Alan Moore Talks Comics, Superheroes, is Interesting:  Wired.

The Colonel writes some pulp:  Here Comes a Regular  (sorry, that one's kind of self-serving)

12 Comments

• At February 25, 2009, David wrote:

  That Moore article is awesome. His analysis of the origin of super-heroes is simplistic (a fact he admits) since ...

• At February 25, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Michel Gondry on Green Hornet is...unexpected, to say the least.

  I really have no idea what to expect from that movie ...

• At February 25, 2009, Michael wrote:

  "Watchmen without the irony" is a pretty good distillation of the overall direction of Marvel & DC over the past ...

• At February 25, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  A good interview from Moore, who in my experience is hit or miss. This one, he seemed to just rant ...

• At February 25, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  David: How'd you get your hands on LoEG Vol 3 so soon? Or did you mean the Black Dossier?

• At February 25, 2009, David wrote:

  Sorry, meant Black Dossier - I've been calling it Vol 3 since it came out. Prob should stop that ...

• At February 25, 2009, Dean wrote:

  LOEG: Black Dossier was the first Alan Moore book that I've which was actually bad. Admittedly, i have not ...

• At February 25, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Dean: Have you read Lost Girls? I wouldn't say that was very good, either.

• At February 25, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I have not read "Lost Girls". We have a toddler and, while I am pretty liberal, having a porn ...

• At February 26, 2009, plok wrote:

  Dean, who do you mean by the "key collaborator"? DC Comics?

  Don't blame you for not liking Black Dossier. ...

• At February 26, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Dean, who do you mean by the “key collaborator”? DC Comics?

  Plok, I meant more the "DC Universe". The Charlton ...

• At February 26, 2009, plok wrote:

  Well, I think I'll agree with you in part, Dean -- Moore definitely profits by having some set of conventions ...

OK, I've tried a couple times, but I can't really force my way through Army@Love.  That could very easily be my own problem.  I would love someone to, in the replies here, explain why this is a good book.  I feel like it's a very smart book, but the art's semi-sloppiness combined with the textual overload really makes it a tough sell for me.  I can't recommend it.  Some one else do it for me!

DMZ, on the other hand, seems to be covering slightly similar ground but in a much more appealing package.  A new storyarc starts this issue, with a wonderful Brian Wood cover.  Seems like this might be your classic Rashomon-style "multiple-view" story, as Matty interviews various folks involved in what seems to be the worst massacre in the war so far.  Guest artist Nathan Fox handles the flashback sequences.  I like his work a LOT.  It's got a wonderful Paul Pope influence, except with an even stronger cinematic manga streak than said comics sex god.  Jeremy Cox also does a great job with the colors, with the muted greys of the flashback occasionally punctuated with bright warm colors.  This is a great chance to try this book.

I was recently talking about how it's often harder to write about monthly superhero comics than less-frequent indie cousins.  What do you say about a book that's probably consistently bad or good and just one part of an ongoing story?  Well, I have the same problem with Love and Rockets.  It's great, yeah.  I really don't know what else to say about it.  Jaime's story about Frogmouth keeps going and develops interesting twists.  I'm still not sure what's going on in Julio's Day but it looks nice.  And Emanon was an awesome wordless short bit I really enjoyed.  One of comics' greatest ongoing treasures.  You have to heart it.

I really think I missed an issue of Ex Machina.  Did I?  I really think I did.  I don't have a clue as to what's going on.  What's this future guy doing?  Did the blackout start last issue?  I need to find the previous issue before I judge this, because I can't imagine it would suddenly get so confusing.

The Spirit continues to be a wonderfully-drawn entertainment.  With an incredibly creepy birdlove sequence.  Was Mr. Carrion like this in the old Eisner bits?  Yeek!  But in a good way.  By the end of the story, Carrion comes off pretty well, in spite of himself.  This was more of a spotlight for him than anything else.  And, of course, a neat, one-off story.  And it made me hungry for pork and beans.  God, pork is good.  Some funny bits and the art is drool-worthy, but it's not going to change your life.  It doesn't need to.

Well, as I said, my delight at the previous issue of Mighty Avengers dwelled largely in the interesting use of thought balloons.  Otherwise, it was just an above-average superhero comic.  This second issue falls more squarely in the latter category.  The balloons are played with a bit, as are Iron Man technical caption narration.  There are some funny little bits throughout the issue, but not enough to finish distracting me from Cho's ridiculous boobified artwork.  I'm not quite quitting the book; I'll give it another issue or two, but this isn't anywhere nearly as fun as New Avengers this time.  I can see how traditionalists might like it more, though.

Oh, and this week I read Garage Band, by Gipi.  I don't think I've seen a work in any medium that quite captures the manic, fraternal (not as in khaki shorts and Dave Matthews ballcaps) feel of being in a band when you're a teenager.  The book is paces kind of like an EP, in a way, with the chapters kind of feeling like songs.  There are touches of deep trouble in the boys' lives, but, like a good song, you are left with impressions you can extrapolate in your own way.  The art is loose and expressive, and the book itself is a light delight.  Well worth your time and money.

I also got The Last Sane Cowboy and Other Stories by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey.  And before I review it I should note that Merl is an old friend of mine I've known for some 11 years or so now.  I've never reviewed something by a friend before and I'm honestly a bit uncomfortable to do so.  If I give it a bad review, I'm a bad friend.  If I give it a good review, I might look like it's only because they are my friend.  But thankfully, Merl's work is beyond that stuff.  First off, his art isn't for me, really, but it's stiff posed nature is a part of the process.  It adds to the disquieting, unsettling dreamstate of the work.  And the stories themselves are wonderful streams of subconscious that wind their way through your brain and make you feel kind of funny.  And they ARE funny.  A lot of modern-day surrealists either try to hard to be funny and fail or just take themselves too seriously.  But Merl's got an easy way with it, and reading his work often feels like listening to a great story while heavily intoxicated with a good friend and a weird guy you both met at the bar.  Merlin gives you a reason to read AIT books now that Wood and Fraction are gone.  Do try it.

16 Comments

• At April 19, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Well, I'm a traditionalist, and I think Mighty Avengers blows. Although I'll cop to a lot of that being fanboy ...

• At April 19, 2007, Dan K wrote:

  I'm always shocked by how quickly each issue of the Spirit comes out after the last one. And then I ...

• At April 19, 2007, Tim Callahan wrote:

  I thought the newest DMZ was excellent as well, but I really think Army@Love is a superior work. I'll ...

• At April 19, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  L & R. We're probably going to have to wait 'till it's finished to really grock Julio's day. ...

• At April 19, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Rick Veitch is a major creator. He not only worked on Miracleman and Supreme, but the guy gave us “The ...

• At April 19, 2007, Grant wrote:

  Mighty Avengers was a disappointment. Issue 1 was great but yeah nothing really happened in this issue other then the ...

• At April 19, 2007, Tim Callahan wrote:

  Writers shouldn't coast, Apodaca, you're right. But if someone has produced great work in the past (great work that ...

• At April 19, 2007, km wrote:

  I hope at least one of you is female so you can repopulate the world that is my readership after ...

• At April 19, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  PORK AND BEANS!

  I too am shocked by how on-time this book is, and I'm loving the hell out of it. ...

• At April 20, 2007, Yuri Rasovsky wrote:

  Anybody who makes fun of Harlan Ellison is a friend of mine.

• At April 20, 2007, Matt Brady wrote:

  Hey, I'm fine with any Harlan Ellison disdain. That guy's an asshole.

  Anyway, I'm totally with you on DMZ; Nathan ...

• At April 20, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Yeah, I think I missed that. Dang.

• At April 21, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Well, I’m a traditionalist, and I think Mighty Avengers blows. Although I’ll cop to a lot of that being fanboy ...

• At April 21, 2007, Alex wrote:

  DMZ was great... the colors on Fox'z pages were AMAZING.

  Like, breathtakingly subtle and beautiful.

• At April 22, 2007, Alan Coil wrote:

  Is every column going to take shots at Harlan Ellison from now on? Cuz, if so, it'll get awfully boring ...

• At April 22, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  That wasn't a shot at Harlan Ellison! It was a mention of a previous shot and the dreadful consequences ...

I never caught the "Buffy" bug.  In fact, I kind of hated it.  Whedon seemed to be solidly in the Kevins Smith/Williamson school of "dialogue doesn't have to do anything but sound 'cool' to me and have lots of pop culture references."  And, aside from a horrible misquote by the New York Daily News (long story short, a reporter asked me and three friends(Jewish girl, Asian man, gay Mexican man--perfect NYC cross section) to watch the premiere of that show Felicity, after which one of the things I told him was that I wish that Buffy girl, bad as her show was, would come and kick Felicity in the balls; my picture appeared in the paper with "Buffy kick's Felicity's ass!"), I've never enjoyed anything by Whedon and company.  That is, until Serenity and Firefly made me smile.  Still, his comic work, while not awful, hasn't done anything for me.  So it was with great, great trepidation that I tried out Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan's first issue of Runaways.  It isn't bad, per se, but I certainly don't know if I'm going to stick around for long.  Whedon seems to have a decent handle on the characters but something seems off.  The art is competent and tells the story with few distractions but does nothing more.  The most soap-opera-y aspects of the book and characters seem to be amped up while some of the charm goes missing.  I'll give it one more issue to convince me this is a better use of three dollars than it seems.

