Friday, August 29, 2008

Too much darkness

Over at Every Day Is Like Wednesday, Caleb writes:

At the rate they’re going, I’m predicting Robin turning tricks on the street for the sheer thrill of it, Wonder Girl joining the pornography industry and Blue Beetle coming out as a cannibal by the 75th issue.
I think he's being optimistic.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Reviews: August 27, 2008 (part 2)

Runaways v3 1
Ugh, more bad art. I bloody hate cartoony art. I've seen webcomics that look better than this. I can barely talk about the story; the art was so distracting that it was hard to follow.

So... am I mistaken, or has Chase gotten even more immature? And what, Karoline killed 7 billion people while she was off-planet? That's impressive for a teenager. My guess is that she didn't do any such thing, of course.

I don't mean to obsess over the art, but I have a very visual memory, so it's actually a little difficult to remember everything that happened. What was the deal with the station manager? Did he have a heart attack? Did someone push him? The art was so horrendous that I couldn't even follow what was going on there. Please God let them get a new artist next time. I'm not so tied to this title that I'm willing to insult my eyes every month just to follow it.

Look... I know there are different artistic styles. I'm not asking for Alex Ross here. But I'd like the people to actually be shaped like people, you know what I mean? That weird panel with Chase ripping into the sandwich... I mean, what were they thinking?

Superman 679
So Superman is getting his butt handed to him by Atlas. And Lana shows some moral fiber and gets fired from LexCorp by the cyberghost of Lex Luthor.

At least they cleared up that Zatanna thing between Clark and Lois. I was afraid they were heading for some serious creepiness there after last month. Honestly, I wouldn't put anything past TPTB at DC these days. Superman having an affair with Zatanna? Why not? But thankfully, it wasn't anything like that.

Still, Clark grew up in Kansas. Culturally, he isn't really an alien. So why didn't he get Lois' comment about Ireland? He's got a super-brain, no? And... is this before or after Lois winds up in a hospital bed so a Monitor-ette can bribe Superman into tootling around the multiverse in a Yellow Submarine? I'm so freaking confused about the timeline in the DCU these days.

It was nice to see Kara, though. Supergirl is into cats, clearly. I mean, we knew that from Streaky. But one of those cats looks distinctly unhappy about it. Does Supergirl just not notice that it's trying to eat her? And who shot her from space? Does Cat Grant have friends in the military? I mean: "hussy"? I did like the Hotel Hell touch, though. Even if the "4" was the triangle kind instead of the kind that actually looks like an upside-down "h".

I'm trying to figure out who's more protective of whom: Kal or Kara. I mean, Superman acts like a big brother ("Not her. Never--"), but Kara still remembers him as a baby, and when she heard he needed help, she was there.

Anyway, here's hoping that the next issue doesn't bite. Heh.

Blue Beetle 30
"I printed out this picture from my armor. The paper is made of dead skin cells and sweat." Awesome line of the week.

I want to see a teamup between Jaime and Ryan Choi. Honestly, that would be amazing. And I love the way that Jaime cares about the villains he's fighting. He's got heart. He's a teenager and he has teenage friends, and they act like teenagers. Granted, I could do without the little hearts floating in the air... it reminds me of the little kid Justice League over in Superman-Batman, but this is how to write a comic.

Reign In Hell 2
Meh. Yeah, I don't really have much more to say about it than that.

DC Universe - Last Will and Testament 1
Okay... I'll admit it. I don't have a clue what this was about. I mean, the world is ending? Superman has told them all that this is the end? Since when? What's this coming off of? Is this just out of order? Something that comes off of Final Crisis?

Not one single word of explanation about what's going on. Lots of great characterization. Robin being jealous of Nightwing's relationship with the Bat. Rocky playing pastor to everyone. Clark and Pa Kent. The defeat of Deathstroke. The dissolution of Brion Markov. But it was all painted against a backdrop of a situation that near as I can figure doesn't exist. That's frustrating. There's no bloody context here. Gah.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Reviews: August 27, 2008 (part 1)

Trinity 13
That Was a Sonic Boom
Ryan Choi! I've missed him. I really enjoyed the All-New Atom. It was surreal in a Buckaroo Banzai sort of way, if you know what I mean. If you haven't read it, go and find it. I have no idea if DC is going to be releasing it as a trade, but it's so worth reading. I'm not sure why the Atom symbol on his forehead has only three loops instead of the normal six, but maybe they'll explain that.

