Current Comic Conversation for 12/14
The shtick here is that I and a friend (or friends) look at the shipping list for this comic week and riff, using the books that are coming out for inspiration for the discussion. This week, I am talking with Comic Should Be Good's own, Brad Curran (Brad is Brad, B=Brian). There very likely WILL be some spoilers mentioned in the discussion, so be forewarned!
Let's begin!
FRANK MILLER SIN CITY LIBRARY I HC (NOTE PRICE) $150.00
Brad: I'm not buying this book, but I like the idea of a Sin City library, with Frank Miller as librarian. The narration when you checked out a book alone would be worth the trip.
B: "Damn, that librarian has a fine ass"
Brad: "I'm the goddamn librarian!" I think I'm officially the last person to make a joke out of that line. It can now officially rest in peace.
B: I have NEVER made that joke.
B: I am so out of the loop.
Brad: You never fail to find ways to disappoint me.
NEXUS ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC $49.95
Brad: I remember seeing a quote from Steve Rude on Tom Spurgeon's website where he talked about how overpriced this was. I'd be very amused if Dark Horse used that as quote on the book.
B: Dark Horse is a fine, fine company, with many fine comic items.
OH MY GODDESS VOL 1 AUTHENTIC ED TP
Brad: So, is this the manga equivalent of a retcon.
B: What is Oh My Goddess about, anyways?
B: I think I've read, like, five issues.
B: And I have no idea.
Brad: More than I have.
B: It was a long time ago, though.
Brad: I'm just wondering if this means that those issues you read are now inauthentic.
ART OF COMIC BOOK INKING 2ND ED TP
Brad: What's the over/under on the first person making an "More like Art of Tracing" wisecrack in the comments thread?
Brad: Or is our audience not the type to reference Kevin Smith movies?
B: We have an audience?
Brad: I meant T. Is T the type to reference Kevin Smith movies?
B: Ah.
B: Good point.
B: I do not know.
BEST OF THE SPIRIT TP
Brad: I'd be more excited about this if I hadn't already bought a good deal of magazine reprints from the 70s off of E-Bay, but still, it's great to see these stories in affordable format again. The reprints I've read are far and away among the best things I've ever read in comics, if not the best. The panel to panel storytelling is the most elegant I've ever seen, there's a lot of variety in the types of stories Eisner tells, and--
B: Catching a breath there?
Brad: Giving you something so you won't be so pushy.
B: Hehe
Brad: And trying to figure out what to say.
B: Good man
Brad: there's always a good deal of humor, for people looking for something lighthearted. It's not a terribly groundbreaking thing to say that the Spirit's great, but it's still worth finding out for yourself.
B: Well put.
Brad: Unfortunately, I've used up all of our good will for, like, a year, so we really have to tear in to something to offset it.
B: I say nice things about stuff all the time!
B: Street Angel is great, folks!
B: Action Philosophers is grand!
B: Buy All-Star Superman!
B: Darwyn Cooke is awesome!
Brad: Yeah, but as per our blogging contract, we only have so much gushing before we have to go back to bitching about Infinite Crisis and decompression. I don't make these rules, but we're bound by law, man. Find something to tear in to, quick!
OCT050277 BATMAN STRIKES #16 $2.25
B: When did Dini and Timm's Batman become "uncool"?
B: Who made THAT determination?
B: "The one thing the cartoon is missing is a younger Bruce Wayne"
B: "Oh, and emo villains!"
B: "Lots and lots of emo villains"
Brad: Well, it had a hell of a run.
B: It did
Brad: Maybe they wanted a young Batman cartoon to go along with their young Batman movie?
B: I TOTALLY get ending it.
B: Cartoon series just do not last that long.
B: I get that.
B: That's fine.
B: But how do you follow it up IMMEDIATELY with what they followed it up with?!
Brad: And the comic tie-in really held in there, given that the show ended before it did.
B: Yeah.
B: And that's another thing
B: The comic has to follow up on the AWESOME comic version of the Dini/Timm cartoon.
B: I do not even blame the writer and artist for the batman strikes comic sucking (which it does).
Brad: Heh. Thanks for clearing that up. I wouldn't know.
