Interesting Choice of Title

At the same time that I saw that bit about Hellshock continuing, I also saw another piece on Newsarama that made me laugh due to its title.

It was Mike San Giacomo's latest "Journey Into Comics" column, and it was about how much he is enjoying Dan Didio's take on the DC Universe and about an odd horror parody book that he had just read.

The title?

DIDIO & THE DCU, MORBID

I totally agree, Mike, I totally agree...hehe.

Unfinished Business

With the news out that Hellshock (a series I never really got into, despite nice art from Jae Lee) is finally being completed, it makes me think back to other classic "unfinished" good comics.

I recently did a bit on Phoenix: Dawn by Osamu Tezuka, and Matt Brady among others mentioned that, sadly, Tezuka died before he could complete his massive epic. Still, we got TWELVE volumes out of it, so I guess we cannot complain.

Less lucky was Alan Moore's Big Numbers, which, due to reasons better explained here, lost both its first artist, Bill Sienkienwicz, AND its replacement artist (Sienkienwicz's assistant), Al Colombia.

Big Numbers only saw TWO issues published.

I was a big fan of Quantum and Woody, and when Valiant folded, I thought I would never see the book again. Luckily, a year or so later, the book returned! Christopher Priest pulled a perhaps silly routine, where he wrote the issue that WOULD have come out that month (had the book not ended) #32, instead of continuing with the next issue, #18, which they DID do the NEXT month. Sadly, only a few months passed before the revival was cut short.

Luckily, for fans of the book, Priest explained what his plans were on the book here, which is better than never knowing, right?

Okay, I will admit, those are actually the only good series that I can recall that were never finished.

The other ones that I remember where not particularly good (Marvel's Ghost Rider, lots of Liefeld projects, and Unity 2000).

Oh wait, I was a fan of the Negation War. That was good, I thought, and Crossgen went bankrupt before it ended. Although, wouldn't it be hilarious if Disney tried to continue THAT?

EDITED TO ADD: Obviously, as plok just mentioned, I would be an insane psycho to not mention the amazing 1963 line of comics by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch and Stephen Bissette. News of what is going on with that mess can be found here. In fact, I think I will do a bit on 1963 next week. That was a GREAT little group of comics.

Another EDITED TO ADD: Bill Reed pointed out another one I should certainly have mentoned, Jack Kirby's New Gods epic. Mark Evanier fills us in here about his thoughts/memories of the incomplete epic. How funny, in retrospect, is it that DC continued the numbering on the Mister Miracle series five years later withOUT Kirby!?!

Can anyone think of any other good comics that were never (or at least, as of right now) completed?

Ex Machina - Not As Pretentious As The Title Would Suggest

Come on, even if you love this book, you have to admit that "Ex Machina" is a pretty pretentious-sounding name. When your title is a reference to both Greek and Roman drama and literary devices, you are going a bit overboard with the pretension.

Luckily, except for the name of the superhero in the comic (and the answer for that can easily be resolved as "Yeah, but the character in the comic IS pretentious", so it is okay), there is none of the same pretentiousness in the actual comic itself, only wholesome comic goodness.

Thanks to Matt for choosing today's "You Decide," which is Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days (collecting the first five issues of the Ex Machina ongoing series).

The story is written by Brian K. Vaughan, with art by Tony Harris and Tom Feister.

It is about a man, Mitchell Hundred, who gains the ability to speak to machines through an accident. He becomes a superhero named The Great Machine, and fights crime until he decides to run for Mayor of New York in the 2001 election. Due to events surrounding 911, he is elected Mayor. The book begins in "the present" and details the events of Hundred's four years in office.

I have always had two main complaints about Brian K. Vaughan's writing, and both of them are present in this opening storyline.

1. The (in my opinion) over use of endings designed purely to shock. This is something Geoff Johns does a lot as well. The difference between the two is that Vaughan appears to have weened himself OFF the approach, while Johns continues to use it in his comics. There was a great interview with Vaughan at AICN a ways back, and the following question really got me:

You've got a rep for kick-ass cliffhangers. Do they come easy or with much gnashing of teeth? Ever feel constrained that cliffhangers are such part and parcel of serial entertainment, and therefore part and parcel of nearly all comics?

Thanks. I think good cliffhangers are easy to write, actually. Doing one every 22 pages is simple. It's TV shows like BUFFY and ANGEL that usually have an incredible cliffhanger every commercial break that amaze me.

I loved that, because that was exactly my problem with the endings (what he refers to as "cliffhangers"). I think they ARE easy to write, as I believe that that particular style ("ending out of nowhere") is almost cheating, style-wise. And that was my problem with the ending of the first issue of #1, and I have to say, reading it collected makes it stand out even MORE to me in terms of "a scene plugged in there not because the flow of the story, but rather, just to shock you," because it really does NOT flow with the overall story.

Luckily, it only happened in #1, so that is cool.

2. The whole "characters' dialogue sounding like they came out of an encyclopedia." This is something peculiar to Vaughan, and it is present throughout most of this volume, but has NOT really popped up in more recent issues of Ex Machina. What I am referring to is the little factoids that he peppers his dialogue with. It just strikes me as a weird shtick, as every character is apparantly a historian, as they all throw out all these lines that read like they came word for word out of a history book.

Still, both of those complaints are very minor in the grand scheme of things, so please do not let my need to rehash my problems with some of Vaughan's shtick (both of which he has pretty much eliminated from his writing today, which is extremely impressive to me) deter you from the fact that Ex Machina is one of the best books DC is currently producing.

The art from Tony Harris is awesome (although, I will admit, I did not know that he had people pose for his scenes....that is....different).

There are also two major things that make Ex Machina such an awesome book...

