The unwashed masses have spoken!

Lo, the call went out: Which superhero trade paperback should I buy? And verily, from their parents' basements, from the back rooms of the comic book stores where they play Magic: The Gathering, and from the comic book conventions where they were bidding on a cardboard cut-out of Xena, the answers came! And I heeded you, good readers! I heeded!!!

The nominees were:

When Stars Turn Cold - Amazing Spider-Man. I bought JMS's run until issue #500, but I grew bored with it. This is early in the run, I think, and if so, I've read it. His stories started out really strong, but I hear that recently he's gone off the rails.

Legion of Super-Heroes by Waid and Kitson. I have heard this is good, and I might get it, but I'm always wary about the Legion. It's a mess, isn't it?

Fantastic Four by Waid. Hmmm ... Another one I've heard good things about. I don't really like Wieringo's art all that much. And two votes against it. Oh, the discord!

Superman/Batman by Loeb and others. I actually think Loeb can be a decent writer, so this is a possibility. Not Turner's issues, though - blech. Does anyone think he's a good artist? Really?

Runaways by Vaughan and Alphona. This is one I missed from the beginning, so it might be time to pick up the trade.

New Frontier. Already have it. Good stuff.

X-Force by Milligan and Allred. Already have it. Excellent early stuff, and I dropped it just before they fought the Avengers. I may have to get those issues just to be a completist.

Top 10 and Tom Strong. Already have them, but they don't count. Not DC or Marvel (yes, I know they're technically DC, but they don't count).

Black Widow. Got them (all of the mini-series since Grayson/Jones). Like them a lot.

Deadpool and Agent X by Gail Simone. Very interesting. I have heard almost nothing about these issues. Surprising.

Young Avengers. The first six issues are out in trade, and it's another one that piques my interest. I know the art is gorgeous, but I'm still not sure about the whole Kang thing.

She-Hulk. I own both trades. Yes, I'm one of the ones Slott hates. Oh well. Screw him.

Formerly Known As The Justice League and I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League. Excellent stuff. Already have them.

Dark Detective. Already have it. Not that great. Not bad, but not that great. Don't think it's out in trade yet.

Invincible. Doesn't count! I bought the first trade and liked it but was not blown away. I'm still trying to decide if I want to buy the next one. My Image superhero title of choice is Noble Causes.

Brubaker's first Captain America trade. As long as he's not whiny like he was in the Nieber/Cassaday run. I wasn't as angry about it as T. was, but he was kind of a whiner.

Teen Titans by Johns and McKone. Interesting. I have read barely anything by Johns, so I should probably read stuff by him before I rip him, like I tend to do. And I like McKone's art.

Adam Strange: Planet Heist. Waiting on this until Infinite Crisis is over. The guy at my comic book store is letting me borrow all the related issues and read them. That way I can bash them without spending good money on them!

Human Torch/Spider-Man by Slott and Templeton. I've been looking for this, and haven't found it yet.

New Thunderbolts by Nicieza. I do not like Nicieza. Isn't he just a hack? But if my good readers recommend it, I may have to at least take a look at it, just to see.

Mr. Majestic by Casey and McGuinness. It doesn't count, but I may check it out anyway. I like Casey and McGuinness, so it's a possibility.

Kinetic. But why? Why????

The Red Hood Saga. I have only read Pedro and Me, so I should read more Winnick, for the same reason I should read more Johns. I like Mahnke's art. And it's only ten dollars! Hmmm ...

Wolverine by Millar. I refuse to break my Millar boycott. I have principles!

The Golden Age. I assume that Jon is talking about the Robinson/Smith series. First, I have it. Second, it's from 11 years ago. Third, it's excellent.

Livewires by Warren and Mays. I own it. It's very good.

So I went to the comics shoppe and picked up ...

Batman: The Red Hood Saga, issues #635-641. Mahnke's art, "controversial" story, $9.99 for seven issues. I don't want to care about the cost, but that's good value. And I'm intrigued.

Fantastic Four HC, Vol. 1. Issues #60-502. Wow, that's a lot of issues. Stupid renumbering. 30 dollars for 14 issues, which is pretty good. And when Waid is on, he's good.

Runaways HC Vol. 1. Issues #1-18. I was going to get the digests, but this is just a beautiful volume. And I figured I got lots of people saying it was good, so I'd trust them and get the whole thing.

Thanks for all your suggestions, people - I got some good ideas for the future. Of course, now I have to read the damned things!

Read More

This Comic Is Good - Polly and the Pirates #1

Often, when I show fellow comic enthusiasists places in New York, I make a point to take them to a Midtwon Comics. Thing is, I never buy anything, as I am generally caught up on everything that I need to be caught up on. I always feel a bit guilty about that, so the last time I did the "show folks Midtwon Comics," I made a point to pick out a book that I have not read, and I saw Polly and the Pirates #1, and I figured it would be nice of me to pick up the book Marionette is always raving about, so I bought it.

It is a good comic.

I am already a Ted Naifeh fan, as his art has always appealed to me, and Polly is no exception.

In fact, almost ALL of the coolness of Polly and the Pirates #1 is encapsulated in the book's art.

The book is about a young girl at an orphanage named Polly, who is a perfect little angel, as she is striving to live up to the idolized vision of her late mother that her father has instilled in her (her mother was a delicate flower, who would not even dare to break wind). Polly's best friend, fellow orphan Anastasia is anything BUT an angel. Anastasia wants to be like Meg Molloy, the famous woman pirate.

Most of the issue details the relationship between the girls, and Naifeh's art tells much of the story. The way he depicts the expressions on each girls' face is truly amazing. In particular, there is a scene where Anastasia relates what would happen if she were able to sneak off into town at night, and the movements of the girl as she tells the story - Naifeh should really win some sort of Nobel Prize for his depiction of this little girl's movements. He not only manages to pull of mobility well, he manages to make it look like it is the movement of not only a little girl, but a little girl trying to show off. Soooo impressive.

