Steve Rogers, Starving Himself To Be Pretty

Several of this week’s Marvel offerings had a teaser image in them that showed a white star on a black page with the word JULY underneath. This is probably just an ad for THE MARVELS PROJECT, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s upcoming mini about the early days of the Super-Soldier Project and the creation of the original Human Torch, but it’s obviously supposed to make everyone think that Steve Rogers is coming back. And who knows? Maybe he is. Probably sooner rather than later. However, I’m pretty sure that this is the same gag Marvel pulled when they released an Alex Ross Cap image awhile back with the word RETURN underneath…which turned out to be nothing more than a teaser for the AVENGERS/INVADERS mini. My point is, it’s not enough to simply kill a character off anymore—as a publisher, it is also apparently your job to begin teasing the character’s return almost immediately. It’s like that story in THE ONION compilation, OUR DUMB CENTURY, reporting on the death of Elvis; the headline reads “ELVIS DEAD”, with the words “Is Elvis Alive?” underneath. None of this may seem very relevant, but I am going to review both a new CAPTAIN AMERICA comic and the comic that reintroduces Barry Allen to the land of the living, so as introductions go, it seems fairly solid. Anyway…

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS  #1 70th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: This is basically the opening sequence from INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, but with horrifyingly skinny, pre-Super-Soldier-Serum Steve Rogers instead of River Phoenix. In this flashback-within-a-flashback, Steve Rogers—who is always depicted as little more than a walking skeleton before Dr. Erskine juiced him up...

...has to keep a military secret safe from a trio of Fifth Columnists. Like in LAST CRUSADE, Steve is chased across a bunch of train cars, even using a garbage can lid as a makeshift shield at one point. It’s a cute enough story by James Robinson, one of those “he was a hero before he got the costume” dealies (albeit one that stretches credibility a fair ways—Steve’s pretty able-bodied for a 98-pound weakling who only minutes before was labeled 4-F at the recruiting station!), but the reason to check it out is the always-outstanding Marcos Martin (BATGIRL YEAR ONE, DR. STRANGE: THE OATH) on the art. This guy needs a regular gig, stat. There’s also a great Simon and Kirby Cap reprint where he and Bucky foil a villain named the Black Toad, who’s out to kill a bunch of baseball players.

Check it out! Those dudes are totally sliding into their own tombstones, and Death's like, "You're outta here!" This forces Cap and Bucky to join the game, which is undeniably awesome, although they never question why a guy who calls himself the Black Toad is dressed in a bat costume.

Yep, fangs and everything.

FLASH: REBIRTH #1: After Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver’s super-successful relaunch of the GREEN LANTERN franchise a few years back, it’s no surprise that DC wanted them to do the same with Silver Age FLASH protagonist Barry Allen. It makes sense on a number of levels, really—like Hal Jordan before him, Barry’s the Flash with the least amount of continuity baggage and the most easily explainable origin. Also, comic books regularly sold in the millions back in the heyday of Hal and Barry, so why wouldn’t you try to recapture that? This, however, is a very different animal than GL: REBIRTH, since Barry already came back to life in FINAL CRISIS, with some sort of hasty explanation that involved him being “reverse-engineered back to life in a blizzard of faster-than-light particles” or some such. The mission of this 5-part mini seems to be the re-establishment of Barry as the DC Universe’s most prominent speedster, which, it seems, may require some pruning of the family tree. Let’s face it, the DCU is lousy with speedsters young and old, and the creative team seems intent on scaling back the cast, hopefully giving Flash back some of his uniqueness. This is a potentially controversial move, but I think it’s necessary—the last two FLASH incarnations failed because they started out with too-cluttered mythologies (that’s my theory, anyway). So this book sees Barry Allen, still clinging steadfastly to his old-fashioned notions of guilt and innocence, eager to get back to fighting the good fight, while the re-appearance of super-villain Savitar seems to indicate that something is up with the Speed Force (the otherdimensional source of all the speedsters’ power). For a FLASH title, this is a pretty slow-moving first issue, cycling through tons of supporting cast before introducing its title character, and Van Sciver’s hyper-detailed art doesn’t really convey the sense of movement that a FLASH title desperately needs. I’m as happy to see Barry back as most fanboys, but this franchise may not, er, find its feet until the inevitable ongoing title (much like Johns’ GREEN LANTERN did, say).

