Been kind of a busy few days filled with real-life concerns and little leftover time for comic book concerns. My most recent batch of new comics arrived over the weekend, but I still haven’t had time to add them to my inventory list. I also received two packages of older comics. One was a recent trade of books from the Web site for all 33 issues of the original DC Checkmate series. I’ve always been curious about that series; now I can try it out and parted with some of my excess to boot. The other package was a bunch of back issues I’ve been looking for recently. Purchased them during a sale at Mile High Comics. That gets me several series I have been recently looking for except for one. In the mid 1990s, Mike Grell did a spin-off series from Jon Sable, Freelance about Maggie the Cat, a cat burglar. I have the first two issues and thought the series ended there unexpectedly. I recently learned issues 3 and 4 do exist. If anybody knows where I can find copies of those last two issues, I’m searching. Anyway, I just mailed out another package today of comics from the site, so it’s just been updated too. And that’s about all of the comics stuff I have time for now, except ...
I did manage to read through Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-3. The story still holds up although there’s a lot of exposition in these first few issues. Next time.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Oops! Call In the Time Repair Specialists
I’m back with a few more reviews, but first, this little jaunt down comic book memory lane has paid off as it was intended to do. Recently, I talked about how I store my comics chronologically, as if the characters lives were real, linear spans, so not all of the books are in numerical order. For more on that discussion, see the March 2, 2006, post "Meanwhile, back in the Comics Den ..."
Well, in 2000, Ben Raab and Michael Lark did a three-issue, prestige format Legend of the Hawkman miniseries. Now, the events in this story clearly deal with the pre-Crisis Katar and Shayera Hol from the planet Thanagar. So, sometime after reading the story for the first time, I filed the story just before the events of the Crisis, along with other books from 1985. I don’t remember exactly why I chose to place the series so close to the Crisis, maybe it was just easier to find at the time.
Now, in 2006, I’m re-visiting this portion of my collection, and I come across this series, still quite good, dealing with not only heroics, but also issues of faith and bonding. It’s really quite good. But, as I re-read the story, it has the feel of something that should have come earlier. The Hawks still seem somewhat new and unfamiliar to the earth in this tale. The clincher is a cameo by Superman in the second issue. It is clear from the brief exchange between the Hawks and the Man of Steel that this meeting takes place before most of the members of the Justice League have decided to trust one another with their respective secret identities. Superman seems to have no idea that the Hols are also museum curators Carter and Shayera Hall (why is it that only the male had to change his name?). Obviously, this series needs to “occur” much earlier in the history of the DC Universe. Finding and correcting little continuity errors such as this one is one of the reasons I’m revisiting these older tales.
Other books I’ve read in the last few days:
Jon Sable, Freelance 28-30 (First Comics) — These three issues revolve around a charity auction of Hollywood memorabilia and the disappearance of the famous statue from “The Maltese Falcon.” Sable’s friend, Sonny Pratt, gets the mercenary involved in the case, which nicely adds character bits to the relationship between Sable and Police Capt. Josh Winters.
Red Tornado 1-4 (DC Comics) — This was a four-issue series from mid-1985 by Kurt Busiek and Carmine Infantino which explores the android hero’s desire to be more human. I’m not a big fan of Infantino’s artwork, especially during the mid-1980s when everything he drew was so angular (see his work on The Flash during this time), but this book isn’t so bad. Busiek chooses to pit the Tornado against an old JLA foe, The Construct, another mechanical entity. The story has some nice character development for Reddy, as well as his surrogate family, Kathy Sutton and Traya.
Nightcrawler 1-4 (Marvel Comics) — This is another four-issue series, this time both written and illustrated by Nightcrawler creator, Dave Cockrum. A mishap in the Danger Room sends the swashbuckling X-Man to a series of ever-increasingly bizarre alternate universes, finally ending up in one based on a fairy tale imagined by Kitty Pryde and inhabited by cartoonish versions of the X-Men. This series doesn’t do much to change Kurt Wagner’s character or bring about any major changes in his continuity; it’s just a fun romp through some strange adventures, a tale befitting the devilish mutant.
The Thing 27 (Marvel Comics) — Ben Grimm is still on the road, this time running across the Fabulous Thunderiders, a motorcycle group. I don’t know much about the Thunderiders, but from the dialogue within the story, this group has apparently either starred in a title of their own or at least shown up in other titles. They obviously have some history, including some kind of mystical link which can manifest as the Black Marauder, a daredevil cyclist hero, or is he?
The New Teen Titans (second series) annual 1 (DC Comics) — The main story in this book features Tara Markov (Terra) as member of the Titans, which places it before the events told in the Judas Contract storyline from a couple years earlier. But there is a modern framing sequence which shows new Titans Joe Wilson (Jericho) reading through files of the team’s past cases that keeps the story placed with other 1985 tales. In this adventure, the Titans meet a group of representatives from yet another intergalactic police force, The Vanguard, and is obviously an attempt to launch an off-shoot title which never came to be. This is one of the weaker Titans annuals during the Marv Wolfman era (George Perez had left the title by this point), but since I have everything else in this run of the group, I keep this book as well.
And lastly, The New Teen Titans (second series) 12 (DC Comics) — This story wraps up some loose ends from the group’s recent past in a rollicking “Ghost Story.” An occasional recurring foil for the team since it’s 1980 relaunch was a crime family headed by Donna Omicidio. Among other storylines, she played an important part in The New Teen Titans (first series) annual 2, the first comic of this series I ever purchased, and the book responsible for getting me interested in comics again. (For more on this annual, see the February 2, 2006, post "What the hell are 'kiddie cops'?") With the help of an eight-year-old apparition, the Titans are able to solve a 50-year-old murder mystery. A very good read.
And that brings us to the doorstep of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. If you recall from last time, Warlord #97 showed some early effects of the anti-matter wave on Skartaris. The New Teen Titans #13 and #14 both take place in the midst of the Crisis. That’s the next thing in the chronology to read through. I may not offer reviews of every single one of those issues. I think, for a time, I will try offering reviews only of select books for which I have something significant to say instead of saying something about each and every one. Plus, it may be just a bit before I get to the Crisis books. My July shipment of new comics has been sent and should arrive in a few days, so we’ll be back to reading current comics within a week.
See ya next time.
Well, in 2000, Ben Raab and Michael Lark did a three-issue, prestige format Legend of the Hawkman miniseries. Now, the events in this story clearly deal with the pre-Crisis Katar and Shayera Hol from the planet Thanagar. So, sometime after reading the story for the first time, I filed the story just before the events of the Crisis, along with other books from 1985. I don’t remember exactly why I chose to place the series so close to the Crisis, maybe it was just easier to find at the time.
Now, in 2006, I’m re-visiting this portion of my collection, and I come across this series, still quite good, dealing with not only heroics, but also issues of faith and bonding. It’s really quite good. But, as I re-read the story, it has the feel of something that should have come earlier. The Hawks still seem somewhat new and unfamiliar to the earth in this tale. The clincher is a cameo by Superman in the second issue. It is clear from the brief exchange between the Hawks and the Man of Steel that this meeting takes place before most of the members of the Justice League have decided to trust one another with their respective secret identities. Superman seems to have no idea that the Hols are also museum curators Carter and Shayera Hall (why is it that only the male had to change his name?). Obviously, this series needs to “occur” much earlier in the history of the DC Universe. Finding and correcting little continuity errors such as this one is one of the reasons I’m revisiting these older tales.
Other books I’ve read in the last few days:
Jon Sable, Freelance 28-30 (First Comics) — These three issues revolve around a charity auction of Hollywood memorabilia and the disappearance of the famous statue from “The Maltese Falcon.” Sable’s friend, Sonny Pratt, gets the mercenary involved in the case, which nicely adds character bits to the relationship between Sable and Police Capt. Josh Winters.
Red Tornado 1-4 (DC Comics) — This was a four-issue series from mid-1985 by Kurt Busiek and Carmine Infantino which explores the android hero’s desire to be more human. I’m not a big fan of Infantino’s artwork, especially during the mid-1980s when everything he drew was so angular (see his work on The Flash during this time), but this book isn’t so bad. Busiek chooses to pit the Tornado against an old JLA foe, The Construct, another mechanical entity. The story has some nice character development for Reddy, as well as his surrogate family, Kathy Sutton and Traya.
Nightcrawler 1-4 (Marvel Comics) — This is another four-issue series, this time both written and illustrated by Nightcrawler creator, Dave Cockrum. A mishap in the Danger Room sends the swashbuckling X-Man to a series of ever-increasingly bizarre alternate universes, finally ending up in one based on a fairy tale imagined by Kitty Pryde and inhabited by cartoonish versions of the X-Men. This series doesn’t do much to change Kurt Wagner’s character or bring about any major changes in his continuity; it’s just a fun romp through some strange adventures, a tale befitting the devilish mutant.
The Thing 27 (Marvel Comics) — Ben Grimm is still on the road, this time running across the Fabulous Thunderiders, a motorcycle group. I don’t know much about the Thunderiders, but from the dialogue within the story, this group has apparently either starred in a title of their own or at least shown up in other titles. They obviously have some history, including some kind of mystical link which can manifest as the Black Marauder, a daredevil cyclist hero, or is he?
The New Teen Titans (second series) annual 1 (DC Comics) — The main story in this book features Tara Markov (Terra) as member of the Titans, which places it before the events told in the Judas Contract storyline from a couple years earlier. But there is a modern framing sequence which shows new Titans Joe Wilson (Jericho) reading through files of the team’s past cases that keeps the story placed with other 1985 tales. In this adventure, the Titans meet a group of representatives from yet another intergalactic police force, The Vanguard, and is obviously an attempt to launch an off-shoot title which never came to be. This is one of the weaker Titans annuals during the Marv Wolfman era (George Perez had left the title by this point), but since I have everything else in this run of the group, I keep this book as well.
And lastly, The New Teen Titans (second series) 12 (DC Comics) — This story wraps up some loose ends from the group’s recent past in a rollicking “Ghost Story.” An occasional recurring foil for the team since it’s 1980 relaunch was a crime family headed by Donna Omicidio. Among other storylines, she played an important part in The New Teen Titans (first series) annual 2, the first comic of this series I ever purchased, and the book responsible for getting me interested in comics again. (For more on this annual, see the February 2, 2006, post "What the hell are 'kiddie cops'?") With the help of an eight-year-old apparition, the Titans are able to solve a 50-year-old murder mystery. A very good read.
And that brings us to the doorstep of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. If you recall from last time, Warlord #97 showed some early effects of the anti-matter wave on Skartaris. The New Teen Titans #13 and #14 both take place in the midst of the Crisis. That’s the next thing in the chronology to read through. I may not offer reviews of every single one of those issues. I think, for a time, I will try offering reviews only of select books for which I have something significant to say instead of saying something about each and every one. Plus, it may be just a bit before I get to the Crisis books. My July shipment of new comics has been sent and should arrive in a few days, so we’ll be back to reading current comics within a week.
See ya next time.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Still Playing Catch-Up
Civil War Front Line 2 (Marvel Comics) — The second issue of this Civil War spin-off was good. I’m enjoying following these reporters as they watch and react to events unfolding — must be the journalist in me. But in this second issue, the backup story following Speedball is overshadowing the main one. I’ve never really followed Speedball or much cared one way or the other for the character before, but in light of the registration act, he is the perfect focus character for this story.
Daredevil 86 (Marvel Comics) — I haven’t made up my mind for sure on this title. I’ve followed Daredevil from time to time in the past. Brubaker is a great writer. But this whole Daredevil in prison thing needs to start moving to some kind of resolution as I am starting to loose interest. This issue seems to be moving DD toward an escape, so maybe change is coming.
New Avengers 21 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in issue felt like a fill-in. It was nice to see Captain America between his dramatic escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in Civil War #1 and leading the group of resistance fighters in Civil War #2, but there really isn’t much going on in this issue besides filling in those gaps, which most readers probably assumed happened anyway. The only information revealed in this issue — which side the Falcon and Ant-Man/Giant-Man Hank Pym are on — could be deduced from the pages of Civil War itself.
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 19 (DC Comics) — This latest incarnation of the Legion is my third attempt at following the group’s adventures. I always seem to loose interest after a while. This latest approach by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson seem to be quite novel, but with the introduction of Supergirl and her ascent to the lead spot in the title seems to have thrown the rest of the book off its focus. This particular issue doesn’t even have much to do with Supergirl, per se. It is more a solo spotlight for Chameleon. And it’s not a bad story, it just didn’t grab my interest like earlier issues did. This book is also in danger of being dropped like a few others discussed last time.
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 2 (DC Comics) — I have high hopes for this series, and so far it hasn’t let me down, unlike its companion title, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven. I really liked Gotham City police detective Crispus Allen when he was alive. I like what writer Will Pfeifer is doing by offering Allen the chance to join with the Spectre and using Allen’s perspective to help us explore the astral avenger. I hope this pairing moves beyond the scheduled miniseries.
Brave New World (DC Comics) — This preview comic offers advance glimpses of several upcoming series and miniseries — at least in theory. The problem is, when a person has to order his comic books several months in advance, he (or she) has to decide which of these books to follow before ever reading the preview. I’ve never cared much for the Creeper so I opted to pass on that series, and nothing in this book changed my mind. Other advanced online information convinced me to give the Shazam, Martian Manhunter and Atom series a try; this book leaves me hopeful that they will be worth the trial. I was curious about Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and still am after reading this comic. And I wasn’t sure about the OMAC series, but figured I’d give it a try based on their role in Infinite Crisis. This preview story looks promising.
Solo 11 Sergio Aragones (DC Comics) — This has been an uneven title as most anthologies are. That’s probably why it has been canceled. I think the concept is sound, the company sponsoring such a project just has to accept and expect uneven sales. Aragones is a funny guy. This issue shows why. I especially liked his true tale of Marty Feldman and the Batman story. The rest was so-so.
Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid (Marvel Comics) — This book is exactly what I expected the Outlaw Files to be: reprints of the first stories to feature Johnny “Rawhide Kid” Bart and Matt “Two-Gun Kid” Hawk. Great classic western fun.
And that was the last of my June new comic purchases. Moving on, we resume reading from the mid-1980s:
The Thing 26 (Marvel Comics) — Recapping, in the aftermath of the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret War, Ben Grimm opted to stay on the Beyonder’s world for a while. When he returned to earth, he found his one-time girlfriend Alicia masters had become involved with the Human Torch. Feeling betrayed, Grimm left Manhattan and the Fantastic Four. This issue finds him wandering the country and stumbling across a sinister circus run by — no, not the Ringmaster, but the Taskmaster. “runaways” isn’t a bad story, but it’s not a remarkable story, either.
Superman annual (1985) 11 (DC Comics) — This is one of the greats. “For the Man Who Has Everything” was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It’s Superman’s birthday. Batman, new Robin Jason Todd and Wonder Woman arrive at the arctic Fortress of Solitude to give Superman birthday gifts and discover the Man of Steel under the thrall of a parasitic organism given to him by the alien conqueror Mongul. This story is so iconic it was adapted into an episode of Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. If you can’t find the original issue, it was recently reprinted in trade paperback form by DC in a collection of Alan Moore DC Universe stories.
The Warlord 97 (DC Comics) — Travis Morgan is leading his band of rebels in an attack to retake the besieged city of Shamballah. But the bad guys know about the “secret” attack plan in advance. Not only is the attack repelled, but the oppressors follow the rebels back to their camp and counter-attack there. All this disaster and the beginnings of the Crisis on Infinite Earths begins to be felt in the inner world of Skartaris.
Wow, if that’s not enough comics for you, come back next time for more.
Daredevil 86 (Marvel Comics) — I haven’t made up my mind for sure on this title. I’ve followed Daredevil from time to time in the past. Brubaker is a great writer. But this whole Daredevil in prison thing needs to start moving to some kind of resolution as I am starting to loose interest. This issue seems to be moving DD toward an escape, so maybe change is coming.
New Avengers 21 (Marvel Comics) — This Civil War tie-in issue felt like a fill-in. It was nice to see Captain America between his dramatic escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in Civil War #1 and leading the group of resistance fighters in Civil War #2, but there really isn’t much going on in this issue besides filling in those gaps, which most readers probably assumed happened anyway. The only information revealed in this issue — which side the Falcon and Ant-Man/Giant-Man Hank Pym are on — could be deduced from the pages of Civil War itself.
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 19 (DC Comics) — This latest incarnation of the Legion is my third attempt at following the group’s adventures. I always seem to loose interest after a while. This latest approach by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson seem to be quite novel, but with the introduction of Supergirl and her ascent to the lead spot in the title seems to have thrown the rest of the book off its focus. This particular issue doesn’t even have much to do with Supergirl, per se. It is more a solo spotlight for Chameleon. And it’s not a bad story, it just didn’t grab my interest like earlier issues did. This book is also in danger of being dropped like a few others discussed last time.
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 2 (DC Comics) — I have high hopes for this series, and so far it hasn’t let me down, unlike its companion title, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven. I really liked Gotham City police detective Crispus Allen when he was alive. I like what writer Will Pfeifer is doing by offering Allen the chance to join with the Spectre and using Allen’s perspective to help us explore the astral avenger. I hope this pairing moves beyond the scheduled miniseries.
Brave New World (DC Comics) — This preview comic offers advance glimpses of several upcoming series and miniseries — at least in theory. The problem is, when a person has to order his comic books several months in advance, he (or she) has to decide which of these books to follow before ever reading the preview. I’ve never cared much for the Creeper so I opted to pass on that series, and nothing in this book changed my mind. Other advanced online information convinced me to give the Shazam, Martian Manhunter and Atom series a try; this book leaves me hopeful that they will be worth the trial. I was curious about Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and still am after reading this comic. And I wasn’t sure about the OMAC series, but figured I’d give it a try based on their role in Infinite Crisis. This preview story looks promising.
Solo 11 Sergio Aragones (DC Comics) — This has been an uneven title as most anthologies are. That’s probably why it has been canceled. I think the concept is sound, the company sponsoring such a project just has to accept and expect uneven sales. Aragones is a funny guy. This issue shows why. I especially liked his true tale of Marty Feldman and the Batman story. The rest was so-so.
Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid (Marvel Comics) — This book is exactly what I expected the Outlaw Files to be: reprints of the first stories to feature Johnny “Rawhide Kid” Bart and Matt “Two-Gun Kid” Hawk. Great classic western fun.
And that was the last of my June new comic purchases. Moving on, we resume reading from the mid-1980s:
The Thing 26 (Marvel Comics) — Recapping, in the aftermath of the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret War, Ben Grimm opted to stay on the Beyonder’s world for a while. When he returned to earth, he found his one-time girlfriend Alicia masters had become involved with the Human Torch. Feeling betrayed, Grimm left Manhattan and the Fantastic Four. This issue finds him wandering the country and stumbling across a sinister circus run by — no, not the Ringmaster, but the Taskmaster. “runaways” isn’t a bad story, but it’s not a remarkable story, either.
Superman annual (1985) 11 (DC Comics) — This is one of the greats. “For the Man Who Has Everything” was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It’s Superman’s birthday. Batman, new Robin Jason Todd and Wonder Woman arrive at the arctic Fortress of Solitude to give Superman birthday gifts and discover the Man of Steel under the thrall of a parasitic organism given to him by the alien conqueror Mongul. This story is so iconic it was adapted into an episode of Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it. If you can’t find the original issue, it was recently reprinted in trade paperback form by DC in a collection of Alan Moore DC Universe stories.
The Warlord 97 (DC Comics) — Travis Morgan is leading his band of rebels in an attack to retake the besieged city of Shamballah. But the bad guys know about the “secret” attack plan in advance. Not only is the attack repelled, but the oppressors follow the rebels back to their camp and counter-attack there. All this disaster and the beginnings of the Crisis on Infinite Earths begins to be felt in the inner world of Skartaris.
Wow, if that’s not enough comics for you, come back next time for more.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Comic Book Revew Whirlwind
OK, I’m back again today, and as promised, we have a lot of comic book ground to cover, so let’s get started.
Manhunter 23 (DC Comics) — I really like this series. Apparently sales weren’t too good, as DC announced the title would be canceled after issue #25. Well, this issue promises a reprieve through #30 because so many fans protested the cancellation. This issue continues to explore Kate Spencer’s family history. The previous arc, just before One Year Later began, revealed Kate’s super-hero grandfather and the villainous madman her father was. This issue reunites Kate with her equally heroic grandmother. I won’t reveal who the heroine is for anyone who hasn’t yet read this book, but I must say one of the reasons I love DC Comics so much is their acknowledgment of the heroes who have gone before, familial ties to the heroes of today and the sense of legacy this creates within their line of books.
The New Avengers 20 (Marvel Comics) — This is the final installment of The Collective story arc, which picks up plot threads from the House of M event from last summer. I didn’t follow that series, and I don’t follow most of Marvel’s ‘X’ books on any kind of regular basis. I like some of the mutant characters, but X-Men just doesn’t hold my interest on a monthly basis. Maybe that’s why, but this story just didn’t hold my interest very well.
Captain America 19 (Marvel Comics) — I’ve always liked Cap, but these stories by Ed Brubaker are truly dynamic. It’s a little hard to place these issues in time along with the events of Civil War also running through most Marvel titles right now; Cap’s opposition to the hero registration act has led to S.H.I.E.L.D. declaring him a criminal, yet in his own title, he is clearly working with the spy organization, particularly Agent 13, Sharon Carter. But the whole Winter Soldier storyline and the events that have led directly from that arc are some incredible storytelling, keeping me coming back each issue to see what happens next.
Birds of Prey 95 (DC Comics) — I’m not sure how I feel about the most recent arc of this title. Chuck Dixon did an excellent job when he created this book. His departure meant the book floundered a bit until Gail Simone took over the writing chores. I don’t agree that only a woman can write the book since the main characters are all heroines — obviously, Dixon did it — but Simone was a great fit nonetheless. Most of the changes introduced as part of One Year Later, however, have also been undone as of the conclusion of this arc, or at least seem to be. So is everything just back to status quo? That seems to be somewhat of a letdown from such a good writer.
Fallen Angel 6 (IDW Publishing) — The relaunch of this title continues to explore the origins of the title character. The first arc moved the overall storyline ahead almost 20 years, but also gave us a glimpse of why Lee was cast out of Heaven. This arc continues to explore the origins of the character by picking up immediately after Lee was stripped of her divine abilities and landed on earth. It also reveals a bit more about her relationship and attitudes about God as her first “good deed” among humans does not go “unpunished.”
Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (Marvel Comics) — I was disappointed in this book, but I think that has more to do with my misunderstanding of what it was intended to be. Essentially, this is a Marvel Handbook edition featuring the Western characters from Marvel’s past and present. I would much rather read some of the classic stories featuring these western characters than just text pieces, and somewhere along the way, I thought that was what this book was going to be. I was wrong.
Flash (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — This wasn’t a bad story. I bought it mainly to satisfy my curiosity about who would be the Flash in the wake of Infinite Crisis. I don’t know that I will continue with the title beyond knowing this detail. It’s not that I don’t care about the character; I’ve followed some of his solo adventures and some of the team books on which he was a member and enjoyed them quite a bit. I’m just not sure I care that much about the direction this book seems to be headed, and I’ve been needing to make some cuts in the number of titles I buy each month. This one may be cut, again, not because it isn’t good, but just because I don’t care as much about it.
Superman/Batman 27 (DC Comics) — This was a fun comic. I’m pretty sure it was a stand-alone issue. I simply can’t talk about this one without some spoilers; it’s been out long enough, I assume that’s OK; if not, you’ve been warned. OK, taking Superman and Batman and putting them into women’s bodies has a certain adolescent charm. The male heroes having to function as women isn’t a new concept, but it’s not what sets this issue off so nicely. It’s the fact that the Superman and Batman team in this issue are the heroes from Earth 2 and the Huntress in this issue is Batman’s daughter, not Helena Bertinelli. It’s nice to see these Golden Age heroes in action again, probably for the last time as the Earth 2 Superman was killed in Infinite Crisis.
Young Avengers 12 (Marvel Comics) — This is another title that may be going bye-bye from my buying list. Writer Allan Heinberg has made me care about these young heroes and their adventures over the past year, but again, something’s gotta give and this is an easy target that doesn’t affect other books I collect. This issue is also a good jumping off point as it wraps up the Family Matters arc and the first year’s worth of formative stories.
52 Week Eight (DC Comics) — I’m still along for the ride, but this series is raising way more questions than answers right now. Biggest question right now is: What’s up with Green Arrow? This is only eight weeks; how is Ollie not in a hospital or dead from the multiple stab/arrow wounds he received in the last issue of his own book before One Year Later? Next biggest question: Who is this new hero they haven’t revealed to us yet? Third biggest question: I don’t care how mad she is, what is Natasha irons thinking going to Lex Luthor for help?
Batman 654 (DC Comics) — The conclusion of Face the Face, the first Bat story One Year Later. James Robinson did a solid job on this tale re-introducing not only Batman and Robin to the DC Universe after their one year away, but also nailed the characterization on returning supporting cast members Two-Face and Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. This arc is well worth the bucks.
Action Comics 840 (DC Comics) — As great as Face the Face was, that’s how great this storyline started out. Up, Up and Away! reintroduced Superman to the DCU One Year Later. It started wonderfully, showing us a non-powered Clark Kent confident and at the top of his game following Infinite Crisis. But as the story progressed and Clark’s powers began to slowly return, the story seemed to lose focus. Luthor’s plan seemed desperate and not well-thought out. Superman managed to defeat him, but mostly through luck and brute force, not the clever cunning he displayed when Clark kent was all he was. This story started well but ended leaving me feeling cheated somehow.
That’s enough for today. I’ve got more books in the stack that have been read but not reviewed, but I don’t want this post to grow too large. So, more to come.
Manhunter 23 (DC Comics) — I really like this series. Apparently sales weren’t too good, as DC announced the title would be canceled after issue #25. Well, this issue promises a reprieve through #30 because so many fans protested the cancellation. This issue continues to explore Kate Spencer’s family history. The previous arc, just before One Year Later began, revealed Kate’s super-hero grandfather and the villainous madman her father was. This issue reunites Kate with her equally heroic grandmother. I won’t reveal who the heroine is for anyone who hasn’t yet read this book, but I must say one of the reasons I love DC Comics so much is their acknowledgment of the heroes who have gone before, familial ties to the heroes of today and the sense of legacy this creates within their line of books.
The New Avengers 20 (Marvel Comics) — This is the final installment of The Collective story arc, which picks up plot threads from the House of M event from last summer. I didn’t follow that series, and I don’t follow most of Marvel’s ‘X’ books on any kind of regular basis. I like some of the mutant characters, but X-Men just doesn’t hold my interest on a monthly basis. Maybe that’s why, but this story just didn’t hold my interest very well.
Captain America 19 (Marvel Comics) — I’ve always liked Cap, but these stories by Ed Brubaker are truly dynamic. It’s a little hard to place these issues in time along with the events of Civil War also running through most Marvel titles right now; Cap’s opposition to the hero registration act has led to S.H.I.E.L.D. declaring him a criminal, yet in his own title, he is clearly working with the spy organization, particularly Agent 13, Sharon Carter. But the whole Winter Soldier storyline and the events that have led directly from that arc are some incredible storytelling, keeping me coming back each issue to see what happens next.
Birds of Prey 95 (DC Comics) — I’m not sure how I feel about the most recent arc of this title. Chuck Dixon did an excellent job when he created this book. His departure meant the book floundered a bit until Gail Simone took over the writing chores. I don’t agree that only a woman can write the book since the main characters are all heroines — obviously, Dixon did it — but Simone was a great fit nonetheless. Most of the changes introduced as part of One Year Later, however, have also been undone as of the conclusion of this arc, or at least seem to be. So is everything just back to status quo? That seems to be somewhat of a letdown from such a good writer.
