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AICN COMICS REVIEWS PUNISHER! SOLOMON GRUNDY! MARTIAN CONFEDERACY! AND MUCH MORE!!!
| #35 | 1/7/09 | #7 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
SECRET INVASION: WAR OF KINGS #1 (One-Shot)
SHRAPNEL #1
FACES OF EVIL: SOLOMON GRUNDY #1
PUNISHER #1
STAR TREK-THE NEXT GENERATION: THE LAST GENERATION #1
Indie Jones presents THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY VOL 1
Indie Jones presents TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE VOL 2
Big Eyes For the Cape Guy presents OISHINBO - A LA CARTE: JAPANESE CUISINE
dot.comics presents…
CHEAP SHOTS!
SECRET INVASION: WAR OF KINGS #1 (One-Shot)
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Paul Pelletier & Bong Dazo
Inker: Rick Magyar & Joe Pimentel
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Rock-Me Amodeo
The problem with Abnett and Lanning is my standards are higher when I read them. They are bound to disappoint from time to time.
This was not one of those times.
The Inhumans have quietly suffered one ignominy too many, and they’re going to bring the high heat. I could compare this book to other teams that have claimed they’re going “proactive” and bringing the fight to the bad guys (see X-FORCE.) I could compare this to another storyline where a certain righteous anger lent the protagonists as much power as needed to mow down anything in its path (see WORLD WAR HULK).
But the X-Force is part of a super-group that specializes in making enemies. The Inhumans are not. And the Warbound, as well-written as they were, could not be called a family. And the Inhumans are. A royal family, sure, but still family.
But this isn’t a book about family. It’s about having suffered in (literal) silence enough, and bringing the pain back to its source. I like it. Too often, the Inhumans have been portrayed as a collection of elitist whiners, blanching at the slightest disrespect. I appreciate seeing them comport themselves with the mindset and dignity of warriors.
As for the cast, I like the fact that even Maximus is on board. I’m not sure I buy into the whole Crystal vibe of “can’t we all just get along,” but everyone has epiphanies at their own rate. Certainly Black Bolt has had his, and it’s about fricking time. I’ve always hated the fact that everyone considered Black Bolt to be so powerful, but we rarely get to see that power in action. Finally, we get some glimpses. I would be happier with some actual fisticuffs, but this is great for a warm up.
Also, we have many, many clever touches here. The usage of Black Bolt’s power as transportation, offensive and defensive weapons. Brilliant. The musing comment about Inhumans being the pets of the Kree…and the absolutely “holy crap!” moment toward the end, with Ronan.
Pelletier’s pencils shine here. I’m not sure he’s such a great fit with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, even as good as he is. Since he’s been on that book, it’s missing that slightly quirky feel that the miniseries possessed, and Paul’s style is so…noble and grand (and the Guardians, except perhaps for Vance Astro, are not that.) But that dignified feel is perfect for this kind of book, and very well-done. As far as the Dazo artwork goes, it’s more like a codicil, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more.
All in all, this was my favorite Marvel book of the week, and bodes great things for the rest of this story as it plays out. I see a permanent shift in the status quo here, and we all know that doesn’t happen too often.
SHRAPNEL #1
Writers/Creators: Mark Long, Nick Sagan, & M. Zachary Sherman
Artist: Bagus Hatumo
Publisher: Radical
Welcome New Official @$$Hole Reviewer: steverodgers
Sometimes you just judge a book by its cover, or at least its price tag. I saw SHRAPNEL on the shelf, with a delightful price of $1.99, and a picture of a bad-ass gun-toting girl and a giant painted mechanized war machine behind her, and I snatched it up. And I’m glad I did.
SHRAPNEL #1 tells a science fiction story of an expanding empire called the Alliance and the free planet of Venus, which is occupied by the genetically-enhanced Splicers and the unsullied Helots. Helots seem like cool folks who do all the menial work, drink beer, have witty banter and get into fights. The Splicers are genetically enhanced people and as such are prone to being a bunch of stuck-up jerks who laze around with their big brains, good looks, and fast-twitch muscles. Tensions on the planet are a little high.
Meanwhile, a group of Alliance marines in high-tech mechanized battle suits sit high in the sky and wait for orders to take over the planet. The marines seem like good guys, too—they’re gung-ho types who you’d be happy to have on your side if you wanted to start some shit or mow down pesky insurgents. Down below, an Alliance general meets with the Venus president and lays down an ultimatum: either join the Alliance or were gonna come down to your crappy planet and take it over. The Venus president having some backbone tells them to go to hell. Tensions are super high.
The alarm goes out for the militia to gather, put on their own battle suits (less high-tech, way more bootleg than the marines) and get ready for a fight. The Venus militia will take anyone, so the Helots and Splicers are shoulder-to-shoulder and rubbing each other the wrong way. So now they’re nervous about the impending marine drop-off and they have to deal with each other’s nonsense. Hell is other people; militia tension, high!
One of the Helots (the super hot chick) seems like she has a past, a past where she probably did some serious ass-kicking and for some reason is slumming with the Helots. She also talks to a wise, jump-roping hologram child, looks great in a tank top, and is not sure if she wants to stay and fight or get out of dodge. She also has a couple of buddies who don’t seem so smart (stupid Helots) but they’re pals, so she’s got their backs.
SHRAPNEL #1 is a thick comic, 48 pages thick, and each one has lots of dialogue, political intrigue and cool things to look at. The art is muddy, but a well- painted muddy, with splashy pages of big machines fighting each other, BLADE RUNNER cities, science fiction mining operations, and ships in space. All for a $1.99! I have no understanding of comic economics (or any really, I was an art major) but how a start-up comic book company called Radical can put out a solid, well-produced and pretty, 48-page comic on slick paper for $1.99, and the big two are socking me for $3.99 is totally baffling. Customer tension, wicked high!
The next issue’s cover features an iconic upskirty shot of a take-no-shit warrior chick in a tattered bikini, holding a kick-ass Han Solo gun and a flag. I squinted and noticed that the price shoots up to $2.99, but you know what, they hooked me, and I can’t wait. You don’t come down to planet Venus and try to push us around. We got bikinis, we got guns and we are going to fuck your shit up! Anticipation high!
FACES OF EVIL: SOLOMON GRUNDY #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Scott Kolins
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Optimous Douche
The TalkBacks were aflutter a few weeks ago with a heated debate on whether a single issue could deliver the same impact or even as interesting a story compared to grand sweeping events, or a story that goes on for a few issues. Here’s the answer: it can’t. Simple math dictates that any event or continuing saga will be far more interesting and whet our collective appetites over any single issue. However, there are distinct differences between a one-shot story that does heavy lifting as opposed to another “day in the life” episode on the X-Men softball field or Robin’s High School sexual dilemmas.
SOLOMON GRUNDY is a one-shot that does a ton of heavy lifting. From a single story perspective, it gives a nice origin for Grundy neophytes like yours truly, plus it puts the story elements in place for an upcoming Grundy mini-series. From an over-arching DC universe perspective it looks Grundy is going to tie into Johns' Darkest Night vision in some way, shape, or form. In many ways this single issue finally opened my eyes to see where the writer lines of demarcation are finally falling at DC. It looks as though Morrison has been given the lofty and less weighty charge of decimating the DC universe, where Johns is left the unenviable task of trying to rebuild this darker image of DC tomorrow. Time will tell on this theory, but this issue is a strong indicator that the future of DC at least for the short term is going to be shrouded in darkness as promised in the pages of FINAL CRISIS.
I’ve never been a huge fan of ol’ Solomon. When my mind sees an undead mass of gray meat, I immediately think Bizzaro, who is probably the one villain I have hated since I read his first nonsensical backwards line. Even as much as I adored ALL STAR SUPERMAN, I could not stomach the Bizarro issues. Realizing my association was unfair and since I have loved everything else Geoff Johns has put to paper, I decided to pony up my four bucks and give Solomon his just due. And I’m truly glad I did.
To get the uninitiated up to speed, the story starts prior to the famous Solomon undead mantra of resurrection, “Born on a Monday, Tuesday bought a Hyundai, Wednesday ate a chipotle…” you know the rest. Starting in 1885 we see Solomon in his human form of Cyrus Gold. Cyrus is the son-of-a-bitch dujour for the Gotham gaslight era. After killing his uncle and meeting his own untimely demise we are taken on a brief tour of Grundy through history, each time meeting his demise and each time resurrecting as a monstrosity. Except for now…
Apparently something has broken the spell of undead awakening and Solomon is reverted back to a mortal man. However, instead of seeking redemption, he acts like an epic cock and once again begins his epic downturn into the state of undead. Upon resurrecting anew Alan Scott and The Stranger are standing over his murky rebirth to hopefully undo this seemingly unstoppable chain.
