Eclipse & Vega: The Beds That We Make - Avoiding Cousin Larry
Today's "You Decide" is Eclipse and Vega, or more specifically, the first two issues of the latest (and last?) Eclipse and Vega mini-series, "The Beds That We Make."
Okay, in the very first issue, the two heroines, Eclipse and Vega make out so to distract a villain.
Yes, that is right, they make out to distract a villain, in a moment designed to parody the over-sexualization of female superheros and the obsession that our culture has with sex in general (a la the Janet Jackson incident).
Sure sounds like a total Cousin Larry trick, doesn't it?
You know, "If people like seeing two attractive women make out, then cool, but if they don't, then it is PARODYING comics where two attractive women make out!!"
Luckily, somehow, the writer actually manages to pull the "joke" part off.
The key to pulling it off is that the rest of the book clearly IS joking around a lot, so it makes it a lot more believable that the making out part is a joke as well. Unlike, say, Worldwatch, where everything is done quite straightforwardly, and the only "joke" is that it stinks (you know, the ol' "it's INTENTIONALLY bad" routine).
Also, the writer is amusing. Mocking the whole "getting writers from Hollywood" shtick, publisher Saul Colt has imported a writer from Hollywood....Alan Smithee.
The joke, of course, (for anyone who doesn't get it...but I presume most of you do), is that Alan Smithee is a made-up pseudonym which directors have used in the past when they wish to disassociate themselves from terrible movies.
The art by Bill Maus is good. It is sorta manga-esque and it is very stylized overall.
In any event, the main gist of the series is that the two female superheroes, Eclipse and Vega, are defenders of Toronto, but after their big kiss, they find themselves in a Janet Jackson-esque imbroglio, with everyone wanting to know if they are lesbians, etc. There is actually a decently tragic moment where Vega is losing a fight and once AGAIN uses her sexuality to save herself...which only serves to depress her a lot.
In any event, there is enough T & A here to make the book pretty close to being a Cousin Larry trick, so if that sort of stuff irks you, you should not check this book out (but I assume most of you are like me, in that you don't LIKE to see stuff like this in comics, but will deal with Ed Benes if it means you get a good story).
In addition, if you think a satire of the Janet Jackson incident is a bit on the overdone side, then you, too, would probably be best served avoiding this series.
However, if a fun book that:
A. Does not take itself seriously at ALL
B. Is filled with a good helping of jokes
and
C. Includes some actual old-fashioned superheroics
sounds like something you would enjoy, then Eclipse & Vega: The Beds We Make might be for you!
Okay, in the very first issue, the two heroines, Eclipse and Vega make out so to distract a villain.
Yes, that is right, they make out to distract a villain, in a moment designed to parody the over-sexualization of female superheros and the obsession that our culture has with sex in general (a la the Janet Jackson incident).
Sure sounds like a total Cousin Larry trick, doesn't it?
You know, "If people like seeing two attractive women make out, then cool, but if they don't, then it is PARODYING comics where two attractive women make out!!"
Luckily, somehow, the writer actually manages to pull the "joke" part off.
The key to pulling it off is that the rest of the book clearly IS joking around a lot, so it makes it a lot more believable that the making out part is a joke as well. Unlike, say, Worldwatch, where everything is done quite straightforwardly, and the only "joke" is that it stinks (you know, the ol' "it's INTENTIONALLY bad" routine).
Also, the writer is amusing. Mocking the whole "getting writers from Hollywood" shtick, publisher Saul Colt has imported a writer from Hollywood....Alan Smithee.
The joke, of course, (for anyone who doesn't get it...but I presume most of you do), is that Alan Smithee is a made-up pseudonym which directors have used in the past when they wish to disassociate themselves from terrible movies.
The art by Bill Maus is good. It is sorta manga-esque and it is very stylized overall.
In any event, the main gist of the series is that the two female superheroes, Eclipse and Vega, are defenders of Toronto, but after their big kiss, they find themselves in a Janet Jackson-esque imbroglio, with everyone wanting to know if they are lesbians, etc. There is actually a decently tragic moment where Vega is losing a fight and once AGAIN uses her sexuality to save herself...which only serves to depress her a lot.
In any event, there is enough T & A here to make the book pretty close to being a Cousin Larry trick, so if that sort of stuff irks you, you should not check this book out (but I assume most of you are like me, in that you don't LIKE to see stuff like this in comics, but will deal with Ed Benes if it means you get a good story).
In addition, if you think a satire of the Janet Jackson incident is a bit on the overdone side, then you, too, would probably be best served avoiding this series.
However, if a fun book that:
A. Does not take itself seriously at ALL
B. Is filled with a good helping of jokes
and
C. Includes some actual old-fashioned superheroics
sounds like something you would enjoy, then Eclipse & Vega: The Beds We Make might be for you!
posted by Brian Cronin at 5/24/2005 10:57:00 PM
4 Comments:
I thought the original solicited writer of the book was a guy named James Patrick.
Sure wish I could actually FIND this book (I don't pre-order, because I can't trust my store to do it properly), as I've been to four stores in the Philly area and cannot find it.
Could it be the same James Patrick who played defense for the New York Rangers but sadly fell into Mike Keenan's doghouse and was traded the same season that the Rangers FINALLY won the Stanley Cup!?!?
Because that would be cool.
Thanks for the kind words!
I appreciate the fact that you "got" the book. I find people missinterpet it as a straight super hero book when in fact it is a super silly hero book!
-Dan, You can order the book from my site www.ssscomics.com or midtowncomics.com
Thanks guys
saul
Yeah the joke was pretty nicely pulled off, but did I spent a lot of time looking at that panel... that looked pretty good, at some point even very good.
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