B: They just have nothing to work with.
Brad: You call rastafarian Joker and Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale's costumes smushed together on her nothing to work with?
B: Sadly, I do.
Brad: From what I remember of the show, which I watched like 5 episodes of before deciding it wasn't for me, it was about as different from the Dini-Timm show (I always refer to it that way, even though there were other people involved. 100s, giving that it's an animated show) as humanly possible.
B: Do not forget the emo villains!
Brad: I am blissfully unaware of this.
Brad: I liked their version of Catwoman, despite how dumb the ears looked on the Cooke-esque body suit.
Brad: What do you mean emo, though? Do they talk about their feelings a lot before Batman punches them?
Brad: Are their henchmen actual emo bands?
B: No, they just look emo.
B: Thank god they are not ACTUALLY emo.
Brad: That would amuse me.
Brad: If they did it in the 60s Batman style, but the henchmen were all mopey and sad.
B: In the first issue of Batman Strikes, Bruce is rocking out on a guitar.
B: I just thought that that was hilariously awful.
Brad: Is he in to extreme sports, too? The kids are in to the extreme sports.
Brad: They'd relate to that!
B: I bet he is.
B: I bet he is.
B: The last issue, by the way.
B: Ended in a cliffhanger
B: Which you would have to buy a video
B: To see what happens
Brad: I just realized we are spending more time talking about the Batman Strikes than we did the Spirit. Or any other comic we've ever discussed.
Brad: It could have at least been another cartoon network book. "To be continued in the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy!"
Brad: Speaking of which:
GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY STATUE $125.00
Brad: Who are these for?
Brad: Is there really an audience out there with $125 to burn that will spend it on this?
B: I guess there is.
B: I think this helps lure children to their cars.
Brad: You beat me to the "If so, they scare the crap out of me" joke.
B: Too slow, too slow.
OCT050316 FABLES #44 (MR) $2.75
B: Prepare for one of the slickest moves in comics since Hawkeye pocketed the arrowhead against the Grandmaster in the 1987 Avengers Annual.
VILLAINS UNITED TP $12.99
Brad: It occurs to me that the last Gail Simone comic I read with any regularity was Agent-X.
B: Weird.
B: I bet you'll be seeing more of her post OYL.
Brad: I loved her YABS column.
B: Yeah, that was good stuff.
Brad: Never got around to reading her comics beyond Deadpool/Agent-X. Always meant to. I noticed that Killer Princesses is apparently a trade now. That was one that looked like a lot of fun.
B: Yeah.
B: Lea Hernandez rules.
Brad: And I like Black Canary, so I really ought to give Birds of Prey a try.
Brad: Wait, we're veering too positive! Let's find something else to mock, quick!
SUPERMAN TRUE BRIT SC
Brad: Whew! Thank god this one came along, just in the nick of time!
Brad: Although, really, I have nothing for this. All I know is that John Cleese is supposed to have written it.
B: That IS sadly amusing.
MAJESTIC #12
Brad: Wasn't this supposed to be "Superman done right" back before All Star Superman completely assumed that mantle?
B: It WAS, but then they took the artist who MADE it like Superman and put him ON Superman, and then they took the WRITER of the book, and put HIM on Superman as well.
SILVESTRI TURNER WITCHBLADE #18 LITHO
Brad: I know what some lucky member of your family is getting for Christmas.
B: Now you're just flatout stealing my jokes.
OCT051964 FANTASTIC FOUR IRON MAN BIG IN JAPAN #3 (OF 4) $3.50
B: The monster making Iron Man a sandwich has got to be one of the funniest scenes in a comic this year.
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN CLASSIC TP
Brad: Sometimes I feel bad for buying comics off E-Bay when a collection comes out right afterwords. This isn't one of those times. Ye gods, but that's a lot of money for an uncompleted series (no, I don't count the Defenders arc).
Brad: It was an interesting comic, ahead of its time and worth reading, but jeez! $30? I'd reccomend picking up Essential Howard the Duck instead. It's half the price for two times the comis. Hell, whether you were going to buy this or not, get Howard.
PUNISHER SILENT NIGHT
Brad: For some reason, this reminds me that there was a Painkiller Jane movie on Sci-Fi Channel the other night.
