Moving Day!

Well, as I mentioned to you last week, the end was nigh then, and it is upon us now.

This web site is done, leading to our NEW website...Comics Should Be Good!

Huh?

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

Basically, this whole site is moving to Comic Book Resources for Comic Book Resources Presents...Comics Should Be Good!

Same bloggy goodness, new, prettier looking site (and since it is Wordpress, it is also easier for you folks to navigate and for us to use!).

So change those bookmarks! Goodcomics.blogspot.com becomes goodcomics.comicbookresources.com

Check it out!

What I bought - 24 May 2006

This was a strange week. Pretty good stuff, yet enough to make me angry. So you know our tour will be fun! This week's mini-theme is: Greg goes all patriotic and makes George Bush proud while condemning comics for their ham-fisted social commentary!

Batman #653 by James Robinson, Don Kramer, and Wayne Faucher
$2.99, DC

This is the first issue of "Face the Face" that disappointed me. It's not that it was bad, necessarily, it's that for the first time in this mini-series-within-a-series, the plot ground to a halt so that Robinson could indulge in some "writing for the trade," or to put it less charitably, "padding." The entire issue is Harvey talking to his reflection, which is Two-Face. We learn how he came to be Gotham City's protector and why Batman chose him and how bad Harvey feels now that Batman is back and how angry Harvey is that he's being accused of murder and how Two-Face wants back in. Oh, the revelations! But you know what? It's dull. That's why I don't like it. Oh, and it's nothing we haven't seen before.

I have no problem with an issue of someone struggling with their inner demons and containing no action (there are one or two action scenes, but they're flashbacks and are pretty static). But it's freakin' Harvey Dent. We've seen him struggle with these inner demons all too often, and we know he's always - always - going to lose. Two-Face will always win. And although the struggle could be interesting, it's the same thing all the time. Blah blah blah Harvey can't control himself blah blah blah he still has the freakin' coin blah blah blah. If this were a few scenes in the context of an issue where other stuff happens, that's fine. The fact that it takes up the entire issue is bad.

And this points out a problem with some comics (and other forms of entertainment, too - I don't want to single out comics): we can figure out everything we learn about what happened to Harvey by what has already happened in the first five issues of this story. We don't need a literal story telling us all this stuff. We are smart enough to deduce all this crap.

And (yes, I know) I'm sick of Batman and his attitude. "His city." Who the hell needs his approval to take care of Gotham while he goes on his little vacation with Clark and Diana? It's probably because I have always liked the Huntress and I'm sick of Batman (and, by proxy, DC) treating her so horribly. Just let her retire quietly if you don't like her so much - stop writing stories with her in them!

All right, I'm done. I'm still on board with Robinson, because this is an interesting story, but this was a disappointing chapter in it.

Catwoman #55 by Will Pfeifer, David Lopez, and Alvaro Lopez
$2.99, DC

The Film Freak is about to get film footage of two Catwomans. Yes, I said Catwomans. Anyway, that's pretty much all that happens. And who cares? Is there a law that says there must be one Catwoman?

That's kind of a mean assessment of the issue, since as usual, it's not a horrible issue, but it is definitely a treading-water issue. Holly watches Ted Grant beat the crap out of some thieves, Selina has a conversation with Slam Bradley, Selina decides to go out in her Catwoman outfit (which leads to the very funny panel where she can't zip up her suit - kudos to Pfeifer and Lopez for remembering that women who have just had babies don't always get their washboard stomachs back right away), and a guy with a camera gets footage of Selina and Holly chatting. Again, so what? I'm curious where Pfeifer is going with the story of the Film Freak, because he could make some interesting points about our society and how everything is filmed, but the fact that there are two Catwomans isn't really a bombshell. Is it? I suppose if you want to kill Selina and you're trying to kill Holly it is, but other than that, who cares?

Every month this book teeters on the edge. I'm still with it for now. Pfeifer, I think, is better than this.

Checkmate #2 by Greg Rucka and Jesus Saiz
$2.99, DC

I fear for Checkmate. It's certainly not the best book around, and its large cast is tough to follow occasionally, but it's a very interesting book that will suffer from Rucka's penchant for finding geopolitical maneuverings fascinating. This is another issue this week with no action, but unlike Batman and Daredevil, things happen that advance the plot and give us a good sense of the characters. We need that, because of the big cast and the fact that a lot of these people have never been A-listers, so their personalities aren't as clearly defined as the big guns of DC. There is, of course, the requisite stuff that could have been cut to make the book a bit tighter, but it's still pretty gripping, and the fact that it's a U.N. chartered group makes it much more interesting than if Checkmate was operating under the auspices of the United States. I'll get to Squadron Supreme and my objections to it, believe me! In this book, not everyone is American, and we do get a bit of a different perspective on things. The dynamic within each group and between the two sides of Checkmate - the white and black side - is where this book will thrive or die - anyone can write a big, bad action book, and let's face it - Kobra is a joke. But the tension within the group and how the public face of Checkmate, represented by goody-goody Alan Scott, will interact with the covert operation side, represented by Sasha Bordeaux, who has become a lot more bloodthirsty since Bruce Wayne let her rot in prison, is what will make the book better than your usual cloak-and-dagger stuff. This is a very interesting book, and I'm on board for now.

Bermejo's drawing of Fire on the cover freaks me out. Look at her midsection!!!!

Daredevil #85 by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Stefano Gaudiano
$2.99, Marvel

I want to make this perfectly clear: I enjoy this book. I think it is an interesting story, and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

But that doesn't mean I love it. That doesn't mean I think it's the best work on DD since (let's all shout it) Saint Francis. It has a lot of room for improvement. Okay?

I think why certain comics bug me is because of what others on our fantabulous blog have called "event" comics. These writers know how to write, and they know the characters well. Therefore Brubaker can put nice little touches in his stories (I'm using Brubaker as an example because we're talking about Daredevil here, but he's not the only one) that make us all appreciate the story and make us think "That's cool," without really telling us anything. I ranted about this with Robinson in Batman, and it's evident here, too. There is a ton that is cool in this book, and Brubaker obviously has a good grasp on Matt and Fisk's characters, as well as ancillary people like Urich and Jameson (their exchange is the best in the book), but that doesn't change the fact that this story (written, of course, for the trade) drags like molasses. I mean, it's basically Matt finding out that Fisk had nothing to do with killing Foggy. And Frank Castle wants to be in prison with them because he knows a riot is coming. And Dakota North hasn't found anything out but has drawn the attention of some unsavory types. That's it. That's three, four pages tops of story. Sigh.

