Hey @$$holes, Village Idiot here.
We're just now starting to get things cleaned up around here after Brian K. Vaughan left. Boy, can that guy party.
(By the way, can any of you out there recommend someone who can do drywall repair cheap? I'm never getting my deposit back. Sigh.)
Anyway, back to the serious stuff: Reviews of comic books! What do we have this week? Glad you asked:
- After three years, a bunch of issues, and countless hard-earned shekels, Jon Quixote looks at Straczynski's storyline wrap-up in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508!
- And speaking of Brian K. Vaughan, Sleazy G. finds out what the deuce EX MACHINA is all about! (Oh I slay me!)
- Cormorant begins to discover that girls aren't yucky after all, with his review of MARY JANE #1.
- Plus Cheap Shots and more!
All this in 12pt. Times New Roman, plus the occasional uses of Arial for the sake of creativity. And for free, mind you.
(Click title to go directly to the review)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Buzz Maverik's Book Club: DOC SAVAGE
MARY JANE #1
BIRDS OF PREY #68
EX MACHINA #1
DAREDEVIL #61
Cheap Shots!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Story by J. Michael Straczynski
Pictures by John Romita Jr.
Published by Marvel Comics
A JonQuixote Review
It is not surprising that J. Michael Straczynski is a man who has protégés. He’s one of the most sophisticated writers in comics. He is the author of one of the better writing manuals that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading – and I’ve read a few. He is the man behind SUPREME POWER, arguably the best superhero title hitting shelves, if such a thing can be argued. And when he came on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – what, three years ago now? – he immediately delivered a Spider-Man story for the ages, getting right to the heart of the character with pulse-pounding action, an intriguing mystery, and some aching humanity.
Yes, there is a lot young writers can learn from Mr. Straczynski, and his accomplishments.
And, hopefully, his mistakes.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508. Ostensibly subtitled “The Book of Ezekiel: Chapter Three.” Actual subtitle: “How not to wrap up your overwrought three-year long mystery.”
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507, “Book of Ezekiel: Chapter Two” ended quite well. The Mysterious Ezekiel – which, based on the solits for the past three years, might be his given name – the wealthy businessman with the Spider-Man like powers who has been mentoring Peter for the past three years of the title, turned out to be not quite so benevolent. All those mysterious and mystic spider-hunters that have been plaguing Peter were actually after ol’Zeke. Zeke’s been using Peter – or as he calls him, “P”, a nickname that probably works better in print than it would in real life – as a decoy, so that he could not only dodge the baddies out for his blood, but also prepare “P” to be sacrificed to the big grand-daddy momma baddie.
Credit where credit is due: cool. Three years of all this funky mood crystal shit going on, now we know why. Now we know why he’s the “Mysterious” Ezekiel, and that the reason he’s been popping up to the point where he deserves his name in the title, is because he was spinning some diabolical plan to sacrifice our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler to some big momma spider in order to save his own skin. Here comes the big climax! Issue after issue Ouija Board Spider-Man is about to pay off!
And this big climax involves….Ezekiel changing his mind.
Peter’s about to get it! The big honkin’ spider is closing in. And at the last minute, Zeke jumps in and gets himself sacrificed instead. APRIL FOOL! And we, the readers, go “huh?”
Luckily Tonto shows up and explains it all.
No, I’m not making this up.
Protégés, take note. When it comes time for your big whammajamma ending to your three-year long ongoing mystery, don’t just have the bad guy change his mind and let your hero go home. Your readers have invested a whole lot in the story you’ve been spinning - not just time and money, but faith that even when things were getting to the point where they were shouting out BORING! like they forgot their Tourette meds everytime you broke out another variation on last month’s theme to nudge your little main arc just a little closer to the finish line, you were going somewhere with this that was going to make it worth their while. When you start spinning a three-year mystery, your faithful readers are putting a lot of trust in you. So do everything in your power to give them a nail-biting, heart-pounding, mind-blowing payoff. It’s only fair.
