character credibility, to establish an entire world around him, one separated from Gotham, Dark Knights and Teen Titans. McDaniel was needed to present him in a fashion that set him apart.
To put it mildly, they pulled it off. There are only a few creative teams I will forever hold in great esteem. Ron Marz and Daryl Banks on GREEN LANTERN. Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos on IMPULSE (and early issues of the mishandled X-NATION). Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett on SUPERBOY. Most of these teams seemed to spontaneously form at roughly the same time, perhaps by sheer coincidence, perhaps by inspired editorial selection.
When fans think about that kind of chemistry, they naturally think of tandems like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the heavy hitters, who either made history or lasted for obscene lengths of time together, sometimes both. For me, simply because I had to privilege of following them personally, I gravitate toward those who simply seemed inspired by each other, to push characters to considerable heights, even if they didn’t always seem to be appreciated. I know that DC certainly admired Kesel and Grummett together. The duo followed Superboy from ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN to a couple of memorable runs in his own title (I’ll be writing more about them later). Marz and Banks had the job of not only completely revamping Green Lantern mythos, but establishing an entirely new character. Waid and Ramos presented what I consider to be the CALVIN + HOBBES of the superhero set.
But Dixon and McDaniel were still unique. Of all the creators mentioned so far, I feel the most continued interest in a guy like McDaniel, who has maintained against all conventional wisdom exactly the same appeal he first demonstrated (at least for me) in NIGHTWING. All these guys became journeymen. It was the nature of what made them so special in the first place, being in the right place at the right time, finding their perfect matches. I have to believe that he thought DC fit his style better than Marvel, because all these years later, Scott’s still there, one of the unsung tenures of comics history. He’s still waiting, maybe, for that next perfect match. (Never mind that he found it with Tony Bedard on THE GREAT TEN, because fans didn’t seem to notice.)
With NIGHTWING, he and Dixon gave Dick Grayson a whole new lease on life. They pushed him into a strongly independent direction, and worked so well together that DC apparently found it appropriate to give them a further spotlight with THE TARGET, which is like their run in miniature, Dick fighting corruption in his adopted hometown of Blüdhaven, a seedier, more obviously corrupt version of Gotham (thus the unwieldy name, and why it was eventually, spectacularly erased from the DC map during INFINITE CRISIS). The title of the book comes from a separate identity Dick assumes during a particularly tricky case, a one-off deal that shows the nuances of Dick’s war on crime, the way it evolved during the course of NIGHTWING (Devin Grayson, when she came to the end of her controversial run, perhaps did it one better, but I don’t suppose we have to get into that now, but suffice it to say, DC had to reboot Nightwing afterward, the first time in that title’s history, over a hundred issues, which is itself a huge testament to the work Dixon and McDaniel began).
The Dick Grayson that exists today, the one who has permanently (we’ll say) assumed the mantle of Batman, is a direct result of the work begun in NIGHTWING, the strong push for character established by Dixon and McDaniel. Something like THE TARGET one-shot, a terrific find if there ever was one, is just another sign that, among all the teams that I personally have come to enjoy in my experiences with comic books over the years, Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel deserve a permanent record of their achievements, reprints of their trade paperbacks, hardcover commemorative collections. Maybe even a return engagement. Maybe McDaniel doesn’t have to look so hard for that next blockbuster collaboration. If anyone can succeed Tony Daniel on BATMAN, or any team deserves to assume control of BATMAN & ROBIN, it would be these two.
NIGHTWING: THE TARGET (DC)
From 2001.
A little-known prestige format one-shot (hell, the idea of “prestige format” is itself something of a lost art at DC these days), and a comic I only even heard about last year, the main appeal of it was the creative team of Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel. Since neither name carries the same weight in 2011 as it did ten years ago, let’s take a look back at why exactly I would care so much.
While there are in fact many reasons, the most relevant one is that Dixon and McDaniel were the original team behind the NIGHTWING series launched in 1996. Dixon was a company writer, who’d helped make his reputation on books like ROBIN and GREEN ARROW, while McDaniel was known for a run on DAREDEVIL, a comparable vigilante figure, whose style would be well-suited to conveying the animated look of a title featuring Dick Grayson, a former circus performer who had become better known as a stalwart Teen Titan and former Boy Wonder than for his ability to hold his own. Incredibly, he’d never carried his own ongoing series to that point. Dixon was needed to give the character credibility, to establish an entire world around him, one separated from Gotham, Dark Knights and Teen Titans. McDaniel was needed to present him in a fashion that set him apart.
To put it mildly, they pulled it off. There are only a few creative teams I will forever hold in great esteem. Ron Marz and Daryl Banks on GREEN LANTERN. Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos on IMPULSE (and early issues of the mishandled X-NATION). Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett on SUPERBOY. Most of these teams seemed to spontaneously form at roughly the same time, perhaps by sheer coincidence, perhaps by inspired editorial selection.
When fans think about that kind of chemistry, they naturally think of tandems like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, the heavy hitters, who either made history or lasted for obscene lengths of time together, sometimes both. For me, simply because I had to privilege of following them personally, I gravitate toward those who simply seemed inspired by each other, to push characters to considerable heights, even if they didn’t always seem to be appreciated. I know that DC certainly admired Kesel and Grummett together. The duo followed Superboy from ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN to a couple of memorable runs in his own title (I’ll be writing more about them later). Marz and Banks had the job of not only completely revamping Green Lantern mythos, but establishing an entirely new character. Waid and Ramos presented what I consider to be the CALVIN + HOBBES of the superhero set.
But Dixon and McDaniel were still unique. Of all the creators mentioned so far, I feel the most continued interest in a guy like McDaniel, who has maintained against all conventional wisdom exactly the same appeal he first demonstrated (at least for me) in NIGHTWING. All these guys became journeymen. It was the nature of what made them so special in the first place, being in the right place at the right time, finding their perfect matches. I have to believe that he thought DC fit his style better than Marvel, because all these years later, Scott’s still there, one of the unsung tenures of comics history. He’s still waiting, maybe, for that next perfect match. (Never mind that he found it with Tony Bedard on THE GREAT TEN, because fans didn’t seem to notice.)
With NIGHTWING, he and Dixon gave Dick Grayson a whole new lease on life. They pushed him into a strongly independent direction, and worked so well together that DC apparently found it appropriate to give them a further spotlight with THE TARGET, which is like their run in miniature, Dick fighting corruption in his adopted hometown of Blüdhaven, a seedier, more obviously corrupt version of Gotham (thus the unwieldy name, and why it was eventually, spectacularly erased from the DC map during INFINITE CRISIS). The title of the book comes from a separate identity Dick assumes during a particularly tricky case, a one-off deal that shows the nuances of Dick’s war on crime, the way it evolved during the course of NIGHTWING (Devin Grayson, when she came to the end of her controversial run, perhaps did it one better, but I don’t suppose we have to get into that now, but suffice it to say, DC had to reboot Nightwing afterward, the first time in that title’s history, over a hundred issues, which is itself a huge testament to the work Dixon and McDaniel began).
