Hey folks, Harry here... this the second week of the AICN COMICS Column... the content has ballooned to over 8000 words about the comics world and the issues coming to a store near you. What we are going to try and do for you is give you an idea of where the comic industry is at right now, where we want it to be, what's coming that is worthwhile and what sucks. I'd also like to beat down some of the stereotypes about the world of Comic Books and the people that read them... I know beautiful actresses in Hollywood that eat up the latest comic work of Dan Clowes as well as several beautiful girls right here in my own town that read comics daily. This isn't just a medium for pimply faced fanboys.... BUT that doesn't mean there aren't pimply faced fanboys too... The Amazing Mutant Fanboy is one of them. The Sexiest Man in Comics would be a welcomed addition to any issue of Playgirl magazine, but his wife has forbidden him from full disclosure. Point being though... Comics and the world of Comic collecting has always been about more than just fanboys. I grew up in the culture... My father opened the first comic shop in Texas... threw the first conventions in Austin.... and was buddies with the tops in the field. Hell I remember when Chuck, the owner of MILE HIGH COMICS was a long haired broke hippie kid sleeping over at my house on his way to Denver telling us stories about 'Gold in dem dar hills' of Colorado... Months later... the MILE HIGH load was discovered. I've been in the comics industry touring the country as a dealer since my youngest years and I've seen PHD after PHD come up collecting books.... I've seen politicians, lawyers, accountants, strippers, burn victims, bankers and every type of person that walks this Earth buy comics. I have a personal collection of over 100,000 issues myself, though admittedly the vast majority of the collection is Golden Age and Silver Age.... I've kinda been distracted with this movie thing for a few years now. BUT the comics industry needs all the help it can get right now. Profits are at an all time low, the distribution system is broken and the mainstream public doesn't have access... easy access to the titles they should be looking at. Well... We're going to try and help not only you Comic readers, but also those of you that just threw your hands up and gave up on it years ago. Hopefully... you'll discover that just like you.... Comics have grown up too... Here's our guys!
Hello again comic book fans, this is the Sexiest Man in Comics…
Along with The Amazing Mutant Fanboy. Welcome to this week’s installment of Premium Pulp. This week we’re going to be looking at four books hitting stores this Wednesday, June 6, 2001. Starting off our comic cavalcade this week is my pick for Pulp of the Week: "Superman" #171. This is the first book to really set the stage for the upcoming big-old company wide crossover taking place over the rest of the summer. The book takes place on the newly rediscovered Pluto. As Superman checks out the place, which has been converted into a Warworld, a giant weapon planet. Of course, being a giant weapon planet, it very quickly sends out some baddies to face down Supes. The baddies in question: The Fatal Five. Needless to say, a great action sequence ensues with all the biffing and powing you’d come to expect in a Superman book.
While all this is going on, Luthor gets to meet up with his all-grown up daughter who warns the Commander in Chief about the impending war. What’s amazing about this book is that you begin to see just how much work Loeb, Kelly, Schultz, Casey and editor Berganza have been putting into this upcoming crossover. For months, I felt like the Superman books were going nowhere fast, but in reality, they were carefully setting up this event, dropping little seeds left and right. This issue, narrated by Prof. Hamilton (which, even though Loeb’s done the secondary character narration bit a million times in this book, it still works every time), is one of the best set-up books I’ve ever read. Too often when writers are getting ready to pull off a big battle, the set up issue basically acts as filler. However, this book gives you a great action tale and moves the story along quite well, and is a refreshing respite from the tremendously boring set-ups I’ve been seeing all year long with DC.
And don’t forget the art! McGuinness and Smith do a great job again with this book, giving this title one of the most unique artistic takes on Superman we’ve seen in years.
I agree, though I have to admit I was slow to accept this artwork, as at first it seemed too cartoony for a Superman book. Continuing with the Our Worlds at War storyline is "Green Lantern: Our World’s at War" #1. Now at first glance, this book might seem like the kind of book I was just harping on as a standard set-up book. However, Winick does a great job with working in some important developments in this GL’s repertoire of tricks. Sent off by Superman to build a faux Pluto to replace the one blown up in this week’s Superman issue, GL does a good deal of reflecting on the events of the last few months, as well as realizing how powerful he’s become.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always thought that this GL was one of the worst ideas DC has had since it stopped continuously publishing "Sugar and Spice." Certainly Ron Marz’s tenure on his book didn’t help, and the Kyle Rayner GL for years was just about the biggest Mort in the DCU line-up…Azrael not withstanding. And while Winick, who’s work on Barry Week has been nothing short of kick-ass, hasn’t been totally successful in making this character really interesting, the last few issues of GL and this book as well have started me thinking that maybe the character is actually worth taking another look at. You see, at the end of the book, after the whole recreation of Pluto and battle sequence with Sinestro (who’s a good guy here?), GL confesses to his live-in lover, the always well proportioned Jade, that he’s able to do a lot of things that he’d never thought possible with the ring. Like read the text of closed books, or create realistic clones of himself (which has got to give Jade a few ideas for the bedroom if ya know what I mean).