I’m thinking that the expectations of three years of Spidey’s magical mystery tour were big enough that JMS was gonna have a devil of a time coming up with something appropriately satisfying anyway. I’m all for a departure from the usual, but three years of build-up and teasing does create some pretty significant expectations. But this ending isn’t even satisfying for the three part “Book of Ezekiel” storyline, let alone the one started 37 issues ago!
On the plus side, Spider-Man: The Magic Years is hopefully over and done with, and that should make a lot of people (including myself, though I think I held out longer than most) pretty happy.
So let’s move on to better, if not bigger, things.
But Mr. Straczynski, you had better not pull this shit with SUPREME POWER.
RESURRECTION DAY: DOC SAVAGE #36
by Kenneth Robeson (pseudonym of Lester Dent)
Out of Print
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik (pseudonym of Johnny Morroco)
The last I heard, Der Governator himself was slated to play pulp hero Doc Savage in a new movie. I'm hoping that's scrapped. It's not that I wouldn't like to see a Doc Savage movie, or even like to see Ahnuldt play Doc, it's just that Hollywood has been screwing up all these old pulpy heroes for the last couple of decades.
But, Buzz, what about Indiana Jones and those Mummy-In-The-Tomb movies? Well, kids, those characters were created for the big screen, directly for the movies in which they appeared. I have no idea why that made a difference, but the filmmakers were able to pull of these cliffhanger heroes in period pieces.
A DOC SAVAGE movie makes me think of THE PHANTOM, DICK TRACY and especially THE SHADOW. For some reason, these early 20th Century adventure heroes from comics and pulp magazines failed as films in the late 20th Century. Not enough people familiar with the characters to accept the further distancing element of period set designs, I guess. I think Doc Savage would have shared their fate.
Maybe a Doc movie set in modern times, with Doc using futuristic POPULAR SCIENCE / POPULAR MECHANICS technology, could work. Steer non-fans away from the age of the character, away from the pulp roots. W.D. Richter did that with his gloriously twisted bomb THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BONZAI ACROSS THE EIGHTH DIMENSION, itself now a treasure from a period called the 1980s. Buckaroo, a new waver /scientist/action hero, teamed with those hard rocking scientists The Hong Kong Cavaliers, was very reminescent of Doc Savage and his five specialist sidekicks. Of course, Governor Schwartzeneggar sort of played versions of Doc Savage in TWINS (a brilliant muscle man raised on an island to be a superior human being) and in TRUE LIES and other films.
To clarify, Doc Savage starred in a pulp magazine series in the 1930s that was reprinted as a cheap paperback series in the 1970s. Doc had a bodybuilder's physique, incredible hand to hand combat skills, the greatest scientific mind of his time, and vast wealth. He used all of these to battle the meglamaniac supervillains of his era while creating pulp fiction style scientific inventions. Doc maintained his headquarters in a New York skyscraper, a precursor to THE FANTASTIC FOUR's Baxter Building. Secret tunnels joined the skyscraper to a warehouse complex where Doc housed his special vehicles and weapons. He had a crew of ex-military men who acted as his assistants in his adventures and who were the proto-type for most modern superhero teams. There was archaeologist Johnny (because mummies and tomb raiding are big in the pulps), Renny (always called "big fisted Renny" because pulp writers were paid by the word), Long Tom (whom Robeson/Dent always sort of fogets about), and especially Monk and Ham. Monk is a brilliant chemist with the build of an ape. Ham is a dapper lawyer. Monk and Ham argue all the time and must have been the inspiration for the Fantastic Four's Thing and Human Torch relationship.
