Neal Adams' cover for DC 100-Page Super Spectaculer #6 would seem to certainly be on the list of options for the Top 75 Most Iconic DC Covers. It was so famous that DC reprinted the comic in 2004, and it was ALREADY a reprint collection! That's how notable Adams' cover was.

However, Adams' cover is an homage to the cover of All-Star Comics #16 by Frank Harry.

So which one should make the list?

The original cover or the more famous homage?

16 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Adams'. Again, if it's about which is the more iconic (influential) and not favorite or better looking, it was that ...

• At November 19, 2009, Julian wrote:

  All Star Comics #16 established the iconography.

• At November 19, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  This is the first time I've ever seen the Frank Harry cover.

  I've been waiting for a poster of the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I've never seen either of these, ever... But here's a good question. What are the odds this cover influenced Justice ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jace Mace wrote:

  I can't vote for either. I don't really think that a gallery of superheroes standing shoulder-to-shoulder makes for a good ...

• At November 19, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  If I had to choose between the cover to Justice League #1 and either of these, I'd choose JL without ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mark Cook wrote:

  Why not both? Although I guess you'd probably be sitting at 76 covers then...

• At November 19, 2009, chad wrote:

  have to go with the original version since it was the first that did it that without it adams proably ...

• At November 19, 2009, Wayne wrote:

  Adams, if for no other reason than THAT is the comic that really made me a comics fan for life.

• At November 19, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Not knowing these covers, I prefer the All Star one. In the 100 Page cover the spotlight seems kind ...

• At November 19, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  Yeah, I like the "common folk" aspect of the Golden Age one. Plus, I like that Dr. midnight has that ...

• At November 19, 2009, danjack wrote:

  I

  LOVE

  BOTH

  THESE

  COVERS!

  They both rock so hard it ain't funny!

  DFTBA

• At November 19, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:

  I have to say I think the original is fantastic and I like it a lot more than the homage. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Eric wrote:

  I vote for this one:

  http://coveredblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/anthony-vukojevich-covers-dc-100-page.html

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  This is a tough one...not sure which I would vote for.

• At November 20, 2009, Chris Stansfield wrote:

  Honestly, neither. I've never thought this was a great representation of Adams's work. The figures are sloppily drawn, and the ...

2 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  I posted in that thread way back right after it was started and it still says that my comment is ...

• At November 18, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  ^That means only you and Brian can see it. It still got counted.

All-Star Comics #4 vs. All-Star Comics #36

It's certainly an iconic image, but which one is THE iconic cover?

The first cover originated the concept while the second cover refined the concept.

Which one is THE choice?

22 Comments

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I'm really not all that familiar with either cover, so maybe I can't speak to how iconic they are. BUT, ...

• At November 16, 2009, beta ray steve wrote:

  I voted for #36. The massive yellow text box and the Capitol are in the foreground and distract. In terms ...

• At November 16, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  I'm going with #4 because A) It actually featured the original JSA, and B) The JSA banner in the second ...

• At November 16, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  First isn't always best. The design is cleaner and the cast more iconic in the later choice. (Too bad that ...

• At November 16, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  Trick question? As #36 is derivative of #4, I went with the earliest.

• At November 16, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  I'm not familiar enough with either to vote, but I have to say that despite growing up on Marvel, and ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ninjazilla wrote:

  4 is earlier and looks nicer.

• At November 16, 2009, Keith wrote:

  I couldn't vote for a cover that featured the Spectre running.

• At November 16, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  No contest...All Star Comics #4...the later version has some seriously stiff looking characters. No motion at all...bad cover.

• At November 16, 2009, Gabriel Mckee wrote:

  I'm not familiar with either, but I'd call 36 an homage to 4-- so I vote for 4.

• At November 16, 2009, T. wrote:

  I don't think the second cover "refined" the concept of the original at all. I think it simply repeated ...

• At November 16, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  Easy, #4

• At November 16, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Completely disagree. The backgrounds are supposed to be simpler in the the second cover — it helps the heroes pop, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Since we're talking "iconic" not best or favorite, i went with #36, because I've actually seen it referenced before, while ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I must admit it always feels really weird to me to see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as contemporaries with ...

• At November 16, 2009, jhota wrote:

  voted for #4, since #36 is pretty much a reference/copy/homage/whatever of #4.

• At November 16, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  I believe this was the first cover appearance of Superman and Batman in All Star Comics. Had Superman Batman and ...

• At November 16, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Superman and Batman appeared together on every cover of World's Finest Comics, even before they started co-starring inside the book.

• At November 16, 2009, Eric wrote:

  The first cover has a lot going for it:

  1)It's first.

  2)It's better art-wise.

  3)It had characters who are more iconic in the ...

• At November 17, 2009, Hangman Jury wrote:

  The first one, definitely. I've seen it reprinted in a bunch of books about comics.

  I have never even seen ...

• At November 17, 2009, Steven verbridge wrote:

  #4 definitely!

• At November 17, 2009, nikki wrote:

  number 4 because it shows the regular team rather than showcasing the guest stars

We have the  Best Comics of 2008 meta-list!  (based on a methodology devised by our own Chad Nevett)

Thanks to Sandy over at the I Love Rob Liefeld who finally got the results tabulated, after the guy who did it last year disappeared.  (I hope he's not dead.)

Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button is number one.

Which means that, while my post on last years (07) list was enthusiastic and happy and all about explaining the logic as I see it, THIS years list is gonna be a lot more "What the hell are you people thinking?"

This was gonna cover the top ten, but it ran long and complain-y.  So just the top five for today.  More before the end of the year.

1)  Bottomless Belly Button -  By Dash Shaw.

Why.  Why...why...why....why...why?  Does it take.  One hundred and seventeen panels.   For.  ANYTHING.   To. Happen.  It juuuuussssst gooooeossss soooooooo slooooooowwww.  How many pages do we need to show a guy running?  Or that epic, gripping, three mastrubation*-onto-doll-clothes sequence?

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to H-A-P-P-E-N and by the end it was  driving me nuts.   We have here a seven-hundred-some-odd brick of a book that could have easily been sliced right in half.

And what's worse:  This  approach to pacing seemed to work against the theme  of the book.  The plot of the book - The  Three grown children with their various spouses and offspring in tow return to their ancestral home on the eve of their now-borderline-elderly parents divorce - depicts a deeply claustrophobic situation.  A bunch of no-longer-familiar people all crammed together into an unfamiliar situation.

But the lackadaisical pacing totally undermines this.  In taking so much space to tell a story, if gives the book a sense of open-ness of being unconstrained.  And that just doesn't seem to fit with the actual story.

Which, I should add, WORKS.  It sets out to show how the five main characters respond to trauma (and to each other) and, by God, we end up knowing how they respond to trauma (and each other.)  And there were individual elements of craft I thought were cool: The graphs, architectural diagrams, and the neat little "Types of Sand" po-essay at the start of the book all worked as cool visuals unto themselves and helped to hand-hold the story along.  The light magical-realism type touches in the art worked well, not overwhelming the book with unbeleivable fanatasy but providing some cool visuals.

But this is SO NOT BOOK OF THE YEAR.  This ain't even the best comic I've read in 2008 by Dash Shaw! (The first half of Bodyworld was better.)

And it's more'n slightly frustrating that a good but deeply flawed comic by a guy who's obviously going on to do much better work is getting this kind of praise.

Unless, of course, I'm totally missing anything.

Am I missing something?

*  Aw, c'mon spell-check.  You do so know that word.

2)  Acme Novelty Library #  19 by Chris Ware

This

is one damned Chris-Ware-y comic.  You but it, know what your getting.

Hint:  Not happy sunshine-fun day at the candy farm.

This is part three of the Rusty Brown serial, the life and times of a dude who's REALLY into his action figures, to the exclusion of ever having a life.  And, yeah, it's bloody-damn depressing.

But... But it's also great comics.  It's not that the drawing is immediatelyimpressive, but Ware just GETS the comic form in his soul on an intrinsic level.  Pretty much every panel is an effective composition into itself.  AND THEN, all those panels fit together to create a unique, grabbing, overall page design.  AND THEN all those pages are, Watchmen-like, designed to reflect on and support each other, meaning you have to flip through his stuff multiple times to admire all the interesting visual contrasts.   And the whole She-Bang is just beautifully colored, mournful but still downright pretty.

(And there are plenty of comic artists who can draw someone's heart gettin' yanked out their unmentionables by a zombie, but couldn't do pretty if their lives depended on it.)

And, in all of this, the nitty-gritty of tellin' a  story is never lost.  There's no Gary Panter-ian abstract design for-the-sake-of design.

AND THEN  Ware's goddamn good at figuring out interesting, unique formal tricks that only work with comics.  One of the main characters breaks his glasses, see, and for a while every panel from his POV is half fractured scratchy smear, see, because he can't SEE everything because he broke his glasses....

And there are people who'll work in the comic industry their whole lives that'll never come up with a stoytelling  trick that clever.  (For example.  Most of them.)

Fifteen years ago I'd be praising this thing to high heavens.

But.

(And you KNEW there was gonna be a but)

Today it's just another Chris Ware comic. It's not even a COMPLETED Chris Ware comic, exactly.  Sure, part of the story is a (fake) reprinted fifties pulp Sci-Fi story - supposedly written by Rusty's father, who was more into pulp sci-fi than superhero action figures* - but it's one damned Chris Ware-y Sci-fi story.  SPOILERS:  Dead Dogs.  SPOILERS:  Cuckoldry.  BARELY SPOILERS:  Heartbreak and melancholy and enniu.

