CSBG Archive
What I bought – 19 March 2008
The third week of the month has been very good recently, because a bunch of books I like come out. So I was happy reading my books this week. But (there’s always a “but” with me, isn’t there) I do want to examine an odd (or maybe not so odd, depending on your perspective) phenomenon in comics today – the pop culture reference! What do I mean? Look below the jump …
Catwoman #77 by Will Pfeifer (writer), David López (penciller), Ãlvaro López (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), Guy Major (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.
Selina’s seemingly-interminable stay on the Salvation Run Planet continues, and even though it’s only been three issues but feels like three years, there’s still one more issue to go! Someone last month bugged me about buying it and therefore validating this kind of crap, and that’s a point, but as I’ve often mentioned, if I know the detour is going to be brief, I’ll deal with it. Pfeifer has done such a good job with this book, and these issues, which are crappy in terms of entertainment, still give us a good portrayal of Selina, from her desire to stay in this weird world that exists only in her head to the way she thinks about taking down Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Flash. As the world is created just for her, it’s not impressive that she’s able to do it, but her thought process as she runs this gauntlet is interesting. But really, these have been pointless issues. J’onn, who told her last issue that it wasn’t real, shows up again to tell her it’s not real, and she can only get out if she wants to. So Selina wants to, and hey presto! she’s out. It’s not a bad idea for a one-off issue, but stretching it to two is pushing it. Oh well – one more issue to get Selina off the SRP, and then Pfeifer can get back to doing what has made this book one of DC’s best.
As I have nothing nice to say about the story, I should mention that López, as usual, does a stellar job with the art. The fight between Selina and the Justice Leaguers is very nicely done, and I’m always impressed by how well López shows Selina’s facial expressions, even though she spends a lot of time with her eyes hidden. He does a wonderful job with her mouth that conveys her emotions, and it’s greatly appreciated. Even if I don’t like the story of these past few issues, the art has been, as usual, top-notch. I’ll point out, once again, that López has drawn every issue for over two years, and the book is never late. I guess he’s just not a prima donna.
Checkmate #24 by Greg Rucka (writer), Eric Trautmann (writer), Joe Bennett (penciller), Jack Jadson (inker), Travis Lanham (letterer), and Santiago Arcas (colorist). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.
Superman seems hopelessly naïve in this comic, doesn’t he? When he attacks the Kobra base, all the darling little Kobra minions try to blow themselves up instead of getting captured. Supes, of course, stops them (he’s quite super, after all), then says, as if he’s stunned, “He wanted to die. He wanted to blow himself up.” Sasha responds, “They all do.” I don’t have a problem with Superman being all life-affirming, but to act as if he’s never heard of a suicide bomber before is strange. Oh well. It’s not that big a deal.
The big thing in this issue is that Checkmate has to do something they really didn’t want to do, and that’s reveal their secret weapons. Kobra’s big plan is closer to fruition than ever, a bunch of pawns are killed when they discover what Kobra’s really up to (could we say they got “pwned”? We could? Excellent!), and nobody is available to help stop the really evil thing that Kobra is doing (as opposed to the minor evil things that turned out to be a distraction). I know we’re supposed to be impressed with the end of the book, but it’s tough to be, because I have no idea who those people are (I have an idea about one, but are they supposed to be DC characters we’ve seen before, or all new?), and I don’t know what their capabilities are. There must be a reason they’re Checkmate’s secret weapons, but I don’t know it.
Yes, I’m obscuring what happens, because I guess it’s a bit of a cliffhanger. That’s fine. Checkmate still shows why an espionage book set in the mainstream DCU (or Marvel U., of course) can work, because when a threat like this comes up, you can always call in superheroes, but they’re not necessary for the book most of the time. It’s fun to see them occasionally, and Rucka and Trautmann obviously have a big enough threat that they’re important here.
One last thing: at one point the Castellan stands in front of a world map. Boy, it’s the ugliest world map I’ve ever seen. In this day and age of photoshopping, I don’t think anyone would be angry if Bennett didn’t actually draw a map on the panel, but just used an image he found on-line. But if you’re not going to do that, at least make the map decent. The British Isles, for example, don’t exist. Australia has some kind of peninsula on its southern coast that, frankly, looks like a flaccid penis. I know – I shouldn’t worry about shit like this. But this is why you come here – to see if I get all worked up over stupid crap!
Next: Rucka’s last issue. Who will die? Who will live? Who will have their face eaten off by some kind of snake-monster? Only the writers know for sure!
The Circle #5 (of, it turns out, 5) by Brian Reed (writer), Ian Hosfeld (artist), and Len O’Grady (colorist). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, Image.
It’s rather sad to read the latest issue of The Circle. At the back, Brian Reed writes, “Okay. Look, I’m not going to lie to you, okay? There probably isn’t a ‘next’ coming. At least not any time soon. And it’s not for lack of want on the behalf of Ian and myself. It’s because, let’s be frank, sales of THE CIRCLE have been absolutely awful. If we doubled our sales, we might achieve ‘abysmal.’ We’ve been in the red since issue 1, and Eric Stephenson has been kind enough to let us finish our first arc before shuffling us off this mortal coil.”
Well, that sucks. I’m not terribly surprised, but it still sucks. This has been a very exciting mini-series, with good art and some cool characters. At the end of last issue, bombs were falling on the train with the nuke, and although this issue begins in a disappointing manner, in that the bombs don’t actually hit the train (and I’m sorry to spoil that, but it’s in the first few pages, and there’s a lot going on afterward; plus, what shitty bombadiers!), we still get a satisfying wrap-up. The espionage aspect gets pushed aside just a bit in this issue so that we can have a beat-down, but Hosfeld does an excellent job with the action (even if there’s yet another silhouetted killing, which continues to vex me) and Reed does a good job setting up the rest of the series. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.
I’m not terribly put out by the failure of The Circle. It sucks, and I blame you (no, not you, of course - that guy right over there spending his money on Thor*), but it’s not going to ruin my life.  It speaks to a big problem in the comic book universe - getting the word out about new books. Many people don’t use Previews because it costs a good chunk of money, and many comic book stores don’t order marginal books so that you (yes, you, standing there reading the latest godawful issue of JLA) might pick it up on a lark. The Circle is a solid spy comic with far more interesting characters than you’ll find in The “Death” of the New Gods and better art than you’ll see in Amazing Spider-Man (and I even like Phil Jimenez). It’s certainly not going to change the world, but it’s far more interesting than most of what you’ll find out there. I know I’m banging my head against a brick wall and, for many readers here, preaching to the choir, but that’s just how I am. I will certainly be interested in seeing if these two creators work together again and what they do. They have a nice synergy. If Image offers a trade, pick it up. It’s pretty cool.
(* I mention Thor specifically because I had to go to the comic book store on Thursday, and some dude was there buying what looked like five or six issues of Thor, some quite old and, I think, the latest issue. He actually said something like, “Why do they always destroy and then rebuild Asgard when they start Thor up again?” He sounded so burned out and grumpy by the idea of recycling plot lines ad infinitum, yet he was still buying the new series. I wanted to smack him. I get that you love the character, but Jesus. Use your freakin’ brain.
Here’s my one-word review of Thor #7, by the way: Lousy.)
Dark Ivory #1 (of 4) by Joseph Michael Linsner (writer/artist/colorist), Eva Hopkins (writer/colorist), and Jeff Eckleberry (letterer). $2.99, 27 pgs, FC, Image.
This comic, however, will probably sell really well, because there’s no justice in the world and God hates puppies (it’s true, you know!). This comic, as you might expect, is terrible. Really awful. It’s not just Linsner’s art, which is fine for pinup work but is very stiff otherwise. The story is horrid as well. I’ll try to go through it quickly, because I do want to examine the pop culture reference in this comic. Ivory is a high-schooler who is kind of a goth girl, but kind of fakes it, too. She hangs out with her best friend, Samson, and has a shitty home life. She writes crappy high-school poetry, she wears fake leathery wings to clubs in New York (she lives in Hoboken), and she used to cut herself but doesn’t anymore. One night, she goes to a club and meets a vampire (although she doesn’t know he’s a vampire) named Xander. He licks her hand and invites her to the most exclusive club in town. There’s also another strange dude wandering around called Esque, and at the end of the issue, some other goth girl gets killed, presumably by Esque, who likes to slice women’s throats and suck their blood. It’s absolutely as shitty as it sounds. It’s derivative and dull, and the art doesn’t help. Ivory and Samson are stereotypes, and I suppose it’s to Linsner’s and Hopkins’ credit that they at least make them aware that they’re stereotypes, but that in itself is a stereotype – the self-aware cliché! It’s as if they have these personality traits grafted onto them, and then, in a final “masterstroke,” made aware that they don’t have real personalities. Blech.
