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B&B TV: "The Fate of Equinox!"

Bill Reed — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:00:51 +0000

Not so much time this week. Let's be quick and do this bullet-point style!

"The Fate of Equinox!"

Written by: Joseph Kuhr. (Really?)

Comments:

"Sorry, Harvey. Justice is a two-way street!" I missed the first minute or two, though. Wha hoppen? James Remar as Two-Face! That's gotta excite Dave Campbell, at least.
Yeah, Doctor Fate! Funny that Oded Fehr's playing Equinox in this one-- he was Fate on JLU.
I'm enjoying the competition between Dr. Fate and Batman, both experts in their fields, each thinking their method's the best, but working in tandem anyway.
I also dig the ankh symbols in Dr. Fate's magic lasers. Gotta have those.
Batman enjoys giving "knuckle sandwiches."
Batman doesn't have time for losers like the Lords of Order and Chaos.
I also love how stuff just happens on this show, and Batman just does stuff, because he's Batman. Dinosaurs in the streets? Why not?
Too strong for any hero, eh? Bring on the super-cameos.
Hal Jordan? What, was Guy too busy?
Eyyyy! Jay Garrick! He's back!
Aquaman, shot down.
Batman has a "proclivity towards chaos," now? And he becomes a one-man Justice League? Okay.
Why, I do believe that's a giant Batman mecha-kaiju. Now we're talking!
"Bash him in the blowhole, Batman!"
This episode's gone all Power Rangers on us. Or, better yet, Voltron.
Bat-Kaiju pulls some freshman psychology on Equinox and throws off his game. Really? That's all it took?
"Balance this!" That's better.
Ha! He namechecked the title of the show! Aaand... oh. It's over.

Moral of the Story: Accept your inner chaos and your outer order. And become a giant robot.

Verdict: Equinox is far from the best antagonist we've had on this show, but everything's better with a giant Voltron fight.

Your turn! What hast thou to say, loyal readers?

9 Comments

At November 13, 2009, Sijo wrote:
I was kinda letdown. Equinox seemed like a villain with potential; I wanted to know why he was obsessed with ...
At November 13, 2009, Lis wrote:
I thought it was an ok episode, but a horrible finale (as it was originally slated to be).
At November 13, 2009, Paul wrote:
Boring as hell. Aquaman was the only bright spot.
At November 14, 2009, Goh Mifune wrote:
Sijo, I think the point of Equinox seeming like a villain was because Batman was doing heroic things, and that ...
At November 14, 2009, Sijo wrote:
@Go Mifune: My point was that Equinox wanted to achieve a balance between Order and Chaos... by destroying both sides ...
At November 14, 2009, Adam wrote:
Not bad, although dinner was cooking and my daughter kept talking, so I missed half the dialogue. The "assembly ...
At November 14, 2009, Greg A. wrote:
I was a bit underwhelmed by the episode; however, one-man JLA Batman defintely looked like the Super Adaptoid.
At November 14, 2009, Rob Schamberger wrote:
I really enjoyed the way they played up the 'Half Good, Half Evil' of Two-Face. Depending on how the ...
At November 16, 2009, Ian wrote:
Did anyone else think the powered-up Batman looked exactly like the Super Adaptoid?

B&B TV: "Inside the Outsiders!"

Bill Reed — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:27:25 +0000

Insert LazyTown reference here.

"Inside the Outsiders!"

Written by: Alex Van Dyne

This episode clearly wants to bring us the softer side of Batman. After a long string of the Dark Knight seeming sexless, his loins burning only for justice, we're presented with a cold open involving an alluring 50s-era Catwoman, doing her best Julie Newmar impression. While the captured Green Arrow begs Batman to whip out some "Bat-catnip" or a "Bat-a-ma-jig," Batman turns to another weapon in his utility belt: his masculine wiles! He flirts with Catwoman, distracting her until he can escape-- but she returns the favor and flees into the night, but not before leaving behind her phone number. "My only interest in her is rehabilitation," says Batman, but those pupiless slits he calls eyes don't lie, baby.

Episodes focusing on the Outsiders tend to put me to sleep. Almost every revamp this show's attempted has been great, but the surly teenaged Outsiders just don't work for me. This week's plot proper begins in medias res, with Batman bursting in on Prinicpal Snyder-- I mean, Psycho Pirate, voiced by Armin Shimerman. Batman, unable to free the teenaged Outsiders from the Pirate's mind-machine without doing them irreversible harm, subjects himself to Pirate's mental realm to rescue the wayward young superheroes. Finally, this mindbending show gets some literal mindbending!

A color theorist might have a field day with this episode, but it seems pretty random to me. Katana's nightmare-- a flashback to her secret origin and the death of her mentor-- seems to flip all the colors, painted with pinks and oranges, like taking the brown acid during an episode of Samurai Jack. The visual aesthetic intrigues me. Anyway, the more rage produced in the dream, the stronger Psycho Pirate becomes-- so Batman tries to prevent Katana from going to the realm of vengeance, and ends up swordfighting with her (naturally). She's got more lines of dialogue here than in all her previous appearances combined. Batman saves her-- from herself--! And Psycho Pirate moves onto the next victim.

Black Lightning's dream-- colored mostly in blue and gray neo-noir tones-- involves him going ape-dung over pet peeves and incredibly minor nuisances. He sweats the small stuff, and then zaps it with thousands of volts.There's a great moment where Psycho-Pirate digs his way out of a seemingly innocent bystander just to laugh maniacally at a little girl. Why? Because he's evil, naturally. Right after this, a zombie army of Yorick the Unicorn clones-- think Barney, but more frightening-- starts demanding hugs. Truly, this is a nightmare. But pull a Peter Pan-- by which I mean think happy thoughts, not kidnap children-- and everything's hunky dory.

Metamorpho's dream characterizes him as a living natural disaster, a giant monster tormented by his apparent freakishness. The colors here seem pretty normal, aside from the garish yellow-green sky. It takes the combined friendship of the Outsiders to make Metamorpho feel like a cool dude, another one of the guys. Psycho Pirate plays a literal devil on 'Morpho's shoulder, goading him on, but the usually silent Katana speaks up! Meanwhile, Batman beats the piss out of Double P. That's how he rolls.

Batman comes to, but the Psycho-Pirate's killed the gang! Of course, Batman quickly realizes he's trapped in his own nightmare, responsible for the deaths of young innocents. The Dark Knight quickly realizes it's a trap, however, and decides to get considerably less dark, grinning as he beats even more piss out of the Pirate. It's the creepiest Batman ever, but it gets the job done.

Batman's true love might be justice, but his mistress? His mistress is violence.

Moral of the Story: Hug it out, yo.

Verdict: Fairly generic, but probably the Outsiders' finest hour.

Comments:

Batman's cape turns into a jetpack. Yes.
"What are Batman's happiest thoughts?" Face-kicks. That's what. A certain crush of Brad's would be proud.

10 Comments

At November 6, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
If only Black Lightning were to keep up his imaginary crusade against the real evil-doers-- people who don't clean up ...
At November 7, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
"...Prinicpal Snyder-- I mean, Psycho Pirate..."

Help, please, I'm not getting the reference.
At November 7, 2009, Gavin wrote:
Bubby the Vampire Slayer reference...I had to google it...can't stand that show.
At November 7, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Eh, I didn't care much for Psycho Pirate, they totally changed him from the comics. Also, what were Batman's happy ...
At November 7, 2009, Thok wrote:
Also, what were Batman's happy thoughts?

Catwoman, obviously. Why do you think she was the cold open?
At November 7, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Violence making him happy would just send a very, very bad message, especially for a kid's show.

This show occasionally botches ...
At November 7, 2009, Jeremy wrote:
Jet-pack cape, smiling Batman? I gotta watch this show more often.
At November 8, 2009, T. wrote:
This show occasionally botches a lesson or veers into the traumatic. Remember, they had the Waynes murdered on Christmas.

What messages ...
At November 8, 2009, Sijo wrote:
-"What messages has the show botched in the past? I do agree they sometimes veer into the traumatic, but offhand ...
At November 8, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustBugsMe/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold

Wow. That's...

That's a lot of dumb right there. And TVTropes is usually pretty good. (Although I get ...

B&B TV: "Mayhem of the Music Meister!"

Bill Reed — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:44:39 +0000

At last, the musical episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold has hit American shores, and oh boy, was it worth the wait. Hit it!

"Mayhem of the Music Meister!"

Written by: Michael Jelenic and James Tucker and lots of other people

Tongue-in-cheek musicals seem to be the thing to do these days, and I couldn't be happier. I love the musical form when done right, and the Brave & the Bold crew bring a lot of love-- and a helluva lot of skill-- to the table when it comes to the all-singing, all-dancing episode. It's going to be difficult to review, because no other episode, aside from maybe the Bat-Mite one, has nearly this much awesome per second. Every frame, every note of this is just made of pure win.

The cold open this week is about twelve seconds of the Music Meister warming up the orchestra, before the usual opening theme kicks in. Consider this the overture. From there, we're thrown into a high-stakes super-team-up. Aquaman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow drop in on the nefarious Black Manta, Clock King, and Gorilla Grodd-- and they all start bursting into song. Who's the dastard behind it? Why, the Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris), of course, who belts out expositional songs while the heroes and villains form a chorus line against their will.

Enter Batman, stage left, from something resembling the Whirlybat. Meanwhile, the Music Meister falls hard for Black Canary (Grey DeLisle), who sings more like a nightingale. Her sonic scream kicks in on the high notes, however, blasting the Meister back. But, oh, snap! West Side Story snapping! So the collected goodies and baddies start dance-fighting at the Dark Knight.

Your brains still working? No? Good.

"Something tells me this is only the beginning of the Music Meister's evil orchestrations," says Batman as he rescues allies and enemies alike from their high-kicking, flame-y fate into the exhaust of a rocket. Meanwhile, the Meister reveals his plan-- through song, of course. He's going to use satellites to put the entire world under his evil musical mind control. As far as evil plans go, it's actually a pretty good one.

Batman bursts in once more, and it's at this point that my brain simply couldn't keep up with the frenetic, fun-netic pace of the episode. Music note Segways on power lines? Batusi and shark-repellant references? Manic, random costume changes from the Meister? Absolutely fantastic. And since WordPress doesn't want to let me embed a Youtube clip, I'm just going to link you to the full "Drives Us Bats" number, which must be witnessed in all its glory. Check out that massive chorus with pretty much every villain and guest hero who's appeared yet! I caught a tiny OMAC singing! My life is complete. And there's still two-thirds of the show to go!

From here, we get a great slow-motion love ballad to the Caped Crusader from Black Canary, with what might be the line of the night: "If only he could love me like he loves fighting villains!" It segues into a duet with the Music Meister as he reveals his unrequited crush on the Canary, contrasting with hers on our man Batman. Then it's time for the ode to deathtraps, with the Meister in punk rock mode and all sorts of crazy killing contraptions. "Was the singing really necessary?" Batman asks Canary upon escaping. You bet your blue undies it was, Bats.

The only way to beat the Music Meister is for Batman to start belting out some notes, having a sing-off with a newly mind-controlled Canary, which leads to some sonic scream microphone feedback that breaks the Meister's control, thanks to the Bat Auto-Tuning Amplifier. And, to wrap things up, Batman spurns Canary's come-hither advances, but Green Arrow pitches in with a song of his own to win the heart of his lady love.

Okay, so I'm just recapping the plot here. What we got, however, was a love letter to the musical form woven together out of pure Broadway bombast. I love this show's dedication to craft, and its complete allegiance to fun at all costs. So what I'm saying is, yeah, I want to buy the soundtrack.

Moral of the Story: If you fight crime and can hold a tune, you can get the woman of your dreams.

Verdict: A glorious tour de force.

Comments:

This makes the second musical super-villain Neil Patrick Harris has played. Who do you prefer: Dr. Horrible or the Music Meister?
Holy crow, Grey DeLisle can sing.
So Batman doesn't sing, unless you count the bit at the end, which clearly wasn't Diedrich Bader's dulcet tones. I guess nobody's going to top Kevin Conroy's musical number from JLU.
Anyone catch those bumper stickers? "Metal Men, Atomic Knights." Rock bands or hints at future guest stars?
"The show's closing early, Music Meister, due to criminal intent! ... And bad reviews."
The curtain calls at commercial were a cute touch.
Atlantean Busby Berkeley shot! Magnificent.
"Put a sock in it!"
"Actually, I'm more of a baritone."
This totally needed more singing Aquaman. Other than that, best episode ever? Quite possibly.

24 Comments

At October 23, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
I've never seen the Brave And The Bold show. I never even heard of it until I starting reading ...
At October 23, 2009, joecab wrote:
Also, did you notice that as they rode those Segway notes over the telephone wires ... those wires formed a ...
At October 23, 2009, Loren wrote:
One nice touch I enjoyed, but I haven't seen anyone else note as of yet, was the Music Meister's costume ...
At October 23, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
You could technically count this as NPH's THIRD musical villain performance, if How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson doing ...
At October 23, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:
NPH is one step closer to dominating all forms of media. And I couldn't be happier!
At October 23, 2009, Joe wrote:
Not a particularly huge fan of the show (I'll gladly watch it if it's on, but won't go out of ...
At October 23, 2009, Mea wrote:
Since you asked, I prefer Dr. Horrible, but that doesn't mean I didn't love this episode. Extremely fun... ...
At October 23, 2009, RocketJock wrote:
Made of 100% Awesome, covered in Awesome Sauce, with a side order of Awesome slaw. Am I being too ...
At October 24, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Told you guys it rocked. ;) And the Cartoon Network people were fools for not airing it earlier.

Wait, this ...
At October 24, 2009, Company Computer Guy wrote:
I love this show. Every episode kicks ass!!! This episode singularly wasn't that good though :(. But every other one ...
At October 24, 2009, Tony Isabella wrote:
Best...episode...ever.
At October 24, 2009, joecab wrote:
This one wasn't that good but every episode kicks ass? How can you say that after last week's meh OMAC ...
At October 24, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
Nothing brings out the quality like a musical ep. Buffy, Scrubs, South Park -- all great shows that got even ...
At October 24, 2009, Furious George wrote:
I just watched it this morning and thought it was fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of Brave & The ...
At October 24, 2009, daiyongo wrote:
This show is a blast!
At October 24, 2009, dantecat wrote:
Grodd and Aquaman ballroom dancing!

Who was leading?
At October 24, 2009, Brandon Hanvey wrote:
>>>And since WordPress doesn't want to let me embed a Youtube clip

You can embed videos in WordPress.

Click on the film ...
At October 24, 2009, Bryan C wrote:
That was great! I'm going to watch it again to make sure I catch all the little sight gags they ...
At October 24, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:
Batman AND Neil Patrick Harris? I am checking this out ASAP
At October 24, 2009, Thok wrote:
It's worth noting that the "Bat Auto-Tuning Amplifier"/"I'm more of a baritone" is a bit of lampshade hanging: Diedrich ...
At October 25, 2009, Uncle Pinky wrote:
Loved the posters in the Deathtrap number. Metal Men, Tornado Twins and ...... Trenchcoat Brigade! Would love to ...
At October 26, 2009, Johnny P wrote:
If anyone is still reading/posting comments, there is a CD on demand soundtrack at Amazaon. Link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Mayhem-Meister-Soundtrack-Demand/dp/B002QQ8TWC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256557860&sr=8-6
At October 26, 2009, King Zilch wrote:
If the names at the club WERE a preview of future guest stars, does "The Trenchcoat Brigade" mean we get ...
At November 19, 2009, Karen wrote:
I only looked this episode on youtube out of boredom when I was browsing the news sites and saw a ...

Sunday Brunch: 10/18/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:30:13 +0000

The last two weeks have felt like two years, and it looks like the comics internet is going through a dry spell. Let's throw some pity lovin' at it this week and hope it picks up its game in the future, shall we?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What was the best last issue you ever read? Last, as in, final. As in, there were no more to follow. As in, the opposite of first.

JIVE TURKEY ALERT: I would write this in the style of all those awesome blaxploitation trailer voiceovers, but I am so, so white that we would all be embarrassed. Anyway: Afrodisiac trailer! Buy it in December, honky!

THE VAULT'S Seven Q's this week are with Alex Robinson, illustrauthor of Box Office Poison.

ITEM! Plok on Klock. (Seuss wishes he thought of that one.)

ITEM! Brad Curran shrine devotee Chris Sims gives us the best excuse for Facebook to exist, with his Superhero Facebook Status Updates over at ComicsAlliance. Sure, everyone's linked to this already, but my links are better:

ITEM! The God of All Comics (or Grant Morrison to all the unbelievers out there) is at it again with Sean Murphy in the upcoming Joe the Barbarian mini-series Vertigo's Graphic Content blog has gifted us with some pages from the first issue, as well as this cover:

ITEM! Remember Neill Cameron, of the A-Z of Awesomeness? Well, now he's producing Hashtag Funnies, one-page cartoons spun off of the leading Twitter topics of the day. For instance:

REMAKE/REMODEL last week was the Sorceress of Zoom! I was quite taken with Pia Guerra's entry (yes, that Pia Guerra):

Andrew Nixon's was pretty rootin'-tootin' too. If that is still an adjective we use in the parlance of our times:

REMAKE/REMODEL this week is Alan Moore's favorite sock puppet snake god, Glycon! My favorites so far are from "twentythoughts":

And let's not forget John "lx" Worsley's:

Felipe Sobreiro's is the gorgeousest, though:

NOT COMICS DEPT: I quite enjoyed Maureen Ryan's essay/interview about my favorite currently-running TV show, Dollhouse, and why it's worth watching. Dollhouse is the most fiercely intellectual, uncompromising (and yet heavily compromised) TV show on the air. So watch it and stuff. I don't care what Hatcher tells you.

