CSBG Archive
Random Thoughts! (November 16, 2010)
Random Thought! It’s two pm on Tuesday. I guess I should write this, right? It’s random thoughts time! Get excited!
Link Thought! GraphiContent for comics. butterbeatleblog for popculture (despite it not being updated lately… at all).
Random Thought! You should really get the two Wildcats Version 3.0 trades that DC are putting out. I am bothered by the second one not including the “Coup D’Etat” tie-in special since it’s essential as far as I’m concerned. Then again, none of the trades of Wildcats volume two included the 2000 annual or the Ladytron special. But, those were also mistakes. Trust me, I’m the expert when it comes to this sort of thing. (That also means if you have the trades and don’t have those other comics, you need them, because your reading experience is incomplete and, therefore, unfulfilling.)
Random Thought! Despite his generally lacklustre comics work, Babylon 5 is still worthwhile J. Michael Straczynski writing. Someday, I’ll get Tim to watch it. And he’ll like love it.
Random Thought! But, you might ask yourself, what comes after “The War of the Green Lanterns?” How does he raise the stakes then?
Random Thought! I love Supertramp more than I love Superman. (Hey, I’ve never read a Superman comic as amazing as the piano in the song “Crime of the Century.” If you can compare such things.)
Random Thought! For the past few weeks, my shop has had a bunch of Marvel trades and hardcovers for 50% off. Extras from the company or distributor or something. I’ve avoided looking through them until now, but I got a big paycheque on Friday and can finally treat myself to some stuff. I’m hoping for two or three things I’ve been looking for, but we’ll see. With these things, it’s a crapshoot. Plus, who knows what will still be around after a few weeks of the sale.
Random Thought! I had a pretty regular weekend shift at work this weekend. I’m the only person in my section from 8am-8pm on Saturday and Sunday. It’s at a customs broker; I help clear shipments by sending the info to customs ahead of time. Up until now, I’ve had music via the phone (as offices often have the option to turn music on). Nice and low so as to not prevent me from hearing things — plus, the music disappears when I’m using the phone. But, the station of choice for my office switched to Christmas music and I’m not spending 24 hours each weekend listening to Christmas music from now until they decide to stop playing it sometime in January. So, brought in a small, portable stereo my girlfriend has and spent Sunday listening to the first Neil Young Archives box-set. Somehow, that didn’t last the entire day.
Random Thought! The new work schedule is weird. I saw that a local movie theatre was going to be showing The Maltese Falcon on Sunday at 7pm. I was a little annoyed that I wouldn’t get a chance to see it on the big screen, but decided to just watch it on DVD instead since Michelle hadn’t seen it. She enjoyed it and I just love it. But, then, I see that the theatre is showing it again on Wednesday! I don’t really want to see it again so soon, though. Apparently, this is the first in a series of showing older movies, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for more. Why couldn’t the listing show EVERY scheduled showing? (Plus, tickets are only five bucks, which is a nice incentive…)
Random Thought! I will no longer be buying Knight and Squire. It’s best for everyone that way.
Random Thought! While I’ve really enjoyed The Thanos Imperative, I’ve never been able to lose the lingering feeling that Abnett & Lanning’s Thanos is, somehow, fundamentally different from Starlin’s. Granted, I automatically see Starlin’s Thanos as being ‘real’ and everything else as being ‘fake,’ that doesn’t mean they’re actually different, I’m just putting them into different categories of canonical value based on who wrote the character, not how well the character was written. DnA’s Thanos is less calculating, more passionate, more of a thug, I find. More willing to get lunge at someone and beat them senseless. Starlin’s Thanos wasn’t afraid (or incapable) of physical violence, he usually used his brains a lot more. I haven’t studied the DnA Thanos with this problem in mind, but I may soon… there’s a blog post in there, I imagine. You’ll note, too, that I didn’t say I didn’t like the DnA Thanos, just that it’s different from the Starlin Thanos.
Random Thought! Seriously, put “Crime of the Century” on your headphones and turn it full blast. The instrumental with the piano, drums, etc. is amazing.
Random Thought! For the record: if anyone doesn’t like my one-line snarky bits or don’t like the way I’ll dismiss hard work in one sentences sometimes, you can’t like/appreciate the times I praise things with one sentence either. You can’t have it both ways. Either one-line statements of opinions are worthless and offensive, or they’re not.
