Well, your arguments here range from strange to incomprehensible. The only good point you've made is that if you're a product of the public education system, then that was clearly a waste of tax dollars. I think you should ask for a refund.

...like, say, beating an unarmed opponent to death with a claw hammer?

Yes, there's a certain moral murkiness to the Marie mantle, absolutely.

-Eric T.

Greg, I think Gambit did mean it in the general sense. He was just replying to Mystique.

I'm also enjoying Incredible Herc. I'll definitely be sticking around.

Ha! Completely asinine and uninformative, but funny nonetheless. I have would have no problem not calling the cops or the fireman, since I don't want to pay for them, just like I don't want to pay for you people to freeload on my dime at the doctor's office. See, I actually allocate my own money to pay for my own expenses, and I would pay for insurance to cover a private fire department and security service that could do everything those guys, do, too. I also don't want "universal health coverage" since we already have "Universal Health Care" - go to any emergency room and you get it. Hey, live and let live, I say - if you people want to give more of your money to the government to make yourselves feel better, you should have every right to do so. However, I don't. Ask yourself this - if taxes and government are so damn great, why do they have to threaten us with jail time to get us to pay them? Are you gonna want us thrown in jail if we refuse to pay for your no doubt terrible government "Universal Health Coverage" - just like they'll throw us in jail if we refuse to pay into their already terrible retirement plan (aka "Social Security")? Be careful what you wish for...

Dan - Yeah, I was being a bit simplistic, but it's not just the people who don't want it who don't want to pay for it. Going to education (my other bugbear), people in the newspapers are always whining about overcrowded classrooms and poor teacher salaries, but if you tell them the only way to improve those things is to raise taxes, they decide they'd rather keep their money. It's annoying.

sgt pepper - Man, the issues of Girls I read came out so long ago that I'm not sure where the reviews are. I read the first 8 or 9 issues and just kept waiting for the characters to become likeable, and they never did. I wasn't too impressed with the story, although it was intriguing, but I hated everyone in the book so much that, while I enjoyed the fact that they were all getting killed, it just wasn't enough. Brian probably read every issue, so he might be a better person to break down why it didn't work for him.

I'm sure you've already gone over it before, but do you have a link to a post where you've criticized it in detail in the past? I'm just curious.

But when they call the police or the fire house or anything else that gets paid through their taxes, they should be ignored.

People claim they want universal health care, but nobody wants to pay for it.

And I think this is an oversimplification that misconstrues the issue. The way you phrase it, you make it sound like the same people who advocate unversal health care are the ones who refuse to pay for it. In my experience, the people who want universal health care are the ones who would be willing to pay, since it would be less than they're paying now. The ones who don't want to pay the taxes for it are not in favor of the idea in the first place.

I think it would be more accurate to say that "Some people want universal health care, but other people don't want to pay the taxes for it, and they can't be ignored."

I don't think putting down a huge percentage of the writers counts as having 'low standards.'

He's right, too, btw. Way was certainly aided by having such an all-star art and design lineup, but there's no denying the writing chops he's shown in only five issues.

I could name two dozen other writers working consistently right now who's work I cannot stand in the least. Yet here comes Way and in five issues he lays some great stand-out shit on the line that most everyone seems to be hyped on. There's no low standard happening, he's just legitimately good at this racket.

How is Way so good at this comic-book writing thing when people who have been doing it for years still aren’t very good at it?

Maybe you just answered your own question? I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a certain amount of understanding of the comic form that usually comes from reading lots of comics, but I think the medium has developed enough culturally to have it's own tropes and cliches that end up making lazy writers.

They're so used to seeing certain story elements, or certain ideas being inherent to various situations that they expect parts of the story to develop of their own accord.

Or it could just be that it's an industry where the nerds who grew up to work in it were raised on poorly-written books. I mean, if anybody learned how to write stories from Stan Lee, they're only gonna get to a certain point.

I guess I'm kind of thanking you.

But Brian, I think that that error showcases Fell’s impulsive and self-destructive nature. I’m really interested in seeing how similar his fall from grace in his former precinct went about, as he mentions that he made two decisions, one that everyone liked, and another that basically got him turfed to Snowtown. He seems to feel completely justified in his actions at that time, but moments of doubt creep in here and there, so I’m wondering if his main character flaw is a classic hubris kind of deal, and if it’s going to result in his eventual downfall.

I mean, looking back at the issue in question, of COURSE he should have kept his mouth shut, but I think his enthusiasm to “own” the opposition is what lost him the case, and when you look back at each issue, it’s really hard to justify what he did, but it’s somewhat easier to understand it.

I get Ellis' INTENT for the issue, which was to show just what you mentioned - that Fell is just so reckless that he couldn't help but stick it to the guy, thereby ending up giving the guy the very information he needed to ruin the case against him.

My point is that no halfway intelligent cop would ever think the information that Fell had was something he could use TO "stick it" to the guy.

It was tantamount to "Listen up, punk! I know you killed your girlfriend! We found a bloody knife with the fingerprints of the victim's ex-boyfriend on it! You're going DOWN for this! What? That's BAD for the case against you? DAMMIT! My recklessness is my undoing!!"

I'll take "low audience standards" for $500, Alex.

I mean, looking back at the issue in question, of COURSE he should have kept his mouth shut, but I think his enthusiasm to "own" the opposition is what lost him the case, and when you look back at each issue, it's really hard to justify what he did, but it's somewhat easier to understand it.

That monocle explanation makes sense. I guess we'll have to wait for the next issue (or subsequent series) to find out more!

That's a good point, stealthwise. I hope that's what Ellis was going for, and I hope that (as he explains), we'll see more repercussions for Fell in later issues, because then it would make more sense in context. I definitely didn't want to cheer for Fell at the end, but I wondered if Ellis wanted us to. I don't have any problem waiting for these issues, either. It will be nice to sit down with a big chunk of them and read them all at once, though.

Sorry, Tom. That's just how I roll.

It’s got a real undergound comix feel to it, slightly bizarre and unreal, which is in contrast to the story, which is a simple adventure story in the Savage Land, starring Killer Shrike, of all people.

Well, I'll agree that it did look amateurish...;)

I know that you didn’t like the issue in the interrogation room where he basically blew the legal case, but it seems to be an important one in showing that as smart, capable, and begrudgingly-likeable that Fell is as a character, he’s still a deeply flawed personality.

I know I really didn't like that issue, because the whole story hinged upon a smart and capable guy like Fell making a painfully obvious error.