Superman #23.3 (DC)

via Comic Book DB

writer: Scott Lobdell

artist: Dan Jurgens

Ha ha!  Wasn't I just complaining about Marvel's convoluted numbering ideas?  Here's DC doing it, too.  At least they did it, this most recent time (and the time before it, the second set of zero issues during a whole zero issue month), for a specific reason.  That was the annual New 52 launch anniversary celebration, which last year featured fifty-two issues spotlighting DC's villains.  It was, appropriately, known as Villains Month.  

Since the villains selected didn't necessarily come from every comic DC was publishing at that time, and also they really wanted to double- and triple- and even quadruple-dip with some of the big name heroes and their well-known villains, that necessitated some wonky numbering.  That meant, basically, that DC had to do the same decimal nonsense Marvel has been doing.  

Thankfully, along with familiar names DC also took the opportunity to help launch some new villains, such as H'El in this particular issue.  The first thing you need to know about H'El is that, yes, someone finally made the obvious play-on-words with Superman's birth name.  The other thing you need to know about him is that he's basically the comic book version of the Zod featured in Man of Steel, a Kryptonian who wants to bring Krypton back, and doesn't particularly care about what (and/or who) needs to be sacrificed in order to do it.

But that's not really all you need to know.  Since Superman's past is rarely the present in the comics, mostly because, well, it's the past and Superman didn't exist so much as his parents on a whole world that had to die in order for his origin to live, lots of creators have taken liberties with the established canon of Krypton and who was doing what in its last days.  H'El is, thusly, a new element of Jor-El mythology.  Jor-El, of course, is Superman's father, the guy responsible for sending baby Kal-El into space and eventually to Earth.  

He's the kind of character that might seem convoluted if you're not feeling generous.  (And let's face it, fans are as apt to feel generous as not.)  And Scott Lobdell is a writer whose reputation is much the same.  For every fan who loves what he does, there's another who wishes he would just go away.  I think he's pretty brilliant, personally.  He's a high profile success who also happens to be a constant underdog, always on the cusp of actually being appreciated.  I think it's because he hasn't really become known for anything but superheroes.  He was the defining writer of the X-Men during the '90s (when people didn't necessarily care about the X-Men, besides Generation X and Onslaught/Age of Apocalypse), and his New 52 work has been bizarrely controversial (because he...dared to use Starfire pretty much...the way she's always been used in comics?).  He understands the characters he writes, but he also understands their potential, which is rare, and he's not afraid to take chances (which is rarer) which pay off (which is rarest of all, which pretty much puts him in the same league as Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison and...that's about it, really).

The other part about this issue is that the art is from Dan Jurgens.  The Artist Who Killed Superman.  Actually, most recently he's the reason I haven't really made the effort to continue reading The New 52: Futures End (which is the DC version of X-Men: Days of the Future Past).  Which is bizarre, because I've continued to be a champion of Jurgens long after everyone else jumped off the bandwagon.  I'm among a select few who enjoyed his Teen Titans.  I loved that he helped keep the Tangent universe alive.  His art is so distinctive, this can be a good thing.  And it can be a bad thing.  In Futures End I find it distracting for the first time.  But within Superman #23.3 it's a welcome link to a previous era.  I really wouldn't mind Jurgens owning a whole pocket version of Superman.

So I like H'EL.  I like Lobdell.  And once again, I like Jurgens.  I'd like at some point to read all of the Villains Month issues.  I've had the opportunity to catch up with a select few, and I haven't been disappointed.  I have been selective about it, but still.  I think it was a great idea.  And again, I love that a few new villains had their shot during the event as well.  

The Star Wars #5 (Dark Horse)

via Comic Book DB

writer: J.W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

Every time I read a new issue of The Star Wars, adapted from George Lucas's original vision for his saga, I think I'm going to finally be disappointed.  Maybe it won't be as fun as I remember from the last one.  Maybe this will be the one that finally breaks the spell.

And every time, every time, I'm proven wrong, all over again.

I haven't had this much fun reading a comic book since 52, DC's first year-long weekly series from 2006-2007 (which topped both years' QB50s).  I've always been a big fan of Star Wars, but I haven't always loved everything I've encountered based on it.  Yes, I'm one of the crazy people who love the prequels.  The thing that Star Wars always needs, for me, is a real connection to the original inspiration Lucas had.