Fallen Angel 6 (IDW Publishing) — The relaunch of this title continues to explore the origins of the title character. The first arc moved the overall storyline ahead almost 20 years, but also gave us a glimpse of why Lee was cast out of Heaven. This arc continues to explore the origins of the character by picking up immediately after Lee was stripped of her divine abilities and landed on earth. It also reveals a bit more about her relationship and attitudes about God as her first “good deed” among humans does not go “unpunished.”
Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (Marvel Comics) — I was disappointed in this book, but I think that has more to do with my misunderstanding of what it was intended to be. Essentially, this is a Marvel Handbook edition featuring the Western characters from Marvel’s past and present. I would much rather read some of the classic stories featuring these western characters than just text pieces, and somewhere along the way, I thought that was what this book was going to be. I was wrong.
Flash (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — This wasn’t a bad story. I bought it mainly to satisfy my curiosity about who would be the Flash in the wake of Infinite Crisis. I don’t know that I will continue with the title beyond knowing this detail. It’s not that I don’t care about the character; I’ve followed some of his solo adventures and some of the team books on which he was a member and enjoyed them quite a bit. I’m just not sure I care that much about the direction this book seems to be headed, and I’ve been needing to make some cuts in the number of titles I buy each month. This one may be cut, again, not because it isn’t good, but just because I don’t care as much about it.
Superman/Batman 27 (DC Comics) — This was a fun comic. I’m pretty sure it was a stand-alone issue. I simply can’t talk about this one without some spoilers; it’s been out long enough, I assume that’s OK; if not, you’ve been warned. OK, taking Superman and Batman and putting them into women’s bodies has a certain adolescent charm. The male heroes having to function as women isn’t a new concept, but it’s not what sets this issue off so nicely. It’s the fact that the Superman and Batman team in this issue are the heroes from Earth 2 and the Huntress in this issue is Batman’s daughter, not Helena Bertinelli. It’s nice to see these Golden Age heroes in action again, probably for the last time as the Earth 2 Superman was killed in Infinite Crisis.
Young Avengers 12 (Marvel Comics) — This is another title that may be going bye-bye from my buying list. Writer Allan Heinberg has made me care about these young heroes and their adventures over the past year, but again, something’s gotta give and this is an easy target that doesn’t affect other books I collect. This issue is also a good jumping off point as it wraps up the Family Matters arc and the first year’s worth of formative stories.
52 Week Eight (DC Comics) — I’m still along for the ride, but this series is raising way more questions than answers right now. Biggest question right now is: What’s up with Green Arrow? This is only eight weeks; how is Ollie not in a hospital or dead from the multiple stab/arrow wounds he received in the last issue of his own book before One Year Later? Next biggest question: Who is this new hero they haven’t revealed to us yet? Third biggest question: I don’t care how mad she is, what is Natasha irons thinking going to Lex Luthor for help?
Batman 654 (DC Comics) — The conclusion of Face the Face, the first Bat story One Year Later. James Robinson did a solid job on this tale re-introducing not only Batman and Robin to the DC Universe after their one year away, but also nailed the characterization on returning supporting cast members Two-Face and Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. This arc is well worth the bucks.
Action Comics 840 (DC Comics) — As great as Face the Face was, that’s how great this storyline started out. Up, Up and Away! reintroduced Superman to the DCU One Year Later. It started wonderfully, showing us a non-powered Clark Kent confident and at the top of his game following Infinite Crisis. But as the story progressed and Clark’s powers began to slowly return, the story seemed to lose focus. Luthor’s plan seemed desperate and not well-thought out. Superman managed to defeat him, but mostly through luck and brute force, not the clever cunning he displayed when Clark kent was all he was. This story started well but ended leaving me feeling cheated somehow.
That’s enough for today. I’ve got more books in the stack that have been read but not reviewed, but I don’t want this post to grow too large. So, more to come.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Something Just a Little Different
Been way busy of late and had little time to post. Since my last batch of comic reviews, I've finished the rest of last month's group of new comics and moved back into the mid-80s comics, but more on that next time.
Instead, this time I'd like to review a few movies. Kinda binged at the theater over this past weekend and was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, all three movies were fun, but two of them were far from perfect.
First up was Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. The special effects in this one were good, and like the first PotC, it was a fun movie filled with laugh-out-loud funny moments. But the plot just didn't live up to the success of the first movie. Maybe it's just been too long since I last saw the first film, but Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) seemed somewhat out of character near the end of the film, an obvious set-up for a third installment. If you liked Johnny Depp's antics as Captain Jack Sparrow in Curse of the Black Pearl, go see this movie. Depp is once again at his best. Just don't expect spectacular cinema.
Next up was Adam Sandler in Click. This is the movie where Sandler's everyman character is given a "universal" remote control which allows him to fast forward, slow down and pause more than just his viewing habits. The message in this movie is no surprise, except in the level of seriousness to which it goes in making its point, but Sandler and crew do a great job of making the formula seem fresh and fun to watch. You know where this movie is going to end before it starts, but you still enjoy the ride getting there.
And finally, we also saw Superman Returns. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of this film from comic book fans and non-fans alike. Most of the good stuff revolves around the special effects in the movie which are very good. Routh does an excellent job of evoking the spirit of the late Christopher Reeve from Superman and Superman II. And the storyline Brian Singer and company have come up with isn't bad. As a direct sequel to those two earlier movies, it makes sense that Luthor would exploit his knowledge of Superman's arctic fortress. But from there .... Gene Hackman's portrayal of Lex Luthor was somewhat over the top, campy. Kevin Spacey continues expertly in that vein, but that just doesn't ring true as Luthor for me. And Routh and Bosworth as Superman and Lois Lane look too young for their roles. A lot was made of Routh being the same age as Reeve when he played the Man of Steel. OK, but this movie takes place five years later, so shouldn't he look five years older? And Bosworth doesn't look old enough to have been a great, award-winning journalist before she had her son five years ago. Those things strained my suspension of disbelief enough that the kryptonite fight at the climax of the movie rang hollow for me. Superman was weakened very quickly on his first exposure to Luthor's island, but when he returns later, the kryptonite hardly seems to bother him at all.
Those are the movies we saw this past weekend. Dunno if we'll make it this weekend or not, but my wife is eyeing Lady in the Water, so maybe we'll have something on that one before long. And check back next time for some more comic reviews.
Instead, this time I'd like to review a few movies. Kinda binged at the theater over this past weekend and was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, all three movies were fun, but two of them were far from perfect.
First up was Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. The special effects in this one were good, and like the first PotC, it was a fun movie filled with laugh-out-loud funny moments. But the plot just didn't live up to the success of the first movie. Maybe it's just been too long since I last saw the first film, but Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) seemed somewhat out of character near the end of the film, an obvious set-up for a third installment. If you liked Johnny Depp's antics as Captain Jack Sparrow in Curse of the Black Pearl, go see this movie. Depp is once again at his best. Just don't expect spectacular cinema.
Next up was Adam Sandler in Click. This is the movie where Sandler's everyman character is given a "universal" remote control which allows him to fast forward, slow down and pause more than just his viewing habits. The message in this movie is no surprise, except in the level of seriousness to which it goes in making its point, but Sandler and crew do a great job of making the formula seem fresh and fun to watch. You know where this movie is going to end before it starts, but you still enjoy the ride getting there.
And finally, we also saw Superman Returns. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of this film from comic book fans and non-fans alike. Most of the good stuff revolves around the special effects in the movie which are very good. Routh does an excellent job of evoking the spirit of the late Christopher Reeve from Superman and Superman II. And the storyline Brian Singer and company have come up with isn't bad. As a direct sequel to those two earlier movies, it makes sense that Luthor would exploit his knowledge of Superman's arctic fortress. But from there .... Gene Hackman's portrayal of Lex Luthor was somewhat over the top, campy. Kevin Spacey continues expertly in that vein, but that just doesn't ring true as Luthor for me. And Routh and Bosworth as Superman and Lois Lane look too young for their roles. A lot was made of Routh being the same age as Reeve when he played the Man of Steel. OK, but this movie takes place five years later, so shouldn't he look five years older? And Bosworth doesn't look old enough to have been a great, award-winning journalist before she had her son five years ago. Those things strained my suspension of disbelief enough that the kryptonite fight at the climax of the movie rang hollow for me. Superman was weakened very quickly on his first exposure to Luthor's island, but when he returns later, the kryptonite hardly seems to bother him at all.
Those are the movies we saw this past weekend. Dunno if we'll make it this weekend or not, but my wife is eyeing Lady in the Water, so maybe we'll have something on that one before long. And check back next time for some more comic reviews.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Busy Weekend of Reading
HHere’s some more thoughts on comics I read this weekend, and there’s a lot of them so here we go:
Civil War Front Line 1 (Marvel Comics) — OK, I don’t know who this Sally journalist is but I’m guessing she’s been in some previous stories from the conversation she has here with Spider-Man, but I do know who Ben Urich is; this comic holds promise. This first issue doesn’t start out slow either.
Wonder Woman (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — The Amazing Amazon is re-launched with Founding Teen Titan Donna Troy in the title role, or is she? Steve Trevor certainly wasn’t who he appeared to be. And Diana does show up in the final scene, so there’s more to this title than meets the eye in the first issue.
52 Week Six (DC Comics) — This was a good issue. It was especially nice to see Ralph go off on somebody, venting his grief, and I can’t think of anybody more deserving of some anger directed their way than Booster Gold.
The Battle for Bludhaven 5 (DC Comics) — Again, I’m not real sure about this miniseries. It seems a little disjointed and some of the more familiar characters don’t necessarily act like themselves. Green Lantern Hal Jordan shows up in this issue; he can’t save it.
Superman 653 (DC Comics) — “Up, Up and Away!” continues; it started so promisingly, but now that Superman’s powers are back, I dunno. Maybe I’m just losing interest, but I’m just not feeling the excitement I was in the first few chapters.
Checkmate 3 (DC Comics) — Still not sure about this title, but I’m warming up to it. Alan Scott, Sasha Bordeaux and Fire seem more in character to me. I’ve also decided to give the first Checkmate series a try. Worked out a trade over the weekend swapping some of the comics from the Web site for all 33 issues from that series. Hopefully they’ll be arriving soon.
Green Arrow 63 (DC Comics) — Ollie is one of my favorite characters, but I’m just not sure what writer Judd Winick is up to. I’m losing interest in what is going on, and while I’ve liked his art in the past, Scott McDaniel’s art in this title is just rubbing me wrong.
Fables 50 (DC Comics) — WOW! I love Bigby and I’m happy to see he and Snow finally together. I just hope their seeming bliss at the end of this fantastic anniversary tale doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing them again. Great espionage tale winding up several plot threads from the first 50 issues.
Civil War 2 (Marvel Comics) — Obviously this is the main series Front Line spins out of. It’s getting a lot of great buzz online, and Cap’s great escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first issue was great. This one, not so much except for the big shocker on the last page, which, of course, was ruined for me online since I get my books after everyone else. Oh, and I’m a little shocked at the side of the CW Ben Grimm is on. I figured he’d be more on Cap’s side.
Squadron Supreme (2006) 4 (Marvel Comics) — I still like this title, but it seems to have lost some of its kick with the move from Marvel max to the mainstream Marvel U titles.
Nightwing 121 (DC Comics) — This Bruce Jones guy is just writing my absolute favorite hero stranger and stranger.
Donald Duck and Friends 341 (Gemstone) — Love me some Donald Duck. Not much to say about this specific issue, but these are fun to read.
52 Week Seven (DC Comics) — Oops! Read so many comics this weekend, I forgot. This is the issue where Ralph goes off on Booster. We also get our first glimpse of the new Kathy Kane, the soon-to-be all-new Batwoman.
JSA Classified 13 (DC Comics) — The final installment of this travesty. I’m not the biggest fan of Vandal Savage anyway, but I just didn’t care for this arc.
Toldja it was a lotta readin'.
Civil War Front Line 1 (Marvel Comics) — OK, I don’t know who this Sally journalist is but I’m guessing she’s been in some previous stories from the conversation she has here with Spider-Man, but I do know who Ben Urich is; this comic holds promise. This first issue doesn’t start out slow either.
Wonder Woman (2006) 1 (DC Comics) — The Amazing Amazon is re-launched with Founding Teen Titan Donna Troy in the title role, or is she? Steve Trevor certainly wasn’t who he appeared to be. And Diana does show up in the final scene, so there’s more to this title than meets the eye in the first issue.
52 Week Six (DC Comics) — This was a good issue. It was especially nice to see Ralph go off on somebody, venting his grief, and I can’t think of anybody more deserving of some anger directed their way than Booster Gold.
The Battle for Bludhaven 5 (DC Comics) — Again, I’m not real sure about this miniseries. It seems a little disjointed and some of the more familiar characters don’t necessarily act like themselves. Green Lantern Hal Jordan shows up in this issue; he can’t save it.
Superman 653 (DC Comics) — “Up, Up and Away!” continues; it started so promisingly, but now that Superman’s powers are back, I dunno. Maybe I’m just losing interest, but I’m just not feeling the excitement I was in the first few chapters.
Checkmate 3 (DC Comics) — Still not sure about this title, but I’m warming up to it. Alan Scott, Sasha Bordeaux and Fire seem more in character to me. I’ve also decided to give the first Checkmate series a try. Worked out a trade over the weekend swapping some of the comics from the Web site for all 33 issues from that series. Hopefully they’ll be arriving soon.
Green Arrow 63 (DC Comics) — Ollie is one of my favorite characters, but I’m just not sure what writer Judd Winick is up to. I’m losing interest in what is going on, and while I’ve liked his art in the past, Scott McDaniel’s art in this title is just rubbing me wrong.