I like this increase in power for GL as it sets him apart from Hal Jordan, something they’ve needed to do with this character for years. Certainly, after a rough going, Winick seems to have a good grasp of where he’s taking this character.
Next on the list is JLA #54, and man does this book rock. Waid’s doing what Morrison did on this book, only better. He’s giving us kick-ass action, but he’s also giving these characters real personalities. Back when Morrison was on the book, all the characters just seemed…well…like carbon copies of the original characters. Batman brooded, Superman lead, Aquaman whined and GL and Flash were just there because they had cool powers. Now, each character has a unique voice.
In this case, they all have two unique voices, as we’re closing up the Man and Superman storyline with the leaguers all dealing with a unique split personality disorder. Following up from last time, the league has been defeated by the 6th dimensional characters who control Id, and now only their secret identities can save the day. Now while this story line sounds incredibly corny, it’s a testament to Waid’s skillful writing that he’s able to take a very 50’s-60’s storyline and make it work for today’s audience.
This is another book where I have to comment about the art. I absolutely adore Hitch and Neary’s work thus far on this book, and this issue is no different. There are dynamic panels all throughout this book, which is a credit to Hitch style, while the Neary’s dramatic inks give this book a great texture that again ground this throwback to the Silver Age firmly in the Silicon Age.
Finally we come to the last book on our reviewing plate this week, and it’s the third installment of Blue Monday: Absolute Beginners by Chynna Clugston-Major.
Thought we were going to do another DC comic weren’t you? Oh ye of little faith and brain! That’s right, we’ve juked you out with an Oni Press tale. Course, I wasn’t a big fan of the book.
For those of you new to this series, I recommend picking up the first TPB and the first two issues of this tale as well. At the very least, head off to Oni Press’ website and pick up a
And that’s when the Pooka shows up. What’s a Pooka you ask? It’s a symbol of Celtic mythology that appears as a giant animal of it’s choosing. This Pooka is an otter named Seamus (folks, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried). Couple that with weirdly proportioned Magna-style art and I think it’s needless to say that I found this book to be a little too bizarre for my tastes.
Well, to each their own I guess. Perhaps it’s because these characters remind me so much of the gang I used to hang with in high school. They’re seen sort of as outcasts, but they’re not the geeks that everyone makes fun of. That and they always have some sort of love triangle going on, which I’m sure anyone who went to high school can appreciate. After going through a number of standard crap comics this week, such a refreshing tale about the pangs of despised high school love and invisible friends that have high school students buy beer to be just what I needed. In addition, this is one of those rare occasions that I didn’t have a problem with Magna-influenced art. Clugston-Major does an excellent job of having an art style all her own that is interesting to look at panel after panel. All in all, this is a great book that I’m calling my Pulp of the Week!
Well, that’s about all for Premium Pulp this week. Couple of quick notes before I head out to re-read my copy of "Operation: Knockout." We didn’t get a chance to read "Daredevil: Yellow" this week, but, and while we may be going out on a limb here, we both recommend that you take a look at this title. I mean, Loeb and Sale? How can they possibly do a bad book? I’m so confident that you’ll like this book, that I’m giving it my AMF Left Nut Guarantee. If it totally sucks ass, I’ll gladly remove my left nut and put it on a pike for all to see, how’s that?
Who gets to decide if it sucks or not?
Me. So odds are I’ll be staying at 100% nut capacity for a while.
Riiiight. Anyway, the rest of you should come on back here Wednesday as I debut the second piece of the AICN comic book puzzle with a little column I like to call Soliloquies. This week’s topics are the new direction the X-Books are taking and the dreaded Comics Code Authority. So come on back here then.
Whereas I’ll be sitting at home cause that fat bastard Harry won’t give me my own column. But you can all make my sad existence a little bit sweeter by sending us swag to review. If you’re a creator, publisher, or someone who simply pretends to be one of those two, Also, if you’ve got any leads or juicy bits of comic book info, we’re the guys to tell. But until Wednesday for me…
And next week for me, I’m the Amazing Mutant Fanboy.
And I’m the Sexiest Man in Comics. And remember to order your comics early...
and buy comics often.
Now the Sexiest Man In Comics addresses an important issue...
Last month saw Marvel Comics’ latest attempt to breathe some life into one of its floundering franchises, the X-Men. What’s interesting about this CPR Marvel’s employing with these books is that sales for the X-Books are, as always, nothing short of stellar. Obviously, Marvel could just sit back and let these books continue to sell, given the fact that fanboys will continue to purchase these books even if the entire book consisted of Professor Xavier and Magneto trading cooking recipes.
