Thursday, May 21, 2009
A reminder for locals: Jeff Smith/Bone doc at the Wexner Center tomorrow night
Don't forget The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, Bone and the Changing Face of Comics is having its world premiere tomorrow night at The Wexner Center for the Arts' film/video theater (Will there be a red carpet? I hope so!). You can find more details about it here, and read my kinda sorta review-like piece about it on Blog@Newsarama here.
I unfortunately won't be in attendance, as I'll have to be at my day job, which is, on Fridays, actually an afternoon and early evening job. But you should be there, as not only is it a movie about Jeff Smith and Bone featuring interviews with Smith and Vijaya Iyer and Steve Hamaker of Cartoon Books as well as Paul Pope, Terry Moore, Scott McCloud, Harvey Pekar and Colleen Doran, but it's also one Columbus-y movie.
Yes, that's right, Columbus-y. How Columbus-y? Well, it includes:
—Footage of the McCloud/Smith conversation at Mershon Auditorium last May and the well-attended book-signing that followed in the hallway. Scan the crowd scenes, you may be there. (I think I saw SPACE's Bob Corby, but I'm not 100% sure)
—Plenty of screen time devoted to an interview with Lucy Shelton Caswell of OSU's cartoon library, who co-curated last year's Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond show.
—A brief, cameo appearance by Columbus creators Tom Williams and Dara Naraghi (or else two guys who look remarkably like them and also know one another and are interested in comics). They're at the 3:50 mark, Panel fans!
—The back of my head and shoulders (At the 3:52 mark! That's me! And my favorite shirt!)
—A quote from my comic book dealer at the 4:16 mark (that's him in the preview up top saying, "Whether your eight or 80, there's something n this book for you")
—Several shots inside The Laughing Ogre, which, for those of you non-locals, is my local comic shop
—Examples of Smith and his partners' animation work from their Character Builders days, which include a 60-second opening for Jack Hanna's Super Safari show, two White Castle spots and mascot/superhero Warner Cable Man
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Weekly Haul: May 20th
Agents of Atlas #5 (Marvel Comics) The Agents bathe the New Avengers in a 22-page, fight-tastic issue. See, the Agents are good guys posing as bad guys, and what would prove how bad they are better than beating up a bunch of superheroes? Writer Jeff Parker sets it up so that the Avengers don’t look like saps for falling for the charade, nor do the Agents look super-smart by being able to successfully trick Spider-Man, and Parker also spins the sacrosanct fight-then-team-up ritual of Marvel comics in an interesting way. Here they almost fight, then talk about how they’re not going to fight, and then killer robot M-11 starts firing his death ray at Wolverine for reasons only he understands, and so they all have to have a big fight scene anyway. It’s pretty good stuff, and it was refreshing to see Parker handling the battle somewhat “realistically,” rather than giving it to his team since they’ve got home book advantage (Were it not for Venus’ abilities, the Avengers surely would have taken the Agents).
My favorite part was the last panel, in which Marvel Boy informs the team that Osborn is part of a cabal of jerks who are currently doing a bunch of shitty things to the world, and one of them is Namor. Then you flip to the “Next Issue” page and there’s a cover featuring the agents dog-piling on Namor while he tries to sing a duet with his cousin Namora.
You know what that means! Next issue will have Namor being a total dick, and punching people! That’s my very most favorite thing about Marvel Comics!
Marvel Adventures Avengers #36 (Marvel) Wow. You know, I almost always enjoy this title. It’s definitely my favorite Avengers book, and my favorite Hercules-free Marvel comic. But it could to me while reading this particular issue that it is actually a perfect superhero comic book.It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s full of colorful characters with exciting powers they use in inventive ways, it’s got a ton of action, it’s kinda sexy without being exploitive or making a thing out of it, it’s easily accessible and clear enough that if it were your first comic you could make sense out of every page of it (but if you’re already familiar with the characters, you might enjoy some of the gags a little more) and, in this issue at least, it is absolutely gorgeous looking.
Paul Tobin writes it, as he usually does, and he tells the tale of Tigra accidentally unleashing a genie that gives her three wishes, which it will be happy to grant just as soon as it gets done taking vengeance on Bruce “The Incredible Hulk” Banner, who imprisoned him centuries ago (time travel was involved).
The art is by Jacopo Camagni, whose name sounds familiar but whose work I don’t remember seeing in this title before (and I kinda think I’d remember it, given how good it is).
Camagni does absolutely everything right here. Not only is the story-telling crystal clear and the page lay outs expertly (and inventively) handled, but the backgrounds are all deep and full of charming little details, and the character design is fantastic (Storm is a head taller than Spidey and dwarfs most of the team, she has a different facial structure than Tigra, the other female in the issue; Thor and Cap are built like bodybuilders, while Wolverine is stocky and Spidey spindly, etc.)
If you’ve never tried an issue of Marvel Adventures Avengers before, I’d highly recommend you try this one—it’s as fun and accessible as any book in the MA line, and it’s just as good or better drawn than anything else Marvel publishes. (And way better colored!)
And so as not to sound too pleased, I should point out that I detest these sorts of interchangeable pose covers (And what’s Wolvie standing on, anyway?)
Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 (Marvel) So the artist for this book’s lead feature, Chris Burnham? He’s fucking brilliant. Marvel, I assume you guys already know this since you’ve previously hired him for some X-stuff before this, but you need to hook him up with something on the regular, and pay him lots and lots of money to keep him drawing it for you. His panels pop with little pleasing details: The pipes and knives and brass knuckles thugs bleed when Namor plows into them, the half eaten hotdog someone drops in a Coney Island action secene, the books on Ferret’s well-appointed shelves, the architectural details on a splash page where the Human Torch and Toro dive towards a rooftop meeting.
And like Camagni, whom I just got done raving about, Burnham is an artist who just plain does everything right, and as lots of little expert flourishes on top of a solid foundation of providing really good art (I liked, for example, how the richly detailed backgrounds he provides for most of the scenes make the background-less ones of Torch and Namor flying in the sky contrast so sharply with their earthbound scenes, and the way he draws the horizon at the top or sides of the panels, to make it clear the airborne heroes are wheeling through the air as they fly).
Like Marcos Martin’s work on the Captain America issue of these specials, Burnham provides excellent work that justifies purchasing the book all by itself.
Not that the story itself is bad or anything. It’s by old hand Tom Defalco, and features a series of Golden Age heroes tackling the same threat individually and in various teams. That threat is Dr. Manyac’s gang of green flame robots, which can freeze anything their mysterious fire comes in contact with, and the something called Project: Blockbuster (Want me to spoil it for you? It is a giant Nazi robot with swastikas for eyes).
In addition to Namor, Torch and Toro, the story also features Betty Dean, the surface-dweller Namor hates the least; Ferret, a “mystery detective” who dresses like a dandy; The Angel, who is just some guy in a funny costume who beats the holy living shit out of people (I counted at least ten teeth knocked out in the space of five panels); and Electro, the robot from J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston’s apparently abandoned miniseries The Twelve.
It all adds up to 22 beautifully drawn pages of Namor and the torches wrecking Nazi robots and bickering, while a handful of D-Listers also wreak havoc.
The back half of the book includes two Golden Age tales. The first is a Human Torch story by Carl Burgos featuring Dr. Manyac and his first attempt to use the green flame technology for evil. It’s a twelve-page story in which almost every single page is arranged in a nine-panel grid and the colors are just brilliantly bright.
That’s followed by a six-page story starring “Ferret, Mystery Detective” and his sidekick Nosey. It is just awful (reading these two back to back, it’s clear why The Human Torch is still remembered, while the Ferret is simply not completely forgotten). The credits assign this rough, kind of primitive work to a Stockbridge Winslow and Irwin Hasen; it’s kinda hard to believe the former isn’t a pseudonym. It it isn’t, than it is an awesome name, and I will strongly consider “Stockbridge Winslow Mozzocco” for my first-born son.
Ferret seems to be just your average dickhead private eye type, arrogantly solving crimes before the police can and then making fun of them about it. Well, his partner distinguishes him from other private eye types, I suppose: Nosey is some sort of animal, perhaps a ferret, although he is a gigantic ferret. He is usually perched on Ferret’s shoulder, but he changes size in different panels. Sometimes his head is as big as Ferret’s, and he usually seems to be the size of a small dog. Maybe he’s a mink or otter or something?
At the stories climax, the strange beast leaps at the main bad guy and claws his face. That would be a pretty terrible thing to happen to you, even if you were a gangster.
Perhaps Nosey is Ferret’s demon familiar…?
Super Friends #15 (DC Comics) This actually came out last week but I left it on the shelf, as I don’t really care for the book and usually don’t pick it up unless it has something totally awesome on the cover. Well, this cover wasn’t all that awesome really. But then I read Rachelle Goguen’s review of it (and saw her post of Smug Batman) and realized that J. Bone, who draws the overs and whom I always find myself wishing also drew the interiors, did in fact draw the interiors for this issue.And it was pretty great. It’s still very much more a kid’s comic than an all-ages one, but Sholly Fisch does a pretty good job with this issue, in which some of Batman’s loved ones steal a page from Sue Dibny’s playbook and give him a mystery to solve for his birthday.
Bone’s art helps immensely; I’m still not crazy about (and kinda hate) the basic Mattel Super Friends character designs, but I like them best when Bone’s drawing them. He does great work on the expressions that bring them to life. Seriously, check out the look he draws on Batman’s face in that panel she posted (also, check out Wonder Woman’s face; she likes what she sees!). There are a couple more panels of Batman making faces that are jut as adorable (like page 15, panel 3).
Bone is also a very good drawer of dinosaurs. More J. Bone art please, DC!
Tiny Titans #16 (DC) To help whip the Sidekick Elementary student body into shape, gym teacher Coach Lobo makes them race around the world, and it’s as cute and funny as you would expect from this book by the fifteenth issue. This issue also introduces some new characters into the mix, including Mas y Menso from the late, great Teen Titans cartoon, Bombshell from the “One Year Later” Teen Titans, and, in a crowd scene, Vulcan from the Son of Vulcan miniseries. Trinity #51 (DC) I did not care for Tom Derenick’s super-buff version of The Thunderbolt.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Marvel's August previews reviewed
DC Comics isn’t alone; Marvel Comics also still publishes comic books. And they too will have a whole bunch of stuff out in the month of August, the solicitations for which I will spend the next few hundred words talking about, pointing at, and sighing sadly over.
Speaking of sadness, you know what comic book they won’t be publishing in August? Captain Britain and MI13, on account of it apparently being canceled.
I’m not exactly surprised, as it is a rather poor performer, and I don’t really get why so people are, like, mad at Marvel about it (See the comments thread below the Blog@ announcement for some dumb comments to the effect of “Way to cancel a poor-performing title while introducing titles that are sure to be hits, jerks”). The book was always going to be a bit of a tough sell though, given the fact that it had a gigantic cast, all of whom had actual characterization and conflicts, making it more like a TV ensemble drama than a JLA or Avengers style super-team book.
I think it is too bad though, as I really liked it. Actually, the second story arc was rather poor, a one or two issue story stretched out over far too many issues, but the first story arc and the current Dracula Vs. the UK story were pretty fantastic. It’s also one of the…let’s see…half-dozen Marvel ongoings currently on my pull-list, so it was one of the relatively few books they were publishing that I felt confident enough in its quality that I knew I was going to want to read the next issue sight unseen.
Ah well, I’ll live. And so will writer Paul Cornell and the artists who worked on the series with him. (Maybe Leonard Kirk can rejoin Jeff Parker on Agents of Atlas now; that’d sure be a silver lining…)
Anyway, on to the books Marvel is publishing! You can read their full solicitations here, and my thoughts on some of them below.
CROSSFIRE #1 (of 3)
Written by JEAN-LUC SALA
Penciled by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
Cover by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
Exclusive U.S. Variant by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
A head-on collision between John Woo and John Paul II! On the fringes of the Vatican’s religious administration, a powerful Cardinal is overseeing the execution of the Church’s most discreet objectives with a force of black-ops specialists and spies. When a mafia godfather puts his best hit man in service of the Vatican to settle an honor debt, he will act as the guardian angel of a beautiful young investigator, but can he keep her out of the crossfire? Ancient secrets threaten to uproot the seat of religious power, and there are people ready to kill to protect it. Can good men fight fire with fire without losing their souls?