Speaking of Marvel teen-centered team book beginnings, I thought I'd also try Avengers:  The Initiative.  And while I don't think the coloring works for his style, Stefano Caselli has a real future in drawing comics.  His work is expressive, but detailed where it needs to be.  His characters behave differently and the overall package is attractive.  It's good stuff, though I still think the computer-enhanced sheen on the coloring is distracting.  As for the story, well, at least Kentuckians showed up and behaved and sounded like real people, not retarded Mushmouths ala Claremont.  But CHRIST could this story have been more predictable?  "Here's your batch of new recruits . . .they all suck except for this guy, WHO IS THE BEST GUY EVER!  OK, let's do a dangerous training exercise!"  And the book feels like it might want to satirize . . .something.  Reality TV?  The current US administration/military?  Comic book stereotypes?  All worth (if a little easy) targets but it never quite has the bite satire needs.  And endless lame superhero cameos cannot save this book.  It's pretty obvious where this is going, and it's pretty obvious it's not good enough to warrant even a second issue's purchase.

Garth Ennis trilogy part 1:  OK, so that's how the Punisher gets out of that.  Probably should have seen that coming.  And our interesting/crotchety cop returns.  And we find out a bit more about the mysterious scarred woman.  This comic really is so well-written so consistently that it's almost impossible to review month after month.  It's not the same-old same-old every month, really, but it's strengths and weaknesses don't exactly flop around either.  This is solid pulp, the sort that should be selling well at airports and in "Men's adventure" sections of bookstores, if they still had those.

G.E.T. part 2:  Ghost Rider Trail of Tears, on the other hand, went from being similarly strong to downright confusing this issue.  The fault lies mostly with Clayton Crain, whose muddied, computer-"enhanced" art makes several characters really hard to distinguish.  And Ennis hasn't spent enough time defining them to help.  So I really had no idea what was going on half the time in this book.  I can no longer recommend it.

G.E.T. part 3:  This issue of Midnighter would have a Kazuo Koike feel to it even if it didn't have a badass samurai.  Did I read somewhere this was Ennis' last issue?  If it is, it's a nice send-off.  A sort of alternate-universe Midnighter is shown here, a lethal samurai with amnesia.  The Apollo-equivalent shows up soon enough and it becomes a tragic love story.  A tragic gay samurai love story with lots of action.  Yeah, I'm sure this doesn't quite line up to Edo-period Japan's ideas of homosexuality.  And I'm not sure if, as Jog suggests, this is Ennis' attempt at one of those manga sub-genres--it might be, but I dont know enough about it to critique it from that standpoint.  A good, interesting, beautifully-drawn way to spend a little time and money.

I saw some movies over my break, too.  A couple days ago, my wife, sister-in-law and I went to see Blades of Glory.  I tried, as with other Ferrell comedies that made me laugh my ass off, to expect little.  It kind of worked.  Blades of Glory was fairly funny, with a great cast, but lacked the bite of a Talledega Nights, the latter movie having a much more wicked satirical streak than many realize.  Will Arnett is painfully wasted, and poor Amy Poehler doesn't fare much better.  But Jenna Fischer shows quiet strength in a different way than she does on the Office and Ferrell, as usual, wills himself to funnihood.  I wouldn't really recommend a theater viewing though, but a few beers and a rental DVD sounds about right.

I also saw Grindhouse.  Full digestation of this one might take a bit longer than I've given it, but here are some early thoughts.  Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez's half of the films, came off as far superior because it never once took itself too seriously.  It really had the feel of a few smart, funny friends who love movies sitting around, perhaps slightly chemically enhanced, and saying "And you know what else would be awesome?"  And a good deal of the time, yeah, it's awesome.  It's completely stupid, but unlike 300, doesn't try to be serious or important either.  It was quite a bit funnier than I expected, and it totally worked as a comedy-action tribute.  The trailers, too, were exactly what they should be.  Just enough joke/gross-out for five minutes, but definitely not enough for a feature/semi-feature.  Tarantino's half, Death Proof, proves more problematic.  I had hoped that Kill Bill 2's strength had convinced Tarantino his characters could shut the hell up and he'd still be a writer.  But the ENDLESS TALKING in this drove me nuts.  To be fair, part of this could be that I realized I had misunderstood the length of the film and was supposed to be meeting people at a bar about halfway through his film.  But I really don't think we needed the girls talking that much to find them sympathetic.  Now, when Death Proof got going, it was a lot of fun, but it took too damn long.  Tarantino's love letter to stuntwoman Zoe Bell just took itself a bit too seriously a bit too long.  Yes, we get it.  You love these films.  Zoe is awesome!  But are you doing those films OR Zoe any credit by having them talk about boys for half an hour?  Anyway, as a filmic overall experience, It's definitely worth your three hours.  I may not like everything these guys do, but I can't help but admire the hell out of how they're doing exactly what they want.  When the film world would have them either more commercial or more artistic, they stick to their thing and have fun.

10 Comments

• At April 9, 2007, Grant wrote:

  Actually I preferred Death Proof. Planet Terror seemed to be a bad movie acknowledging it was a bad movie. And ...

• At April 9, 2007, Segway wrote:

  Will Arnett WAS painfully wasted in Blades, but he's got tons of new stuff coming up!

  Check out the Will Arnett ...

• At April 9, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Yeah, I can see that. A lot of my problems with Death Proof would have been more managable if ...

• At April 9, 2007, David C wrote:

  Y'know, now that you mention it, Marvel really *should* try selling small paperback (maybe in that manga-ish format which I ...

• At April 9, 2007, Grant wrote:

  I'd like to see it on it's own and see how it holds up. I do agree they could have ...

• At April 9, 2007, Dave wrote:

  I thought on the whole Grindhouse was a spectacularly failed experiment where both Rodriguez and Tarantino severely overestimated how clever ...

• At April 9, 2007, AstroZombie wrote:

  Well, I loved Grindhouse. Especially Death Proof. I thought after the manic hilarity of Planet Terror (and those wonderful trailers), ...

• At April 9, 2007, Dave wrote:

  Death Proof had characters?

• At April 9, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  Grindhouse was the best cinematic experience of the past ten years for me. I really enjoyed all of it ...

• At April 10, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  I'd say it falls somewhere in the gray zone between "qualified success" and "interesting failure"...the movies should very clearly have ...

DMZ wrapped up its latest storyline in a manner I found more satisfying than I'd anticipated.  I didn't see a whole lot of ways out, and this overall ending was unexpected.  At times the art changed from the European cartooning style to an almost Mike-Zeckian hyper-romantic thing, and, if this was purposeful (I believe it was) it was used effectively.  Roth, our protagonist, goes from skinny journalist trying to find his friends to larger and larger, almost heroic-proportions.  His actions take him over, and Burchelli turns him into a more typical American action comics figure.  But when the danger is over and Roth's situation is deflated, so is he.  He again is smaller, skinny, and literally needs the support of his friends.  And it's the smaller, more personal scenes at the end that really make this story work, and they showcase Wood's considerable strengths as a writer of human beings.

I wish Andy Kubert's dad inked the inside of Batman, too.  He might have made his son stage the action in more understandable ways.  But Grant Morrison's writing is at least fun in this installment.  Morrison's seemed to have more trouble making a good Batman comic than anyone other than his most dunder-headed detractors would have predicted.  So far the Morrison run has been half-good, half-eh and one issue (the previous) of just plain awful.  This issue is more of a "straight-up" Batman story, with some nice Bruce Wayne action, a fey Andre 3000-as-pimp, mysterious fears of a "black casebook" and a pumped-up Bane/Batman hybrid with too much testosterone.  Hm--a sudden thought.  Is Morrison writing his Batman run to parallel the publishing history of Batman?  (Violent beginning; some treading of water; a gimmicky, visual-gag-ridden time; adventure around the world; psychological horror; pumped up imitation Batmen . . .) It's something to look into for people better-versed in said history.  That said, it was an entertaining, well-crafted issue with sadly few marks of the author.

I believe with the last issue of Ultimate Fantastic Four I had expressed doubts as to whether the art was going to drive me away from what might be a fun story.  Well, as of this issue it has.  I've never been fond of Kolins' work, but it's sadly the stronger half of this issue.  Mark Brooks' work is a bland combination of artists I don't like to begin with with a horrible design sense but, I'll admit, decent storytelling.  Maybe if I found this story a bit more interesting I'd find it worthwhile, but I do believe I'll wait until Ferry returns for the Silver Surfer arc.  (He is coming back, right?  Please?)

And, lo, there did come a new issue of Optic Nerve.  The third and final part of Adrian Tomine's first multi-issue story arrived at Rocketship and I just finished reading it.  It's going to take a while to completely unpack it.  It's dense, it's difficult, and it's achingly real.  Tomine's sense of humor never disappears, even during the most heart-wrenching of moments there's enough self-mockery to keep the book from self-indulgence.  Interracial relationships are the heart of the issue, along with how one projects his or her shortcomings on the rest of the world.  My sister dated someone like the white guy in this book for a while, so I found him extra-entertaining.  But this really was a great demonstration of Tomine's talents, as a satirist, as a revealer of human conditions, and as a fantastic cartoonist.  Every line (of pen or dialogue) is expertly crafted for the express purpose of expressing Tomine's purpose.    If you haven't followed this story, you can probably pick up all three issues still.  Optic Nerve really is a vital part of today's comics and well-worth your time.  Don't make the beginner's mistake of thinking Tomine approves of his characters behavior all the time.  He's often ridiculing it and exorcising it from himself.

My wife and I went to see The Host on Friday.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a Korean-import monster film that's really getting a lot of buzz.  I went in ready for a fun genre romp, but it really went beyond that while still being a fun genre romp.  The story involves an accidentally-created big slug/leech/something monster that lives in the Han River in South Korea.  It goes nuts and attacks a bunch of people.  Our perspective is centered around a disfunctional family and their efforts to save themselves and each other from the beast.  I can't recall a movie that so effectively used horror, humor, and actual human emotions and blended them in such a seemless way.  It's really remarkable, honestly, and only Children of Men in the past year or two has really bested it in terms of overall movie quality.  Check it out.

