Category: Blogathon

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Formerly Known as the Justice League (DC) [3/5/2/3] (collects #1-6)
w. Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis; a. Kevin Maguire 

In 2004, DC tried to capture fire again, bringing this creative team, who had reinvented the Justice League in the early 90s as heroic but humorous types, to bring back some of the figures of that era — Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Fire, etc> — as “down on their luck” heroes trying to make a come-back.

It was … a mixed success.  Sales were okay.  I picked up a copy, and promptly hated it.

The 90s effort had been fresh.  But I’d come to care about these characters in subsequent years.  Playing them for yocks seemed — disrespectful.  You can take a light, even humorous approach, without making the individuals concerned buffoons.  Indeed, back in that 90s incarnation of the JL, that was the case.  Maxwell Lord was funny and pompous — but he turned out to also be heroic, in his own way, and a tragic figure.

(The irony of the fate of several of the characters in this book — Beetle, Lord, Sue Dibney — is in itself almost too much to bear consideration.)

I actually ended up picking up some of the later issues in this abortive series, and changed my mind enough to come back and here and buy this one.  And, to be sure, after you get beyond some of the more annoying repartee, you find both wit and heroism — and, heck, seeing Mary Marvel and Captain Atom stomping the stuffing out of each other in Roulette’s arena is plenty exciting. And Maguire’s art (inked by Joe Rubinstein) is worth the price of admission almost regardless.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League (Publisher) [4/5/4/4]

w. Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis; a. Kevin Maguire

This follows up the previous tales, and includes the return (of course) of Guy Gardner, a visit to an alternate “evil” universe, and a journey to Hell (maybe) that half laughs, half tragedy.  Really.  I mean, snuffly-nosed-after-reading-it tragedy.  It’s this mix that made this series, again, worth the read (along with the Maguire/Rubinstein art).

Again, again, here we are, mere months before the whole Identity Crisis / Infinite Crisis thang — and, there they are, in the last panel, Blue Beetle and Maxwell Lord, laughing together over a joke.  I don’t have the irk over how the DCU has changed, but, damn, that’s a glaring dissonance right there.

(listening to: Gold, Murray & the BBC Natl Orch of Wales, “Closing Theme (The Christmas Invasion)” from Doctor Who)

(listening to: Fried, Gerald, “Amok Time: Vulcan” from Star Trek Orig TV Sdtrk – II)

(listening to: Simon & Garfunkel, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” from Wednesday Morning, 3 AM)

(listening to: Riepl, Kevin, “City Zone 12” from City of Villains)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Infinity War (Marvel) [3/4/2/2] (collects IW #1-6, Marvel Comics Presents #108-111, Warlock & the Infinity Watch #7-10)
w. Jim Starlin; a. Ron Lim, Angel Medina, et al. 

In 1992, Starlin continued his “Infinity” series, which began with the Infinity Gauntlet, and would continue with … lots of other stuff from Starlin, all trending downhill in an alarming fashion, punctuated by occasional nice bits, but demonstrating how it’s altogether possible to get too much of a good thing, or, in this case, the evil thing: Thanos the Mad Titan.

If the Infinity Gauntlet demonstrated how absolute power is not all it’s cracked up to be, Infinity War shows that plenty of other people will squabble over it.  In this case, Adam Warlock’s evil twin, the Magus, does a Thanos-worthy job of manipulating events to get his hands back on the power of the IG.  Hilarity ensues, as the greatest heroes of Earth get drawn into various sides of the conflict.  (Why Earth has such a relative monopoly on participants is another question altogether).

The story is more complex than IG, and less satisfying, but there’s plenty of cosmic punch-outs and posturing, if you like watching Galactus arguing with the Cosmic Tribunal.  It’s still quite readable, though, in a way that makes you feel like you’ve been drinking too much soda pop afterwards.

Given that the heroes were the “Who’s Who” of the Marvel Universe at the time, seeing how some of the characters have changed — mostly X-types in their costumes — which haven’t, and which have basically vanished from the MU.  To that extent, it’s sort of a useful yearbook we well as a Saturday matinee shoot-em-up.