57 Comments

At October 18, 2009, brian wrote:
Hate to be repetitive, but I'm going with Planetary #27.

Cheers,

B
At October 18, 2009, Ryan wrote:
For sure, best last issue I've ever read is Transmetropolitan.
At October 18, 2009, Michael wrote:
Bone #55 for me.
At October 18, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
The last issue of Hitman.

Yes, I cried. I'm only human!
At October 18, 2009, Mecha-Shiva wrote:
Transmetropolitan for me too.
At October 18, 2009, stavner wrote:
The last "Adventures of Captain Jack" story in Critters.
At October 18, 2009, CF wrote:
The Invisibles Vol. 3 final issue with Frank Quitely Art

Flex Mentallo Issue 4

All-Star Superman #12

Seven Soldiers of Victory #1

The Authority ...
At October 18, 2009, Jeremy wrote:
Animal Man #26
At October 18, 2009, Wraith wrote:
Best last issue I EVER read?

I might say Starman #80, though of course that's going to cease being a ...
At October 18, 2009, Matt wrote:
That's easy. Hitman.
At October 18, 2009, tekende wrote:
Hmm. Might be Transmetropolitan. Or maybe All-Star Superman. Or Bone.
At October 18, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Tomb of Dracula #70 would be awfully hard to beat in my personal opinion.
At October 18, 2009, Punchy wrote:
Y: The Last Man #60
At October 18, 2009, Brian wrote:
Final issue of Suicide Squad, particularly the final page with Deadshot/Count Vertigo.
Final issue of Morrison's Doom Patrol.
Final issue if Final ...
At October 18, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:
Hitman, without question.
At October 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
Best last issue...Planetary.
At October 18, 2009, MCGroupy wrote:
Say what you want, and your criticism carries a lot of weight about how stretched out the entire storyline went ...
At October 18, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
Preacher 66, no contest.

Though I am fond of Secret Invasion's ending ( even if it's not in my top 10 ...
At October 18, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
ANSWER OF THE WEEK!How could it not be Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.?

BLAXPLOITATION IS BACK(SPLOITATION)! If the Afrodisiac trailer wasn't ...
At October 18, 2009, Michael wrote:
All Star Superman #12
At October 18, 2009, Cass wrote:
@Commenter Brian: I'd second your nomination for Doom Patrol (and throw in Animal Man too), but they're not eligible since ...
At October 18, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:
Reptisaurus # 8.

I mean, duh.

This will obviously win the poll.
At October 18, 2009, Andy wrote:
Lots of good choices here. I'm down for strong seconds on Hitman, Flex Mentallo, Starman 80 (I'm not acknowledging ...
At October 18, 2009, DubipR wrote:
Best last issue....easy

Ostrander/Mandrake's THE SPECTRE #62. Corrigan got his rest.... Servant of God. A brilliant ending.
At October 18, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
I enjoyed the back-up Lil Silvie story in Silver Sable #35. But not the main story; that was a ...
At October 18, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
The problem is, I haven't read very many final issues.
At October 18, 2009, Tuomas wrote:
For me, the best last issue is no doubt the last issue of Morrison's Doom Patrol (okay, the series did ...
At October 18, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:
The Automatic Kafka ending, with Ash Wood and Joe Casey explaining why they are killing him off, always seems to ...
At October 18, 2009, Ryan wrote:
LOL @ "most fiercely intellectual and uncompromising" re: dollhouse. Try anything on PBS.
At October 18, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:
Invisibles #1. Man that was one idea-rich comic. Bonus points for starting and ending with a first issue.

Cerebus 300 ...
At October 18, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
The final issue of Y the Last Man.
At October 18, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:
love hashtag funnies, hahah thank you.
At October 18, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
LOL @ "most fiercely intellectual and uncompromising" re: dollhouse. Try anything on PBS.

Damn, you're right! Those Josh Groban concerts and ...
At October 18, 2009, Craig wrote:
I'm going with the last issue of Xombi. I forget the exact number, but it was plain to see that ...
At October 18, 2009, Nicholas West wrote:
Y the Last Man # 60.

Amazing.
At October 18, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:
Best last issue? If it counts, I have to give it to "Farewell, Moonshadow," the prestige one-shot that followed ...
At October 18, 2009, Michael Howey wrote:
Captain Marvel 24. A bit of a cheat really as 25 was the last one but between the two they ...
At October 18, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:
Stig's Inferno Number 7. Ever read Stig's Inferno? Ty "the Guy" Templeton at his FINEST.
At October 18, 2009, Mea wrote:
Another vote for last issue of "Hitman". You kinda knew that it was going to end like this, but ...
At October 18, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
Sandman Mystery Theatre #70 has to be my choice. Not only for all the great stuff in it, but for ...
At October 18, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Transmet, definitely. Y: the Last Man 60 had my favorite last page. Tomb of Dracula, Hitman, Preacher, Spectre, Martian Manhunter, ...
At October 18, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:
Hmmm, that's hard. Animal Man 26 is touching, but Y the Last Man is surprising in its goodness. ...
At October 18, 2009, Daryll B wrote:
The original Exiles #4 from Malibu or Epic or Valiant .....I mean no one expected the events of the issue...and ...
At October 18, 2009, Ricardo wrote:
For me, it was always the last issues of JLI and JLE. Truly the end of an era where super ...
At October 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
What was the best last issue you ever read?

It was either Starman #80, Automatic Kafka #9, or Druid #4.

The first ...
At October 18, 2009, Andrew-TLA wrote:
Flash #350. Sentimental favorite, anyway, since it was also the first Flash comic I ever read. Super-sized, and jam-packed with ...
At October 18, 2009, Rob Ocelot wrote:
I dunno about Planetary -- aren't we getting more of it now?

Nice ending (for now) to Nexus in issue #102, ...
At October 18, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:
Dakota North #5. That is one ridiculously fun comic. And it ends with a series of questions that ...
At October 19, 2009, Tekende wrote:
The Automatic Kafka ending, with Ash Wood and Joe Casey explaining why they are killing him off, always seems to ...
At October 19, 2009, David B wrote:
Watchmen #12, followed by Starman #80 and Y: the Last Man #60.
At October 19, 2009, Doug M. wrote:
Has everyone forgotten D'Arc Tangent #1?

Morrison's last Doom Patrol issue wins "last issue _of a run_", hands down.

Doug ...
At October 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
I remember D'Arc Tangent #1. Was it the last (only) issue? It is true I never saw any ...
At October 19, 2009, Matt Lazorwitz wrote:
Sandman #75. Perfect, beautiful thematic coda, and hey, Shakespeare!
At October 19, 2009, Robert Wolfe wrote:
G.I. Joe issue #155.
At October 19, 2009, dhole wrote:
I'm kind of fond of Marvel Two in One number 100.

In those days Marvel didn't do a lot of final ...
At October 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
Now that I've thought about it some more, I do really like West Coast Avengers # 102. (I refuse ...
At October 20, 2009, Random Thoughts! (October 20, 2009) | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources wrote:
[...] Thought! Bill asks: "What was the best last issue you ever read? Last, as in, final. As in, there ...

B&B TV: "When OMAC Attacks!"

Bill Reed — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:31:33 +0000

Finally, the world's wildest animated television show is back with all-new episodes. Are you ready for the review that's coming!?

"When OMAC Attacks!"

Written by: Stan Berkowitz

As we all know, I'm quite the fan of Jack Kirby's OMAC series, and had been salivating in the usual Pavlovian manner for some time now in anticipation of this episode. Could it live up to my expectations? Well, no, not really.

Our opener this time around slips us a bit of the Ditko before the episode goes all Kirby. Batman's off in space, trying to solve an alien war without bloodshed, and he's got Hawk and Dove in tow with him. These two fall in line with the usual portrayals-- they've got the mentality of Hank and Dean Venture and the bickering of Casey Affleck and Scott Caan from Ocean's Eleven through Thirty-Seven. Batman does all the work here, but the opener sets up the themes of this episode-- war and peace, and the balance between them.

The episode proper begins with Batman getting chewed out by the faceless faces behind the Global Peace Agency, so I was immediately giddy at the prospect of Kirby Kraziness. The Dark Knight's on the trail of classic OMAC nemesis General Kafka, and the GPA is providing him a partner-- in the form of puny Buddy Blank. But with a laser from orbiting Brother Eye, the Southern-drawled Buddy transforms into OMAC, the One Man Army Corps, complete with Kirby Krackle effects.

Both Buddy and OMAC are voiced by Jeff Bennett, who gave us the brilliant Rat-Pack-ian Joker earlier this season. He's more well-known, however, for providing the pipes of one Johnny Bravo, the big-haired, big-muscled, small-brained Elvis soundalike from the bygone days of Cartoon Network, back when they showed cartoons. OMAC reminds me of Bravo, and it's not just because of their tall coiffures-- they're both the blustery type who rush in without thinking. In OMAC's case, this means punching things in the face, a lot-- "Hit hard or not at all, I always say"-- but, this being Brave & the Bold, that type of headstrength comes back to bite one in the posterior.

Most of the episode, in true OMAC fashion, is one long fight scene, but it lacks a lot of charisma. I enjoyed the first act of the episode, especially the homage to that time OMAC punched seven guys in the face at once and the presence of the Castro-esque Kafka, the existentialist's Communist, but once the incredibly generic and overly mysterious Equinox strolls in out of the shadows, revealing himself as the mastermind, I lost interest. Things go all FUBAR, and Kafka's sci-fi goo turn him into a giant robo-monster-thing calling himself, in true diabolical bad-guy-must-say-his-name fashion, "Shrapnel!" OMAC gets hit in the eye-signia and transforms back into Buddy Blank, who, of course, is unaware that he is also OMAC.

Batman saves him, of course, and confronts the Global Peace Agents, who are, in this universe, a bunch of dicks, claiming Buddy is simply "a mannequin we dress as OMAC." Interesting choice of words from guys who have featureless plastic-y heads. Pretty soon, though, Buddy's back as OMAC and back in action.

Equinox shows up from stage left again, and acts enigmatic some more. I really don't enjoy this character. He casually beats up Batman, pulls random powers out of his butt, and delivers all his lines in the most bored manner possible. Oded Fehr's probably going for mysterious, but it comes off simply as monotone. Equinox reveals, however, that the Peace Agents are less peaceful than advertised, having caused a village's destruction-- so he's gonna let Shrapnel nuke whatever city they're in, to balance the scales.

Meanwhile, OMAC figures out, somehow, that all of Shrapnel's power comes from getting pummeled, or somesuch, so he decides not to hit back. This works or something. Blah blah, cut to the chase. Reduced to Buddy Blank, he takes on Equinox to save Batman-- who runs protection-free into the nuclear reactor to shut it down. With a wave of Equinox's hand, however, Batman lives to fight again. So what's this bad guy's angle? I have a feeling we'll find out in a future episode, maybe.

The episode ends pretty abruptly, with the GPA never getting the comeuppance they clearly deserve, Equinox getting away, and Buddy Blank, though feeling better about himself, completely still a tool that some faceless pricks use when they need some dirty work done. The Batman I'm used to wouldn't stand for this BS.

The Moral of the Story: War is the same thing as peace, so long as you couch it in the right terminology. (What kind of lesson is this for a kids' TV show?)

The Verdict: A couple Kirby trappings, but no Kirby spirit.

Comments:

Of course Batman's got an Alien Nullifer Beam. It's his Easy Button.
OMAC's response to imminent nuclear meltdown? "Aw, nerts."

Next week: The musical episode! With Neil Patrick Harris!

13 Comments

At October 16, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
Evacuate this section! It's vagina is haunted!
At October 16, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:
If I'm flipping through channels and see any DC character animated in this fashion it's over... I'm hooked for the ...
At October 16, 2009, Tanzim wrote:
That pic on top of this post makes me weep tears of joy.
At October 17, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Actually, this episode (and the rest of B&B Season One) has ALREADY premiered EVERYWHERE ELSE in the world EXCEPT in ...
At October 17, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree that Equinox sucked the fun right out of this episode. I can appreciate wanting to have a ...
At October 17, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:
The cover of OMAC #1 scarred me for life.
At October 18, 2009, fashionwarsjournal » Blog Archive » More Fashion News Feed wrote:
[...] B&B TV: "When OMAC Attacks!" [...]
At October 18, 2009, My Fashion News Stream « Fashion Marketing Articles wrote:
[...] B&B TV: "When OMAC Attacks!" [...]
At October 18, 2009, Some Fashion Rounup « mensfashionarticles wrote:
[...] B&B TV: "When OMAC Attacks!" [...]
At October 18, 2009, My Fashion Rounup | Vogue Fashion News wrote:
[...] B&B TV: "When OMAC Attacks!" [...]
At October 18, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Eeep!! We've been taken over by link bots!! Somebody call Batman!!! O_O
At October 19, 2009, Scavenger wrote:
Sijo: The Xmas episode is awesome in that not only is it Christmas, but they go to the movie to ...
At October 19, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Scavenger: I'm not saying it wasn't an original twist... I'm saying it would be OK in the comics or the ...

10/15 - If Only...

Bill Reed — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:00:55 +0000

...Michael Jai White and Jason Statham would team up for a Power Man & Iron Fist movie.

28 Comments

At October 16, 2009, Eric wrote:
Quentin Tarrantino to direct.
At October 16, 2009, Mortenzen wrote:
Funniest thing I've heard/read all day ^^
At October 16, 2009, Django wrote:
Nah, not Statham. Ray Park.
At October 16, 2009, Thok wrote:
My first reaction was "Why would the guy who played Urkel be a good Luke Cage?" Then I figure ...
At October 16, 2009, Alter Ego wrote:
I always wanted them in Richard Dragon/Bronze Tiger. If this were ten years ago, they'd be perfect, toss in Michelle ...
At October 16, 2009, Dave Ziegler wrote:
I think my brain just melted from the pure awesomosity given off by that MAGNIFICENT idea!
At October 16, 2009, Kevin wrote:
Jason Statham? Really? No thanks.

I haven't really seen enough of Michael Jai White to comment, but something about him strikes ...
At October 16, 2009, Marcus Foote wrote:
Terry Crews would have made a great Luke Cage but is probably a little too old by now. I ...
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
OK, you're joking, but I would watch that. Never mind that Jason Statham is not Danny Rand in any stretch ...
At October 16, 2009, The Dude wrote:
Didn't Michael Jai White play Spawn? I guess he's already taken.

Plus, if you're Black Dynamite why would you bother playing ...
At October 16, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
You know what would be even cooler? If Marvel actually published a Power Man/Iron Fist comic.
At October 16, 2009, Spike wrote:
I could get on board for MJW and somebody who looks like ray park but can act playing danny rand ...
At October 16, 2009, Ian wrote:
How much "acting" does the guy playing Iron Fist actually have to do? You have serious martial artist for ...
At October 16, 2009, eric grant wrote:
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Zac Ephron as IF.

A young Keenan Ivory Wayans as Power Man
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
Zac Ephron? A young Keenan Ivory Waynans? This is why they laughed you out of casting academy. You need for ...
At October 16, 2009, The Dude wrote:
@ VichusSmith: yeah, I was being a little sarcastic. Spawn:The Movie was beyond shitty.

Still, the Black Dynamite remark stands.
At October 16, 2009, Charlie wrote:
Jason Statham? He'd be a terrible Iron Fist. Ray Park on the other hand..
At October 16, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:
If Jason Statham could sport blond hair, he'd make a good Captain America.

Zac Ephron has more of the right look ...
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
@The Dude Black Dynamite's TOTALLY why I can see him play Luke Cage! I wanna see MJW doing more stuff ...
At October 16, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
I would rather Ray Parker, Jr. play Iron Fist than Ray Park. I mean, come on, people.
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
You know what, you're right. Ray Park was awesome in Star Wars Episode I. He couldn't be entertaining to watch ...
At October 16, 2009, eric grant wrote:
Look, anyone can do stunt martial arts, but Danny Rand is a gullible pretty boy. Stratham and Park are not ...
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
Well, Eric, what does your stunt martial arts resume look like? I bet it looks just like mine.

Yeah, Park ...
At October 16, 2009, r wrote:
I agree with the suggestion of Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse) as Iron Fist. He's my first choice, but few ...
At October 16, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
Eh, erm, ok, maybe. I know Tahmoh (don't ask me to pronounce his name out loud) can do action, for ...
At October 17, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:
Not a movie. A TV series. And every week, they meet another Marvel B-Lister. Set in the late '70's. Dazzler, ...
At October 17, 2009, VichusSmith wrote:
I wish a Powerman & Iron Fist movie went from the 70s to current time. Cage and Fist have their ...
At October 20, 2009, Leeatard wrote:
After seeing Speed Racer, I think Matthew Fox would be the perfect Iron Fist.

Sunday Brunch: 10/4/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:30:50 +0000

Thrown together at the last minute! Would you have it any other way?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What's the best first issue you ever read?

FREE TIBET ROBO! What's this? Why, it looks to be like a free seven-page Atomic Robo story rolling out a page a day! As regular readers of this blog know, Atomic Robo is the World's Most Awesome Comics Magazine, and therefore I shall link to it with gusto!

MMM, PIE: Saw this at the Savage Critics, and am assuming Jeff Lester made it:

At last, it all makes sense.

THERE IS NO TRY: In this week's Do Anything column at Bleeding Cool, Warren Ellis discusses the power of semantics. Comics, graphic novels, story-strips, visual novels! Are they the same? Should they be?

Doesn’t a Story-Strip sound like a different animal to a Graphic Album, to you? It’s all still comics, sure — but it conjures different ways of doing comics. It’s the sort of thinking that keeps the form alive. Just one way. There are lots of different ways, and it’s not a binary process, you can adopt as many as you like at any time. Just so long as you’re aware that you can do anything you like.