I haven't read a lot of DOC SAVAGE. Maybe four or five of the novels. This one, RESURRECTION DAY, is the goofiest Doc story I've read to date. Doc has learned of a way to resurrect the dead. Due to improbable (even for the pulps) plot contrivances, he can only raise one dead person...ever. He lets that arbiter of wisdom, the American public, vote (Doc Savage created AMERICAN IDOL). They picked Solomon, the ancient king of Israel. Fortunately, Johnny has Solomon's mummy (hey, I'm only half-Jewish so I had no idea we mummified our leaders) on hand. Very handy. A supervillain named General Ino, who likes to talk in various weird accents (a geek supervillain, I guess) and his crew, who are sort of evil counterparts of Doc and Co., switch mummies on our heroes. Doc ends up reviving an evil pharoah named Pey-deh-eh-ghan (Pay Day Again, get it?) who has a secret tomb full of gold. Pulp adventures follow.
Maybe they should make the movie out of RESURRECTION DAY. Arnold could take some time out from governoring to play Doc. Jim Carrey as General Ino. Saddam Hussein as Pey-deh-eh-ghan (I mean, if we're going to rehabilitate him, why not as an actor? He could also play the Living Monolith in a future X-MEN movie).
MARY JANE #1
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
Can anyone believe that Marvel had the stones to publish a comic about the merits of reefer?
Wha-hunh?!
Oh, sorry. Picked up something from my stack of indy books. Wrong comic. What I meant to say was...
Can anyone believe that Marvel had the stones to publish a comic about teen romance? Okay, granted half the movies and half the TV shows and half of all manga are doing gangbusters with the genre, but bring a little girly romance even within proximity of the superhero genre and suddenly we all turn into Fred Savage from THE PRINCESS BRIDE:
“Hold it, hold it. What is this? Are you trying to trick me? Where's the sports?”(pause)
“Is this a kissing book?”
But just as little Fred Savage learned that Grampa Peter Falk could spin a pretty good yarn about true love, I’m here to tell you that MARY JANE ain’t half bad either. It’s a lightweight opening issue, but a fun one. The lead, of course, is Mary Jane, the girl every Marvel dork worth their salt knows will grow up to marry Spider-Man. Continuity geeks should check their anal retentiveness at the door, though, as this Mary Jane doesn’t necessarily correspond with the mainline Marvel Universe Mary Jane or even with Ultimate Mary Jane. She’s closest to the movie version, I suppose – a likeable, popular high school girl who’s maybe a little vapid, but that gives her some room to grow.
Where’s where some of you will derail but where Marvel might actually make a success of this thing is in the fact that it really is an unapologetic romance comic. Hounded by one of her social climber friends, Mary Jane is outright lookin’ for a man and her first date with Harry Osborn (you know him as the son of the Green Goblin!) is the central emotional event of the first issue. McKeever does some nice writing here, breaking from the teen banter of the first half of the issue to capture the awkwardness of longtime friends first entertaining thoughts of romance. DAWSON’S WEB? Maybe. The date ends on a realistically melancholy note, though, and it’s at this point you realize McKeever might be able to take this book to a more sophisticated level than “airy fun” when he wants to.
Not that there’s not some airy fun to be had. This incarnation of Mary Jane has a crush on Spider-Man ala the movie, and a charming scene occurs with him after he battles the supervillain Electro on the subway car Mary Jane is riding home. The villain defeated, Spidey scoops up Mary Jane and takes her home, safe and sound. “Hey. How’d you know where I live?” a confused Mary Jane asks. Totally busted, Spidey stammers for a minute but eventually comes up with this howler: “Uh-- It-- It’s one of my special powers.” What follows is a beat panel that can only be described as “very cute” as Spidey looks awkward while Mary Jane smiles sweetly. And then Spidey bolts the hell out of there. “Igottago!”
Hey, if a romance story can get me to smile, I know it’s doing something right.
The risk MARY JANE takes is that of shining a spotlight on a former supporting character who, unless something really dramatic happens to her, is destined to be outshined by the masked man she’s crushing on. If Spider-Man shows up too regularly, this seems all but inevitable, and if he doesn’t, then the series risks becoming a generic teen drama. A tricky mix, but credit where it’s due: McKeever seems to’ve made the balance work in this first issue. Can he keep it up? I hope so.