48 PGS./Mature ...$5.99
If this were actually, literally about John Woo vs. John Paul II, I'd be much more pumped up about it.
DOMINIC FORTUNE #1 (of 4)
Written by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Pencils & Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN
“THE ‘IT CAN HAPPEN HERE, AND NOW’ RESOLUTION!” PART 1
The depression’s going strong, so when Dominic Fortune is hired to bodyguard Jock Madison, Vaughn Lorillard and P.T. Oakley, three drunk and disorderly Hollywood stars, he jumps at the chance to pick up what looks like a few easy bucks, and maybe have a few laughs in the bargain. But when the trio of old school hambones and horndogs prove to be a bigger pain than he anticipated -- and he accidentally stumbles across a conspiracy headed by mysterious American businessman Malcolm Upshaw and Delatriz Betancourt, the recklessly sexy granddaughter of Confederates who fled Reconstruction for South America -- Fortune finds himself in hot water...with the fate of the USA at stake.
32 PGS./Explicit Content ...$3.99
I really like the term "recklessly sexy."
I'm really on the fence and teetering about Exiles. On the one hand, it's full of a bunch of lame-ass X-characters I dislike, but on the other hand, in the last issue writer Jeff Parker had a magnet-powered bad guy make Forge punch himself in the face with his cyborg arm.
It's hard to resist these Dave Bullock covers though. I wish he'd move inside to do interiors; that would keep me happily buying month in and month out.
HOUSE OF M: MASTERS OF EVIL #1 (of 5)
Written by CHRISTOS N. GAGE
Penciled by MANUEL GARCIA
Cover by MIKE PERKINS
Hot on the heels of the last two acclaimed minis, House of M returns! You’ve seen how the mutants and the heroes were changed in the world ruled by Magneto...but what about the villains? Their story stands revealed at last as The Hood assembles a gang of the deadliest Sapien super-criminals: Madame Masque, The Absorbing Man, Titania, The Wrecking Crew, Nitro, Constrictor, The Sandman, Crossbones and more! At first, their goal is simple: get rich and get away with it. But their very first job may lead somewhere none of them expected...and incur the wrath of the House of M itself!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
Don't you dare buy this. This is the latest, completely random miniseries tying into a terrible 2005 Marvel event comic that Marvel feels compelled to keep pumping out because for some reason unknown to anyone (including Marvel), House of M paperback collections sell really well. So they would like their regular readers to spend $4 an issue for five issues to help subsidize an eventual $15 trade paperback collection they can sell to bookstores and libraries.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #132 & 133
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by REILLY BROWN (#132) & RODNEY BUCHEMI (#133)
Covers by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
Incredible Hercules #132 70th Anniversary Variant by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Incredible Hercules #133 70th Frame Variant by SALVA ESPIN
Beginning a story arc so earth-shattering, so momentous, so, well, incredible, we just had to give it to you TWICE A MONTH! (Well, for the three months, anyway). When terrible threats rise in Svartalfheim, the land of the Dark Elves, only Mighty Thor, Son of Asgard, can hope to triumph! But what happens if the Odinson is temporarily...unavailable? It's Hammer Time for Hercules as the Lion of Olympus gets his thunder on! Meanwhile, in Incredible Hercules 133, the Secret Origin of AMADEUS CHO begins! Who really killed Amadeus' family? What is his true relation to Hercules? And, most importantly, what is the connection between him and The Twelve's MASTER MIND EXCELLO? Everyone's favorite irascible boy genius is after the answers himself -- but to get them he's going to have to go through his arch-nemesis, PYTHAGORAS DUPREE, the sixth-smartest man on Earth!
32 PGS.(each)/Rated T+ ...$2.99 (each)
INCREDIBLE HULK #601
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by ARIEL OLIVETTI & MICHAEL RYAN
Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
70th Frame Variant by MICHAEL GOLDEN
Gamma fans rejoice -- the rumors are true! The INCREDIBLE HULK book returns as an ongoing series written by acclaimed PLANET HULK and WORLD WAR HULK scribe Greg Pak! Get ready for Bruce Banner as you've never seen him, the Son of Hulk in a whole new world of smash, and an insane new adventure that changes everything for everyone's favorite Green Goliath! With art by Ariel Olivetti (CABLE) and introducing a new, regular bonus backup SAVAGE SHE-HULK story written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Michael Ryan!
40 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
Sorry, I'm still completely lost here.
Jeph Loeb's Hulk is still in publication, with its normal numbering, Incredible Hulk apparently reappropriates Incredible Hercules' numbering (and adjective) and adds in a whole bunch of other comics for some reason, and Incredible Hercules ALSO retains its numbering?
So, like, its first hundred issues or so and Inc. Hulk's last 100 issues are so are actually the same comics that both titles are claiming as issues of their own...?
Er, I really don't see the advantage to any of this. Is Marvel trying to make reading their comics as impossible a task as they can? (Don't answer that; I already know).
The Herc book still sounds fun and I'm down for it, but man, I can't imagine walking into a comic shop for the first time after hearing about how good Herc or Hulk were and trying to figure out how to even begin reading them.
Behold, the Infinity Collar!
LUKE CAGE NOIR #1 (of 4)
Written by MIKE BENSON & ADAM GLASS
Penciled by SHAWN MARTINBROUGH
Cover by TIM BRADSTREET
Variant Cover by DENNIS CALERO
“MOON OVER HARLEM,” PART 1
A lot can change in ten years. And rarely for the better. Local legend, Luke Cage, invincible, unstoppable, unflappable, finds that out the hard way when he returns to the mean streets of Prohibition-era Harlem after a ten-year stretch in Riker’s Island. All he wants is to be back in the loving arms of his woman, but certain powerful men have different plans for Cage. Willis Stryker, Cage’s childhood friend turned Godfather of Harlem, wants him on his crew, and under his thumb. And wealthy white socialite Randall Banticoff, whose wife is now very dead, murdered in a Harlem alley, wants Cage to investigate her death. Cage is about to learn that coming home is never easy, and to survive he might just have to kill a whole lot of people.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
This is the first of these Noir books in a while that seems like it might be sufficiently different from the regular comics in some aspect other than the time period to be really all that interesting. Like Spider-Man and the X-Men, Cage has superpowers, so putting him in a street-level, pre-superhero crime story is in itself a change, and Cage is such a product of a particular time period of pop culture—the blaxploitation era of the '70s—that staging a Luke Cage story 50 years earlier might yield unique results.
I like artist Shawn Martinborough, but will pass on this—as mildly curious as I am, I'm more like $1.25 curious than $3.99 curious. Maybe the Columbus library will get a trade in a year or so.
MARVEL COMICS #1: 70TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Penciled by CARL BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, PAUL GUSTAVSON, BEN THOMPSON, AL ANDERS & ART PINAJIAN
Colored by DEAN WHITE, DAVE McCAIG, JASON KEITH, MORRY HOLLOWELL, FRANK
D’ARMATA & more!
Cover by JELENA KEVIC DJURDJEVIC
Midnight Opening Cover by FRANK R. PAUL & DEAN WHITE
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Marvel Comics in style the best and brightest color-art talents in the field bring you a bold new look at the comic that started it all! From the first appearance of The Human Torch to the original jungle adventures of Ka-Zar and the incomparable introduction of Bill Everett’s Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, each tale from Marvel Comics #1 has been paired with one of the field’s most innovative color artists to create a fascinating contemporary take on these classic tales. Including contributions from the trend-setting talents of Dean White (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN; LOGAN), Dave McCaig (NEW AVENGERS; NEXTWAVE), Jason Keith (MIGHTY AVENGERS; SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL), Morry Hollowell (CIVIL WAR; WOLVERINE) and Frank D’Armata (CAPTAIN AMERICA; HOUSE OF M), there’s no question that this will be MARVEL COMICS #1 like you’ve never seen it before! So come join the party—including Marvel’s mega-midnight birthday bash—and toast to the most important comic art achievement of 1939—2009-style! 64 PGS./Rated T+ ...$4.99
Er...so, they're just re-coloring the contents of Marvel Comics #1 then...? I'm not sure I understand the solicit, or what the appeal of this might be. Hopefully they won't be taking all those cool old comics and giving them that murky, over-rendered look that taints most modern Marvel comics. I guess I'll give it a flip-through the week it comes out.
MARVEL DIVAS #2 (of 4)
Written by ROBERTO
AGUIRRE-SACASA
Art by TONCI ZONJIC
Cover by JELENA KEVIC DJURDJEVIC
After last issue's shocking revelation, Angelica "Firestar" Jones seeks out medical advice...from none other than Dr. Stephen Strange. (Paving the way for yet another diva to enter the fray: The nocturnal Night Nurse!) Meanwhile, Monica "Photon" Rambeau and Patsy "Hellcat" Walker are drawn back into the lives of their ex-boyfriends of the damned: Brother Voodoo and Daimon Hellstrom, respectively. And Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy contemplates a return to her life of crime...the claws are out as this mini-series continues!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory...$3.99
Well, at least the cover's better than the first one.
I kinda feel bad for Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic, as Marvel so completely fucked up the roll out of this book that no matter how good it might be, it's going to be accompanied by a dark cloud. And, in sadly typical fashion, Marvel's EIC makes himself and his company look worse and worse the more he tries to defend it. (Here's Graeme McMillan making fun of his "Hey, I like Pink" defense, and here are some When Fangirls Attack link round-ups with other fans reacting to it; me, I'm just surprised there aren't more people making fun of Quesada for his godawful taste in music).
Oh, and this is a pretty good example of how Stan Lee was better at PR than Quesada (Something I talked about a bit last week). I imagine Lee would have just said something like, "Oh yeah, do you think that cover was a little much? Well don't worry because" and then he'd string together a bunch of excited nonsense out of his word-bank of terms like "marvel manner," "true believer" and some random alliteration.
Instead, Quesada's just like, "Hey, if you think we're sexist, don't read us; if you read us, then you must not think we're sexist." I...I don't even know how to process that statement. I certainly don't know how it applies to someone thinking an image Marvel released to promote a comic book they're publishing is a dumb image; you gave us the picture to look at and react to, no one has to pay you $3.99 in order to react negatively to it.
Of course, Lee probably wouldn't have approved either of those covers, as he believed the covers were very important, and didn't like consecutive covers to resemble one another this closely (Today's Marvel cover model of random, interchangeable posed images would never have flown under Lee; but then, Lee was selling Marvel's to newsstands, not specialty stores that pre-order books).
And not to get too far off topic, but given the subject matter, wouldn't this series have been a good one to throw one of those John Romita Sr.-drawn, romance comic parody covers, like the one for Dardevil #94?
I like that costume design. Kinda disturbing, really.
That's a cool-looking cow.
I liked this image a whole lot before I clicked on it and made it full-sized, as it looked like Ghost Rider was attacking a giant Spider-Man. But at full-size it's clear that it's just Ghost Rider chasing Spidey up a building. I like the story the former suggests in my head better than the one the latter does.
Gross.
Things I would have bought as singles but I guess I'll wait for the trade on based on their $3.99-for-just-22-pages price tag: New Avengers #56 (Stuart Immonen on pencils!), Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, Ghost Riders: Heavens on Fire, maybe Models, Inc. (depending on how the art looks) and Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's The Marvels Project (this one will be the hardest one to wait for, I think).
Speaking of sadness, you know what comic book they won’t be publishing in August? Captain Britain and MI13, on account of it apparently being canceled.
I’m not exactly surprised, as it is a rather poor performer, and I don’t really get why so people are, like, mad at Marvel about it (See the comments thread below the Blog@ announcement for some dumb comments to the effect of “Way to cancel a poor-performing title while introducing titles that are sure to be hits, jerks”). The book was always going to be a bit of a tough sell though, given the fact that it had a gigantic cast, all of whom had actual characterization and conflicts, making it more like a TV ensemble drama than a JLA or Avengers style super-team book.