The Dick Grayson that exists today, the one who has permanently (we’ll say) assumed the mantle of Batman, is a direct result of the work begun in NIGHTWING, the strong push for character established by Dixon and McDaniel. Something like THE TARGET one-shot, a terrific find if there ever was one, is just another sign that, among all the teams that I personally have come to enjoy in my experiences with comic books over the years, Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel deserve a permanent record of their achievements, reprints of their trade paperbacks, hardcover commemorative collections. Maybe even a return engagement. Maybe McDaniel doesn’t have to look so hard for that next blockbuster collaboration. If anyone can succeed Tony Daniel on BATMAN, or any team deserves to assume control of BATMAN & ROBIN, it would be these two.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
A quick note on things to expect in the future...
My parents are in the process of attempting to move, and so I've been receiving boxes of things I left behind from when I was still living there (which hasn't been since 2004). Years ago my brother had gifted me with some random assortments of comics, and at the time I simply wasn't interested, being heavily invested in numerous ongoing series. Most of it looked like garbage, and so I never really bothered taking a closer look, and so when I brought my comics with me after moving out, those particular ones stayed behind, and I didn't think about them for years.
When I was first informed about the move, I had an opportunity to personally go through all my stuff (it is to be understood that I live in Colorado, and so rarely have to visit home, which is in Maine), and when I remembered them, I took another look at all those random comics. As I was perusing, I kept thinking, "Huh! I don't remember that! Huh! Huh!" You get the idea. I had found a few back when I originally inventoried them, some that immediately interested me, but even those I'd forgotten about. And when the boxes that were shipped here finally arrived, I looked again, and was even more amazed at everything I had glossed over, things that apparently didn't register. Maybe times had changed enough, my perspective had shifted. Or maybe I'm just more desperate now.
Anyway, I'll be writing about these comics in future editions of Quarter Bin. I've got a lot of back issues still to go through, so a lot of themed columns are still forthcoming, but the apparently popular Thousand Title Rundowns will return. Yay!
Of course, I still need to read them first...
When I was first informed about the move, I had an opportunity to personally go through all my stuff (it is to be understood that I live in Colorado, and so rarely have to visit home, which is in Maine), and when I remembered them, I took another look at all those random comics. As I was perusing, I kept thinking, "Huh! I don't remember that! Huh! Huh!" You get the idea. I had found a few back when I originally inventoried them, some that immediately interested me, but even those I'd forgotten about. And when the boxes that were shipped here finally arrived, I looked again, and was even more amazed at everything I had glossed over, things that apparently didn't register. Maybe times had changed enough, my perspective had shifted. Or maybe I'm just more desperate now.
Anyway, I'll be writing about these comics in future editions of Quarter Bin. I've got a lot of back issues still to go through, so a lot of themed columns are still forthcoming, but the apparently popular Thousand Title Rundowns will return. Yay!
Of course, I still need to read them first...
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
I'm Having My Own Flashpoint, Here!
Okay, so for the record, I am no longer technically reading comics, nor all that interested in regularly reading them.
Now, would somebody please remind me?
Oh, and damn Free Comic Book Day. The annual event that, well, hands out free comic books, was this past Saturday (and hopefully you knew that already), and as I have, well, annually, I paid homage to the event, visiting Escape Velocity in downtown Colorado Springs during a very small window before work that day. I got there early. I hoped the store might be open at 10, so yeah, I got there early, and after wasting a good chunk of time elsewhere (the main branch of the local library does in fact carry a good selection of my favorite authors, as it turns out!), still came back in time to be first in line (yay me!) and so I could say that I was the first patron to enjoy the day (oh the ironies of a “former” comic book nerd claiming such an honor!). Because I lingered at the entrance near the counter, however (collecting FEAR ITSELF #2), I was not the first to the free comics table, however (though big props to Mike and/or whoever else decided we could take three comics this year, rather than two, even though I was able to take as many as I wanted when I enjoyed FCBD at Newbury Comics in Burlington, MA years earlier).
This sentence has no parenthical phrase. I grabbed the usual suspects, a DC, Marvel, and Atomic Robo. I’ll talk more about my selections a bit later, but suffice it to say, that was pretty much the extent of my visit that day. I had made a small list of titles to make sure I wouldn’t forget from the regular racks, FEAR ITSELF being one of them, so I could finally take a look at Stuart Immonen’s work on the book, plus any new issues of BATMAN, INC. and, wildest of dreams, maybe a copy of ACTION COMICS #900 (y’know, the one where he “controversially” renounces US citizenship, but hopefully I will get to talk about this one later, when I actually have a copy). I made the list to limit myself, to make sure I hit the essentials, and yes, because I had very little time. I got out in about four minutes, which was considerably less time than my last visit (comics are just one of those things you can spend a good amount of time shopping). I felt pretty proud, only six comics in all, and three of them were free.
The problem is, I keep fretting that I’ve reacquired “the bug.” That I’ve fallen off the wagon. I’ve already made a commitment to go back when that second printing of ACTION #900 arrives. And I know I’ll have more time. And I really, really want to read the Flashpoint comics.
I’m not just talking about the event book itself. Actually, I’m less interested in FLASHPOINT itself than, say, FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR - THE GREEN LANTERN. Or FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD. Or FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS. Or FLASHPOINT: CANTERBURY CRICKET (I’m damn curious). You get the point. I was one of the fans who went gaga over Tangent Comics. And, to a lesser extent, Amalgam Comics. I’ve never gotten around to reading a lot of them, especially some of the really famous ones like SUPERMAN: RED SON, but Elseworlds. The thing is, as much as I like a good bit of continuity, I like “alternuity” a lot more. I like when familiar facts are played around with, especially when, like Flashpoint is promising, familiar facts are played around with cleverly, in ways that have unexpected resonance with the facts as we know them.
Did I mention that I really, really want to read Flashpoint? Desperately. I suspect that these comics were be collected, in much the same way that every single scrap of BLACKEST NIGHT was eventually collected into massive hardcovers. Financially, I care. But as a fan, I really, really don’t care. I want to read this stuff. Badly. It’s one of those, I’m-convinced-they’ll-become-some-of-my-favorite-comics things. I really am.
So I’m in a bad place right now. I also want to read those Green Lantern movie tie-ins. Most of the time, any comic that is created to cash in on a movie, unless they’re a straight adaptation, are a waste of time and money. These seem different. Not just because Green Lantern, as Geoff Johns and the filmmakers have realized, has a ton of storytelling potential. The characters, though familiar, have so much more to say than even five years of Johns-inspired expansion have been able to tell. And there’s so much passion. These, too, will undoubtedly be collected. But c’mon. A fan is a fan is a fan. And a fan wants to read RIGHT NOW. Sorry. Usually save the caps for comics titles. But you get what I mean. That’s what reading comics tends to do. It makes people crazy.