18 Comments

• At April 2, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Big deal. I've been off for six months!

  Oh, wait. That's because I'm unemployed...

  (I saw a trailer for The Host in ...

• At April 2, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  I honestly look forward to Blades of Glory with hopeful trepidation.

• At April 2, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Yeah, you keep on doing that.

• At April 2, 2007, Paul wrote:

  The Host trailer is awesome. One of the best trailers I've ever seen.

  I have to disagree with Joe's assessment ...

• At April 2, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  And it’s not like there’s anything else on between now and Spidey

  There's Hot Fuzz, which I am anticipating more hotly ...

• At April 2, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Host isn't as good as Children of Men, not even close . . .but it's better than the others I've ...

• At April 2, 2007, sean wrote:

  "It’s really remarkable, honestly, and only Children of Men in the past year or two has really bested it in ...

• At April 2, 2007, Dan K wrote:

  "There’s Hot Fuzz, which I am anticipating more hotly than Spidey. And it keeps getting pushed back. But… April 20th. ...

• At April 2, 2007, Justin Davis wrote:

  I saw The Host last week with my girlfriend, and we both really like it too. One of those great ...

• At April 2, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  And, lo, there did come a new issue of Optic Nerve.

  And wouldn't you know, my shop didn't have it in. ...

• At April 2, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of this format.

• At April 3, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Whoa

• At April 3, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  This is really trippy.

• At April 3, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I don't get it. What's trippy, Dan?

• At April 4, 2007, Paul wrote:

  How did Children of Men 'completely fall apart at the end?' I was glued to the screen from start ...

• At April 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  I hope that works.

  Yeah, I don't see Children of Men as falling apart either. I thought its examination ...

• At April 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  I think that worked . . .

• At April 6, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  The trippiness was due to everything retroactively becoming a quote.

  I think Joe fixed it, though.

Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona end their long run on the comic they created together, Runaways.  I do not envy anyone taking this book over . . .I can think of few mainstream books more completely associated with its creators.  Even when other talented, clever writers write these characters, it just doesn't seem right.  Perhaps in large part to Vaughan's ability to impart a real humanness to his characters; not "human" as the misinformed byword for "worst possible cynical take" but the "whole is more than the sum of its parts" type.  Whereas other comics in this review rely on one-note characterization and seem proud of it, the kids in Runaways contain multitudes.  I doubt I'll be reading this book with the new team.  The art isn't to my taste and Whedon's never impressed me outside of very few instances.  But this is a rare instance where I will check it out.  Such is the strength of Vaughan and Alphona's work on this . . .they have actually made me care enough about fake people to check in on them.  What's Alphona doing after this?  He's gone from being a competent to a wonderful cartoonist all on this one book.  This was a very good book.

 

Vaughan also wraps up Doctor Strange:  The Oath, this time with Marcos Martin.  It ends the only way it could, really, given the restraints of the "superhero universe."  But by God it was a nice trip.  Vaughan gives us a likable, aloof, charming Dr. Strange and Martin's spare line tells the reader much with little, all while keeping a beautiful eye on drama and design.  And, I'm sorry, when Strange takes his gloves off, revealing all the scars, and proceeds to kung fu the crap out of the antagonist, there should not be a single nerd not losing his or her shit.  It was my utter pleasure taking a sneak peek at this with the famous nealalian.  That's how to tell a superhero story:  with humor, action, drama, characters you care about, and beautiful art.  Oh, and an ending.
With Jack Staff, Paul Grist has always been interested in formal play.  That sort of work isn't easy, but when it works it more than makes up for generic qualities of superhero books.  Yes, this is essentially a "parallel universe gone wrong" story, but you haven't really read one until you've read Grist's take, including Rocky Reality, the chimp who guards reality and has his own jingle.  And it all wraps up in an issue, while still giving an emotional impact and a hook for a future story.  Grist should start a school.  A lot of people could learn a lot from him.

 

Throughout the miniseries, Nail Gaiman and John Romita Jr's Eternals have really been a bit of a mixed bag.  The art was pretty much always on target, the cartooning enhancing the iconic nature of the characters.  But the story would veer from "average superhero story with very interesting ideas" to "average superhero story."  And in the previous issue with religious overtones, Messianic messages, and changes to the status quo, my hopes rose dramatically.  So, really, why the hell did we need this issue?  It served almost completely as a "Yup, things are different like we said they were last issue."  Aside from a touching scene with Sprite and Zuras, absolutely nothing is gained with this issue (other than a plug for a big crossover).  Is Gaiman intending to write a monthly or a sequel?  I have to doubt it.  And while I sincerely doubt he could pull of the Messiah angle, I have no doubts that pretty much the rest of the Marvel staff would fail at it.  They really should have kept it at six issues.  Ambiguous endings are great . . .until you spend a complete other issue repeating the ambiguity.  Nothing's very poorly done here, of course, I just fail to see the point.

 

I have a soft spot in my cold, cold heart for superhero team-up books.  It was always fun, as a kid, to find back issues with bizarre pairings that just begged you to read WHAT WAS GOING ON?!?!?  So, despite my reservations, I checked out Brave and the Bold by Mark Waid and George Perez.  I went in with very low expectations; Waid hasn't impressed me since his first run on Captain America and George Perez, though a fine draftsman, is kind of the exact opposite of what I like in comic book art.  Well, low as my expectations were, I still didn't like this.  The story itself is inoffensive but equally uninteresting.  It read like a mini-comic that would come with an action figure.  "This is Green Lantern, he does this!  This is Batman, he does this!"  This played into the worst habits in Waid's characterization, especially in two dreadful one-note characterization bits (Hal:  "Movie reference!"  Bruce:  "Huh?"  Hal:  "Get out more!"; Hal: "Hit me in blackjack even though that's stupid!"  Bruce:  "YER FEARLESS!!!!").  Perez's art wavers from standard superhero competence to incomprehensibility to painfully dated.  Check out this partial page for examples of both these complaints.

I mean, look at the clothing here.  It might seem like a minor complaint, but it isn't hard to buy or even look at a goddam fashion magazine.  Bruce's suit looks like a suit, but a bit of research could have really put him in something nice.  And the girls . . .Jesus H. Christ!  Has George Perez seen a girl outside of a porno from 1973?  That jewelry, those dresses . . .it isn't hard to get some reference and do clothing right.  If you're going to bother to draw a hundred little details they should have a point.  They should make sense.  Anyway, this book is like a catalogue of everything that's depressing about average superhero comics.  Aside from the fashion, nothing was horrible, really.  But in aiming low to make a "simple superhero story" they failed to even capture the interest that is supposed to have.

 

Oh, and Alex Cox of Rocketship, screw you!  "Hey, look, Animal Man!  I bet this 52 is really Morrison-centric!"  A comic book with the Marvel Family and Animal Man with Grant Morrison's input should be an absolute dream for me.  This was ugly, nonsensical, derivative, unnecessarily gory, and pointless.  And on top of that we get Mark Waid continuing the dumb, serious take on Plastic Man he so loved in JLA.  Ugh.  Please, I need a good comic to cleanse me!
Thankfully, the ever-awesome Alex Cox of Rocketship recommended me Hunter & Painter by Tom Gauld.  I loved his Guardians of the Kingdom book, so I got pretty excited for this.  And it actually exceeded my high expectations.  The book is about two cavemen, who (as you might guess if you're real, real smart) hunt and paint, respectively.  The book mostly centers on Painter's next big debut.  He's got creative block after last year's smash hit, "Bear Hunt."  When he finally gets an idea, his friend Hunter doesn't like it at first, but says he's warming to it.  You cut to Painter exiled from the village.  The entire book is lovingly drawn with simple cartooning that allows much interpretation of emotion in a great way.  The humor is sharp but caring and works effortlessly.  It's read quickly, but is completely enjoyable the entire way through.  As much as I loved Vaughan's work this week, Hunter & Painter takes the cake as the best book of the week.  Search it out and get it.  It'll be the most fun five dollar examination on the demands of creating art for an audience you've ever bought.

50 Comments

• At March 3, 2007, Paperghost wrote:

  Ah, 52. I really did think it would be some great, mystical, vaguely strange journey towards....something.

  Something awesome.

  Instead, the mystical "something ...

• At March 3, 2007, Jason wrote:

  I don't care...I like 52. I was shocked by the last three pages of the current issue. And I don't ...

• At March 3, 2007, Paperghost wrote:

  52 is decent for what it is, but they've screwed up so many things in it by this point I'm ...

• At March 3, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Baker's Plas was explicitly in continuity, for those that care. But it just got ignored for all the "serious" ...

• At March 3, 2007, T. wrote:

  It also got ignored because it was well-written, which was probably offensive to Didio and company. Good writing is ...

• At March 3, 2007, Evan Waters wrote:

  I don't get any of your criticisms of BRAVE AND THE BOLD, sorry. The story is quite good for what ...

• At March 3, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  "For what it is" is a dangerous phrase. What wild neat things happen? A joke about a decade ...

• At March 3, 2007, Evan Waters wrote:

  What neat things happen? The body of one dead man is discovered, intact, in 62 separate locations, including near Earth ...

• At March 3, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  When did I say "muted"? I want it to be correct, not muted.

  I'll say it again: ...

• At March 3, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  And unclear generic alien weapons and a silly use of a Sandman concept in a flimsy superhero book . . ...

• At March 3, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  I thought Brave and the Bold was fun, myself. It's in the same vein as the old Haney/Aparo issues, only ...

• At March 3, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  I have to chime in with the "liking 'Brave and the Bold' too" contingent; it's light-hearted, upbeat escapist fun, an ...

• At March 3, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "If you want a deep, angsty analysis"

  This is the second time now that someone's had to add in an adjective ...