SEAGUY: SLAVES OF MICKEY EYE #1: The original 2004 SEAGUY miniseries was one of those Grant Morrison comics like THE FILTH (or FINAL CRISIS, even) where, as a Morrison fan, I just shrug and go along for the ride, not really understanding what the hell’s going on half the time but enjoying it nonetheless. The three-issue mini, illustrated with whimsy and creepiness by Toronto artist Cameron Stewart, seemed to be Morrison’s satire on the absurdity of superhero comics--the protagonist lived in a science-fiction amusement park, repeatedly playing chess with a goofy, easily-cheated Death, all the while bemoaning the lack of excitement in a world where the ultimate evil, Anti-Dad, had been destroyed by the sacrifice of somebody called Teknostrich. SEAGUY was also some strange parody of corporate domination, featuring an omnipresent logo/mascot/TV show called Mickey Eye and a sentient foodstuff called Xoo that is offered to the book’s bored, complacent superhero characters at every turn. The book’s namesake hero went on a doomed quest to save Xoo from corporate/industrial slavery, trying to win the heart of heroine She-beard along the way. Oh yeah, and there was a mummy on the moon as well. Still with me? This long-rumoured but unlikely sequel kicks off with Seaguy realizing once again that his amusement park world might be a lot more sinister than it appears, while Seaguy’s lost sidekick Chubby Da Choona appears from beyond the grave to offer cryptic warnings that soon send Seaguy off another crazy quest, pursued by the forces of Mickey Eye. If this description has you rolling your eyes, than SEAGUY is probably not for you. However, if you like the idea of a funny, disturbing adventure book that reads like a collaboration between Gardner Fox and David Lynch, and are prepared to shrug and go along for the ride no matter how crazy it gets, than check it out.

MARVEL SPECTACULAR ASSISTANT-SIZED SPECIAL #1:  Back in ’84, Marvel’s editors relinquished control of their books to their assistants for the duration of “Assistant Editors Month”. This wasn’t really an event, more like a month of somewhat goofy stories (or in some cases, a goofy letterhead illustration and not much else), but it gave us some classics like the MARVEL TEAM-UP where Aunt May became herald to Galactus, the Avengers appearing on “Late Night with David Letterman”, and a great IRON MAN story featuring a bunch of neighbourhood kids with an Avengers club whose Iron Man is booted out of the team in disgrace, just like his drunk-at-the-time namesake. However, in today’s hectic, crossover-driven marketplace, there’s no way Marvel would give up a month of their books to the whims of their assistant editors, so instead we have this two-issue miniseries that sees the lowly assistants convening in the Marvel bathroom to have their own pitch session. The resulting anthology features a Middle-Eastern-set D-Man tale by Brian Patchett and Xurxo G. Penalta, an American Eagle vs. Cottonmouth story by Jason Aaron and Richard Isanove, and an always-welcome MINI MARVELS entry by Chris Giarrusso…apparently, the only place a Clint Barton Hawkeye fan can get a fix these days. The resulting mix of tone and style in these stories is pretty weird—the D-Man story has a very indie comics feel, the American Eagle number is fairly gritty (and Isanove’s art makes the whole affair look like a DARK TOWER outtake—but the cute framing sequence by Chris Eliopoulous and Jacob Chabot and the Giarrusso story make it all better. The whole affair is topped off by a dope David Williams (HULK/POWER PACK) cover, who needs to do some more interiors, pronto.

KILLER OF DEMONS #2: This three-parter from Christopher Yost (X-FORCE) and Scott Wegener is a bit like the 2001 film FRAILTY, only less homespun and more crazy. An office drone named Dave starts seeing that most of the people around him are demons, and embarks on a mission from God to wipe them out. But is Dave actually being shown visions of Hell from his angel guide, Uriel, or is he just a plain old homicidal loony?

KILLER OF DEMONS is heavy on zany humour—Dave works for a tobacco company that is always looking for new ways to market their product to an increasingly younger audience, his FBI agent brother gleefully uses online gaming to trap pedophiles, Satan enlists a stripper-assassin to kill Dave—but this week’s issue two brings with it some surprising twists as well, like the lengths Dave’s cop girlfriend goes to in order to protect her guy when she learns about his hobby. Wegener’s angular, cartoony art is a lot tighter and more assured with the second issue as well, and Yost’s script has a nice balance of humour and action that has me looking forward to the wrap-up.
 

This Week's Haul: Flash Back!