So, damn you Free Comic Book Day. And here are the comics that were a part of this breakdown:
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 - THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Marvel)
Dan Slott, so far as I can tell, has been doing, well, an amazing job with Spidey in “Big Time,” pushing all the work that was done during “Brand New Day” to the next level, and whereas that era was accomplished with multiple writers, Slott’s been going it alone, so I cannot give him enough props for that kind of accomplishment. This one’s basically a big advertisement for things that’ve been happening, and a tease for more things that will happen, but it’s a Spider-Man comic. A certain amount of the straight entertainment factor is to be expected. Also, really great to see Humberto Ramos, still riding high all these years after I enjoyed his work in IMPULSE. He’s the rare artist who doesn’t receive all the buzz and hype but who nonetheless maintains the steady awesome output and high profile assignments, year after year. I’m now dreaming of Ramos supplying the art for a Stuart Immonen-scripted adventure…
ATOMIC ROBO/FOSTER BROUSSARD/MOON GIRL (Red 5)
How many years has Robo been commanding Red 5’s Free Comic Book Day contributions now? It doesn’t matter. Not only is Robo the company’s biggest hit, he’s also still waiting to, well, actually hit, become a smash sensation, that is, explode, break out into the mainstream, the way Hellboy has, in other words, over at Dark Horse. And there’s no reason why Atomic Robo shouldn’t be huge. The work of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener has been consistently awesome from the beginning, and as creators they’ve finally been noticed by their peers, winning work from the likes of Marvel, but like Fred Van Lente without Herc and/or Cho and/or Ryan Dunlavey, they just aren’t the same without Robo. Sure, this particular FCBD effort includes previews for some other books, but it’s all about Robo! Robo! Robo!
BATMAN, INC. #5 (DC)
Now, I don’t know if there were other issues I should have had the opportunity to read (but let’s be honest, reading five issues of this comic when I’ve “stopped reading comics” is already pretty awesome); I’m just glad that I finished another Grant Morrison arc. And unlike previous issues, this one’s clearly, as it proves the arc has all along without anyone realizing it, on par with the massive storytelling structure Grant brought to THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, the Black Glove saga, and other epics. We learn just how big the threat of Doctor Dedalus really is, as we meet even more heroes, including the Hood (who looks a lot like the current Azrael), how insanely complicated his mechanics are (and no one outplots Grant Morrison, except maybe Geoff Johns), and that there really are challenges for Bruce Wayne, even now. Who else writes Batman so that he can meet seemingly every challenge, but still be challenged, and so that it comes off convincingly? It’s the kind of comic book that mocks every single bad connotation outsiders have toward the industry, and that’s the way Grant’s been writing since his career began, why he still seems hungry, when all his contemporaries have either retired or all but retired. He has nothing left to prove. And yet he just keeps proving himself, challenging himself, and challenging comic books themselves. How does he do it? The man’s a true creative dynamo.
FEAR ITSELF #1 & 2 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction is one of Marvel’s so-called Architects, one of the writers it has identified as being not only integral to the company now, but for its future, yet FEAR ITSELF counts as his first event book. Among the books for which he is known is IRON MAN, where he’s helped to bridge the gap between the comics and movie versions of Tony Stark. This event seems like Fraction’s version of that same effort for Thor, so that fans who are intrigued by the new movie might have something to look at afterward. Those who may not be familiar with SIEGE might still be interested to read about Odin’s return to Asgard, or the plans of comparatively ordinary mortals in helping Thor to reclaim his place on Earth. The rest of the story involves the legacy of the Red Skull, and therefore Steve Rogers, and therefore the new Captain American movie. I figure FEAR ITSELF will more or less be the reason Rogers claims his familiar mantle. It both surprises me and doesn’t that James “Bucky” Barnes has still be been embraced as his successor. Batman, Inc. this is not. Stuart Immonen, of course, is on art for this book, and most of it, as has been the norm for his work with Marvel, by design, is not all that familiar to what I knew from his days at DC. There are tiny glimpses, not terribly flattering actually, of what I used to enjoy, but otherwise, it’s not all that distinctive. It’s competent, and Stuart’s obviously dependable, unlike a great many of those who came after him, and became popular and famous, but he’s capable of so much better. So I probably won’t be reading more of this book. I wasn’t all that intrigued or interested. I don’t really care about anything that I’ve read in the first two issues. And Mr. Immonen continues to disappoint me. But I guess he doesn’t need me to be a fan. He’s entrenched at Marvel, something of a stalwart on staff, and is doing indy work that fulfills him otherwise. I just wish I could believe that he was making a difference, at least in the way I believe he did at DC. Maybe it’s just me.
FCBD 2011 GREEN LANTERN/FLASHPOINT (DC)
For those who haven’t already picked up a copy of the SECRET ORIGIN trade (either before or after the movie cover edition with a few extras that readers of the regular GREEN LANTERN comic will find familiar, beyond the Ryan Reynolds intro), most of this book is another plug for that arc, Geoff Johns’ version of EMERALD DAWN, with liberal allusions to BLACKEST NIGHT tossed in, which is said to have done much to inspire the filmmakers who will soon fulfill many dreams (at the very least, mine). It wisely skips over the first chapter, which revolves more around Hal Jordan’s background, and instead gives us the revision of the familiar origin, with Abin Sur crashing his ship and bequeathing his ring to Hal. There’s also the preview for FLASHPOINT, as much a reminder of who Barry Allen is as a tease for the strange new world he will soon encounter. It’s exactly the kind of thing Free Comic Book Day should be doing, giving fans what they think they want, and so much more. The Spidey comic also includes a tease for FEAR ITSELF, but I wonder if new readers will care as much about that as they will for the free Green Lantern intro, or old readers as much will the FLASHPOINT intro. As a fan, I relished reading me some Dan Slott, and he’s a perfect writer for readers to read a typical Spider-Man comic, and this is a perfect era for vintage Spider-Man. But it’s perhaps better to give the old and new readers something a little more interesting than that.
But the beauty of Free Comic Book Day is that you can have both, and for nothing at all. I often wonder what the new readers really think, based on these samples. I’ve never been one for as long as I’ve enjoyed this holiday (even if I have to work on it). Maybe, if a year from now and I’ve actually been able to maintain this almost-complete-break, I might better experience what that novice is feeling right now.
Or maybe I already know.
Now, would somebody please remind me?
Oh, and damn Free Comic Book Day. The annual event that, well, hands out free comic books, was this past Saturday (and hopefully you knew that already), and as I have, well, annually, I paid homage to the event, visiting Escape Velocity in downtown Colorado Springs during a very small window before work that day. I got there early. I hoped the store might be open at 10, so yeah, I got there early, and after wasting a good chunk of time elsewhere (the main branch of the local library does in fact carry a good selection of my favorite authors, as it turns out!), still came back in time to be first in line (yay me!) and so I could say that I was the first patron to enjoy the day (oh the ironies of a “former” comic book nerd claiming such an honor!). Because I lingered at the entrance near the counter, however (collecting FEAR ITSELF #2), I was not the first to the free comics table, however (though big props to Mike and/or whoever else decided we could take three comics this year, rather than two, even though I was able to take as many as I wanted when I enjoyed FCBD at Newbury Comics in Burlington, MA years earlier).
