This week, everything changes! Maybe I should name this column that, but, in this case it's kinda true. Big things are afoot in the comics world. Marvel and DC appear to be having a contest to see who has the biggest crossover events. It's all getting to be a bit much. I hope the companies have a plan for what they're doing...?
Spoilers ho!
Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special 1 - The excess starts here.
You know, by itself this would have been a great idea. Sinestro forms a team to counter what the Guardians did, but their powers are based on fear. I'm not entirely sure how that works, but it sounds really cool. Then Sinestro grabs the meanest mofos in current DC continuity, like Cyborg Superman, the man who destroyed Coast City for example. And yeah, these next two are spoilers, but you were warned; they are more spoilerish than "Bart dies." Superboy Prime is freed from his prison and joins the Sinestro Corps, as does the Anti-Monitor (Question, are there 52 Anti-Monitors, like there are 52 Monitors?). But wait, there's more--Kyle Rayner knows fear and Parallax uses him as its new host. The most powerful creature in the universe, the next generation of Green Lantern, a host for the embodiment of fear.
I have to admit, unlike most of Geoff Johns's writing, the things he does in this issue sneak up on you--I did not expect most of this. I have to admit, I was just pleased with the back-up Sinestro Corps stories in Green Lantern. These were going to be cool characters. But then Johns's breaks out the ugly stick. Come on...the Anti-Monitor with a power ring? If you listen carefully, you can hear the drool of al lthe DC fanboys hitting the floor atthe same time. It is Johns's strength to bring out the inner fanboy, and he excelled at this one.
But then the doubts come rushing in. America is already under attack by nhappy Amazons. New Gods are falling out of the sky. Flashes are dying, Flashes are being reborn. Isn't there already enough to keep track of? Apparently not, and at last we know this has been planned for a bit. There are threads tying this to 52 and to the Ion mini-series. If they can pull all of this off, DC fans are going to be in for a hell of a ride the next few months. Just remember, Kyle has to be de-Parallaxed in time for his next mini-series.
And if nothing else, thank you for making the crabface mask of Kyle's finally look good.
Blue Beetle 16 - Jaime is thinking about what it would be like to have a girlfriend, when Traci 13 falls into his lap. Coincidence? Are there ever coincidences when heroes meet up? No, of course not; in this case, it's just the return of Eclipso.
[pause to let that sink in]
Yeah, she's back. And Blue Beetle is fighting her. What really works for me in this issue is that we have no idea how she got free from her stasis, but it doesn't really matter. Writer John Rogers nails the characterization and interaction between the teenagers as they work together, that this issue is just a joy to read. It also helps that Traci 13 and Blue Beetle make a very good team. But there is just the right mixture of action and comedy, especially when Eclipso turns Blue Beetle into the vision he has of himself, because all heros want to be badass power junkies, right? It'll make you laugh.
And just as the issue appears to be rocketing towards its comic climax, it takes another turn. Some classic DC characters are retconned a little, but they are treated honorably and completely in character for how we know them. And Eclipso momentarily learns that vengeance is a hard mistress. This one I won't spoil. It's totally unexpected, though foreshadowed a little in this issue alone, and its delivery is spot-on perfect. Blue Beetle certainly has been picking up of late. I'm beginning to feel glad I've kept getting it as the reward for my patience is starting to settle in.
Notes
The comics themselves don't tell you, but there is a specific order you should read some of this week's DC comics in: Teen Titans->Amazons Attack->Wonder Woman. Anything else won't really make sense....let me rephrase--anything else will make less sense than the totally lame out-of-character stunts pulled in Titans and Amazons.
And though I really doubt it would ever happen, having an American president pull out the McCarran Act in a comic is at least something to make you think.
And seriously, gobsmackingly beautiful art in the Fallen Angel half ofthe Fallen Angel/Shi flipbook. Need to find out more about Joe Corroney.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Dreamsnake
Why, yes, I can read a book in less than two months. I know, I was shocked to remember I could as well. I confess that part of the credit goes to the book itself, Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. Not many characters, not too subtle in its plot, only around 300 pages, Dreamsnake makes a nice summer getaway of relatively light fantasy fare.
The main character, Snake, is a healer on an unnamed world. There are as many hints that this world is Earth as there are that it is another world completely, but ultimately it doesn't matter. Her travels within the story do not take up much time or space, and though the possibility of it taking place on an alien world is clear, nothing happens as a result of it. Snake is well-trained in the diagnosis of injury and disease and apparently well versed in curing them, but the first few patients we see her with are not complete successes. Her failure is due, in great part, to the method by which her medicines are delivered--poisonous snake. She milks the venom from her pet cobra or rattlesnake, then feeds the snake a drugwhich causes the snake to produce medicine, which then is delivered by snake-bite. Patients unfamiliar with the practice are understandably unsettled by this, and the relatives of those patients are concerned as well. And when the family of Snake's first patient in the book kill her prized dreamsnake--the snake whose venom provides dreams of what the patient most desires--out of fear and loathing for snakes, the crisis that drives the rest of the book is set into motion. Without her dreamsnake, Snake feels incapable of being a healer, and what's more, she's certain that the community of healers she comes from will drive her out for her failure.
To be honest, there appears to be a bit of a plot flaw here. The beginning of the novel contains a lengthy passage of Snake milking her cobra, but there is never a very sufficient explanation of why the medicines it can produce are not similarly milked and delivered via more pedestrian means. There is a scene where Snake does exactly that with other medicine, and the reaction of her patients is very much like contemporary patients--fear of the needle--which is a darn bit less violent than fear of being bitten by a snake that one knows to be poisonous.
Snake's second patient has abroken spine, and Snake suffers the guilt of being unable to heal her from this injury. The woman's partners and Snake devise a plan to carry the patient to the what is apparently the only city on the planet because, as it fortunately turns out, the patient is a missing member of the ruling family. But the plans turn to naught when Snake discovers that, as her patient lay wounded and unable to move, she lay in the radioactive crater of a bomb that had gone off in the past until she was rescued. Snake also cannot treat radiation poisoning and so helps to euthanize the patient, adding to Snake's angst. But Snake now has a mission, go to the city and tell the woman's family of her death and, since there is apparently a spaceport at this city, see if they can provide her with more dreamsnakes...because it turns out the dreamsnakes are not from the world where the story takes place. With dreamsnakes in hand, Snake believes she can redeem herself to her community.
Along the way to the city, Snake visits a town of beautiful people whose pleasing exteriors mask repulsive interiors. We are also introduced to the perhaps progressive sexuality of the peopel on this planet; they spend part of their youths learning how to control their reproductive systems so that men are voluntarily sterile and woman can usually keep from conceiving unless they want to. As a result, the people are an exuberantly friendly lot, and attraction is handled with physicality, even at the ages of 12 to 15. It's all handled rather adroitly, without voyeurism and exhibitionism within the book. But Snake must move on, after adopting a young girl who was being abused by her mentor.
And so it goes, which is where the book fails. There are many hints and allusions to what could be interesting subjects that end up never being built upon. For instance, in that same town, we find out that the mayor will not allow its citizens to be bonded to anyone else for more than a year. There is a little discussion of this, all from the point-of-view of people who know what this means, but to the reader it's fairly opaque. How common is slavery on this world? How is "bonding" the servants/slaves handled elsewhere? Snake meets a young woman who has had rings of unbreakable material pushed through her ankles as a sign of her being bonded...where did it come from? Who did it and how? We get no answers to these questions.
The novel ultimately has the feel of the first book in a series, where a lot of ideas for how this world works are floated out without much detail, so that they may be picked up later and expanded upon. For instance, it turns out that some human tribes on this world mate in triads, but it is only mentioned in passing and never explained beyond the recognition that it is there. How disappointing.
I fully recognize that if McIntyre had expanded her novel along the lines of explaining some of these things, she would run the risk of having too much information not having to do with the story she wants to tell. Furthermore, she would end up breaking her narrative, since everything is told from Snake's point-of-voew, and she already knows what we don't. And yet it still feels lazy; the author's art is exactly in telling us the details without making it into a recitation. And it's not like anything of real importance happens in the novel; the plot meanders along the path you exactly expect it to, detouring momentarily to show how things are different from what the reader knows before moving on to Snake's next encounter.
And so it ends up being like Chinese food--you read the book and are minimally satisfied, but within moments you immediately want more, possibly more filling fare. And, honestly, Dreamsnake is a nice enough diversion; I'm just saddened by the content that drifts ghostlike into the view of the reader only to disappear completely when one's full attention is brought to bear.