And apparently, the original inspiration was not too bad, either.  As you may or may not be aware, The Star Wars is nearly exactly like the Star Wars you know.  Lucas scrambled a lot of the details when he went back to the drawing board and came up with the version of events and characters you know from the movies, but his first ideas weren't so drastically different.  And that's what's so fascinating to read in this adaptation from those ideas.

Today's the release of the final issue, so for me that's kind of a holiday.  Couldn't be more excited.  I've been catching each issue almost by accident sometimes.  This particular one (#5) was one I had to catch after its release, while #6 I had to miraculously snatch on Free Comic Book Day (meaning my reviews for that one and #7 will be out of order because I review in reading order...and you now have an idea of how long after the fact I get around to writing about comics these days).

Much of The Star Wars features material that best resonates with New Hope material, naturally, though there are elements that also resonate with Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.  This is an issue that revolves on New Hope.  The action is like a mash-up of the escapes from Mos Eisley and the Death Star.  There's a moment that calls to mind "You don't need to see his identification."  Good stuff.  

If you randomly pick this one up, you may need to be reminded that Han Solo in this version looks like Swamp Thing rather than Harrison Ford.  And the Millennium Falcon looks like the ship Leia was captured in at the start of New Hope.

Two of the things pesky fans sometimes criticize Lucas for are his dialogue and the decision to reveal Luke and Leia as siblings after some in-hindsight-awkward moments of attraction.  This is maybe an issue where if you have problems with that you may either want to study or avoid.  Again, characters and situations are not completely comparable.  Anakin, here known as Annikin Starkiller and clearly not Darth Vader, is running around in an outfit that looks exactly like Luke's ceremonial garb at the end of New Hope, has realized he and Leia are probably in love.  The dialogue is so to-the-point (I'm not clear if Rinzler keeps all of that as he found it, if his role is more shaping the script into this particular format), it reminds me all over again that I've always been a fan of even that aspect of Star Wars.  Han's bantering is really no different from Anakin and Padme's heart-to-hearts.  Always direct.  "What is this silly talk of love?  Stop acting like a child and start behaving like a queen!"

Also, it's weird that R2 (here Artwo) has actual dialogue.  I suspect if that had always been the case, there would have been much less difference between him and Threepio.  Although as they stand in the movies, they really aren't that different from, say, Jar Jar Binks.  That would be as clear in words as it is in beeps and boops.

Just to make this clear, too: Mike Mayhew is an absolute godsend to this project.  

The Amazing Spider-Man #700.5 (Marvel)

via Comic Book DB

writer: Brian Reed, Kevin Grevioux

artist: Sean Chen, Lee Weeks

So, I don't know if you've heard, but Peter Parker's back.

In order to properly appreciate this fact, you've got to understand that he was actually gone for a while.  Instead of dead (technically) he got body-swapped with Doctor Octopus.  I call it the Doctor Spider-Man era.  But it's over.

So this is one of the incidental celebratory issues Marvel released.  Marvel does a lot of weird things with numbering.  They're not the only ones, but they're getting weirder.  Amazing Spider-Man #700.5 is meant to signify that the issue harks back to the old series, rather than the recently concluded Superior Spider-Man (featuring Doctor Spider-Man) or the relaunched Amazing Spider-Man.  The actual #700 was the issue where Peter "died"/body-swapped (or concluded "dying"/body-swapping, because for those of you who think these issues might become valuable nonreading material, that occurred in #698).

Anyway, I figured this would be worth checking out.  Out-of-continuity stories can be fun.  Most of recent Spider-Man under Dan Slott has been part of some arc or another.  I was not disappointed.

The lead story, from Brian Reed and Sean Chen, is a throwaway nonsense adventure featuring time travel and the Fantastic Four.  Completely nonessential harmless fun.  But key word: fun.  Because one of the things readers ought to associate with Spider-Man is the ability to have fun reading him.  (Most of the time.  This is a character who can handle comedy and pathos with equal aplomb.)

