When people buy comics they don’t like, comics publishers can get away with publishing sludge. Furthermore, becuase of the glut of product on the market (something like 2/3 of LCS’s don’t carry product from Oni, AiT, or other/self publishers. Something like half don’t even carry shelf copies of Vertigo!!!), big publishers putting out sludge directly results in quality but low-profile comics failing to find a market. It doesn’t matter if we like the same things or not – every time someone, anyone, buys a comic they don’t like, they are subsidizing the ability of publishers to put out crap and making it harder for good material to find audience. That injures the whole industry.
My roommate seems to like the Ellis/Granov Iron Man a lot, and I read his copy of the first issue. Perhaps I should’ve given it a few more issues, but I found the art work static and lifeless, and it turned me off to the series. What accounts for this sense of “Ellisyum Wonder”?
A lot of people I know got off on all the trippy imagery, and there was a lot of good natured joking about drug soaked shamans in the big city. While I liked the book, I thought it was a tad over long – an idea that had enough mileage for four issues, but not quite six. I keep running into that feeling more and more often these days, as it’s become standard practice for the Big Two to have their creative teams stretch stories out for a minimum of six issues, in anticipation of potential trade collections.
As for the move from Wildstorm: The Question, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and the cancelled Vigilante Miniseries’ were all part of a “special event” where Wildstorm artists and writers would re-work characters from the DCU . (Note how both the Luthor and Question titles revolve around the construction of a “science spire”.)
I know people who screamed ,“Kill him! Kill him!”, when they read the last page I’m willing to bet Holden kills TAO by the time the story’s done. How else will he ever get any peace?
I think Trigger, Angeltown and an earlier scifi title I liked The Resistance all failed to do very well ‘cause the basis premises behind all three series had been done to death, as of late. For all the clamor for alternative stories in comics, there just aren’t enough alternative buyers, and for them, there are only so many 1984-ish, LA noir or Matrix sci-fi rebellion stories one can take, one after another.
There’s no point reading OMAC Project if you haven’t read Identity Crisis and Countdown. And if you have read those books, you might still find yourself objecting to the pathetic state of Batman in that story, or the revamped Maxwell Lord (from the 80’s Justice League). Still it is one of the best Blue Beetle stories I’ve ever read,… … even if it was Ted Kord’s swan song.
Funny I had the opposite reaction. The comedy in Zatanna inspired me to add it to my “pull and hold” list at my LCS, whereas Manhattan Guardian made me wary: it reminded me too much of Morrison’s Filth which I found too oblique.
I wonder if the Parademon a plant, an undercover operative set by Darkseid on Apokolips, in the same way Batman planted Batgirl in the JLA Elite, having her go undercover as Kasumi, a ninja assassin.
Never heard of her before: the image of her in armor that was on the net makes me wonder if she wasn’t Batgirl, until I realized Scandal doesn’t speak with a speech impediment (Batgirl III does).
Brubaker had a great run on that title. I recommend:* Catwoman: Crooked Little Town * and Catwoman: Relentless to everyone who will listen.
Not to begrudge you, CG, your Kirby-given right to gripe as a fan, of course, as long as I can counter-gripe. And I’m glad you’re still enjoying S7 stuff.
I get a little touchy regarding the continuity of real-world mythological people, places, and events. It just seems unfair to me that the foundation stories of our culture can only be used once, and only once per universe and per continuity reboot. That’s reasonable, even desireable if you’re a relatively small group of authors operating a limited number of titles over a relatively small number of years. But if you’ve got dozens of authors writing dozens of books over dozens of years… Things can get a bit stagnant.
Anyone catch Ultimate Fantastic Four?
Does this mean Johnny Storm is going to be fucking MOLTING every few months??? Yecch.
Great battle with the pseudo-Jawas though.
If you weren’t feeling the love after #1, you’re probably not going to. I agree that the art is sometimes static in the slower, “real life” scenes, but I found the action sequences fluid and engaging. I thought the flying scenes in particular had a “You are there” immediacy and sense of wonder that I just don’t get from most superhero books. YMMV.
C’mon, this is Sleeper I doubt there’s going to be any peace for poor Holden. About the closest I think he’ll come will be:
Lynch and Tao kill each other, and Holden slips off to a life of staying underground and hoping the people involved on both sides of the fence decide he’s not worth pursuing. Either that, or he finds peace through the death he’s been alternately courting and avoiding. If someone doesn’t even try to pull a Rising Stars on him, I’ll be disappointed.
Either way, I hope the stupid werewolf dies a bloody, horrific death.
Countdown I bought despite my brain saying “That title’s got to be a parody”, and the first issue of Identity Crisis I read courtesy of a friend. I’m in a zone where I have just enough DCU knowledge to wonder about the strange behavior of some of the “heroes,” and not enough to make sense of a lot of what’s happening. I’m very grouchy about first issues that make no sense without prior knowledge of other titles and years of continuity, so if I read any of the Crisis titles, it’ll be courtesy of a friend’s copies.
The Parademon appears to be Mike The Parademon, from the Total Justice comic, which was based on the toyline. Mike the Parademon is based on 'net fan Mike Chary, and most of his lines in that comic were quotes from Mike.
And written by Christopher Priest, originally.
I have never heard of anyone who read the Total Justice miniseries, and I can’t help but be amused by the idea of Mike the Parademon! But I collected a lot of the Total Justice action figures, though. Is the mini worth picking up?