I've said this for all of Brubaker's issues so far - I'm on board for the first arc, and we'll see how it all shakes down. I wonder if people who thought Bendis could draw things out interminably are surprised that Brubaker can draw things out even more! Yes, the book has gotten slower. I didn't think that was possible.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #5 by Warren Ellis, Stuart Immonen, and Wade von Grawbadger
$2.99, Marvel

See, here's another example of a writer knowing how to make us think something is cool when it might not be. This is still a fun comic, but I'm thinking more and more that it's just empty calories, and frankly, I need to cut those out of my diet and my comic book buying. Lots of this made me laugh, like the Celestial telling Machine Man he's a loser (and doing the sign on his forehead), and the koalas of death (including the agent who says, "Throwing little koala bears out of an airplane just doesn't seem right," and Monica's flashback to her days with the Avengers (although when did Captain America become such a sexist pig?), and Tabitha's flashback to her days with X-Force, but in the end, it was a largely unsatisfying meal. It just bugged me. Ellis' wacky mind is working overtime here, and it's all well and good, but this remains a Twinkie. Or a Devil Dog. And we don't need a steady diet of those, do we?

Oh, and Warren? A War Garden? It was clever in StormWatch, vaguely annoying when you used the same idea in Strange Killings: The Body Orchard, and by now it's just weird seeing you plagiarize yourself. Get a new schtick, please!

She-Hulk #8 by Dan Slott and Paul Smith
$2.99, Marvel

Boy, these Civil War covers are awful. Just awful.

Okay, Jen Walters and She-Hulk. I know Jen enjoys being She-Hulk more, but I don't think it's been established since she stopped being "savage" that they are two completely different personalities. So why does Jennifer feel differently about registering superheroes than She-Hulk does? That's just dumb, and even though John points out the staggering stupidity of it, we don't get an explanation. Grrr. Another stupid thing that crossovers do - shoehorn crap into regular books and characters that make no sense.

So anyway, Jen tries to defend Rage and Justice from a web site that is publishing the names of the New Warriors online. She yells at Iron Man, she finds out it's a fellow New Warrior doing the outing, and John asks her to marry him. It's okay, I guess, but since I'm not reading the crossover, it's pretty dull. And, as usual with a lot of books during a crossover, nothing much happens. Marvel and DC save that for the big books. Smith's art is always nice to see, but it's bizarre that once Bobillo left the book, Slott's stories got a lot less fun. I know this is tying into a deadly serious crossover, but the Starfox-as-rapist story was no fun either. The quirkiness of Bobillo's art was part of this book's charm, but the fact that there's a different artist doesn't mean Slott should get all serious on us! Let us hope that the whole "I married a werewolf" story puts a bit of the zip back in the title. We don't need hand-wringing about heroes' secret identities in this book, we need defendants who travel back in time and shoot themselves. Now that's good stuff.

Squadron Supreme #3 by J. Michael Straczynski, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal
$2.99, Marvel

Oh, JMS, what have you done? First, five pages into this issue, we get this:

Rape as character development. Well, we've certainly never seen that before. Good job!

But that's a relatively minor complaint, even though it's still lazy storytelling. No, what bothers me most about this issue is the political aspect. Oh boy, strap yourself in!

I have never made it a secret that I am not only liberal, but I have a ton of issues with the United States. However, as I've mentioned before, it bugs me when comic book writers so blatantly criticize the U.S., simply because comic books aren't really the place for geopolitical discussions. Yes, Rucka does it in Checkmate, but he keeps it relatively simple, and it works. However, JMS wants to criticize the U.S. for its African policies, but it's not as simple as he makes it out to be. The African woman says, "This ... is your fault to begin with." See, "fault" is a funny word. Is the United States at fault for carving up Africa to begin with back in the 19th century, when the Europeans created territories based not on tribal boundaries but on where the rivers were? Is the U.S. at fault for apartheid, which was set up by the descendants of British and Dutch settlers? Is the U.S. at fault for the racist policies against white farmers that the Zimbabwean government is practicing? To simply label the United States the villain for the tragedy that Africa has become ignores centuries of warfare that the U.S. had absolutely nothing to do with, and it's silly for JMS to criticize something that is so ridiculously complex. Anyone remember the Arab slave traders of the Zanzibar coast? No? They weren't very nice to the natives. In this issue, Uganda is specifically mentioned. M'Butu is probably analogous to Idi Amin, but after he fled the country, the U.S. didn't take him in - Saudi Arabia did (he died there in 2003). It's very nice to blame the U.S. for all of Africa's problems, and successive governments here certainly deserve some of the blame, but to say it's all our fault bugs the hell out of me, because it denies the responsibility of several other parties - including the Africans themselves - for the craphole the continent has become. It's nice that these superpowered Africans go and rip M'Butu apart on their own, but the idiocy is already out in the open. The U.S., of course, does not understand anything beyond our borders and thinks they can throw money at a problem and fix it (well, we don't think that within our borders, but we think it helps outside our borders). We have given millions of dollars of aid to Africa, and although it certainly doesn't fix the problems, to say we're simply going around propping up dictators bugs me. Shut up, JMS. This book is far too simplistic for your political agenda. If you want to write a dense book criticizing American meddling in Africa, be my guest - I may be the first to buy it, because African history is fascinating. But in this book? Shut up. Please.

Emil Burbank is pretty stinkin' cool, though. I'm just saying.

X-Factor #7 by Peter David and Ariel Olivetti
$2.99, Marvel

The first of two books this week that point out the idiocy of comic book characters dying is X-Factor, and it's the better one, simply because the plot does not hang on that. This is rapidly moving into the category that all the books I really like eventually move into, and that's the place where I simply can't discuss them, because it gets boring praising them all the time. There are two stories at work here - Jamie goes to Singularity Investigations and learns disturbing things about Damian Tryp, the big boss. Those two things - the fact that the company is named "Singularity" and the boss is named "Damian" - make me very wary about this company and its future dealing with X-Factor. But that could just be me. Damian Tryp is evil and Madrox knows it, and we're set up for a throwdown! Meanwhile, Scott Summers shows up to tell Theresa that Banshee is dead. When did that happen? I don't really care all that much, because my reaction to it is much like Theresa's - she's convinced that her father is either not dead or will return from the dead soon enough. It's a bizarre bit of metatextual commentary by David, and although we've seen it before from Marvel characters - especially the mutants - it's still refreshing to see it exposed so clearly. It bothers me because we, as readers, know that Banshee may be dead now, but he'll be back. So therefore we read this issue somewhat bemused, because we're not quite sure how we're supposed to react to the news. Just like Theresa. So it's a weird little issue. But still a good one in a very good series. Next up: Civil War! Sigh. Stupid, stupid Civil War. Gaaaaahhhh!!!!!

Olivetti's art is pretty, by the way. He's a good artist. Perhaps he'll be the new regular guy.

X-Statix Presents: Deadgirl #5 (of 5) by Peter Milligan, Nick Dragotta, and Mike Allred
$2.99, Marvel

Milligan is really having problems with endings, these days, isn't he? I sat down and read the whole thing, and it's kind of a mess of neat little ideas, plots that kind of go nowhere, and wildly ineffectual villains. This is basically a five-issue mini-series that tells us that characters come back from the dead when they're popular. Really, Peter? Thanks for the heads up. We could never have figured that out.