The main character, Snake, is a healer on an unnamed world. There are as many hints that this world is Earth as there are that it is another world completely, but ultimately it doesn't matter. Her travels within the story do not take up much time or space, and though the possibility of it taking place on an alien world is clear, nothing happens as a result of it. Snake is well-trained in the diagnosis of injury and disease and apparently well versed in curing them, but the first few patients we see her with are not complete successes. Her failure is due, in great part, to the method by which her medicines are delivered--poisonous snake. She milks the venom from her pet cobra or rattlesnake, then feeds the snake a drugwhich causes the snake to produce medicine, which then is delivered by snake-bite. Patients unfamiliar with the practice are understandably unsettled by this, and the relatives of those patients are concerned as well. And when the family of Snake's first patient in the book kill her prized dreamsnake--the snake whose venom provides dreams of what the patient most desires--out of fear and loathing for snakes, the crisis that drives the rest of the book is set into motion. Without her dreamsnake, Snake feels incapable of being a healer, and what's more, she's certain that the community of healers she comes from will drive her out for her failure.
To be honest, there appears to be a bit of a plot flaw here. The beginning of the novel contains a lengthy passage of Snake milking her cobra, but there is never a very sufficient explanation of why the medicines it can produce are not similarly milked and delivered via more pedestrian means. There is a scene where Snake does exactly that with other medicine, and the reaction of her patients is very much like contemporary patients--fear of the needle--which is a darn bit less violent than fear of being bitten by a snake that one knows to be poisonous.
Snake's second patient has abroken spine, and Snake suffers the guilt of being unable to heal her from this injury. The woman's partners and Snake devise a plan to carry the patient to the what is apparently the only city on the planet because, as it fortunately turns out, the patient is a missing member of the ruling family. But the plans turn to naught when Snake discovers that, as her patient lay wounded and unable to move, she lay in the radioactive crater of a bomb that had gone off in the past until she was rescued. Snake also cannot treat radiation poisoning and so helps to euthanize the patient, adding to Snake's angst. But Snake now has a mission, go to the city and tell the woman's family of her death and, since there is apparently a spaceport at this city, see if they can provide her with more dreamsnakes...because it turns out the dreamsnakes are not from the world where the story takes place. With dreamsnakes in hand, Snake believes she can redeem herself to her community.
Along the way to the city, Snake visits a town of beautiful people whose pleasing exteriors mask repulsive interiors. We are also introduced to the perhaps progressive sexuality of the peopel on this planet; they spend part of their youths learning how to control their reproductive systems so that men are voluntarily sterile and woman can usually keep from conceiving unless they want to. As a result, the people are an exuberantly friendly lot, and attraction is handled with physicality, even at the ages of 12 to 15. It's all handled rather adroitly, without voyeurism and exhibitionism within the book. But Snake must move on, after adopting a young girl who was being abused by her mentor.
And so it goes, which is where the book fails. There are many hints and allusions to what could be interesting subjects that end up never being built upon. For instance, in that same town, we find out that the mayor will not allow its citizens to be bonded to anyone else for more than a year. There is a little discussion of this, all from the point-of-view of people who know what this means, but to the reader it's fairly opaque. How common is slavery on this world? How is "bonding" the servants/slaves handled elsewhere? Snake meets a young woman who has had rings of unbreakable material pushed through her ankles as a sign of her being bonded...where did it come from? Who did it and how? We get no answers to these questions.
The novel ultimately has the feel of the first book in a series, where a lot of ideas for how this world works are floated out without much detail, so that they may be picked up later and expanded upon. For instance, it turns out that some human tribes on this world mate in triads, but it is only mentioned in passing and never explained beyond the recognition that it is there. How disappointing.
I fully recognize that if McIntyre had expanded her novel along the lines of explaining some of these things, she would run the risk of having too much information not having to do with the story she wants to tell. Furthermore, she would end up breaking her narrative, since everything is told from Snake's point-of-voew, and she already knows what we don't. And yet it still feels lazy; the author's art is exactly in telling us the details without making it into a recitation. And it's not like anything of real importance happens in the novel; the plot meanders along the path you exactly expect it to, detouring momentarily to show how things are different from what the reader knows before moving on to Snake's next encounter.
And so it ends up being like Chinese food--you read the book and are minimally satisfied, but within moments you immediately want more, possibly more filling fare. And, honestly, Dreamsnake is a nice enough diversion; I'm just saddened by the content that drifts ghostlike into the view of the reader only to disappear completely when one's full attention is brought to bear.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Comic musings for 20 June
This was the week. Everything changes.
Towards the end of last week, stories were coming out of the Charlotte and Philadeplphia conventions that DC was removing one Flash from the stage and bringing another one back. The one going away was pretty obvious, but how far away he was going was unclear. And the identity of the one coming back was bandied about, with a fairly large contingent of Barry-lovers wanting him to be the one and making up theories for it to happen. But it wasn't going to be Flash: The Fastest Man Alive 12, it was issue 13 where everything changes. And changed it did.
Sort of.
Spoilers ho!
Flash: The Fastest Man Alive 13 - Yeah, I'm breaking my own ground rules here a little bit, but despite having talked about this title last month, I'm going to do so again this month.
Everything changes. That's the theme, except this issue is a somewhat bitter reminder that sometimes things don't. Steven Grant has written a nice evaluation of what DC did by soliciting future issues of this title and then announcing it was really over with number 13. In it he talks about how DC basically lies to the retailers and readers. I understand his point about the retailers, though I don't think it is really all that bad for them (what was DC supposed to do, tell them and swear them to secrecy? How long would that have lasted with the potential of blowing up your orders for a "final" issue?).
And as for lying to the readers, I think a lie is okay in service of a good story. Really, the lie didn't take place within the framework of the story itself. And if the readers wanted to read solicitations and spoilers about upcoming issues and thus remove much of the weaponry a creative team has to tell a good story with surprises, then they can pay the price of being remotely upset when those solicitations turn out to be not as true as they might have hoped.
The problem in this case...it wasn't a good story. It suffers from the same problems earlier issues of F:TFMA had and which I have talked about in this blog. The series had no foundation, and in fact, if DC is telling the truth, this was their plan all along with this title. Then why in world would they have wasted the reader's time with what was basically the first half of a mini-series that did nothing for the character? Mini-series should be used to amplify traits or the history of a character, or perhaps to answer questions that can't be handled in ongoing series for whatever reasons. But this series began with Bart unable to control the Speed Force, learning how to use it, then trying to give it up to become a police officer and then losing it again at the very end. Bart didn't mature, even though he supposedly aged four years in the time that he was gone. He was just able to have sex when he returned from wherever Infinite Crisis sent him (and it wasn't well-drawn sex either).
And all these problems return with this issue. There is no linear character development--in fact, they fall back on the trope that a hero can be a hero without his powers and then turn him into a raging maniac that pulps Inertia's face before the Rogues kill him (there I said it...but wait, all is not lost, read on). And so Bart ultimately returns to where he started--to his days as Impulse; he doesn't know what he's doing and he fights, in his own words, "like an animal." Tropes are okay, if they serve a purpose, so I was okay with the powerless hero, but devolving him so that he loses all the training that the Flash family had given him was just wrong. What would Max Mercury have said (and that's not a flippant question; Max is crucial to the development of the character of Bart Allen)?
And at the end, Robin's response is the only one that makes sense, shocked, dropping his phone and looking off hopelessly. But the panels with Jay Garrick consoling Liberty Belle are clueless; even if Jay is an experienced super-hero, a man/child he has raised as his son has died. And since when did Liberty Belle interact very much with Bart? (edit--a friend points out to me that, of course, Liberty Belle is the former Jesse Quick, so she has every reason to be upset. Mea culpa. However, I would point out that Jesse Quick as Liberty Belle has been such a non-entity that it's difficult to remember her original characterization. I predict that when Johns leaves Justice Society, Libery Belle's transformation story will still not have been told.)
So when Bart tries to use the Speed Force to heal himself, he can't, because (not an error--go on, read the next bit)
Justic League of America 10 - The Lightning Saga concludes. It starts in a strange place, with the Justice League and Justice Society continuing to fight against Sensor Girl's illusions, even though they had stopped in the last issue.
But then the League and Society race out to the locations where the Legion have gone to apparently resurrect a dead hero. And the story-telling begins to wander. They comic has seven different locations to keep track of with a slew of characters at each location. And for a while nearly every panel shifts to a different location as the dialogue is between the panels and is sometimes started by one character and ended by another in a differnt location. It's all very confusing.
Along the way we discover that Brainiac 5 is smarter than Batman, even though Batman was able to put homing devices in the costumes of the Legion. And Batman and Hal Jordan have flashbacks of Barry Allen, offering the big tease that it is really he that is returning. But when the lightning crashes and the smoke clears, it's Wally West who has returned, with Linda and his children (no longer babies). He has assumed the Speed Force, which is why Bart can no longer heal himself in his own title.
The Legion escapes back to their own time with an angry Superman ranting that his friends should have trusted him to help them, while Hal and Batman ponder that they were expecting someone else. And Jay welcomes Wally back as Bart dies in another title.
Of course there is the enigmatic last panel, hinting that the Legion really got someone else they wanted to go to "their universe," and my money is on it being Bart.
But the two issues together raise all sorts of questions.