I think it is too bad though, as I really liked it. Actually, the second story arc was rather poor, a one or two issue story stretched out over far too many issues, but the first story arc and the current Dracula Vs. the UK story were pretty fantastic. It’s also one of the…let’s see…half-dozen Marvel ongoings currently on my pull-list, so it was one of the relatively few books they were publishing that I felt confident enough in its quality that I knew I was going to want to read the next issue sight unseen.
Ah well, I’ll live. And so will writer Paul Cornell and the artists who worked on the series with him. (Maybe Leonard Kirk can rejoin Jeff Parker on Agents of Atlas now; that’d sure be a silver lining…)
Anyway, on to the books Marvel is publishing! You can read their full solicitations here, and my thoughts on some of them below.
CROSSFIRE #1 (of 3)Written by JEAN-LUC SALA
Penciled by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
Cover by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
Exclusive U.S. Variant by PIERRE-MONY CHAN
A head-on collision between John Woo and John Paul II! On the fringes of the Vatican’s religious administration, a powerful Cardinal is overseeing the execution of the Church’s most discreet objectives with a force of black-ops specialists and spies. When a mafia godfather puts his best hit man in service of the Vatican to settle an honor debt, he will act as the guardian angel of a beautiful young investigator, but can he keep her out of the crossfire? Ancient secrets threaten to uproot the seat of religious power, and there are people ready to kill to protect it. Can good men fight fire with fire without losing their souls?
48 PGS./Mature ...$5.99
If this were actually, literally about John Woo vs. John Paul II, I'd be much more pumped up about it.
DOMINIC FORTUNE #1 (of 4)
Written by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Pencils & Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN
“THE ‘IT CAN HAPPEN HERE, AND NOW’ RESOLUTION!” PART 1
The depression’s going strong, so when Dominic Fortune is hired to bodyguard Jock Madison, Vaughn Lorillard and P.T. Oakley, three drunk and disorderly Hollywood stars, he jumps at the chance to pick up what looks like a few easy bucks, and maybe have a few laughs in the bargain. But when the trio of old school hambones and horndogs prove to be a bigger pain than he anticipated -- and he accidentally stumbles across a conspiracy headed by mysterious American businessman Malcolm Upshaw and Delatriz Betancourt, the recklessly sexy granddaughter of Confederates who fled Reconstruction for South America -- Fortune finds himself in hot water...with the fate of the USA at stake.
32 PGS./Explicit Content ...$3.99
I really like the term "recklessly sexy."
I'm really on the fence and teetering about Exiles. On the one hand, it's full of a bunch of lame-ass X-characters I dislike, but on the other hand, in the last issue writer Jeff Parker had a magnet-powered bad guy make Forge punch himself in the face with his cyborg arm. It's hard to resist these Dave Bullock covers though. I wish he'd move inside to do interiors; that would keep me happily buying month in and month out.
HOUSE OF M: MASTERS OF EVIL #1 (of 5)
Written by CHRISTOS N. GAGE
Penciled by MANUEL GARCIA
Cover by MIKE PERKINS
Hot on the heels of the last two acclaimed minis, House of M returns! You’ve seen how the mutants and the heroes were changed in the world ruled by Magneto...but what about the villains? Their story stands revealed at last as The Hood assembles a gang of the deadliest Sapien super-criminals: Madame Masque, The Absorbing Man, Titania, The Wrecking Crew, Nitro, Constrictor, The Sandman, Crossbones and more! At first, their goal is simple: get rich and get away with it. But their very first job may lead somewhere none of them expected...and incur the wrath of the House of M itself!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
Don't you dare buy this. This is the latest, completely random miniseries tying into a terrible 2005 Marvel event comic that Marvel feels compelled to keep pumping out because for some reason unknown to anyone (including Marvel), House of M paperback collections sell really well. So they would like their regular readers to spend $4 an issue for five issues to help subsidize an eventual $15 trade paperback collection they can sell to bookstores and libraries.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #132 & 133
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by REILLY BROWN (#132) & RODNEY BUCHEMI (#133)
Covers by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
Incredible Hercules #132 70th Anniversary Variant by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Incredible Hercules #133 70th Frame Variant by SALVA ESPIN
Beginning a story arc so earth-shattering, so momentous, so, well, incredible, we just had to give it to you TWICE A MONTH! (Well, for the three months, anyway). When terrible threats rise in Svartalfheim, the land of the Dark Elves, only Mighty Thor, Son of Asgard, can hope to triumph! But what happens if the Odinson is temporarily...unavailable? It's Hammer Time for Hercules as the Lion of Olympus gets his thunder on! Meanwhile, in Incredible Hercules 133, the Secret Origin of AMADEUS CHO begins! Who really killed Amadeus' family? What is his true relation to Hercules? And, most importantly, what is the connection between him and The Twelve's MASTER MIND EXCELLO? Everyone's favorite irascible boy genius is after the answers himself -- but to get them he's going to have to go through his arch-nemesis, PYTHAGORAS DUPREE, the sixth-smartest man on Earth!
32 PGS.(each)/Rated T+ ...$2.99 (each)
INCREDIBLE HULK #601
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by ARIEL OLIVETTI & MICHAEL RYAN
Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
70th Frame Variant by MICHAEL GOLDEN
Gamma fans rejoice -- the rumors are true! The INCREDIBLE HULK book returns as an ongoing series written by acclaimed PLANET HULK and WORLD WAR HULK scribe Greg Pak! Get ready for Bruce Banner as you've never seen him, the Son of Hulk in a whole new world of smash, and an insane new adventure that changes everything for everyone's favorite Green Goliath! With art by Ariel Olivetti (CABLE) and introducing a new, regular bonus backup SAVAGE SHE-HULK story written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Michael Ryan!
40 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
Sorry, I'm still completely lost here.
Jeph Loeb's Hulk is still in publication, with its normal numbering, Incredible Hulk apparently reappropriates Incredible Hercules' numbering (and adjective) and adds in a whole bunch of other comics for some reason, and Incredible Hercules ALSO retains its numbering?
So, like, its first hundred issues or so and Inc. Hulk's last 100 issues are so are actually the same comics that both titles are claiming as issues of their own...?
Er, I really don't see the advantage to any of this. Is Marvel trying to make reading their comics as impossible a task as they can? (Don't answer that; I already know).
The Herc book still sounds fun and I'm down for it, but man, I can't imagine walking into a comic shop for the first time after hearing about how good Herc or Hulk were and trying to figure out how to even begin reading them.
Behold, the Infinity Collar!
LUKE CAGE NOIR #1 (of 4)Written by MIKE BENSON & ADAM GLASS
Penciled by SHAWN MARTINBROUGH
Cover by TIM BRADSTREET
Variant Cover by DENNIS CALERO
“MOON OVER HARLEM,” PART 1
A lot can change in ten years. And rarely for the better. Local legend, Luke Cage, invincible, unstoppable, unflappable, finds that out the hard way when he returns to the mean streets of Prohibition-era Harlem after a ten-year stretch in Riker’s Island. All he wants is to be back in the loving arms of his woman, but certain powerful men have different plans for Cage. Willis Stryker, Cage’s childhood friend turned Godfather of Harlem, wants him on his crew, and under his thumb. And wealthy white socialite Randall Banticoff, whose wife is now very dead, murdered in a Harlem alley, wants Cage to investigate her death. Cage is about to learn that coming home is never easy, and to survive he might just have to kill a whole lot of people.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
This is the first of these Noir books in a while that seems like it might be sufficiently different from the regular comics in some aspect other than the time period to be really all that interesting. Like Spider-Man and the X-Men, Cage has superpowers, so putting him in a street-level, pre-superhero crime story is in itself a change, and Cage is such a product of a particular time period of pop culture—the blaxploitation era of the '70s—that staging a Luke Cage story 50 years earlier might yield unique results.
I like artist Shawn Martinborough, but will pass on this—as mildly curious as I am, I'm more like $1.25 curious than $3.99 curious. Maybe the Columbus library will get a trade in a year or so.
MARVEL COMICS #1: 70TH ANNIVERSARY EDITIONPenciled by CARL BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, PAUL GUSTAVSON, BEN THOMPSON, AL ANDERS & ART PINAJIAN
Colored by DEAN WHITE, DAVE McCAIG, JASON KEITH, MORRY HOLLOWELL, FRANK
D’ARMATA & more!
Cover by JELENA KEVIC DJURDJEVIC
Midnight Opening Cover by FRANK R. PAUL & DEAN WHITE
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Marvel Comics in style the best and brightest color-art talents in the field bring you a bold new look at the comic that started it all! From the first appearance of The Human Torch to the original jungle adventures of Ka-Zar and the incomparable introduction of Bill Everett’s Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, each tale from Marvel Comics #1 has been paired with one of the field’s most innovative color artists to create a fascinating contemporary take on these classic tales. Including contributions from the trend-setting talents of Dean White (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN; LOGAN), Dave McCaig (NEW AVENGERS; NEXTWAVE), Jason Keith (MIGHTY AVENGERS; SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL), Morry Hollowell (CIVIL WAR; WOLVERINE) and Frank D’Armata (CAPTAIN AMERICA; HOUSE OF M), there’s no question that this will be MARVEL COMICS #1 like you’ve never seen it before! So come join the party—including Marvel’s mega-midnight birthday bash—and toast to the most important comic art achievement of 1939—2009-style! 64 PGS./Rated T+ ...$4.99
Er...so, they're just re-coloring the contents of Marvel Comics #1 then...? I'm not sure I understand the solicit, or what the appeal of this might be. Hopefully they won't be taking all those cool old comics and giving them that murky, over-rendered look that taints most modern Marvel comics. I guess I'll give it a flip-through the week it comes out.
MARVEL DIVAS #2 (of 4)Written by ROBERTO
AGUIRRE-SACASA
Art by TONCI ZONJIC
Cover by JELENA KEVIC DJURDJEVIC
After last issue's shocking revelation, Angelica "Firestar" Jones seeks out medical advice...from none other than Dr. Stephen Strange. (Paving the way for yet another diva to enter the fray: The nocturnal Night Nurse!) Meanwhile, Monica "Photon" Rambeau and Patsy "Hellcat" Walker are drawn back into the lives of their ex-boyfriends of the damned: Brother Voodoo and Daimon Hellstrom, respectively. And Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy contemplates a return to her life of crime...the claws are out as this mini-series continues!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory...$3.99
Well, at least the cover's better than the first one.
I kinda feel bad for Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic, as Marvel so completely fucked up the roll out of this book that no matter how good it might be, it's going to be accompanied by a dark cloud. And, in sadly typical fashion, Marvel's EIC makes himself and his company look worse and worse the more he tries to defend it. (Here's Graeme McMillan making fun of his "Hey, I like Pink" defense, and here are some When Fangirls Attack link round-ups with other fans reacting to it; me, I'm just surprised there aren't more people making fun of Quesada for his godawful taste in music).
Oh, and this is a pretty good example of how Stan Lee was better at PR than Quesada (Something I talked about a bit last week). I imagine Lee would have just said something like, "Oh yeah, do you think that cover was a little much? Well don't worry because" and then he'd string together a bunch of excited nonsense out of his word-bank of terms like "marvel manner," "true believer" and some random alliteration.
Instead, Quesada's just like, "Hey, if you think we're sexist, don't read us; if you read us, then you must not think we're sexist." I...I don't even know how to process that statement. I certainly don't know how it applies to someone thinking an image Marvel released to promote a comic book they're publishing is a dumb image; you gave us the picture to look at and react to, no one has to pay you $3.99 in order to react negatively to it.
Of course, Lee probably wouldn't have approved either of those covers, as he believed the covers were very important, and didn't like consecutive covers to resemble one another this closely (Today's Marvel cover model of random, interchangeable posed images would never have flown under Lee; but then, Lee was selling Marvel's to newsstands, not specialty stores that pre-order books).
And not to get too far off topic, but given the subject matter, wouldn't this series have been a good one to throw one of those John Romita Sr.-drawn, romance comic parody covers, like the one for Dardevil #94?
I like that costume design. Kinda disturbing, really.
That's a cool-looking cow. 
