Comic Reviews and discussions

[Faust]

I think I've nailed down why the longevity argument bugs me.

Yes, Superman has existed for 75 years. But if you look at the first Superman stories and compare them to modern ones, practically nothing remains the same. There is not an unbroken line between Superman then, and Superman today. In fact, rebooting the universe every few years and starting over seems to be the norm. Developments do happen which impact the characters strongly, and there is character development within that space... then they reboot, and start over. I like that. Having a cast of characters where everyone broadly knows the story by now, but with enough flexibility that they can be taken in new directions, gives a good starting point for writers to begin and lets people pull the rug out of the audience. Wonder Woman's new 52 reboot is a good example of that. The impression I get (though hey I could be wrong) is that canon and continuity are only really important to the obsessive collectors, and writers feel free to do whatever the hell they like when the new title rolls around.

I think the problem isn't quite the unbroken chain, it is the status quo that must be maintained. The characters are allowed to grow in a certain direction then they are snapped back, certain corner stones are not allowed to change. That flexibility to change seems to only happen when a writer is both good and willing to stand up for their story.

WW has been completely rewritten and has dropped all the superhero's out of her comic and it's been excellent because of that. But until now WW isn't a title that has sold very well. He was given the flexibility to work with her because sadly very few people cared.
In marvel we have spider-man who's marriage, college education, etc get erased to appeal to a younger generation of readers.
Over in the batman comics you have the same miserable fart being both a gruff crime fighter and the James bond like playboy. Detective comics is one of the only ongoing series that works and that's based solely on the fact that they drop the entire cast of characters and switch over to other ones periodically, their stories have a start a middle and an end.

So can the longer ones, Constantine ended on issue 300, that comic traced his life from his early twenties up to his late fifties, the character aged in real time with the readers, he had serious relationships, went travelling and ultimately has his conclusion and ending.

A comic that really seems to get it right is Invincible, it's a nice drama about a teen superhero with real consequences and when people die they stay dead, that grows, develops and builds upon itself without repeating itself.

I also don't think the basic premise of superheroes is a bad thing. It can be childish, but I like the odd story where the good guys are good guys and the bad guys are bad guys. Superheroes and supervillains are basically used as shorthand for ethical dilemmas. They don't always hit the money, but its one of the few spaces where 'you should do the right thing, even if it isn't easy, because it is the right thing' has been a relatively consistent message. I like it because there's only so much grimdark angst angst boo hoo media I can consume before I start vomiting shades of grey all over the place.

The trouble is that a lot of comics are crap, and the big publishing houses (particularly DC) seem to have completely lost the plot and decided that stupid editorial decisions should take precedence over good storytelling and faith in their creative teams.

Superheroes as moral shorthand is a good way of looking at it, especially when you look at the likes of Red Son or the Fantastic Four. Superman in red son is tireless effort, and in Fantastic four the family are the spirit of futurism.

The problem with superheroes as moral short hand is the people writing them often don't realise that's what they are doing, so they end up writing the same tired tropes, the same boring plot lines, endlessly.

I'm curious whether you think the same issues apply to shows like Doctor Who. That basically suffers from the exact same issue re: the story that never ends, but each new Doctor is given the room to make the character their own, and each one has an arc. I think comics should largely be judged on the same basis. Each individual story has a beginning, middle and end, and each incarnation of the character tends to develop in different ways... but I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with that. Saying the whole concept is dead is, to me, a lot like saying 'the detective movie is dead, they haven't had anything to say since The Maltese Falcon' or 'Fantasy novels are dead, who cares about magic now we have the internet?'

With Dr Who from 1963 up until 1992 the stories were all four to six episode arcs. He as a character had less backstory or development then what was important to the show, his personality and way of looking at things and the dialogue with the companions.

If anything the Reboot has added many of the same problems of what comic books have: fear of changing certain key elements, and rehashing romance plots. The doctor hasn't had a male companion on his own yet in the new series barring one episode with Rory. Season 5 seemed to shake things up with a lot of fresh ideas but then 6 and 7 seemed to snap it into a horribly formulaic pattern. The Juries out on it, my opinion might change after the 50th special in a couple of weeks.