It's a shame, because the art is very nice, and the characters are very nicely done and Milligan gives us a good sense of heaven and hell in a very non-traditional way. So we get weird areas of hell, and the Hotel of Self-Loathing, and we get nice conversations between Guy and Edie, and between Dr. Strange and Deadgirl. But it's a strange-feeling mini-series - it feels hollow and empty. Sound and fury, you know, signifying nothing. I want it to be better, but it's not. It's certainly not worthless, and the art and the characters almost make it worth it, but in the end, I'm stuck with just a bunch of weird images in my mind and not a lot else. It's a shame.

MINI-SERIES I BOUGHT BUT DID NOT READ.¹
The American Way #4 (of 8) by John Ridley, Georges Jeanty, Karl Story with Ray Snyder
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm

You know, I read the first page of this book, and I have something to say. In 1962 it had been fifteen years since Jackie Robinson famously broke the color barrier in major league baseball. Pro football had integrated even earlier, but it didn't have the iconic stature of baseball. In 1954 Willie Mays made the most famous catch in World Series history. I know there was plenty of racism in the country in the 1960s (as there is today), but would all these people on the first page who are angry about the existence of a black superhero really care? There had been black cultural icons for a long time, and although Robinson certainly wasn't embraced by everyone (and, of course, a decade after 1962 Henry Aaron received death threats because he was black), I can't believe the opinion of the country would be so lop-sided against a black superhero. It just seems like Ridley is going for the easy idea here, and that's disappointing. Of course, I didn't read the issue, so I could be way off base here. I liked the first two issues of this book and look forward to sitting down and reading the whole thing, but I hope it's a little more subtle than the first page of this issue. That's all.

The Black Coat: A Call To Arms #2 (of 4) by Adam Cogan and Francesco Francavilla
$2.99, Ape Entertainment

The always-interesting Mark Fossen pointed out The Black Coat #1, although my boss claims credit as well, so I apologize, Guy. I still haven't gotten the first issue, but this is a cool-looking book. It's set in 1775 and features a freakin' Revolutionary War pirate. Come on, people! The first issue should be easy to find, especially if you go to the web site. Support Revolutionary War pirates!

¹ Since this is my first post at the new digs, I'll 'splain. I read the first issue of a mini-series and if it piques my interest, I'll buy it but not read it until it's done. My feeble brain can't keep up with what's going on month after month, so I read it all at once! This has been a public service announcement.

Comic Book Urban Legends Minutiae

Two fairly quick points...

1. Recently, I've been hearing some doubt on the veracity of the Steve Ditko cutting board story (Urban Legends Revealed #17). Now, I am all for getting to the truth of the matter, so if someone can verify that Greg Theakston just flat-out lied for whatever reason, then I will gladly change the status from true to false. Heck, I'd enjoy doing it, as it'd give me an easy entry for a future Urban Legends Revealed...hehe. So, please, if someone can give me something that trumps an "on the record" first hand account (and that includes someone showing me that Theakston was lying), I will gladly use it.

2. Someone asked me about this the other day, and I figured it was interesting enough to pose it to y'all. Would you like me to feature "Undetermined" Urban Legends as well? I think literally about half of Snopes' Urban Legend features end up as "Undetermined." So would you like me to do more of those types of Urban Legends? I have plenty of "undetermined" ones lying around that I do not think I have enough to make a good faith claim of true or false, so if people would like me to use them, I don't have any real problem with using them. Personally, I think it sorta defeats the purpose of the feature, but I guess I can see how it might be useful if someone responds to the "undetermined" ones with proof one way or the other. So, since I don't have a strong feeling either way, I'm opening it up to you folks.

Read More

Reviews for the 5/24 Comic Book Week

Testament #6 (Vertigo)

Fantastic Four: A Death in the Family One-Shot (Marvel)

The Last Christmas #1 (Image)

New Excalibur #7 (Marvel)

Negative Burn #1 (Desperado/Image)

X-Factor #7 (Marvel)

Loaded Bible: Jesus vs. Vampires One-Shot (Image)

Daredevil #85 (Marvel)

"Name That JJJ Artist!" ANSWERS are up!!

The answers to the "Name That JJJ Artist!" game are up, including who made the most correct guesses - including the top person, with an astounding EIGHTEEN out of twenty-nine correct! Check the answers out here.

The best Batman artist ever?????

My latest Comics You Should Own column features Detective Comics #583-594 and #601-614, Alan Grant and John Wagner writing (and Grant alone from #601 onward) with Norm Breyfogle on pencils. Breyfogle, as I've mentioned before, doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he just might be the best Batman artist ever. He's definitely in the top 5. Go read and dare to challenge that statement!

Answers to the Free Swag Contest!

It's the moment you've all been waiting for - the identification of the 25 panels/pages that I asked you to, well, identify. The winner will be revealed at the end of the post. Of course, I should have disqualified everyone because nobody wished me a Happy Birthday in their e-mails! I had a good cry about it, though, and I'm fine now! If you'll forgive me, I'll talk a bit about each panel. Just because, you know, I can.

Number One: Detective Comics #804 by David Lapham (w) and Ramon Bachs (a). This is the final page of this issue, and I love it because Batman thinks that he has finally found men he can feel good about hitting. Go, Bats! "City of Crime," Lapham's 12-issue run on Detective (#801-808, 811-814) is brilliant, if a bit grim and gritty. But it's still flingin'-flangin' excellent.

Number Two: Goddess #8 by Garth Ennis (w) and Phil Winslade (a). I just bought this a few weeks ago and haven't actually read it yet. But I knew if Ennis was writing it, there would be some cool-ass scenes. And I was right!

Number Three: Spider-Man/Human Torch #3 by Dan Slott (w) and Ty Templeton (a). Everyone kept saying how fun this book is, so I bought it. And it is fun! This is, of course, the Spider-Mobile issue. Remember when Slott wrote Spider-Mobile stories and not Avenger-rapist stories? Good times.

Number Four: Dr. Fate #24 by J.M. DeMatteis (w) and Shawn McManus (a). I just mentioned this a few weeks ago when I talked about DeMatteis' masterpiece. It's the first panel of the last issue of the book, and Raina is going to hear all about the fate of Eric and Linda Strauss and Kent and Inza Nelson. I thought most of you would easily recognize McManus' art!

Number Five: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #1 by Mike Grell (w & a). Yes, this mini-series gave us the torture of Black Canary, which is very sucky, but for the most part, it's a very interesting take on Oliver. And I thought it was cool that he moved from a fake town to Seattle. Apparently Kevin Smith didn't think it was.