Random Thought! I don’t know if I ever said it, but “Ultimate Avengers 4″ turning out to be Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates is what I figured would happen. Millar said that he was doing four six-issue arcs and the subplot of the first three have clearly pointed towards Nick Fury making an overt powerplay and that leading to the Ultimates and Avengers having to take one another on. Which is fine by me. Its involvement in a crossover with Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man, on the other hand, is problematic.
Random Thought! Astonishing Thor: yes or no? I was initially dismissive of the title, but I’ve really liked Robert Rodi’s writing on For Asgard. I do hate Mike Choi’s art and find it the wrong aesthetic for Thor, but I can look past that sort of thing. Maybe I’ll give the first issue a shot. Maybe keep my reviewing streak of almost every recent Thor book alive at the same time. (I think the only one I’ve missed is First Thunder. Otherwise, I believe I’ve reviewed the first issue of every other Thor title to come out in the past few months. Why? Because, that way, you can find all of those reviews and know which Thor books are worthwhile.)
Random Thought! Though, despite my positive review of the first Fraction/Ferry issue of Thor, that comic is close to getting dropped after two very unimpressive issues. The second was a repeat of the first, while last week’s 617 was… well, unless there’s a very, very good explanation for Thor bringing back Loki (and, no, because Fraction wanted the character back isn’t good enough), then that’s just bad writing. I’m not one that demands writers adhere to a strict characterisation, but Thor bringing Loki back ‘just because he wants to’ is, pretty much, in total opposition to his character. Thor is a comic that I stick with longer than others because of my fondness for the character, so I’m giving the new creative team six issues total to win me over. So, three more.
Random Thought! Now, whether or not I bother with that Thunderstrike mini… that is still open to debate.
Random Thought! Jeff Lester and Graeme McMillion$ delivered their best episode of Wait, What? with episode 16.1. Go listen, it’s fantastic.
Random Thought! Post-Hodgson Supertramp doesn’t exist. Just so you know.
Random Thought! I wanted to like the first issue of Halcyon more than I did, but it was a perfect example of not starting the story in the right place. The entire issue felt like a teaser for the real story: crime has disappeared, what do the superheroes do now? Great concept, but an entire issue of them figuring out that crime has dropped? Pretty dull. It’s not a great way to introduce the characters and it’s not how you grab readers right away. I don’t know why, but I’ve read a couple of first issues in the past month that I would have loved to edit to make better. The other was the first issue of Warriors Three where half of the issue is wasted on backstory and stuff AIM was doing when it could have started with the Warriors Three trying to figure it all out… like they begin to do near the end of the issue. It’s frustrating to see good ideas not presented as strongly as they could be — and in obvious ways. I love being an armchair quarterback.
Random Thought! The role of fate in the world of the Asgardians is a great idea to base a series on and I’m digging how For Asgard isn’t hitting the reader over the head with that element of the story. If Ragnarok is fate, why do they fight against it? It will happen… so why try to stop it?
Random Thought! I haven’t decided about doing “Dreadstar Decemember” yet, but I’m leaning in that direction. My plan would be to lead into the month with the final three days of November doing The Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Price, and Dreadstar: The Graphic Novel and, then, doing the first 31 issues of Dreadstar, one per day, for December. That would cover the main Starlin written/drawn stuff (he had someone draw an issue in the middle of that run somewhere…), while leaving the Starlin-written-but-not-drawn and Peter David-penned stuff for another time. I’d maybe do the rest of the Starlin run at the beginning of January depending on how much I cared. The big problem is that December is not a good month for these sorts of projects with holidays and such, and, usually, when I do these ‘one post a day’ projects, I like to write the posts on the day they’re put up. For this, I wouldn’t do that. I may pick a day a knock out a bunch of posts to get ahead. Just fair warning. I’ll make my decision by next week’s Random Thoughts.
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Random Comments! I love your comments. Except for Tom Fitzpatrick’s. He’s just kind of annoying.
Brian Cronin said: If anyone’s been following this blog long enough, they’ll know that my biggest irritation in the world of comic book discussion online and, hell, one of the impetuses for creating this here blog, is the whole “you’re just saying that because ____” meme.
If someone wants to rip your reviews because they think you made a bad argument about the book, go for it. Rip away! Point out all the faulty logic you want.
