Comments on: Comics Should Be Good Mailbag for 10/29

By: Steve B

Steve B — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:32:30 +0000

Daniel W., Yes I remember that one now too, I definitely remember seeing Wolverine in there. Blackjak and ken, thanks for the heads up on those others and Brian thanks for answering my questions.

By: Anthony Cheng

Anthony Cheng — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:46:17 +0000

Since art has an element of craft, I think on one level, a young writer or artist simply hasn't had enough time to develop good-looking hands or realistic-sounding dialogue (for example). Plus there's a sea of 40-year-old pros out there looking for work who have (hopefully) demonstrated ability to hit deadlines, maturity to handle professional relations, etc. So it's a desperately uphill climb. In fact, I might have to amend my own statement from "phenomenal" to "transcendent." Not to discourage anybody ...

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:21:21 +0000

Fair enough, Anthony - "really good/exceptional" can work in place of "good."

What I meant to say is that if you draw an independent comic book at a level commiserate to a standard Marvel or DC artist (which is far from impossible), then Marvel and DC will likely notice you.

By: Anthony Cheng

Anthony Cheng — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:22:05 +0000

"If you draw, however, then that is generally a pretty level playing field - if you can draw, you will likely find some writer who needs an artist, and if Marvel and DC see it, they WILL try to hire you if youâ€™re good." I thought this was painted with overly optimistic gloss. Most working artists I know will readily admit they were butt-awful in their teens (in fact, most aren't happy with the page they completed yesterday ...). I would amend the last statement to "if you're PHENOMENAL." Surprised by your lukewarm response to TDK. Aside from some pacing issues (clearly this was a 4 hour movie at some point) and decidedly tacky dialogue in places, I thought the movie was excellent. Certainly better than "competent." It's interesting how the only non-enthusiastic responses I've heard or read about the movie have been from comic book diehards, not the general public or even casual comic fans.

By: Chris McAree

Chris McAree — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:49:36 +0000

Revert back....grr
Old adage....snarl
Very unique....Chris smash puny grammar and syntax!

By: Chris McAree

Chris McAree — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:47:54 +0000

I like the Hulk-morph.....but was disappointed at the lack of purple pants!

By: Da Fug

Da Fug — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:55:30 +0000

Thanks for your review. The rest of the mailbag was also a fun read.

By: ken

ken — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:48:58 +0000

I believe there was an issue of Thor, during Simonson's run, in which Clark and Lois make a one-panel cameo.

By: T.

T. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:37:16 +0000

By the way Brian, you have sly yet rugged good looks.

By: T.

T. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:30:03 +0000

I disagree on Dark Knight being a smarter movie than Die Hard. Was it more pretentious and aspiring to be smart than Die Hard 4? Yes. Actually smarter? No. It was relentlessly stupid and plot-hole ridden to JephLoebian levels. If you are willing to be objective, you will notice a new gaping plot hole every five minutes of the movie.

This doesnâ€™t mean, of course, that you shouldnâ€™t enjoy the movie - Dark Knight was an enjoyable movie, although I think itâ€™s fair enough to note that the film seemed to want its proverbial cake and eat it, too, by having it be a rollicking action film while also being â€œrealisticâ€ - itâ€™s extremely difficult to mix the two,

No, the movie's action sequences were actually quite poorly shot and frenetic, not rollicking. The movie tried to have its cake and eat it too by being "realistic" yet having a plot so filled with unbelievably stupid and nonsensical plot twists that it required incredible amounts of suspension of disbelief and acceptance of the most unrealistic premises you could imagine.

Look at the plot holes I point out on my site:
http://therawness.com/why-i-hated-the-dark-knight/

Some good plot holes some other guy found:
http://lhote.blogspot.com/2008/07/dark-knight-plot-hole-repository.html

Once you riddle your movie with that much unbelievable twists and stupid premises, you might as well let the joker have white skin and green hair instead of makeup and a bad dye job.

Not smarter than Die Hard 4 by any stretch of the imagine, and Die Hard 4 was also superior in rollicking action as well.

By: Blackjak

Blackjak — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:09:38 +0000

I remember an issue of Fantastic Four where She-Thing mentions that she and Ben went to see "Batman" and he loved it...

That might have been the same issue with a Clark and Lois cameo...

Re: Watchmen... As annoying as the textual "extracts" at the end of each issue are, they really add an awful lot to the story... First time through I skipped them and didn't quite see what the fuss of Watchmen was all about... then I read it again and included the text pieces... That is the only worry I have about the movie... How will they ever incorporate that into it??

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:20:11 +0000

Jae Lee started working at Marvel at a young age- I seem to recall he was 17 when he started on Marvel Comics Presents, or maybe the Excalibur special in which he drew a few pages.

By: Carl

Carl — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:11:33 +0000

I'd like to comment that the story about the Skrull Queen did have an Avenger in it. Jessica Drew was never an Avenger, so technically Veranke is an Avenger since she was the one offered membership. After all, Wonder Man was considered an Avenger during his original "dead years", despite only having joined as a spy/traitor.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:21:08 +0000

Iâ€™m hurt, boss.

You could have at least mentioned to Mr. V. that yeah, he DID miss something on the blog.

Hey , I said that it HAS been brought up before!

By: Daniel W.

Daniel W. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:49:39 +0000

Regarding Steve B's second question, there's a spread in Grant Morrison's first arc on JLA showing a bunch of supervillians executed by the Hyperclan. I don't have the issue handy, but I remember seeing at least the corpses of Dr. Doom and Wolverine there.

By: Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:29:50 +0000

I'm hurt, boss. You could have at least mentioned to Mr. V. that yeah, he DID miss something on the blog.

By: Matt D

Matt D — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:14:42 +0000

Man, Cronin. It's one thing to expect comics should be good, but movies, too? What else? Decompression isn't nearly as bad as it was four years ago. I think that's why I'm liking Marvel way more than I was back when everything was shoehorned into six issue arcs. Also, Watchmen's great and all, but yeah, everyone is really unlikable. The idea of spending 3 hours in a movie theater following these characters without the ability to take a break between issues or what not isn't something I'm particularly looking forward to.

By: Chris Jones

Chris Jones — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:36:51 +0000

Dude-c'mon.

I'm not THAT bad.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:35:40 +0000

If Marvel hires Christopher Paolini, I swear to God I'll set the place on fire.

By: Chris Jones

Chris Jones — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:13:48 +0000

Hey Brian. Thanks for answering my question! I'm actually going to be at the APE this weekend touting a series me and my artist have been working on. It might not be an "independent hit", but I honestly think it's good enough to get published. That'd sure be a gas, though, wouldn't it?