B: Well, they DID crossover once, so I guess that makes SOME sense. Although, by that logic, everytime you see an Archie comic, you should be reminded of Punisher.
SECRET WAR BOOK FIVE (OF 5)
Brad: Do you think Bendis forgot what was going on in this between issues?
B: More amusingly, I love how it has basically been already assured that absolutely NOTHING of importance occured during this series.
B: NOTHING.
B: But at least it was horribly late!
SEP051967 X-FACTOR #1 $2.99
B: There is a certain point in this comic (and I trust you will all know when it comes) where Peter David makes the argument, essentially, that if you go over the top with cheesy references to your friends than it is ALMOST cool. You will have to make the call whether it IS cool or not. I am leaning towards not, but I will give him credit, at first, when it was just ONE cheesy reference to a friend of his, it was CLEARLY lame, but when he did two in row, it was almost admirable (in the sheer ballsiness of the "Yeah, I'm making references to friends of mine, so what? You gotta problem wit dat?" of it all) enough to make it a cool reference.
OCT052010 X-MEN #179 $2.50
B: What's clear from this issue is that not only did they stick Milligan with all the X-Men that no one else wanted, but they ALSO seemed to not even have his plans in mind when Bendis sat down to write House of M. WAIT until you read the explanation for why Iceman is still a mutant.
FATHOM #1 SWIMSUIT LTD FOIL CVR
Brad: Isn't that a redundancy? Or does Turner stretch his range and put her in a micro skirt on occasion?
B: Maybe it is a limited foil swimsuit. You didn't think of THAT, DID you, Mr. Smarty Pants!
KID BEOWULF GN
Brad: I love this title.
B: But do you like the COMIC?
SEP053037 POWER AND GLORY VOL 1 GN (OF 3) (MR) $7.49
B: Is this the Chaykin book!?!? If so, WHOOPIE!
SPANIEL RAGE GN (MR)
Brad: This is a pale imitator of Dachshund Fury.
B: I heard he just traced the pages out of a Dog Lovers magazine. Greg Land is his idol.
LADY DEATH DEATH GODDESS WARRIOR CVR
Brad: Brian Pullido's name is not on this. I'm expecting your running gag to be in effect here, Cronin. Don't let me down!
B: HOLY CRAP!! COUNTERFEIT!!!! COUNTERFEIT COMICS!!!!
B: I would not dream of letting you down.
Thanks, folks! Make sure to check back later to tell us how wrong we both were!
Let's begin!
FRANK MILLER SIN CITY LIBRARY I HC (NOTE PRICE) $150.00
Brad: I'm not buying this book, but I like the idea of a Sin City library, with Frank Miller as librarian. The narration when you checked out a book alone would be worth the trip.
B: "Damn, that librarian has a fine ass"
Brad: "I'm the goddamn librarian!" I think I'm officially the last person to make a joke out of that line. It can now officially rest in peace.
B: I have NEVER made that joke.
B: I am so out of the loop.
Brad: You never fail to find ways to disappoint me.
NEXUS ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC $49.95
Brad: I remember seeing a quote from Steve Rude on Tom Spurgeon's website where he talked about how overpriced this was. I'd be very amused if Dark Horse used that as quote on the book.
B: Dark Horse is a fine, fine company, with many fine comic items.
OH MY GODDESS VOL 1 AUTHENTIC ED TP
Brad: So, is this the manga equivalent of a retcon.
B: What is Oh My Goddess about, anyways?
B: I think I've read, like, five issues.
B: And I have no idea.
Brad: More than I have.
B: It was a long time ago, though.
Brad: I'm just wondering if this means that those issues you read are now inauthentic.
ART OF COMIC BOOK INKING 2ND ED TP
Brad: What's the over/under on the first person making an "More like Art of Tracing" wisecrack in the comments thread?
Brad: Or is our audience not the type to reference Kevin Smith movies?
B: We have an audience?
Brad: I meant T. Is T the type to reference Kevin Smith movies?
B: Ah.
B: Good point.
B: I do not know.