Finally, Polly (a girl so innocent that when she sneaks downstairs "to get a glass of warm milk" as part of a plot to sneak out, she actually GETS the milk and falls asleep drinking it) is shanghied by a pirate crew, who informs her that her "innocent" mother was really the dread pirate Meg Molloy, and that the crew wants Polly to be her mother's replacement.

If there IS a drawback to the comic, it is that it waits until the very end of the first issue to get past "setup," but like Ultimate Spider-Man #1 before it, setup can be good if it is, well, GOOD.

Polly and the Pirates #1 IS good, and the premise seems like it will be a lot of fun.

With the fun premise and Ted Naifeh's great art, I am sure this will be a series worth watching.

Read More

CSBG Roundtable: All-Star Superman #1

CSBG Roundtable: All-Star Superman #1

All-Star Superman #1
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Frank Quitely

One of the biggest comics in years, Morrison and Quitely’s All-Star Superman hit the comic shops this week, and in recognition of it, we at Comics Should Be Good (specifically, Marionette, Greg, Pol, Harvey, Bill, Brian and Brad) thought we’d do a second roundtable. Why not discuss the six hundred pound gorilla of comics? It's a big deal, and we can't ignore it.



Our first roundtable, reviewing Oni’s Local #1, can be found here.

So…the hyped new Superman book...is it any good?
-----------------------------
Marionette

All Star Superman #1

The cover: nice Superman moment, horrible logo.

I am sadly unimpressed.

As the first issue of a new Superman title there's some reason for reminding us of his origin, and encapsulating it in one page of 4 panels and eight words is elegant. Unfortunately this is the high spot of the comic as things begin to go downhill from here and we find Superman flying across the face of the Sun to rescue a kind of bathyscape which seems to be suffering from engine failure even before one of the occupants starts mutating into a human bomb.

We are told that the temperature is 6000 degrees fahrenheit, and yet nobody on board the bathyscape appears to suffer any ill effect from Superman opening the door to haul out bomb boy. Perhaps I am judging too harshly. Maybe they had an airlock built that could handle the incredible change in heat and pressure, in case someone felt the need to take a spacewalk on the surface of the Sun, which could also cool Superman down from that 6000 degrees he's been flying through so he doesn't fry everyone in the spaceship just by being in the same room.

Cut to Lois Lane doing very Lois Laney type things and I assume, Cat Grant, who is never named but is introduced contemplating the hunk who is washing the windows, and that's typical of the level of characterization you get for everyone. Perry White gives some pep talk about breaking a big story to bring down Lex Luthor, although by his own admission such exposes seem to reflect worse on The Planet than they do on Luthor. I have to say at this point I was confused as to which version of Luthor we were getting here. The information we are given is that he is believed reformed, which implies that he was thought bad at one point, but is this silver age Luthor? Ex-president mad as a fish Luthor? Creepy schoolgirl-stalker battlesuit Luthor? It's never clear, although the absurd plot Perry talks about sounds more like the work of Luthor from the Christopher Reeve movies.

Cut to Luthor who appears to be working for the government now. Or at least that's what they think, the fools.

Back to Supes, who now pulls bomb boy out of the unfried bathyscape and drops him into the Sun. See it doesn't actually count as killing the guy as he was planning to explode anyway. Or something.

We then get a very confusing scene break where we go from not yet introduced chum Doc Quintum speaking in the Bathyscape near the Sun, to Doc Quintum speaking in an entirely different spherically shaped object on a barren landscape that might be the Moon but isn't.

It transpires that Luthor is so, so clever that not only has he got a global real estate scam running under the eyes of the military, which was sadly dependent on the slight of hand of subverting a member of the Sun-going space probe team and turning them into a human bomb, that nobody noticed until the last second either, but luckily this was only a side-plot in case Superman didn't catch on and go save the space probe and thereby fly far too close to the Sun and doom him to death by psuedoscientific gobbledygook.

Having forecast Superman's death, Renaissance geneticist and space pilot Quintum shows him around the facility and Superman is enthusiastic about his building a race of genetically engineered superbeings. "Smart thinking," says Supes, having forgotten that one of these superbeings had just been turned into a weapon by Luthor, and having no qualms about any ethical problems the project raises. Quintum then goes on to explain how even though the physics of this universe allows ordinary people to go sun surfing, it doesn't allow giants to exist under Earth gravity. No Giant apes in this world, oh no. But I couldn't find the point where he explained why he felt the need to fly to the Sun in the middle of all this enterprise.

Back at the Daily Planet Perry is grouchy and Clark is clumsy. It's all so formulaic that by the time Clark rips his shirt open you are wondering if you are getting "Lois & Clark" flashbacks.

Artist Frank Quitely too, has something odd going on. Superman is drawn grotesquely blocky while Luthor is so thin and delicate that he appears to have some wasting disease. The backgrounds are often quite sparse, but now and then he throws in a bit of visual business that just confuses the action rather than underlining it.

All in all, it's one of those comics that makes less sense the more times you read it.
-----------------------------
Greg Burgas

Well, someone didn't like it ...

Paul might disagree with you.

I liked it more than Marionette did, but definitely not as much as Paul did. How's that for wishy-washy? The problems with it are the same ones Marionette brought up - I love her last line - "one of those comics that makes less sense the more times you read it." Too true, too true. I don't think that's really the point, however - if we accept that the sun can
give a man superpowers, we're ready to accept a whole lot about the universe that we know is crap. So that doesn't bother me all that much.