1. What is Wally going to do when he finds out that, as far as anyone knows, his return was a critical cause of Bart's death? Are we going to have to suffer the grieving WAlly more than we did back when he was starting the second volume of Flash?
2. What was the point of sending Wally away for a year and then bringing him back? If you want to tell stories with him, why send him away at all? This question alone makes me believe DC had no intention of doing this to Bart for the past year, as it seems to have completely wasted a year's worth of issues (and not very good ones) about Bart.
3. What universe is this Legion from? Everything we have seen indicates that they are the Legion that Superman knew as a teen, but the last few panels would indicate other wise. And oh, by the way, who the heck is the third incarnation of the Legion showing up in Brave and Bold this week?
4. And if the point of bringing back the multiverse is to give the writers a deus ex machina to get their butts out of whatever corner they write themselves into, it wasn't worth the cost to bring them back. And so far, that's all it appears to be doing.
I have some interest in the upcoming Countdown mini-series, including The Search for Ray Palmer since it appears that a select group of heroes will be travelling around various alternate Earths, including the ones where the Elseworlds stories Gotham by Gaslight and Red Son took place. I'm all for the multiverse if it opens up the potential for good stories, but not if it actualyl acts as a crutch for bad writing, as the trump card when everything goes wrong ("oh thank heaven you were looking our way, Superman of Earth-44!").
Notes
Three notes, and I hate to say they have to do with the marvelous competition. First, I started reading Hulk because the premise of the whole World War Hulk sounded fascinating. And I must say that Greg Pak is doing a splendid job writing the title. It really does feel like Peter David is at the help again, and believe me that's a good thing.
Speaking of whom, Peter David will be taking over She-Hulk in September. Drat, another one of that company's titles on my pull list.
And third, I forgot to mention last week, the ending of New Avengers (or was it Mighty Avengers? I get so confused). Electra is a Skrull? And now anyone inf the last 30 years of history in that company could be/have been a Skrull? On the one hand that has some interesting possibilities, but on the other...who the hell thinks up that stuff? That's just stupid. More on that later, probably.
Towards the end of last week, stories were coming out of the Charlotte and Philadeplphia conventions that DC was removing one Flash from the stage and bringing another one back. The one going away was pretty obvious, but how far away he was going was unclear. And the identity of the one coming back was bandied about, with a fairly large contingent of Barry-lovers wanting him to be the one and making up theories for it to happen. But it wasn't going to be Flash: The Fastest Man Alive 12, it was issue 13 where everything changes. And changed it did.
Sort of.
Spoilers ho!
Flash: The Fastest Man Alive 13 - Yeah, I'm breaking my own ground rules here a little bit, but despite having talked about this title last month, I'm going to do so again this month.
Everything changes. That's the theme, except this issue is a somewhat bitter reminder that sometimes things don't. Steven Grant has written a nice evaluation of what DC did by soliciting future issues of this title and then announcing it was really over with number 13. In it he talks about how DC basically lies to the retailers and readers. I understand his point about the retailers, though I don't think it is really all that bad for them (what was DC supposed to do, tell them and swear them to secrecy? How long would that have lasted with the potential of blowing up your orders for a "final" issue?).
And as for lying to the readers, I think a lie is okay in service of a good story. Really, the lie didn't take place within the framework of the story itself. And if the readers wanted to read solicitations and spoilers about upcoming issues and thus remove much of the weaponry a creative team has to tell a good story with surprises, then they can pay the price of being remotely upset when those solicitations turn out to be not as true as they might have hoped.
The problem in this case...it wasn't a good story. It suffers from the same problems earlier issues of F:TFMA had and which I have talked about in this blog. The series had no foundation, and in fact, if DC is telling the truth, this was their plan all along with this title. Then why in world would they have wasted the reader's time with what was basically the first half of a mini-series that did nothing for the character? Mini-series should be used to amplify traits or the history of a character, or perhaps to answer questions that can't be handled in ongoing series for whatever reasons. But this series began with Bart unable to control the Speed Force, learning how to use it, then trying to give it up to become a police officer and then losing it again at the very end. Bart didn't mature, even though he supposedly aged four years in the time that he was gone. He was just able to have sex when he returned from wherever Infinite Crisis sent him (and it wasn't well-drawn sex either).
And all these problems return with this issue. There is no linear character development--in fact, they fall back on the trope that a hero can be a hero without his powers and then turn him into a raging maniac that pulps Inertia's face before the Rogues kill him (there I said it...but wait, all is not lost, read on). And so Bart ultimately returns to where he started--to his days as Impulse; he doesn't know what he's doing and he fights, in his own words, "like an animal." Tropes are okay, if they serve a purpose, so I was okay with the powerless hero, but devolving him so that he loses all the training that the Flash family had given him was just wrong. What would Max Mercury have said (and that's not a flippant question; Max is crucial to the development of the character of Bart Allen)?
And at the end, Robin's response is the only one that makes sense, shocked, dropping his phone and looking off hopelessly. But the panels with Jay Garrick consoling Liberty Belle are clueless; even if Jay is an experienced super-hero, a man/child he has raised as his son has died. And since when did Liberty Belle interact very much with Bart? (edit--a friend points out to me that, of course, Liberty Belle is the former Jesse Quick, so she has every reason to be upset. Mea culpa. However, I would point out that Jesse Quick as Liberty Belle has been such a non-entity that it's difficult to remember her original characterization. I predict that when Johns leaves Justice Society, Libery Belle's transformation story will still not have been told.)
So when Bart tries to use the Speed Force to heal himself, he can't, because (not an error--go on, read the next bit)
Justic League of America 10 - The Lightning Saga concludes. It starts in a strange place, with the Justice League and Justice Society continuing to fight against Sensor Girl's illusions, even though they had stopped in the last issue.
But then the League and Society race out to the locations where the Legion have gone to apparently resurrect a dead hero. And the story-telling begins to wander. They comic has seven different locations to keep track of with a slew of characters at each location. And for a while nearly every panel shifts to a different location as the dialogue is between the panels and is sometimes started by one character and ended by another in a differnt location. It's all very confusing.
Along the way we discover that Brainiac 5 is smarter than Batman, even though Batman was able to put homing devices in the costumes of the Legion. And Batman and Hal Jordan have flashbacks of Barry Allen, offering the big tease that it is really he that is returning. But when the lightning crashes and the smoke clears, it's Wally West who has returned, with Linda and his children (no longer babies). He has assumed the Speed Force, which is why Bart can no longer heal himself in his own title.
The Legion escapes back to their own time with an angry Superman ranting that his friends should have trusted him to help them, while Hal and Batman ponder that they were expecting someone else. And Jay welcomes Wally back as Bart dies in another title.
Of course there is the enigmatic last panel, hinting that the Legion really got someone else they wanted to go to "their universe," and my money is on it being Bart.
But the two issues together raise all sorts of questions.
1. What is Wally going to do when he finds out that, as far as anyone knows, his return was a critical cause of Bart's death? Are we going to have to suffer the grieving WAlly more than we did back when he was starting the second volume of Flash?
2. What was the point of sending Wally away for a year and then bringing him back? If you want to tell stories with him, why send him away at all? This question alone makes me believe DC had no intention of doing this to Bart for the past year, as it seems to have completely wasted a year's worth of issues (and not very good ones) about Bart.
3. What universe is this Legion from? Everything we have seen indicates that they are the Legion that Superman knew as a teen, but the last few panels would indicate other wise. And oh, by the way, who the heck is the third incarnation of the Legion showing up in Brave and Bold this week?
4. And if the point of bringing back the multiverse is to give the writers a deus ex machina to get their butts out of whatever corner they write themselves into, it wasn't worth the cost to bring them back. And so far, that's all it appears to be doing.
I have some interest in the upcoming Countdown mini-series, including The Search for Ray Palmer since it appears that a select group of heroes will be travelling around various alternate Earths, including the ones where the Elseworlds stories Gotham by Gaslight and Red Son took place. I'm all for the multiverse if it opens up the potential for good stories, but not if it actualyl acts as a crutch for bad writing, as the trump card when everything goes wrong ("oh thank heaven you were looking our way, Superman of Earth-44!").
Notes
Three notes, and I hate to say they have to do with the marvelous competition. First, I started reading Hulk because the premise of the whole World War Hulk sounded fascinating. And I must say that Greg Pak is doing a splendid job writing the title. It really does feel like Peter David is at the help again, and believe me that's a good thing.
Speaking of whom, Peter David will be taking over She-Hulk in September. Drat, another one of that company's titles on my pull list.
And third, I forgot to mention last week, the ending of New Avengers (or was it Mighty Avengers? I get so confused). Electra is a Skrull? And now anyone inf the last 30 years of history in that company could be/have been a Skrull? On the one hand that has some interesting possibilities, but on the other...who the hell thinks up that stuff? That's just stupid. More on that later, probably.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Comics musing for 13 June
Looking at this past week's comics, I'm not terribly inspired by anything in the list, for good or ill. I'm not sure if mediocrity is a good thing in this context. So, I think I'll take a slightly different tack and write a little about each comic from DC adn Wildstorm I got this week. It's not going to be a lot of subjective information, but let's see what happens.
