This week it is Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's Avenue Q. Enjoy!

Beware of spoilers!!

"It Sucks to Be Me"

This number, which depicts the various characters of Avenue Q bemoaning their lot in life reminds me of this week's X-Men chapter of Messiah Complex, where things have quickly gone pear-shaped for quite a number of the X-Men cast, after some tough battles with the bad guys.

"If You Were Gay"

This one reminds me of Countdown to Final Crisis, which has been mining the whole "gay joke" angle of the Trickster/Pied Piper duo for a long time now. "Ha ha! He's gay and he's straight! But wait - look! He's slowly warming up to his gay comrade! See! Straight people and gay people CAN be friends!!"

So weird.

It is also weird that Deadshot is such a homophobe.

I dunno why him being a homicidal sociopath is somehow not a big deal to me, but it irks me that they show him as homophobic/gay-bashing, but it does.

"Purpose"

This song, which is about the character Princeton looking for his purpose in life, fits in well with the latest installment in the Cal McDonald series by Steve Niles, Criminal Macabre: My Demon Baby, where McDonald is not really LOOKING for his purpose in life (after his life was basically ruined in the previous series), but he still ends up finding it within this series.

A quick note on My Demon Baby - I get it, we have sort of taken the Ghoul for granted, and while I get that, as a ghoul, what happens to him in the latest issue might not mean he's actually dead dead, I think that if he IS offed, especially so soon after another major cast member has been killed, then it is really the law of diminishing returns, so I hope he is not dead dead.

"The Internet Is For Porn"

(Sadly, the best video I could get is the World of Warcraft one...weird).

Please note that Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #47 came out last week.

'Nuff said, indeed.

"Mix Tape"

(This is an odd video that is the song set to a video of, well, tapes)

This song, which is about Kate Monster debating whether Princeton likes her likes her or just likes her as a friend reminded me, in a twisted way, of course, of the latest issue of Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists, where Frank Tieri takes a scenario just like that, only what happens when a guy thinks his significant other is cheating on him, but it's actually with one of his split personalities - and when one of his split personalities is a sociopath - well, this mix tape ends on a sour note.

"My Girlfriend Who Lives In Canada"

(This video was kinda cute)

In one of the odder transitions of the week, this song of Rod's mythical girlfriend from Canada (to prove that he is not, in fact, gay) reminds me of the fun new Image series, Proof, which is based upon the notion that mythical creatures (such as a girlfriend who lives in Canada) DO exist, and that there is a group that finds them and takes care of the ones who need to be protected, and deals with the ones that are dangerous (the main story is about a chupacabra who kills people and then wears their skin).

"There's a Fine, Fine Line"

This song, sung by Kate Monster, is based on the basic idea that there is a fine, fine line between love and wasting your time on someone you're not going to end up with. You know what else is a fine, fine line?

The line between doing an action comic that is also a satire of action comics, and yet, for the most part, Brian Azzarello has been walking that fine, fine line with Deathblow, a comic that takes action comics to their absurdest levels, while still telling an action story.

I think some issues have fell a bit too much on one end or the other, but this latest issue walked the line perfectly - like the dialogue for the robo-dinosaur-type bad guy, who says ridiculous things - plus the group of agents who have undergone species reassignment, and are now disguised as actual dogs - all this while telling an actual story?

That's a fine, fine line to walk.

"Schadenfreude"

(Seriously, Kingdom Hearts 2 is the best I can find? Weird)

For this song, which is about the joy of seeing bad things happen to people other than yourself, I could have gone with a book I disliked, and said that I enjoyed seeing how bad the book is, but that is too mean.

Instead, I'll pick Moon Knight Annual #1, which was a tale of abused women meeting at a group for abused women, and more than a few of them delighted in the fact that their abuser met a grisly fate at the hand of Moon Knight.

It was not exactly the deepest comic you can read, but it was an interesting angle to look at a superhero story from.

"I Wish I Could Go Back to College"

(A cover song of this? Weird)

This song of nostalgia for a simpler time reminds me a lot of the whole One More Day storyline, which seems to be built around that idea - "I wish we could go back to when Peter Parker was in college."

"For Now"

This bittersweet finale of the musical, where it is explained to Princeton that you have to live with sometimes bad situations "for now," in the hope that in the future, things will be better.

This reminds me of the conclusion to the Sub-Mariner mini-series, which concludes with Namor striking up quite a compromising pact - with Doctor Doom of all people!!

It is definitely a "for now" move, but I have to imagine this move may bite Namor in the ass in the future, but it was certainly an interesting plot development (and not all together illogical of a decision, either).

That's it! See ya'll next time! Which musical should I do next?