• At March 3, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "Roger Ebert always says that he tries to review the movie that was made, not the movie that he wished ...

• At March 3, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  "Successfully acheiving what it set out to do does not make a movie good. Otherwise, porn would be great cinema."

  Porn ...

• At March 4, 2007, Evan Waters wrote:

  Re #14: No, the reason I go with Ebert on this is he's one of the best film critics around ...

• At March 4, 2007, Martin O wrote:

  I think I agree with your criticism of the Brave and the Bold Joe. I probably enjoyed it slightly more ...

• At March 4, 2007, DanLarkin wrote:

  Clothing and costumes have always been Perez's weakest areas. I don't think he's ever designed an attractive superhero costume, and ...

• At March 4, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  Is it part of Hal Jordans powers to bring dinosaurs to life and make coins expand?

  If it helps, it's a ...

• At March 4, 2007, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  I think I'm somewhere between Bill and Joe on Brave and the Bold. Didn't like it as much as Bill, ...

• At March 4, 2007, Martin O wrote:

  "If it helps, it’s a deactivated robot dinosaur, and the coin has always been gigantic. Two of Batman’s most famous ...

• At March 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Yeah, what's with the "if he thinks this is bad characterization he loves grim and gritty, angsty comics"? Even ...

• At March 4, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It sucks - I had a Brave and the Bold #1 review ready to go (and it'll still be up, ...

• At March 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  To be fair, I thought it was "OK," too, I guess. I just hate "OK."

• At March 4, 2007, John wrote:

  Personally, I thought Brave & the Bold was a lot of fun. One of the best mainstream superhero stories ...

• At March 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  That's like saying you'd take a night of horrible diarrhea over ten nights of it. No thanks to any ...

• At March 4, 2007, Michael wrote:

  "That’s like saying you’d take a night of horrible diarrhea"

  Is this really a fair analogy for something you admit is ...

• At March 4, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  A Big Mac = diarrhea when I eat it.

• At March 4, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "BRAVE AND THE BOLD is a quality piece of trash. None of the flaws pointed out- unrealism, lack of emphasis ...

• At March 4, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "Porn serves it’s purpose - it’s not trying to be great cinema, it’s there for you to get off to.

  Why ...

• At March 4, 2007, Lex wrote:

  Joe, you're probably going to think I'm evil, but I enjoyed Brave and the Bold #1. Especially that blackjack ...

• At March 4, 2007, Lynxara wrote:

  Animal Man's plot in 52 makes increasingly little sense. I didn't much mind the bit with Sobek and Osiris ...

• At March 4, 2007, Paperghost wrote:

  bam, back to 52!!

  for an issue with some extremely intruiging cover of buddy on it, we sure did get a ...

• At March 5, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  "You totally misunderstood what I wrote. 100% "

  No I didn't - I think your analogy was faulty.

  Cinema and Porn are ...

• At March 5, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  "Clothing and costumes have always been Perez’s weakest areas. I don’t think he’s ever designed an attractive superhero costume, and ...

• At March 5, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Nobody's saying junk entertainment is awful. They're saying it, like any other artform, should be good. The contention ...

• At March 5, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  Apodaca said:

  "Check the name of the blog. “Comics Should Be Good”. Not “It’s No Big Deal if Comics are Mediocre, ...

• At March 5, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  John, once again, I'm not saying that and I'm sure that Dan isn't either. One can be pure entertainment, ...

• At March 5, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  I do understand you're not saying that (hazards of discussing things with multiple people at once--person A and B might ...

• At March 5, 2007, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Actually, no. John's outlined most of the things I thought were on the good side of okay. What I personally ...

• At March 5, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  That's an interesting observation, Greg. And I think it's pretty apt, actually. Maybe I would be more willing ...

• At March 5, 2007, Paul wrote:

  Wow, that's the first time I've ever seen Perez's style characterized as "too modern." Not sure I can agree ...

• At March 5, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "No I didn’t - I think your analogy was faulty.

  Cinema and Porn are two different things - If a porn ...

• At March 5, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "What’s wrong with trash entertainment?

  Dusk Till Dawn is trash, but it’s more entertaining (and better made) than a lot of ...

• At March 5, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  "This does seem to be your stock response whenever anyone defends a comic for being entertaining and diverting. I don’t ...

• At March 5, 2007, km wrote:

  It’s just really pathetic to me to see people have such little respect for themselves as an audience.

  And you decided ...

• At March 5, 2007, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Perez’s style characterized as “too modern.”

  When you get to my age, ...

• At March 6, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  "Yeah, you did, because that wasn’t my analogy. My whole point was that they are two different things."

  My fault then.

  Would ...

• At March 6, 2007, Lynxara wrote:

  Oh damn! Fanboy Logic Fallacy #217 in EFFECT!

  To paraphase:

  "If you like books that aren't good, you obviously don't respect ...

• At March 6, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  Does anyone think that Brave and the Bold would have been a better fit with Chris Sprouse? I think of ...

So, listen, is Brian Bendis finding his four-color superhero stride?  The last issue of New Avengers worked as an action story and now the second issue of The New Avengers:  Illuminati (dumb title notwithstanding) works, too.  This book doesn't have the benefit of Yu's outstanding craftsmanship.  Not that Jim Cheung is a bad artist . . .he just doesn't really stand out from the pack of solid superhero storytellers.  He's got a clean style, I'm never confused by his work, but I'm not exactly wow-ed either.  The story isn't exactly breaking any new ground, either, but the character bits work well enough to sell it.  The various personalities that you'd normally only see in a crossover crowd shot make for interesting foils of each other.  It reminds me of why I thought the original Sentry miniseries worked . . .a superb expression of the idea that the early Marvel characters were almost familial, so closely were they linked.  Anyway, we get a spin on the "can heroes really deal with ultimate power" yarn and I think it works well.  People stay in character while revealing character . . .the action bits pop and the story has enough ideas thrown in to avoid decompression syndrome.  I feel that Bendis is writing good solid superhero stories here . . .but I don't want to make him sound like Geoff Johns in that awful interview from a while back, bragging about lack of innovation.  His craft is improving so that he can bring his viewpoints to the superhero genre without totally changing the genre in the process.

 

Ultimate Fantastic Four is another fun superhero book doing things right.  Not having Pasqual Ferry drawing this issue definitely hurt it.  Scott Kolins' work  has always seemed to be unfinished and loose-not in an expressive way, but in an amateurish way.  And I don't know anything about this Mark Brooks but he looks like a boring combination of J. Campbell and Mark Bagley.  Neither artist actively hinder the story, a retelling of a classically goofy FF villain, Diablo.  There were good bits in this, but overall the book seemed weaker than the Thanos/Darkseid riff from the previous arc.  It's worth keeping on for another issue to see for sure.

 

Brian Woodstravaganza!  It's funny that DMZ and Local almost always come out the same week.  It's like the companies are saving Brian Wood fans an extra trip to the store.  As usual, I thought Local was the stronger book this week.  Wood and Ryan Kelly continue to explore the mind and world of Megan, all by showing and not telling.  It'll be interesting to see this collected.  I really feel it's the strongest work I've seen him do yet.  Megan's a complicated character that he refuses to romanticize or demonize and I appreciate that.  And Ryan Kelly's no longer "Paul Pope lite" in my book, I think the guy's a hell of a cartoonist himself.  DMZ suffers from "penultimate chapter syndrome" as PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT kind of takes over.  It's a good plot, I just find plots to be the least interesting part of fiction.  So perhaps the pacing could be improved but it's still a good story.

 

Darwyn Cooke can draw real, real good.  He writes nice, too.  The Spirit is fun as hell.  I read some folks saying they wish there was more to this book.  Sometimes, I must admit, I agree.  It can be a little frothy and easy.  But the world needs frothy and easy, too.  You can't have complex tasting menus every time you want to eat a meal.  Sometimes you just want a cheeseburger.  The trick is, it had better be a damn good cheeseburger.  And the Spirit is.  Every page is a drool-worthy master class on how to cartoon.  J. Bone and Dave Stewart collaborate masterfully, too.  The flashback sequences were just so damn beautiful!  Anyway, would I like to see Darwyn Cooke something else?  Yes, but that doesn't mean I want him to stop making tasty cheeseburgers yet.

9 Comments

• At February 26, 2007, Ian Astheimer wrote:

  I'm definitely with you with regard to Kolins' work. Ever since he went ink-free, his pencils have lacked depth and ...

• At February 26, 2007, T. wrote:

  Why do they call is "New Avengers: Illuminati" when it doesn't actually have much to do with New Avengers?

• At February 26, 2007, Ian Astheimer wrote:

  To sell more copies, I'd guess.

• At February 26, 2007, Dick Hyacinth wrote:

  I'm in agreement on New Avengers and I can't exactly explain why. It's undeniably junk food comics (and not ...

• At February 26, 2007, Paul O'Brien wrote:

  NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI is co-written by Brian Reed, and it reads much more like Reed's work on MS MARVEL than ...

• At February 26, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, I think Paul is dead-on.

  Either Bendis has completely changed his style of writing for Illuminati, or else it ...

• At February 26, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  I wonder if I'm related to this Brian Reed guy (or if Harvey Jerkwater is). I should claim relation anyway ...

• At February 27, 2007, J To The AAP wrote:

  NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI is co-written by Brian Reed, and it reads much more like Reed’s work on MS MARVEL than ...

• At February 28, 2007, Matt wrote:

  local is really one of my favorite books I buy. every time I come out, I savor it and enjoy ...