This sentence has no parenthical phrase. I grabbed the usual suspects, a DC, Marvel, and Atomic Robo. I’ll talk more about my selections a bit later, but suffice it to say, that was pretty much the extent of my visit that day. I had made a small list of titles to make sure I wouldn’t forget from the regular racks, FEAR ITSELF being one of them, so I could finally take a look at Stuart Immonen’s work on the book, plus any new issues of BATMAN, INC. and, wildest of dreams, maybe a copy of ACTION COMICS #900 (y’know, the one where he “controversially” renounces US citizenship, but hopefully I will get to talk about this one later, when I actually have a copy). I made the list to limit myself, to make sure I hit the essentials, and yes, because I had very little time. I got out in about four minutes, which was considerably less time than my last visit (comics are just one of those things you can spend a good amount of time shopping). I felt pretty proud, only six comics in all, and three of them were free.
The problem is, I keep fretting that I’ve reacquired “the bug.” That I’ve fallen off the wagon. I’ve already made a commitment to go back when that second printing of ACTION #900 arrives. And I know I’ll have more time. And I really, really want to read the Flashpoint comics.
I’m not just talking about the event book itself. Actually, I’m less interested in FLASHPOINT itself than, say, FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR - THE GREEN LANTERN. Or FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD. Or FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS. Or FLASHPOINT: CANTERBURY CRICKET (I’m damn curious). You get the point. I was one of the fans who went gaga over Tangent Comics. And, to a lesser extent, Amalgam Comics. I’ve never gotten around to reading a lot of them, especially some of the really famous ones like SUPERMAN: RED SON, but Elseworlds. The thing is, as much as I like a good bit of continuity, I like “alternuity” a lot more. I like when familiar facts are played around with, especially when, like Flashpoint is promising, familiar facts are played around with cleverly, in ways that have unexpected resonance with the facts as we know them.
Did I mention that I really, really want to read Flashpoint? Desperately. I suspect that these comics were be collected, in much the same way that every single scrap of BLACKEST NIGHT was eventually collected into massive hardcovers. Financially, I care. But as a fan, I really, really don’t care. I want to read this stuff. Badly. It’s one of those, I’m-convinced-they’ll-become-some-of-my-favorite-comics things. I really am.
So I’m in a bad place right now. I also want to read those Green Lantern movie tie-ins. Most of the time, any comic that is created to cash in on a movie, unless they’re a straight adaptation, are a waste of time and money. These seem different. Not just because Green Lantern, as Geoff Johns and the filmmakers have realized, has a ton of storytelling potential. The characters, though familiar, have so much more to say than even five years of Johns-inspired expansion have been able to tell. And there’s so much passion. These, too, will undoubtedly be collected. But c’mon. A fan is a fan is a fan. And a fan wants to read RIGHT NOW. Sorry. Usually save the caps for comics titles. But you get what I mean. That’s what reading comics tends to do. It makes people crazy.
So, damn you Free Comic Book Day. And here are the comics that were a part of this breakdown:
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 - THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Marvel)
Dan Slott, so far as I can tell, has been doing, well, an amazing job with Spidey in “Big Time,” pushing all the work that was done during “Brand New Day” to the next level, and whereas that era was accomplished with multiple writers, Slott’s been going it alone, so I cannot give him enough props for that kind of accomplishment. This one’s basically a big advertisement for things that’ve been happening, and a tease for more things that will happen, but it’s a Spider-Man comic. A certain amount of the straight entertainment factor is to be expected. Also, really great to see Humberto Ramos, still riding high all these years after I enjoyed his work in IMPULSE. He’s the rare artist who doesn’t receive all the buzz and hype but who nonetheless maintains the steady awesome output and high profile assignments, year after year. I’m now dreaming of Ramos supplying the art for a Stuart Immonen-scripted adventure…
ATOMIC ROBO/FOSTER BROUSSARD/MOON GIRL (Red 5)
How many years has Robo been commanding Red 5’s Free Comic Book Day contributions now? It doesn’t matter. Not only is Robo the company’s biggest hit, he’s also still waiting to, well, actually hit, become a smash sensation, that is, explode, break out into the mainstream, the way Hellboy has, in other words, over at Dark Horse. And there’s no reason why Atomic Robo shouldn’t be huge. The work of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener has been consistently awesome from the beginning, and as creators they’ve finally been noticed by their peers, winning work from the likes of Marvel, but like Fred Van Lente without Herc and/or Cho and/or Ryan Dunlavey, they just aren’t the same without Robo. Sure, this particular FCBD effort includes previews for some other books, but it’s all about Robo! Robo! Robo!
BATMAN, INC. #5 (DC)
Now, I don’t know if there were other issues I should have had the opportunity to read (but let’s be honest, reading five issues of this comic when I’ve “stopped reading comics” is already pretty awesome); I’m just glad that I finished another Grant Morrison arc. And unlike previous issues, this one’s clearly, as it proves the arc has all along without anyone realizing it, on par with the massive storytelling structure Grant brought to THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, the Black Glove saga, and other epics. We learn just how big the threat of Doctor Dedalus really is, as we meet even more heroes, including the Hood (who looks a lot like the current Azrael), how insanely complicated his mechanics are (and no one outplots Grant Morrison, except maybe Geoff Johns), and that there really are challenges for Bruce Wayne, even now. Who else writes Batman so that he can meet seemingly every challenge, but still be challenged, and so that it comes off convincingly? It’s the kind of comic book that mocks every single bad connotation outsiders have toward the industry, and that’s the way Grant’s been writing since his career began, why he still seems hungry, when all his contemporaries have either retired or all but retired. He has nothing left to prove. And yet he just keeps proving himself, challenging himself, and challenging comic books themselves. How does he do it? The man’s a true creative dynamo.
FEAR ITSELF #1 & 2 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction is one of Marvel’s so-called Architects, one of the writers it has identified as being not only integral to the company now, but for its future, yet FEAR ITSELF counts as his first event book. Among the books for which he is known is IRON MAN, where he’s helped to bridge the gap between the comics and movie versions of Tony Stark. This event seems like Fraction’s version of that same effort for Thor, so that fans who are intrigued by the new movie might have something to look at afterward. Those who may not be familiar with SIEGE might still be interested to read about Odin’s return to Asgard, or the plans of comparatively ordinary mortals in helping Thor to reclaim his place on Earth. The rest of the story involves the legacy of the Red Skull, and therefore Steve Rogers, and therefore the new Captain American movie. I figure FEAR ITSELF will more or less be the reason Rogers claims his familiar mantle. It both surprises me and doesn’t that James “Bucky” Barnes has still be been embraced as his successor. Batman, Inc. this is not. Stuart Immonen, of course, is on art for this book, and most of it, as has been the norm for his work with Marvel, by design, is not all that familiar to what I knew from his days at DC. There are tiny glimpses, not terribly flattering actually, of what I used to enjoy, but otherwise, it’s not all that distinctive. It’s competent, and Stuart’s obviously dependable, unlike a great many of those who came after him, and became popular and famous, but he’s capable of so much better. So I probably won’t be reading more of this book. I wasn’t all that intrigued or interested. I don’t really care about anything that I’ve read in the first two issues. And Mr. Immonen continues to disappoint me. But I guess he doesn’t need me to be a fan. He’s entrenched at Marvel, something of a stalwart on staff, and is doing indy work that fulfills him otherwise. I just wish I could believe that he was making a difference, at least in the way I believe he did at DC. Maybe it’s just me.