I liked this image a whole lot before I clicked on it and made it full-sized, as it looked like Ghost Rider was attacking a giant Spider-Man. But at full-size it's clear that it's just Ghost Rider chasing Spidey up a building. I like the story the former suggests in my head better than the one the latter does.
Gross.Things I would have bought as singles but I guess I'll wait for the trade on based on their $3.99-for-just-22-pages price tag: New Avengers #56 (Stuart Immonen on pencils!), Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, Ghost Riders: Heavens on Fire, maybe Models, Inc. (depending on how the art looks) and Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's The Marvels Project (this one will be the hardest one to wait for, I think).
Monday, May 18, 2009
DC's August previews reviewed
DC has released their full solicitations for the month of August, which means it's time for our monthly ritual of prejudging books that won't be out for months based solely on the creators involved, the pictures of the covers, a few sentences worth of information and my own biases and prjudices. Open a second window and point it here for the full solicits, and follow along below.
Let's start with the "The Red Circle" revival...
THE RED CIRCLE
J. Michael Straczynski dives into the DC Universe at last – and he’s bringing four of the finest heroes of the Golden and Silver Ages with him!
Completely reimagined for the modern world from their original appearances in Archie/MLJ publications, these four heroes will show you a side of the DC Universe you’ve never seen before!
Arriving weekly throughout the month of August, these specials thrust four amazing new characters into the heart of the DC story!
Er, “four of the finest” might be pushing it a little…
THE RED CIRCLE: THE HANGMAN #1
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Tom Derenick & Bill Sienkiewicz
Cover by Jesus Saiz
The Civil War claimed many lives...but one of those lives still hasn’t ended! Union doctor Robert Dickering found himself on the wrong side of the battle lines, and despite his heroic treatment of a fallen enemy soldier, he also found himself on the wrong end of a noose! But a shadowy power stepped forth in the twilit moments between life and death and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse: to forever roam the Earth, saving the lives of innocents condemned like himself – or hastening the deaths of the guilty! But in taking the seemingly righteous mission of the Hangman, has he accepted God’s work? Or has he become the vengeful fist of the Devil himself? Featuring art by Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz, the acclaimed team behind REIGN IN HELL!
Of the four, this is the one I’m probably most likely to try out, based on the art team. I like Tom Derenick’s pencil work, and I love the way Sienkiewicz’s inks can transform the lines of some pencil artists in interesting ways. The premise of this hero seems a little too similar to all of the other supernatural vengeance agents in the DC Universe—The Spectre, Ragman, the new Crimson Avenger, the new El Diablo, etc. Someone should to a story where they all turn up to collect the same evildoer at the same time.
Oh my God, they set Gung Ho on fire! Oh, that’s actually “The Inferno.” He looks like Gung Ho on fire. I’ll pass.
THE RED CIRCLE: THE WEB #1
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Roger Robinson & Hilary Barta
Cover by Jesus Saiz
Billionaire John Raymond has it all – fame, fortune, and a brilliant mind! He also has a brother with the one trait John lacks: compassion. No matter how relentlessly awe-inspiring John’s achievements get, it’s his brother who’s always seen as the hero. So John sets out to upstage his brother one more time. He’ll show the world just how much heroism money can buy as the amazing (and suspiciously well-equipped) Web. But when a dark fate arrives for his brother, John learns first-hand what a hero leaves on the line, and that there are worse losses than the ones that hit your checkbook! Featuring art by Roger Robinson (THE BRAVE & THE BOLD, BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS)!
I really liked Roger Robinson’s work on Batman: Gotham Knights (particularly the way he drew boots), and wondered why I hadn’t seen much of him since. I’m glad to see he’s getting some more work from DC now, and I’m extremely curious how Hilary Barta’s inks will look on his pencils (DC sure seems to be assigning some interesting inkers on these books), but I don’t think I’ll be able to look at this costume long enough to read any pages featuring it. It’s a tough call give how many terrible costumes there are in the world of supereheroes, but, for the moment at least, I’m going to go ahead and declare this the very worst.
THE RED CIRCLE: THE SHIELD #1
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
Cover by Jesus Saiz
Lieutenant Joe Higgins was dying in the dirt of a battlefield in Afghanistan when they whisked him away to a top-secret facility and saved his life with nanotechnology so experimental they couldn’t dare to use it on a living man. Now Higgins has been enlisted to a whole new mission – to be the public face of the American fighting man as the patriotic Shield! But today’s grueling military battles test the limits of patriotism and the limits of the technology that keeps him alive. And the shocking secret behind that technology may be too much for his bullet-riddled heart to bear. Featuring art from Marco Rudy (FINAL CRISIS)!
The only of the old Archie heroes from DC’s short-lived Impact line to also be a part of this Red Circle initiative. I wonder if they’ll be publishing trades of the Impact books, which might sell okay now given the fact that some of their creators are much bigger names now (like Mark Waid, for instance).
This is the character I’m most interested in, as it’s the one I’ve seen the most of before, but I’m not sure who’s going to be drawing it. The credit says Scott McDaniel, whose work I’ve grown really tired of over the past few years, but the body of the solicit says Marco Rudy, whose credit as working on Final Crisis, which is news to me. Was he an inker on FC maybe?
Please see The Last Days of Animal Man #4 for this month’s solitary example of superhero cheesecake by an artist who can actually draw women. (Okay, I’m just being a jerk; Guillem March’s Gotham City Sirens cover is both sexy and recognizably human at the same time, too).
BAD GIRLS
Written by Steve Vance
Art by Jennifer Graves, Christine Norrie, Daniel Krall and J. Bone
Cover by Darwyn Cooke
It’s not easy being the new girl in school – especially when everyone else has super-powers. Lauren is new to the mall-and-beach town of San Narciso, CA. Should she hang with the super-powered popular girls? What mystery lies behind the school’s walls? And most importantly, what to wear? Collecting the 2003 miniseries for the first time!
I have no idea why this book is just coming out now, but I really enjoyed it the first time around, and would recommend it based on—Oh come on, just look at that art team; how could you not want this?
BATGIRL #1
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
Variant cover by J.G. Jones
In the wake of “Batman R.I.P.” and BATTLE FOR THE COWL, a new heroine has emerged in Gotham City, and as she begins her nocturnal crusade to take back the night, she will truly learn what it means to wear the mantle of the Bat. But who is this young woman, and why has she donned the cape and cowl?
Hey kids, want to break into writing comics? Here’s how. First, break into writing TV. Second, ask DC or Marvel for a job.
This is the new Batgirl ongoing, which is being written by Bryan Q. Miller, whose entire resume as far as I’ve been able to determine consists of writing a single episode of Smallville (If Miller does have more credits to his name, and has worked in comics before, and I’m just being a terrible douchebag, please let me know). Apparently, he was able to segue that single credit into doing a fill-in arc on the troubled Teen Titans series and writing a new Batgirl comic.
I’m not sure I understand the fascination New York-based corporate comics (as Dirk Deppey calls the Big Two) has with television writers, which seems to be in direct opposition to TV writers’ own perception of comics. Like, the comics guys seem to think anyone who’s ever written for TV must be good at writing comics, because they keep hiring them, whereas the TV guys must think writing comics would be a swell gig, as they keep seeking out work there.
This is probably worth a post somewhere else, but I don’t think anyone form the world of TV has actually written any comics that really sold worth a damn.
There’s Joss Whedon and his Buffy Season crew, but that seems a special case. And there’s Damon Lindeloff’s Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk might be an exception, but even then one has to wonder how much having Wolverine, The Hulk and Leinil Francis Yu contributed to that success.
But all these other guys whose shows I’ve never watched and thus have a hard time keeping straight, like the guys who do Batman Confidential arcs or Superman/Batman and Green Arrow/Black Canary and so on? Those books don’t sell well and, in many cases, also happen to be terrible comics (I haven’t read all of them, so I’m speaking in general here; the dude on GA/BC might be the bees knees for all I know…sales are awful though).
Being able to move 25,000-40,000 comic books a month featuring Batman, Superman or some combination of the two isn’t exactly an accomplishment. Chuck Dixon can do that. I’m not saying that to slam Chuck Dixon, I’m saying it to point out there’s little point looking outside the industry to find folks to provide bad superhero comic scripts that sell poorly when there are plenty of people in the industry who can write scripts that won’t sell any worse, and likely have more experience and more fans.
So who’s the new Batgirl? Well, it’s hopefully Stephanie Brown. I say that not because I like the character (I kind of loathe her, actually), but because the other two likely candidates are Misfit, who has superpowers and would thus make a weird bat-character, and current Batgirl Cassandra Cain, whose costume is in the picture there.
But if DC canceled her ongoing series, turned her into a villain for no reason and in conflict of every single previous Cassandra Cain story, explained her heel turn in a 52 special, re-explained it in a Teen Titans arc, then gave her a miniseries in which a poor writer was supposed to make some sense out of it all, just to have her return to the role and an ongoing well, that’s kind of sad, isn’t it? To spend four years telling terrible, terrible stories, only to end up right back where you started, only with a far worse creative team and a fan-base that by all rights should have withered up and died?
Stephanie Brown is friends with Cassandra Cain, so her taking her pal’s costume for a few issues before getting her own new one makes some sense. I predict a Stephanie Brown/Barbara Gordon book, with Stephanie being Batgirl and Barbara being her behind the scenes coach/mentor figure. Like Batgirl was originally conceived. But really, who even gives a shit at this point? Certainly not the publishers, which makes it hard for a reader to get too excited about their wares.
BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT TP
Written by Steve Niles
Art and cover by Kelley Jones
Trick-or-treating in Gotham City can be terrifying — and tragic. Tonight, two people are invited to a party where they will be challenged to surviving the night in the most horrifying haunted house imaginable. Collecting the 12-issue series from Steve Niles and Kelley Jones!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 2 • 296 pg, FC, $19.99 US
I’m no expert on the matter, but that seems like an awful lot of pages for just $20; I assumed it would be split into two trades in the $15 range. I better see a blurb from Every Day Is Like Wednesday on there somewhere; I’ve been this series’ biggest champion!
BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE #1
Written by Kevin Smith
Art by Walter Flanagan & Art Thibert
Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz
Once again, Kevin Smith – the fan-favorite creator behind GREEN ARROW and Daredevil – teams up with Walter Flanagan – the artist on the acclaimed series BATMAN: CACOPHONY – for an all-new adventure starring The Caped Crusader. The stakes are high as Batman encounters a new vigilante under his wing amidst what Smith describes as a “backdrop of romance, intrigue, and geek-bait guest stars galore.” Trust us when we say that it’s as awesome as it sounds. BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE is just the start of things for Kevin in the Bat-Universe so get on board now!
On sale August 26 • 1 of 6 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Woah, woah, woah, “acclaimed?” I don’t think I read a single positive review of Cacophony, is acclaimed really the right word, or do I just not read the right kind of sites (i.e. ones with critics with terrible tastes)?
This one’s a six-issue series, giving Smith an even greater chance to fuck up the deadlines.
BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN #1
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Adrian Saef & John Dell
Cover by Andy Kubert
Deadman can't shut out the cries of the dead rising as he comes to the aid of the new Batman. It’s just in time, too, as the duo face a circus of zombies including the Black Lantern Flying Graysons!
And here’s another clue that Dick Grayson’s the new Batman to add to the clue pile.
I like Tomasi okay usually, and I do like Deadman, so I guess I’ll wait and see how the art looks.
BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #1
Written by J.T. Krul
Art and cover by Ed Benes & Rob Hunter
Variant cover by Brian Haberlin
Black Lantern Titans are descending together onto Titans Island! Will the Titans be prepared to fight off their deceased allies? And how can Beast Boy not lose his heart to Black Lantern Terra? Explore the effect BLACKEST NIGHT has on the greater DC Universe in this 3-issue miniseries from writer J.T. Krul (JSA: CLASSIFIED, Fathom) and superstar artist Ed Benes (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA)!
