Last week, there was this giant freak-out over DC Universe #0. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that if you are reading a CBR comics column, you know what I’m talking about. If not, well, there are spoilers lurking below the fold, okay?

Oddly enough, it was the lack of a “spoilers” tag that got so many people’s knickers in a twist to begin with. I’m referring to the New York Daily News blowing the whistle on the shock ending of the book a full… what? Sixteen, seventeen hours before the end of business Wednesday? (How is that worse than some guy with a name like “NinjaFart23″ blabbing it all over CBR or Newsarama or whatever? For crying out loud, this happens every Wednesday.)

The point being, okay, yeah, the Daily News spoiled it, but… come on. How many of us read the New York Daily News? It was every blogger in and around comics complaining about it that really broke the news of the Barry Allen Flash returning, spreading that spoiler far and wide…. several hours ahead of schedule. Usually the Wednesday internet spoilers show up everywhere on comics sites at about ten AM, but apparently the News broke the story at four AM east coast time. (Insert sarcastic “Oooooooooo, that’s BAD!”)

I’d already read the book by the time I got home and turned on the computer, because truthfully I tend to not look at comics sites until after I’ve read the week’s haul… I know better.

The odd thing is that left to myself I’m not at all sure I’d have concluded it was, in fact, “the Return of Barry Allen!” There’s no picture. There’s a first-person narrative caption with a lightning-bolt logo. To me, that only says “Flash.”

(And the logo was so tiny I had to really squint at it. Personally, I am not terribly fond of this newest replacement for the thought balloon. Yeah, I know, I’m old, our regular commenters are probably already muttering “Oh, quitcher crabbing about how they did it in your day, Hatcher, jeez.” But in my defense, allow me to point out that we never had to wonder who a thought balloon was attributed to, unlike these Meltzer-esque color-coded captions.)

My first thought, sans rumors? Probably would have been, “Is this some kind of callback to that Lightning Saga crap? Wally saw something before the Legion re-integrated his atoms or whatever the hell?”

No, strike that. My first thought, upon finishing the book, would have been exactly what it was: “Jesus, I don’t understand half of this and I have a houseful of DC books.” Normally when one of the Big Two puts out one of these loss-leader books, 10-Cent Adventure or whatever, I look at it with an eye towards getting another fifteen or twenty for my students or for next Halloween’s trick-or-treaters, or something. (We like having a pile of disposable kid-friendly funnybooks on hand in the Hatcher household; my wife Julie usually spends time at conventions cleaning out quarter boxes for just this reason.) But I didn’t do it for the last DC one, where Max Lord blew Ted Kord away, and I won’t do it this time either. Last time it was because I thought the book was a downer. This time? Too obscure. The kids wouldn’t be into it.

Hell, it was too obscure for me, really.

But I’ve already done a bunch of columns about obscure continuity, there’s no need to go over it all again.

No, this week I wanted to talk a little bit about Barry Allen. Saint Barry of the DCU, as some people call him. I’ve seen a lot of people foaming at the mouth over the idea of bringing Barry back, but let’s think it through. (As, one hopes, DC Editorial thought it through.)

I’ve always had a soft spot for Barry. He was the star of my first real comic book, and you never forget your first.

But objectively, looking at his published oeuvre, he’s not really an A-lister in today’s market. Even I moved on from his adventures to other things pretty quickly when I first dug into comics…. you know, in the Long-Ago Times.

So I’m wondering what the point is. There’s hardly anyone out there in fandom, is there, that’s really been pining for the return of Barry? Certainly not the way the Hal Jordan people were foaming at the mouth for a decade.

In that fine old tradition of internet-blogger idle speculation, though, I thought I’d make the case pro and con and see what you all think.

Pro-Barry:

DC needs a Flash. One in the red suit, that is, the one that’s licensed for toys and cartoons and so on.

Bart Allen… well, that just didn’t work. Geoff Johns started by sucking a lot of the joy out of his character in Teen Titans — honest to God, am I the only one left that thinks it’s okay for a superhero to be light and fun? Impulse wasn’t exactly aimed at my demographic but the few times I picked it up it made me smile, and sometimes even laugh out loud.

Then Geoff Johns put him in the Titans, changed the name and the suit, and started riffing on the idea that Bart wanted to be taken seriously. Fair enough, it was a hook to hang his character on, but Johns was already doing it so much better in JSA with Stargirl. Then Bilson and DeMeo took him and made him even more morose and bitter. By the time it was decided to generate some quick buzz by killing the kid, it was almost euthanasia.

Now we have Wally West back. Wally, it has to be said, is probably my favorite iteration of the red-suit Flash, especially once Mark Waid got hold of him.

The trouble is, I’m afraid Wally suffers from the fact that his entire history takes place in an era where the superhero audience has never really turned over. He’s died and come back, he’s married, he’s had kids, he’s had the wife and kids killed, he’s got the wife and kids back, he’s gone public, he’s gone back to the secret ID, etc., etc…. and we remember all of it. Most of this is available in trade paperback. I look at Wally and think, geez, what’s left to do with the poor guy? You’d have to go back and un-do stuff. They’d probably start by killing the family again, because we all know how comics writers feel about married heroes with families…

And I really don’t like that idea. I suspect that was the thinking behind aging Bart and putting him in the suit in the first place. So you give Wally his happy ending and pass the mantle on to someone else.

Why not Barry? First of all, he’s a lot easier to doubletalk back to life than people think. He didn’t die of a gunshot or a beating. He was zapped by some sort of cosmic widget that sent his atoms careening across time. Batman and Wally saw him sort of disintegrate, but for a guy that had conscious control over his molecules, as Barry did, it’s not unreasonable to posit that maybe he could eventually pull himself together.

And, more to the point, creatively it’s an attractive notion. The Barry Allen stories took place in the Silver Age, in an era where fans tend to dismiss the stuff as corny or being for kids. There are hardly any modern stories about him. In that sense, he’s a blank slate, almost.

In fact, Barry never really had a fair shot with modern comics fans. I mean the generation that came and stayed, back when comics shops were getting going. At the time those fans were entering the superhero readership, the Barry Allen murder trial was in its second or third year. Carmine Infantino was phoning in the art, and the book was mired in a storyline that no one but its writer seemed to be enjoying. And there didn’t look to be any end in sight. Sales on the book were in the toilet. The only reason the book wasn’t canceled sooner was the desire to tie it in with the original Crisis, and run out the clock to #350. (A nice even number. For some reason everyone has OCD about this. I think condensing the story and ending with #341 would have been fine, but no, it has to be a round number.)

…But I digress. The point is, a new Barry Allen book could work, especially using a Steve Rogers riff — the man out of time, adjusting to a changing world. The Fastest Man Alive discovering that time has passed him by. We’ve seen characters dealing with losing decades, even centuries, but no one’s done a story where a superhero has to adjust to the idea that he’s lost ten or twelve years of his personal life.

And Barry, unlike, say, Batman or Green Arrow, was very much about his personal life. There are lots of stories that can spin out of that premise. I especially like the idea of playing him off some of the other younger JLA folks like Hawkgirl or Red Arrow, who probably would think he’s too old-school for them. “You know Barry looked totally horrified when he saw me coming out of your room this morning… Geez, Wally was never this much of a stiff.”