Number Six: JLI Annual #2 by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen (w) and Bill Willingham (a). Willingham hardly does art anymore (we'll see how long he lasts on Shadowpact), so I thought I'd throw in a panel where he does draw something. This is the issue where Rumaan Harjarvti (or however the hell you spell it) hires the Joker to kill the Justice League, and he fails miserably. Right after this Batman shows up, sees that the Joker is sitting in a tank while the rest of the League stands around in their bathing suits (it's a picnic at Scott Free's house!) and just keeps driving. Comedy gold. I miss the old Justice League.

Number Seven: Deep Sleeper #4 by Phil Hester (w) and Mike Huddleston (a). I wrote about this last year, because it's awesome. Truly awesome. Go buy it now. NOW!

Number Eight: Lazarus Churchyard by Warren Ellis (w) and D'Israeli (a). I have mentioned this scene before in conjunction with some of the crap Ellis writes today. It doesn't have an issue number because it was serialized in a magazine and then collected in a trade, but this is the final page in the book, as Lazarus talks about all the people who have died on him. Very touching work from Ellis.

Number Nine: Miracleman #14 by Alan Moore (w) and Jon Totleben (a). Somebody said this was Swamp Thing, which was not a bad guess, because it's the same talent. This is right after Kid Miracleman "gets out" and goes on his rampage, and even more than the scenes in London in the next issue, this is a portrait of pure evil. When Johnny says, "They'd say I was going soft, wouldn't they?" you should get chills. I know I do.

Number Ten: Fantastic Four #349 by Walt Simonson (w) and Art Adams (a). Wolverine! Hulk! Spider-Man! Ghost Rider! Issues #347-349 of the venerable comics magazine (the world's most commercial, as issue #348 proclaimed) brought together these four as the new team when the Skrulls captured the real group. Lots of goofy fun, and Frank Castle makes a hilarious cameo. Yes, the Punisher is funny. These are wildly excellent issues.

Number Eleven: Animal Man #19 by Grant Morrison (w) and Chas Truog (a). Do I really need to say anymore? This still blows my mind every time I read the damned thing, even though I know it's coming.

Number Twelve: Amazing Spider-Man #299 by David Michelinie (w) and Todd McFarlane (a). Some people said this was issue #300. But it ain't. This is the end of issue #299, when we see Venom for the first time. I'm sorry, but this is just a cool scene. This was only McFarlane's second issue, and it was before his art started getting really contorted and weird.

Number Thirteen: Uncanny X-Men #205 by Chris Claremont (w) and Barry Windsor-Smith (a). More than a few people said this was Windsor-Smith's run on Marvel Comics Presents, but it's X-Men, sorry! This is that excellent issue with Wolverine and Katie Power (?!) in Central Park and Logan rips apart the same guys he ripped apart way back during the Dark Phoenix saga (and would rip apart again in the Outback). He likes ripping those dudes apart, doesn't he? And then, of course, he refuses to kill Lady Deathstrike. Awesome.

Number Fourteen: Dreadstar #60 by Peter David (w) and Angel Medina (a). Angel Medina's work on Incredible Hulk was, well, awful, but his art on Dreadstar was excellent. Weird. And check it out - even in the future women wear 1980s-style shoulder pads!

Number Fifteen: Hellblazer #27 by Neil Gaiman (w) and Dave McKean (a). "Hold Me" is a wonderful story of homelessness and loss and it shows John in a nice light for a change. He doesn't do anything bastard-y in this issue. I know, how can we deal with it?

Number Sixteen: Grendel #12 by Matt Wagner (w) and Arnold and Jacob Pander (a). Christine Spar's final showdown with Argent. It's a wonderfully rendered fight, and in this panel they both die. These first 12 issues of the regular series are simply brilliant and stunning to look at, with the Pander Bros. doing a very nice job.

Number Seventeen: Suicide Squad #37 by John Ostrander and Kim Yale (w) and John K. Snyder II and Geof Isherwood (a). Both Snyder and Isherwood are credited with "breakdowns," so if you answered either you got credit. Just so you know. As for the page, for a long time, Ostrander had a running gag in SS about a member of the team who was throwing pies at various people. Everyone thought it was Captain Boomerang until he got pied. That turned out to be a clever feint, because it really was Boomerang. Amanda Waller was not in a good mood when she found out, and she dropped Digger off on a desert island. Classic. What a great series.

Number Eighteen: Noble Causes (first series) #1 by Jay Faerber (w) and Patrick Gleason (a). Race Noble marries Liz and goes on a honeymoon. On the last page, a laser comes from the sky and obliterates him. What a great cliff-hanger! Unfortunately, in later issues Faerber decided that exploring Race and Liz's married life would be pretty interesting, so he created an alternate universe Race and now we're never supposed to mention that the "real" Race is dead. But we have proof, Mr. Faerber! It's still a great series. Why aren't you buying it????

Number Nineteen: Scars #6 by Warren Ellis (w) and Jacen Burrows (a). Scars is one of those Ellis books for Avatar, and it's a horribly disturbing experience. John Cain, the cop, has confronted a child-killer, but he has no evidence. That's not about to stop him from getting justice. A sad and gripping read.

Number Twenty: Namor #31 by John Byrne (w) and Jae Lee (a). Was this Lee's first mainstream comic work? Byrne drew the first two years and then just wrote, and Lee did some wild work on this book. Namor loses his memory and battles all sorts of bad guys, including Victor there.

Number Twenty-One: Atomika #2 by Andrew Dabb (w) and Sal Abbinanti (a). I've been telling you how good this book is! Freaky stuff from Abbinanti. Interesting story from Dabb. What's not to like?

Number Twenty-Two: Elektra: Assassin #8 by Frank Miller (w) and Bill Sienkiewicz (a). I'm shocked that everyone didn't recognize Sienkiewicz! For shame! This is Miller doing his completely over-the-top wackiness long before All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, and this is better. But that's just my opinion.

Number Twenty-Three: Gødland #6 by Joe Casey (w) and Tom Scioli (a). Another book you should be buying! Discordia hears the verdict at her trial, and her head explodes! Wha-huh? And, of course, Friedrich Nickelhead then puts Basil Cronus' head on her body. And yes, that is a very strange sentence. But that's just the goodness that is Gødland!

Number Twenty-Four: New Mutants #60 by Louise Simonson (w) and Bret Blevins (a). The death of Doug Ramsey, a huge waste of a great character (and no, his melding with Warlock doesn't count as a resurrection). He saves Rahne by throwing himself in front of a bullet! It's a good scene and a decent comic, but it's still a waste of a great character. And yet Gambit is still alive. There's no justice.

Number Twenty-Five: Doom Patrol #63 by Grant Morrison (w) and Richard Case (a). I have claimed this is the best run by anyone in comic book history, and issue #63 just might be one of the top ten issues in comic book history. Jane leaves the "real world" behind and rejoins Cliff and Rebis on Danny the World. Beautiful, simply beautiful. I get choked up just thinking about it.