Fables 50 (DC Comics) — WOW! I love Bigby and I’m happy to see he and Snow finally together. I just hope their seeming bliss at the end of this fantastic anniversary tale doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing them again. Great espionage tale winding up several plot threads from the first 50 issues.
Civil War 2 (Marvel Comics) — Obviously this is the main series Front Line spins out of. It’s getting a lot of great buzz online, and Cap’s great escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first issue was great. This one, not so much except for the big shocker on the last page, which, of course, was ruined for me online since I get my books after everyone else. Oh, and I’m a little shocked at the side of the CW Ben Grimm is on. I figured he’d be more on Cap’s side.
Squadron Supreme (2006) 4 (Marvel Comics) — I still like this title, but it seems to have lost some of its kick with the move from Marvel max to the mainstream Marvel U titles.
Nightwing 121 (DC Comics) — This Bruce Jones guy is just writing my absolute favorite hero stranger and stranger.
Donald Duck and Friends 341 (Gemstone) — Love me some Donald Duck. Not much to say about this specific issue, but these are fun to read.
52 Week Seven (DC Comics) — Oops! Read so many comics this weekend, I forgot. This is the issue where Ralph goes off on Booster. We also get our first glimpse of the new Kathy Kane, the soon-to-be all-new Batwoman.
JSA Classified 13 (DC Comics) — The final installment of this travesty. I’m not the biggest fan of Vandal Savage anyway, but I just didn’t care for this arc.
Toldja it was a lotta readin'.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
More Reviews From Early June
Hey, had a chance to read a few more books this week, so let’s jump right in with my thoughts on ’em. Not sure if I’ve said it before or not, but some spoilers will be included from time to time.
The Thing 7 (Marvel Comics) — This is a fun book. I didn’t care so much for writer Dan Slott’s humor in his revamp of She-Hulk a couple years ago, but as I’ve said in discussing the 1983 Thing series, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Fantastic Four’s monstrous quarter. Well, Slott succeeds quite nicely with bashful Benjy’s adventures in this series, at least as far as I’m concerned. Naturally, next issue is the final as this title has been canceled waaaaaaay before its time. This issue has Ben trying to surprise one-time girlfriend Alicia, a blind sculptress, by taking her back in time to witness the creation of the Venus de Milo, her favorite sculpture. Naturally, things don’t work out quite like Ben intended, and maybe even a little history is re-written.
Superman/Batman 26 (DC Comics) — I can’t quite make up my mind about this issue. The Superman/Batman book can be fun, but I really didn’t like issue #7, the first to focus on Robin and Superboy instead. The characterization just seemed off to me. Not so much Superboy and Robin’s personalities, but Batman and Superman’s. The elder heroes seemed to not even like their younger counterparts, let alone trust them. Issue #26 is a continuation of that earlier story in more ways than one. It’s a fun little tale, and the true-story behind its origins tugs at the heart, but again, the adult heroes seem overly judgmental concerning the teen titans.
JLA Classified 16-21 (DC Comics) — First, a side note: Whenever I’m buying a multi-part story that doesn’t fit into continuity, I wait and read the whole thing when I have all of the issues — kinda like “waiting for the trade” without really waiting all that time for the actual trade. Most of the tales in Classified happened sometime in the undefined past, so they fit this bill. That means I just read all six of these issues for the first time this week. Conclusion: This is the Justice league done right!!!!! They work together as a team. They don’t always agree, but they like each other. Even Batman. He’s unquestionably their strategist. He’s coordinating the moves of the others in the final battle in spite of the fact he’s the only one of them without some fantastic power. But he’s not ordering them about like his own personal pawns. He tells them the plan ahead of time so they can better play their respective roles. Gail Simone turns in great plots each month on Birds of Prey. This arc proves she gets more than just the girl heroes.
52 Week Five (DC Comics) — We learn more about the messed up condition of the returning space heroes. And sure enough, Alan Scott is missing an eye (actually two of them as he points out in the story). That was one of the most significant things for me in this issue because it messed up my system of ordering these books. Scott has two good eyes in current issues of JSA, or seems to at least. That means I have to place the current story arc from JSA somewhere before the events of Infinite Crisis when he went out into space since he returns without the eye. Since the beginning of the story arc involves the golden-age Superman, placing this arc before Infinite Crisis can’t be done. I’ll have to wait and see when each arc wraps up, but maybe the solution will have to be that GL went out into space, lost an eye, came back, and has ring-created sight in the JSA arc in question. The fact that Alan lost his eye in space also blows my theory that he was going to lose it in the current JSA Classified arc with Vandal Savage.
Anyway, back to 52, they’ve delayed telling us about what happened to John Henry Irons in the last issue. He’s too busy trying to help the injured now to bring it up to anybody, but it looked like his armor took him over. Whatupwidat? It’s nice to see that Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man aren’t dead, but where the heck are they? Why did DC turn Renee Montoya into such a butt-head when they made her gay? I don’t care that she’s gay although that turn of events seemed to come outta left field, but since she came out she’s been angry and bitter and self-destructive. I’d almost say they are moving her into position to be the new gay Batwoman, but that character is supposed to be a re-vamped Kathy Kane. Oh, and one more 52 question, why is the backup History of the DCU so un-interesting so far? I like this series but I don’t like parts of it a lot.
Detective Comics 820 (DC Comics) — I’m enjoying this Face the Face story bringing Bats back after his year away, and I’m really liking the Jason Bard backup feature. I hope it doesn’t go away when Robinson ends his run as writer, but I imagine it will. This is a competent Batman who likes and works together with Robin and Commissioner Gordon. Finally.
JSA 86 (DC Comics) — I’ve heard some grumbling about the incoherency of this final JSA story arc before the book ends. I don’t see it. The sequence of events isn’t that hard to follow to me, and since I’ve never followed Hawkman to any large degree, I have only a passing knowledge of the Gentleman Ghost, so there’s less history to contradict for me, if this story does indeed contradict what has gone before. I’m liking this ghost story by DC president and publisher Paul Levitz and golden-age artist extraordinaire Jerry Ordway.
Outsiders 37 (DC Comics) — Since One Year Later began, this title has taken a decidely darker turn. I’m not opposed to that on principle. Darker stories can be good stories. But each issue recently has made me worry about reconciling Nightwing’s behavior here and in his own book. I don’t want to drop this book. I like the concept and I like what Winick did before the Crisis. But this issue’s confrontation between Nightwing and Superman, I mean, this issue’s Nightwing threatening Superman, I just don’t know ...
Justice League Unlimited 22 (DC Comics) — This book is just plain fun. It follows the characters as they were envisioned in the Timm-verse of the recent departed Justice League cartoon. The stories aren’t simplistic, but they can be equally enjoyed by youngsters and older fans alike. They are filled with nostalgia, wonder and awe. Bravo to Adam Beechen and Rick Burchett for their outstanding work month in and month out.
Whew! That’s a bunch, but that’s what I read since the last post.
The Thing 7 (Marvel Comics) — This is a fun book. I didn’t care so much for writer Dan Slott’s humor in his revamp of She-Hulk a couple years ago, but as I’ve said in discussing the 1983 Thing series, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Fantastic Four’s monstrous quarter. Well, Slott succeeds quite nicely with bashful Benjy’s adventures in this series, at least as far as I’m concerned. Naturally, next issue is the final as this title has been canceled waaaaaaay before its time. This issue has Ben trying to surprise one-time girlfriend Alicia, a blind sculptress, by taking her back in time to witness the creation of the Venus de Milo, her favorite sculpture. Naturally, things don’t work out quite like Ben intended, and maybe even a little history is re-written.
Superman/Batman 26 (DC Comics) — I can’t quite make up my mind about this issue. The Superman/Batman book can be fun, but I really didn’t like issue #7, the first to focus on Robin and Superboy instead. The characterization just seemed off to me. Not so much Superboy and Robin’s personalities, but Batman and Superman’s. The elder heroes seemed to not even like their younger counterparts, let alone trust them. Issue #26 is a continuation of that earlier story in more ways than one. It’s a fun little tale, and the true-story behind its origins tugs at the heart, but again, the adult heroes seem overly judgmental concerning the teen titans.
JLA Classified 16-21 (DC Comics) — First, a side note: Whenever I’m buying a multi-part story that doesn’t fit into continuity, I wait and read the whole thing when I have all of the issues — kinda like “waiting for the trade” without really waiting all that time for the actual trade. Most of the tales in Classified happened sometime in the undefined past, so they fit this bill. That means I just read all six of these issues for the first time this week. Conclusion: This is the Justice league done right!!!!! They work together as a team. They don’t always agree, but they like each other. Even Batman. He’s unquestionably their strategist. He’s coordinating the moves of the others in the final battle in spite of the fact he’s the only one of them without some fantastic power. But he’s not ordering them about like his own personal pawns. He tells them the plan ahead of time so they can better play their respective roles. Gail Simone turns in great plots each month on Birds of Prey. This arc proves she gets more than just the girl heroes.
52 Week Five (DC Comics) — We learn more about the messed up condition of the returning space heroes. And sure enough, Alan Scott is missing an eye (actually two of them as he points out in the story). That was one of the most significant things for me in this issue because it messed up my system of ordering these books. Scott has two good eyes in current issues of JSA, or seems to at least. That means I have to place the current story arc from JSA somewhere before the events of Infinite Crisis when he went out into space since he returns without the eye. Since the beginning of the story arc involves the golden-age Superman, placing this arc before Infinite Crisis can’t be done. I’ll have to wait and see when each arc wraps up, but maybe the solution will have to be that GL went out into space, lost an eye, came back, and has ring-created sight in the JSA arc in question. The fact that Alan lost his eye in space also blows my theory that he was going to lose it in the current JSA Classified arc with Vandal Savage.
Anyway, back to 52, they’ve delayed telling us about what happened to John Henry Irons in the last issue. He’s too busy trying to help the injured now to bring it up to anybody, but it looked like his armor took him over. Whatupwidat? It’s nice to see that Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man aren’t dead, but where the heck are they? Why did DC turn Renee Montoya into such a butt-head when they made her gay? I don’t care that she’s gay although that turn of events seemed to come outta left field, but since she came out she’s been angry and bitter and self-destructive. I’d almost say they are moving her into position to be the new gay Batwoman, but that character is supposed to be a re-vamped Kathy Kane. Oh, and one more 52 question, why is the backup History of the DCU so un-interesting so far? I like this series but I don’t like parts of it a lot.
Detective Comics 820 (DC Comics) — I’m enjoying this Face the Face story bringing Bats back after his year away, and I’m really liking the Jason Bard backup feature. I hope it doesn’t go away when Robinson ends his run as writer, but I imagine it will. This is a competent Batman who likes and works together with Robin and Commissioner Gordon. Finally.
JSA 86 (DC Comics) — I’ve heard some grumbling about the incoherency of this final JSA story arc before the book ends. I don’t see it. The sequence of events isn’t that hard to follow to me, and since I’ve never followed Hawkman to any large degree, I have only a passing knowledge of the Gentleman Ghost, so there’s less history to contradict for me, if this story does indeed contradict what has gone before. I’m liking this ghost story by DC president and publisher Paul Levitz and golden-age artist extraordinaire Jerry Ordway.
Outsiders 37 (DC Comics) — Since One Year Later began, this title has taken a decidely darker turn. I’m not opposed to that on principle. Darker stories can be good stories. But each issue recently has made me worry about reconciling Nightwing’s behavior here and in his own book. I don’t want to drop this book. I like the concept and I like what Winick did before the Crisis. But this issue’s confrontation between Nightwing and Superman, I mean, this issue’s Nightwing threatening Superman, I just don’t know ...
Justice League Unlimited 22 (DC Comics) — This book is just plain fun. It follows the characters as they were envisioned in the Timm-verse of the recent departed Justice League cartoon. The stories aren’t simplistic, but they can be equally enjoyed by youngsters and older fans alike. They are filled with nostalgia, wonder and awe. Bravo to Adam Beechen and Rick Burchett for their outstanding work month in and month out.
Whew! That’s a bunch, but that’s what I read since the last post.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Back to the Future
OK, short post this time. Got my current month’s worth of comics over the weekend, got ’em added to the database and read just a couple over the weekend. Since I get the bulk of my books once a month when so many folks get theirs on a weekly basis when they’re released, I’m always behind when I get a shipment. But I keep track of which books arrive in the stores each week, and that’s the order I read my new ones in, oldest first. Since I’ve been talking about some of the storylines I’m reading or re-reading as I go back through my older comics, I figured I’d just continue that motiff with the new ones, too. So, here’s some mini-reviews/thoughts on the first three books I read from this latest shipment.
52: Week Four (DC Comics) - This series is starting kind of slow, but I’m intrigued by a number of the storylines. For instance, I’m not sure where the whole thing with the Question and Renee Montoya is going but I’m definitely willing to come along for the ride and find out. I also like the emotional ploy of using Ralph “Elongated Man” Dibny as a central character. And speaking of Ralph’s story, what the hell’s going on with Wonder Girl and this cult of Superboy? I’m not as interested in the Booster storyline right now; I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. Same with the Steel storyline as I haven’t followed the charcter much of late. And holy crap, what’s up with the return of the space heroes? Especially the enormous Hawkgirl and the apparently now one-eyed Alan Scott? I know Scott is shown in Checkmate as wearing an eyepatch, but he doesn’t have it in current issues of JSA so I figured maybe something happened between those two stories, maybe something in the current JSA Classified storyline with Vandal Savage. Now, I’m not so sure.
Action Comics 839 (DC Comics) - The Up, Up and Away story reintroducing Superman has been pretty good so far. Writers Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek brought me to this storyline but I don’t normally stay with the Super titles very long. I like Superman, but his stories just aren’t my cup o’ chocolate milk most of the time. Maybe this round will be different.
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 1 (DC Comics) - I was looking forward to this one. I’ve always like the occasional appearances of Det. Crispus Allen in the Bat-titles. He’s one of the reasons I first gave Gotham Central a try when that title debuted. I was shocked when he was gunned down in the final issue of that series just before Infinite Crisis. His death made more sense when the Crisis aluded to his reincarnation as the new Spectre. I’m looking forward to this journey, and this first issue seems to hold a lot of promise.