The Flash: Rebirth #1

I have made it pretty clear that I will buy anything that Geoff Johns writes, so I was pretty excited about this. Plus, I really enjoyed Green Lantern: Rebirth, so I was hoping that this would promise to be as good. The first issue of the story of Barry Allen's return starts with some blood spashing all over the page, just in case you forgot that Geoff Johns is writing it. It also features lots of "Welcome Back" parties and parades being set up in various locations on the same day (because, y'know, The Flash can make it to all of them no problem. Cute!). It also features a lot of Barry chatting with his old pal Hal Jordan, which I loved.

It's a very exciting first issue and I can't wait for the next one!

JSA #25

And since we're talking about Geoff Johns anyway, this is the penultimate issue of his very enjoyable run on JSA. It's also the finale of a pretty exciting Marvel family story featuring Crazy Black Adam, Crazier Isis, Slutty Mary Marvel, Powerless Billy Batson, and Pissed Off Shazam.

Speaking of the JSA, I highly recommend Johnathan's recent and important posts about whether or not the member of the Golden Age Justice Society would make the Legion of Super Heroes. I was laughing my ass off reading it, and my husband was like "what are you doing?" to which I had to reply "reading Johnathan's post about whether or not members of the Golden Age Justice League would be admitted into the Legion of Super Heroes...which is NOT AS NERDY AS IT SOUNDS!" Anyway, check them out here and here.

Jonah Hex #42

In this issue, young Jonah Hex is put through a merciless, abusive involuntary Batman-style training regimen by his crazy drunken father to toughen him up. As we all know, it worked. But that doesn't make it right.

Or does it?

Either way it makes for great reading!

I love how nearly every issue starts with some dudes who are like "Say your prayers, Hex, because you are going to die now." And I'm all like "Oh shit! Those guys are totally going to die SO HARD!" Good comics.

Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1

Holy hell. This was awesome. In general, I really love Captain America's origin story. And I really, really love Marcos Martin's art. But even I was surprised at how awesome the two things combined turned out to be. This is a definite must-own, people.

X-Men First Class Finals #3

Ok, the main story was really great and everything as usual, but I have to totally freak out here about the long and awesome Colleen Coover back-up story. She totally draws the most adorable Man-Thing ever! Check it out:

Pride and Prejudice #1

I didn't actually buy this or read it, I just flipped through it. I just want to say this: what if Colleen Coover had been the artist on this?

Awesome, right?

Other things I read this week: Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #3 (A rare treat! A perfect kids superhero comic, I say. If only it came out faster!), Amazing Spider-Man #590 (it's got the Fantastic Four in it!), and Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius: April Fools (hilarious!).

Things I haven't read yet: Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil #3 (I forgot to buy it! Drat!) and Jersey Gods #3 (I just realized I haven't read issue #2 yet! Smack!).

2009 Shuster Awards Nominees Announced!

The nominees for the 2009 Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators were announced today! The full list of nominees can be viewed on the official website here.

Among the nominees are our local pals Darwyn Cooke (best cartoonist, best writer, best cover art), Steve McNiven (best artist, best cover art) and Faith Erin Hicks (best cartoonist)! Yay! Also, Dave's buddy on the other side of the country, Steve Rolston, was nominated for best artist!

Sadly, local cartoonist Ray Fenwick failed to get a nomination for his amazing collection, Hall of Best Knowledge (Fantagraphics). Also, J. Bone not being recognized for his awesome cover work on Super Friends is just insane. One look at the list of nominees tells you how much comic book talent we have here in Canada, and you should see who didn't make the cut! We are overflowing with talent from sea to frigid sea!

This was my second year on the panel of judges(?) to pick the shortlist, and it's something I love to be a part of. The winners will be announced in Toronto on June 27th (I believe at a ceremony that is part of the Toronto ComicCon?).

Congratulations to all the nominees and good luck!

John buys comics: April 1, 2009

Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat

I have decided to buy all of this 'Battle for the Cowl' malarky so that I can warn people if it sucks. I figure that there are going to be about a fifth as many issues to buy as there were of Countdown and at least this time i have a reason beyond simple masochism.

This was... okay? I like a Man-Bat story as much as the next guy, but there have been better. I don't know, I guess I have to get a better feel for this whole event to know whether it had any bearing on things or was just a feebly tied-in filler. 

Keywords for the villain (I won't spoil who it is if you don't already know): discount chains and poorly-explained motivation.

   Irredeemable No. 1

BOOM! Studios have only entered my radar comparatively recently, but they're making a good impression. I love me some good in media res superhero tales with lotsa made-up continuity, and between this and Caped they're doing a damn fine job of feeding the particularly nerdy monkey on my back.