A few interesting points: only one person got the panel from Goddess, which was the most poorly identified exactly. A few people did guess that it was Garth Ennis, though - I guess a pole of stone in the groin easily identifies him! Absolutely no one got the Suicide Squad one completely correct - no one got the issue number, and a few people said Luke McDonnell did the art. That surprised me. The other one no one got exactly right was the panel from Dreadstar - only one person knew it was Dreadstar and who wrote and drew it, but he got the wrong issue number. Of all the artists, I figured McManus, McFarlane, Windsor-Smith, and Sienkiewicz would be the most recognizable, and I was right - for the most part. I thought Scars would be the most obscure, but more than a few people got it. Good job keeping up on your Avatar books! I got ten entries, and on 9 of them, Grell's Green Arrow was correctly identified completely (name of the book, issue number, writer, and artist), followed by the Spider-Man/Human Torch panel, the Fantastic Four panel, and the Animal Man panel, each with 8 correct exact answers. I was a bit surprised that Green Arrow was so easily identified, but not that the others were - the Slott/Templeton book is recent, the FF is pretty famous, I think, and Buddy talking to the audience might be in the top ten of most famous in history.

Your winner, with 53 points out of 75, is Mike Loughlin. Mike shows up here often and makes interesting comments, and he is apparently a big nerd. Good job, Mike! He was the only one who knew the Goddess panel, one of the few who recognized Lazarus Churchyard and Scars, and he was one of only two people who correctly identified the Namor panel. He's eclectic! Thanks for all your entries, people, and I'm sure I'll have another one in the near future.

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More Reviews for the 5/17 Comic Book Week

Green Arrow #62 (DC)

Talent #1 (Boom!)

Sorry for a slightly sparse reviewing week. DC and Marvel cover snarking took a lot of time...hehe.

Just a reminder

You have until the end of today to enter my contest! All the details are here. I have gotten a bunch of entries, but there's always room for more! I will reveal the winner and the answers tomorrow.

Just in case you forgot to enter. Please go about your business.

Comic Book Dictionary - Formatitis

Formatitis is when a comic book story suffers from being forced to commit to a specific format.

Notable examples of Formatitis include:

A. Stories written for serialized anthologies (the short length and constant need to recap can rob the story of some impact)

B. Stories written for "the trade" (when a 3-part story has to be stretched to 6 issues. A notable example is the Geoff Johns issue of Avengers that was rejected, as Johns was told to split the story into two issues - both issues seemed a bit sparse).

C. Stories written for longer story pages without deserving the longer story pages (leads to a lot of padding)

D. Stories written for short story length that deserve more (story ends up feeling as though an opportunity was missed).

Any other examples of formatitis that you folks can think of?

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Parties Should Be Good

So I figured I would give all you New York comic book fans a chance to meet me, and other online comic fans, at a couple of different gettogethers!

First off, a number of online pals and I are having a meetup on May 26 to watch the 10:30 pm showing of X3: The Last Stand at the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 theater. Afterwards, there will be libations. If you'd like to see the film with us, or just hang out afterwards, please let me know (cronb01@aol.com).

Secondly, the girlfriend and I are having a party on Saturday, June 3, 8:30pm at an establishment named Yello, which is at 32 Mulberry St in Manhattan. Besides a nice menu and a full bar, there will be free karaoke there, so come on - comic geeks SINGING! How can you pass that up? Again, if you're interested, e-mail me (cronb01@aol.com) so I can add you to the evite guest list.

Finally, I think I'll be setting SOMEthing up later for post-MOCCA. We shall see.

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Free Swag on Ho Chi Minh's Birthday!

Yes, it's Ho Chi Minh's birthday today - he would have been 106 today! It's also Joey Ramone's birthday, Pete Townshend's birthday, Malcolm X's birthday, and Pol Pot's birthday (boo!). It's also my birthday. Yippee! I turn 35 today, which means I'm old. Okay, not old, but I feel old. It also means that I remember buying comics when you could give the clerk a single piece of green paper with George Washington's picture on it and receive a comic book in exchange and get change. I know - sit down and catch your breath for a second! Phew, that's quite the head rush!

In celebration of my natal-versary, I'm giving stuff away! I have in my possession a copy of The Nightmarist, which the fine folk at Active Images (I assume Richard Starkings had something to do with it) sent me not long ago. It is written and drawn by Duncan Rouleau, and is a fine graphic novel. I reviewed it in this post (trust me, it's there), and Rouleau himself stopped by to say hello. Our Lord High Cronin dug it too, in case you don't trust my impeccable taste. Broken Frontier really liked it, too, if that's your thing. Anyway, I'm giving it away, so it could be crap and you'd want it! Free = Desirable! It's the American Way!

So I'm having a contest. Now, unlike my last contest, this will not depend upon my opinion of your mad skillz. This will be cold hard scoring! Here's the game:

Below I have posted twenty-five (25) panels/pages from certain comic books. Some are wildly famous, and some are pretty darned obscure. I want you to identify them. That's not so hard, is it? I would like you to tell me:

1. The name and issue number of the comic book in which the panel appears. Yes, I want the issue number!
2. The name of the writer.
3. The name of the penciller. Don't worry about the inker - they're just tracers, after all!

Each answer is separate, therefore the total number of points is 75. Each correct answer will give you one point. The person with the most points wins. Simple, right? I want the issue number because if you happen to see a certain Caped Crusader, I don't want you to just say, "It's Batman!" I want you to say, "That's Batman #612 with that totally awesome fight between Batman and Superman!" Flex those comic book geek muscles, geeks!

There is one exception. I don't need an issue number for #8. The reasons are my own!!!!

If you want a free copy of The Nightmarist, e-mail me with your answers. It's Friday, so let's set the deadline on Monday. By the end of the day on Monday, have your answers. That should give you enough time to hang out in your garage flipping through your long boxes! Have fun!

Number One.


Number Two.


Number Three.


Number Four.


Number Five.


Number Six.


Number Seven.


Number Eight.


Number Nine.


Number Ten.


Number Eleven.


Number Twelve.


Number Thirteen.


Number Fourteen.


Number Fifteen.


Number Sixteen.


Number Seventeen.


Number Eighteen.


Number Nineteen.


Number Twenty.


Number Twenty-One.


Number Twenty-Two.


Number Twenty-Three.


Number Twenty-Four.


Number Twenty-Five.


Remember: issue number, writer, penciller. 75 points are there to be had! If you don't know the issue number but recognize the artist, that's one point! If you don't know the artist but think you know the writer, send it along! If you don't know the creative team but are sure you know the issue number, that's another point! You don't need to get every part of the answer correct! How cool is that?

So, again, e-mail me by close of business on Monday. Good luck!

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Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #51!