DC tries to cut into Marvel’s corner on coveted necrophiliac market with this cover, on which zombie Terra makes out with Beast Boy. I guess her dead body is composed of rock, reducing the ick factor a bit. Interesting to see Ed Benes on a Titans spin-off. Has someone wised up and realized maybe he’s not the bet artist for JLoA, or has JLoA fallen so far that a Titans spin-off might actually seem like a higher profile gig to him?
At any rate, bad artist plus writer I’ve never heard of by equals pass.
Wow, not even Michael Kaluta drawing it can convince me that The Specture looks cool with a goatee! That’s his cover to Braven and the Bold #26, wich features a team-up between Spectre II and Milestone’s Xombi, by writer John Rozum and artist Scott Hampton. (Scott Hampton?!)
COSMIC ODYSSEY TP NEW PRINTING
Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Mike Mignola and Carlos Garzon
Cover by Mike Mignola
Don’t miss this new printing of the classic 1988 miniseries from Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola! COSMIC ODYSSEY assembles Superman, Batman, Green Lantern John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Starfire, The Demon and others — at the behest of Darkseid!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 2 • 200 pg, FC, $19.99 US
This is completely fucking awesome, so make sure you buy it if you don’t already own it. It’s Mike Mignola drawing the DC Universe, which is really all you should need to know.
DOOM PATROL #1
Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Matthew Clark; co-feature art by Kevin Maguire
Cover by Matthew Clark
Variant cover by Matthew Clark and Kevin Maguire
Come one, come all! The world's strangest Super Heroes are back, and they brought those robot guys along with 'em! Thrill to the strange adventures of the Doom Patrol, with script by Keith Giffen and art by Matthew Clark! Whether you think you know 'em or you wouldn't know 'em if they bit you on the behind, this Doom Patrol's for you! But that's not all! Read all the way to the back cover for the all-new adventures of those elemental everymen, the Metal Men, featuring the triumphant return of the creative team that brought you JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL! That’s 40 full pages of comic-bookery for just under four American dollars. So why not try some Doom Patrol with a side order of Metal Men today?
Hmmm, two of DC’s quirkiest team concepts from the Silver Age sharing a single book, written by really rather great super-comics writers and illustrated by two different, extremely talented artists? What’s not to like about this? Well, I’m not crazy about Clark’s designs for the new Doom Patrol costumes, which look a little too Ultimates to me, and not even the Ultimates want to look like the Ultimates anymore, but that quibble aside, this looks like it should be a pretty great book. Don’t let me down, guys!
(Oh hey, DC posted some preview pages of the Metal Men back-up, and they look pretty great).
THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 1 TP
Written by Robert Kanigher and John Broome
Art by Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Frank Giacoia and Joe Giella
Cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert
The stories that introduced Barry Allen as the new Flash in the late 1950s are collected chronologically in trade paperback for the first time, with tales from SHOWCASE #4, 8, 13 and 14 and THE FLASH #105 and 106.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 23 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
LIES! The cover says “All the Flash stories in the exact order they were published,” which isn’t true. This is apparently all the Flash II stories or all the Bary Allen stories in the exact order they were published. Which is stupid, because they are all cheaply available elsewhere. Where is my goddam Wonder Woman Chronicles goddamit?*
THE FLASH: REBIRTH #5
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver
The greatest threat to face the Flash Family in decades stands revealed! A new hero will step into an old speedster’s boots! And Barry Allen will make the ultimate sacrifice: his life! Oh yeah, you read that right, but you’ll never believe just what it means! They always say nothing will ever be the same, but trust us, this one will rewrite the history books!
At first I was just gonna say that I like how the dude got all Looney Tunes squished under the falling girder on the cover, but then I noticed that the Flash on the left is Barry, so there’s a new-new Black Flash. I assume that’s what it means when it sas “A new hero will step into an old speedster’s boots!” Also curious, the sentence that says “this one will rewrite the history books!”
Hmm…will Wally West take Barry’s place at the climax of Crisis on Infinite Earths and die, thus becoming the new Black Flash? I don’t know. Or even care overmuch. At this point, I just kind of want the story to hurry up and finish. I don’t know why exactly, but the uncertainty of the DC Universe is really stressing me out. They’re telling to many “who will be the new who” type stories at the same time for my liking.
ICON: A HERO’S WELCOME TP NEW PRINTING
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by M.D. Bright and Mike Gustovich
Cover by Denys Cowan
The flagship character from Milestone Comics is back in this new printing of the classic title collecting ICON #1-8. This is the title that introduced Augustus Freeman, a successful lawyer who covertly uses his alien super-powers to help those in need. But when a teenaged girl from the streets convinces him to use his abilities to inspire his people and becomes his sidekick, Rocket, the affluent Augustus embraces his true destiny and becomes Icon, the hero of Dakota.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 30
192 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Yayyy! No more back issue hunting for me!
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #36
Written by Len Wein
Art by José Luis & J.P. Mayer
Cover by Fabrizio Fiorentino
In part 2 of the 3-part “Royal Flush” arc, it’s the Justice Society of America villain Roulette vs. the JLA's old foe, Amos Fortune. And the stakes are high as the two baddies pit the JLA against itself!
Given that Dwayne McDuffie’s JLoA seems like its been little more than a stalling tactic for Geoff Johns to free up his schedule so he can write the “real” Justice League, the prospect to a short fill-in arc to it seems enormously unappealing. Especially if the arc features Amos Fortune, one of the half-dozen adversaries picked out of a hat to plug into formulaic stories.
On the other hand, Plas is on the cover. Decisions, decisions….
JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #2
Written by James Robinson
Art and cover Mauro Cascioli
The team continues its proactive hunt for justice as the trail leads to an army of Super-Villains. But the big bad may be deadlier than all of the new team combined... Continuing the anticipated 6-part miniseries event from James Robinson (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) and rising star artist Mauro Cascioli (TRIALS OF SHAZAM)!
Well I should hope the big bad is deadlier than all of the Justice Leaguers combined, seeing as how Justice Leagures aren’t exactly known for their prowess at killing people…
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: WARLORD VOL. 1 TP
Written by Mike Grell
Art by Mike Grell, Joe Rubinstein and Vince Colletta
Cover by Mike Grell
Air Force pilot Travis Morgan crashes in the primitive world of Skartaris, where he must learn to live by the sword — and a comics legend begins. Morgan becomes a leader of Skartaris in this paperback collecting 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #8 and WARLORD #1-28.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 16 • 528 pg, B&W, $17.99 US
Thanks, DC!
*And alsoCaptain Marvel Chronicles and Plastic Man Chronicles. And I bet a Justice Society Chronicles would do pretty well too.
Let's start with the "The Red Circle" revival...
THE RED CIRCLE
J. Michael Straczynski dives into the DC Universe at last – and he’s bringing four of the finest heroes of the Golden and Silver Ages with him!
Completely reimagined for the modern world from their original appearances in Archie/MLJ publications, these four heroes will show you a side of the DC Universe you’ve never seen before!
Arriving weekly throughout the month of August, these specials thrust four amazing new characters into the heart of the DC story!
Er, “four of the finest” might be pushing it a little…
THE RED CIRCLE: THE HANGMAN #1Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Tom Derenick & Bill Sienkiewicz
Cover by Jesus Saiz
The Civil War claimed many lives...but one of those lives still hasn’t ended! Union doctor Robert Dickering found himself on the wrong side of the battle lines, and despite his heroic treatment of a fallen enemy soldier, he also found himself on the wrong end of a noose! But a shadowy power stepped forth in the twilit moments between life and death and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse: to forever roam the Earth, saving the lives of innocents condemned like himself – or hastening the deaths of the guilty! But in taking the seemingly righteous mission of the Hangman, has he accepted God’s work? Or has he become the vengeful fist of the Devil himself? Featuring art by Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz, the acclaimed team behind REIGN IN HELL!
Of the four, this is the one I’m probably most likely to try out, based on the art team. I like Tom Derenick’s pencil work, and I love the way Sienkiewicz’s inks can transform the lines of some pencil artists in interesting ways. The premise of this hero seems a little too similar to all of the other supernatural vengeance agents in the DC Universe—The Spectre, Ragman, the new Crimson Avenger, the new El Diablo, etc. Someone should to a story where they all turn up to collect the same evildoer at the same time.
Oh my God, they set Gung Ho on fire! Oh, that’s actually “The Inferno.” He looks like Gung Ho on fire. I’ll pass. 
THE RED CIRCLE: THE WEB #1Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Roger Robinson & Hilary Barta
Cover by Jesus Saiz
Billionaire John Raymond has it all – fame, fortune, and a brilliant mind! He also has a brother with the one trait John lacks: compassion. No matter how relentlessly awe-inspiring John’s achievements get, it’s his brother who’s always seen as the hero. So John sets out to upstage his brother one more time. He’ll show the world just how much heroism money can buy as the amazing (and suspiciously well-equipped) Web. But when a dark fate arrives for his brother, John learns first-hand what a hero leaves on the line, and that there are worse losses than the ones that hit your checkbook! Featuring art by Roger Robinson (THE BRAVE & THE BOLD, BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS)!
I really liked Roger Robinson’s work on Batman: Gotham Knights (particularly the way he drew boots), and wondered why I hadn’t seen much of him since. I’m glad to see he’s getting some more work from DC now, and I’m extremely curious how Hilary Barta’s inks will look on his pencils (DC sure seems to be assigning some interesting inkers on these books), but I don’t think I’ll be able to look at this costume long enough to read any pages featuring it. It’s a tough call give how many terrible costumes there are in the world of supereheroes, but, for the moment at least, I’m going to go ahead and declare this the very worst.
THE RED CIRCLE: THE SHIELD #1Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
Cover by Jesus Saiz
Lieutenant Joe Higgins was dying in the dirt of a battlefield in Afghanistan when they whisked him away to a top-secret facility and saved his life with nanotechnology so experimental they couldn’t dare to use it on a living man. Now Higgins has been enlisted to a whole new mission – to be the public face of the American fighting man as the patriotic Shield! But today’s grueling military battles test the limits of patriotism and the limits of the technology that keeps him alive. And the shocking secret behind that technology may be too much for his bullet-riddled heart to bear. Featuring art from Marco Rudy (FINAL CRISIS)!
The only of the old Archie heroes from DC’s short-lived Impact line to also be a part of this Red Circle initiative. I wonder if they’ll be publishing trades of the Impact books, which might sell okay now given the fact that some of their creators are much bigger names now (like Mark Waid, for instance).
This is the character I’m most interested in, as it’s the one I’ve seen the most of before, but I’m not sure who’s going to be drawing it. The credit says Scott McDaniel, whose work I’ve grown really tired of over the past few years, but the body of the solicit says Marco Rudy, whose credit as working on Final Crisis, which is news to me. Was he an inker on FC maybe?
Please see The Last Days of Animal Man #4 for this month’s solitary example of superhero cheesecake by an artist who can actually draw women. (Okay, I’m just being a jerk; Guillem March’s Gotham City Sirens cover is both sexy and recognizably human at the same time, too).
BAD GIRLSWritten by Steve Vance
Art by Jennifer Graves, Christine Norrie, Daniel Krall and J. Bone
Cover by Darwyn Cooke
It’s not easy being the new girl in school – especially when everyone else has super-powers. Lauren is new to the mall-and-beach town of San Narciso, CA. Should she hang with the super-powered popular girls? What mystery lies behind the school’s walls? And most importantly, what to wear? Collecting the 2003 miniseries for the first time!
I have no idea why this book is just coming out now, but I really enjoyed it the first time around, and would recommend it based on—Oh come on, just look at that art team; how could you not want this?
BATGIRL #1Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
Variant cover by J.G. Jones
In the wake of “Batman R.I.P.” and BATTLE FOR THE COWL, a new heroine has emerged in Gotham City, and as she begins her nocturnal crusade to take back the night, she will truly learn what it means to wear the mantle of the Bat. But who is this young woman, and why has she donned the cape and cowl?
Hey kids, want to break into writing comics? Here’s how. First, break into writing TV. Second, ask DC or Marvel for a job.
This is the new Batgirl ongoing, which is being written by Bryan Q. Miller, whose entire resume as far as I’ve been able to determine consists of writing a single episode of Smallville (If Miller does have more credits to his name, and has worked in comics before, and I’m just being a terrible douchebag, please let me know). Apparently, he was able to segue that single credit into doing a fill-in arc on the troubled Teen Titans series and writing a new Batgirl comic.