Here's the thing.  It's 2009.  There's a REAL good chance that this is the high-point for comics, printed on paper, aimed at adults.  We've cycled up to here, we're probably going to cycle back down as people stop buying graphic novels, or the way we read is going to undergo a technologically induced sea change or the zombie take over and we're to busy not getting our hearts ripped out through our unmentionables -  But the good times don't last forever.

Which means that  I want to see a number two best comic of the year that's a god-damn revolutionary game-changer.   And this isn't it.  Another Chris Ware comic this good is still just another Chris Ware comic a part three of eight, that's more-or-less as good as the last few Chris Ware comics.  Wake me up when the story's done and between two covers.

* BUT THERE ARE PARALLELS.

3) All Star Superman Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.

Hey, look!  It's a corporate published superhero comic with an actual ending!   This needs to be rewarded based on novelty alone!

Also.  I read this right after Bottomless Belly Button. And I'm really impressed with the design of the thing.  Quitely doesn't vary his "camera placement" much -  It's mostly "widescreen" chest-high medium shots, but it achieves the same effect as the drawn out (*ahem*) "Action Sequences" in Bottomless Belly Button. But with ASS there's a REASON for it.  The comic has a sense of openess, a sense of possibilities realized, a sense of "Hey, the main character can freakin' fly, how freakin' cool is THAT!"

And it takes less time, too.*  Dash Shaw achieved this effect by taking lots of panels to show a single action.  Quitely does the same trick by making bigger (or at least wider) panels.  Every panel looks like a movie screen abd that means BIG and awesome.

And Quitely's up there with Acme Novelty Library as well.  One example:  Lookit what he's doing with  vertical and horizontal symmetry.  When he's trying to make something look nice or pleasing to the eye, everything in the panel is all nicely aligned and balanced.  When he's drawing Bizzaro, everything is  all asymmetritcal and jaggedy amd off-putting.   And he's good with negative space and really USING those splash panels to have an impact, and...  dude is just a GOOD at applying the formal stuff they teach you in painting class.

And, again, much of the book is just pretty. I'm a fan of pretty.

Gettin' back to the comparison -  BBB is probably the stronger concept -  At least   "Defining the family unit at one point in time plus bonus magic frog" strikes me as more original and interesting "let's recycle some old Superman comics."   But since they both end up using similar effects, the execution is so much better here.

And Morrison and Quitely give us a pitch-freakin'-perfect Jimmy Olsen.  My God, it's been soooo long.

*  I define comics by time.  I can explain it, but not here, and I need charts and sock puppets for the full effect.

4)  Too Cool to Be Forgotten by Alex Robinson

Aaaaaaand the most improved award goes tooooooo...

This puppy right here.

Not gonna lie to you people.  I thought Robinson's comic output up to this point has been a Big, Hot, Tranny Mess.  I read his Box Office Poison and found a bunch of plot-lines that didn't really connect with each other or lead anywhere interesting -  But some nice character bits.  And I read Tricked and was needly enough about how sloppy the writing was that I didn't even NOTICE if there were some nice character bits.

But Too Cool?  This is good.  The narrative is stripped down and tightened up, and there's only ONE main charcter praise the good Lord hallelujah.  The drawing is more fluid, there's some nice E.E. Cummings'y formal experimentation, and the whole package just looks better.

What makes this all the more impressive is that Robinson's working with story-types that are notoriously difficult to pull off.   (A) It's a time travel story which (B) by it's nature means that Robinson has to flesh out two main POV characters (one older, one younger) at the same time, AND compare and contrast the way both of 'em view the world.

So maybe it's NOT just one one major character, at that.

But the whole thing comes along nicely until the end and

Boom

Secrets are revealed and there's a complete shift in tone from hi-school hi-jinx to deadly serious. And, cause Robinson is ABSOLUTELY assured in his command of narrative, it all works, lending some poignancy to everything that's happened before.

And best of all, of course,  is the design of the book -  smaller than an average comic and closer to a pack of smokes - is  pure congealed joy-sauce.

If there's a weakness here it's only by comparison. There are folks on the list who are gonna be considered the greatest cartoonists of their generations, and Alex Robinson (as of now) is only very, very good.

5) What It Is by Lynda Barry

A checklist of factors that need to be taken into account before we head on into the review proper.

• Ernie Pook's Comeek is my favorite comic strip.  One!  Hundred!  Demons! is my favorite graphic novel ever. Lynda Barry ismy favorite creator ever to work in comics.
• What It Is is, by my big critical standards (Quality of Craft, Originality of the Work, and Thematic/Intellectual Content) the most impressive work to show up in the top ten.
• It's also not my favorite Lynda Barry work.  By a long shot.  And not my favorite thing on the list.
• But holy shit you guys...

I bitch about Acme Novelty Library being just another Chris Ware book, and this is the opposite of that.  ICollage! The whole thing is low tech, crap-glued-to-notebook-paper collage!  Who else is even going to THINK of this?  How many artists in any form E-V-E-R question the Standard Operating Procedures of artistic creation.  Or, to hammer the point home, how many of the other works on this top  one hundred list are created via photoshop or pen and bristol board.  (I haven't read 'em all, but I'd guestimate at least 98.)

And on top of the simple, obvious, process  stuff, there's a kind of scope and ambition here which no-one else is matching.  Bottomless Belly Button is a diagram of family dynamics.  Too Cool to Be Forgotten is a time travel story with a Carpe Diem! type of theme.

What It Is is a visual transcription of a writing seminar AND a memoir AND a pure art book AND a  direct pathway to the author's unconscious.  Which is full of monkeys and squids.   It's just trying to DO more STUFF than the other books on the list.

Did I mention the monkeys?   I'd cheertully pay 30 bones for a book of just Lynda Barry monkey drawings.

But.  (Here it is again.)

Honestly, and this might just be me, I'm not sure this works as well as "lessons on how to write" as much as "lessons on how to write like Lynda Barry."

I tried really hard to do the exercises contained here.  Swear to God I did.  (Incidentally, this is the only book in the top five I paid actual cash money for.)  I'd be all enthusiasm, think really hard, get discouraged, got bored, and wander off to play the flash game where you put the penguin on top of the mountain.  (I only like video games in the genre of Penguin and Mountain.)

And, again, the problem MIGHT just be with me.  But my personal field-test failed.  (And got slightly too you-can-do-it self-help-book-y for my cynical ass towards the end.)

But I can't say it's not brilliant.  I won't say it doesn't deserve to be mentioned as one of the best comics of the year.  And I'm glad that it sold pretty well -  It was on the Amazon charts for a LONG time -  and that Lynda's makin' some money off it.

But I'm probably not going to sign up for her writing class, either.

MONKEY!

Er... I mean...

That's it for next time.  I'll try to look at Ganges #2, the Alcoholic, Skyscrapers of the Midwest, The huge-ass latest Kramer's Ergot and Capacity next time.   Two of 'em I liked.

7 Comments

• At November 15, 2009, garbonzo wrote:

  So far I read three of these (Bottomless Belly Button, All-Star Superman, and Too Cool to be Forgotten). I ...

• At November 16, 2009, winterteeth wrote:

  Seriously not trying to be a jerk here but you reversed the u and the r in masturbation so that ...

• At November 16, 2009, Michael wrote:

  The spellcheck knows "masturbation." It does not know "mastrubation."

• At November 16, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  Thank you so much for this article. It's a nice breath of fresh air after the endless superhero worship this ...

• At November 16, 2009, chasdom wrote:

  I completely disagree with you on the pacing of Bottomless Belly Button. The pacing of the book captured, for me, ...

• At November 16, 2009, tekende wrote:

  Bottomless Belly Button is a brilliant work. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to just say that you're definitively, ...

• At November 16, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Spelling is hard.

  Chasdom - See, now, that's a GOOD point. (Which wasn't mentioned in any of the reviews I ...

"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?

Obligatory Links To Better Writers- I miss Bill's link blogging thing. Does anyone else? I do. Anyway, here's the Savage Critic's savagely critical analysis of the writing and art on Rucka and Williams Batwoman storyline he would have surely linked to if he hadn't been bored to tears/madness and abandoned the feature like I abandon everything I ever write ever.

Anyway, I appreciate that David "Foul Mouthed Metron" Uzumeri and Jog "Jog is his nickname" have found things in the text and art I never would, and are literary and what not. Even if I'm not sure that makes the comics any better than the really good, but not up to my ridiculously high expectations, reception I've given them. That, and the Alice in Wonderland stuff does nothing for me, but then I don't care about the source material. I did enjoy the Batwoman: Year One story last issue more than the entire first arc, so there's that.

But forget all that. You have to read Jog's piece just for all the pretty art he crams in. Uzumeri's is also pretty good, I guess, even if he doesn't find a way to post excerpts from the JH Williams drawn Wolverine Annual I suddenly need to own.

I Was Never Good At Fractions I was the guy (possibly the only one) that was not particularly fond of Matt Fraction's first Invincible Iron Man arc. It was solid and everything, but not something that made me want to follow the series monthly (I wound up catching up on it via e-bay). I chalked it up to my not being a huge fan of the character. I did like it enough, especially the Spider-Man guest appearance, to at least keep the door open to reading the trades. And my LCS's Halloween Sale gave me an excuse to do that with the new one, which is what I was looking for.

