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AICN COMICS REVIEWS Morrison's FINAL CRISIS! Millar's 1985! ZOMBIE HAIKU!?! AND MORE!
| #8 | 6/25/08 | #7 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
FINAL CRISIS #2
1985 #2
SUPERMAN #677
ZOMBIE HAIKU OGN
BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT #2
Big Eyes For the Cape Guy presents HOTEL HARBOR VIEW
Indie Jones presents from the WIZARDWORLD CHICAGO COMIC CON
FINAL CRISIS #2 (of 7)
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by J. G. Jones
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Stones Throw
It’s been a while since I awaited the latest issue of a comic book as eagerly as the second installment of DC’s FINAL CRISIS. To make matters worse, I was late in picking up #1 and therefore wrongly expected #2 to hit a week earlier than scheduled. Talk about a drag!
I found the conceit presented in the first part of the latest crisis genuinely interesting. “There was a cosmic war… and the powers of evil won.” The current market conditions call for regular company-wide crossovers, but with most of them it’s just a matter of waiting for how, or worse, when the heroes are gonna save the multiverse or repel the alien invasion. Grant Morrison chose to shake up the formula by beginning where most events wouldn’t end up, with the battle that’s usually the focus won by the wrong side. What happens when the moral order that ensures the heroes’ continued victories is subverted? I really can’t predict where things are going to go here. You’d expect the superheroes to win in the end, but with everything that’s happened so far, Morrison knows how that’s going to happen.
Like all great second issues, FINAL CRISIS # 2 raises the stakes and develops threads introduced in the first issue while peppering in new conflicts and ideas. The most remarkable thing about this comic is how it manages to sustain a sense of dread even while varying the tone. The first issue had a hilarious gag about Dr. Light and the Mirror Master teaming up, and here I laughed out loud when the Flash complains to old guy Flash about how Batman made him read the entire internet. I also loved how Superman hopes for a resurrection even as the Justice League buries the Manhunter from Mars (on Mars, of course).
It’s great to have P.O.V. characters in a story like this. Marvel’s event this summer was painfully lacking a ground level-type perspective, but here we have two relatable characters to guide us through the darkness: Dan “Terrible” Turpin, the Kirby analogue private eye who gets chillingly embroiled in the New Gods’ secret invasion, and Nix Uotan, a young Monitor banished to a mortal body on Earth after his actions helped cause the destruction of one of the 52 parallel worlds in the DC universe (paralleling Darkseid and co.’s situation). This was the one element that confused me in # 1, but here I found the pages with Nix in everyday life, attempting to remember who he was and trying to figure out how to get back to the Orrery of Worlds to be the most intriguing. To anyone else who isn’t a major DC brain, the Monitors are kind of like Watchers crossed with Recorders, and the Orrery of Worlds is like Watcherworld, but for the Multiverse. Got it?
There’s too many great scenes and ideas in here. The first-page homage to a classic Julie Schwartz cover. The introduction of the Super Young Team. The Society of Super-Villains walking to their cars in a parking lot. Hal Jordan implicated in a murder mystery. A time-travelling bullet that kills a god and then buries itself in the ground 50 years ago. The last-page return of a much-missed hero.
But the best part has to be that we’re still on the slow burn. Trust Morrison not to follow the formula of starting with a big action scene and then scaling down. I can’t wait until things really hot up.
J. G. Jones’ art is beyond superlative. It’s a worthy heir to Kirby and the equal to Mr. Morrison’s script, placing the comic in a DC tradition of George Perez, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Dick Dillin, Jack Kirby, the SUPER FRIENDS and Curt Swan, all the way back to ACTION COMICS #1. I was worried when I read Turpin’s fight with the Mad Hatter described as “Martin Scorsese” but the violence isn’t flippant or humorous in the slightest—there’s some shockingly powerful superhero art taking place in Jones’ living and breathing settings.
FINAL CRISIS has been criticized for not linking up with the preceding series, which I think was called COUNTDOWN TO something. I wouldn’t know, since I followed my personal Bad Comics Rule. But I can understand why that might be annoying, and probably a few editors deserve to be possessed by Darkseid or Kalibak. But don’t use that as a reason to pass up a series that will most likely be looked back on the same way fans talk about CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS today. FINAL CRISIS is both a Grant Morrison book and an event series spanning the whole tapestry of DC comics. I wouldn’t miss out.
1985 #2
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Tommy Lee Edwards
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Optimous Douche
We live in a spoiler age. Internet leaks, bit torrents and well hell, Ain’t It Cool News, provide all the details of any story months before the actual material is released. I’m sure most of you reading this review already know how 1985 is going to end and the repercussions it will/won’t have on the Marvel universe. I feel sorry for you. The true thrill of 1985 is not having the faintest clue of what’s going to happen next, or quite frankly, what’s actually happening at the moment.
Set back in a simpler time when Republicans could out themselves in public and gays couldn’t, Millar’s latest “high concept” (I don’t know I heard the term once, I like it) immerses you in a state of non-reality, asking the reader to question whether they are trapped within a young man’s imagination or whether the greatest heroes and villains of the Marvel universe are converging on a small town in Nowhere America.
In addition to enjoying the book’s “mystery”, I’m also enamored with how easily I could relate to the main character. Toby, like most of Millar’s protagonists, comes from a broken home and is an only child. He spends all of his time reading comic books and looking for an escape from his mundane existence. Hell, not only could I relate to this story, if you got rid of the broken home and threw in a few DC titles to Toby’s pull list this could have been an episode of “Optimous Douche, This is Your Life.” Now, where Toby differs from the leads of WANTED and KICK-ASS is that he’s a believable kid. Not being thrust into an international assassin guild, or eating a retard sandwich, buying a wet suit, and fighting crime, Toby remains an average kid that is witnessing some extraordinary shit…perhaps.
The real question for readers at the end of issue two is whether the events Toby is witnessing are real or mere figments of an overactive imagination. Juggurnaut and Hulk Indian wrestle, Dr. Doom sets up camp in the middle of Nowhere America and now Elektro is on the scene. There would have to be some serious happenings for characters with this level of gravitas to converge in one place, but right now the encounters lack a compelling event to tie everything together. Instead, every battle is just a series of random comic panels brought to life. Whatever the ultimate answer is, I hope it’s not as simple as the Newhart dream sequence and Millar astounds us with a Hitchcock type twist that is neither simple nor easy.
In fact, Millar’s going to have to astound us with the overarching concept, because from a dialogue and art perspective this title teeters on just being average, hardly worth the extra dollar for admission. I was tepid towards Edwards’ imagery. It works on a representative level if we are in fact wandering through a teen’s imagination. While the various characters’ facial expressions are top notch, the dewy scenes seem to be lazy if the events are actually happening.
All in all, this series could achieve greatness if there are surprises around the corner.
When Optimous Douche isn’t reading comics and misspelling the names of 80’s icons, he “transforms” into a corporate communications guru. Optimous is looking for artistry help, critical feedback and a little industry insight to get his original book AVERAGE JOE up, up and on the shelves. What if the entire world had super powers? Find out in the blog section of Optimous’ MySpace page to see some preview pages and leave comments.
SUPERMAN #677
Writer: James Robinson
Penciller: Renato Guedes
Inker: Wilson Magalhaes
Published by: DC Comics
Reviewed by: BottleImp
I was really gunning for Robinson to knock this title out of the park. James Robinson is the reason I got back into DC comics in the 1990s, and his work on STARMAN and JSA inspired in me a love of all things Golden Age. I enjoy his writing so much that I’m even willing to forgive him his abysmal screenplay for THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. So when I read that Robinson would be taking over the reins of DC’s—hell, comicdom’s—most important and influential icon, my hopes were high that he would bring to SUPERMAN the same deft characterization and intricate storytelling that was the hallmark of THE GOLDEN AGE, STARMAN, and the rest of Robinson’s body of work.
Unfortunately, this was not the case with SUPERMAN #677.
Lets begin at the beginning: we get a few pages of prologue with Superman and Hal Jordan playing outer-space fetch with Krypto the super-dog. Hal muses on Superman’s naiveté, thinking that perhaps his sense of innocence and belief in a better life is what makes Superman great.
Been there, read that.