5 Comments

• At December 5, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Youtube is clogged with fan videos of "Schadenfreude," "The Internet Is For Porn," and "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," so ...

• At December 5, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Alls I needs was a clear recording (after not finding a live one), and the KH2 was the clearest sounding ...

• At December 5, 2007, Rebis wrote:

  "Avenue Q" is a really genius miracle.

  On a side note, I hear they killed Trickster and left Piper alive. If ...

• At December 5, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, Trickster discovered he cared for his gay buddy enough to take a lethal bullet for him, which also made ...

• At December 6, 2007, Kelson wrote:

  Avenue Q was playing in San Diego during Comic-Con International this year, just a few blocks from the convention center. ...

This week it is Stephen Schwartz' Wicked. Enjoy!

Beware of spoilers!!

"No One Mourns the Wicked"

This opening number, where the citizens of Oz gather together to celebrate the death of the Wicked Witch reminds me a bit of this week's Wetworks, which was the final issue of the series. While fill-in writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis actually do a solid job of wrapping the series up, in the end, this is a series that I think few will mourn, as it seemed to be a bit of a mess from the get go, which is surprising, as Mike Carey was involved, and he is usually quite good.

"What Is This Feeling?"

This song, which is an examination of the loathing that the two roommates (Elphaba - the future Wicked Witch and Galinda - the future Good Witch) feel for each other, fits in quite nicely with Christos Gage's Thunderbolts: Breaking Point one-shot, which examines the relationship between Songbird and Moonstone, who both loath each other.

"Dancing Through Life"

The point of "Dancing Through Life" is that Fiyero feels as though life is much more enjoyable if you don't take it so seriously and do not worry about consequences and things like that, but ultimately, Fiyero finds his position to be a false one. The closest book to this from this week would be Marc Sumerak & Chris Elipoulos' Franklin Richards: Fall Football Fiasco, as Franklin often takes that same approach as Fiyero (of course, it is much less annoying coming from a child), and in this latest issue, he learns the hard way what can happen when he takes such an approach, as a duplicate that he accidentally creates takes his place in school - and ends up doing Franklin's life better than Franklin did! And when Franklin attempts to correct the mix-up, he ends up hurting someone's feelings and must realize that there ARE consequences to his actions. Very nice work by Sumerak and Eliopoulos.

"Popular"

When I think of this song, from when Galinda explains how she can make anyone, even Elphaba, popular, I am drawn to Ed Brubaker and the work he has been doing over these past 30 or so issues of Captain America, as Brubaker has slowly, but surely, made Bucky Barnes, of all characters, one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe (who would have imagined, pre-Brubaker, Bucky making the Top 50 Marvel Characters in a popularity contest?!?!).

Excellent work by Brubaker. I look forward to seeing what he does with Bucky as Captain America.

"I'm Not That Girl"

Elphaba bemoans her lot in life with this sad song, which reminded me of Mike Carey's nice character work in Ultimate Vision, as Carey gives us a new take on the Vision, as a female robot who is trying to fit into life on Earth, while, of course, filled with the same self doubt Elphaba expresses in "I'm Not That Girl."

"A Sentimental Man"

This tune, like many in Wicked, is about the hidden meanings behind what people ACTUALLY say. Here, the Wizard is explaining to Elphaba about how he is simply a sentimental man, and needs her help - while, of course, he is close to a tyrant, and he needs her help to do some bad things.

This is basically the same as the ongoing adventures of Superman Prime, in the pages of Countdown to Final Crisis, as he believes that he IS just trying to do the right thing, no matter how many people he tortures or kills along the way (although, seriously, who wanted to see Mr. Mxyzptlk get tortured? It's like the episode of South Park where Santa Claus is shot down in the Middle East - only it WASN'T played for laughs!!!).

"Thank Goodness"

This is another song where, on the surface, it is happiness, but below, lies something much less so. For me, at least, it reminds me of this week's Checkmate, which is all about the "heroic" defeat of Amanda Waller, where we're apparently supposed to be happy about, even though Amanda Waller is such a better character than the people taking her down. I was especially put off by the notion that this was their PLAN. Their "plan" revolved around total and absolute luck to pull off, and yet it was presented as "no, no, this was the PLAN!" Absurdity.

Just like the absurdity of Glinda being willing to marry Fiyero for appearance's sake, even though he clearly does not love her.

"As Long As You're Mine"

This love song between Fiyero and Elphaba is a nice message about love in the face of adversity, and the book it reminded me of was Brian Michael Bendis' rather strong second issue of Halo: Uprising, which depicts the burgeoning relationship of two people in the face of an alien invasion.

Bendis really knocked this one out of the park, as the interaction between the couple was spot on.