(And then those same old-school smarts would come through in a crisis situation: “He was gloating. Luthor was always a gloater, and when he laughs his head goes back. Plus, he tends to focus on Clark and Bruce. I knew if he was taunting them he’d be distracted from his monitor long enough for me to disable the device at superspeed, even with the molecular safeguards.”)

And so on. You get the idea.

Also, Barry’s a really smart science guy, a forensic analyst, and that’s a skill the League could use. I think Batman has ended up doing most of the science and forensics by default, the last couple of years, and they draft Michael Holt for the rest. The JLA should have their own resident scientist, and the thought of a chipper, up-with-people guy like Barry chitchatting with Bruce over lab work is another scene that makes me smile. It practically writes itself — Barry would take the position that Bruce’s demeanor isn’t scary, it’s unhealthy, and he would be compelled to try and cheer him up.

He’d certainly work in the Justice League, anyway. But could Barry carry his own book?

I think so. The key to doing the man-out-of-time riff would be to hang on to Barry’s positive outlook, but challenge it. We’ve seen lots of superheroic whiners deal with personal trauma. What about a non-whiner? Barry Allen was a guy who really believed in the American ideal, and achieved it — even more than Steve Rogers did, in terms of creating a personal life for himself — how would he find his place in the world after it’s all taken away?

He’d shake it off and grimly start from scratch again, I imagine. And show real heroism doing it.

I think that would be an interesting book to read. Your mileage may vary. But certainly, I think the example shows that it’s possible to do a Flash book starring Barry Allen that modern audiences would be into.

*

Anti-Barry:

First of all, it’s yet another resurrection. Which means that none of the Gigantic Event Deaths from the original Crisis will have stuck. (Sorry, you don’t get to count the Don Hall Dove.)

My inner nerd balks at this. For one thing, Barry’s original sacrifice really was well-done, it had a nice build, and somewhat redeemed his character after all that turgid “Trial” stuff. I don’t like to see that undone, even though rationally I know it doesn’t actually affect the original story that sits on my shelf. But it’s annoying.

Secondly, the Event Resurrection seems to be replacing the Event Death as a sales stunt. Every time a writer does this, it adds to the readership’s jaded belief that death in a superhero comic is about as threatening as a bad cold. It is a terrible handicap if you are in the business of creating adventures that depend on building suspense. Why add to the already-prevalent audience cynicism?

Thirdly, and this is, I think, the most compelling reason — Barry Allen works better as a dead martyr than a live hero. All the best stories about him happened after he was dead.

The riff that Barry was one of the Great Ones, the Example We Must Live Up To, has led to some really good stuff. One of the reasons Wally West’s adventures were so interesting was watching him struggle with carrying on the legacy.

And all the stuff that’s been layered on to that legacy over the last twenty years makes it problematic… there’s the time-travel things with Iris and Bart, etc., etc. And we have an audience that remembers all of it. You can’t just say, “everybody out of the pool, it’s a do-over!” (Although I’m amazed DC’s gotten away with that once, with the new Supergirl. I suppose it’s because there was a totally different Supergirl ongoing monthly book in the decades between the original Kara dying and the new Kara showing up. I don’t think that kind of sleight-of-hand will work with Barry Allen, though.)

Even the non-legacy, flashback stories starring Barry have a kind of power because we know his eventual end; it gives them a gravitas that helps them work.

Although I’ve often said that if Barry Allen and Hal Jordan had been written with the kind of snap Mark Waid gave them in JLA: Year One and The Brave And The Bold, there’d have been no need to get rid of them in the first place, I have to admit that the idea that these are ‘historical’ stories kind of helps sell them. It adds to the illusion that time really does pass in the DCU, things happen that matter, people pass on.

Event deaths are often cheap stunts. I don’t think Barry Allen’s was one, though, and it would be a shame to devalue it. If we’re to have a new Flash, let’s get a genuinely new one. Create a new character. DC already spends way too much time looking back at its own history, it’s getting branded as the superhero nostalgia publisher. They should try looking forward for once, just to show the readers they’re capable of it.

*

And that’s the case, pro and con, as it has played out in my head the last week or so. I honestly can’t decide.

Of course none of us know what DC actually is going to do. Certainly, I don’t. But I do know that never even slows us down when it comes to talking about what should happen.

So let the opinionated speculation begin!

See you next week.

NOTE: If you are in Seattle, come see me and my students at the Emerald City Comic-Con this weekend! We’ll be in Artist’s Alley, tables E-5 and E-6. The kids will be signing, doing sketches, and I think Tiffany and Lindon are going to have some of their original art pages for sale at VERY reasonable prices. (And they’re pretty good.) It’s going to be a lot of fun.

If not, we’ll have a full report here next week, with lots of pictures. We are determined this year to get good ones.

13 Comments

• At May 9, 2008, Carl wrote:

  One aspect of Barry's personal life is that his wife has aged decades in his absence. Iris raised two ...

• At May 9, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "And the logo was so tiny I had to really squint at it. "

  Um... big honking lighting bolt over a ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dean wrote:

  First, Barry Allen is a great character. The stuff Broome & Infantino did with him stands with Spidey, the ...

• At May 9, 2008, The Mutt wrote:

  The "man out of time" idea is a good one, but only if you think in terms of real time, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  The “man out of time” idea is a good one, but only if you think in terms of real time, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Hondo wrote:

  Much as I love DC, it really feels like they're pandering to the older crowd of hardcore fans by bring ...

• At May 9, 2008, Matt wrote:

  Great piece as always Greg.

  I feel like the possible pitch on a Barry Allen Flash series is one of those ...

• At May 9, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Not to always bring up Quasar, but in one Quasar issue they had a contest with all the Marvel speedsters ...

• At May 9, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:

  All of the event deaths undone? Nah, Kole is still dead, right?

  Wouldn't Barry Allen be pretty much rubbish as ...

• At May 9, 2008, Michael wrote:

  "(As, one hopes, DC Editorial thought it through.)"

  And there's the rub. If the return of Hal Jordan is any indication, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  As I was just reading in the latest issue of Back Issue (and I'm sure you were too!), I like ...

• At May 9, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  I like how “sales in the toilet” mean it was selling over 60,000 copies in a month.

  Yeah, I know. ...

• At May 9, 2008, Teebore wrote:

  I've always been firmly in the "Barry is better as a legend" camp, but I have to admit, your ideas ...

Let’s begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Fans traveled to Jim Shooter’s home to convince him to return to writing the Legion

STATUS: True

Jim Shooter’s run on the Legion of Superheroes (which he began when he was 14 years old) is still an acclaimed run by fans (it was in the Top 150 Comic Book Runs, as voted on by Comics Should be Good readers), but what is especially remarkable is how much his run was loved back when it happened, and to what lengths some fans went to bring Shooter back to the book.

Shooter began his run with Adventure Comics #346, a comic he wrote and drew when he was a mere 14 years old!

By 1969, Legion lost its place in Adventure Comics (moving to backups in Action Comics, then occasional backups in Superboy - talk about a drop-off!) and Shooter was graduating high school (and most likely disenchanted with working with Mort Weisinger), so the grizzled veteran of 18 years decided to quit comics entirely.

However, Legion fandom does not go softly into that good night, which Shooter would learn later.