FCBD 2011 GREEN LANTERN/FLASHPOINT (DC)
For those who haven’t already picked up a copy of the SECRET ORIGIN trade (either before or after the movie cover edition with a few extras that readers of the regular GREEN LANTERN comic will find familiar, beyond the Ryan Reynolds intro), most of this book is another plug for that arc, Geoff Johns’ version of EMERALD DAWN, with liberal allusions to BLACKEST NIGHT tossed in, which is said to have done much to inspire the filmmakers who will soon fulfill many dreams (at the very least, mine). It wisely skips over the first chapter, which revolves more around Hal Jordan’s background, and instead gives us the revision of the familiar origin, with Abin Sur crashing his ship and bequeathing his ring to Hal. There’s also the preview for FLASHPOINT, as much a reminder of who Barry Allen is as a tease for the strange new world he will soon encounter. It’s exactly the kind of thing Free Comic Book Day should be doing, giving fans what they think they want, and so much more. The Spidey comic also includes a tease for FEAR ITSELF, but I wonder if new readers will care as much about that as they will for the free Green Lantern intro, or old readers as much will the FLASHPOINT intro. As a fan, I relished reading me some Dan Slott, and he’s a perfect writer for readers to read a typical Spider-Man comic, and this is a perfect era for vintage Spider-Man. But it’s perhaps better to give the old and new readers something a little more interesting than that.
But the beauty of Free Comic Book Day is that you can have both, and for nothing at all. I often wonder what the new readers really think, based on these samples. I’ve never been one for as long as I’ve enjoyed this holiday (even if I have to work on it). Maybe, if a year from now and I’ve actually been able to maintain this almost-complete-break, I might better experience what that novice is feeling right now.
Or maybe I already know.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Quarter Bin #8 "Argus"
There’s not going to be much mystery concerning this week’s subject once I say the comics that inspired it, so let’s get that out of the way:
ARGUS #1-6 (DC)
From April through October 1995.
Okay, so you may actually still be scratching your heads, but suffice it to say, but if you guessed “Argus,” then you were correct. Like Sparx (the subject of Quarter Bin #6 a few weeks back), Argus was a product of the 1993 Bloodlines annuals, whose origins have to do with an alien invasion, what began as a series attacks that were supposed to kill, but instead transformed a select group of ordinary joes into members of what was supposed to be a new generation of superheroes.
Argus debuted in THE FLASH ANNUAL #6, and was created by speed guru Mark Waid, and designed by Phil Hester, who also supplies the art for much of the ARGUS mini-series. What helps set this particular Bloodlines character apart from some of the others is the fact that Waid actually used Argus in the FLASH ongoing from time to time, whereas most of the others were quickly abandoned by the host series they sprang from. At the time, Waid was still getting warmed up in his run (these wordplays never get old!), having only recently worked on the seminal “Return of Barry Allen” (which, contrary to its title, did not actually feature the return of Barry Allen, but featured all sorts of breakthrough Speed Force work, including the debut of Max Mercury, one of my favorite characters of all-time). He was busy carving out a whole working mythology, and an extended cast of characters, and while Argus was not, in fact, a speedster, he still worked within the context of what Waid envisioned, which including a broadening of the role a character like the Pied Piper, who began as a Rogue and would eventually (apparently) die as one, could inhabit.
On the surface, Argus appears to be something of a riff on Daredevil, a superhero with vision issues, and a horribly complicated life, and maybe that’s exactly why he never caught on. Now, obviously, I’m arguing that this sells the character short. The mini-series that’s at the heart of this column is a testament to this fact, proves that a good, distinctive story can come out of him. Or that, at the very least, Argus is one of the few Bloodlines creations that remains completely salvageable, along with Sparx, Loose Cannon, and Anima, all of whom have gotten some measure of almost-satisfactory exploration, and comparatively better fates than their contemporaries, excluding Hitman, but not Gunfire (though maybe even he’s redeemable).
ARGUS is written by the team of Mark Wheatley and Allan Gross, and concerns not only an involving exploration of the character as originally envisioned by Waid, but also a considerable evolution of him, taking Argus on a personal odyssey that includes a complicated relationship with his father, his status as a federal agent working deep undercover in a mob, and the loss of his eyes, which has the outcome of bringing out new facets of his powers. Clearly this is not just a book that uses an existing character, but is at every step deeply invested in that character. On that level alone ARGUS is worth reading, since few comic book stories are interested in doing that sort of thing, whether they attempt to mask a thinner version with only the suggestion of such storytelling, or not bothering to write any real characters at all.
Needless to say, however, Argus has been largely absent from comics in recent years, and was quickly forgotten by DC in general not long after this mini-series, and even by Mark Waid himself, who admittedly had a lot of things to work with, and so even when he was working on THE FLASH during that decade, he could only turn to Argus so many times. And, unfortunately, when Waid wasn’t writing him, it was incredibly unlikely, even then, that anyone else would include the character in their stories. As I’ve suggested, Argus appears on the surface to be extremely derivative. When he didn’t catch on like DC might have hoped, even with his own fairly lengthy mini-series, it was only natural for the publisher to forget about him. Argus isn’t flashy enough on his own that his participation in any kind of team book would make much of a difference. DC tried using exactly this kind of character in SHADOWPACT, and that didn’t exactly work out (and it didn’t the first time around, PRIMAL FORCE, either). Without any kind of commitment or substitute home, any hope that Argus might stick around very quickly diminished, and he slipped into superhero limbo.
The whole Bloodlines project was something of a gamble anyway. Trying to introduce even one new superhero is always difficult, but trying to introduce a whole group of new superheroes is even more difficult, especially when they’re supposed to stand on their own, but in fact have a common origin, one that stems from a single event, and be the result of a scenario that itself isn’t very popular, as evidenced by the singular lack of impact these particular aliens have had on subsequent DC lore. And given that DC somewhat liberally employs aliens in its storytelling (its flagship hero is the most famous alien in history), that’s really saying something.