Since the mid-1980s, when the “grim & gritty” superhero trend began, Superman has almost invariably been portrayed as a hero whose values remain pure and untarnished, a bit of a boy scout at times, but always a better man because of his purity. We get it. It’s been done. And done better, I might add—Superman says to Hal, “…I have Lois in my life—and a dog. A GOOD dog. And that GIVES me a life. Complete. Bottom line, what could go WRONG?” I guess Clark forget to see what he was up to in the pages of FINAL CRISIS #2. That way Robinson has written Superman here just doesn’t jive with me—he comes across less like a boy scout and more like a kid who is enrolled in “Special Ed” courses and has to ride the shortbus to school.
Then we’re in Metropolis as the Science Police are fighting some sort of monster while their leader gives us narrative captions telling the reader all about his team. Problem #1—the team is all wearing the same costume (including a full face-covering helmet), so we have no way of knowing what these individuals being described to us actually look like, so a second introduction to the Science Police team will be necessary so that the reader can tell them apart. Problem #2—the writing style of the narrative is very “Robinson-esque,” which is not a bad thing unless you’re a fan of STARMAN. The captain of the team’s thoughts read exactly like Jack Knight’s. Not a big problem, but it ends up being a distraction.
Then Atlas shows up. If you’ve never heard of this character, don’t worry—he appeared in one of DC’s FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL comics in the 1970s and not much else. I think this might be a good thing—Robinson has a knack for taking one-note obscure characters and breathing new life into them. However, Atlas’ appearance drew my attention to another flaw of this issue: the art.
Atlas is drawn as a mound of muscle upon muscle, yet Guedes (and Magalhaes is partly to blame as well, I think) uses very little variation of line weight in drawing his form. As a result, the figure loses a sense of roundness and weight and winds up looking flat and static. The terrible side-effect is that the colorist overcompensated for this lack of form in the drawing with full gradations on every possible fold of flesh until Atlas winds up looking like nothing more than a pile of raw hamburger.
Look, DC has three icons—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—and these three should be given the best possible treatment in terms of writing and art that DC can give. They are important characters and should be treated as such. The artwork for this issue was okay, but something was lacking. Neither Atlas’ arrival nor Superman’s appearance on the final page are as awe-inspiring as they should have been. In my opinion, Superman should always be drawn as bold and powerful as Alex Ross invariably renders him (on this issue’s cover, for example). DC—treat your most important properties with the respect they deserve!
When in comes right down to it, however, the writing is really what’s at fault here. This issue wasn’t about Superman; it was about people talking (or in this case thinking) about Superman. So far it’s hard to see what James Robinson wants to do with the character, if in fact he has a definite plan at all. I’m probably going to pick up the next issue or two to see if the story heats up, but if the artwork doesn’t improve and Robinson continues to meander around his title character in favor of unoriginal observations from his supporting cast, I’m afraid it’ll be the first comic he’s written that I don’t want to read. I’ll just have to hope that Robinson’s forthcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE series will be more in line with the quality I've come to expect from the man.
ZOMBIE HAIKU OGN
By Ryan Mecum
Published by HOW Books
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
with a stomach full of meat.
I search for meat.
Zombie this, zombie that. Everything and anything has had a zombie version of it as of late. But none fit together better than zombies and poetry. Haiku poetry that is. Known as a meditative form of linking words to find meaning and peace in a 5-7-5 word per line structure, the art of Haiku has been cannibalized by Ryan Mecum in his original graphic novel ZOMBIE HAIKU and the result is simply one of the best zombie reads of the year.
"When there's no more room in hell..."
but then we eat him.
Although a series of non-connected poems would be kind of fun, this book is so much more than that. The book tells a narrative of one man's attempt to survive during a zombie holocaust, but doesn't stop there. Like Romero's zombies in his later films, after the narrator/poet succumbs to the zombie infestation, he continues to write Haikus and that's when the real poetry starts.
when you're biting teeth with teeth.
Dead teeth tend to lose.
With nods to just about every zombie film you can imagine (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, Romero's films, even obscure zombie fare like ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST and Bianchi’s incestuous BURIAL GROUND) and reminiscent of high concept stories like Stephen King's SKELETON KEY story "Survivor Type" and "trapped in a dead body" episodes of TWILIGHT ZONE and JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN AKA the Metallica "One" video, ZOMBIE HAIKU takes the reader on a journey through the zombie holocaust on a personal level and makes the journey a fascinating, often hilarious, and most assuredly horrifying trip to take. You are literally riding in the brain of a zombie as it eats, shambles, and zombies about.
I chew when he bites and tears.
When I bite, he chews.
This isn't necessarily a comic, but a book that comic book readers can appreciate on a intellectual level and most assuredly on an aesthetic level. ZOMBIE HAIKU is packaged extremely well, done on slick paper and bound tightly in soft cover. The pages are made to look like real journal pages smeared with blood and other zombie oozings. Included are extremely creepy photographs like close up images of zombie mouths, obscured long shots of people wandering the streets, and blurred snapshots that suggest action, panic, and carnage.
Streets are just filled with people
who aren't quite people.
This is the single best zombie read I have laid my eyes on this year and sure to show up in my picks for best original graphic novel of the year. The book does a phenomenal job of going into the mind of a zombie and does so in a creative and wholly new and imaginative way. If you have a taste for horror, this quirky little book is for you. But if you're a zombie fiend like myself, you should make it your single minded goal to seek out this book and digest then savor it. It's a true gem of a book for those with a taste for the macabre.
is much harder than it looks.
the skull is feisty.
Highly recommended.
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, reviewer and co-editor of AICN Comics for over seven years. Look for his first published work in MUSCLES & FIGHTS 3 (AVAILABLE NOW!) from Cream City Comics.
BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT # 2 (of 12)
Written by Steve Niles
Art by Kelley Jones
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Stones Throw
I’m going to reiterate my comments from last week’s Shoot the Messenger talkback: the story’s no revelation, but buy this for artist Kelley Jones’ demented and truly original take on the Dark Knight.
Our artistic odyssey into the beautiful and weird begins with the cover of GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT # 2. That’s a cover that has it all—stained glass windows, a gothic villain, creepy candlelight and the promise of the Batman’s head about to be lopped off. I think the little, weird touches like the candles on Batman’s neck really make the cover.
Jones is one of our great comic book talents when it comes to horror art. He’s still one of my favorites to have worked on SANDMAN, which is really saying something; he had a long run on various BATMAN titles in the ‘90s and did some great stuff on a trilogy of vampire Batman graphic novels with Doug Moench. Jones’ art is as good as it gets here—creepy, exaggerated and very dark. I have to give credit to the colorist, Michelle Madsen, too, whose colors are vibrant and psychedelic while still leaving the inks oh so pitch-black and clean.
As I said, Niles’ story isn’t particularly new or original, and his caption boxes and dialogue balloons sometimes clutter up the page with unnecessary or clunky sentences (Man-Bat tells Batman “I know you can do two things at once, Batman,” while throwing two sarcophagi at him, “but even Batman can’t hold two sarcophagi and come after me.”), but this is comics we’re reading after all. The art and situations are more than enough to sustain my interest, and Niles fulfils his side of the bargain by giving Jones plenty of interesting and unusual things to draw. I’d be interested in finding out how this thing is scripted. Like, those Spider-Tracer bat things that pop and wrap the bad guys in webbing are so strange and work so well for Jones that I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with them himself, but full credit to Steve Niles if he was the one who put that in his story.
My only other criticism would be that it looks like this story might be veering a little close to the modern cliché of having all of Batman’s major villains show up one by one. But at the same time I can’t wait to see Kelley Jones’ take on Clayface next issue. Should be good.
HOTEL HARBOR VIEW
Written by Natsuo Sekikawa
Illustrated by Jiroh Taniguchi
Released by VIZ Media
Out of print, but Obtainable through Amazon
Reviewer: Scott Green
Anyone fascinated by manga's form owes it to themselves to track down a copy of HOTEL HARBOR VIEW. Story and illustration deconstruct manga craft as much as the killer's track it is built around. Despite the clean, photorealistic precision of Taniguchi's illustration, the collection of two stories demonstrate an act of a medium mistrusting its own tenants akin to dissonant avante-guard music.
Set in the noir world of killers, HOTEL HARBOR VIEW inhabits an exhausting state of tension waiting to kill or be killed. Its acrid game of death is as much about waiting for the clock's hand to tick as it is the gun shot, serving as a compassionless, clinical examination that fails to blink during the dying sputters of self-identification.