First off, the Legion fans founded the Legion Outpost, which was more or less directly responsible for the Legion being given a permanent spot in Superboy (and, ultimately, the entire title to themselves).

Harry Broertjes was the editor of the Legion Outpost from the second issue on, and in the Summer of 1974, he went to visit Shooter, who was living in Pittsburgh and working in advertising. Broertjes interviewed him for Legion Outpost #8, and noted that Shooter seemed interested in writing comic books again.

Some time after the interview was over, Broertjes and another Legion fan, Jay Zilber, decided to go visit Shooter again at Shooter’s home. This time, it was to convince him to try writing comics again. They eventually convinced him to give it a go, and Shooter flew to New York, and wrote his first comic in over four years, appearing in Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #209.

The rest, as they say, is history.

How different would the history of comic books have been if not for these Legion fans?

Read about the Legion Outpost in The Best of the Legion Outpost, from TwoMorrows Publishing (edited by Glen Cadigan).

You can order the book here!

Thanks so much to Keith Dallas, of the nifty Silver Age Soapbox column over at Comics Bulletin, for the information!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: A comic creator was killed returning home from signing a million dollar contract

STATUS: True

When you talk about bizarre, but true, few stories fit the bill as well as this tragic tale of a comic creator dying literally at the peak of his fortunes.

(Robert) Sidney Smith began his career as a sports cartoonist at the Chicago Examiner. He routinely featured a goat character in his cartoons, and when he moved over to the Chicago Tribune, he started a comic strip there starring a family of anthropomorphic goats called Old Doc Yak.

In 1917, Captain Joseph M. Patterson, editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, gave Smith what turned out to be utterly brilliant career advice. Old Doc Yak was not doing too well, so he suggested that Smith try a new comic strip, this one featuring “ordinary” people doing ordinary things.

Smith gave it a shot, and started The Gumps in 1917, which soon became one of the most popular comic strips ever, and helped build the Tribune-News syndicate.

The series, with its intricate continuity and soap opera feel, was a precursor to many other comic strips that began using the same style of storytelling (Gasoline Alley, for instance).

In 1929, Smith took a character who was more important in the early days of the strip (back when it was more of a gag-a-day, and less of a soap opera), Mary Gold, and killed her off (after dragging her illness out for quite awhile). The response was tremendous.

Here is a photo of Smith with the letters he received over her death (and this was not one of the really major characters in the comic)….

Merchandising of the strip was massive, as were other media tie-ins, such as a cartoon film serial, a radio series - the Gumps were everywhere. It was making so much money that, in 1925, Smith received an unheard of ten year, one MILLION dollar contract to do the strip, netting him $100,000 a year.

Amazingly, ten years later, Smith was able to negotiate a LARFGER contract, this time for $150,000 a year.

Sadly, while driving home from the party to celebrate the signing of his contract, Smith crashed his new Rolls Royce (also, I believe, part of the contract) and died.

Talk about going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows!!

Gus Edson took over, and while the strip lasted another two decades, it never was nearly as popular as it was before Smith’s death.

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Dick Giordano brought Steve Ditko to DC Comics

STATUS: False

A few weeks ago, I was reading a comic book messageboard, and I saw the following (I’m not going to single out the poster because the whole point of this is that it is a common mistake, so it wouldn’t make sense to make it out like “Guy X is incorrect” when a LOT of people on this topic are incorrect) post:

Things were really happening at DC in 1968, with the inclusion of Dick Giordano as editor. He brought over Denny O’Neil and Steve Ditko from Charleton, and some really good stuff was going on!

My eyes perked up, because this is a point that I see mentioned every so often when the topic of DC in the late 60s comes up, and it bears noting - Giordano did NOT bring Ditko to DC Comics, it was the other way around.

This is not to diminish the impact that Dick Giordano had on DC in the late 60s, which was considerable. Giordano is a comic book legend, and his influence was important.

However, when it comes down to “who was there first?” the answer is Ditko.

Giordano broke in at Charlton in 1966, editing a number of their titles, such as…

Judomaster…

War Attack…

Go-Go….

and Sweethearts…

Essentially, the whole line of comics.

In 1967, he notably edited the first issue of Blue Beetle, where Ditko debuted the Question.

In April of 1968, Ditko started at DC with a story in Showcase introducing the Creeper.

This issue was edited by Murray Boltinoff, not Giordano.

Once at DC, according to noted comic historian Mark Evanier (who also noted last year how often this error comes up), Ditko recommended that they hire Giordano, who started shortly after, with Aquaman #39,

and the same month, the first issue of Ditko’s Beware…the Creeper.

That same month, Ditko introduced Hawk and Dove in Showcase (Carmine Infantino edited it).

Talk about a productive few months!

Yes, Giordano did bring Charlton creators with him (most notably, Denny O’Neil), but not Ditko.

Thanks to Mark Evanier for the information!

Okay, that’s it for this week!

Thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database for this week’s covers!

While you’re here, check out the Top 100 Comic Book Runs countdown (you can follow it here)!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is cronb01@aol.com.

See you next week!

13 Comments

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>Harry Broertjes was the editor of the Legion Outpost from the second issue on,

  Apropos of not much, as a ...

• At May 9, 2008, Jesse Farrell wrote:

  Did Shooter actually draw his Legion stories? I thought he layed them out and then more experienced DC artists drew ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Yeah, he laid them out.

• At May 9, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  Shooter's LSH was the first title I can remember buying and saving each month, my first little comic book collection. ...

• At May 9, 2008, Aaron Poehler wrote:

  Well in all fairness I think the lesson you should have learned there is to always look beneath the covers ...

• At May 9, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  And she wasn't even pretty, not to a boy who'd spent the last three or four years imagining how I ...

• At May 9, 2008, Hondo wrote:

  I was going to question his drawing the issues, as I had never heard that. Doing layouts would not ...

• At May 9, 2008, Hondo wrote:

  It's Super B!tch's fault !

  I remember when comics went from a quarter to a whole 30 cents each. Outrageous ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dave Lathrop wrote:

  Wow... I'm famous! I'm the idiot who made the stoopid comment about Dick Giordano bringing Steve Ditko over to ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>And she wasn’t even pretty, not to a boy who’d spent the last three or four years imagining how I ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Huh. I didn't realize till just now, trawling through the "Time Machine" cover galleries at Mike's Amazing World of DC ...

• At May 9, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  Every price increase since then has been basically a revisitation of the original, deeper trauma.

  And, to continue my sad tale, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Richard wrote:

  From the wikipedia article on Jim Shooter...

  "Rather than submitting a standard script, Shooter's early method was to actually draw out ...

Enjoy!

137 (tie). Grant Morrison’s Zenith – 57 points

2000 AD #535-550, 558-559, 589-606, 626-634, 650-662, 667-670, plus some Annuals, plus an additional run from #791-806 that is probably a bit too far away to count as one run

I just featured this run on the comic book alphabet of cool. It was a fun, postmodern superhero tale of a superhero in a time when doing music videos was the most superheroes had to do - so what does he do once he actually has to be a superhero? We shall see! Brendan McCarthy and Steve Yeowell were the main artists (the former doing the design work and the latter most of the actual pencilling).

