Lurkers - How Often Are You Surprised By the Quality of a Writer's Work?

I remember Steve Niles from awhile back, when he was writing Hellspawn and Spawn: The Dark Ages.

I did not like those books very much.

Like, not at all.

So when I heard of "30 Days of Night," one of the ultimate "high concept" comic ideas of all time (probably THE ultimate high concept idea was League of Extraordinary Gentleman), about vampires attacking an Alaskan town during the month of perpetual darkness, I was impressed, but I will be honest. I chalked it up to the old "even a blind squirrel will find an acorn from time to time."

However, I am now willing to admit that I was wrong in my estimation of Niles' writing ability, as his later projects have all been pretty good (although, off the top of my head, I cannot recall an example of someone trying to live off one project as much as this. I mean, TWO sequels and an anthology?!? Yikes). The books that I have liked the best from Niles since then have been the ones that have nothing to do with 30 Days of Night, specifically the Cal McDonald series of books.

In addition, another book I enjoyed is the "You Decide - 2005" book for this entry, which is Lurkers, a mini-series written by Niles and drawn by Hector Casanova.

The series opens up very interestingly, with a murder victim having been thrown from a building. The cops show up, and there is a lineup scene that is just hilarious, when they lineup all the employees from the building. And one of them...well, let's just say that he stands out. It is an amusing opening to the series (and Casanova shows he can do a nice job drawing distinct looking people, even in a lineup scene where the characters will not appear again), and it distracts you from the real intention of the series - which is Zombies.

The lead character, LAPD detective Jack Dietz, is a pretty hard-boiled guy, a stark contrast from the much easier going Cal McDonald. Niles does a good job of showing how a normal cop would handle knowing that there's a flesh-eating zombie on the loose. Basically, imagine an episode of NYPD Blue, where Sipowitz has to deal with a flesh-eating zombie. That's the basic tone of this series, and it is handled well.

I have read the first three issues, and I suppose the only real concern I have is that, for $3.99 an issue, I suppose I would have expected a little more story in each book. Each issue does come with a fairly substantial prose horror story, but A. It has nothing to do with the story in the book and B. It is not written by Niles, so I did not even really bother reading them. Does anyone?

In addition, there is this one scene in the book, a two-page spread, where there is a significant detail that is obscured by the fold in the middle of the page. I thought that was pretty weak, to be honest. I mean, you would think someone would notice that, right?

In any event, I was pretty impressed by Casanova's art, and the character of Dietz was strong enough to carry the book (there's an allusion to a painkiller addiction that is just peripheral to the story that I liked...depth without going overboard with it), so I would recommend this series to others.

So...does anyone here read the prose stories in the IDW books?

The Comics Should Be Good Interview Challenge

As you all may know, it is really hard for there to be such a thing as a "hard-hitting" comic interview.

This is because comic journalism is so marginalized that the badass comic journalists out there really cannot risk pissing off a popular comic creator or comic company, as they risk totally alienating their sources....which is not good.

In addition, let's be honest...the only thing that is gained out of a "hard-hitting" interview is the furtherance of the comic book culture itself. And I can totally see how that is not enough of a benefit for most writers. I mean, it really is a pain in the ass to actually have to put effort into defending your craft from some dude (and no, that is not sarcasm!).

So I just mentioned in response to the earlier thread that maybe more interviews should be done by dudes like us, people who have nothing to lose. If we piss off someone and they storm off, it really is not going to affect us.

With that being said, it's not like we would just act like jerks. We would just ask questions that other people wouldn't...like ask Meltzer about the consequences of Sue Dibney's rape that he promised. Stuff like that. Honest, this is not just an attempt to berate a creator.

So all you creators out there, here is our challenge....let us do a hard-hitting interview where we ask stuff that you wouldn't normally like to talk about. Like I mentioned before, I admit that there really is no benefit for you out of this challenge, so I do not really expect anyone to agree...but hell, it's worth a shot, right? I mean, it honestly is meant to be for the benefit of comic book culture overall...and that is a pretty worthy goal, no?

Matt Brady Asks the Hard Questions

From the new interview with Dan Didio:

NRAMA: Well said, but still…isn’t there a fine line between being loved for providing people with great entertainment every month, and being hated for making too much good product that people therefore, can’t afford?