The switch between this instance and the noir genre template is that the lies being told don't represent the wake of titanic social movements and shifting ages. As such, the city and the corruption of the moment aren't conspiring against shooter and target as the context of a story may in Chandler, Hammett or Spillane. Instead, the lies are in how the subjects define themselves: what is remembered, what is forgotten, and how someone presents themselves to the world.
Because the narrative is responsible for introducing these falsehoods to the reader, by extension, these are the lies of storytelling. A work of manga that can capture any moment in time gives the reader the eyesight needed to observe the air currents flowing off a bullet. If that manga trains its gaze on a subject who has built up a false life that looks different from the reality, the manga inherits that corruption, with the art deviates from the objective.
Manga is far more dominated by single creators (with assistants) than the creative teams of North American comics. The popular DEATH NOTE's Tsugumi Ooba and Takeshi Obata is a contrary example. LONE WOLF AND CUB's Kazuo Koike is a writer. As is FIST OF THE NORTHSTAR's Buronson. Natsuo Sekikawa and Jiro Taniguchu leverage their partnership for contradictory effects.
Taniguchi's illustration focuses on cutting time. He takes manga, which is initially a sequence of still images and turns it into time slicing. Sekikawa's noir stories demonstrate how, from a human perspective, these context-free moments are false. A bullet moving through space will kill its target regardless of the motivation of the person who pulled the trigger, but from a social concept of truth, the history behind how shooter and target arrived at that moment is essential. Consequently, Taniguchi's illustration gives a false objective truth that Sekikawa's story invalidates.
At the same time, Taniguchi's illustration betrays the orchestration of the story. In contrast to literal dictates of noir, Taniguchi captures the moments in a glaring luminance that is certain not to obscure anything. As characters go to great effort to construct a moment for effect, to define something in their lives, Taniguchi's sharp view cuts through it, depicting legs revealed in an erotic set up as banal as those traveling down an escalator.
Scott Green has been writing for AICN ANIME for close to seven years. If you like what you see here and love anime & manga, be sure to check out his latest AICN ANIME column here.
Hey folks, Ambush Bug here with an extra special Indie Jones Presents. This year's WIZARD WORLD CON was a truly fun experience. One of the best things about the con for is wandering around the Artists Alley and other booths to see what new and exciting things they have to offer. Today's top artists and writers had to come from somewhere and this section of the con is where they reside. Ambition is in the air so thick that you can barely wade through it when one walks the Artist Alley. These guys take their comics, pens, paper, and heart in hand and dare to dream of becoming comic bookdom's next big thing. As always, here at Indie Jones, I want to support and promote these voices and maybe one day you can say you read about them here first. Let's see what I picked up this year...
WEAPON BROWN #1
Deep Fried Comics
Starting off this edition of Indie Jones stuff I got at this year's
WIZARDWORLD CHICAGO CON is WEAPON BROWN a parody mixing the PEANUTS
comic strip with elements of post-apocalyptic adventure. Jason Yungbluth does a great job of incorporating and pissing all over just about all of the aspects of Charlie Brown and company sweet and wholesome. The result is an acidic yarn, but a hilarious and fun one nevertheless. Yungbluth is a very good artist, choosing interesting camera angles and perspectives to make for an exciting read. The puns never miss their mark. Sure, there are easy jabs such as making Peppermint Patty and Marcie lesbian prostitutes, but for every one of those, there is a clever twist involving the Kite Eating Tree, Linus' blanket, and the old Charlie/Lucy football routine. When I saw Yungbluth at the con, he said that there were more WEAPON BORWN stories to come. I hope so. This one honors Charles Schultz as much as it lampoons his work. Fun reading.
PEEP #1
Planet Doom Studios
Writer/artist Matt Wendt thinks that there is something downright scary about baby chickens and after reading this book, I have to agree. Cartoonish in a DRAGON'S LAIR sort of way, PEEP is an anthology book focusing on one thing - scary stories about chicks on a rampage. The book hops to different points in history, telling a Viet Nam story where a group of soldiers come across a village rampaged by the little pecker. It then leaps forward in time to a camping trip where a full moon triggers a feathery transformation. Finally, a group of evil chickens take on a group of street dancers, ending with the break dancers being more than "served." PEEP is a fun concept and the back page promises more chicky madness to come. The Peep itself really is cutely terrifying and the carnage depicted in these pages is not for the squeamish. Very clever fun stuff.
THE SEAN WARD ELECTRIC COMICS FREAK-OUT #5 & 6
Sean Ward Productions
So far, I've tossed around the word fun quite generously in this Indie Jones section, but fun is what I had at this year's WIZARDWORLD CHICAGO Con and fun seems to be exuding from everything I picked up there. This is especially true with THE SEAN WARD ELECTRIC COMICS FREAK-OUT. This is a trippy little comic with really nice production values and extremely clean art. Ward knows how to stretch and caricaturize the cast members of this book to make them visually pleasing to read about. The story has no limits and I like a book where you don't know what to expect when you read it. Seems Ward throws just about everything and anything into his books. From hot air balloons with giant eyes that look like Iron Fist's mask to a cursed Pez dispenser, this book shatters the walls of reason and the characters inside just go along with it as if nothing odd is happening. Issues 5 and 6 is a two-part story entitled "The Changing Color and the Candy Curse" and tells the tale of a psychedelic rock band who receives an ominous Pez dispenser from a fan. Soon the Pez dispenser reveals itself to be alive and takes the band on an adventure to save its soul. Issue #6 has a very funny short as a Panda competes with a Wordburglar in a rap contest (never thought I'd write that series of words). Sean Ward has a unique and imaginative voice and philosophizes about his motivations and inspirations in the back of the book. Filled with fun asides and witty banter, this book will definitely satisfy those of you who need a healthy dose of quirk and goof.
ZOIR #1 & 2
Geekocracy
The cool thing about zombie fiction is that it is such a universal concept that it can fit into any genre and under any situation. ZOIR is a zombie detective comic where the main character solves crimes and does investigations; he just happens to be a zombie doing it. It's a fun concept and writer Mason Johnson utilizes the noir genre to its fullest potential filling the book with shady characters for this less than perfect protagonist to interact with. The black & white art (issue #1 is done by Sergio Martin Carrera and issue #2 is by Santiago Espina) does a good job of conveying the heavy tone and representing the shady grey area where Jason, our undead detective, makes his home. The book is told in harsh black and whites and although sometimes the art can be a bit too photographical and representative of clip art to some extent (especially the police detective who looks exactly like Eddie Murphy), it still does a good job of illustrating the duplicitous and dark nature of the characters within the story.
I was also able to check out copies of an anthology book called MASON #1 & 2. Although a bit crudely printed on folded white paper, these ashcans were filled with clever ideas and hilarious stories. One bit that continues from issue one and two has the exact same set of panels, just different word balloons. It’s a great exercise to see how different the story is perceived just with the addition of a different set of words. In these volumes, we also see super hero penguins and a guy trying desperately to get a girl to talk with him on the train. The final ashcan from Geekocracy is a western called BANG! This book looks to be crafted well and filled with wit and adventure. There’s only a few pages to go by, but it looks like Geekocracy has a lot of talent in its stable.
THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS Preview
Avatar Press
The Max Brooks panel at WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO was truly one of the highlights of the weekend. Brooks is personable and clearly a fanboy of the highest order. Brooks talked briefly about this book to be released by Avatar later this year. For those of you who read THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE, some of the stories may be a bit familiar, while others are brand new. These zombie tales give a historical account of zombie attacks throughout recorded time. This preview issue focuses on an attack that occurred in French North Africa in 1893. With historical accuracy taken into consideration, Brooks cleverly incorporates your typical "zombies storm a house" motif, except here, we have an army cornered by an army of the undead in the middle of the desert. The castle where the army abides is strong enough to keep the zombies out, but the strong walls aren't able to protect them from starvation, dehydration, and madness. This was a superbly crafted and researched zombie tale with art by Ibriam Roberson. Roberson's panels are simply delicious with his lush painted grey tones and highly detailed zombies. This looks to be yet another winner of a project on tap for Avatar and I cannot wait until the fall when it finally hits the stands.