ITEM! So I forgot to link there recently, but Graphic NYC has undergone a bit of a revamp and now has a plethora of cool new articles for you to read.

NOT OPTIONAL: Jog writes his review of SPX 2009. It is mighty. Go, read.

SEE ALSO: In addition to that, there's also a podcast of the Critics Roundtable, with the all-star cast of Jog, Tucker Stone, Douglas Wolk, Gary Groth, and more.

ITEM! Nifty interview with J.H. Williams over at Newsarama. Is there anything that guy can't draw?

SEVEN Qs FOR SEVEN BROTHERS: Brevoort at the Bre-vault:

While in the day-to-day course of doing the job any given editor may throw off story ideas or ways of restructuring or improving a particular tale that others then get to make hay out of, the editor really belongs backstage, directing the action from there. The creators do the work, so they deserve and get the credit. Editors get the blame. That's not a condemnation of the system in any way, merely a statement of fact--and one that a would-be editor needs to embrace before he's truly ready to play in the big leagues.

STRANGE TALES: Marvel spotlights two of my favorites: Jim Rugg and Jhonen Vasquez! On Brother Voodoo and MODOK! It's like they did it just for me.

While I'm mentioning it, buy Afrodisiac in December. Or Santa will give you coal. And an ass-beating.

PAUL POPE DRAWS DUNE! 'Nuff said:

CAMERON STEWART DRAWS SOME MORE BATMAN AND ROBIN: Again, does this really require explication, true believer!?

SEAN MURPHY DRAWS THE ABCS OF WOLVERINE! The alphabet is far better when it has adamantium claws. To wit:

Click the link to see them in their full-sized glory.

SUPERFREAKANGELS: This week's installment of Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield's Freakangels has a fantastic wordless sequence carried on the steampunk wings of Duffield's kickass art. Check it out:

REMAKE/REMODEL: Dynamite Thor! Yes, it's as ridiculously awesome as it sounds. Here's "frequentcontributor" Andrew Nixon's:

And here's one from a fella called DisContent:

NOT COMICS DEPT: Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo

If you want me to kick your ass in Halo 3, or kick ass with me in ODST's Firefight, then send me a message (and let me know you saw this on CSBG so I don't just ignore you). My Xbox Live gamertag is Billuccho. That is all.

See you next week.

Halo Halo HaloHalo Halo Halo

34 Comments

At October 4, 2009, Wraith wrote:
Best first issue I read, EVER? I don't know.

The first possibility that springs to mind is "Umbra." It's probably ...
At October 4, 2009, brian wrote:
Planetary #1. Best. Issue. Ever.

Cheers,

B
At October 4, 2009, garbonzo wrote:
The best first issue ever...hmmmm..toughy.

For sheer balls-out fun and enjoyment, I would have to go with Global Frequency #1. ...
At October 4, 2009, Josh wrote:
Thieves & Kings #1 by Mark Oakley. That one had me hooked immediately; I found myself pouring over the ...
At October 4, 2009, Adam wrote:
Best first issue ever? Boy oh boy. Does this include relaunched first issues? Would, say, the first ...
At October 4, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
Excellent Sean Murphy art, especially the image of Colossus; the artist worked Peter's costume theme into his street clothes beautifully.
At October 4, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
Best first issue? Umbrella Academy, mayhap? Casanova, perchance? Global Frequency, peradventure? Every issue of Global Frequency could've been the first ...
At October 4, 2009, Scavenger wrote:
I'm gonna say Bone #1 for best first issue.
At October 4, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:
Best first issue, hmm? Off the top of my head, I want to say either the first issue of ...
At October 4, 2009, Julian wrote:
Did Quiet Charlie kick off the first issue of Jeremy Eaton's A Troubled World? If so, then that one takes ...
At October 4, 2009, Anonymous wrote:
New X-Men #114.

Hot damn, that was good.
At October 4, 2009, Todd wrote:
Best first issue ever?

D'Arc Tangent.

Sadly, also the only issue ever.
At October 4, 2009, Punchy wrote:
Ultimates #1
At October 4, 2009, Brian wrote:
Best first issue is hard, because I tend to come into books in the middle of their runs. But I'm ...
At October 4, 2009, moon wrote:
That Pope page is amazing.

My best first issue would just be the first page of All Star Superman.
At October 4, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Tough question.... Preacher #1, ultimately. I can't remember reading another first issue that made me as excited for a series ...
At October 4, 2009, DubipR wrote:
Off the top of my head, I'd have to say THUNDERBOLTS #1.
For what has happening at Marvel during that time, ...
At October 4, 2009, Clayton wrote:
Identity Crisis #1, for strictly sentimental reasons. It was the comic that got me reading comics again.
At October 4, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:
The first issue of Bill Messner-Loebs's Journey. Bear chase!

Not a first issue, but the first chapter of the Goodwin-Simonson Manhunter ...
At October 5, 2009, Tuomas wrote:
I have to name Bone #1 as the best first issue too. The combination of fast-paced humour and a sense ...
At October 5, 2009, Rohan Williams wrote:
I'd have to go with All-Star Superman #1. I mean, there are better issues in the series, and realistically I ...
At October 5, 2009, R wrote:
Best first issue? Major Bummer. THAT IS ALL
At October 5, 2009, Jeff R. wrote:
First issue? Hm. My first thought was Mage, but I started that with the first Starblaze collection, not ...
At October 5, 2009, Neal K wrote:
Not sure if New X-Men #114 counts, since it technically isn't a first issue, but to hell with it, its ...
At October 5, 2009, Erik wrote:
I remember back in the 1980's, Dark Horse had a series called The American. The story was a conspiracy ...
At October 5, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:
I remember when Kirby moved to DC, and the first issues seemed so great and full of the promise of ...
At October 5, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:
Reading as it came out, Watchmen #1 got me insanely excited about the whole series. It blew my mind and ...
At October 5, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:
Hmmm... I'll go with Promethea #1 'cause it was good enough that I was blown away every time a successive ...
At October 6, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
Y the Last Man #1.
At October 6, 2009, Todd Ayotte wrote:
Best 1st issue in a long time is The Goon #1.
At October 6, 2009, Busterchops wrote:
Best First issue ever read... Speedball the Masked Marvel. I am pretty sure that I am alone in the ...
At October 7, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:
Best first issue probably would be DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1 or WATCHMEN #1, since those were the best comics ever.
At October 7, 2009, hueysheridan wrote:
I was blown away by the first issue of the first Deadpool ongoing by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness way ...
At October 12, 2009, bursar wrote:
Marvel Premiere #31 - Woodgod

or (and probably)

Howard the Duck #1

Sunday Brunch: 9/27/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:26:04 +0000

Not an overabundance of links this week, just the really cool/controversial stuff. Hopefully nothing major hits on Friday, because, as I write this on Thursday, I'm about to run off to Atlantic City to start my new career as a lounge singer.*

Rather than a question of the week, I figured I would share this one-panel cartoon/PSA, written by me, drawn by my buddy Jay Stewart:

*Some of this sentence is untrue.

Links below.

ITEM! Chris Bird, the Mightygodking himself, writes about why it's so hard to write about/parody recent comics:

Now, I’m not saying Blackest Night isn’t going to sell well. It will. And fans will probably like it, to which my reaction is “yeah, and Transformers 2 made $400 million at the box office, but it was still shit.” It’s not fun making fun of total shit. Civil War was a pretty great idea with some horrible execution. Blackest Night is just bad in all respects.

There, that should stir up some emotions. And thereby cause zombies to eat your heart, or whatever it is they're doing.

ITEM! And while the internet's dogpiling on Blackest Night, we might as well look over to Bleeding Cool, where Rich Johnston cherrypicks some choice quotes from an Alan Moore interview. Quotes like:

I increasingly get a sense of the comics industry going through my trashcan like raccoons in the dead of the night… That’s a good image, isn’t it? They weren’t even particularly good ideas.

And:

I tend to see the people who run the comics industry as being largely like some variety of tapeworm or some other parasite. But, they’re not very good at it. Any self-respecting tapeworm or parasite never kills the host.

21 Comments

At September 27, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
"...!"

No comment.
At September 27, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
Preach it, James Robinson!
At September 27, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Uh... let's just say the Cancer joke doesn't work and leave it there.

Hey, I'm glad to hear people - even ...
At September 27, 2009, Wraith wrote:
Y'know, Bleeding Cool already hosted an energetic handbag-fight over Alan Moore's comments and James Robinson's retort, when they first happened. ...
At September 27, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
Uh... let's just say the Cancer joke doesn't work and leave it there.
How does the joke not work?

It's a ...
At September 27, 2009, Sunday Brunch: 9/27/09 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources | work4real.net wrote:
[...] Show original post here [...]
At September 27, 2009, P. Boz wrote:
You know, that lung was kinda cute 'til I saw it was smoking. Total turn-off.
At September 27, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
Wraith, I'm going to disagree with you. Since Sunday Brunch is a review of the past week's internet comic activity, ...
At September 27, 2009, Bubbs wrote:
Hahaha James Robinson fucking wrote the LXG screenplay? Jesus. Once you've done that you can basically never criticize ...
At September 27, 2009, Dave wrote:
Okay, I seriously have no idea who the hell "Bubbs" is, but aparently firefox autocompleted that as my name ...
At September 27, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Thanks, Scott.

My net casino gain was two whole American dollars. Which is far, far better than I usually do.
At September 27, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
I think Robinson misses the point of Moore's quotation completely, as Moore seems to be pointing towards the comic industry's ...
At September 27, 2009, Ted wrote:
Is there any good reason, whatsoever, to rehash the same flamewar here at CSBG at this point?

Yes - because as ...
At September 27, 2009, Cass wrote:
Didn't Frank Quitely admit to not having read dick about Superman? He's one of the greatest Superman artists of all ...
At September 28, 2009, Ted wrote:
Surely, the more the artist has read the better artist they are going to be. And knowing how a character ...
At September 28, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Wraith, I'm going to disagree with you. Since Sunday Brunch is a review of the past week's internet comic activity, ...
At September 28, 2009, s1rude wrote:
Totally didn't see those as lungs at first.
At September 28, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:
Me neither. Not for nothing was Biology the only PE-unrelated subject in which I ever made a "C" in college, ...
At September 28, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
What kind of person brags about their total ignorance of a highly respected and celebrated work in their own field?

A ...
At September 28, 2009, Ted wrote:
A liar or a dunce.

I hadn't even considered the former. Now, I wonder.
At September 30, 2009, Ethan Van Sciver wrote:
I rarely read comic books these days. When I did read comics, it was when I was a very ...

Sunday Brunch: 9/20/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:30:10 +0000

Thank goodness this post didn't go up on Talk Like a Pirate Day. We all dodged a bullet there.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK-- U-DECIDE!: New Justice League lineup-- the lamest one ever?

Links below! No lynxes, though.

NEW ABHAY! As ever, I'm excited. This one's on crime novelists writing comics. Sort of. Again, it's Abhay, so the discussion veers in several interesting directions:

Swiercynski writes comics, too: IRON FIST and CABLE for Marvel. That’s been a thing with Marvel lately— collecting crime novelists. Hurwitz and Gishler and Huston and whoever else. I hadn’t read any of Swiercynski’s comic work, so I looked at a random issue of CABLE after I read his novel. If I’m remembering this right: Cable was on a farm in the future, wearing overalls; he fought bugs. If you want a comic about cyborgs fighting bugs on a farm—that happened.

THAT VOODOO THAT YOU DO-DO: Newsarama interviews Rick Remender about his upcoming Doctor Voodoo ongoing. I have always (read: since 2007) wanted to read (or write) a Brother (Doctor) Voodoo ongoing set in New Orleans, and here it is! This series sounds pretty good, and you should all buy it in singles so that I don't feel bad about waiting for the trade (it's only four bucks for the first issue and three bucks after that, so don't fret!):

Currently Jericho lives in New Orleans where he runs a non-profit clinic and keeps the evil Loas at bay. Then one day -- POW -- he’s the Sorcerer Supreme and every major bad ass in the MU is out to take him down.

Jericho Drumm aka Doctor Voodoo is stuck between two lives; that of a voodoo healer and psychologist serving the impoverished communities of New Orleans and that of the new Sorcerer Supreme, defender of the unknown.

I'm getting something of a Denys-Cowan-on-Deathlok-in-1992 vibe from the art, which is a good thing. Now let's get a Fred Hembeck variant cover! I'll buy that for a dollar!

CHOKER? I BARELY KNEW 'ER: The upcoming totally-not-Fell series by Bens McCool and Templesmith was also featured at the 'Rama this week (not that I'm trying to get a commission from the Nistinguised Rompetition):

Nrama: You have a lot of experience at establishing setting, from towns to worlds and even a few dimensions. What's the town of Shotgun City like?

Templesmith: Hmmm, potentially like what you'd get if the Chicago of the 1930's had a one night stand with the city scenes out of Blade Runner. Slightly futuristic yet quaintly odd in places and thoroughly dirty and dank. At least, this is the ambition.

McCool: Well, let’s put it like this: there’s never a dull moment. A bewildering twist of 1930’s Chicago and a technology-infused postmodern metropolis, it boasts as many bowler-clad gangster types as it does avant-garde cyberpunks. The cops are bad, the crooks worse, and good things very, very rarely happen. Inhabitants would think of Camden, New Jersey as VACATIONLAND!

THE VAULT brings us The "Real" Top Ten Marvel covers, and Seven Questions with Fabian Nicieza. Check it out.

ITEM! (I can't keep cheeky headlines up forever.) Thanks to Rich Johnston and Bleeding Cool, we all kinda-sorta get to take Ethan Watrall's History of the Modern Comic Book class at Michigan State University... for free! It's like Cliffs Notes.

ITEM! Kevin Church has a new webcomics project starting this week: She Died in Terrebonne. Should be a cool noir-ish series. The art, by T.J. Kirsch, is great. Read it, and stuff:

ITEM! Via Mike Sterling via NeilAlien, here's the best nerd costume ever. (Spidey-related.)

REMAKE/REMODEL: This week, it's Black Orchid! Now Ellis himself has already linked to the pros who stopped by like Pia Guerra, Ben Templesmith, and Ryan Kelly, so I'll show you some examples from the beautiful lesser-knowns. Here's Andrew Nixon (a.k.a. "Frequent Contributor")'s Seuss-inspired entry:

And here's one from user "Miranda", who is a dude:

NOT COMICS DEPT: Nathan Rabin of the Onion's AV Club dares to eat a KFC Double Down sandwich (the sandwich that has fried chicken instead of bread), and, barely living to tell the tale, writes the greatest article in the history of the website:

My stomach began to feel like a brick. I wanted to quit after a few bites but I soldiered on, ignoring my increasingly intense stomach pain. The Double Down did to my gastrointestinal system what Sherman did to the South, leaving a scorched-earth trail of destruction in its wake. ... God clearly did not mean for humans to eat chicken, bacon, and low-quality, gelatinous cheese at the same time.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK THAT IS ACTUALLY A QUESTION THAT SHOULD PROBABLY ONLY HAVE ONE ANSWER: So when is Batman: Brave & the Bold coming back? I hope I haven't missed the OMAC and musical episodes.

50 Comments

At September 20, 2009, Thok wrote:
The last four episodes of Brave and the Bold haven't aired yet, unless you live in Australia, where the three ...
At September 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
Lamest actual Justice League lineup ever begins and ends with the Gerry Jones' post-Zero Hour lineup.
At September 20, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
That one at least had Metamorpho in it.
At September 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
That one at least had Metamorpho in it.
A barely recognizable Metamorpho!
At September 20, 2009, Lawrence wrote:
Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, and Batman are all pretty established Justice Leaguers. So really, this team is only lame ...
At September 20, 2009, Colby wrote:
Does anyone else think Hal's costume looks...off? It reminds me more of Power Ring than Green Lantern.
At September 20, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
" Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, and Batman are all pretty established Justice Leaguers. So really, this team is only ...
At September 20, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
So really, this team is only lame if you really hate the former Teen Titans.

Oh man, do I ever.

For me, ...
At September 20, 2009, T. wrote:
What good is a universe with legacy heroes if the old men can never give their jobs up for long?

The ...
At September 20, 2009, Gricomet wrote:
I think the line up is fine. The Morrison era was one of the few historically that had a Big ...
At September 20, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Oh man, I've been looking at this picture for a week and just noticed Dr. Light II in the back ...
At September 20, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:
Dick? Yes. Ollie? Yes. Cyborg? Yes. Hal? Okay, I guess. Ray Palmer? What was wrong with the ...
At September 20, 2009, Julian wrote:
Who cares about roster bitching when there are so many good comics coming out and SPX is right around the ...
At September 20, 2009, Sunday Brunch: 9/20/09 | Pulplit Magazine wrote:
[...] Read this article: Sunday Brunch: 9/20/09 [...]
At September 20, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Yeah, Congorilla and Guardian don't work for me. One's inevitably going to be compared negatively to Captain America, and ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
I'm sort of interested in Robinson's JLA line up. I like that the legacy kids are stepping in to the ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
Also Guardian! A Kirby/Morrison guy! I could live without Starfire and Cyborg (and Hal and Ollie), but I dunno. The ...
At September 20, 2009, dantecat wrote:
and the other one is freakin' Congorilla.

Aww, c-mon. Congorilla was there for the "real" Secret Origin of the JLA, ...
At September 20, 2009, Miranda wrote:
Ha, thank you so much for posting my version! Cheers!!
At September 20, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
JLDetroit had Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Elongated Man-- three-fifths of my Top Five Favorite DC Characters. Also: Vibe. Who doesn't ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
This guy.