1. The realistic portrayal of politics, without making it boring.

and

2. The characters are so well defined.

Really, #2 is the key to the book. For instance, the mystery in #2-5 is, well, pretty boring. However, it is MADE interesting by all the character interactions that go on in those issues.

Every character is a gem, and is defined and given depth so quickly that it will make your head spin.

Great, great stuff.

Also, there is some decent humor in the book. Much appreciated.

All in all, this is a book that is well worth reading.

Trade Paperback-O-Rama: From the gloriously, awesomely excellent (Marvel Masterworks Vol. 24) to the gloriously, awesomely awful (early Batman comics)

I mentioned that I bought a chunk of trade paperbacks over the past couple weeks. I have already extolled the virtues of Nil: A Land Beyond Belief, which is simply excellent. Here is what I thought of the rest of them, in descending order of excellentness:

1. Marvel Masterworks Vol. 24 (X-Men #111-120) by Claremont and Byrne. When you pick up an issue of Doom Patrol or The Blood of the Demon (and you do, don't you?) and page through it, it's almost impossible to believe that Byrne was once good. When you check out X-Men: The End (I know you're buying that, aren't you?), it's like it's written by someone completely different from this Chris Claremont. I got this last week for half-price because there is a small rip in the cover jacket. I have some issues with my comics shop, but they're cool in a lot of ways, and this is one. This sucker has been out of print for a while, and although I love the Marvel Essentials, the Masterworks are better because of the full-color glory. These issues are the Claremont/Byrne team really peaking. Yes, the previous bunch o' issues saw Phoenix save the universe, and they are great stories, but in these issues, the art is kicked up a notch and the stories - holy crap. Magneto in Antarctica, Sauron and Ka-Zar, the "origin" of Xavier's animosity with Amahl Farouk, Sunfire and Moses Magnum (!?), Alpha Flight - man, these issues are packed with everything you could ever love about superhero comics - great action, just enough character development to keep everything interesting, cliffhangers, weird villains, team-ups, misunderstandings between groups of heroes, angst - it's a smorgasbord of goodness! Lots of things introduced here - Nanny, Zaladane, Mariko, Wolverine's name, Amahl Farouk, Proteus - un-freakin-believable. I don't even think I'm looking at these with nostalgic, seven-year-old eyes (the age I was when they came out), because I didn't read them until I was a jaded nineteen- or twenty-year-old (when I borrowed them from a friend of mine). This is why I wrote about how to fix the X-Men a while back. These are brilliant comics.

2. The Legend of GrimJack Vol. 2 by Ostrander and Truman. Speaking of brilliant comics, this week saw the second GrimJack trade paperback, reprinting the first seven issues of the ongoing series. Again, holy crap. Ostrander is one of the best and underrated comics writer EVER, and this, his early work, is just as good as his later work, even though he has gotten more subtle with age. Truman's art looks better here than it does later in his career, in my opinion. He hasn't gotten worse, just more polished, and that's not a good thing when you're dealing with Cynosure, which is supposed to look crappy. His work here shows both sides of the city - the shit and the shine, and it's all beautiful. Excellent, self-contained stories, along with slightly longer stories (issue #1 is self-contained, then there's a two-parter, another single issue story, then a three-parter) that all add certain elements to the world of Cynosure that will be important later on (I assume; I've never read GrimJack - yes, I suck). There's violence, romance, action, characterization, creepy aliens, weird science, a John Lennon pastiche, more hot chicks throwing themselves at Gaunt - wow. Go buy now.
(Published by IDW, by the way, and it will cost you 20 thin dollars. Worth every penny.)

3. The Long Haul by Antony Johnston and Eduardo Barreto. And then there's this. It's a nice book, but I can't recommend it. Barreto's art is solid and works well in the black-and-white format. It's nice to see a Western in comics that doesn't also involve zombies or vampires. It's a simple heist book, and that's the problem with it. Johnston sets everything up very nicely, but there's no sense of danger or tension. Does anyone really think anything bad is going to happen to Cody Plummer and his band of lovable outlaws? There's not even a hint that what they are doing (robbing a train of 1.9 million dollars) is wrong. I'm not for a big moral push, but some hint of it might be nice. Jeff Mariotte, who created Desperadoes, gives a nice blurb on the back, but he uses the word "clockwork," and that's what it is - a paint-by-numbers heist book. Not worth your hard-earned money.
(Published by Oni Press, a company I love, and it will deprive you of 14 dollars and 95 cents. Take your girl to Arby's instead!)

4. The Batman Chronicles Vol. 1 by Finger and Kane. If you can read, you will know that I think these are gloriously, awesomely bad comics. Buy this book now!!!! Okay, they're awful, and I will discuss that soon, but they're seminal comics, and the idea is excellent - present the Batman comics in chronological order. Thus, we get Detective #27-38 and all of Batman #1, and subsequent volumes should jump back and forth between the two. I truly hope that DC publishes more of these, since they are comics everyone should read.

But aren't they gloriously, awesomely awful? Well, yes. Reading these makes one wonder why ANYONE calls this the Golden Age of comics. I mean, essentially, Kane was doing what artists today are doing - picking up a pencil and drawing figures. So why is he so bad at it? Artists in the Renaissance could draw figures, so why, 500 years later, did Kane suck at it? I don't know, but I'm sure someone out there does.

Also, why are we talking about today's books being so grim and gritty? Batman is the freakin' Punisher in these books, but apparently, kids were a lot tougher in '39, because we could sell this stuff to them without worrying that they were going to go off the deep end. Let's go through this volume briefly and look at the glorious awfulness:

Issue #27: Bruce smokes a pipe for most of the volume. I would bring that back. Commissioner Gordon gets a call that a man has been found murdered, and he invites his socialite friend Wayne along for the ride!!!! Police work was so cool back in '39. The "Bat-Man" also drives that excellent red car. He should have kept that sucker. When Stryker goes into the acid bath, the "Bat-Man" says, "A fitting end to his kind." Excellent!