Spoilers ho!
Countdown 46 - Mary Marvel fights the harvester of stillborn souls on a hospital rooftop; Mirror Master does some gay-baiting and Pied Piper gets revenge; the least liked of all the Apokalips characters, Sleez, gets offed; and Donna Troy and Jason Todd meet the Monitors' weapon, Forerunner (kinda like Harbinger, get it?). However, in the History of the Multiverse section, we get to see Robin in two of his adult costumes, one of which, the Batman costume with no cowl and bat-winged R logo, desperately needs to be made into an action figure.
Fables 62 - Okay, this one was better than okay. Flycatcher and his new assistant Lancelot begin their epic quest, and the Fables make an ultimatum to the Emperor's ambassador. Willingham has really hit the target with this series, and I'm glad to see Snow and Bigby making a return. I know this is rapidly running towards a return to war, but I have faith that Willingham will either have a way out of the war or that the war will be handled with the grace and style the rest of the Fables story has been gifted with.
Gen13 9 - The team gets part-time jobs at a farm. Sarah makes a move on one of her teammates, without the desired result. Roxanne's foster mother shows up and the team discovers they have an angel watching over them. However, the ratcatchers find Gen13, and te team is convinced to escape while their new protectors fight their enemies for them. Gen13 ends up in Tranquility, that town in Gail Simone's other Wildstorm title. Bet there's some tenn angst a-comin'.
Green Arrow 75 - The final battle between the Arrow family and Deathstroke. Okay not really, because Deathstroke gets away, even though the Justice League comes to help. I don't know how he's got their number. Ollie proposes to Dinah, but to get the answer, you either have to buy her upcoming mini-series or look at the Previews for the next two months (hint: Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special...).
Green Lantern Corps 13 - The mystery of Mogo is solved. You knew Guy Gardner wasn't a murderer, right? Guess Mogo should've used Tinactin, cause that was some fungus outbreak he had there.
Hawkgirl 65 - Hath-Set's ultimate plan is revealed, marrying Kendra and making a zombie slave out of her. I bet Carter's not going to like that too much. This is the next to last issue, and that way cool art from last issue is gone.
JLA Classified 39 - Part Three of Kid Amazo. This story still has promise, but there is a bizarre dichototomy going on with the members of the JLA. While the male members seem to be content to watch Kid and help him when he needs it, Wonder Woman reveals his secret to Kid's girlfriend, who promptly breaks up with him. That one seems like just bad writing, but we'll see if Wonder Woman is given a chance to exlpain her bizarre actions. Otherwise, it is incredibly out of character and fairly catty besides.
Justice 12 - It's gorgeous; it's incomprehensible. There was far too much lag between issues of this dense story. The best way to read tis will either be to pull out all the issues and read it again or buy yhr trades. But man, who knew that Alex Ross guy had such talent?
Stormwatch Post Human Division 8 - Another good story from Christos Gage. The "normal" team gets to interact with the "prime" team, the ones with super-powers. There is a lot of history and animosity there, which all makes a pleasing backdrop to the locked-room mystery which is revealed with the last two pages. Because of the introductory things that happen, this is a good jumping on point for folks who might not be reading this story. It may well be the best thing Wildstorm is putting out since the Worldstorm event.
Superman/Batman 36 - The bizarre continuity of the Metal Men is continued. The relationship of this story to the events of 52 remains unexplained, and we get to see our heroes go up against the lethal robotic combination of OMAC, Brainiac, and the Metal Men. The resolution of the plot relies on the Metal Men remembering that they really aren't bad, which makes one wonder why they went bad in the first place. Just silly stuff and really bad art.
The Trials of Shazam 7 - Not keeping up with the schedule is harming this issue as well as some really poor writing and art. What does it mean that Freddy only has half of Hercules' strength? The metaphor that is Atlas, previewed in the last few panels, may well be too clunky to work.
Yeesh, that wasn't good. Here's hoping that next week's haul will go better. Maybe I need to start pruning my list....
Spoilers ho!
Countdown 46 - Mary Marvel fights the harvester of stillborn souls on a hospital rooftop; Mirror Master does some gay-baiting and Pied Piper gets revenge; the least liked of all the Apokalips characters, Sleez, gets offed; and Donna Troy and Jason Todd meet the Monitors' weapon, Forerunner (kinda like Harbinger, get it?). However, in the History of the Multiverse section, we get to see Robin in two of his adult costumes, one of which, the Batman costume with no cowl and bat-winged R logo, desperately needs to be made into an action figure.
Fables 62 - Okay, this one was better than okay. Flycatcher and his new assistant Lancelot begin their epic quest, and the Fables make an ultimatum to the Emperor's ambassador. Willingham has really hit the target with this series, and I'm glad to see Snow and Bigby making a return. I know this is rapidly running towards a return to war, but I have faith that Willingham will either have a way out of the war or that the war will be handled with the grace and style the rest of the Fables story has been gifted with.
Gen13 9 - The team gets part-time jobs at a farm. Sarah makes a move on one of her teammates, without the desired result. Roxanne's foster mother shows up and the team discovers they have an angel watching over them. However, the ratcatchers find Gen13, and te team is convinced to escape while their new protectors fight their enemies for them. Gen13 ends up in Tranquility, that town in Gail Simone's other Wildstorm title. Bet there's some tenn angst a-comin'.
Green Arrow 75 - The final battle between the Arrow family and Deathstroke. Okay not really, because Deathstroke gets away, even though the Justice League comes to help. I don't know how he's got their number. Ollie proposes to Dinah, but to get the answer, you either have to buy her upcoming mini-series or look at the Previews for the next two months (hint: Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special...).
Green Lantern Corps 13 - The mystery of Mogo is solved. You knew Guy Gardner wasn't a murderer, right? Guess Mogo should've used Tinactin, cause that was some fungus outbreak he had there.
Hawkgirl 65 - Hath-Set's ultimate plan is revealed, marrying Kendra and making a zombie slave out of her. I bet Carter's not going to like that too much. This is the next to last issue, and that way cool art from last issue is gone.
JLA Classified 39 - Part Three of Kid Amazo. This story still has promise, but there is a bizarre dichototomy going on with the members of the JLA. While the male members seem to be content to watch Kid and help him when he needs it, Wonder Woman reveals his secret to Kid's girlfriend, who promptly breaks up with him. That one seems like just bad writing, but we'll see if Wonder Woman is given a chance to exlpain her bizarre actions. Otherwise, it is incredibly out of character and fairly catty besides.
Justice 12 - It's gorgeous; it's incomprehensible. There was far too much lag between issues of this dense story. The best way to read tis will either be to pull out all the issues and read it again or buy yhr trades. But man, who knew that Alex Ross guy had such talent?
Stormwatch Post Human Division 8 - Another good story from Christos Gage. The "normal" team gets to interact with the "prime" team, the ones with super-powers. There is a lot of history and animosity there, which all makes a pleasing backdrop to the locked-room mystery which is revealed with the last two pages. Because of the introductory things that happen, this is a good jumping on point for folks who might not be reading this story. It may well be the best thing Wildstorm is putting out since the Worldstorm event.
Superman/Batman 36 - The bizarre continuity of the Metal Men is continued. The relationship of this story to the events of 52 remains unexplained, and we get to see our heroes go up against the lethal robotic combination of OMAC, Brainiac, and the Metal Men. The resolution of the plot relies on the Metal Men remembering that they really aren't bad, which makes one wonder why they went bad in the first place. Just silly stuff and really bad art.
The Trials of Shazam 7 - Not keeping up with the schedule is harming this issue as well as some really poor writing and art. What does it mean that Freddy only has half of Hercules' strength? The metaphor that is Atlas, previewed in the last few panels, may well be too clunky to work.
Yeesh, that wasn't good. Here's hoping that next week's haul will go better. Maybe I need to start pruning my list....
The Bonehunters
I have mentioned in previous entries to this blog my general metaphor of novels and movies as tapestries. The first book I remember reading that helped me to come to the metaphor was Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. In that novel, there are two different narratives taking place, each with its distinctive voice and narrator and only tangentially related. The crisis of the story takes place as the two narratives, or "threads" if you will, come together and the characters we have come to know so well finally interact.
I'm pretty sure that novels have used this type of story-telling in the past, but nothing leaps to mind. I'm reminded of the epics of the Renaissance, where entire stanzas would be devoted to a wide range of characters who would move in and out of each other's lives, and the point-of-view would bounce back and forth between those characters. But novels seemed to have been generally devoted to a single point-of-view for most of their existence; if other characters took primacy in the novel, it was only momentary and acted as something like an intermission from what was going on in the main character's story. That pause was far hardly more than a scene at a time and it never went so far as to become a parallel narrative. Perhaps the origin of the many threads in those epics is why I find them occurring more frequently in epic fantasy--those two genres have so very much in common beyond their names.
