Comments on: What I bought – 4 September 2008

By: Mark_Andrew

Mark_Andrew — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:40:28 +0000

Man, I keep thinking Boy Who Made Silence Sounds Awesome, and I keep forgetting to look for it. I’ll definitely try to get the six-pack.

By: Thomas Mauer

Thomas Mauer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:29:33 +0000

Thanks for the continued support and praise of Josh’s great book, Greg! We all really appreciate it.

Danar, BOY #6 is the end of volume 1 and you do get a satisfying mid-series ending. AAM/Markosia is releasing an issue 1-6 pack in November for people to get a chance to get the singles if they missed them, and we’re working on a TPB release to tide you all over for the second volume as well.

This series is one of the most satisfying project’s I’ve worked on yet, and it’s helped me grow immensely as a letterer just by taking some cues from Josh. Stay tuned for more from him, and if you’re ever in San Francisco, make sure to catch one of his gallery exhibitions. He’s a genius.

Best,
-Thomas Mauer

By: T.

T. — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:33:30 +0000

yeah, Cully Hamner was the only redeeming part of Blue beetle for me. I actually liked the artwork. Lord knows it wasn’t the “humorous” dialogue. Especially some of the inane narration captions that cluttered the page with unfunniness: “I jump into the fight. Then I remember: I can’t fight.” LOL…not.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:45:06 +0000

I didnâ€™t read Blue Beetle past the first issue due to the inconsistent and often horrible artwork, but it was a really promising set-up, and Iâ€™d be curious to check it out if they got a permanent artist.

For the first seven or so issues the book Cully Hammer was the artist, and after he left Raphael Albuquerque took over.
Apart from the odd fill-in, the book has had a pretty consistent look, with a permanent artist.

By: Pedro BouÃ§a

Pedro BouÃ§a — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:48:27 +0000

For the record, Marvel has still half of the Universal War One series to publish – and the next issue kicks MAJOR arse!

I have no idea why they numbered that as “3 of 3″, though.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro BouÃ§a)

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:16:35 +0000

That’s fine, KRose – like I wrote, I’m sure I’m not going to change your mind. It’s your opinion, and although it’s one of those things I wish we could get past, it’s also one of those things that many people probably never will. The damage in this world is done by people who want to impose their values, and I have no problem with you thinking that as long as you don’t force others to think it.

It’s still a good comic, though!

By: Suzene

Suzene — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:15:41 +0000

Marc -

It just made my day that you used the l-word in relation to Damon and Todd. Now I’ll be waiting for the rings.

By: KRose

KRose — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:35:06 +0000

I guess, it just those pesky conservative, small-town, God-fearing values that keep from enjoying a good gay kiss. Thanks, but no thanks. Not sure where you’re from, Greg, but most people I know still find a gay kiss to be something that turns them off. Now the fact that I can enjoy seeing Pantha’s head flying off may indicate that I need to see a psychiatrist, but a men kissing will always make me queasy.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:21:13 +0000

Sorry, R. J. When I wrote it, I thought it looked weird, but I got locked into it (blame my Latin background) and I didn’t think anymore of it. Confound those French and their spelling! But you’re wrong about the Gabriel song. It’s definitely “Solsbury.” For the first decade or so after I heard that song, I thought it was “Salisbury” too, but then I saw it written, and I wanted to tell Gabriel he spelled it wrong! But I guess he knows …

Sheesh, KRose, I know I’m not going to change your mind, but I’m with Andreyko – what is so gross about two adults in love sharing a kiss? Even if you don’t want to see porn in your comics (straight or gay), which you might find disgusting, there’s really nothing wrong with a kiss.

By: KRose

KRose — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:15:45 +0000

“what, exactly, is so gross about two adults in love sharing a kiss?”

Well, the fact that they’re men makes it a bit gross to me. You sound surprised that someone would actually be turned off by a gay kiss. It’s not something I find attractive or entertaining at all. I knew that there were gay characters in Manhunter, but I just tolerated that aspect of the book so that I could enjoy the well-told and smart story-telling that was presented. This has just crossed line in my book, and I am not willing to spend my $2.99 on something that is going to genuinely disgust me. So I repeat my thanks to the reviewer for his warning.