Me. He and Steel can... well, they died. They can die again in Blackest Night! Which I will not ...
At September 20, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
JLAME -- heh! Clever file name there, Bill.

This is undeniably the B-League. The West Coast Avengers to the Big ...
At September 20, 2009, Michael P. wrote:
I'd prefer the Guardian was Morrison's, but I don't really have a problem with this line-up. I think adding Donna ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
Just for a head's up, if I ever somehow write JLA, here's my roster and their roles:

Dick Grayson (as Batman ...
At September 20, 2009, chad wrote:
i do not think the current line up is lame for one it has titans who most belived would some ...
At September 20, 2009, Dean wrote:
I am of two minds about the JLA line-up.

On the one hand, the Giffen-DeMatties JUSTICE LEAGUE looked pretty lame until ...
At September 20, 2009, Michael P. wrote:
Oh, and I'll put money on Ryan "All-New Atom" Choi eating a bullet before the end of Cry for Justice.
At September 20, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
"SPX is right around the corner?"

I don't know what that is.
SPX is the Small Press Expo. It's an indie convention.
At September 20, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
No, Congorilla is a terrible character. For starters, he's horribly dated in all the wrong ways, being not only ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
Yeah, Omar, I know you have a reasoned argument there and everything, but all I can see is "Blah blah ...
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
"SPX is the Small Press Expo. It's an indie convention."

Got it. That's why I mentioned indie mini comic palooza.
At September 20, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
"If you consider the poisonous response to CRY FOR JUSTICE, Robinson and Bagley are coming to the plate with two ...
At September 20, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
" But given that today's fans are "lifers" and the trade paperbacks and archive hardcovers keep the old status quo ...
At September 20, 2009, Cass wrote:
The Manhattan Guardian was a great series but not because Jake Jordan was a good character. He represented a fairly ...
At September 20, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Yeah, Omar, I know you have a reasoned argument there and everything, but all I can see is "Blah blah ...
At September 20, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
I don't want to admit it, Cass, but that's all very true.
At September 20, 2009, Matt D wrote:
I'm really happy with the line-up. Post-Rebirth Hal is pretty Loathsome whoever's writing him, but especially so with Robinson, unfortunately.

But ...
At September 20, 2009, Cass wrote:
Thank you kindly, Apodaca. No hard feelings over the Cobain dispute, I hope. Just a bit of a touchy subject ...
At September 20, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:
I only object to Donna Troy (who is and has always been a cypher pinup), the Golden Guardian (not one ...
At September 20, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I don't have a problem with any of the characters in the line-up, but I don't like the fact that ...
At September 20, 2009, Dave wrote:
To me, the problem with the line up is the same problem that most non-big seven, or more specificially, non-trinity ...
At September 20, 2009, Sijo wrote:
The League lineup looks OK to me. Besides it's the writing that really matters. And I'm not buying DC Comics ...
At September 20, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
No J'onn? It ain't the Justice league.
At September 20, 2009, Rebis wrote:
"No J'onn? It ain't the Justice league."

I concur ... and I pretty much feel the same way about Black Canary, ...
At September 20, 2009, Mikester wrote:
I agree with everyone above...She Died in Terrebonne looks excellent!
At September 21, 2009, Graeme White wrote:
The Guardian was a good Kirby character, in the Golden Age. It is only subsequent works that have reduced ...
At September 21, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Yeah, Graeme White is correct: the Guardian works when he's an ID used by cop Jim Harper to help the ...
At September 21, 2009, Thenodrin wrote:
The Top Five Hal Jordan covers reminded me that Hal has always been sort of the leader of the GLC. ...
At September 22, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:
Hal, leader of a group that includes Dick Grayson? I don't think so. Hal is no leader. Mavericks aren't good ...
At September 22, 2009, ks wrote:
I didn't read all of the comments above, so if I am being repetitive, I apologize. It doesn't matter what ...

Sunday Brunch: 9/13/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:30:57 +0000

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Every comic you own is magically redrawn overnight by one particular artist. Who is it?

Links below.

ITEM! Neil "Scary Trousers" Gaiman talks to Entertainment Weekly about vampires. Does Gaiman sparkle in the sunlight? I wonder...

ITEM! Karen Green explains why medieval historians should be big fans of comics. Why? Because they both deal in sequential art.

I LOVE YOU, MAN: Chris Sims chronicles the eleven greatest man-crushes in comics. Unfortunately, the Brad Curran/Chris Sims man-crush is not on the list... probably because it's unrequited.

ITEM! Cameron Stewart to draw third Batman & Robin arc. Internet rejoices:

ITEM! Ng Suat Tong writes a super-interesting article over at the Comics Reporter on writer/artist collaboration, using examples from Y the Last Man to Daredevil: Born Again to Bendis and his cohorts to From Hell and Seaguy. Definitely worth a read.

BONG! Chris Butcher rings the death knell of the direct comics market. Again. Look at the vine! It withers!:

What happens when Direct Market retailers can’t trust Diamond to keep them stocked?

For us, it means going elsewhere with surprising frequency. It means that the Direct Market has started to fade, losing relevancy, immediacy, its massive buying power and its ability to be heard. Instead of comic book retailers asking Diamond to bargain with pubs on their behalf for the common good, it becomes up to those same retailers to bargain for themselves with the great big publishers of material.

And he's right, and stuff, but you all knew that already.

ITEM! Scott Harris sits down with Kurt Busiek for seven questions. They're good ones. Also, Busiek's upcoming American Gothic series sounds very good:

AMERICAN GOTHIC starts off with a number of single issue stories -- it's a series about magic all around us, in the modern-day real world, and we'll see a wide range of things from a vampire in Alcoholics Anonymous, a long-haul trucker driving the ghost of his late wife to her eternal reward, a night in the life of a tooth fairy, the exorcism of a murdered business, and more. After the opening batch of stories, we have a longer arc planned, about a young girl in a fishing village in Rhode Island that's fallen on hard times, and what happens when the Norse god Thor takes up residence on a nearby island. And again, plenty more.

ITEM! Also at the Vault, they're counting down the real Top 70 Marvel covers, opposed to the lopsided list Marvel itself put out. The first ten are here, and you can find more on the site's frontpage.

DEPPEY VS. LEVITZ: So you probably heard DC honcho Paul Levitz is stepping down, and many are mourning this loss. But not the purveyor of Journalista!:

The damage that Paul Levitz did to comics over the years wasn’t by any means restricted to one company or format: If Marvel’s mid-1990s decision to buy Heroes World was the first shot in the Distributor Wars that ultimately crippled the Direct Market, DC’s exclusivity deal with Diamond Comics Distributors — the first such deal signed, and the one that kicked said war into high gear — was the second. Had that deal not been made, it’s entirely likely that Diamond might not be the de-facto monopoly that it is today, to say nothing of the many people who might still be in business had it not been for the catastrophic orgy of fear and greed that followed Marvel and DC’s collective stupidity.

And then he gets mean.

HAWKAAAA! The good Dr. K introduces Blackhawk Wingsdays, and it is spectacular:

One of the common problems with Blackhawk adventures, as we see in the above panel, is that one person, usually Blackhawk, gets in on the action, while the others stand around and provide play-by-play or blurt out their ethno-specific expressions, like "Ach du lieber!" or "Py yiminy!" or "Sacre bleu!" or "Dagnabbit!" or "Dios mio!" or "Bozhemoi!" or "Frak!" or "Shiny!" or "Airwolf!" or whatever.

NOT COMICS DEPT: Chuck Klosterman takes a look at this big ol' compilation of music by some old band called the Beetles or something. It is cheeky and fun:

Like most people, I was initially confused by EMI’s decision to release remastered versions of all 13 albums by the Liverpool pop group Beatles, a 1960s band so obscure that their music is not even available on iTunes. The entire proposition seems like a boondoggle. I mean, who is interested in old music? And who would want to listen to anything so inconveniently delivered on massive four-inch metal discs with sharp, dangerous edges? The answer: no one.

STILL NOT COMICS DEPT: This week saw me become completely obsessed with the game Spelunky, downloadable for free. It's the coolest Super Nintendo game that never existed, and hard as hell. Finally beat it after 461 tries! Hurray!

55 Comments

At September 13, 2009, Kevin wrote:
"QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Every comic you own is magically redrawn overnight by one particular artist. Who is it?"

I can't ...
At September 13, 2009, Jawa wrote:
"QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Every comic you own is magically redrawn overnight by one particular artist. Who is it?"

Easy. ...
At September 13, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
Kirby. It has to be Kirby.
At September 13, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
J.H. Williams III
At September 13, 2009, Michael P. wrote:
Is is just me, or do these periodic "death of the direct market" pieces feel like wishful thinking on the ...
At September 13, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
What one artist could redraw everything from Conan to Nextwave to Ghost World?

Joe Kubert, that's who.
At September 13, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:
Is there any comic I own that wouldn't look better drawn by Alan Davis? The only one I can ...
At September 13, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
QOTW: Walt Simonson
At September 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
J.H. Williams III

You're just saying that because all your comics would look the same! Just... shinier.
At September 13, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:
Damn, tough call. Probably John Cassaday.
At September 13, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
It would be interesting to see everything done by Allred, but I'd have to go the predictable route and say ...
At September 13, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:
Neal Adams or George Perez.
At September 13, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:
Ramona Fradon.
At September 13, 2009, rhod wrote:
QotW: either Chris Giarrusso or Sergio Aragones.
At September 13, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:
I agree with Omar. J.H. WIllians III is the only artist I would trust to do every comic in ...
At September 13, 2009, Julian wrote:
QOTW: This is a nightmare scenario, but I guess if it had to happen... Kim Deitch.
At September 13, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:
Julian:

That would actually work, wouldn't it?

Kim Deitch's Love and Rockets? Cerebus? Captain America? Lone Ranger? Kim Deitch's Fourth World ...
At September 13, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Bill Sienkiewicz
At September 13, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
Omar said:
J.H. Williams III

Bill said:
You're just saying that because all your comics would look the same! Just... shinier.

Heh, I was ...
At September 13, 2009, Eric wrote:
Answer of the Week: Bryan Lee O'Malley.
At September 13, 2009, Cass wrote:
Williams is almost too obvious. It's like when people go straight for Akuma on the character select screen or when ...
At September 13, 2009, Martin wrote:
"Every comic you own is magically redrawn overnight by one particular artist. Who is it?"

Rob Liefeld, easily.

(I'm really good ...
At September 13, 2009, JamesMurton wrote:
All my comics redrawn? It has to be George Perez. If it hurts his wrists, I'll settle for Gene Colan.
At September 13, 2009, Joe wrote:
Chris Bachalo.
At September 13, 2009, Generic Lad wrote:
Greg Land, of course. He could easily trace them all in 8 hours.
At September 13, 2009, nate wrote:
Gary Frank

I want his take on EVERYTHING
At September 13, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:
"What one artist could redraw everything from Conan to Nextwave to Ghost World?"

Philip Bond
At September 13, 2009, Michael wrote:
Frank Quietly

But when I think about, I think more than half of my comics are already drawn by him.
At September 13, 2009, Sijo wrote:
QOTW: Perez, definitely. He can draw ANYTHING. And make it look BETTER.
At September 13, 2009, Ted wrote:
It is not easy to categorize the Beatles’ music; more than any other group, their sound can be described as ...
At September 13, 2009, dantecat wrote:
Dick Dillin
At September 13, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
Dick Dillin? Really? I mean, he's not bad, but I was just reading Justice League of America #87 and that ...
At September 13, 2009, Keith wrote:
QOTW: For me, I'd like to see Barry Windsor-Smith draw everything. Second choice might be Sienkiewicz. Then ...
At September 13, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
I'd say Steranko, just because I've always wanted to see him do more comics.
At September 13, 2009, J. R. wrote:
I wouldn't have a single artist draw everything. I believe that certain artists are better suited to certain types ...
At September 13, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
Jackson Guice, in the style he had when he did Doctor Strange. But he couldn't do it overnight-- his ...
At September 13, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:
Obviously, Ernie Bushmiller.

@Cass: Ever seen
this?
At September 13, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:
Alex Toth

Or Kirby, because Kirby would have been up to it and he's already done a whole hell a lot ...
At September 13, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
If I could reverse my decision later, I'd have Liefeld draw them all, just to see what the F would ...
At September 13, 2009, Cass wrote:
@Humanatee: Oh wow, that actually looks pretty great. Thanks for sharing the link. I should probably retract what I ...
At September 13, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:
Every comic you own is magically rewritten [from plot to dialogue] overnight by one particular writer. Who is it?

Whatever became ...
At September 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Obviously, if I had to choose one writer to rewrite all my comics from the already provided pages, I would ...
At September 13, 2009, Andrew-TLA wrote:
Tom Grummett pencils, Karl Kesel inks.
At September 13, 2009, Andrew wrote:
Stephen Platt.

And that Klosterman piece was painfully unfunny. The massive comments thread was much more interesting.
At September 13, 2009, jazzbo wrote:
I'd probably have to go with Kirby, but George Perez, Alan Davis and Art Adams are all tied for a ...
At September 14, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:
Old-school -- John Severin. Of course. I mean ... duh.

Today's crop -- Amanda Conner. If she's too busy, Cliff Chiang.
At September 14, 2009, Alonso Nunez wrote:
In part because I feel like he never got enough of these big works first time around I would love ...
At September 14, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:
Good choice Alonso! Garcia-Lopez is amazing.
At September 14, 2009, Punchy wrote:
Man, Ng Suat Tong is kind of a douche in that article isn't he? Very dismissive of some great works.

Why ...
At September 14, 2009, Dave wrote:
One artist? Every comic. Steve Dillon. Thousands of comics filled with characters that look like real people.
At September 15, 2009, Major Retcon wrote:
That´s the kind of question I could only answer if I was 12 years old. And when I was 12, ...
At September 16, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
"Man, Ng Suat Tong is kind of a douche in that article isn't he? Very dismissive of some great works."

He ...
At September 16, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
"One artist? Every comic. Steve Dillon. Thousands of comics filled with characters that look like real people."

Real UGLY people!

j/k

At ...
At September 18, 2009, Blackjak wrote:
Bryan Talbot.
At September 19, 2009, Nuno wrote:
Steve Rude or David Mazzucchelli

Box of Comics: August 2009

Bill Reed — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:50:10 +0000

How hopelessly late am I this time? Not too much, I hope. (Place your bets on how many semi-colons I use in this post!) At least I review some stuff that I haven't seen reviewed much around the internets. Well, aside from that one comic. You know the one.

Inside: The most awesome comic ever printed! The strangest Bat-villain of them all! The biggest letdown of the month! The latest Apparat novella from Internet Jesus himself! And an overlooked new launch from a young upstart publisher! (See anything you like? Buy it at HeavyInk, and/or pre-order the next one at DCBS!)

Atomic Robo and the Shadow from Beyond Time #4 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (back-up drawn by Rick Woodall and Lawrence Basso) (Red 5)

Burgas reviewed this last month and found there to be "2.73 awesome things per page" over the course of the 26 story pages, which is a pretty high ratio of awesome-to-paper, in an era where you're lucky to get 2.73 awesome things per issue. Greg's review method was entirely quantitative, however; me, I'm more of a qualitative kind of guy. I need to know how and why something is awesome. Let's roll.

The Chris Sims School of Comics Criticism (from which Brad Curran graduated, class of '07) dictates that, to truly convey how awesome this comic is, I simply have to explain the plot to you in one sentence, with the occasional use of italics to indicate proper face-wrecking, so here goes: This is a comic in which Dr. Atomic Robo Tesla teams up with Carl Sagan in 1971 Peru to capture a Lovecraftian elder beast from beyond the universe using the fifth cardinal direction, Zorth. And look, I haven't even mentioned the lightning guns, or the fantastic cliffhanger.

Clevinger's script positively sings, grounding the ludicrous plot situations with some marvel dialogue conveyed in the back-and-forth between Robo and Sagan. The famed astronomer gets a great little character arc that takes him from sarcastic skeptic to-- well, more of the same, but with some added badasstitude as he begins to comprehend the madness of Robo's world. I don't want to downplay Scott Wegener's art, of course, because the man draws comics better than porn stars have sex (put that metaphor in your pipe and smoke it). Clev and Weg deserve to be seen in the same light as Morrison and Quitely, Ennis and Dillon, Brubaker and Phillips, Captain and Tennille-- a match made in heaven.

Whereas Hellboy would ignore the exposition in order to punch the monster in the face, Atomic Robo is more likely to deliver the exposition while punching the monster in the face! He's the science hero for the new millennium, making sci-fi fun again, deriving a sense of wonder from that curious beast named science.

I was going to switch to trades on this book, but with the exponential increase in awesome (atomic number: 1 jillion) per issue, I can't possibly give up the singles. Also, they're adding a letters page. A letters page! This is my favorite comic, and I rather suspect this particular episode will land my "issue of the year" nod. Then again, there's still one more issue to go!

Batman and Robin #3 by G-Mo, F-Qui, A-Sin, and P-Bro (DC)

Remember your SAT analogies? BATMAN AND ROBIN : SUPERHERO COMICS ::

A.) Marvel : Disney
B.) Red Sox : Baseball
C.) Filet Mignon : Steak
D.) Tom Selleck : Mustaches

You can probably make your case for any of the above, but for the purposes of this review, the metaphor I choose will be C. Batman and Robin is the finest cut of superhero meat you're going to find. Morrison and Quitely have sliced off all the fat, leaving behind only tender beef, from cows raised on Guinness and Britpop. Quitely's art appears perfectly sculpted, drawn with the hand of a surgeon, or maybe that guy who slices out all the deadly parts of the blowfish. The Batman mythos can hold a lot of air, after all, but Grant and Frank-- Grank Morriley would be their name, if they were joined together in some terrifying science experiment-- cut right down to the good part.