My personal bugbear comes early on in the book, when Samson says, in response to someone cutting him off in traffic, “Some people should die.” Ivory responds with “That’s just unconscious knowledge.” This is, of course, a quote by Perry Farrell, from the song “Pigs in Zen,” which appears on the Jane’s Addiction album Nothing’s Shocking. There’s nothing terribly wrong with quoting Jane’s Addiction, and there’s nothing wrong with quoting that particular part of a song (I’ve done it myself). I was first bothered by it because Ivory is, after all, no older than 18, so a quote from a 20-year-old album is a bit odd, but it’s quite a good album, and we all own albums that are older than we are, right? However, it’s not like Nothing’s Shocking is a particularly famous album, which means Ivory has a bit of an eclectic musical taste. Groovy. Later, however, she has no idea who Roxy Music is. Roxy Music is somewhat older than Jane’s Addiction, but aren’t they a bit more famous than Jane’s? Or, if you know who Jane’s Addiction is, doesn’t it seem odd that you don’t know who Roxy Music is? Maybe I’m wrong. This is Exhibit A, however. Keep it in mind as we move forward.
And don’t buy this. It’s not good. Plus: this is technically called Dark Ivory, Book One: Blue Blood, Chapter One: A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. Phew! That’s a mouthful!
Ex Machina #35 by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (penciller), Jim Clark (inker), JD Mettler (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.
The one problem I have with this issue of Ex Machina, which is quite interesting in its discussion of race and so-called “white guilt,” is the reason Mitch flies down to confront the two kids that leads to his first meeting with David Wylie. He flew down to ask these two kids why they weren’t in school. What? What the hell does he care? As the kids point out, they could be both eighteen, and what business is it of his anyway? Of course, they should have been in school, as we find out, but it seems like a lame reason to confront them. Here in the desert we have crappy schools, but they often have unusual schedules to help kids who need to work during the day. So it’s not strange to see teens on the street when you might think they should be in school. They might be playing hooky, of course, but that’s not necessarily the reason they’re not in school. It’s supposed to show that Mitch thinks that black kids wandering the street during so-called school hours are of course up to no good, to highlight his relatively benign racism, but it’s an odd way to show it.
This is probably not the forum to discuss Mitch and Wylie’s conversation about race, because it is, after all, a comic book blog. Nothing much happens in this issue, except Mitch is somehow haunted by a dead slave, and even though he thinks he solves the problem, he really doesn’t. It’s very nice that Vaughan is actually writing about this, and its timing is interesting, coming on the heels of Barack Obama’s speech earlier this week. As usual with this book, he brings up several valid points and doesn’t make anything easy. It’s just another reason why I like this comic so much.
Fables #71 by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.
Damn, that’s a great cover. It’s James Jean, so it’s not surprising, but still.
Willingham diverts our attention from the war for a few issues to show us some preparations for said war, as Cinderella heads to Tierra del Fuego to pick up a “package.” I won’t ruin the nature of the package, but Willingham does a great job with this simple espionage story, as Cinderella comes across double-crossers and other shady characters, until she has to confront Hansel and we get a nice Watchmen moment. It’s all wonderfully illustrated by Buckingham (he puts glass slippers in the borders, a nice touch, and then give Cinderella an outfit with glass slippers on it) and quite exciting. Next issue promises “more gratuitous mayhem,” so that should be fun.
Cinderella, however, can’t be as vacuous as she seems on the first page, when she narrates that Tierra del Fuego translates as “land of fire” and then wonders why it’s so cold. Hasn’t she been on our world long enough to learn a tiny bit about plate tectonics? Oh well. It’s still a fine issue.
FX #1 (of 6) by Wayne Osborne (writer), John Byrne (artist), John Workman (letterer), and Greg Cordier (letterer). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, IDW.
Brian has already gone over how this book exists, so I’ll just get to the nuts and bolts of it. Osborne’s story concerns a boy named Tom who, while playing with a friend of his, gets bonked on the head with a stick. He lapses into a coma, but wakes up no worse for wear and able to create “effects” with his mind – if he thinks about holding a bazooka, one appears and he can blow shit up. As you can see from the cover, if he imagines he’s in a plane, he can fly. He uses this power to fight that chap on the cover, a rogue, apparently intelligent super-ape named Silverback, and draws the attention of some other nefarious baddies. When paired with Bryne’s art, this is about as old-school superheroing as you can get. If that’s your thing.
Byrne’s art is quite nice, although there are some problems. We never can pin down how old Tom is, because Byrne draws him like every other blond male he ever draws, albeit with less wavy hair. On the cover and occasionally in the book, he looks like an adult. The fault is partly Osborne’s, too – Tom and his friend Jack are battling with “swords” early in the book (the sticks that cause Tom so much trouble), which seems to indicate they’re, what, ten or eleven? Later, we see that Tom has the hots for a girl who looks slightly older – maybe 13 – who is dating a bully who looks even older – maybe 15. It’s a bit jarring, because they all go to the same school, but Tom looks and acts much younger than the other two. It’s a minor thing, but it’s still annoying. Plus, Byrne does a splash page at the end which I’m sure is supposed to remind us of other drawings he’s done before of heroes flying almost off the page. I guess that’s kind of neat.
The biggest problem with the book is it’s just not that well-written. I’m glad Osborne got it published, given what he went through to get Byrne to draw it, and he came by Brian’s post about it and seemed like a reasonable and pleasant fellow, but it’s still not that good. The idea is fine, but Osborne doesn’t do enough to explain Silverback, for instance, and why he’s a sentient giant ape who is being transported from a zoo. You’d think a talking monkey* would be something people don’t keep in a zoo. The fight between Tom and Silverback is done well, although it’s another case of a hero getting bashed to the point where he’d be dead, but Tom shrugs it off easily. It’s a marginally fun comic, but, as usual with IDW books, you have to take into consideration the fact that it’s a dollar more than usual comics. It’s not really worth the 4-dollar price tag, although it has some charm. The plot is decent, but nothing about Osborne’s scripting stands out.
It does contain, however, another pop culture reference, and I think this is somewhat interesting. Early on, Jack mentions that they’re fans of The Cybernetic Man, a television show starring Austin Stevens. Obviously, this is a reference to The Six Million Dollar Man, but what makes it less egregious to me is that we, as readers, know that the two boys are talking about a television show from the 1970s, but it could easily be a show they watch in the present day, so it’s more likely they would be familiar with it. This is Exhibit B.
I can’t really recommend FX, because it’s nothing that you haven’t seen before, and for the money, that’s too much of an obstacle. It’s a perfectly pleasant if derivative comic, and if you’re a huge fan of Byrne, this looks nice, but it’s nothing special. It’s just kind of there.
* Yes, I know it’s not a monkey. I just felt like writing “talking monkey,” damn it! Leave me alone.
Ghost Rider #21 by Jason Aaron (writer), Roland Boschi (artist), Dan Brown (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
With a lot of comics, it seems like the writer thinks to him- or herself: “Let’s see – let’s take A (which is awesome) and B (which has some weird kitsch value) and pair them with C (which the geeks love, even though no one else does) and that gives us D (which will naturally be super-awesome!).” Of course, a lot of movies and other entertainment feels like that, too, but it seems quite prevalent in comics. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily make it “super-awesome,” because no matter what, you need to have some talent, but luckily, Jason Aaron has some talent. So when he takes Ghost Rider, throws in a haunted highway, cannibalism, and hot killer nurses, we get a pretty darned good comic book. Aaron reveals more about GR’s role in the war between Heaven and some rebellious angels, and we learn why the highway in Montana is haunted. It’s well done and suspenseful, and even though I don’t love Boschi’s art, it’s not horrible. I’m still unsure why the deputy would confront the dude at the end, because once he finds out the secret of the haunted highway, he should recognize right away that he’s in a horror comic and confronting the dude in the way he does will only lead to tragedy. Am I right, people? Once you find out why the highway is haunted, you call in the Army and let them bomb the town into oblivion! Seriously.