"No Good Deed"

This is where Elphaba basically BECOMES the Wicked Witch that everyone has been calling her for most of the musical, basically after her attempts at being good have backfired, leaving her sister and (she thinks) Fiyero dead.

This backfiring of noble intentions reminds me of this week's Loners, which is about a group of former superheroes who are attempting to avoid their past lives, while still getting sucked back into the old life, often for the worst.

Particularly, Phil Urich (the good Green Goblin) tries to be good, but ultimately becomes just as mad as the previous Green Goblins (by the way, how uninspired is THAT? "Who should I make become a bad guy? Oh, I know! The Green Goblin!").

The series, as a whole, though, is a nice look at the sometimes bad results that can come from noble intentions.

"For Good"

This final duet between Elphaba and Glinda spotlights how much each one had meant to each other, and while they are now parting, probably "for good," because they met each other, both of their lives have been changed "for good."

For this, I think of this week's The Spirit, which is the penultimate issue of Darwyn Cooke's awesome run on the book. I can certainly say that, because I knew Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit, I've been privy to more good comics than I expected, and it is a shame to see him go, for good.

Okay, that's it!

But just for good measure, probably the most notable song from Wicked is the Act One closer, "Defying Gravity." I couldn't find an apt comparison this week (unless I went for a cheap joke regarding the lady in this week's Iron Man Annual, where Greg noticed the same silly artistic decision that I, too, noticed), but I know if I didn't mention it, people would be irked, so here it is!

"Defying Gravity"

Otherwise, that's it! See ya'll next time! Which musical should I do next?

14 Comments

• At November 28, 2007, Rohan Williams wrote:

  I'm loving this feature, Brian. It's definitely... different.

• At November 28, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Hopefully next week, you'll go back to using good musicals.

• At November 28, 2007, Dan wrote:

  I don't know if you've ever seen Wicked live on Broadway, but it's actually quite good and quite the experience. ...

• At November 28, 2007, joshschr wrote:

  YOU ROCK! In a Broadway musical sort of way. Keep 'em coming.

• At November 28, 2007, Cat Skyfire wrote:

  Defying Gravity and comics - Mmm... My thought is any time a hero openly declares that they'll not be ...

• At November 28, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Defying Gravity and comics - Mmm… My thought is any time a hero openly declares that they’ll not be under ...

• At November 28, 2007, Mer wrote:

  "Hopefully next week, you’ll go back to using good musicals."

  Heh. It's definitely a let-down after Sondheim, that's for sure. ...

• At November 28, 2007, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Well I think you've gone over the edge with this review style Brian, I'd thought it was a one off, ...

• At November 28, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Wicked is a terrible show, and when you say a show is "quite the experience", that says to me that ...

• At November 28, 2007, Cat Skyfire wrote:

  Remember - Every musical (as well as every movie, TV show, and, of course, every comic book) is loved and ...

• At November 29, 2007, Michael wrote:

  "Not quite sure why you’d say it’s not good."

  Because it's not. It (and the novel it's based on) is a ...

• At November 29, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Because it’s not. It (and the novel it’s based on) is a poor rehash of a tired concept combined with ...

• At November 30, 2007, Mer wrote:

  I just came across the below linked blog piece and thought it would be a good companion to Brian's new ...

• At December 2, 2007, Economics Topics News » Blog Archive » Musical Reviews 11/28 wrote:

  [...] Musical Reviews 11/28comic Book Resources - USAWhile fill-in writers Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis actually do asolid job of ...

I will pick songs from a notable Broadway Musical and compare songs from them to comics that were released this week, including YouTube clips to the songs in question.

Sound good? We'll begin with Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods." Enjoy!

Beware of spoilers!!

"Prologue Part 1"

The opening of the musical, where a number of characters express their wishes for their lives, reminds me of Peter Tomasi' Black Adam mini-series, which is built upon the wishes of Black Adam, to both regain his power, but most importantly, regain his lost love, Isis, no matter the consequences. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of the characters from Into the Woods, who are willing to venture into the woods, trusting that there solution lies within the woods - just like Adam is willing to trust, of all people, Felix Faust.

"Prologue Part 2"

Come on, what other book this week can be compared to the Witch's rant:

But I'm tellling you the same
I tell kings and queens:
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with my greens!

Than World War: Hulk #5?

Nothing fits not wanting to mess with the green than World War Hulk.

"Hello Little Girl"

This piece, about the temptation of sexuality and loss of innocence, fits well with Simon Oliver's first issue of Gen13, where the teens move to New York City and split up to explore the city individually.

Roxy, in particular, seems to be the Little Red Riding Hood of this story.