I’ve always applauded Johns for being able to intersperse great dialogue with nonstop action and true to form he delivers once again. By not allowing Cyrus to talk too much during his Grundy state, he sidestepped my personal misgivings towards monosyllabic monsters. I was harsh on Kolins for his work in ROGUE’S REVENGE; there were just too many panels where the fuzzy lines indicating rain made everything look like it was hairy and in need of a shave (villainous parkas should not be made of mohair). He falls into the same trap on a few panels in this book (mainly the water scenes), but every other panel is simply beautiful.
I applaud these gentlemen for making me traverse a character I’ve never given much thought to, restoring my faith in the fact that FINAL CRISIS is actually going to lead to bigger things tomorrow, and using the Grundy rhyme as a way to move time forward instead of just becoming a repetitive undead mantra.
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.
THE PUNISHER #1
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Jerome Opena
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
Regardless of what I may think of the overall state of Marvel today (meaning stuff like pricing policies, overall direction of books, yadda yadda yadda) there is one section of their operation I will give endless props to these days: the talent they've been "acquiring" and/or promoting. Beginning with Ed Brubaker a couple years back, pushing "break out" years from Matt Fraction and Dan Slott last year, and now, with the emergence of DARK REIGN, it looks like we'll be seeing some hopefully similar pushes for Jonathan Hickman and, as we have here with the seventh (!!) volume of PUNISHER, the FEAR AGENT team of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. While not really a fan of a non-MAX Punisher book (hell, not even really a fan of the MAX one since Garth left), when you give me a duo like that, from an excellent title that has arguably the best kinetic action on the stands, and move it onto a title that really should be nothing but balls-to-the-walls action like THE PUNISHER, well then you're going to at least earn some brownie points that you know what the hell you're doing, at least just a smidge. So here we are, the "Dark Reign" is in effect, Norman Osborn is in charge and is the target, and the Punisher now has as many new number ones as Brad and Angelina have adopted ethnic children. How did it all go?
Not bad actually. Here's the thing, like I said just a second ago, anymore I think that Frank Castle operating in the main Marvel Universe is going to be a "hard sell". After several years of Garth Ennis' take and seeing just how excellent a story you can tell with him in a completely unfettered creative setting against characters he can do whatever he pleases to, it's hard to justify him interacting with characters he can never fully "punish". That said, though, I think I can buy this. Anyone in the Marvel Universe paying attention would know that Norman Osborn is a vile piece of evil and, the more I toss it around my head, I think I can buy that someone like Castle who has more than several dozen occasions shown he's willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good as long as it means the safety of the rest of us, would see a man of his moral standing becoming basically the most powerful man on the planet as a cause worth going all out for. The amount of harm someone like Osborn can cause with an organization like HAMMER behind him is downright sickening, and there's no way it could weigh well on his conscience if he didn't try to take someone like him out, even though it's a way more public figure than he's used to going for.
Which brings me to my next concern (but also something I'm admittedly kind of anxious to see what develops) - Frank Castle just took a shot on the life on the highest of high profile targets and missed...is he really going to ever get close enough for a second chance? Forget that he might just not ever kill Norman, simply because that seems weak given the weight this DARK REIGN is supposed to have as the new status quo, but will he even get another shot since it looks like he'll be going through, well, at the least the Sentry to get back at him, let alone this new bag of homicidal freaks that apparently is going to make up the new ranks of the THUNDERBOLTS. I'm curious and kind of worried about that now; is this book going to just become Frank on the run after blowing his one chance, or is it going to be about his long climb back up to getting his second shot at "He Who Likes to Toss Love Interests Off of Bridges" (Norman's Indian name)?
Hopefully we get answers for that sooner than later, but for now, this issue was one of those proverbial "hell of a ride" deals. My faith in Remender and Opena was not let down as they presented us with one of the best "Batman runs from Superman" issues I've seen in all my comic book reading career. Page to page, panel to panel the action and energy just flowed forth so well. One of the reasons I love FEAR AGENT so much, is that, just like any good action flick/comic/what have you, there was always this sense of "connection", meaning that every step of the way your main character is just thinking on his feet, always moving a step ahead and just running for his life doing what they can to get to the next escape or distraction or advantageous element to end the confrontation, and that's what we have here as Frank flees one of the scariest sights a completely powerless individual could see in the form of the Sentry. Sure, the "cat" in this situation is so high powered that he's playing with his prey a little more than he should, but Frank is a mouse with a thousand cats on his kill total and seamlessly uses every last advantage he can to escape, and also finds a little help from an anonymous overseer that helps him on the last leg of his escape, setting up more interesting scenarios to be played out in the future as Frank regroups to (hopefully) grab his dynamite and go back after the big fish in the pond.
So, overall I really liked this as a debut issue. I'm a little uneasy that I'm left here with all those questions that plagued the middle part of this review here and not really an idea where this is going to go, but it's only the first issue so there's no reason to really get wound up over them without a couple more to hopefully address them. But the creative team clicked here as well as I was hoping. Very kinetic, very gritty (LOVED Opena's pencils here) with the right amount of "on the run" deadpan humor. I'm interested in seeing where this takes the Skull-chested one and seeing exactly how much impact he's allowed to have in all this DARK REIGN nonsense (obviously he'll probably never get to take out Norman, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him finally do in someone like Bullseye in this new crusade. Something like that could be high profile enough to make this endeavor worth it all). Really, my only complaint about this is that not only did it move so fast, but it moved fast at an extra buck for the debut issue because Marvel decided they need to insert backstory info for Mr. Castle for me at an extra price. I'm glad they thought I wanted this addition, but they were wrong. Please stop doing this with my comics (unless you're using it as a means of getting a little extra royalty money for the creative teams past that you're referencing in the material, but I imagine that's highly unlikely). I'm not exactly going gaga over the idea of DARK REIGN as a whole, but again, with creative teams like this and Andy Diggle on THUUNDERBOLTS and Hickman on SECRET WARRIORS etc. etc. popping up, I can think of worse things to happen to the Marvel Universe. Let's just have this mean something in the end this time besides another shift in the status quo, eh fellas? Cheers...
Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, The MySpaces, Facebookand a Blogger Account where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.
STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION: THE LAST GENERATION #1 (OF 5)
Writer: Andrew Steven Harris
Pencils: Gordon Purcell
Inker: Bob Almond
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Guest Reviewer: “William”
The assassination attempt at the Khitomer conference a success? Tasha Yar back with the Next Generation crew? The Excelsior now considered a bona fide ghost ship? Worf leading the Klingon Empire? And finally, Captain Picard leading a group of rebellions against a successful Klingon takeover of Earth? These are just a few of the crazy but interesting ideas, presented within the latest Star Trek TNG limited series THE LAST GENERATION.
Throwing my nerdiness into the ring, I've always been a fan of both Star Trek and Star Wars (why can't we all just get along, you know? Let's point our lightsabers and phasers away from each other and just be happy). And while I've always favored Star Trek for its novels and Star Wars for its comics, this was the first time a Star Trek comic interested me enough in picking it up.
I gotta tell you, I was hooked after reading the first page or two at my local comic book shop. Who wouldn't want to play with things considered canon within the movies (I'm looking at you, STAR WARS: INFINITIES)? And the idea that one single assassination attempt led to all of these events is enough to whet my appetite. Yes the price tag for each issue looks to be $3.99, but...oh well. I've internally fought with it as long as I could, but in the end one of the signs of these times is to get used to these raised prices.
Writer Andrew Harris at least keeps things at a brisk pace, introducing new concepts on practically every page. I guess since it's the introductory issue things had to be kept short in order to fit everything within the allotted issue. In a way, though, less is more, as many quick concepts left me wondering how they essentially got to that point. Most intriguing is the unmentioned portion of how Starfleet came to its demise after the assassination. Was it through some prolonged war with the Klingons? Did the Romulans have anything to do with this? Was there some weapon developed that just completely decimated Earth's forces? That I would love to see covered in any future issues.
About the only thing I have to pick on is the art by Gordon Purcell. Have you ever looked back at comics from the 70's and 80's (even early 90's) and noticed how much...simpler I guess is the best word for this...the art was? It's not something noticeable as you’re living it, it's only when you compare it through retrospection. Like watching in awe “Jumanji”'s early CGI work, and then comparing it to “Lord of the Rings”. This is essentially Gordon's artwork, seemingly a throwback to simpler comic book art days. If it's your cup of tea then by all means be merry. I mean to give credit to the guy, the people at least look like their counterpart actors. Only it's nothing like Jan Duursema's photo-realistic work on the CLONE WARS comics. Call me a perfectionist but I like it when the art really stands out in an issue, not when it looks rushed.
In any case I'm keen on seeing how this time-altering what-if concept plays out throughout the rest of the miniseries. The ideas are intriguing, the art at least gets the job done, and so let's wait and see how this baby pans out, yes?
THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY VOL 1
Written by: Jason McNamara
Art by: Paige Braddock
Published by: Girl Twirl Comics
Reviewed by: Ryan McLelland
THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY comes to me quite critic-proof, at least for this critic. That’s because with the name Paige Braddock attached to the book I know there’s something special beyond the cover. I fell in love with Paige and her amazing book JANE’S WORLD, the story of a Charlie Brownesque lesbian and her friends, many SPXs ago and her and the comic left quite an impression on me. Years later when I ran into her at San Diego I was way too gushy for my own good and surprised that she had actually sort-of remembered me as well. Her writing and artwork is simply top notch and one has to wonder when JANE’S WORLD will finally get an animated show on Logo.
Until then it’s nice to see Paige branching out and branch out she does with THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY, a sci-fi adventure which takes place on the planet Mars. Here humans have to buy air to survive, are hated by most alien races who also live on the red planet, and are up to their necks in laws that don’t benefit mankind.
It’s here that caddish thief Boone finds himself embroiled in a plot to try and help the planet Mars itself from those who want to see the selling of air continue. The death of his friend, a professor who has created a plant that can create oxygen on Mars, brings Boone onto the radar of the authorities and forces Boone, his hot female robot roommate Lou, and local hauler/talking bear Spinner to try and save the day. However, as adventures usually go, they are understaffed and underequipped to face the mission at hand and might run out of oxygen before they even finish their goals.
Did I mention the book has belly dancers from Pluto? Because it has that too…and they rock.
Braddock’s artwork shines throughout the book, far proving that she can tackle any subject matter on the printed page. She’s joined here by writer Jason McNamara, who has a great time introducing us to the inhabitants of this world whether they be praying mantis bartenders or a woman with two heads and four arms (and you can’t possibly guess where she hides the two arms and the other head). The artwork is also brought out brightly by red coloring on every page – making you truly feel that you are on the red planet.
THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY has a solid feel for anyone who enjoys STAR WARS, FIREFLY, ICE PIRATES, or Sean Wang’s RUNNERS. It is one hell of a good read and the pages couldn’t flip fast enough. With characters you’ll easily relate to, a funny and innovative script, and incredible artwork THE MARTIAN CONFEDERACY will be a great read for those looking for something better from your indie books. I’m glad to see this book live up to my very high expectations and am glad Paige Braddock has created a book that can see her talents reach a bigger audience.
Ryan McLelland has worked in movies and comics journalism for the past several years before joining the @$$holes here at AICN. Ryan’s comic work has already graced comic shelves with Arcana’s PHILLY, WISE INTELLIGENCE, UPTOWN GIRL, and THE SENTINELS ANTHOLOGY. He rarely updates his blog but when he does it can be read at www.eyewannabe.com
TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE VOL 2
Written and Art by: Andrew Charipar
Published by: Misfit Corner Press
Reviewed by: Ryan McLelland
Andrew Charipar is back with another great trade paperback of TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE. The easiest way to describe CORNERSTONE is “Law and Order” with vampires, witches, zombies, werewolves and more. Those creatures live among normal humans in the vast metropolis of Cornerstone City and the police officers that make up the squad The Midnight Shift employ such vampires or zombies to help regulate their own.
The second volume kicks right off the day after the previous volume ended with the cops dealing with the fallout from a fight with a powerful vampire. Werewolf detective Cortez finds himself suspended and Frankenstein cop Ricky 17 is now partnered with cutie vampire Venus Delmachio – thus far the only pure blood ever to graduate from the police academy.
Now one expects to get back to work even though they just finished a big case but The Midnight Shift is thrust right back in when they learn that Andi, their resident witch, has been savagely attacked by a white-haired, tattooed werewolf. Are the vampires and werewolves working together to take down the squad in revenge or is this near slaying something else entirely? With Andi hanging on for dear life The Midnight Shift, down two cops, hit the streets to try and figure out who would attack a cop and why.
Charipar has outdone himself with this second volume of CORNERSTONE. While I enjoyed the first volume immensely this newest release goes above and beyond what he’s done previously. With all the characters already introduced Charipar is free to let them loose in a world that could be just like our average days – should they include vampires, witches, and such. I love Charipar’s Mangaesque artwork, especially his hottie big-boobed vamps. What!?!? The art looks good, damnit!!! TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE once again delivers with volume two and continues to be a fine indie book that I’ll look forward to time and time again.
OISHINBO - A LA CARTE: JAPANESE CUISINE
Story by Tetsu Kariya
Art by Akira Hanasaki
Released by Viz Media
Reviewer: Scott Green
Like their "Greatest Hits" selections from GOLGO 13, VIZ Media's "A la Carte" release of OISHINBO samples from a 100+ volume manga series that's been running for decades in the Big Comic family of anthologies. In OISHINBO’s case, the collections are grouped thematically, starting with “Japanese Cuisine,” which "introduces us to the fundamental ingredients - rice, sashimi, green tea and dashi (cooking with stock)."
The premise of OISHINBO is that, as part of the celebration of its 100th anniversary, the publishers of the Tozai News have commissioned the creation of the "Ultimate Menu," a model meal embodying the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine. The job falls to their temperamental young ace Yamaoka Shira. From an early age, Yamaoka was put through a rigorous regiment by his father, lion of the food world and founder of the revered Gourmet Club, Kaibara Yuzan. This groomed Yamaoka's impeccable abilities to taste and prepare food, but also splintered their relationship. Especially in light of the demands placed upon his mother Yamaoka opted to estrange himself from his father. As the friction has heated up, Yamaoka and Yuzan have become social and ultimately professional antagonists, with Yuzan agreeing to help rival paper Teito Time with their "Supreme Menu." Working off Yamaoka's work place and family relationships, in addition to its didactic conversation on food, the manga offers plenty of intra-office, inter-business and family drama.
I have as little love for the trite term "edutainment" as the next guy, but in a case like this, it isn't entirely useless. OISHINBO is brilliant adult edutainment. In Yamaoka, the manga presents us with a self satisfied know-it-all, while with Yuzan, we receive a pompous heel. They're well realized characters and, more importantly, brash, engaging personalities. Reading lengthy word balloons in which either or both go on about food is both fitting and entertaining.
Each chapter of the manga constructs a situation around a food concept. Competitive food preparation is probably the most obvious premise, and that does in fact get a fair amount of play. The second most prominent, most used is probably the persuasive statement. Keep in mind that the theme of the volume is "Japanese Cuisine." A girl returns to Japan from living in Paris and now rejects chop sticks as "uncivilized," so Yamaoka and his partner take the young woman (and a reporter from the Tokyo office of French language Swiss paper Le Temps, who happens to be on hand) to gain an appreciation for chop sticks by seeing them being crafted. In another chapter, a critic returns to Japan to celebrate the publication of his book. This critic argues that because it is merely cut and not cooked, sashimi stands as the unsophisticated corner stone of kaiseki or fancy Japanese meal. In response, Yamaoka endeavors to show the critic the artistry and labor behind the preparation of the dismissed food. Then, there are more unusual plots. A talented young chef is expelled from the Gourmet Club. It appears that while his work is generally high quality, he'll become anxious, disappear for a moment, and when he returns, he'll be calm, but the food doesn't taste quite right. Yamaoka stops by his brother's restaurant, and after tasting the effected food, solves the mystery.
OISHINBO breaks down the process, science and culture behind its culinary topics without the assumption that the reader has arrived at the manga with a great deal of enthusiasm for the subject. There's a neat didactic trick at work in the chapter stories that ensures that the essential point is remembered. The characters receive lively depictions with simplistic figures that emphasize caricatured expressiveness, and attention is drawn back and forth between their interactions and precise, objective illustrations of the subject food. The conversation is then brought into focus by a sharp statement by Yamaoka or Yuzan. I've referred to this as a "trick," because the manga has a magician's hands for directing focus and maintaining attention, setting the stage for the final revelation. For example, "Best Knife Skills" contrasts the showy presentation of the Japanese chef at "West Coast" with the earnest respect for tradition exhibited by itamae trainee Jeff Larson. We see Larson and Yamaoka dismiss the sashimi at West Coast. Larson is taken to see the work of a 75 year old chef, who then trains Larson for a competition against West Coast's chef. Following a look at the traditional chef's work, Larson is given the task of perfecting "Katsura Muki," peeling a daikon radish into a single, paper thin, 3 meter long strip. After Larson has perfected the strange test and bested the West Coast chef, Yamaoka, who facilitated the demonstration and subsequently lost interest, punctuates the exercise with a lecture into the science of why properly cut sashimi has the correct taste. Finally, Yamaoka closes the curtains by rolling up his sleeves and demonstrating a bit of his own masterful skills with the knife.
The stories are supplemented by a preface featuring a color/glossy overview on preparing pine-style and Kamishio style seabream, as well as a robust set of translation end notes for the English edition. With the larger 8.3" x 5.8" dimensions of Viz's older-audience works, a folding cover, and the opening, color pages, OISHINBO stands out among other manga. Despite these format markers, I'm not especially optimistic about Oishinbo's chances of finding the audience that it deserves. The way that Larry Gonick's CARTOON HISTORY or CARTOON GUIDE books have attracted broad interest, OISHINBO’s dramatic discussion of food should appeal to the curious and not just the manga fans.