But don’t ascribe motivation for the review, as that is a discussion-killer. You simply cannot have a real discussion about something when you open up with, “You’re not being intellectually honest.” It’s pointless. If you believe that the guy is being intellectually dishonest, why are you reading his reviews? Why are you responding to him? It’s just utterly ridiculous.
One of the reasons we started this blog was to get away from that noise (and, to everyone’s credit, they mostly have done exactly that – I rarely encounter it anymore), and I’m sorry that you’re getting it in response to your CBR reviews.
I don’t always mind that reaction. Some people can get away with telling me “you’re just saying that because _____” because they know me well enough. Tim can call me on that sort of behaviour without me getting upset, for example. Still, it’s annoying an presumptuous. I get it a lot over at 411mania with my wrestling writing where I’ll trash an episode of TNA Impact and the reaction is “You love the WWE and hate TNA, so you’re biased and not good!” (except include more insults and typos) when, on the same night, a lacklustre review of the latest episode of WWE Raw by me goes up and… no, I’m just a demanding critic that has higher standards than some. You can’t ascribe motivations to people like that unless you’ve paid enough attention to have a very good sense of what their approach and tics and biases are.
Joe H said: What so you guys AREN’T being paid off by the comic companies? I’d have more respect for some of you guys if you did. Brightest Day getting 4 stars indeed.
Ha ha yeah I went there. XD
I didn’t write that review, so… and, hey, say what you will about Doug’s reviews (and I honestly disagree more than I agree with him), he has his standards and he’s very consistent in applying them. He likes what he likes and stands by that.
Tom Fitzpatrick said: My kingdom, My kingdom, for more Kelly Thompson! There can NEVER be too much Kelly Thompson. BUT there can be too much Chad Nevett blogging on Dreadstar. I’m all for nostalgia, but even that’s flogging a dead horse there. Starlin’s not gonna do new stuff on Dreadstar, ‘less somebody know something that we don’t and that’s a whole different ballgame.
I’ll write about what I want to write about. No such thing as ‘too much’ discussion of a work… especially when I haven’t really discussed any of it in any depth.
Mario said: The fact that I know you’re a Thor fan is what made me think “Huh, mayve Iron Man/Thor #1 isn’t a great comic”. I was expecting to see a very positive review because it’s a Thor book and you reviewd it. It’s nice to know just because you’re a fan of a certain character it doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got a serious bias for said character. Furthermore, I love Green Arrow. Having said that, I can also say, without a doubt, the current Green Arrow series isn’t really worth your time. What do you know, the two CAN coexist!
My approach as a ‘fan’ is usually to apply higher standards (or, my own version of ‘higher standards’) to those works. I’m already inclined to like it, but will be incredibly hard on something that doesn’t measure up. Kind of a jerky way to behave. I’ve always thought there were two types of fans: those that let stuff slide out of loyalty and those that demand more. It’s a standard that I often apply to politics. You’ll see people of the same party/ideology defend someone who does something stupid out of that gang mentality, while I usually respond harsher than the other parties because that person is with me and their behaviour is a reflection on me. Like, I could never understand Republicans standing by some of the dumb shit Bush did, because it makes them look even dumber…
Carlos Futino said: Actually, I’ve grown to believe that reviewers are most likely to give negative reviews for characters/creator they’re fans of then on those they aren’t. I think it has something to do with expectations.
Pretty much the case with me. I try, with CBR reviews, to work against that bias/mentality… but, that’s where my gut reaction lies.
Rebis said: I imagine the problem with the people posting on the CBR boards about your comic reviews (aside from some of those posters simply being chuckleheads) is that many, many readers don’t pay any attention to bylines. Doesn’t matter if it’s online or in a newspaper or a magazine; unless you’re a columnist with a picture next to your byline, people tend to go from the headline to the text of the article, paying no heed to who wrote it. Which would explain why some folks might conflate your reviews with Tim C’s or Doug Z’s.
I see that all of the time at 411mania in the 4Rs where Jeremy Thomas posts the reviews, but each show is reviewed by a different person. Take a look at the latest edition and you’ll see four shows reviewed, each by a different reviewer. Yet, people in the comments section often attack Jeremy specifically for reviews he didn’t write or act like it’s the work of a single individual. Of course, not paying attention to a byline isn’t an excuse, it’s just another reason to think that person’s an idiot.
