Posts Tagged ‘DC’
Batman With Cats
Monday, June 14th, 2010Playing Catch Up: Preacher
Saturday, May 1st, 2010
I’ve been raiding my friend’s library, and decided to give Preacher another shot. I picked it up before and for whatever reason didn’t stick with it. I think I got to the part where the angel and demon are doing the horizontal polka and I decided to try again later. That later happened to be quite a while.
The dark humor is landing stronger this time, and I’ve got the character voices going a bit stronger in my mind. The odd thing that occurred to me was how much these characters and the humor remind me of a Coen brothers movie. Everyone has their weird quirks, and whatever is possibly the worst that could happen, lands squarely in the middle of everyone’s lives. And every time John Wayne pops in, it reminds me of Elvis in True Romance, or the Lonely Cowboy/narrator in The Big Lebowski.
Looking forward to racing through the rest of the book. Cassidy rules.
Looking Back At Blackest Night
Monday, April 5th, 2010
Blackest Night (DC/Johns/Reis) crossed the finish line of its 9 month long Saturday morning cartoon-esque epic. The story from Johns was great fun, and played upon many of my expectations of how the story would eventually unfold. However, the real superstar of the series, the brightest light of Blackest Night if you will, is without a doubt, Ivan Reis. Prior to this DC event comic, I think many viewed him as being secondary to Ethan Van Scriver, as he played second fiddle for him a few times as EVS struggled to keep up with schedule. Reis was on full steam from the word go. The book was on time (yes there was a scheduled delay in January) and never dropped in quality. (more…)
Joe the Barbarian Issue #1
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Ads for Joe the Barbarian have been popping up in most of the comics I’ve been buying each week, and while I’m always wary of Grant Morrison, Sean Murphy’s art cannot be denied!
The book starts off with a simple familiar (toys come to life…or do they) premise, and surprisingly Morrison’s writing really seems to take a back seat to the storytelling that Murphy employs. I especially love the sequence where our young protagonist comes home to a house rich with character. Murphy says in a column in the back that he put in a lot of details that remind him of the house he grew up in, and this care is apparent as the mood builds while Joe ascends to his room.
The first issue is a single dollar. In today’s world of rising comic prices, there is no reason to skip this book.
Apparently the entire first issue is available online for free!
Joshua Middleton
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Joshua Middleton popped up on my radar with the release of the first NYX series from Marvel. While he may not have been fast enough (or so I hear) to keep up the monthly schedule, his work and color are always a treat to see on the comic rack each week.
I saw this Supergirl cover on his website recently, and while I’m not reading it or any sort of SG fan, the image really says alot.
Superhero
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
My friend and I were talking about DC movies yesterday, and how much of a struggle it seems to make a successful Superman story. My pie in the sky director of choice would be Spielberg; yeah some people think hes overrated. But, think of the sense of adventure and wonder he brought to movies like ET, Close Encounters, and Indiana Jones. He creates tension and danger, but without having to be dark and gritty. Superman doesn’t need to be dark and gritty. If not, maybe Peter Jackson can at the very least handle Superman on the necessary scale.
The other requirement I’d think of for a Supes flick, his powers can’t be wildly out of control. As fun as Superman I is, rewinding time by flying and spinning the world in reverse, not only doesn’t make a bit of sense, but is just completely absurd. Even as a kid, I thought it was ridiculous. One of the big hurdles to writing a Superman story is his immense powers, and I think instead of trying to work around them, or rely on kryptonite to weaken him, the script writer should just embrace his vast amount of abilities. Show off Superman wading through and army of killer robots and tanks ala Casshern Robot Hunter. The audience knows he can’t be hurt, there is little suspense in the outcome of any physical altercation that Superman puts himself in. So show it off, and let us revel in awe and amazement at the sheer force and control of Superman in action.
The challenge for Superman shouldn’t ever be love, or some giant robot army. Something needs to challenge him as a person, as Clark Kent. I’m not saying that Clark should write an article and that should solve everything. Its the decisions and beliefs that Superman holds from being raised as Clark Kent that really separate him from the rest. One of my favorite examples of Superman being challenged, and essentially beaten, is in the Elseworlds story Superman: Red Son. Read it, its a short comic, and doesn’t require you to know 30 years of continuity. In this story, Superman is beaten by a single sentence. A single sentence (which I’m refusing to spoil) calls into question everything he does and stands for in this story.
In short, if WB wants to relaunch a Superman movie, show off his amazing powers, but challenge his beliefs, and you also challenge the audience.
Comics This Week
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Blackest Night #3 has been my favorite yet! This is the first time where I didn’t feel like I missed something due to my lack of DC knowledge… Sure, there was alot of exposition in the middle, but I was kind of expecting this in either of the first 2 issues, or to have been spread out across all 3. I’m pretty grateful for this bit of exposition though, as I’m not really following Green Lantern or GL Corps.
Artist Ivan Reis is really knocking out of the park, I really loved the page where you first see Barry and Hal fighting off their former friends, now Black Lanterns. Geoff Johns did a great job with Firestorm here too. While I’m familiar with the concept of this character, I didn’t know anything about the new one, but there was enough here for anyone to understand the emotional consequences of an encounter later in this issue. The friendships and relationships were much more apparent, and felt more like an emotional connection between these characters as opposed to some line between them on a flow chart.
Sadly, this is kind of how I felt in issue 2 with Aquaman. I got that some heavy weight was being tossed around, but I spent most of my time reading it trying to figure out who some of these people were and how they related to each other…. In issue 3, the relationships between characters like the Hawks and The Atom were much more clear, and that made the fighting and dialogue feel less like a reference and more integrated into the story telling.
Either way, I’m having fun with this book so far.