 Good new characters, good takes on the ramifications of a super-powered lifestyle, an Afterward by Grant Morrison If you like that sort of thing. Good show, Mark Waid.

Strange Adventures No. 2

I haven't been following events in the far reaches of DCSpace as closely as I probably should have in order to be reading this, but I like it anyway. I like Adam Strange, I like Bizarro and I like Captain Comet (I especially like the pulp detective-esque Captain Comet of recent times as opposed to the 1959s throwback of before).

The only real drawback is that Lady Styx is tangentally involved, as I find her about as interesting as mud. 

The Flash: Rebirth No. 1

This was very good! I have hig hopes for this comic - Geoff Johns has been writing 'em like I like 'em for a while now and It's hard to go wron with the Flash. Not to say that it can't be done, but it doesn't look like that's what's happening here.

 Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye No.1

Oh thank heavens.

I liked Seaguy a whole lot - it was chock full of intriguing Morrisonisms to delight the senses - but it didn't really work as a stand-alone book. It definitely suffered for a sense of incompleteness. Hooray, though, as Grant Morrison has managed to get DC to go ahead with Part 2!

I just hope that any further parts of this story don't require a Crisis of some kind  to be written for Morrison to get the clout together to make it happen (aw, i don't know if it's true or not but it sure is a compelling little story, yes?).  

Other comics I read this week: Jersey Gods (good, Kirbyesque!), Dead Romeo (bad, long-winded!), Greatest Hits (Good ending!)

Wednesday Interview: Jimmy Palmiotti

And now we start a new weekly feature where we post an interview with one of our favourite comic book creators every Wednesday! Each interview will coincide with something exciting that is hitting the shelves that week.

We kick off this exciting new series with one of my very favourite writers/artists, Jimmy Palmiotti! As you probably know, Jimmy and his writing partner Justin Gray write a lot of comics together, including the recent mini-series Terra, Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom, and the amazing ongoing series Jonah Hex. He also writes a very entertaining blog over at Newsarama.

Jonah Hex #42 drops today, along with the latest trade of the series, Bullets Don't Lie. You would be a fool not to buy at least one of these.

Alright, here we go with the interview, where Mr. Palmiotti mentions exciting things like the upcoming Jonah Hex #50 (art by Darwyn Cooke) and the Wednesday Comics project he's doing for DC with his awesome lady-partner, Amanda Conner!

1. While consistently being one of my favorite comics every month, Jonah Hex has officially made it into my 'do not read before bed' pile. The latest two issues were particularly gristly and creepy. Are you intentionally trying to test the limits of what you can get away with, or do you just occasionally get inspired to write a particularly gruesome story?

Well, the idea and basic thing about the Jonah Hex character is that he is a bounty hunter in a pretty rough world but doing forty issues of him just fighting thieves and bringing them in for a reward is something we don’t want to put on the reader each and every month. With the current storyline and a few others we did in the past, we try to visit a genre within a genre and the horror aspect of the character is a fun one, but unlike others before us, we are staying away from the supernatural aspect as best we can and keeping it grounded in reality.

The sawbones story was actually a lot more graphic and David Beck had to rework a bunch of the pages to get it past D.C.standards and honestly, I don’t blame them for making us do so. The original pages even creeped me the hell out. That all said, we do try to test the limits all the time with the book and we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t. Both Justin and I want this series to go down as one of the best out there each and every month and are doing our best to keep our loyal readers interested and a little freaked now and again.

2. I really like the rotating cast of artists on Jonah Hex that has included some of the best in the business, including Jordi Bernet, Darwyn Cooke, JH Williams III, and Phil Noto. Have you written stories specifically to suit certain artists, or do the artists typically sign on after a story is written? Which artists are on deck for future issues?

What happens is really simple. We do the convention circuit and eventually some of the artists I hang out with or meet say to me that they would love to fit an issue of Jonah Hex in one day. First thing we do is try to see if its possible with their work load , next we make sure DC is cool with the selection and then…we write the story to play with their artistic strengths. Being an artist myself, I have a pretty good eye to what makes an artist swoon, so we do our best to give them something that they aren’t getting from drawing their other books and especially a chance, for a change, to illustrate a complete story with a beginning, middle and an end.

That said, we have a full group of guest artists lined up like another Darwyn Cooke issue for the 50th issue that will be a longer tale, classic artists like Paul Gulacy and Dick Giordano, and some old and new favorites I cannot announce yet. For me, the biggest thrill I get is still working with one of my favorites, Jordi Bernet.