BEST OF THE SPIRIT TP
Brad: I'd be more excited about this if I hadn't already bought a good deal of magazine reprints from the 70s off of E-Bay, but still, it's great to see these stories in affordable format again. The reprints I've read are far and away among the best things I've ever read in comics, if not the best. The panel to panel storytelling is the most elegant I've ever seen, there's a lot of variety in the types of stories Eisner tells, and--
B: Catching a breath there?
Brad: Giving you something so you won't be so pushy.
B: Hehe
Brad: And trying to figure out what to say.
B: Good man
Brad: there's always a good deal of humor, for people looking for something lighthearted. It's not a terribly groundbreaking thing to say that the Spirit's great, but it's still worth finding out for yourself.
B: Well put.
Brad: Unfortunately, I've used up all of our good will for, like, a year, so we really have to tear in to something to offset it.
B: I say nice things about stuff all the time!
B: Street Angel is great, folks!
B: Action Philosophers is grand!
B: Buy All-Star Superman!
B: Darwyn Cooke is awesome!
Brad: Yeah, but as per our blogging contract, we only have so much gushing before we have to go back to bitching about Infinite Crisis and decompression. I don't make these rules, but we're bound by law, man. Find something to tear in to, quick!
OCT050277 BATMAN STRIKES #16 $2.25
B: When did Dini and Timm's Batman become "uncool"?
B: Who made THAT determination?
B: "The one thing the cartoon is missing is a younger Bruce Wayne"
B: "Oh, and emo villains!"
B: "Lots and lots of emo villains"
Brad: Well, it had a hell of a run.
B: It did
Brad: Maybe they wanted a young Batman cartoon to go along with their young Batman movie?
B: I TOTALLY get ending it.
B: Cartoon series just do not last that long.
B: I get that.
B: That's fine.
B: But how do you follow it up IMMEDIATELY with what they followed it up with?!
Brad: And the comic tie-in really held in there, given that the show ended before it did.
B: Yeah.
B: And that's another thing
B: The comic has to follow up on the AWESOME comic version of the Dini/Timm cartoon.
B: I do not even blame the writer and artist for the batman strikes comic sucking (which it does).
Brad: Heh. Thanks for clearing that up. I wouldn't know.
B: They just have nothing to work with.
Brad: You call rastafarian Joker and Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale's costumes smushed together on her nothing to work with?
B: Sadly, I do.
Brad: From what I remember of the show, which I watched like 5 episodes of before deciding it wasn't for me, it was about as different from the Dini-Timm show (I always refer to it that way, even though there were other people involved. 100s, giving that it's an animated show) as humanly possible.
B: Do not forget the emo villains!
Brad: I am blissfully unaware of this.
Brad: I liked their version of Catwoman, despite how dumb the ears looked on the Cooke-esque body suit.
Brad: What do you mean emo, though? Do they talk about their feelings a lot before Batman punches them?
Brad: Are their henchmen actual emo bands?
B: No, they just look emo.
B: Thank god they are not ACTUALLY emo.
Brad: That would amuse me.
Brad: If they did it in the 60s Batman style, but the henchmen were all mopey and sad.
B: In the first issue of Batman Strikes, Bruce is rocking out on a guitar.
B: I just thought that that was hilariously awful.
Brad: Is he in to extreme sports, too? The kids are in to the extreme sports.
Brad: They'd relate to that!
B: I bet he is.
B: I bet he is.
B: The last issue, by the way.
B: Ended in a cliffhanger
B: Which you would have to buy a video
B: To see what happens
Brad: I just realized we are spending more time talking about the Batman Strikes than we did the Spirit. Or any other comic we've ever discussed.
Brad: It could have at least been another cartoon network book. "To be continued in the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy!"
Brad: Speaking of which:
GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY STATUE $125.00
Brad: Who are these for?
Brad: Is there really an audience out there with $125 to burn that will spend it on this?
B: I guess there is.
B: I think this helps lure children to their cars.
Brad: You beat me to the "If so, they scare the crap out of me" joke.
B: Too slow, too slow.
OCT050316 FABLES #44 (MR) $2.75
B: Prepare for one of the slickest moves in comics since Hawkeye pocketed the arrowhead against the Grandmaster in the 1987 Avengers Annual.
