Street Angel - "Mrs. Potato Head Comics"

However will the title tie in?

As per a request by Adam, today's "You Decide" is Street Angel, specifically the first four issues.

Street Angel is about a young homeless girl named Jesse Sanchez who fights "for the poor, the forgotten, and whenever possible, for food."

The book is written by Brian Marcua and Jim Rugg, with art by Jim Rugg.

The first thing you really notice about Street Angel are the striking covers by Jim Rugg. The main cover for each issue has the design coolness of James Jean, which is heady praise. In addition, on the back cover, he explores various styles for different takes on Street Angel. It is fun stuff.

Street Angel is a really fun, entertaining book.

The key to the fun and entertainment of the book, however, is not totally due to Jesse Sanchez, star of the book.

She is fine, don't get me wrong.

But she is basically a potato.

Potatos are good, nourishing tubers. They give you plenty of vitamins, and they can fill you up nice.

Just like Jesse.

Drawn by Rugg (who does a very nice job with the art on the book), Jesse appear as an actual young teenaged girl. It is good to see someone draw a girl to look like, well, a girl. However, beyond the fact that she is homeless and she is a great fighter for the side of good, Jesse does not have much in the way of a personality (#4 shows that perhaps that is changing).

So she is the potato.

The rest of the book?

Now they're what makes the book Mrs. Potato Head.

Surrounding Jesse is a cast of hilarious characters. Ninjas are used heavily, and they are most amusing. They are treated in the book more as comic foils than anything else. They take over a fire house and cross out "Fire" and write "Ninja" in the name of the building.

But there are more, like the Irish astronaut who learned to speak "Australian," because it was considered to be a friendlier language for aliens.

A time travelling Cortez and the Incan god Inti.

Dr. Pangea.

The Mayor's Daughter.

Bald Eagle (especially Bald Eagle, the legless torso who never falls off his skateboard).

The inside front cover of #1 has Jesse battling a squid. In the inside front covers of every issue following that one, we see Jesse battling the squid...at chess, in a wrestling match, in a cowboy duel, etc.

All of these extra trappings are the equivalent of Mrs. Potato Head's accoutrements.

They are what transforms a good book (which would be a book just about Jesse) into a GREAT book (which is a book about Jesse and everything else).

Before I close, I have to spotlight #4. In the first three issues, we meet a variety of crazy, goofy characters, so in #4, the writers decide to suddenly show us what Jesse goes through living on the streets, and they decide, out of nowhere, to do it without humor. It is an awesome buzz kill.

A very inspired decision.

Now I just have to go get #5....hehe.

Fewer Nerds Than Before

As you may have noticed, Joe Rice is no longer a contributor to the blog.

I know, I know, it sucks.

I agree.

But you, like I, have to respect his decision.

But that is why there were no new entries the last couple of days.

So thanks for a lot of excellent pieces, Joe!

We will (I know I certainly will) miss them.

Totally Random Reviews

I haven't read this week's new releases as of yet, so I just mixed up the advance reviews from last week that I read already and picked out four books that I'll give a totally random review of.

Some spoilers!!!

Angeltown #5 - I dislike this in movies, in fiction, and in comics - when a mystery story only becomes really interesting at the end, when the secrets and killers are revealed. Especially when the story is confusing and all over the place up until the end. That is the problem I found with Angeltown. This was my favorite issue of the series, and I think that is because Gary Phillips knew he had to wrap everything up, so he actually devoted time in the comic to {gasp} advancing the plot!! This was not the case for issues #2-4, where the story basically went nowhere. Suddenly, it's the last issue, and we see lots of movement. I enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it a heck of a lot better if it had just been like this the whole series. Great art, as usual, from Shawn Martinbrough.

Spider-Man Unlimited #8 - This issue has two stories, and they work sort of like a "Goofus and Gallant" approach for writing stories in anthologies like this book. The first story, written by Joe Hill (like the labor leader! Joan Baez would be proud), with art from the awesome Seth Fisher, is the sort of wacky story that this book is designed for, the type of story that would not fit into the regular Spider-Man book, and is not really clever enough for anything more than a short story, but fits well for a short story. The story is basically "Jackass in the Marvel Universe." Three guys are doing a TV series where they recreate Spider-Man's feats, and hilarity ensues. Fun story.

The SECOND story, though, is an example of an approach I dislike in these anthologies, in that the writer has this writing device, and tries to formulate a story around said writing device. Like when the whole story exists for a "twist." This story, written by Joshua Ortega, with really nice art by Ryan Sook (drawing in a much different style than usual), is built around a narrative device that is more the star of the story than is the story itself. Then again, while I did not like the approach, it was still a decent story...I just wish Ortega would have spent less time on the "clever" writing device, and more on just writing a good short story.

