John Buys Comics, the Saga Continues

Battle for the Cowl No. 2

Okay. So Batman is (dead? missing? a caveman?)and everyone even vaguely associated with the Batman franchise is running around Gotham and some of them are dressing up like Batman and some or all of the inmates have been sprung from Arkham Asylum (again) and Commissioner Gordon has to deal with an unsympathetic new DA who doesn't cotton to vigilantes (again) and there's a gang war brewing and the Batmen are fighting and one of them is really homicidal.

Way to reset the franchise!

This isn't actually a bad comic, but it ain't anything especially new. It kind of reads like a better-written-and-drawn Knightfall or Knightbat or whatever part of that whole interminable series of comics was the birt where Azrael was the Batman.

However (SPOILERS, the rest of this sentence contains SPOILERS), way to try to tell us that Jason Todd is the murderous, unrepentant Batman and then show him fighting side-by-side with Robin as Red Robin in DC Nation. THAT DOESN'T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY AT ALL. 

World of New Krypton No. 2

You know, I've really been enjoying Superman for the last year or so - I must admit I was slow to notice that Geoff Johns was doing some neato things and really didn't start reading the Supes until the Legion and Bizarro arcs of Action had hammered the point home. One of my favourite things about the stories that have been happening since then is the fact that I have been regularly saying  "Augh, what? No, that's a terrible idea!" when I find out the next plot twist and then I read the comic and it's great. I'm really hoping that things keep on in this mould regardless of eventual creative team.

World of New Krypton seems to be delivering. Enlarging the inhabitants of Kandor? Having them make an artificial planet on the other side of the sun? Having them all be assholes? These are terrible ideas that I love. Seriously, this is great. This vision of Krypton is entertainingly alien and flawed without being the dour, frilly Byrne version, which never quite struck a chord with me. Plus, Zod.

Plus, Thought Beasts.

Thought Beasts! 

Green Lantern No. 39

Speaking of terrible ideas that make for great comics... Seriously, if someone had told me about this whole multi-Corps thing two or three years ago, well, I might have gotten excited, but I'm hardly typical. Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have been consistently great for quite some time now, though, and the process of meeting the various Corps has been a big part of that. Jerkass Sinestro Corps? Villainously fun! Crazy, blood-spewing Red Lanterns? Gross and fun! Blue Lanterns, one of whom is basically an elephant? Also fun!

The Orange Lanterns, my friennds, do not disappoint. I will be looking forward to the next installment of this little saga eagerly.

Secret Six No. 8

It's date night for the Secret Six!

I enjoy this comic so much that it's going to get cancelled soon, I just know it. I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry Gail Simone - you did such a good job writing such immoral, homicidal characters and making me care for them that my curse is sure to kick in any month now.

I can't think of much to say that isn't spoiler-ific, so I'll just point out that everyone is extra-delightful in this issue.

B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess No. 4

Hmm. If you were a follower of Paul and John Review you might have caught on to the fact that I am a big fan of the Hellboy comics and all of their various spinoffs and so forth. It's true, all true. I love horror comics and mysteries and mythology and people punching things that maybe they shouldn't and monsters and good writing and weird characters. To various degrees, these comics deliver on all of those. I am highly, highly in favour of Guy Davis as an artist on B.P.R.D. - his style is so far removed from Mignola's that there is no question of him being a style-copier and so his art can be apreciated on its own merits. His art is great! Also, Dave Stewart is a fantastic colourist.

Okay, so now that that's out of the way I promise not to do it every time I buy a Mike Mignola comic. Maybe I'll weigh in at the start of every mini-series, I don't know.

As for The Black Goddess, it's been highly satisfying so far. Last issue was the one that really made me sit up and go "Hot damn!" but this one - as per the cover, left - has lotsa dragons and frogs and little tidbits of information about the evolving story. That's one of my very favourite things about these series, by the way, the fact that they are a part of a very long story in which things have the potential to and frequently do change radically in the course of an issue or two. I can't deny I love the types of comics that have essentially maintained a status quo for sixty years, barring the odd Bat-Hound or two, but the act of reading a proper, evolving story fills me with delight. 

Okay, that's it! Oh, I also bought Booster Gold No 19 this week but couldn't think of much to say, other than that it was a decent read but that the events of the issue could have been handled in about two pages, except maybe what Rip was doing. It felt like trade paperback padding.

