Comments on: What I bought – 22 and 29 July 2009

By: Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles

Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:49:43 +0000

[...] Comic Book Resources Still ridiculously entertaining, surprisingly touching, and Wegener, not surprisingly, draws the crap out of it. I hope you’re getting the trade if you’re not getting the single issues. [...]

By: 3 million Years » Blog Archive » Captain Britain & MI:13 #15

3 million Years » Blog Archive » Captain Britain & MI:13 #15 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:44:01 +0000

[...] think this from CBR says it [...]

By: Random Stranger

Random Stranger — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:14:49 +0000

A Harding-themed Batman villain could finally return Gotham to a state of villaincy.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:37:45 +0000

“That’s why I always liked Tim Drake before DC decided to start, you know, slaughtering his family – he just wanted to be Batman because he thought it was the right thing to do, not because he had some childhood trauma.”

Well, that’s the thing – when Dixon (and David, although he didn’t touch on this aspect of the character as much) was writing him, he always made sure to emphasize that *Tim didn’t want to be Batman.* He was perfectly happy “putting his shift in as Robin” and then moving on.

Of course, then Johns and DiDido get involved with their “well, there’s no point to being an (ex-)sidekick if you’re not going to replace your mentor” kick (see also: Impulse turning into Kid Flash, the desire to kill off Nightwing), and we’ve got the beginnings of the mess the character’s currently in, with his entire supporting cast killed off to add teh angst.

By: Stefan

Stefan — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:47:42 +0000

Oh wow, I completely missed all those Hercules sound-effects, that’s brilliant! Eisner, definitely.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:26:17 +0000

Wow, I totally forgot the Coach character ever existed.

I need to reread X-Force. And X-Statix.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:39:56 +0000

I haven’t read Hellblazer yet, but it’s on my list to pick up, eventually.

Does anyone think Milligan makes poor decisions when killing off characters? For example, I’m reading Shade, the Changing Man right now. He killed off Kathy in issue 50, and the comic really suffers until about issue 60 or so.

I recently read the X-Force series he did with Allred. I thought the series started out with a bang. Great look at superhero comics. Then he kills Coach, and it takes about 8-10 issues to recover. As a side note, one of the best things about the Milligan/Allred X-Force issues is the letters page. It’s hilarious reading whiny comic fans crying about the new direction.

Anyway, just a thought on Milligan. Does anyone else share this opinion?

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:16:13 +0000

That’s true, Brian. I would argue that ninth-century Christianity (Christianity up until the early 13th century, in fact) was often very close to its pagan roots and definitely not as organized as it would be under the high medieval and Renaissance popes, so there was a bit more freedom for all. But yeah, the fact that the Church was more organized and despotic than anything the Vikings had meant that they were more able to exploit the common folk, and women in particular.

By: Brad Curran

Brad Curran — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:38:38 +0000

“Also: Neil Diamond’s sequins are totally part of some magic spell. For serious. You’ll see when I write my epic Neil Diamond: Crimefighter! comic where he goes around hitting criminals with a guitar, El Kabong-style, and faces off against his nemeses, Neil Simian, the Gorilla Guitarist, and Argh Deathfunkel, Cyborg Assassin.”

Your hypothetical Neil Diamond comic sounds a lot like my hypothetical Honky Tonk Man comic, except I you replaced my ’80s WWF themed apes with music ones. So, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

By: Brian Wood

Brian Wood — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:54:54 +0000

Sure, ‘rich’ being a crucial factor, but the Church was forever trying to devise ways of separating people from their money, and women, as second class citizens in the eyes of pretty much everyone, were easy targets.

By: Ethan S

Ethan S — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:47:05 +0000

Having recently acquired that hardcover of Kirby’s Demon, I have to say I love the Wednesday Comics version. Sure, Etrigan doesn’t rhyme all the time — but he didn’t when written by Kirby, either. Just once in a while, like at the last statement of this recent’s week.

I gotta say, though, going from Blood to Etrigan without doing a “Gone, gone the form of man” sequence? It feels hollow, somehow.

By: Michael P.

Michael P. — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:58:08 +0000

Blank verse *is* unrhymed iambic pentameter.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:36:41 +0000

Let’s see, Brian, there was …

Oh, sure, like I can give you names! As I’m sure you know, sources for the ninth century are pretty awful, but there’s evidence that, beyond life in a cloister (which came with its own freedoms and problems), rich widows could often resist the influence of the powerful men and live on their own (of course, if you were poor, you were pretty much screwed whether you were a woman or a man). Several law codes in, say, Merovingian France obliquely refer to stuff like this. Of course, according to the Norse traditions, MORE women in the pagan culture could live like the three women in your story, but it wasn’t impossible in the Christian world, just a bit harder.

By: Brian Wood

Brian Wood — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:08:32 +0000

“Quite a few Christian widows were able to live as Grettr, Lif, and Thyra could.”

Names, Greg, I want their names.

By: The Dude

The Dude — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:07:16 +0000

I thought that too when Gillen talked about The Smiths last issue as a “seminal band”. God, I hate them so much that the hate was almost transfered to the writer. But I can’t argue with his tastes and the love he feels for the series is clearly felt on his work so you gotta respect that

Plus he’s doing a great job with Beta Ray Bill which automatically makes him a good guy on my book!

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:44:55 +0000

Michael: He’s speaking in iambic pentameter, isn’t he? At least some of the time.

Dude: The funny thing is, I hate a lot of the characters in Phonogram. I don’t know how Gillen is making them so compelling when, if I met most of them in the real world, I’d loathe them like you do. And a lot of the music references go way over my head, so the ones I do get don’t bother me too much. If Gillen wants to like the Pixies, that’s cool. I never get bent out of shape if people like something I think blows.

By: The Dude

The Dude — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:13:43 +0000

I’ve bought every issue of Phonogram so far purely because of the art. It’s just beautiful stuff but I can’t love it as much as you, Greg. The characters in the series represent exactly the type of douchebag music-snob that I loath. Also, in this issue the Pixies are mentioned in the back text in glowing terms. I seem to remember that you called them a shitty band once. Comments?:-)

Another “Fuck Yeah” moment in Secret Warriors was the “recoil” one-liner 2 issues back. And I agree that the Warriors should fuck off and let Fury have his solo series

By: Chris McAree

Chris McAree — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:59:47 +0000

I felt like a fanboy when DH showed up in Captain Britain. One small caveat is I always preferred the original green-bodied version….but I haven’t enjoyed a guest/cameo appearance as much in a comic since….well…..ever!

Thank you Mr Cornell!

By: Michael P.

Michael P. — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:56:23 +0000

The Demon may not be rhyming, but he *is* speaking in blank verse. And I’d include a wiki link to what that is if I knew how.

And screw all you haters, I love Wednesday Comics Wonder Woman.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:43:27 +0000

Bill: Well, I hope whoever did those sound effects gets a special Eisner for Awesomeness.

And I love Neil Diamond. Maybe one day I’ll use him for totally random lyrics, and you’ll be all over it!