A couple of other things: Ghost Rider gets a great line: “Nobody touches my ride,” and then shows how angry that makes him feel, and I’m still a bit uncomfortable with the way it seems like the hot nurses are in the book simply so that every male character can call them “bitches.” That they are bitches makes it easier to accept, but it seems like we’re supposed to laugh when anyone calls them that, and it’s kind of weird. I guess I’m just too PC for words, but there it is.
This isn’t a great comic, but it’s entertaining. It’s always interesting when Marvel or DC lets one of their relatively mainstream books go full-on horror, and Aaron does seem to have a good handle on the character. I’ll have to check out the rest of the arc to see where he’s going with it.
Grendel: Behold the Devil #5 (of eight) by Matt Wagner (writer/artist) and Tom Orzechowski (letterer). $3.50, 20 pgs, BWR, Dark Horse.
One nice thing about Wagner and this series is that he’s using characters that have appeared before, but you needn’t have read the Black, White and Red stories in which they originally appeared. It’s this use of “continuity” that I like – it’s just a wink to old readers, but you’re not drowning in it. Frankly, if I hadn’t been immersing myself in all things Grendel recently, I would have forgotten that Liz Sparks, Locutious “Cush” Bradley, and Benito Emanuel Tomas “Toro” D’Oro had already appeared in other Hunter Rose stories. But it doesn’t matter, because Wagner makes sure we know enough about them.
This is somewhat of an information-gathering issue, as Hunter visits Toro to find out if he knows what’s following him. Toro does, and also tells Hunter how to stop it. Lucas Ottoman, meanwhile, is stalking Hunter Rose to find out if he really is Grendel, and I still have very little hope that he’s going to survive this story arc (of course, Bradley survived his own run-in with Grendel, so maybe there’s hope for Lucas). It’s a beautiful issue to look at, of course, but it’s a bit less exciting than the previous issues. That’s okay, though, because we need to know what’s going on with this thing that is stalking our “hero,” and we get it in this issue.
Wagner still gives a fight, although it’s short. Man, he can compose a page, can’t he?
The Incredible Hercules #115 by Greg Pak (writer), Fred van Lente (writer), Khoi Pham (penciler), Paul Neary (inker), Danny Miki (inker), Dennis Calero (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
If you’re still not reading The Incredible Hercules, allow me to quote, in its entirety, the recap page:
Thinkest thou life is all mutton and maidens? Nay. Consider powerful Hercules. Greatest of heroes. Paragon of masculinity. His should be a life of grandeur. And yet the pathway Hercules treads is fraught with peril, through fault principally of Amadeus Cho (with pup in tow). Cho deems S.H.I.E.L.D. responsible for wounding his pup, and so a furious can of gangsta-style whup-ass [note: they use the @ sign and two dollar signs to denote "ass"] descends upon the mortal enforcement agency … in the shape of a self-replicating neo-virus that shall wreak bedlam upon yon jumpsuited spy-guys’ operations the world over. But whilst Hercules endeavors to convince Cho to let his ire go, let us not forget that Ares, brother of Hercules and god of #%*&in’ war, waits to strike …
Now, if that recap doesn’t make you want to run out and buy this book, how about this: There’s a jail break, and a hapless defense attorney is hailed as “the greatest advocate known to the legions of Sakaar!!!” Amadeus Cho steals a helicarrier, which is then beset by S.H.I.E.L.D. missiles. Ares jumps Hercules before the missiles get there, but Hercules grabs Ares … and swats a missile with him. And then, Pak and van Lente actually manage to get a shot in at comic book readers who obsess over continuity without it seeming mean-spirited. After the insanity of the first part of the book, it actually gets serious, as we learn why Ares hates Hercules so much, and why Hercules wants Amadeus to stop the virus so much. In the midst of a totally kick-ass fight scene, we get some very nice characterization. It’s quite a powerful issue, and it sets up the continuing adventures of this suddenly awesome team.
Pham is fantastic, too, which has been a pleasant surprise. Next issue, he’s taking a break, which might be a good thing, as it gives him some time to catch up. I don’t know how long Marvel is going to keep this title going, and I hope Pak and van Lente never forget that Amadeus is supposed to be looking to help the Hulk, but if it’s going to be this entertaining, I just don’t care. It’s a complete blast to read.
The Immortal Iron Fist #13 by Matt Fraction (writer), Ed Brubaker (writer), Tonci Zonjic (artist), David Aja (artist), Kano (artist), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist), and Artmonkeys Studios (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
Speaking of fun comics, the penultimate issue of “The Capital Cities of Heaven” pulls many strands together, setting up what ought to be a slam-bang finale. I’m a bit concerned with the slowness at which Aja seems to work, as he pencils only three pages in this issue, even though the main title took a month off, but Zonjic does a pretty decent job with the bulk of the book. In terms of action, this is not quite as crazy as Iron Fist often is, but it’s brimming with tension as Xao finally gets his train going, Danny Rand gathers the tournament fighters to defend K’un-Lun, Davos is disillusioned, and the final page promises explosive fisticuffs. It’s quite keen, as usual.
There’s a lot of clever dialogue, too, that doesn’t become too cute, which is nice. It’s close, but it stays on this side of clever. This might actually be the funniest issue of Iron Fist, which makes the lack of face-kicking (which disappointed poor Chris Sims this week) easier to take. And I’m looking forward to next issue, as usual. Let’s hope Aja is back for the majority of it.
The Order #9 by Matt Fraction (writer), Barry Kitson (breakdowns), Javier Saltares (penciler), Stefano Gaudiano (inker), Derek Fridolfs (inker), J. Roberts (colorist), and Artmonkeys Studios (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.
Really, what’s there to say? I guess Kitson isn’t even going to pencil the last two issues, just provide “breakdowns.” That’s weird. Anyway, it’s excellent as usual, but who cares, right?
But … we have a pop culture reference! Whoo-hoo! Mulholland Black says, at one point, “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” A few panels later, Ezekiel Stane says, “Shoot the glass.” These quotes are, of course, from Die Hard, one of the kick-assest movies ever made. I always wondered why Alexander Godunov didn’t understand Alan Rickman when Rickman spoke to him in German but did understand him when he spoke to him in English. Wasn’t Godunov German, just like Rickman? Anyway, I don’t have a big problem with this cute little exchange, even though Stane’s comment doesn’t make much sense in context, and it’s not like it’s the next line in the movie or anything. I don’t have a problem with it because Die Hard is, after all, a hugely popular movie, and it’s shown on television all the freakin’ time. It’s probably on right now! This, of course, is Exhibit C.
Next: another fresh superhero book gets the axe so that Marvel can rehash another one of their “classic” heroes. Yay!
The Programme #9 (of 12) by Peter Milligan (writer), C. P. Smith (artist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.
This is really weird. That is all.
War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle #1 (of 5) by Garth Ennis (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Brian Reber (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel/MAX.
I’m not really in the mood to write about this book, which is never a good sign. It’s not even that it’s a bad comic. It is fairly mediocre, however, in a Garth Ennis-is-a-good-writer-so-it’s-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be kind of way. You can practically hear Ennis mailing it in, and the fact that Chaykin mails it in a bit too means this is a comic that, had it been done by a hack, would have been almost unreadable, but because it’s by Ennis and Chaykin means that it has its moments, but still isn’t very good.
I haven’t been a fan of Chaykin’s art in a long time. He seems to be getting stiffer with his characters, his panel layouts are getting more staid and static, and this lacks the manic energy of, say, The Shadow mini-series or that Wolverine/Nick Fury graphic novel he did almost 20 years ago (I’d use American Flagg! as a touchstone, but I don’t own any of those issues and I’ve only seen excerpts from it). As Jog points out, there are no sound effects in this comic, which robs it of some wildness (and Jog, as usual, does a far better job reviewing this book than I ever could – it’s all about pop culture references with me, while he approaches his reviews more seriously). I don’t like the cutting-and-pasting of some of the biplanes, either, because they look completely out of place. Oh well.