"I Know Things Now"

Little Red Riding Hood's ruminations about her lost innocence fit FAIRLY well with Bryan Glass and Mike Oeming's The Mice Templar, which does not have the same sexual element of Red Riding Hood's awakening, but still manages to maintain a lot of the sense of unease with learning new things about the ways of the world, which is definitely the case for the hero of The Mice Templar, the young mouse Karic, who has begun his training to become a Templar to save his subjugated people.

"Giants in the Sky"

This song, which is Jack singing about the daunting, yet exciting nature of moving out on your own, is basically the theme song of Scott Pilgrim, particularly this latest volume, which is aptly titled, "Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together," as Scott does just that - while all the while being just as mystified and excited as Jack was in the kingdom of the Giants.

"Stay With Me"

This song, which involves a "mother" attempting to protect her daughter from the very dangerous world that the "daughter" longs to be a part of, reminds me a bit about J. Torres' Wonder Girl for DC, where I am sure Wonder Girl's mother wishes that Cassie would stay with her, and not become caught up in the violence of superhero work - something that is even more evident in this issue, where it might be Cassie's MOTHER who will need the taking care of.

"Agony" (Reprise)

This song, where the two Princes explain the "agony" of their charmed loves (I like this reprise better than the original, as it is even more bizarre, as the initial song is about how agonizing it is for them to fall in love with their wives - this one is about how tough it is to be cheating on their wives), reminds me a bit of Titans East Special #1, in its false "agony" over the deaths of the minor characters, for the sake of launching the new Titans series.

In both cases, the "Agony" is fairly facetious. "Oh no! They killed off Power Boy! NOOOOOOOO!!!"

"No More"

This tale of sons having to deal with the sins of the father struck me as quite interesting upon reading this week's Booster Gold, which deals with precisely that issue - with Booster's father becoming the new (evil) Supernova.

"No One Is Alone"

The latest JLA Classified arc concludes this week with basically that exact message - even J'onn J'onnz, the last survivor of Mars, is not alone - not so long as he has his Justice League teammates and, like they sing in Into the Woods, so long as he has the memories of his family in his heart.

"Children Will Listen"

This closing track from the musical, which explains how children are more attentive than we think, so we must be careful what we say around them, because they pick up it all - the good AND the bad, reminds me a bit of this week's Iron Man and Power Pack #1, where writer Marc Sumerak shows us that the children of Power Pack DO listen to the adults of their lives, and can be informed by their attitudes, just like they could be informed by Iron Man's take on the world, although they amusingly take Iron Man to task in the issue.

17 Comments

• At November 16, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Merey is behind this, isn't she?

• At November 16, 2007, Adam Jones wrote:

  Brian,

  You're weird.

  Best,

  Adam

• At November 16, 2007, Sidney Assbasket wrote:

  This is, without a doubt, THE strangest piece of comics related journalism I have EVER seen. I'm torn between hating ...

• At November 16, 2007, Rohan Williams wrote:

  Booster Gold came out this week and I missed it? Damn.

  Oh, and yeah, you're insane.

• At November 16, 2007, Teebore wrote:

  Heh. I worked on that show in high school. Agony is a hoot.

  As someone who loves comics AND musicals, ...

• At November 16, 2007, The Mutt wrote:

  That was awesome.

  Do Fiddler on the Roof next.

• At November 16, 2007, Rebis wrote:

  I agree, this is so weird. And, like the thugs from Starman, I also love Stephen Sondheim, so I love ...

• At November 16, 2007, joshschr wrote:

  How could you write this article and not fit in this weeks FABLES?????????????????????????????????????????

  Other than that, I have a whole new ...

• At November 16, 2007, Mer wrote:

  "Merey is behind this, isn’t she?"

  I swear, I'm not! Well...not directly, anyway.

• At November 16, 2007, Brian Cronin wrote:

  How could you write this article and not fit in this weeks FABLES????????????????????????????????????????? I wanted to!

  But it really didn't fit ...

• At November 16, 2007, joshschr wrote:

  I didn't read Fables yet this week (holding out for Black Friday sales at my LCS), so I won't push ...

• At November 16, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Extremely weird, Brian.

  But not unenjoyable.

• At November 17, 2007, Kelson wrote:

  I remember performing "Agony (Reprise)" in class back in college. When presenting it, my scene partner and I disagreed ...

• At November 17, 2007, Lewis wrote:

  Man, I really wanted to have "Into the Woods" as my high school play. It's my second-favorite musical in ...

• At November 17, 2007, Freeform2 wrote:

  Wow, Brian, That was an excellent piece of cross-geeking!

• At November 17, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Man, I really wanted to have “Into the Woods” as my high school play. It’s my second-favorite musical in the ...

• At November 19, 2007, Cayman wrote:

  Brilliant! Make this a regular feature.

  My Power Boy grief is sincere though.