I'm a little confused about what this issue is supposed to be doing. If it's an "Ultimate" Superman, it does a lousy job introducing the character. Yes, we all know who Superman is, but a little backstory wouldn't hurt. If it's "regular" Superman, it makes no sense. Yes, I'm being all fanboy and nerdish, worrying about where this Superman fits into continuity, but the companies have created this culture, so if they're going away from it now, a press release would be nice.

My biggest concern with Morrison is which Morrison are we going to get. If we get the Morrison who wrote Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, X-Men, Seaguy, and We3, then I'll be happy. If we get the Morrison who wrote Invisibles and The Filth, we might be in trouble. The difference between the two is that the first Morrison always makes sure the mad ideas are in service to the human relationships, while the second Morrison simply throws stuff on the the wall and doesn't care what sticks, and screw the characters! That Morrison annoys me. I have a feeling that we will get the first Morrison with this, but you never know. If this becomes a "look how cool my 2000s take on 1950s Superman can be because I can use words like 'yoctosphere' and 'nanonauts' " then I think it will grow stale quickly. The most interesting thing in the book is that Luthor is getting older and Superman isn't. That's what will push the book forward, at least for a while.

Quitely's art? You either love it or hate it. I like it, so it's no big thing that it's weird-looking.

Onward! Who's next?
---------------------------------
Marionette

Greg wrote: I love [Marionette’s] last line - "one of those comics that makes less sense the more times you read it." Too true, too true. I don't think that's really the point, however - if we accept that the sun can givea man superpowers, we're ready to accept a whole lot about the universe that we know is crap. So that doesn't bother me all that much.

That was one of the problems, though. Solar powered super saturation giving Superman entirely new powers is fine, but giants over 10 feet tall are impossible on Earth. Seems to be a bit overly picky about which bits of comic-book physics are allowed here, and it's not like it makes any difference to the story. It's just showing off how clever Grant is to know how the inverse square law applies to living beings.

Greg also wrote: Quitely's art? You either love it or hate it. I like it, so it's no big thing that it's weird-looking.

It's not that it's weird looking. I really like Quitely's art. The problem here was panels like the one where Luthor is arrested and there are all these other people in the panel that is otherwise a brown fog, so they don't come across as background characters (there being no background) but they are not part of the action. And then when Clark and Lois are crossing the street a car muffler appears behind them in the road for no apparent reason. It's just distracting.

--------------------

Pól Rua

I must be missing something.

Frankly, I thought All-Star Superman #1 was a neat quarter of a Superman story. Overall, quite nifty, a daring rescue against impossible odds, some rather more down-to-earth newspaper shenanigans with the supporting cast flowing quite nicely into the (re)introduction of the villain of the piece, which leads nicely into the McGuffin on a cosmic (Superman is dying!) and human (I need to get my affairs in order) level.

Neat.

That's about it. Up front, I'm not a huge Superman fan. Since his inception in 1938, he's been through so many revamps, relaunches, retcons, reimaginings, reenvisionings, power changes, costume changes and status quo changes that he's pretty much had all his interesting pointy edges shorn off.

And that's pretty much the problem with this one. It's like porridge without the lumps. You swallow it. It's momentarily filling, but there's no texture to it.

This makes it very difficult to read. I mean, sure it's a polished, well-crafted piece of work, but it's so smooth, it's nearly frictionless... and as such, it slides away from the eye as though it's not even there. Eminently disposable and forgettable.

Sure there are a couple of little hooks that catch my attention: Jimmy Olsen doffing rocketpack and helmet with mentions of a “super watch” grabbed my imagination, some of Luthor's villainous dialogue was pleasantly arch, and Quitely's depiction of Clark as an ungainly cornfed lummox rather than a weedy milquetoast made a great deal of sense to me. The McGuffin itself - a kind of solar “super cancer” - was also pretty nifty, but the main story just passed me by... “oh yeah, more of the same... yup... seen this, done that... nothing to see here.”

Now, maybe this is because I'm one of those EVIL comic nerds who nitpicks everything on the Interwibbly (duh!) and that if I was a ten-year old kid, this would blow my mind, but I doubt it. Because as much as a ten year old would be put off by the endless minutiae of that ol' devil Continuity, he (or she) is going to be equally irked by leaden nonsense like “See, I just remembered something. I'm a genetically modified suicide bomb in human form. Death. Courtesy of Lex Luthor!”

Who the fuck says that?

And then we have Leo Quintum. An all-new character created for this series who is, let's be honest, an utterly superfluous excuse for Morrison to use his latest collection of four-dollar words culled from Fortean Times and New Scientist. Apoptosis, Grant, really? Anaerobic meganthropes with liquid nitrogen for blood. Fascinating! Not to mention all those nanonauts in the infinitesimal yoctosphere...

Been there. Done that. Have the Kirby Dots to prove it.

Why couldn't this be done with Professor Hamilton and STAR Labs? Because then we wouldn't have a pseudoscience-talking, rainbow-coated Grant Morrison Mary-Sue to show us all how FAS-cinating it all is.

Frankly, all the Quintum stuff is utterly superfluous, by introducing us into his little slave-driven chocolate factory full of nano-oompas and meganthropic-loompas, it does nothing but make the bits where the guy in the blue suit flies into the sun to rescue people look just a little mundane by comparison.

I mean, why should we give a crap about some overblown circus strongman when Willy Wonka's making Space-Giants on the Moon?!

hrm.

A neat Superman story. Provided all you want is bells, whistles and some pretty pictures.
-------------------------

Harvey Jerkwater

Short review: this book kicks ass.

Longer review: Let me begin by quoting Pól Rua’s less laudatory review: "A neat Superman story. Provided all you want is bells, whistles and some pretty pictures."

Well, yeah, but that’s what I like: a neat story with cool stuff to look at.

Superman, like most superheroes, is a pop confection. Sure, he can bear a lot of symbolic weight, but it’s better that he stay light.