137 (tie). Fabian Nicieza’s Thunderbolts – 57 points (1 first place vote)

Thunderbolts #34-75

Nicieza took over a book that seemed like it was completely Kurt Busiek’s title, but by the time Nicieza left, his personal stamp was all over the work. He did a fine job bringing them back a few years after this run, as well. Mark Bagley helped transition the run from Busiek to Nicieza, then Patrick Zircher did some fine work on the book.

136. Steve Gerber’s Defenders – 58 points (1 first place vote)

The Defenders #20-29, 31-41

Steve Gerber’s run on the Defenders is most notable in how off-beat it was, especially for the time period. A highlight of this run is the work Gerber did with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

134 (tie). Ed Brubaker’s Catwoman – 62 points

Catwoman #1-10, 12 -37

Brubaker completely revamped Catwoman, turning her into a sort of Robin Hood of Gotham’s East Side. Darwyn Cooke was there at first to help design things, then Cam Stewart did a marvelous job on the title keeping up with Cooke’s style. Gritty, character-based drama.

134 (tie). Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers – 62 points (1 first place vote)

Avengers #500-503, New Avengers #1-current (#40), plus some Annuals and I guess Mighty Avengers #1-current (#13)

Bendis finished one run on the Avengers and then revamped them as Marvel’s premiere superhero franchise, taking a book that was doing average sales and making it Marvel’s most popular title (then launching a spin-off that somehow managed to do almost as well!).

133. Roy Thomas’ All Star Squadron – 63 points

All-Star Squadron #1-67, plus some Annuals

Roy Thomas was given the keys to the kingdom when he was allowed to do this series that filled in the blanks in DC’s Golden Age. It was detailed, but it was also humanistic, and some of Thomas’ finest comic book work of the decade.

132. Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing – 64 points (2 first place votes)

House of Secrets #92, Swamp Thing #1-10

This run, which introduced Swamp Thing to world has nice stories by Len Wein, but it is Bernie Wrightson’s stunning gothic-esque artwork that defines this run. Amazing artwork.

130 (tie). Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead – 65 points

Walking Dead #1-current (#49)

This tale of what happens to zombie survivors when they try to live the rest of their lives is an engaging look at how “real” people would react to the situations given to them. Tony Moore began the book, but Charles Adlard has been doing it for years. Great work.

130 (tie). Peter Bagge’s Hate – 65 points

This could easily count other books, but let’s just say Hate #1-30, plus a bunch of annuals.

Bagge’s Hate is a stunning piece of political and social commentary, highlighted by Bagge’s stinging sense of humor and his exaggerated style of artwork. Buddy Bradley is more or less an “everyman” trying to deal with the modern world as responsibly as he can, while all the while noting how bad the world can be (humorously, of course!).

129. William Messner-Loeb’s Flash – 66 points (1 first place vote)

Flash #15-28, 30-61

While Mark Waid’s run is the more famous, a lot of Waid’s cues were from Bill Loebs’ run on the title, as it was Loebs who began to humanize Wally West, and it was Loebs who introduced Linda Park, and the interesting chemistry between Linda and Wally. Loebs stories were centered around humanity, but they also had action and, most importantly, they often had FUN.

Loebs also outed the Pied Piper in a brilliant piece of writing. If only Northstar could have been outed as well as Loebs handled the Piper.

That’s it for today! Ten more tomorrow!

22 Comments

• At May 9, 2008, Graham Vingoe wrote:

  "A highlight of this run is the work Gerber did with the Guardians of the Galaxy"

  Maybe, but the REAL highlight ...

• At May 9, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Two things here that almost got votes from me - Messner-Loebs' Flash and All-Star Squadron. Flash, as you say, was ...

• At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:

  I LOVE "HATE"!

  AND I HATE EVERYTHING ELSE!

  Remember that?

  Ah, the early 1990s...

• At May 9, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  had I voted, both Gerber's Defenders and (especially) All-Star Squadron would have been high up on my list, so it's ...

• At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:

  Messner-Loebs's Flash! Man, I love this run. It would have made my list if I could pick 11 or 12 ...

• At May 9, 2008, Mike Thompson wrote:

  Seeing Zenith is a big surprise.

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Man, I never vote in these things (as noted elsewhere, I never vote in ANYthing, most notably political contests), but ...

• At May 9, 2008, garth wrote:

  I think I did vote for Gerber's Defenders. But while the Headmean stories were crazy, the killer elf was ...

• At May 9, 2008, Bill K wrote:

  Messner-Loebs' Flash scored one of my votes. It includes my pick for best Wally West story ever, #54 (see http://www.fourthhorseman.com/Flash/iss054.htm ...

• At May 9, 2008, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  Had I voted, Gerber's Defenders and Bagge's Hate would have made my top ten.

• At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:

  Garth: you bring up such an excellent point. What I continue to be amazed at is the lack of biography/documentary ...

• At May 9, 2008, Teebore wrote:

  Gerber's Defenders is just crazy, awesome fun.

  Loved Bru's Catwoman; probably my favorite take on the character.

  I haven't read ...

• At May 9, 2008, chris w. wrote:

  I had a Peter Bagge designed t-shirt back in the day: "I Like HATE and I Hate Everything Else!" What ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Bill K --

  Yes. Gerber's run starts toward the end of Essential Defenders vol 1, really hits its stride in vol ...

• At May 9, 2008, chris w. wrote:

  Oh, I almost forgot Gerber's Defenders run. Both Englehart and Gerber's Defenders can be found in the Essential editions and ...

• At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:

  New Totals

  We have 132 runs (and 31546 pts)

  - 47 runs are set in the Marvel Universe (12350 pts)

  - 12 runs ...

• At May 9, 2008, Josh Alexander wrote:

  I thought X-Factor Volume #2 got 63 pts.

• At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:

  Marc Caputo, I agree.

  Just look at all the studies and reference material available for other genre fiction like horror movies ...

• At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>As a personal example, for many years I had no inkling that Gary Friedrich had done such amazing war stories ...

• At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:

  Rene:

  What could be very interesting is if someone did what they did a few years back for Saturday Night Live ...

• At May 9, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:

  I read so many comics but I like these lists (and the comments) as they point to comics I should ...

• At May 9, 2008, Blair wrote:

  GREAT to see HATE! Does Eightball show up at some point???

Enjoy!

Randy Cartier

Randy Cartier was a former agent of the Canadian Secret Service who was part of a group designed to hunt down this really bad dude named Kyle Wolfbridge. In the ensuing fight, Wolfbridge killed her Cartier’s husband and wounded one of her best friends. She responded by (she thought) killing Wolfbridge. Her refusal to play by the rules got her fired from her job.

So she ended up as security chief of Aric’s Orb Industries where she joined the greedy/weak Ken Clarkson as forming an interesting pair of supporting cast members for Aric at Orb Industries. Ken would be the slimy, Cousin Larry, of the group, while Randy was the tough as nails Bethany Cabe type.

She assisted Aric on a number of missions…

And for a time, she was even given the X-O Manowar armor by Aric to use while he was away.

When he returned, the pair became lovers.

It did not last, which was highlighted during an incident involving the (still alive) Wolfbridge.

They clearly still had feelings for each other, but before they had a chance to get back together, Randy was tortured and killed by a villain trying to hurt Aric (the villain also killed Ken).