Steven Erikson is in the midst of writing a truly epic fantasy, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, of which the sixth novel, The Bonehunters, has recently been published in paperback. The book itself is massive, with over 1200 pages of story, but it truly only is a chapter in monumental epic. And it being near the middle of the planned ten-book saga, it provides a crux on which the series turns, for after this volume, nothing in the Malazan world will be the same...as it was in the first five books.
How to describe a crucial but dependent novel in such a saga? Erikson's story must have close to 100 characters that are named and from whose point of view part of the story is told. Of course some of them are more important than others, but this novel shows that while the reader has a suspicion who those important characters might be, those suspicions are often incorrect. And whether or not those characters are critical to the ultimate goal of the novel or overall saga, Erikson defines each of them with care and art. Each character has a voice and a history of their own. I imagine folders with reams of paper providing long and detailed notes about each character. And the reader's reaction to each character is rarely neutral, so deft is Erikson's portrayal.
Erikson is also deft with his plot. I'm pretty sure he knows where he is going with his saga, but the ride to the end of each novel is never smooth. There are twists and turns galore, unexpected events in the face of the most certain outcome. So Erikson's tapestry is not just wide and long, it is very deep. The first five novels seem to deal with events fairly unrelated to each other but for the reoccurence of certain characters, but as this one begins, those books are tied together, presaging nothing so mundane as a continent-spanning war of empire, but a battle among the deities of the Malazan world themselves. And those deities are named and characters in the novels also, not escaping Erikson's fine attention to detail and characterization by being passed off as merely incarnations of some force; they are more Greek, having their own personalities and squabbles.
Unlike the first five novels, The Bonehunters has two set pieces--one at the middle and one at the end. The first one is daring and rather inventive in the genre of epic fantasy. Of course the books are about wars and Erikson takes a good bit of time to describe the actions of his armies, but in this specific set piece, it is not a battle but its aftermath as the soldiers attempt to escape a ravaged city that forms the central narrative. And it is in this portion, some 200 pages long by my count, that one can observe Erikson's astonishing attention to detail and story-telling arts. Trapped beneath a burning city, the soldiers find a band of children they are determined to rescue as well as saving themselves. Their subterranean escape is harrowing, and Erikson's style and language reflects the claustrophobic nightmare that they all were suffering. The later set piece, involving a battle at the docks of a city, are brutally honest but not a gore-fest, concentrating more on the thoughts of the soldiers as they fight. It is accurate, and it is sad for its verisimilitude.
If I had not promised myself to review all the books I read, I would have gladly skipped this one with a perfunctory wave. But Erikson has become one of my favorite comtemporary authors, and I eagerly await each installment of this saga. The series is not for everyone, however; it is long and dirty and sometimes hard to read. But I find it equally difficult to put down. I recommend The Bonehunters to fans of literary fiction and epic fantasy. But that recommendation comes with the warning that you really need to read the other five novels first.
I'm pretty sure that novels have used this type of story-telling in the past, but nothing leaps to mind. I'm reminded of the epics of the Renaissance, where entire stanzas would be devoted to a wide range of characters who would move in and out of each other's lives, and the point-of-view would bounce back and forth between those characters. But novels seemed to have been generally devoted to a single point-of-view for most of their existence; if other characters took primacy in the novel, it was only momentary and acted as something like an intermission from what was going on in the main character's story. That pause was far hardly more than a scene at a time and it never went so far as to become a parallel narrative. Perhaps the origin of the many threads in those epics is why I find them occurring more frequently in epic fantasy--those two genres have so very much in common beyond their names.
Steven Erikson is in the midst of writing a truly epic fantasy, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, of which the sixth novel, The Bonehunters, has recently been published in paperback. The book itself is massive, with over 1200 pages of story, but it truly only is a chapter in monumental epic. And it being near the middle of the planned ten-book saga, it provides a crux on which the series turns, for after this volume, nothing in the Malazan world will be the same...as it was in the first five books.
How to describe a crucial but dependent novel in such a saga? Erikson's story must have close to 100 characters that are named and from whose point of view part of the story is told. Of course some of them are more important than others, but this novel shows that while the reader has a suspicion who those important characters might be, those suspicions are often incorrect. And whether or not those characters are critical to the ultimate goal of the novel or overall saga, Erikson defines each of them with care and art. Each character has a voice and a history of their own. I imagine folders with reams of paper providing long and detailed notes about each character. And the reader's reaction to each character is rarely neutral, so deft is Erikson's portrayal.
Erikson is also deft with his plot. I'm pretty sure he knows where he is going with his saga, but the ride to the end of each novel is never smooth. There are twists and turns galore, unexpected events in the face of the most certain outcome. So Erikson's tapestry is not just wide and long, it is very deep. The first five novels seem to deal with events fairly unrelated to each other but for the reoccurence of certain characters, but as this one begins, those books are tied together, presaging nothing so mundane as a continent-spanning war of empire, but a battle among the deities of the Malazan world themselves. And those deities are named and characters in the novels also, not escaping Erikson's fine attention to detail and characterization by being passed off as merely incarnations of some force; they are more Greek, having their own personalities and squabbles.
Unlike the first five novels, The Bonehunters has two set pieces--one at the middle and one at the end. The first one is daring and rather inventive in the genre of epic fantasy. Of course the books are about wars and Erikson takes a good bit of time to describe the actions of his armies, but in this specific set piece, it is not a battle but its aftermath as the soldiers attempt to escape a ravaged city that forms the central narrative. And it is in this portion, some 200 pages long by my count, that one can observe Erikson's astonishing attention to detail and story-telling arts. Trapped beneath a burning city, the soldiers find a band of children they are determined to rescue as well as saving themselves. Their subterranean escape is harrowing, and Erikson's style and language reflects the claustrophobic nightmare that they all were suffering. The later set piece, involving a battle at the docks of a city, are brutally honest but not a gore-fest, concentrating more on the thoughts of the soldiers as they fight. It is accurate, and it is sad for its verisimilitude.
If I had not promised myself to review all the books I read, I would have gladly skipped this one with a perfunctory wave. But Erikson has become one of my favorite comtemporary authors, and I eagerly await each installment of this saga. The series is not for everyone, however; it is long and dirty and sometimes hard to read. But I find it equally difficult to put down. I recommend The Bonehunters to fans of literary fiction and epic fantasy. But that recommendation comes with the warning that you really need to read the other five novels first.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Ocean's Thirteen
Nostalgia is a fascinating concept, especially when it’s nostalgia for a time I’ve never known. For years, I have felt fairly nostalgic about the late 30s, appreciating the architecture and design and enjoying the books and movies from that time, and wondering if my mindset would not be better suited then. I even listen to “old time radio” broadcasts on XM.
Ocean’s Thirteen promotes the same kind of third-person nostalgia. Of course, the first in the series, Ocean’s Eleven, relied on some feeling of nostalgia for the original 1960 version of the movie, and a good bit of the interest for that movie was to validate the explicit comparison between Frank Sinatra and George Clooney, or the Rat Pack and Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and the rest. Clearly, the film worked, but perhaps more as a caper movie than as any sort of homage to the original. But Ocean’s Eleven also relied on the ultimate coolness of Las Vegas, where everything is bigger than life. Ocean’s Twelve was something of a letdown, in good part because it traveled all over Europe, getting away from the big lights and glitz and the surreality of Vegas. As recompense, it offered up some cameos that were cute, but the movie was missing its biggest character, Vegas itself. Ocean’s Thirteen returns home, as it were, and effective writing and stylistic choices elicit the feelings of nostalgia for the 60s. Unlike the Austin Powers movies, which mocks and parodies the 60s, Ocean’s Thirteen recognizes that in some ways, the 60s were super-cool.
From its very opening, the film uses stylistic choices straight out of the 60s, including music and montage background effects. Every now and again, the cinematography falls back on some 60s device, such as double-imaging and dividing the screen into panels separated with heavy black lines. The hotel in which the caper is supposed to take place is heavily decorated in retro, so that nearly almost every scene in it evokes that 60s kind of feel. Even the ancillary locations have that same sort of décor, including the bedroom of Reuben Tishkoff (played by Elliot Gould), where he lies recovering from a heart attack brought on by the financial wrangling that Al Pacino’s Willie Bank uses to ruin him. It is here that Danny Ocean’s gang has gathered to plot their revenge on Banks.
It is also here that something special happens between the characters. In the earlier movies, there is only the bond of doing a job together that unites them. But in this case, one of their own is in trouble, and the players are no longer lone wolves. We see them as a family, squabbling amongst themselves surely, but united for common cause not to make money, but to avenge one of their own. And it is this interaction which most heavily connects them to the Rat Pack—another family of legendary status. In a scene that sets both the tone and plot of the movie, upon learning he has been broken, Gould tells Pacino “But we’ve both shaken Sinatra’s hand. There’s a bond there.” Pacino’s Bank sneers, underestimating the value of such a bond. Danny Ocean and his gang never forget.