Mary Jane and the rest of the young cast are drawn attractively by manga artist Takeshi Miyazawa, recently of the Cloak and Dagger issues of RUNAWAYS. I really like this guy. He’s got a feel for teen body language and facial expressions that’s just the right balance between animation-style exuberance and recognizably real quirks. Notice MJ’s exasperated _expression on this page when she realizes she’s out of place and awkward in a French restaurant. Or her low-key but winning smile as she asks Harry out on a date over here. Nice action sequences too.
Where the book could use some work is in breaking the characters out of their stock personality types (Flash the jock, Liz the party girl, Peter Parker the geek, etc.). In some ways, Bendis has already done this about as well as can be done in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, but McKeever seems to be shooting for a lighter tone with some wish-fulfillment elements. It’s actually possible that in going with broader characterizations he’ll make it easier for teen readers to identify with these characters, but I still think they’re a little clichéd in this first outing.
Final judgment, however, is that this book which could have gone wrong in so many ways is surprisingly winning. Adult manga fans with an eye for the romance genre should give ‘er a look-see, and hell, even adult superhero fans can probably read MARY JANE without feeling like pervs ogling Hillary Duff. But the real audience should absolutely be the teen crowd, so here’s hoping Marvel can put the book in their hands.
BIRDS OF PREY #68
Written by Gail Simone
Penciled by Joe Bennett
Inked by Ruy Jose
Published by DC Comics
A JonQuixote Review
They don't write 'em like that anymore.
They just don't write 'em like that anymore
- Greg Kihn
One of my favorite comics from my youth is an issue of FANTASTIC FOUR where Johnny Storm ponders quitting his Human Torch persona after discovering a young fan had burned himself to death. It was just a little breather issue, a break between throw-downs with the Psycho-Man and the return of Doctor Doom, but it had resonance. It had a strong point of view. It conveyed some very powerful emotion.
Nowadays, comic books like that are so much the norm that they aren’t really comic books like that. There is something about the lull between the end of one action-adventure epic and the beginning of another that makes the human moments so much more intimate, that made the personal moments so much more truthful. I guess there’s nothing especially intimate about characters who flash their innermost thoughts and private feelings in bright neon for all to see with rapacious regularity.
BIRDS OF PREY #68 reminded me of that old issue of FF, those types of issues in general, those comic book diamonds that capture the essence of why we read and love these hyperbolic serial character dramas, but are overlooked in favor of the next big death or resurrection or costume change. This book is so visceral, and crafted with so much love and affection that it almost hurts to read.
But, y’know, in a good way.
After recovering from their latest bout of being dragged through the ringer, The Huntress, Oracle, and Black Canary take some time to themselves. Time to bond as a team and time on their own to sort through some personal stuff they’ve each got going on. Oracle pays a visit to her father, Commissioner Gordon. Black Canary deals through her (ex)boyfriend’s latest infidelities with the help of the grand momma Bird of Prey if there ever was one. And Huntress makes good on a debt she owed from a few issues back.
And through it all, the support system – the spinal theme of this book since I came aboard as a reader – is subtly remortared and buttressed in a deft and honest manner.
In fact, it’s kind of beautiful. That’s actually a great word for this comic: beautiful. From the tender exploration of friendship and sodality to the graceful art. Joe Bennett, taking over from mainstay Ed Benes here, has a couple consistency problems and ventures a little too deep into cheesecake territory early on, but for the most part he, like Benes, is able to convey the Birds’s beauty and sensuality without getting exploitative. Which is nice, because if there’s one thing this book is not, it’s exploitative. It’s simply a joy, from front cover to final panel.
I guess they still write’em like this anymore. But not enough for my liking. Not nearly enough.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.