The book is a piece of fluff, but it’s well-constructed fluff. Which is a lot harder to do than you’d think, and a rare commodity in the world o’ comics. It’s fast-paced, loaded with cool images, introduces a cast of characters with economy, and it has a great approach to Superman’s character: The Confident Man. He’s not cocky, he’s not depressed, he’s not arrogant. Why would he be? To quote Morrison himself:

”He wouldn't puff out his chest or posture heroically, he would be totally chilled. If nothing can hurt you, you can afford to be cool. A man like Superman would never have to tense against the cold; never have to flinch in the face of a blow. He would be completely laid back, un-tense.”

Righteous.

The story has enough going on that it felt like a complete read, it set up future complications, and it had Jimmy Olsen casually setting down a jet pack on Lois’s desk without comment. I love all of that.

Not to pick on Pól, but he also wrote something that caught my attention: "[A character says] 'See, I just remembered something. I'm a genetically modified suicide bomb in human form. Death. Courtesy of Lex Luthor!' Who the fuck says that?"

Okay, the human bomb guy delivers this bit of dialogue on page four.

Page eight shows Lex Luthor “vocally directing a weapon” by saying out loud, “I’m approaching critical mass,” then “Fusion will occur in thirty seconds.”

On page nine, we go back to the solar station and see the human bomb, who says, ”I’m approaching critical mass. Fusion will occur in thirty seconds.”

Morrison showed us that Luthor was telling the dude what to say, but the comic doesn’t beat you over the head with that revelation. Damn, I love that. (And I think that Luthor would indeed say dialogue as ridiculous as that, especially out of the mouth of his own suicide bomber.)

Morrison’s comics tend to be filled with throwaway bits of fun and wee connections that he keeps in the background, like the falling muffler and Jimmy’s jetpack. The added depth and sense of texture this approach provides makes me a happy, happy comic fan. His Seven Soldiers of Victory series of miniseries is loaded with interlocking details and throwaway bits of coolness, and it’s a freakin’ riot.

Plus, the last page of the issue had a damn fine cliffhanger, and not a cliffhanger I expected to see. Better still, it made complete sense in the story. Schweet.

The art is excellent. Panel layouts were well deployed to convey mood, Superman looked...right, and the Crazy Crap on the Moon was keen.

So yeah, I dug this first issue like mad. What comes next?

Morrison described the first year of the title thusly:

The first issue ”Faster…” starts with Superman attempting to rescue the first manned spaced mission to the sun! An overdose of solar radiation triggers a fatal chain reaction in his cell structure, P.R.O.J.E.C.T. specialists race to create a new Superman and...well, you'll have to wait and see.

The Fortress appears in issue #2, stuffed with a ton of new toys and gets haunted by the bandaged ghost of the Unknown Superman of 4500 AD. The Kandorians finally get out of that bottle. Superman gets a new power. Clark Kent winds up sharing a prison cell with Lex Luthor in issue #5. The Bizarro Cube Earth invades our world in an epic 2-part adventure (no 'decompression' here!) and we're recasting the Bizarros as a frightening, unstoppable zombie-plague style menace. Bizarro Jor-El and the Bizarro JLA turn up in the second part of that story too. What else? We meet Earth's replacement Superman and Clark Kent takes on a new superhero identity...Ten of the 12 issues are complete short stories in 22 pages, so lots of stuff happens. And it all links together as a maxi-arc or whatever they call them these days, entitled 'The 12 Labors of Superman'.

Oh...my...

So...tasty...

I love my comics big, loud, and weird. All-Star Superman looks like it’ll be all three in elephant-sized doses.

Giggety!

-----------------

Bill Reed

Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple. Grant Morrison. Frank Quitely. Jamie Grant. Clark Kent. Lois Lane. Lex Luthor. DC Comics. All-Star Superman.

We all know Superman. He’s just this guy, you know? Unfortunately, in recent years (or decades), the spark that Superman once had has been missing. Okay, we all loved him as a kid (at least, I think I did. I could be wrong. I have a cape), but we’ve lost track of him. He was lost to us.

Baby, Superman’s back.

The greatest creative team in comics, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (the crazy Scots who brought you Flex Mentallo, JLA: Earth 2, New X-Men, We3, and the latest Robbie Williams album, as well as a few other odds and ends) have resurrected Superman. Oh, sure, DC puts out Superman comics all the time, but they’re not, y’know, good. This one is.



Basically, DC gave them free reign to tell their big Superman story. You’ve already heard the plot and the future plans from my compatriots below. I don’t need to repeat anything. What I will say is that this single issue is the best Superman comic in years. Okay, the first couple issues of Birthright were really cool, and I personally liked the whole Superman Blue thing, but they’re not as good as this. No sir and/or madam.

In what I affectionately refer to as ASS, Superman is the best big brother you’ll ever have. Cool. Unflappable. Kickass. That kinda thing. This is the kind of Superman who presses 200 quintillion tons with ease and hangs out with Willy Wonka and has DNA that reads like Bach and is so fast that he saves people off-panel. (Check out the bit where he saves Bandit from We3, or a close facsimile thereof.)

Clark Kent is neat, too. If Superman is played by Bruce Campbell (I mean, look at that chin), Clark is played by John C. Reilly. Clark is big and burly and very much a klutzy farmboy, and drawn perfectly by Quitely. Not since Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Superman have we seen such a difference between Clark and Supes (just check out the last page, as he “transforms”). I especially like Clark using his faux bumbling to save people.