Hulk Visionaries – Peter David: Vol. 3 (Marvel) [3/2/3/2] (collects #349-354, Web of Spider-Man #44, FF #320)
w. Peter David; a. Jeff Purves, et al.

Another volume of David’s work on Hulk — this time in the Gray Las Vegas years.  Having the Hulk change back to a gray bruiser, clever and brutal, working as a leg-breaker in Vegas was a clever idea, but the the artwork is a mixed bag, and too many of the villains were throw-aways worthy of the bad old days on Spider-Man. 

Still, there are some nice moments here, like the gray Hulk finally winning against the Thing, despite the fact that Hulky’s lower-powered and this was in an era of an over-cosmiced uber-powerful Thing.  Brutal cleverness wins against virtue — not a great lesson, but kind of fun to watch.

Speaking of which, while I like the whole “Visionaries” concept from Marvel (nicely crafted collections of creator-specific work on a given character), they really need to decide on the titles.  The cover of this tome says, “Marvel Visionaries / Peter David / The Incredible Hulk,” while the spine says, “Hulk Visionaries / Peter David / 3.”  The spine, in this case, is the actual title — but that makes the cover more than a bit misleading.

(listening to: “The Mod Squad” from Television’s Greatest Hits)

(listening to: McCurdy, Ed, “Tottingham Frolic” from Naughty & Bawdy Songs of Olde England)

(listening to: Slovak Phil., “Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Min, Op. 21 – Maestoso” (Chopin) from Great Piano Moments)

(listening to: Brassy, “Work It Out” from Kim Possible)

(listening to: Litton, James & the American Boychoir, “I Sing of a Maiden” (Hadley) from On Christmas Day)

(listening to: Joel, Billy, “Christie Lee” from Innocent Man, An)

Hey!  Back to the comic reviews!

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Five Fists of Science (Image) [3/3/4/4]

w. Matt Fraction; a. Steven Sanders

So imagine if Mark Twain and Nicholas Tesla (and a faithful assistant) tried to use science and enlightenment to rid the world of war, only to be faced by a Lovecraftean cabal led by J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison (with Carnegie and Marconi along for the ride)?

You needn’t imagine, since that what this TPB is about. That said, it’s over far too quickly.  The action hops around, the characters are sketched but lightly, and the artwork is sometimes bit difficult to follow.  The original series could have used an extra 2-3 issues to pace things along well.

The book is criticized a bit unfairly for “ripping off” Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), as if Moore either originated or has a copyright on inserting historic figures (and, in this case, non-fictional ones) into a two-fisted action tale.  This isn’t as good a story as either League, but it’s plenty inventive on its own.

Grease Monkey (Tor) [4/4/5/5]
w/a. Tim Eldred 

Early in the 21st Century, bad aliens came along and blew the flinders out Terrestrial civilization, and then departed.  Other, good aliens then arrived and enlisted humanity to serve in their long-range war against the initial aliens.  Earth signed on, and now the space station Fist of Earth hangs in orbit, its denizens training their fighter craft for the day that the bad alien horde should return.

Oh, yeah, humanity’s numbers had been reduced by about 60%.  So the good aliens uplifted gorillas to help the effort.

Grease Monkey is the story of a young human on the space station, an assistant mechanic to one of the fighter squadrons, serving under one of those gorillas.  It’s an “army in not-quite-peacetime” tale, with the grand conflict serving as a backdrop, looming ominously.  That leaves plenty of room for coming of age stories, surprisingly sophisticated tales of interpersonal and race relations, and a bit of slapstick.  The subjects are never taken too seriously, nor too lightly, and chuckles
are followed by thoughtful chin rubbing.

This is the work of a decade by Eldred, who’s had individual issue runs printed at various times (but never the whole thing), who’s had an animated series in the works only to founder, and whose writing and art skills perceptibly strengthen from decent to quite good over the duration of this book.

It’s not flashy.  It’s not cosmic.  But it’s quite satisfying.  There’s a Will Eisner quote on the cover — “Good humor and skillful art.  A good, good read!” — that sums it up quite nicely (and is a worthwhile tribute to pay attention to).