As for Ennis … this is strictly paint-by-numbers for him, and although I would love to see more war comics, it doesn’t seem like Ennis has anything new to say about war. I have no idea if the Phantom Eagle that Ennis is writing about bears any resemblance to the Marvel hero from the 1970s, but he’s definitely a tool. I guess this series is supposed to show how he matures, but so what? Ennis has done this before, so I’m not sure what the draw here is. Chaykin’s art? Cassaday’s nifty cover? Captain Clarke’s hi-LAR-ious fate? Whatever it is, it’s not drawing me.
Wasteland #15 by Antony Johnston (writer), Christopher Mitten (artist), and Douglas E. Sherwood (letterer). $3.50, 23 pgs, BW, Oni Press.
As much as I like Wasteland and want you all to buy it, I have to say that this new issue, which begins a new story line, is perhaps not the smartest way to get people interested in the book. Johnston shows the Sand-Eaters readying to lay siege to Newbegin, and then the beginnings of the siege. It’s a fairly tense issue, and Mitten’s art is fantastic, as he shifts between his usual style and a more ethereal kind when a myth is told. The mythic section is very creepy, but also somewhat child-like, which makes it even creepier.  The issue as a whole sets up the battle over Newbegin quite nicely.
So, you might ask, what’s the problem? Well, the Sand-Eaters are the focus, and they speak rather unusually. Here’s the dialogue from the first page: “Wekkuuuuuuup! Saaaahahaha!” “Naaaasti sandizz! Wiiiisat?” Tellltam! Samantell sandizz tareeta kinasaaaan! Kamkwiik … izzzastaaaartin.“ One tells the other to wake up, the sleepy one calls him nasty and asks what’s going on, the first says to tell someone something (I haven’t deciphered ”tareeta kinasaaaan” yet), and then tells him to come quick, because it’s starting.  Almost the entire issue reads like this, and some of it is quite difficult to figure out. Now, we get the gist of it, and I was willing to read it slowly and figure out what they were saying, but that’s because I’ve read every issue of this series and like it a lot. I’m not so sure someone picking this up randomly would want to slog through it. It’s fairly clever that Johnston did this, because it shows how similar yet different the Sand-Eaters are from the rest of the people in the book, and a great deal of the title itself has dealt with language, but it’s a tough road.
It’s kind of a shame, actually, because it seems like Johnston has a lot of things in place to make this arc quite a good one. I wonder if he didn’t shoot himself in the foot a bit, however. That would suck.
Okay, now that we’re done with the actual reviews, I’d like to return to the pop culture references in this week’s books. I’ll start with Monet from last week and her detailed knowledge of Three’s Company. I didn’t object to it because Monet is too young and too non-American to know anything about Three’s Company, I objected to it because her upbringing seemed a bit too isolated and because of her rather snooty attitude toward the base cultural leanings of her fellow students at the Massachusetts Academy back in the Generation X days.  But let’s lump that in with the other references from this week, none of which I really had too big a problem with.
1. A high-school girl, presumably 17 or 18 years old, quotes lyrics from a 20-year-old album, albeit an album by a band whose frontman is somewhat symbolic of the rise of ”independent” music in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
2. Two young boys are very familiar with a television show from the 1970s, a show I have hardly ever seen replayed, even on TV Land. (I do like the way Osborne changes it so it’s not really a reference to the 1970s television show, however.)
3. A teenager and a young man quote lines from a 20-year-old movie, but one that is very popular and is shown a lot on cable.
As with Monet, it’s not the fact that these people, who are young, make these references. It’s that young comic book characters never make references to anything but these kinds of things. This is, presumably, because most comics are written by white men over 30 and are written for white men over 30. According to Wikipedia, Peter David is 51. According to her MySpace page, Eva Hopkins is 36. I saw somewhere on-line that Wayne Osborne is 42 (and now I can’t find the page where I saw that, so if it’s wrong, I apologize). Wikipedia says that Matt Fraction is 32. So these people are very familiar with television shows from the 1970s, albums from the 1980s, and blockbuster movies from the 1980s. I don’t have a problem with a writer using references he or she knows for an audience that will appreciate them, but do any of these writers think, “What would a teenager actually say?” Couldn’t they try to drop references that I wouldn’t get because I’m too old and square? I, personally, have no idea what the kids today are into. But would they always quote things that I used to quote 15 years ago? That ain’t right, right? Does this bother anyone else, or am I (as usual) overthinking things? Again, before anyone misunderstands me (which many people do, unfortunately), I have no problem with any of these references, so I don’t want people commenting that they’re 20 and they quote John McClane all the time. I just wonder why the only pop cultures references we ever see in comics are from 20-30 years ago.
Anyway, those are the comics for this week. You know I’m right about them, you just can’t admit it!
62 Comments
text
March 21, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Why hate the guy with a Thor fetish? it’s his character, if he wants to buy the book no matter how bad it may infuriate him, it’s his prerogative as a fanboy.
Michael
March 21, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I’d honestly find it more incongruous if a goth chick *couldn’t* cite Jane’s Addiction lyrics on cue.
William
March 21, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I don’t think its odd at all that someone would quote Jane’s Addiction and not be familiar with Roxy Music. There really isn’t a reason why an 18 year old would know Roxy Music. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Roxy Music played on the radio. Jane’s Addiction had a single hit number one on the modern rock charts in 2003, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who have a pretty big current rock presence) has toured with them in the past, and Dave Navarro was in RHCP for a spell. Jane’s put out a greatest hits album in 2006 that has Pigs in Zen on it. So if a kid hears a song that’s all over rock radio when they are 15, finds out that they have a connection to another favorite band of hers, gets the current album and then picks up the greatest hits . . . that strikes me as plausible.
Michael
March 21, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Also, I’m 26 years old, and I know Smoky Robinson, Johnny Rivers, The Beach Boys pre-Brian Wilson losing it, Buddy Holly, Gilligan’s Island, Dr. Strangelove the early films of Mel Brooks, and many more things that existed well before my birth backwards and forwards. Young people are not as culturally solipsistic as you think they are. Not all of us, anyway.
TimCallahan
March 21, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Ghost Rider actually IS a great comic now that Aaron is on board. I can see how you feel the need to say it’s not great, because “great” implies some self-serious Alan Moore type of thing–but, you know what, Ghost Rider is firing on all cylinders now, and I think it was the best comic of the week.
Regarding Iron Fist, blogger Marc Caputo tells me that Aja’s wife gave birth around the time he was working on this issue, so that explains the lack of Aja pages. Kano’s a decent replacement, but that other guy is really quite poor. People seem not to mind, though.
But Thor #7 has some AMAZING art. It’s worth buying just for the art, I think.
Jon H
March 21, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’d say a current-day 18 year old *goth* girl would definitely know Nothing’s Shocking. The cover alone is pretty famous, I think, and a favorite on t-shirts.
She *might* have heard of Roxy Music. That might not come until college or later. Being a goth, she and her friends probably aren’t big on classic rock or prog.
Greg Burgas
March 21, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I refuse to cut people slack who buy books they don’t like just because they like the characters, text. I’m sorry, but that’s what gets good stuff like The Order cancelled and keeps shitty stuff alive. The art is pretty good, though, in the latest issue of Thor. But it’s still a lousy comic.
That’s a good point about Jane’s, William. I guess I just kind of put them and Roxy Music in sort of the same music universe – not the same solar system, but the same universe.
Sigh. Michael, as I pointed out in the post, I have no problem with teenagers and young 20-somethings dropping references to things from 20-30 years ago. When that’s all they drop, however, it bugs me. In a recent issue of Ultimate Spider-Man (I think), a high school kid made a reference to Mr. Kotter, and everyone laughed. Come on – everyone in class got that joke? Please.
And Tim – I don’t call Ghost Rider “great” not because it doesn’t deal with Mooresian portents, but because I don’t love the art and I’m still not comfortable with the “bitches” being thrown about. It’s very entertaining, though, which surprises me, as I’ve never been interested in Ghost Rider.
Jon H
March 21, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Oh, also, among my social group in high school (85-89), it was not unusual to quote Jethro Tull or Zappa lyrics older than we were. On the other hand, we probably didn’t know any proto-Goth lyrics from the 70s.