Of course, we also get to see the rest of Superman’s cast. Grant (or George, as his friends call him) gives us the whole gang. Let’s look at the Daily Planet kids first. We’ve got Lois Lane, of course, who seems to be modeled after Rhona Mitra. She’s so confident that she writes the headlines before they happen. Then, in one panel (one! panel!) and a couple lines of dialogue, Morrison writes the best Jimmy Olsen since Jack Kirby. This is the kid who’s cool enough to be Superman’s best pal, so much so that he gets away with hideous sweaters, because he’s got a jetpack and Super-Watch. There’s also Perry White, the best and most honest editor there is, as well as Cat Grant and even Steve Lombard (who reminds me of Uncle Rico). Yep, the gang’s all here.

Let’s not forget Lex Luthor, however. After all, if we did, he’d kill us with a genetically-engineered suicide bomber. This Lex is an amalgamation of every version that’s ever appeared: evil businessman, mad scientist, Gene Hackman. This is the Lex who has schemes within schemes and crazy sci-fi weapons and the like. Lex reminds me of Stewie Griffin, by way of Cassandra Nova.

So, yes, it’s Quitely, so we know the art’s beautiful (yeah, shut up, you in the back). It clearly looks like Frank's influenced by the classic Supes artists, like Wayne Boring. The dialogue is sharp and, well, Morrisonian. The plot? No, my friend; it is not just bells and whistles! I can tell the entire run’s being set up: Bizarros, mad science, Prof. Quintum and his gang… it’s all leading somewhere. I can’t wait for it to get there. I have a feeling this will be the best superhero comic of all time. I hope I’m proven right.

Remember, kids: “Only nothing is impossible!”



----------------------

Bill Reed

Marionette wrote: It's not that it's weird looking. I really like Quitely's art. The problem here was panels like the one where Luthor is arrested and there are all these other people in the panel that is otherwise a brown fog, so they don't come across as background characters (there being no background) but they are not part of the action. And then when Clark and Lois are crossing the street a car muffler appears behind them in the road for no apparent reason. It's just distracting.

The muffler actually fell from the hovering monorail (which, yes, looks like a marquee instead). You can see Clark eyeing it in the first panel on that page. So, by being clumsy, Clark saves the guy from getting crushed to death. I thought that was a little touch of awesome.

--------------------

Marionette

Bill Reed wrote: The muffler actually fell from the hovering monorail (which, yes,
looks like a marquee instead). You can see Clark eyeing it in the first panel on that page. So, by being clumsy, Clark saves the guy from getting crushed to death. I thought that was a little touch of awesome.

That's a monorail?

Okay, I see where it works now. It's a monorail that runs about eight feet off the ground with no visible means of support (does it even qualify as a monorail since it doesn't have a rail to mono?) that can turn at right angles and uses what looks like car exhaust systems. I thought that was just some kind of building frontage, since it seemed to be running news headlines on it. So yes, it would have been a nice bit of visual business if I had spotted this odd, low-flying, gas engined train for what it was in the first panel.

--------------------

Brad Curran

I think that first page was all the backstory we needed. One of the things I love about Morrison's superhero work is that he jumps headfirst in to the story. All we need to know about Superman is on the first page, and it's the same thing for Luthor, Lois, and Perry in their short appearences. I'm glad this isn't like the Ultimate comics, because even though I enjoyed the first year or so of Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimates, I like that this is less a ground floor retelling of the Superman mythos than an accessible Superman story that isn't hamstrung by continuity.

I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. I have high expectations when Morrison and Quitely collaborate, given that their issues on New X-Men helped get me interested in comics again, and they were met. I wasn't as orgasmically enraptured by it as the Listen To Us gang, but this was the Superman comic I've been wanting to read since I became interested in the character via the Warner Brothers cartoon, and is making a bid to rival that show and Alan Moore's Supreme as my favorite use of the character (yeah, Supreme was an analogue. It still counts in my book).

It had the big ideas you expect from Morrison and the elegant, dynamic storytelling you always get from Quitely. I think having him reveal his identity to Lois on the last page was a little quick, even given Morrison's use of "super compressed" storytelling as of late, but it makes in the context of the ongoing storyline. Next to the origin recap, I think Clark's entrance at the Planet was my favorite part of the issue. Love how Quitely rendered that. Overall, I was very satisfied with this issue and am really looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

--------------------

Brian Cronin

Remember the old Hostess Cakes ads?

C'mon, we all remember them.

Remember the effect that the Hostess Cakes had on everyone?

All Star Superman is like fluffy bits of heaven coming down and becoming personified as Hostess Cakes, but only as the Hostess Cakes of those ads, not the actual Hostess Cakes.

THAT is how amazing All Star Superman is.

Did it make sense that people would freak out that much for those little cakes?

Of course not.

That is because some measure of greatness derives not from the combination of chocolate, flour and creamed filling. No, the special quality of those Hostess Cakes was "comic book magic." THAT is what made those cakes so damned appealing.

All Star Superman sparkles with comic book magic.

Yeah, I could point out how there were a multitude of scenes that, had any ONE of the scenes appeared in this week's Green Arrow, Green Lantern, X-Men, X-Men: Deadly Genesis, etc. would have been THE best scene in this week's Green Arrow, Green Lantern, X-Men, X-Men: Deadly Genesis, etc.

I could mention how pleased I am that DC has allowed Morrison to not have to write this comic in the DCU, as brilliant scenes like "I always write the headlines ahead of time" would never have been allowed to appear in the "real" DCU. In the "real" DCU, you would have someone editor tell Quitely that his monorails do not make sense, or tell Morrison that Jimmy Olsen doesn't HAVE a super watch, but rather, he is homeless that month (or maybe Jimmy has stolen Clark's job and is mocking him or something). So thanks for that DC.

I could mention a lot of stuff, but at the end of the day, the total package makes as much sense as all those people willing to go to jail for a couple of 50 cent sweets.

But at the end of the day, the comic IS as good as those cakes.

And that's pretty damn good.

-----------
There you have it. Roundtable #2! Hoo-wah!

