Comments on: What I bought - 29 October 2008

By: Agent_Torpor

Agent_Torpor — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:19:32 +0000

Bruce Jones' Checkmate run may be one of the worst runs i've ever had the misfortune of buying and reading. Why? I was genuinely curious at how bad it could get, and sadly it wasn't cool, campy bad, but just boring bad. And that's unforgiveable.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:32:52 +0000

I know, Pedro, but the fact that he uses them instead of turning this into something more heroic is appreciated.

By: Pedro BouÃ§a

Pedro BouÃ§a — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:33:58 +0000

"...itâ€™s the small touches that Ennis throws into this issue that makes it worthwhile, like the fact that the women get antiquated aircraft and the extra fear of female prisoners that make two of them take drastic steps when their plane is downed."

All from real life, you know?

Best,
Hunter (Pedro BouÃ§a)

By: Bryan Levy

Bryan Levy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:40:14 +0000

The thing that bugs me about Checkmate is that Jones totally dropped the ball, especially considering what he is doing in War That Time Forgot. Checkmate should be the "JSA" os DC's war books. Finding "legacy" characters, like say Sgt. Rock's hypothetical grandson, or Enemy Ace's hypothetical whatever. A new version of the Losers, Johnny Cloud, the Veteran from Robin, that is what should have been going on in Checkmate. Bruce Jones knows these characters could exist, he's using them in WTTF, I'm just confused as to why he went in the direction he went in.

By: ZZZ

ZZZ — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:20:00 +0000

I didn't read Amadeus's attitude as his ignoring the fact that Artume will probably try to kill him after sex as much as a combination of overconfidence that when the time comes (emphasis on the "after sex") he'll be able to think his way out of it just like he's thought his way out of everything so far and the universal teenage belief that one's first romantic relationship is different than every romance that anyone else has ever had and that people who warn you that you might get hurt "just don't get it" (in other words, sure, she'd try to kill anyone else, but that's because she hasn't met the right guy yet - "What we have is special!! - possibly backed up by the fact that he knows Hippolyta didn't try to kill Hercules after they were together).

By: Brian Wood

Brian Wood — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:50:45 +0000

"Perp" was a choice I made, obviously, and if someone had told me it didn't belong, I would have still kept it in there. I took a little bit of license with it since the word originates in the 1500's, but its not as modern as one would assume. Plus its the best word for the situation.

It all goes back to this language thing. Technically speaking, NO english words should be used in Northlanders, since they didn't speak it. So everything is a translation, and I'm pretty sure they had an equivalent of perp back then.

And Greg, I dont even think you bait me, and I honestly like to see what you think. You are right, that there was no Irish nationalism back then, or unified occupation, but as you already figured out, its a good shorthand to tell the story. In this case, the mere presence of the Norse in positions of authority is enough of an occupation for Magnus. And they were in authority, or they were administrators in a sense... they taught the Irish how to live in cities (and founded Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Leister, etc), taught them coinage and created a merchant class. So they were enough of "the man" for the purposes of the story. And they were certainly reviled by the natives.

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:57:44 +0000

Yeah, Checkmate actually ended at issue 25. What we got for the last six was Chimera, a weak-assed mini that wouldn't have sold...so they attached Checkmate's name to it.

By: Bob-el

Bob-el — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:53:08 +0000

This is all you bought? You barely scratched the surface of good and/or interesting stuff out this week. Thor, for example, was poetic and grand in a most amazing way.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:23:06 +0000

He's smart, but he still has testicles.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:27:50 +0000

Th panel in Herc where Hercules gives Amadeus the thumbs up made me burst out in laughter. Great comic.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:38:31 +0000

I'm enjoying Northlanders, but I hope they change the word 'perp' in this issue when it goes to trade. Somebody should have realized it doesn't belong in this story.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:24:39 +0000

Good point, Michael. I thought Amadeus was supposed to be smart, though!

I'm glad you like the Wasteland trades, Guy. I'm always nervous when someone buys something based on my recommendation, so it's good to hear that you enjoyed it!

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:19:54 +0000

Namorita was Namora's clone.

As for Amadeus, Greg, as a father and teacher, you should know that if you tell a teenager something he doesn't want to hear, he will ignore it.

By: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:41:24 +0000

Hey, Burgas! Still checking in on you via RSS now and then and wanted to tell you that I picked up the first two volumes of Wasteland based on your reviews of the first arc and enjoyed them a lot. Glad to see a new arc is starting up because I'm looking forward to getting Vol. 3 ASAP!

As for Huizenga, I don't get the love, either. His work isn't bad, it's just not notably good, either.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:28:55 +0000

Sorry, Namora. My bad. I don't know what her relationship to Namorita is.

By: Walid

Walid — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:00:50 +0000

And Namora is...her mother? Or was Namorita a clone? Their relationship always confused me...

By: Biggles

Biggles — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:14:49 +0000

Sorry to lower the tone but just what is namor meant to be doning on that Herc cover!!!!!

By: Scott Free

Scott Free — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:15:55 +0000

Totally agree about Checkmate; out with a whimper.

By: HCE

HCE — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:29:04 +0000

It's actually Namora.

By: Trebbers

Trebbers — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:15:41 +0000

Re. Kevin Huizenga

Or Else #5 was kind of a letdown. I liked it well enough, but it's not his best work. 'Lost and Found' and some of the other stories he has on his site (http://usscatastrophe.com/kh/issues.html) are a better introduction to him, I think. Also, it's not clear, but the link to 'Ganges #1' on that page leads to the first story of that book as well.