- J
Greg Burgas
March 21, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Oh, and thanks for the info about Aja, Tim. That’s nice to know.
Jack Norris
March 21, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Ghost Rider?? I thought it was that guy from Last Defenders!
Jack Norris
March 21, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Seriously, if it’s essential to keep close track of everything in Previews, and pre-order everything just so that we can have half a chance that any good books come out at all, the whole situation is seriously fucked.
Tom Fitzpatrick
March 21, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Mr. Burgas,
Unfortunately, I agree with you on WASTELAND # 15. I was rather put off by the bizarre language (what’s wrong was putting an asterisk and a translation caption at bottom of the panel?) and had a hard time getting the gist of it.
I do realize that that series takes place in the distant future and certain tribes might have different languages in accordance to their urban living, but the readers should be able to understand it.
It’s not the only thing about WASTELAND that’s putting me off, it’s the irregularity of the publication. Is this book monthly (with an occasional skip-month)? It seems to me that this book gets later with each issue.
I agree with you on GRENDEL as well, but my only dismay about this series is that there’s only 3 issues left!
Dave
March 21, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Honestly, I thought this was the first good issue of The Programme since the dolls got to America. I mean, last issue’s sudden inexplicable race war and revelation that Senator Joe was actually black aside (which is really more a failing of the colorist than anything else,) this was one of the strongest, most character-driven issues in a few months. It’s not like this is the greatest series Milligan’s ever done or anything, but this issue was definitely good enough to convince me not to drop the series and stick through to the end (I was seriously considering dropping it after #8).
And man, Saltare’s art in The Order was like 12 kinds of ass. At its strongest points it looked like a shoddy knockoff of Sean Phillips, and then some of the panels (particularly Pepper removing her comm array and Henry on the last page) just made the characters look cruelly deformed. I wish they could have got Khari Evans back for these two issues, his work on #6 was some of his best.
Greg Burgas
March 21, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I liked the latest issue of The Programme too, Dave. It was just really weird. And it’s tough to comment on it because it’s so far into it that new readers aren’t going to pick it up, and I just don’t have a lot to say about it. The race war aspect is a bit odd, but it seems to be working out pretty decently.
I’m not sure what the schedule is on Wasteland, Tom. Maybe Johnston will come by here and tell us what it is! I definitely didn’t have as big a problem with the language as you did, but that’s because I like the book already. If you’re coming to it cold, it’s tough.
You’re right, Jack. That’s why the system is really screwed up.
Andrew Collins
March 21, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I don’t know, I’m 30 and my friends and I make all sorts of pop culture jokes from bands/movies/TV shows older than us. Then again, I get most of the jokes on MST3K too, so maybe I’m just nerdier than most…
And sadly Dark Ivory #1 wasn’t that good. I love Linsner’s artwork and thought he delivered there in spades. But the story…well, it just felt like nothing much happened. I know from what I’ve read of the character that she’s supposed to become a vampire. Well, how about have that happen in the first issue of the book! And then build from there. I really could have done without the riddled-with-cliches family dinner scene where we learn that *shock* she doesn’t get along with her Mom and stepdad and that *gasp* the family has to unexpectedly move, upsetting Ivory the drama queen. I just felt like we got long pages of what was supposed to pass as setup/characterization and instead it was just pages and pages of dullness…
I may come back to it in trade…
antony
March 22, 2008 at 6:27 am
Greg, Tom:
The WASTELAND schedule is monthly, with occasional skip months. We screwed up a little the last couple of months because we swapped issue #14 with the release of Book 2, which of course had a knock-on effect on #15, because that issue had already been solicited. By #16 it’s all back on track.
Did we shoot ourselves in the foot? Honestly, given that this is issue #15, I don’t think so. Realistically, is anyone going to pick the book up cold at this stage? I felt there was enough water under the bridge, and we’re established enough, that we could pull an issue like this off.
Tom, I absolutely hate asterisked translation boxes. I mean, really really hate them. But that aside, translating the Sandie-speak in this issue would have rendered the whole exercise pointless. To do that would be to gut the feel and atmosphere of the entire issue. The Sandies don’t just talk English with a funny accent – their speech and dialect influences their choice of words, and their social interaction. You can’t have one without the other. Sorry it didn’t work for you, but at least I can assure you all that I won’t be doing an issue like that again – it was fucking hard work!
TimCallahan
March 22, 2008 at 7:03 am
By the way, the teenagers I know, and I know hundreds of them (being a high school teacher and all) RARELY make any kind of pop culture references. Pop culture isn’t a big part of their lives. Their social lives don’t revolve around tv shows or movies the way ours did. Their lives revolve around IM and text messaging.
Interestingly enough, when they DO make pop culture references, it’s often to comic book movies–particularly 300, which I’ve heard mentioned a lot as “the greatest movie ever.” So, it would be pretty weird to have comic book characters referencing other comic books, right?
I know these are broad generalizations, but I don’t think the answer is as simple as “substitute some kind of 2005 pop culture reference in place of a 1985 pop culture reference.”
Lynxara
March 22, 2008 at 7:11 am
I think the issue with teenagers in comics is that since most of your comic writers now were comics fans, they were probably sort of nerdy and spend their teenage years rabidly consuming books, music, comics, whatever.
Most teeangers aren’t nerdy, though, and primarily interested in each other and socializing. There does seem to be a lot of interest in popular music (not necessarily pop, just very accessible stuff), but because that’s a major ingredient of parties and socializing.
Since I doubt most comics writers were on speaking terms with these kids back in the day, it’s probably hard to imagine their mindsets with a decade or so removing them from the experience. So high schools in comics always seem to make everyone there a lot dorkier; even the preps are picking on nerds in dorky ways.
Thok
March 22, 2008 at 7:53 am
If the codenames on the last page are accurate, the Rooks are all preexisting but extremely obscure characters.
Gravedigger and G.I. Robot are both war comic characters.
Faust is probably Sebastian Faust, the some of the better known Felix Faust.
Cinnamon is a female vigilante type, who’s typically a western comics character (although the original version has Hawkgirl connections also.)
All of the above have wikipedia articles, although Gravedigger’s is extremely meager.
Of the recent Catwoman arc, this is the only one I really liked. Given the alternative to a two story arc here was spending an extra issue trying to write Salvation Run stuff or spoiling the ending, I don’t mind the bit of padding out this issue had. (It amuses me that most of Catwoman’s Salvation Run tie in is actively ignoring what actually happens in Salvation Run.)
Mecha-Shiva
March 22, 2008 at 9:38 am
That does suck about the Circle. Not the greatest thing I’ve ever read, but perfectly entertaining and better than most of the top selling titles out there. As for getting the word out about new books… it’s hard. It seems like word of mouth doesn’t do much until there’s a trade out (or at least that’s my own experience trying to get other people into something), and for something that doesn’t sell out of the gate, that’s going to be too late.
sleeper
March 22, 2008 at 9:50 am
Sad story about THE CIRCLE.
You lay all the blame on geeky, character-obsessed fanboys for supporting mediocrity and denying greatness based on familiarity with an existing character set and you’re exactly right for doing that.
However, I have a tendency to look at the larger picture and blame the entire industry for deliberately catering to an audience who is afraid of change. Said geeky, character-obsessed fanboys should be a fringe of lunatics, rather than the fanbase ENTIRE. I’ve posited this argument before, but the comic book industry needs to move OUT of the Diamond-fueled comic book specialty store and INTO the mainstream book sellers… get away from that guy who buys THOR because he’s afraid of reading anything else and start putting products into the hands of fiction-reading adults who are looking for quality material instead of spandex-clad heroes they feel comfortable with.
Think about it: which book has more appeal to a general audience? THE CIRCLE or THOR? You’re crazy if you chose the latter over the former. It’s only in the upside down world of the Diamond-fueled LCS that a childish preoccupation with a familiar fictional construct would win out over good fiction.
I’ve said it a thousand times before and I’ll say it again: There’s nothing wrong with the comic book industry that the death Diamond’s direct market and the re-birth of the artform to a more widespread and receptive mainstream audience wouldn’t instantly solve. Hint: Look at manga.