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Division Shadow #1 - Judging a Book by its Cover

I would not dream to suggest that one could honestly figure out if a comic is bad or good strictly based on its cover. However, at the same time, I DO feel as though one can tell about the basic sensibilities of a book by its cover, and I think you can tell whether these sensibilities are appealing to you or not. I feel that this is very much the case in the situation of Division Shadow #1, a self-published comic (check out their website here) that came out recently (and who sent me this here review copy). I will show you the cover, and I think you can decide if it will appeal to you.



Your snap decision now being made, I will address the book itself. Writer Patrick Meaney describes the title as being "designed to blend the character based storytelling style traditionally associated with independent comics with the blockbuster action and 'big budget' settings traditionally associated with 'mainstream' comics." That is an interesting point (By the way, do you know a comic that is "big budget" and character driven? Street Angel. Just always like to take an opportunity to plug that book...hehe), but at the same time, would it be nice, then, to have a comic that combined all the aspects of Gone With the Wind, Star Wars and The Princess Bride? I don't think so, and that is because of one major problem - a matter of cohesion (or lack thereof).

And it's there that Division Shadow has its biggest problem.

In Division Shadow, there are three separate stories (by three separate artists) that will all (apparently) tie together at the end. However, the "main" story is about a government agency called Division Shadow which attacks a cult, kills most of the members, and takes captive a very special baby, for what purposes, we will soon learn.

This is the most interesting of the three stories, and the art is the most impressive on this end as well (I believe it is Nicolas Colacetti). The other two stories have decent art (I believe these are the ones drawn by Carlos Devizia and Marcelo Carmona and Shawn Decker), but the Colacitti pieces have a more accomplished feel to them (and they do not have the T&A aspects present in, I believe, the Devizia and Carmona's story). Colacetti has a good sequential art sense. He tells a story well.

However, the thing is, in the baby story ALONE, we have a character who has a "cinematic memory" (meaning that he remembers every aspect of his life), we have a government conspiracy, we have this weird baby, we have an agent becoming fascinated with the lone cult member that they left alive, and we have an agent's dysfunctional home life.

And that is in ONE story.

The comic is attempting to intertwine TWO other stories on top of this one!

Why, exactly, do we NEED the other two stories?

This one story has plenty of twists and turns, and it really makes the attempt to add some Invisibles-esque stuff (like in one story) and global intrigue (the other story) to the mix in ADDITION just seem to be silly.

Instead of trying to be Gone With the Princess Bride Wars, I think Division Shadow would be a much stronger book if Meaney just devoted his efforts to the one story, and developed it well, rather than shortchanging that story with the other two, which are not as good.

Before you try to do three stories, just do one story WELL first.

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Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #25!

This is the twenty-fifth in a series of examinations of comic book urban legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous twenty-four.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: DC was forced to change La Renard Rouge ("The Red Fox")'s name to "Crimson Fox."

STATUS: True

Courtesy of my fellow blogmate, Marionette, I offer up the following:

Ever wonder why JLE translated La Renard Rouge (the Red Fox) as the Crimson Fox even though there is nothing crimson about her, and even the french name is altered to become La Renard Rousse (I forget what rousse means but it's not crimson, either)?

When the character first appeared there was already a british b/w indie comic book that was doing quite modest sales in the USA for the time (though by today's standards it would be selling better than some DC comics) called Redfox. When La Renard Rouge first appeared, one of the characters identified her as The Red Fox and they guys who did Redfox were concerned about copyright issues since they'd already had one character blatantly hijacked by Marvel when a thinly disguised Demon Queen appeared in Alpha Flight under the name of Dream Queen.

Anyhow, on this occasion they had some inside help, being close friends with Neil Gaiman (who wrote the intro for the first Redfox collection as well as a 4 page story in Redfox #21), and he went and had a quiet chat with the editor of JLE. Result: La Renard Rouge is forever after mistranslated and nobody says why.

Pays to have friends in high places, eh?

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Grant Morrison's script for BULLETEER didn't actually request that level of cheesecake, and certainly didn't ask for the lead character to spend most of the issue in her underwear.
STATUS: False

The recent release of DC's Bulleteer #1 has caused quite a bit of discussion (including right here at this very site) about the physical attributes of the heroine, as well as the fact that she spends a good time of the comic in her underwear.

I personally felt that Morrison was making a statement, but some folks thought that perhaps the situation also might have reflected itself in the art by artist Yanick Paquette.

To settle it, I had the question put to Paquette himself. According to Paquette (and verified by his studiomates), in the comic book, there was only one scene where Morrison did not specifically state that Alix Harrower was to be drawn in her underwear. Yanick did draw that scene with her in her underwear. Every other scene was specifically dictated in the plot by Morrison himself.

In addition, even if it had NOT, remember, Morrison specifically requested each artist himself, so by choosing Yanick Paquette to draw his comic, Morrison KNEW that cheesecake was going to occur in the comic.

So feel free to take issue with the level of cheesecake in Bulleteer #1.

Just spread the blame around.

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: The film Hardware just took the movie's story from a 2000 AD comic.

STATUS: True

One of the big success stories in comics today is when a creator has his or her comic adapted for the screen. Even if the resulting film is not that good, it at least is a nice payday for creators who tend not to always work for the largest salaries.

However, that is the way that things work TODAY. It was not always like this for comic book creators. The idea of adapting a comic book was seen as weird as recently as fifteen years ago.

It was fifteen years ago that Ricard Stanley wrote and directed the surprise hit of the year, Hardware, which was about (for the sake of brevity) a killer robot that menaced a man's girlfriend in their apartment. The movie, put together for under two million dollars, ended up making a good deal of cash.

The only sticking point is that pretty much the entire plot of the movie was lifted from one short story in 1981's Judge Dredd Annual called "Shok." I guess Stanley felt that comics did not actually count. A judge thought otherwise, and hereforth, writer Steve MacManus and artist Kevin O'Neill became "writers" of Hardware, and the resulting profits therein.

