Electric Girl - Did You Know Star Wars Was Close To Being Rated G?

I mention that in the headline to point out that stories designed to be enjoyed by a "general audience," do not always mean that they can only be enjoyed by a juvenile audience.

Star Wars managed to avoid the G rating by adding some charred corpses (in a scene directly lifted from the awesome Searchers by John Ford)...but Electric Girl does not add any sort of "gross for the sake of being gross" bit to the comic.

And yet, Electric Girl is still, like Star Wars, a story that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Electric Girl is about a girl named Virginia who was born with electric powers. Basically, her power is that she is surging with electricity. The name "Electric Girl" does not refer to any superhero name or anything like that, it's just what people call her. She is the "Electric Girl."

Her main supporting cast is her parents, her cute little dog, Blammo, her two closest girlfriends, and her (sigh) gremlin friend, Oogleeoog.

I really do not dig the gremlin character.

Gremlins, in the world of Electric Girl, are these invisible creatures who cause havoc on earth. Which is fine enough. But man...it is not that I dislike Oogleeoog, it is more that I really do not see his purpose in the stories. Yes, the writer has Oogleeoog as a "trouble magnet," to explain how all sorts of weird stuff always happens around Virginia...but really, would anyone complain if this weird stuff just happened to occur? I know I wouldn't. Not only that, but the stories in the book that are the best are the ones that DON'T include Oogleeoog. The strongest stories are the normal, character-driven ones. With those insults being said, Oogleeoog is not a bad character, and he can be funny sometimes...I just think the book would be stronger without him.

The creator, Michael Brennan, does a fine job on the art (a nice, clean cartoony style...although, once again, the biggest drawback I would say would be his drawings of Oogleeoog), but he really shines on dialogue and character intractions. The way Virginia and the interesting supporting cast interact is really solid stuff (Virginia and her parents, Virginia and her friends, Her friends amongst themselves). Often, the book really reads a lot like Blue Monday...that is, if something actually ever happened in Blue Monday(I kid Blue Monday because I care). There is a really fun story about a zombie who, well, doesn't act like a typical zombie. Funny stuff. And a really nice, character-driven piece about what happens on the first really humid day of the year.

There IS one story that is a bit...well, out of place...where Oogleeoog tries to save Virginia (in a flashback story) from a child molester without breaking his oath to never directly assist a human. It is a fine story seeing Oogleeoog trying to aid Virginia without doing so directly, but dude, it is a CHILD MOLESTER! That's a bit too creepy to use as the centerpiece of a "will the gremlin break his oath and use his powers to help a human?" story, ya know?

The stories in Electric Girl read a lot like an Archie digest, in that they are a bunch of stories, of varying lengths. In addition, like Archie digests, there are a few "Lil' Virginia" flashback stories (like the child molester one, but also more normal ones, like when Virginia got Blammo). You can really tell that these characters were designed first for a comic strip, because that sense of storytelling really comes across. Like the Archie characters, these characters work well either way.

The cover design for the first trade is TERRIBLY unappealing. In fact, if I were to direct someone to find it, I think I would say, "Just look for the trade with the goddawful cover, and you'll find it!" Look at the cover here.

In any event, it definitely is a fun comic, and one I would recommend highly, especially if you enjoy Bleu Monday...as, it is very similar, except, like I said before, with stuff actually happening.

Fallen Angel..."Harlan Ellison is a Big, Fat Liar"

Peter David's Fallen Angel is a good comic book.

It is probably a better book than about 70% of the comic books currently being published by DC.

I think the art from David Lopez and Fernando Blanco is good.

I establish all of this to put into perspective my title, and why exactly I think Harlan Ellison is a “big fat liar.”

On the front cover of the Fallen Angel TPB, there is a quote from Mr. Ellison. It reads “Fallen Angel is adult, it is well-hewn, it is memorable.”