EX MACHINA #1
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Tony Harris
Publisher: Wildstorm (DC)
Reviewer: Sleazy G
Launching a new title in today’s market isn’t easy. The comics fan base has been hemorrhaging readers for nearly a decade, and what fans are left gravitate towards familiar material rather than take a chance on The New. Taking all this into account, the smart thing to do is play it safe. Like, for example, starting a new series about a world without mutants, monsters, or heroes, and focusing that book on the mayor of New York.
Well, okay…so there was one hero, Mitchell Hundred. Hundred’s a kid who grew up reading comics while being raised by his activist mom. Mom tried to do a good job with her kid but stifled his creative side and told him to channel his interests into something practical. He became a civil engineer, which ironically lead him to be on the scene for a classic “comic book origin” moment. He finds being a superpowered vigilante isn’t the thrill he imagined it would be as a kid reading his comics, though, and decides there must be a better way to use his powers. He figures the best way to do that is to run for mayor of New York, and he wins.
Not standard comic book fare by any means, but Vaughan isn’t really known for playing it safe. He’s already got two incredibly strong titles he created being published by the Big Two - RUNAWAYS at Marvel and Y: THE LAST MAN at DC. EX MACHINA is the third monthly ongoing he’s created, and it’s just as well-written and unique as the others. We’re introduced to a very diverse cast of characters very quickly, and they each have a distinct voice. By jumping from one time period to another, Vaughan adeptly sets up multiple storylines weaving their way throughout the issue. We get to see Mitchell as a new mayor, a kid, and a hero trying to do the right thing and failing, among others. There’s also a moment, very early on, where former mayor Mitchell tells us things are definitely going to end badly. There’s a sense of sadness to the Hundred who’s serving as our narrator. He cleared feels he failed to accomplish what he set out to do, and that weight on his shoulders can be felt coming off the page. Knowing this going in is the kind of thing that tells you Vaughan knows exactly where the story is going and how it will end, which can be very comforting. Some stories are best when they have a finite end in sight, and knowing what that end will be actually heightens the reader’s curiosity. It keeps you wondering what’s coming next and how on earth we’re ever going to get to that final page from where we are now.
Vaughan is fortunate to be working with a spectacular storyteller as his artist, and I hope he’s able to stay for the entire series. This book marks the return of Tony Harris to a monthly title. Harris’ work lent a distinctive look and feel to DC’s STARMAN series in the 90’s, and many of us have been awaiting his return. His work here doesn’t disappoint. Harris’ storytelling is some of the best I’ve seen in comics. You can feel the emotion coming from the characters because it’s all right there in their body language and facial expressions. He doesn’t waste your time with repetitious panels, either - something is always happening from panel to panel and page to page. Rather than static images repeated for effect, he makes sure there’s always something new to look at, and it makes you feel like you’re watching actual conversations in real time. It’s not all talk, though. There’s plenty of action in this issue, and Harris handles that beautifully as well. Rushing trains, explosions, and attempted assassinations are all here, and there’s a kinetic feeling that propels you from panel to panel. Tony Harris’ work was worth waiting for, and with any luck he’ll stay put on EX MACHINA for a long time.
There’s already been some discussion of the final page of this issue. Without spoiling anything for anybody who hasn’t read it, it deals with a very sensitive issue that runs the risk of turning readers off. To Vaughan’s credit, though, it’s handled extremely well. It never felt cheap or manipulative, and it packs a real wallop. It also serves to let the reader know just how similar this character’s world is to ours. As I said at the beginning of my review, this isn’t the Marvel or DC universe. It’s being treated as if it takes place in our world with one little difference, and the final page works to cement that.