I’m not sure I understand the fascination New York-based corporate comics (as Dirk Deppey calls the Big Two) has with television writers, which seems to be in direct opposition to TV writers’ own perception of comics. Like, the comics guys seem to think anyone who’s ever written for TV must be good at writing comics, because they keep hiring them, whereas the TV guys must think writing comics would be a swell gig, as they keep seeking out work there.
This is probably worth a post somewhere else, but I don’t think anyone form the world of TV has actually written any comics that really sold worth a damn.
There’s Joss Whedon and his Buffy Season crew, but that seems a special case. And there’s Damon Lindeloff’s Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk might be an exception, but even then one has to wonder how much having Wolverine, The Hulk and Leinil Francis Yu contributed to that success.
But all these other guys whose shows I’ve never watched and thus have a hard time keeping straight, like the guys who do Batman Confidential arcs or Superman/Batman and Green Arrow/Black Canary and so on? Those books don’t sell well and, in many cases, also happen to be terrible comics (I haven’t read all of them, so I’m speaking in general here; the dude on GA/BC might be the bees knees for all I know…sales are awful though).
Being able to move 25,000-40,000 comic books a month featuring Batman, Superman or some combination of the two isn’t exactly an accomplishment. Chuck Dixon can do that. I’m not saying that to slam Chuck Dixon, I’m saying it to point out there’s little point looking outside the industry to find folks to provide bad superhero comic scripts that sell poorly when there are plenty of people in the industry who can write scripts that won’t sell any worse, and likely have more experience and more fans.
So who’s the new Batgirl? Well, it’s hopefully Stephanie Brown. I say that not because I like the character (I kind of loathe her, actually), but because the other two likely candidates are Misfit, who has superpowers and would thus make a weird bat-character, and current Batgirl Cassandra Cain, whose costume is in the picture there.
But if DC canceled her ongoing series, turned her into a villain for no reason and in conflict of every single previous Cassandra Cain story, explained her heel turn in a 52 special, re-explained it in a Teen Titans arc, then gave her a miniseries in which a poor writer was supposed to make some sense out of it all, just to have her return to the role and an ongoing well, that’s kind of sad, isn’t it? To spend four years telling terrible, terrible stories, only to end up right back where you started, only with a far worse creative team and a fan-base that by all rights should have withered up and died?
Stephanie Brown is friends with Cassandra Cain, so her taking her pal’s costume for a few issues before getting her own new one makes some sense. I predict a Stephanie Brown/Barbara Gordon book, with Stephanie being Batgirl and Barbara being her behind the scenes coach/mentor figure. Like Batgirl was originally conceived. But really, who even gives a shit at this point? Certainly not the publishers, which makes it hard for a reader to get too excited about their wares.
BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT TP
Written by Steve Niles
Art and cover by Kelley Jones
Trick-or-treating in Gotham City can be terrifying — and tragic. Tonight, two people are invited to a party where they will be challenged to surviving the night in the most horrifying haunted house imaginable. Collecting the 12-issue series from Steve Niles and Kelley Jones!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 2 • 296 pg, FC, $19.99 US
I’m no expert on the matter, but that seems like an awful lot of pages for just $20; I assumed it would be split into two trades in the $15 range. I better see a blurb from Every Day Is Like Wednesday on there somewhere; I’ve been this series’ biggest champion!
BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE #1
Written by Kevin Smith
Art by Walter Flanagan & Art Thibert
Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz
Once again, Kevin Smith – the fan-favorite creator behind GREEN ARROW and Daredevil – teams up with Walter Flanagan – the artist on the acclaimed series BATMAN: CACOPHONY – for an all-new adventure starring The Caped Crusader. The stakes are high as Batman encounters a new vigilante under his wing amidst what Smith describes as a “backdrop of romance, intrigue, and geek-bait guest stars galore.” Trust us when we say that it’s as awesome as it sounds. BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE is just the start of things for Kevin in the Bat-Universe so get on board now!
On sale August 26 • 1 of 6 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Woah, woah, woah, “acclaimed?” I don’t think I read a single positive review of Cacophony, is acclaimed really the right word, or do I just not read the right kind of sites (i.e. ones with critics with terrible tastes)?
This one’s a six-issue series, giving Smith an even greater chance to fuck up the deadlines.
BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN #1
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Adrian Saef & John Dell
Cover by Andy Kubert
Deadman can't shut out the cries of the dead rising as he comes to the aid of the new Batman. It’s just in time, too, as the duo face a circus of zombies including the Black Lantern Flying Graysons!
And here’s another clue that Dick Grayson’s the new Batman to add to the clue pile.
I like Tomasi okay usually, and I do like Deadman, so I guess I’ll wait and see how the art looks.
BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #1Written by J.T. Krul
Art and cover by Ed Benes & Rob Hunter
Variant cover by Brian Haberlin
Black Lantern Titans are descending together onto Titans Island! Will the Titans be prepared to fight off their deceased allies? And how can Beast Boy not lose his heart to Black Lantern Terra? Explore the effect BLACKEST NIGHT has on the greater DC Universe in this 3-issue miniseries from writer J.T. Krul (JSA: CLASSIFIED, Fathom) and superstar artist Ed Benes (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA)!
DC tries to cut into Marvel’s corner on coveted necrophiliac market with this cover, on which zombie Terra makes out with Beast Boy. I guess her dead body is composed of rock, reducing the ick factor a bit. Interesting to see Ed Benes on a Titans spin-off. Has someone wised up and realized maybe he’s not the bet artist for JLoA, or has JLoA fallen so far that a Titans spin-off might actually seem like a higher profile gig to him?
At any rate, bad artist plus writer I’ve never heard of by equals pass.
Wow, not even Michael Kaluta drawing it can convince me that The Specture looks cool with a goatee! That’s his cover to Braven and the Bold #26, wich features a team-up between Spectre II and Milestone’s Xombi, by writer John Rozum and artist Scott Hampton. (Scott Hampton?!)
COSMIC ODYSSEY TP NEW PRINTINGWritten by Jim Starlin
Art by Mike Mignola and Carlos Garzon
Cover by Mike Mignola
Don’t miss this new printing of the classic 1988 miniseries from Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola! COSMIC ODYSSEY assembles Superman, Batman, Green Lantern John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Starfire, The Demon and others — at the behest of Darkseid!
Advance-solicited; on sale September 2 • 200 pg, FC, $19.99 US
This is completely fucking awesome, so make sure you buy it if you don’t already own it. It’s Mike Mignola drawing the DC Universe, which is really all you should need to know.
DOOM PATROL #1
Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Matthew Clark; co-feature art by Kevin Maguire
Cover by Matthew Clark
Variant cover by Matthew Clark and Kevin Maguire
Come one, come all! The world's strangest Super Heroes are back, and they brought those robot guys along with 'em! Thrill to the strange adventures of the Doom Patrol, with script by Keith Giffen and art by Matthew Clark! Whether you think you know 'em or you wouldn't know 'em if they bit you on the behind, this Doom Patrol's for you! But that's not all! Read all the way to the back cover for the all-new adventures of those elemental everymen, the Metal Men, featuring the triumphant return of the creative team that brought you JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL! That’s 40 full pages of comic-bookery for just under four American dollars. So why not try some Doom Patrol with a side order of Metal Men today?
Hmmm, two of DC’s quirkiest team concepts from the Silver Age sharing a single book, written by really rather great super-comics writers and illustrated by two different, extremely talented artists? What’s not to like about this? Well, I’m not crazy about Clark’s designs for the new Doom Patrol costumes, which look a little too Ultimates to me, and not even the Ultimates want to look like the Ultimates anymore, but that quibble aside, this looks like it should be a pretty great book. Don’t let me down, guys!
(Oh hey, DC posted some preview pages of the Metal Men back-up, and they look pretty great).
THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 1 TPWritten by Robert Kanigher and John Broome
Art by Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Frank Giacoia and Joe Giella
Cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert
The stories that introduced Barry Allen as the new Flash in the late 1950s are collected chronologically in trade paperback for the first time, with tales from SHOWCASE #4, 8, 13 and 14 and THE FLASH #105 and 106.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 23 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
LIES! The cover says “All the Flash stories in the exact order they were published,” which isn’t true. This is apparently all the Flash II stories or all the Bary Allen stories in the exact order they were published. Which is stupid, because they are all cheaply available elsewhere. Where is my goddam Wonder Woman Chronicles goddamit?*
THE FLASH: REBIRTH #5Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver
The greatest threat to face the Flash Family in decades stands revealed! A new hero will step into an old speedster’s boots! And Barry Allen will make the ultimate sacrifice: his life! Oh yeah, you read that right, but you’ll never believe just what it means! They always say nothing will ever be the same, but trust us, this one will rewrite the history books!
At first I was just gonna say that I like how the dude got all Looney Tunes squished under the falling girder on the cover, but then I noticed that the Flash on the left is Barry, so there’s a new-new Black Flash. I assume that’s what it means when it sas “A new hero will step into an old speedster’s boots!” Also curious, the sentence that says “this one will rewrite the history books!”
Hmm…will Wally West take Barry’s place at the climax of Crisis on Infinite Earths and die, thus becoming the new Black Flash? I don’t know. Or even care overmuch. At this point, I just kind of want the story to hurry up and finish. I don’t know why exactly, but the uncertainty of the DC Universe is really stressing me out. They’re telling to many “who will be the new who” type stories at the same time for my liking.
ICON: A HERO’S WELCOME TP NEW PRINTINGWritten by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by M.D. Bright and Mike Gustovich
Cover by Denys Cowan
The flagship character from Milestone Comics is back in this new printing of the classic title collecting ICON #1-8. This is the title that introduced Augustus Freeman, a successful lawyer who covertly uses his alien super-powers to help those in need. But when a teenaged girl from the streets convinces him to use his abilities to inspire his people and becomes his sidekick, Rocket, the affluent Augustus embraces his true destiny and becomes Icon, the hero of Dakota.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 30
192 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Yayyy! No more back issue hunting for me!
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #36Written by Len Wein
Art by José Luis & J.P. Mayer
Cover by Fabrizio Fiorentino
In part 2 of the 3-part “Royal Flush” arc, it’s the Justice Society of America villain Roulette vs. the JLA's old foe, Amos Fortune. And the stakes are high as the two baddies pit the JLA against itself!
Given that Dwayne McDuffie’s JLoA seems like its been little more than a stalling tactic for Geoff Johns to free up his schedule so he can write the “real” Justice League, the prospect to a short fill-in arc to it seems enormously unappealing. Especially if the arc features Amos Fortune, one of the half-dozen adversaries picked out of a hat to plug into formulaic stories.
On the other hand, Plas is on the cover. Decisions, decisions….
JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #2
Written by James Robinson
Art and cover Mauro Cascioli
The team continues its proactive hunt for justice as the trail leads to an army of Super-Villains. But the big bad may be deadlier than all of the new team combined... Continuing the anticipated 6-part miniseries event from James Robinson (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) and rising star artist Mauro Cascioli (TRIALS OF SHAZAM)!
Well I should hope the big bad is deadlier than all of the Justice Leaguers combined, seeing as how Justice Leagures aren’t exactly known for their prowess at killing people…
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: WARLORD VOL. 1 TP
Written by Mike Grell
Art by Mike Grell, Joe Rubinstein and Vince Colletta
Cover by Mike Grell
Air Force pilot Travis Morgan crashes in the primitive world of Skartaris, where he must learn to live by the sword — and a comics legend begins. Morgan becomes a leader of Skartaris in this paperback collecting 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #8 and WARLORD #1-28.
Advance-solicited; on sale September 16 • 528 pg, B&W, $17.99 US
Thanks, DC!