I think two of those three statements is incorrect, and the third, it is too soon to tell (a quick word on the third, "well-hewn." I really dislike the word "well-hewn." It is one thing to use fancy words when normal words would get across the same thing. I can give people some slack there. But here, Ellison is using the word "well-hewn," which means "well carved out of wood" in place of "well crafted." So not only is it a fancy word, but it is a fancy word that does not exactly mean what he wants it to mean, which is that the characters in Fallen Angel are well-crafted!).

The first statement, that Fallen Angel is "adult," I think is incorrect. Once, when I was in the sixth grade, we were asked to write a Halloween story. I thought this would be a cool time to write a sophisticated horror story. However, as I was a sixth grader, it came out like a sophisticate horror story as written by a sixth-grader. That is what Fallen Angel reads like to me. Throughout the entire series, it seemed pretty much like a typical Peter David comic book, which is not an insult. The only difference i noticed, was this sense that it was yearning to be taken seriously, yearning to be sophisticated, yearning to be adult...and that is not something that you TRY to do. It is just something that happens. You cannot just take your standard writing, and add "bitch" and gore and sex and then say it it is "adult." It reminds me of Pat Boone's metal days. Even if you thought Pat Boone's metal songs were good (and I did think some of them were quite good), you would not refer to Boone as a "heavy metal guy," would you? Same way I would not refer to the stories in Fallen Angel as "adult."

"Memorable" is something that I also think is missing from this series. Please note that I am only referring to the first trade here, but also note that that is what Ellison is referring to as well. While he mentions how he has access to more info, that does not exactly do us, the readers, much good, now does it (a quick aside about Ellison's introduction. I am sure it is helpful for a book to have someone as prominent as Ellison write the intro, but man, what a terrible introduction. It was ponderous, and was very difficult to read with the font and page color they chose. Not what you want for an introduction to a series which prides itself as being different)? The characters in Fallen Angel are not bad, they are fine characters, but their very nature almost demands that they are NOT memorable! Their very nature is one of shadows, and unfilled in blanks, and mysteries. We are not to know too much about any one character, and even less about the city they all inhabit. So almost by the very intent of the comic, I really did not find any of the characters to be all that memorable.

Which brings us to the comment that I do not think we can truly judge at this point in time, "well-hewn." As Ellison is using it, he means that the characters are well crafted. Well, since we know so little of them, and what little we know is being contradicted every other issue, I do not know if we can necessarilly characterize any of the characters as even CRAFTED, let along well crafted!

In any event, like I said before, I thought the comic was good. It is about a mysterious woman in a town where crime is almost unchecked at night. There is this crime magistrate, Juris, who controls the town's criminal population. He has an enforcer, Boxer, and an examiner, Slate. There is this drug dealer named Asia Minor. The "Fallen Angel," Lee, hangs out at a bar named Furors, run by an old barkeep named Dolf. She opens herself up as a "court of last resort." And in case you wonder how I remember that particular characterization of her situation, take notice that "court of last resort" to Fallen Angel is what "focused totality of her psi-powers" is to Psylocke, which is a description that the writer MUST think is clever, as he repeats it constantly. Basically, she helps the suckers in the town, but if she feels (while helping you) that you are unworthy of her help, she will gladly screw you over. Anyhoo, it is an interesting book. I just don't think it is adult or memorable.

However, in today's comic climate, we must learn the same lesson of the grocery store bagboy who tried to get promoted to being in charge of the store's fruit smoothie machine, which is "baggers can't be juicers."

See?

A pun.

Just for Peter David.

Aren't I so nice?

The Pro...What Is The Matter With Fanboy Rage?

I'll get to my thoughts about The Pro, the one-shot comic by Garth Ennis and Amanda Conner that was released a couple years ago about a prostitute who gained superpowers, a little later.

First, I wish to discuss what strikes me as irritating about the last page of this issue. On the last page of The Pro, which is a pretty virulent anti-superhero comic, the author speaks directly to the reader.