The oddest postscript was summed up by Stanley himself, "It's weird the way things turn around; the 2000 A.D. people sued me, and then I was offered the Judge Dredd film."

Only in Hollywood, eh?

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Chats Should Be Good - George Pratt

If you have ever seen George Pratt's work, you know he is an amazing comic artist (and his multiple Eisner nominations back this up). Well, he is having a chat later today at Comic Book Resources. Click here for details. Hope to see you there!

What I bought - 16 November 2005

Interesting choices for my superhero trade paperback, people. I'll let you know what I'm going to buy soon - I know you can't wait!

Anyway, this week's purchases. Of course it's all going to be overshadowed by the certain Superman comic book, but other stuff was good, too.

Batman & The Monster Men #1 by Matt Wagner
$2.99, DC
 
 
Here's an idea: why not let Wagner do this in the regular Batman book? I know that would violate one of the directives of the Absolute Overlord, but why does this have to occur in the past? I mean, it's essentially a rehash of Batman #1, isn't it? Do we really need a rehash of Batman #1? Couldn't there be Monster Men in the present? I'm somewhat sick of this "Let's revisit Batman's past" thing DC has going on. If Batman stories are too dark and depressing in the present, write Batman stories in the present that aren't dark and depressing. Don't write Batman stories set in the past that aren't dark and depressing (I should add, this is kind of dark and depressing in its own right, but it's "goofy" because of the Monster Men, who don't appear in the issue). There's no reason for this to be set in the past. It's good, though, and pretty. But still.

Fables #43 by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha
$2.75, DC/Vertigo
 
 
Brian's friend Stony said he was dropping this title, which mystifies me. It's his choice, I suppose, but that's just weird. So much going on, moving forward, intrigues brewing, the Arab Fables are plotting, Sinbad is becoming westernized and his advisors don't like it, and a djinn gets released. Bad news there. Whenever a new issue of this title comes out, I zip through it and can't wait for the next one. It's a great book. Come back, Stony!

Hero Squared #3 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Joe Abraham
$3.99, Boom! Studios
 
 
Yes, it's jokey and goofy. But it's a very interesting book. It's interesting because the strength of the book is based on human relationships and how people in those relationships play mind games with each other. We're getting into murky waters with these characters, because the Evil Stephie is telling Milo things about Captain Valor that he's not sure are true or false. Why should he necessarily believe Captain Valor? And the Good Stephie is unsure what's going on with Milo. And she's unsure about her feelings for both Milo and Captain Valor. Very interesting. It's funny, but in an obvious way - Giffen and DeMatteis can do this in their sleep, so it's somewhat on autopilot. The dialogue between the characters when they're discussing what's going on, though, is good.

Local #1 by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly
$2.99, Oni Press
 
 
We did a group review of this a while back. Read it here. I have nothing further to add. I'm going to buy issue #2. We'll see about it from there.

All-Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
$2.99, DC
 
 
Apparently the gang is going to do a big ol' roundtable review of this, like we did with Local, so I'll withhold judgment. If you didn't buy it, I will say this: Leo Quintum is wearing Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat for no discernible reason. Excellent.

X-Men #177 by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larroca, and Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
$2.50, Marvel
 
 
Here's what I don't understand about "Decimation." All these mutants are no longer mutants. Okay, I get that. But does anyone really believe that they'll stay that way? And why won't people just come up with new ones? If they really wanted to have fewer mutants in the Marvel Universe, they'd do the smart thing: cancel all the freakin' mutant titles!

Okay, so the story isn't bad. Why does Lorna want to hide her power loss, if that's what it is? Is being an X-Man really that fulfilling? Isn't she with Bobby now, who is also powerless? Can't they just go off to Switzerland (or somewhere) and pump out some babies and be happy? Her life has gone so well with the X-Men, after all. And why haven't we gotten beyond the superhero theme of attacking anything without asking whether it's a bad thing or good thing? Milligan tries to make it interesting, but it's still the Sentinels saying "We don't want to fight" and the X-Men fighting them. Sigh. You may ask why I'm still buying this, and how if it's not good I should cut it off. I want to see how Milligan resolves the "What did Lorna see in space" story, which is coming up soon. That will make or break it. This story doesn't really interest me all that much. I'm also sick of anti-mutant "leagues" in the Marvel Universe. When I write the X-Men the government and the public will embrace mutantkind. Trust me.

Have a nice day, everyone!

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Judging (Marvel's February) Books By Their Covers

Marvel's February Solicitations are up, and folks have been asking me to do one of these for Marvel, so I figure I can give it a shot. So let's make some prejudgements based just on the covers (as we all love to make prejudgements, don't we?

Let's begin!
___________________________________________________

Is Thing made out of popcorn or something?



Weird cover.
___________________________________________________

I wonder what the process is for Greg Land when he decides who is going to be redrawn as Thor.



Where do you think he looks first? Muscle magazines?

Movie mags?

What do you think?

In addition, why is "President Thor" in Ultimate Fantastic Four?
___________________________________________________

I have a great name for this story.



"So It's Come To This...Ultimate Vulture."
___________________________________________________

This is straddling the edge between "Okay" and "Awful."



One wrong move, and it could go the bad way.
___________________________________________________

This is a pretty decent cover...



...but the REAL news is that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is taking over!

I am quite excited.
___________________________________________________

A big change in Spider-Man's life leads to a new costume for Spidey!



What is this, 1993?
___________________________________________________

"Put the nine on the ten!!"



Backseat Solitaire players are annoying.
___________________________________________________

This passes the Ron Frenz Rule of Costume Design...



...however, you still have to make the costume look GOOD.
___________________________________________________

I enjoy this title...