Morrison described this series going in as "Adam West meets David Lynch," and this issue encapsulates that perfectly. We've got the standard structure of 60s Batman-- Robin's captured, Batman's on the way, and it's all going to end in a fight scene-- but there's a blatant layer of mindbending horror on top of that, as we discover the true lunacy of Professor Pyg. He's easily the scariest and most interesting new Bat-baddie in a dog's age; instead of standing around revealing his master plot to his captive, he jerks around like he's sorted out for E's and Wizz ("Sexy disco hot," he explains), and rants about mothers (he's built his own wire mother) and art. He really is the villainous equivalent of Vulva from that performance art episode of Spaced. I hope he catches on, like no villain has since Zsasz or the Ventriloquist-- but, like most Morrison creations, I fear he's destined to be shied away from.

Morrison also writes the only Dick Grayson I've ever liked, one who has manned up and accepted his role as Batman's successor ("Who the hell are you?" demands Gordon; "I'm Batman," replies Dick, and means it at last). It's going to suck when Dick has to regress back to Nightwing in a year or so. Morrison's also the only writer at DC who seems to have a proper handle on Damian; he might have surpassed early Tim Drake as my favorite Robin already-- I want to write a "Robin the Boy Bastard" series. He's the world's deadliest ten year old, sure, but he's also trying to learn what being a hero means, and how to connect emotionally to others. It's good character work.

Buy this comic! It's cheaper than good steak, and twice as filling!

Doom Patrol #1 by Keith Giffen, Matthew Clark, Livesay, Pat Brosseau, Guy Major, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Nick J. Napolitano (DC)

This issue marks the, what, fifth volume of Doom Patrol? And the third one this decade? Law of diminishing returns indicates that the eighth volume, which will be on the stands in three years, will only last four issues before being mercilessly canceled from on high. At least, it will if this issue is any indication. The panel above? It contains multitudes.

I have great love for the Doom Patrol, and great admiration for Keith Giffen, so it pains me to tell you that this Just Isn't Very Good. The new series falls into the same traps as the rest of DC's subpar output: it's got awkward characterization, violence for shock's sake, bad dialogue, and unidentified characters (I inferred that the fellow above is Rocky from the Challengers of the Unknown; apparently, he is now a priest and self-appointed team psychologist). The new Doom Patrol status quo seems to be "self-pitying super-team suicide squad," the wrist-slitting emo version of your favorite Saturday morning cartoon show. Elasti-Woman is brittle. Robotman is kind of a jerk. Negative Man cracks jokes even as the team members Giffen doesn't want to bother with get turned into red mist. The team wantonly kills their enemies. This ain't your daddy's Doom Patrol!

Both Giffen and Clark really, really wanted this series, but that's not inherent in the work itself. Clark's got the scratchy, overly detailed DC house style down pat. Giffen's painting by the numbers; yeah, his voice comes through, but it's the voice of an older, gruffer, less funny Keith Giffen.

The 10-page Metal Men "co-feature" is good, though, once again reuniting the all-star JLI team of Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire. Each one of them plays to stereotype, doomed to live in that role forever, destroyed and rebuilt over and over again: Gold's a narcissistic ass, Iron's the normal guy, Lead's a little slow, Tin has self-esteem issues, Mercury's neurotic, Platinum's in love with Doc Magnus, and nobody can remember Copper exists. They fight a weird menace and go home to the suburbs. It's light and fun, but a bit "fourteenth verse, same as the first," willfully playing on our nostalgia for the old JLI. I'll take that over what the lead feature gives us, but I'm not paying four dollars a month for a back-up strip.

Frankenstein's Womb by Warren Ellis and Marek Oleksicki (Avatar)

The cover to this 44-odd page graphic novella features an infant, perhaps a fetus, floating in a mad scientist's liquid, stitched together, stuck with tubes. This image provides a sense of expectation to the work. Chances are, however, those expectations will be subverted once one reads it. The cover shows us a metaphor for the content within; the titular womb is not that of Frankenstein, but rather the one Frankenstein was birthed from-- that of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Ellis wollstonecrafts a fictive work cobbled together from history and apocrypha, giving us the true origin of the Modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley visits Castle Frankenstein, meets a monster, and then learns of the past and the future, corpses and lightning.

I don't want to spoil the whole thing. Let's just say that this is not a work with dynamite plotting and breakneck pace; rather, it's a considered work, a conversation between two unique characters, an alchemical philosophy. It's a love letter to Mary Shelley, composed by a writer and an artist who breathe life into paper, who give a voice to the blank page. It is, as many Warren Ellis works are, about the future, and the people that craft it. Technology, machines, electricity-- the stuff of magic and mystery. Oleksicki's art looks exquisite, richly detailed and hauntingly realistic. More importantly, it keeps the reader engaged throughout, remaining visually stimulating despite pages of, let's face it, talking heads. It's good talk, though.

Frankenstein's Womb is seven bucks, cheaper than two issues of Dark Avengers. It's a work of alchemy, a chameleon at home on the comic store shelf or at your local Barnes and Noble. It's got a spine, and it smells of the past and the future, simultaneously.

Robot 13: Colossus! #1 by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford (Blacklist Studios)

Here's a book that doesn't just wear its influences on its sleeve; it tattoos those influences to its chest and struts around shirtless. From the panel above, you can tell this one's another comic in the Hellboy vein. Without your reading glasses on, you'd think Mike Mignola drew it! Heck, you'd think that with your reading glasses on. Throw Hellboy, Amazing Screw-On Head, and Atomic Robo in a blender, and you might get a Robot 13 milkshake. I hope a unique flavor emerges as the series goes on, however.

Hall and Bradford's story is a bit sparse in this first issue-- we're introduced to the titular Robot 13 as he's pulled out of the drink by some fishermen. Naturally, a sea monster follows a few panels later and we get a cool fight. Toss in some amnesia, a flashback, and Bob's your uncle. Not too much forward momentum comes out of this one, but you get your cool looking robot with a skull for a head stabbing the Kraken in the eye, so what else do you want? The art's pretty polished, with a cartoony-yet-gothic grace, like Ryan Yount of Scurvy Dogs if Mignola inked him. The script's less burnished, but this is an early effort that shows plenty of room left to improve.

The duo has another book on the horizon, King!, about a Mexican wrestler who looks like Elvis and fights vampires and zombies and stuff, which sounds like someone starting picking "awesome things" out of a hat (or watched Bubba Ho-Tep too many times). Go ahead and give this title a try, though. I want to see a second issue!

11 Comments

At September 7, 2009, Argo Plummer wrote:
I recently switched to DCBS for my monthly books as well, so I understand the delay in not only reviewing ...
At September 7, 2009, Michael P. wrote:
Doom Patrol: Yet another book DC is determined to publish, regardless of if they know what to do with it ...
At September 7, 2009, secret i.d. wrote:
"Not a work with dynamite plotting" indeed. I thought Frankenstein's Womb read like an illustrated wikipedia article.
At September 7, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
Three questions about your Doom Patrol review...

1.) When were the Doom Patrol ever NOT self-pitying? The whole point of the ...
At September 7, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
1.) Yes, the Doom Patrol are mopey, and that is why we love them. However, they were never unlikeable. They ...
At September 7, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Is this Doom Patrol in the same vein as Waid's take on them in Brave And The Bold?

They weren't the ...
At September 8, 2009, John Cage wrote:
I didn't really care for Nudge either, but I'd have rathered Giffen at least try to do something with the ...
At September 8, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:
If DC wants DOOM PATROL to be done right, then all they have to do is assign Morrison and Case ...
At September 8, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
You seem to have misinterpreted the intent of Giffen's Doom Patrol, because while he is writing it dark ( which, ...
At September 12, 2009, Anonymous wrote:
Frankenstein's Womb sounds like it could be a real winner. Ellis sure writes a lot of stuff.

I forgot about ...
At September 14, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:
Above was me, two days ago. Wouldn't want to confuse anybody!

Sunday Brunch: 9/6/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:25:36 +0000

Another week, another pile o' links.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: So if Disney and Marvel produce a crossover between their respective "universes," what match-up are you most itching to see? Me, I'm partial to "Beauty & the Beast and the Beast," myself.

NEWS FLASH! Disney buys Marvel for four billi-- oh, you heard? From everyone? Did your stock go up, at least? Anyway, the sale gives me the excuse to post this drawing by Chris Samnee, so I'm going to do it:

No matter how the merger thing eventually goes, this sole drawing makes it all worth it.

And if it doesn't do it for you, there's always MOSCROOGE, by Ryan Dunleavy:

The internets are probably overloaded with great mash-ups by now. For instance, there's also Adam Koford's Gooflactus:

And don't forget Khary Randolph's Mickey/Wolverine amalgam:

A boatload more can be found here, at SuperPunch!

ITEM! At The Vault, Scott Harris interviews Jim Salicrup, former Marvel editor and current honcho of Papercutz, publisher of Tales from the Crypt, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Classics Illustrated:

The reason my Papercutz publishing partner, Terry Nantier, and I decided to produce graphic novels for all ages, is that we both felt that the comics industry wasn't paying enough attention to kids, especially girls, and we wanted to see if we could produce great comics would reach that audience. Terry and I both grew up reading some of the best comics in the world-- Terry loved the great European graphic novels, I loved 60s Marvel Comics, and we both are crazy about Tintin -- so we both know that kids can appreciate great writing and great artwork in comics, and we both hate the idea that comics should in any way be dumbed down for kids. We remember how smart kids really are.

ITEM! The Vancouver Sun writes a letter to Betty Cooper with advice on how to get over Archie:

Oh, Betty. So smart, so capable, so generous. I hate to break it to you, but for 67 years, you've actually been a lousy role model for the world's young women. He was the plausible user and abuser. But you were the enabler. You came crawling back, time and time again, to perpetuate one of pop culture's most dysfunctional codependent relationships.

ITEM! The Mindless Ones converge again for annocommentations on the latest issue of Batman & Robin:

Why has it taken so long for a Batman comic to emerge that recognizes tehdarquenight’s true pallette, that incorporates the colour schemes of streetlight, strip joint, ad hoarding and nightclub and the internal lightshow of psychotic states and hallucinogenics?

NEW ABHAY! New Abhay is always reason to celebrate. Over at the Savage Critic, he reviews the Nocenti/Aja back-up from the recent Daredevil #500, a story apparently worth all five dollars of the cover price by its lonesome:

The three photos turn out to be meaningful to Daredevil—to the reader, too, if they knows their Daredevil “lore.” If they can put images into context.

Which: I mean, that’s kind of writing comics right there, isn’t it? You pick out still images, little bits of the past frozen in time, and you throw them into another person, hope they stick…? If Ann Nocenti is a character in this story, she’s not the old yelling-guy or the praying girl or the distant steel God; she’s Bullseye. She can’t kill Daredevil—all she can do is hurt him as much as she can.

And then he reviews the rest of the issue. He is less enthused about that, but that's when the review gets much funnier.

ITEM! Sean T. Collin's essay on Cable/Soldier X over at Robot 6 is a great read. So go, read.

ITEM! Johnny Bacardi wishes Walt Simonson a happy birthday with a look back at the short-lived Pasko/Simonson run on Metal Men.

THINGS I ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED ON AMAZON: Steve Ditko Creeper hardcover! Steve Ditko Creeper Showcase! Simon/Kirby Newsboy Legion hardcover!

COVERED! Let's check up again on the Covered! blog, where snazzy artists homage some of their favorite comic covers. Among my favorites are David King's Jimmy Olsen, Mark Grambau's Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and James Powell's Tom and Jerry:

HARK! A VAGRANT! Kate Beaton's got a new one up, with Holmes and the dueling Watsons. Quality hilarity!

And since I started this post she's got another new one up! Hurray:

REMAKE/REMODEL RETURNS! And it's a doozy this week, what with the fantastic Flamingo! And right from the starting gate, Andre Navarro comes in and wins all the internets:

I also dug Annie Wu's version:

DO TWO HALF-SHELLS MAKE A WHOLE? This can't be true, can it? Are they really doing an animated special teaming the animated 80's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the animated 00's Turtles? Can such a thing exist outside of my wildest dreams? Did somebody slip me peyote?:

REALLY NOT COMICS DEPT: Shit My Dad Says is the best reason I've seen yet for the existence of Twitter. To wit:

"You need to flush the toilet more than once...No, YOU, YOU specifically need to. You know what, use a different toilet. This is my toilet."

"Your brother brought his baby over this morning. He told me it could stand. It couldn't stand for shit. Just sat there. Big let down."

"The dog don't like you planting stuff there. It's his backyard. If you're the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that."

Quality Tweets.

14 Comments

At September 6, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:
Pretty sure someone else must have already made this joke, but: "Mutant School Musical."
At September 6, 2009, Mr. JR wrote:
A couple had come to mind like "Dr. Strange... lost in the Magic Kingdom he never made!" or "Kraven ...
At September 6, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
-- WebSpin
-- House of M(ouse)
-- That Darn Black Cat
-- Pym Possible
-- ...
At September 6, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Oh, and Typhoid Mary Poppins
At September 6, 2009, Mr. JR wrote:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice Supreme?
At September 6, 2009, chad wrote:
the only team ups from marvel and Disney i want to see is donald and howard the duck though ...
At September 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Peter and the Werewolf by Night?
At September 6, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
Snow White and Luke Cage in a re-make of Bendis's Alias.

One (ALL?) of the Seven Dwarfs replacing Hank Pym in ...
At September 6, 2009, Jim McClain wrote:
Steamboat Willie Lumpkin. 'Nuff said.
At September 6, 2009, bob wrote:
Toy Story: Invasion of the Micronauts
The fox and the hound and the wolverine
Black Panther/Lion King 1shot
Pocahontas and the Rawhide Kid
70's ...
At September 6, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Spider-Man meets The Gargoyles!

The Incredibles vs The Fantastic Four.

The X-Men Escape to Witch Mountain.

Micronauts Toy Story.

And many, many more...
At September 6, 2009, ChrisDonaghy wrote:
Deadpool -- the St. Canard Chronicles:

"I am the terror who...

"You can see the little yellow boxes, too, can't you?"

"Of course ...
At September 8, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:
Mary Jane Watson visits the Hundred-Acre Woods.

"Face it, Tigger. You just hit the jackpot!"
At September 8, 2009, Sam Kess wrote:
Great stuff, everyone. Here are mine:

Wong as The Sorcerer's Apprentice!

Beauty and the Beast with Storm and, um, the Beast. ...

Top Five Potential Benefits of Disney's Marvel

Bill Reed — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:32:19 +0000

Who needs logic and details when you can have wild speculation? Let's hit it!

5. The next Kingdom Hearts game could feature "Marvel world."

For those of you not up on your vidjagames, Kingdom Hearts is an RPG (that's role-playing game) series that takes young, androgynous protagonist Sora, teams him up with guys like Goofy and Donald Duck, and has him journey through various worlds and dimensions comprising the Disney multiverse, teaming up with characters like Tarzan, Jack Skellington, Aladdin, Winnie the Pooh, and scads of others. Utilizing fanboy logic, one presumes that a future installment of the PlayStation franchise could feature Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, depending how the video games are licensed. I only made it through about half the first game, myself, but it was fun. If I could have the Mighty Thor hit Jafar upside the head with Mjolnir, or take Dr. Strange on a trip through Fantasia, or see Namor the Sub-Mariner punch Ursula in the ovaries, however, it would be more fun.

4. CrossGen Comics could return.

Five years ago, Disney paid a scant million dollars (compared to the four billion and a song it cost to acquire Marvel) for CrossGen's assets, just so's they could publish some Abazadad novels. Technically, though, they've got the rights to all of it-- so if, say, they wanted to produce a Ruse or Negation movie, they could, and Marvel could start putting the comics out to tie into the film. That, or Marvel could ask nicely and start folding CrossGen stuff into Marvel, much like DC's been doing with the Milestone and Red Circle characters.

People like CrossGen, right?

3. Better book distribution.

Let's think about this-- Disney owns their own publishers which use different distribution channels than Marvel, according to Rich Johnston. Disney's also a marketing powerhouse. At this point, they could distribute their comics through different channels, and maybe widen the market, driving Marvel up even further to the top of the sales game. What would this mean for Diamond? Some retailers are worried, but I wouldn't mind to see Diamond's industry strangehold loosened. Is it likely to happen? Probably not-- I doubt Disney cares one whit about the distribution of the comic book single, or even collections and graphic novels; they're in it for the licensing revenue. But it could happen.

2. The Pixar guys could produce an animated Marvel movie.

Now, Pixar itself sticks to original material, but like any world famous rock band, they've got side projects, and thanks to Disney, they can bankroll them. We've already heard rumors of Marvel execs and Pixar execs giggling like school girls on a conference call over the possibilities. Therefore, the people that brought you The Incredibles (which I wasn't a big fan of, myself) or WALL-E (which is one of the finest films of the past decade) could give us-- well, whatever doesn't have its rights tied up in other studios. Runaways? Dr. Strange? Rocket Raccoon? Devil Dinosaur!? Maybe it won't happen. Maybe we won't get that Red Ronin cameo in Toy Story 3. But you never know.

Maybe we'll see the animated adventures of some waterfowl trapped in a world he never made...

1. Howard the Duck loses the pants.

Remember how Disney sued over Howard looking too much like Donald and made him put on trousers? Well, theoretically, Howard could now be Donald's cousin, and they could both run around with their duck junk hanging out. I imagine Disney will still keep Howard's wardrobe intact to deter character confusion, but you never know. I say we start a campaign now: let our ducks run bottomless and free!

Now place your bets, folks. I'm putting five dollars down on "none of the above." Honestly, I don't think we'll notice much of a difference, aside from an extra animated series here or there on ToonDisney, and maybe some movie rights shuffling around in the next decade.