Marvel Knights 4 #16 - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has really developed into one of the best superhero writers Marvel has working for them. In this storyline, Aguirre-Sacasa spins a tale that appeals to both new fans, but also older fans. It appeals to people who hate continuity and it appeals to people who like continuity. The story is a take off on the classic "Fantastic Four travels through time." He admits that this story is not super original, but partially, by admitting this, he avoids the pratfall of "this is just ripping off ____." However, Aguirre-Sacasa manages to still do new stuff with the time travelling, which is impressive.

However, Jim Muniz hurts the book. To go from Steve McNiven to Jim Muniz?

Yikes.

Wolverine #26 - First off, I am irked by the whole "we're no longer going to have John Romita Jr. draw the covers" thing. As to the story...there is not much there, really. Eight pages for the freakin' Gorgon's origin - who I think is a silly villain. However, the whole stabbing himself bit WAS cool. The next bit, with the villains was cool, but the whole "X-Men are too incompetent to keep Northstar from being kidnapped" thing was just way too stupid. And I love how Millar had to toss some cynicial stuff in there, too - "The X-Men make you do a will at 14." Wow...why don't they all just slice their wrists? Life is so terrible.

The deprograming of Wolverine was interesting, and I will admit it...the ending WAS a cool shot.

I'll have some more thoughts later after I read this week's books!

Helping You To Buy Good Things

As always, mucho credit to Erin Schadt.

First up is a Scurvy Dogs TPB, for under 10 bucks, from Amazon (how sad is it that Amazon is cheaper than Ebay for this one?). There's surprisingly very little Scurvy Dogs trades available on Ebay...a lot of OTHER Scurvy Dogs stuff, though, like T-Shirts and stickers. Weird.

Amazon comes through again, with a Street Angel TPB, for under 12 bucks.

Ebay redeems itself by having two options for you to buy the Mother Russia storyline in The Punisher Max. This one is expiring in five days, and begins at 10 bucks. This one is expiring in five days, and begins at 4 bucks. In addition, you can always pre-order the TPB from Amazon for about 10 bucks.

Going towards Mark Waid's first run on Flash, this guy has a lot of small lots of Flash books from Waid's run. In addition, there are five trade collections of parts of Waid's run on Flash.

Born To Run (his first story arc) - available for $6.50 here, $8.49 here and $9.07 here.

Return of Barry Allen - available for $4.50 here and $8.49 here.

Terminal Velocity - The complete set of comics is available at a $5.00 starting bid, ending in a day here, the trade is available for a starting bid of $7.50, ending in a day here, and the trade is available for $8.82 here and $9.99 here.

Dead Heat (crossover with Impules) - available for $5.99 starting bid, ending in 4 days here and for a flat $9.99 here.

Race Against Time - available for $7.50 here and $9.99 here.

If you hurry, Alan Davis' entire run on Excalibur as writer/artist is only going for a buck, with an hour to go here!

Finally, here's a copy of The Punisher - Welcome Back Frank, going for under 18 bucks.

More Ralk: Better Comics

So most comics are real turds and I hate them. That much you know already. But what about the rest? What about the real brilliant things that just explode into your mind and your heart? Now, obviously there's no set formula to making better comics, but if Comics indeed Should Be Better, what are some ways that comics TEND, at least, to be better.

To help me out, I'm going to look at three Great Comics of yesterday and three from today. From the archives, representing Great Comics gone by, we've got Preacher, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Eightball #23. From ongoing stuff that is very Heart-able, let's look at Street Angel, the Goon, and Amazing Joy Buzzards.

Now, why did I pick these comics, Brad Curran might ask (Lex is too busy coddling his Teen Titans comics to care). Well, they are all GREAT comics. They also have completely different creative teams, no repeats there. You'd be hard-pressed, though, to find a more varied selection of six books. Sure, they're all great, but that's pretty much the only thing they have in common. Emphasis on "pretty much."