PRODUCT OF SOCIETY #1
Cheese Lord Comics
The guy writing this anthology admits that he may be slightly disturbed, and after reading this book, it looks like he probably is. But that doesn't mean that the book is not a hell of a lot of fun to read. The three stories that take place in this book are definitely not the product of a sane mind. Writer/artist Jon Lennon has a pretty skewed view of the world and it makes for some fascinating reading. Much of it is wish fulfillment that goes horribly, horribly wrong. The main character finding a half naked girl in a cemetery then taking her home with him as in the deliciously funny "Hold My Hand and Pray" story where a boy brings an escapee from Hell back to his apartment and tries to appease her unquenchable appetite for blood. In "I Hate Myself and All Others" Lennon writes prose and pictures with everything from fighting a cyborg dolphin to injecting his own semen into his veins. This is an especially mad bit of fiction that makes you wonder what the author is like in real life and if you really want to know. Finally, "The Real Adventures of Jon" throws Jon into the jaws of peril as he realizes that he has pissed the bed while sleeping at a girl's house. It's a one page story that makes you laugh, cry, feel a little uncomfortable, and pee a little in your pants out of empathy. You don't get shit like this in the mainstream, folks. It's not for everyone, but if you've got an open mind and a sick sense of humor, you can’t wrong with Jon Lennon's PRODUCT OF SOCIETY.
CODENAME: POWER #1 & 2
Respark
A gory version of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. That's pretty much how I would describe this week's last Indie Jones entry that I picked up at the Con. This comic, written by Sean Cummings with art by Travis Earls, is yet another indie surprise. The creators waste no time in throwing the reader into the action as a warrior in yellow makes chase with a zombie-like creature carrying a baby. The art by Earls is surprisingly fluid and I like the looseness of the pencils and especially the lush water colored flashback scenes. Through issue one and two, writer Cummings takes his time with the pacing and we find just enough about the origin of this team of armored warriors that make up CODENAME: POWER to keep us wanting more. The zombie threat is especially ominous due to the graphic nature by which they attack their prey. Blood and grue is present in heavy quantities, ensuring that even though the main characters may look like Power Rangers, this book is definitely not for kids. A very cool read. Well, that about does it for the books I was able to grab at this year's WIZARDWORLD CHICAGO COMIC CON. But fear not, indie-philes, we definitely have more books from the fringe coming in future columns. If I missed your booth at the con, be sure to shoot me an email. Indie Jones is always in search of new and dangerous independent comics that educate the masses and revolutionize the industry.
Remember, if you have a comic book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
Check out the @$$oles’ ComicSpace AICN Comics page here for an archive and more @$$y goodness.
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I'm getting bored with pointless undead titles. They used to be cool. Now we get 15 new z titles a month. lame.
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I've never met a nicer person in the comic book industry. You put up one helluva fight. You will be missed.
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God damn it! We have to wait 3 more weeks for #3!!!! 2 was brain-melting!
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Heh. Okay that's funny.
But 1985 looks dumb. Anyway, hasn't it been done before--wasn't there a comic that depicted major events in the Marvel Universe through the eyes of regular people? -
seriously what the fuck is with the undead love lately
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I really wish DC would get their heads out of their continuity-minutiae-obssessed arseholes.
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What was missed about him? His blonde crew-cut? His complete lack of personality?
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I'm not reading it, but I'm curious as to what's supposed to happen that COULD even be spoiled. I finally read 'Old Man Logan' at a Borders store this week. Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha. "Wolverine's All-Time Greatest Adventure"... Well, you guys said it already.
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Is that it's still sits there as evidence. Like a regular bullet, you dig it out of the ground and it's forensic evidence, just older. It only works if you shoot someone on something that moves. Don't think too hard about anything Morrison writes.
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Good point, He's been a much better and mor einteresting character dead, so everyone could build up his legend
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Filmed in Turd-O-Rama.
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We need a new monster to be the next hot comic fodder. I vote witches.
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Steve Rogers, you are right about DC and their obsession with continuity, but, they're doing right with Morrison on this book.
The thing about it is, Morrison has proven his ability in taking "tired" and "unworkable" concepts and making them work. Read Seven Soldiers. He took some useless characters and made them almost legendary. Now, he's doing the same thing with the entire DC Universe. DC knows what they're doing. Morrison knows what he's doing. They're getting my money and attention, and Final Crisis is hella entertaining. -
Witches would be cool. Howzabout cannibal obese spoiled videogame generation children?!
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Yes, there was a comic (Marvels, I think) and the two have very little in common. I don't know if 1985 will be any good, but I dig the vibe so far.
I still think "Wolverine's All-Time greatest..." is a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the comics Millar grew up with.... He's adopted it in all of his Marvel stuff, and I sort of get a kick out of it.... 'Cause it reminds me of my childhood, back when I could believe that, yes, it just might actually be the all-time greatest adventure.... Ahhh, the not-so jaded far-flung past.... -
DC fans are fucking blind, if they can't objectively tell this is mediocre art then they need to read better books. Then again Marvel has all the best artists. DC's best books look like marvel's worst ones. I can't believe a year of lead time and this is the best JG Jones could do. Looks like the finishing art from countdown.
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I didn't think I could ever burnout on Zombie comics.... but I most certainly have.
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...call me when it's collected into book format and is on sale in a bargain bin at Books-A-Million. Same with 1985, but I'll buy it off Amazon when it's released.
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...this is my new favorite poem.
Walking in the dark
with a stomach full of meat.
I search for meat. -
If anyone doubts witches as the next big comic monster trend, please read the most recent Hellboy trade. Witches galore, and it's excellent. As for you idea for cannibal obese spoiled videogame generation children, that's an ok idea, but I like a little fantasy in my comic storytelling.
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"Marvel’s event this summer was painfully lacking a ground level-type perspective." Hang on, we're only three issues into Secret Invasion. And anyway, there are enough spin-offs to look at the ground-level perspective without cluttering up the main storyline. And I'm not a big DC reader at all, but love Grant Morrison so I gave Final Crisis a try. Couldn't make head nor tail of it. I was confused then I was bored. DC's problem is that their big events just aren't accessible to the wider audience.
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What makes me think I saw artwork for this a while back, at least 9 months ago?
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What am I paying you for anyway? Sending me into a comic store unprepared as to what I want to buy is like sending a...i think I have to poop, something ain't sitting right in my stomach... a something I don't know I really have to poop and can't think of anything funny to say.
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...but I love the genre anyway. Just like anything else, this means writers have to work harder in order to make them entertaining. ZOMBIE HAIKU is definitely something you've never seen before and stands out in the crowd of zombie books as one of the best.
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I actually liked COMIC BOOK VILLAINS for what it was-- an ode to the obsessive fanboy collector. Plus, it's got the Dread Pirate Roberts playing the heavy, which I find hilarious.
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... is better than I first gave it credit for, after reading issues 1 and 2 consecutively. I think that DC's biggest mistake was shoving the COUNTDOWN series down readers' throats as a lead-in to Morrison's book, when it now appears that COUNTDOWN events are irrelevant to CRISIS.
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They saw that 52 was somewhat successful (which at least was planned out), then released COUNTDOWN without much of a plan, and lied to us with a title that only counted down the weeks till the event with no other tie ins. DC lost me with that meneuver. I'm still reading FINAL CRISIS, but I'm dropping a shit load of DC comics after being dicked around like that.
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I am so sick of hearing his name being used synonymously with Marvel. He's terrible at developing deep stories. He writes Michael Bay style action stories with several sleezy depictions of your favorite characters. He's a hack, yet he gets so much love from Marvel from some reason.
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Yeah, so far, not all that impressed. I liked the bit with the Japanese superhero otakus, but I still don't quite get what the hell is supposed to be going on. I'm hoping next issue actually gets on track and starts making some kind of narrative sense.
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They do have the best writers and worst artists (except for Ivan Reis, the best superhero artist currently working in the business). You know the one I have the hardest time wrapping my head around? Tony Daniel on Batman. I mean, this arc looks like it's going to have long-term ramifications, and even if it actually doesn't, it's Grant Morrison's Uber-Bat story, so it's probably something I'd like to revisit down the line... and it's illustrated with sub-90s Image/McFarlane scratchy bullshit art; lots of lines that do nothing for the illustration other than clutter it up and mask the artist's lack of understanding toward anatomy and dimensionality. Come on! Say it with me-- this story deserves SO much better in terms of art. They should have put Kelley Jones on R.I.P. Or Klaus Janson even(thinking of 'Gothic'). What the fuck is Klaus Janson up to these days, anyway-- besides illustrating DC's 'how-to' books?
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Bet that happened some years ago? Something like Millar lost a $50,000 bet to Harry? Does anyone know the whole story or got a sweet tiny url for me to copy and paste?