How about you? Any other possibilities popping into your head? Let 'em be heard!

52 Comments

At September 1, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:
Personally if Disney were to ever produce an animated Marvel film I'd rather a classic 2-D hand drawn "Fantasia"-like version ...
At September 1, 2009, EthanK wrote:
I'm also thinking that Disney theme parks might open a "friendly neighborhood comic store" in their parks that offers Marvel/Disney ...
At September 1, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
One word: M.O.D.U.C.K.
At September 1, 2009, Matt K wrote:
Good article. I honestly couldn't give a crap about the retailers being worried. The problem with the current ...
At September 1, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:
It's the Pixar possibilities that I'm really excited for. I've been saying for years I'd like to see some comic ...
At September 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
The main benefit might simply be publicity. In addition to the Disney Channel, Disney owns ABC, ABC Family, and Disney ...
At September 1, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
M.O.D.U.C.K. is awesome, by the way. Props to whoever made that.

That was Ryan Dunleavy.

Here's another one, from Chris Samnee.
At September 1, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:
Ooh, more Crossgen. Cool.
At September 1, 2009, chad wrote:
no doubt animated marvel films are one thing on Disney's mind though they proalby are also seeing how ...
At September 1, 2009, Matt Halteman wrote:
Bill, I'd like to hear what you didn't like about "The Incredibles". I don't think I've ever come across anyone, ...
At September 1, 2009, Talent Copies - Genius Steals » Blog Archiv » Walt und Stan - endlich vereint wrote:
[...] Als ich das bei den Splashpages las, dachte ich eine ganze Weile lang, daß das doch ein Aprilscherz sein ...
At September 1, 2009, Matt D wrote:
I saw someone getting overexcited about Kim Possible joining SHIELD or the Gargoyles being implemented into the MU and dealing ...
At September 1, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
If they never publish another Howard the Duck comic, that's fine with me. Steve Gerber passed away, sadly, and I'm ...
At September 1, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
Matt Halteman --

I am another who didn't care for The Incredibles. But I didn't hate it, either. But I ...
At September 1, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
My problem with The Incredibles probably lies with me being a jaded comic book fan; it showed me nothing I ...
At September 1, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
I saw someone getting overexcited about Kim Possible joining SHIELD
I would buy the hell out of that.
At September 1, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:
Good analysis of why Disney did it:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2009/08/the-big-deal-marvel-is-disneys-new-family-brand.html
At September 1, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:
For one that I think will probably happen, I'm looking forward to some quality reprints of Carl Barks's Uncle Scrooge. ...
At September 1, 2009, Dean wrote:
My best guess is that animation drives the post-acquisition Marvel in the short-term.

WSJ is reporting that properties like ...
At September 1, 2009, fanboy d wrote:
pixar won't make runaways, it has gay characters.
At September 1, 2009, buttler wrote:
I'm looking forward to Bendis's "House of Mouse" series.

"No more ducks."
At September 1, 2009, danjack wrote:
Hi fanboy d,
Disney is very 'gay friendly' and has no problem with homosexual charecters. i don't know why pixar wouldn't ...
At September 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Why would Disney now want Howard to look more like their childrens character?

If Disney really cares either way, I'd say ...
At September 1, 2009, Fabricio Neves wrote:
"My problem with The Incredibles probably lies with me being a jaded comic book fan; it showed me nothing I ...
At September 1, 2009, Bill wrote:
It's probably already been said, but doesn't this shine some new light on Marvelman/Miracleman? Plenty of money & will now ...
At September 1, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:
Thing I'd like to see come out of the Disney/Marvel buyout; new reprint volumes of Carl Barks' Donald Duck books, ...
At September 1, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:
Anybody who didn't love the The Incredibles has no soul.
At September 1, 2009, Matt wrote:
So, what you're saying is, the Ruse Omnibus is finally coming out? :P
At September 1, 2009, John Chidley-Hill wrote:
Was CrossGen good? I was on a sabbatical from comics when all that happened. Are they worth searching out?
At September 1, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
Some of them, John.
The biggest hurdle was that they all had to sort of kind of kind of sort of ...
At September 1, 2009, Matt D wrote:
And really, that didn't hurt them all that much at all. It felt a little forced at times, but the ...
At September 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

Was CrossGen good? I was on a sabbatical from comics when all that happened. Are they worth searching out?

They were ...
At September 1, 2009, jazzbo wrote:
I unfortunately got into Crossgen about 6 months before they shut down, but I really liked a lot of their ...
At September 1, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
The Incredibles was everything awesome about superheroes without all the continuity, cynicism and other garbage that's been dragging superhero comics ...
At September 1, 2009, Felipe wrote:
Also, I wouldn´t rule out the possibility of some live-action series based on Marvel characters debuting on ABC, sooner or ...
At September 2, 2009, Scavenger wrote:
Kirayoshi: Boom! has already announced trades like Life and Time of Scrooge.

re: Incredibles...what it showed me that I hadn't seen ...
At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:
Years ago, Marvel was publishing Disney comics for newsstand distribution.
A little while later, Disney puts out the '67 Spider-Man cartoon ...
At September 2, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:
I've been wondering if DC will by buying out Archie.Ooooooh, maybe now we'll get that Josie and the Pussycats/Swing with ...
At September 2, 2009, DanCJ wrote:
Taking a few hours to think about this, it really comes as no surprise that "The Mouse" bought "The House" ...
At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:
Snark noted.
Completely unnecessary...but, noted.
At September 2, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:
*sigh*
The above was not meant for DanCJ...
At September 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Ooooooh, maybe now we'll get that Josie and the Pussycats/Swing with Scooter crossover that everyone's been clamoring for....

I'd buy it.
At September 2, 2009, Cass wrote:
Imo, the biggest thing to come out of the Disney buy-out of Marvel will be the sprawling enterprise of fan-generated ...
At September 2, 2009, harry wrote:
If you all want absurdity...go to this link http://blog.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/...and click on the related links...just a tip of the iceberg...
At September 2, 2009, Gary wrote:
I just hope the Villain in Spider-man 4 is not Cruella DeVille
At September 2, 2009, Adamantium Wholesaler wrote:
Add me to the anti-Incredibles bandwagon. Pixar is usually pretty original with their themes, but, a millionth movie about a ...
At September 2, 2009, Capt USA wrote:
sign me up for opening day of a pixar Rocket Raccoon movie. That just sounds so awesome it has to ...
At September 2, 2009, Jon H wrote:
As I said in another thread, Micronauts would be *perfect* for Pixar, if they could hash out any rights issues ...
At September 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Oh, right, I also forgot that the Incredibles had what I felt to be contradictory themes-- the "everybody is special/but ...
At September 2, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Take Pixar for example. A few years ago, Pixar had a falling-out with Disney and severed all ties with them. ...
At September 3, 2009, Teebore wrote:
The biggest hurdle was that they all had to sort of kind of kind of sort of tie in together, ...
At September 3, 2009, Teebore wrote:
Whoops, screwed that html up something fierce. Apologies.

Sunday Brunch: 8/30/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:25:42 +0000

I asked for things more worthy of linkage, and the comics internet responded! Truly, I am King of the Intertubes.

Also, I like this QUESTION OF THE WEEK business, so I'll try to keep this up. This week's: Which comic character do you find completely uninteresting, no matter who writes or draws him/her? And (a two-parter!) what would make you change your mind about them?

Links below!

BATTLE ROYALE: Gail Simone versus Rich Johnston, for all the marbles! Sorta. Gail wonders if gossip journalism is necessary in comics. The answer? No, but it's nice to have someone who occasionally forgets to pull his punches, and who enjoys stoking the flames of fandom. And hey, he uncovers Josh Hoopes' scams and company's lack of payments, so that's nice. We need it more than we need Twitter, I imagine. U-Decide!

Anyway, Rich naturally picked the story up at his site, Bleeding Cool, and it soon spilled over to The Beat, and lots of people got angry and decided to post about it on the internet. Controversy breeds comments.

I don't think anyone's particularly wrong here, but I also never understood the persecution of Rich Johnston.

ITEM! Two lovely articles at the Mindless Ones recently. The first is amypoodle's excellent essay on Ghost World and the spectre of nostalgia:

The past will seduce and then reject us. Ghost world is all about this tension. It recognizes the sweetness of memory - or the idea of memory - in spite of its ready willingness to undermine it. And that’s why it’s a truly romantic work, because nostalgia is always bittersweet.

And the second is a cool Heroic Hype piece on the Batcave by none other than the mighty Zom:

What’s particularly enjoyable is that throughout the years the Batcave has frequently denied rock solid continuity and consequently has a kind of in built narrative potential. Despite the dinosaur and the computer and the lab and the cars, no two Batcaves look the same, and creators are, within reason, always free to add or subtract details as they see fit. ... There’s a sense in which their efforts work to deconstruct themselves - new chambers gape open, old ones buried as it’s shape and and form twist to the whims of a capricious earth.

ITEM! David Brothers of 4thletter! takes DC to task over their mishandling of Static and the Milestone characters, as perceived by creator Dwayne McDuffie and his refreshing honesty.

So, what happened here? DC picks up one of the more marketable cartoons in recent memory, and a fondly-remembered and ahead of its time universe, and fumbles the ball. The universe is shuffled off to a brief series of one-shots in Brave & the Bold, Static ends up in a comic no one likes (if you like Teen Titans, you like a bad comic, this is gospel truth), and the guy who is the face of the deal ends up shuffled off a book he was writing with handcuffs, out of the DCU, and off into cartoonland.

ITEM! That dastardly Justin Zyduck (any relation to Psyduck, the Pokemon?) does it again with a post on Superman, explaining why good Superman stories are good, and how to write the character effectively. Of course, I've been saying this for years, because I am a genius. But don't take my word for it:

[Superman]’s the ultimate survivor – he escaped what killed the last planet he lived on, and ever since he’s been almost completely invulnerable. For him, failure doesn’t come with the sweet release of death. He’s going to have to live with it. He’s going to have to see that plane crash, that dead body, that burnt-out Earth. And that’s the sort of thing that would actually hurt Superman, not kryptonite lasers.You can’t pierce his skin because he was born on Krypton, but because he was raised on Earth you can break his heart.

ITEM! In a similarly character-investigating manner, Tim O'Neil looks at how The Thing is the most versatile character in the Marvel Universe. And he's right. I think it's because Ben Grimm is simply the most human superhero they've got, despite his rough exterior:

[The Thing's] main character trait is perspective. It's what he does. He's the kid from the Lower East Side who became jaded before he even knew how to walk - it makes as much sense for him to fight Galactus for the fate of the planet as to fight some drug pushers down on Yancy Street. He's seen it all and even if he puts on a good show he never loses his capacity to be surprised for both good and ill.

ITEM! Garth Ennis writes a loving, geeky remembrance of the glory days of 2000AD at Bleeding Cool:

It cost 7p Earth money, it was printed on recycled bog roll, and it made Friday afternoons that little bit better: it was 2000AD, and in those first ten years- before they got desperate and started employing people like me- it was like lightning in a bottle.

ITEM! The Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer dudes are holding a fun contest to win original art and signed copies of the upcoming, sure-to-be-awesome graphic novel-- all you have to do is tell the best lie. So Bill Clinton probably has a good shot at this.

ITEM! This week's Terminus might be my new favorite.

EVER-LOVIN' ITEM! Friday would have been Jack Kirby's 92nd birthday, and the internet's favorite stuffed bull, Bully, did a 24 posts in 24 hours tribute to the King. Check it out.

ITEM! Mike Sterling's End of Civilization reveals that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle "party van" toy is being re-released. Awesome. I've still got this one somewhere in the basement, however; but if they put the Turtle Blimp back on the shelves, I will be sorely tempted to own the toy I desperately wanted when I was five.

SPOON! Benito Cereno will be writing a new Tick series. This is what we in the business call "awesome news."

GOOD EVENING, YOU ELECTRICAL SEX OCELOTS OF THE INTERNET: And more phrases, now available automatically at Talk Like Warren Ellis.

ITEM! Lane Brown and Frank Stockton produced this really neat comic for New York Magazine about Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig's new Broadway team-up. It is neat. And really:

HEY, IT'S NEW TO ME: Okay, so the pictures are from last year, but, c'mon. A "RoboCop on a unicorn" meme? Was this taken from my dreams?

RoboCop is a many splendored thing.

NOT COMICS DEPT: Patton Oswalt interviews are usually brilliant, and this week's AV Club one is no exception. My favorite quote:

I think everyone in the future is going to be allowed to be obscure for 15 minutes. You’ll have 15 minutes where no one is watching you, and then you’ll be shoved back onto your reality show. I think Andy Warhol got it wrong.

And lo, another week bites the dust.

29 Comments

At August 30, 2009, Anonymous wrote:
Can anyone explain where to start on collected editions of 2000AD?
At August 30, 2009, El Dustino wrote:
So does that mean Murphy was a replicant?
At August 30, 2009, Stefan wrote:
Okay, my answer to your question of the week.

Ms. Marvel has been completely uninteresting to me throughout the course of ...
At August 30, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
Thor just bores the crap out of me. I admit that I'm not big on the epic warrior fantasy stuff ...
At August 30, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
I don't really know how to make him more interesting to me without making him a totally different character. Maybe ...
At August 30, 2009, rhod wrote:
I've no idea what the availability is like in the US, but over here we have collections of the (as ...
At August 30, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:
Both Walter Simonson and Peter David, in very different ways, gave Thor some interesting traits relating to the fact that ...
At August 30, 2009, Danny Djeljosevic wrote:
I'm gonna go with Red Tornado as far as this question of the week business goes. My brain nearly shut ...
At August 30, 2009, bad_trotsky wrote:
I have never been able to forgive Ms.Marvels for hurting one of the most lovable charecters in the Marvel Universe. ...
At August 30, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Red Tornado, hands down, but Danny D. just wrote about him. I'll go with Geo-Force. He's boring and annoying. Like ...
At August 30, 2009, Stefan wrote:
Apodaca, Fraction's Thor one-shots from last year could cure that. Thor as impetuous badass super-powerpowerful youth, who thunders his ...
At August 30, 2009, Danny Djeljosevic wrote:
Yeah, Fraction described his Thor work as "fantasy for people who hate Tolkien."

Mike Loughlin: Imagine a Justice League comic featuring ...
At August 30, 2009, Blair wrote:
Anonymous / Rod
There's also two zarjazz (sorry!) hardcovers, 'Thrill Power Overload' -which is the history of 2000 AD and the ...
At August 30, 2009, Sijo wrote:
Of all the major superheroes, I could never really get into The Hulk. Oh, I read plenty of Hulk comics, ...
At August 30, 2009, Dave wrote:
The Flash. All of them. I will never be able to care. It's a ridiculously generic power ...
At August 30, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
I agree with Sijo. The Hulk is the character that just bores me senseless and his take on Peter David ...
At August 30, 2009, jazzbo wrote:
For me it's Superman. I've always found the character uninteresting, and even when hes being written by a writer a ...
At August 30, 2009, Justin Zyduck wrote:
Man ... I had hoped enough time had passed that everyone would forget that there was a Pokemon called "Psyduck." ...
At August 30, 2009, Apodaca wrote:
Omar's description of Thor is definitely interesting, but I'm not really enticed to read about that character. It does show ...
At August 30, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
Dave stole my answer. I've been reading comics since the early sixties and have never gotten into the Flash,. Any ...
At August 30, 2009, Stefan wrote:
Apodaca - I'm not into the shit-kickin' stuff either so much, for what it's worth. Fraction's Thor stories are ...
At August 30, 2009, Stefan wrote:
I'm still waiting for someone to wow me with a Flash story. Waid and Morrison are so into him ...
At August 30, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:
The Flash. Inherently uninteresting. He can run fast? I can run fast. You don't see me ...
At August 30, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
I have to agree with the others here that Thor is pretty boring, and the Hulk is worse. I'm ...
At August 30, 2009, Dean wrote:
The most boring DC hero is Red Tornado. There is just nothing about the guy that has not been ...
At August 31, 2009, John Seavey wrote:
The Sentry. Every time he appears and we're told that he's really the bestest, most powerfullest, best friend of all ...
At August 31, 2009, Carl wrote:
I have to agree with the comment about The Thing. He is really such a cool character. He's ...
At August 31, 2009, s1rude wrote:
The question of the week is tough...I can come up with character's I dislike pretty easily, but I'm not sure ...
At September 1, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Random Thoughts (September 1, 2009) wrote:
[...] Thought! Each week in his Sunday Brunch feature, Bill Reed asks a question and, instead of answering it in ...

Coming Soon*

Bill Reed — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:53:34 +0000

* Not really.

12 Comments

At August 27, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
Years ago, that could have been a great publication. Sadly, the death of the newsstand means the best I'll get ...
At August 27, 2009, Mark Temporis wrote:
Doesn't work, Nitz. DAMN YOU!
At August 27, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:
I'm more of a "Sandwich Aficionado" man. "Enthusiast" sold out to big Mayo back in the '80s and hasn't ...
At August 27, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
It's meat between bread with condiments! Of COURSE a hot dog is a sandwich!

And while Sandwich Enthusiast always had better ...
At August 27, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
I've actually had hours-long arguments over the sandwichtude of a hot dog. I maintain it is not a sandwich, due ...
At August 27, 2009, The Mutt wrote:
Is a hamburger not a sammich?

Meat between bread. Grab bread. Eat meat.

Sammich.
At August 27, 2009, danjack wrote:
Mmmmmm.... sammich.