The backup, from Kevin Grevioux and Lee Weeks, is the real selling point.  It's the other end of Spider-Man, explaining what makes him special beyond his penchant for quippy remarks.  It's the message of the character that isn't "With great power comes great responsibility."

Basically, perseverance.  Never giving up.  Always getting back up.  Ignoring the odds.  Accepting the consequences.  It's a tale featuring a teenage boy who takes all this to heart, and helps Peter recognize this as his true legacy, too.  It's the real message of the recent The Amazing Spider-Man 2, by the way.  Reading this comic beforehand was a fine way to prepare for it, but it was a real hidden gem.  Backup story.  This should have been the lead.  But perhaps better to close the issue strongly, I suppose... 

Liebster Award

This bloggers award, the Liebster, was given to me way back at the beginning of the month.  Now I'm finally, formally, accepting it.  The nominator was Dan Head, whom I've known digitally for just about a decade at this point.  We met on the message boards at Digital Webbing and a little later both wrote for the Paperback Reader website that was the original source of my Internet comic book musings (origin of the QB50 concept).  Later still I reconnected with Dan as a blogger.  I was proud to find out he's been reading this blog, too.

The Liebster process has three steps.  I'll try to keep it entertaining.

Ten Interesting Facts About Myself (Comics-Related)
1. The first three comics I ever had were all Green Lantern.  Two were reprints (Showcase #22 and Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76) and the other was Green Lantern #177.

via Comic Vine

2. Prior to these, the only comics I'd read were the mini comics that were included in He-Man and Super Powers action figure packs from the '80s.  Of course Green Lantern was one of them.

via My Comic Shop

3. Besides those, there was also the random graphic novel my sister had gotten her hands on at some point: Jim Starlin's The Death of Captain Marvel.

via Wikipedia

4. My brothers started reading comics in the early 90s boom.  Thanks to the cartoon at the time, they were into the X-Men, so followed the early issues of both the X-Men relaunch and X-Men 2099.  They also followed Dark Horse's early Star Wars comics.

via Star Wars wikia

5. Along with a lot of other people, the "Doomsday" arc caught my attention.  These were among the first comics I owned outside of the ones previously detailed.

via Read DC Entertainment

6. This led to more Green Lantern, thanks to a crossover during the "Reign of the Supermen" arc that led directly to "Emerald Twilight."

via DC wikia

7. Which led directly to Zero Hour.  The last time either of my brothers particularly cared about comics, they ordered the complete set of zero issues.

via Entertainment Fuse

8. The first comic book recommendation I ever got was Bone, during the Image reprint run.

via My Bone Stuff

9. Skipping across history a little, I had to quit reading comics in early 2000.  The comic that brought me back at the end of 2003 was Geoff Johns's "Ignition" arc in The Flash.

via DC Wikia

10. Which is appropriate, because when I nearly quit reading comics again in 2011, it was Johns's Flashpoint that kept me hooked.

via Axolotlburg News

10 Questions From Dan

1. What is your blog about, and why did you start it?

It's about mutant guppy fish.  I mean, comics.  I started it as the last stop (as of now) with my increasing frustrations writing at Paperback Reader.  I left and went back there a couple of times before I finally left for good, which turned out to be good, because finally the site went dead shortly thereafter (I've learned that website relaunches are an increasingly finite phenomenon).  So I've been operating this particular blog since the very end of 2010.

2. Did you serve in the military?  Why or why not?

Everyone in the family except the brother who collected all those zero issues and my mother served in the Air Force.  I was the third exception out of seven.  Last year I came incredibly close to signing up with the Navy.  My two sisters went directly into the Air Force after high school, while my brothers and I all went to college.  My oldest brother ended up in the Air Force after his civilian career field ended up looking less promising than he'd originally thought.  I have nothing but respect for those who serve.  If I'd thought about it differently, I might have gone into the military, too (I mean, successfully gone), but I've been satisfied with a lot of what I've done instead.  Two of my siblings, incidentally, have/had military spouses.  One of them was in the Army, the other (you guessed it) the Air Force, the tradition begun by my father.

3. Are you an athlete?  What's your favorite sport?

I was an athlete in gym class?  Somewhat more seriously, I did track & field in my freshman and senior years of high school.  I was not an Olympian.  I was the opposite of an Olympian.  (I was a resident of Hades?)  I did not get a medal for that achievement.