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Can anyone explain Secert Invasion to me? I'm late to the game for that one.
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great film, by the way. basically secret invasion is the skrulls looking to conquer earth after the annihalation wave decimated them. they have done this by replacing super hero's and impersonating them. Gret, you'll be thinking, what a cool way to retcon spidermans marriage and outing as peter parker oh..
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I enjoy your acting, dude, but yer dead wrong about SECRET INVASION. "We're only three issues into it"? Isn't it five issues long? That's most of it over with by my count. And, as I understood it, the main storyline was sold as pretty much INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS in the Marvel universe, which, although fairly derivative, is quite a cool idea. But in a story like that it's more than an oversight not to show at least some ground-level impact. You shouldn't have to buy the tie-ins to get what should be in the actual story.But good work in those LORD OF THE RINGS movies. Just stop playing the bad guy in crappy Hollywood action flicks so much.
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It's about the New Gods. Darkseid defeated the good guys in a cosmic war. Now he's going about subjugating Earth (where the new Fifth World is set to rise) on the quiet, while Libra acts as an agent for him with a new Secret Society of Super-Villains. Evil won, and the heroes have to come up with something.It's been said elsewhere, but FINAL CRISIS is the one Big Two event this summer to actually have a secret invasion. SECRET INVASION should just be called INVASION, like the Nicole Kidman movie.
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...and unpopular characters as possible and throwing them into the forefront of things? Dan Turpin? Black Rider? Metron? Anthro? Mirror Master? Wtf? I had to seriously look up a lot of these on Wikipedia to get some history on them. It was like Morrison went back to some 1982 DC comics and picked out the most random unheard of comic book characters out of a batch and said "here's who we'll make into a star with this series". What an ego. It's like Morrison purposefully did this to prove that he has the golden touch and can make anyone popular. I thought the teaser posters of Final Crisis showed the big leagues, like Superman, Lex Luthor, Joker, Wonder Woman, and that they were going to be heavily involved in everything. That's what would sell a comic no? Instead all I keep seeing is Libra (who the hell is Libra) being pushed down our throats as the next biggest baddie in the DC Universe. Ugh, count me out.
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C'mon. That's just bull. How many times have good and evil fought, and evil ALWAYS comes back?What, "good" loses one stinking battle and suddenly, its over? We're not allowed to come back?I mean, I appreciate pithy high-concept tag lines as much as the next guy, but I call bullshit on Final Crisis.
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What I mean, if that last post didn't say it so well, is "Where's the big battle that Good lost?" DC is making this big claim that Good lost, but where? How? Did I miss that? Who called the victory? And if that's true, why is THAT the final battle? (As if that's going to happen...)I said it before, and I'll say it again: FINAL CRISIS is the emperor's new storyline. We're being told its a good plot, we WANT it to be a good plot, some of us are hoping that we're cool enough to see it's a good plot...But there's nothing there. Not yet, anyway.
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i haven't read it - but can someone tell me if killing all the new gods is really helping the story along, because watching from the sidelines it just seem like gratuitous nonsense that I don’t see how can help DC in the long run. also, is kamandi in there? If they kill kamandi -then DC is dead to me.
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Those're pretty much my thoughts about the whole "Good Lost!" thing. I think Final Crisis is very simple... every time somebody summarizes it. But the actual way it's playing out feels like the most important, relevant scenes are not being shown at all.
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Of course good is going to come back. That's the whole point of the miniseries. I don't really think it's going to end with Darkseid victorious. Morrison's just trying to push the heroes to their extremes before they rally back.
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--at any moment a story of his is capable of turning on itself and showing you, the audience, that what you thought was a strange, boring, almost pedantic narrative is actually one of the coolest and most moving stories you've ever read. It CAN happen. But I agree that SO FAR, there's not much there...
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So this war between the New Gods and Darkseid happened... When? Where? Why? How? If the major event in your book happens in another book or has to be explained rather than shown? That doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I should be able to pick up issue number 1 of any series and immediately get a sense of what is going on. With FINAL CRISIS, I'm not getting that; I'm getting hints of a cosmic war that I don't even get to see? Lame. I mean, so far, sorry to say it, if it must come down to a "war" between the Big Two, Secret Invasion has been much more satisfying (boring KaZar digression aside) because its actually delivering the goods -- global war of apocalyptic proportions. Morrison should easily be able to pwn Bendis, but, as of yet, nope. Thats why I'm hoping that things start to kick in with issue 3. Obviously, its way too early to judge yet, and I'm willing to give FINAL CRISIS the benefit of the doubt, but, as of now, I'm not satisfied; it needs to kick in and start being a good story or else they're just wanking it.
Either way, and sort of off-topicish, the only books that I eagerly await and am truly excited about these days are Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Nova. They, to me, are the front line books. Theres lots of other cool stuff out there, sure, but the GLs and Nova are the books that really get me excited these days. -
well, sure. but I don't even see where good 'lost'. Where's the slave camps of fallen superheroes? Where's the totalitarian Nanny-state (besides current Great Britain, that is.) Where's the mandatory carbon tax, and $100 late fees from Blockbuster, and all comics being written by Judd Winick, and all the other things one associates with the triumph of evil?I know good will come back, but I don't see any evidence that good lost. A bunch of Fifth World gangsters running numbers does not an Apocalypse make.
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boring...
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Nice line, and spot on. Another irritant is that the heroes are acting like it's the most incredible, world-turned-on-its-ear event-- that a New God was found dead. When they've been dropping like flies in two different series over the last year. And among the heroes there seems to be an attitude of "too bad about what happened to J'onn, but hey, what about these New Gods?", which doesn't feel right, to say the least. I was hoping (and still hope) that this summer would be about Grant Morrison showing Brian Bendis what a real comic-book writer, not a bad TV writer, can do with the medium... but, so far?...
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All that stuff you're looking for is in the old JLA arc from the late '90s. The one where Morrison already wrote about Darkseid taking over the world.
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Nice reminder, rev. That does seem to be the ultimate Grant Morrison, evil-won/good-lost, Darkseid-centric story. And it's great. One of the best superhero kills ever, too: Green Arrow and the Atom fucking kill Darkseid. I went back to that run recently, and it seems like everything Morrison's doing now with Seven Soldiers and Final Crisis is another attempt to tackle stories he first tried in JLA and Aztek.
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If I recall, Darksied didn't win, in the sense the crisis was averted. Much like every other "we have to make sure this timeline never comes into existence" storyline. I could be wrong, I don't have the issues in front of me. So again, where is the battle where good lost? (I'm being rhetorical, not trying to be a pain to YOU per se.)
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Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Wiggle's lately. But it occurred to me that no one has shown up with blistering 'ad hominem' commentary that criticizes the reviewers themselves (yet hardly touches on the material reviewed,) and, well...hence the headline. (heh) I figured he must be asleep.
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I am not entirely sure what to make of your "nanny-state" or "mandatory carbon tax" statements, but it's possible you could be one of those fucking retarded repugs complaining about "insidious political correctness" and how it's not proven that mankind is contributing significantly to global climate change.
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Is hilarious. Basically, it all comes down to fat, ultra white wing, hate-mongering, theocratic, rich white guys being allowed to say the say the word "nigger" without feeling bad about it. It just pains them so much that they can't. Boo fucking hoo. Oh well, they're time is up anyway; thanks to Dubya singlehandedly destroying the Republican party in just 8 years. See ya in November when a black man becomes President!
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Gosh, it would be horrible if I had a different opinion than yours, yes? Or worse, if I actually had the SAME opinion as you, but wasn't scared to see any flaws with it. Or use sarcasm to illustrate it. THAT would just be unbearable.As far as the nanny-state comment, did you know that there is one security camera for every 14 people in great Britain? Did you know that they are now attaching speakers to many of those cameras so that someone can instruct a passerby to pick up garbage or move along? Did you know that they have just started mandating a limit as to how many holes a salt-shaker may have because apparantly people are too stupid to use a correct amount of salt? Did you know that they've just instituted a policy that if their childrens packed lunch is deemed to have too much fat or sugar, the lunch can be confiscated? I know that marching in Orwellian lockstep sure SOUNDS fun, but after the first 100 pound fine for not having your garbage container lid FULLY closed, it's not as much fun.As far as the other comment, very similar. While I think that certain problems need to be address, I'm not sure I like the idea of everyone's wallet being forced to genuflect in the direction of the government coffers.Can you handle that, or do you need to call me some more names to mask your confusion?