**Firestorm ** - Uh oh. Looks like Ronnie Raymond is doing the big fadeout from Jason’s brain. I’ll give the title one more issue to give me hope that Ronnie will return, then I’m dropping it like a hot potato. DC will bring Ronnie back eventually. This new guy’s got nothing.
**Ultimate Fantastic Four ** - Were it not for GLA and Villains United, this title would win my nomination for best dialogue this month. See : General Ross and Reed’s discussion about a piece of recovered technology, in the last few pages. “I love you, boy.”
**Villains United ** - Hee. Ambush Bug gets a mention. Catman gets no respect - except from Talia. I vaguely recall seeing Scandal before. I’m very curious about Mockingbird. Deathstroke seems to be having fun.
GLA - Monkey Joe Says : “Insisting that a vigilante is regarded as an urban legend only works for the first year of continuity. Tops.” Batroc: “…my dignity, like my skeels, comes at a price.” Monkey Joe Says : “Friends don’t let friends listen to the Magnolia soundtrack.” Classic.
Jingle Belle - Jing’s latest miniseries concludes.
Shanna the She-Devil - It’s a shame that a book with such pleasant eyecandy is so boring.
Superman - Noticed the little thank-you blurb on the first page to Mark Waid and Alex Ross for the ‘Lightning Ambush’ - knew how it would turn out then. But I enjoyed the ride. Definitely the best of the three in this arc, and sets up Day of Vengeance directly.
Could you fill in more details on Mike? I’ve seen his VU appearance (and is it me, or is he drawn in a very Liefeldian style?), and found a page of his original appearance, but why did Priest create him? Was Chary a buddy and he’s taking the piss? A buddy who asked for it? Someone Priest thought was a loon, and put into the book to tease?
The miniseries is worth picking up, for Mike, mostly. Wasn’t bad for a toy based line, and… http://phonogram.us/archive/tjustice/tjmike.htm
Mike’s funny. But… well, Mike’s not online, so I’ll ask him sometime this weekend if I run into him. The series is written by Priest, but… well. Dolla box. Quarter box. Pick it up if you find it, don’t hunt it.
Re: the confusion about the Bats/Supes fight in Luthor #3,… on another board someone made a good point:
It struck me that it would be very much like Azzarello to do something like that.
Did the Free Comic Book Day thing today, picking up the samplers from the indies targetting older readers, like the Fantagraphics offering (lotsa’ Ray and Frogmouth the Stripper stories reprinted here) and the Carl Barks Unca’ Scrooge reprint. While there I picked up Englehart and Rogers Batman Dark Detective #1 and Superman Batman #19 and flipped through Jae’s (the guy who runs my LCS) advance copy of Rann Thanagar War #1. Ivan Reis’ page layouts and figure compositions in Rann Thanagar War #1 were really, really impressive: that’s really fine work! The double page spreads look like baroque ceilings ('cept the angels are at war here, instead of singing the Lord’s praises). I guess I’m picking this issue up next week. If the story appeals I might get the rest.
I enjoyed Ian Churchill’s work on the Supergirl story in Superman Batman #19 though Kara’s character is coming off as a bit too “spoiled, mildly arrogant californian chick” for my taste. The layouts and figure rendering remind me very much of Jim Lee’s compositions in Batman Hush with a hint of J.Scott Campbell style facial expressions. (You just know that several of the splash pages will be going for a small fortune on the original art market.) Nice stuff: very Michael Bay in style and pace, overall. (To all those complaining about the darkening of the DCU - here’s a perfectly good example of an old school “sense of wonder” title.)
Batman: Dark Detective #1 was fun, though I was surprised Silver St. Cloud’s fiancee survived his sudden electroshock treatment. Having been reintroduced to Rupert Thorne, and his connection to Harvey Dent via the DVD Box Sets of the *Batman Animated *Series, I’m looking forward to the two way fight that’s coming up. I really want to see Harvey mess someone up. (Was the 80’s Englehart/Rogers Dent as physically powerful as the version we see in the animated version? Or as complex? The only Englehart-Rogers Batman story I recall reading was the Clayface tragedy (which reminds me a lot of the animated series Victor Fries story).
Finally made it in on Saturday, Free Comic Book Day
Y - TLM #33 – Another great issue. I’m terribly unsure as to what the cargo really is, although I’m leaning rather in one direction (the bad one). Plus, the greatest double entendre I’ve ever read!
7S: Shining Knight #2 – Now this is more like it. The philosophical battle is one Morrison’s always been comfortable with and this one was great. I agree that Justin’s rededication was a powerful moment, and I’m very curious as to the nature of his transformation. Looking forward to next issue.
GLA #2 – Also quite good. The gimmick of a GLA’er dying every issue is about to get really old if it continues in future issues (if anyone has read the solicitations and knows the answer, I don’t want to know), but so far it’s been used to good effect. Monkey Joe continues as the highlight.
Villains United #1 – One might have thought that this book would be about the new Villains secret society given its title and cover. Trying to establish both it and the rogue group may have been too much for one issue. I like the character interactions, though – we’ll see what next issue is like.
FCBD issues:
Owly: Splashing Around (Top Shelf) – Owly has been called the comic book equivalent of a hug. This is the first Owly story I’ve read, and I have to agree. Adorable drawings about a young owl and his worm friend who enter a birdbath-making competition. Owly has already appeared in two cheap GN’s, and I’m definitely buying the first one next week.
Betty & Veronica - FCBD Edition – A fun Betty & Veronica story about a fashion show, re-introducing model Katy Keene, an Archie Comics character from the '50’s. The cover sort of gives away the ending, but an enjoyable story nonetheless.
Got a handful of other stuff as well, as yet unread.