It states, "Her kid grew up. Not a bad idea, when you think about it."

Which is, essentially, a direct insult to the superhero reader.

So the sense of fanboy rage?

Non-existent.

This issue was praised like crazy. Everyone loved this comic, with practically no mention of the fact that the comic ended with a direct insult.

Meanwhile, you make Hal Jordan a villain, and it is like you stabbed people's kids!

What is the matter with fanboy rage?

I am not asking people to get pissed off when someone mocks them. I think it is a mark of a cool, mature person when you can get mocked without getting pissed off.

There is a difference, though, between "not getting pissed off" and saying "thank you sir, may I have another?" which is the feeling I get from stuff like The Pro.

It's one thing if you AGREE with the sentiments in The Pro. Then that's different. But I know there are plenty of people who obviously disagree with Ennis....and nothing. They just take it.

What is the matter with fanboy rage?

Kill Ant-Man, and people want to stick knives in your throat (direct quote that I had to delete from the Avengers forum on CBR).

Direct insult?

Nothing.

Remember the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Star Wars bit?

Funny?

Sure.

But it also spent 5-8 minutes just mocking Star Wars fans.

And who seems to publicize it the most?

STAR WARS FANS!!

What is the matter with fanboy rage?

Introduce mitochlorians?

They'll rip you to shreds.

Mock them to their face?

They're proud as hell.

What is the matter with fanboy rage?

As for the Pro, it was a slight comic, but well told.

Not a lot of deep satire, but the main character, the cussing prostitute, is constructed strong enough that she is a fine centerpiece for the surrounding satire.

Conner's art achieves the purposes, and, just like the writing, is stronger on the main character than any surrounding characters.

In any event, it's a well made comic, and if you hate superheroes, you should love it even more.

Joe Rice Media Review 1/19/04

I'm on a posting spree! It's crazy! Can you take it? You probably cannot.

Overall, a pretty great week, with a couple of notable exceptions. Let's jump into the fun. Plastic Man was a fun, funny cartoon romp with two "endings" I didn't expect. It walked through the tropes of cat and mouse cartoons, did them well, and added to them a bit. The art is beautiful, and though it's a quick read, it's a pretty densely quick one. Great.

I really, really like Invincible. I know I've said it before, but it's true. It's what straight-up superhero books could and should be. It's not blowing the genre apart, but it doesn't have to. It's doing the genre, it's doing the material with love, and, more importantly, with skill. Kirkman forwards multiple plots without making any of them seem Claremonted. I care about the characters, and I have fun reading it. It's a great experience to read this book every issue. Great.

So Milligan's taking over X-men. And, on the cover, at least, Larocca tones down the silly boobosity that made his work so repulsive to me in the past. So how did this turn out, you ask. Is it "Enigma" Milligan? "X-Force" Milligan? Or, most frighteningly, "Marvel Crossover Book for a Buck" Milligan? Well, one issue's a bit early to tell, but it doesn't seem to be the last of those three. It's also not the first, and probably not the second. Milligan hits some good notes here and has started an interesting plot. I'll give this an arc before I judge it too harshly. Good.

Does anyone write alternate reality superhero stuff like Alan Moore? Even when he's only plotting, Terra Obscura is incredibly strong stuff. Sure, it's informed by silver age DC stuff, but, like the issue of Superman/Batman before the cowboy wankfest, it's nerd pleasing and not nerd pandering . . .the extra knowledge is an added bonus, not a requirement for story understanding. The art's nice, the plot is tricky but rewarding, and I almost wish this weren't a mini (but at least it'll have a satisfying conclusion). Great.

Mignola, Mignola, come back to us. I need Mignola art. I thirst for it like Claremont thirsts for punishment from a strong woman. But there's nothing wrong with some choice Guy Davis art. And at least Mignola is coplotting or whatever. Arcudi's doing fine with this, too. I know some folks have said that Roger's characterization in BPRD: The Dead is a bit off, but it's an enjoyable "off" so I'm not too concerned. This issue threw a lot at the reader and most of it is REALLY interesting. As in, I can't wait for the next issue. That's a good sign. Great.