The comic worth reading last week was The Spirit.  In it, we get this "era" or whatever's introduction to P'Gell, THE femme fatale of comics.  It takes turns that traditional P'Gell stories did not but they work, fleshing out the cartoon character naturally while also keeping her a cartoon.  Eisner dealt with archetypes before they were cool (and way before they were cliched).  But Cooke seems to be working at allowing them to remain types while also layering on some more naturalized characterization.  Anyway, it was a good done-in-one issue, the way these sorts of things should be.  (It occurred to me that if you're going to want me to care about men in costumes hitting each other, you're most able to do it in small doses that have endings).

I thought I had Gaiman's Eternals story all predicted.  Now, either I'm even worse at that than I thought or he went for quite a different track here.  Wonder of wonders, his Hank Pym is fun and charming.  The art is typically beautiful of Romita, and the story takes a religious angle that--so far, at least--is quite interesting.  Makkari was always my favorite Eternal (Jesus Christ, the things I can truthfully say . . .) so it's fun to see him getting such a spotlight.  This COULD have been an ending . . .I'm curious what this suddenly-needed seventh issue will be.

It seems weird to review Criminal.  It's very, very good.  It's by two top talents, working hard.  It's dark and sometimes quite difficult, but also full of human moments and touches.  But if you're not reading it, the odds are that you're not going to put down your copy of Moon Knight or whatever to give it a shot.  Ah, what's the point?

Doctor Strange:  The Oath might be the best superhero mini Marvel's put out in a long time.  The art is fluid, expressive, and beautiful to behold.  The plot winds in fun, interesting ways.  The dialogue is clever without taking over the entire book.  And any book that has a superhero shooting a giant evil vagina with Hitler's gun pretty much wins a prize right there.  Neil, I see why you like this guy.  The Doctor, done right, is quite awesome.

Jesus, DMZ can go from tense to downright harrowing fast.  I haven't the slightest idea how this is going to resolve, but I love not knowing.  How can I get someone new to read this book?  It's readily available in trades.  It's a killer premise with excellent art and can't-guess writing.  If this were TV, all you nerds would be watching it.  Read this book.

If, when hawking Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir this week I have to say more than "Brian Posehn writing a Tony Moore story, Thomas Lennon writing a Guy Davis story, and Eric Powell himself" then you're not even a goddam human being.  You're like a mushroom (that isn't even tasty) or a sand dollar or an Irish.

Ohmigod.  Mouse Guard.  You are so great.  I love you, Mouse Guard.  The big battle scene?  It was like pure-kickass.  I felt like I heard Zepplin or Wolfmother and the rolling of dice and the faint smell of weed.  This is what fantasy can be.  I do hope you people are either reading this or getting the trade.  My opinion of you will be lowered even further otherwise.  Give me one good reason not to read this.  ONE!  It's got epic battles, treachery, forgotten heroes and all the slaying a mouse can handle.  Muah, I kiss you Mouse Guard.

If you don't like Johnny Ryan, you won't like his latest Blecky Yuckarella collection, Back in Bleck.  If you do like him, A) you're better than that other guy I was just talking to and B) you will like this as much as I did.  And "Fonzie with Aids" is my new favorite show, too, Blecky!

So I read a few glowing comments about this Paper Rad guy (?) and feel like an old fart for not knowing what the hell it's about.  So I got Cartoon Workshop/Pig Tales today.  Jesus, I dunno.  Maybe I AM an old fart.  But this was frickin stupid.  And not Blecky stupid, either.  Like the lame weird kid who tries to imitate the charming weird kid's sense of humor.  Chuck Norris jokes?  Really?  Semi-traced drawings of copywritten, dumb characters?  And those colors!  Like my wife said, "This is awful.  It looks like something you'd get for free at McDonald's."  Do people really like this?  Who?  What's the point?  I don't mind surrealism or semi-primitivism.  I hearts me some Gary Panter.  But I can't tell if this guy's (?) just too much a hipster or functionally retarded.  The people that love this probably don't come anywhere near this site, so I may never find out the appeal.  All I can say is, "At least it isn't one of Burgas' comics."

9 Comments

• At January 24, 2007, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Wow. Two shots at me in one column. Well done.

  And I got Moon Knight AND Criminal. And ...

• At January 24, 2007, The Mutt wrote:

  "You’re like a mushroom (that isn’t even tasty) or a sand dollar or an Irish."

  Say what? I'm gonna kick yer ...

• At January 24, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  DMZ does rock.

  I'm intrested in Mouse Guard, but am afrayd that my friends will make fun of me for liking ...

• At January 24, 2007, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  I picked up a copy of Mouse Guard at my comic shop, and a beautiful, half-naked woman walked in and ...

• At January 24, 2007, Alex wrote:

  "That is, if you were not struck blind by the list of awful comics Burgas reviews and enjoys for some ...

• At January 24, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  "Wow. Two shots at me in one column. Well done."

  Just wait 'bout half an hour.

• At January 24, 2007, XyphaP wrote:

  Well, Paper Rad's outrageous imagery is the largest part of his appeal. He takes iconic images of geek culture and ...

• At January 25, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Thanks, XyphaP. That kind of makes sense . . .I still don't think it's a good comic, but I'm ...

• At January 25, 2007, Matt Brady wrote:

  I believe Paper Rad is actually an artists' collective rather than a single person. I haven't read any of ...

I somehow missed the second issue of Dwight T. Albatross's The Goon Noir.  And, no, it isn't as good as The Goon usually is.  But there's a nice Arcudi/Nowlan story, a cute Hilary Barta story, and Powell's bit is, of course, golden.  Eh, it's a lark and it's better than most anthologies just because of Powell's presence.

It's like every issue of Runaways is saying, "Hey, I bet you thought you knew what would happen next.  WELL YOU ARE STUPID FOR THINKING THAT BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED."  And it's that kind of abuse that I date, marry, and love to read.  The storytelling is sharp;the characters are well-formed, natural, and interesting; and the art is perfectly evocative.  A 6th grade student of mine loves this, I've been giving her the digest editions.  I'm hoping to get her written review up here soon.  Anyway, stuff happens in an unexpected manner, revelations are made, relationships are tested, and it's goddam compelling.  And Alphona's really come into his own as an artist.  I really anxiously await what he'll do next.

Ah, The Punisher.  Any writer should be this lucky to write this well, this quickly, this consistently.  The start of a new arc and it appears that "Punisher Widows" are planning some revenge.  Some interesting dynamics within that group, and another lady somehow connected with them with some serious . . .issues.  Most of the Frank appearances in this issue are flashbacks, but they're no less powerful for it.  How does Ennis do this so well so quickly?  Seriously, he's like a modern day pulp writer, except with more meaning than your average Doc Savage novel by about a hundred.  And no Mrs. Raymond on the cover . . .Bradstreet is no Land, thank Christ.

Agents of Atlas.  Now that was a fine ending to a fine little superhero mini-series.  Are nerds freaking out about the revelations contained herein?  Probably not.  The awfulest nerds most likely didn't read this.  Looking at numbers, not too many folks did.  That's a shame, as it was one hell of a rollicking adventure story with fun, danger, humor, romance, and evil Asians.  I'm not sure what else one would ask for in a book like this except maybe a shitawesome guitar solo that played automatically during guitar scenes.  (Someone get to work on that idea.)  Fu Manchu was mentioned!  It's a Wold Newton Crossover!  Rejoice, lit-nerds!  If you didn't read this mini, read the inevitable trade.  I won't cry if there's never a sequel, but I for sure will check out Parker's next project.

Way back in the day I enjoyed the first issue of the Thunderbolts.  That was quite a twist.  But like a lot of self-consciously "old-school" superhero rags, it got real boring real fast.  And "boring" is what Thunderbolts have been about for years.  There was the awesome little Arcudi run during the height of Jemas/Quesada's "Let's see if this workds" period that the ubersupernerds LOATHED.  But I found the examination of the seedier side of superhumanity interesting without being overly dark.  So I suppose I have a soft spot in my heart for things that makes Thunderbolts fans upset.  To me, nothing says "bland" like Grummet + Busiek/Nicieza.  Talented, yes, skilled, perhaps, but too in love with what's come before and too unwilling to really do something new or on their own.  Now Ellis' version isn't exactly new.  It's kind of a Con Air/Dirty Dozen thing but it's so far certainly done with style.  And I don't think it's just my joy at seeing Thunderbolts readers in a tizzy enjoying this book.  It's not great, by any means, but it is an entertaining action satire.  (Cronin, how can you say he's playing it straight?  The commercial and the news stuff was comedy gold!)  My only complaint is Deodato's art, especially the celebrity riffs.  I showed a page to my wife and she immediately asked what Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones were doing.  It's silly, it's inconsistent, and it's distracting.  Just draw.

I finally got around to reading Gary Panter's Cola Madness.  It's not easy to explain this sort of dream-logic work, but I can tell you it's really, really good.  An absurdist frame and content bely quite a bit going on underneath.  One read of this and you'll immediately understand why he's considered such a master of the form.  It's the kind of insanity you think you can just throw on paper but you really can't.  Genius work, and I don't use that lightly.

So now on to movies so I can legitimize the title of the column.  I recently re-watched Talledaga Nights.  My first viewing left me with the feeling it was a well-done goofball comedy with some golden moments.  But further review really brings out the higher qualities of the film.  It's a pretty damn brilliant satire of flyover American idiocy.  By the end you have viewers and characters, rednecks all, cheering on Bush making out with a gay Frenchman, basically.  It's love.  And Gary Cole turns in a pretty frakkin spectacular performance, comedically and otherwise.  He'll get no nominations, I'm sure, but that was hot damn acting.

I remembered thinking Robot Jox was awesome when I was a kid.  My academic team in junior high took up the "crash and burn" mantra the year we became state champs (eat it, inferior nerds!) and that's honestly all I could remember about it.  So, yeah, a post-apocalyptic movie about giant robots fighting should equal pure awesome.  It doesn't.  What a lousy piece of crap movie.  Jesus H. Christ.  I was apparently retarded.