Issue #28: The "Bat-Man" kicks a guy off a roof. In the second issue, it's Bruce Wayne: Murderer!

Issue #29: Doctor Death! Kevorkian's assistant is an "Indian" named Jabah. He's red. Why? I don't know. To paraphrase "Frasier," "Indian embassy on line 1!" The "Bat-Man" gets shot and goes to a doctor (not Leslie Tompkins, but it could be that Tommy guy from "Hush" - in fact, if Loeb had referenced that, that storyline would have been much cooler). The doctor is suspicious and asks how he shot himself without leaving powder burns. Bruce says, "I do funny things sometimes, Doc. I'll tell you all about it some day." Ah, the rich - so droll! If he had been poor, that doctor would have been on the horn to the cops! Then, of course, he lets Doctor Death burn to death (or does he????)

Issue #30: The return of Doctor Death! See, even in 1939 the bad guys couldn't stay dead! Bruce Wayne goes to the house of someone who's been threatened and investigates. The man's wife doesn't even wonder why this strange man is asking questions. We learn that Dr. Death's new assistant is a "Cossack," just like Jabah, although he's dressed like ... I don't know, a dervish? He's wearing a freakin' fez, after all! The Batman kills him, anyway, so who cares. That's two on the body count, by the way.

Issue #31: The Monk story! The first appearance of Julie Madison, Bruce Wayne's fiancee! It's a pretty cool cover. We learn that Batman lives in New York. This is mentioned a couple of other times. He saves Julie from killing a man (she's under a spell) and tells her to tell Bruce Wayne everything that happened. WTF? Why? She doesn't question, because she's a woman! She goes on an ocean voyage, and Batman breaks out the bat-glider and the Batarang! Whoo-hoo! For some reason, when the Batman finds Julie in Paris, there's a big ol' gorilla just hanging out in her hotel room! Finally, the issue ends with a kind-of cliffhanger. It's a two-parter!

Issue #32: The first stupid "death-trap"! The Monk has Batman in his power, but instead of putting a bullet in his brain, he throws him in a pit full of wolves. Batman wins! He also kills a few more people, the Monk and his lovely assistant Dala, but since they were vampires, it doesn't count.

Issue #33: The origin of Batman! Whoo-hoo! Sheesh, Finger did it in two pages. How come Frank Miller took four issues? After the origin, Bruce is strolling around downtown Manhattan, looking natty with his pipe and Rex Harrison hat. Suddenly a dirigible out of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow shows up and starts blasting everything! Batman's on the case! For the first time, he uses a gun - but not to shoot at a person. That won't last. He also uses his vast scientific knowledge to stop the dirigible. Go Batman! He destroys the dirigible in mid-air, so that's more killing. He also kills the head bad guy - he throws a gas pellet into Dr. Kruger's cockpit, and the plane crashes and kills him, so that's at least one more body on the ledger, and probably more, since someone had to be operating the dirigible.

Issue #34: It's the first appearance of the Question! Okay, maybe not, but some dude without a face! Turns out this story took place after the Monk story but before the Dr. Kruger story. Chronologically my ass, DC! Bruce also sees a man he thinks is an old friend of his, but it turns out to be a guy without a face. My question is, how many people does Bruce Wayne know without faces??? Dark Knight Detective - yeah, right. The guy, Charles Maire, has no features because the bad guy, the Duc D'orterre, burned them off "with a terrible ray." How does Charles eat???? Screw you for asking - it's a comic book! Anyway, there's another stupid death trap, which Batman escapes rather easily. He goes into the "flower garden," where the flowers have faces. Kane must have been trying some of that newly-illegal mary jane, if you ask me. Here's the cool thing - the faces in the flowers ARE NEVER EXPLAINED! WTF? The Duc dies, but it's not Batman's fault.

Issue #35: The splash page shows Batman holding a gun. How cool. Commissioner Gordon AGAIN invites Bruce along to a crime scene. More politically incorrect villains - this time, Hindu "idol-worshippers," although no one mentions that the white people in this story act like jerks, while the Hindus are just trying to get their property back. Screw you, Hindus - your precious religious artifacts belong to the West! Batman cracks jokes as he beats up bad guys - "Don't you know it's dangerous to play with knives!" He's like Peter Freakin' Parker! Batman enters the inscrutable Chinatown, and we meet Wong, the "mayor," who's actually portrayed positively. Way to go, Finger and Kane! There's actually a twist at the end, and Batman kills again! It's sort of a mistake, but he throws something at the bad guy (no spoilers here!), who falls out a high window and dies on the pavement. Where's the arrest warrant on Batman, Commissioner????

Issue #36: The cops finally get with it and take a shot at Batman. It's the first appearance of Hugo Strange, who disappeared until those great Englehart/Rogers/Austin issues, and now is overdone. Sigh. Anyway, Hugo's grand scheme is to create a fog so thick the cops can't see any crimes taking place. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds. Oh, and one of the cops is called Clancy. Earlier, one of the cops was Kelly. Because, you know, ALL cops are Irish. Batman cracks jokes again. Hugo Strange says, "I'll crush him as readily as I crush this glass!" as he breaks a glass in his hand. Dude, get some Bactine on that - that has to sting. Instead of killing Batman, Hugo whips him. I'm not getting into the whole sado-masochistic thing Hugo's got going on, but I'm amazed no writer has ever run with it.