An introduction to manga is likely to include the suggestion that everyone in Japan reads manga. Disregard the reductive nature of this type of statement for a moment. It isn't to say that it is normal for an adult to be reading NARUTO, FRUITS BASKET or the other shounen/shoujo titles that dominate the North American manga market. Instead, it means that manga publishers have sought to reach out to just about any conceivable audience. With a broader acceptance for reading manga in Japan, the concept of a niche manga is starkly different when applied to Japan versus when it is applied to North America. If you start with the notion there is manga for everyone, manga for specialized, specific interests becomes niche. For example, Jonathan Clements' SCHOOLGIRL MILKY CRISIS takes a look at the anthology ROSE MYSTERY, which Clements describes as "detective comics for goth girls." An anthology like ROSE MYSTERY pulls from a pool of people belonging to the focal demographic and with the focal interests. In North America, manga readership is largely split between fans of popular franchises (the people who just read DRAGON BALL or just read NARUTO) and fans of the medium. Interest in a particular genre or subject is then redefined by the level of interest among those looking to or willing to read manga. Sales evidence supports the notion that a manga like OISHINBO gets cast as the niche of the niche when brought to North America.
OISHINBO’s original, home periodical, seinen anthology BIG COMIC SPIRITS offers some of the adventures that North American readers associate with manga, such as BIRDY THE MIGHTY, about a teenage guy whose body is fused with that of a female interplanetary law enforcement officer and CRYING FREEMAN, KAZUO KOIKE, and RYOICHI IKYGAMI’s outrageous story of a Japanese artist, brainwashed into becoming the top assassin for a Chinese crime syndicate. It has drama, such as MAISON IKKOKU, Rumiko Takashi's tale of a failure who falls in love with his widowed apartment manager and DANCE TILL TOMORROW, Naoki Yamamoto's story of a college student who'll inherit a fortune from his grandfather if he can graduate and marry. It offers horror, such as Junji Ito's GYO and UZUMAKI. The anthology has sports stories, such as Naoki Urasawa's YAWARA! A FASHIONABLE JUDO GIRL and his tennis manga HAPPY! (also, his 20th CENTURY BOYS). And, it has manga on cultural topics such as food.
Frederik L. Schodt's 1996 DREAMLAND JAPAN: WRITINGS ON MODERN MANGA describes BIG COMIC SPIRITS with "unlike its two older siblings, BIG COMIC SPIRITS is a weekly and it is aimed at young salarymen between the ages of twenty and twenty five...Unlike any American comic book, there are ads for cigarettes and whiskey...The typical reader is said to be a twenty-eight-year-old company employee or "salaryman," a systems engineer who works fork a finance company."
As with other Big Comic anthologies, SPIRITS is not niche, and by extension, OISHINBO is not written for "manga fans." According to The ULTIMATE MANGA GUIDE, each volume has a run of around 1.2 million copies. It's popularity has been broad enough to spawn a 136 episode 1988-1992 anime series , as well as a series of five 2-hour, live action specials that aired between 1994 and 1999, with a revival scheduled for this month. OISHINBO is written to entertain and inform a general audience. The personalities are sufficiently strong and engaging that translating the language and bringing it over to a non-native culture does little to dull its appeal. I expect that OISHINBO is probably only going to be read in North America by fans of the medium, but there's no reason why that should be the case.
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.
Greetings and welcome to another edition of dot.comics, where the comics we talk about here are abso-frikkin-lutely free and just a mouse click away. Ambush Bug here. I try to have one of these dot.comics section about once every month or so. I find it to be a fun alternative to mainstream books. With dot.comics or webcomics, as they are commonly referred to, you don’t get the taint of editorial intervention or the stank of compromise that often comes with books published by big companies. This stuff is taint and stank free: creative stories pure and uncut, straight from the creator to your eyeballs.
First up, we’ve got an online comic/movie called a CARDBOARD GODS #1. This is a short film/first issue shot in the style of Ang Lee’s HULK, except, you know, it’s good. CARDBOARD GODS utilizes moving panels and word balloons in an ingenious way, telling the tale of three hapless slackers who find out they have super powers when they are jumped by a bunch of douchebags in a pub. The story seems to have a much broader scope than just guys fighting other guys, but the bar fight scene was the highlight of this issue for me. There are SUPERMAN 2 references, evil plots, chairs through heads, and scenes of utter carnage in this one. And it’s all a whole lot of fun. The guys behind this, Phil Stark, Ben Sheppard, and Mat Startup, all seem to be talented and smart fellows with an eye for snark and action. The short is only about 13 minutes long, the perfect amount of time to waste at work on a lunch break. I look forward to seeing further issues of CARDBOARD GODS in future editions of dot.comics. Check out the whole first issue at their myspace page, found here.
HELLBREAK is another one of DC’s Zuda online comics. This one is by writer Radek Smektala and artist Janusz Ordon and it’s got a kick-@$$ plot. An immoral prison guard is killed during a prison riot. His penance is to serve as a prison guard in hell and he is to enact the same type of brutal treatment to the inmates there. Only hitch? He is guarding his own daughter’s soul in hell. This story just got off the ground and is only eight pages into it, so there’s not much to go by, but the premise is tight, the art is gritty and fitting for such a brutal story, and the dialog is pretty good too. HELLBREAK is one Zuda comic that I plan on returning to so I can see what happens next. If these first eight pages are any indication, this is going to be one twisted yarn.
If you’re looking for a quick little laugh, go to Abbadon Books’ LUNCHBREAK OF THE DEAD site. It looks as if the zombie humor is just beginning there, but you’ll find a nice holiday message from the undead. I’ll be checking back with Abbadon for more LUNCHBREAKs; the company writes a lot of post-apocalyptic and zombie prose novels; all of which are worth checking out. The short zombie strip is credited to Keef and Pye and it says that it’s updated monthly, so check back every month for your comedy/zombie fix. Another installment can be found here.
Finally, we have FREEKS N SQUEEKS. It’s your typical story of life’s awkward moments and quirky mishaps. It’s a slice of life comic strip…only it stars a cast of clothes-wearing mice. I’ve only been able to leaf through a few of Patric Lewandowski’s strips, but you can’t fault me for that, there’s a shit-ton of them. I found the ones I did read to be pretty damn spot on, though, and worth a laugh or two. The comic focuses on topics like collecting comics, sci fi, politics, relationships, and just plain old life. FREAKS N SQUEEKS is one of those online webcomics that’s been going on for years (the archive goes all the way back to January 2000), so there are plenty of strips to click through and enjoy while eating lunch at work or just a fun way to waste an afternoon. The characters are flawed and endearing. The humor is crisp and witty. And the fact that it’s mice doing all of this makes it all the more fun. Check out FREEKS N SQUEEKSonce and you’ll be sure to go back for more. This site looks to be updating pretty regularly, so get to clickin’!Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, reviewer and co-editor of AICN Comics for over seven years. Check out a five page preview of his short story published in MUSCLES & FIGHTS 3 (AVAILABLE NOW at Muscles & Fights.com.) on his ComicSpace page. There you can also see a five page preview of his short story in MUSCLES & FRIGHTS! Bug was recently interviewed here and here at Cream City Comics.