This is the fifty-first 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 fifty.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: John Byrne had a much longer storyline in store for Scarlet Witch before being taken off Avengers West Coast.

STATUS: True

Years ago, on the awesome "Wonder Man: Cooler Than Superman" website, I read an interview by John Byrne. I had totally forgotten about it until someone brought it up recently on Comic Book Resources here. It reminded me of something that John Byrne had planned for Avengers West Coast had he not been unceremoniously pulled from the book in the midst of his "Dark Scarlet Witch" storyline, a story that would be revisited years later during Avengers Disassembled, and this neat interview had the visuals to go along with Byrne's telling of what he would have done, so here is Byrne, from his forum, discussing his plans, along with unpublished covers courtesy of the Wonder Man site:

I'm going to break my own Number One Rule and tell a story that did not see print.

All this came out of the Immortus/Scarlet Witch debacle, of course. With the "realism" in Marvel at the time -- you know, like talking dragons being "telepathic", because that was more "realistic" -- it had become impossible to accept that Wanda's hex power could be something as prosaic as merely causing people to have "bad luck". So it had been decided that what she actually did was alter probabilities . Thus, if the probability of a badguy's gun jamming was 1000 to 1, she could make it 1 to 1, and the gun would jam. Bad luck for him!



When I came to do AVENGERS WEST COAST this was the accepted way of portraying Wanda's power -- but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was really an incredible complication of something that had once been so simple. I mean, think about it! For Wanda to alter probabilities she would have to be reaching back thru the whole temporal chain of events that led to a single moment. She would have to be altering time -- retroactively!

Well, that sure seemed like something that could catch the eye of Immortus, eventually, and as I wrote the story, it did. Immortus, who had been seen pinching off alternate realities as part of a set up to this story, was engaged in a program of whittling the multiverse down to a single time-line. One which he would control.



Discovering Wanda's power, he was going to kidnap her and use her to further his plans. And the first thing he was going to do was alter probabilities so that when the Avengers battled Kang the first time, Kang won!

My story would reveal this in flashback, however, as we would open in the world long after this had happened. Pretty grim place, where most of the familiar heroes had been killed off or never become super powered in the first place. No FF, since they never took that rocket ride. No Hulk, since Rick Jone has never driven his car onto the Gamma Bomb test site. (One of the main characters was going to be Peter Parker, who had not become Spider-Man because of Immortus' manipulations.)

As the story progressed, we would learn slowly what had happened -- and also learn that we were not seeing "present day" Marvel, but rather a time a "few months" (Marvel Time) ago. The date would be just prior to when Thor, in order to save a wounded Black Knight, had used his hammer to open a portal in time and space and stuck the Knight into it. We would learn this when the Black Knight basically fell out of the air into the post-Kang's victory world. In that timeline, Thor had not placed him in the "time stasis", so when the changed world "caught up" to that moment, out popped the Black Knight. The multiverses intersected at that point, you see. Well, the Black Knight pretty quickly figures out what's going on, learns there is an underground (of course!) and helps the folk of the twisted version hunt down and stop Immortus, freeing Wanda (herself another link to the multiverse, by virtue of how Immortus has been manipulating her power) and setting everything right.



When all is restored, the Black Knight of course is back in that "hole in time", and Wanda is the only one who remembers how things were. A memory that fades, like a dream, very quickly. . . .

LOOK FOR THIS TITANIC TALE IN A NuMARVEL BOOK APPEARING SOON !!

Pretty neat, eh?

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Terror, Inc. was a continuation of a previous comic from another publisher.

STATUS: True

In the late 1980s, Marvel's Epic line was not exactly in great shape.

In an attempt to pump some life into it, writer D.G. Chichester was assigned to create a bunch of new characters and titles and work them into the "Shadowline" universe.

Later, the series had a big crossover called Critical Mass.



Does the character on the cover look familiar?

Well, his name was Shreck.

He had the ability to replace parts of his body (hands, feet, arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, etc.) with those of other people.

Sound familiar?

Well, when Epic went under, editor Marc McLaurin asked Chichester to bring Shreck to the Marvel Universe, where he became (you guessed it)...

Terror, Inc.!



Only, of course, Marc McLaurin said that Terror was NOT Shreck.

The move is discussed in detail here, and Chichester shows up to give his feelings on the matter,

No matter what Marcus may or may not have said as a "good soldier" in the Marvel Universe army, Shreck was Terror and Terror was Shreck ...but for the fact that Terror got to develop more of a a back story as time went on. We never did address the transition from Shadowline to MU, however, and probably never would have (as at that point the Shadowline was long since relegated to "Who cares?" among the larger editorial staff at the office (although those of us who invested a lot of time and effort in it kept a warm spot in our hearts).

Odd history, eh?

I liked Terror!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Colossus was originally intended to be Ferro Lad's brother.

STATUS: False

A rumor that has made the rounds over the years is that Colossue was originally intended to be a part of Dave Cockrum's previous work, the Legion of Superheroes.

In fact, here's a post by "Captain Kal" at the Superman Through The Ages forum, on the topic,

I remember reading somewhere that the similarities between Ferro Lad and Colossus were not accidental. I heard one of the creators involved in Colossus wanted to do something with Ferro Lad at DC, but DC resolutely refused his proposal, so he created the analogue of Colossus at Marvel.


Can anyone confirm this?

While I cannot confirm it, I CAN deny it.





In The Legion Companion (TwoMorrows 2003, Page 73), Cockrum gave an interview, and the question was raised,

Q. True or False: your design of Colossus was originally intended to be used as Ferro lad's brother.

Dave Cockrum: False.

Well, that about settles that, eh?

Thanks to H from the great blog The Comic Treadmill for sending me this bit of info about Cockrum.

Well, that's it for this week, thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to drop off any urban legends you'd like to see featured!!

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The End

It is nigh upon us.

Just thought you folks would like to know.

Reviews for the 5/17 Comic Book Week

All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #4 (DC)

Simpsons Comics #118 (Bongo)

Robin #150 (DC)

Scooby Doo #108 (DC)

Infinite Crisis Question

So, I'm reading this week's Aquaman, and it mentions that Aquaman's son AND "foster son" died during Infinite Crisis.

"Foster son" has got to mean Tempest, right?

So is Tempest dead?

What I bought - 17 May 2006

Wow - I actually read everything I bought this week. Only one book was a mini-series, and it was the last issue. But that's the weird world of comic book distribution! Let's delve in, shall we?

This week's mini-theme: THE ART! IT BURNS MY EYES! All will be clear soon enough.

Bomb Queen #4 (of 4) by Jimmie Robinson
$3.50, Image

Well, Bomb Queen isn't awful, but it's certainly not as great as its creator thinks it is. I haven't quite gotten over the text piece in the back of the first issue, in which Robinson tells us how wonderful he is and how subversive Bomb Queen is. Well, he may be, but it's not.