And … that’s officially 1/4 of the way through (7 a.m. to 1 p.m.).  Yay!

• (listening to: Williams, John, “Eye to Eye” from Jurassic Park)
• (listening to: Murray, A., “Southpark House;Tarruing Teann An Crios;Kevin’s Celtic Chasm” from Brave Hearts)
• (listening to: Post, Mike, “Law And Order” from Television’s Greatest Hits – VII)
• (listening to: Nylons, “Buy Back the Amazon” from Four on the Floor)
• (listening to: Raine, Nic & Prague Philharmonic, “Star Trek: Voyager” from Jerry Goldsmith – 40 Years of Film Music)
• (listening to: “Medical Center” from Television’s Greatest Hits – II)
• (listening to: Original Broadway Cast, “A Heart Full of Love” from Les Misérables (Broadway))
• (listening to: Barenaked Ladies, “Crazy” from Gordon)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Global Frequency: Detonation Radio (DC/Wildstorm) [4/3/4/4] (collects #7-12)
w. Warren Ellis; a. various

The second (and, to date, final) collection of tales of the worldwide rescue organization Global Frequency, 1001 individuals around the world called on for jobs too big for any government or group to handle.  This go-around isn’t quite as quirky and enjoyable as the previous one — a bit more violent, a bit less imaginative — but it’s still good stuff.

There was a TV series under development for this, but the pilot didn’t sell.  The pilot did make it out onto the Net, which apparently killed any chance that it would be released on DVD.  Too bad, that …

Gotham Central: Half a Life (Vol. 2) (DC) [4/4/4/4] (collects Batman Chronicles #16, Detective #747, GC #6-10)
w. Greg Rucka; a. Michael Lark (et al.)

A collection of tales about Renee Montoya and Two-Face, the first two of which are from earlier series, which climaxes in the arc from GC.  Rucka’s taken a lot of heat for this story, in which Detective Renee Montoya is outed.  While it did seem to take over the series for a while, it’s still an excellent tale, winning an Eisner, a Harvey, and all sorts of other comics awards. 

Lark’s art is rough, dark, and gritty, and the colors give a noir neon to the streets and offices of Gotham.  Well done and perfect for the book.

GC was, itself, a great series, focusing on the lives of cops and detectives in the corrupt and crime-ridden city of Gotham.  How can you be a good cop when Batman’s looking over your shoulder?  This series answered this question (both negatively and positively), and it’s a shame that it finally ended. 

Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets (Vol. 3) (DC) [4/4/2/4] (collects #12-15, 19-22)
w. Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker; a. Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano

The “Soft Targets” storyline has city officials being assassinated around Gotham.  But if the Joker’s responsible, why does he let himself get captured?  And how far will the cops go to find out what else he has up his sleeve.

“Unresolved” has a long-past crime returning to haunt the present, as disgraced cop Harvey Bullock thinks he has the answer — despite the efforts of his former colleagues to keep him off the case.

Two typically dark tales of imperfect justice and sacrifice.  Nicely done.

(listening to: Symphonic Cast, “The Wedding Chorale – Beggers At The Feast” from Les Misérables (Symphonic))

(listening to: Mancini, Henry, “Mr. Lucky” from Crime Jazz (Music in The Second Degree))

(listening to: Frente!, “Dangerous” from Marvin the Album)

(listening to: Prado, Pérez, “A Go Go (Rondo Brothers Remix)” from World Groove III)

(listening to: Lehrer, Tom, “Who’s Next” from That Was the Year That Was)

(listening to: Post, Mike, “A Rough Wolf” from Inventions from the Blue Line)

(listening to: Darin, Bobby, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” from Nordstrom at Home – Together Tonight)

(listening to: Williams, John, “Javelin” from Summon the Heroes)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (Vol 7) (DC/Vertigo) [4/4/3/4] (collects 42-47)
w. Bill Willingham; a. Mark Buckingham, Jim Fern, and many fine inkers and colorists

Willingham’s saga of refugee fairy tales living in the Real World continues in full charm mode.  He continues to do a grand job of (a) fleshing out the 2-D protagonists of folk tales and myth into interesting individuals, and (b) tell a ripping good story. 