VILLAINS UNITED TP $12.99
Brad: It occurs to me that the last Gail Simone comic I read with any regularity was Agent-X.
B: Weird.
B: I bet you'll be seeing more of her post OYL.
Brad: I loved her YABS column.
B: Yeah, that was good stuff.
Brad: Never got around to reading her comics beyond Deadpool/Agent-X. Always meant to. I noticed that Killer Princesses is apparently a trade now. That was one that looked like a lot of fun.
B: Yeah.
B: Lea Hernandez rules.
Brad: And I like Black Canary, so I really ought to give Birds of Prey a try.
Brad: Wait, we're veering too positive! Let's find something else to mock, quick!
SUPERMAN TRUE BRIT SC
Brad: Whew! Thank god this one came along, just in the nick of time!
Brad: Although, really, I have nothing for this. All I know is that John Cleese is supposed to have written it.
B: That IS sadly amusing.
MAJESTIC #12
Brad: Wasn't this supposed to be "Superman done right" back before All Star Superman completely assumed that mantle?
B: It WAS, but then they took the artist who MADE it like Superman and put him ON Superman, and then they took the WRITER of the book, and put HIM on Superman as well.
SILVESTRI TURNER WITCHBLADE #18 LITHO
Brad: I know what some lucky member of your family is getting for Christmas.
B: Now you're just flatout stealing my jokes.
OCT051964 FANTASTIC FOUR IRON MAN BIG IN JAPAN #3 (OF 4) $3.50
B: The monster making Iron Man a sandwich has got to be one of the funniest scenes in a comic this year.
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN CLASSIC TP
Brad: Sometimes I feel bad for buying comics off E-Bay when a collection comes out right afterwords. This isn't one of those times. Ye gods, but that's a lot of money for an uncompleted series (no, I don't count the Defenders arc).
Brad: It was an interesting comic, ahead of its time and worth reading, but jeez! $30? I'd reccomend picking up Essential Howard the Duck instead. It's half the price for two times the comis. Hell, whether you were going to buy this or not, get Howard.
PUNISHER SILENT NIGHT
Brad: For some reason, this reminds me that there was a Painkiller Jane movie on Sci-Fi Channel the other night.
B: Well, they DID crossover once, so I guess that makes SOME sense. Although, by that logic, everytime you see an Archie comic, you should be reminded of Punisher.
SECRET WAR BOOK FIVE (OF 5)
Brad: Do you think Bendis forgot what was going on in this between issues?
B: More amusingly, I love how it has basically been already assured that absolutely NOTHING of importance occured during this series.
B: NOTHING.
B: But at least it was horribly late!
SEP051967 X-FACTOR #1 $2.99
B: There is a certain point in this comic (and I trust you will all know when it comes) where Peter David makes the argument, essentially, that if you go over the top with cheesy references to your friends than it is ALMOST cool. You will have to make the call whether it IS cool or not. I am leaning towards not, but I will give him credit, at first, when it was just ONE cheesy reference to a friend of his, it was CLEARLY lame, but when he did two in row, it was almost admirable (in the sheer ballsiness of the "Yeah, I'm making references to friends of mine, so what? You gotta problem wit dat?" of it all) enough to make it a cool reference.
OCT052010 X-MEN #179 $2.50
B: What's clear from this issue is that not only did they stick Milligan with all the X-Men that no one else wanted, but they ALSO seemed to not even have his plans in mind when Bendis sat down to write House of M. WAIT until you read the explanation for why Iceman is still a mutant.
FATHOM #1 SWIMSUIT LTD FOIL CVR
Brad: Isn't that a redundancy? Or does Turner stretch his range and put her in a micro skirt on occasion?
B: Maybe it is a limited foil swimsuit. You didn't think of THAT, DID you, Mr. Smarty Pants!
KID BEOWULF GN
Brad: I love this title.
B: But do you like the COMIC?
SEP053037 POWER AND GLORY VOL 1 GN (OF 3) (MR) $7.49
B: Is this the Chaykin book!?!? If so, WHOOPIE!
SPANIEL RAGE GN (MR)
Brad: This is a pale imitator of Dachshund Fury.