In other words, "Is it hard being so good? Is it hard having AMAZING BOOKS THAT EVERYONE LOVES AND WANTS?"

Wow. That's some hard-hitting journalism there, Brady.

But let's look at the rest of this interview.

Absolutely. Honestly, when I looked at that, I felt that was an attitude that we had to bring to our heroes. There should be two reactions when a superhero walks into a room. The first reaction is, “Oh shit, they’re here for something,” and the second reaction is, “Oh shit, I hope they’re not here for me.” No one should be taking a step forward to pat them on the back – they should be taking a step backward, thinking, “Something bad is about to happen here.”

Yes, that's what I want people to think when they see Superman. "Oh, shit!" And not in the "Oh, shit, that is AWESOME!" way. People should be really worried when Green frickin' Arrow walks into the room. That's the DC I love. I'm glad someone is finally tackling this difficult "superhero as fascist" angle. I'm surprised no one ever has before. This is genius. SO ORIGINAL AND TOPICAL.

And the all-star line-up of Johns, Winnick, Rucka, and, in the background, Loeb . . .wow. It's like someone made a smoothie out of everything I don't like about DC. If I went to Jamba Juice and ordered the "Crappy Comic" I'd be getting this. Go ahead, order an extra vita-boost. You'll need it.

The spin-off mini-series sound pretty lame with the Rann/Thanagar exception. Why is it being lumped in here? I'd love for Diggle to write it, too, but Gibbons does good work. I guess it's eventually going to tie into some terrible Crisis comic.

I read this interview and I just feel virulently disinterested. Give me Seven Soldiers, give me some Vertigo books, give me Plastic Man and shut the hell up. This crew of Didiots (did anyone think of that clever bon mot yet?) can keep their look at why superheroes put on costumes. I know they put them on because they are superheroes and it looks neat.

Oh, and this is classic:

Not so fast – there’s been a story that’s been unfolding in the DC Universe since the death of Donna Troy. We’ve been dropping secrets and hints and bits and pieces across the DCU since she died. Everything is starting to come together and make sense. Everything is starting to have a cohesive feel and starting to appear like it’s happening in the same place art the same time, and this is something that I think people can invest in and enjoy reading, and enjoy experiencing part of our world.

Believe it or not, things that started in that story – back with Donna Troy’s death will finally bear fruit down the line.

So it's official: the theme of the DCU is crapping on female characters. Good to see it in writing.

Which Was the Best Morrison Comic Released This Week?

Yes...yes...we know, the Morrison love that emanates from this blog is thick, like a fog.

This week gave us a DOUBLE dose of Morrison books, and also, with JLA Classified #3 and We3 #3 (both the conclusions of their respective stories), a fun chance to ask ourselves the question...which Morrison issue did you like the best?

Well, what do you all think?

I don't want to muddy the discussion with my pick at this point, so I'll leave it you folks.

And no answers of "I'll just cut them both in half!"

The Joe Rice Media Review 1/26/05

Holy good gravy. Great day in the morning.

What a week of comics. This is the kind of week that makes me forget all the CRAP that is out there.

This is the kind of week where brilliance shines. Wow. Let's go for reverse order of how I read them, eh? Luba was, of course, great. I know less about the Palomar stories, but this was clearly a moving piece. Anyone wants to spend the money, give me that hardcover. I will make fun of you less. Great.

Recent talk about how boring origin stories are . . .you can read Arana: Heart of the Spider without the "Amazing Fantasy" origin. But I'm pretty much done giving this a chance because I WANT a good comic about a young Latina. This isn't really it, not for me, at least. Not good.

The real hero of the Spider-man mythos is Uncle Ben. Rarely is that more apparent than in this month's Amazing Spider-man. Straczynski writes likable characters. That's tough to do . . .I usually hate neurotic Parker. But under his pen, he's charming and funny. The story is straight-up superheroics mixed with great Uncle Ben flashbacks. I don't like the art in either segment. The flashbacks are not quite ready for prime time and the "current day" stuff is just way too photorealistic to be interesting to me. Still, good.