In this volume, the Fables living in New York have a great opportunity, and a great challenge — the Adversary, back in the Homelands, is finally attacking the Fables of Arabia, and they’re seeking refuge in this world.  But how will cultures clash as Prince Charming has to deal with Sinbad, freedom meets slavery, and the black magic of the Gingerbread House Witch has to deal with the black magic of a might Vizier and his Djinn?

And that’s about a tenth of what fits in here.  Fables, which has just reached 50 issues, tops my list for consistently entertaining story-telling.  And that’s pretty appropriate.

Buckingham’s art resembles Willingham’s itself, and is robust, complex, yet simple enough to be followed without trouble.  The pages are framed such that the various subplots become even clearer. A backup pair of stories addresses two of the Adversary’s wooden soldiers who fall in love — and, scandalously, want to become flesh.  Fern’s art here is much rougher and, well, wooden.

Triffic stuff.  If I had to drop down to 5 comics to read each month, Fables would be on that list.

Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne (Vol. 5) (Marvel) [3/5/3/3] (collects FF #268-276, FF Annual #18, Thing #19)
w/a. John Byrne

Continues the review of Byrne’s incredible run on FF, here in 1984-85, at the top of his game.  The Thing is off on his own, post-Secret Wars, so She-Hulk rounds out the foursome.  We get masks of Doom, a Galactus-like Terminus, an increasingly peevish Invisible Woman, the wedding of Blue Bold and Medusa (with the the tie-in to X-Men 137), the discovery of Reed’s father, and …

This volume includes the infamous (and riotous) “She-Hulk Caught Sunbathing on the Roof” issue, which is just too freaking much fun, and practically warrants buying the book in and of itself.

Not a lot of comics from the 80s hold up to today’s eyes.  To my eyes, these stories and art definitely do.

Girl Genius: Angela Heterodyne and the Circus of Dreams (Vol. 4) (Airship) [4/5/3/5]

w. Kaja and Phil Foglio; a. Phil Foglio 

The steampunk fantasy continues, as Agatha, having escaped from the Count falls in with a strange circus in the woods, both of which old many secrets.

It’s hard to sum up otherwise, than to say that the Foglios have a wicked sense of humor and wonder, the world they’ve conjured up is rich to the point of baroque, and Phil’s art captures the amusement, danger, and horror of it all. 

Take up and read.  GG is being pre-published online (only), and installments go up every few days here.  It’s worth going back and reading from the beginning (which, again, you can do online, or via the various volumes already published).  A worthwhile effort to take.

(listening to: Fiedel, Brad, “Caught in the Act” from True Lies)
(listening to: Pomona College Mens Blue & Whites, “Come Go with Me” from Silence Profound)

(listening to: Raffi, “Tsetang Gangla” from Let’s Play)
(listening to: Enya, & Howard Shore, “May It Be (End Titles)” from LOTR1: The Fellowship of the Ring)

(listening to: Fyhrie, Jim, “Veni, Veni (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)” from Winter – Music for the Holiday Season)
(listening to: Hammer, Jan, “Miami Vice” from Television’s Greatest Hits – III)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Daisy Kutter: The Last Train (Viper) [4/4/4/4]
w/a. Kazu Kibuishi

It’s a Western.  No, it’s SF.   No, it’s both.  Firefly fans would enjoy this; the background of the world is never really explained, but we have six-shooters and robots and a female protagonist and trains, and a basically story that could be recast as a classic cowboy tale, if you were willing to settle for that.

Daisy’s a retired bandit, and a bit bored, when she gets hired to protect a train and its cargo headed toward a destination.  Of course she takes the job, and of course it turns out to be a lot more complicated than that.  The art is simple but deceiving in that simplicity, as it tells the story perfectly and with sophistication.  The writing is simple, but in the same way.

This is, as far as I can tell, the extent of the Daisy Kutter canon, which is a shame, because I’d buy more.  Fun, amusing, exciting, spiffy.