*And alsoCaptain Marvel Chronicles and Plastic Man Chronicles. And I bet a Justice Society Chronicles would do pretty well too.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Nicola Scott appreciation post
I'm a big fan of Nicola Scott, the pencil artist for DC's Secret Six book, and, before that, Birds of Prey. Scott's not the world's greatest cartoonist, and I rarely find myself completely lost in her linework, too busy appreciating the beauty of the individual panel to tear myself away and read the next one. Nor is her style so singular or flashy that I'd be able to pick it out of a line-up of other artists, the way I might other favorite artists, like, say, Kelley Jones or Tom Mandrake or Mike Allred.
But she's a really, really good comic book artist. She knows how to construct a panel, how to construct a page, how to construct 22 consecutive pages. She knows how to design a character. She knows what human beings look like under their costumes and clothing, and how their bodies work. She knows they differ from one another. She knows how to act through her drawings. She knows how to draw backgrounds. She even knows how to meet deadlines, with only one full fill-in required during her nine-issue run on Secret Six.
Team titles are notoriously difficult on some creators, on account of how much work goes into them. A Batman comic, for example, has one superhero for an artist to design and draw, and maybe a sidekick or villain. But drawing Batman in the Justice League, suddenly there are seven times as many heroes. Here Scott has to draw at least six super-villains per issue, and, unlike some artists, she makes them all distinct from one another ways.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone, critic or message board poster, ever say anything bad about Scott's work, but I also never hear anyone call attention to how good it is either. So I thought I'd take tonight's post to do just that: Hooray for Nicola Scott!
Her skill was more apparent than usual to me during this latest issue of Secret Six (which I talked about a bit on Wednesday night when reviewing my new super-comics).
In it, Catman, Bane and Ragdoll run around Gotham City fucking up a kidnapping ring full of what look like characters from one of those Tom Clancy videogames. Let's look at some panels, shall we?
Perhaps it's not really that remarkable that Scott distinguishes her characters so much from each other, given how different they actually are. Bane and Ragdoll, seen above on either side of Catman, are pretty divergent physical types, after all.
Ragdoll is visually a rather exceptional character (This would be Ragdoll II, a new version of the Golden Age Flash villain; I'm not sure who designed him, but J.G. Jones was the first to actually draw him his first appearance in 2005's Villains United). He's a contortionist who has had all manner of different surgeries done to his body to effectively make it so that he's something like quadruple-jointed...in every single joint. He wears a mask with a blank, frozen expression and a wig of doll-like yarn hair attached, but underneath he's bald and scarred, with big expressive eyes and a weird grin.
I assume he must be really fun to draw, and Scott rarely has him standing, sitting or walking like a normal person with a normal skeleton might, as you can see above.
Here he is killing one of his foes, in a manner I'm not sure I quite understand. obviously he's snapping his neck with his right hand, but he's also breaking other parts of him; perhaps he's using each of his limbs as a little python, and crushing his prey?
(Oh, I suppose I should also note that he's not wearing his usual costume; he's wearing a Robin costume over his usual costume, since this story takes place in Gotham City and all).
Here's a whole page, and it's a pretty great one. Click on it to make it bigger.
I love seeing several consecutive panels in which the "camera" is fixed on the same scene, with differences in the characters' positions and/expressions communicating that time is passing, and at what rate, as in the first three panels.
Note Ragdoll throughout those six panels too, and how wild his flailing motions are. In the second panel, he's a gangly cartoon character long, sharp limbs, then Bane is wearing him as if he were a feather boa, and then he's like a crouching insect crawling down the fire escape.
Also of note is the fourth panel, in which there's a nice sight gag allusion to the '60s TV show's Batman and Robin climbing up the side of a wall.
Here's an example of Scott's aptitude for violence and gore, a necessary skill in the modern DCU:
Ooh, that guy's arm is just hanging there. That's not even the goriest panel—the one before it, where Bane breaks the arm, is probably worse, as is a scene later where Bane tosses two severed heads through a window to spook the enemies on the other side of it.
I'm sure you've heard me complain about the violence of DC comics like Green Lantern and Teen Titans and JLoA before, but I don't mind it one bit in Secret Six, as it is a title full of obscure evil, psychopathic villains fighting even more obscure evil, psychopathic villain. Here torn-off heads fit in with the characters, and, let's face it, the Secret Six can't possibly be very high on the list of DC Characters Kids Would Really Want To Read About.
Because Scott draws people so well, the violence visited upon their bodies often seems quite effective, as it is immediately apparent from the way something is drawn what's happened, without her needing to resort to a geyser of blood. For example, on page five there's a panel of Catman driving his elbow into an opponents throat, and it's apaprent from the way Scott draws his spine that everything between the cin and chest has been shattered; she doesn't need to draw the spinal column ripping out the back of the neck to convey the fact that Catman's victim won't be getting up again.
Let's see, what else have got here... Oh, how about this?
Male superhero cheesecake! Or, wait, is that what the term "beefcake" applies to? I don't know for sure since I never see it in superhero comics. That's Nightwing telling the villains that they better be gone before he turns around, or there's going to be trouble. He says. I think he just wanted to show Catman and the others his butt. You know the reason Nightwing doesn't wear a cape anymore is because he wants everyone to see his butt all the time, right?
As much as I dig Scott's work, and liked this issue's art in particular, I didn't love every single panel. For example, i don't like her Catmobile design:
I suppose it says "cat" as much as some of Batman's more abstract Batmobiles say "bat," but my favorite Batmobiles are the ones with giant bat heads on them and serrated wing-shapes on them, so I'd prefer a Catmobile with a big-ass cat head on the front, or at least painted on the hood.
And this isn't a bad panel by any means, but it got me thinking:
How come Bane doesn't have any armpit hair? We could assume he shaves or waxes, but look at all the hair on his chest and arms. Of course, it looks kind of stubbly, as if he had shaved his chest and arms at some point, and it just grew out. So maybe he does shave his armpits?
At any rate, Bane is gross; he either needs to embrace his hairiness and let it grow out, or, if he's going to shave and wax, he needs to keep up with maintenance when he goes out in public. Or maybe just wear a shirt with sleeves.
Yes, Bane is gross and Nicola Scott is awesome. And that's the end of my Nicola Scott appreciation post.
UPDATE: Johanna Draper Carlson at comicsworthreading.com also wrote about this issue of Secret Six today, and also has some kind words regarding Scott's skills. Check it out here. Carlson's praise is significant I think because she's pretty picky when it comes to what super-comics she reads, and I think may be even less enamored of gore and violence in her superhero comics than I am.
But she's a really, really good comic book artist. She knows how to construct a panel, how to construct a page, how to construct 22 consecutive pages. She knows how to design a character. She knows what human beings look like under their costumes and clothing, and how their bodies work. She knows they differ from one another. She knows how to act through her drawings. She knows how to draw backgrounds. She even knows how to meet deadlines, with only one full fill-in required during her nine-issue run on Secret Six.
Team titles are notoriously difficult on some creators, on account of how much work goes into them. A Batman comic, for example, has one superhero for an artist to design and draw, and maybe a sidekick or villain. But drawing Batman in the Justice League, suddenly there are seven times as many heroes. Here Scott has to draw at least six super-villains per issue, and, unlike some artists, she makes them all distinct from one another ways.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone, critic or message board poster, ever say anything bad about Scott's work, but I also never hear anyone call attention to how good it is either. So I thought I'd take tonight's post to do just that: Hooray for Nicola Scott!
Her skill was more apparent than usual to me during this latest issue of Secret Six (which I talked about a bit on Wednesday night when reviewing my new super-comics).
In it, Catman, Bane and Ragdoll run around Gotham City fucking up a kidnapping ring full of what look like characters from one of those Tom Clancy videogames. Let's look at some panels, shall we?
Perhaps it's not really that remarkable that Scott distinguishes her characters so much from each other, given how different they actually are. Bane and Ragdoll, seen above on either side of Catman, are pretty divergent physical types, after all.Ragdoll is visually a rather exceptional character (This would be Ragdoll II, a new version of the Golden Age Flash villain; I'm not sure who designed him, but J.G. Jones was the first to actually draw him his first appearance in 2005's Villains United). He's a contortionist who has had all manner of different surgeries done to his body to effectively make it so that he's something like quadruple-jointed...in every single joint. He wears a mask with a blank, frozen expression and a wig of doll-like yarn hair attached, but underneath he's bald and scarred, with big expressive eyes and a weird grin.
I assume he must be really fun to draw, and Scott rarely has him standing, sitting or walking like a normal person with a normal skeleton might, as you can see above.
Here he is killing one of his foes, in a manner I'm not sure I quite understand. obviously he's snapping his neck with his right hand, but he's also breaking other parts of him; perhaps he's using each of his limbs as a little python, and crushing his prey?
(Oh, I suppose I should also note that he's not wearing his usual costume; he's wearing a Robin costume over his usual costume, since this story takes place in Gotham City and all). Here's a whole page, and it's a pretty great one. Click on it to make it bigger.
I love seeing several consecutive panels in which the "camera" is fixed on the same scene, with differences in the characters' positions and/expressions communicating that time is passing, and at what rate, as in the first three panels.
Note Ragdoll throughout those six panels too, and how wild his flailing motions are. In the second panel, he's a gangly cartoon character long, sharp limbs, then Bane is wearing him as if he were a feather boa, and then he's like a crouching insect crawling down the fire escape.
Also of note is the fourth panel, in which there's a nice sight gag allusion to the '60s TV show's Batman and Robin climbing up the side of a wall.
Here's an example of Scott's aptitude for violence and gore, a necessary skill in the modern DCU:
Ooh, that guy's arm is just hanging there. That's not even the goriest panel—the one before it, where Bane breaks the arm, is probably worse, as is a scene later where Bane tosses two severed heads through a window to spook the enemies on the other side of it. I'm sure you've heard me complain about the violence of DC comics like Green Lantern and Teen Titans and JLoA before, but I don't mind it one bit in Secret Six, as it is a title full of obscure evil, psychopathic villains fighting even more obscure evil, psychopathic villain. Here torn-off heads fit in with the characters, and, let's face it, the Secret Six can't possibly be very high on the list of DC Characters Kids Would Really Want To Read About.
Because Scott draws people so well, the violence visited upon their bodies often seems quite effective, as it is immediately apparent from the way something is drawn what's happened, without her needing to resort to a geyser of blood. For example, on page five there's a panel of Catman driving his elbow into an opponents throat, and it's apaprent from the way Scott draws his spine that everything between the cin and chest has been shattered; she doesn't need to draw the spinal column ripping out the back of the neck to convey the fact that Catman's victim won't be getting up again.
Let's see, what else have got here... Oh, how about this?
Male superhero cheesecake! Or, wait, is that what the term "beefcake" applies to? I don't know for sure since I never see it in superhero comics. That's Nightwing telling the villains that they better be gone before he turns around, or there's going to be trouble. He says. I think he just wanted to show Catman and the others his butt. You know the reason Nightwing doesn't wear a cape anymore is because he wants everyone to see his butt all the time, right?As much as I dig Scott's work, and liked this issue's art in particular, I didn't love every single panel. For example, i don't like her Catmobile design:
I suppose it says "cat" as much as some of Batman's more abstract Batmobiles say "bat," but my favorite Batmobiles are the ones with giant bat heads on them and serrated wing-shapes on them, so I'd prefer a Catmobile with a big-ass cat head on the front, or at least painted on the hood. And this isn't a bad panel by any means, but it got me thinking:
How come Bane doesn't have any armpit hair? We could assume he shaves or waxes, but look at all the hair on his chest and arms. Of course, it looks kind of stubbly, as if he had shaved his chest and arms at some point, and it just grew out. So maybe he does shave his armpits?
At any rate, Bane is gross; he either needs to embrace his hairiness and let it grow out, or, if he's going to shave and wax, he needs to keep up with maintenance when he goes out in public. Or maybe just wear a shirt with sleeves.
Yes, Bane is gross and Nicola Scott is awesome. And that's the end of my Nicola Scott appreciation post.
UPDATE: Johanna Draper Carlson at comicsworthreading.com also wrote about this issue of Secret Six today, and also has some kind words regarding Scott's skills. Check it out here. Carlson's praise is significant I think because she's pretty picky when it comes to what super-comics she reads, and I think may be even less enamored of gore and violence in her superhero comics than I am.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Two things.