And get this, I kid you not, I promise that I did not know this until I checked the credits (Bob Layton wrote Cartier’s early appearances and Jorge Gonzalez wrote the bulk of her issues, including when she got the armor), but guess who wrote the story where the female love interest of a superhero was tortured and killed to screw with a superhero?

Ron Marz.

You can’t make that stuff up.

Layton ultimately returned at the end of the series to sorta make up for it all, but I’ll likely get to that when reach an upcoming letter (I wonder which one? :)).

3 Comments

• At May 9, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  I liked her character. She was a bit annoying at first, but she grew on me, and it's sad what ...

• At May 9, 2008, Roquefort Raider wrote:

  X-O Manowar is a perfect example of how to ruin a series by killing off the hero's supporting cast. Randy ...

• At May 9, 2008, Luke wrote:

  I agree with the comment of Ranndy being as important to the title as Carmen Mirage was to TSoDM. ...

The rousing success of DC Universe 0 makes me think that there is a sort of blueprint you can follow to see what the generalized modern superhero fans will enjoy. They appear to want at least one of the following two things:

1. The comic to be good

or

2. The comic to “matter.”

52 (as a whole) was good, DC Universe 0 “matters.” Countdown gave the fans neither.

53 Comments

• At May 8, 2008, joshschr wrote:

  It wasn't any different than DCU: Brave New World, was it? It cost half as much but was only ...

• At May 8, 2008, Bill Burns wrote:

  How about "they want the comic to be really cheap"?

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Why is everyone so cranky about this book? Is it because Grant Morrison was hyping it as the bridge between ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Well, like I note above, Greg, the book has generally had a very positive response from fans, so I don't ...

• At May 8, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  I see it as a trailer, nothing more, geared towards DC readers. Some online reviewers who weren't as familiar with ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, sure, "trailer" is a fair description.

  I'm not begrudging DC for doing this book - it was a huge success. ...

• At May 8, 2008, Sallyp wrote:

  Well pooh on the nattering nabobs of negativity. I liked it, it had Green Lanterns in it, the art ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  What’s NOT to like? The lack of a coherent plot, or heck, the lack of a plot, period.

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Unless, of course, you were joking, Sally, in which case, please disregard. ;)

• At May 8, 2008, Paul O'Brien wrote:

  How are you defining "success", Brian? You're not suggesting that the book was an artistic triumph, so I presume ...

• At May 8, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  The Joker died? If so, when did he die, and how did he come back? (was this during the ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I thought the art was ugly, the "teasers" uninteresting, and the entire thing just a big bath in continuiwank jissum.

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  How are you defining “success”, Brian? You’re not suggesting that the book was an artistic triumph, so I presume you’re ...

• At May 8, 2008, chris wrote:

  I don't understand why DC didn't just put this thing online for free and not even waste the money and ...

• At May 8, 2008, Kane wrote:

  I also couldn't help all but notice that all the big drama about the supposed return of Barry Allen...uh, where ...

• At May 8, 2008, ejulp wrote:

  The Batman part was very cool...but beyond that, it was just kinda of a teaser for the next 6 months ...

• At May 8, 2008, Tomer S wrote:

  I said it somewhere else:

  1. DC aficionados loved the issue and praise it. New readers mostly didn't get it.

  2. Countdown ...

• At May 8, 2008, Tomer S wrote:

  "Big return", "big revelation", whatever you want to call it.

• At May 8, 2008, Rohan Williams wrote:

  The narration was very cool, though. Morrison just showed us a soul being born, or in this case, re-born.

• At May 8, 2008, Darth Krzysztof wrote:

  The "geared towards DC readers" part is the problem I had. I'm only a casual DC fan - I pick ...

• At May 8, 2008, Paul O'Brien wrote:

  Brian, I'd have to say that the tone of this comments thread is pretty typical of what I've seen people ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It's my blog and even I know not to trust my commenters as to what is and is not going ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jason wrote:

  I'm so tired of reading people tee off on it. It was 50 cents. Not like somebody's wallet would be ...

• At May 8, 2008, Garrett Martin wrote:

  I was just talking about this with a friend who never read comics until the last couple of years and ...

• At May 8, 2008, Ger wrote:

  Maybe this issue is geared towards me, though I haven't gotten it yet. I stopped getting 52 halfway through ...

• At May 8, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:

  Nine new pages for $0.50. Most cost-effective book in a dog's age. The "advertising" was free, gravy.

  'Nuff said!

• At May 8, 2008, Dave wrote:

  Honestly, for all the praise it's receiving online, the Darkest Night teaser was probably the most worthless part of ...

• At May 8, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  Cronin hath spoken thusly:

  "But as to the actual quality,...it was not a particularly good comic book (as good comics have ...

• At May 8, 2008, MyNameIsAlanMooreBloodyHell wrote:

  CSBGers are die-hard Marvel Zombies (or blowhards)

  'Nuff Said

• At May 8, 2008, MyNameIsAlanMooreBloodyHell wrote:

  CBSG users are twats,No?

• At May 8, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  Chris said:

  "I don’t understand why DC didn’t just put this thing online for free and not even waste the money ...

• At May 8, 2008, Garrett Martin wrote:

  Honestly, for all the praise it’s receiving online, the Darkest Night teaser was probably the most worthless part of DC ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  How sad is it that someone feels compelled to go someplace they supposedly don't like, just to embarrass themselves with ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  "Perhaps because they wanted ALL comics fans to have a chance to read it. A large percentage of people still ...

• At May 8, 2008, Tomer S wrote:

  "It’s my blog and even I know not to trust my commenters as to what is and is not going ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  "I know that CSBG is famous (and infamous, depends on the POV) for the almost-blind love for Grant Morrison, so ...

• At May 8, 2008, ninjawookie wrote:

  I didn't understand what was going on, except for the Batman scene.

  It's a good thing someone invented the internet to ...

• At May 8, 2008, Michael wrote:

  We'd have to dig them up first to find out, ninjawookiee.

• At May 8, 2008, Jono11 wrote:

  [quote]I don’t understand why DC didn’t just put this thing online for free and not even waste the money and ...

• At May 8, 2008, kwaku wrote:

  I don't see what the big problem is about this issue.

  WW-------------- People, eeeeeeeeeeeeevil looking people, are collecting soil samples ...

• At May 8, 2008, kwaku wrote:

  I don’t understand why DC didn’t just put this thing online for free and not even waste the money and ...

• At May 8, 2008, Thok wrote:

  From what I can tell, people were expecting DC Universe 0 to be an introduction to current DC for newcomers. ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I was simply expecting DCU 0 to be 50 cents worth of entertainment.

  It wasn't.

  You don't pay for trailers. You ...

• At May 8, 2008, Sean wrote:

  As a lapsed DC reader (still follow a few creators there) who skipped Countdown and everything related to it, was ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  I would be indifferent to the book (the trailers did absolutely nothing for me) if not for the baffling decision ...

• At May 9, 2008, Shaun wrote:

  In my own humble opinion, whether you like it or not DCU 0 was a vast improvement on COUNTDOWN. Following ...

• At May 9, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "You don’t pay for trailers. "

  Many people do. Crackdown sold very well last year not because it was a good ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  It is absolutely ridiculous to consider playable demos and online betas on the same level as trailers. You could get ...