Dork Tower: The Dork Side of the Goon (Vol. VII) (Dorkstorm) [4/3/3/4] (collects #25-29)
w/a. John Kovalic

Dork Tower tends to veer between one-off gaming/genre/geeky jokes and amusing soap opera about the people (and their muskrats) who love them.  This volume, in addition to the regular hilarity, includes a tribute to Charles Schulz,  as well as the continuing unrequited love between Matt and Gilly — which, itself, ends on quite the cliffhanger.

Dork Tower is available as a webcomic, though the print comic only includes some of that content.  It’s worth checking out.

Not quite sure why this is taking me so long to go through, in comparison to, say, this blitz of six reviews from the end of last year’s Blogathon.  I seem to be being more verbose.  Is that a good thing?  Time will tell.

(listening to: Symphonic Cast, “Fantine’s Death” from Les Misérables (Symphonic))
(listening to: Nylons, “Ai no corrida” from Fabric of Life)

(listening to: Sinatra, Frank, “If I Go Away” from Fly Me to the Moon)

(listening to: Webber, Andrew Lloyd & Tim Rice, “John Nineteen – Forty-One” from Jesus Christ Superstar)
(listening to: Fitzpatrick, James & Prague Philharmonic, “Airforce One – Main Title” from Jerry Goldsmith – 40 Years of Film Music)
(listening to: Shaiman, Marc, “Thing Gets Work” from Addams Family)
(listening to: Clannad, “Bruach na Carriage Báine” from Fuaim)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Crisis on Multiple Earths: Volume 3 (DC) [2/2/3/1] (collects JLA #91-92, 100-102, 107-108, 113)
w. Friedrich, Wein; a. Dick Dillin

These early 70s tales of JLA cross-overs with alternative Earths are an acquired taste.  There’s a fascination in looking at the pre-Crisis DCU with its Earth alphabet, it’s imagining of an adult Robin on Earth 2, the reintroduction of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, Wonder Woman in her white jumpsuit days, the Earth X fighters against triumphant Nazis, and all that nonsense.  The art is starting to show the transition from the Silver Age to Neil Adams-inspired “realistic” stuff.  The plots
are getting marginally more sophisticated — not all the bad guys are really bad guys — but the dialog is still overblown and the “youth rebellion” stuff is akin to what you’d see on “Leave it to Beaver.”

Still, they’re fun stories to read, bits of comic book popcorn from the past.

Crisis on Multiple Earths: Volume 4 (DC) [2/3/3/1] (collects JLA #123-124, 135-137, 147-148)
w. Bates, Bridwell, Levitz, Maggin, Pasko; a. Dillin

As with the above, though the art has improved a bit, and the writing has gotten a bit sillier in places.  The first arc has … um … Elliot S! Maggin (one of the writers) on Earth 1 helping the JLA fight … uh … Cary Bates (another of the writers).  Goofy.  The next arc gives us the heroes of Earth S (Bulletman, Ibis, Mr. Scarlet, and other notables) with the JLA and JSA dealing with various villains — and fighting … Captain Marvel?  Well, that’s a Superman fight, though it turns
out to be a non-event.  The last set does a cross-over with the Legion of Super-Heroes, in all their mid/late-70s glory.

Again, it’s an acquired taste, and any objective review of these stories in light of the much more sophisticated (writing and art) tales of today has to rank them lowly.  Yet there is a high nostalgia factor for those us who grew up with these stories, who remember the sheer wonder of such cross-overs.

Those who like (or liked) these sorts of things, will find them the sort of thing they like — or that they remember liking.

(listening to: “Trumpet Voluntary” (Stanley) from Music for Festive Occasions)
(listening to: Backstreet Boys, “I Want It That Way” from Grammy Nominees 2000)

(listening to: White, Nancy, “Pierced Matron” from Gaelic Envy)
(listening to: Riepl, Kevin, “Native Jungle Combat” from Pitfall – The Lost Expedition)

(listening to: Carroll, Edward (Trumpet), William Neil (Organ), “Voluntary in C – Adagio” (Dupuis) from For Their Majesties’ Pleasure & Delight)
(listening to: Symphonic Cast, “Look Down” from Les Misérables (Symphonic))
(listening to: Capercaillie, “Ailein Duinn” from Brave Hearts)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Conan: The God in the Bowl and other stories (Dark Horse) [4/4/4/4] (collects #7-12)
w. Kurt Busiek; a. Cary Nord et al. 

