It's been a month now...

...since I've posted here. What's new? Well, I've been sick this week - on top of fatigue and exhaustion from work. I haven't been getting much done lately, and have barely written 2 pages on my novel.

Yes, I have been reading comics, and wondering if DC has noticed a slip in the quality of their print. The main titles barely stick to schedules, and the side titles are very average at best. I'm put off from Batman thanks to that Grotesk storyline and confedential fels very cookie-cutter and I dislike the art in it. Manhunter's been recanceled, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman might come out in a month. Where's Action Comics? Is Legends of the Dark Knight really ending?

Spawn wasn't too great this past week either, retconning in a craptastic reason why Al can't go home after remaking the world at his command.

Don't even get me started on Marvel...

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but seriously, things are not looking too bright this year. There's possible hope for Cassandra Cain, but with some of the choices DC's made recently have not reflected too well.

Comic Reviews

1) Spawn #163
It's odd to think this would make my top spot for this week, considering how the majority of the series has felt very 90s. The last 10 issues or so have been slowly getting better in my opinion, and I love the hyper-detail the previous issues have been. Over all, the issue actually wasn't as spectacular as previous issues leading up to this one, but the last few pages really sunk into me.

This is a major spoiler, so go ahead and skip down if you don't care for spoiling. I have to type this, as to justify my choosing this as my #1. Long time readers, and the curious sort will skip around my site to look this up, but I have a soft spot for Al Simmons and his absolute tragedy of being severed from his love. This is the driving force behind the character, and in this issue it looks like it will finally be resolved. Al Simmons chose to bring everyone back alive, and his last act was to give up his God-like (literally) power to become human once again so he can finally live a normal life with Wanda. There will be complications, obviously, but the last few pages of him deciding his fate are a major resolution to about 160 issues of pain and torment.

2) Detective Comics #827
Little can stop the Dini machine from producing some of the best Batman stories I've read, period. Scarface is back, and this time the Ventriloquist is a highly skilled woman. She looks like she was pulled right out of the Animated Series universe too, which I really like. It's also a nice touch that she has a Dr. Blight (from Captain Planet) scar on the side of her face, hidden by her hair, mirroring the broken face of Scarface.

3) JSA Classified #20
This issue, along with the previous issue, was a fun little story with a nice touch of darkness. I made a pun, since this follows Dr. Midnite. I haven't read much of him, but this little two-parter felt good as an intro to the character. I'm sure he's covered better in something else, but this issue felt well concieved as opposed to some of the other issues previously released. I also liked the dark twists of using Ice Maiden's skin, and the effect of the organ rejection. I like pale skin, so I could sort of see the interest in that, but I digress. It wasn't a happy or pleasant end for the girl.

?) Justice League of America #5
This is the second time I've listed this title here. I'm only buying it because the comic shop is taking kind to it's subscribers to this title by allow us to buy the variant covers at cover price. I've been really liking the variants ever since Turner moved off to the main cover (urgh), and having the variants as normal almost makes up for the lack of real substance inbetween the pages.

I'm not liking Reddy one bit, as he is basically the token child/sidekick/comic relief character in my opinion. He's not suppose to be like that, is he? Also, it has taken five issues for the 'main characters' to join up with the 'new main characters'? Way to pad the story for the trade, Meltzer. Now if only the art crew can stop spreading the panels over two pages every other page I could let my eyes enjoy the shifting of reading this comic like almost every other comic should be read...like a book. I'm not against two page spreads, but it really loses the impact when it is over used - go check out the Conan comic, its mostly single pages, but every now and then they toss a double pager in and it is awe-inspiring.

'Red Arrow' is really taken by Hawkgirl, isn't he? I don't blame him, becuase she does look pretty good in those few panels. My problem is that he's acting as if that's the first time he's seen her, and though I'm not familiar with any previous meetings I am pretty sure they have met before - the characters have been around a long time, right? Jeez...that moment felt really out of character and was too sudden considering everything that had happened moments before.

Poor Amazo has no solution for love. I feel for him, as there can't be much of a solution for love the way this flagship title is going. DC, get Meltzer to wrap up his fanfiction and get the writers from the sadly short lived Justice League Unlimited animation to pump some life into this. You'd make so many people happy...

Random Comic Thought #1

Stealing the idea, changing the name, and claiming my originality. Behold: Progress!

I've been reading the first sets of issues of Spawn. So far for the most part I have really enjoyed the comic. I started reading the recent episodes, and found the original issues cheap - I picked them up and started reading.

So basically what happens is Spawn touches a lance used by an angelic hunter that flew off after failing her one-hit-kill on Spawn. Now, I can forgive the abrupt end of the first battle with an angel after building the angel up to this force that has never been defeated. What through me for a loop were the guest writers that chipped in afterwards for several issues.

For the most part, the stories were really good and fit well within the whole 'mythos' created at that point in the title. My problem was Frank Miller's issue. Don't get me wrong, previously he did Sin City style Spawn poster that I thought was really nice and fitting - however, his story was just....out of place.