3. Tallulah Black is an original character that you and Justin Gray created for this series, and I think she's really compelling as a love interest and a partner for Hex. I was glad to see her return in the latest two-part story. Are there plans for the future for her?

There will always be plans for Tallulah if we have our way…and yes, she does come back into the book very soon…actually, sooner than you think. We happen to love the character on a number of levels and also find it exciting to bring something new to the comic legacy of Hex.

4. For the most part Jonah Hex has been a series of one-shot issues, with the occasional two- or three-part story mixed in. Do you still think this is the best formula for this title, and has there been any pressure from DC to write longer story arcs in an attempt to increase sales?

Well, the pressure is obvious from the company because they would like to see the book perform better so we are experimenting with a 6-part story in issue 44-49 and we shall see how the fans feel about that. D.C. comics and especially Paul and Dan have been wonderful and very giving with the series and the way they have been sticking by us. Normally, with the numbers Hex sees monthly, a lot of other companies would have thrown in the towel, but they believe in the book, the character, the genre and the best part, in Justin and I. this kind of support honestly, in my eyes, makes them the greatest comic company out there and I am loyal as hell to them for it.

5. In the latest issue (#42) we're going to see a bit of Jonah Hex's childhood. Can I assume it was a happy one?

You can assume incorrectly, lol…Jonah went through a lot of B.S. from his father and we see a bit of his mom in this issue as well. Let's say that everything that happened in his childhood years had a lot to do with the man we see today.

6. The writing team of yourself and Justin Gray has produced a hell of a lot of comics lately. One of my favorites was the Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom story that wrapped up a few months ago. Will that story be released as a trade? And what else are you guys working on right now?

Yes, that will be released as a trade in July or August I am told and Phil Noto will be going back and re-coloring parts that he felt he wanted to enhance more, so we are happy with that. Justin and I also have POWERGIRL coming in May and that's a monthly series featuring Amanda’s artwork. Its looking amazing …I have to tell you, the book is gonna do very well out there…the art is simply stunning. Amanda and I are actually doing one of the Wednesday Comics together based on her idea. It’s a fun silly story that is all ages and honestly is all Amanda .

Outside of D.C. Justin and I are working on the book LAST RESORT for IDW comics that hits in July about a group of people stuck on a tropical island where a bio hazard screw up has happened and we have the game related series PROTOTYPE coming from Wildstorm based on the video game. It’s the most violent thing you have ever seen…honest!!

What if Batman was Bruce Wayne and vice versa?

I love nothing more than that moment where I am reading an old comic and something tips me off that this issue is going to be amazing.

Batman #303 definitely has one of those moments. In this comic, Batman gets knocked on the head and gets all confused. He thinks that Bruce Wayne is the crimefighter and Batman is the billionaire playboy! Awesome, right?

Check it out. It all starts in a museum after a fight with a villain who gets away.

Awwww...poor Batman. So confused. So sad. But he gets his confidence back soon when he sees the Bat-signal.

That panel is rad.

Now watch as Bruce Wayne baffles Commissioner Gordon:

Sooo confusing. Bruce Wayne seems to understand that Batman is the mysterious masked vigilante identity, yet he still thinks that Bruce is the one who fights crime. Anyway, who cares? The important thing is that we get panels like this one:

I love that Gordon just thinks that Batman is disguised at Bruce Wayne for some reason. Gordon is a tired, tired man. At this point he's just like "Whatever."

No time to linger there, though! Bruce Wayne has to beat up Raveen!

Watch as Bruce hands out the most suggestive trash talk EVER:

He'll have to blow your brains out without a gun? But how will he do...ohhhhhhhh.

Bruce also punches a dude's hair off during this fight:

So obviously it's a problem that all these people are seeing Bruce Wayne beat up a room of people, Batman-style. But don't worry. Bruce uses some quick thinking here to cover up an onlooker's accusation:

That should put an end to any further questions.

Alfred notices that something is amiss!

The next morning, things get even weirder:

Skipping ahead, Alfred is unable to keep Batman from leaving the house in the Batman costume in broad daylight. This causes some confusion with the Gotham public:

So Batman, feeling like an outcast, seeks refuge. This allows for the writers to make a SICK HIPPIE BURN!!!

Let no one say that 1978 is too late to be making hippie jokes!

No matter where Batman goes, people laugh at him or threaten him. It's sad. And it prompts this outburst:

"Good grief!" says Batman!

I always thought Batman already had "one of those days."

What I am trying to say, in a long-winded way, is that Batman #303 is awesome.