This splendid adaptation of the Robert E. Howard character continues strongly into its second collection.  Busiek is equally adept at handling actual REH stories and fragments as well as original tales bridging the Howard tales. 

This collection introduces We get some nice thieving and bar brawling, but we also get a multi-part adaptation of “The God in the Bowl” — an early Conan tale that’s as much Lovecraftian horror as barbarian head-lopping.  We also get a fine fantasy tale, an “escort the MacGuffin to the holy city” that introduces to this canon both a new character — Janissa, the Widowmaker, a warrior woman with a dark and terrible past who’s a great foil for the big guy — as well as the classic Conan opponent, the evil
Thoth-amon. 

As to the controversy over Janissa’s origin — which I won’t go into here — let’s just say that it didn’t strike me as horribly exploitative, gratuitous, or inappropriate, but quite in keeping with the genre.  It’s a nasty world out there, with nasty types in it, and I wouldn’t expect a decent Conan retelling to shy away from that.  You can accept a very unpleasant plot device without endorsing it (heck, in the Conan tales you almost have to, as the big fellow is actually a pretty unpleasant piece
of work), and I don’t have any problem with what Busiek has done.

Busiek’s writing credentials are solid, and Nord brings a great Frazetta-like approach to the art, but with plenty of personality to help tell the characters apart.  I’m a fan of both the original REH tales and the 70s/80s Marvel retellings, and these adaptations work just fine by me.

Conan: The Tower of the Elephant and other stories (Dark Horse) [4/4/4/4] (collects #13-18)
w. Kurt Busiek; a. Cary Nord, Michael Kaluta

Ditto what I said above.  And, more specifically …

We get Conan in a post-being-rolled wandering tracking choosing an unfortunate place to camp, picking an unfortunate goblet to steal in the Big City, and then finally clambering into one of the greatest of the Conan tales, “The Tower of the Elephant.”  Busiek and Nord hit all the right notes along the way, fleshing out the stories with some nice side characters, some of the obviously destined for death, others less certain.  The Elephant tale is one of the gemstones in the REH canon, and this retelling
will fit right alongside it.

As with the previous volume, in the back of this there’s some good text material on REH and Conan and the creative process, as well as development sketches.  Again, folks who like this sort of fantasy will enjoy this loads.

(listening to: “Space: 1999 (arrangement A)” from www.mythemes.tv)

(listening to: Kilbride, Patrick, “Patrick” from Undocumented Dancing)
(listening to: “When Domz Attack” from Beyond Good and Evil)

(listening to: Beach Boys, “Do You Wanna Dance?” from Capitol Years, The)

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Castle Waiting (Fantagraphics) [5/5/5/5]

w. Linda Medley; a. Linda Medley 

Yeah.  A perfect 5.

Every now and then, you hear buzz about a book.  “Oh, this is fabulous.” “The greatest thing since sliced bread!” “A modern classic.”  The book shows up at award ceremonies.  It gets mentioned by other reviewers as an exemplar of everything that’s good about the medium.

If you’re like me, that creates an odd reverse pressure.  “It can’t be that good.”  It’s a reverse anti-popularity snobbery, in a sense.  At least it is for me. 

And more than once, I’ve had to see the error of my ways.  Bone was an example of that.  And Castle Waiting is yet another.

This is really two books.  The first is the story of a young woman, pregnant, fleeing in a fairy tale setting to a place known as a refuge, the Castle Waiting.  This locale, populated by a charmingly diverse set of characters, is the former castle of Sleeping Beauty — who, of course, left to go off with her prince after being revived, leaving behind castle and retainers. 

There’s a lot of books going around these days that do the fairy tale thing, in setting or in the modern world.  They’re often good (Fables is a great example, and one I’ll be reviewing in a bit), but they often apply modern, somewhat cynical sensibilities to the whole thing.  Medley doesn’t, at least from the cynical side.  It’s not that everything is all peaches and puppies, but there’s such a good nature behind the whole tale that even the cynic is swayed. 