Sci-fi movies usually are pretty terrible.  But occasionally one comes out that transcends the genre, hokey as the cliche is.  Children of Men is one of those films.  SuPERBly acted, MASTERFULLY directed, and tightly written, this was one HELL of a good movie.  It's the best I've seen in the theater in a long, long time.  Each performance is almost virtuosic.  Owen owns the film, but everyone holds their own.  The war scenes are among the most riviting I've seen in any genre.  The humor works and occasionally eases the tension built up by the premise of the film.  I really cannnot recommend this film highly enough.  Go see it.  Now.  Put down your back issues of Thunderbolts for Christ's sake.  I'm sure the Beetle will be back some day.  But this movie needs the big screen.

EDIT: Seriously? Godland?  Takes all kinds I suppose.

16 Comments

• At January 11, 2007, Tim Callahan wrote:

  Yeah. Runaways. Here's a story: It's my son's favorite comic book. I've read every issue of Volume ...

• At January 11, 2007, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Still not sold on Thunderbolts, alas, as if that did (or should) matter to anyone enjoying it.

  On a non-comics-related note, ...

• At January 11, 2007, The Mutt wrote:

  I guess I'll have to read this issue of Thunderbolts to figure out why anyone, anywhere, at any time, for ...

• At January 11, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  It's not like anyone in the book is saying "Hey, let's go hang out with Venom!" It's a job. ...

• At January 11, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ellis is certainly being satirical with his take on the news and the commercial, but at the same time, while ...

• At January 12, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  That's the thing about satire though . . .you have to follow it through. You can't have the commercial/news ...

• At January 12, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  Personally, I think Venom would live about two days. "You've just killed twelve SHIELD agents, then signed on as a ...

• At January 12, 2007, Mer wrote:

  "Children of Men" is the next movie on my list. Glad to hear you liked it.

• At January 12, 2007, Kevin Church wrote:

  I bet there's a group of Marvel nerds who think the Fu Manchu reference was meant to be aimed at ...

• At January 12, 2007, Dean S. wrote:

  What is the problem with liking "old school" books? I don't really enjoy all the "new school" books because ...

• At January 12, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  You're making a false dichotomy, Dean. I have no love for overly violent "new school" books either. My ...

• At January 12, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  I'm replying again because I want to make clear I'm not one of these "Fun comics suck serious comics rule!" ...

• At January 12, 2007, Dean S. wrote:

  You know, I didn't think Thunderbolts was the best comic out there but I did enjoy it. That sort ...

• At January 12, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  You know, I didn’t think Thunderbolts was the best comic out there but I did enjoy it. That sort of ...

• At January 12, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  "But I think old school writers have a lot to learn from more recently displayed writing technologies"

  Dragging an 8-page story ...

• At January 12, 2007, Grant wrote:

  Someday I hope someone will make the Citizen Kane of Giant Robot Fighting movies.

  I doubt it will be Michael Bay ...

Superman Confidential had some cook moments and I'm actually interested in how the entire thing is going to play out.  It definitely suffers being read so close to All Star Superman, but it's definitely a good book.  Sale's art continues to sometimes-work-and-sometimes-not-work for me, but he's definitely doing good stuff.  The polar bear bit was probably my favorite.  A good book for certain, but not the best.

I was excited to read the last issue of Nextwave:  Agents of HATE.  The series had been a beautiful surprise, like when there's actually one of your grandmother's homemade peanut butter cups left after all.  But MAN was this last issue a disappointment.  Sure, it looked great.  Immonen could draw your average blogger and it would look great.  But the two-page spread jokes just didn't work for me.  A disappointing end to an otherwise awesome series.  Perhaps it was too difficult to keep up this pace and style after all.

Godammit, every issue of The Boys has a few great moments and a lot of tedium.  It's so frustrating to see a great creator ALMOST get there but not quite.  The political stuff definitely amped up the drama, Butcher's reasoning was wrenching, and the action worked.  And I want to like a book that pisses on everything bad about superhero comics (this issue's spotlight:  superhero funerals).  But when this doesn't work (the extended hamster gag) it REALLY doesn't work. 

In contrast, Brubaker and Lark are doing everything they can right in Daredevil.  The plot is tightly woven and intriguing.  The characters are fleshed-out and natural.  The art is beautiful and tells the story.  The action is exciting.  But I've just completely lost interest!  The last issue I read had a touch of this, but this dramatic, serious conflict gets completely undercut by the fact that one guy is wearing red tights.  I just feel like this book would benefit greatly from losing the trappings of the superhero genre.  This would be an amazing hardboiled story.  As a tights story it just highlights the silliness of the genre by being so good at being serious.  It's well done, skillfully-crafted work.  I just think I'm done with it.

Ultimate Fantastic Four, on the other hand, relishes in the absurdity and freedom of the genre.  Crazy stuff happens.  It's not taken lightly, but this shit is crazy!  I guess Ronan in the normal Marvel comics has become something of a badass or something lately, but that's hard for me to imagine.  But this Ronan was a pretty cool character, one whose actions you cannot predict at all at this point.  It's light fun with nice pictures.

Fantastic Four:  The End, on the other hand, is light to the point of insubstantiality.  It doesn't make much goddam sense at all, really.  And I'm not such an Alan Davis or Fantastic Four fan that I can look past it.  I'm sure this will appeal to some.  Just not to me.  It's a pretty mess, and I got my fill of those while I was single.

NOOOO!  Chris Sprouse!  Don't leave us!  Things aren't the same on Midnighter without you!  The very panel the art changed I was like, "Blar?!?"  It's still a fun ride with such sights as Hitler being used as a weapon and a cartoonish battle between the main character and some Time Cops.  And Ennis is smart enough to make sure the last page makes you want more.  Nothing brilliant but at least it's fun.  I hope Sprouse is back for the full issue next month.

I've completely lost my problem with The Other Side's coloring.  Either they fixed it or I'm a fickle son of a bitch.  Honestly, I don't care.  I've got me a great war comic more on the lines of Full Metal Jacket than your traditional story.  I've got Cameron Stewart art every month AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER.  I've got two intriguing lead characters in dire straights.  This is good good good good.

Gumby is fun.  I don't mean that as in NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE, either.  I mean that as in NOUN EQUATES NOUN.  They are synonymous.  Golem Gumby?  Come ON!  How can you not absolutely love this comic?  Bob Burden + Rick Geary + Gumby?  Seriously!  It's like God gave us this comic book as a consolation for suffering and death or something.  "Sorry about that, guys.  Here, read this!"  And you know what?  I'm happy with that deal.  Read Gumby.  Love life.

Things that were totally awesome about All Star Superman this issue:  the art; the writing; Pa; young Clark; Pa's hair' Clark's embarrassment; Krypto; tree fetch; "Woo-hoo!"; Clark's sweats/outfit; the hired hands; Lana; Pete; the diner; the photo; the aging man; the Superman Squad; Unknown Superman talking to Pa; that climax; the tower destructing; the hamburgers earlier; hair on fire; the funeral; Clark's speech; the flower; the end; everything.  I love this comic more than I love some people that I love.

8 Comments

• At January 6, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Joe, I'm sorry I have you wood in class. But tell me true: It was worth it, wasn't it?

• At January 6, 2007, 50th Birthday Gumby wrote:

  I agree! The Gumby comic is great! I was so excited to get my hands on it after Comicon this ...

• At January 6, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  There's still another issue of Nextwave to come, y'know.

• At January 6, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Michael, just to make sure it's clear, texted me while I was teaching about ASS. I got bone.

• At January 6, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Thank god there's another issue of Nextwave. This would have been a clunker of an ending.

• At January 6, 2007, DubipR wrote:

  Of course Gumby rocked! I got the chance to meet Bob and Rick at Wizard World LA last year ...

• At January 6, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  Lies! That issue of NEXTWAVE was gold! I'm still chuckling over the ton of visual gags that Immonen ...

• At January 6, 2007, Joe Rice wrote:

  Any book where the spirit of John R. Cash saves the day is tough to beat.

I've got a copper temporary crown now on one of my back teeth.  I feel like a low-rent rapper.  For a second there I almost decided to write today's reviews in rap style.  But I've got to get done before the old lady gets back from the holiday party and needs to complain about her stupid coworkers, so let's do this quickly.

I got The New Avengers:  Illuminati simply because it was such a small week and it wasn't a bad concept.  I've never really gotten into Bendis' superhero stuff, although New Avengers was almost good for a while there.  But this was a pretty damn fun straight up superhero action book.  The nerd in me likes seeing these guys as a team working together, I must admit.  So the title group go to the Skrull homeworld or homeship or whatever in order to intimidate them from returning to earth.  Everybody gets at least one badass moment, the story ends but has openings for the future . . .it's a good little book.  Hard to believe it was put together so quickly (right?  Isn't that what happened here?) but there you have it.  The art won't affect your soul but it tells the story and looks nice.  Surprise of the week for sure.

The final part of this arc in The Punisher, on the other hand, is in no way surprising.  But it needn't be.  It's about the execution, if you'll pardon the accidental pun.  Ennis, per usual, comes through with strong points, strong storytelling, and a grim, determined almost-beauty that's difficult to deny.  You can't help but cheer for the worst of the worst getting what comes to them.

Another strong issue for Criminal.  Immoral or amoral as the characters may be, you care about them after Brubaker and Phillips get done with you.  It's a crime story, again, there's not many surprises here, there really couldn't be.  But it's in the telling and the telling is as good as it's been since Sleeper.  The dueling cliffhangers are both pretty harrowing in all the right ways, too.