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Well, it was an alternate future, but IIRC Darkseid had conquered the world and driven the heroes underground. I don't recall whether or not any of the battle was shown in panel or not though, if that's what you're asking. And of course, the heroes won back the world in the end (as mentioned above, Green Arrow ((the Connor Hawke Green Arrow no less)) and Atom killed Darkseid and there was some sort of crazily complicated Morrison time travel stuff) but that's superhero comics. It always has to resemble the status quo eventually.
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DARKSEID IS! I have to admit, I am probably the biggest basher of Dan DiDio's murder/rape fests, BUT holy CRAP is Final Crisis delivering! Four MAJOR events in FC#2, involving Batman, Superman, the Flash, and Green Lantern. I like the surreal scenes with Turpin--the whole thing is pretty frickin' harrowing. Finally, the DC Universe heavyweights are treated like ants next to even the "minor" agents of Darkseid. ***SPOILER ALERT*** that scene where Kraken (the Alpha Lantern lady) tells Batman that "they're eating my mind," and then she tells Batman, "The life you knew is over." Totally freaky. End SPOILERS. There are weird moments, but that should be expected, given the cosmic, unknowable threat Morrison is defining Darkseid as. At first, I thought--you know, they kill off the Martian Manhunter (which I don't feel is a spoiler because there are big frickin' ads everywhere explicitly about it)–– but I went back and reread that scene, and it's pretty insane. They just haul him in a room and stab him. That's how easy it is! It's like they're toying with the DC dudes, the s#@t with Lois?! Holy crap! In Rock of Ages, there's an allusion to that, but it was back when they had Electric Superman, so it doesn't quite apply--at any rate, okay, I'm sold. They better not chicken out!
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Really? Starman better than Sandman? I always felt that whole run was a little overblown. The Mist stuff was cool. I loved the demented old Mist talking to the Shade. That's pretty much all I remember about that series, and also having a boner for Madame Xandadu.
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Somebody else immediately showed up with an ad hominem attack-- and one that wasn't even sure of its own appropriateness. A kind of 'just-in-case' rant. Cute.
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Hey, hey, hey. Back off a bit. You asked for attacks on the man, and I made one. Don't get pissed if someone responds.
To your actual points, the instructions, garbage lid fine, and lunch confiscation do sound terrible. Cameras and saltshakers? SFW. I am a total social libertarian and I have never understood the objection to cameras. When you are on the streets, you have already chosen to be in public. How is this a violation of your civil liberties? Ordering you to pick up something should engender a go fuck yourself response.
The problem with the environment is that it is a shared finite resource. I am not sure what kind of carbon tax you are envisioning, but this is usually applied to businesses based upon their output and rewards those companies that minimize their impact.
Also, the phrase Nanny state is generally term invented by corporatists and PC chicken littles who want to return to a buyer beware world where the don't have to take any responsibility for their actions. It sounds like you have some legitimate gripes. (Do you actually live in the UK? - I may be moving there for 3-4 years next summer.) -
When you said nanny state, and you mentioned Britain, I thought you were talking about a totalitarian state ruled by Mary Poppins. I thought, "Gee wiz, what's he on about? Mary Poppins would make a fine Emperor what with her magic and generally cheerful disposition. That doesn't sound awful at all!" But then you had to go ahead and bring up the cameras, and the fines, and stealing children's lunches. Clearly Mary Poppins has been taking more than a few cues from her secret nemesis -- Martha "Fucking" Stewart. ITS A CRISIS I TELLS YA! SOMEONE SEND SUPERGIRL! CATWOMAN! ZATANNA! No, not to save the day, but to my apartment for an extended 'wrestling match' or 'training session' with a very, very happy ending. Badoioioing! Oh, behave!
No, but seriously, the idea of near total surveillance of all goings on by camera smacks a wee bit too much of 1984 and it kinda scares the shit out of me. Mostly because I reckon a little harmless illegality is important, and also, I don't want to have jackboots kicking my door in for not eating the required amount of state-made frankenfood.
But seriously, seriously, WHY NOT have this going on in the FINAL CRISIS? Hardcore apocalypse death camp of the evil gods spooky awesome? I really hope Morrison starts delivering... something. As of yet, a "yawn" and a "huh?" -
The subjects "corporatists" and "PC chicken littles" should be reversed in the first sentence of my last paragraph. It makes a little more sense that way.
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Secret Invasion is 8 issues, not 5, and as was the case with Civil War and World War Hulk, SI:Frontline will be providing the (totally optional) man in the street perspective on the events of the invasion. Also, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers was the lead-in; at this point it's pretty much open war with a handful of shape-shifty mindfucks thrown in.
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I don't wish to see the most traditionally civil talkback turn political, BUT, as a professor in academia, I can say that this shit has got out of hand, at least in higher education. And I'm not fat, right-wing, or wishing I could say 'nigger.' I'm talking about making other people responsible for your feelings and endowing words with powers they don't inherently possess. Roth's 'The Human Stain' made this argument beautifully, and he ain't no right-winger. That's all.
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I don't know what a corporatist or a PC chicken little is (are?). So I didn't know that they use the term "nanny-state" either. Perhaps that injected a degree of emotion i was unaware of, and if so, I apologize. When I use that term, I see a society that has entrusted the government to do all its thinking for them: what they should eat, what they should wear, what movies and books are "safe" to view. A world of labels on aerosol cans that must state "do not spray into eyes while aflame" and such. In this increasingly litigenous society, it seems that only the government can be safely entrusted to determine what is and is not allowed. (And that scares me, since I don't think they have handled their NON-intrusive responsibilities very well. Like the old song says, "You can't even run your own life, I'll be damned if you run mine...)If selling something, I think everyone should be held responsible for the flaws of their product. But not the common sense misapplication of that product, because that will be the death knell of common sense. I already see it happening.I recently read of two youths who died. They were at the end of a pier and wondered if it was safe to jump off. "They're aren't any signs that say we can't." And so they did, and leapt to their deaths. Because they expected a sign to tell them they should not!I'm sad that more people want to be in a world where they EXPECT the government to rescue them from their own ignorance. Conversely, I don't want a world where the government assumes I am too stupid to live without their constant interference. But I see it coming: the nanny-state. The kind of total control that Sinestro would love: no chaos. Absolute order. The sheeple are well taken care of. And no room to complain if they are not. So back to the original point, THAT seems kind of evil. To me, anyway.
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I gotta get back to work. Great discussion, gentlemen, on comics and everything else.
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I love me some zombie horror Cant wait for the Max Brooks Books and just finished reading Day by Day armagedon.. you gota check em out.
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Don't get me wrong, zombies can be done right. But they are just a plot device. You still need all that other plot and character stuff in there to keep it interesting.
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Jul 02, 2008 2:30:20 PM CDT
I move that either Laserhead or Laser Pants change his/her name.
by greggers
Being that it's getting a little confusing keeping up with who is the Laserhead and who is the Laser Pants, I move that one of them change their name. And I give the advantage in this matter to the one who agreed with me when I was assessing comics and their relationship to children in the Talkback from a few weeks ago.
Failing that, I move that we ALL change our screen names so that they all begin with the prefix "Laser." That would make me "Laser Greg," which, all things considered, is kinda cool. So I could go either way on this one. -
I would have no idea unless I read an interview with Morrison that's what happened after the war in heaven. That first page of J.G. Jones' stuff from D.C. Universe 0 with the firely dude falling through the sky was supposed to be Darkseid being reborn, uh, backwards in time. That's why he's now at the Dark Side club ala Mr. Miracle and 7SoV mini-series. Cool concept, very cool, but I wish it had been explained. I'm all for doing things backwards and out of place, but some reason as to why the New Gods are popping up all over Earth in different forms would be appreciated. The closest you get to something going through time in FC is that backwards-in-time bullet thingie that Batman found. Oh, and in other news, if they never explain the "war in heaven" in FC, then I'm just gonna pretend that THAT'S what Countdown / Death of the New Gods was about. It does kinda work. Kinda. And, one more thing, J.G. Jones art is awesome and it ABSOLUTELY SUCKS MONKEY BALLS that D.C. is going to use another artist along with J.G. from Final Crisis #4 and onwards. (Carlos something from Superman.) I'll take the delays, D.C., just give us a cohesive whole book!!