Glad I did. The World's Most Wanted trade is great. It's as much a thriller as it is a superhero comic, with all of the tension and the impending sense of the walls closing in on the three protagonists. It's also the first time I've seen Maria Hill written as a character, and a pretty awesome one at that, since that one part of Secret Invasion Abhay pointed out there.

So, yeah, nice to see this comic live up to the hype, and I look forward to the next volume a whole lot, in the same way I eagerly snap up Ed Brubaker's Captain America.

Oh wait! I forgot the art! Even Salvador Larocca's art worked better for me on that IIM arc than it did in the previous one. It looked less, for lack of a better term, flashy and lifeless. Maybe the coloring helped, too, but it told the story well and was not nearly as unpalpable as I remember it being on the first car, which was in Greg Land/airbrushed/plasticine territory, I thought. Also, he drew Tony Stark with jet sneakers, and that automatically makes him one of my favorite artists ever. That goes for anyone, he just got to it first.*

I Have One Too, Norman and Nick! Here Is A List Of 25 Things I've Forgotten In Other Lists I've Done (Mostly On Facebook Pick Your 5s, but some here, too):

1. The Runaways (superhero team)
2. Hellboy
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. Amy Whinehouse
5. Dr. Horrible
6. Chris Claremont and Paul Smith's Uncanny X-Men
7. Wally Wood
8. Dana White
9. Jim Steranko
10. Young Avengers
11. Kofi Kingston
12. The Harlem Boys' Choir
13. The Swedish Bikini Team
14. The Runaways (girl band)
15. Katy Perry
16. Walt Simonson's Thor
17. Red Faction: Guerilla
18. The Punisher
19. Ares
20. A picture of Rob Van Dam pointing at himself
21. Bill Clinton
22. Sublime
23. Fantasy Football
24. Johnny Unitas
25. Dr. Dre

And while I'm already amusing myself, and myself alone, here's this Hernandez. Gordito. Mustache brothers separated at birth?**

Musings Of TERROR! One of the coolest things about Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 2 is that it reprints a bunch of issues of Giant Sized Dracula. Beyond being pretty good self contained stories, it's pretty awesome to have them around just because it reminds you that there was a time when Marvel published two Dracula comics.

Blatant Marvel Bias Alert! I also picked up a copy of the first Heroes For Hire trade at that Halloween sale that made me go broke for a while. No, not that one that John Ostrander did, the other one. The one that spun out of Civil War? (Which the trade dress certainly wouldn't let you forget.)

So, anyway, I liked this too. A lot more than pretty much anything else I've read from Palmiotti and Gray*** as a writing team. Would have been better with Amanda Conner art, especially given that half the cast is hot women in spandex, but Billy Tucci and Francis Portella will do in a pinch. I just picked it up because Essential Power Man and Iron Fist has given me a new appreciation for the Daughters of the Dragon, so it was nice that I wound up enjoying it as a team book and not just a collection of supporting characters I like. Really though those two things are pretty intertwined. This is a comic that has Paladin and the Black Cat! If it also featured Diamondback and Silver Sable and the Wild Pack, it would include all of my childhood favorite guest stars!

One other thing about this comic; there's a subplot featuring the Skrulls, and when I first started reading those issues, I thought "that sets this up things really well for Secret Invasion!" And then I remembered that it was canceled during World War Hulk. So that creates two questions for me: 1. Were they planning that far in advance for SI, or was it a coincidence? 2. Why do I remember those World War Hulk issues?****

This You know, when he's not talking about how most everything sucks, Dan Apodaca is a man of great worth, which should be publicly acknowledged often. So I'll do that here. If nothing else, he has great taste in Onion editorials and linguistic trivia.

Bah Humbug, Forbush Man! Been seeing the Marvel Holiday Special Magazine in a lot of places that don't usually carry comics lately. Always happy to see comics out in the wider world of grocery stores and whatever you call Wal Mart at this point. And not just because I am close personal friends
sort of know one of the writers!

As far as the actual special goes (which I also bought at that magical, bank account destroying Halloween sale), I've only read bits and pieces of it. Because it's November. I do plan on going back and reading the bulk of the issue, reprints of older Christmas stories, when it's more seasonally appropriate, because there's a Beast and Iceman story by Kurt Busiek and a Spider-Man story scripted by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Lightle in there.

One problem with selling outside of comics shops; despite the fact that it's fairly well packed with content (well, that and ads written "in character" with lunatics like Hank Pym and Deadpool), it is $9.99. Probably a tough sale for an impulse buy. Being honest, I only bought it when I did because of the discount. Well, and I want to support my buddy acquaintance, Morse.

Teaser Ahoy! I've been reading a bit of Showcase Presents Metamorpho, and want to comment on it. Instead of doing that in this already overstuffed venue, I'm gonna make it a separate post. Watch for that, coming soon, ladies and germs!***** It will surely point out things about those comics!

*Well, as far as I know. If Al Milgrom or someone else did it first, please do tell me I forgot something I've never seen before. We bloggers love that!
**It took me so long to get around to making that joke that Hernandez has shaved his mustache off. Still, had to get to it eventually.
***I remember liking the first arc of their short lived Wildstorm series 21 Down a lot. And I haven't read a ton of their Jonah Hex, which is their longest running collaboration and seems to work for a lot of people.
****Just kidding. I totally remember why. You don't have to mention it. At all. Certainly not this. You know the thing I still can't get over about that cover? Why in the hell does Black Cat have a bell on her collar? Or, really, why doesn't she always wear a bell?
(In that I think all of the male posters here are sentient germ clouds. Well, surely at least Funky.)

17 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  I agree with you on the Fraction Iron Man. I mentioned to one of my comic book dealers the other ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Happy birthday.

  Yes, I do miss Bill Reed's link-blogging thing. It was fun.

  I was totally unimpressed by the first arc ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Invincible Iron Man by Fraction and Larroca is the best the title's ever been. There, I said it.

  * And I ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Happy B'day - I'm staring the big two seven in the face myself, when you hear a cry of pain ...

• At November 12, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  And that ridiculous bit where they float the idea of War Machine appearing, and then for no discernible reason, the ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I dunno, why would he presume that A. The armor would fit him and B. That he could operate it?

  Because ...

• At November 12, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Happy birthday, man!

  I, too, miss Bill's Sunday Brunch feature. I feel like I'm missing out on stuff without those links ...

• At November 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Sunday Brunch might return, um, one of these days. I got busy, and the internet got a little boring, and ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  One of the coolest things about Essential Tomb of Dracula vol. 2 is that it reprints a bunch of issues ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " It put the idea in your head of two Iron Men fighting side by side, and then didn't follow ...

• At November 12, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I bought the first issue of Invincible Iron Man and couldn't see anything good about it, so I didn't buy ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Well, that's what sequels are for...

  That might be the case if you raise the idea of two Iron Men just ...

• At November 12, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I didn't (and still don't) really dig on the first arc of Invincible Iron Man -- something I discussed with ...

• At November 12, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Also, happy birthday. You're slightly older than me (I turned 27 at the end of January).

• At November 12, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Totally, totally agreed on Invincible Iron Man - Although it didn't feel like it would've read as well in single ...

• At November 13, 2009, Steven E. McDonald wrote:

  Greg Hatcher - indeed you do get the b&w Draculas in Essential TOD4, but they're somewhat edited, with any instance ...

• At November 13, 2009, Luis Dantas wrote:

  I used to like the Daughters of the Dragon, but their miniseries wrote them both SO hopelessly out of character ...

I know it's out of context, but come on - that's funny stuff! "Oh, Bruce, what about those times when we would pull a train with Linda? And then, when she went home, we'd get to the really good stuff? WHAT ABOUT THAT, BRUCE?!?!?!?!?!"

Elva finds out that Bruce is playing her, and she goes on a crime spree. Elva herself has quit her job at the salon, so "the world's greatest detective" is flummoxed over how to find her (he says as much to Dick). Dick, never one to take his man getting stolen lying down, decides to go undercover himself, and one night, he gets into costume because he has a lead. Bruce asks him, "Where do you think you're going, youngster?" and Dick replies, "Oh, just after the Catwoman! Er ... I suppose you can come along, too ... although you might be too old to understand this sort of thing!" You see what he did there, turning the tables on Bruce? Well, that leads to this utterly bizarre panel:

A grown man spanking a young boy (what do we think Robin's age is here? 12?) while said boy is dressed in a spandex outfit. All I can say to Jack Schiff and Bob Kane, who are the credited writer and artist: Fetish much?

I know Batman and Robin gay jokes are played out, but I don't care! I'm just stunned it took Fredric Wertham another decade to decide comics were warping kids' minds. I guess the government had more important things to worry about in 1943!

35 Comments

• At November 10, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Greg, that was an awesome post.

• At November 10, 2009, Ro wrote:

  The fact that both speech bubbles seem to be coming from Bruces mouth makes the final panel even more bizarre.

• At November 10, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I wonder which modern comics will look weird or ridiculous in 60 years.

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  And THAT'S why I always say that Dennys O'Neil and Neal Adams really created Batman!!! Before them Batman was something ...

• At November 10, 2009, Craig B. wrote:

  Adding to the weirdness of that last panel - what's up with the plane flying by outside the window? ...

• At November 10, 2009, T. wrote:

  I think even out of context that first panel isn't that bad. I think there are much better examples ...

• At November 10, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  What, you've never been spanked by a wealthy playboy while wearing a cape, green briefs and Peter Pan booties?

  Is that ...

• At November 10, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Wesley: You mean TODAY, or just in general?