It would be a great tale to share with a kid or with an adult.  And for many of the same reasons, which is even more unusual.

The second tale focuses on the life of one of the supporting cast, a nun of a very unusual order and background.  It’s equally charming, but left me wanting even more of the other characters.  It’s the only ding I can come up with for this otherwise marvelous tale, and now that it’s out of my “to be Blogathonned” stack, I’ll be loaning it to any and all of my circle who are interested.

This particular volume, as the picture indicates, is published the size and shape of a Real Book (sort of like a Readers Digest Condensed Books volume in size) — which, of course, means that it isn’t a TPB.  It’s an interesting approach, and may make it easier to slip this to friends and family who aren’t into those comic book thangs.  There are also smaller chunks of
the tale available in more traditional TPB format.  And the tale is once again continuing in monthly form, which is great news.

I won’t be waiting for the next collection.  I’m reading this new stuff now. 

 

Champions: Classic (Marvel) [2/3/4/1] (collects #1-11)
w. Isabella, Mantlo, Claremont; a. Heck, Tuska, Hall, Byrne

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

I got this TPB because I have fond memories of collecting these in the early 80s as I tried to pick up anything I could find with Byrne art.  I respect all the creators involved a lot, but these 1975-76 tales exemplify so much that was awful about this particular age of comics.  The dialog is florid to the point of being an Amazon Rain Forest.  The art is dynamic enough, but often rough (even the Byrne stuff) and can’t make up for plot lines that leap and pounce and punch and twist and turn
in a truly awful fashion.

If you have a particular fondness for any of the characters here — an odd mix of Angel, Ice Man, Hercules, Ghost Rider, and the Black Widow, set in Los Angeles — it’s worth looking up these stories.  Maybe.  It’s not like any of these characters were really affected by this continuity, nor that they ever refer back to these days any more.  It’s not just water under the bridge, but water that’s gone under the bridge, been evaporated, turned into clouds, and been stolen by aliens.  Approach
at your own risk.

(listening to: Barenaked Ladies, “Grade 9” from Gordon)

(listening to: “Bluff Eversmoking” from Unreal)
(listening to: Bangles, “Everything I Wanted” from Bangles – Greatest Hits)
(listening to: Barry, John, “Mountains And Sunsets” from You Only Live Twice)
(listening to: Runga, Bie, “Sway” from Lilith Fair, Vol. 2)

(listening to: Bach, P.D.Q., “1712 Overture (S.1712)” from The Ill-Conceived Anthology)

Okay, think I got it figured out.

(Les is having annoying cable modem problems.  Go over and give him an encouraging word.)

Oh, two more words on the reviews, related:

1. One of the advantages of TPBs is that they’re carried by Amazon, persistently.  So I can do links to the Amazon images and to Amazon so you can go over and buy these little lovelies.
2. And, on that note, by means of disclosure, I do get a (very small) commission when you do so (as an Amazon affiliate).  That’s not why I’m doing this, and anything I make over the course of the Blogathon, I will donate to the EFF, too.  So there.

Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]

Amazing-Spiderman: New Avengers (Marvel) [4/4/3/2] (collects #519-524)
w. J. Michael Straczynski; a. Mike Deodato Jr. 

JMS and Marvel continue their redefinition of the Spidey status quo.  In this volume, Spider-Man’s been invited to the New Avengers already, and when an old/new foe destroys Aunt May’s house, Tony Stark invites him and MJ and May to move into Avengers Tower, further making Peter (and family) a fish out of water.  Meanwhile, as MJ and May struggle with their new digs, Spidey’s fighting a Hydra plot to poison a major Mid-West aquifer.  Hilarity and fisticuffs pursue.

The story’s not all that memorable, but JMS has a great sense of dialog and small plot twists keep things interesting.  Deodato’s style and Matt Milla’s colors are a bit murky, but still attractive. 