Still, I like to contend that Argus is not a totally worthless concept for modern readers. A man trapped between worlds, and saddled with abilities he can’t always make sense of, that’s the sort of thing that timeless comics are made of. Give another shot, Argus can be timeless, too. As Mark Waid himself has already demonstrated, the character can function entirely independent of his origins, and as ARGUS further demonstrated, the character can also function within the context of his particular elements, and not a word of those origins, again, are particularly relevant. Some characters are bound by their origins, others aren’t. Argus doesn’t need to be. Maybe he doesn’t really matter to a Flash story now, and he doesn’t have to do that, either. You don’t need to know Wolverine was ever a member of the X-Men to enjoy one of his stories, after all. Maybe Argus could join a team, maybe he doesn’t even need to. Maybe there’s another big story within his own framework just waiting to happen, that will explode his possibilities.
Or, hey, maybe he’s just another great discovery for those reading the comics they can find in the back issue bins, where all superheroes have the privilege to exist. Who really wants to call that limbo?
ARGUS #1-6 (DC)
From April through October 1995.
Okay, so you may actually still be scratching your heads, but suffice it to say, but if you guessed “Argus,” then you were correct. Like Sparx (the subject of Quarter Bin #6 a few weeks back), Argus was a product of the 1993 Bloodlines annuals, whose origins have to do with an alien invasion, what began as a series attacks that were supposed to kill, but instead transformed a select group of ordinary joes into members of what was supposed to be a new generation of superheroes.
Argus debuted in THE FLASH ANNUAL #6, and was created by speed guru Mark Waid, and designed by Phil Hester, who also supplies the art for much of the ARGUS mini-series. What helps set this particular Bloodlines character apart from some of the others is the fact that Waid actually used Argus in the FLASH ongoing from time to time, whereas most of the others were quickly abandoned by the host series they sprang from. At the time, Waid was still getting warmed up in his run (these wordplays never get old!), having only recently worked on the seminal “Return of Barry Allen” (which, contrary to its title, did not actually feature the return of Barry Allen, but featured all sorts of breakthrough Speed Force work, including the debut of Max Mercury, one of my favorite characters of all-time). He was busy carving out a whole working mythology, and an extended cast of characters, and while Argus was not, in fact, a speedster, he still worked within the context of what Waid envisioned, which including a broadening of the role a character like the Pied Piper, who began as a Rogue and would eventually (apparently) die as one, could inhabit.
On the surface, Argus appears to be something of a riff on Daredevil, a superhero with vision issues, and a horribly complicated life, and maybe that’s exactly why he never caught on. Now, obviously, I’m arguing that this sells the character short. The mini-series that’s at the heart of this column is a testament to this fact, proves that a good, distinctive story can come out of him. Or that, at the very least, Argus is one of the few Bloodlines creations that remains completely salvageable, along with Sparx, Loose Cannon, and Anima, all of whom have gotten some measure of almost-satisfactory exploration, and comparatively better fates than their contemporaries, excluding Hitman, but not Gunfire (though maybe even he’s redeemable).
ARGUS is written by the team of Mark Wheatley and Allan Gross, and concerns not only an involving exploration of the character as originally envisioned by Waid, but also a considerable evolution of him, taking Argus on a personal odyssey that includes a complicated relationship with his father, his status as a federal agent working deep undercover in a mob, and the loss of his eyes, which has the outcome of bringing out new facets of his powers. Clearly this is not just a book that uses an existing character, but is at every step deeply invested in that character. On that level alone ARGUS is worth reading, since few comic book stories are interested in doing that sort of thing, whether they attempt to mask a thinner version with only the suggestion of such storytelling, or not bothering to write any real characters at all.
Needless to say, however, Argus has been largely absent from comics in recent years, and was quickly forgotten by DC in general not long after this mini-series, and even by Mark Waid himself, who admittedly had a lot of things to work with, and so even when he was working on THE FLASH during that decade, he could only turn to Argus so many times. And, unfortunately, when Waid wasn’t writing him, it was incredibly unlikely, even then, that anyone else would include the character in their stories. As I’ve suggested, Argus appears on the surface to be extremely derivative. When he didn’t catch on like DC might have hoped, even with his own fairly lengthy mini-series, it was only natural for the publisher to forget about him. Argus isn’t flashy enough on his own that his participation in any kind of team book would make much of a difference. DC tried using exactly this kind of character in SHADOWPACT, and that didn’t exactly work out (and it didn’t the first time around, PRIMAL FORCE, either). Without any kind of commitment or substitute home, any hope that Argus might stick around very quickly diminished, and he slipped into superhero limbo.
The whole Bloodlines project was something of a gamble anyway. Trying to introduce even one new superhero is always difficult, but trying to introduce a whole group of new superheroes is even more difficult, especially when they’re supposed to stand on their own, but in fact have a common origin, one that stems from a single event, and be the result of a scenario that itself isn’t very popular, as evidenced by the singular lack of impact these particular aliens have had on subsequent DC lore. And given that DC somewhat liberally employs aliens in its storytelling (its flagship hero is the most famous alien in history), that’s really saying something.
Still, I like to contend that Argus is not a totally worthless concept for modern readers. A man trapped between worlds, and saddled with abilities he can’t always make sense of, that’s the sort of thing that timeless comics are made of. Give another shot, Argus can be timeless, too. As Mark Waid himself has already demonstrated, the character can function entirely independent of his origins, and as ARGUS further demonstrated, the character can also function within the context of his particular elements, and not a word of those origins, again, are particularly relevant. Some characters are bound by their origins, others aren’t. Argus doesn’t need to be. Maybe he doesn’t really matter to a Flash story now, and he doesn’t have to do that, either. You don’t need to know Wolverine was ever a member of the X-Men to enjoy one of his stories, after all. Maybe Argus could join a team, maybe he doesn’t even need to. Maybe there’s another big story within his own framework just waiting to happen, that will explode his possibilities.
Or, hey, maybe he’s just another great discovery for those reading the comics they can find in the back issue bins, where all superheroes have the privilege to exist. Who really wants to call that limbo?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
To Trade or Not to Trade...?
Okay, so that’s a fairly silly question. Let’s put an end to that debate. Many fans have, through the years, wondered if it’s, shall we say, nobler to read their comics via single issues, the regular release scheduled typified by your average Wednesday shelf jockey, or trade and/or hardcover collections, when you can read entire story arcs at your convenience. You can do both. That’s my conclusion.
But sometimes, and not when you’re hypnotized into making that trip or that order, reading beat by beat, drove by drove of comics, you wonder if you’re not somehow missing out, when you read the collection over the issue, that it’s somehow less special, less privileged. I have that kind of thought at the moment over Grant Morrison and his BATMAN, INC. run. As you know, I have quit my regular reading habits, to alleviate monetary strains, so I no longer read comics with the regularity I once did (or twice, depending how good your memory is). But once an addict, always the impulse to relapse. Fortunately, in this case we’re only talking about comics, so I think I can once and again indulge in the occasional comics purchase, and that’s the topic this week, jumbled as it is with other thoughts, including, yes, whether or not it’s just as well to wait for the collection. For instance, I will likely read Stuart Immonen’s latest major offering, FEAR ITSELF, as a collection. I didn’t mention it last week because it didn’t really fit in with the tone of the rest of what I had to say (that and I had temporarily forgotten about it), but it’s still pretty awesome that Marvel thinks he’s important enough to give him some truly significant work.