With superhero's as a genre akin detective movies, I don't think of the superhero genre as dead, I absolutely love comic books and many superhero comics, it's because I love them I would love to see the story telling styles grow, I'd like to see the exceptions become the rules.

Like... okay. You can not like it, that's fine, but people are constantly finding new ways to breathe life into older concepts, and I think the costume-wearing superhero is right up there with the trenchcoat-donning gumshoe, for similar reasons even, and I sincerely hope we don't decide to get rid of them any time soon because when they're done well I think the genre provides a great space for exploring a lot of societal and moral issues.

I hope they don't go away but I hope the entangling with Hollywood eases, and that the editors and published realise that superheroes are a medium for story telling and not just a trope that has to follow rules and do what sells.

[Demolition Squid]

I'm... uncertain as to whether Wonder Woman was allowed that freedom because nobody cared about her character. Her line might not have been selling great, but Wonder Woman is a pop culture icon and up there with Superman for identifiability.

I do agree that a huge amount of the trouble with comics is the insistence on creating this 'broader world' feeling by dragging them into each other. I heard recently that the Superman/Wonder Woman teamup is being marred by a plotline which sees them as a couple. There's a lot of fears about Wonder Woman playing second fiddle (maybe justified? I'm unclear on whether this has actually happened or is internet fearmongering, I don't have the money to follow comics as they come out). Wonder Woman's series was fantastic because the creator was given space to play, just like you said, though. It would be an awesome shakeup if they decided that new Wonder Woman is actually the stronger, smarter, more tactically sound leader character this time around... and I think they could make a case for it (her powers come from magic, and so there's precedence for trumping Superman, and she's actually a warrior rather than a farmboy so she SHOULD be the better military mind), I'd love seeing a Diana who decides to form a Justice League based on the pantheon of the Gods, with her taking the role of Zeus to guide the others. Heck, with five minutes of thinking I'm already wondering whether you could spin a whole story casting the other superheroes in the roles of the Gods. Batman as Hades, God of the Underworld, seems like a particularly amusing notion...

But as you say, there is a status quo that must be maintained, and Didio would be unlikely to greenlight anything that casts Superman as anything less than the biggest good in the room. It is the lack of innovation which is killing creativity, not necessarily using the same characters.

Then you hear about DC deciding that all marriage is banned, and firing very successful writers because they refuse to compromise the story for that directive. Hearing the fury surrounding the recent Batwoman debacle was what prompted me to start looking at what the heck comics have been up to since I stopped paying attention, and I don't like what I'm seeing.

What's weird is that where there ARE massive breaks with tradition, they are in bizarre directions. One of my favorite series of all time was the Harley Quinn run, where she kicked Joker to the curb, ran off, formed her own gang based around her whacked out ideals, and had wild and crazy adventures. She was empowered, brilliant, and wonderful. That was the Harley that made it into other stories for a long while, classic costume, partnership with Ivy and all.

Now they've certainly broken with the status quo there. By making her a psychotic child-murdering terrorist bomber.

Whut?

[Ben Shapiro]

Ultimate marvel and the new 52 detective comics are awesome. I love DC for their villians.

[Faust]

I'm... uncertain as to whether Wonder Woman was allowed that freedom because nobody cared about her character. Her line might not have been selling great, but Wonder Woman is a pop culture icon and up there with Superman for identifiability.

I do agree that a huge amount of the trouble with comics is the insistence on creating this 'broader world' feeling by dragging them into each other. I heard recently that the Superman/Wonder Woman teamup is being marred by a plotline which sees them as a couple. There's a lot of fears about Wonder Woman playing second fiddle (maybe justified? I'm unclear on whether this has actually happened or is internet fearmongering, I don't have the money to follow comics as they come out). Wonder Woman's series was fantastic because the creator was given space to play, just like you said, though. It would be an awesome shakeup if they decided that new Wonder Woman is actually the stronger, smarter, more tactically sound leader character this time around... and I think they could make a case for it (her powers come from magic, and so there's precedence for trumping Superman, and she's actually a warrior rather than a farmboy so she SHOULD be the better military mind), I'd love seeing a Diana who decides to form a Justice League based on the pantheon of the Gods, with her taking the role of Zeus to guide the others. Heck, with five minutes of thinking I'm already wondering whether you could spin a whole story casting the other superheroes in the roles of the Gods. Batman as Hades, God of the Underworld, seems like a particularly amusing notion...