RE: IVORY
I found this quote amusing: “Ivory and Samson are stereotypes, and I suppose it’s to Linsner’s and Hopkins’ credit that they at least make them aware that they’re stereotypes, but that in itself is a stereotype – the self-aware cliché! It’s as if they have these personality traits grafted onto them, and then, in a final ‘masterstroke,’ made aware that they don’t have real personalities. Blech.”
Maybe it’s because I had such a shitty experience in high school and maybe it’s because I generally disdain herd mentality, but I find that almost ALL teenagers are exact stereotypes and they love it. They wouldn’t have it any other way. Stereotypes give people neat little social roles to fill, which is much easier than thinking and provides an easily applied set of behaviors to latch onto.
This is why teenagers are such big supporters of clique-think and cliques in general. Your group determines everything about you, so you don’t need to go to the trouble and potential awkwardness of forging your own identity. Visit any high school cafeteria or social function and see what I mean. The goth kids are everything goth kids are supposed to be and daren’t waver from the formula. Same deal with band geeks, preps, indie snobs, drama fags, jocks, nerds, you name it. It’s awful, but it’s reality.
RE: THE ORDER
See, I have this theory… Every now and again, Marvel must introduce a fresh, well-written superhero book and then publicly SLAY IT in a sacrificial offering. You see, X-Men comics feast on the blood of dead original books. In order to fuel their ongoing crop of a dozen or more Wolverine comics, Marvel has to occasionally destroy a better comic to appease the Crap Gods.
It’s kind of like “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” or the latest episode of SOUTH PARK (the one featuring Britney Spears). THE ORDER must die so that X-FORCE may live. So it is written.
RE: IRON FIST
IF is the exception to the above rule. I have to keep pinching myself to remind myself that this book is still being published.
They’re not going to cancel IRON FIST are they? Please, no?
sgt pepper
March 22, 2008 at 11:03 am
I also know hundreds of teenagers and spend lots of time with them. Pop culture is a huge and important part of their lives. A very very few of them are familiar with some older references to music or movies.
My impression of the Goth-ish kids I know (and I know many) is that they are not very familiar with Jane’s Addiction.
sleeper
March 22, 2008 at 11:13 am
RE: Ennis
I haven’t read this newest book, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were mediocre. Garth Ennis, like Warren Ellis, has flashes of brilliance amid a very large handful of by-the-numbers beat-em-ups. I think we’d do well to stop calling him a genius, accept that he’s a good but not necessarily brilliant comic book writer and leave it at that. PREACHER was arguably a masterpiece and I’m OK if he doesn’t top it. I just don’t think he’s a brilliant visionary, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
How do you feel about THE BOYS? I think it has moments of very clever satire, marred by the fact that it’s largely a Millar-style shock-fest. It’s like a newer iteration of WANTED.
I might give this new WWI series a try, but I’m not expecting much.
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 11:14 am
Interesting points, everyone. I like the point you make, sleeper, about high school, because you’re right. When I was in high school, a bunch of friends and I would arrive early to the lunch room and sit wherever we wanted, even if those tables had already been “claimed” by whatever clique had claimed them. This would cause great consternation, because god forbid these cliques find a different freakin’ table for one day. In fact, the cheerleaders whined so much one time that the principal made us move, even though we had been there first. It was one of the oddest things I had ever seen in school. The herd mentality is definitely alive and well in high school!
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 11:15 am
I don’t like The Boys, sleeper. I bought the first (DC) arc, didn’t like it, and haven’t liked any of the random issues I’ve checked out since.
Dave
March 22, 2008 at 12:16 pm
As someone who’s been following The Boys since the beginning, I have to say, it’s one of the rare series I’ve read that actually does get better with each subsequent issue. That, thus far, has been the real pleasure of the series for me, that I’ve been reading for 16 issues, and with every issue, I actually feel like I’m learning more about these characters and the world they live in, and none of it has rung false to me yet.
Admittedly it is sold on its shock value, but to compare it to Millar seems a little disingenuous, given that Ennis has already given the principle characters more depth and nuance in 16 issues while writing in “shocking” mode than Millar managed in 25-26 issues of The Ultimates when he was actually trying to focus on storytelling over shock value.
As for War is Hell, I enjoyed it. It’s not as good as Enemy Ace: War in Heaven yet, but it’s certainly better than Battler Britton was.
TimCallahan
March 22, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Sleeper: I wonder what you mean about The Boys having moments of “very clever satire.” I like The Boys well enough, but I don’t see much satirical about it. Parody and farce, yes. Satire, not so much. What did you mean by satire?
text
March 22, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Sorry Mr. Burgas, I refuse to believe that the fanbois buying Thor or Hulk or whatever are the root cause of “critically-praised” books like The Order getting the shaft.
Try pisspoor marketing, poor promotion, too quick a trigger finger from the management as the actual problems. People are hesitant to get invested when they know Marvel, DC, or whoever will likely kill the project after 8 or so issues.
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 4:58 pm
That’s not really what I mean, text, although it’s part of it. For every comic you buy that you don’t “like” but simply buy for the character, you have less money to spend on things that might be out of youor comfort zone. Everything else you cite are probably bigger reasons, true, but I have actually heard people say they’re not going to buy something because it doesn’t star their favorite characters, no matter how good it is. Someone recently left a comment saying that Image’s superhero books – Invincible, Noble Causes, Dynamo 5 – are warmed-over knockoffs of Marvel and DC, which is a ridiculous statement, because those three books are better than almost every superhero book Marvel and DC are publishing. I know that a book like The Circle was doomed not because of fanboys buying everything with Thor in it, but the people who buy anything with Thor in it are far less likely to take any chances. It’s just a small frustrating part of the bigger picture, which is what you bring up.
Dan Bailey
March 22, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Wow … I knew you were pretty clueless about music & such from earlier installments of this column, but the Jane’s Addiction vs Roxy Music remark takes the cake.
For the record, I *despise* Jane’s Addiction in general & Perry Farrell (who has probably the most noisome voice in the history of pop music) in particular, but even today one is quite likely to hear, say, “Been Caught Stealing” on the nearest commercial radio station at least a couple of times a month.
Roxy Music? Infinitely better & more influential than Jane’s Addiction though they were, *maybe* you’ll hear frontman Bryan Ferry’s (post-Roxy) “Slave to Love” every few months. Maybe. But probably not.
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Gee, Dan, thanks for being such a complete dick. How nice of you. I’m not sure which remark you were talking about, unless it was the fact that I consider them in the same universe of music. My point is that neither is really “pop” and both tend to be somewhat liked by people who like independent-type music. I have never heard “Been Caught Stealing” on anything other than a station that considers itself “independent” or “rock,” and I have heard some Roxy Music on stations that will play Jane’s Addiction. You can argue the merits of both groups all day, and it doesn’t really matter.
I wasn’t aware I talk so much music here – I occasionally mention bands, but other than my love for Marillion and ABBA, I don’t think I’ve ever really taken a stand either way on a great deal of music. If you’ve gleaned my tastes from what I write here, good for you! I’m glad you’re so much more knowledgeable about music than I am. I bet that makes you feel pretty good.
Dan Bailey
March 22, 2008 at 6:05 pm
As for my “being such a complete dick,” hey … I do it so that you don’t have to, Greg.
(Yeah, I was ridiculously over the top — my apologies. And heck, it may well have been someone else here awhile back who said he basically had no use for Joy Division. *That* guy was, if not clueless, at least possessed of highly, highly questionable taste. [Was it you? I truly can't recall. It was some regular columnist here, at least.] Which, of course, we all are in some form or fashion. I mean, I prefer the Pogues’ stuff *without* Shane MacGowan, which seems to be utter heresy to most of the populace who has any clue who the Pogues are/were.
Where was I? Oh, yeah — what I was taking exception to, in my unfortunately dickish way, was the simple assumption that someone in high school would know Jane’s Addiction well enough to quote some song of theirs but wouldn’t know Roxy Music from a hole in the ground. In a just world that would indeed be the case … but I’m afraid I find the scenario you object to all too believable.
Then again, I liked the comic in question well enough. As I said, we’re all capable of cluelessness, me very much included.