Issue #37: This begins so well. The narration reads: "The Batman, having lost his way on a lonely by-road, stops before a lone house to ask directions" (Emphasis mine). At least he's not like most men, but he's just wandering around the countryside (in what looks like a Batmobile - it's black and streamlined, at least) and he got lost???? WTF? Anyway, he gets embroiled in a case of double-crossing ... well, grocers. No, it's more than that! The grocery business is just a front! Batman uses infrared goggles! Another stupid death-trap, as the bad guys put Bats in a bag and throw him in the river, from which he quickly escapes. He sort of kills another guy - he punches him, and the guy falls backward onto a sword. I'll forgive him for that.

Issue #38: Say it with me: "The Sensational Character Find of 1940 ... Robin, the Boy Wonder!" Two pages of the origin. Did we really need "Batman: Year Three"? I love the weird ritual Batman and Dick Grayson go through to initiate young Dick into the business of crime-fighting. It's like the Klan! The small town run by Boss Zucco seems awfully big, but oh well. Batman smiles, and it's as creepy as you might expect. Robin joins in the killing, as he kicks some random bad guy off the scaffolding. Way to take care of your ward, Bruce - turn him into a murderer!

Batman #1: The origin of Batman, re-told for the first of many times. Still only two pages! This issue is, of course, the one with the Joker. You know what? This story holds up. It's creepy, a little scary, with a great villain, and Batman actually having problems stopping him. It's not surprising the Joker is quite possibly the greatest comic book villain ever. The other stories in the issue are okay. We get the return of Hugo Strange, as he turns mental patients into monsters! Batman mounts a machine gun on the Bat-plane and says, "Much as I hate to take human life, I'm afraid this time it's necessary!" This time, Bruce? What about all the other times? He kills two of the monsters, but what the hell - they're mental patients, so screw 'em! The third story introduces the Cat, a gorgeous femme fatale jewel thief. No, it's not Catwoman! It's the Cat! Also a pretty good story, although - get this - Batman LETS HER GO, and even stops Robin from pursuing her! No wonder all those chick bad guys think they pull that crap with him - it works! He also breaks the fourth wall to tell all us kids that "crooks are yellow without their guns," so we shouldn't admire them. Unlike, say, weirdly dressed figures with machine guns mounted to their planes - them we should admire! The last story is another Joker story, which doesn't work as well because he's using the same schtick - Joker venom. He gets knifed at the end, but survives, because Finger and Kane knew they had a good one.

I've mocked this a lot, but it's still totally worth your money, because it is part of comics history. It's very cool to read these in one sitting, all in a row, since most Batman stories are presented in a vacuum. Yes, they're goofy and not-too-good, but you should check this volume out anyway.

In review: Batman Chronicles - gloriously awful. Marvel Masterworks - brilliant comics. GrimJack - brilliant comics. The Long Haul - eh. Seek and you shall find!

Scurvy Dogs – Comic Buried Treasure

Look, a pirate reference in the title!!

Today’s “You Decide” is courtesy of Greg Hatcher.

Scurvy Dogs is about a group of pirates from the past who are trying to make their way in the modern world(not time travel, they just exist in the present).

The book is written by Andrew Boyd and Ryan Yount (with Yount also contributing the art and lettering).

The trade collection, Scurvy Dogs: Rags to Riches, collects the five issue series plus a short story featuring the guys and Vampirella (funny pairing, eh?).

The first two issues are by far my favorites of the collection.

The first issue opens with a story involving Portuguese lepers, and it is both my favorite story in the collection as well as a perfect introduction to the brand of humor Boyd and Yount are contributing here.

The other story in #1 involves the gang trying to get jobs on the land, with hilarious results.

#2 was a funny confrontation between the pirates and a group of monkeys.

#3-5, though, I think the humor got much less cooler. Essentially, #3-5 became Robot Chicken/Family Guy with the jokes being more pop culture references that people like Andrew Boyd and Ryan Yount will get.

You ever see those lame cable comedy shows? Where a guy will come out and say, “Remember Lite Brite?”

And everyone will laugh. But not because the joke was funny, but because they do, in fact, remember Lite Brite.

Well, the jokes in #3-5 were a lot like that (heck, they even had a joke involving Lite Brite!). Remember Menudo? Remember Anson Williams? Remember Welcome Back Kotter?

If so, you will laugh!

And hey, I will admit, I am Mr. Pop Culture, so I DO laugh at the references.

I am just saying that it is not as impressive of a form of comedy as the self-sufficient humor of the first two issues. The first two issues still had pop culture references (Like the classic “Not a doubloon, but a pog it be!” line from #1), but they were not the main jokes, unlike #3-5.

And just for the record, I do not think #3-5 are anywhere near the level of those lame cable comedy specials. Scurvy Dogs has actual jokes, not just references, and there is actual plot…but the resemblance IS there. So while it is still funny, I just much, much prefer the jokes from #1 and #2.

The Vampirella short story was a lot of fun (especially since it takes more after #1 and #2 than #3,4 and 5).

Ryan Yount’s art was good, and improved as the series went on, which is always good to see.

The pin-ups were awesome, as were the sketches.

The commentary confused me though. I think I would have preferred a 2-page bonus story more than FOURTEEN pages of commentary. Especially when there is commentary before each issue and commentary throughout the Vampirella story. And then fourteen MORE pages of commentary? Seemed silly. Especially when most of the commentary was in-jokes or stuff like “Look what Pappy is doing!”

All in all, though, I would easily recommend this series. For only $13, there is a lot of funny stuff in this collection. And heck, what with the FOURTEEN pages of commentary, there’s certainly a lot to of pages for your money…hehe.

What I bought - 20 April 2005

It took me a little longer this week to read my books, because there were a crapload of them and I've not had a good two days (see here if you want to know why). But I managed to get through them, and some made me say "Yay!" and none of those were written by someone with the initials "G.M." I will try to keep it short, because I'm still grumpy and, like I said, there were a lot.