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If you can't see the problem with cameras everywhere...if you truly can't comprehend the implications...not only are you not a libertarian, but you fail to grasp the vital underlying tenets of libertarianism. And if you can't see why it's ridiculous that I, as a designer, must have six holes on my salt shaker instead of nine due to government mandate, then...wow, man. Just wow. I suppose you also don't see a problem with microphones on city streets recording your conversations, because you're "in public", after all. Because I assure you, after the cameras, the microphones are next up. Shit, they're already using speakers...how hard is it to throw in a coupla mics while you're at it?
Oh, and by the way? All men must now wear teal shirts, so that we can tell which ones are the men. Any man caught wearing a shirt color other than teal will face a 100 pound fine. SFW? As a social libertarian, I think teal is a perfectly nice color, and don't understand why any men would have a problem wearing it. -
It was me! ME! I agreed with your brief essay about comics and children and arrested adolescents! ME! I don't know who was here first, but I took the name 'Laserhead' because a guy I know in Hollywood told me that it's a nickname Tom Cruise gave himself and insisted people call him. I don't know if that makes me lose points or gain them, but one of us should change his name, and I sure do not feel like doing so.
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Please come hang out with us on theybannedme.com. Your particular brand of verbal parle would be most welcome.
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I don't really understand why people don't think that countdown was a lead in to Final Crisis (but I fully understand why you would think that it was a bad lead in to Final Crisis :) ). Having said that, I was reading the Fourth World Omnibus's along side countdown and got to appreciate the full extent of how both series - and seven soldiers for that matter - are pulling ALL of Kirby's DC stuff into the mainstream of the DCU. Even seeing the Hairies turn up in countdown gave me a happy moment, as did the Evil Factory turning up in FC #2. But seeing Sonny Sumo back again was a real geek moment for me - loved that. Going back to my original point, all the New Gods dying and the Monitor plotline from Countdown all tie into Final Crisis, the former being what I thought was provoked the 5th world incarnations we are seeing in FC now, as predicted by Metron in Morrison's JLA run. I'm sure the real story behind Libra and how he has managed to return had got to be related to the new God's too. I think that DC made some serious mis-steps on the way to FC but 3 points remain. 1) The Kirby love-in is really cool. I mean REALLY cool. 2) The FC book itself is as entertaining as it is mysterious - almost like the DCU version of Twin Peaks. 3) The FC spin of books are definitely the comics I'm most anticipating this year - The Red Lanterns story, Johns and Kolins back on the Flash, and the return of Superman Prime with 3 Legions. MMMMMMMMMMM
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I'm afraid it's your head on the chopping block. As sound as your views on FINAL CRISIS and civil liberties may be, your laser-themed name has got to go. No use arguing, I'm speaking on behalf of the community here.
May I offer some suggestions for new screen names?
PhaserPants
BlasterPants (that's got a ring)
Beam of Coherent Electromagnetic Radiation Pants
FancyPants
SmartyPants
PleatedPants
GreggersRulez!
You see, LP, the possibilities are almost endless!
Of course, the community may have to change its ruling on this in light of mitigating evidence, such as "LaserPants" being a family name. (Could be Ukrainian or something.) -
How ridiculous is this concept anyway. Yes, I can't wait for the Turquoise Leader to make his first appearance. Although maybe this should wait until the all new Purple Thing makes his debut going up against whatever color Hulk is around this month. Ugh. Red Hulk using a gun of some sort. Red Hulk has an attitude (weak) and apparently is revealed to be a long-time Hulk character who already had green hair. I hope Thor kicks the living crap out of this waste of space next issue. BTW....what happened to the intelligent strategizing ready to break the world King Hulk? Now all of a sudden he's back to "Hulk no speak right, Hulk back to old time talky talky." Ugh. I long for Peter David's Gray Hulk. Best Hulk ever. One thing though, even after all of this- still not as bad as Brand New Day.
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Superman chatting with Hal about how hot Jade was. Are you kidding me? A dead hero and Superman is telling Hal how lucky he was? Sorry, not my Superman. He's remember that Kyle was with her and not forget she freakin died.
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You know I was just inviting you to the sandbox. Thanks for showing up!
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Yellow Hulk. The more scared he is, the stronger he is. Then there's Blue Hulk...the calmer he is, the stronger he is. Then Purple Hulk...and next summer, the Black Hulk! (Not to be confused with Black Goliath...)trust me, it's all going to be very original.
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You can't take my internets name from me! YOU CAN'T!!! (LOL)
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But do you really think there is some kind of greater danger in this "insidious political correctness"? At worst, its just annoying; hardly a crisis. But I do agree in the sense that it can be rather irritating; the self-righteous indignation that people pretend to hear when they hear words they find offensive.
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Please enlighten me. While I am confident I understand libertarianism more deeply than you do. I want to hear your libertarian rationale against cameras in any are where you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. The salt shaker stuff sounds incredibly stupid, but I am sure the British police aren't busting people for having salt shakers with differing numbers of holes. I would rationally assume it applies to saltshakers for sale. I would guess there are lots of salt shakers in existence with a number of holes other than 6. Further, I have never seen a salt shaker with more holes than three. I did not think such salt shakers existed anyway.
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If you cannot see the difference between cameras in public places and a government dress code then I believe you may be logic impaired to begin with.
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good losing and driven underground happens in issue 3.
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Jul 03, 2008 12:19:55 AM CDT
I Can See The Difference Between Cameras And A Dress Code
by laserpants
But the real problem is, how can I look fabulous in teal overalls when I'm being spied on by some lecherous and overzealous bureaucrat with a wall of monitors and too much time on his/her/its hands? Thats what I want to know! I gotta say, if I must be a citizen in a totalitarian state, I want to look my best at all times; especially whilst hatching back-alley plots to overthrow Big Brother. That video could end up on YouTube! I want to look my best in order to better capitalize on my brand and therefore create synergies across a wide spectrum of consumer markets. 15 minutes! Thats all I ask! My 15 minutes in the spotlight of the klieg light as I'm lead to the Re-Education Center to learn the Joy of Work, and the Freedom of Slavery.
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And that countdown ties in that much is enough for me, since it was awful and most of the characters they used in that were to.
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Get used to it. That's how this guy writes. He probably thinks his ideas are easy to follow and need very little clarification little realizing they are more fleshed out in his head then on paper. assuming reader's ignorance is so pasé. Come now, you don't get it? Are you saying you can't read his mind? Sorry, he will not be spelling it out any time soon. You think this is hard to follow, don't read his Batman RIP thing. Uggh. That said, Final Crisis so far is still a pretty interesting read and I am curious to know what will happen next.
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neaten senseless in the bat cave in one book and kidnapped in another. He sure gets around.
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Granted, I'm only reading Batman, not Nightwing (gay) or Robin (super gay), so maybe thats why the narrative jumps all over the place seems to make no sense whatsoever.
DETECTIVE COMICS is where all the cool Batman stuff goes on imho. I dunno, maybe Morrison really isn't as good as we all think he is, or maybe he's slipping? -
I think there's a huge greater danger behind the trend toward PC speech, a layered one, actually. The first layer is that in a general way, words are endowed by law with powers they simply don't have, and consequently, reactions and feelings which are personal choices are viewed the same as reactions and feelings which are NOT personal choices. That is, having your feelings hurt by something someone says is the legal equivalent of being physically assaulted. This is bad in a practical way because it encourages society to become more litigious and people to relinquish and deny their culpability in the realm of their 'feelings.' Its dangerous in more subtle ways because it moves us further and further from a society of personal responsibility and more toward a society where the very subtleties and choices that make us human are legislated, separating people from the final and most basic sovereignity we all possess: our individual thoughts and feelings. It's bad because it increases the pampering of an already fatally over-pampered generation. It's bad because people lose jobs for using the wrong impersonal pronoun (I've seen that one happen). It's bad because it creates a situation where YOUR feelings are the responsibility of everyone else and the language they use. It's bad because it negates expression and individuality in favor of some faux-utopian ideal which is never defined and could not exist in a pluralist society. It's bad because it tries to disguise control as enlightenment.
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I think you'd need to define privacy a little better in order for the camera argument to be made. "An area where you have no reasonable expectation of privacy" kind of demands it. Can't anonymity be a form of privacy? In the sense that you are in the world, but unnoticed? The way you make it sound, simply stepping outside your house entitles a camera to film you, and the only place we can reasonably expect a modicum of privacy is behind our own closed doors. If you don't want to be filmed, don't step outside your house. That's not right.