• At November 10, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  That is truly bizarre. For so many reasons.

• At November 10, 2009, Craig wrote:

  At least it wasn't part of the "Papa spank!" series that seemed to run rampant in vintage DC...

  ...but yeah, it's ...

• At November 10, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Fabio: I like your idea about Batman's creation.

• At November 10, 2009, johnny the boy wrote:

  creepy, out-of-context early batman panels should be a regular feature...hysterical.

• At November 10, 2009, chad wrote:

  that panel showed how crazy and different the early run of batman was not to mention how lax judging from ...

• At November 10, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Part of the reason that last panel looks so weird to us now is that we don't hear too much ...

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  Roman: Ain`t that right? I remember when (a long time ago, about 25 years) I started to read the old ...

• At November 10, 2009, buttler wrote:

  I will not stand for any hate speech against the Zebra Batman.

• At November 10, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  It was a different time, and things seen in today's context weren't seen in that context all those years ago.

  For ...

• At November 10, 2009, Fabio wrote:

  Johnny the Boy: "creepy, out-of-context early batman panels should be a regular feature...hysterical."

  Oh, man you got my vote!

• At November 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  You know, now that DC is releasing these fairly regularly, maybe this will have to become a regular feature ...

• At November 10, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I love that the old DC books, despite only really getting funny when your looking back on them (ie. they ...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  Classic.

  Is there any explanation or acknowledgement in the story of the plane in the background? Or is that a painting ...

• At November 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Corey: Nope. It's completely ignored, so I have no idea if it's a window or a painting. It's ...

• At November 10, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Either Robin has a malformed bum, or Bruce is pulling pants and open...

• At November 10, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Well, now we know that Frank Miller's All Star Batman isn't completely different from the source material...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  @Greg Burgas - Even better!

• At November 10, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  I love how Bruce is all dressed up in a suit for the spanking...better than a smoking jacket I suppose...

• At November 10, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Just a quick question. How many of you guys have read Seduction of the Innocent?

• At November 10, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  Just a quick question. How many of you guys have read Seduction of the Innocent?

  I've tried to find it at ...

• At November 10, 2009, Corey wrote:

  I was able to read portions of it when in college but it was almost never available at the college ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  I've never read Seduction of the Innocent in its entirety, but I will say the parts I have read were ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  Let me add though that from everything I read, Wertham himself did not want the witch hunt that ensued. ...

• At November 11, 2009, andyh40 wrote:

  Our library had a copy of SOTI, so I was able to read the book 3 times. Some things, I ...

• At November 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  To me what was most interesting about Wertham is that a lot of what I saw him condemning is not ...

• At November 11, 2009, Thenodrin wrote:

  I read Seduction of the Innocent back in the 80s. As I recall, Wertham had good arguments, but also demonstrated ...

• At November 11, 2009, Jherek Carnelian wrote:

  In the British weekly comics I grew up with, characters such as Dennis the Menace (no relation to your US ...

Necrosha-X One Shot- Why did I pay money for this, you ask, despite my noted disdain for DC's similar crossover event? I didn't! A friend purchased it for me at the LCS's Halloween Party, because he wanted someone to talk about it with, and I have never passed up a free comic before. Of course, I had to agree to read some of the story that spun out of it too. I figured if worse came to worse, I'd just give him his $4.

Well, it didn't quite necessitate a refund, but only because I really liked the New Mutants portion of things, with the idea that Doug Ramsey living up to his full potential is the most dangerous mutant ever. Been wanting to see that for a while, and if nothing else, hopefully Zeb Wells gets to keep him for his cast when this thing's over.

The rest was pretty okay. I mean, I'm just committing to following New Mutants as part of my little bargain, but I don't hate where this is going. Like a lot of recent X-stuff, it seems like it could be a solid trade eventually, if nothing else. X-Force seems like the comic where the action will take place, and it seems okay on that level so far (if nothing else, the X-Force portion had more Dr. Nemesis; I'll always mark for that. X-Men: Legacy appears to be focusing on Destiny and her plot device precognition, which involves mentoring one of the New New Mutants I've never heard of. So, if I skip one part, that's the one, right there.

Caveat time; I've wanted an excuse to read New Mutants for a while, and I'm such a huge lapsed X-Men fan (and am totally indifferent to Blackest Night and its principle characters, from Hal and Barry to most of the zombie JLA), so keep those biases in mind. I wouldn't rush out and buy this issue, but if you can get a dude to buy it for you, its not bad!

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #4- After last month's incomprehensible Banshee thing, things return to form with a Storm spotlight issue, guest starring two of my new favorite characters, the Daughters of the Dragon and Power Man and Iron Fist's best villain, Deadly Nightshade, a female blacksploitation mad scientists who wears hot pants. So, it's pretty great.

This is a fun done in one story that really gets why Storm's can be a cool character while still throwing in a cliffhanger that gives you a reason to come back next issue. It also continues Scott Gray's pretty bad ass characterization of Jean Grey. Sure, she's out of character, but in character Jean is so lame she can only get attention by dying. I find the one that rolls her eyes at Cyclops and learns kung fu a marked improvement. If nothing else, the cat fight between this Jean and Emma Frost would be epic.

As long as Banshee is kept to a minimum, I'd love to see this become an ongoing, but it seems like the X-Franchise is so played out that that's unlikely, especially when they could just do a Wolverine and the X-Men tie-in comic instead if they really wanted an all ages X-book.

10 Comments

• At November 9, 2009, Craig wrote:

  X Necrosha was so underwhelming to me, not only because of the close thematic ties to Blackest Night, but also ...

• At November 9, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "This is a fun done in one story that really gets why Storm's can be a cool character "

  And why ...

• At November 9, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  BANSHEE IS THE BEST CHARACTER ON THE SHOW. HE IS BETTER THAN THE BALONEY AND THE SALAMI COMBINED.

• At November 9, 2009, Andy wrote:

  I also read Necrosha and Astonishing separately, and I wondered briefly why Ellis was participating in crossover, since he's pretty ...

• At November 9, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've only been reading Uncanny and New Mutants, and I haven't got the newest issues yet, so I have no ...

• At November 9, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  I haven't read an X-book since around the time Psychlocke turned Japanese, so I'm confused. Isn't Doug Ramsey that guy ...

• At November 9, 2009, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  Cypher's powers were finally utilized in a way to make him useful in combat. He uses his power to understand ...

• At November 9, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  FofF: Claremont hinted at Cypher's powers heading that way in his final NM storyline (Doug's playing poker at the Hellfire ...

• At November 9, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  I agree Cypher has always had untapped potential, but isn't this new power the same one Taskmaster has had all ...

• At November 9, 2009, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  @Mike Blake: Taskmaster had "eidetic memory"' ( aka photographic reflexes). He can't read body language, but can copy moves after ...

"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 ...

(Really, if everyone here isn't already reading www.the-isb.com, I have no idea what else I can do.)

7 Comments

• At November 5, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  That is pretty darn great.

• At November 5, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  7 kinds of awesome!

• At November 5, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've never read New Gods, so I might be missing some jokes, but I have read a lot of Archie. ...

• At November 5, 2009, Tony wrote:

  This link to Simms is directing to a former pro. football player. :-)

  Funny stuff though.

• At November 5, 2009, Dean wrote:

  That was fantastic.

• At November 5, 2009, chad wrote:

  that thing was hilerious archie as orion fighting reggie who should be darkside. lol

• At November 6, 2009, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  This is what happens when you mix NyQuil with DayQuil, kids!

The Best Comic Ever (This Week):

Assault on New Olympus #1 (A.K.A. Incredible Hercules vs. Amazing Spider-Man, A.K.A. Incredible Hercules #137 1/2, A.K.A. Incredible Herc/Agents of Atlas Double Feature With Spider-Man Is Like Nerd Porn For Brad Curran)

So, yeah, this is a comic where Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente writes a fight between Spider-Man and Hercules over a seemingly airhead goddess. It has everything that makes Pak, Van Lente, Incredible Herc, Spider-Man, Marvel Comics, mythological superheroes, and comics in general great. Rodney Buchemi's not too shabby on the art, either. And then there's an Agents of Atlas back up by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman, which is just not fair to other comics that do not have Agents of Atlas backups. Which really oughta be all of them.

And yes, the other comic I considered for this honor was X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas, which really makes me want a Jeff Parker Uncanny X-Men run, even he will probably wind up being as hamstrung by writing Uncanny X-Men as Fraction, Brubaker, and everyone else since... Claremont? The first time? And only like one really good half? Still; Jeff Parker for President of the X-Men is something I'm all for. Can someone start a meaningless petition for that?

Other comics I bought this week in brief(-ish):

Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire #4- Now with 99% less Ghost Riders! Kind of an off issue for Aaron and Boschi, but it did at least have a goth spiritual terrorist hottie fighting Madcap. Don't see that every day. I have like negative interest in the back up reprints, for some reason. And that reason is I never wanted to like Ghost Rider before Aaron wrote him, and those things remind me why that is.

Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution- So, yeah, that's too much zombie viscera in my dopey ape superhero comic. A real sour way for a run of comics I probably liked too much to end (especially with no Peyer back up?!?!?!), but I guess that's what I get for following their attempt to turn a sleeper hit in to a franchise.