If they DO have something else in common, is it not fairly safe to assume that said commonality may have SOME sort of tie into what, exactly, makes these books great? That is to say, if all these otherwise-completely-different Great Books share some qualities, perhaps those qualities are inherent in Great Books period. What qualities, then, do they share? Well, from where I sit (about an inch in front of Alex's cardboard model of a keep), they share:

1. Creator-passion content
2. Elasticity
3. Emotion

1. Creator-passion content

Some books, most books, anybody could make. Whether the book is superhero, autobio, horror, whatever, about 99% of the time it's a generic lump that, even when well-crafted, bares no authorial touch aside from the occasional tic or habit in form. But these six great comics (and, of course, I'm betting others) differ from that prototype. Could anyone other than Garth Ennis have written Preacher? I love Grant Morrison more than is healthy, but that book could never have come from him. The Goon sans Eric Powell would be like a John Lennon album without John Lennon. These are books that are FILLED with the idiosyncrasies and passions of the creators (textual and artistic). Smith and Hipp's loves, as closely as they seem to match up with my own, make Amazing Joy Buzzards the delight it is. When creators stuff their work with things they love outside of their work, it goes from job to passion. The work is elevated to higher artistic grounds. The creators love the work more, that love translates to the page, and into the reader. Street culture, blaxploitation, ninjas, homelessness, and teenage strife flow together under Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca to make a comic so goddam fun you can't help yourself. When a work goes from a job to a passion, it goes from Good to Great.

2. Elasticity

But despite what your mamma may have told you, just love and passion aren't enough to destroy you. The second thing these six great comics have in common is elasticity. They're elastic in form and in content. Lone Wolf and Cub can be used to tell harrowing dramatic tales, all-out Samarai action, or even paternal love stories. It can be fast-paced, or slow, or switch at will between the two. The Goon can crack tard jokes on one page, thrill you with a punch-'em-up on the next, and then dedicate an issue to actual sentiment. Eightball #23 is elasticity of form personified (er, comic-ified?) with its multiple genres and styles contained within a single binding. All these comics are stretchable to different moods, different styles, different stories, and different interpretations. Look at most of the comics out there. They sustain a single mood or style [be it "excitement," sarcasm, bittersweetness (hello, Astro City)] and a single type of story. Good as they may be, they are Not Great.

3. Emotion

The last one's probably the most nebulous, but it is one personally important to this here critic. Let me explain via Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. The first one was a romping, quoting, "DJ directed" film taken from some of my favorite films and genres. It left me totally flat and disappointed. Quotes without content, tributes without sacrifice. The second came along, and surprised the hell out of me with actual emotional content. There were characters you could actually care about and feel for, not just cheer for. Cheering is all well and good, but if you want to be Great . . .you need emotion. Even the apparent slightest of these books, Amazing Joy Buzzards is infused with some sort of emotion (in this case, most often unbridled, well, joy). Street Angel has a loneliness and a hope rarely seen in modern works. And fuck you if you can read Lone Wolf or Preacher and not give a damn about the characters, because you're an asshole! Granted, this rule is the least "hard and fast" of three rather un-"hard and fast" rules to begin with, but I believe I've made my point.

Using these three commonalities of six Great (but wildly differing) comics, its interesting to look at other great comics and see if they fit. So far, to me, they seem to. Whether you're looking at Seven Soldiers, Invincible, Sleeper, Lee/Kirby FF, or Sin City you keep running into Creator-passion Content, Elasticity, and Emotion. If you're one of those fools out there actually trying to write these damn things, keep these three items in mind. I can't promise you a home run, but at least you'll be swinging your bat in the right direction.

* Note - I find it interesting, re-reading Cunard's Idea post, that it rather goes well with this. His Ideaspace junk has merit, as we're pulling from similar areas. Which is probably just fancy pseudo-mystical bullshit for "Great minds think alike, and fools seldom differ.

Man down! Man down!

The thing with an infection is, it doesn't seem so bad at first. Like a minor annoyance at most. An infection never seems like an infection until it's too damn late and you're coughing up grape-sized mucous wads. Last week I caught a little cold. Sniffles, stopped-up nose, nothing big. Annoyances. Well, it got a little worse and I had to take Friday off. Saturday, my fiancee was going to the doctor's for a check-up, so I tagged along. I was getting worse and worse. By this point I was feverish and rather delusional. I couldn't make sense of things easily. Sitting on a train I heard a grown man moan and scream and I thought to myself, "I hope that isn't me." (It wasn't.)

Well, the nice Russkie doctor, she set me straight. Infection. Not too bad as far as they go, but really knocking me for a loop. Got me meds, got me on my way to recovery. I was amazed at how it had snuck in through what seemed like an everyday cold or allergy attack. But that's how it always happens. Infections are smart. They don't want to be caught.