Louis Bright-Raven said: I typically don’t bother reading the reviews here at CBR, for a multitude of reasons. But your little tirade here made me decide to go see what you’re ranting about, Chad.
For a book that is “not a bad comic book per se”, you go on to shred the Iron Man/Thor book to bits, giving no note of any positive qualities it may possess, and you don’t demonstrably examine why this book is (in your opinion) so much lesser to the other Thor books you barely cite in the review, which would have strengthened your viewpoint tremendously. You’ve assumed your readership is familiar with what you’ve already reviewed when writing the review of this book (and in your defensive posturing rant here, you do so again – “Moving on from there, go take a look at my last couple of months of reviews… notice anything like a shitload of Thor-related reviews? And many of them positive? Hell, read the opening paragraph of my review of Iron Man/Thor #1 where I say that I’ve been enjoying the Thor books Marvel has been putting out.” )
Here’s the rub, Chad- just as every comic is some reader’s first, so too is your column. You can’t presume that your reader knows your past work at all. So you did yourself and the readers a disservice by not doing a comparison of the better Thor comics you liked prior as part of this review by saying something akin to, “Unlike some of Marvel’s other recent Thor related works, such as *insert title here – see my review [link]* , this book was rather dull and forgettable…” and then go on as to the whys and wherefores in a comparison / contrast.
Instead you basically have an underlying theme to your review – that this book is the poster child for why the movie related expansion of comics titles can be bad – which colors the whole perspective of this article and gives it an unintentional(?) tone of agenda, instead of being a review of the book in question. So I’d have to say this particular review article left a lot to be desired, Chad, and it’s not much of a surprise that parties came to wrongful conclusions about your views.
Food for thought.
See, I loved this comment — thoughtful feedback, positive or negative, is always appreciated. I’ll address one point first: it’s true that this could be the first review of mine that someone read, but, if that’s the case, to ascribe motives or make broad statements about what I ‘really’ think is about as lazy and ignorant response as you can have. Only a complete fool does that (and cue people finding examples where I did just that…).
Your other points touch on some things about writing reviews that I struggle with. I mentioned the other Thor titles to show that I’m not against releasing a bunch of comics in the lead-up to a movie, provided they’re good. It’s not hard to notice the flood of Thor books on the shelf and, for the most part, I’ve enjoyed them. So, if that’s the case, my not enjoying Iron Man/Thor #1 wouldn’t be a case of simple knee-jerk ‘pumping out comics before a movie is bad and all of those comics are bad’ argument. Maybe the review comes off as an argument that this book is the poster child of bad movie build-up/tie-in comics, but that wasn’t my intention (which has no bearing on how it comes off, I know). I don’t make many direct comparisons to the other Thor comics, because that would be going outside the book I was meant to focus on. CBR reviewers are a bit narrower and focused than other reviews I’d write elsewhere, and I make an effort to stay on point for the meat of the review, allowing a little broader focus to come out in the intro/conclusion. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought the other comics up at all…
The lack of positives is a case of my not doing a quick self-edit to make the review more consistent from beginning to end. That was sloppy. I often find that the writing of a review is me figuring out what I really think of a comic; thinking it through by writing about it. So, where I start a review and where I end a review can be two different places. Usually, I’m good about altering phrases and star ratings to reflect the overall tone of the review. This time, not so much. Please don’t take anything as an excuse for the faults of my review, just reasoning.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. Later.
32 Comments
Bill Reed
November 16, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I’m pretty sure Doug Zawisza is Bizarro Bill Reed, so I always know what (not) to buy when I read his reviews!
I’m totally buying that Thunderstrike mini. But, uh, in trade. This way, my attempt to reignite the nostalgic fires of my youth will not be a protracted experience.
Yaggi
November 16, 2010 at 3:04 pm
What’s your opinion on Ferry’s art on Thor? I am loving it!
Thok
November 16, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I’m pretty sure Doug Zawisza is Bizarro Bill Reed, so I always know what (not) to buy when I read his reviews!
In some sense this makes him a good critic. He’s consistent, you can figure out what his taste in comics are in a few comics, and an intelligent user of comics can translate Doug’s ratings into a useful system for themselves.
For what it’s worth, Chad Nevett also satisfies these criterions. I know he likes comics about anger against the way the world is and new but not necessarily developed ideas, and I can mentally adjust his ratings to reflect the fact that I don’t care for that sort of stuff at all; I never really had any anger against the world or my place in the universe.