Nice Miss Misery focus inSleeper. It's hard to make this character, so awful, at ALL someone who you care about. But there's that crack in the veneer . . .as terrible as she is to the world around her, you see the vulnerbility underneath. She's the ultimate girl in a castle, really. Those walls built up around her . . .it's daunting, but you WANT her redeemed. She won't be, of course, but it'll be a hell of a ride. Great.

WHAT?!? I actually like an "Ultimate" book? I guess it's Vaughn. And, hell, I've got a nerd weakness for Longshot. The Bobby/Kitty stuff is strong and I even hate Jean less than usual. The Alison/Kurt/Peter team is an interesting one and I'm definitely looking forward to more of this. Heh, and Arcade was fun, too. Good.

I gave Legion of Super-Heroes two issues. That's enough. As I said before, this is Waid closer to his good work, but it's still not really good. And the art is almost as fun as playing solitaire with 33 cards. Not good.

Love scenes in comics usually are terrible. Count on Andy Diggle to actually make one interesting and, honestly, hot. Losers is back on track, still. Yeah, I miss Jock, and I'm having trouble figuring out who each person is sometimes, but this book is clever, exciting, and full of good plotting. Great.

ALEX STOP GIVING ME PLANETARY! Christ, enough with the pastiches. "Let's take every character in fiction . . .and make them A LOT LESS LIKABLE!" Great cover, though. This is a book that's got neat ideas and about as much story as a panel of a normal comic. I'm sorry, I know it's an internet darling and there's some fun stuff in there somewhere but I don't give a shit. Not good.

It's no secret that I tend to like Robert Kirkman's superhero comics. Superpatriot: War on Terror is good . . .but the tone is a bit all over the place. There's straight up humor. There's action. And then there's some REALLY dark humor (super Nazi's kicking children into the air). A lot of sex stuff. I dunno. This was more muddled than I'd like. It's not bad, though. I'll stop with good.

TWO MORRISON COMICS IN ONE WEEK! TWO MORRISON COMICS IN ONE WEEK! And they're both frickin' GREAT. JLA: Classified was great, fast superhero inSANity. Every page had at least one or two things that made you say "HOLY CRAP!" Arthur, Diana, and Bruce get particularly good showings. And the ending is generous of Morrison. He gives DC a great little concept wrapped in a neat package. Unfortunately, I'd trust few of their writers with it. And did Bruce WINK? GREAT.

We3 was moving, but honestly, less sad than I feared. It was really kind of beautiful and personal. I didn't expect the ending at all, really. Of course, it's also the best artist in genre comics expanding his game even further, too. Every panel is a goddam work of beauty. 2 comes through! 1 is the best dog ever. Just great, great, great. Amazing.

"So, Joe, name three concepts you find awesome." Sure, Me-typing-to-myself. Comics, rock and roll, and Mexican wrestling. "OK, then, how about I make your brain explode and your heart become a higher being with The Amazing Joy Buzzards?" Sounds great! And it is. Nobody ever needs to write a fun comic again. You'll never outfun this comic. Just give up you pathetic pieces of booger. This comic is joy in my soul. I love it. I wish I could roll it tightly enough that I could fit an engagement ring around it. I'd steal it from Lisa while she slept. I would rescind my proposal and give it, instead, to this comic book. Read it, love it, live it. Have I ever been happier? I cannot recall. AMAZING.

Wow, what a week. Hernandez, Morrison, Quitely, Brubaker, and AJB! Maybe I'll spread my comics out on my bed tonight and roll around on them. I will absorb their awesomeness and become like me except even more awesome, if you can imagine it.

What did you think? Did you agree, or are you wrong?

Edit: Thanks to Chris Hunter of The Great Curve for formatting assistance tonight. You get to kiss one member of the blog at your discretion.

Legion of Super Heroes #2 - Breath of Fresh Air

I saw a little sign of it in #1, but it really came out in this issue....it appears that Mark Waid may be on his way to finding his old supehero writer self on this title, or so it seems with the release of the second issue of Legion of Super Heroes.

Remember when Mark Waid used to be FUNNY?

Remember when that was, like, his THING?

That he could write funny stuff? That his books generally had some jokes/humor in them?

I missed that aspect of his work (and I don't mean the unintentional humor of the FF rap song)...and it was in full display in Legion of Super Heroes #2.