That's how we got infected. That's how comics got infected. Little annoyances that didn't seem to be that big a deal. Mediocrities that were better than crap. This blog was started in order to point out that mediocrity wasn't going to cut it anymore. It was a few guys talking about what they liked, and throwing the rest in a pile of shit. But look at us. Reviewing anything and everything as if they all had equal credence. Writing for an audience. When I started, the audience for this blog WAS this blog. Other people started reading it and I think it affected all of us. We edited ourselves or added in some stuff that didn't need to be there. Worried about which pro's google search their names every day. We've gone from writing articles that entertain each other to writing message-board-style "question" posts.

Because there's so much crap out there. Four color malaise just washes over you and it's hard to give a shit when a stack of 20 comics has 3 books worth the word "Great." FUCK good. Good is easy, good is boring. I'm dropping comics left and right, comics that I might even enjoy a bit. But they are NOT ENOUGH. There ARE comics that are enough. There ARE great comics. But Brian's busy taking requests from whatever pathetic audience members we have; disgusted with the site, Alex quit; P-dot, Paul, Tadghgh, Tom and I rarely post (if at all).

So now I'm finally posting. Mind addled by medication and fever, but fueled with anger. Anger at ungreat comics. Anger at fans. Anger at my principal who apparently took my absence as a chance to sneak into my classroom and "clean things up." This is going to be a messy post and I apologize. But fuck that. Comics should be better. If they don't grab your heart, head, crotch, or some combination of the three then throw them away or give them to a kid. If they can't measure up to Amazing Joy Buzzards, the Goon, or Street Angel then screw 'em. If DC's making it and neither Morrison nor Diggle are involved, flush it. Demand more than the latest offering of titties and giggles. Demand Runaways and JLU for the kids AND for yourself. Goddammit!

The point of this is that I'm pissed off and this blog is as sick as I am. We need to remember why we're writing (to talk about comics we think are worth it and to entertain each other) and this newfound readership can either enjoy it or fuck off. Side effects of this antibiotic might include constipation or queasiness.

Judging Books By Their Covers

One of the differences between Marvel and DC that cuts in DC's favor, I believe, is the way that DC's covers are not strictly pin-ups. And they have not gone with Marvel's out decision to just let Greg Land draw everything (which is ESPECIALLY grating on Wolverine, where they let regular artist John Romita Jr. draw the first six issues, but NOW go to Land for the covers...weak).

Even when DC has guys like Brian Bolland and JG Jones do covers, their covers generally are connected to the contents of the books.

What this also allows us to do is to fairly accurately prejudge books at least partially based on their covers.

And prejudice is always fun, so let's take a look at the June DC Covers (courtesy of Hero Realm).

Not a great month for Superman covers, as seen first by this really odd Ed Benes cover for Superman.



John Byrne follows that up by showing that he is now 0-2 in his second stint with Action Comics when it comes to making a strong cover. Which is really odd.



This is particularly disappointing, as the very same month Byrne gives us this eye-catching cover for Blood of the Demon!



Why does the Demon cover have so much style and flair to it, and the Action has almost none? What's up with that?

The following Tony Harris cover for Ex Machina sums up my feelings on Ex Machina right now.



It is a well-made cover, but it looks a lot like previous covers of Ex Machina. There does not seem to be a whole lot of differentiation going on from issue to issue with this book. But there is still a lot of quality work put into the book, like with this Harris piece.

So yeah...was not one of the points of War Games to isolate Batman and make him a loner again? So a couple of months later, we get "Batman's Allies Secret Files." Doesn't make a lot of sense.



And the cover is done by DC exclusive (so back off, Marvel!!!) Al Barrionuevo, who luckily is not the cover artist for the book he draws on a monthly basis. There we get Cliff Chiang, who gives us this attractive cover...



If only Chiang could draw the inside of the book as well.

What is this? What is this? Could it be? Have my prayers been answered?



It IS!

THANK THE LORD, AN IDENTITY CRISIS TIE-IN!

I was so worried we were not going to have any more of these.

Jeph Loeb is sure on a "really cool idea" kick recently, isn't he? He looks to keep it up with Bizarro World's Finest!



Isn't that a neat cover?

Speaking of a neat cover, check out this piece by Carlos Pachecho.



This cover is the kind of piece that gives me hope that this series will not be like Rebirth at all, and instead will be a fun, cool comic book.

Now, on to the really good stuff...the Morrison books (at least I am up front about it...hehe)!

First off, we have this striking Klarion cover.



Next we have this even MORE striking Zatanna cover.



Sook is amazing, isn't he?

And finally, the cover of the month, so far, in my estimation - the cover of the We3 trade...



WOW.

Feel free to share your June DC cover prejudices!