Atomika #2 by Andrew Dabb and Sal Abbinanti
$2.99, Speakeasy Comics

This is better than the first issue. Nice Glenn Fabry cover, more Bret Blevins-esque art inside, and Atomika kicks ass. The bad guys are a tad silly, but it's still an interesting book. A superhero book, unfortunately, because it doesn't have to be. This may get more interesting if Dabb and Abbinanti explore communism, the religion of technology, and oppression and what it does to the human soul. Or they could be conventional and make it a superhero book, in which case I won't read it very long. So far, so good.

Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities #1 by Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz
$2.99, Dark Horse

I don't read The Goon. Yes, I suck. No need to point it out to me. So I thought I'd give this a try. It's good. Even if it gets sucky, it's only four issues, so there's no reason not to try it, unless you're spending your hard-earned ducats on finding out whether or not Hulkling is gay. Kelley Jones-like art from Hotz. Billy the Kid and a bunch of freaks. Frankenstein. Fun stuff. Find. Purchase.

Beowulf #1 by Brian Augustyn and Dub (I wish I was kidding)
$2.99, Speakeasy

Hmmm. I wish this was better, because the premise is pretty cool. Beowulf still stalks the earth, helping people when necessary, waiting for something big to happen. Superheroes are mistrusted, and the government wants to shut them down. Hilarity ensues. Okay, maybe not. But it's a good enough idea, but this issue feels way to rushed. I wonder if the Powerhouse thing had lasted a little longer, or the beginning sequence with the girl ... Anyway, it's fine, but nothing to make you go crazy with lust.

Catwoman: When In Rome #5 by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
$3.50, DC

When issue #4 came out, I told you all to stop buying it. I hope you listened. This is getting closer and closer to "suck" territory, which is depressing when you consider the talent involved. There's just nothing here that is really any good. Why am I buying it? Because I'm a sucker, I guess, and to warn you! It's just ... dull. Blah. Stupid. Why does anyone try to make the Riddler a serious villain? He's goofy - deal with it. Even when Milligan made him a serious villain in that Batman story years ago, all the other characters commented on how weird it was. It's like trying to make Mr. Mxyzptlk a serious villain ... oh, wait a minute. Well, Loeb ain't Alan Moore, I'll tell you that much. Don't buy this. Dear God, don't buy it!

Ex Machina #10 by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Feister
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm

Holy crap, this is a good book. A great ending to the story, more interesting politics, absolutely beautiful art by Harris, creepiness, romance (both gay and straight!), a fat woman not played for laughs (a complete rarity in comics!) - it's all good. Go buy it.

The Iron Ghost #1 by Chuck Dixon and Sergio Cariello
$2.95, Image

Dixon is a hack, but he's an occasionally enjoyable hack, and the last thing I read by him was the cut-short-too-soon El Cazador, which I really liked, so I thought I'd give him a chance. This a cool book. Some weird dude dressed like the Shadow, except with a glowing red monocle, is killing Nazis in Berlin at the end of World War II. No one knows what's going on, but some Nazi She-Wolf (not named Elsa, but Lisa - close enough) is apparently part of some conspiracy. Shocking! Good art, interesting premise, plenty of action and intrigue - a nice start. We'll see how long it lasts.

JLA: Classified #6 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joe Rubinstein
$2.99, DC

After last issue, which was a little to smug for me (although I still liked it), this issue is brilliant. Etrigan's rhymes didn't make me want to throw up in my mouth (I HATE the rhymes, by the way), the jokes aren't in the way of the story, Bea is awesome (I love Bea), the idea of working in a fast food restaurant in Hell is the perfect punishment, because apparently working in a fast food restaurant on Earth is as close to Hell as we can get, and three characters are presented perfectly and with respect - Sue and Ted, obviously, are still alive, and this Maxwell Lord could never be an evil mastermind - he probably can't tie his shoes. The most surprising thing about the issue is that these guys made me actually like Guy Gardner. I still think he's a jerk, but I liked him in the story, and that's something that I don't think has ever happened before. Wow. This is an excellent comic.

Klarion #1 by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving
$2.99, DC

Am I burned out on Morrison? Is there just so much you can take before you throw up your hands and say, "Enough!"? Is that it? There's nothing wrong, per se, with Klarion, it's just that, like others around the blogaxy, I'm starting to wonder if he's just writing this stuff in his sleep because he's so good at it. Yes, he's clever. Yes, he has re-worked Solomon Grundy's origin, and it's kind of neat. Yes, he's dropping references to the lost colony of Roanoke, even though "Croatoan" doesn't mean what he apparently wants us to believe it means. Yes, the idea isn't the most original thing in the world, which doesn't matter because it's all in how it's executed. In the greatest Grant Morrison stories (Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Marvel Boy, early X-Men, some JLA, We3, even the somewhat overrated Arkham Asylum), there's a sense of the humanity behind the wacky ideas. So far in Seven Soldiers, it's a little lacking. Great ideas, but a bit hollow. Like The Filth!

Livewires #3 by Adam Warren and Rick Mays
$2.99, Marvel

A good mini-series, a funny Sentinel moment, the beginning of the greater story behind the scenes (yawn, another vast conspiracy - we'll see how Warren pulls it off), but this issue crystallizes why I don't like manga. It's too much like kiddie porn. Social Butterfly looks like she's about thirteen, and she's wearing very tiny clothes and grinding against some dude for most of the issue. A lot of manga is like that, even when the girls are supposed to be older - they all look like thirteen-year-olds. Am I wrong? Anyway, still a fun series.

The Question #6 by Rick Veitch and Tommy Lee Edwards
$2.99, DC

It's the last issue, so if you haven't been buying this, why would you start? Pick up the trade if you haven't been - it's neat. Beautiful, beautiful art, a neat story, an appearance by Superman that doesn't make me throw up in my mouth (apparently, I do that a lot), unrequited love, and a "shocking" twist (that was interesting, but not really that shocking, because it's not like it's going to change the comics landscape as we know it). A good comic.