Anyway, he's getting to help out the JLA on Earth-3 (if that's what they're calling it these days). The Earth of the Crime Syndicate.

Have I mentioned that I love Busiek's writing? Probably not here, since this is such a new blog, but I really do. Y: The Last Man, Superman: Secret Identity, Trinity... he just has a feel for the kind of stories I like and the kind of characterizations that feel right to me. I hope he's on Trinity all the way till the end.

So... Enigma is from the anti-matter universe? I've been figuring that he's some sort of parallel Earth Riddler, but I hadn't thought of anti-matter (at least partly because matter and anti-matter would annihilate, so I always have to jam my "suspension of disbelief" hat on extra tightly whenever they have matter folks in the anti-matter universe, or vice versa).

But if they try and make it seem like the Syndicate is a good thing for that Earth, I'm going to be irked.

Drop the Coffin and Surrender
The backup story is too disjointed for me. I get the idea of a story arc, but they're "dribs and drabs"ing it a little much here. The splash of the Titans/Outsiders/Birds of Prey showing up was cool, though. I can't wait to go back and read this arc of the backup stories once it's done. I'm sure it'll make a lot more sense then.

Final Crisis - Superman Beyond 3D 1
You've got to be kidding me. I missed the part where this was going to be 3D. I figured "Superman Beyond", it must be the Superman from the world of Batman Beyond. But no, it's focusing on Clark moping by Lois's hospital bed. And the instructions for the 3D glasses were wrong; the 3D works better (though not very well, really) with the red lens on the left.

Anyway.

I'm definitely going to have to pull out my copy of Yellow Submarine tonight. The first shot of the Yellow Submarine is the first page with actual good 3D. I mean, 3D is such a gimmick, but it's kind of cool here. I'm not sure what Ultraman is doing here, when he's busy getting beaten to a pulp by a Batmanized Superman in Trinity (see above), but lately it doesn't seem like DC really cares about such things any more.

I'm kind of curious to know exactly what Morrison was on when he wrote this, because in terms of stoner visions, it compares favorably with Promethea. And I have a little bit of a headache from those stupid 3D glasses.

Final Crisis - Rogues' Revenge 2
What kind of art is this? Ick. Weird squiggly lines all over everyone's faces. And... is this Libra's deal? He wants to reboot everyone?

Remember when the Rogues didn't murder people? Yes, I know, it's self-defense here, but.... well, fine. Remember when DC didn't have people killing each other in horrible ways? Sheesh, what's the point of Vertigo if you get to burn people alive and electrocute them to skeletons and blow them up from the inside in the regular DCU?

I'm so not enjoying this. I'll read the third part just to finish it off, on the chance that it'll be important for other stories, but gawd, reading this made me want to go and wash my eyes. Both from the art and from the story.

Justice Society of America 18
"Born to wander the earth until I meet my soul mate." Sounds like New Amsterdam (and a pox on Fox for cancelling it).

Anyway, it's Gog! And he's lost his insipid grin. I think that means someone's going to get a whupping. Except that KC Superman managed to goad Gog into creating Magog. That's some serious bad news. That isn't how the KC Magog came into being, though, is it?

This is such a cool book. Why can't the JLA be this interesting? Granted, I was hoping for a little more of the Earth-2 story (more than just two pages at the end), but at least they're not dropping it.

More when I get to it...

Monday, August 25, 2008

Picklist: August 27, 2008


  • Blue Beetle 30
    They're going to kill this book. All I can say is, I hope that Jaime gets to stay on as Blue Beetle, even if he doesn't have his own book. This has been one of the most enjoyable and fun books out there, and it beats me how they were allowed to do that. I thought DC policy was to yank everyone kicking and screaming over to the dark side.

  • DC Universe Last Will and Testament 1
    I haven't been paying much attention, because I have no idea what this is about. But it seems to be tied in with all of the changes DC is playing with now, so I'm going to check it out.

  • Final Crisis Rogues Revenge 2 (of 3)
    I honestly didn't like the first issue of this. But it's a Flash title, and that's one of my weaknesses.

  • Final Crisis Superman Beyond 1 (of 2)
    I also have no clue what this is. Superman from the Batman Beyond world? I suppose that could be interesting, but his Terry would probably wind up like SuperPsycho-Prime.

