Weekly Comic Book Discussion 8/12/2004

I’ve been behind on the comic discussion before, no one seemed to mind. That being said, I am still behind, having been away for a bit, and for the fact my local shops don’t really carry new issues of anything anymore.

I managed read New Frontier #5, and that was thorougly satisfying for a change. The first 4 have great art, and the whole island thing was cool, but I felt the story was really moving along rather slowly. Lots more action in this one, looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Other than that I have some BPRD, Powers and El Cazador to catch up on, as well as I just got most of the original Secret Wars series off eBay (oddly enough including 8, but not 9).

Speaking of El Cazador, I heard Crossgen is in some financial trouble. Anyone know if this is true?

Dunno about Dinah. Besides being the Green Arrow’s girlfriend, she’s also a superhero and co-conspirator in her own right. So far, the killer seems to be targeting strictly SO’s of the conspirators, (or, more properly, people who were on the satellite the night Dr. Light attacked Sue Dibney- Ralph wasn’t originally part of the conspiracy) rather than the conspirators themselves. His objective seems to be to hurt them, rather than kill them, but that could change.

Possible targets might include Mia Dearden, who isn’t a romantic interest for Green Arrow, but is part of his “family”, and might present a target. Killing her would be a pretty deep cut for both Ollie and Dinah. She’s a tough cookie, though, and would have more than a snowball’s chance of fighting her way out of it. Connor Hawke might also be on the list, though he’d be pretty hard to bring down.

Don’t know much about the romantic/familial connections of Hawkman and Zatanna, but I’m thinking that Hawkgirl ought to have someone watching her back about now.

And if Bruce was on the satellite, targets would include Tim Drake, Selina Kyle, Talia Head, Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson… basically, any of his ex’s who he still might have feelings for, plus members of the extended Batfamily. I’d bet that if anyone close to Batman was a target, it would come down to either Tim or Babara. Barbara is probably the most vulnerable target in his circle, but since Brad Meltzer et al seem to be keeping Tim in the forefront, I expect an unsuccessful attack on him in the near future.

Family members of Barry and Hal would likely not be targets, being as how they’re both dead, and messing with Hal’s family about now would mean risking bringing the Wrath of God down on one’s head. Wally and Kyle seemed to have stepped into the conspiracy roles as well as the tights of their predecessors, though. I haven’t been following Green Lantern and the Flash, but it would probably be a good idea for them to beef up security around whatever loved ones they may have.

Also, loved ones should be armed with something more than a crossbow, which is an ineffective weapon if 1) you’re not actually carrying it at the moment you are attacked or 2) You can’t fire it backward over your shoulder through a wooden door.

I picked up Challengers #1 out of respect to Chaykin’s former work that I like (American Flagg!, American Century, The Shadow), but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. I love BOTH versions of The Manchurian Candidate, so if there are any similarities, I’m sure I will appreciate them.

What goodies does it have to justify the price?

I missed last week’s discussion as well (or was that two weeks ago?). I have to say that in my limited reading, NF is the best comic I’ve ever seen. It’s story certainly doesn’t compare to DKR or The Watchmen, but I’m absolutely in love with Cooke’s drawing. (I just placed a bid on an eBay auction for an original work of his - Professor X - but it was quickly outbid when it opened.)

I can’t seem to say it’s moving too slowly. In fact, I wish it were an ongoing series. It may be more spectacle than substance, but I’m anxious each time I turn the page to see what’s been drawn. The 2-page splash of the news scene was absolutely amazing - I’d previously been sucked into the broad strokes of color that Cooke’s drawings allow, but that black & white was amazing.

I’ve heard the same. Too bad, I wish they could scrap together enough to at least send out Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang #6.

Slipcase decorated with the cover of JLA/Avengers #3, containing two hardbound, dustjacketed volumes - the first, a collected edition of the four issues, with introductory essays from Stan Lee and Julie Schwartz; the second a miscellaneous volume that tells about past Marvel-DC crossovers and some almost-crossovers - along with both sides’ versions of events that lead to the cancellation of the original JLA/Avengers project in the early 80’s; the surviving pages done for that project; and the original track of the script for the 2004 version, or at least, the one part that was to be a bit different.

The nicest bit is the annotations in the second volume that call out where each Avenger of JLAer first appears in the miniseries, and gives their first historical appearance as well. There’s some fun in the running commentary too, making light of “Which character shows up in the most different costumes?”, among other things.

My weekly readings included JSA, which I’m really starting to love, Wonder Woman, whose story is going a bit slow (Although I -loved- the big-baddie just getting freaked out by the modern world in general), and The Flash.

The most recent issue of The Flash with Mirror Master’s (new) origin left me slack-jawed in amazement. An excellently told ‘basic’ story, with the one little… Well, I won’t say ‘twist’ at the end, but ‘surprise’? The last frame just blew me away. Made me suddenly feel a mixture of horror and pitty for this… Well… Psychotic… Who throughout the issue we’re lead to see as more and more ‘human’. Last frame made me forget all the other comics I’d read that day. Dang.

Well I did read 1-4 all in one sitting, so it couldn’t be that boring. Cooke is amazing, a friend lent me Selina’s Big Score a little while ago and I really liked that as well. The interplay of the characters in NF is quite good, I really enjoyed Barry and his wife (?) interacting, her telling him he had to go.

I’ll have to go back and re-read the whole thing once the last one comes out. I do kind of wish it was an ongoing series too, it’s an interesting universe that he’s created, it would be cool to see more stories from it.

I don’t remember all the details, but they have really serious financial trouble. They’ve cancelled most of their books already (including El Cazador, I think) and they might not last much longer as a company. Too bad; I wish more smallish publishers could stay in business.