By: marc andreyko

marc andreyko — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:41:31 +0000

KRose-

“disgusting”, really? what, exactly, is so gross about two adults in love sharing a kiss?

marc

By: R. J. Sterling

R. J. Sterling — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:29:54 +0000

It’s spelling-correction time! “Je ne sais QUOI”. And shouldn’t it be “SALISBURY Hill”?

By: KRose

KRose — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:28:53 +0000

Actually I am quite grateful that you warned me about the Manhunter issue. I have no desire whatsoever to see two men kiss, so I will avoid buying that comic. That’s pretty disgusting. I haven’t found the comic that interesting since it came back from limbo, anyway.

By: Nitz the Bloody

Nitz the Bloody — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:34:27 +0000

” I was totally agreeing with your Iron Man review until you held up Blue Beetle as an example of a good comic. That book is just Ultimate Spider-Man except with reeeaaaallly corny jokes. And the dialogue always was too self-consciously trying to sound clever and cute and fell on its face, sort of like Joss Whedon Buffy characters. ”

I didn’t read Blue Beetle past the first issue due to the inconsistent and often horrible artwork, but it was a really promising set-up, and I’d be curious to check it out if they got a permanent artist.

And while dialogue writers like Whedon, Fraction, Ellis, PAD, and Morrison get a lot of flack for their ” cleverness “, I have to say that I can’t stand characters who speak WITHOUT a distinct style. There are plenty of people in real life who talk without conscious wit or creativity. When I read fiction, I prefer that the characters respond to their situations with more interesting speeches. Especially in superhero comics; characters who acknowledge the absurdity of their world make it much easier to suspend disbelief than characters who play everything straight.

( This might be why I have difficulty enjoying many Brubaker works; he’s an incredibly gifted craftsman from a story perspective, but to many of his characters speak pedantically. Fortunately, with Fraction as his partner, his Uncanny X-Men run has improved dramatically ).

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:30:47 +0000

Let’s see: Marc Andreyko’s gay. Jose Villarrubia- he’s gay too, right?

And look who they got to draw the issue: Michael GAYdos!

It really is a conspiracy. Consider my eyes averted! I’m off to read something wholesome, like those Left Behind books.

By: T.

T. — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:17:05 +0000

And yet further evidence that T. is my Earth-3 counterpart.

How do you know I’m not the Earth-1 guy and YOU’RE the Earth-3 counterpart.

Either way it doesn’t matter as being from either Earth would make me a DC character, which would suck.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:52:53 +0000

Uh-oh, Greg. We’re going to have another Northstar debate on our hands, you mark my words…

…Yeah, I dropped Iron Man last month because I just couldn’t stand the way the characters came off. The dialog just seems too forced to me. As if we’re going to forget how grounded in contemporary reality the series is supposed to be, so we’d better insert some random celebrity references or nods to social commentary in the news so that the readers go “Oh that Iron Man, he’s SO right now!”

Although I will say this is the least obnoxious that Pepper Potts has been in years.

By: Suzene

Suzene — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:44:46 +0000

I dunno, Jbird. We’re talking about a crew where one of them somehow assumed that sleeping with Scandal’s girlfriend would not lead to his immediate and messy death, one who displayed his attraction to a woman by licking her, and another who had his manbits removed because they weren’t as bendy as the rest of his body. Relationships and the emotions related to such might not be their area of expertise. Or they might have just been trying to snap her out of it as opposed to cheering her up, but I prefer to think they’re just that clueless, as it makes Blake’s pursuit of Huntress that much more of an impending train wreck.

By: Jbird

Jbird — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:22:04 +0000

I liked Secret Six a lot, but was honestly weirded out a bit by the scene with Scandal. I guess it was a nice Final Crisis-style send-off for Knockout but not even supervillains would try to cheer someone up who’s mourning her dead girlfriend by hiring a hooker to dress up like . . . her dead girlfriend.

By: marc andreyko

marc andreyko — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:18:29 +0000

damn! you discovered the secret plan of the GAY AGENDA! curses upon you, sirrah!

(and FYI rupert evert doesn’t make sense to ME.)

marc andreyko
writer, “manhunter”