DFTBA
At August 27, 2009, Matchstick wrote:
Neither fully diagonal (45º) or straight (90º) is the correct sandwich cutting angle. About 60º is preferable.
At August 28, 2009, Joe wrote:
@Bill:
"Non-vertical"? You eat your sandwiches that don't lay on a horizontal plane? What non-Newtonian-geometrical sandwiches are YOU eating?
At August 28, 2009, bad trotsky wrote:
One of the things my bros on another site love to post about. We all possess the ability to rant ...
At August 28, 2009, Tom from West Chester wrote:
A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is virtually identical to a sausage sandwich, except that the ...
At August 28, 2009, Anonymous wrote:
With a bun being only once piece of bread, wouldn't it be an openfaced sandwich?

Sunday Brunch: 8/23/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:30:28 +0000

Another shamefully light week in the world of links to stuff on the comics internet, which means either I am dreadfully unobservant, or everyone else is as lazy as I am! It's probably the former. Still, this column may slip to a bi-weekly schedule in future installments, or cease altogether, depending how many cool things I stumble upon and remember to share with you fine folks.

So, six nifty links under the cut, and, to pad things out, another exciting QUESTION OF THE WEEK above the cut, and after this colon: If you were cursed by television executives to turn one mature-readers-only comic book series into a kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoon show, which would it be? Show your work. (I'll share my own answer later on in the comments.)

ITEM! I really loved Justin Zyduck's essay on Spider-Man over at Mightygodking, revealing the Sisyphean dilemma at the heart of Peter Parker's character growth (and/or lack thereof) over the years. It's a great read. Here's an excerpt:

But something about that doesn’t sit right: This portrait of what Spider-Man should be assumes a constant line of upward success. And that doesn’t always happen in real life, does it? We get laid off, get sick, get a run of bad luck. Get set back. This is what Spider-Man, after 47 years of stories or so, represents. Because Peter Parker’s life isn’t really one unending train ride of agony and torture…

…it’s one of mediocrity.

ITEM! I quite enjoyed Tucker Stone's latest Comixology article, weaving together Thomas Pynchon, David Mazuchelli, and the evolution of comics packaging.

Comics--and if you look around, they're already fully on the way there--don't have to fill any of these categories whatsoever. They can appear, like The Hunter, or Vertigo's new Crime line--as fully formed objects. If they want to be serialized, they can pursue the Acme Novelty or Love and Rockets annual route, giving the artists all manner of time to perfect whatever it is they feel the need to perfect. They can change course mid-publication, the way Jeff Smith decided to shorten the length of RASL so he could put out more issues, and still choose to publish a collection that vastly changes the scope and aesthetic appeal of the work by toying with the finished size.

ITEM! The Savage Critics' Jeff Lester and Graeme McMillan continue the only comics podcast worth listening to (sorry, everybody else in the whole world!) with its best episode yet, rambling on about TV and movies and, of course, Aquaman and Chris Claremont. Because comics.

ITEM! Play the game of telephone. The Spurge told the Sterling, and now it's showing up here: a collection of weird and wacky Nancy sketches. Here's T. Edward Bak's, for a sample:

Nancy's a mean drunk.

ITEM! Robot 6 calls this five-page strip by Eduardo Medeiros the best Batman/Aquaman team-up ever. But I dunno, I still like the one I drew when I was three. But if that doesn't count, then I guess this one takes the tuna.

ITEM! Abhay's Dracula: the epic conclusion!

That's it for now. See you on some future Sunday.

13 Comments

At August 23, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
I think I saw Nancy at the bar last night. 35, still single, bitter.
At August 23, 2009, brian wrote:
Is it cheating to suggest Lost Girls? I mean, they could frame the show with everyone at the Hotel, ...
At August 23, 2009, JackKing wrote:
Sandman would be easy. Head into some kids dream every night, fix the problem(nightmare to dream), share a laugh.
At August 23, 2009, Justin Zyduck wrote:
Hey, cool! Thanks for the kind words; I can now cross "Get something I wrote linked to on CSBG" off ...
At August 23, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:
Lost Girls, Neutered the Animated Series would be the awesomest Alan Moore adaptation ever. Can you imagine Moore ...
At August 23, 2009, thekamisama wrote:
I second Justin's comments! Grant's Doom Patrol could be toned down enough while still having enough surreal and subversive elements ...
At August 23, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
I tried to ask the creator of C:KND about the similarities awhile back but I couldn't get his contact info.
At August 23, 2009, Da Fug wrote:
Preacher: The Animated Series? Man, that would take a lot of work. Milligan's Shade would be sweet as ...
At August 24, 2009, Dean wrote:
Sea Guy is a pretty obvious choice. I can see Chubby Da Choona at the end of every episode ...
At August 24, 2009, Sallyp wrote:
Heh. I thought of Preacher too, mainly because I'd kill to see an animated Arseface, but let's face it, ...
At August 24, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:
The first comic I thought of was Fables. Take out the sex & violence, and you have a story about ...
At August 25, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
My answers:

Seaguy could be transported to Saturday morning cartoons fairly easily, because the comic is already a kind of Invader-Zim-esque ...
At November 16, 2009, Locas II Maggie Hopey and Ray A love and rockets book review « Alternating Reality Books wrote:
[...] Sunday Brunch: 8/23/09 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

The gauntlet, hurled!

Bill Reed — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:15:38 +0000

From Bleeding Cool:

Apparently Blog@Newsarama is responsible for the Siegel estate taking more of the origin of Superman IP back from DC Comics/Warner Bros. See DC? This is what happens when you stop giving stories exclusively to Newsarama and either a) let CBR and IGN on on the act or b) set up your own blogs to disseminate information instead. Bet no one saw that one coming, did they? I bet ComicsShouldBeGood will never cause the Kirby estate to get a chunk of X-Men…

Sounds like a challenge to me.

32 Comments

At August 17, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:
Damn right.
At August 17, 2009, Josh wrote:
Haha bloggers taking potshots at each other.
At August 17, 2009, Josh wrote:
And is that seriously a shot at DC's Source blog? That thing's awesome for art and previews and stuff. Other ...
At August 17, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
Pfft. Considering A) all the nasty things I and MarkAndrew and any number of other CBR writers have said about ...
At August 17, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
It's not really a shot at anyone.

Our name is there just as a random notable comic book blog for a ...
At August 17, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
He's suggesting we would never criticize Marvel's treatment of creators because we're essentially a house organ for them. I would ...
At August 17, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
If we're going to apply our not inconsiderable powers to the task of getting people part of the X-Men money, ...
At August 17, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
I didn't read it as a criticism.
At August 17, 2009, Zombie X wrote:
Kirby's value would run in the billions.
At August 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
He’s suggesting we would never criticize Marvel’s treatment of creators because we’re essentially a house organ for them. I would ...
At August 18, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:
Oh it's on now.
At August 18, 2009, die-yng wrote:
It isn't criticism, Rich is just joking.
@Greg Hatcher, don't take yourself to serious, man. It is just a blog, it's ...
At August 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Notwithstanding your criticism of Marvel policies in the past CBR and CSBG do seem to lean a bit towards marvel, ...
At August 18, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
It isn’t criticism, Rich is just joking.
@Greg Hatcher, don’t take yourself to serious, man. It is just a blog, it’s ...
At August 18, 2009, Trevor wrote:
I've been wondering - what exactly do these Superman rights issues mean for the readers? Is anything going out of ...
At August 18, 2009, Ted wrote:
what exactly do these Superman rights issues mean for the readers?

This is pure speculation, but I can't imagine ...
At August 18, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:
This is pure speculation, but I can’t imagine the Siegel Estate ever being in the position where they could directly ...
At August 18, 2009, Wraith wrote:
I wonder if Kirby would have approved of such a thing (solely out of hypothetical interest, mind you). Or would ...
At August 18, 2009, mrjayberry wrote:
If they were to veto all publishing, they would just be taking money out of their own pockets, and irrespective ...
At August 18, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:
I don’t know, how much money is ROM:Spaceknight making its rights holders right now?
You're comparing Superman with ROM?
At August 18, 2009, T. wrote:
Notwithstanding your criticism of Marvel policies in the past CBR and CSBG do seem to lean a bit towards marvel, ...
At August 18, 2009, Lawrence wrote:
I feel that most comic blogs skew towards Marvel coverage in general, but mostly because Marvel (or at least its ...
At August 18, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:
Rom is much more interesting than Superman, so that's not really a valid comparison.
At August 18, 2009, Kirk Warren wrote:
"It is just a blog, it’s not like you are the New York Times."

You realize blogs are some of the ...
At August 18, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
don’t take yourself to serious, man. It is just a blog, it’s not like you are the New York Times

I ...
At August 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
"I’m not sure which one of us is Marilyn vos Savant."

Obviously, Johnston thought HE was when he was here.

But really, ...
At August 18, 2009, Rich Johnston wrote:
No criticism was intended. I needed to reference another prominent blog aside from Blog@Newsarama. A CBR blog would provide a ...
At August 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:
Yep, that's exactly what I figured, Rich, but thanks for "officially" clearing it up!
At August 18, 2009, Ted wrote:
So if the Siegels want to shop a version of Superman from 1938 for movies or books, they can ...
At August 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
I wonder if Kirby would have approved of such a thing (solely out of hypothetical interest, mind you). Or would ...
At August 20, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:
The X-Men? Maybe if it were The Fantastic Four or Thor or something. But X-Men was Kirby's worst ...
At August 21, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:
"True. When Marvel hands me the keys to the kingdom, I'm just gonna suck it up and pay the six ...

Sunday Brunch: 8/16/09

Bill Reed — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:30:28 +0000

Sunday Brunch limps back, clearly not at full force. Nothing's so much as breathed heavy on the internet lately, let alone broken it in half. Let's see what links I can scrounge up.

ITEM! Hey, did you hear there's gonna be a Walking Dead show on AMC? Oh, you did? From everybody? And they all used the world "shambling" in their headline? Darn.

ITEM! Professor Fury at PrettyFakes takes a look at two of my favorite underrated DC series, both from Joe Simon: Brother Power, the Geek, and Prez! Since the good professor was kind enough to link to me, I shall link back in return! Link your neighbor as yourself, and all that.

ITEM! Dan Nadel gives the internet's only negative review of Darwyn Cooke's Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter at Comics Comics.

ITEM! Bloodwulf explains grammar. Does what it says on the tin.

ITEM! I've been enjoying the recent rounds of Lester-on-McMillan podcasts. Maybe it's for the insightful commentary, or the funny, or maybe it's just because of the lovely lilting tones of Graeme's Scottish brogue. Whichever. Here's a link to the whole run so far.

ITEM! This week's Terminus was even more awesome than usual.

ITEM! Since we last checked in, Abhay Khosla's gone and put up a couple more chapters of his game-changing Dracula adaptation! Here's chapter three and here's chapter four. And here's some enticement to click on the links:

ITEM! It's Chris Sims' birthday week (and I'm sure Brad Curran plots to pop out of a cake somewhere), but that hasn't stopped him from posting the concluding chapter of his latest explosive comics adventure, Woman of A.C.T.I.O.N.! Guest starring David Tennant and Stephen Fry. Really. But don't forget Gustav, the world's happiest henchman:

THE LAST REMAKE/REMODEL until September, that is. This time it's Captain Future, with the unique weakness of "strong blows to the head." Here's Neil Struthers' version:

And that's all I got this week. What do you got?

6 Comments

At August 16, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
Heavy breathing.
At August 16, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:
I've also been digging the "Wait, What?" podcasts. They've got a good dynamic going on -- and are coming at ...
At August 16, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:
Let the cows get there own Jesus.

I think I can say without hyperbole that Abay's Bram Stoker's Dracula is the ...
At August 16, 2009, bad trotsky wrote:
Heh someone should do a book about a henchmen. Give Bob Agent of Hydra his own book....or something like that. ...
At August 16, 2009, Cass wrote:
I'm also really loving the Wait What? podcasts on TheSavageCritic. The Geoff Johns one is pretty spot-on and most definitely ...
At August 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:
Cass: Whenever I read a Johns book that doesn't feature dismemberments, beheadings, or buckets of blood, I can tell he's ...

Box of Comics: July 2009

Bill Reed — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:51:49 +0000

You've read the best, now read the rest! The internet's most belated comic reviews are back! Thrill to my extended verbiage on fine comics periodicals such as Atomic Robo, Batman & Robin, the Captain Britain finale, two flavors of Doctor Who, the Metalocalypse/Goon crossover, and the first Spider-Man comic I've bought in ten years! I swear, I put half my pull list on the "wait for trade" pile and I'm still spending the same amount of money on singles!

Once again, thanks to the Discount Comic Book Service for being such nice chaps.

Amazing Spider-Man #600 by Dan Slott, John Romita Jr, Stan Lee, Marcos Martin, and about 100 other people (Marvel)

I haven't bought a Spider-Man comic, since, I dunno, Ultimate Spidey started. And if we're talking the "in-continuity" stuff, since Mackie and Byrne were dealing in the single digits. Now we're back in the triple digits, and here I am purchasing a Spider-Man comic. Why? Well, I just can't pass up a deal. What we have here is over 100 pages of brand-new material, with no ads, for a cover price of five bucks. And DCBS was selling it at half price. How could I refuse? It's a lovely, thick wad of comics-- this baby took me about an hour to read (I had to stop twice for snack breaks)!

Slott, Romita, et al. have produced the best Spider-Man comic I've read since I was eight years old or so, and they've done so by creating a comic that eight-year-old me would unabashedly love. It also evokes all the feelings of a classic Stan-Lee-and-company Annual from days gone by. Look at what we get for our paltry dollars: A 60+ page main story with fight scenes and guest stars galore, a wedding, classic villains, and a cast of dozens. The spirit of Spidey's 60s heyday still lives, vibrantly bursting forth from every page. And let's face it-- at this point, Spider-Man flows so mightily through John Romita Jr's veins that he doesn't have to draw anymore, only bleed all over the page; when it dries, it looks like this-- which is to say, amazing. Or perhaps spectacular. Or maybe "Web of." Okay, not that last one.

I was truly surprised-- and pleasantly so-- at how good this comic was. It's Spidey as you like him: In college! In trouble! In action! action! action! Okay, maybe not that first one, but everything else. We've got Spidey cracking jokes (I quite appreciated the reference to Family Guy's "everybody gets one" and the someone-else-remembers crack about Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place), we've got the umpteenth Doctor Octopus story (with a twist), we've got J. Jonah Jameson officiating his father's wedding to Aunt May-- it's like Stan-Lee-a-palooza all up in here. Then The Man himself stops by to pen a quick ditty (with Marcos Martin art!) about a Stan Lee stand-in chatting with Spidey about all his freakish transformations and continuity mishaps, until he's driven mad by it all and seeks out a shadowy Steve Ditko for guidance. And then the rest of the Spidey-writing crew stops by for back-up strips, and those go about how you'd expect: Waid and Doran do an obvious but still moving Uncle Ben story; Gale and Alberti deliver a pretty but empty story about how Spidey's life sucks; Guggenheim and the Breitweisers do the same Aunt May story that everybody does every 100 issues or so; Wells and Donovan poke some fun at the Spider-Mobile's expense; and Kelly and Fiumara get to be all portentous and stuff with a Madame Web flash-forward. Throw in some one-page gags and even a letters page (gasp!), and you've got yourself an epic comics package that makes everything 1965 all over again. Or 1976. Or 1987. Or 1994.

Will it get me to follow Spider-Man on a regular basis? Well, no-- but it was nice to stop by and see what some old friends were up to. Eight-year-old Bill(y) gives it his highest recommendation.

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #3 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (Red 5)

I believe I've figured out why I enjoy Brian Clevinger's writing on this book so much. Oh, you may think it's for the face-rocking action or the hilarious banter-- and well, it is-- but it's also for his unwavering commitment to verisimilitude. Recently, he's spent some time on the Atomic Robo site explaining why giant robots and aliens aren't gonna show up in the Roboverse anytime soon-- because, naturally, a world with giant robots and aliens wouldn't be a world exactly like our own. You may find this a bit hypocritical, considering the comic is about a talking robot that fights giant bugs, Lovecraftian beasts from beyond this dimension, and Nazi war machines, but I enjoy seeing everything fit into an uber-context, rather than a patchwork universe like DC or Marvel, where God is a known quantity, space travel's a piece of piss, and extinction events occur every two weeks without daily life being affected at all. That's why the back-and-forth dialogue between Robo and the supposedly time-traveling super-smart raptor Dr. Dinosaur in the Free Comic Book Day special was so awesome. But that's me.

Anyway, the comic. This issue jumps the story ahead by a few decades, as 1950s Robo reencounters the aforementioned Lovecraftian beast from beyond this dimension in a cross between an Atomic Age B-movie and the Left 4 Dead video game. It's as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes to show that this is probably the most consistently enjoyable comic on the stands. And you should buy it.

Also, Scott Wegener's art is as lovely and fluid as your favorite lager. The overlooked team of Pattison and Powell does an excellent job, too; every aspect of this comic is just damn pretty. Now buy the damned thing or I'm going to come to your house, use your bathroom, and leave the toilet seat up.

Batman & Robin #2 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and let's be honest, you're not reading these credits, are you? (DC)

Can a comic be too good? Is such a thing possible? I'm afraid Morrison and Quitely may have discovered the alchemical formula to such a thing. Seriously, everything in this comic is so perfectly tuned: every word so considered, you can literally taste each line of dialogue; every panel so meticulously laid out, every image so precise, that the pages exist as modern architecture more than drawings on a page. Morrison and Quitely bring out the best in each other, of that there's no doubt, but their collaboration is such a well-oiled machine that the work almost feels rote and mechanical-- lifeless, by being too lively, or somesuch paradox. The rich art and seemingly minimalist scripting techniques that I've enjoyed so completely since I first saw them in concert on New X-Men in 2001 have perhaps oversaturated me; they hold less impact. Perhaps I'm just insane.