• At May 9, 2008, joshschr wrote:

  Was DCU 0 really an advertisement/trailer? A trailer is a presentation of material that's already there. I'm unclear ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  While most trailers use cuts from the finished film, there are plenty of trailers that have used footage filmed only ...

• At May 9, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  >and Final Fantasy XII sold roughly 3-4 times more as a standalone game than Dragon Quest VIII with the Final ...

• At May 9, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  Ach, forgot that quoting doesn't work the same on this blog.

  "and Final Fantasy XII sold roughly 3-4 times more as ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  The Tobal thing was also ten years ago when the video game industry was completely different and would never fly ...

Enjoy!

Quantum and Woody

There was this period, around late 1996, about the time Heroes Reborn started, when the pickings were pretty damn slim if you were a fan of superhero titles. Then, in the span of a few months, Warren Ellis took over Stormwatch, Grant Morrison took over JLA, Kurt Busiek launched Thunderbolts and Christopher Priest and MD Bright launched Quantum and Woody.

So as good as this book is (and it is good) it stood out even more due to the time it was released, where things looked bleak.

The concept of the book is that Eric Henderson and Woodrow “Woody” Van Chelton were best friends whose fathers worked together as scientists, and they both went to the same exclusive private school. One day, Woody disappears without a word. Another boy tells Eric it is because Eric was black. It really was because of the divorce of Woody’s parents.

When their fathers die in a suspicious helicopter accident, Eric and Woody meet for the first time since they were teenagers. While investigating their fathers’ murder, they come across metal bracelets. Each one takes one bracelet, but when the bracelets come into contact with each other, a huge explosion occurs. They were both now turned into pure energy. Now, to avoid dissipating into incorporeal energy, the two must make contact with each other’s bracelet every 24 hours.

The bracelets themselves have powers, so since they have to be with each other all the time, anyways, and they still want to solve their parents’ death, the two decide to become superheroes, of sort. Eric takes the codename Quantum, and essentially becomes Batman, while Woody just wears a matching bodysuit and carries a gun and a zippo.

They have a number of comedic adventures, even including getting their bodies switched with one another.

The book had some darker moments, but in the last storyline of the comic, Priest decided to get REALLY serious, with a very dark story…

At the end, the pair were allowed to break up (the issue was the cancellation of the title).

A year later, Priest and Bright were allowed to bring the book back, and as a joke, decided to publish #32, the issue that WOULD have been released that month…

The next issue was #18, but sadly, Acclaim went bankrupt three issues in, so the book ended (so far, for good) with #21.

Hopefully, with Valiant Entertainment Group around, they will make some Quantum and Woody trades!!

It was a great series - a lot of humor, but a lot of action, great MD Bright art, and a particularly adept ear for characterization by Priest. It rivals Black Panther for the best Priest book.

17 Comments

• At May 8, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  After BIG NUMBERS, QUANTUM AND WOODY is the title I'm soooooo hoping for a return.

  Maybe IDW will get to reprint ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Well, again, Tom, Valiant Entertainment owns the rights, so if anyone does the series, it'll be them.

• At May 8, 2008, Jeremy A. Patterson wrote:

  Now that Jane from Troublemakers and Q&W have been featured, you should include Kevin Maguire's criminally overlooked Trinity Angels, a ...

• At May 8, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:

  There was some gossip that there was some clause in their contract that would either revert ownership of Quantum and ...

• At May 8, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  I seem to remember Valient making a big deal about a goat in Q&W. Surprised you didn't mention it.

  ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  There was some gossip that there was some clause in their contract that would either revert ownership of Quantum and ...

• At May 8, 2008, S Mohundro wrote:

  I still have a "Quantum and Woody are back!" magnet on my fridge, from the 2000 or 2001 San Diego ...

• At May 8, 2008, Patient Boy wrote:

  I managed to find the entire run sometime last year. And what struck me was how little of it was ...

• At May 8, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  As I recall, didn't issue #32 also pick up the story from where it would have been if it had ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jason wrote:

  Easily the best book put out under the Valiant label. Damn near every issue rocked hard and was good for ...

• At May 8, 2008, JdRavnos wrote:

  Brian, are you sure that was only gossip? I dug up this old report from three years ago or so ...

• At May 8, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  The rights would have reverted, but Priest has never gotten around to triggering the reversion. Whether he sitll can or ...

• At May 8, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  Since Woody won't get his own entry, what are the chances 'W' is going to be about WWF Battlemania?

  ....

  Hey, it ...

• At May 8, 2008, Da Fug wrote:

  LOVED Quantum and Woody! And still have a goat inaction figure MOC. It's the only Valiant title I ...

• At May 8, 2008, James wrote:

  Best book Valiant ever published, and probably second only to Black Panther of all of Priest's work. As I ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jason wrote:

  I goofed...it's Heavily Armored Espionage Deadly Uber-Sheep.

  And while I'm thinking about it: "We're not a couple!" Great running gag, especially ...

• At May 9, 2008, BDaly wrote:

  One of my all-time favourites. I should have put it on my list. It also enabled me to get my ...

Enjoy!

146 (tie). Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers –53 points

Seven mini-series bookended by two Seven Soldiers one-shots.

This was a remarkable achievement that spanned over a year’s worth of comics. Some beautiful artwork in the bookends by JH Williams.

146 (tie). Gerry Conway’s Justice League of America – 53 points

Justice League of America #151-155, 157-216, 219, 221-223, 228- 230, 233-239, 241-255

A lot of strong stories and also the introduction of Justice League Detroit.

146 (tie). Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge – 53 points (1 first place vote)

Some one-off stories then Uncle Scrooge #1-69

Barks created one of the greatest, most interesting cohesive universes that I have ever seen. Tremendously rich adventure tales.

144 (tie). Mark Millar’s Authority –54 points

The Authority #13-20, 22, 27-29

Millar decided to go more political than Ellis did on his run, and the results are engaging. Also featured Frank Quitely art AND Art Adams art! That’s quite a pair!

144 (tie). Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum’s X-Men –54 points

X-Men #94-107 (Claremont scripted the early issues, then took over as full writer)

The first comics featuring the All-New, All-Differeny X-Men in their own comic book. Includes the death of Thunderbird plus the introduction of the Starjammers (not to mention the first appearance of Phoenix!).

141 (tie). Joseph Michael Straczynski’s Supreme Power – 55 points

Supreme Power #1-18

Darker interpretations of the Squadron Supreme, set in a more realistic Earth.

141 (tie). Ann Nocenti & John Romita Jr.’s Daredevil –55 points (1 first place vote)

Daredevil #250-282 (Nocenti began writing the book with #238 and stopped with #291 - they both skipped #258, and JRjr also did not draw #264 or #277)

A strong follow-up to Frank Miller’s Born Again, introduced Typhoid Mary!

141 (tie). Mike and Laura Allred’s Madman –55 points

Madman #1-3, Madman Comics #1-20, plus some one-shots

Wonderful off-beat comics. They recently brought Madman back to Image! Such amazing artwork.

139 (tie). Roy Thomas’ Conan – 56 points

Conan the Barbarian #1-94, 95-115 (plus a bunch of other Conan stuff)

As good as Kurt Busiek’s Conan is, this is probably the definitive Conan, comic-book wise. Some of the best work of Thomas’ career. Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema were amazing.