DEAD OF NIGHT: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #1
Marvel MAX
Aside from an f-bomb, not sure why this book is part of the MAX line. Sure there are eviscerations by toothy lycans, but nothing you don’t see in your typical comics these days. Maybe I’m just jaded. Another thing I am is impressed by this first issue. The story was strong, choosing to recap a bit of Jack Russell’s origin rather than simply retell it as the main story. And I’m also appreciative that this book didn’t go the same route as the last DEAD OF NIGHT miniseries DEVIL-SLAYER did and recast the book with a completely new character when the original was still kicking ass in the REAL Marvel U in THE INITIATIVE. Anyway. Focus, Bug. Sure WEREWOLF BY NIGHT follows the same premise as HULK, where a decent person has a monster inside of him, but instead of smashing tanks, Russell’s furrier side is murderous and somewhat evil (or so we’re lead to believe). Bolting himself into a steel chamber every time the moon is full and lying to his pregnant wife saying he’s at business meetings, Russell wolfs out by himself so he can’t harm anyone. The ending of this book is pretty hard hitting and definitely has me in line for issue two. It also questions if the monster actually is a murderer or if something more insidious is afoot. A nice little mystery from writer Duane Swierczynski (the guy who took over IRON FIST), highlighted by some pretty astounding art by Mico Suayan. Suayan’s version of the Werewolf harkens back to the classic Ploog-style and not the HOWLING snouted werewolf that has been around lately. Good stuff. - Bug
SECRET SIX V3 #5
DC Comics
Instant plot summary: six medium to hard-core bad-guys with a minimal amount of mutual trust band together for one desperate mission and try not to get killed by every other villain out there. Is it possible that anyone doesn’t know how good this book is? I know, I know, you’re waiting for the trades. Oh, but this one really IS worth picking up issue by issue, just like we used to do it old school, counting down the weeks until the next one comes out. Gail’s characterizations are, as usual, spot on, showing depth of personality in Bane and Deadshot where I was pretty certain there was none to mine. Nicola Scott is still the “talent to watch” and so excellent in these books. I can’t think of much to say without summarizing the plot much more, and I don’t want to do that. Let’s just say the villains are villains, the good guys are also villains, and normally you would think that means it will be fun to see anyone get hurt. And there is fun to be had. Except somehow, when some of these folks get hurt, even bad guys, it makes me hurt, too. That’s how good this book is. - Rock-Me
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF #1 (One-Shot)
Marvel Comics
Sure there’s an overabundance of $3.99 books from Marvel this week, but this one makes the extra buck worth your while. I don’t like the price hike, but this book is oversized and well made, so I didn’t feel as gypped as I did with Ellis’ dime-sucking GHOST BOXES. FEAR ITSELF features one of my favorite non-characters, Man-Thing. This character interests the hell out of me because he’s one of the few characters that doesn’t really have to show personality or anything. Man-Thing is at its best when his cast of characters are interesting--a given when it comes to Peter Parker. Writer Stuart Moore channels classic Peter Parker: racked with guilt and concern for his ailing aunt, his inquisitive mind, and feelings of angst over a set of vines growing out of his chest. Although the plot is somewhat contrived having Peter take Aunt May to Florida to visit friends (it’s plausible, but when has Peter given himself a vacation, really?), the confrontation between the shambling mound and the wallcrawler is fun. This is an adventure made more enjoyable by Joe Suitor’s art. The entire book is colored in pale tones, bringing beauty even during acts of violence. Suitor’s Spidey is lithe and spindly, while his Man-Thing is girthy and strong (ok, I just vomited a bit in my mouth saying that last line). Innuendo aside, Suitor draws one of the most impressive looking Man-Thing’s I’ve ever seen (OK, that one made me feel wormy too). But seriously, you have to see Suitor’s Man-Thing, it’s pretty damn awesome (alright, I give up). Just check this one out. - Bug
THE WALKING DEAD #57
Image Comics
After that lull at the prison, Kirkman has been sprinting at an engrossing and expert level pace for the last year. This current arc, with the survivors making a trek to Washington, gets better with each issue. I’ve complained about this book in the past, but damn if it isn’t the first book I read when I get back from the comic store every time a new issue hits the shelves and the last one I’m thinking about by the time I get to the end of my pile of new comics. This issue is about as brutal as you can get and I loved every panel of it. The guy may have been a bit off when he asked everyone to leave the Big Two this summer, but seems his exodus only made his writing on this series all the stronger. - Bug
TIGERHEART Novel
Author: Peter David
Ballantine Books/Del Rey
Well, last week I got chided a bit for reviewing a book I hadn’t completely finished. In that review, I said I really loved Peter David’s Peter Pan novel which acts as a sequel in the best sense of the term by taking the characters in new and exciting directions. Having just finished the last pages, I can now add the terms both heartbreaking and heartwarming because as Mr. David pulled all of the plot threads together, I found myself both deeply touched by each character’s resolution, but also feeling sorry for The Boy (David’s version of Peter Pan) given the revelation in the last few pages. That’s not to say that the showdown with Captain Hack (David’s Captain Hook) isn’t intense or the rescue of Fiddlefix (David’s Tinkerbell) wasn’t all edge-of-your-seaty, because they were. It’s just that after finishing this fine novel, a novel that oozed action and fun, I was left with a resonant feeling that I had read something profound and personal. David ends the book with the revelation that no matter how old a child gets, he’s always a child in their parent’s eyes, a thought driven home by the triumph of Paul (David’s main character) and the tragedy of The Boy, who looks like he sadly will never grow up. Not a comic, but a damn fine read and playing to the sense of wonder and adventure that lies in all of us adults grasping their kiddie comics and taking them way too seriously. TIGERHEART is definitely something you all should take a look at. - Bug
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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to go an pick up my regular supply of comics for about a month now
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Jan 14, 2009 9:34:36 AM CST
Sometimes people refer to Garth Ennis by his first name...
by loodabagel
Like they're his friends, and I say to them, "Hey man, stop pretending you know the guy. It's weird." But they never seem to get the point. Don't you fall into that trap too, Humphrey Lee. It's a slippery slope that can only end in despair.
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GI Joe snd TRansformers. What kind of idiot can really enjoy a crappy cartoon created to sell toys? Fuckin nerds.
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http://handofmessi.blogspot.com/
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Apparently talks between him and Marvel Studios have broken down, so you can count him out as Nick Fury in future Marvel films. For now. Didn't Marvel go through this before with Jon Favreau and Terrence Howard?
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Man, if there's one thing I love seeing in epic super-hero cross-overs, it's characters standing around explaining things to other characters. Hey, Superman's back. How'd that happen? Guess you have to read Superman Beyond #2. Oh, wait, that doesn't come out for another week.
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i shall...secret six is wonderfully entertaining and damn lovable...
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Now I know there is no reason for me to drive forty minutes to the nearest comic shop today. What a boondoggled clusterfuck of mediocrity FC turned out to be.And, baby, Bruce Wayne deserved way, way, way better than that.
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I love going to Chipotle on New Comics Day. Thanks for the reminder, Optimous.
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I'm going to take a look at the main ones and maybe even buy them... except for the the big eyes for the cape guy stuff because really... who cares?Bug, I completely agree both on Walking Dead's current output and Kirkman's retarded manifesto.
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Ok, this is very sad. Since Ultmate Fury clearly is Samuel L. Jackson, it is a bummer that talks broke down. Also surprising. Favreau is still onboard Iron Man 2, Howard is out because he is a total hard to work with prima donna, but the hardest working man in show business, the man who will appear in ANYTHING, couldn't be contracted? That is weird and worrisome.
Yes, Secret Six is the best book DC publishes, IMHO, and I buy like 18 DC books a month. (Incredible Hercules is my favorite Marvel).
I shall buy Inhumans based on this review, was on the fence last week. I am ambivalent about Abnett/Lanning. They can be great, but they're no Palmiotti/Grey (I will buy anything they do). -
Jan 14, 2009 10:10:49 AM CST
I came to AICN looking for the Jackson/Fury news, too.
by rev_skarekroe
Pretty major fuckup by Marvel Studios. It's one thing to replace Terrence Howard, but canning Sam Jackson? Way to kill off this whole shared movie universe thing before it gets past its infancy.
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Fat lady still hasn't sung her money song yet.
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great.
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Is there a dude with LESS discerning taste when it comes to picking film projects?
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Last week's Jonah Hex had an unusually good story, even for this book, which is the prime example of effectively using single issue stories. The most recent issue actually speaks to current political situations without being heavy handed, obvious or preachy. My only caveat is that the art, while very pretty, is in spots confusing, hard to tell exactly what is going on.
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issues to pick up. Thanks for the reviews -- good stuff there.BTW, Joenathan -- thanks for suggesting Brubaker's Captain America ominibus; it is a shining example of what comics can (and should) be in the right hands. I'm only about a third of the way through, but wow. I also picked up GL Sinestro War, which just wasn't my cup of tea. Stars Wars meets splatter movie...meh.
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You can't be a Cap fan and not love what Bru is doing. He broke Marvel's golden rule, what should have been the worst comic gimmick of all time, but somehow.... pure awesome.He's been great on Daredevil, too. Also, his creator owned stuff: Sleeper is cool. Criminal is great crime noir and Incognito is awesome. A supervillian in witness protection. The first issue was last week, sold out like crazy.
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I want to like it, but... my attention keeps drifting, I put down the trade and wander off, eventually come back and read for a bit... its just not grabbing and I'm trying. The DC-ness, the stuff that makes DC DC, is just too much maybe.Plus... no pockets.
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I thought $3.99 for this issue was terrible seeing that it was only a single sized story w/ extra pages for character history and notable stories.
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I was almost swayed into buying Grundy until I saw that he did the art. It's just messy, and totally ruined Rogues Revenge for me.
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You know, I've just read every hc collection of Johns' run, back-to-back, up to the conclusion of the Sinestro Corps War, and seriously, as someone who's never given a fuck about GL, it was terrific. Not just Sinestro Corps, but the whole run, very much a continuing story where every piece affects every other piece.Like every other sane person, I love Bru's Captain America, too, although I feel like the big arc ended in basically a whimper instead of a big climax. And in everything that followed 'The Death of Captain America' there's a tendency for the issues to seem very repetitious: hard to distinguish them from one another, and the story seemed to be stalling for time for a while. Still a great run, of course, but I think GL built to dramatic climaxes and awesome moments much better. Bru's Daredevil kicks the living shit out of Bendis' version. It's amazing how much of Bendis' crap Bru was able to fix and reconcile while still telling good stories.