I think I just don't like The Authority. Sure, Brubaker's vision is stronger than most any I've read, but I just can't find anything to LIKE here. The characters are all dickpits, from "hero" to "villain." I can't see many satisfying reveals for who the "hooded mastermind" is. Perhaps Brubaker is better suited to more personal stuff, even in comic universes. I know I'd take Gotham Central or Sleeper or Cap A any day over this. I just don't see why I should be reading it. Not good.

Ultra took a turn for the much darker, but did so with dignity and without gratuity. The death is painful, the violence is shocking in the right way, and the suspense is real. But, as always, the real attractions are the relationships between the characters. Liv and Pearl clearly feel uncomfortable being angry with each other, and Jen's embarassment is palpable. The art's pretty, the jokes are spot on (when used) and even the arsonist gets a nice little twist on some archetypes. This is a very strong book and not, as one blogger put it, icky treatment of women. Look no further than DC for that. Great.

The last issue of Bullseye: Greatest Hits is just like the others: way better than it had any right to be. Sure, the AMAZING Dillon art is a plus. But the story works, too. I remember reading fanboys bitch about Daniel Way's other work, how he got continuity wrong. Well, here at Comics Should Be Good, Continuity Can Suck My Dick. Bullseye's in control the whole time, we find out his secret plan, and the truth behind all the "truths" he's revealed in the series. I'd not call this great, despite the art, but it's definitely Very Good.

I was all set to drop Nightcrawler. I've no inherent love for the character, nor for Robertson's art. But I do like Aguirre-Sacasa's 4, so I tried it out. We get the first half of a spooky two-parter. It's nice to have a writer at least know a bit about New York when writing about it. The details are on. Logan's quite funny throughout. Storm's more interesting than Claremont could ever dream of making her. Best of all, the story moves. Things happen. There's plenty of talk, but it's not there just to impress sorry readers. Good.

So I guess Mighty Man ran as a back-up in Savage Dragon? It probably was a fun back-up. Put together like this . . .um . . .yeah, it's pretty disjointed, jerky, and not altogether interesting. Not good.

So did Wanted redeem the filth and detritus it wallowed in for the other issues in the finale? No. It's more of the same, with one of the nastiest, most petulant "angsty 14 year old who watched a few Twilight Zones" endings I've ever seen. What would you expect from a comic that thought "Shithead" was clever? Absolute garbage with more starhumping artwork. Get over it, Millar. Hollywood's not coming to your door.

But, hey, any week with Invincible, Plastic Man, Terra Obscura, and BPRD is a good week for comic fans.

Blatant Spin Makes Me Laugh

As you may or may not know, the artist Jae Lee has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics.

He did so while working on a Batman comic for DC. His deal allowed for him to finish the DC project, but since DC was "displeased with his progress" (sounds like a codeword for "They were unhappy I was late"), they said, "Just go."

Okay, so today, the solicitations for that Batman project were released.

Here is what it says:

BATMAN: JEKYLL & HYDE #1
Written by Paul Jenkins
Art and Jae Lee
Cover by Sean Phillips
"man is not truly one, but truly two." - R.L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Never has that been better demonstrated than in Batman's conflicted foe Two-Face, the subject of the new 6-issue miniseries BATMAN: JEKYLL & HYDE by writer Paul Jenkins (Peter Parker: Spider-Man)! Expressing the dual nature of the villain, the miniseries will feature visuals by two distinct artists: Jae Lee (Inhumans) illustrates issues #1-3, while Sean Phillips (SLEEPER) draws issues #4-6!

I italicized the comments that made me laugh.

Isn't blatant spin amusing?