Mario
November 16, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I assume the Maltese Falcon is playing at Silver City? If so it’s not the first classic film they’ve been playing on a monthly basis. As far as I can tell it’s been going on for a few months. My girlfriend and I watched Psycho for the first time during October. It seems one classic movie plays each month on two different days (normally a Wednesday evening and a Sunday afternoon). I only recently found out about this and barely anyone else does because of terrible, terrible advertising. This usually results in a poor turn out the days the movies are playing. It’s cool that the movies are half price though.
Enzo Speaks
November 16, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Cannonball is a great Post-Hodgson Supertramp tune. But I think it is the only one.
Joe H
November 16, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Maaaan, my the one comment of mine that gets chosen for Random Comments since you’ve started doing them was when I decided to be a dick for the sake of being a dick.
funkygreenjerusalem
November 16, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I ordered my Wildcats V2 trades from Sean Phillips Amazon UK store, and he did sketches in the front of them.
Awesome sketches.
In my opinion, if your TPB’s don’t have Sean Phillips Sketches on the inside front cover, your experience is incomplete, and therefore fulfilling.
Good thing he’ll be focusing on Earth-One then, they stay as good as the first one, or get better, he’ll become known as one of the great comic writers!
Not liking it?
You suck.
As a reader, a critic, and as a human being… you suck.
That was awesome.
The one dedicated to Kirby and Morrison on New Gods, and the differences in their Darksieds is still my fave though.
I dunno – I saw it on the shelf, having not heard of it, and grabbed it for Guggenheim, and it had a cool cover, and so I enjoyed the build up and discovery of the lack of crime.
If I’d known that was the hook though, I probably would have been let down like you were.
The lesson?
Ignore the internet and just by books based on their covers, and you’ll love comics more!
Doug’s writing is fine – he justifies his like of the issue well enough.
But that Brightest Day 4.5 Star review – nothing in the writing says this book is half a point from perfection.
agent_torpor
November 16, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I’m with you 100% on Choi art.
Andy
November 16, 2010 at 5:18 pm
I’m probably gonna step up to the plate for some Thunderstrike, too, but it’s almost totally indefensible even to me. He’s a hilariously nineties creature, and I know he’s probably best left there, where my youthful memory fog can keep him cool. Edgier! Leather Jackets! Blood Axe!
I suspect it will be like watching Scooby Doo twenty years later and totally lucid.
Mary Warner
November 16, 2010 at 5:32 pm
They’re playing Christmas music already? That’s way too soon. I guess the usual tradition here is that you don’t play the Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, so going by that rule, it’s already time in Canada. But I assume you must have a different way to determine the beginning of the season there.
So what’s your opinion of Superman: The Movie, which features both Superman, and a Supertramp song? Is it absolute perfection?
Louis Bright-Raven
November 16, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Chad:
Well, I appreciate the response. Not sure it was necessary to go into such explanatory details, but if it makes you feel that you’re clarifying your position better, okay. I was just trying to point out the flaws I could see as a writer myself for you to potentially see so as to improve in future columns. After all, it’s often we’re so close to our own writing we can’t see the forest for the trees and need a fresh pair of eyes, or at least to rest our own before stepping back and looking.
“I’ll address one point first: it’s true that this could be the first review of mine that someone read, but, if that’s the case, to ascribe motives or make broad statements about what I ‘really’ think is about as lazy and ignorant response as you can have.”
True enough, but I think in this case the audience was reacting more to the tone expressed, rather than the message itself. Lazy and assumptive? Yes, I suppose. But it’s typical visceral reaction to what is read on the internet. People figure why would anyone trash something (or highly praise something) unless they had some underlying motivation? Why would they write *anything* unless they had some form of underlying motivation? That’s the subconscious thought working in the mind of your audience, and some people are going to reach the conclusion that you’re doing it out of some sort of bias, positive or negative, filtered through their own perceptions (and subsequently their own belief systems). Hence, the disconnect.
***************
I wish I could agree with you about the B5 stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it when it first came out and it still holds up, but as I believe I’ve stated many times before, a goodly amount of the B5 stuff is JMS recycling elements from his prior TV work and his two novels DEMON NIGHT (1988, reprinted 2005) and OTHERSYDE (1990, reprinted 2005). When you take into consideration how much of the work is essentially him rewriting himself, you may find it’s a whole lot less impressive. I know I did.