This is not to say that the film is just a nostalgia trip. There is, of course, the caper to pull off, and the film follows the formula, showing the audience a good deal of the caper, but holding some things back for the twist at the end. The twist in Ocean’s Thirteen is relatively minor and I saw it coming a mile away, but it was still fun seeing it pulled off.
Of some concern here is Ellen Barkin, playing Al Pacino’s confidante/major domo. Mrs. Speculator pointed out after the film that the role was superfluous since Willie Bank did everything for himself. In fact, her character is worse than superfluous; she’s a plot device. The final twist relies on the gang getting into a super-secret highly secure chamber. The only people with access to this chamber are Pacino and his aide, and we know Pacino is not going to let anyone in. So Barkin is seduced into it, and a fine actress is reduced to the role of a prop. (Ironically, when crunch time comes, suddenly a lot of people are able to get in the super-secure room, but that is glossed over as the film careens to its satisfying conclusion.)
The last few scenes feature some hugger-mugger between Danny Ocean and Willie Bank about why Bank is not going to turn Danny and his crew in. There’s very little logic to the rationale Danny gives, but that’s not really the point. The point is Danny’s cool and he has just put Bank in the position where he has to be very uncool if he turns the gang in. And of course, cool is what it’s about in Vegas, up there in the stratosphere of people who have amounts of money we can only dream of. And like the popular girl in high school, Bank decides appearing cool is more important than anything else. And speaking of cool, there are a couple of interesting scenes as Danny and the boys are exposed to maudlin episodes of Oprah. The resulting wetworks are funny, as are the conversations around them. But I couldn’t get past the feeling that the only value it really adds to the movie is a guarantee of free advertisement when Oprah invites the stars to her show.
Nevertheless, the boys and their movie succeed. There is a strong rapport between the actors, especially Clooney and Pitt. There is not a lot of action, but the scenes are smart and witty, and the movie isn’t just fun. It’s cool. And at the end you want to be cool enough to hang out with these guys. The one thing that I’d like to do is see the original Ocean’s Eleven to see how cool it was. And, for light summer fare, and if the same writing team pulls it together, Ocean’s Fourteen sometime in the future wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Ocean’s Thirteen promotes the same kind of third-person nostalgia. Of course, the first in the series, Ocean’s Eleven, relied on some feeling of nostalgia for the original 1960 version of the movie, and a good bit of the interest for that movie was to validate the explicit comparison between Frank Sinatra and George Clooney, or the Rat Pack and Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and the rest. Clearly, the film worked, but perhaps more as a caper movie than as any sort of homage to the original. But Ocean’s Eleven also relied on the ultimate coolness of Las Vegas, where everything is bigger than life. Ocean’s Twelve was something of a letdown, in good part because it traveled all over Europe, getting away from the big lights and glitz and the surreality of Vegas. As recompense, it offered up some cameos that were cute, but the movie was missing its biggest character, Vegas itself. Ocean’s Thirteen returns home, as it were, and effective writing and stylistic choices elicit the feelings of nostalgia for the 60s. Unlike the Austin Powers movies, which mocks and parodies the 60s, Ocean’s Thirteen recognizes that in some ways, the 60s were super-cool.
From its very opening, the film uses stylistic choices straight out of the 60s, including music and montage background effects. Every now and again, the cinematography falls back on some 60s device, such as double-imaging and dividing the screen into panels separated with heavy black lines. The hotel in which the caper is supposed to take place is heavily decorated in retro, so that nearly almost every scene in it evokes that 60s kind of feel. Even the ancillary locations have that same sort of décor, including the bedroom of Reuben Tishkoff (played by Elliot Gould), where he lies recovering from a heart attack brought on by the financial wrangling that Al Pacino’s Willie Bank uses to ruin him. It is here that Danny Ocean’s gang has gathered to plot their revenge on Banks.
It is also here that something special happens between the characters. In the earlier movies, there is only the bond of doing a job together that unites them. But in this case, one of their own is in trouble, and the players are no longer lone wolves. We see them as a family, squabbling amongst themselves surely, but united for common cause not to make money, but to avenge one of their own. And it is this interaction which most heavily connects them to the Rat Pack—another family of legendary status. In a scene that sets both the tone and plot of the movie, upon learning he has been broken, Gould tells Pacino “But we’ve both shaken Sinatra’s hand. There’s a bond there.” Pacino’s Bank sneers, underestimating the value of such a bond. Danny Ocean and his gang never forget.
This is not to say that the film is just a nostalgia trip. There is, of course, the caper to pull off, and the film follows the formula, showing the audience a good deal of the caper, but holding some things back for the twist at the end. The twist in Ocean’s Thirteen is relatively minor and I saw it coming a mile away, but it was still fun seeing it pulled off.
Of some concern here is Ellen Barkin, playing Al Pacino’s confidante/major domo. Mrs. Speculator pointed out after the film that the role was superfluous since Willie Bank did everything for himself. In fact, her character is worse than superfluous; she’s a plot device. The final twist relies on the gang getting into a super-secret highly secure chamber. The only people with access to this chamber are Pacino and his aide, and we know Pacino is not going to let anyone in. So Barkin is seduced into it, and a fine actress is reduced to the role of a prop. (Ironically, when crunch time comes, suddenly a lot of people are able to get in the super-secure room, but that is glossed over as the film careens to its satisfying conclusion.)
The last few scenes feature some hugger-mugger between Danny Ocean and Willie Bank about why Bank is not going to turn Danny and his crew in. There’s very little logic to the rationale Danny gives, but that’s not really the point. The point is Danny’s cool and he has just put Bank in the position where he has to be very uncool if he turns the gang in. And of course, cool is what it’s about in Vegas, up there in the stratosphere of people who have amounts of money we can only dream of. And like the popular girl in high school, Bank decides appearing cool is more important than anything else. And speaking of cool, there are a couple of interesting scenes as Danny and the boys are exposed to maudlin episodes of Oprah. The resulting wetworks are funny, as are the conversations around them. But I couldn’t get past the feeling that the only value it really adds to the movie is a guarantee of free advertisement when Oprah invites the stars to her show.
Nevertheless, the boys and their movie succeed. There is a strong rapport between the actors, especially Clooney and Pitt. There is not a lot of action, but the scenes are smart and witty, and the movie isn’t just fun. It’s cool. And at the end you want to be cool enough to hang out with these guys. The one thing that I’d like to do is see the original Ocean’s Eleven to see how cool it was. And, for light summer fare, and if the same writing team pulls it together, Ocean’s Fourteen sometime in the future wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Comic musings for 6 June
There was a large selection this week at the local comic book store. I wonder if I should sometimes list what I got, so folks who might be interested can see what I am choosing from for reviews. I'll ponder it for future blogs. Until such a time that I might make that, you'll have to make do with the regular reviews.
Spoilers ho!
Supergirl 18 - As difficult as it may seem to believe, it's just getting worse. All the conundrums, the unfinished plotlines, the general hash of things, all of it comes to a kind of resolution in this penultimate issue of this story. As a caveat, I admit that there is a timy sliver of hope that the last issue will redeem this mess, but I have my doubts.
This week, Supergirl confronts another unexpected adversary, the bronze age version of Supergirl. What follows is a slugfest punctuated by shallow psychoanalysis of the current Supergirl's weaknesses. It doesn't really matter how the fight proceeds; it's enough to know that her victory is punctuated with the comment "Don't play mind games with a crazy chick." And suddenly the adversary behind all her misery is revealed, Dark Angel and her mentor Monitor, testing Supergirl to see if she really belongs in the universe she is in. That's right kiddies, it was all a test to prove her worthiness. Never mind that the Monitors are supposed to protect the universes from breaches from other universes and thus using Dark Angel is highly suspect. What's more important is the utter lameness of this explanation, and what really rankles me is that I should have known it was coming. It has to be a trope that if everywhere a hero turns are crises (no pun intended) for no reason they can discern, that hero is undergoing a test from a supernatural entity. And despite it's "tropeness" it's a cop-out, a sign of poor writing, that the hero has been placed in a situation from which there is no release except for the deus ex machina.
And really, it's all been going downhill for a while. Even this time around, the art is facile and reminds me of some of the worst art from Image. I want it to be resolved well; I really do. So I am going to continue to get the title for a few more issues (maybe just one) despite my belief that there is no recovery from what feels like the nadir of a bad series.
Jack of Fables 11 - I'm a big big fan of Fables. I love Willingham's storytelling and the world he has set out for the reader, basing its mythology on the familiar and unfamiliar legends of both Western and Eastern culture. It turns outs to be huge in scope and engaging as heck. So I jumped on to the spin-off title, Jack of Fables eagerly, expecting more of the same.