Please note that I am not blaming them for doing it. Heck, I am sort of impressed with how clean the spin fit. It just made me laugh, and I thought it might make others laugh as well.

Birthday Present

Since I accidentally posted something here from my personal blog, I thought I'd completely edit it into a present from me to you, my reading public. That present will be this wonderful post.

So I may recently seem down on mainstream superhero work. Well, there's a reason for that. It's mostly completely terrible. Any writer who thinks people give a good flying pee about more masked cyphers doing battle or yet another "controversial" take on a classic character is a tard. And I don't just mean "drools a little bit" tard, I mean "Jesus Christ, is that a person?" tard.

But do not assume that means all indie comics are golden manna sent down from Our Lord Groth. Because some of it is incredibly awful, as well.

Case in point: Joe Matt's Peepshow. Now I probably hate Peepshow than most people, but I've got good reason. I had to read it. It was the favorite comic of an ex of mine. She just LOVED it and would get every issue for me, force her back issues on me, etc. So I've read a lot of it and it's really so awful that it almost makes me like Chris Claremont's work.

To sum it up is fairly easy. It's autobio comics of the most self-obsessed variety. Matt examines his relationships, neuroses, and obsessions. And he's got plenty of them. He's obsessed with minority women, with pornography (and making mix tapes consisting only of "money shots"), Viewmaster reels, old comics, saving money (to the point that he pees in the sink or in jars so his water bill is lower) . . .he's a miserable person, from all accounts. He annoys his friends, mooches off everyone, all the while looking down his nose at everything.

It's insufferable. It's the daily life of someone you'd avoid if you knew him personally. It's poorly drawn, like a talentless guy who read one Crumb comic. It's terrible comics. It's a little shool girl's diary, except instead of ponies and cute boys she obsesses over Asian, Latin, and black women with disgusting fetishism and talks about porn like it's a friend.

I hate Peepshow.

Happy Birthday, Joe Rice!

It's funny, there are only going to be, like, five of these in the year, and yet two of them have been in January already.

Weird.

In any event, a happy birthday to Mr. Joe Rice!

Will Alex's Head Explode?

In today's Lying In The Gutters, Rich Johnston had this to say:

On this Sunday's Fanboy Radio show with Geoff Johns, he stated that he's writing "Green Lantern: Secret Files" for April with Darwin [sic] Cooke. "It's totally going to help bridge the gap, I guess, between 'New Frontier' and the modern day DCU Green Lantern book. If you're a fan of Hal Jordan from 'New Frontier' I think you'll be a fan of this book.

Will Joe and Alex make it through reading that comic alive?!?!?

Memo to Bryan Hitch

Dear Mr. Hitch,

Congratulations. You have a DVD player and a pause button. That's great. Now, instead of drawing Sam "Scenery Chewer" Jackson and Patrick "Better Than This" Stewart over and over again, how about drawing some comic books? Shit, Ultimates 2 is some bloated, boring junk.

Your pal,

Comics Should Be Good

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Two short bits from me before I head to bed.

1. I'm updating my own blog again, including a bunch of photos from this weekend's party attended by no fewer than six contributers and fans of this blog. Check it out.

2. Even future sisters-in-law love New Frontier. It's the best.

Captain America #345 - They Don't Make Comics Like This Nowadays...(But is that a BAD thing?)

Here comes the next installment in "You Decide - 2005."

A one "chauncey von buelow" asked for me to do an entry on Captain America #345, and, consarnit, I pledge is a pledge, so as bizarre as it is to review an issue of Captain America from 1988... I will do so.

Captain America #345, written by Mark Gruenwald (38 issues into his 136 issue run on Captain America), drawn by Kieron Dwyer, and inked by Al Milgrom.