Given that, it’s nice to see that Marvel now recognizes the importance of producing quality works. That having been said, they’ve also taken a few risks in this matter, giving X-Force’s art chores over to someone whose art is usually called "cartoony" and would never be called a sure bet to light the mainstream comic fans on fire, not to mention the inclusion of a really dark mutant book that for the first time focuses on a group of unknown mutants as freedom fighters in The Brotherhood.
Of course, they also do some pretty safe stuff as well. Putting Grant Morrison on the "New X-Men" is certainly a no-brainer, and giving Casey and Claremont books seem like good plans too. So how do these tinkerings of the X-Men universe play out on the page? Well, for starters there’s "Uncanny X-Men," penned by Casey and drawn by Churchill and Morales.
It was an excellent idea starting this new X-Men revitalization with this book. Deftly written and presented, the book takes us through a normal day of human saving by a four person X-Team of Wolvie, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Archangel. First of all, this story is self-contained action-packed issue that delves very quickly into some of the interpersonal relationships of the team. We’re treated to some glimpses into the psyche of this darker, more focused Cyclops and how the changes he’s gone through have affected his relationship with his wife Jean. As a result, we also see the rebuilding of the Scott/Logan/Jean love triangle. All this against the backdrop of a young mutant’s attack against a military installation.
And then there’s the other half of the comic book equation – the artwork. Churchill and Morales (as well as Rapmund and Thibert) help to push this book over the top. This first issue goes beyond the standard comic book fare, with strong and dynamic panels and layout throughout the book. Along with a deft job of lettering by Comicraft, this book is everything that a first issue should be but rarely is: dynamic, engrossing and to the point.
The same cannot be said for the subsequent X-Book the following week, "X-Treme X-Men." Before I rip this book into shreds, let me first sing the praises of beautiful artwork of Salvador Larroca and Liquid. There is a beautiful fluidity to this book’s art, one that you don’t usually see in a normal monthly book. It reminds me of the first issues of Marvel Knight’s Black Panther with Mark Texeira’s beautiful paint jobs. You can stare into almost every panel at this book for hours on end, gazing into the polished, yet solid line work.
Whereas the art is beautifully fluid, my god the story is an absolute clunker. To make a long story that should have been a short story short, this team of X-Men, on it’s own mission to track down books holding the information books that hold information on the future of mankind, gets captured by Spanish authorities. Of course a battle or two ensues, and we get a bit of a cliffhanger that no one reading this book could really care about.
First of all, the most glaring problem is that the book, is packed way too tightly with dialogue. In one 1" x 1.5" panel we have one word balloon with 23 words. Why? Claremont is falling back on a technique that Peter David recently deftly mocked in "Young Justice." He’s explaining the entire back-story of the book and the characters in this issue. Nothing is left to the imagination with this horrible dialogue, as each page seems to be at least 45% covered in little white balloons filled with dialogue. Now I have no problem with wordy comic books, but they have to be done well, as we saw in Kevin Smith’s take on "Daredevil." Now while its important to let people know what your characters motivations and back-stories are, first you have to give a flying fuck about them. After reading this book, I can’t see that any reader would be excited about the coming books. Note to Marvel: if Claremont couldn’t help the X-Men in the last tinkering, what makes you think he’s going to help you now? Think about that one for a while.
Moving past that atrocity to a much more worthy book from the House of Ideas, "New X-Men" seems almost like it’s the book Morrison was destined to write. I enjoyed Morrison’s take on JLA quite a bit, though there always seemed to be something lacking. With those iconic characters, Morrison could never really take the kid gloves off and tell some relatively gritty stories. Enter his take on the X-Men and we see just how well Morrison can work with a superteam.
While we saw how "Uncanny X-Men" successfully started off its new direction with a no questions asked, no questions answered one-off and "X-Treme X-Men" failed miserably with its attempt to bring readers up to speed to start a story-arc, in "New X-Men" there’s a beautiful marriage of the two techniques. There’s a great deal of explaining to be done in this book, as the team’s in new uniforms, there’s a new Cerebro-type computer (Cyrebra) and the Beast looks like, well, a cat. Whereas Uncanny didn’t even acknowledge the changes in the team’s uniforms (even though they were there), and X-Treme took about ten pages for every plot explanation, this book handles both the new computer and Beast’s new look in one page, while reserving three panels for the explanation of the new costumes. Being pithy as a writer is a virtue, one which Morrison did a good job of achieving here.
The artwork here had the about the same cinematic quality that Uncanny did, although not to the exact same strength. You could, however, feel a definite pull towards making the X-Men of the comic book world more in line with the X-Men of the movie world in this book. Some of the visuals seemed to be direct homage to that of this past summer’s blockbuster. Not a total surprise, but just something to note nonetheless.