As you can probably guess from the tenor of this, this is not going to be a highly positive review. Jack, while involved with the same mythology as its parent title, has nothing to do with the incredibly engaging story of the War. Instead, this title practices the picaresque by following a rogue on his adventures in the mundane world. But because there is no over-arching to act as a framework for the adventures, the quality of the stories must fall on the characters themselves. And it comes as no surprise that Jack is entirely unlikable. I don't believe there is a more egotistical and selfish character in comics today, but series can work with anti-heroes. But there must be some light in those stories--occasionally the anti-hero must do some good despite himself, or there are companion characters who espouse a positive viewpoint. Jack of Fables has neither of these and thus ends up being far more bleak and unyielding than its companion title.
There is, of course, a sort of slapstick humor as Jack gets his comeuppance at the end of every arc, but it's beginning to grow tedious, even after just 11 issues. And the self-serving monologues don't help. Jack 's delusions of his power and ability, and his excuses for his screw-ups, are momentarily amusing, but they too are growing old. Perhaps it's a credit to Willingham and his co-writer Matthew Sturges, that they have created a character I can so thoroughly despise. But an ongoing series about a despicable character is a tough sell, and unfortunately the way he is being written right now, I'm on the verge of not buying any more. Tie Jack, even tangentially to the War, adn I think there is some potential available to the character. I have a lot more faith in Willingham than I do in Supergirl's Joe Kelly, but that faith is leeching away.
Notes
I called it! I called it! I probably should have said it online, but I said to myself that Ivar Loxias sure looks a lot like a classic Batman villain miscolored. And sure enough, it's him. Congratulations again to Dini for such strong writing--I love how the Joker has returned in Detective and the promise of a more malevolent evil than just the random insanity he has practiced in the past.
The timing problems with Superman have reached their crest as evidenced this week when Lightray appears in the title. Unfortunately, in last week's Countdown Lightray was killed and this week's issue deals with the aftermath of a god dying. It was more than a little jarring to find him alive and well in another title. Pondering this, I noticed that the DC titles now sport a Countdown indicia beside their UPC codes. The indicia lists the week of Countdown that the story is associated with, which could prove useful down the road if the scheduling problems get any worse.
Spoilers ho!
Supergirl 18 - As difficult as it may seem to believe, it's just getting worse. All the conundrums, the unfinished plotlines, the general hash of things, all of it comes to a kind of resolution in this penultimate issue of this story. As a caveat, I admit that there is a timy sliver of hope that the last issue will redeem this mess, but I have my doubts.
This week, Supergirl confronts another unexpected adversary, the bronze age version of Supergirl. What follows is a slugfest punctuated by shallow psychoanalysis of the current Supergirl's weaknesses. It doesn't really matter how the fight proceeds; it's enough to know that her victory is punctuated with the comment "Don't play mind games with a crazy chick." And suddenly the adversary behind all her misery is revealed, Dark Angel and her mentor Monitor, testing Supergirl to see if she really belongs in the universe she is in. That's right kiddies, it was all a test to prove her worthiness. Never mind that the Monitors are supposed to protect the universes from breaches from other universes and thus using Dark Angel is highly suspect. What's more important is the utter lameness of this explanation, and what really rankles me is that I should have known it was coming. It has to be a trope that if everywhere a hero turns are crises (no pun intended) for no reason they can discern, that hero is undergoing a test from a supernatural entity. And despite it's "tropeness" it's a cop-out, a sign of poor writing, that the hero has been placed in a situation from which there is no release except for the deus ex machina.
And really, it's all been going downhill for a while. Even this time around, the art is facile and reminds me of some of the worst art from Image. I want it to be resolved well; I really do. So I am going to continue to get the title for a few more issues (maybe just one) despite my belief that there is no recovery from what feels like the nadir of a bad series.
Jack of Fables 11 - I'm a big big fan of Fables. I love Willingham's storytelling and the world he has set out for the reader, basing its mythology on the familiar and unfamiliar legends of both Western and Eastern culture. It turns outs to be huge in scope and engaging as heck. So I jumped on to the spin-off title, Jack of Fables eagerly, expecting more of the same.
As you can probably guess from the tenor of this, this is not going to be a highly positive review. Jack, while involved with the same mythology as its parent title, has nothing to do with the incredibly engaging story of the War. Instead, this title practices the picaresque by following a rogue on his adventures in the mundane world. But because there is no over-arching to act as a framework for the adventures, the quality of the stories must fall on the characters themselves. And it comes as no surprise that Jack is entirely unlikable. I don't believe there is a more egotistical and selfish character in comics today, but series can work with anti-heroes. But there must be some light in those stories--occasionally the anti-hero must do some good despite himself, or there are companion characters who espouse a positive viewpoint. Jack of Fables has neither of these and thus ends up being far more bleak and unyielding than its companion title.
There is, of course, a sort of slapstick humor as Jack gets his comeuppance at the end of every arc, but it's beginning to grow tedious, even after just 11 issues. And the self-serving monologues don't help. Jack 's delusions of his power and ability, and his excuses for his screw-ups, are momentarily amusing, but they too are growing old. Perhaps it's a credit to Willingham and his co-writer Matthew Sturges, that they have created a character I can so thoroughly despise. But an ongoing series about a despicable character is a tough sell, and unfortunately the way he is being written right now, I'm on the verge of not buying any more. Tie Jack, even tangentially to the War, adn I think there is some potential available to the character. I have a lot more faith in Willingham than I do in Supergirl's Joe Kelly, but that faith is leeching away.
Notes
I called it! I called it! I probably should have said it online, but I said to myself that Ivar Loxias sure looks a lot like a classic Batman villain miscolored. And sure enough, it's him. Congratulations again to Dini for such strong writing--I love how the Joker has returned in Detective and the promise of a more malevolent evil than just the random insanity he has practiced in the past.
The timing problems with Superman have reached their crest as evidenced this week when Lightray appears in the title. Unfortunately, in last week's Countdown Lightray was killed and this week's issue deals with the aftermath of a god dying. It was more than a little jarring to find him alive and well in another title. Pondering this, I noticed that the DC titles now sport a Countdown indicia beside their UPC codes. The indicia lists the week of Countdown that the story is associated with, which could prove useful down the road if the scheduling problems get any worse.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Comic musings for 31 May
The ship week was delayed a day by the Memorial Day holiday, and it was a big week besides. Given my schedule nowadays, I'm doing good to get a weekly column blog out, and I've got so very little time to read books at the moment. But all is good--the flight reservations for San Diego are done and Mrs. Speculator and I are already making plans.
On to this week's books:
Spoilers ho!
Fallen Angel 16 - The first of two original DC properties to move to another company, unlike its counterpart (The Boys), Fallen Angel was dropped by DC because of low sales rather than politics. The title was solicited as mainstream DC, but its problem was that it was more of a Vertigo title than the average super-hero comic. Perhaps writer Peter David intended to eventually connect it to the DC Universe, but as a result of its low sales, the title never reached that point. But the title was well enough thought of that IDW picked it up and DC was good enough to let it go.
At IDW, the title has been rather hit or miss on the art, but the strong story of the savior of the city that shapes the world has been a continuing strength. The most recent storyline concerns Fallen Angel's predecessor returning to Bete Noire without her memories and having her story repeated to her, a nice plot device by which the reader is caught up with that same story. Unfortunately, Lin's story is not one she probably wanted to remember and her now-human body (as opposed to whatever a person is when they are the angel of the city, complete with super-strength and fire powers) can't contain the remorse and guilt for her actions while she was under the control of the city. The current angel, Lee, doesn't have much sympathy, perhaps because of her history as a real angel fallen from the grace of heaven or perhaps because she is under the vile influence of Bete Noire now. But she does have enough compassion to help Lin get out of Bete Noire.
This issue actually makes a good jumping off point for new readers, as David compacts the history and nuances regular readers have spent 15 issues picking up into a single story. Avid readers get to add to their ongoing knowledge of the city as well. However, the happier surprise of this issue is the solid art from Kristian Donaldson and colorist Ronda Pattison. After going through a series of guest artists in the most recent issues, this one really stands out. There is still a fairly classic Vertigo feel to it, but it doesn't go to the extreme of having the lines of the figures obscured by swathes of color across the panel. The characters are easily distinguishable and there are some abstract touches, but those touches don't hamper the power of the story from being expressed but instead amplify it.
I'm still not sure if David has an ultimate destination planned for this series, but I hav thoroughly enjoyed the ride thus far, and here's hoping that Donaldson stays on to do the art chores.
Action 850 - Apparently, it was Big Blue Week at DC. Superman makes guest appearances in Hawkgirl and Blue Beetle, ahows up as part of the Justice League in Amazons Attack, defends Metropolis in Countdown, and has a milepost issue of Action. Taking the opportunity the milestone offers, Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, and Fabian Nicieza tell a flashback story that also sheds some light on what is going on behind the scnes in Countdown. The story revolves around Brainiac 5's attempts to get Supergirl back to her own time; he is momentarily unable to transport her but he can show her some of the past as he manipulates chronal particles.