Anyway, the comic. It's a fast-paced sucker, this one, with a gorgeously laid-out fight scene taking up the bulk of the plot, though G-Mo and F-Qui crisscross these sequences with trademark after-the-fact Dick Grayson despair, though Alfred, of course, saves the day, as he always does. My biggest problem comes from Alex Sinclair's coloring, actually; the backgrounds shimmer like a pool of oil left floating in a parking lot. I'm not sure if it's a fluke of the printing process or a stylistic choice, but it is slightly off-putting to my eyes, at least. But that's a good thing. If this comic was any better it would probably suck-- going so far up one end of the scale that it appears at the other end, like a mighty Ouroboros.

Captain Britain and MI13 #15 by Paul Cornell, Leonard Kirk, Jay Leisten, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramagna (Marvel)

I have awfully heavy hackles, let me tell you, but several things still manage to raise them. Take the cancellation of this series, for example. I'm used to comics I like being canceled, as it's something that happens to me often. The unfortunate demise of this series could've been prevented, however, if someone in editorial took the unwieldy title-- and the fact that the good Captain is probably the least interesting character in his own book-- and changed it to Avengers U.K., or something similar. Avengers: England, BBC Avengers, The British Avengers, Wait, No, Not the Steed and Peel Ones. Whatever. That's what this comic's all about, after all-- England's Mightiest Heroes, defending queen and country. Those Avengers comics are pretty hot, these days. Maybe a different title and an occasional cameo from a sneering Norman Osborn would've given us another ten thousand readers or so. Who knows? The praise of the blogosphere clearly doesn't seem to have an effect on sales, otherwise the Top Ten would have stuff like Seaguy, Young Liars, Scalped, and this.

Anyway, the comic. This is the grand finale of my favorite Marvel series of the past, oh, 15 or so months. It gives us everything we could expect, in a Joss-Whedon-y "season finale that could totally be a series finale, and oops, it is" way. Tables turned, lost loves reunited, vampire torpedoes from space, a gratuitous Death's Head appearance, swordfights with Dracula, and probably the coolest final page from anything in a while. Paul Cornell writes the hell out of it, Leonard Kirk draws the hell out of it-- it's good comics. It's British comics.

Love 'em and leave 'em-- that's the British way. At least, that's what I've learned from James Bond and short-but-satisfying British television seasons. The nigh-paltry sum of 15 issues and an annual is certainly less than Cornell intended for this series, but I'm glad we got that much, at least.

(I would love Cornell to write a Blade series. He is the only one to ever make me care about Blade.)

Dethklok versus the Goon by Eric Powell and Dave Stewart, with some help from Brendon Small, and hey, they didn't credit a letterer, did they? (Dark Horse)

I've tried Eric Powell's Goon before, and it wasn't to my taste. I initially thought the same thing about Metalocaylpse, however, but giving it a few tries on Adult Swim eventually won me over completely. So when I saw that my favorite fictional animated heavy metal band, Dethklok, was crossing over with the Goon, I knew I had to give it a try. And so I did. And I didn't like it.

This reads like bad Metalocalypse fanfiction, which is weird, because creator Brendon Small was brought in to script doctor. Lines that might work in a late-night cartoon, however, fall completely flat on the page, but most of the dialogue just doesn't ring true as what the Dethklok characters would say, or perhaps how they'd say it. "Flat" and "untrue" describes the art, as well. I love Powell's art-- and when it comes to the Goonverse characters, he's right on. But when he draws the Dethklok gang, he does so in a flatter, less-defined, 2-D style, as best to ape the look of 2-D animation; it all just looks off somehow, contributing to the lifelessness of the whole thing.

I can see why they didn't credit a letter, though-- because the lettering is terrible. Maybe Augie De Blieck and I are the only folks who notice this kinda thing, but the first-- okay, maybe the third-- rule of lettering is (or should be) "don't cross your i's in the middle of a word." Down with the serifs! It makes the whole thing look ugly. The choice of font isn't exactly a winner, either. The writing was probably half-killed purely because of the lettering, which is, of course, antithetical.

So yeah, I'll stick to the cartoons.

Doctor Who: Room with a Déjà View by Rich "Bleeding Cool" Johnston, Eric J, Kris Carter, and Neil Uyetake (IDW)

If all time travel stories give Greg Burgas a headache, this one would probably kill him outright. Our hero, the Doctor, receives a distress call (or does he?) and investigates, landing in a isolated space station in the literal middle of nowhere (or is it?). There's been a murder (or has there?) and the prime suspect happens to be an alien fellow called a Counter, who lives his life backwards in time (or does h-- yes, yes he does), answering the Doctor's questions before he asks them. So, naturally, to unravel the mystery, the Doctor travels back in time-- over and over and over again-- to work out the chap's story. Because of this, a few sequences in the comic have to be read backwards to get the full poop, a clever little trick we'd probably never see on the TV show.

Rich Johnston nails the tenth Doctor's voice down pretty well, as the script sparkles with jokes, asides, and one-liners, but the emotional moments sell the whole story. The backwards interrogation scene is the central showcase, and the main conceit of the plot plays those clever tricks with time travel that we all like seeing. Eric J's art is often rough-hewn, but tells the story well enough; the script's clearly the star here, though.

I've praised a lot of comics to the hilt in this post, batting my eyes at them until they buy me one drink too many and whisk me off to their respective hotel rooms, but I have to say that this little book here is my comic of the month. I wouldn't mind seeing Rich get another crack at the Whoniverse. This is a really great little one-shot, doing the exact kind of thing these comic spin-offs should do: telling a good story in a manner the televised parent can't get away with.

Greek Street #1 by Peter Milligan, Davide Gianfelice, Patricia Mulvihill, and Clem Robins (DC/Vertigo)

I give every new Peter Milligan comic a chance, because Milligan's delivered a lot of my favorite comics over the years. This is not one of them. The premise, which adapts classic Greek tragedies to a dark, edgier, modern HBO setting is okay enough, sure, but the execution leaves me cold, and I liked Davide Gianfelice's artwork more in the first arc of Northlanders. It's worth picking up if you see it lying around, because it's one measly dollar for an oversized first issue, meaning everyone should give it a try, as it's bound to be the perfect comic for somebody. I'm not that guy, though.

My biggest gripe with this issue comes from the coloring, however. I guess it adheres to the standard Vertigo color palette, but it looks more like Patricia Mulvihill never met a shade of brown she didn't like. Browns, mauves, anything generally dark that bleeds well together with other tepid tones, making the art look more muddled than anything else. I picked up the second trade of Scalped, from the same colorist, and I could barely tell what was happening on some of the pages. Nothing really stands out; the characters on every page look like action figures sinking into mud. I don't know if it's the fault of the colors, or the paper stock, or both, but this is probably the drabbest comic you will see this summer.

Ignition City #4 by Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarani, Chris Dreier, Digikore Studios, and why don't these comics credit letterers, darn it? (Avatar)

Ever notice the indicia in Avatar's books? "All characters as depicted in these stories are over the age of 18"? I'm sure that's left over from Avatar's, er, less savory publishing days, but since they've become the go-to place for original work from Ellis, Ennis, and even Moore, among others, it seems like something they could do away with, no?

Anyway, the comic. Ellis brings the goods here, giving us my favorite issue of the series thus far. The reason? It's almost all down to Doc Vukovic; every line he spews is absolute gold, from the bit you see above to "Science will fuck you!" and "They are stupider than mud that's been fucked by a donkey." What Vukovic really brings to the proceedings, though, is heart. Our protagonist Mary Raven is finally able to let her guard down, allowing Ellis to reveal the emotional core of the characters. The series works in detailing a place where all the glorious, forward-looking, optimistic pulp science fiction of old has a cynical shadow fall over it. The Buck Rogers analogue reveals the horror of the future that turned him into a broken man; a thug, spending all his time in the engine rooms of those old shiny ships, laments never having seen space; the old Doc has stopped wondering, stopped being curious, and it's ruined him. Cracks begin to show in the dark veneer, however, as Ellis lets a bit of hope and redemption leak through; the mad bastard is, of course, a big softie.

Gianluca Pagliarani's artwork looks less like lines on paper and more like woodcuts, or perhaps etchings on the side of a big metal spaceship that's starting to rust over. It's a fitting aesthetic for this book.

Lightning Round!

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 by Kieron Gillen, Kano, Álvaro Lopez, Javier Rodriguez, and Nate Piekos (Marvel)

This book's likely to fly under the radar of most "mainstream" readers, I'd imagine, except for the completists (get all those space horse comics!), and that small sect of comics aficionados who enjoy "quality." And yet, this probably sells five times or more than Gillen's baby, Phonogram.

Anyway, the comic. It's cleverly written, with some fine character work for comics' favorite Bill, and well drawn by Kano. And it still has that snazzy Simonson reprint in the back, complete with eye-singing primary coloring.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Jimmy Betancourt (Dark Horse)

Joss Whedon has a strong pimp hand. This is why I'm still buying this series, which had, at one point, some forward plot momentum, but which took a year off to wander around and "find itself," like a pretentious teenager. And now Jane Espenson is kick-starting the plot again and throwing the whole cast in a room together because bloody hell, it's #26 and we haven't really done anything! When season nine-- which I'll probably buy, because pimp hand-- inevitably hits, I hope the cast shrinks considerably. We just can't care about faceless hordes of teen slayers getting impaled by faceless hordes of demons. The cast needs some serious trimming, and the thematic focus needs to go back to what it once was-- high school/college/growing up is hell. Not "my army is bigger than your army."

Anyway, the comic. Oz is back. Yay, Oz! Now can we get more racist Dracula?

Doctor Who #1 by Tony Lee, Al Davison, Lovern Kindzierski, and Robbie Robbins (IDW)

Here's the debut of the new Tony-Lee-driven ongoing Doctor Who series, and the last place we're going to be seeing the Tenth Doctor once David Tennant's final stories air at the end of this year. But even when Matt Smith graces our screen, we can still turn to IDW for more Doc Ten goodness. This issue's got the atmosphere of a 1970s episode with the gob of the Tenth Doctor, as he stumbles into old-timey Hollywood and runs into Charlie Chaplin-- oh, I'm sorry, Archie Maplin. That's the biggest problem with the issue-- the fact that something legal popped up at the last minute and turned Chaplin into Maplin. But that's what white-out is for. Meanwhile, Davison's art is solid, with some good facial work in spots, but the occasional awkward figure here or there. This crew seems to really "get it," and this series will sate Who fans' hunger as they wait for the next special to air.

I have no idea how Burgas does this reviewing thing every week. It took me two weeks just to write this.

16 Comments

At August 13, 2009, Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles wrote:
[...] Comic Book Resources It’s as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes ...
At August 13, 2009, Joe wrote:
The only problem with calling Captain Britain & MI13 would be that the internet would be complaining about "yet another ...
At August 13, 2009, Matt wrote:
Buffy Season 8, I want to love you, but you're taking waaaaay too long to do anything. We should already ...
At August 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:
Isn't Chris Dreier the letterer on Ignition City?
At August 13, 2009, Michael P. wrote:
You said it was funny, so I sincerely hope that Spidey 600 had more than just tired pop culture jokes. ...
At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
I got all excited thinking you had #3 of Batman And Robin to review... where is that thing?

Also, it weirds ...
At August 13, 2009, onion3000 wrote:
'Captain Britain & MI13' should have been called "The Blighty Avengers."
At August 13, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:
"‘Captain Britain & MI13? should have been called..." the Cancelled Avengers. Buh-Bye.
At August 13, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
I'm glad you finally read a Spider-Man issue again. the fact is, despite all the complaints from the professional ...
At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
.) But it seems half the guys on the internet refuse to even look at the book anymore, so they ...
At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
(Two Guys, A Girl, & A Pizza Place? Yeah, that’s on-topic!)

It is an outdated reference, but I loved that sitcom. ...
At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Spider-Man is finally being done right again, even if they had to really screw things up to get it there. ...
At August 14, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:
Thanks, Bill. And, yes, it does.

KG
At August 14, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:
Greg -- Avatar books don't credit the letterer, so who it is is unknown... unless you just ask them.
At August 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:
For some reason, even though I clearly recognised the psychiatrist as Stan immediately, it never occured to me that the ...
At August 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:
Chad: Yeah, I saw that Dreier was the inker after I posted. I always assumed the artist lettered the ...

Sunday Late-Night Snack: 8/9/09

Bill Reed — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:15:02 +0000

No links this week, but rather, a question for the audience: If you were cursed by gypsies, and could follow only one current comic book series, lest you be ingurgitated by the Devil himself, which one would it be?

Mine would be decided by a coin flip between Batman & Robin and Atomic Robo, I imagine. How about you?

43 Comments

At August 9, 2009, Neal K wrote:
Hmmm... Batman and Robin would definitely be the leader of the pack, but Detective Comics would be right up there ...
At August 9, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:
Invincible Iron Man by Fraction and Larroca is the one I would keep above all others, but those fantasy stereotype ...
At August 9, 2009, Sebastian wrote:
Oh, boy. It would be very close between Air and Secret Six. Hmm, I love Secret Six to death, but ...
At August 9, 2009, Scavenger wrote:
PS-238 because it's inventive and classic and original.
At August 9, 2009, Mysterious Stranger wrote:
I have to agree with Atomic Robo. Even better if its a monthly ongoing but I'll take the miniseries ...
At August 9, 2009, Sinister Things wrote:
Usagi Yojimbo. Action, comedy, romance, and consistent fun.
At August 9, 2009, djsweet wrote:
Young Liars (as long as the devil is involved lets retcon the cancelation) But I would follow Dave Lapham ...
At August 9, 2009, chad wrote:
if i was only allowed to follow one comic i would go with dc secret six for gail simone infuses ...
At August 9, 2009, Stefan wrote:
Captain Britain and MI:13, dammit.
At August 9, 2009, castingcrowns wrote:
I would bring back the third Blue Beetle series and read it forever as long as it stayed good. If ...
At August 9, 2009, Adam wrote:
Hulk. I have no particular love of the Loeb version, but it's the character I've been reading since I ...
At August 9, 2009, danjack wrote:
No question, it would be.....
ASTRO CITY!!
One of the best series i've ever read, and as Kurt Busiek owns it, he ...
At August 10, 2009, Morpheaus wrote:
Invincible
At August 10, 2009, Dave Ziegler wrote:
It would have been The Immortal Iron Fist (and if they bring it back after the Immortal Weapons mini, I'll ...
At August 10, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:
Probably THE LONE RANGER. It's almost the only one NOW.
At August 10, 2009, Joe wrote:
20th Century Boys
At August 10, 2009, Ninjagodzilla wrote:
SCALPED.
At August 10, 2009, Tony Isabella wrote:
The first one that came to mind was Thom Zahler's LOVE AND CAPES. The second was Stan Sakai's USAGI ...
At August 10, 2009, Sijo wrote:
I second ASTRO CITY. It's everything that's good in comics in one place.
At August 10, 2009, stealthwise wrote:
SECRET SIX. Packed with far too much nasty goodness to pass up.
At August 10, 2009, BDaly wrote:
It would be Young Liars, if not for the cancellation.

Hmmm... I guess Incredible Herc or Northlanders. But Batman & Robin ...
At August 10, 2009, johnny the boy wrote:
while i love astro city, they come out very infrequently. i think the boring, practical answer is ASM. ...
At August 10, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:
If it were to continue past issue 18, Young Liars. Otherwise, I'd have to go with Criminal.
At August 10, 2009, Gopher wrote:
In view of his current eye problems, I would select John Ostrander writing the Suicide Squad, with his (first) choice ...
At August 10, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:
Either Secret Six or Fables or the new Warlord series from Grell...
At August 10, 2009, Blackjak wrote:
Secret Six...

Or Fables...

Or 2000AD (do anthologies count?)

Actually if 2000AD counts, then that... because it's weekly!
At August 10, 2009, ktiranno wrote:
I am all about the Thunderbolts. With the old Thunderbolts coming back it is bound to get crazy.
At August 10, 2009, tj9000 wrote:
No question about it. FABLES!
At August 10, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:
Mome. It's big!
At August 10, 2009, tk. wrote:
X-Factor.
At August 10, 2009, Punchy wrote:
Purely because I'd get 2 more comics a month, Amazing Spider-Man.
At August 10, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:
Contenders would include Fables, Northlanders, Criminal and Captain America. Cap gets eliminated cause while its still the best superhero read ...
At August 10, 2009, Trevor wrote:
NOVA or Agents of Atlas.
I'm torn between those two but i think i would be leaning more towards nova just ...
At August 10, 2009, Todd Lawrence wrote:
I'd have to go with Captain America, if just because:

- I can't shake the feeling that Incredible Hercules, Agents of ...
At August 11, 2009, BDaly wrote:
I forgot to mention Criminal and X-Factor. This is really hard. I think I'd choose either of those over Northlanders ...
At August 11, 2009, Frankie Esmond wrote:
"cursed by Gypsies"? Do we really need racist stereotypes at a time when Gypsies are the leading victims of ...
At August 11, 2009, Ian A. wrote:
The Umbrella Academy.
At August 11, 2009, Tom wrote:
The Incredible Hercules
At August 11, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:
Wow, it took 36 whole comments for someone to complain about my use of the word "gypsy!" I would've thought ...
At August 11, 2009, Jake wrote:
I'd have to flip a coin to chose between Secret Six and Green Lantern. On one hand, Green Lantern got ...
At August 11, 2009, Nuno wrote:
Young Liars at the rate of 1 TPB per month

If not that, DMZ at that same rate
At August 12, 2009, David wrote:
I'd have a hard time choosing between Fables and Girl Genius
At August 15, 2009, Steve wrote:
I don't need to be cursed by gypsies, there is already only one current comic book series which I follow, ...