And that’s all I’ve had a chance to read so far. Look for more soon.
52: Week Four (DC Comics) - This series is starting kind of slow, but I’m intrigued by a number of the storylines. For instance, I’m not sure where the whole thing with the Question and Renee Montoya is going but I’m definitely willing to come along for the ride and find out. I also like the emotional ploy of using Ralph “Elongated Man” Dibny as a central character. And speaking of Ralph’s story, what the hell’s going on with Wonder Girl and this cult of Superboy? I’m not as interested in the Booster storyline right now; I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. Same with the Steel storyline as I haven’t followed the charcter much of late. And holy crap, what’s up with the return of the space heroes? Especially the enormous Hawkgirl and the apparently now one-eyed Alan Scott? I know Scott is shown in Checkmate as wearing an eyepatch, but he doesn’t have it in current issues of JSA so I figured maybe something happened between those two stories, maybe something in the current JSA Classified storyline with Vandal Savage. Now, I’m not so sure.
Action Comics 839 (DC Comics) - The Up, Up and Away story reintroducing Superman has been pretty good so far. Writers Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek brought me to this storyline but I don’t normally stay with the Super titles very long. I like Superman, but his stories just aren’t my cup o’ chocolate milk most of the time. Maybe this round will be different.
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 1 (DC Comics) - I was looking forward to this one. I’ve always like the occasional appearances of Det. Crispus Allen in the Bat-titles. He’s one of the reasons I first gave Gotham Central a try when that title debuted. I was shocked when he was gunned down in the final issue of that series just before Infinite Crisis. His death made more sense when the Crisis aluded to his reincarnation as the new Spectre. I’m looking forward to this journey, and this first issue seems to hold a lot of promise.
And that’s all I’ve had a chance to read so far. Look for more soon.
Monday, June 26, 2006
A Crisis Is Brewing
Just some brief thoughts today on the comics I’ve read over the last few days moving into the year 1985.
For one thing, several of the comics, regardless of publisher, have been running an advertisement listing the results from Amazing Heroes Best 10 Books of 1984 poll, per R.A. Jones in Amazing Heroes #63. The list is first, Swamp Thing; second, Jon Sable; third, American Flagg; fourth, Teen Titans; fifth, Fantastic Four; sixth, X-Men; seventh, Blue Devil; eighth, Atari Force; ninth, Dr. Strange; and tenth, Power Pack. Two out of those top ten are complete runs in my collection.
I’ve also been paying more attention to the letters columns, editorial features and First Notes and such as I read over some of these comics than I used to when I was younger. I still don’t read every letter or comment, but I notice writer’s names and editorial opinions and such a tad more than I used to. I am seeing a lot of letters by “T.M. Maple,” a pseudonym not unfamiliar to a large number of comics collectors. T.M. was a very prolific and insightful writer to many letter cols. I don’t know the entire story of this individual, but I’ve read some things. It is interesting to see the number of books in which his missives appear.
For specific storylines, the Thing has finished up his adventures on the Beyonder’s planet and returned to Earth. I knew there was a point when his long-time girlfriend, the blind Alicia Masters, started dating the Human Torch instead. Now I know more about how and when that event came about in the life of Ben Grimm. One of the reasons Thing stayed behind on the Beyonder’s world was to sort out his feelings for Alicia. He was thinking he should break up with her because he was too dangerous for her to have a relationship with. Ben resolved to go through with the break-up and returned to Earth to find that Alicia had suspected what was coming, and when he didn’t return right away from space, she took the hint and moved on with her life. Johnny Storm was there to help out, and their relationship grew while Ben was away.
In the New Teen Titans, the team recovered from their emotional and psychological battles with Trigon. Then they discover something of the true origin of Lilith, a longtime, on-again-off-again member from the old days. It seems that Lilith is the daughter of Thia, one of the Titans of Myth, parents to the gods of Olympus. The goddess Thia kidnapped Lilith claiming to have been searching for her since she was stolen away as a baby and commenced to usurp control of Mount Olympus with designs on Earth next. Before defeating this menace with some mythical help, the Titans meet Kole, a young crystal-powered teenager whose parents the Titans attempt to track down in their next story arc.
Jon Sable’s title included a three-part story taking him to the Middle East titled, The Contract. A special back-up feature in those three issues was a real-life prose account of Sable creator Mike Grell’s first safari in Africa, complete with photos and sketches to illustrate the tale. Next begins a two-part story about Jon Sable’s mother before her death.
In addition to these regular books, I also have Sword of the Atom Special #2. In late 1983 or early 1984, artist Gil Kane and writer Jan Strnad turned the shrinking hero's world upside-down. In a four-issue miniseries, they took physicist Ray Palmer from his Ivy Town university job, ended his marriage to Jean Loring-Palmer, and plopped him down in the middle of the Amazon rainforest among a hidden civilization of six-inch tall yellow aliens stranded and living in the jungles. It sounds hard to believe, and the Atom probably wouldn’t have been most people’s first choice as the next big sword and sorcery hero, but the story and art in the series were incredible and the characters likable. The series was popular enough to generate two sequels, a 1984 Special and the second one in early 1985, but never an ongoing series of its own.
And then there’s the Warlord. For quite some time in that title, Travis Morgan and his Skartaran mate, Queen Tara of Shamballah, have been in hiding, building their forces and preparing to re-take their kingdom from the New Atlantean usurpers who have been little more than a subplot since they took over the land. But what is most interesting to me about the recent Warlord stories is how often the Monitor has been depicted watching the exploits of the characters. The Monitor is a mysterious figure, always shown in shadow at this point, who appeared in several DC books over the course of 1983 and 1984, usually as just an observer watching events transpire, but sometimes acting as a type of referral agent, connecting bosses with super-powered muscle for a fee. Readers wouldn’t learn who the Monitor was or what his motivations and goals were until the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is my first time reading Warlord stories from this period, so I am curious just how much of a role the Crisis plays in the life of the Warlord and vice-versa. I know Travis Morgan is pictured in the Crisis series in several group shots of heroes, but the number of appearances of the Monitor in the the pages of the Warlord, makes me wonder if the Crisis will play a large role in Skartaris.
Moving forward from here, in addition to Titans, Warlord, Sable and Thing, I also have a four-issue Red Tornado series and a four-issue Nightcrawler series from early 1985 and a three-issue Legend of the Hawkman prestige series from 2000 which I have placed here chronologically because it obviously deals with the pre-Crisis Hawkman from Thanagar. Then, of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which the dates in my collection get really muddy. But more on that when the time comes.
For one thing, several of the comics, regardless of publisher, have been running an advertisement listing the results from Amazing Heroes Best 10 Books of 1984 poll, per R.A. Jones in Amazing Heroes #63. The list is first, Swamp Thing; second, Jon Sable; third, American Flagg; fourth, Teen Titans; fifth, Fantastic Four; sixth, X-Men; seventh, Blue Devil; eighth, Atari Force; ninth, Dr. Strange; and tenth, Power Pack. Two out of those top ten are complete runs in my collection.
I’ve also been paying more attention to the letters columns, editorial features and First Notes and such as I read over some of these comics than I used to when I was younger. I still don’t read every letter or comment, but I notice writer’s names and editorial opinions and such a tad more than I used to. I am seeing a lot of letters by “T.M. Maple,” a pseudonym not unfamiliar to a large number of comics collectors. T.M. was a very prolific and insightful writer to many letter cols. I don’t know the entire story of this individual, but I’ve read some things. It is interesting to see the number of books in which his missives appear.
For specific storylines, the Thing has finished up his adventures on the Beyonder’s planet and returned to Earth. I knew there was a point when his long-time girlfriend, the blind Alicia Masters, started dating the Human Torch instead. Now I know more about how and when that event came about in the life of Ben Grimm. One of the reasons Thing stayed behind on the Beyonder’s world was to sort out his feelings for Alicia. He was thinking he should break up with her because he was too dangerous for her to have a relationship with. Ben resolved to go through with the break-up and returned to Earth to find that Alicia had suspected what was coming, and when he didn’t return right away from space, she took the hint and moved on with her life. Johnny Storm was there to help out, and their relationship grew while Ben was away.
In the New Teen Titans, the team recovered from their emotional and psychological battles with Trigon. Then they discover something of the true origin of Lilith, a longtime, on-again-off-again member from the old days. It seems that Lilith is the daughter of Thia, one of the Titans of Myth, parents to the gods of Olympus. The goddess Thia kidnapped Lilith claiming to have been searching for her since she was stolen away as a baby and commenced to usurp control of Mount Olympus with designs on Earth next. Before defeating this menace with some mythical help, the Titans meet Kole, a young crystal-powered teenager whose parents the Titans attempt to track down in their next story arc.
Jon Sable’s title included a three-part story taking him to the Middle East titled, The Contract. A special back-up feature in those three issues was a real-life prose account of Sable creator Mike Grell’s first safari in Africa, complete with photos and sketches to illustrate the tale. Next begins a two-part story about Jon Sable’s mother before her death.
In addition to these regular books, I also have Sword of the Atom Special #2. In late 1983 or early 1984, artist Gil Kane and writer Jan Strnad turned the shrinking hero's world upside-down. In a four-issue miniseries, they took physicist Ray Palmer from his Ivy Town university job, ended his marriage to Jean Loring-Palmer, and plopped him down in the middle of the Amazon rainforest among a hidden civilization of six-inch tall yellow aliens stranded and living in the jungles. It sounds hard to believe, and the Atom probably wouldn’t have been most people’s first choice as the next big sword and sorcery hero, but the story and art in the series were incredible and the characters likable. The series was popular enough to generate two sequels, a 1984 Special and the second one in early 1985, but never an ongoing series of its own.
And then there’s the Warlord. For quite some time in that title, Travis Morgan and his Skartaran mate, Queen Tara of Shamballah, have been in hiding, building their forces and preparing to re-take their kingdom from the New Atlantean usurpers who have been little more than a subplot since they took over the land. But what is most interesting to me about the recent Warlord stories is how often the Monitor has been depicted watching the exploits of the characters. The Monitor is a mysterious figure, always shown in shadow at this point, who appeared in several DC books over the course of 1983 and 1984, usually as just an observer watching events transpire, but sometimes acting as a type of referral agent, connecting bosses with super-powered muscle for a fee. Readers wouldn’t learn who the Monitor was or what his motivations and goals were until the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is my first time reading Warlord stories from this period, so I am curious just how much of a role the Crisis plays in the life of the Warlord and vice-versa. I know Travis Morgan is pictured in the Crisis series in several group shots of heroes, but the number of appearances of the Monitor in the the pages of the Warlord, makes me wonder if the Crisis will play a large role in Skartaris.
Moving forward from here, in addition to Titans, Warlord, Sable and Thing, I also have a four-issue Red Tornado series and a four-issue Nightcrawler series from early 1985 and a three-issue Legend of the Hawkman prestige series from 2000 which I have placed here chronologically because it obviously deals with the pre-Crisis Hawkman from Thanagar. Then, of course, Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which the dates in my collection get really muddy. But more on that when the time comes.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Comics So Vivid They're Scary
It's been a light reading week so far this week, and we've already covered the overviews for all of the series I have in complete runs through 1984. Still at least a week — most likely two — before my next shipment of new comics come in. But I have ventured far enough into 1985 that I have just re-read the first story arc of the 1984 Baxter New Teen Titans series.
The first five issues of the series detail the re-match between the current Titans line-up and the demonic Trigon the Terrible, other-dimensional father of Titan Raven. Issue #6 is also part of that story arc, at least in my opinion, because it deals with the aftermath of the battle and the repercussions for the Titans themselves.
These books also mark the last before the departure of New Teen Titans co-creator and collaborator George Perez. Marv Wolfman would stay with the book for another six or so years, and Perez continued to provide the cover art and story contributions, but Jose Luis Garcia Lopez took over the regular art chores with #6.
For anybody not familiar with the Baxter term, no, it doesn't mean that the comic was printed in the headquarters for the Fantastic Four. Baxter refers to the higher paper quality and the greater range of color inks used in the printing of the comic. In 1984, DC opted to experiment with the process on a re-vamped Legion of Super-Heroes title and their new Infinity Inc. offering. The New Teen Titans re-launch was the third title to get the upgrade. The brief mention of the different printing process is because I believe that very process is at least part of why this story arc is remembered by so many as so dramatic.
Of course, it was a pretty compelling story beyond the visuals, too. In the earliest adventures of the New Teen Titans, Raven is depicted as gathering this group of teenage heroes together so they could help combat her other-dimensional demon-father. That initial confrontation took place in New Teen Titans (first series) #s 6 and 7. At the end of that tale, the Titans had managed to "trap" Trigon in his own dimension, and Raven's human mother, Arella, stood "guard" over the portal between the dimensions.
In the 1985 story, it is revealed that over time Raven's appearance has been changing, growing to resemble that of her demonic father, mirroring the changes within her soul. Apparently, each time Raven has used her empathic powers over the course of the group's adventures, Trigon has captured a little piece of her, until she can no longer resist his influence. With the corrupted Raven's help, Trigon escapes his imprisonment, travels to Earth, and very quickly subjugates the entire planet. Superman, the Justice League and other heroes are shown to never have had a chance to even register the attack, let alone managed to organize counter-measures. The Titans are left whole only because they were elsewhere when the initial attack began, and because Trigon has special plans for them.
Over the course of the story, Trigon and the corrupted Raven use the darkest fears and insecurities of each Titan against that specific hero. Wonder Girl has recently married, so her "dark self" mocks the relationship of an Amazon to a mortal by killing Donna's husband. Changeling has lost his natural parents and his adoptive family the Doom Patrol. He naturally feels responsible for the tragedies which took his loved ones, so "Dark Changeling" accuses him of killing them. Nightwing has recently given up being Robin, so "Dark Nightwing" shows him that the new ineffective Robin has failed to watch Batman's back, resulting in the death of the Dark Knight Detective. Cyborg, Kid Flash and Starfire suffer similar nightmares, being taunted by their darkest fears to the breaking point.