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Is the bees knees. If anyone is digging it, and they haven't already they should check out his/Rucka Gotham Central run, which has a similar feel and the Lark art. Lart!
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Bru's Daredevil depended upon Bendis's in order to tell those great stories. I don't think Bru "fixed" anything. I think more so, its the best example of the seamless transition between two creators with a similiar, and yet still unique, view of a character. I think its the best example of the serial nature of comics, not just with the story, but with the people behind the scenes.
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I've always thought something was wrong with me for thinking RR was a hairy mess on the art side. People praise his work left and right and I just did not get it.
I will say though, Grundy is a departuer from his usual style. I went in with your mindset and I'll say the man did surprise me. -
depends what GL trade you are reading. The johns stuff really kicked off in the One Year later arc. The stuff before it helps you get to know it. i felt the same way but then I started to realize this may be some of the best comics i've ever read. The GL Corps stuff is good from the miniseries and the first ongoing issue. It's not DC-ness. If anything it's very much like Star Wars. but you don't like star wars huh? Try read it all, even if you download it, because you might regret the fact that sinestro corps war is the best superhero story ever written. but you need to read the stuff before it to enjoy it at it's full potential.
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No, I don't think he needed Bendis' run in order to tell his great stories. It's just that in solving the problems left over from Bendis' run (the ridiculous legalistic, secret-identity stuff/ the boring, flat character of Mila who is a textbook illustration of lazy writing/ the Kingpin...). If none of that stuff had happened, yes, the plots of Brubaker's opening two years would be different, but I have no doubt the stories would have been great regardless.
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He was weak back on the old Avengers, and I didn't even check out Rogues' Revenge because I don't like his art.
BTW, was Piper in Rogues' Revenge? I was re-reading some of Countdown (yeah, everyone hated it) and the Piper/Trickster storyline was very good, as was the Holly/Harley arc. Now, whatever happened to Piper and Harley? I do not know.
Man, the people at my LCS have frequently recommended the SinestroCorps stuff to me, but I never liked Hal Jordan (I agree that he does have a personality, it just doesn't appeal to me), I agree with Joenathan that GL is very "DC" and not in a good way. But then, I do not like Star Wars. Never have, was 16 when the first one came out. Thought the first trilogy was ok, but didn't get into it. And I don't think I would get into GL either. I am one of those who would only get into it if it was really off the wall imaginative, and it appears to be more semi-militaristic. Many people obviously like that stuff, but I am not one of them. -
but then you're talking about vagueries, so... who knows... Anything could have happened. So, I think that if Bendis's stories hadn't existed, Bru would have turned out to be a scarred, eye patch wearing version of himself where instead of writing Daredevil, he's writing propaganda for an oppressive evil empire of invading aliens in a dark, twisted mirror version of the world...Thank GOD for Bendis...
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Can someone print the list of Johns GL stuff in order? I'm pretty sure I've picked up the first trade, but...I've heard nothing but good about the series, but... meh... maybe its my extreme hatred for non-human species...Plus, do you think the GLs stink? All they ever wear is their uniform. Eating, fighting, lounging... full costume and mask. You never see them change or have street clothes... nope, mask on, all the time. I bet the GL cafeteria smells awful.
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I'm not talking vagueries at all. The secret identity, the imprisonment, Mila. Three very specific things that Bru had to write a way out of, and did so with stories that make Bendis' look like the watered-down daytime soap that it was. Saying he paved the way for Brubaker is like saying Chuck Austen really set things up for the writer who took over Uncanny X-Men after him.GL collections list: No Fear, Revenge of the Green Lanterns, Wanted-Hal Jordan, Sinestro Corps War vol.1-3-- you read them back to back and, damn, that's good comics. Also the GL uniform is not made of fabric, but plasma, so no body odor.
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How many times is Marvel going to reuse the image of the punisher looking down the barrel of a gun? And how many comics are going to reuse the title: "Fear Itself"?
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We just don't see them. It's an artist interpretation thing. Superman has a pocket in his cape, Batman has pockets in his utility belt, Green Lantern’s pockets are in sub-space (no, really), Spider-Man must have pockets inside his costume (I remember him leaving money to a camera store for film once), the FF have pockets (the Thing had money for a cab once) and all Avengers have pockets since they used to always be able to whip out there Avengers ID card. I remember the “Defenders for a Day” story where Hercules whipped out his ID card, just didn’t see where he kept it.
The real question is why do superheroes not want you to know they have pockets?
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I mean, you have no idea what type of story Bru would have told in lieu of following Bendis, so its a moot point. You can't judge these non-existant stories as good or bad because, well... they don't exist. So you have to go off the facts and the fact is, he built beautifully off of Bendis's lead and has created some of the better work Daredevil has seen in years and that character work is dependant upon Matt having been outed publically AND marrying Milla. The Prison storyline and The Mister Fear storyline would never have existed without Bendis setting up the pieces for Bru to knock down. As for your Austen metaphor, I didn't read his run, so I couldn't say if it was a similiar situation or not.
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With MArvel, the no pockets doesn't bother me, because most of them regularly wear street clothes. With DC though, its like the majority of them put on their costume and thats it... all costume, all the time... so, what if GL wants a soda, does he use his power ring to steal one? Its just seems like a waste of ring energy to create a special pocket when he could have just worn normal pants...Plasma? Really? So... if their power ring dies they're naked? So every dead GL, is not only dead, but when their ring takes off, it adds the indignity of being dead and nude? The GLs live in a harsh, harsh world, man.
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I think we all know where Hercules keeps his ID card.Gross
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Why does Hercules need and ID card, who cards him at Avengers Mansion? Does Jarvis turn him or the others away without their ID cards? "Mr. President, You have to listen to me!""Uh... yeah... Cap... how about we see a little ID first, alright?"
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You need those to get into the V.I.P room as well as any of Hawkeyes barbecues. "Sorry Herc, until I see your ID no tasty burgers for you!" Also where did Tigra keep her ID, and why does it have hair on it...
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You get a lot of perks with an Avengers ID Card:
1 - Access to Avengers Mansion (it's like a key card).
2 - Proof to legal authorities that you are a member of the Avengers, or were a member (remember, a shit load of people were members - it is hard to keep track). Plus Captain America once flashed it to a custom's agent in his secret identity of Steve Rogers so the guy would let him board a flight.
3 - It acts as a mini-computer, and the photo picture can become a monitor.
4 -And best yet, it acts as a credit card! With a $100,000 limit if I remember right.
Avengers ID card. Don't leave home without it. -
A lot of places require two forms of ID if you want to cash a check, so it is good to have.
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except on the internet
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No wonder Hawkeye can throw so many BBQs... I bet Hercules eats a ton... and then gets drunk and pukes in the pool... poor Jarvis. I bet he secretly hates the Avengers.
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He's got that vest, you know. I bet it's a real, physical vest too, 'cause that's how Guy rolls.
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Bendis is a hack writer who sucked really, really hard on DD, like he does on almost everything. Brubaker is a very good writer who took over DD from Bendis and transformed it from a lousy book to a good one. It is therefore likely enough to be a mathematical certainty that if Brubaker took over after a shitty run and wrote a good one, he could also have written a good run after anyone else's run, good or bad. Are we to believe that if Dan Slott was writing beforehand, or Bruce Jones for that matter, Brubaker's run would somehow have been no good? That's just stupid. He's a good writer writing a good run. Who came before or comes after is beyond irrelevant; the quality of the work speaks for itself and stands on its own.
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If I remember right, I believe that and his old leather jacket are the reason he was known as the "edgy" DC hero.Of course... he also used to wear his jeans TUCKED in his cowboy boots...
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...on anything. All I meant by that is that a bad writer can write bad stories and then when a good writer takes over and cleans up the bad situations created by the bad writing, the first writer doesn't deserve credit. Bru just solved the problems created by Bendis' bad writing beautifully.
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Like I said: Without Bendis, Bru is scarred and wearing an eyepatch in a twisted mirror universe version of our World. Hell, maybe he even (gasp) has a goatee!The world is soooo lucky to have Bendis.
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We were lucky to have Bendis around so that his "bad" stories would force Bru to shine!
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Can we all agree, that next to Rocket Raccoon, he is the most bad ass talking animal out there with a jet pack? Just read first 6 issues of FC and Tawny just might have made the whole thing worth it. That shit was awesome.
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Did anyone else think that the first issue of 'Werewolf' was realy similar to the recent BBC 'Jekyll' series (main character locking himself away during change, keeping secret from family, both personalities communicating with each other, mysterious organization tracking protagonist, etc.)?
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Really cool and subtle effects were used for his change.