  • Justice Society of America 18
    I'm loving this title. I don't care that they have three and a half trillion members. They have Kingdom Come Superman. They have Power Girl. They have heart. Something sorely lacking from the JLA book. I'm only even still reading that one with a "hope springs eternal" sort of attitude. Right now, I couldn't care less what happens to anyone in the JLA book. But the JSA has me hooked.

    I was so psyched about the JSA annual. Yes, I know, annuals are supposed to cap off story lines; not serve as springboards back into the main comic, but I was so happy to see my old Earth-2 friends that I didn't care. And yes, I know that DC will probably manage to blacken Earth-2 just like they've done to the rest of their titles, but there's always a chance that a miracle will happen, and they'll allow one nice place to flourish in the DC universe (other than the kiddie titles).

  • Reign in Hell 2 (of 8)
    Let me be clear about this. I have no interest in DC's hells. They were cool in Hellblazer back at the beginning. Hell was cool in Sandman, and it was even okay in Lucifer, although I was a lot more interested in Lucifer himself than Hell. But the whole Neron and Blaze and whatnot thing happened while I was away, and I just really don't care a whole lot. I'm reading this for one reason, and one reason only. So that DC can rip my heart out and stomp on it by doing horrible things with Linda Danvers.

    Supergirl was one of my two favorite characters growing up. Supergirl and the Flash. As you might expect, I took CoIE a little personally. When PAD wrote his Supergirl series, I was out of the country, and all I knew about it was the little bit I read on the AstralDreams site. As far as I was concerned, that wasn't Supergirl.

    But then I got a chance to read it. In a huge marathon. And I fell head over heels for Linda Danvers. The end of the series crushed me. I've had a child taken from me, and again, I took what happened to Linda very personally. I started reading Fallen Angel in hopes that this was Linda, and that somehow she'd find her way back to herself. When PAD took the title away from DC, I couldn't get into it as much, and when he wrote Linda into the book as Lee's predecessor, I was done with it.

    But now Linda is going to be featured in Reign in Hell. So what choice do I have?

  • Runaways Vol.3 1
    I like Runaways. My daughter read the original run last year (she's 8 now), and she liked it too. Even my partner read them. I didn't realize that they were starting up a new run, and I've been wondering what happened to the title. I'm glad it's reappearing. My knowledge of the Marvel Universe is pretty dated, but it suffices. I mean, I remember when Cloak and Dagger were introduced. I remember back before they invented the whole mutant-as-minority idea back in Dazzler whatever. Runaways is fairly off the beaten track from general Marvel continuity, though, so I'm not worried about it dragging me in deeper.

  • Superman 679
    So I'm reading Superman and Action. Sue me. They're the core titles. I don't read any of the Bat-books (except Birds of Prey, which isn't really a Bat-book any more, and Superman/Batman and Trinity, which are only 1/2 and 1/3 Bat-books), because I've always preferred Superman. Batman is too dark, and there are too bloody many Bat-books to keep up with.

    I'm interested in seeing how they're going to handle the Kirby stuff with Atlas. And a good old fashioned super-brawl is always nice.

  • Trinity 13
    What can I say about Trinity? It's an interesting book. I like how they're playing with the archetypes. In all honesty, Diana has never been as much of an icon for DC as Clark and Bruce, but for some reason, the idea of the three of them as the center feels right.


Now let's see how the reviews go once the books come out.

Oh, no! Not another comics blog!

I have so many comics blogs in my RSS reader, it's ridiculous. Granted, some of them are defunct, and I haven't gotten around to deleting them (and there's always a chance that some of them will come back), but still, it's a lot.

I'm not a real collector. I sort of was when I was a kid. When I moved to Israel back in 1987, I sold off my 2000 or so comics in one big lump. All I kept was Crisis on Infinite Earths (we cling to our traumas), and the World of Krypton miniseries. And Superman 222, which was the first comic I ever owned.

After the triple thread of my two favorite characters being killed off in CoIE and the horrible Byrne reboot of Superman in Man of Steel, I honestly lost interest.

While I was living in Israel, I actually did subscribe to a few books, and had them shipped in by Mile High. The Vertigo Swamp Thing was one of these. But eventually, I couldn't afford it.

It wasn't until Identity Crisis a few years back that I started reading comics again. And now... well, they say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to doing something about it. But I'm actually okay with this problem.

I've started blogs before, but they always seem to get neglected. I was wondering whether I'd be able to keep up if I had something that demanded my attention on a weekly basis, like comics. So... starting this week, you'll get to read my opinions about comics. Yay, you.