Strange Tales #3- A mixed bag, for sure. The highlights for me were: Stan Sakai's Hulk, because it's Stan Sakai drawing the Hulk; the art on Corey Lewis and Dylan McCrae's Longshot story (I mean, it's something that could have been in X-Men Unlimited, and the dialogue almost gave me a seizure, but it looked pretty), Jay Stephens' fun Beast vs. Morbius short (get that guy on a Beast mini/ongoing now!), Jeffrey Brown's "FF are jerks" gag strip (I really like funny Jeffrey Brown), Paul Hornschemeier's downbeat, effecting Nightcrawler Meets the Molecule Man (which features the saddest super villain monologue ever), and Michael Kupperman's Avengers, which is incalculably better than any other Avengers comic ever.

The lows were Peter Bagge's cute but underwhelming Hulk serial (the whole "the story Marvel didn't want you to see until now" aspect of it didn't help at all), Jonathan Jay Lee's trailer for a Punisher revamp we'll never (with art I couldn't get in to at all), Max Cannon's dumb Amazing Fantasy #15 riff, and whatever it is Chris Chua was drawing (that guy works with Khoi Pham? For reals?).

Becky Cloonan's Namor strip was the median. Great art, as you'd expect, but what was with that reveal at the end? (That said, I'd buy the hell out of a Super Villain Team Up revamp with Doom as Namor's deadbeat roomate, so good on Ms. Cloonan there.

I liked Strange Tales overall. People who waited for the trade are in for a nice package, I think, but it was also fun in singles (not $5 fun, each time, but good enough to justify $15 for three issues). Of course, I'm the guy who loved the first Bizarro Comics anthology and have barely read any of the people involved's indie work, so... yeah, I'm that guy. Moving on.

Mighty Avengers Assemble Hardcover- Got this at the LCS's Halloween sale. I really liked the Bendis/Cho arc. The one where Bendis and Bagley team up for the last time, not so much (well, what I've read; haven't finished it, because seriously; Mark Bagley is as not very good at drawing big action comics as Bendis usually is at writing them). But yeah, that Bendis/Cho arc; first Avengers I've ever really liked outside of Kupperman's just now.

I was pretty surprised, since I've always found Bendis's New Avengers (featuring a roster I uniformly like) to be almost good. Mighty (where I like 2 1/2 of the characters, and one (Ms. Marvel) only because she's good in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2) I really dug on a "widescreen comics" level. Also, Cho's actually a pretty good comic book artist, and not just a pin up guy! Who knew? I almost feel bad that they blew up this team for Secret Invasion. And hey, thought balloons! I forgot I missed those!

*Three comics I would have bought on normal weeks were disqualified because I didn't buy them: Buffy because I dropped it (push came to shove, and I was going to just get that Willow one shot and pack it in anyway; now I'll just do that retroactively), Captain America: Reborn because I left it for later (trade if all else comes fails, since I have the rest of Brubaker's run that way), and Deadpool Team Up because I forgot it/didn't get home with it. Also, I only bought Marvel stuff this week, so there's that awful bias going on. Be sure to tell me what else I forgot/why my opinion is wrong, folks!

15 Comments

• At November 4, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  he will probably wind up being as hamstrung by writing Uncanny X-Men as Fraction, Brubaker, and everyone else since... Claremont? ...

• At November 4, 2009, Thok wrote:

  You apparently didn't buy Secret Six this week. You are a horrible, horrible person. (Seriously, it's Ostrander writing ...

• At November 4, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Morrison never wrote Uncanny, though.

  I have to say, Strange Tales #3 was by far the weakest issue of the series. ...

• At November 4, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  (And remember, Casey wasn't hamstrung, he was strung out on coke!)

  I remember Casey's Uncanny got kind of good as he ...

• At November 4, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I bet Chad will write about it some day. Generic banter about our feud.

• At November 4, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  And yeah, Thok, I really ought to get in on Secret Six/Suicide Squad some day. It's on the list.

• At November 4, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Morrison never wrote Uncanny, though.

  You think that was his secret?

  Working on 'X-Men' and not Uncanny?

  I remember Casey's Uncanny got kind ...

• At November 5, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  WRT Ghost Rider... I'm still scratching my head over who was behind the decision to rename Dan Ketch "Danny." ...

• At November 5, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Boy, Apes vs. Zombies could have been a thing of beauty. I'm not sure if I was turned off ...

• At November 5, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  NOT SO RANDOM THOUGHT -- "Best comic" sure doesn't mean anything when you admit to flipping a coin.

  Strange Tales #3 ...

• At November 5, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  Wow, I read so many comics this week and I totally forgot two really important ones, Assault on New Olympus, ...

• At November 5, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've bought nothing but Marvels the last couple of years, but I haven't got any of these. And not ...

• At November 5, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  "whatever it is Chris Chua was drawing "

  Yeah, what the F was up with that? It looked like Jackson Pollock ...

• At November 5, 2009, Provolone wrote:

  I'd buy Uncanny X-Men by Jeff Parker... that would be sweet as sweet potato pie. Didn't Parker do a ...

• At November 5, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Secret Six came out this week and I don't yet have it? What the Buddha is wrong with me...

2 Comments

• At November 4, 2009, Randy wrote:

  A sad day indeed. My condolences to his family.

• At November 5, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  To be fair to the others, he did not create the con all by himself.

This week I'm zipping through John Bierman's Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire, which is a fairly good if not terribly in-depth read. I've always had a soft spot for Napoleon III, because the Second Empire was such an odd creation led by an odd emperor. Plus, it's nineteenth century European history, for which I'm a bit of a sucker. Louis Napoleon is an interesting dude - he may not have been related to Napoleon at all (his mother tended to sleep around), he had a lot of liberal tendencies but ruled over an increasingly autocratic state (to be fair, he clamped down on civil liberties after Italians kept trying to assassinate him), and he apparently slept with every woman in Europe. I haven't gotten to his misadventures against the Prussians in 1870, but it's keen knowing how it's all going to end and what kind of ruler Napoleon was that led him to the disaster at Sedan.

I just started Tom Scioli's latest installment of The Myth of 8-Opus, "The Labyrinth." If you think Scioli's art is Kirby-esque on Gødland, you should check out The Myth of 8-Opus, which is a complete homage to the King. It's a wild space adventure with all sorts of strange things going on and all sorts of weird creations of Scioli's running around, and it really does read like a cosmic comic from the Sixties, complete with overwrought prose. It's a hell of a lot of fun, though, and presumably you can order the trades online somewhere. It doesn't disappoint!

What's keeping you company as my beloved Philles circle the drain and the most evil team in organized sports sits on the verge of another store-bought title?

22 Comments

• At November 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I just bought a huge pile of collections and graphic novels at bargain prices. So I've read Livewires, that cool ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Just started Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic stories.

• At November 2, 2009, Tom Scioli wrote:

  Anyone interested in The Myth of 8-Opus trades can order them directly from me. Drop me a line at sciolit@yahoo.com

• At November 2, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  The Road is great.

  Finishing up my David Foster Wallace book and just started James Dickey's To the White Sea for ...

• At November 2, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I'm re-reading Alan Moore's run of the Swamp Thing tpbs vol. 1-6, vol. 1 being the hardcover kind.

  Man-o-man, am I ...

• At November 2, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  Just finished the 5th Jack of Fables trade, Ghost of Hoppers, and The Education of Hopey Glass. That means ...

• At November 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  The AVClub is all smart asses all the time (plus Bill Reed),

  I think you mean "especially Bill Reed."

• At November 2, 2009, Andrew Kennedy wrote:

  I actually got a large chunk of Peter David's Fallen Angel and X-Factor along with nearly half of DeMatteis' Dr. ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  The thing that really turned me against Napolean III was his takeover of Mexico. As far as I've been ...

• At November 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Rereading the death and return of Superman trilogy...

  Also reading V. by Thomas Pynchon. So far, it's my favourite work of ...

• At November 2, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Just finished By Royal Command, the last volume of Charlie Higson's Young Bond series, The Turquoise Lament by John D. ...

• At November 3, 2009, Dan K wrote:

  Hey, I read that Napoleon III a few years back as an offshoot of my Bismarck phase. It wasn't bad ...

• At November 3, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  In honor of Charlie Browns Halloween, I broke out Automatic Kafka #4, the greatest Charlie Brown story not done by ...

• At November 3, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Also reading V. by Thomas Pynchon. So far, it's my favourite work of his -- not as technically impressive as ...

• At November 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary: Napoleon did that a lot, not only in Mexico. He wanted to live up to his uncle's legacy, ...

• At November 3, 2009, jjc wrote:

  finished Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman in a few hours on Sunday. Reading The Book of Basketball by ...

• At November 3, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I finished Scalped, vol. 5: High Lonesome and then worked my way through a stack of singles that've been waiting ...

• At November 3, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  Just finished CBR's own Brian Cronin's "Was Superman a Spy" this weekend - it was even better than I expected ...

• At November 3, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Just finished CBR's own Brian Cronin's "Was Superman a Spy" this weekend - it was even better than I expected ...

• At November 3, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I'm mid-way through Peter And Max, Willingham's Fables novel.

  It's a nice light read - pretty good stuff to read on ...

• At November 4, 2009, Dan K wrote:

  "Dan: I read Taylor's book a long time ago. It wasn't bad. I like Bismarck too - have you read ...

• At November 4, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: I have Clark's book too, and as I read my books in alphabetical order by author (yes, I'm just ...

Hey, Summers, You're On Notice! So, yeah; Buffy Season 8. I've decided that it's got one more issue to not tread water. That will be the Willow one shot. That's it. If that thing is mediocre or worse, I'm dropping it. I don't even care about finishing the run at this point, because I can't remember what happened last issue.