The “hero” stuff in this book will be interesting, I’m sure. What we see of it in this first issue makes the point that it will be realistic, but not in the “realistic superheroes” style of THE ULTIMATES. Instead, it’s realistic in the “pull two kids off a moving subway train and you’ll shut down the subway for hours” kind of way that no other book on the market really addresses. I’m looking forward to seeing Hundred’s successes and missteps as he discovers himself and his abilities with no one else to provide guidance. The real joy of reading this title, though, will be to see the rise and fall of a man who just wanted to help and all of the political machinations that lead to his downfall. Mitchell Hundred’s journey from his role as “The Great Machine” to his job as cog in/victim of the political machine is what’s going to make this book worth returning to month after month.
DAREDEVIL #61
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel Knights
Reviewer Extraordinaire: Ambush Bug
I have reviewed DAREDEVIL a few times in the past. And although I believe my reviews speak for themselves, I have received quite a bit of backlash in the Talkbacks and at certain creator's sites for doing my DD reviews in this manner . So this time, I thought I'd do it up nice and simple like. In order to communicate my message to both types of readers here, I have decided to split my review of DAREDEVIL #61 up into two parts. Part one will be a straightforward review of the issue at hand. Part two will be a translation for those of you who have made it their sole purpose to worship the ground Brian Michael Bendis walks upon. You know which category you fall into. I won't name names. Here we go.
I really don't care for Bendis' writing on DAREDEVIL. I've read quite a few issues of his run, had some time to ruminate about it, and came to the conclusion that this type of storytelling doesn't really match up with all of the hype and hoopla.
Translation: This does not mean that I don't like Bendis himself or that I wish to insult you or your mother personally. In fact, I ran into your mother yesterday at the grocery store and she had some very nice things to say about you all.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, Bendis is a superb writer of dialog. Words flow from his characters' captions and word balloons realistically, logically, and interestingly. Bendis crafts some of the most true-to-life dialog; dialog that is poignant and heart-felt. When Matt Murdoch gets his heart broken and dwells on it in this issue, the words in the captions reflect the look of sorrow on his face.
"I ate at a very expensive uptown restaurant…all by myself. Then I resist the urge to go to Milla's and beg for her forgiveness and understanding. Then I resist the urge to go over there and yell at her how marriage is a sacred bond that I do not take lightly. And that I shouldn't be punished for mourning the death of past loved ones while at the same time trying to live my impossible double life in the present."That's good stuff. The stuff of powerful drama. The stuff of interesting stories and a great launching pad for a good old super-hero angst-a-thon.
Translation: I am complimenting Bendis here for his talent with the word.
The problem here is the problem that has plagued this book all along. This book is all talk. Bendis barrages us with word balloons and captions. Page after page is filled with characters deep in thought and taking little to no action at all. Now, I understand Bendis' desire to tell a story about loss and how one overcomes that and how that may be a deeply personal story that may not have a lot to do with action and more to do with sorting things out in one's head. That's all well and good and would probably make a great story somewhere out there in comic-bookdom. But when your main character has been known to don red tights, use a radar sense, hear and smell an Ant-Man fart, and tussle with hired assassins, ninjas, and simple street thugs for the last forty years, you'd think you might want to include that in a few panels too.
Translation: This book is all talk and no action. Now, hear me out before you scream, "Whutever, Amdouche Bug. Yer one'a those guys who can't handle the sheer deepness of Bendis' work. All you want is 'splosions and slugfests. Well, comics have growed up past all that."
Now, this doesn't mean that I want to see Daredevil in a situation where he swings from a rooftop to rescue a runaway baby carriage from oncoming traffic and then just as DD nabs the kid and whisks him to safety, the carriage explodes and then the car the carriage hits explodes and then the baby's bottle explodes and then someone over there does a back-flip and then his sandals fly off and hit a nun in the nose and then she explodes.