I’m content with the knowledge that there will be collections of all that FLASHPOINT material that has me salivating (I’m more interested in the side projects than the event itself, which is somewhat unusual, but those projects actually seem to be something of the point this time), and probably the Green Lantern one-shots that will accompany the movie, which I will otherwise not have a reasonable chance to reading without breaking my new code. I will, if all goes to plan, however, make a trip to Escape Velocity for Free Comic Book day next week. That’s an allowable exception. As are random trips and purchases such as will be covered in this column.
One of the painful results of that code, of the decision that broke the habit three months ago, was to give up BATMAN, INC., which had only just begun. Morrison was demonstrating a fresh perspective, a more carefree one than he’d exhibited in almost anything else I’ve read from him, except maybe JOE THE BARBARIAN (but more on that a tad later). Grant Morrison collections, are one of the few guarantees to be considered instant in-stock material, however, at the bookstore where I work, so that has been one of my sources for solace, whenever I wish I were still in the thick of it. Strangely, though, I’ve made the transition fairly painlessly. For someone who spent 2005-2010 made weekly trips to a comic book store or receiving orders in the mail, you’d think there’d be more separation anxiety, but there really hasn’t been. That isn’t to say that I received, like some smug jerk, that I was finally “grown up,” “matured” and realized I didn’t need comics anymore, but that not reading comics every week did not exactly turn out to be the end of the world. For one thing, I’ve been writing at Comics Reader during this time, so I’ve had at least one excuse to continue thinking about them, and while that doesn’t seem like much (especially if you consider just how many comics I used to read), I have a reason and that seems like enough. I’ve also been creating a database of all the comics I own, and sometimes, keeping up with the memories is enough, too. (It’s not like I don’t have any comics to read.)
I also have the fact that I will be writing future columns for Comics Reader based around collections, including a series on Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN, which I will be reading for the first time, and so you will have hopefully fresh thoughts on one of the medium’s touchstones, and so will I, to look forward to. There are others, and of course, new collections from new comics.
Speaking of Grant Morrison, JOE THE BARBARIAN comes up again later in this column when I talk about the comics that interrupted the exile, but I can’t help but wonder again, as I have when reading other issues of this book, if this might not be one of the better arguments that some comics really are made almost directly for collection. I suspect it reads better as a whole, and almost wish I had actually waited for collection. But now that I own all the individual issues, do I really need that collection? That’s the kind of thorny issue that still remains in this debate.
But giving up comics entirely? Well, that’s just crazy talk. Some of the following comics come from Escape Velocity in downtown Colorado Springs, and a few others from the aforementioned bookstore, when it seemed as if it was never longer going to be receiving new comics, so I thought I was going to be commemorating, not just enjoying, a fond memory. Anyhoo:
BATMAN, INC. #3-4 (DC)
Morrison takes Bruce Wayne to Argentina in his continuing quest to find recruits for the Batman family, and finds more and more intrigue, as only Morrison can, with a broader spectrum of possibility than most creators consider in a whole career (I’m not here referring to Stan Lee, who never saw a gimmick he didn’t want to appropriate for himself). That’s what’s typified Grant’s whole run with the Dark Knight, either focusing on the iconic, or seeing what can be done, with that same stance, with the least likely tangential characters. Morrison is the only writer who truly seems to be enjoying himself, on a continual basis, discovering at every turn that comics aren’t a challenge, but an opportunity. These two issues, glad as I was to find them both, are not the complete story. Hence, all that brooding over collections earlier.
COMIC BOOK COMICS #5 (Evil Twin)
Very pleased that this one was available, since the book itself was one of my proudest placeholders in my Midtown pull list, which, I think, didn’t publish a single issue the whole year-and-half I had that account. No matter! This issue, the penultimate in a study of comics history from Fred Van Lente, explores the various thorny monetary matters that can arise from the medium, some of which I was familiar with, others I wasn’t, but all amusing detailed, as Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey have been doing since ACTION PHILOSOPHERS (but more on that later).
JOE THE BARBARIAN #8 (Vertigo)
The much-delayed conclusion from Morrison and Sean Murphy is exactly what you might have expected, and with a few surprises, and is just as appropriately magical as the rest of the book has been. Like an animated movie with all the cookie cutter elements left on the floor, JOE may end up being a significant element of Grant Morrison’s legacy, unexpected, given that Grant is as well known for his subversive impulses as his icon-busting/embellishing. If you want a version of the Morrison archetype that won’t deeply unsettle you or change everything you thought you knew, JOE THE BARBARIAN is the book for you. It quietly explores epic storytelling with an authentic emotional core, almost like a streamlined BONE (to keep that comic alive at Comics Reader).
BATMAN #707 (DC)
Tony Daniel concludes his sequel to “The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” (as I like to view it), confounding students of Sensei and letting Dick Grayson win the day without a lot of help from Peacock and I-Ching (when I’m not sure that could have been said, at least by Peacock, earlier). I still stand by Daniel’s work as a successor to the work of Morrison, Loeb, and Miller. It makes me wonder what an epic story would look like, if he truly cut loose, once he feels completely at home as a creator.
THE FLASH #9 (DC)
The kind of issue Geoff Johns only does very occasionally with Hal Jordan over in GREEN LANTERN (and I hope is more frequent here), a more character-based interlude with Barry, clearly in anticipation of FLASHPOINT (hello Hot Pursuit/Barry Allen!).
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #57 (DC)
Tony Bedard rounds out his Weaponer arc. Maybe it’s just me, but I really didn’t see it coming, when Sinestro actually convinces the Weaponer to join his corps. Nice bit of continuity, this whole arc, which has only affirmed my interest in Bedard, one of the least-heralded but probably best writers in comics today.
All this DC talk makes it seem like I’m sliding back into partisan mode. I intended to pick up some more Hickman FF (both the final issue of the previous series, and the first of the book literally called FF), but I decided to pass. I remember that I wrote about “Three” as if Hickman would be jumping ship right after, and even now, knowing what he did next with the franchise, I wonder if there’s much point. Oh, and hey, Steve Rogers is going to be Captain America again! I just expect more from Hickman, who did such unusual, subversive work with Image. But I am still interested in the new “Big Time” Spider-Man comics. I’ll be reading some of those collections, definitely.
But this whole column should still be considered an exception!
