Light reading week so far this week, but that’s OK as I’ve only got a little time for posting right now, too. So, here’s a few quick lightning reviews and a bit of a rant and then I’ll let you get back to your day.
52 Week Thirteen (DC Comics) — I’ve complained the last couple times about recent issues of this title focusing on some stories to the exclusion of others. I still maintain that there has to be something going on with the heroes we aren’t seeing each time, but I will agree with the recent online comments I have read where others cite this as a good thing, allowing the writers to give the readers a solid chunk of whatever story they follow this week.
And Week 13 is no exception to good storytelling. Ralph has been invited to the attempt to resurrect Sue by the Cult of Conner. He covertly brings along Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Metamorpho and Zauriel to help him determine if the ritual is a fraud. They convince him it must be and chaos ensues until the proxy Sue shows some small signs of life. I’m not sure if that little bit of drama was all in Ralph’s head or not, but he believes it was real, and seems to be so much the worse for that belief. Hasn’t this man suffered enough?
The All New Atom 2 (DC Comics) — Not much to say on this one. Maybe it’s just taking its time setting things up, but this one is moving slowly. That’s OK if the story and characters are building my interest, but this book hasn’t grabbed my interest like I thought it would. I’m not giving up yet, but this title is becoming iffy.
OMAC 2 (DC Comics) — I feel much the same way about OMAC, but since it’s a limited series with a definite ending, I have more patience in letting it grow. If this book lets me down, I may have to just face the facts that I don’t care for Bruce Jones’ writing. Note, I didn’t say he’s a bad writer; just that his writing isn’t in tune with what I like. That’s a distinction most fanboys miss when ranting about creators they don’t like.
Outsiders 39 (DC Comics) — I’m not sure what was worse, psychologically: the image of Monsieur Mallah and The Brain in bed together discussing philosophy or the fact that they seem to have collected enough superhero DNA from such a variety of sources that they’ve built a veritable super army (yet they still can’t clone Brain a new body?!?). This issue was just disturbing.
Fallen Angel 7 (IDW Publishing) — This was the best of this bunch of books. We are seeing Lee’s first adventure after her fall. Lee being the titular angel who has been cast out of Heaven for disobeying God. The previous arc showed us what her transgression was, confirming it was an act we could all relate to.
This book is both funny and tragic. I think writer Peter David has a bit more freedom since the title moved to IDW from DC, even though the events of the first run were not set in the DC Universe proper. But the publisher switch has only made the title better. If you aren’t reading this book, you should give it a try.
And finally, no Marvel Comics in this batch of reviews and very few of them in this most recent month’s shipment of comics. I usually order more DCs anyway, but most of the Marvel Comics I ordered for this month are tied up in the Civil War event, which Marvel recently announced was running late.
First let me say that the Civil War storyline has been pretty good so far and I’m willing to wait for it rather than have it be rushed and suffer in quality. I’m paying good money for these books, and I want that quality. Let me also say that I’m familiar with publishing, and there are a lot of things that can, and sometimes do, go wrong which are out of the creators’ control. But increasingly, we are seeing late books because creators can’t make a deadline, and that I have little sympathy for.
I work in an industry with a daily publishing deadline; most jobs have some form of deadlines; work has to be done by a specific point or problems result. Are the creators involved taking on too many projects? Are they missing deadlines because of commitments to other industries? I imagine there are many reasons in each and every instance. But whenever a creator misses a deadline consistently, it is a slap in the face to those who make their assigned deadlines month in and month out.
It was just announced that Wonder Woman is becoming a bi-monthly title — one issue every other month — because writer Allan Heinberg needs the extra time. The book he wrote before this, Young Avengers, was consistently late and is now on hiatus because of deadline problems. Not low sales, Heinberg just can’t meet the monthly deadline with all of his other comic and television commitments. He’s a great writer, and I will buy his wok when he can do it, but if he can’t meet a monthly deadline, find someone else who can for the monthly books. Or, if he wants to write a monthly book, commit to doing that, on-time, for a fixed timeframe and then go back to the other projects.
This is similar to Brad Meltzer’s arrangement on Justice League. He will be the writer for 12 issues — one year — then, no matter how popular his run, he will leave the title to write his next novel. That’s his next commitment, and he is doing what needs to be done to meet both. He can always come back after the novel and write more comics if he, the industry and the fans are agreeable. Most likely they will be.
I guess my point is this: Don’t agree to do what you are unable to do, and when you have agreed to do something, you had better be doing everything in your power to get it done as promised. Unfortunately, that ideal doesn’t seem to be quite so universal anymore.
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