I've never gotten any of the Jingle Belle comics before.  Dini's good girl thing doesn't really appeal to me.  At all.  But Kyle Baker does appeal to me.  A lot.  So The Bakers Meet Paul Dini's Jingle Belle got added to my pile as soon as I saw it.  It's a cute story and, perhaps its a prejudice here, but the stuff with the Bakers I find much more interesting than the Jingle Belle/Santa stuff.  The ending, sappy, worked on me like a happy shot.  This was fun enough for a one-shot but it really just makes me want to read more Bakers.  (Maybe that's the point.)

Have a great holiday season, folks.  Do something to show someone you care about just how much you care.

3 Comments

• At December 21, 2006, Patrick wrote:

  Some fans have complained about how uncharacteristic and bleak it is for Reed, Xavier, Black Bolt, Namor and Iron Man ...

• At December 21, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  Namor's fist pumping was good stuff, too.

  Fans always complain. I prefer readers.

• At December 22, 2006, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Illuminati was idiotic, but it was one of the VERY few "dumb fun" books that was actually, you know, FUN.

  Loeb ...

I'll start with the relative weak point in my stack, Fantastic Four:  The End.  It is, quite simply, a big "ender" superhero story.  It doesn't seem to be making any point other than "this part is cool . . .so is this . . ." etc.  But it does this well.  Alan Davis . . .he's very skilled.  He's very good at what he does, but I must say I'm not exactly drawn to it.  It's a little too straight-forward for me, but he certainly doesn't distract from the story.  And this is the sort of thing he was born to draw.  Large, epic battles; crazy sci-fi; larger-than-life personage; and, of course, my absolute favorite FF trope:  stubbly Reed.  Ever since the Kirby days, when the shit really hit the fan, Reed would stop shaving.  Someone should collect an image from every artist that's done this.  I love stubbly Reed.  It's so on when he's stubbly.  The story here doesn't make much sense, but it's just a nice action flick, a blockbuster for your eyes.

Most comics these days might have one big twist you didn't see coming.  DMZ had two this issue.  I don't think it's just because I'm functionally retarded, although I am.  Christ, I just realized this is only the second part of this arc.  Bryan Wood continues to write a compelling, real-feeling main character in an increasingly desperate situation.  The parallels to real life are present, strong, but not preachy.  And there's some action thrown in for the teenage boys still out there.  Oh, and sex.  Burchielli officially went from (after having gone from tolerable to OK) OK to quite good this issue.  The looseness of his line allows for an expressionism that doesn't detract from the reality of the situation.  Strong stuff with one hell of a cliffhanger.

How long do you think Vaughan had the idea for this month's Ex Machina?  The title reveal on the last page?  Perfect.  A great one-off issue exploring the background of Bradbury.  Tony Harris can draw people talking and make it interesting.  He can represent life without sacrificing an artistic voice.  We learn only bits and pieces about the focus of the issue, but it's more than enough.  Just like that he becomes a real person.  That's good stuff.

Gotta say The Escapists was even better, though.  It addressed one of the sneaking doubts I had about the book from the beginning.  Sure, it was really well done.  Sure, the idea was compelling.  Sure it was the perfect mix of superhero and indie.  But it wasn't completely new.  It was built upon the backs of others.  The ending of this book may be a bit cheesy, but it's so damn right that you don't care.  Screw the corporate comics that simply parasitcally drain the works of great creators.  Start making something new.  Pefect, perfect, perfect.

Not that it's impossible to do great work on the back of someone else.  Because I may have enjoyed the first issue of The Spirit even more.  Cooke's writing and art is so dang perfect here.  He doesn't try to imitate Eisner, he tries to do what he does as well as Eisner did what he did.  The Spirit is charming, affable, fallible, but awesome.  The supporting characters (even Ebony!) are spot-on.  The plot works, works quickly, and never lets you down.  The women are beautiful.  The jokes are funny.  The action is exciting.  The villains are horrible.  This, my friends, this is how you continue old superhero books.  You don't worry about years of who-did-what.  You make a really great story and you draw it beautifully.  Will this sell to the superhero nerds?  I hope so, but they seem to run from this kind of quality like I run from leafy vegetables.  However long we have it, it's going to be a pleasure.

A great week for superheroes, folks.  A great week for comics, too, actually.  Go out and treat yourself.  If you normally wouldn't get one of these books, get the Spirit.  And get the Escapists in trade.  If you refuse, you're more retarded than I am.  And that's really retarded.

4 Comments

• At December 13, 2006, Matthew E wrote:

  I agree about The Spirit. I was completely charmed by it.

• At December 13, 2006, The Mutt wrote:

  "I've never seen Reed so grim... so resolute... so unshaven."

  I can't recall if it was from Not Brand Ecchh or ...

• At December 13, 2006, Bill Reed wrote:

  Want to read Spirit... so bad... shop didn't... get new comics... Bill is a sad panda.

• At December 14, 2006, BrianC wrote:

  Absolutely agree with you on "The Escapists". I am sad to see it over, but it was such a well ...

American Splendor had what might be its strongest issue under DC, at least artistically. 'Beto, Deano, Geary, and Fingerman headlined the issue. Some good, everyday stuff. Pekar's comics are somewhere between comfort food and art comics. They require a bit more thought than Superman hitting a rock, but they also feel so comfortable and real. The way this blog goes, I'm probably speaking to a hole here, but this is good comics.

I was less bothered by the coloring on The Other Side this issue. I dunno if it was that improved or I just had that much alcohol. But the Asian folk seemed less 1950s racist superhero comic and more naturalistic. Stewart's art is typically beautiful, and the two stories are aligning interestingly. Some great stuff. This would be a good book to buy your war-movie-fan friend/relative. Too bad there's no trade for Christmas or whatever excuse you use to give people stuff.

Cronin not liking Superman Confidential is almost as dumb as him letting me type on the blog again. It's finally that 40s repartee Lois done well with a side of Superman Byrne only dreamed of showing. The neophyte, unsure Superman done realistically but heroically. His ignorance of his limits isn't played brashly, but hesitantly, as most folks trying to figure out "Well, just how invulnerable am I?" would be. (Thanks to Lisa for the spelling help for boozed-up Joe there.) Nice, cartoonish art that goes a long way to telling the story and the mood. I may become a Sale fan yet, now that he's not working with Liefeld's writer.

I'm glad that Salvador Larroca seems to have gotten over his X-Men/Claremon boob + butt phase. And Ellis seems to be writing a possibly interesting story for newuniversal. But (and, yes, this is not technical) OH MY GOD I DO NOT CARE. You know what's boring and lamely-written? That show "Heroes." You know what's better written but no more interesting? YET ANOTHER COMIC BOOK ABOUT REAL FOLKS GETTING SUPERPOWERS. Christ in Heaven. I know that superbooks sell, but can we put a moratorium on superbooks that aren't frakkin brilliant for a few decades? This might even end up being good, but I'm so tired of this idea that I can't even give it a chance. You want to write about real folks, do it. Screw the superpowers and the twists on archetypes. Write something real. That's not really the point for this, I know. And this is good, for what it is. But screw it. Spend your money on the Huizenga collection or something else that's truly great.

Agents of Atlas dealt with the "evil within" subplot very succintly and originally, I feel. This is still a very good, pulpy book. I know I just yelled about the plethora of crap superbooks out there, but that doesn't mean there aren't worthwhile ones out there. One of the most appealing parts of this book is the fact that it's going to end. It will be a story and not just a marketing device. The characters are interesting and varied, the story is moving somewhere neat, and it's just a kick to read. I dunno what the nerds are doing for this sales-wise, but I'm enjoying it.

And some superhero books are just really good superhero books. Doctor Strange: The Oath is one. The Martin art is frakkin gorgeous. I kissed it a few times, especially when the Dr.'s being all flirty. Some good twists, and an antagonistic organization that seems really evil but also seems natural for the setting. Kung fu Wong is also pretty great. What's up with the great sideline Strange books this past couple of years? Milligan and Vaughn? Meanwhile Spider-man is stuck with PAD and the legions of Civil War tie-ins. Still, good comics are good comics, and this certainly is one.

You know something that makes Chris Sprouse awesome? In Midnighter, he draws a young Hitler and it looks like a young Hitler. I'm sorry, Jeffrey from Project Runway, but that is mad skills. The story takes unexpected twists and remains fun but interesting the whole way. I feel like Ennis found the happy medium between "Important Ennis" and "outlined on bar napkins" Ennis here. It's good fun. Involving killing Hitler.

Can't wait to read the Showcase: Shazam, AKA, the last time DC did a Captain Marvel that at all understood the appeal of the character. Sunny Sparkles is like a Chris Ware character sans irony. I'm going to cut this review bit short so I can dive in.

As for other media, Casino Royale is challenging Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service as my favorite Bond film. The direction is crisp, the acting is strong and tight all around, and it seems to actually mean something. Daniel Craig is great as Bond, and his wardrobe gives me crazy envy. That short-sleeved linen shirt with the grey suit when he goes to the Bahamas? The fashion nerd in me went NUTS.

"Put Your Quarter Up" is an amazing song. You've got the Molemen, Slug, Aesop Rock, and frakkin MF Doom rapping, mostly about video games. You get a line rhyming Slobodan and Robotron? Yeah. Download that stuff immediately. Thank you, itunes.

And it's time for a confession. I mostly admit to only watching very few TV shows. There's the Office and Battlestar Galactica, the two best-written shows on TV for my money. Cosby and Andy Griffith re-runs. Daily Show and Colbert when I can. And a bunch of awful crap my wife watches. But I now must publically admit I like one of those shows. I like Grey's Anatomy. Mind you, I hate Grey, and I hate every plot she's in. But the rest of the cast is damn TIGHT. It's a soap that I actually got into, and I'm not (as) ashamed anymore. I just wish it was more Karev's Anatomy instead. That's a damn interesting character.