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Ok, I was just at my local comic shop and along with the regulars I was greeted by a bunch of new and frightned faces. Who were these new folks? Just your local horde of news followers looking for the latest under ordered issue of The Amazing Obama feat. Spider Man. Besides the fact that you have the non regulars buying copies, you also have the Ebay fanboy douchebags who are buying multiple copies to make a quick buck. I know I'm ranting about something stupid, but whenever I see something like this it evokes memories of the mass hysteria that was The Death of Superman. I personally don't really collect for value, I'm just looking for good stories to read, so I guess I just get more irriatated when my local comic shop shop is invaded by idiots who are out for the latest gimmick event, and are willing to pay 50 or 60 dollars for a book that you will probably be able to get for less than 10 6 months from now. Ok, I've vented, I feel better.
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I got to get back to my local comic book store!
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Less than a $1.It amazes me how people have equated comics with automatic money in 20 years. Every once in a while a friend will talk about this and I'll explain all the retard shit that comes along with, or has to happen for, the comic to even double cover price and then I laugh at the look on their faces.A long time ao I was working in a comic shop when DV8 #1 came out with the 8 different covers came out and this google-eyed son of a bitch came in and bought 24 copies! 24! 1 batch for keeping, 1 batch for re-sale and 1 batch for reading. "You know, traditionally (as shown by the Gen 13 overs) the female-centric covers get the most resale value."Asswipe. I hope he enjoys 24 copies of the same crappy comic drawn by Ramos...
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I forgot to type that while I haven't liked any of Mr. Swierczynski's comic writing up until now (although I like his novels) I did really enjoy 'Werewolf' (along with 'Secret Six' and 'Grundy').
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Actually, I think it's a pretty cool publicity stunt, but I'm sure it's already sold out. It would be annoying if you worked in a comic book store to see all the "newbies" come in today for just that one thing thay will never set foot in your store again unless something crazy happens (like Batman dies or something). And the phone calls! I bet the phone is ringing off the hook at comic stores today.
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The Hook. My local comic shop owner said it was mainly women calling and asking about it.
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have always felt like longer versions of those old hostess apple pie ads to me, the ones where Spider-man helps get a little league team's hostess pies back from Dr. Doom who has stolen them and then they all eat some pie... Why do people even want that kind of thing? (a real world cross-over, that is, believe me, I understand why people want pie... mmmm... pie...) Whats the point? Its not like the art is spectacular, nor will the story be anything cool and I'm positive Obama is more charismatic in real life... Its like thos late night USA up all night soft core pornos... no boobs, no sex, horrible acting and story... why do these things exist?
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That's a real world cross-over via Neil Adams! I wish they'd bring back those oversize Marvel Treasury editions for stuff like that. My childhood favorite was the "Superman VS Spider-man" book.
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No offense, mate, but you just described the plot line from any split personality monster story ever told that was worth a tinker's dam. Similarities in the genre are inevitable.
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I see that the varient cover of the Obama/Spider-Man issue sold out everywhere in minutes this morning and is already getting $60 to $80 online. I'm going to drive to my local comic store, bust in acting all exasperated saying I've been all over town looking for something just to get the clerk going, then I'm going to ask for that "Werewolf by Night" book.
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I agree with Joe on pretty much everything: 1. I realize GL is good. I'm not saying it isnt. But.....I just cant get into it. Ive tried many times, and it was ok, but....ehhhhh. I cant explain it, I dont even know what I dont like about it. I loved Annhilation and Nova (still do). MAybe its just too DC for me? Maybe its that the characters are pretty much frozen in amber more then any other comic I've read? (Guy Gardener, that trainer guy Lantern, even Hal, have been using the same 3 catchphrases/personality tics forEVER). Dunno......(shrugs). However, best comic story ever told?!!? WTF? Have you READ the first 30 issues or so of Starman? 2. My pull list has been gradually shrinkng for months now, but it looks like some things are coming out that are actually cool, god forbid. That Inhumans thing sounds pretty bad ass. 3. Say what you will about Kirkman's manifesto, but Walking Dead has been killin it since he left Marvel. The unfocused moments of the past appear to be gone for now. I also can never remember a longer "death watch" then Rick in that series, reading every issue beng absolutely sure that this s the one where Rick is gonna bite it.
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Bru is God. Not only did he pull off the cardinal sin of bringing back the one character who can never come back, but made him a total fucking bad-ass as well who rocks the shit. AND hes banging one of the hottest chicks in comics, thus solving my one problem with Steve Rogers, in that he didnt use the costume to get nearly as much high level poon as he could have.
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for a comic book -- after many, many years of comic collecting I just bought the crown jewel of my collection: Action #26 in near-mint condition.Yes, it was a stupid amount of money and I'll probably never spend that kind of cash on a comic again. But I've always wanted one of the early, early issues -- and by golly, I got one. Finally.Just wanted to share some comic book zen with geek brethren.
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I haven't seen Jeckyll, but I will say that Jack Russell has been locking himself in a cage and manacling himself during the full moon for decades. I remember the old Spider-Woman comics, one of the last issues, where Jessica Drew watches him bind himself for the night only to be kidnapped under her nose by the Locksmith.
Nerd memories. -
.....is that Bane has no depth of personality. i don't care if Gail Simone, or Alan Moore, or even William fracking Faulkner is writing the character. Bane is nothing but a bad plot device in search of a plot line.
don't get me wrong, simone is great, the six are great, it's just bane that sucks. he always has, he always will. i just hope writers stop using this 'roid taking, mexican wrestling reject sometime soon. -
I saw the final copy sell in my Comic book store and he said that the phone had been ringing all day. I should have asked how many copies he got.
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and wont buy it. But I hope for those who do that it's actually a good story worth paying the extra cash for. Unlike that stupid Colbert backup they did during New Ways To Die.
By the way, Rob Liefeld is gonna have Obama appear in Youngblood too, better reserve your copy now! -
Don't Ask.. Just Buy it!
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Happened to the Twelve?
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It wasn't a good story at all...
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...is the same thing that happens to every JMS project. Out of the gates like a horse on fire, but then here come the delays for one reason or another. I thought the twelve was going to be different. JMS promised it was going to be different. Turns out, not so much.
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The Obama issue is selling for $130+ on Amazon, I wonder how many people are willing to actually pay that?
I just got the latest issue of Old Man Logan, and have to say that it's the title I now most look forward to.
Just added the War of Kings one-shot, don't let me down Rock-Me.....
Also, I dropped Walking Dead during the extended prison storyline to trade-wait, and bitterly regret the decision.... I guess that's what happens when you make the choice to cut some of the fat from your pull list, sometimes you trim some muscle by mistake. -
In my humble opinion, Walkng Dead is one of the most un-trade-waitable comics out there. Half the fun is the cliffhangers!! Having to wait to see what happens next issue is absolutely part of what is cool about the book. Instant gratification, in this instance, is a bad thing.
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Yeah WTF happened there? I never liked as much as your guys (the ideas were never quite as revolutionary as everyone thought, nothing I hadnt seen before) but it was cool enough, pretty entertaining. Maybe they will do what they do with all JMS stuff: have other creators start coming in to do one-shots to make everyone think the series hasnt completely stalled.
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that was my last one from JMS. I've always liked his ideas (if not, much like J.J. Abrams, his execution) but he's just such an unreliable fuck up when it comes to the wrap up. This series was the last chance for me, if he actually got it all out and it didn't fizzle, I'd still buy his stuff, but now... Liefeld, Winnick, Claremont, Byrne, Waid, Loeb AND... JMS... done.
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it would seem you shouldn't have sold the Obama/Spider-man comic to anybody but your best and loyal customers. Fuck the public. You could just take your whole order to ebay or Amazon and make out like a bandit before the second printing comes out. In these economic times, I wouldn't hold it against anyone who did that.
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I really liked the Prison lull, I think shit like that is important in a zombie story, make the characters feel safe, let them drive each other crazy and them just when shits about to blow up inside, you destroy their shelter and send them back out into the world. It makes the outside, overrun with zombies world seem that much more dangerous. Plus, and this is the REALLY important part, it highlights the fact the most dangerous thing in a zombie tale is not the monster without, its the monster within. So, if I had a complaint about Walking Dead, its that sometimes the characters get a little speechy and that the dialogue sometimes falls a little flat as a result, BUT... this is a small quibble when taken against the whole.the manifesto was stupid though, and if Walking Dead has improved since this decree of his, it really only shows that the only person's creativity stifled by the Big Two's system was Kirkman himself.
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We're Old Man Logan buddies!
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I think it is that trapped in amber feeling, you know? I love these characters, always have, but I don't feel the connect, in general, with DC characters that I do with Marvel, so when reading GL, its cool in wham, pow, boom kind of way, but I feel like I'm at arms length. I'd take Connor Hawke versus the Key over it anyday though, because I felt a character connection that went beyond the mask and beyond the "cool", you know? I think thats why I'm just not as into GL, despite how well done it is.
