Comments on: Comic Book Alphabet of Cool!

By: Sebastien

Sebastien — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:50:21 +0000

If there’s ever a TOP 100 single-issue story I’ll vote for the Coyote story has #1.

I think that was the pivotal issue for that run.

By: Rebis

Rebis — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:32:07 +0000

I’ll second JC Calhoun’s defense of the Chas Truog art in Animal Man. It works perfectly for such a meta-comic.

By: Jeff Ryan

Jeff Ryan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:54:38 +0000

Q must be Quasar!

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:47:45 +0000

That’s not contradictory to what I said. Whether the subtext was apparent to you or not is irrelevant. It was subtext. The surface message (while said facetiously) was what I responded to. I’m not trying to argue that I didn’t misunderstand the intention of the post. That’s been made clear.

I’m just saying that I took it at face value, thus making my reaction decidedly not an assumption. I responded to what he said, regardless of the seriousness of it.

By: yo go re

yo go re — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:18:31 +0000

No, the irony was pretty clear. Unless him having his tongue planted so deeply in his cheek made it too hard to understand him when he spoke.

(of course, I’m joking, there: no matter how he’s speaking, it wouldn’t effect the way he types his message. This is just a typewritten format, so his natural voice has nothing to do with it! How silly a declaration that was!)

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:41:26 +0000

Not an assumption. That’s how you represented yourself, ironically as it may have been intended.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:50:36 +0000

I think it’s funny that Morrison set out to create a realistic hero – wife, kids, make mistakes etc – and then ended up using it as his way to comment on the nature of fiction by having that character become aware of it.
Just interesting to see how far, and better, he got from his idea for the initial four issues.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:32:31 +0000

It’s okay, GarBut, I was just about to tell Dan that was what you are doing.

Don’t worry, I got it at least, and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.

By: GarBut

GarBut — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Yeah, I know. But thanks for assuming that I didn’t.

Meta placeholders don’t really work on comment boards.

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:57:56 +0000

Then Grant had to go and introduce this meta â€œWriterâ€ characterâ€“obviously, Morrison in a wigâ€“and restore everything to happyland, with wife and kids breathing and intact. What a schmuck.

You deserve to be clued in before you embarass yourself any more. That was Morrison younger, longer hair. Not a thinly veiled placeholder, but the man himself. The return to the status quo was a commentary about the nature of fiction (and serial fiction, specifically) and how writers aren’t the master manipulators of the world they believe themselves to be. The fact is, Buddy Baker IS a fictional character, and because of that, he got a deus ex machina to work in his favor, as only a fictional character could.

One of the great defining features of Morrison’s run was how deliberate and undisguised his decisions as a writer were.

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:55:59 +0000

Buddy is one of the few characters on my short-list of Unkillable.

By: Sean Whitmore

Sean Whitmore — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:26:20 +0000

Resurrection Man didn’t turn out to be Immortal Man, did he?

I remember the Forgotten Heroes appeared at the end of that series, I just don’t remember anything they did.

By: jccalhoun

jccalhoun — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:16:35 +0000

When Buddy was reinserted into the DCU I was disappointed that his kids had reverted to the standard of not aging at all. The Animal Man series was a lot more realistic and had the kids age and it was sad to see them eternally stuck at their age they were when the series started.

The art in Morrison’s Animal Man was great. The perfect fit for the reality bending metacommentary that Morrison was doing. I can’t imagine anyone being a better fit.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:50:46 +0000

Fanboy nitpick: Morrison’s run on Animal Man was actually twenty-SIX issues, not twenty-five.

By: Mike Thompson

Mike Thompson — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:06:21 +0000

I have the entire series and after re-reading it about a year ago, I was struck by the rather below-average art. I didn’t bother me when I first read the series as it was released, but now the art is certainly a detriment.

By: yo go re

yo go re — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:30:39 +0000

Congorilla is going to be in the JLA? That’s weird! But hey, I like Congorilla, so I’m willing to give that a shot.

He also had a nice four-issue miniseries back in the ’90s, when DC would still do four-issue miniseries…

By: GarBut

GarBut — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:08:42 +0000

One ANIMAL MAN highlight (among zillions) was Grant’s cold but necessary decision to kill off Buddy’s entire family. Clearly, we understood, these characters were holding back the narrative. Clearly, it would be a more unpredictable book without them. In fact: a better book.

Then Grant had to go and introduce this meta “Writer” character–obviously, Morrison in a wig–and restore everything to happyland, with wife and kids breathing and intact. What a schmuck.

Still, if he hadn’t done that, Jamie Delano never would have been able to have Ellen flirt with lesbianism, or have one or other of the kids get kidnapped by a pedophile.

I have no idea what my point is. Signing off!

By: Kane

Kane — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:46:05 +0000

Don’t forget his place in Justice League Europe. That was a fun inclusion and kind of a surprise given how his own title quickly isolated him from the group.

By: fanboy d

fanboy d — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:52:41 +0000

looks like it’ll be a good feature, off to a good start!

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:09:32 +0000

Interesting how some of those other “Forgotten” heroes have made a comeback, one way or another. Suicide Squad got a complete revamp, Dolphin became a popular supporting character in Aquaman (and guest starred in Morrison’s Animal Man, to boot), Rip Hunter now has a firm place in the new Multiverse alongside Booster Gold, and Congorilla is going to be in the new Justice League.