It's a perfectly fine four-issue mini-series. There's loads of gratuitous violence and nudity, and nothing changes, as Ms. Queen is still in charge of New Port City at the end just as she was in the beginning. She does awful things - she is the villain, after all - and exposes the mayoral candidate Robert Woods as - shocking! - a hypocrite, but it all feels hollow. Allow me to explain.

It's obvious from page 1 of this book that Robinson wants it to be a satire. So, in order to be clear, I looked up "satire" in my handy-dandy dictionary. "Satire" is: A literary work in which irony, derision, or wit in any form is used to expose folly or wickedness. I have to think this qualifies. Except it's completely lacking in wit, which is where we separate good satire from poor satire. This is certainly ironic and derisive, and I know the definition says "OR," but good satire is able to be witty as well, even though it doesn't have to be. Anyone can be derisive, and most people can be ironic, but witty - that's a different story. In this series, Robinson simply wants to show that we as a society view sex and violence just as forms of entertainment, and we set people up as "heroes" and "villains" not based on any rigid morality, but whoever happens to cater to us. Therefore, Bomb Queen, who constantly reminds us she's a villain, loses the support of her city when it looks as if she's not playing fairly, but when Robert Woods attacks her in the last issue, she regains the adoration of the people because he is seen as acting unfairly. She has, ever so briefly, become the victim, and so is able to triumph in the court of public opinion, and the status quo is retained.

My question: so what? Robinson's book, as puerile and violent as it is, tells us nothing new. It's sad, sure, that this kind of book doesn't shock us and is nothing worse than you can see on network television (maybe not quite as graphically depicted, but close enough) any night of the week. Robinson isn't being as "cutting-edge" as he'd like to think, and he's certainly not doing anything particularly witty. Society sucks? Really? If Robinson really wants to do satire, he should pick something a little less obvious. Whenever I read satire, I'm invariably reminded of Swift's "A Modest Proposal." I can't help it. I don't want to compare anything to that because it's a classic, but Swift's proposal works because it is so off-the-wall, to the point, and although it's tongue in cheek, Swift never lets on that it's a joke. Robinson wants to poke fun at society as well as celebrate it, and therefore, Bomb Queen doesn't work. It's certainly entertaining, but it falls far short of its pretensions.

Fallen Angel #5 by Peter David and J. K. Woodward
$3.99, IDW

Meanwhile, we have the ending of what was supposed to be a mini-series, but is now an ongoing. So issue #5 wraps up a story arc and, surprisingly for this series, doesn't really set up that much for the next issue. Sure, Lee is staying in the city and helping out her son, who is now the Magistrate, but other than that, it feels like an ending. Next issue should be a fine place to start reading, if you're still not on board (for shame!).

This is an interesting issue, as the first four of the IDW series has been, because David eschews his usual coyness and actually gives us some closure, probably because he wrote this thinking it would be a mini-series. Therefore, Juris turns the administration of Bete Noire over to Jude, who gets more than he bargained for. Juris gleefully leaves town, with unexpected results. The core of the book is when Lee tells Jude that God wants to quit but humanity won't let him, because they keep worshipping him. Then idea that God is a concept we need to outgrow isn't necessarily original, but David sells it well. In the context of this book, we can believe it, because Lee does have first-hand knowledge of God, so she could be telling the truth. And the correlation between humanity not being able to let go of God and Xia not being able to let go of Juris is interesting, especially as Lee specifically links humanity to a battered wife.

As usual, David gives us plenty to chew on in this issue, and even though unexpected things happen, they are not events that come out of the blue but, once they occur, we understand why they did happen and how it got to that point. David is very good at this sort of thing, and when he doesn't allow his cleverness to overrun that trait in his writing, he's capable of brilliant stuff. This is one of those titles. So you should buy it.

Fell #5 by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith
$1.99, Image

I certainly don't want to keep harping on Desolation Jones, but because it is the most high-profile of Ellis' work these days (isn't it?), it colors how I am reading Ellis right now and how I criticize him. This latest issue of Fell fits in perfectly with that idea, because it's so similar to certain parts of Desolation Jones, specifically issues #2 and 3, in that it's basically a conversation between two people. How Ellis structures these conversations is why he's a fascinating and occasionally infuriating writer.

Richard's interrogation of Michael Connah is simply, as Ellis puts it, "a two-men-in-a-box" story. He discusses how he needed to lay out the story so that Templesmith could draw it and not make it a comic with one mounted "camera" showing the action. But although the art does keep us interested, it's the dialogue I want to consider. In DJ #2, we get the conversation between Michael and Emily, and I've mentioned that it is one of the more beautiful dialogues you're going to see in comics in a long time. In the third issue, we get the porn deconstruction, and it's annoying because it takes us out of the narrative and comes across as Ellis rambling on about whatever happens to interest him. During Fell's brief life, we have seen that Ellis also injects stuff that he finds fascinating into Snowtown, and although it hasn't taken over yet, it threatens to occasionally. In this issue he goes all psychological on us, as Richard breaks down Michael, who doesn't want to talk. But Richard is able to get him to crack, and Michael freaks out and pulls a gun. This is when Richard kicks it into high gear, and Michael eventually realizes what a mess his life has become. Richard talks him down, and this is where Ellis shines. Unlike the porn issue of Desolation Jones, but like the conversation in issue #2, Ellis is able to blend his pet ideas with dialogue that rings true, and so when Michael shouts "No-one can help me!" and then switches abruptly to "Help me," it affects us more than a porn actress simply spouting off horrible stories, even though we recognize how horrible it really is. Because Richard and even Michael are part of the narrative and are characters instead of mouthpieces, the interrogation scene has a drama and a resolution that is much more powerful than in Desolation Jones. And when Michael tells Richard not to waste time with Mayko, it also affects us, because it comes from their conversation and not from out of the blue. Therefore, Richard's exchange with Mayko at the end of the issue works well and is nicely done.

One of the reasons why I am so disappointed in DJ is because of issues like this. Ellis is so capable of this kind of thing that anything less is a big disappointment. Fell #5 delivers. And, as usual, it's one and done. Whoo-hoo!

Moon Knight #2 by Charlie Huston, David Finch, and Danny Miki
$2.99, Marvel

The awesomeness that is Moon Knight returns for a second issue, and it's interesting on several levels. First, let's look at the story. It's split into two sections, not unlike the first issue. In the first part of the issue, we see how Marc Spector got the way he is, as he battles Bushman, presumably to the death. Bushman throws him off a roof and breaks him into teeny, tiny pieces, but Marc still has enough in him to take out his arch-enemy. It's a nice brutal battle, with neither man speaking. The fact that Bushman says nothing in the issue is very cool, and all we get from MK is internal narration after the fact, as he reflects on this final battle. It's horrifically effective.