I mean, it's not awful, it's just not working for me anymore. Maybe it would read better as trades? Thing is, at one point, I loved it in single issues. That point was when Drew Goddard and Brian Vaughan were writing it, with Whedon's stuff at least maintaining the good will I had for the concept of more Buffy that counts.

It never recovered from his awful time travel Fray crossover that made me hate Fray, time travel, Whedon, and various other things in their orbit, at least a little, though. At this point, I'm thinking maybe they should just take it away from him and let various comics pros and other writers outside the old Buffy staff (except Goddard) have at it. Yes, I want them to take Buffy away from her daddy.

So, yeah, I'm out of the Whedon Fan Club. I'll send for my things, Bill. At least we'll always have Firefly. (By the way, did everyone catch the Firefly reference on Castle this week? If not, you make me sad, not watching Castle like that. Go hit that up online, yo!)

No, Don't! I'm thinking it's time to maybe accept Mark Millar's writing in to my life again. Or at least finish up his Ultimates run with Hitch. Or get Old Man Logan. I should probably not ever get Old Man Logan, should I? Still, I think if I go in expecting nothing but big splasy scenes strung together, and ignore his characterization, I should be okay, right?

But Then Maybe Mark Millar Would Write Him! So, yeah, why has their not at least been a Fantomex mini-series by now? Can someone (preferably Jason Aaron) get on that? If I ran Marvel, Fantomex would be in the X-Men. Hey, wait a minute! That sounds like a list!

It Is A List! X-Men Who Would Be On The X-Men If I Ran Marvel And The X-Men And Also Their Role As X-Men:

1. Nightcrawler (team leader/best character ever/suddenly Errol Flynn Jr. again because Father Kurt is so lame!)
2. Wolverine (is Wolverine)
3. Beast (tech support/wise cracker/does a lot of stuff with his feet)
4. Fantomex (dashing rogue ally who hangs out with the X-Men due to a combination of self interest, payments from Angel, and writer's crush)
5. Rachel Summers/Marvel Girl/Phoenix/Whatever They're Calling Her That Week (is less annoying than her mom, and you need a telekinetic)
6. Kitty Pryde (my theoretical X-Men run would begin with her space bullet landing on the X-Mansion lawn, or what's left of it these days. Then she'd hitch hike across the Marvel Universe and proceed to kick everyone who said "Nah, don't bother to try and save her" in the face. Including Joss Whedon. And then she'd rejoin the team, and we'd never speak of that again.)
7. Spiral (I just think she looks cool, okay?)
8. Armor (Whedon's only decent addition to anything company owned ever, I think. Wolverine's latest teen sidekick)
9. Jubilee (Wolverine's old teen sidekick. Has her powers again. Can blow stuff up good. Is no longer a mall rat)
10. Cypher (Cunning linguist; doesn't go in to battle, but does all the legwork a guy who can read any language (from sarcasm to binary) could do.)
11. Emma Frost (Shows up to get all the good lines every once in a while. I like her a lot, but she's getting overexposed these days, so I'd use her sparingly.)
12. Shatterstar (He's here! He's queer! He'll cut you if you make fun of his pony tail!)
13. Longshot (He'd be rocking a mullet and doing lucky things, just like when I was 12. NOSTALGIA!)
14. Psylocke (for when the artist really wants to draw camel toe and stabbing in the same panel)
15. Warlock (team mascot; can turn in to whatever set piece I feel like writing; can hang out with Cypher again)
16. Molly Hayes/Princess Powerful (would show up to be adorable/punch things at least every other issue)
17. Cannonball (would say "Mah blast field makes me practically invulnerable" once, then laugh, say "nah, really, people don't talk like that, and also, remember that time I beat up Gladiator?" And that would be my and only slam on Chris Claremont's writing.)
18. Siryn (Like Banshee if Banshee didn't suck at everything. Always liked her.)
19. Iceman (I'd take a stab at making him live up to his potential, then probably kill him off in frustration 3 issues in.)
20. Xorn (He was real to me, damn it! Did they ever acknowledge Chuck Austen bringing him back at the end of his run?)

So, yeah, that would probably be as hated as every other X-Men run ever by people who read X-Men and hate it, I bet. I'd love to do it if I could ever be lucky enough to get a job writing comics.

Hey, Jerks, What Do You Think? Would any of these TV Shows I like make good comics?*:

1. Arrested Development
2. Veronica Mars
3. Family Guy
4. TNA Impact (well, I've liked it since Nigel McGuinness showed up and made Kurt Angle his whipping boy. OH NOES HE WROTE ABOUT WRASSLIN' AGAIN! I WANTS MY MONEY BACKS! I will never forgive you for that, Stealthwise. And it wasn't even in response to me! I don't know why that angered me, but it did. Ahem.)
5. Dexter (I don't consider those motion comics actual comics, even if Kyle Baker's doing one. Sorry.)
6. Castle
7. Venture Brothers
8. How I Met Your Mother
9. ECW
10. Attack of the Show
11. Wolverine and the X-Men (why is there not a comic for the cartoon yet? It's a pretty okay cartoon! Are the X-Men that tainted?)
12. Glee
13. The Craig Ferguson Show
14. Burn Notice
15. The Mentalist
16. The Office
17. 30 Rock

I mean, I'd read a Burn Notice: Year One comic, I bet, but I'm seriously not sure on some of these. There was a Family Guy fumetti thing, I know, but I'm wondering if they could do the cutaway thing in comics form effectively. Would the Mentalist work without Simon Baker being so amusing/charming? Would a 30 Rock comic just be Tracy Morgan running around naked while Judah Freidlander changes novelty hats? Would Dwight inevitably have a fight to the death with Wolverine if he existed in comics?

That's It, I Quit, Go Ahead And Pick Your Nits Yeah, I got shit to do. Later, haters! And... indifferenters? Is that a word?

*I preemptively assume Apodaca thinks ever TV show I like sucks and will make a "they are not good TV shows" crack. That makes me sad. You used to not be so much like this when you were Madman Dan, Dan. I'm sure of it! That or I had better taste back then. I dunno. That was a long time ago.

P.S. Stealthwise just annoys me. Alan Coil, too. I can't help it. So, when you both jumped on Chad for daring to write about wrestling (in a post titled "Random Thoughts"), that it was like the Four Horsemen jumping Dusty Rhodes. It made me so angry, and I wanted to see Magnum T.A. and Sting get their revenge on you in a steel cage. So, sorry? Should I apologize? I'll apologize.

19 Comments

• At November 1, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  I think it helps to evaluate Buffy Season Eight not as a continuation of the show so much as a ...

• At November 1, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  I like wrestling too, but would you really read a comic about it. I don't think it'd translate well.

• At November 1, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I like all of the following shows:

  Arrested Development

  The Venture Brothers

  The Craig Ferguson Show

  The Office

  30 Rock

  The following shows are terrible:

  Family Guy

  Attack ...

• At November 1, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Glee would not make a good comic. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Glee, but, as you may ...

• At November 1, 2009, Marcus Foote wrote:

  Venture Brothers NEEDS a comic book series as long as it's handled by the creators of the show. It'd ...

• At November 2, 2009, JasonF wrote:

  I hate Joss Whedon. I though Astonishing X-Men was lame and giant space bullets even lamer. Why bring back one ...

• At November 2, 2009, Craig wrote:

  I think if you go into Old Man Logan looking for a summer blockbuster action movie extravaganza like Transformers or ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  "Old Man Logan" started out fun-summer-movie, but ended up depressingly violent. Not just too violent (although it was for my ...

• At November 2, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Buffy didn't get at least a 6-issue reprieve from you with the most recent ish's SGT. FURY cover homage? For ...

• At November 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  So, now I've been compared to Edge AND Dusty Rhodes? Brad, you sweet talker you...

  Kind of surprised to see you ...

• At November 2, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Your X-Men list works for me. Though you might need to change the title to Legion of Mutant Heroes.

  None of ...

• At November 2, 2009, BRIAN wrote:

  i THOUGHT IT WAS JUST KITTY RIDING A GIANT DICK

  MY BAD.

  CHEERS,

  B

• At November 2, 2009, tk. wrote:

  Who Would Be On The X-Men If I Ran Marvel: A steady cast for more than two consecutive issues, dammit. ...

• At November 2, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  Why is Cyclops not on your list of X-Men? What the hell, man. You can't have the X-Men without Cyclops.

• At November 2, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " I hate Joss Whedon. I though Astonishing X-Men was lame and giant space bullets even lamer. Why bring back ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Is Cypher alive now? Or are you resurrecting him? I kind of liked the fact that his death ...

• At November 2, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Cypher popped up just last week: *spoilers*

  He's some sort of zombie in the "X-Necrosha" books.

• At November 2, 2009, JasonF wrote:

  "So, because he killed off a character you like, he's a terrible writer. Does that mean Chris Claremont sucks for ...

• At November 2, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Why would Fantomex need to be on X-Men when he is such an amazing solo character? He could be Marvel's ...