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I think it might be the undefned nature of the powers.....I mean, your power is you can basically contruct anything your mind can imagine. Thats cool and all, it really is, but.....II dunno, in execution its a little vague for me. I realize I am in the vast minority here
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I agree with you about DC having a “trapped in amber” feeling (although I don’t mind this as I will explain later) but I also feel that Marvel has let a little DC-Ness creep in. Not so much in the characters (thank Stan) but in the Universe. It is becoming almost as big as mess as DC was pre-Crisis (or now again) with alternate version of the characters and storylines that don’t meld well with the rest of the Universe. I mean you have the Ultimate version of every character and the Marvel Zombies and Ultimate Powers series have shown that those are connected to Earth-616. It is like Earth 1, 2, 3, S, X and all the other Infinite Earths of DC’s Multi-Verse. I don’t mind alternate or parallel timelines, it has been a mainstay of Marvel comics since almost the beginning, but I just think that certain versions should be kept as far apart as possible. I mean I can already see a potential Earth-616 Spider-Man meeting the Ultimate Spider-Man. Do we really need that cross-over?
As for DC, I don’t mind the DC-ness; I actually I prefer the characters to have “DC-ness” (sounds like a bad disease) instead of Marvel-ness they suffer from now. For me the classic DC characters just work better when they are less like “real people” (whatever that means) and act more like they were meant to be, over-sized action heroes or paragons of virtue. I think DC went down the wrong track when they tried to give their characters more “depth” and personal problems in an attempt to imitate That isn’t to say you can’t update these characters or portray them in a way that is relevant to today’s audience, but I just don’t think you need to make them parodies of Marvel characters.
Plus, I think any attempts to have continuity in DC are almost doomed to begin with. Everyone has their own favorite period in the DC universe, and their own personal preference on how a character was portrayed. Once again, Marvel was designed from the beginning to have continuity and be one shared universe, DC less so. It doesn’t surprise me that one of the best DC titles in the last couple of years, All-Star Superman, takes place outside of continuity.
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"I mean I can already see a potential Earth-616 Spider-Man meeting the Ultimate Spider-Man. Do we really need that cross-over?" You can see it happening, sure, but it HASN'T happened yet, so I just file that under the "hopefully it won't" file and keep on trucking. Ugh... paragons of virtue... no thanks... give me flawed hero in search of redemption any day of the week, man.That right there could probably be the defining difference in our tastes...
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I think you misunderstand what I was saying. Personally, I am a much bigger Marvel fan, and prefer the flawed heroics of Spider-Man, the FF and the rest, but I also admire the DC heroes when they are allowed to be DC heroes. I don't think any less of them as characters; I just think they work better when they are portrayed as the elite-sometimes-infuriating-overachievers instead of flawed Everymen.
Plus I think people underestimate the power of “static” characters who are paragons of virtue, representing a kind of perfect or elite champions. The best comparison I can give is in detective/espionage/crime fiction. Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, James Bond, Parker, Dirty Harry, Columbo and even Monk are all well-rounded characters with interesting personalities and a strong moral code; they are also all static characters in that they don’t really change from story-to-story. Martin Beck, the cops from the 82nd precinct, Detective Andy Sipowicz, Tony Soprano, Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer, Detective Vic Mackey, all of these characters are also well-rounded, but they are far from perfect. They are flawed people who undergo change during the course of their stories and sometimes fail.
I think you would be hard pressed to say one type of character from one list is intrinsically better than a character from another list. They are just different types of characters; same with Marvel versus DC characters. You might prefer one type to another, but it doesn’t make the other invalid or any less interesting. I personally prefer the flaw characters of Martin Scorsese's films, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a archetypical hero like Indy in the Raider's movies or James Bond.
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just the character type, otherwise... sure, sounds good.
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Has the ace in the hole though, Batman. His character is made even more awesome by the "DC-ness" of everyone else. He is a mortal among unchanging gods, and he is still the baddest of the bunch. I'll always be a Marvel guy, but I can appreciate how Batman can at times single handedly raise the quality of the entire DC Universe. It doesn't seem to be getting a lot of love, but I thought Batman taking out Darkseid, who is a God, in Final Crisis was incredibly apt, and once again shows why you don't mess with Bruce Wayne.
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That was my favorite. Batman versus the White MArtians? Awesome.
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Steve: good point re: Batman making the DC universe cooler - because it is so overstuffed with god like heros and villains - and not so friendly to the underpowered types with pockets and utility belts (RIP, Ted Kord. Never Second String) - it makes it 10 times better when Bruce kicks ass.
Example: There was a JLA story where white martians pretended to be super powered aliens out to help save the human race - but, of course, up to no good (going to suck all the energy outta the earth or something evil like that). JLA figures it out and assaults the white martian base - every one - Flash, Supes, Wonderwoman, etc., get their asses kicked and captured, except Batman whose plane crashed in the battle and snuck away. The head white martian baddy decides to forget about him on the basis that "he's just human."
Of course, at that moment - you (as well as the other JLA'ers who now know Bats got away) realize these Martians are f*ing doomed but just don't know it yet. You just get to sit back and watch the fun. It was way better than if superman took them down. Sometimes less powerful characters are more interesting.
There really is not an equivalent "name" character in Marvel U - because it has a lot more of these lesser powered types who punch way above their weight class,i.e., Punisher, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Captain America, Wolverine. I mean Cap. could, if he was having a good day, take down Galactus; also it's not like anyone would every underestimate him, i.e., in Ultimates when the bunch of super powered baddies in the room with him realize that he's awake and they are well and truly screwed. -
I was already thinking of superheroes as boxers, wrestlers or mixed-martial artist and breaking them up depending on their weight class. I always loved when guys fight someone in a different weight class, be it Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar or Captain America versus Dragon Man. It makes a very interesting match-up (and of course, everyone loves an underdog).
My only complaint against Batman is that as a “normal” man, he has won so many supposedly one-sided fights it no longer works as a surprise. I mean, he defeated Superman – how are any of us surprised when he defeats Darksied if he can defeat the Man of Steel? That is one thing I always loved about Marvel, the fact that the lightweights often do lose to the bigger and tougher characters, it is the fact that they put up a fight is what is so admirable (kind of like the first Rocky). Like when Daredevil fought Sub-Mariner – clearly outclassed but Sub-Mariner had to admire DD for even trying. Or Captain America, who though he has beaten a lot of tougher characters, has also lost some fights against opponents that clearly outclass him. I remember in the Korvac Saga when Cap was one of the last heroes left and started punching Korvac, telling him he wants him to remember that he was beaten by just a “normal man” – sure Korvac disintegrated him minutes later, but you had to admire Cap’s moxie and balls, and it did inspire Simon Williams to stop whining about his fear of death and attack Korvac.
I personally would love a story where Batman fights a clearly more powerful opponent and gets his ass-kicked. Not because I hate Batman, but just to remind us how human he really is. Of course, you could then have a rematch with the villain thinking the outcome will be the same, not realizing that Batman always learns from his mistakes…
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spidey versus Juggernaut
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Spidey versus Juggernaut is another great example. I loved the fact he didn't beat Juggernaut or bring him to justice, he only "inconvenienced" him by sinking him in 40-feet of wet cement.
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Spidey versus Firelord.
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1. "Wolverine got the buttsechs" 2. "Trapped in amber". Gimme my due credit bitches, and don't worry, I'll have another bad ass phrase ready for next week's column! E-CRED IN DA HOUSE!!!
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Personally I loved how Batman gave Jordan shit, although since it was GL's title, Bats was made to look like a douche. GL could obviously beat his ass (like create a giant fucking green birdcage or whatever, or punch him with a 25 foot green boxing glove.....wait, what do his powers do again?) which seemed to concern Batman not in the slightest. The all time best man vs. god moment was the attack on Thanos in Infinity Gauntlet when all the other heroes have fallen and Cap just walks right up to Thanos like "Whats up now bitch" and Thanos is like "Your Kidding" and Cap is like "Fuck no I'm not, you fuckin hoser, your ass is grass and I'm the lawnmower, plus that lame-ass Gauntlet looks like your wearing a gay pride flag", that was the shit. Granted, Thanos then killed him in like 0.7 of a second, but that shows why Cap is second only to Batman in the bad-ass rankings (I prefer to think of them as 1 and 1A, personally).
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It is interesting how you ranked Cap as only be second to Batman (even if by just a little) because of their ability to confront god-like beings, because to me the guy in Marvel most like Batman and shares his ability to take on much more powerful foes is not a hero like Captain America, but a villain: Doctor Victor Von Doom.
Sure Cap is willing to take on someone much more powerful then himself, but that is because he is brave and has certain ideals he will stand up for, not because he actually has a chance. Batman and Doom, however, when they take on a much more powerful foe they usually have a plan or are smart enough that you think "Shit. They could win this."
I mean, look at whom they have faced off against: Batman took on Superman, Darksied, White Martians; Dr. Doom took on Galactus, Thanos, Mephisto and even the Beyonder. These are two mortals able to take God-like beings down a peg or two. -
just kidding
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That was a good time book.
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Blonsky had him until Howard reached the remote and switched on his horrible George Lucas movie."My eyes!" screamed Blonsky, running off into the Marvel Universe.
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