What’s ironic, or irksome depending on your perspective, is how much has changed since this volume — Spidey’s powers, his costume, and, of course, the whole Civil War thing.  Things really are changing …

Sorry for just the single review — I was distracted by a few other things.  More next time, really.  Otherwise, I’ll be here all night … oh, wait …

(listening to: Cash, Johnny, “Ring of Fire” from Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits)

(listening to: Guttler, Ludwig & Friedrich Kircheis, “Herzlich Lieb Hab Ich Dich” (Krebs) from A Festive Christmas)
(listening to: Sinatra, Nancy , “You Only Live Twice” (Barry) from Best of James Bond – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition)

One of the biggest changes in the last decade or so of the comics industry is the shifting of attention to Trade Paperbacks (TPBs) — sometimes called Graphic Novels (but only, properly, when they are originally published in the large form, versus the more usual collection of around 7 monthly issues of comics).

TPBs effects have been fourfold:

1. Comics writers and creators have begun structuring story lines around TPBs — wrapping story arcs up in 6-7 issues, eschewing stand-alone stories, making longer story lines hit some sort of climax at issue 7, etc. 
2. It’s served as an entre for comics back into bookstores.  The local Buns & Noodles won’t stock individual issues of Superman, but they will stock a TPB collection of his latest adventures.
3. Indeed, they’ll stock multiple of them, keeping adventures in print long after they would be in the “pamphlet” world.  This affects the collecting biz, but also makes older stories more accessible.
4. Readers are, sometimes, beginning to focus more on TPBs than the monthlies — “waiting for the trade paperback.”  That’s good for Buns & Noodles, but causes a bind for the comics publishers.  If folks aren’t buying Amazing X-Folks, is it because the story is going downhill and the book should be canceled (or shuffled to another creative team), or is it that they’re all going to buy the trade?  And how does that affect cash flow? 

Because of some of these points, some in the industry has said that the monthly “pamphlet” is an endangered species — that publishers should focus on TPBs.  But that’s got its own problems — aside from the cash flow issues for publishers, it’s a much riskier proposition for readers.  I might pick up a property by an unknown (or even known) artist or writer or publisher if it’s $2.50 or $3.00 (yes, comics prices are insane).  I’m much less likely, without a lot of good reviews and recommendations,
to do the same for a collection that costs $15 or $20. 

Where is the future going with this?  No idea.  If I did, I’d be rich, probably.  Which I’m not.  Especially since, well, I buy so many comic books.

And now a word about reviews.

I have screwed around with eleventy-dozen different review styles over the years.  I mistrust single-letter ratings.  Heck, I mistrust review ratings, anyway, since there’s a lot of different ways that a comic (or trade) might be good.

The best set of measures I’ve come up with are the following four:

1. How’s the art?  This is a graphics medium, of course.
2. How’s the writing?  As the Image experiment showed, people really don’t just buy comics for the pretty pictures or the cheesecake.  There’s a post or five in there (most of which will recycle stuff I’ve said previously on the subject).
3. How is this as a jumping-on point for new readers?  Is the book so continuity-ridden and mid-story-line that someone who was new to it would be lost?  That’s a functional question, not a quality question, as a book can be excellent or awful despite that.  But it’s good for someone reading the review (I hope) to know.
4. How is this as a comic for non-comics readers?  Some folks just don’t get into the spandex fisticuffs thang, but appreciate a well-told story about people.  Again, it’s not a good/bad thing, but a functional thing.

Okay, so those are the categories.  How do we measure them?  I’ve tried letter grades, 3-point scales, red/yellow/green lights, and 50–point scales.  Last time out, I used 5-point scales, and that seemed to work pretty well.  It gives enough gradation to be worthwhile, while being understandable.

I’d toyed with doing stars (5 stars, 4 stars, etc.).  Never got around to building it, and, frankly, so what?  I assume numeracy amongst my readers.

I need to set up the template for the review description, and the reviews themselves.  That’ll take up a chunk of the next half-hour.  But … it’s time to post. 

(listening to: Goldsmith, Jerry & the Philharmonia Orch., “The Blue Max – Suite – Finale” from Jerry Goldsmith – 40 Years of Film Music)
(listening to: lang, k.d., “You’re OK” from All You Can Eat)