Spawn fighting a Nerd street gang and Creep gang over his alley filled with homeless bums. Stereotypical nerds fighting generic street punks, both armed with high tech weapons and having cyborgs on their sides. Very typical Frank Miller 'holy crap, you know how cool this would be?' storytelling. There was even a cute-ish girl involved, killed early on setting off the whole gang war.

So, in the end I have to say I liked the idea behind the guest writing, but Frank Miller doesn't belong on Spawn. It is close to his type of work, but he should be kept away from solo writing on the title. I wouldn't mind his art style, since Spawn could go Noir quite nicely. Also, remember that this is issue 11 I'm talking about, and 153 came out last month...

Weekly Comic Run

This week has been crazy. Was sick for a couple of days, and the good days were heavy with work (almost every day we were past production goals - very good thing). I did make it to the comic shop for the weekly pull, and am thinking of going about reviewing the comics a bit differently...

Best of the Week - Adventure of Superman #649
The conclusion to the Superman/Superman tie in to Infinite Crisis was really impressive, more so than Infinite Crisis #5 in many ways. It had far more of an epic feel than anything else that came out this week.

Second Best - Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #5
Everyone with a ring standing together to blast a sun as feedback to destroy the hive? I think that's pretty awe inspriring - and that is what the Green Lanterns are about, am I not right? With all that has happened in this miniseries, I have high hopes for the ongoing Corps series.

Surprisingly good - Batman: Secrets #1
I'm a fan of The Maxx, and this has a very similar vibe. The art is gritty and the style is surreal, and it works in my mind. The plot is a bit all over the place, but based on what I know of The Maxx it will wrap up in the end very well.

Quick reviews of the rest of the pull...

Infinite Crisis #5
Still good, but seeing as how there wasn't as much action it felt a bit slow. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy plot advancement, but this issue is more than likely the calm before the story. Loved the Red Son glimpse and the return of Htrae.

Batman Annual #25
I understand what they were trying to explain as the return of Jason Todd, but it still feels very forced to me. I really liked the extreme circumstances Jason had to go through, especially the zombie style they used. It really drove home the resurection he went through and the unnaturalness of it.

Detective Comics #817
One year later already? Well, it was basically a giant teaser for the Batman side of the DCU for the events that will happen during 52. Felt like nothing really happened, a lot of past tense references for the future. Also, Robin has a new outfit and I'm not sure I like it. Still there are really interesting events to look forward to.


I also picked up Spawn #153 to check out the comic. Really impressed with the art, but I think that's what one of the main draws of the comic. I have no idea what's going on, or who half the characters are, but I am really intrigued as to what is happening. Looking into collected volumes of previous issues, but my comic fund is getting stretched thin as it is.

More on Spawn

Seems that I had a fair bit of traffic from my first mentioning of Spawn, so I feel it important to mention again. Also, I was drunk on Nyquil when I wrote it so it probably needs a more focused point.

I really don't know much about the character, beyond what the average comic book reader knows most likely. Most of what I know are from adaptations, so I'm pretty sure at least part of the story vanished in the conversion.

I like the concept of the character, and I'm drawn to the tragedy of his life as motivation for his actions. I think most of this is from the parallels with Batman. A lot of his poses and such that I have seen are very Batman like, down to his cape wraping around him in the wind.

I extend a question to the general public that may wander here: Is the comic worth reading? If it is, can I start from anywhere or is it best to start back with issue 1?

Non-DC characters I really like, but know little about

There isn't any particular order to the order I'll list the characters other than how they come up in my head. I'll start out with the one I originally planned to write out before I considered turning it into a series of writings.
- - -

Spawn

I have never read a single issue of the comic, and have only flipped through a collected graphic novel a few random times. I have seen the live action movie a handful of times and think it is fairly decent for an adaptation based on what I know. I have watched a number of the HBO animated series episodes, but most were out of order I think. I consider Dark Saga as one of the best cds Iced Earth has produced.

I think it is the cd that really makes me like the series. Much of what I've seen isn't enough to really form a solid opinion, and it has also been a long time since I have seen anything of the other media.

Spawn's design is a little wacky for, well, spawn of Hell. The mask itself doesn't work for me, but that cape makes up for everything else. Probably it is a bleed off from my love for Batman, who also has shots of a giant windswept cape - except Batman's cape doesn't seem to have a mind of its own. The chains also make him look cool, but that is probably the whole idea behind his design.

What really hits me about the character is his story/origin. As dark and tragic it is, it is also really romantic to me. Simply put, the man who became Spawn was betrayed and killed. He then sold his soul to see his wife again. While he was dead, fate was twisted around to have his best friend and wife fall in love and move on without him, and become happy without him. The man gave up everything to see his wife, and that which he gave everything up to spoiled it all for him. Now he is cursed into the slavery of evil and tries his best to remain in control.

Like I said, most of what I feel about the character and story is based on Dark Saga, which is a heavy metal cd devoted entirely to Spawn. Out of all the cds by Iced Earth it is probably the most rounded and I can listen to the entire cd without much pain from disharmony. It also plays up the tragedy of the main character, and that is what I connect with the most.

If you're the least bit curious about the cd you can see it here, with samples.