These are dark fears and deal with some pretty dark concepts: slavery, failure, loss of humanity, death and murder. On top of that, the "dark" Titans are illustrated as "negative" figures, mostly black (as opposed to white) with blood-red outlines. The concepts and the visual depictions make for some very disturbing nightmare sequences, but they allow the reader to "feel" the Titans' torment all the more for their richness. I remember feeling a chill reading these stories for the first time, and even though the story and outcome are familiar now, a portion of that same chill returns each time I re-read these comics. Now that's not only good story-telling, but that's damn good graphic story-telling — and isn't that what comic books are all about?
The first five issues of the series detail the re-match between the current Titans line-up and the demonic Trigon the Terrible, other-dimensional father of Titan Raven. Issue #6 is also part of that story arc, at least in my opinion, because it deals with the aftermath of the battle and the repercussions for the Titans themselves.
These books also mark the last before the departure of New Teen Titans co-creator and collaborator George Perez. Marv Wolfman would stay with the book for another six or so years, and Perez continued to provide the cover art and story contributions, but Jose Luis Garcia Lopez took over the regular art chores with #6.
For anybody not familiar with the Baxter term, no, it doesn't mean that the comic was printed in the headquarters for the Fantastic Four. Baxter refers to the higher paper quality and the greater range of color inks used in the printing of the comic. In 1984, DC opted to experiment with the process on a re-vamped Legion of Super-Heroes title and their new Infinity Inc. offering. The New Teen Titans re-launch was the third title to get the upgrade. The brief mention of the different printing process is because I believe that very process is at least part of why this story arc is remembered by so many as so dramatic.
Of course, it was a pretty compelling story beyond the visuals, too. In the earliest adventures of the New Teen Titans, Raven is depicted as gathering this group of teenage heroes together so they could help combat her other-dimensional demon-father. That initial confrontation took place in New Teen Titans (first series) #s 6 and 7. At the end of that tale, the Titans had managed to "trap" Trigon in his own dimension, and Raven's human mother, Arella, stood "guard" over the portal between the dimensions.
In the 1985 story, it is revealed that over time Raven's appearance has been changing, growing to resemble that of her demonic father, mirroring the changes within her soul. Apparently, each time Raven has used her empathic powers over the course of the group's adventures, Trigon has captured a little piece of her, until she can no longer resist his influence. With the corrupted Raven's help, Trigon escapes his imprisonment, travels to Earth, and very quickly subjugates the entire planet. Superman, the Justice League and other heroes are shown to never have had a chance to even register the attack, let alone managed to organize counter-measures. The Titans are left whole only because they were elsewhere when the initial attack began, and because Trigon has special plans for them.
Over the course of the story, Trigon and the corrupted Raven use the darkest fears and insecurities of each Titan against that specific hero. Wonder Girl has recently married, so her "dark self" mocks the relationship of an Amazon to a mortal by killing Donna's husband. Changeling has lost his natural parents and his adoptive family the Doom Patrol. He naturally feels responsible for the tragedies which took his loved ones, so "Dark Changeling" accuses him of killing them. Nightwing has recently given up being Robin, so "Dark Nightwing" shows him that the new ineffective Robin has failed to watch Batman's back, resulting in the death of the Dark Knight Detective. Cyborg, Kid Flash and Starfire suffer similar nightmares, being taunted by their darkest fears to the breaking point.
These are dark fears and deal with some pretty dark concepts: slavery, failure, loss of humanity, death and murder. On top of that, the "dark" Titans are illustrated as "negative" figures, mostly black (as opposed to white) with blood-red outlines. The concepts and the visual depictions make for some very disturbing nightmare sequences, but they allow the reader to "feel" the Titans' torment all the more for their richness. I remember feeling a chill reading these stories for the first time, and even though the story and outcome are familiar now, a portion of that same chill returns each time I re-read these comics. Now that's not only good story-telling, but that's damn good graphic story-telling — and isn't that what comic books are all about?
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Thing Has Changed
Hello, again. We’ve been talking about the ongoing series I am currently reading or re-reading as I work my way through the back issues of my own comic book collection. So, far, we’ve discussed The New Teen Titans, The Warlord and Jon Sable, Freelance. The fourth book that fits into that time frame is the first Marvel Comics title devoted to the solo adventures of the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing.
Now, Ben Grimm has always been my favorite member of the Fantastic Four. I tend to gravitate toward some of the more monstrous-in-appearance heroes from the Marvel Universe. I like Thing, I like Hulk, I like Beast, I like Nightcrawler and I like werewolves, so, since we’re talking about Marvel, I like Werewolf By Night.
Currently, Ben has his own solo title again. It’s already been canceled, but Dan Slott’s take on the character was spot-on. And during the Silver Age of comics, Thing starred as the recurring character in Marvel team-up title Two-In-One. But, today we are discussing the early ’80s series The Thing by John Byrne (writer) and Ron Wilson (drawing). A few of the issues in early 1984 were written by Mike Carlin, too.
This series started out pretty good. Ben battled a collection of strange villains and had some unusual adventures in his first several issues. It was the Thing we all know and love - a grounded everyman who just happens to be incredibly strong, has a big heart and muddles his way through whatever life throws at him.
And that’s why this series is only so-so for me. Those first issues were great. But then the Marvel Powers-That-Were came along and screwed things up. 1984 was when Marvel Comics produced its first Secret Wars miniseries (certainly not the last to bear that name) in which a god-like being called the Beyonder whisked several heroes and villains off to an artificial planetoid and pitted them against each other. At the conclusion of the 12-issue extravaganza, Ben decided to stay on the artificial world, a place where he could inexplicably transform back and forth from human to the Thing, and sort out some of the relationships in his life.
So, naturally, in his own title, Ben ceases to be Ben. It doesn’t so much bother me that for the next 10 to 12 issues, he can transform; that doesn’t change the core character. But many of the storylines during this “Rocky Grimm (where the hell did that name come from), Space Ranger” arc were just too fantastical for my tastes. Sure Thing has been put into some fantastic situations as a member of the FF, but again, what makes the character great is his everyman groundedness. Take that away from him, as in these stories, and I just don’t care much for this “new guy.”
OK, so I’m bashing several of these issues. You guessed it; you will find a number of them that I didn’t care for on my Web site for sale. See, that’s one of the beautiful things about comics. These stories weren’t my personal cup o’ tea. That doesn’t mean noone will want them. Somebody out there might think I’m crazy for my “narrow” opinion, love these issues, and snatch them right up. The stories aren’t bad, they just aren’t Ben Grimm to me.
Next time, we’ll move on to something else. In the week it’s taken me to post about these titles from 1984, I’ve almost worked my way on in to 1985.
Now, Ben Grimm has always been my favorite member of the Fantastic Four. I tend to gravitate toward some of the more monstrous-in-appearance heroes from the Marvel Universe. I like Thing, I like Hulk, I like Beast, I like Nightcrawler and I like werewolves, so, since we’re talking about Marvel, I like Werewolf By Night.
Currently, Ben has his own solo title again. It’s already been canceled, but Dan Slott’s take on the character was spot-on. And during the Silver Age of comics, Thing starred as the recurring character in Marvel team-up title Two-In-One. But, today we are discussing the early ’80s series The Thing by John Byrne (writer) and Ron Wilson (drawing). A few of the issues in early 1984 were written by Mike Carlin, too.
This series started out pretty good. Ben battled a collection of strange villains and had some unusual adventures in his first several issues. It was the Thing we all know and love - a grounded everyman who just happens to be incredibly strong, has a big heart and muddles his way through whatever life throws at him.
And that’s why this series is only so-so for me. Those first issues were great. But then the Marvel Powers-That-Were came along and screwed things up. 1984 was when Marvel Comics produced its first Secret Wars miniseries (certainly not the last to bear that name) in which a god-like being called the Beyonder whisked several heroes and villains off to an artificial planetoid and pitted them against each other. At the conclusion of the 12-issue extravaganza, Ben decided to stay on the artificial world, a place where he could inexplicably transform back and forth from human to the Thing, and sort out some of the relationships in his life.
So, naturally, in his own title, Ben ceases to be Ben. It doesn’t so much bother me that for the next 10 to 12 issues, he can transform; that doesn’t change the core character. But many of the storylines during this “Rocky Grimm (where the hell did that name come from), Space Ranger” arc were just too fantastical for my tastes. Sure Thing has been put into some fantastic situations as a member of the FF, but again, what makes the character great is his everyman groundedness. Take that away from him, as in these stories, and I just don’t care much for this “new guy.”
OK, so I’m bashing several of these issues. You guessed it; you will find a number of them that I didn’t care for on my Web site for sale. See, that’s one of the beautiful things about comics. These stories weren’t my personal cup o’ tea. That doesn’t mean noone will want them. Somebody out there might think I’m crazy for my “narrow” opinion, love these issues, and snatch them right up. The stories aren’t bad, they just aren’t Ben Grimm to me.
Next time, we’ll move on to something else. In the week it’s taken me to post about these titles from 1984, I’ve almost worked my way on in to 1985.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Enter The Hunter
Mike Grell has done a lot of comic books work over the years. I haven’t researched him enough to provide a detailed listing of all his credits, but several people’s first exposure to him as an artist seems to be his early work illustrating the adventures of DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes, the teenage titans from the far-flung future.
I never much got into the Legion back then, so its no surprise that my first exposure to Grell’s talents came much later during his work on the ground-breaking miniseries The Longbow Hunters, which updated Green Arrow for DC and served as the launch point for the emerald archer’s first self-titled ongoing series. Before that time, however, “Iron Mike” gained a following not only for illustrating, but also creating and writing the adventures of The Warlord, a series we discussed last time. In that earlier discussion, I also mentioned Grell leaving Warlord after a time.
At that time, he also left DC to join editor Mike Gold in creating First Comics. American Flagg and E-Man are some of the more popular titles released monthly by First Comics when they started. The character and title Grell created, wrote and illustrated was Jon Sable, Freelance, an adventurer-for-hire grounded in the real world, without any superpowers of any kind, who relied on his wits and skills to survive political intrigue “ripped from the headlines.” The main character was a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones, a real-life “Batman” operating without a Halloween costume. And he was a hit in 1984.
My first exposure to this character was in a later relaunch of the title simply called Sable and written by Marv Wolfman. I enjoyed that incarnation for several months, occasionally picking up back issues of the re-launched series. I learned that Mike Grell had created the character when I happened across a trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the original series.
For a long time, that was all my collection included of Jon Sable. This is one of the titles for which I have recently filled in the holes, having purchased a copy of all issues of the original series, as well as the missing issues of the relaunch, initially title Sable, Return of the Hunter, and finally dropping to just Sable.
Through 1984, readers have been treated to an epic-length “origin” tale telling of Jon’s life and family in Africa, how he came to be a writer of children’s books in his alter ego of B.B. Flemm, how he came to know each of the small circle of people who know him, and followed him from the jungles of Vietnam in search of MIA/POWs to the Olympic games, opposing petty criminals, beautiful jewel thieves and corrupt officials in foreign countries.
Jon Sable, Freelance also gets a “thumbs up” recommendation as a series worth checking out.
And as a side note, through the house ads in the early First Comics, I learned about yet another Grell creator-owned series, Starslayer, a sci-fi tale originally launched for another company, but picked up by First Comics. I haven’t read any of this series yet, but I like The Warlord and Sable enough to purchase all of the issues from a mail-order back issue company a few months ago. That’s the “drawback” of this hobby -- each new discovery often leads to finding and wanting other new titles.
Happy collecting.
I never much got into the Legion back then, so its no surprise that my first exposure to Grell’s talents came much later during his work on the ground-breaking miniseries The Longbow Hunters, which updated Green Arrow for DC and served as the launch point for the emerald archer’s first self-titled ongoing series. Before that time, however, “Iron Mike” gained a following not only for illustrating, but also creating and writing the adventures of The Warlord, a series we discussed last time. In that earlier discussion, I also mentioned Grell leaving Warlord after a time.
At that time, he also left DC to join editor Mike Gold in creating First Comics. American Flagg and E-Man are some of the more popular titles released monthly by First Comics when they started. The character and title Grell created, wrote and illustrated was Jon Sable, Freelance, an adventurer-for-hire grounded in the real world, without any superpowers of any kind, who relied on his wits and skills to survive political intrigue “ripped from the headlines.” The main character was a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones, a real-life “Batman” operating without a Halloween costume. And he was a hit in 1984.
My first exposure to this character was in a later relaunch of the title simply called Sable and written by Marv Wolfman. I enjoyed that incarnation for several months, occasionally picking up back issues of the re-launched series. I learned that Mike Grell had created the character when I happened across a trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the original series.
For a long time, that was all my collection included of Jon Sable. This is one of the titles for which I have recently filled in the holes, having purchased a copy of all issues of the original series, as well as the missing issues of the relaunch, initially title Sable, Return of the Hunter, and finally dropping to just Sable.
Through 1984, readers have been treated to an epic-length “origin” tale telling of Jon’s life and family in Africa, how he came to be a writer of children’s books in his alter ego of B.B. Flemm, how he came to know each of the small circle of people who know him, and followed him from the jungles of Vietnam in search of MIA/POWs to the Olympic games, opposing petty criminals, beautiful jewel thieves and corrupt officials in foreign countries.
Jon Sable, Freelance also gets a “thumbs up” recommendation as a series worth checking out.
And as a side note, through the house ads in the early First Comics, I learned about yet another Grell creator-owned series, Starslayer, a sci-fi tale originally launched for another company, but picked up by First Comics. I haven’t read any of this series yet, but I like The Warlord and Sable enough to purchase all of the issues from a mail-order back issue company a few months ago. That’s the “drawback” of this hobby -- each new discovery often leads to finding and wanting other new titles.