139 (tie). Jim Shooter’s Legion of Superheroes - 56 points (1 first place vote)

Adventure Comics #346-349, 352-355, 357-372, 374-380

As was his intention, Shooter brought a bit more of a Marvel feel to the Legion of Superheroes, and with him came death and some new characters, but most of all, strong stories.

Next batch tomorrow!

49 Comments

• At May 8, 2008, Graham Vingoe wrote:

  really pleased to see that Roy Thomas's Conan at least cracked the top 150! having looked at the 20 titles ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Gualtieri wrote:

  So Claremont's work with Cockcrum was split then? I voted for neither, but I'd definately go for the second one ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I don't even know if the second run received a vote (it very well might have, I just don't recall ...

• At May 8, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:

  So, a series of mini-series like Seven Soldiers counts as a run? I thought there was a no mini-series rule? ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  There was also a "series of mini-series count" rule. ;)

• At May 8, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  So strange to see Barks' Uncle Scrooge, one of the most wonderful runs of all time right next to Millar's ...

• At May 8, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  STRACZYNSKI's first name is Joseph, I would presume, as he goes by 'Joe'.

• At May 8, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  Yay to seeing the Nocenti/JRJ DD, Shooter's Legion, and some Cockrum-era X-men. For better of for worse, it also introduced ...

• At May 8, 2008, Russkafin wrote:

  I wish I had thought to vote for Barks' Uncle Scrooge. I am so glad to see it on ...

• At May 8, 2008, Teebore wrote:

  Heh...the Leprechauns in Banshee's castle...forgot about that for a moment. Classic...

  Is it weird that I like Ellis's Authority more than ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  A few different artists, Walid.

  Louis Williams, Rick Leonardi drew a popular issue (featuring Wolverine). Lee Weeks followed JRjr, and ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  A nice mix of time periods this time, the first 50s comic, with Uncle Scrooge. Not many changes in any ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I agree with you Teebore. Yeah, Supreme Power started very strong, then went nowhere. JMS is the world's most disappointing ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  And it's 36 runs when you get DC + Vertigo + Plas. I'll correct next time.

• At May 8, 2008, Tomer S wrote:

  Good. Now I know that my vote for Supreme Power wasn't for nothing.

  And just to be clear: My vote was ...

• At May 8, 2008, Dean wrote:

  I never liked Gerry Conway’s writing, though I’m forced to recognize his importance in historical terms. Same way I ...

• At May 8, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  I always felt bad for Nocenti - Miller had literally blown up the entire book and left Matt without much ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I've never read Kesel's DD. A "happy" Daredevil triggers alarms in me, because it seems... wrong somehow, just like a ...

• At May 8, 2008, Mordy wrote:

  Is this Scrooge the same as the 12 chapter History of Scrooge series? (Of Duck, Dimes and Destinies through The ...

• At May 8, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  Dean -

  i also rather enjoyed JL: Detroit and was originally a bit befuddled by the unmitigated hatred it receives in ...

• At May 8, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  Kesel's DD sits alongside Waid's Flash as the heralds of the Heroes Return/JLA era. It was the first breath of ...

• At May 8, 2008, Eric wrote:

  Yay for Shooter's Legion! That was the perfect gateway to comics when I was 11. I think that was #10 ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  People were used to see the JLA as the big guns in the DC Universe. Instead, the Detroit League seemed ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  "Kesel’s DD sits alongside Waid’s Flash as the heralds of the Heroes Return/JLA era. It was the first breath of ...

• At May 8, 2008, Mordy wrote:

  Nevermind. Apparently I'm thinking of the Don Rosa Scrooge.

• At May 8, 2008, Cestrian wrote:

  You know I honestly though Roy Thomas' Conan would make the top 20. As far as I'm concerned it was ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  Tell me about it. Roy Thomas's Conan comics were even bigger here in Brazil than in the US.

  Are they the ...

• At May 8, 2008, Dean wrote:

  taking a step back, i can understand why it might have been a bad *JLA* book… but if you forget ...

• At May 8, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  I voted for Barks's Uncle Scrooge work. I can't think of a word to describe it better than "rollicking". Just ...

• At May 8, 2008, Da Fug wrote:

  You know, Brian, sometimes it seems as if you've read ALL this stuff! Maybe I'm just falling for your ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Never did read Nocenti or Kesel on DD, as I'd ditched the book before the end of Miller's first run, ...

• At May 8, 2008, Car-L wrote:

  I voted for Claremont/Cockrum 2nd run. I had it ranked 10th on my list, so it got 1 point, ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  I'm constantly blown away by how dynamic and cool-looking Cockrum's art is on his first run, and what a drastic ...

• At May 8, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  So many great books!

  I don't know what more painful, seeing so many mediocre 90s books in the top 15, or ...

• At May 8, 2008, Fred Salvador wrote:

  I've enjoyed reading the Best Runs columns and especially the comments from everyone. It's been a great trip down ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Matt Bird said:

  "I like Cockrum’s second X-Men run WAY more than his first run, both story and art."

  Well, in that ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I was wondering how much of a comic book nerd I am, so I actually counted how many runs I've ...

• At May 8, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Jack, I'm equally baffled by your preference for the first run.

  During the first run, the faces (esp. Wolverine and Nightcrawler) ...

• At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  Wow, all this enthusiasitic banter regarding which of Cockrum's runs was best. Personally, I thought they were both rubbish. The ...

• At May 9, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  But Bernard, tell us how you really feel about Cockrum's run lol

  I dunno, his Wolverine and Storm never seemed to ...

• At May 9, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  One other thing, the Brood were introduced during Cockrum's 2nd run, long after Byrne had left. I don' recall Byrne ...

• At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  No, Byrne has never drawn the Brood, as far as I know. I was thinking of other Cockrum designs that ...

• At May 9, 2008, BDaly wrote:

  All I've read of these is X-Men and Supreme Power.

  X-Men: Loved it, but it's certainly no Claremont/Byrne

  Supreme Power: Loved it. ...

• At May 9, 2008, Comics Should Be Good! » Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #154 wrote:

  [...] of Superheroes (which he began when he was 14 years old) is still an acclaimed run by fans (it ...

• At May 9, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  Rene -

  yeah, Conan comics were HUGE in West Africa, too. probably much more than they were in the States.

• At May 9, 2008, Bombie wrote:

  Such a shame the US has forgotten about Barks' beautiful universe. In Germany Duck-comics are still quite popular (especially Don ...

• At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:

  I wouldn't go so far as to say Dave Cockrum's runs were rubbish, but it's true that John Byrne and ...

• At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  I think you are being too kind, Rene. Cockrum's work doesn't look bad in comparison to Byrne and Smith. It ...

• At May 9, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:

  Quite a few favorites here. Conan by Roy Thomas. The DD run should have included Al Williamson, he was an ...

And there’s good comics out there.  Really good comics.  You can read the painfully-funny Achewood almost any day.  Roast Beef pretty much makes up for all the other web comics nastocity by himself.  I hadn’t been to the shop in a while so I had a big stack today.  But as I was eating dinner and having some drinks, I got to read ‘Beto Hernandez, a ridiculously-fun Mighty Avengers drawn by Alex Maleev (I’m a sucker for “get the gang together” bits), Brian Wood’s Viking beauty, and an Abe Sapien book.