Small Gods #8 by Jason Rand and Juan Ferreyra
$2.95, Image

More good stuff. This is such a nice comic book - nothing spectacular, just good storytelling, good art, interesting concepts, action, romance, and character development. And hot chicks! Where's the love for the hot chicks? Guy wants to pick this up in trade paperback. As far as I know, Guy, the first four issues have been collected or they're about to be. So there you go.

Trigger #5 by Jason Hall and John Watkiss
$2.99, DC/Vertigo

Apparently this book is already cancelled, so who the hell cares?

X-Men #169 by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larroca, and Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
$2.25, Marvel

Wow. This is the kind of stuff I was hoping Milligan would bring to the X-Men. Creepy stuff, as Golgotha goes to work on destroying our favorite mutants' minds. Lots of angst is brought to the surface, and although it's a teeny bit disappointing that the X-Men aren't affected more long-term, it's still a squeamish, locked-in-a-haunted-house kind of issue, which is very cool. Very neat. Better art from Larroca, too - not as dark. Me like.

There you go. Rip as you will. Some very good comics this week. And I resisted OMAC! Don't validate DC killing Blue Beetle and turning Maxwell Lord into, shit, I don't know, Lex Luthor! I have also bought a bunch o' trade paperbacks in the past two weeks (beside Nil: A Land Beyond Belief, which you really should purchase), so this weekend I might have to go over those.

This Comic Is Good - Klarion the Witch Boy

One of things Grant Morrison often gets credit for is being an "ideas man."

And it is true, the man knows how to come up with some crazy ideas in comics that work really well.

In addition, he often has a sort of "throw a lot of stuff at the reader quickly" approach, that often works really well, but sometimes leaves readers (not me, but I know of others who have complained about this) cold because they would prefer Morrison to choose one idea and just develop it, rather than jump to a new idea right away.

Therefore, the one thing that you could argue that Grant Morrison comics often lack is in-depth characterizations. This makes sense, as his stories do not tend to slow down enough to GIVE such characterizations (when he DOES slow down during his long runs, he does manage to whip out a lot of characterization really quickly, see his New X-Men run for examples).

His Seven Soldiers work, though, is beginning to go away from this, at least from the early indications.

Seven Soldiers #0 gave us a lot of characterization.

Guardian and Shining Knight did not, but Zatanna did.

Klarion the Witch Boy, though, is Morrison at the slowest I have seen him in a looooong time (maybe since Animal Man!), and it works very well, I think (spoilers ahead).

Klarion is a resident of Limbo Town, and he constantly questions the rules that the elders of Limbo Town come up with, but what is most interesting to me is that Morrison does not give Klarion a one-dimensional reason for disobeying (which is a far bit different from his character in the Guardian, whose motives ARE fairly one-dimensional, although the Guardian is not ATTEMPTING to be a characterization-driven title, so it is not a big deal), but rather, gives layers upon layers for the whole issue, so that when the rebellion actually occurs, it feels like the culmination of a long plot and not just a decision made in one issue. Good work there.

I also enjoy how Morrison was able to make the almost tyrannical rules of the Elders seem palpatable, as though it is really feasible that people WOULD follow them. I liked that a lot. It would be very simple to make them OBVIOUSLY a bunch of evil tyrants, but instead, Morrison gives depths to their rules and let's us understand them (while we still, of course, side with Klarion in his opposition to said rules) better. I really liked that.

The artwork by Frazier Irving is the best I have seen from Irving, and I have generally enjoyed Irving's past work.

Just so you do not think that Morrison is keeping away from the whole "ideas" routine, he DOES give us quite a whopper with his origin of Solomon Grundy(s). Cool, cool stuff.

After all the slow-paced characterization, Morrison is going to be able to make #2 all filled of crazy action.

I cannot wait.

Helping You To Buy Good Things

As always, thanks to Erin Schadt for the idea.

I just recently wrote nice things about Phoenix: Dawn. You can read it and say nice things about it, too, for only $14 (counting shipping) from Amazon here.

Greg recommends the Atlantis Chronicles. Well, here's an auction ending in four days that begins at about $8 (shipping included).

Of the webcomics I mentioned, Sluggy Freelance is pretty much impossible to get in print (unless you want to spend upwards of $80) and I already posted links to Fred the Clown stuff.

EDITED to note that the later editions of Sluggy Freelance (Vol. 4, 7 and 8) are available from Plan 9 Publishing here. Thanks to Brandon Hanvey for the link.

So the next one is Derek Kirk Kim's Same Difference. You can get a copy here for about $11 (shipping included).

Brandon Hanvey's The Stereos can be purchased at his website, The Geek Out.

It is funny, I mentioned how I thought Steve Niles' writing has dramatically improved, and a week later, the dude has an Eisner nomination for best writer!! Weird, eh?

In any event, you can buy his breakout hit, 30 Days of Night, for about $11 (shipping included) here.

His current coolest character is Cal McDonald. Here is one Cal McDonald trade for about $14 (shipping included), and here is another, for the same.

Enjoy!

Phoenix: Dawn - Now Even With Kitchen Sink!

Wow...talk about a lot of stuff packed into one comic book story (hence the title...by the by, where did that phrase come from anyways?).

Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix: Dawn (the first part of Tezuka's Phoenix sage), today's "You Decide" by...well, whoever asked for it was Anonymous, is a big pile of different genres, all thrown together into one story.

And yet Tezuka makes it work, even while you are sitting there saying to yourself, "Really? He is doing slapstick in the middle of a serious scene? Ooooookay."