Some background (prepare for a lot of "Ughs" to emit out of your mouth when you hear the basic plot) for the issue. Steve Rogers has been asked by the government to stand down as Captain America. He has been replaced by a man named John Walker (yes, he was seriously called John Walker) who now fights as Captain America alongside his partner, Battlestar (originally Bucky, until the writer was informed that Buck was a ethnic slur, and since Bucky was a black man, he got a new codename).

In any event, the new Captain America was going on missions, etc. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers took on a new name and costume, and began to fight crime as The Captain (with his costume remarkably similar to the Captain America outfit). Cap travelled around the country fighting crime alongside his partners Nomad, D-Man (a former wrestler), Nomad's girlfriend, Vagabond and the Falcon.

Steve just recently fought the Serpent Society (including a member named Diamondback who has a crush on Steve) and their new leader, The Viper, who had just had a plot foiled which involved turning the denizens of Washington DC into snakes, including Ronald Reagan!

Meanwhile, a former friend of John Walker announced on TV that the current Captain America was none other than John Walker.

So that gets you caught up to this issue, set right after Cap foiled Viper's plot.

Okay....damn, does this book have a lot of characters in it! The book was being split between the adventures of the new Cap and the adventures of the old Cap, but even then, look at how many characters were featured in this issue (and not little cameos, but serious scenes) on both sides of the action.

Steve Rogers
Falcon
D-Man
Nomad
Vagabond
Diamondback
Sidewinder

on the other side....

John Walker
Battlestar
John Walker's parents
Walker's boss

Cuh-ray-zee.

Anyhow, the split plot finds Steve on the one end deciding to turn himself in because he is suspected of assaulting the President (who was being turned into a snake last issue), while his partners fall apart around him (Vagabond is fancying D-Man, driving Nomad to drink).

And John, not knowing that Steve was turning himself in, was sent to capture Steve, but on the way, find out that some bad guys he fought a few issues earlier had taken his parents hostage!

Up until this point in the comic, this was one of the most convuluted comic you could imagine.

Whole pages were taken up by stuff like Falcon explaining why he had to leave and go back to Harlem....or explaining why Sidewinder was there, and hell, the first TWO pages were basically recap of the last storyline.

There basically was not a single piece of dialogue that did not serve to just give exposition.

Weak, weak stuff.

The art by Dwyer was good, but he did not really have much to draw.

Then, I will admit, the comic takes a turn towards the end.

John aborts his mission to capture Steve to instead try to save his parents. The bad guys force him to surrender, and are prepared to hang him. He breaks loose, and starts kicking bad guy behind before the bad guys, in the ensuing crossfire, riddle his parents with bullets.

At which point John just snaps.

And he start viciously slaughtering the bad guys. Even before that point, he was using a bad guy's body as a human shield to protect him from gunfire. But after that, it goes blood frenzy. I am amazed that this appeard in a 1988 issue of Captain America! It is all captured well by Dwyer, as Cap just slaughters the bad guys....but it is still so freakish.

And, as the issue ends, John has definitely went over the deep end a bit, as he holds his parents' bloody bodies and tells them how everything is going to be all right.

It is funny, because the cover of the issue shows a split...with Steve on one side of the cover and John on the other side.

This is appropriate, as this issue had a major tonal difference.

The first: Standard convuluted superhero comic book.

The second: Crazy, blood frenzy.

Certainly a...different approach.

But not one that I can say that I enjoyed. I guess I have to give Gruenwald credit for going graphic well (which he did well in the Squadron Supreme mini-series), but otherwise, this was not a particularly good comic.

Well, I guess I can toss some questions to you guys...

A. Did you read Gruenwald's Cap?

B. Did you like Gruenwald's Cap?

C. Did you like this particular storyline?

D. Can you believe they actually called a character John Walker (and then had him take an alias later on of Jack Daniels!!!)?

E. If you had to choose between the following to be the art team on Captain America, who would you choose, Kieron Dwyer and Al Milgrom or Steve Epting inking his own pencils?

F. Did you know that, for a period in time, John Byrne was Kieron Dwyer's step-father?