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Greg McElhatton
November 16, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I still want to know where all those big fat checks from Marvel and DC are, so that I can be bought out too. Chad, stop hogging my cut!
Roman
November 16, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Did you hear that Thor: The Mighty Avenger is being canceled (yet Astonishing Thor lives on)?!
Use the power of the blog to start a “save T:TMA” email writing campaign! I sent mine to mheroes@marvel.com; I don’t know if there’s a better place?
Travis Pelkie
November 16, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Mary, around my area, they started playing Christmas music basically the day after Halloween. Freaks me out too.
I don’t mind one line dismissals/praises, so long as I have an idea of the context. I dunno why you’re dumping Knight and Squire, but then, I haven’t gotten the first 2 issues yet (don’t tell me!)
Why is Supertramp beloved by you? I really just know “The Logical Song”, I suppose, but I know something about them being put together by a Dutch businessman, or something. (The things in my brain.) I do know that Dave Sim quotes them in the Cerebus Guide to Self Publishing, so maybe they were big in Canada?
I was in a local Target and my eye was caught by a cool Batman t-shirt. (with this Giordano cover: http://www.comics.org/issue/41860/cover/4/?style=default ). I looked on the rack, and in the back were (an unmarked) Blackest Night t-shirt, with Black Lantern Batman and a bunch of characters. Now, despite not reading BN, I’m aware of where the imagery comes from, but is the average Target customer going to buy this and have any idea where the imagery comes from? Would they care? Is DC marketing dropping the ball, or do they make more money off t-shirts and therefore don’t care if people then pick up the comics?
After the War of the Green Lanterns is the Ultra Mega Super War of the Rainbow Lantern Coalition.
Or something.
Chad Nevett
November 16, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Greg, I honestly wonder sometimes how much people think a positive review is worth to Marvel and DC — and how much we’d require to deliver one on command.
funkygreenjerusalem
November 16, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Didn’t they run a quote from a negative review – by Tim I think – as a pull quote on an X-Factor ad/trade?
Robert Eddleman
November 16, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Well, DnA’s Thanos was just revived after being happily dead. He didn’t have much time to get acclimated and be in full control of his mental facilities before the Cancerverse invaded, either. So I can see why he’d be a little off his normal game. The Xanatos Gambit he played on Lord Mar-Vell seems straight out of Starlin’s playbook to me.
Superman
November 16, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Super.
Tom Fitzpatrick
November 16, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Aw shucks, Chad, you’re annoying, too.
Why not do two Dreadstar issues a day for the month of December, and then finish off with the Dreadstar mini-series from Malibu. That way you can strike two writers with one stone? Get it all done in one month.
Just a random idea.
Liked Halcyon too. Is that an on-going or limited?
Johnny Bacardi
November 16, 2010 at 10:01 pm
“Free as a Bird” is the other great post-Hodgson Supertramp song. Well, in my opinion anyway. Both studio and live versions.
I agree about DnA’s Thanos, too. It’s the same way with Kirby’s Darkseid and everyone else that’s tried him since.
funkygreenjerusalem
November 16, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Press releases before it was released make it sound like an ongoing.
Unfortunately, they all link to the image website for more info, and it doesn’t seem to have any, and the book doesn’t have it’s own website.
Gawd, it’s like I’ve traveled back in time to the 90′s or something!
JackKing
November 17, 2010 at 1:53 am
Supertramp were HUGE in Canada, back in the day. As much as I love the piano in Crime of the Century, I love the porno-guitar in School much more.
Rene
November 17, 2010 at 5:36 am
My theory is that JMS already told the story he was born to tell, and that was BABYLON 5. Everything he does after that is not going to carry the same punch (to put it mildly, most of what he does these days sucks green apples).
Mike Loughlin
November 17, 2010 at 7:14 am
I remember reading Infinity Gauntlet when I was 13. To me, the ending was powerful. After his grand defeat, Thanos gives it all up and finds inner peace. I hadn’t read an ending like that before, and was somewhat disappointed that it didn’t last. Every subsequent Thanos appearance has felt a little off.