The story in the first part of the TWELVE part Phoenix story is 340 pages long, and tells a long story of love, betrayal, greed, more betrayal, magic, war, revenge, more betrayal, more love, more war, more revenge, more betrayal...and there are eleven more stories like this!

The basic plot of the comic is that a village is betrayed by a man from a nearby kingdom, and the city's General takes a young boy hostage to train to hunt down the Phoenix, whose blood will give eternal life to the queen of the kingdom.

The boy and the General's relationship takes up MOST of the story, but the book really does divide up the plots pretty evenly.

The traitor to the village and his wife.

The expert archer.

The "ugly" handmaiden.

The first lord of Japan.

The vain Queen.

A lot of stories mixing together over the course of the story.

The real weird part of the book, though, is how Tezuka works in other genres into his stories...like he will do bits where the animals act like Disney characters for a little bit, he will have characters make references to movies (while the book is set in ancient Japan), he has a character's nose become horribly disfigured - just for a gag, it is a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeird book.

And yet it somehow all comes together and works.

The art is top notch, as Tezuka was obviously having a LOT of fun with it...and the story has that same sense of fun, while still the seriousness of a story that knows that it is the first part of an epic.

Well worth a read...I only hope that the rest of the series lives up the high standard set with the opening story.

Trying desperately to regain, or retain, or even establish my indie cred!

Before we begin, a shameless plug. Pictures of my daughter are up on my other blog. See how someone as grotesque as I could produce someone so beautiful!

Okay, moving on. Last week, the enigmatically named GreyGlobe took umbrage with my praise of mainstream tripe like Ultimate X-Men and Power Pack and offered his suggestions to ameliorate my bad comics vibe. As I responded, the problem with his suggestions is that I have to order them, while Power Pack was just sitting on the shelf. And I just have a problem with people giving money to DC and Marvel when they don't like the comics they are buying. I like Ultimate X-Men. But I will say, Mr. Globe, that my issue of Action Philosophers is merrily on its way. I think you were the one who recommended that, and I appreciate it. And even if you weren't, you can't get much more indie than that!

Last week, while I was lining the coffers of the Evil Two, I also picked up Nil: A Land Beyond Belief by James Turner from Slave Labor. No, I did not purchase it in a desperate attempt to prove how "indie" I am. I bought it because it looked cool. And it is. And I'm going to tell you why you should run, not walk, to the nearest comics shoppe and pick up your copy.

First, the value. I care a little about the price of comics, and Nil costs $12.95 for 232 pages of dense text. Considering lots of people pay $3 for full page money shots of Captain America insulting France and Slade Wilson dressed up as Batman, 13 bucks is cheap. This book is packed with pictures and words, and is excellent bang for your buck.

But the story, Greg, the story! And the art, the art! Does it hold up? Does it offer "kewl" moments like Spider-Man fighting everyone on the Raft or treasure maps on the backs of subway commuters? Well, no. It's far more interesting than that.

Nil is the story of Proun Nul, who lives in a country where there is no belief. Every idea that could be believed in has been sucked out of the populace, and there is no hope for anything, even love. It sounds bleak, but it's not, because Nil is as savage a satire as you'll find this side of Jonathan Swift. Yeah, I just compared a comic book to Swift. You wanna make something of it?

Turner satirizes everything - democracy, totalitarianism, religion, the pope, Stalinism, the machinery of war, optimism, reality television, sex - all with a wicked wit that causes you to bust up laughing every few pages. The story is simple: Proun Nul works as an engineer on a battleship that goes out every day and destroys memes, which, as ideas, threaten to destroy the Land of Nil with their dangerous ways. The memes burst from the ground as buildings spouting slogans like "Workers of the World Unite!" and "Corporatism Rules! Death to the Inferior!" - it doesn't matter what ideology the memes use, it's all bad for the rulers of Nihilopolis, Nil's capital. The battleships are powered by rhetoric, read by a bulbous man called the Hot Head. One day Proun Nul, in an effort to pump up the power, gives the Hot Head first Chomsky, then Coulter. He gets the desired effect, but inadvertently kills a co-worker, who happened to be the nephew of the Hypocripope, Nil's "spiritual" leader. Nul is hunted by demon cops from Hell (literally), who let him escape so they don't have to go home. He tries to defect to Nil's mortal enemy, Optima, but gets stuck on the front lines of the war the two countries have been fighting for ages. Meanwhile, his legend back in the city grows until people believe he's a terrorist leader who shoots laser beams from his eyes. He fights in the war until he realizes how pointless it is and how much he wants the love of his Heloise, Miss Void. He returns to the city, where the previously uninterested Miss Void is suddenly taken by this dashing fugitive terrorist leader. The books ends ... well, not exactly unexpectedly, but somewhat surprisingly. It's in keeping with the tone of the book, however.

All this sounds absurd, and it is, to a certain degree. Turner's real genius is in bringing this world alive, even with the absurdity and the outrageous art, which is unbelievably detailed and strange, but stirring all the same. The real pleasure in the book is the small details, of which there are many. The slogan of the Hypocripope is "Quae nocent docent," which means, loosely, "Those things that hurt teach." Professor Toten, the philosopher who "makes nonsense into sense," speaks only in lectures, complete with footnotes. Miss Void can pass herself off as the Queen of England because there was a mix-up with the IDs, and no one in the bureaucracy challenges her. Hell invades New Jersey (didn't they already?). The soldiers can only return fire when attacked if they've filled out the proper forms. Both the latrine and the coffee shop are in No Man's Land. The Optimists charge into No Man's Land carrying signs that read, "I am a tree" and "I am also a tree" in the hopes that they won't get shot. In order to determine the next ruler of Nil, the candidates are dropped off on a desert island, and the last survivor is the winner (which isn't actually a bad idea). When a group of politicians are shot by a firing squad, the soldiers shout, "This one is for Kierkegaard!" And that's not even scratching the surface.