This issue, which introducing and explaining the new developments in the X-Men world, moves the readers right into an interesting new storyline, bringing readers face to panel with a new evolution in the Sentinel’s world: the wild Sentinel. A clever idea, but I’m still partial to Fred Hembeck’s ninja Sentinels from "Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe."
Let’s save the next chronological review for the end here, as we’ll take a look next at last week’s offering from "X," Ribic and Williams, "The Brotherhood." Very simply, this book takes a look at mutants as freedom fighters…or…terrorists. It depends on your point of view which of those two monikers you use to describe these characters. On one hand, this group believes that it is simply trying to make the world safe for itself. On the other hand, it is employing methods of death and destruction to accomplish it.
It’s certainly an interesting take on the mutant universe, but the execution leaves a little bit to be desired. The artwork on this book works well for what it’s trying to accomplish. These are not superheroes, or supervillains. They are regular people, just as freedom fighters and terrorists in the real world are. Thus, they’re not beautiful people. In addition, given the gritty nature of the book (which was to be the first regular non-code book), the less finished look of the artwork plays very well.
But again, this book feels and reads a bit too much like a set-up book. Now while I’m not giving the X-Treme book any leeway, I did enjoy this issue enough to mildly recommend it. I have a feeling that this book will mature very quickly. I’ll let you now in a few months if I’m wrong about that.
Finally, no recounting of the last month of X-Books would be complete without taking a look at my pick for book of the month, X-Force. The first issue was an absolute tour-de-force, and major kudos must be given to Marvel for taking the plunge here with Milligan and Allred. The premise here, in sharp contrast to The Brotherhood, shows an X-Team as celebrities. They’re all more interested in their fame and fortune than in saving the lives of mankind or mutants. Hell, the team leader brushes off the death of one of his teammates by explaining that he likes the members of his team "to look at least half human."
Now a superteam as rock stars is not a new concept, but here it’s taken to a new level, with focus groups, merchandise, and the women in hot tubs. This issue shows us basically a day in the life (maybe two or three) of the team, from restaurant openings, to reviewing tapes from past battles, to the introduction of a new leader at a press conference. All this and team bickering in the dressing room and the death of a boy band member.
The book’s dialogue, pacing, and plot are perfect. There is a sly cynicism to this book, that’s carefully subverted by Allred’s unique style. "X-Force" looks to be the book to read this year, so pick a copy up, if it isn’t already sold out where you do your comic shopping.
As a final note, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least casually mention the whole brouhaha regarding Marvel’s problems with the Comic Code Authority on this book. First of all, I think it’s absolutely absurd that Marvel thought for one second that this book would make it through the code. You have two implied ménage-a-trois sequences, seven people having their flesh melted, an explosion where you see someone’s eye flying through the panel, and then there are the last three pages, which are drenched in gore. Seriously Marvel, you guys knew that this wasn’t going to make Code, giving you the opportunity to drop the Code with great fanfare, making you guys look like the champions of free speech in the comic book world. Slick, guys, real slick.
That having been said, I think that Marvel did the right thing here in publishing without the code. The book deserves, as with any piece of art, to be displayed the way that the creators intended it. Without the gore, or the nakedity in the hot tub, this book wouldn’t have had the same feel or impact.
In addition, I think the code has been, for the better part of 20 years, a joke. It is the inflexible fossil of a bygone era when the industry believed that comics were for kids and kids alone (that, and anything they could do to squeeze out E.C. had to have been a happy coincidence). To try and impose a "one rating fits all" approach to any medium is just plain ridiculous.
But…
I’m afraid that Marvel is doing what the Marvel of old had always done best. They’re leaving the Code (and the other publishers) completely in the dust so they can develop their own, in house standards and practices (does this sound at all familiar to those in the retail side of the business who I’m sure LOVED Marvel’s entry into distribution?).
Seriously, why can’t you play nice with others? Why can’t you go to DC and the CCA (as well as the other smaller publishers) and ask them to come up with a more realistic code? Instead of coming up with a system that will work only for Marvel Comics, why not come up with something more meaningful that will work for the rest of the industry as well? Imagine if each studio had its own rating guidelines for movies. Disney’s version of PG-13 might be Fox’s version of G and Universal’s version of PG. How, in such an environment, would anyone be able to make value judgments as to what movies to take their kids? I guess if you’re willing to completely write off the children’s market for comics (and if you are, why bother with the toys or Ultimate Marvel line?), then sure, this move makes sense.
Yes, any ratings system is going to have flaws, as evidenced by the MPAA’s oft-ridiculed system. But at least it’s a framework that everyone can understand. If there’s one thing this industry has always needed, it’s standards and communication among publishing houses. And this feels like yet another step in the wrong direction.
But that’s just one man’s opinions. A sexy man, but a man nonetheless.
CLICK HERE FOR PART II of the Comics Column including a look at some Indies... a new participant in the column and a look at the past of comics....