Happy collecting.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
1984 Was More Than Just Big Brother
Ain’t technology wonderful? I’m not going to lie and blame the length of my most recent absence entirely on the computer not being available, but that is a valid excuse for a least a portion of the time. But I believe we are back in business now. Keep your fingers crossed.
In previous posts, I’ve talked about how I file my comic books as opposed to the more typical alpha-numeric system. I’ve also mentioned my Web site previously, which lists a number of comic books I’ve cut from my personal collection because of taste and/or duplication. Both of those topics came up in a recent discussion with a friend about what I do with my spare time.
A large portion of my spare time is devoted to my comic book collection. Currently I purchase the bulk of my new comics from a mail-order company which ships me my stash once a month. But, because of money and interest limitations, the new comics I get each month only take me a couple weeks to read and file away. Once that’s done each month, I move back to the beginnings of my collection.
I am currently using that time to go back through my collection from the beginning for a number of reasons. It’s a good way to doublecheck that there are no errors in the way I have the books ordered. I’m also pulling some additional books out for placement on the Web site. And over the last several months, I have purchased a number of back issues which complete runs of some titles or give me a chance to sample series I missed the first time around. So far, I’ve made it to fall 1984. At this point, not counting miscellaneous issues of titles I collected sporadically, there are four main titles I own complete runs of from that time. We’ve already covered my enjoyment of Marv Wolfman’s and George Perez’s revival of the New Teen Titans. Another of those titles is DC’s The Warlord.
The Warlord was created, written and illustrated by Mike Grell beginning with First Issue Special #8 in November 1975. The story centers on Air Force pilot Travis Morgan and the hidden world of Skartaris he accidentally finds inside Earth. The one-shot was popular enough that The Warlord was given his own book almost immediately -- February 1976. Grell stayed with the book until the early 1980s. Cary Burkett took over the writing and the art chores were handled by Dan Jurgens and Rich Buckler.
The title is basically a sword and sorcery tale with elements from science fiction and fantasy thrown in. I first heard of Mike Grell during his work in the 1990s on DC’s revival of Green Arrow. From there, I also followed his work in the late 90s for Image Comics with his creator-owned titles Shaman’s Tears and Bar Sinister, both short-lived but popular series, from my understanding.
The gritty-realism in these later titles -- stories that could almost happen in the real-world, not just ultra-violent as that term has come to mean today -- impressed me enough to seek out other Grell titles. While The Warlord is conciderably more fantastical than realistic, I still enjoyed the story presented in a trade paperback I picked up which collected the first year’s worth of Warlord tales. Other commentators I have read online dismiss Grell as doing work, especially on The Warlord, that others did first and better, most notably Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Martian tales. I will agree that the title isn’t exactly ground-breaking in its use of a man taken out of his usual environment and forced to excell in alien surroundings, but Grell does weave a riveting tale as Morgan explores the hidden world, battles wizrds and monsters, uncovers lost secrets and more.
When Grell left the title and new creators came onboard, the tone of the series changed, emphasizing the science fiction aspects more than others, but the stories were still quite good. The Warlord is a series I highly recommend, at least through 1984. Next time, we’ll look at another title I am discovering from that timeframe.
In previous posts, I’ve talked about how I file my comic books as opposed to the more typical alpha-numeric system. I’ve also mentioned my Web site previously, which lists a number of comic books I’ve cut from my personal collection because of taste and/or duplication. Both of those topics came up in a recent discussion with a friend about what I do with my spare time.
A large portion of my spare time is devoted to my comic book collection. Currently I purchase the bulk of my new comics from a mail-order company which ships me my stash once a month. But, because of money and interest limitations, the new comics I get each month only take me a couple weeks to read and file away. Once that’s done each month, I move back to the beginnings of my collection.
I am currently using that time to go back through my collection from the beginning for a number of reasons. It’s a good way to doublecheck that there are no errors in the way I have the books ordered. I’m also pulling some additional books out for placement on the Web site. And over the last several months, I have purchased a number of back issues which complete runs of some titles or give me a chance to sample series I missed the first time around. So far, I’ve made it to fall 1984. At this point, not counting miscellaneous issues of titles I collected sporadically, there are four main titles I own complete runs of from that time. We’ve already covered my enjoyment of Marv Wolfman’s and George Perez’s revival of the New Teen Titans. Another of those titles is DC’s The Warlord.
The Warlord was created, written and illustrated by Mike Grell beginning with First Issue Special #8 in November 1975. The story centers on Air Force pilot Travis Morgan and the hidden world of Skartaris he accidentally finds inside Earth. The one-shot was popular enough that The Warlord was given his own book almost immediately -- February 1976. Grell stayed with the book until the early 1980s. Cary Burkett took over the writing and the art chores were handled by Dan Jurgens and Rich Buckler.
The title is basically a sword and sorcery tale with elements from science fiction and fantasy thrown in. I first heard of Mike Grell during his work in the 1990s on DC’s revival of Green Arrow. From there, I also followed his work in the late 90s for Image Comics with his creator-owned titles Shaman’s Tears and Bar Sinister, both short-lived but popular series, from my understanding.
The gritty-realism in these later titles -- stories that could almost happen in the real-world, not just ultra-violent as that term has come to mean today -- impressed me enough to seek out other Grell titles. While The Warlord is conciderably more fantastical than realistic, I still enjoyed the story presented in a trade paperback I picked up which collected the first year’s worth of Warlord tales. Other commentators I have read online dismiss Grell as doing work, especially on The Warlord, that others did first and better, most notably Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Martian tales. I will agree that the title isn’t exactly ground-breaking in its use of a man taken out of his usual environment and forced to excell in alien surroundings, but Grell does weave a riveting tale as Morgan explores the hidden world, battles wizrds and monsters, uncovers lost secrets and more.
When Grell left the title and new creators came onboard, the tone of the series changed, emphasizing the science fiction aspects more than others, but the stories were still quite good. The Warlord is a series I highly recommend, at least through 1984. Next time, we’ll look at another title I am discovering from that timeframe.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Hello, hello, hello
Wow, I really haven't been here much of late. Been busy, busy, busy. Trying to keep up with projects around the house and some overtime at work -- nice on the checkbook, not so nice on the life. Fighting being sleepy right now. Got woke up early this morning with some family business and wasn't feeling too great yesterday when I went to bed, so I'm a little wiped right now. But I logged in to check e-mail and figured I'd take just a quick minute to check in here and pledge to try and do better in the coming days.
Ciao for now, though.
Ciao for now, though.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Everything You Know Is Wrong
They have tried to yank the rug right out from under me, but so far, so good -- with just a little help from my friends. So far, I have survived two days under this new software at work. I even did a little bit more a little bit faster on the second night, so maybe, just maybe, I will get the hang of this program. Most of us agree, there are a number of things which keep this from being the vast improvement we were promised: several of the wonderful "new" features could have been done using our old software, and are only occasional things anyway. Several of the standard, everyday operations actually involve more complex commands than the old software. And, of course, most of the actions that stayed the same really didn't because we all have to learn new keystrokes to make the same old magic happen.
But, as I said, with a little help from those around me, I'm figuring it out.
Wish me luck.
But, as I said, with a little help from those around me, I'm figuring it out.
Wish me luck.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Checking In
Hey, everybody! I'm baaaaack!
No, I wasn't abducted by aliens for the better part of the month. Been going through some changes at work which have translated into many extra hours. And work has been taking enough extra time of late that I haven't been feeling especially creative, or even motivated, for that matter.
But, now that I'm here, I see it has actually been closer to a month than I thought it had been, so it's about time I checked in, even if just for a brief visit.
I hope to be back in a few days with more. Take care of yourselves.
No, I wasn't abducted by aliens for the better part of the month. Been going through some changes at work which have translated into many extra hours. And work has been taking enough extra time of late that I haven't been feeling especially creative, or even motivated, for that matter.
But, now that I'm here, I see it has actually been closer to a month than I thought it had been, so it's about time I checked in, even if just for a brief visit.
I hope to be back in a few days with more. Take care of yourselves.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Meanwhile, back in the Comics Den ...
I said I wasn't going to talk about comic books all of the time, but it's been a while now, so here we go returning to geek-heaven:
The vast majority of collectors I have talked to store their collections (books bagged and boarded, of course) in boxes or on shelves alpha-numerically, i.e. Batman comes before Superman and Spider-Man and even Batman: Gotham Knights and Batman #100 comes about 100 issues before Batman #200 (if you're lucky enough to have comics from that far back). My system, while not unique, is a little bit different.
I look at the comic book characters I love and their adventures as if they were real people living real lives. No, I don't mean I have trouble distinguishing reality from make believe, but previous writers and philosophers have posited that if someone can imagine something, then somewhere in all of reality, that imagined thing can be real. Following this logic, I try to store my comics in "chronological order."
In a simple equation of a collector following one title only, this would not be very different from storing the books numerically. The continuity of most modern comics is that issue "B" takes place after issue "A." Even if issue "C" includes a flashback to something that happened before issue "B," the bulk of the book would still occur after issue "B." But then, let's say, issue "D" comes out and tells the origin of the title character. Issue "D" includes no flashbacks, there is no "current" framing sequence with a character thinking back. Well then, chronologically, issue "D" would come first in my collection, making the order of the books D, A, B, C.
Of course, most collectors don't follow just one book or one character. And sometimes characters interact in each other's stories. Batman may appear in a stand-alone issue of Superman during the same month that his own title is on part 3 of a 4-part storyline. Does that appearance of Batman in the Superman title really "happen" between scenes in that month's issue of Batman or did it "occur" either before or after the storyline in the Batman magazine? Answering questions like that and placing the comics in order accordingly is part of the enjoyment for me. Sometimes there will be clues within the story to indicate which event came first. Sometimes it's a completely arbitrary decision.
Yet, even the above example isn't really complex enough to show the myriad plotlines and stories one has to keep straight to achieve this goal. To see just how convoluted it could get, let's look at one of my favorite characters: Nightwing. For those not in the know, Nightwing is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, the Boy Wonder, all grown up. Nightwing currently has his own self-titled comic book published monthly. Nightwing is also a member of a current group called the Outsiders and often appears in that book. He is also a founding member of the Teen Titans. There is a new group of Titans right now, and Nightwing is not a current member, but he guest-stars in the book quite often as he was a founding member of the original group and the current group includes the current Robin, Nightwing's "little brother" in the Batman family. Let's add Batman into the mix; that includes titles such as Batman, Detective, Robin, Batgirl, Batman: Gotham Nights and Batman: Legends of the Bat, all of which could feature a guest appearance by Nightwing. The character is also friends with the Flash, another founding Teen Titans member. He has been in titles like JLA and Birds of Prey before. That's a dozen books this one character could be in during any given month. Odds are he wouldn't be all of them in one month, but let's say he was in only three; there are still the other characters in those three books who could each be in multiple books each month. It can be a challenge sometimes.
The vast majority of collectors I have talked to store their collections (books bagged and boarded, of course) in boxes or on shelves alpha-numerically, i.e. Batman comes before Superman and Spider-Man and even Batman: Gotham Knights and Batman #100 comes about 100 issues before Batman #200 (if you're lucky enough to have comics from that far back). My system, while not unique, is a little bit different.
I look at the comic book characters I love and their adventures as if they were real people living real lives. No, I don't mean I have trouble distinguishing reality from make believe, but previous writers and philosophers have posited that if someone can imagine something, then somewhere in all of reality, that imagined thing can be real. Following this logic, I try to store my comics in "chronological order."
In a simple equation of a collector following one title only, this would not be very different from storing the books numerically. The continuity of most modern comics is that issue "B" takes place after issue "A." Even if issue "C" includes a flashback to something that happened before issue "B," the bulk of the book would still occur after issue "B." But then, let's say, issue "D" comes out and tells the origin of the title character. Issue "D" includes no flashbacks, there is no "current" framing sequence with a character thinking back. Well then, chronologically, issue "D" would come first in my collection, making the order of the books D, A, B, C.
Of course, most collectors don't follow just one book or one character. And sometimes characters interact in each other's stories. Batman may appear in a stand-alone issue of Superman during the same month that his own title is on part 3 of a 4-part storyline. Does that appearance of Batman in the Superman title really "happen" between scenes in that month's issue of Batman or did it "occur" either before or after the storyline in the Batman magazine? Answering questions like that and placing the comics in order accordingly is part of the enjoyment for me. Sometimes there will be clues within the story to indicate which event came first. Sometimes it's a completely arbitrary decision.
Yet, even the above example isn't really complex enough to show the myriad plotlines and stories one has to keep straight to achieve this goal. To see just how convoluted it could get, let's look at one of my favorite characters: Nightwing. For those not in the know, Nightwing is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, the Boy Wonder, all grown up. Nightwing currently has his own self-titled comic book published monthly. Nightwing is also a member of a current group called the Outsiders and often appears in that book. He is also a founding member of the Teen Titans. There is a new group of Titans right now, and Nightwing is not a current member, but he guest-stars in the book quite often as he was a founding member of the original group and the current group includes the current Robin, Nightwing's "little brother" in the Batman family. Let's add Batman into the mix; that includes titles such as Batman, Detective, Robin, Batgirl, Batman: Gotham Nights and Batman: Legends of the Bat, all of which could feature a guest appearance by Nightwing. The character is also friends with the Flash, another founding Teen Titans member. He has been in titles like JLA and Birds of Prey before. That's a dozen books this one character could be in during any given month. Odds are he wouldn't be all of them in one month, but let's say he was in only three; there are still the other characters in those three books who could each be in multiple books each month. It can be a challenge sometimes.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Life As Usual ... Obstacles and Some Good People
Problems are so much easier to deal with when you have a little help along the way. As I alluded to in a previous post, the transmission went out in my pickup -- more specifically, the clutch burned up because of a transmission leak I failed to notice. Had to get around for almost two weeks with just my wife's car for the both of us. Wasn't fun, but it could've been worse, and the transmission shop we took the truck to did a great job for us. I admit it, I'm not the most car-minded of guys, but the staff at this shop didn't make me feel like an idiot, they got us fixed up and running again, and they stood behind the work when we discovered one seal that wasn't quite tightened all the way and took the pickup back for that. Yeah, they didn't get one seal right, but everyone makes mistakes. These guys admitted to the error, fixed it without charging us and were still very gracious about it.