No. This means that I'd like to see a little action peppered in with the heavy yet wonderful dialog. The thing is, I don't want mindless action. There can be a happy medium here and that's what I am criticizing Bendis about. I want smart action. Action relevant to the story. Action that pushes the plot along. Action that could define a character in a manner that is ten times more entertaining than having that same character sitting motionless for pages and talking about what he is or what he did or what he's going to do. It's a visual medium, but Bendis feels the need to over explain everything. My good buddy, Buzz Maverik has said it over and over; comics are a media with which there are no limitations. The only limitations are in the writer's mind. Bendis' talent for dialog is boundless, but when it comes to action (a core aspect of this character, or any super hero character) he's pretty limited.
In issue #61, Bendis avoids action at every turn. An unmasked Captain America corners Madame Hydra at a café in Sofia, Bulgaria. The situation is resolved without a single shield flung or drop of sweat shed. Later, during the above mentioned dialog, Matthew comments on how he wants to go out and find a criminal to vent his frustrations on. He wants to punch something because he's angry at the shitty hand he's been dealt. Do we get that? No. Matthew goes back to his apartment instead and has another conversation with the Black Widow. Towards the end of the book, Nick Fury calls DD and Black Widow and informs them of a sticky situation. Black Widow and DD decide to do something about it and I'm about to shit because I think we are finally going to see a bit of action. So when I turn the page, do I see DD and the Widow kicking glutes or even a promise that that may occur in the next issue? No. We see a MORNING caption and a newspaper headline saying DD and Black Widow hit the streets again the night before.
All of the action was glossed over in this issue. I have to admit, the Captain America scene with Madame Hydra was pretty smooth. The way they took her down without one punch was entertaining and would've have been innovative if not for the fact that it was the umpteenth time that action had been avoided in this book.
Translation: Bendis, although powerful with the word, seems to be unable or more likely unwilling to write his characters doing anything other than moping about. Any chance for action is cut out or glossed over in favor of more morose brooding. But hold your horses if you're going to rush to the talkbacks and type something like this: "F U, Bug! Didn't you read last issue? That issue had Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spidey, and DD kicking all types of azz! There's your action. Man, Bendis ownz! And by the way, FIRST, muthafuckas!"
Last issue was action heavy. I enjoyed it and would've given it a favorable review had it not been placed smack dab in between an ungodly number of talky-talk issues. An issue like #60 has become Bendis' exception to the rule. Bendis has done this over and over. He plops one issue of action per four issues of talk and inaction and expects that to quell the thirst of DD-action heads. Sorry, BMB, not happening.
When did action become the exception to the rule in comics? Why do we have to wait four issues for a character to break a sweat? A little brooding is fine. Hell, Peter Parker has brooded since his inception, but they still manage to get the guy in costume and tussle with the Lizard or Kraven every now and again. I just think that if you're going to write a book about a guy who risks his life despite a handicap and wears spandex to fight ninjas, action should be just as important as dialog.
Translation: I am criticizing Bendis' writing, not saying anything about your kid sister and a bottle of rum and a goat. This is not a personal attack on you and all you believe in. I am pointing out a flaw I see in Bendis' writing and commenting on that. Just doing my job as a comic book reviewer here folks.
I don't know why Bendis is choosing to gloss over the action at every turn. I doubt it's a personal attack on me and my ilk. Maybe it's because Alex Maleev is such a shitty artist. His art is static and dull. Sure he draws an interesting brooding, depressed figure; he does it over and over in this and every issue, but his photo-referencing (AKA tracing) fails to match the dynamic aspects of the character. I wouldn't have much faith in him if I had an exciting DD story to tell either.
Translation: I am commenting on the art of artist, Alex Maleev. I don't like it. This does not mean that I dislike Maleev or wish him and his harm in any way. I hear one time he saved a puppy and that's kind of sweet, if you like puppies. Now before you get all in a tizzy and say, "Huh, huh. Yer a moe-ron, you know that, Ambush Slug? You hate the book, but you keep buying it month after month. What's wrong with you?"