But as you say, there is a status quo that must be maintained, and Didio would be unlikely to greenlight anything that casts Superman as anything less than the biggest good in the room. It is the lack of innovation which is killing creativity, not necessarily using the same characters.

Then you hear about DC deciding that all marriage is banned, and firing very successful writers because they refuse to compromise the story for that directive. Hearing the fury surrounding the recent Batwoman debacle was what prompted me to start looking at what the heck comics have been up to since I stopped paying attention, and I don't like what I'm seeing.

What's weird is that where there ARE massive breaks with tradition, they are in bizarre directions. One of my favorite series of all time was the Harley Quinn run, where she kicked Joker to the curb, ran off, formed her own gang based around her whacked out ideals, and had wild and crazy adventures. She was empowered, brilliant, and wonderful. That was the Harley that made it into other stories for a long while, classic costume, partnership with Ivy and all.

Now they've certainly broken with the status quo there. By making her a psychotic child-murdering terrorist bomber.

Whut?

You're right I am not giving Brian Azzarello the credit he deserves, he wrote one of the most brilliant long running crime drama's for DC and it was a massive success.
Because of that he seems to have up until now been given free reign with the character.
Her stories may not have ever sold hugely but she IS an icon so they do only put the big writers on her.

Last night I read the second issue of Superman/Wonderwoman and it's diabolical. So they've introduced Discordia and Apollo into that story and not only is Apollo a mustache twirling asshole completely unlike his cold calculating portrayal in WW but worse still they have him punch her and superman step into the way even shouting at her "Let me handle this" and proceeds to have a boring super fight with the god of Olympus while she stands to the side.

It's a bad sign, if they decided it has to be more integrated with the rest of their mess that will be the end of it.

[Demolition Squid]

That sounds... truly dreadful.

I'm told that Marvel is doing better (though, as a comparison with DC, you can't get much closer to damning with faint praise).

I am curious to see where they take the new Ms. Marvel, though. Legacy characters are an interesting way to get around a lot of the issues with someone being in the same role forever, and Kamala Khan sounds like a brilliant break from the normal superhero.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/13/marvel-muslim-comic-book-hero

[Faust]

I haven't quite gotten that far yet in captain marvel, so I'm afaraid to sneak a peak till I reach it.

There's not many Muslim superhero's.

DC have Simon Baz who is a bit of a wasted opportunity. He's a green lantern and a Muslim but for most of his existence in the comic he has been kept off world where his religion can be ignored.

A character who I think is really cool from the couple of appearances I've seen her in is Dust.



Again she doesn't have a huge amount of appearances but I really think it's cool having a Muslim girl on the x-men. The only thing is I think she is a bit too timid. I'd love to see her develop into an Emma frost level of confidence, a living sandstorm would be pretty menacing.

The black robes and veil and sand could be used for some amazing artwork but she doesn't seem to get that much focus.

[Faust]

Issue three of sex criminals is out (might have been for a couple of weeks).

Unlike all the dark melodramatic stuff that makes up most of the new stuff that I try out each month this is a really refreshingly fun, and despite being light hearted it's a mature way of portraying sex in comics. A lot of the sexual situations are quite satirical and there's a lot more exploration of both the leads awkward discovery of sex before they became the super powered titular sex criminals.

It's really nice seeing a couple as the leading stars of a super power book, in a happy relationship which is still a riveting page turner; It just makes all that fiasco about Batwoman getting married seem all that more stupid and weak an argument.

It's full of really funny anecdotes, with the stories about the leads finding crumpled porn out in the woods, and having the sack race around the sex shop, and they are some of the most colourful enjoyable Pages I've seen in ages, the vibrancy reminds me of Transmetropolitan.

The art is fucking fantastic. Chip Zdarsky (if that IS his real name) packs so much detail and so many visual puns into every panel that you find yourself scrutinising the book shelves in the backs of panels to read the titles.