Next problem: I think I've mentioned before that I currently get the bulk of my comics, trade paperbacks and action figures through a mail order company. They are so great, it is unbelievable. Apparently, the shipper has lost my most recent month's worth of stuff. I get e-mails from the company and the shipper when an order has been sent. The e-mail from the shipper has an estimated delivery date. I know its just an ESTIMATED delivery date, but they are usually right on the money, and sometimes even a day early. Not this time.
So I tried to track the package online -- isn't technology great -- well, yeah, when the system works, it is. The shipper's tracking software recorded the box leaving the company and going to its first stopover. Leaving that place and arriving at another destination along the way here. And finally, leaving that location. Then nothing. The trail stopped two days before the delivery date, four days before I finally logged on to check things out.
So I called the shipper. After talking in circles with a computer for several minutes, I got to a person who promised to look into the problem. I talked to reps from the shipper three more times, each time having to supply additional information about what was in my package and getting no answers as to what had become of any of it. Finally, the last exchange with them resulted in the shipper needing a specific packing list of the contents of the package. I order stuff all of the time and the company sends me whatever is available on the date the package is sent. I never know exactly what is in the package until I open it. So I called the company to have them get in touch with the shipper and provide a packing list.
Here's why the company I order from is so great. They said they would handle things from that point. If they and the shipper together could not locate my package within about a week, thecompany would re-ship all the items they could. (Remember, they didn't lose the package, so I didn't know if I would just be out everything or not.) They also told me that should this happen again (we all hope not, but things occasionally go "not according to plan"), to call them, the company, first and let them deal with the shipper.
So, it's too soon for this whole thing to be resolved yet. And no matter what, I'm going to be getting my comics late. But I'm more certain now that I will eventually get them. That's a good feeling. Thanks guys.
Next problem: I think I've mentioned before that I currently get the bulk of my comics, trade paperbacks and action figures through a mail order company. They are so great, it is unbelievable. Apparently, the shipper has lost my most recent month's worth of stuff. I get e-mails from the company and the shipper when an order has been sent. The e-mail from the shipper has an estimated delivery date. I know its just an ESTIMATED delivery date, but they are usually right on the money, and sometimes even a day early. Not this time.
So I tried to track the package online -- isn't technology great -- well, yeah, when the system works, it is. The shipper's tracking software recorded the box leaving the company and going to its first stopover. Leaving that place and arriving at another destination along the way here. And finally, leaving that location. Then nothing. The trail stopped two days before the delivery date, four days before I finally logged on to check things out.
So I called the shipper. After talking in circles with a computer for several minutes, I got to a person who promised to look into the problem. I talked to reps from the shipper three more times, each time having to supply additional information about what was in my package and getting no answers as to what had become of any of it. Finally, the last exchange with them resulted in the shipper needing a specific packing list of the contents of the package. I order stuff all of the time and the company sends me whatever is available on the date the package is sent. I never know exactly what is in the package until I open it. So I called the company to have them get in touch with the shipper and provide a packing list.
Here's why the company I order from is so great. They said they would handle things from that point. If they and the shipper together could not locate my package within about a week, thecompany would re-ship all the items they could. (Remember, they didn't lose the package, so I didn't know if I would just be out everything or not.) They also told me that should this happen again (we all hope not, but things occasionally go "not according to plan"), to call them, the company, first and let them deal with the shipper.
So, it's too soon for this whole thing to be resolved yet. And no matter what, I'm going to be getting my comics late. But I'm more certain now that I will eventually get them. That's a good feeling. Thanks guys.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Staying connected
Nothing much to say today, but it's the last day of my weekend (yes, my weekend from work is now Sunday and Monday), I'm online, and figured I'd drop by, post some quick thoughts before continuing on and logging off.
One thing I'll be doing after leaving here is updating the comic book Web site. If anyone has found their way here and might be looking for some cheap comics to buy, pop on over to my site at http://www.angelfire.com/comics/tsgnightwing It's full of hundreds of comics which are extras for me and which I hope to sell to someone cheaply, but making enough to continue buying new comics for myself. Check it out. You know you want to.
Another place I am thinking about going posting today is classmates.com. My wife recently reunited with an old high school friend that way and the two have gotten reacquainted quite nicely through the site. It got me wondering about some kids I went to school with -- or, I guess they probably aren't kids anymore, but you know what I mean. But anyway, I'm thinking about checking out a trial membership and seeing how many fellow students from Grand Valley Community School I might find there to catch up with.
Until next time, let's all be careful out there.
One thing I'll be doing after leaving here is updating the comic book Web site. If anyone has found their way here and might be looking for some cheap comics to buy, pop on over to my site at http://www.angelfire.com/comics/tsgnightwing It's full of hundreds of comics which are extras for me and which I hope to sell to someone cheaply, but making enough to continue buying new comics for myself. Check it out. You know you want to.
Another place I am thinking about going posting today is classmates.com. My wife recently reunited with an old high school friend that way and the two have gotten reacquainted quite nicely through the site. It got me wondering about some kids I went to school with -- or, I guess they probably aren't kids anymore, but you know what I mean. But anyway, I'm thinking about checking out a trial membership and seeing how many fellow students from Grand Valley Community School I might find there to catch up with.
Until next time, let's all be careful out there.
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Cream of the Crop Sinks to the Lowest Depths
Finally made it back to fill you in on those seven movies I mentioned Wednesday. But first, a tad bit of set-up: We had planned a movie weekend get-away and rented seven flicks for the occasion. Some picked by my wife, some by me and some were joint agreement. In all honesty, everything we saw had at least some good qualities, none of the films truly sucked. But only one stood out as a really good show, and it was just awful. More on that one at the end.
The Constant Gardener
This one had a strong storyline that promised a great deal of intrique, but delivered a rather boring, overly drawn out plot. Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes do a good job. And I enjoy how the story unfolds through a combination of current time and flashbacks, especially how the viewer is given certain glimpses to support one point of view, then learns more as the main character comes to understand things differently. That helps engage the viewer in the film somewhat, but overall the plot advances very slowly.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
Obviously, this one is a documentary. It included some interesting first-person accounts of how Wal-Mart moving into a community forces local, family-owned businesses out, and has some particularly funny faux commercials, but I really didn't find too much new information that isn't already available about the retail giant and how it conducts commerce.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
This film surprised and disappointed. Rather than taking the typical horror route, director Scott Derrickson opted to combine elements of courtroom drama into the mix. The result is a very engaging story of a priest on trial for conducting an exorcism that ends badly which includes all of the best elements of the courtroom drama genre, but loses much of its horror sensibility. Demon possession is some pretty scary stuff, and this is supposed to be based on actual events from Italy, but the interplay between the lawyers and the legalities of the case take much of the scariness out of the flashbacks.
Bewitched
This was a fun trip down memory lane; tributes to the 1964-72 television show abound. The modern story in the movie is a has-been actor (Will Ferrell) is tapped to play Darrin in a re-make of the show and the producers unknowingly cast a real witch (Nicole Kidman) to play Samantha. While the movie is fun and doesn't overtax your brain very much, the plot is very simple, and some of the gags just aren't funny. Inexplicably, the real-life witch playing Samantha on the re-make has a lot of kooky relatives with the same names and personalities as the character did on the TV show. But then, toward the end of the film, Steve Carell shows up as Uncle Arthur and plays the role as if he really is actor Paul Lynde playing the character of Uncle Arthur as if he was a real person. And doing it rather badly.
Madagascar
This computer-animated movie didn't live up to expectations at all. The trailer for Over the Hedge looked funnier than the movie itself. Much of the humor seemed forced and just not all that funny. And while it is typical in an animated movie like this one to have the characters emulate personalities of the voice-actors giving them life, my wife pointed out how distracting it was everytime the giraffe, Melman, spoke to be visualizing Ross Gellar from Friends simply because the character was voiced by David Schwimmer.
Sky High
I did expect quite a bit from this movie; while not based on any specific comic book, let's face it, it's still a comic book movie. And it was a fun movie. But it also took some liberties that didn't make much sense to me. Why does everyone (OK, almost everyone, but I won't say more and ruin anything for anyone) with a super power have only one super power? Who made up that rule?
And finally, we come to the last one ...
Crash
Officer Ryan: [talking on the phone] I wanna speak to your supervisor...
Shaniqua: I am my supervisor!
Officer Ryan: All right well, what's your name?
Shaniqua: Shaniqua Johnson.
Officer Ryan: Shaniqua. Big fucking surprise that is!
Shaniqua: Oh!
[Shaniqua hangs up]
In the credit where credit is due department, this was my wife's pick. I don't remember even hearing of it before. The tag line for the film was: "You think you know who you are. You have no idea." Between the quotes above and that tag line, you can probably guess that the movie deals with prejudice and discrimination and bigotry and the uglier side of life. Racism is a big part of it, but there is also sexism, elitism, ageism, anything that can separate two people and make them feel different from each other.
The characters are not one-dimensional either. They all have their faults, but most also have some redeeming qualities. Take Officer Ryan, played by Matt Dillon. Obviously he's a racist bigot. You get that much from the quote above. But the phone call that quote comes from is Ryan trying to cut through the bureaucracy and get his ailing father some medical treatment. Ryan, a character who commits a truly heinous act against another person in the film, is taking care of his father with genuine compassion and patience. Ryan even performs one of the most self-sacrificing acts depicted in the movie, making him the most despicable and the most heroic figure in the drama.
This was by far the best film we rented in terms of acting, portraying life, prompting one to think. But for those very same reasons, it is not a very happy movie which makes a person look at himself a little more critically than most of us usually care to look. I recommend it very highly.
The Constant Gardener
This one had a strong storyline that promised a great deal of intrique, but delivered a rather boring, overly drawn out plot. Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes do a good job. And I enjoy how the story unfolds through a combination of current time and flashbacks, especially how the viewer is given certain glimpses to support one point of view, then learns more as the main character comes to understand things differently. That helps engage the viewer in the film somewhat, but overall the plot advances very slowly.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
Obviously, this one is a documentary. It included some interesting first-person accounts of how Wal-Mart moving into a community forces local, family-owned businesses out, and has some particularly funny faux commercials, but I really didn't find too much new information that isn't already available about the retail giant and how it conducts commerce.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
This film surprised and disappointed. Rather than taking the typical horror route, director Scott Derrickson opted to combine elements of courtroom drama into the mix. The result is a very engaging story of a priest on trial for conducting an exorcism that ends badly which includes all of the best elements of the courtroom drama genre, but loses much of its horror sensibility. Demon possession is some pretty scary stuff, and this is supposed to be based on actual events from Italy, but the interplay between the lawyers and the legalities of the case take much of the scariness out of the flashbacks.
Bewitched
This was a fun trip down memory lane; tributes to the 1964-72 television show abound. The modern story in the movie is a has-been actor (Will Ferrell) is tapped to play Darrin in a re-make of the show and the producers unknowingly cast a real witch (Nicole Kidman) to play Samantha. While the movie is fun and doesn't overtax your brain very much, the plot is very simple, and some of the gags just aren't funny. Inexplicably, the real-life witch playing Samantha on the re-make has a lot of kooky relatives with the same names and personalities as the character did on the TV show. But then, toward the end of the film, Steve Carell shows up as Uncle Arthur and plays the role as if he really is actor Paul Lynde playing the character of Uncle Arthur as if he was a real person. And doing it rather badly.
Madagascar
This computer-animated movie didn't live up to expectations at all. The trailer for Over the Hedge looked funnier than the movie itself. Much of the humor seemed forced and just not all that funny. And while it is typical in an animated movie like this one to have the characters emulate personalities of the voice-actors giving them life, my wife pointed out how distracting it was everytime the giraffe, Melman, spoke to be visualizing Ross Gellar from Friends simply because the character was voiced by David Schwimmer.
Sky High
I did expect quite a bit from this movie; while not based on any specific comic book, let's face it, it's still a comic book movie. And it was a fun movie. But it also took some liberties that didn't make much sense to me. Why does everyone (OK, almost everyone, but I won't say more and ruin anything for anyone) with a super power have only one super power? Who made up that rule?
And finally, we come to the last one ...
Crash
Officer Ryan: [talking on the phone] I wanna speak to your supervisor...
Shaniqua: I am my supervisor!
Officer Ryan: All right well, what's your name?
Shaniqua: Shaniqua Johnson.
Officer Ryan: Shaniqua. Big fucking surprise that is!
Shaniqua: Oh!
[Shaniqua hangs up]
In the credit where credit is due department, this was my wife's pick. I don't remember even hearing of it before. The tag line for the film was: "You think you know who you are. You have no idea." Between the quotes above and that tag line, you can probably guess that the movie deals with prejudice and discrimination and bigotry and the uglier side of life. Racism is a big part of it, but there is also sexism, elitism, ageism, anything that can separate two people and make them feel different from each other.
The characters are not one-dimensional either. They all have their faults, but most also have some redeeming qualities. Take Officer Ryan, played by Matt Dillon. Obviously he's a racist bigot. You get that much from the quote above. But the phone call that quote comes from is Ryan trying to cut through the bureaucracy and get his ailing father some medical treatment. Ryan, a character who commits a truly heinous act against another person in the film, is taking care of his father with genuine compassion and patience. Ryan even performs one of the most self-sacrificing acts depicted in the movie, making him the most despicable and the most heroic figure in the drama.
This was by far the best film we rented in terms of acting, portraying life, prompting one to think. But for those very same reasons, it is not a very happy movie which makes a person look at himself a little more critically than most of us usually care to look. I recommend it very highly.
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