4. Name three authors that other people should spend more time reading.

Regular visitors to Comics Reader know some of the big ones I always read personally.  Here I'll spotlight some I haven't covered as extensively but highly endorse: 

• Antony Johnston, who's responsible for Wasteland and the more recent launches Umbral and The Fuse.  I've obsessed over Wasteland on this blog, but not as much I'd like (catching it in actual comics shops has become increasingly difficult; by the time the series ends later this year, I'll probably have purchased the end run digitally).
• Jeff Smith, who's responsible for Bone, RASL, and Tuki.  At some point this year I'll be rereading the complete RASL, which has the potential to unseat Bone as my favorite Smith work.
• Dean Motter, who's best known for his Mister X stories, which I always highly recommend.

5. If you had to rename your blog, what would you call it?

Part of the reason this blog along with every other blog I have has a URL that doesn't match the title (aside from the fact that I don't pay for any URLs) is that the title I chose was pretty general and had already been claimed in Blogger's URL annals.  It also happens to evoke both Paperback Reader and an old fanzine Paul Levitz used to do.  If I had to come up with something new, it would be something more unique, which would probably help drive more eyes to the blog.

6. When you read comics, do you pay more attention to the writing or the art?

Most of the time, the writing.  If I particularly like the artist, I'll certainly pay more attention to that aspect, but as an eager reader, it's got to be the writing.

7. Marvel has had a string of hit movies, but DC has fallen behind.  Besides Superman, Batman, and/or Wonder Woman, what DC superhero would you like to see in a movie?

I already had the dream of a Green Lantern movie fulfilled, so I can't say that.  I suppose the Teen Titans would be a pretty interesting pick.  Thanks to the cartoons they've got some mainstream exposure already, and they come prepackaged as a youth demographic franchise with a couple of strong stories and female characters that could easily slot into current expectations.

8. If you were a Dungeons & Dragons character, would you be a Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, or Cleric?

The same friend who introduced me to Bone also helped me play a little Warhammer.  But that's as close I've come to RPGs.  So this is a question I've got to skip.

9. The secret to your success is...?

I have success??? In the relative sense, knowing my own interests.

10. What are you doing right now?  How does that compare to what you thought you'd be doing back when you were a kid?

Work-wise the only idea I ever had as a kid was becoming an astronaut.  But I think that was in fourth or fifth grade.  I sort of lost track of that ambition.  Other than being an actual success, though, I'm pretty much doing exactly what I always wanted to do.  (Technically I have two published comics.  I'm still working on that.)  So, yay me!

Nominate 10 New Blogs

I'm not really going to do that.  Just one:

• P.T. Dilloway's Blog

Readers of this blog besides Pat himself will remember that he was actually a contributor to Comics Reader earlier this year.  The reasons why this is no longer the case are kind of complicated.  But suffice to say, as the only other contributor in the existence of Comics Reader, he's pretty significant to it, regardless of whether or not he still has things posted here.  He's written a series of superhero novels featuring the Scarlet Knight (and a few dozen million more).  

Pose Ten Questions

1. How did you originally create Scarlet Knight?
2. When did you first start reading comics?
3. What's your favorite comic book?
4. Who's your favorite superhero?
5. What's your favorite comic book movie?
6. What do you wish comics would do that you haven't seen yet?
7. Do you have any interest in writing comics?
8. Would you adapt the complete Scarlet Knight saga?
9. Which one is your favorite installment in the series?
10. Does Detroit figure into your writing style?

That is all.

Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel)

via Comic Book DB

writer: G. Willow Wilson
artist: Adrian Alphona

The mantle, as it were, of Ms. Marvel has been passed around more often than any other comic book character.  Certainly among relatively minor ones.  So when this series was originally announced, my only reaction was, "Great!  Another Ms. Marvel!"  (*insert sarcasm sign*)

But the series was given a lot of hype, because this wouldn't be just another Ms. Marvel, but one of the many the-latest-incarnation-is-an-ethnic-variation! updates that are the safe version of diversity in comics.  This Ms. Marvel would actually be...Arab American.