The first issue is still free here so check it out:

The first issue of Sex Criminals is up on Comixology:
I didn't know what to expect, it's got me hooked. You have to register but after that you they have a really nice webapp for reading the issue.

http://www.comixology.com/Sex-Criminals-1/digital-comic/46453/?app=1&utm_source=tumblr&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=s131106_sex_criminals_1_free_tumblr&utm_content=&utm_term=&tid=%20s131106_sex_criminals_1_free_tumblr

I bought two and three off of image directly though cause I think the creators get more of a cut, but I can't be certain.

The reason this has really caught me up and I am posting about it so early (only at issue three) is for incredibly frustrating reasons.

Apple censored... well no. Banned the comic from their app store because it depicts sex. It's ok for dismemberment, sadomasochism, cannibalism, etc but we can't be exposed to people having sex, because that might be obscene.

[Faust]

Heh, Sex criminals has been named times best new comic of the year.

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/04/arts-and-entertainment/slide/top-10-comics-and-graphic-novels/

[hooplala]

I could be wrong, but I think that "mediumcore" joke had already been used in Scott Pilgrim.

[Faust]

I could be wrong, but I think that "mediumcore" joke had already been used in Scott Pilgrim.

Possibly, Probably . I've only ever seen the Film of Scott Pilgrim and read the first couple of volumes of it. Loved the film but I find the manga binding hard on the eyes so I was reading it slowly, the comic was really funny and seemed to have a lot more depth of character than the film. I'll have to go back and finish it off at some point.

[hooplala]

I could be wrong, but I think that "mediumcore" joke had already been used in Scott Pilgrim.

Possibly, Probably . I've only ever seen the Film of Scott Pilgrim and read the first couple of volumes of it. Loved the film but I find the manga binding hard on the eyes so I was reading it slowly, the comic was really funny and seemed to have a lot more depth of character than the film. I'll have to go back and finish it off at some point.

I could never get through it.  The artwork.  I'm supposed to think Ramona is the hottest girl ever, but she looks identical to every other girl in the series.  However, I once saw an image on Tumblr comparing a panel from the comic with a scene from the movie.  Both took place at Sonic Boom records on Bathurst street (which means nothing to anyone outside of Hogtown)... both had a section of music called Mediumcore.

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

Lately, I've been thinking Superman would be more interesting if we focused on him actually being a reporter for the Daily Planet. He could write about literally anything or anybody without having to worry about reprisals. He'd be like Edward Snowden but bulletproof. He could publish nearly anything and not have to worry about getting roughed up by thugs, because this would happen:
White Collar Criminal: Alright gentlemen i need you to take out Clark Kent. His column in the Daily Planet is getting too close to our illegal innocent puppy slaughterhouse and we need him silenced!
Hired Assassins: No problem sir, we do this all the time. One civilian reporter ought to be no problem.
====6 months later=====
*hired assassins burst into WCC's  office, filthy and ragged*
WCC: where have you two been! He broke the story on the puppies and he's been snooping around our caged toddler fights!
HA1: Hey, FUCK YOU, "where have you been"! You wanna know? I'll tell you! We go to take out Kent like you said. we wait for him inside his apartment, grab him, he starts telling us we'll never get away with this, crime never pays etc. We take our eyes off him for ONE SECOND, suddenly he's gone, Superman's there.

HA2: We drop our weapons, cuz hey, what good are they gonna do? Next thing we know, he picks us both up by the scruff of our necks, and he flies us all the way to Africa and LEAVES US THERE!

HA1: DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET BACK TO AMERICA ON FOOT, WITH NO PASSPORTS!?

[Cain]

Or Clark Kent as Julian Assange/Glen Greenwald.

[LMNO]

Interesting plot twist would be that nothing really gets solved by using his superpowers, but his articles change the world.

[Junkenstein]

Interesting plot twist would be that nothing really gets solved by using his superpowers, but his articles change the world.

Or, the article should change the world but due to mass apathy the terrible thing is allowed to continue.

Repeat until psychotic breakdown because people won't help themselves.