Enjoy your week.

13 Comments

• At December 6, 2006, stealthwise wrote:

  Hell yeah, Joe, I'm glad that I'm not the only one disliking, or merely disinterested in, Heroes for the exact ...

• At December 6, 2006, Brad Curran wrote:

  I haven't read anything you picked up this week yet. I plan on getting the Strange and Agents of Atlas ...

• At December 7, 2006, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Superman Confidential #1 was so stiff and boring. I hope #2 is an improvement! I sure do like Darwyn Cooke ...

• At December 7, 2006, The Mutt wrote:

  If you are not watching Boston Legal, you are missing out on some big laughs every week.

• At December 7, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  When's that show on? I enjoyed what I've seen, but I really do hate watching TV for long.

• At December 7, 2006, The Mutt wrote:

  Me too. I only watch one show a night. Boston Legal is Tuesdays at 9 central. It's on hiatus now, ...

• At December 7, 2006, Kevin Church wrote:

  Can’t wait to read the Showcase: Shazam, AKA, the last time DC did a Captain Marvel that at all understood ...

• At December 7, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  It was very pretty, yeah, but any series where Billy Batson cries as his best friend is killed doesn't get ...

• At December 7, 2006, gabesummers wrote:

  the fact that you listen to mf doom is all the proff i need that i am reading the right ...

• At December 7, 2006, Apodaca wrote:

  Grey's Anatomy? I feel like I don't even know you anymore.

  Doctor Strange is awesome. It's nice to see someone finally ...

• At December 7, 2006, Christopher J. Carlson wrote:

  CASINO ROYALE is the first movie is quite a while that I'm planning on seeing a second time at the ...

• At December 7, 2006, Filipe wrote:

  Actually Lazenby did a pretty good italian horror film in the early 70's named Who Saw Her Die? Wonderful use ...

• At December 12, 2006, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I liked Casino Royale. It was alright - faithful to the book in the right parts, ditching the rubbish. Managed ...

Ultimate Fantastic Four is, for once, good. Instead of issues dedicated to extrapolations of one panel of Lee and Kirby's work, we get actual OK LET'S GO FULL FORCE storytelling. The Ferry art helps. I think I missed an issue somehow . . .in fact I'm rather certain of it. But this is good writing so it doesn't matter (other than a pang of regret for missing what was most likely another good issue). Carey comes out and admits that Thanos is nothing but a crappy Darkseid rip, but, in doing so, frees him to be an INTERESTING Darkseid rip. It's really tough doing Kirby work. Kirby was a creator, not a revamper. So revisiting his work usually seems false. That isn't what he'd do, after all. You've got books out there like Godland that just make you wish that the real Kirby was doing something more interesting. But this story and Morrison's Seven Soldiers finally seem to be taking the torch from the King and doing more than a measly tribute. Good stuff.

A Paul Pope cover is enough to get me to buy most things, including, Joe Rice Is Stupid And Ugly (forthcoming from Peter David and Ethan Van Scriver). But on a great comics like The Escapists? With a Wolfmother allusion? DING DING DING! Vaughn's story continues to really interestingly straddle the divide between indie comics, superhero comics, and even romance comics, taking the best from each and somehow making the bizarre hybrid work. And work really well. Comics-within-comics usually suck even more than most comics do. But the damnedest thing I realized reading this: I not only care about the actual characters of this book, but I care about the fictional characters they're writing and drawing. Outstanding. That last page? Ugh! It hurts! Good stuff.

Sometimes I think to myself, Hey, extremely handsome, charming guy, remember how great Jack Staff was? And then I'll reply, Yeah, it was pretty awesome--just like your ass. Then I'll go on, Maybe the new color version isn't as good . . .sometimes I put off reading it. And just as I'm about to agree with myself the comic comes out and is all, "Shut up, you nitwit! I frakkin ROCK!" And it's right. Where else do you see Alan Moore eating a demon and getting high off it? Where else do Nazi superheroes get bittersweet respect? Where else is Paul damn Grist working these days? Remember how great it was in the black and white days? It's just as good--maybe better.

For some reason, I got White Tiger. I guess I wondered what this supposed great children's author would do. Well, she's not Lemony Snicket, so I'm not exactly familiar with her work. But if it's anything like this, I won't be reading it to any of my students. Jesus Christ, what a lame comic. OK, you've got this Latina former FBI agent who inherits her uncles magic kung fu medallions. She's fighting a Cobra dude, some Yakuza and Russian mafia. And she's got a pretty good costume. This should be easy. It isn't. We get forced jokes, a photo-realistic tribute to one of Manhattan's crappier diners, uninteresting flashbacks, and I'm really left wondering who this book is written for. It isn't for Pierce's audience or for "fresh female readers" as its too drenched in nerd puzzle pieces. It isn't for superhero nerds (other than completists) because it's doing nothing that a hundred other crappy superhero books haven't done. It's a nice David Mack cover, yeah . . .but everything else from the hum-drum beginning to the weird appearance of Spider-man just reeks with "second-rate hackery." That three dollars could have fed some homeless dude, or at least helped him buy some hooch.

I also got the first Popeye trade from Fantagraphics. God, it's beautiful. When corporate comics are dominated by utter hack artists (check out crossovers and 52s and miniseries and just about anything not drawn by Frank Quitely for examples), it's almost painful to look at how EASY it can be to be great. Segar frakking KILLED. Can't wait to get into this.

I'd like to conclude this re-introductory edition of the Joe Rice Media Review with a letter.

Dear Absolute New Frontier,

Baby, have I told you how beautiful you are? I mean, I know I have. I know a lot of people have. But I want to say it again. You're beautiful. God, you really are. When I hold you in my arms, I know parts of me that are asleep without you. You make me forget the troubles of my day . . .or, even better, enjoy them. You remind me what life is really about. I love you baby. I love you so much. Tonight, I'm going to cover the bed with rose petals--I know you like rose petals. I'm going to rub some oil on your beautiful casing. I'll rub it in deep, baby. Maybe I'll nibble at your corners. I know you like that. I do, too. We'll lay there together, exploring each other as only two in love can. I'll kiss you. I'll make gentle, caring love to you. You'll tweak my anus a bit. Just a bit. It will be beautiful, baby. But not as beautiful as you are. I love you. Come to me.

Yours,

Joe Rice

27 Comments

• At November 15, 2006, Cheeseburger wrote:

  Remind me again why Cronin invited this guy back? The letter thing at the end? Completely unecessary.

• At November 15, 2006, E.D. wrote:

  Have you seen Absolute New Frontier?

  It's all that and more.

  It haunts my dreams.

• At November 15, 2006, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  "The letter thing at the end? Completely unecessary."

  Yeah, at least without some sexy pictures to back it up. Where are ...

• At November 15, 2006, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The letter part was the best part!!

• At November 15, 2006, T. wrote:

  The only part I didn't like was the potshot at the writers and artists working at corporate comics. Not ...

• At November 15, 2006, DanLarkin wrote:

  How can anyone not like the letter?

  I think I'm going to have to wait until Christmas for the Popeye book. ...

• At November 15, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  I didn't say they were all hacks.

  Just that most of them are.

• At November 15, 2006, Bill Reed wrote:

  Welcome back, Joe.

• At November 15, 2006, dave wrote:

  "You’ll tweak my anus a bit. Just a bit."

  Anyone who did not laugh when reading that needs to take ...

• At November 16, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  Thanks, Bill! Good to see you.

  Dave: I know just where to put the mirror!

• At November 16, 2006, Rebis wrote:

  Love the letter.

  As for the crack on corporate comics and hack artists: Aren't blogs all about batting around strong opinions?

• At November 16, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  Or facts, as the case may be.

• At November 16, 2006, T. wrote:

  Rebis, no one's saying strong opinions shouldn't be expressed on blogs. But strong opinions get strong reactions. I ...

• At November 16, 2006, Kevin Church wrote:

  My Absolute New Frontier was in my hands before yours and boy, she's already done things I didn't know were ...

• At November 16, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  Kevin Church just got five cool points.

• At November 16, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  And who said anything about indie comics being better? I didn't.

• At November 16, 2006, Kevin Church wrote:

  You know what I've noticed about the whole "Corporate Comics" fanbase - they're a lot like Neoconservatives. They've got ...

• At November 16, 2006, Odjn Ouen wrote:

  Jack Staff is awesome.

• At November 16, 2006, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  I'vc seen this play out at least a dozen times elsewhere at CBR and I really hope we're not going ...

• At November 16, 2006, Brad Curran wrote:

  First of all, welcome back, Joe. Second, go to hell. Myself and the rest of the people that replaced you, ...

• At November 16, 2006, BeaucoupKevin wrote:

  Could you be any more Super Mario Brothers 2, Brad? Jesus.

  (Also, I had my copy...two weeks ago.)

• At November 16, 2006, Stony wrote:

  I always preferred Sagendorf to Segar.

  Yeah, I said it.

• At November 16, 2006, T. wrote:

  "You know what I’ve noticed about the whole “Corporate Comics” fanbase - they’re a lot like Neoconservatives. They’ve got the ...

• At November 18, 2006, Omar Karindu wrote:

  I'm sort of surprised to see that someone prefers Sagendorf to Segar, but in fairness, I've really only seen the ...

• At November 19, 2006, Apodaca wrote:

  "Remind me again why Cronin invited this guy back?"

  Considering the fact that Joe was one of the founders of this ...

• At November 19, 2006, Tadhg Adams wrote:

  "Remind me again why Cronin invited this guy back?"

  He's funny and worth reading.

• At November 20, 2006, Joe Rice wrote:

  I also add much-needed sex appeal. That always brings in the hits.