Even that wasn't nearly enough to interest me.  It was a little surprising that it took comics so long to tackle the Middle East.  Over at DC, Black Adam was retrofitted to fit that type in the years after 9/11 thanks to Geoff Johns.  I'm not complaining about that one at all.  A total creative revival that has had limitless dividends. Grant Morrison touched on the topic in New X-Men.  Johns recently revisited the idea with the latest human Green Lantern, Simon Baz.

So all in all, Marvel's effort was a bit Johnny-DC-Come-Lately.  And in an incredibly safe capacity.  I mean, would anyone have cared at all about a new Ms. Marvel otherwise?

Except at some point I became aware of the writer attached to the project.  G. Willow Wilson.  There could not have been a better choice.  Wilson converted to Islam and has been relating her insights in her writing for years, to my mind still most successfully in the pages of Air, though her novel Alif the Unseen is a perhaps more visible effort.

Although I've been a big fan of Wilson since discovering her in Air, she otherwise maintains a fairly low profile.  After Air was cancelled, she disappeared for a while, resurfacing in the resurrected Mystic but otherwise appearing to be as completely unappreciated as the quiet reception of Air suggested.

So to see her with a project like this was both unexpected and gratifying.  Turned my perspective completely around.  Was my faith justified?

I've now read the first three issues of the series.  So yes, yes it has.  This debut issue introduces Kamala Khan, who like all of Wilson's lead characters is at a crossroads in her life, footing in separate worlds and finding them hard to reconcile, when a drastic change in her life forces her to confront ideas she's only been toying with.  In this instance, a mysterious transformation into the new Ms. Marvel.

Kamala has friends and family that push her in these disparate directions.  She also happens to like comic books and has her own opinions of superheroes (there's a fantastic sequence in the issue depicting them, which is one of the few instances of Wilson actively presenting her view of them, and is itself wildly refreshing even in an era that seems to want to present superheroes every way possible).

This is an origin issue.  It's the first of a five-part arc, and so if you want to experience what Kamala is actually like as Ms. Marvel, you have to wait until the next installment.  (Once you've read the first two issues, you'll really have a proper sense of what it'll be like.)

The cover is a pastiche on the cover of the 1996 debut issue for Peter David's Supergirl:

David's version of that other frequently rebooted character was also all about grounding a traditional superhero into a more recognizably human setting, but with strong identity issues and an unusual approach to the differences between being a person and a superhero at the same time.  Similar (and I read that series for a while, probably some of the best PAD material I've read), but Wilson's approach is more assured, more grounded in material we've seen from the writer before (although, yes, I suppose it could be said that Supergirl probably resembled the Incredible Hulk).

Having now read the new Ms. Marvel, I can confidently endorse it.  Not just because I'm already a fan of Wilson.  But because it's Wilson firing on all cylinders, and making a truly unique superhero comic in a landscape full of such attempts.

Justice League of America #12 (DC)

via Comic Book DB

writer: Matt Kindt
artist: Eddy Barrows

I love Martian Manhunter as a character.  He's the perfect counterpart to Superman, the alien who can't (or won't) hide himself as just another human.  He's a big green, bald dude.  He's the outsider who in his best stories does better X-Men stories than the X-Men ever did.

Recently DC has been rereleasing some of his solo adventures.  His one and only ongoing series to date came about in the wake of Grant Morrison's JLA nearly two decades ago, and these John Ostrander/Tom Mandrake tales are finally being collected.  There's also a collection, out of print, from a mini-series that was released nearly a decade ago.

Since the New 52 launch, Martian Manhunter has been a featured player...in team books.  For some reason he was inserted into the new Stormwatch, and he was one of the notable figures in Justice League of America, which has recently relaunched as Justice League United, with him as one of the few connecting elements.

As I've followed reactions to Forever Evil, I couldn't help noting how little fans seem to enjoy what the New 52 has been able to sustain as its strongest feature, which is a strong focus on character.  Forever Evil, and what I've read about how this particular series tied into it, wasn't just about villains triumphant, but forcing the heroes to prove themselves all over again, which is to say, give us an opportunity to explore them once more.

Such is the case with this issue, naturally, which of course focuses on Martin Manhunter.  His stories tend to be a lot more psychological in nature, playing with the question of identity.  As he battles Despero (the big pink alien with the third eye and the fin), there are flashes of the true Martian form, and an interlude about a Martian legend.