Supergirl chooses to concentrate his viewer, the Chronexus, on Superman for reasons that are unclear. But her unsteady relationship with him is succinctly described by her as "I know he's the inspiration for the Legion...but what I remember, mostly, is him being stuffy and overbearing and, well, kind of a jerk." First of all, Brainiac must tune in on the right Superman, since he has trouble selecting the right universe; in rapid succession we see the Golden Age Superman in the 30s, then a Swan Superman facing Mr. Mxyzptlk, then Supes fighting a giant ape, the Byrne Superman, the Superman with long hair, and what I swear is a Bogdanove Superman before we finally center on the right one. And then we go all the way back to his escape from Krypton and follow his life in the short moments the Chronexus can show which make appropriate little vignettes.
The recurring theme of each of this vignettes is Superman's loneliness and how it drives him. No matter how he tries to fit in, as Clark Kent or as Superman, he is alone, even in a group of people. Brainiac says it best: "He's like no one he knows. No one he ever expects to know. It's only natural, for a being like that to reflect from time to time on his isolation, on the gulf between him and those around him." Unfotunately, this gulf begins to act somewhat as a bludgeon when Supergirl finally arrives on Earth, but suddenly she can see why he acted the way he did. Not only was he no longer alone, he wanted Supergirl to have an easier transition into life on Earth than he had.
Then we are allowed a few glimpses of the future...our future, which takes place before the Legion's point-of-view, if you can follow that chronological traipsing. Superman fighting an army of the different versions of Brainiac, Supergirl happily reunited with her parents, and what appears to be a new Kryptonian city. It all promises interesting things in the future for the Superman family, if we can ever get past the increasing cross-over madness that is DC now.
All in all, this is what a milepost issue should be if it is not just going to be part of the ongoing story up to that point. Unfortunately, the Superman titles are a mess right now, as I have charted earlier. So while the result of this story is fairly predictable, it makes a nice change from the scattered wanderings of the past year.
Hawkgirl 64 - Walt Simonson's current storyline in this title deals with what seems to be an obvious plan, given the reincarnation history of the Hawks; Hawkgirl is out to destroy the cycle by getting rid of Hath-Set. This particular issue is a typical entry in the trope of the hero wandering through the DC Universe looking for clues. Somehow, they always end up in Metropolis and they always meet Superman.
What's more interesting to me about this issue is the art of Dennis Calero. A quick run-through of his entry at Wikipedia shows that he has worked on a number of titles, Sliders, Magic: The Gathering, Masters of Horror, Kolchak, and early issues of the current volume of X-Factor. Sadly, I've not seen any of this work before. But let me tell you, this guy is good. His characters are realistic and his shadow-work is wonderful. There are a few panels that I could quibble with, but I really like what I saw in this issue. According to Wikipedia, he's going to be doing some work on Legion of Super-heroes later this year. I am really looking forward to seeing that.
If you don't know of this artist already, keep an eye out for him.
Notes
Just a short note. The Boys returned to print this week, with issue 7 coming out from Dynamite. I mentioned this above, but I just wanted to emphasize that they're back. Good stuff, though as outrageous as only Garth Ennis can be.
On to this week's books:
Spoilers ho!
Fallen Angel 16 - The first of two original DC properties to move to another company, unlike its counterpart (The Boys), Fallen Angel was dropped by DC because of low sales rather than politics. The title was solicited as mainstream DC, but its problem was that it was more of a Vertigo title than the average super-hero comic. Perhaps writer Peter David intended to eventually connect it to the DC Universe, but as a result of its low sales, the title never reached that point. But the title was well enough thought of that IDW picked it up and DC was good enough to let it go.
At IDW, the title has been rather hit or miss on the art, but the strong story of the savior of the city that shapes the world has been a continuing strength. The most recent storyline concerns Fallen Angel's predecessor returning to Bete Noire without her memories and having her story repeated to her, a nice plot device by which the reader is caught up with that same story. Unfortunately, Lin's story is not one she probably wanted to remember and her now-human body (as opposed to whatever a person is when they are the angel of the city, complete with super-strength and fire powers) can't contain the remorse and guilt for her actions while she was under the control of the city. The current angel, Lee, doesn't have much sympathy, perhaps because of her history as a real angel fallen from the grace of heaven or perhaps because she is under the vile influence of Bete Noire now. But she does have enough compassion to help Lin get out of Bete Noire.
This issue actually makes a good jumping off point for new readers, as David compacts the history and nuances regular readers have spent 15 issues picking up into a single story. Avid readers get to add to their ongoing knowledge of the city as well. However, the happier surprise of this issue is the solid art from Kristian Donaldson and colorist Ronda Pattison. After going through a series of guest artists in the most recent issues, this one really stands out. There is still a fairly classic Vertigo feel to it, but it doesn't go to the extreme of having the lines of the figures obscured by swathes of color across the panel. The characters are easily distinguishable and there are some abstract touches, but those touches don't hamper the power of the story from being expressed but instead amplify it.
I'm still not sure if David has an ultimate destination planned for this series, but I hav thoroughly enjoyed the ride thus far, and here's hoping that Donaldson stays on to do the art chores.
Action 850 - Apparently, it was Big Blue Week at DC. Superman makes guest appearances in Hawkgirl and Blue Beetle, ahows up as part of the Justice League in Amazons Attack, defends Metropolis in Countdown, and has a milepost issue of Action. Taking the opportunity the milestone offers, Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, and Fabian Nicieza tell a flashback story that also sheds some light on what is going on behind the scnes in Countdown. The story revolves around Brainiac 5's attempts to get Supergirl back to her own time; he is momentarily unable to transport her but he can show her some of the past as he manipulates chronal particles.
Supergirl chooses to concentrate his viewer, the Chronexus, on Superman for reasons that are unclear. But her unsteady relationship with him is succinctly described by her as "I know he's the inspiration for the Legion...but what I remember, mostly, is him being stuffy and overbearing and, well, kind of a jerk." First of all, Brainiac must tune in on the right Superman, since he has trouble selecting the right universe; in rapid succession we see the Golden Age Superman in the 30s, then a Swan Superman facing Mr. Mxyzptlk, then Supes fighting a giant ape, the Byrne Superman, the Superman with long hair, and what I swear is a Bogdanove Superman before we finally center on the right one. And then we go all the way back to his escape from Krypton and follow his life in the short moments the Chronexus can show which make appropriate little vignettes.
The recurring theme of each of this vignettes is Superman's loneliness and how it drives him. No matter how he tries to fit in, as Clark Kent or as Superman, he is alone, even in a group of people. Brainiac says it best: "He's like no one he knows. No one he ever expects to know. It's only natural, for a being like that to reflect from time to time on his isolation, on the gulf between him and those around him." Unfotunately, this gulf begins to act somewhat as a bludgeon when Supergirl finally arrives on Earth, but suddenly she can see why he acted the way he did. Not only was he no longer alone, he wanted Supergirl to have an easier transition into life on Earth than he had.
Then we are allowed a few glimpses of the future...our future, which takes place before the Legion's point-of-view, if you can follow that chronological traipsing. Superman fighting an army of the different versions of Brainiac, Supergirl happily reunited with her parents, and what appears to be a new Kryptonian city. It all promises interesting things in the future for the Superman family, if we can ever get past the increasing cross-over madness that is DC now.
All in all, this is what a milepost issue should be if it is not just going to be part of the ongoing story up to that point. Unfortunately, the Superman titles are a mess right now, as I have charted earlier. So while the result of this story is fairly predictable, it makes a nice change from the scattered wanderings of the past year.
Hawkgirl 64 - Walt Simonson's current storyline in this title deals with what seems to be an obvious plan, given the reincarnation history of the Hawks; Hawkgirl is out to destroy the cycle by getting rid of Hath-Set. This particular issue is a typical entry in the trope of the hero wandering through the DC Universe looking for clues. Somehow, they always end up in Metropolis and they always meet Superman.
What's more interesting to me about this issue is the art of Dennis Calero. A quick run-through of his entry at Wikipedia shows that he has worked on a number of titles, Sliders, Magic: The Gathering, Masters of Horror, Kolchak, and early issues of the current volume of X-Factor. Sadly, I've not seen any of this work before. But let me tell you, this guy is good. His characters are realistic and his shadow-work is wonderful. There are a few panels that I could quibble with, but I really like what I saw in this issue. According to Wikipedia, he's going to be doing some work on Legion of Super-heroes later this year. I am really looking forward to seeing that.
If you don't know of this artist already, keep an eye out for him.
Notes
Just a short note. The Boys returned to print this week, with issue 7 coming out from Dynamite. I mentioned this above, but I just wanted to emphasize that they're back. Good stuff, though as outrageous as only Garth Ennis can be.
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