...but isn't it weird that, like the movie, this Mary Jane bears no resemblance to any other previous Mary Jane. It's weird.
___________________________________________________

This cover looks good.



But then I realize it is a comic about the Marvel version of Ares, God of War.

That is weird.
___________________________________________________

Sean Phillips is a really talented artist.



Proof of this is that he makes this dumb cover idea still look pretty darn good.
___________________________________________________

Ah...the Greg Land School of Visual Design.



I bet there's some dude who's thinking, "Hey, that's my bike!"
___________________________________________________

Yes, ANOTHER Punisher/Painkiller Jane story.



Well, look on the bright side, the art is by current Paul Gulacy, so at least the art will stink.
___________________________________________________

This is a weird cover.



Still, the inside comic will be good, because Robert Aguirre-Sacasa IS good.
___________________________________________________

Wasn't there an old video game that involved popping balloons?



I bet Bullseye was good at video games.
___________________________________________________

Am I the only one who is surprised that this is a pretty good cover?


___________________________________________________

Is Winter Soldier going to be the new Jessica Jones?



Or remember back in the early 90s when everyone wanted to have Tim Drake guest star in their comic?
___________________________________________________

Mmmm...kay.


___________________________________________________

This is a crazy-ass cover.



Also, what good timing to do a Scarlet Witch/Vision love story comic.
___________________________________________________

Would it really be too much to spring for a wraparound cover?



I mean, come on!

By the way, is this a "Everyone who hasn't already had a listing" thing? If so, that would suck.
___________________________________________________

As Kevin Brennan says, you can tell she's serious. How?



Look at her fingers.

That means "I am serious."
___________________________________________________

How the hell did Sal Buscema IMPROVE?



The dude's gotta be pretty old, but his art has gotten BETTER.

That's pretty cool.
___________________________________________________

I'd like to see one comic book month pass withOUT an homage cover.



Ever notice how there were almost NO homage covers until, like, 1990. Now you see one every month.
___________________________________________________

Terry Dodson should sue for identity theft.


___________________________________________________

What are they attacking?



It looks like they're all centering on, like, a rat.

What an odd "attack" shot.
___________________________________________________

My pal Stony should be happy, as this is a sign that Phil Hester is now with Marvel.



Quite a loss by DC.
___________________________________________________

Here's my thing.



I liked Patrick Zircher's art.

Why does he have to draw like Mark Brooks now?
___________________________________________________

This is a very appropriate cover.



Because reading this comic is as exciting as watching some dude writing in a book.
___________________________________________________

I think Tim Bradstreet might be pulling an interesting scam...



Doing a Triple A ad and then adding the big Punisher skull and getting paid twice.
___________________________________________________

Staz Johnson? Oooh...I like him!

Tom Palmer? Oooh...I like him a lot!



Uh oh.
___________________________________________________

Look what digital painting does to comics.



DiVito is a fine artist, but if you compare this drawing to his NON digitally painted art in Young Avengers, it just pales.
___________________________________________________

Jimmy Cheung MAKES this book.



So if you don't like Jimmy Cheung's art, you will not like this comic book.
___________________________________________________

I almost thought that I was going to have to actually buy some porn, but luckily, Marvel helped me out.


___________________________________________________



Sweet cover.
___________________________________________________

I LIKE the Lunas, but this is a pretty damn bland cover.


___________________________________________________

Nice. Marvel should thank Morrison for Irving, Ferry, Sook and...oh...but that would be telling now, wouldn't it?


___________________________________________________

OUCH.

This was originally an eight-issue series.



I guess the market for "Superhero talks to his shrink" was not as big as Marvel expected.
___________________________________________________

No offense to the artist in question, but that is one half-assed cover right here.


___________________________________________________

Marvel got Marcos Martin?



NIIIICE pick-up there, Marvel!

That partially makes up for Loeb.
___________________________________________________

This is challenging the Luna cover for blandest cover.


___________________________________________________

Due to popular demand, here is the cover of Nighthawk #4...



which is an homage to THIS cover...



What is it, are they running out of covers to homage now?

At least it DOES look cool. It's got THAT going for it.
___________________________________________________

Oooooh...ominous.


___________________________________________________

I like covers that use the logo in the action.



It's a lost art form.
___________________________________________________

Juggernaut.

Nocturne.

Now "Lionheart."



It's like Claremont is on a mission to use New Excalibur to fix Austen.
___________________________________________________

That's a pretty badass cover.


___________________________________________________

Ahhh...two proud African-Americans.


___________________________________________________

Does anyone know the difference between Billy and Phillip Tan?


___________________________________________________

Zatanna to X-Factor.



I haven't seen a downgrade this bad since....hmmmm...I can't think of a bigger one.
___________________________________________________

I don't know what that sign means, but I am prepared to follow whatever it says.


___________________________________________________

Damn...Brubaker is GOOD.



He makes even a Silvestri cover look intriguing.
___________________________________________________



That's a damn fine cover.
___________________________________________________

Apocalypse is BACK!



Marvel FINALLY got my letters!
___________________________________________________

APOCALYPSE VERSUS DRACULA!



Has someone at Marvel been reading my dream journal?!
___________________________________________________

TOP FIVE COVERS

5. I don't like the looks of Monica Rambeau, but that is a sweet cover.


___________________________________________________

4. Coolness.



Classic Giffen coolness.
___________________________________________________

3. Ladronn has improved a lot.



And he was good to BEGIN with.
___________________________________________________

2. Yu RULES!



This reminds me of that cool Adam Hughes Catwoman cover, where Hughes let his dynamic side rule out his excessive side. The result was a cool Catwoman cover - same as this cover.
___________________________________________________

1. This cover is perfect.


___________________________________________________

Okay, that's it for me, folks!

Feel free to share YOUR prejudices!!

AND your top five choices!

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