The scene then shifts to the present, as Crawley picks up Marc's drugs and brings them to him. Marc is still attended by Samuels and Nedda, which is strange, and he's not in the mood to talk to Crawley, who is trying to get him off his butt and back into action. Strange things are afoot, as we clearly see Khonshu's eyes glow in one panel. Marc wants nothing to do with him, but then Crawley tells him that Frenchie is in trouble. This spurs him into action. Finally, the last page shows us that Marc is being tracked (well, presumably it's Marc, although the guy calls him "asset prime") by people we assume are up to no good. So that sets up the rest of the story.

That's just the bare bones of it all. Let's look deeper. First, THE ART! IT BURNS MY EYES! Okay, not all the time. Finch has never been accused of being sloppy, and the details he is putting into this book is appreciated. The fight between Bushman and Moon Knight is beautifully rendered, except for a few crucial things. First, what the hell is up with Bushman? Others have been making fun of the cover for issues to come in which Bushman appears (#4, I think), and it's true - he's gigantic, which makes him very bizarre-looking. It's just ... off. As someone who owns every issue of the third (and most recent) Moon Knight series, I don't really recall the last time we saw Bushman, but I am certainly going to go check, because this Bushman is grotesque and barely human. At one point he licks the blade with which he cut Moon Knight, and the tongue sure ain't human. Yet we see his tongue later, and it looks normal. WTF? After Marc plunges from the roof and Bushman is about to gut him, it appears that Marc throws one of those nifty moon discs he has and it circles back around and catches Bushman in the neck. The layout of panels here is confusing, and it bugs me. Then, MK pulls Bushman's face off. Yes, it's icky, but it appears that Bushman was wearing the skin as a mask. When did that happen? Again, I have to go back and check my collection. Darn. Other than those things, Finch's art is very nice, and his details are fantastic. Again, I'm sort of on the good side of the fence when it comes to Finch's art, and despite those objections, I like the entire look of the book.

The final question I have when it comes to Moon Knight the series is whether it will appeal to enough new readers to make it viable. So far it's a wonderfully gripping story, but is Huston being too insular and appealing too much to the hard core fans of the character. Bushman is brought in with no fanfare and no update on who he is, other than Marc doesn't like him. The rest of the cast - Crawley and Samuels - simply show up, and why the heck (one might ask) is Crawley calling Marc "Jake"? These are small complaints from me, because it's nice to see how Huston is structuring this story so that it moves the character forward while still retaining some of the past, but are new fans going to pick this up because, maybe, of the appeal of David Finch but not stay with it because they don't know what the hell is going on? And if so, will the series survive?

I don't know. I'm just wondering. For now, this is a very good book. And it doesn't tie into Civil War!!!!!

Rex Mundi #18 by Arvid Nelson and Juan Ferreyra
$2.99, Image

Speaking of THE ART! IT BURNS MY EYES! I don't like Humberto Ramos. Therefore, I don't like this cover. Boy, it's ugly. Ugly ugly ugly. Boo, Humberto Ramos!

This is the last Image issue of this title, as it moves on to Dark Horse, and it's also an ending of sorts, as we reach the halfway point of the epic with Julien in the prison of the Inquisition, the king reasserting his control of France by arresting the Parliament, the Duke of Lorraine on the run but assembling an army, and Prussians on the border. Oh, the drama! The reason this book is better than, say, a certain new movie coming out starring a certain ex-cross dressing actor, is because we accept the hint of the supernatural that runs through this book, and when the Duke of Lorraine's daughter does some strange things, we accept that it adds a nice layer of meaning to the narrative. Isabelle is a wild card in the mix, and it's interesting how Nelson keeps introducing characters to his ever-expanding cast but we're still able to recognize them and understand their motivations. It's a mark of a good writer that he's able to do this.

I guess that there is a movie in the works, which is strange because of the aforementioned movie that opens this weekend, but its move to Dark Horse means that it might get more publicity and might actually sell some more copies. I'll keep saying it - this is a great book, people. Seek. Purchase.

Ultimate X-Men #70 by Robert Kirkman, Ben Oliver, and Jonathan Glapion
$2.99, Marvel

The last entrant in this week's THE ART! IT BURNS MY EYES! theme is this month's issue of UXM, drawn by Mr. Ben Oliver. It's not horrible art by any means, but let's look at a few egregious examples.

First, the Blob on the cover. He has just dropped a hoagie as Cyclops grabs him around the neck. I'm not sure if that's one of the dumbest things possible, or if it's clever. I vote STUPID! The interior art is fine, except for the fight scene between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. It's far too cluttered. It's difficult to tell what's going on just by glancing at it. We need to really try to sort through all the various characters, and it's really not worth effort. A poor layout by Oliver. And the characters look too old. They're teenagers!

Other than that, it's a decent enough issue, plagued by the normal middle issue syndrome in that everything has already been set up but nothing can be resolved. So we get fights and lots of hemming and hawing on the Lilandra/Jean Grey front, until the Phoenix shows up at the end. I've said it before that the presence of the Phoenix in the Ultimate Universe is okay with me for now, but I truly hope Kirkman wraps it up satisfactorily next issue and it's never heard from again. I won't hold my breath.

Oh, and Kurt's an asshole. On the one hand, it's a shame, but on the other hand, it's kind of cool. We need more assholes who happen to be heroes in comics. Batman doesn't count. He's always been an asshole.

X-Men #186 by Peter Milligan and Salvador Larroca
$2.99, Marvel

And so the Peter Milligan era on X-Men comes to an end (doesn't it? this is his last issue, right?) on a strange and disappointing note, much like the rest of his run. It was marked by absolutely gorgeous art, which continues in this issue and odd ideas that could have taken this title somewhere special but never really got developed, and I'm not sure if that's Milligan's fault or the editors'. In this issue Apocalypse finally realizes that the mutants who might be best suited to survive are those that fight against him so vehemently. It's something that has been obvious for years, but Milligan points it out, which is nice. The fight between Apocalypse and the X-Men is interesting, and it's nice to see that Milligan remembered the Avengers are in New York, since the last time a mutant bad guy came to Manhattan (Magneto), there seemed to be a distinct lack of superheroes around. The presence of the Sentinels continues to be annoying, but let's hope they're going away soon. And Milligan leaves plenty of things unresolved for the next writer, including some tantalizing things about Apocalypse himself. I'm sick of Apocalypse, but at the same time, he does have potential (as long as he loses that stupid outfit!), and it would be nice to see someone realize it. Milligan wrote the best Apocalypse I can remember, but as usual with this bunch of issues, it was strangely neutered.

I can't say this was a very good run of X-Men, but it wasn't awful, either. At least Milligan tried some things, even if they didn't come to fruition. But this is what it means to write Marvel's Merry Mutants - everything must always stay the same!!!!!

So, a pretty good week. And, surprisingly, not a DC comic in the bunch! That's weird.

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