But sometimes, and not when you’re hypnotized into making that trip or that order, reading beat by beat, drove by drove of comics, you wonder if you’re not somehow missing out, when you read the collection over the issue, that it’s somehow less special, less privileged. I have that kind of thought at the moment over Grant Morrison and his BATMAN, INC. run. As you know, I have quit my regular reading habits, to alleviate monetary strains, so I no longer read comics with the regularity I once did (or twice, depending how good your memory is). But once an addict, always the impulse to relapse. Fortunately, in this case we’re only talking about comics, so I think I can once and again indulge in the occasional comics purchase, and that’s the topic this week, jumbled as it is with other thoughts, including, yes, whether or not it’s just as well to wait for the collection. For instance, I will likely read Stuart Immonen’s latest major offering, FEAR ITSELF, as a collection. I didn’t mention it last week because it didn’t really fit in with the tone of the rest of what I had to say (that and I had temporarily forgotten about it), but it’s still pretty awesome that Marvel thinks he’s important enough to give him some truly significant work.
I’m content with the knowledge that there will be collections of all that FLASHPOINT material that has me salivating (I’m more interested in the side projects than the event itself, which is somewhat unusual, but those projects actually seem to be something of the point this time), and probably the Green Lantern one-shots that will accompany the movie, which I will otherwise not have a reasonable chance to reading without breaking my new code. I will, if all goes to plan, however, make a trip to Escape Velocity for Free Comic Book day next week. That’s an allowable exception. As are random trips and purchases such as will be covered in this column.
One of the painful results of that code, of the decision that broke the habit three months ago, was to give up BATMAN, INC., which had only just begun. Morrison was demonstrating a fresh perspective, a more carefree one than he’d exhibited in almost anything else I’ve read from him, except maybe JOE THE BARBARIAN (but more on that a tad later). Grant Morrison collections, are one of the few guarantees to be considered instant in-stock material, however, at the bookstore where I work, so that has been one of my sources for solace, whenever I wish I were still in the thick of it. Strangely, though, I’ve made the transition fairly painlessly. For someone who spent 2005-2010 made weekly trips to a comic book store or receiving orders in the mail, you’d think there’d be more separation anxiety, but there really hasn’t been. That isn’t to say that I received, like some smug jerk, that I was finally “grown up,” “matured” and realized I didn’t need comics anymore, but that not reading comics every week did not exactly turn out to be the end of the world. For one thing, I’ve been writing at Comics Reader during this time, so I’ve had at least one excuse to continue thinking about them, and while that doesn’t seem like much (especially if you consider just how many comics I used to read), I have a reason and that seems like enough. I’ve also been creating a database of all the comics I own, and sometimes, keeping up with the memories is enough, too. (It’s not like I don’t have any comics to read.)
I also have the fact that I will be writing future columns for Comics Reader based around collections, including a series on Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN, which I will be reading for the first time, and so you will have hopefully fresh thoughts on one of the medium’s touchstones, and so will I, to look forward to. There are others, and of course, new collections from new comics.
Speaking of Grant Morrison, JOE THE BARBARIAN comes up again later in this column when I talk about the comics that interrupted the exile, but I can’t help but wonder again, as I have when reading other issues of this book, if this might not be one of the better arguments that some comics really are made almost directly for collection. I suspect it reads better as a whole, and almost wish I had actually waited for collection. But now that I own all the individual issues, do I really need that collection? That’s the kind of thorny issue that still remains in this debate.
But giving up comics entirely? Well, that’s just crazy talk. Some of the following comics come from Escape Velocity in downtown Colorado Springs, and a few others from the aforementioned bookstore, when it seemed as if it was never longer going to be receiving new comics, so I thought I was going to be commemorating, not just enjoying, a fond memory. Anyhoo:
BATMAN, INC. #3-4 (DC)
Morrison takes Bruce Wayne to Argentina in his continuing quest to find recruits for the Batman family, and finds more and more intrigue, as only Morrison can, with a broader spectrum of possibility than most creators consider in a whole career (I’m not here referring to Stan Lee, who never saw a gimmick he didn’t want to appropriate for himself). That’s what’s typified Grant’s whole run with the Dark Knight, either focusing on the iconic, or seeing what can be done, with that same stance, with the least likely tangential characters. Morrison is the only writer who truly seems to be enjoying himself, on a continual basis, discovering at every turn that comics aren’t a challenge, but an opportunity. These two issues, glad as I was to find them both, are not the complete story. Hence, all that brooding over collections earlier.
COMIC BOOK COMICS #5 (Evil Twin)
Very pleased that this one was available, since the book itself was one of my proudest placeholders in my Midtown pull list, which, I think, didn’t publish a single issue the whole year-and-half I had that account. No matter! This issue, the penultimate in a study of comics history from Fred Van Lente, explores the various thorny monetary matters that can arise from the medium, some of which I was familiar with, others I wasn’t, but all amusing detailed, as Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey have been doing since ACTION PHILOSOPHERS (but more on that later).
JOE THE BARBARIAN #8 (Vertigo)
The much-delayed conclusion from Morrison and Sean Murphy is exactly what you might have expected, and with a few surprises, and is just as appropriately magical as the rest of the book has been. Like an animated movie with all the cookie cutter elements left on the floor, JOE may end up being a significant element of Grant Morrison’s legacy, unexpected, given that Grant is as well known for his subversive impulses as his icon-busting/embellishing. If you want a version of the Morrison archetype that won’t deeply unsettle you or change everything you thought you knew, JOE THE BARBARIAN is the book for you. It quietly explores epic storytelling with an authentic emotional core, almost like a streamlined BONE (to keep that comic alive at Comics Reader).
BATMAN #707 (DC)
Tony Daniel concludes his sequel to “The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul” (as I like to view it), confounding students of Sensei and letting Dick Grayson win the day without a lot of help from Peacock and I-Ching (when I’m not sure that could have been said, at least by Peacock, earlier). I still stand by Daniel’s work as a successor to the work of Morrison, Loeb, and Miller. It makes me wonder what an epic story would look like, if he truly cut loose, once he feels completely at home as a creator.
THE FLASH #9 (DC)
The kind of issue Geoff Johns only does very occasionally with Hal Jordan over in GREEN LANTERN (and I hope is more frequent here), a more character-based interlude with Barry, clearly in anticipation of FLASHPOINT (hello Hot Pursuit/Barry Allen!).
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #57 (DC)
Tony Bedard rounds out his Weaponer arc. Maybe it’s just me, but I really didn’t see it coming, when Sinestro actually convinces the Weaponer to join his corps. Nice bit of continuity, this whole arc, which has only affirmed my interest in Bedard, one of the least-heralded but probably best writers in comics today.
All this DC talk makes it seem like I’m sliding back into partisan mode. I intended to pick up some more Hickman FF (both the final issue of the previous series, and the first of the book literally called FF), but I decided to pass. I remember that I wrote about “Three” as if Hickman would be jumping ship right after, and even now, knowing what he did next with the franchise, I wonder if there’s much point. Oh, and hey, Steve Rogers is going to be Captain America again! I just expect more from Hickman, who did such unusual, subversive work with Image. But I am still interested in the new “Big Time” Spider-Man comics. I’ll be reading some of those collections, definitely.
But this whole column should still be considered an exception!
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