1.) Is Ms. Lion transexual? He's male, but dresses as a female, with pink bows on his ears, and uses a feminine modifier on his name. Of course, if he was a physically male dog that identifies himself as female, he would he be so quick to answer "yup" when asked if he's male? (Can the other animals, all being of different species, with the possible exception of Lockjaw, who's kind of a special case anyway, tell what gender he is?) Or is Ms. Lion perhaps a transvestite, a male dog who enjoys dressing as a female dog, and has adopted a more colorful female name, for the fun of it? Whatever the case, Ms. Lion is a ground-breaking character, the first transgendered or cross-dressing one in Marvel's character catalog (That I know of, anyway).*
2.) How is it that Ms. Lion knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man? Did Mephisto's mind-wipe mojo somehow not affect him?
(Image from Marvel's Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1, drawn by Ig Guara)
*Or, more likely, writer Chris Eliopoulos is just using the scene to humorously point out that Ms. Lion is so stupid that he doesn't even realize that "Ms." is an article used by females, and that pink bows are associated with female characters rather than male ones, especially in the cartoon character business. Each of the "Pet Avengers" is given a single character trait, and Ms. Lion's is stupidity.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The 19th century theory of Directionalism, and how it applies to Joe Kubert
Last week I read Dave Standish's Hollow Earth, a 2006 book about the history of the concept of the hollow earth and what might be within it, beginning in the late 17th century when the idea was taken seriously by many scientists (most prominently Sir Edmond Halley) and then, by the time the 20th century rolled around, as an aspect of popular culture from utopian novels, works from H.G. Wells and Edgar Allen Poe and science fiction writers (Warlord's Skartaris didn't rate a mention, perhaps because Standish rightly considered it derivative of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar; in fact, the only comic book mention is the cover and a page of a 1955 Classics Illustrated adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth).In discussing how Verne's work reflected the science of the mid-19th century, Standish brought up the competing ideas of directionalism and progressivism. Here, I'll let him explain it:
Progressivsm meant what it suggests, that there is an observable progress in the geologic record, an upward march of creatures from lower to higher, culminating with man at the pinnacle. This was both in keeping with the spirit of the times—all sorts of progressive social measures were afoot—as well as being in harmony with religious ideas of a Divine Plan. Progressivism found metaphysical purpose in geologic events. Directionalism was a scientific expression of the biblical idea, going back to the work of [Thomas] Burnet and others, that the earth is in a state of decline from an earlier perfection...
This was my first exposure to either of those terms, but I suppose Progressivism is probably the more widely accepted of the two now, as it sounds more in keeping with evolution. I was thinking of the idea of Directionalism as I started reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Vol. 1, and not because Burroughs created his own Hollow Earth setting and eventually sent Tarzan down there. Rather, I was thinking about the idea of a more perfect past getting lamer and lamer as time progressed as I read Kubert's prose introduction to the collection.
Kubert talked about how Hal Foster's newspaper strips based on Burroughs' Tarzan were what sparked his interest in comics as a child, and what an effect Foster's work on that strip had on his own development as an artist. Then, "jump ahead with me now some forty or fifty years later," and he talks about how Carmine Infantino asked him to become an editor at DC, which gave him "responsibilities including the war books, covers, and as many Sgt. Rock stories as I had time to do."
It was while he he was managing all those responsibilities that his friend Infantino, who knew of Kubert's love for the jungle lord, offered Kubert the Tarzan book that is collected in the volume the introduction appears in.
So Kubert wrote, drew, lettered and provided cover art for the monthly Tarzan while simultaneously working as an editor for DC.
That's a lot of work right there.
I'm having trouble thinking of a modern day equivalent to someone with that kind of workload. Perhaps Erik Larsen, who was writing, drawing and covering Savage Dragon while running Image for a while. Joe Quesada would attempt to write and draw or at least just draw Marvel stories here and there while serving as the company's EIC, but each would be thrown spectacularly off schedule (Although to be fair, Quesada's editorial duties were probably more equivalent to Infantino's at the time, rather than Kubert's).
Heck, forget editing though, how many people are even capable of writing and drawing 22 pages a month anymore? Or just drawing 22 pages a month? Not too terribly many. Certainly not many on DC's payroll (Jim Starlin might be the only writer/artist with long-form series even working for the company at the moment; Tony Daniel is writing and drawing a three-issue miniseries at the moment, though).
And then, how many of them can draw anywhere near as well as Kubert?
So looking around the comic shops today, at who's doing what and how well they do it, and then looking back at comics from Golden Age, Silver Age and even as recently as the mid-'70s when Kubert was producing this comic, it's not hard to imagine the artists of his generation as being the ideal comic book artists, working in a state of perfection, and the creators that followed devolving into further and further fallen states, along the lines of the fallen world theory of Directionalism as I understood Standish' brief explanation of it.
Kubert and his generation of artists may seem like the comic book artist equivalent of Bibilical heroes, people with super-human lifespans for whom great feats difficult for modern people to even comprehend were a daily occurrence but he and his peers were, I understand, actually regular human beings.
He felt the pressure of deadlines like all other artists (er, or at least like all other artists who used to work in comics back when there was still such a thing as a deadline), and he talked about that in his introduction to Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Vol. 2.
Here he talks about the positive side of deadlines:
Every artist asks himself the question: "How can I finish my drawing at a specific time, when I know I can improve it if I have more time?" Ironically, however, I have found that having a deadline can be helpful, not a deterrent...having deadlines engenders an ability to make drawing decisions more quickly and decisively. It also tends to build a stronger sense of self-confidence. Anyhow, I hope my theories are correct. I think they are.*
I found that interesting, and I wonder if some of the artists who take such a great deal of time to turn out 22 pages—artists like Brian Hitch, Frank Quitely, Joe Quesada, Carlos Pacheco, Dale Eaglesham, Ethan Van Sciver, Steve McNiven, Kubert's own sons, et cetera—might be better artists if they honored deadlines to the point where getting all of the art done in a particular time period dictated some of the choices they made (I should note I don't mean to call into question the abilities of the above artists. I really like a lot of those artists quite a bit, and some of them it's hard to imagine some of them actually drawing any better than they already do, but I admit to being curious about what a faster Hitch or Quitely might look like, you know? Some of them—like Van Sciver and McNiven, for example—I think might actually draw better if they spent less time over-drawing).
We've all heard Quesada, DiDio and other editors at the Big Two pose some form of the argument "Do you want it on time or do you want it good?" And Joe Kubert's work is one of the many (many, many) examples of why that line of reasoning is an artificial one.
Regarding Kubert's precise workload during the time he was drawing Tarzan, which he alluded to in the introduction to the first volume, he had this to say:
...I was also the editor of a number of other publications at the same time. So, in addition to drawing covers, editing, and sometimes illustrating other stories, I was also responsible for writing and drawing the Tarzan books. It was a lot of work, but it's the thing I love to do...At one point, I found myself leaning heavily (and dangerously close) to a deadline. No need for me to go into details, suffice it to say that at one point, 24 hours a day was simply not enough time for me to finish all I had to do and continue to eat, sleep, and breathe. So I called out for help.
Help came in the form of Frank Thorne, who pencilled and issue of Tarzan for Kubert. A fact at which I could only shake my head in disbelief. Even when Kubert couldn't meet his obligations, he still managed to write and ink the damn issue. My God.
I realize I'm kind of skipping around at this point, but there was one more passage of Kubert's introduction to this second volume I found impressive as all hell. In the first volume's intro he explained how, in preparation for the gig, he re-read all of Burroughs' Tarzan novels and re-read Hal Foster's strips, including many he hadn't read the first time around. Here he describes what else he did to perfect his craft on the book:
Drawing Tarzan enabled me to focus on the human figure more than any other comic strip work I'd done previously. I attended life-drawing classes. I garnered a huge amount of reference, such as photographs of animals (gorillas, chimpanzees, monekys, snakes, lions, elephants, and sundry other jungle denizens)**. It was a learning experience, especially rewarding when I felt that I'd succeeded in achieving some dramatic impact or physical action engendered by the original stories.
I was really impressed to read that. Here's an artist who essentially had it made. Not only was he working for one of the bigger comics companies, but he wasn't a boss there. He wasn't a freelancer who had to worry about being fired off all his books or anything, and yet he still took the time to attend life-drawing classes to get a better handle on anatomy, because...well, why exactly? Out of respect for the character, and the work of those who instilled in him his passion for that character, Burroughs and Foster? Out of respect for his audience? Out of respect for himself, wanting to be certain the work he was signing his name to and accepting pay checks for was as good as it could be while still honoring the time-constraints of a monthly schedule, even if it meant continually learning how to be a better artist? Reading these—both the thirty-some year-old comics work and the few prose pages of introduction—made me glad that Joe Kubert has a school teaching future generations how to draw for comics, while more than a little bummed out about the caliber of comics work that Kubert's old company and their cross-town rivals (and, more importantly) comics fandom reward these days.
One piece of advice often given to aspiring comics artists is that they shouldn't teach themselves how to draw simply by looking at other comic books, and yet how many in the Big Two's stables are currently producing art that was so clearly learned from years of re-drawing Image Comics panels in the early '90s? How sad is it to think that thirty-years ago a DC editor took the time to take a life-drawing class in order to be sure he got Tarzan's musculature just right, while today we have artists who can't even draw the human foot, and would rather set every scene in a deep fog or shallow water than risk the attempt?
*I can't speak to comic book drawing, as what little drawing I do is just for fun, but that certainly sounds right when applied to writing. I know I became a much, much better writer over the course of the year I spent working at a daily paper, where each day between three and four p.m. I was expected to turn in one to three articles between 400 and 1,200 words each, depending on what the other two guys in my bureau had gotten out of their beats that morning. In the years since, as newspaper staff writer and freelancer I know I've often turned in work that wasn't my best and I could certainly have improved if it was the only story I was working on, or if I didn't have to go to sleep at some point, or go interview someone or see a movie or show up for my day job or whatever. But on the other hand, having a ton of time to labor over something just as often would lead to poorer results, as there's a great temptation to over-think things and end up editing something into incoherence. The professional writing I've done that I'm most proud of more often than not was done when I had a deadline defining the amount of time I had to fuss over it, a time that was never so great that I could spend hours and hours laboring over it, but no so short that I was aware of rushing.
**One thing I noticed almost immediately in reading these stories is that the species of "ape" that Tarzan is the king of is pretty vague. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I still haven't read the Burroughs books yet, so perhaps he assigns a definite species to the apes there, or notes that they are a sort of lost, fantasy species of ape. Of course, Burroughs was first writing at a time when virtually nothing was known about the great apes of Africa. His first Tarzan story appeared in 1912, while as late as the 1860s they were being described as bloodthirsty, man-fighting beasts, and the mountain gorilla wasn't even discovered until 1902. In the Johnny Weissmuller movies, they have men in gorilla suits playing the apes, and chimpanzees are supposed to be the baby and juvenile versions, which grow up into the gorilla suit-apes (I think by the third or fourth one they abandoned this idea completely, and the chimpanzee Cheetah is the only great ape around). In the Disney version, which deals with Tarzan's childhood, the apes are clearly gorillas, and their depiction reflected modern understanding of them). Anyway, the apes in Kubert's stories seem to be something between a chimpanzee and a gorilla. They look and behave more like chimps than gorillas—for which there's a special ape-language name, "Bolgani"—but they're huge, bigger than Tarzan, and their ears are usually smaller and their faces hairier than chimpanzees. I've read about giant chimpanzees in various cryptozoology books before, and I guess there has been a recent discovery of rare, large chimpanzees that look and behave a bit more like gorillas then their smaller cousins in the congo, as reported by National Geographic and The Guardian. They're usually called Bili apes, after where they live, although locals call them "tree-beaters" or "lion-killers." They would certainly seem to fit the bill of Tarzan's apes better than either chimpanzees or gorillas..jpg)
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If you're sick of hearing me going on and on about Joe Kubert's Tarzan, given that this is my fifth post or so on the subject within the last week, don't worry, this is the last one I have planned for now. Unless I find the third volume of Dark Horse's collection somewhere, anyway.
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