I read all of Casey’ & Phillip’s Wildcats vol. 2 and enjoyed it. The Ladytron special, however, was too nihilistic for me. Moore & Charest got away with making Maxine a funny character despite her murderous tendencies. The special didn’t strike a good balance between fun and violent. I liked the art, though.
Steven R. Stahl
November 17, 2010 at 9:55 am
There was a storyline somewhere in THANOS IMPERATIVE, but developing it would have required rewriting the miniseries.
As written, the Cancerverse arose as a result of the elder gods taking over and eliminating Death in the process. As transformations go, becoming evil immortals wasn’t worse than becoming Lovecraftian monstrosities, but the presence of the elder gods should have made Death irrelevant,. A story usually features the elder gods as a menace to be warded off; once they gain entry, the story is basically over, unless the writer comes up with an arbitrary means of evicting the gods. Is Death now to be considered the universe’s chief defender against, say, Chthon taking over?
The absence of Death wouldn’t serve as a basis for a story because death is an essential part of a biological system. A food chain wouldn’t exist without it. Microbes would multiply unchecked and render their hosts nonfunctional, even if they weren’t dead. Distinguishing between death on the microscopic and macroscopic levels blows up the concept. Human spirits are immortal, anyway.
The ending in TI #6 was forced and terrible. Thanos didn’t kill the Cancerverse; Death did. The falling out between Death and Thanos made no sense, especially since Death’s realm is now being written as just another dimension, that’s a bit harder to get into and out of than other dimensions. The best handling of the Thanos-Death relationship that I’ve seen was in AVENGERS: CELESTIAL QUEST.
I haven’t read all of the Thanos storylines published over the years, but THANOS IMPERATIVE ranks among the worst that I’ve read.
SRS
Dalarsco
November 17, 2010 at 10:41 am
So why is you not buying Knight and Squire good for everyone?
Dru Tan
November 17, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I agree, it’s a shame that the Wildcats Version 3.0 Coup D’Etat issue (and the Volume 2 annual/Ladytron special) weren’t collected. The volume 2 annual with Bermejo art really complements the other stuff going on in the series, especially the whole angle about what happens to supersoldiers when their war is over. It would have fit in nicely with that two-parter with the Steve Dillon art where Grifter and Maul teamed up. If anything, there was some closure there in the annual with Warblade.
The Coup D’Etat issue is actually one of my favorite single issues of anything. It pretty much sums up everything about the concept of Version 3.0 in 22 neat pages. Casey did an awesome job depicting the differing characterizations of Grifter and Jack Marlowe – how one adheres to old-school notions of heroic righteous violence and might makes right, while the other wants to evolve into something better and new. Then he tosses in the Authority as a sort of philosophical middle ground between Grifter and Jack. The whole scene with Jack on the Carrier basically telling off the Authority and showing the reader that the Authority is just the illusion of progress was very skillfully done. It’s inspiring, man. I read that speech over and over.
I even keep a spare copy in my car so I can read it at long stoplights.
bongoes
November 17, 2010 at 1:48 pm
“I’ve always thought there were two types of fans: those that let stuff slide out of loyalty and those that demand more.”
I’ve always considered myself in the middle. I’m a huge Green Lantern fan. I like the current titles a lot but I’ve been disappointed with Corps since Tony Bedard took over, maybe it’s the new artists, maybe it’s the new cast I’m not happy about, I just don’t like it as much. But it’s one of three books that can be heavily connected, and they are all still around the same quality even if Corps has dipped in the past few months, so since I like Green Lantern so much I let it slide. I’m also a huge Batman fan. I love Grant Morrison’s Batman, but I don’t read any others. Morrison’s Batman is so much better that I don’t want to read any others, even though I love Batman. So I guess if one book stands out from the others enough I start to demand more from the others. But if every book is around the same quality I’ll let it go.
And I am excited for War of The Green Lanterns.
funkygreenjerusalem
November 17, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Changeling would tend to refute that idea quite well.
stealthwise
November 17, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I agree, a one-sentence comment, whether it’s casually dismissive, or emptily praising, is pretty much worthless in and of itself. Although to not expect something like those to occur in a column called “random thoughts” just seems kind of silly.
Jeff
November 18, 2010 at 1:40 am
Oh you GOTTA do the Dreadstar thing.
Stefan Wenger
November 20, 2010 at 10:19 am
Dalarsco – Because that way the good folks who read CBR don’t have to stomach any negative reviews of that fantastic little series!