Top 21 Essential Marvel Runs I've Read:*
1. Wolfman and Colan Tomb Of Dracula
2. Lee, Kirby, and Sinnot Fantastic Four
3. Gerber, Brunner, Colan, and Infantino Howard the Duck
4. Lee and Romita, and friends Amazing Spider-Man
5. Lee and Ditko Dr. Strange
6. Lee and Ditko Amazing Spider-Man
7. Claremont and Smith Uncanny X-Men
8. Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne Uncanny X-Men**
9. Duffy and Gammil Power Man/Iron Fist
10. Gerber and Sal Buscema Defenders
11. Lee and John Buscema Silver Surfer
12. Gerber, Kane, Sal Buscema, and friends Marvel Two In One
13. Lee, Kirby, Steranko, Colan Captain America
14. Lee, Kirby, Ditko, Severin; just the whole bullpen, okay? Hulk
15. Thomas and Windsor-Smith Conan
16. Lee, Severin, and Everrett Dr. Strange
17. Fleisher and Leialoha Spider Woman
18. Thomas, Colan, and friends Dr. Strange***
19. Lee, Thomas, Kirby, Toth, Roth X-Men****
20. Monech and Trempe Godzilla
21. Lee, Kirby, Heck Ant Man*****

Top 21 Characters I'd Pay For As DLC In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
1. Hercules
2. She-Hulk
3. The Falcon
4. Blade******
5. Molly Hayes/Princess Powerful
6. Beast
7. Nightcrawler
8. Black Widow
9. Captain Britain
10. War Machine
11. Namor
12. Bullseye
13. Stan Lee
14. Beta Ray Bill
15. Machine Man
16. Sleepwalker
17. Gorrila Man
18. Shadowcat
19. Amadeus Cho
20. Daken*******
21. Cannonball

15 Favorite DC Comics Runs By Writer
1. JLA by Morrison
2. Batman by Miller
3. Batman by O'Neil
4. All Star Superman by Grant Morrison
5. Fourth World by Kirby
6. Manhunter by Goodwin
7. Batman by Morrison
8. The Flash by Waid
9. Justice League International/Europe by Giffen and DeMatties
10. Robin by Dixon
11. 52 by Johns, Rucka, Morrison, and Waid
12. Orion by Simonson
13. Batman by Wolfman***********************************
14. Animal Man by Morrison
15. Detective Comics by Grant

11 Favorite Indie/Non-Superhero/Slice of Life Graphic Novels
1. Locas by Jaime Hernandez
2. Ice Haven by Dan Clowes
3. 32 Stories by Adrian Tomine
4. American Splendor by Harvey Pekar and friends (the one with Paul Giamatti on the cover that tied in to the movies and was like a greatest hits; I was bitterly disappointed with "the Quitter")
5. Ghost World by Dan Clowes
6. From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
7. Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim
8. Stagger Lee by by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix
9. The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
10. Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware*x/2
11. Louis Riel by Chester Brown*V*

*Do not say "You forgot!" Just don't. These are all the Essentials I've ever read. If it's not here, I either read it in another format, don't have it yet, or don't care.
**Yes, I consider this all one run.
***I don't like this run at all, but I consider it just not for me.
****I count this all as one (crappy) run. The only redeeming quality of this collection is the Bruce Timm cover. The X-Men didn't get good until Thomas and Adams got a hold of them. Unless Arnold Drake's run was better than I expect. That's my big hole in the X-Men. Yes, I've read the '90s. I grew up then. In theory.
*****I read Ant Man's origin and realized I never wanted to read another Hank Pym Ant Man story ever again, so this really shouldn't count, and is also why I hate Hank Pym (so much!) and think he should die in a fire.
******Only if his costumes are from Captain Britain and MI-13 and Tomb of Dracula, though.
*******So I could send him charging to his death while I laugh. Or, as I call it, "the Gambit Method"
*********************************** I forgot that Marv wrote Batman when I was a youngin', and introduced one of my childhood faves, Tim Drake. Man, I'm kind of sad with what they've done to poor Tim Drake, even if I like Damien as Robin a lot. So, anyway, something else of his I like besides ToD.
*x/2 I mean, it leaves me cold and I will never read it again, but it is a technical marvel. I will never doubt that Ware's a master craftsman, I just don't enjoy his work. Craft only goes so far in my book if I wish your lead characters would all be eaten by Devil Dinosaur.
*V* I stopped reading it before the end, but what I read was great!

18 Comments

• At November 1, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, regardless of whether it's right or wrong, good or bad, is what I say.

  You ...

• At November 1, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I didn't think Stan did Doctor Strange with anybody besides Ditko. You didn't accidentally write Lee instead of say, ...

• At November 1, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  You can't be all bad if'n you rate Simonson's Orion, which all right-thinking individuals do.

• At November 1, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I think he wrote Doc until the end of Essential Strange, but that's off the top of my head. Maybe ...

• At November 2, 2009, Brian wrote:

  Glad to see some love for Stagger Lee, one of the best works in years.

• At November 2, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  Man, I like Ice Haven too, but #2? That seems really high, unless you just haven't read many " Indie/Non-Superhero/Slice ...

• At November 2, 2009, Craig wrote:

  I can't help but think that the "Indie/Non-Superhero/Slice of Life Graphic Novels" list is missing a few things:

  - Elk's Run

  - ...

• At November 2, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Which Captain Britain costume would you want to download, though??

• At November 2, 2009, Darren K wrote:

  Wait, for your 11 Favorite Indie/Non-Superhero/Slice of Life Graphic Novels, one of them you don't like and another you didn't ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Have you read any Gilbert Hernandez stuff? Jaime's work is great, and Beto's work is great in a very different ...

• At November 2, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  Wanting Chris Ware's characters to be eaten by Devil Dinosaur is one of the things I love about his work ...

• At November 2, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  I'm really confused about which Ant-Man origin story you read, as he sort of has two: "The Man in the ...

• At November 2, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Are you saying that Pym has a dead wife? Because that seems odd, as he never mentions it again, ...

• At November 2, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Pym's first wife, Maria, was mentioned in Avengers #227, when he gave his life history to some guy while he ...

• At November 2, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Heh, that's almost funny. It's gotta be one of the fastest "...And I'm over it" s in the history ...

• At November 2, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Sooooo, why didn't you read Louis Riel to the end if yu were enjoying it?

  (I've yet to read it myself, ...

• At November 3, 2009, Leeatard wrote:

  If Herc DOES make it to MUA2, I hope all his attacks are just sound effects.

• At November 3, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  I really need to read more Essentials. I've only read the first four volumes of Claremont's X-Men and the first ...

What I liked best about this issue, beyond John Romita Jr. rendering Dokken Daken slicing Frank's arms off in cutlets, was that the Punisher finally met a super being who he couldn't cheat to win against. He fought dirty, but Wolverine's bastard son was not playing. I almost don't want Frank to steam roll him flat like he did his dad in that one Ennis comic now. Almost.

So, yeah, mark me down for Frankencastle, Marvel and Rick Remender. Angel Punisher comparisons will be ignored. Well, all your comments will be ignored; not out of spite, I'm just gonna not read the internet tomorrow if I can help it.

5 Comments

• At November 1, 2009, Nawid A wrote:

  Lot of people talking about this but I hear no mentions of Punisher #10 which, in my opinion, was almost ...

• At November 1, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  Punisher #10 was fucked up too, I can't believe Remender is getting away with some of this stuff.

• At November 1, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  I agree..it was kinda nice seeing what would happen if he fought one of these super powered killing machines and ...

• At November 1, 2009, JPop wrote:

  crap. Now I gotta go read both of these comics.

• At November 1, 2009, Sherman Stang wrote:

  I'm sorry, but I think it's crap. I'll just save these dollars until they fix what they screwed up here. ...

Brad's Best Comic EVER (This Week) Of The Week: Dark Reign: The List: Wolverine: One-Shot :Crap, I'm Addicted To Colons Now! I Expect You To Pay For My Rehab, Quesada!

This thing was a blast. Sure, it was false advertising, but I can't fault Marvel for not calling it what it was: Grant Morrison Presents: Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic's Marvel Boy and Fantomex Team-Up: With Wolverine Too, I Guess: And Also Aaron's First Wolverine Story Too: That Will Be Four Dollars. That would sell less copies and a hassle to make a logo of, so I don't blame them for going with the shorter, more fiscally lucrative title.

I guess I should do a half assed review/plot synopsis. Okay, but I don't have to like it (and neither do you, to be fair. You're off the hook, haters)!

Long story short, I loved this comic like a fat kid (okay, me) loves cake, but then again, any comic where Grant Morrison's best Marvel creations trade bon mots and face kicks, and then one of them has to make out with something disgusting, to save the World from Norman Osborn and his team of the lamest zombie cyborgs ever is basically being written for me. And I am nothing if not excessively flattered and grateful when I'm pandered to.

I don't want to jinx this, but I'm hoping this will finally be the weekly feature that will stick for me. We'll see.

20 Comments

• At October 29, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  I knew it was gonna be Wolverine: The List. The best Grant Morrison Marvel characters teaming up with Wolverine in ...

• At October 29, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  LOL for a minute there I thought you were saying Marvel Boy and Fantomex had to make out.... I was ...

• At October 29, 2009, CF wrote:

  "Crap! I'm addicted to colons now!"

  That's what he said.

• At October 29, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  Picking this up solely for Fantomex. It's a shame so much of Grants X-men run has been ignored. ...

• At October 29, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Also, this is far from Aaron's first time writing Wolverine >_>

  The issue contained a reprint of Aaron's first Wolverine story.

• At October 29, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  This was indeed awesome, as anything with Fantomex in is bound to be.

  #6 of the regular Wolvy book was good ...

• At October 29, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Coming in the mail from my supplier and I'm looking forward to it.

• At October 29, 2009, agent_torpor wrote:

  Secret Warriors was one big boring fight scene. Far from Hickman's best.