Listen, if, at this point, you’re down on “comics today” it’s your own fault.  Stop reading such crap.  The good stuff isn’t hard to find.

63 Comments

• At May 7, 2008, Conor E wrote:

  Did... did a comic book blogger have something positive to say about a crossover tie-in issue (Maleev's Avengers)?

  I smell a ...

• At May 7, 2008, T. wrote:

  This was short, but enjoyable. Thanks.

• At May 7, 2008, Craig wrote:

  If your store owner won't refund your 50 cents for DC 0, you shop at the wrong store.

  If you didn't ...

• At May 7, 2008, Matt wrote:

  I liked DC Universe 0 for what it was; a teaser issue. Nothing more. Much like you get ...

• At May 7, 2008, Conor E wrote:

  Craig: please explain how a crappy commercial makes the product advertised bad. I'd REALLY like to see an explanation that ...

• At May 7, 2008, MDV wrote:

  Alex Maleev? Really? I'm not a big fan of Human Xerox machines. Even Greg Land goes through ...

• At May 7, 2008, Michael wrote:

  While I reserve the right to call shitty comics shitty, you're right. There are plenty of good comics out there, ...

• At May 7, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  Word to the Roast Beef praise.

• At May 7, 2008, Bill wrote:

  Hey, MDV, Maleev actually draws all those pictures! He may photoshop some of his backgrounds, though: I'm not sure.

• At May 7, 2008, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Wow, Criag. That was a heckuva lot of wrong to fit into only four paragraphs.

• At May 7, 2008, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Whoops. Says the guy who misspells "Craig".

• At May 7, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  If you're the kind of customer who demands a refund on a 50-cent product from a comic shop, the problem ...

• At May 7, 2008, Sam wrote:

  Beto Hernandez and Achewood, praised in the same post? Joe Rice just made my favorite bloggers list.

• At May 8, 2008, J. R. Wick wrote:

  I still fail to see why there is so much hatred towards DCU #0. It was a teaser book, ...

• At May 8, 2008, Vic wrote:

  Comics are good? I never would have guessed!

• At May 8, 2008, MyNameIsAlanMooreBloodyHell wrote:

  Joe Rice is an idiotic brainless inbred Marvel Zombie

• At May 8, 2008, MyNameIsAlanMooreBloodyHell wrote:

  Wow Craig you're such a cunt,Download Secret Invasion but don't buy it

  Hows that?

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  ACHEWOOD totally rules. SECRET INVASION is just the right amount of loopy ridiculousness. DORORO is absolutely killer classic manga. The ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Also, I just want to second that Joe is an idiotic brainless inbred Marvel Zombie.

  With sexy chest-hair.

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  Wow. Quite a departure from Snark Free Corner, I guess.

  Conor E: I'm not saying that a bad commercial is indicative ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I used to think CSBG was a nice place for people to positively discuss comics, what with weekly themes like ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "I used to think CSBG was a nice place for people to positively discuss comics"

  It's called "COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD".

  That ...

• At May 8, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  When I think "Marvel Zombie", the first thing that comes to mind is "Joe Rice."

• At May 8, 2008, Michael wrote:

  He's right about the inbreeding, though. I mean, the man is from Kentucky.

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Yeah, I'm not sure what Craig's beef is here. I totally understand Alan Moore's beef, and quite agree with ...

• At May 8, 2008, Hans Keller wrote:

  I thought I was the only person left on the planet who remembered Dartman.

• At May 8, 2008, John Cage wrote:

  Anyone who's down on comics is reading the wrong books. I got a lot of fun books yesterday, and while ...

• At May 8, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:

  Joe Rice raped my childhood.

  (Well, somebody had to say it.)

• At May 8, 2008, Katherine F. wrote:

  I hate Achewood. I just had to say that, because everyone and their dog keeps saying how awesome Achewood is, ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "and I want the other people who fail to see the humour in a cartoon cat vomiting blood to know ...

• At May 8, 2008, Katherine F. wrote:

  Alex Cox: Should I be insulted that you assume I don't know what I'm talking about? I read over a ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  I didn't assume anything about you.

  I just said what I think about ACHEWOOD, and pointed out that your description ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Wait a sec, didn't Joe Rice quit posting for Vitally Important Reasons? Just like the vastly successful and prolific Listen ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  I find "Cat and Girl" thoroughly generic. Punchlines that are obvious from the first panel, adolescent philosophy, and jokes that ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "I would say that for someone who read over a hundred strips, if all you took away from it was ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "It’s just that, both on those occasions when Joe has quit, or as with the founding of LTUWR, it seemed ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jones, one of the Jones boys wrote:

  Joe, didn't the NYPD tell you to stop throwing darts at the female populace?

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I love Alex. Here I am, not doing anything, and he has to take a shot at me. ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  You don't have to take it all personal, Greg.

  So I think you ruined the blog. So what?

  No need to get ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  I guess that depends on how you define "not doing anything", Greg. Since Alex's issues are with your posts on ...

• At May 8, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  Is it actually worth driving all the way back to the comic shop just to get a 50 cent refund ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  [quote] Craig, I’m the fellow who does those bits, and even I can tell you, without any snark involved, that ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  "You just want the lameness to end, and sometimes that means swinging your arms and stomping your feet."

  Well, there's always ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  "As for stealthwise, aren’t you going to drive back to the comic shop for next week’s books? Take the issue ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Craig, I'd like to point out I talked specifically about a DC book as well. Northlanders, man. Not ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  And let it be known that I find AlanMoore kinda funny, at least so far.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "Since Alex’s issues are with your posts on the blog, you’ve been doing what bothers him for quite a while ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Well, just the first time, then.

  Honestly, though, I was just trying to give you a light hard time about ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Jack: No sweat, totally. Yeah, my first "quit" was really melodramatic. No way I can deny that ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Hey, that's fine, Alex. I know you don't come around here that often, but when you do, you never ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Greg, I never "went off" on anyone (re-read my responses, please... i was barely even responding to her) and I ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  "There are so many crappy [comics]. There are crappy ones made, at least in part, by people whose work ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sorry, sir. I just equated you calling me "lame" with calling me "stupid." Plus, there's the whole "you ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  I'm sorry, I did say I was done. Seriously, this time.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Well, to be fair, you did ruin the blog with your lameness.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  That was a joke, for anyone keeping score at home.

  Greg, if you get overly defensive again, Joe Rice gets a ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I wouldn't want Joe to win, so I'll keep my cool.

  Come back tomorrow when I talk about how good Moon ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  "Listen, if, at this point, you’re down on “comics today” it’s your own fault. Stop reading such crap. ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Most people I know who are "down on comics" are downloaders who never paid for the book to begin with, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I’d love to join the “fuck yeah” brigade here, but Jesus, was an analogy that explicitly compared the value of ...

• At May 9, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I'll admit that comment was stupid, sorry, Lynx. The only defense I can say is that I wasn't talking ...

• At May 9, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "Jesus, if this is what passes for “smart fan” writing in comics,"

  I don't think anyone mistake Rice for a "smart ...

• At May 9, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Re-reading the post, it seems pretty clear that Joe's analogy is about dating in general, and not really about ...