Dan Bailey
March 22, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Make that “… the simple assumption that IT BEGGARS BELIEF that someone in high school …”
*sigh*
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Oh, I see what you’re saying, Dan. I honestly can’t remember if I said that about Joy Division. Of course, I don’t have much use for them. So yes, my taste is completely questionable!!!! And I like both iterations of the Pogues, frankly. So we’re both dicks, I guess
My ultimate point, of course, is that I doubt if these writers happened to ask teenagers or younger people what kind of pop culture reference they would make. That’s what really bugs me – that they look like teenagers but often don’t talk like most of the teenagers I knew 3-4 years ago, when I taught high school.
Sorry for flying off the handle like that, sir!
Dan Bailey
March 22, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I think I’m just harboring unprocessed anger at you for convincing me awhile back to expand my already-way-too-long pull-list to include Catwoman & Checkmate. And probably quite a few others, but those are the titles that come immediately to mind.
Looks like Hercules will be joining them, too. *Damn* you!
sleeper
March 22, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Tim (no. 27): You’re right… I meant to use the word parody instead of satire. Mea culpa.
THE BOYS feels like a nastier version of a MAD Magazine piece much of the time. I get that vibe a lot.
Dave (no. 26): You’re correct in that Ennis’ characters are more fleshed-out than Millar’s. He should be given that much credit. I just think the predominant theme of the comic is “deconstruction via shock-jock ‘tude” and that’s Millar to a T.
Lucion
March 22, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Greg, I am just curious why you sometimes write “#1 (of 4)” and other times “#5 (of eight).” I think I noticed this last week, too.
As for pop culture references, would most of us even recognize them if they weren’t written specifically for us? Not that I don’t see your point.
Apodaca
March 22, 2008 at 9:19 pm
No, Jane’s Addiction is not an indicator of people who like independent-type music. It is thoroughly mainstream and liked by people with mainstream taste.
Greg Burgas
March 22, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Hmmm, Dan. I guess post-Nirvana Jane’s became mainstream, but not when Nothing’s Shocking came out in 1988. Considering “metal” back then meant Winger and Richard Marx, Paula Abdul, and Young MC were the shit, Jane’s was a bit odd. These days, you’re right, but 20 years ago, not so much. I was a junior in high school when it came out, and nobody had ever heard of them. Luckily a friend of mine was a bit weird, so he introduced me to them.
Lucion: For some reason, when I type an “8″ followed by a closed parenthesis, it becomes an emoticon. I don’t know how to stop it, so I just write out the word “eight.” I wasn’t sure if anyone ever noticed!!!!
Mike
March 23, 2008 at 3:36 am
You know what really stinks about FX’s story? What kid over, oh, 4 years old goes around pointing his finger and going “P-Kew! K-Pow!”
The story stinks of an adult mis-remembering what kids are like, or worse, forcing his idea of “childhood” onto his (boring and poorly written) character.
A terrible comic, Byrne art notwithstanding.
Bryan
March 23, 2008 at 4:56 am
For what it’s worth, I did hear Roxy Music (a live version of “Love is the Drug”) on the radio yesterday on the alt-rock station, and I’ve heard “Been Caught Stealing” used in the morning show promos on the local sports talk station, so at this point in time I’d call it a wash on which band would more likely be known these days. The alt-rock station does play “Jane’s Says” very frequently, though, and the oldies station is the only other place I’ve heard “Love Is the Drug”, which is sporatic at best.
I had two Jane’s Addiction shirts in high school, so I was a pretty big fan at one point, but to be honest, unless they specifically pointed out in the comic that they were quoting from “Pigs in Zen”, I don’t think I’d even recognize a quote from that song; maybe the writer just liked the lines and stuck it in there for other people in the same age range to smile a little inside (“The kids these days are all right!”). I know that having graduated high school almost 13 years ago, I sure wouldn’t assume what I was listening to back then is what kids today would listen to.
“Early on, Jack mentions that they’re fans of The Cybernetic Man, a television show starring Austin Stevens. Obviously, this is a reference to The Six Million Dollar Man, but what makes it less egregious to me is that we, as readers, know that the two boys are talking about a television show from the 1970s, but it could easily be a show they watch in the present day, so it’s more likely they would be familiar with it.”
This is easily solved: the Bionic Woman remake that aired in the fall of 2007 made the boys wonder how cool it would be if a guy had those powers, discover there was such a thing 30 years prior, catch it on one of those nostalgia channels, are won over by its campy charms, shortly thereafter begin listening to Foghat.
Dan Bailey
March 23, 2008 at 7:46 am
Greg — 1988? *sigh* By that point I’d been immersed in punk & postpunk & name-that-adjective for a solid 10 years, so undoubtedly my perspective on what was & wasn’t “mainstream alternative” is going to differ sharply from yours, no matter what. I *do* recall, though, seeing a front-of-the-store island display for Nothing’s Shocking at the Tower Records in the French Quarter back then, which to me strongly indicates that Jane’s Addiction was not exactly a cult band per se, even at the comparatively early date.
(Also, don’t forget — they *were* on a major label. Pre-Nirvana, I don’t recall that being particularly common amongst “underground” bands, to the extent that when the Replacements & Husker Du signed with majors, it was sort of traumatic for lots of fans.)
Bryan — “Love is the Drug”? Clearly, your alternative station is way hipper than mine (which no longer broadcasts in this area anyway, the jerks). And I’m glad that you mentioned “Jane Says” (not that I can stand the song), because yeah, it gets a fair amount of airplay for a 20-year-old song, too.
Greg Burgas
March 23, 2008 at 9:42 am
That’s a good point, Dan. I definitely wouldn’t call them a “cult” band, but just because they were on a major label, I wouldn’t exactly call them mainstream either. They were certainly more mainstream than Husker Du, of course, but that was partly because major labels were snatching up anything they thought could be packaged as “hair metal” – Guns ‘N Roses being an obvious example of this. I have no idea if Warner Bros. thought Jane’s could fit in with Slaughter and White Lion, but they obviously couldn’t. But you’re right – they were better known than most completely indy bands, but they didn’t really take off until 91-92, when “Been Caught Stealing” crossed over (which is a shame, because it’s a lousy song) and Lollapalooza became a big thing.
I will point out that my copy of Closer by Joy Division was distributed in the U.S. by Warner Bros. Is that a later development (I didn’t buy it until years later), or did they license it from the tiny English label originally?
Dan Bailey
March 23, 2008 at 10:25 am
I’m not at all sure when Warners started distributing JD, but if they were doing so under the “Qwest” imprint, their releases of the LPs came in ’89. (First JD-related release on Qwest I ever saw, I’m pretty sure, was New Order’s Confusion 12″, circa ’83.)
Originally, Factory attempted to gain a toehold in the U.S. market on its own, with a separate “Factory USA” operation. Both studio albums, for instance, can be found in “Factus” editions (including my own copy of Unknown Pleasures).
Dan Bailey
March 23, 2008 at 10:46 am
Huh. By pure coincidence, even as I type I’m sitting by a very small stack of old Flipside punk zines that I haven’t gotten around to eBaying yet, & the cover of #52 (cover-dated Spring 1987) is a drawing of Jane’s Addiction. The cover also features the names of such unknowns as Half-Off, Short Dogs Grow & Bulemia Banquet, along with a few bands I’d seen (Agent Orange & Impulse Manslaughter … Scratch Acid sort of fits this category because I caught them in their more-or-less-reformed-identity of Jesus Lizard), as well as some outfit called the Beastie Boys. Whatever happened to those guys?
Anyway, if some A&R guy at Warners had signed Perry Farrell & co. under the impression that they “could be packaged as ‘hair metal,” I can only hope that he was summarily fired …
Remember, by this time Warners had already picked up the Pixies & the Jesus & Mary Chain (& undoubtedly quite a few other bands that my aging brain can no longer recall), so I’m pretty sure somebody there viewed alternative per se (as opposed to mistaken-identify hair metal) as commercially viable.
Jim
March 23, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I didn’t mind Wasteland, except that in my head, all the Sandies sounded exactly like Jar Jar Binks…..
Greg Burgas
March 23, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I very much doubt that was what Johnston was going for, Jim. I can see what you mean, though!
The label information is good to know, Dan. And I doubt if anyone would call the Pixies “mainstream,” even though they were signed by a major label. It’s all in radio play, I guess.