Barry Kitson, meanwhile, obviously has a deep connection to these characters...you can tell by all the detail he pores into them (hell, look at the work he did for the cover of #5, where he drew faces into the background when he KNEW that he was going to later obscure them!).

However, in this issue, we also get a sense of warmth that I think was MISSING from his pencils in the first issue. The sharpness of his pencils is Barry Kitson's distinct style. Heck, I remember a story arc on Shadow of the Bat where they literally just colored his pencils (and not that computer graphic replacing the inker stuff, literally just colored his pencils), and they were still such distinct figures.

So that's his style...but said style can also lend a bit too much distance to the characters. When everything is drawn so sharp, then the characters do not feel as true to life.

Kitson improves this a great deal in #2, as the characters appear quite vibrant.

Of course, it certainly helps that Mark Waid's script allows for them to be vibrant.

Like the classic Legion stories of old, Waid picks a small team, and devotes a lot of time to their characterizations (a nice nod putting their faces on the cover next to the name of the book, but it is still silly to have people on the cover featured prominently who have nothing to do with the interiors).

Cosmic Boy is back in charge (I thought he stepped down in #1 for a bit?), and his conversations with Brainiac were funny. In addition, I think Waid came up with an interesting dichotomy between Brainy, who comes up with stuff by testing arduously, and Nura, who just takes a nap and comes up with the same stuff.

Meanwhile, he weaves in the personalities of the other Legionnaires (Karate Kid, Chameleon, Element Lad and Shadow Lass) well, without going overboard with it.

More than a few people had a problem with how over the top evil the adults seemed in the first issue. Well, Waid addresses this by playing with that idea (that adults are evil and cannot be trusted) with the adults of Nura's homeworld, and their attitude to the youth of Naltor.

And the ending was funny.

Meanwhile, all while sticking with the whole "a lot of story in each issue" and "done in one" themes...which is still, sad to say, a bit of an experimental format nowadays.

In any event, I thought this was a very good step up from last issue, and it is good to see different dimensions (some new and some that are returns of old favorites) in Waid and Kitson's work.

Agree? Disagree?

Simpsons Comics #102 Was a Fun Comic Book

Now this was a comic you really should just head out and buy right now.

It's only three bucks, so I really doubt that you'll regret it.

This was a really fun comic book.

The concept alone (The Simpsons characters become analogues for the Uncle Scrooge characters and go off on a classic Carl Barks-esque Uncle Scrooge adventure) is enough to pick the book up.

Just as a novelty.

Just to see Burns as Scrooge, Homer as Donald (with no pants, natch), and Bart, Lisa and Maggie as Huey, Duey and Looey.

So just on the novelty of it all, I would recommend it, but luckily, there's more.

Ian Boothby PACKED the issue full of action and of jokes. I mean, this book was filled to the brim with content. There were points in the book where I was saying to myself, "A normal comic would have stopped here" and I said that about 3 times!!

And the art!

John Delaney and Andrew Pepoy did a really good job on the art!

Generally, the Simpsons comics tend to employ a sort of "house style" where it is difficult to see a particular artist's style. Well, Delaney broke through in this issue. Good, good stuff. I am not sure if he is always inked by Pepoy...if he isn't, he should be.

In any event, I think this comic was really cool, and it would be cool if other people read it and said, "Wow...cool."

Dr. Solar: Man of the Awesome

I was perplexed. Why the hell was Dark Horse reprinting the old Dell/Gold Key stuff? The stuff that inspired those lame Valiant comics in the nineties. I saw no point, honestly. But my good buddy Alex insisted that it was, indeed, "good shit." So I got the Solar trade and sat myself back on the train to do some reading. First I noticed the art, mostly by Bob Fujitani. Really nice, sturdy work reminiscent of 60's adventure strips in the papers. Realistic figures before Neal Adams came along and people started thinking his romanticism was realistic.

The stories are . . .not groundbreaking, but, considering the times, low on the kind of stuff that really dates older comics. But each story has a good hook, a nice 3 or 5 act structure, and a satisfying conclusion that leaves further serial tales open. So, nothing to scream about, but decent stuff for which I have no complaints.