The issue also features Stargirl (who was the first character Geoff Johns ever wrote for DC, and in fact his creation) as Martian Manhunter reflects on her budding career (which is a constant theme with her, a perpetual reminder of a new generation), and writer Matt Kindt does a fine job of juggling both.  This may not be the greatest issue for either character, but it serves as a reminder that both have the potential for greatness.

And I love that Martian Manhunter still gets moments like this.

Digitally Speaking...#17 "Apocalypse Al"

Apocalypse Al #1 (Image)
From 2014.

I think it started with Quentin Tarantino.  The smartass outsider making a dent in pop culture with Reservoir Dogs.  I love Tarantino.  But I don't like all the folks who've followed in what Hollywood imagines to be his footsteps.  I'm not talking about other filmmakers who've made movies that are sort of like his.  I'm talking about other writers who spend their time making their characters too quippy for their britches.  Tarantino can get away with it because he is a genius.  But the line has to be drawn somewhere.  And that's at anyone who is not a genius.

The first wannabe I have in mind is Kevin Smith, who became the Bizarro Quentin Tarantino after Clerks was released.  Then there was Kevin Williamson, who became best known for Dawson's Creek and the Scream movies.  (I actually liked the Scream movies, by the way.)  Then there was Joss Whedon, whose style has been become the new mainstream thanks to the Avengers movies.

There's also J. Michael Straczynski to consider.  Joe, as he likes to be called, has a history that dates back further than any of those guys.  When he references Young Frankenstein at the back of Apocalypse Al, it was nearly enough for me to reconsider my opinion of him.  Except I don't think Joe is in the same category as Mel Brooks.  Joe's first real claim to fame was Babylon 5, the quip-happy version of Star Trek that hooked geeks because it was also a pioneer of the serialized TV format.  Then he tried doing other things.  There was the Angelina Jolie movie Changeling.  He was involved in the adaptation of World War Z to the big screen (appropriate, somehow, given that the source material came from Mel Brooks's son Max).  He also did the comic book The Twelve, which I unabashedly loved.

But basically, Joe is really no better, in my eyes, than a Smith or a Williamson or a Whedon.  For a lot of people, all of these guys are very talented, very enjoyable writers.  Which is fine.  But for me, they've always represented, well, what goes wrong when you're trying to find the new Tarantino and looking in all the wrong places.  (Joe Carnahan or Martin McDonagh do it so much better, folks.)  All the quip, none of the focus that will mean something past the next contemporary reference they make.  Which is fine, making references every two seconds.  Or just being irreverent.  Except for me, being irreverent can quickly turn to irrelevant.

And that's what something like Apocalypse Al is for me.  Joe thinks he's finally getting to do something funny for a change.  But as far as I'm concerned, that's the bulk of his material.  Just...spinning wheels.  The title refers to Allison Carter, who regularly combats forces who are looking to bring about the end of the world.  The issue opens with a flippant take on the world-eater (read: Galactus) model.  And flippant is about all you get.  Page after page of flippant.  And Al running around in skimpy outfits.  For some reason.  Joe goes out of his way to praise the art of Sid Kotian.  But if this is Sid's best work...Sorry, Sid, I'm not a fan.

Maybe it's wrong to expect any of these guys to try and be Tarantino.  Maybe it's the wrong comparison entirely.  But I get the sense that at least some of them have careers at all because someone thought they had that potential.  And some of them have struggled quite a bit, outside of cult followings, including Joe.  I think there's a reason for that, and I think something like Apocalypse Al demonstrates what's wrong.

Yes, you can have fun.  But you have to ground the fun in something substantial.  You have to have an anchor.  And Joe doesn't have one here.  And if he's not careful, enough people are going to realize that and his career really will come to nothing, as it's sometimes seemed it will at any moment.  He's a talented guy.  But his instincts are more often than not misguided, circling the trivial rather than embracing whatever inspiration he's found.

If you don't agree with anything else I've said here, just know this: Apocalypse Al is definitely no Young Frankenstein.  And that's the bottom line.  Straight from Joe's own words, that comparison...