Just for fun, I checked out the “Top 100 songs of 1988.” The Top Ten are:
1. “Faith” by George Michael
2. “Need You Tonight” by INXS
3. “Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison
4. “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley
5. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses
6. “So Emotional” by Whitney Houston
7. “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” by Belinda Carlisle
8. “Could’ve Been” by Tiffany
9. “Hands To Heaven” by Breathe
10. “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood
Man, that’s some crappy music right there (remember Rick Astley?). In the Top 100, only “Sweet Child O’ Mine” comes anywhere close to the kind of music Jane’s Addiction was playing, so I don’t think we can call them “mainstream” back then. Only “Mountain Song” was released as a single from that album, and I can’t find how well it did, but it couldn’t have done very well. “Nothing’s Shocking” went gold, but that’s not too impressive.
Sorry, this trip down memory lane is kind of fun. It has, of course, nothing to do with comics or even if Ivory would be familiar with “Pigs in Zen,” but it’s still fun.
Bryan Levy
March 23, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I don’t think I saw anyone else mention this, but the first pop culture reference is actually the Catwoman cover, which is a reference to “Run, Lola, Run”. I realize it’s not in “teen” dialogue, but it’s still a “hipster” reference.
Greg Burgas
March 23, 2008 at 7:30 pm
That seems a bit vague to refer specifically to that movie, Bryan. I’m not saying it’s not, but it could easily have been referring to Forrest Gump as well! If Hughes drew the cover like a scene from the movie, it might have been more obvious. Maybe I should go ask Will Pfeifer if he thinks it’s a reference to Lola.
Dave
March 23, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Never Gonna Give You Up fucking owns. Even without the internet meme status, the usage of that song and “Together Forever” in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia were comedy gold.
Dan Bailey
March 24, 2008 at 5:51 am
Greg — Well, the simple fact that it’s headlined (or whatever the term is … I’m a newspaper guy) “Run, Catwoman, Run” lends credence to Bryan’s observation.
Not that I’ve seen that movie (or any of the Die Hard flicks, for that matter, which means those references in The Order — a title I’ll be genuinely sorry to see gone, though my wallet can certainly use the relief — went right by me … approximately 99.9 percent of what I watch is horror).
Kevin Riddle
March 24, 2008 at 7:00 am
*sigh*
Well, I would have been interested in “The Circle”, but by the time I found out about it the first issue had already come out. My shop didn’t get it, because it’s small, and the people that shop there have no taste. Also, it’s too late to get into something after it’s come out, because by then you’ve missed the 3 months prior mark of the archaic and annoying Diamond system. Quite frankly, I don’t have the time or the money to trawl through Previews and order stuff 3 freaking months in advance. It’s a stupid, crappy, and counter-productive system that seems designed to keep Marvel and DC on top. I’ll still order the complete set off of eBay thouugh.
Bryan
March 24, 2008 at 7:25 am
“Only “Mountain Song†was released as a single from that album, and I can’t find how well it did, but it couldn’t have done very well.”
I believe that “Mountain Song” was actually “banned” from MTV (there’s shots of a nude woman in it), which probably greatly impacted the overall success of the song’s airplay stats, but Warner Bros. had to have known that the band was pretty popular because it was released as a video single. Did they do that for anyone else but Madonna?
“Ritual de lo Habitual” also had very good opening week sales, so they had to have become really well-known between 1988 and 1990. However, it was released a year prior to Soundscan sales tabulation, when the sales sheets were done based on what record label-bribed store managers said sold, so it probably didn’t get as high as it should’ve, only making the Top 20. A year later, after Soundscan, “niche” artists such as Garth Brooks and N.W.A rocketed up to the top of the pop charts. Actual sales stats showing what people bought is what really killed all “successful” 1980s acts, not Nirvana.
BTW, “Pigs in Zen” isn’t on my vinyl version of “Nothing’s Shocking”. I wonder if they did that because they didn’t think the song was all that hot, or if a second version (the first on the self-titled Triple XXX) was deemed overkill? Oddly, Tiple XXX is thanked in the CD booklet, but their name is removed from the vinyl sleeve.
“Originally, Factory attempted to gain a toehold in the U.S. market on its own, with a separate “Factory USA†operation. Both studio albums, for instance, can be found in “Factus†editions (including my own copy of Unknown Pleasures).”
My Joy Division and New Order LPs are all through Polygram Canada (with the Factory logo on them); I think it’s only since the Universal-Polygram merger that they’ve become Warner releases here, so Factory may have had different major label partners depending on the territory. Or Quincy Jones wanted New Order so badly, he agreed to take their entire back catalogue. Either way, I don’t think the Factus stuff lasted too long. The only thing I’ve got with that catlogue number is an A Certain Ratio 12″.
Dan Bailey
March 24, 2008 at 8:19 am
(First off, I notice that I said above that my New Order Confusion 12″ was on Qwest. Duh: It was on Streetwise.)
Anyway, I just came across a Factus discography, to wit:
1 JD — Unknown Pleasures (7/80)
2 JD — She’s Lost Control/Atmosphere (9/80)
4 ACR — Do the Du(Casse) (1/81)
6 JD — Closer LP (7/81)
8 NO — 1981-1982 12″ (Temptation/Hurt/Everything’s Gone Green/Procession/Mesh) (11/82)
10 NO — Blue Monday 12″ (4/83)
12 NO — Power Corruption & Lies (5/83)
14 Section 25 — From the Hip LP (5/84)
16 Thick Pigeon — Too Crazy Cowboys (5/84)
17 v/a — Young, Popular & Sexy (5/87)
23 JD — Love Will Tear Us Apart (6/81)
50 NO — Movement LP (11/81)
In the midst of which, now & again, the very occasional “Factory of New York” & “Factory America” also came out in the early ’80s.
I have every record listed above except for the v/a & Thick Pigeons LPs, but I’m not nearly obessive enough (not to mention the fact that I’m at work) to check whether my copies of, say, From the Hip or Power Corruption & Lies are Factory or Factus.
Dan Bailey
March 24, 2008 at 8:21 am
Why, yes, my 25 or so years out of comics *was* spent immersed in punk, postpunk & the like, just in case anyone was wondering …
Hanz Gruber
March 24, 2008 at 11:34 am
Greg, after my, like, 23rd viewing of DIE HARD, I figured that Godunov’s character doesn’t understand what Rickman MEANS when he tells him to shoot the glass in German. Godunov’s asking, “What are you talking about?” or something to that effect, and Rickman repeats it in English for emphasis (and so the audience understands, of course.)
Greg Burgas
March 24, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Ah, that’s a good point, Herr Gruber. I always thought it was just so the audience could know what he was talking about, but if Godunov didn’t understand which “fenster” to shoot, that mitigates it a bit.
Bryan – yeah, now that you mention it, “Mountain Song” was banned from MTV. Corporate tools!
red-Ricky
March 25, 2008 at 1:27 am
So, umm…
If I’m going to give Hercules a chance based on your recommendation; where should I start reading?
Do I need to know who Amadeus Cho is?
Sorry, but I didn’t care too much for Marvel’s Civil Wank and/or Wanabee Warrior Hulk. Am I just too “out of the loop” for this series?
Greg Burgas
March 25, 2008 at 6:51 am
I would start with issue #112, red-Ricky. That was the first post-World War Hulk issue, and it begins this story arc. It summarizes what’s come before, so you don’t really need to buy anything earlier, and it’s not as good as the last two, but it’s very entertaining.
Apodaca
March 25, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I would definitely call The Pixies mainstream. They’re very well-known, and are firmly established in the alt-rock genre. My first exposure to Jane Addiction was through an L.A. radio station called KROQ. They are undeniably mainstream, and basically represent “the man” for L.A. rock radio. They’ve been playing JA since I was a little kid, so that indicates mainstream to me. If you want proof of KROQ’s mainstream pedigree, check out their website. They cater to “Bros”.
I can’t speak to how cult-ish JA was in ’88, but isn’t this comic set in the present day?
Greg Burgas
March 25, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Yeah, it was, Dan, and as I pointed out, today they’re pretty mainstream. But if you think the Pixies are mainstream, then you’re far weirder than I could ever be! (And, of course, I mean that in the best possible way.)
Alan Coil
March 28, 2008 at 5:43 am
Re: Herc—
Why are they using the faux-speak from Thor in a recap of a Greek hero? Shouldn’t they actually be talking about feta cheese and yaoi?