So there's not really anything on the surface that blows my mind. But it does. Maybe it's the early issues, where Solar is just a guy in a suit who happens to be fucking RADIOACTIVE! He glows green and lives in a lead-lined office. And his powers are constantly expanding, tangentially correspond to some scientific theory or fact, and look AWESOME. It's this GREEN GUY in a suit swimming around in the ocean ABSORBING RADIOACTIVITY. It's just the sort of fun, cool stuff that tedious "adult" superhero comics lack.

When he gets the costume, they make a better case of him having one than most comics. And it's a pretty cool design, honestly. The best elements of the silver age Flash and Cyclops, pretty much, before either had appeared. But even that costume can't compete with a green dude in a suit doing amazing things. That's a great image, and you can't underrate that stuff in genre comics.

Speaking of which, oh, man, those covers!

Tuesday happiness

So Tuesdays aren't exciting for much. It's not the second half of the week. It's not new comics day. You don't even get to share your weekend adventures with anyone unless you purposely held back on Monday.

Fear not. We at Comics Should Be Good feel your pain and we're here to relieve it. Our very own D. Alex Cox has been hard at work and we've got the photos to prove it. He's gathered the MOST INCREDIBLE BAND IN THE UNIVERSE and they are here for you to look at and love.



Holy crap! Is that . . .Bender on lead? Captain Marvel as a front man? Popeye on Keys?



And Sgt. F. RAWK on bass?!?



I couldn't help myself from posting these as soon as I got them emailed to me. It would be a crime to keep them from you.

Also enjoy this wonderful comic strip entitled "Nerd Adventure," featuring the real true-life exploits of two of your favorite bloggers and a pal that doesn't blog because he's busy saving the world from asteroids.

Good links: A game and a discussion

Now, in his "Josh Reads Them So You Won't Have To" blog, this guy refers to the game by way of Mary Worth. But this could easily be called the "Crap Comic Writer" game. It's fun, try it out!

And at Yet Another Comics Blog, which, by federal law, you must say "is anything but" directly after linking or mentioning it, there's a really interesting discussion about origin stories and how damn stupid it is to fill your first arc with one. Hadn't thought of it this way, but I agree.

Re-employment Program

I am so smart.

I was looking through some comics stuff on the web and a thought occurred to me, "Why the hell does anyone ever pay Tom Grummet to draw superheroes? It's like Kirby and Swan had a retarded child together!" Right then it dawned on me one way we can help this dear industry of ours.

The re-employment program! We need to find new jobs so some people never bother us with their comics again! I'm sure Tom Grummet would probably enjoy a high paying corporate position at an advertising firm! He'd be making so much more money! If not a corporate position, how about race car driver? Every boy knows that being a race car driver = sex.

But it wouldn't just stop with Mr. Grummet. We could get Joe Matt a position editing porn flicks. It's GENIUS as he already does this for free! Geoff Johns could go back to writing encyclopedias! Frank Cho, adept at drawing the same woman over and over again with different wigs and clothes, could make manniquins! Michael Turner: Sanitation Worker!

It's simple, it's brilliant, and it will HELP SAVE COMICS. Best of all, it's productive! No more hate-spewing, let's find better work for less competent creators!

I bet some of you folks can even think up your own re-employment strategems.

The Owly Referendum

Anyone who has read Owly should admit that Andy Runton, the creator of Owly and his writer/penciller, is a skilled comic storyteller. What he accomplishes without any dialogue is nothing short of amazing. The amount of detail he gets across just by the ovements and reactions of his characters is very, very impressive.

Therefore, if I ever was asked by a parent for a good comic for their kids, I would recommend Owly in an instant. Granted, the fact that it is in black and white does not exactly do wonders for its ability to be marketed to young readers. But on a strict content level, I would recommend it right away.

However, a day after discussing how I felt Electic Girl had an "all-ages" appeal to it, I really have to question whether the same is true for Owly.

I mean, look at the book. An anthropomorphic owl rescues and takes care of a worm, then travels with the worm to the worm's parents, and then feels sad that he is now going to lose his friend. The next story finds the same owl pulling the same basic thing with a pair of hummingbirds (Owly is apparantly VERY needy).

So, I ask you, is Owly all ages, or is it really designed more for children than for "all ages?"

I guess this also could be rephrased as thus....do YOU like reading Owly?