Yes, I read this book and I'll keep reading this book. I would hope that by the end of this interview, it would be evident that I read issue #61. Of course, I read it. I review comics. That's kind of what I do and sometimes that means I review comics I don't like because I feel like I have something to say about the title or because I've heard bad things and want to see if they are true or not or I want to read the book and save all of you the hassle of reading it. Or maybe, just maybe, I've been reading the book since (oh, I don't know) issue #1 (not Marvel Knights #1, the real #1.) The entire DD run from his introduction was passed on to me in an inheritance, so maybe I might feel obliged to continue to read the book despite arcs that I find problematic.
The reason why I continue to read this book is between me and my therapist and my goldfish, Mr. Bubble-Britches. The reason for this review was to try to clarify my thoughts about some flaws I see in Bendis' writing and even point out a few of his strong points. Hopefully, I have cleared up a few things for both the Bendis fans and the objective reader.
Translation: This is the end of the review. Now rush to the talkbacks, take this as a personal attack on everything you believe in, and insult the hell out of me.
Cheap Shots!
SEAGUY #2 (of 3) - I was really taken with the first issue of this book with its mixture of Disney-esque cartoon giddiness and Disney-esque corporate evils. Issue two’s a bit of a letdown though. Typical of Morrison, the weirdness introduced in the first issue isn’t explored but rather set aside in favor of brand new weirdness. Still worth your time, still amazingly drawn by Cameron Stewart, and the ending does tug at the heartstrings with its sledgehammer, Disney-esque emotionalism, but overall...just feeling too random. – Cormorant
HUMAN TARGET #11 - His unique X-FORCE revamp garnered Peter Milligan a lot of press, but HUMAN TARGET is his most complex work to date. Monthly ruminations on identity and how living without one affects a person are served up with high-stakes thrills and plenty of action. Issue 11, and issue 10 before it, are both single issue stories, so this is a perfect time to try the book out. Month after month the tension gets ratcheted up, and every issue leaves you wondering how much more Christopher Chance can take before he completely loses touch with who he used to be. The situations (and characters) Chance finds himself in are always different - family men, baseball players, priests, thugs - but the questions remain the same: when you’re a different person every week, who are you really? And what happens when you’d rather be somebody else - and could actually get away with it? This is one of the best, most introspective books to come from Vertigo in years, and well worth adding to your monthly list. - Sleazy G.
SPIDER-MAN/DOCTOR OCTOPUS: YEAR ONE #1 - Yes! Because we by God needed another Spidey/Doc Ock mini! Okay, sarcasm aside, here’s the thing: while the addition of a tragic childhood for Doc Ock is about the last goddamn thing a classic madman of his stature needed, the actual storytelling is surprisingly sharp. This is a case of craftsmanship and structure winning out over concept, and some of you might actually want to give it a look. Think of it as a hardboiled Horatio Alger story and look for the exceptionally expressive art from Kaare Andrews. – Cormorant
RUNAWAYS #16 - The shit hits the fan and the traitor is revealed even as the “season finale” (issue #18) looms ominously on the horizon. Pretty much everything you want in serial adventure here, including the sense that anything could happen next. - Cormorant
GOTHAM CENTRAL #20 - One of my minor complaints with this series is that it needs some more colorful characters to really grab the reader by the collar. This issue sees the return of famously roughneck cop, Harvey Bullock, and he does just that. He’s Gotham City’s Vic Mackey, and though he’s only assisting the detectives on the Mad Hatter case, I’m really hoping Brubaker and Rucka can find a way to finagle him in as a series regular. He’s a real shot in the arm for the book and makes a good foil for just about anyone. Best scene, though, is the interrogation of the Mad Hatter at Arkham Asylum. Truly unnerving, giving him a credibility he hasn’t had since Morrison’s ARKHAM ASYLUM. It’s a testament to Ed Brubaker that he’s taken one of Batman’s lamest villains and built one of the series’ best stories around him. If you still haven’t tried this book, go buy issues 19 and 20 to see what you’ve been missing out on. You don’t need to’ve read any other issues to jump in. – Cormorant