• At October 29, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  While I really liked the writing, Esad Ribic's art blew me away -- why does this man not do more ...

• At October 29, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Secret Warriors was one big boring fight scene. Far from Hickman's best."

  I thought SW was one good ling fight ...

• At October 29, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Also, this is far from Aaron's first time writing Wolverine >_>"

  Yes. I have "Get Mystique" and "Manifest Destiny." They're really ...

• At October 29, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  Ehhh... I was actually disappointed by Wolverine: The List, probably because I had astronomically high expectations for it, 'cause I ...

• At October 30, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  WIth all due respect to your choice, I thought Detective Comics was the best book this week... or month.

• At October 30, 2009, Pink Lantern wrote:

  Brad, ask your doctor if you can have a colonoscopy. That will help you with your colon problem.

  "The Best Comic ...

• At October 30, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  "The Best Comic Ever (This Week)" is a poor title for your column. Because most weeks there simply isn't a ...

• At October 30, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Somebody's a Web Soup fan, eh?

• At October 30, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  I demand a Cable and Deadpool style team-up book!

• At October 30, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:

  I love team up books, although they're often goofy.

• At October 30, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  Is the reprint the Wolverine in the pit story? Great story, if so.

• At November 14, 2009, Hack Slash Omnibus Volume 2 Good clean campy read « Alternating Reality Books wrote:

  [...] The Best Comic EVER (This Week)! (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) Filed under: Comic Books Tags: Comic ...

The review said very nice things about Mickey Duzyj's art, which was nice.

7 Comments

• At October 29, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Definitely. I design a lot of book covers, and this one is great. A very, very impressive combination of good ...

• At October 29, 2009, SwanShadow wrote:

  We need to find you a thesaurus, Brian. That's three uses of "nice" in a two-sentence post. Four, if you ...

• At October 29, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Hehe...I do like using that word! :)

• At October 29, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  I'm glad that people are giving you good reviews.

  Cover doesn't look a DAMN thing like Chris Ware - The ...

• At October 29, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  OK, I do see what he's getting at here. Little panels and slightly similar coloring. If you HAVE ...

• At October 29, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Of course it's like Chris Ware, it's got comic panels on it, and Ware uses comic panels!

  Gotta remember, non-comic readers ...

• At October 29, 2009, sterg wrote:

  BTW Brian, I have been meaning to ask you, have you written a book lately?

  :p

Cultural Deficiency Alert!

I was originally going to dismiss this collection of Wolverine variant covers as a shameless cash grab, until I read the solicits. Then I realized that if my Art Appreciation class in college had been based on Wolverine cover homages, I'd probably remember something from it. So, got me there, Marvel.

I Bet Old Jim's Rolling Over In His Grave Right Now This is the most adorable Steranko homage I've ever seen. To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen another Steranko homage that registered on the cute scale, but still; that's just below a Lego Rock Band consisting of a puppy, a kitten, a baby, and this lady on the cute scale. And that's pretty damn cute, in case you didn't catch that.

Like dorky transportation for security guards, it's a segue!

And speaking of cute, there's Beasts of Burden. Sure, it's a creepy horror comic, but it also has a pug, so I think that transition was valid. Anyway, that was the best comic I read last week, against not very much competition. I picked up the new Vigilante and Conan issues because they had art from the tag teams of Walt Simonson and John Paul Leon and Tim Truman and Joe Kubert. So I definitely got my $3 worth there. But both stories weren't much more than solid. Sort of like how I feel about Rucka and William's Batwoman, really (even if I am apparently very wrong about that one).

Another book I picked up last week, Power Girl, also falls in to that category for me. Really like the art, but the story didn't do much for me. I'd leave it at that, but I have a slogan to really express how I feel about it!

Power Girl: The Best Perfectly Acceptable Superhero Comic I Don't Care About At All.

And this is why I'd never make it in advertising. That and my lack of interest in Mad Men. You should probably want to watch Mad Men if you're going to get in to advertising. Also, if you're not a mouth breather, appparently.**

I'd Like Marv Wolfman's Comics If Not For All The Marv Wolfman My apathy toward the story in Vigilante reminds me that, aside from Tomb of Dracula (which I've been reading a ton of lately), I don't care for Marv Wolfman's writing too much. I haven't read a lot of it, but I'm not that in to his superhero work. I've never really had that reaction to a writer before. Even writers I find hit and miss, like Bendis and Millar, have more than one than one "hit" in my book.

To be fair, I haven't read a ton of his superhero stuff outside of some scattered Superman and Spider-Man issues and Titans (and even that was in a format that didn't really do the work justice, the Judas Contract TPB). So, like Geoff Johns, I should probably give him a fair chance to win me over and not base my opinion on a small sample size. Especially since I'm ripping off the guys who brought that phrase to my attention.

Hey, now he's talking about wrestling, too! Again! I will surely make a comment about how I do not appreciate this! Or I could just skip it until the next random thought, I guess.

So yeah, I feel obligated to provide my version of Chad's version of 411's (no link because I blog for their competition) list of five wrestlers you'd build a promotion around. And here it is:

1. Bryan Danielson- He lives up to that "Best In the World" tag from what I've seen, and you need a guy who can get a good match out of anyone on your roster. Can work as a face or a heel, and has underrated personality. (In that many people don't think he has one.)
2. A.J. Styles- He can do everything well in the ring, has become serviceable on the mic, and really, I'd just like to book him and Danielson in a feud for months on end, especially since that's a pretty untapped match. Can also work face or heel.
3. Evan Bourne- My favorite high flier to come down the pike in years, and since that's my favorite style of wrasslin', I'd want him around. He doesn't have mic skills to speak of, but he's been able to get over in giant obsessed WWE based on his ring work. Seems like the perfect underdog.
4. Motor City Machine Guns- For my "tag team I count as one entity." Because they are awesome and I'd love to be able to book them as a dominant team.
5. Samoa Joe- I wanted to be a contrarian and not have any overlap with any of Chad's picks, but I fell just short, especially because Joe could fill the "monster" spot on my undersized roster. This does mean that my dream promotion is pretty much a greatest hits version of ROH, but there it is.

He's done with that juvenile, homoerotic wrestling crap! Now he's going to talk about superheroes instead. Thank god!

I read the penultimate issue of Essential Power Man and Iron Fist Volume 1 the other day. It left me with a dilemma.

You see, I'm not the most culturally sensitive guy in the world. I know, what a shock, coming from the guy that said that thing about Dan Didio that one time.

But anyway, I don't always catch racism/sexism unless it's pointed out to me. So, when it kind of bugged me that a supporting character, District Attorney William Hao, is Chinese and happens to know kung fu, I wasn't sure if it should or not. It's a shame that more bloggers don't read Essential PM/IF so I can get a proper outrage barometer and react accordingly.

But really, should I find that iffy at all? I was able to justify it enough to finish the story and like it (it would be kind of hard not to, really, since it opens with Fist and Cage beating up an entire New York cowboy bar), but should it bother me that a Chinese D.A. knows how to handle himself in a karate fight? Is that reverse racism? Would it not at all if I had read his earlier appearances? Also, should I make even a minor stink about this when I give comics from the Spirit to Silver Age Marvel and DC a pass on way more egregious things?

And wait, I just looked at that profile page I linked to again; he went by the name Chaka Khan at some point? Really? And I didn't notice this at all in the comics, or in that profile at first? Was I skimming that much of one/both? Okay, that bothers me more than the whole racism angle. Time to move on.

Consensus with a Canuck I also liked Switchblade Honey. It's one of the few things of Ellis's that I've read that wasn't published by DC or Marvel, actually.

The Anticlimatic Ending Those magazines I need to get rid of are stubbornly refusing to fling themselves in the trash. Better get on that, so that brings this installment of everyone's second favorite collection of loosely connected thoughts on comics here at CBR to a close. You can ask for a refund if you don't find that satisfying enough, and I'll see what I can do about getting your time back.

*That was a preemptive pro wrestling reference.
** Am I going to get in trouble for using mouth breather, too? I'm kind of excited to find out, really.

11 Comments

• At October 27, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:

  You do know that Jim Steranko is still alive, right?

• At October 27, 2009, Matt Bird wrote:

  Oh, and strangely enough, just today, on the subway, I was wondering "Would someone with a deviated nasal septum get ...

• At October 27, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I'm not familiar with Danielson really, having little to no experience with ROH (sadly). But, I can't really argue with ...

• At October 28, 2009, Michael wrote:

  You seem to have forgotten to link to the Steranko homage of cuteness.

• At October 28, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  "He's done with that juvenile, homoerotic wrestling crap! Now he's going to talk about superheroes instead. Thank god! "

  I've got ...

• At October 28, 2009, brian wrote:

  Crecy was awesome.

  And Wolfman's run on Green Lantern wasn't bad.

  Cheers,

  B

• At October 28, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  If you thought that Chaka Khan was offensive, you must have forgotten about Cage's pal DW Griffith, the manager (projectionist?) ...

• At October 28, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  An Asian kung-fu fighter is hardly racist in a book where one of the two stars is a white kung-fu ...

• At October 28, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Steranko's not dead, no, but maybe he sleeps in a grave anyway. Because he is that metal.

• At October 28, 2009, Alexa wrote:

  Yeah, Steranko is definitely alive. Unless he's a vampire. Because he is far to suave and cool to ...

• At October 29, 2009, Coca-Cola Kid wrote:

  http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EverybodyWasKungFuFighting

"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 ...