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What a shame. I remember that we had a nice conversation on 【 wealthybeauty.com】 last year. It is really a huge shock when I heard about this.
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your fans all over the world will miss you. Rest in peace! I just find you on the celeb and millionaire dating site 【 wealthybeauty.com】 and wanna have a chat with you there. What a shame.
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He was always a writer with great, novel concepts, and at his best those concepts existed in the service of character, to excavate the inner life of a character and illuminate their essence as a person (think of Animal Man, or Cliff Steele's journey in Doom Patrol), and because his approach was still character-centered, Morrison could shape those concepts into dramatically effective narratives. Gradually, moving from JLA to The Invisibles to The Filth to New X-Men, it seems as though Morrison's work has started to lean more on concept, less on character, and as a result, the reader still gets these great, novel concepts thrown at them, but now those concepts aren't simply a part of the narrative, they're the whole point of the narrative. Thus his new style frequently includes, among other things, a crippling lack of transition between scenes and a lack of concern for clarity. By clarity I mean only 'clear expression.' Ambiguity is fine, but it should sit beneath the events of a narrative; the events themselves should be depicted with clarity, and 21st century Morrison doesn't do that a lot of the time. So while what he's doing may make perfect sense inside his head, and to certain readers, it's much less likely to come together on the page as a dramatic narrative-- instead his scenes just sit there, with little connection to what's gone before or what comes after, and there's a rise in expositional dialogue, where characters basically try to articulate what Grant is thinking, and that's just plain inauthentic and clumsy. Now, it doesn't happen all the time, and sometimes it serves him well. The glory of All-Star Superman is actually dependent on all these storytelling traits which on other books are liabilities. Why it works there deserves its own essay. The man is my all-time favorite comic writer after Alan Moore (who's lost points the last few years). But somewhere along the way, story and character seem to have taken something of a backseat to 'concepts' and Morrison's art, in my opinion, has changed radically because of it. I do think Grant can always get the magic back, though, and even at his most baldly self-indulgent, he offers a reader a lot of great stuff. But the surface effects of tension, suspense and drama are often missing from his new work, and I really miss them. Whew. Alright. Just wanted to get all my posts out of the way before I started my day.
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Me and Sugarbess, the millionaire-dater. Who knows what lies on the other side, Sugarbess? You DO need more fun. Clearly it's time to start dating BILLIONAIRES. Sugarbess, do you notice like I do that the more one participates in online communication, the more one begins to view it as a source of validation? I can tell you're a sensitive person with deep yearnings, Sugarbess, and I wonder how you parcel out answers you can live with regarding the fundamental and burning questions of, What you think of Grant Morrison lately? What happen in Final Crisis? and Bendis need stop watching Aaron Sorkin so much? By God, I hope those millionaires know what they've got on their hands, Sugarbess. Don't ever let them make you feel small, baby.
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Basically, its just a social phenomenon, there is no, and never will be, any legal basis for enforcing PC speech; it's just not going to happen. So your fears are paranoid and groundless. Nobody has been sued, ever, for making offensive remarks in terms of race, gender, or creed remarks. Ever. Why? because nothing like that would ever stand up in court; any such case would be laughed out of the courtroom. You know with the whole "free speech" thing we have? The last time this sputtering fear of a PC Reich came up was when Imus called those Rutgers basketball players "nappy headed hoes." Now there was a public outcry, and he wound up getting fired, true, but it wasn't a Federal Judge that fired him, it was his sponsors who pulled their funding, and then he got fired. He didn't get fired because of a legal precedent, he got fired because of our One True God -- the capitalist free market system (long may it rape our collective ass). When the advertisers, said, "no way", he was fired. If the advertisers were like, "whatever, we don't care", Imus would still be on the air spewing his hatred, wearing his cowboy hat, and pretending he's not 150 years old.
So again, insidious political correctness is little more than irritant, and any paranoia about it is, well, silly. I mean, go ahead and make fun of it, but don't fear it. To do so is rather pointless. -
Actually, the are being replaced at the taxpayers expense. Here is a link the Sundays rag: http://tinyurl.com/5al2cg Gateshead council spent 15 days - at taxpayers expense - researching the "problem" before implementing the solution...all with the hard earned pounds of the locals. But you know, you can never put a price tag on saving people from themselves...
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Thats an excellent dissection of where he seems to be at in terms of his writing these days. Honestly, I think he's slipping. The last issue of Batman R.I.P. was nearly incomprehensible. I mean, I got it, but it was not a good, organic read, it was clunky and more then a little vague. But not artfully ambiguous, just confusing, And what the heck was the last page about? So he's like multi-colored Batman now? Huh?
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Jul 03, 2008 10:20:40 AM CDT
I don't think the fear is groundless, or that LAW is the only da
by laserhead
I mean, I don't live in fear of it, but I do think these dangers are real, particularly when there are factions that wish for these things to be codified into law. I can't be certain it will NEVER be made law. And even if these PC standards are never put into law, they represent a philosophical ethics which is being adopted into group policies, an ethics that is dangerous, for the reasons I listed above. Like I said, I really did see something like that lose someone their job, and this person was innocent of all intent.
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I think you've pegged his evolution as a writer, and I'll go one further: I think there's so MUCH he wants to throw at us, but it just doesn't sit well in the media of comic books. There's all this exposition that should be shown, but may get told, or may get dropped all together. I'm wondering if it might not be time for him to write a best-selling novel or three, where he can REALLY stretch his legs and completely control the horizontal and the vertical, so to speak.I don't mean to imply that he's outgrown the medium of comics, but I think that some of the things he tries to pull off really stretch it to the breaking point. Some, like A-S SUPERMAN, expand inside the medium like a well-filled balloon. Others are so big that they pop it, and that's not necessarily his fault.
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...but I never actually read your other post all the way through. Catch you next week.
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I agree with you, but I kind of think it is his fault when some of his concepts burst the narrative balloon, to continue the metaphor. Having great concepts isn't the same thing as telling a story, and he knows enough about the art of story, and the form he works in, to know when the narrative is lacking. I'd say there's some things he wants to express that would be better suited to other mediums. Like if he made a documentary in the manner of Errol Morris or something. I think prose novel would probably exacerbate his narrative difficulties now though, because that's a whole other form he'd have to master before beginning to deal with the trends in his general storytelling. (The prose Joker story fell flat largely because the prose writing was so mannered and precious).
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When you step outside a private home or facility you are placing yourself in aposition where you may be observed. Cameras pointed at your doorways or yard would be bad, but anywhere o the streets or any public place such as a park is fine. I am not a security freak, and I see cameras in public places as not only greater protection for the public, but greater pprotection for the public against bad behavior by the police.
See, for example, a recent California case that made headlines where the cops were exposed as lying on the stand due to a video camera from across the street. They claimed a defendant ran and threw some Coke which they found. The camera completely contradicted their testimony, the charges were dropped, and now those pigs are being investigated. -
I DID forget the Joker prose. Ick.
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but Final Crisis really leaves me cold. Seven Soldiers was a favorite, enjoying Batman, have liked much of Morrison. But didn't like him on Justice League and don't like him on Final Crisis. Seems pretty dorky to me. The whole reading the entire internet and bringing back Barry Allen are perfect examples. If that kind of thing is your cup of tea, more power to you. But it is seriously not mine. Maybe it will get better, but this is a big letdown after a lot of good DC stuff that I, at least, enjoyed.
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I am down with the PC movement and here's why:They're going to need someone to enforce it, right? And is it really gonna be them? No, that wouldn't be PC. That's where Buzz Maverik's PC Goon Squad comes in. I'm already contracting with several major Universities and municipal governments. The regular cops won't do the job because who's less PC than cop? ...Besides a Buzz Maverik PC Goon?Now, that's why I'm here. Recruiting. Are you sadistic (or empathically challenged as my PC clients would say?). Good with an electronic cattle prod and a garrote (aka a bovine-American cooperation enhancer and a ... garrote)? Would you have made a great Special Forces troop but you couldn't pass the psychological profile (let's be honest, for this job, we need guys who couldn't even pass the psych profile for Black Ops)? Willing to pound on people for sub-minimum wage or just beer? Post your resumes here on this talkback. And remember our motto: PC stands for Pain Control, bay-bee!
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he should have done the art, he would have done something specia.
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Had to say it ;)
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hmm...
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