B: I heard he just traced the pages out of a Dog Lovers magazine. Greg Land is his idol.
LADY DEATH DEATH GODDESS WARRIOR CVR
Brad: Brian Pullido's name is not on this. I'm expecting your running gag to be in effect here, Cronin. Don't let me down!
B: HOLY CRAP!! COUNTERFEIT!!!! COUNTERFEIT COMICS!!!!
B: I would not dream of letting you down.
Thanks, folks! Make sure to check back later to tell us how wrong we both were!
posted by Brian Cronin at 12/14/2005 03:21:00 AM
12 Comments:
ART OF COMIC BOOK INKING 2ND ED TP?
More like Art of Tracing!
There, did it in one.
I mean, really, inkers are underappreciated. A good inker can turn fair penciling into great art. Remember Klaus Janson? Damn good inker.
Wait, you expect Bendis to take *anyone's* plans into account when writing shared universe comics? You've clearly not been paying attention.
Honestly, Bendis is so like the kid who insists on taking all the blocks to build a fort for his dozen little green army men, that Milligan's excuse gets a pass from me sight unseen. Fight the power!
Hehe...I think Michael's complaint there would have passed muster.
The only Avengers debate that really has gone about seven months past its expiration date is the whole "These aren't the REAL Avengers" argument.
Move on people! As Michael mentions, there are plenty of other things you can find fault with Bendis over, no need to keep going back to the warm bosum of "These aren't the REAL Avengers."
Brad: Although, really, I have nothing for this. All I know is that John Cleese is supposed to have written it.
Sort of. John Cleese via his assistant and friend, Kim something or other. And it's shite. Although Cricket-Bat-Man was sort of funny.
B: The monster making Iron Man a sandwich has got to be one of the funniest scenes in a comic this year.
Yeppers!
B: More amusingly, I love how it has basically been already assured that absolutely NOTHING of importance occured during this series.
Well, there was that thing about Nick Fury being out of action and possibly dead, but Bendis himself is the only one who seems to be paying any attention to that in his stories (not even his buddy Kirkman), so meh.
no need to keep going back to the warm bosum of "These aren't the REAL Avengers."
Can I just modulate that complaint to "These are the BORING Avengers," then?
Other topics: Mark Waid. Is he just completely Dan Didio's bitch, or what? ("Dan was like 'stick Supergirl in there,' and I was like, 'whoa man you have totally blown my mind'.")
("Supergirl and the Legion" is "Sword of Atlantis" to my Scipio.)
OH MY GODDESS VOL 1 AUTHENTIC ED TP
Brad: So, is this the manga equivalent of a retcon.
B: What is Oh My Goddess about, anyways?
B: I think I've read, like, five issues.
B: And I have no idea.
Brad: More than I have.
B: It was a long time ago, though.
Brad: I'm just wondering if this means that those issues you read are now inauthentic.
Oh My Goddess is a manga series. Dark Horse is rereleasing the series from the beginning unflipped. The original DH release were published in left to right format and these new graphic novels will be right to left.
The series is about a guy named Keiichi. He ends up calling a goddess named Belldandy. Not believing her claim that she will grant any wish, he wishes she would stay by his side forever.
- Kevinroc
Can I just modulate that complaint to "These are the BORING Avengers," then?
No, but you can amend it to the BORING STUPID ALL-SOUND-THE-SAME NEVER-DO-ANYTHING-EXCEPT-GET
BEATEN-UP-BY-Z-LISTERS Avengers.
I just never got the appeal of Klaus Janson. His stuff always looks blocky, murky, scratchy and dark. And when he colors his own stuff you can expect liberal uses of pink and purple. Have you seen what he's done to Jose Garcia Lopez's pencils in Simone's upcoming JLA arc?
hey guys, just wanted to note that Spaniel Rage is actually a really great comic by the very talented (and feminine) Vanessa Davis.
Thanks for pointing that out, Zack.
Checking out her work, she does appear to be quite talented.
I'm not a fan of Janson inking over Frank Miller (which seems to be what he's most famous for), but he's a great match with JRJR, and I'd love to see some Coipel/Janson art, as I think Coipel has been poorly served by his inkers at Marvel.
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