What Turner is attempting to do, beyond pure evil satire, is make us question our assumptions about what we should believe in, if anything. We say we believe in liberty and democracy, but should we? The Optimists do, and it doesn't stop them from fighting in a war none of them really believe in, but fight in gleefully nonetheless. Nul starts to believe in things throughout his journey, but it never gets any easier for him, and it might have been better if he hadn't started to believe in the first place. The Hypocripope comes up with a strategy to kill everyone because life is hypocrisy, and if you think that's crazy, check out some cults we've been subject to in the past. All of this is examined and torn down in this gem of a book, and we're left on our own, trying to make sense of the world, which is how it should be.

Nil is a brilliant book. It is the kind of book that makes you laugh, but also the kind of book that makes you think. It is the kind of comic book that you should support, because unlike most of the standard superhero comics, it challenges what we think of as the status quo, and shows us that there might not be anything behind the curtain. Seek it out!

Three 4/13 Comics That I Read So That You Don't Have To

Same as always...I discuss three books that I have not seen many reviews about (and I am being really strict with my recommendations...I like a lot of books that I would not necessarily recommend to others, so I hope no one is put off if they see a "not recommended," that does NOT mean that I think it is a BAD issue, per se....I will be sure to tell you if I think it is a bad issue, trust me...hehe). Then I ask if anyone can fill me in on books that I missed during the week.

Also, as always, spoilers ahead!

Toxin #1 - I was talking to Tadhg about this earlier, and he had a good line when he said something along the lines of, "You have Peter Milligan and Darick Robertson together on a book, and it has to be a spin-off of Venom vs. Carnage?!?!"

And yes, that probably IS the most notable thing about this series - the sheer oddness of the talent associated with the book.

That being said, you might be pleasantly surprised to know that this comic was pretty good.

Luckily, this series DID chose the most interesting aspect of the awful Venom v. Carnage mini-series, which was the character of Toxin, who is a cop that bonded with the symbiotic offspring of Carnage (as Carnage was the offspring of Venom).

At the end of that terrible series, the cop quit his job and left his family, for fear that he was too unstable (and as he was bonded with an alien symbiote...that was actually fairly thoughtful, when you think of it, no?).

In any event, Darick Robertson (with Rodeny Ramos on inks) is a VAST improvement over Clayton Crain, and helps give Peter Milligan the structure Milligan sometimes desperately needs.

The story itself is a straightforward "new hero" story.

Familiar Marvel villains (King Cobra, Mr. Hyde and Razorfist) are used, but they are approached with care by Milligan. If anyone remembers Milligan's awful Elektra series from awhile back, the most notable aspect of the run were the issues where he spotlighted super-villains. Milligan took established Marvel villains and fleshed out their characters without contradicting anything previous writers had done.

He continues that approach in this issue with King Cobra, Mr. Hyde and, to a lesser extent, Razorfist.

The story also has some nice character moments with the hero and his old partner, who does not understand what his friend is up to, and his theories are obviously far apart from the reality of the situation.

The issue ends with Spider-Man enlisting Toxin's help, by asking him to hunt down an escaped villain that Spider-Man does not have time to handle himself (as you can see on the cover of the issue, this is a New Avengers tie-in...specifically, the prison break), and that is where we leave off, with Toxin preparing to track down Razorfist.

So this was fun, straightforward superhero story that just has a terrible name and an unfortunate pedigree. So while I liked it well enough, I don't think I could honestly recommend it to anyone.

Not recommended!

Batman: Legend of the Dark Knight #190 - J. Torres tries his hand at mainstream DCU work (he is doing a great job on Teen Titans Go for DC's cartoon comics line), and along with David Lopez and Fernando Blanco on art, he does a very able job with this issue.

What we have here is the makings of a good Batman issue.

The only thing I think it was missing was that extra hook.

The art was strong.

The characterizations were down pat (although I don't know how the whole GCPD thing works...aren't they supposed to try to arrest Batman when they see him?).

There was some welcome humor.

So what was missing?

This just did not seem DIFFERENT of a story enough...the hook just isn't there.

There is certainly something to be said for just an entertaining comic book story without any deeper thought...but I think the story needs something more.

This is the type of story Torres writes every month in Teen Titans Go, only in that book..

1. He does not take two issues to tell it

and

2. The hooks are more readily visible.

So while I think there is a lot to be said for Torres on this title (certainly enough to see what he can do when he is allowed free reign with the story, like if he was an ongoing writer, like say on Gotham Knights...please on Gotham Knights? Pretty please?), there is not enough for me to feel confidant that a random person would like it.

So not recommended!

The Imaginaries #1 - This was a very enjoyable debut issue from a tagteam of Ben Avery and Mike S. Miller on story, and Mike S. Miller and Greg Titus on pencils.

The basic story is one of those high concept ideas, very much like Steve Niles and 30 Days of Night - What happens to imaginary characters when their creators forget about them?

That is the topic of this series, and I am quite impressed with it so far.

Tanner is a little boy whose parents are having a tough time in their marriage, so he retreats to his adopted father figure, a superhero he creates named "Superhero G" (with Tanner being "Hero Boy").

Tanner draws whenever his parents argue, and as they argue a lot, he soon becomes quite adept, but one day, when his parents finally divorce, he decides he is done with kid's games.

And then we pick up at the Imagined Nation, where Superhero G must come to grips with his status in the world now that Tanner no longer believes in him.

Intriguing stuff?

Luckily, there is also enough humor and nice art to really pull this story through.

Definitely recommended!

Okay, as to the books I have not picked up....

Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur #1

Super Manga Blast #50

Tom Strong #32

Armor X #2

Victory Vol. 2 #4

Stray Bullets #37