Comics This Week
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Jeff Lemire has been getting plenty of praise during the lead up to the release of The Nobody on the comic podcasts (11 o’clock, AC, iFanboy) I listen to. Its books like this that really keep me listening to them, books that might slip through my fingers otherwise. Word of mouth is definitely the best advertisement. I haven’t read his Essex County Trilogy, but I’ve heard nothing but great things. So based on his reputation and the dwindling number of titles remaining on my pull list, I snapped up The Nobody this wednesday (30% everything in store at Cosmic Comics you New Yorkers!).
The Nobody tells a somewhat familiar tale of an odd outsider, Griffin, coming to rest in the small town of Large Mouth: Home of the World’s Largest Bass. Naturally, his past is covered up much like his face(see above). Jeff Lemire’s writing and art make all the difference here. His expressive brushwork really carries a lot of motion and with a simple look from a person on the page he’s telling you what each distinct inhabitant of the town is thinking or feeling.
I’m trying really hard here not to spoil anything…and I won’t. Simply, as the bandages on the stranger unravel, so too do the mysteries and paranoia of the people of Large Mouth. Even if you see whats coming next, Lemire has plenty of detours and surprises along the way.
It’s all in the details, the way the story and characters are revealed throughout and especially at the end. His ability to take advantage of the comic book format shows Lemire’s expertise and love of the comic book form. His writing brings to life rich characters without tons of exposition, and lovingly crafts the marriage between images and words.
In short: Dive in blind and read Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody.
soundtrack to read with here.
(blind because there is a nice detail revealed on the Vertigo website that I wasn’t aware of when I picked this up, and kept me guessing and wondering. It won’t ruin the ending, but it does kill a bit of initial intrigue.)
Comics Catch Up!
Thursday, March 12th, 2009
It’s been a while since I talked about what I’ve been reading week to week…so here we go!
Far and away, Batman 686 written by Neil Gaiman and penciled by Andy Kubert was the best issue I’ve read since I last posted about my weekly addiction. Alex Ross’ cover might spoil a bit for people…and DC should be scolded for having Batman be so unaccessible while the movie has the potential to drive new readers to the stands. (yes I know the trades are always available) This is the first of a two issue run that tackles the events after the massive Grant Morrison mindbender of Final Crisis and Batman RIP which I haven’t read, but thanks to podcast recaps and discussions, at least have an idea of the basic story. I’ll check them out eventually, but I’m not a huge Morrison fan. The issue is fantastic, and has some of the best pages I’ve looked at in a long time. Batman apparenlty having been hit by Darkseid’s Omega Beam thing, Neil Gaiman is now telling some of the stories of Batman’s infinite deaths. Rather than be brutal, physical deaths, they tackle the character, and take a looks at Batman/Bruce’s shortcomings as a human being. This issue contains a story by Catwoman and Alfred, and both are fantastic, as well as the framing device of the story: a wake for the recently departed Batman.
Comics This (And Last) Week
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Umbrella Academy (Way/Ba/Dark Horse) continues to present me with an odd, peculiar world that I can’t wait to read about. Gabriel Ba is obvioulsy influenced by the great Mike Mignola, and when you merge that with your own energetic style it generates a nice flavor for this grim, humorous book. There are quite a few questions plaguing me about the futures of these disfunctional super siblings. Time Boy and the Kraken seem to be the only men of action for now.
Gigantic (Remender/Nguyen/Dark Horse) brings the destruction on a slightly smaller scale, but the conspiracy and tension heat up with the issue’s great cliffhanger. Nguyen continues to deliver the big action on the page, and Remender keeps the story fun and pulpy; makes me glad to be reading this in issues.
X-Men (Fraction/Dodson/Marvel) was decent enough, I can’t complain about the writing or the art really, (though Dodson’s teen X-Men could stand to look a bit younger). What I can complain about is it seems the events of the next Marvel event, Dark Reign, are reaching into this book, and suddenly pulling Emma away from the team. I don’t believe that she is a traitor, and making her as such this late in the game seems strange. Seeing Scott take charge and Colossus find himself is enjoyable enough. I’m just worried to see such a good creative team get bogged down in Marvel’s “master plans”
Runaways (Moore/Ramos/Marvel) The action in this book is heating up! As the Runaways get it together, and Chase seems to gain a knack for tinkering, the team lives up to its namesake as they flee the Majesdanian ship. Moore’s handle on the characters is still firm, and Ramos’ energy spills across the pages. Their newly-reunified-heroic-about-face is just around the corner. Next issue is the one I’ve been most anxious for since Moore took over, I can’t wait.
Madame Xanadu (Wagner/Hadley/Vertigo) brings in a sweet cameo from my favorite Endless, Death! Madame Xanadu faces age and death, and reaches out to Death to prolong her life. Death’s appearance easily makes any issue more enjoyable, and its a pleasure to see our heroine moving out of such a dark time. The Jack the Ripper story coming up next looks great!
House of Mystery (Sturges/Rossi/Vertigo) is a book I look forward to each month, as the short stories prove to make each issue something special by itself, and take great advantage of the serialized format. I’m really loving these past few that focus in on the origins of the characters, delving deeper into the riddle that is the House of Mystery. Again, another appearance from a Sandman character, the bumbling Abel is always entertaining. This issue seems to lean towards some more revelations as to Fig’s involvement and ties with the sentient house. Its nice to see the layers finally get peeled back just enough to get a peek of what exactly is happening here. Its reminding me of Lost in that respect, but its less frustrating by far.
What If? I decided not to pick up this book? I’d probably be feel like less of a sucker for falling prey to that damning collector mentality. Only one more to go to conclude the Runaways back up story… Might as well take the plunge…groan.