So long, folks.

Wednesday Interview: Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir

Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir are a husband-and-wife writing team who hang their hats in sunny Los Angeles. Together, they’ve written a whole slew of miniseries and graphic novels for Oni Press, including SKINWALKER, THREE STRIKES, MARIA’S WEDDING, PAST LIES, THE TOMB, and ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, as well as a number of projects for Marvel and DC—they’ve written NEW X-MEN, NEW MUTANTS, HELLIONS, CHECKMATE, and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (with Nunzio squeezing in a solo stint on DETECTIVE COMICS). They also created the manga titles AMAZING AGENT LUNA and DESTINY’S HAND, and have written for film, television, and video games, with credits on projects as diverse as the HBO sports comedy ARLI$$ and the animated adventure series KIM POSSIBLE for Disney. Somewhere in all of this, Weir and DeFilippis found the time to write a story arc for BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL, one that introduces a well-established Batman villain from another medium to the comic book page for the first time. Beautifully illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan, this three-issue arc is the kind of thrilling Batman yarn that hasn’t been seen for many a year—a nail-biting murder mystery that requires not only the Caped Crusader’s fighting prowess, but his considerable detective skills as well.

   

This week, as their storyline concludes in BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #28, DeFilippis and Weir were kind enough to answer some questions about how this story arc came to be, how they write scripts together, and what they’ve got lined up for the future. So, without further ado…

You guys have divided your time between work-for-hire projects for the Big Two, creator-owned, non-superhero graphic novels and miniseries for Oni Press, and even a bit of manga just to keep it international. Do you have a preference, or do you like bouncing back and forth? Is one easier or harder than the other?

CW: I don't particularly have a preference.  They all have their pros and cons.  The work we do with Oni allows us to pretty much tell any type of story we want.  We've been able to do horror, crime drama, family comedy, fantasy, etc.  But working for DC and Marvel allows us to play with history.  There's nothing like actually getting to write Batman, Superman or the X-Men.  In general, as a writer, any work is good work.  I'll take it all!

Can you tell us a bit about how your co-writing process works? Do you hash out the plot together, then take turns on subsequent drafts, or is it a constant collaboration at every stage?

ND: In a perfect world, we do everything together.  We discuss plot, map it out, do breakdowns for the issues, and even write together.  Christina usually works the keyboard and I pace a lot.  I do most of the talking, which might make it seem like I'm shaping the script, but remember... she does all of the typing.  So she just changes what she wants, and then I come over and look, and we argue about it until we find a happy medium that we both like.  However, this method can take a while, so when we have a lot of jobs to juggle, we'll tag team.  I'm plotting one while she's writing another, then she reworks my plots while I rewrite her scripts, and vice versa.  Basically, no matter what method we use, nothing gets done until we've both had at least one crack at it, and we're both happy with it.

Your latest project, a three-issue arc on BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL, features the first DCU appearance of King Tut, a villain whose only previous appearance was the 1960s Adam West/Burt Ward BATMAN TV series. Why did you choose Tut to make over instead of, say, Egghead, The Great Chandell, or Marsha, Queen of Diamonds?

CW: We originally were pitching a Riddler story - a story where Batman and Riddler had to team up to fight a villain and the Riddler was particularly interested because the villain was stealing his M.O.  But we pitched it as a new villain called The Sphinx.  Mike Carlin really liked the idea, but being an old school fan and a fan of the TV show, he said "Why not use King Tut?"  We certainly can't argue with the results.

ND:  As Christina mentioned, this started as a Riddler idea.  I've been trying to tell Riddler stories for years.  He's a personal favorite of mine, and I think in writing him, Christina developed a deep love for the character too.

Your BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL arc features stunning art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Did you have much contact with the artist while developing the story? Were you familiar with his previous work, and, if so, did you find it intimidating to work with him?

CW: We have not had contact with Jose.  But we LOVE his art.  When Mike mentioned wanting to get him on this project, we were ecstatic.  And every time Mike would send us new pages was like Christmas.  We hope to some day thank him in person for the spectacular job he's done.  We also hope to buy the Riddler splash page from issue #27.

The King Tut arc wraps up this week in BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #28. Can you tell us anything about what projects you have lined up next?

ND:  For DC, we have one definite project that we can't quite talk about yet - a brief stint on an ongoing title where we get to slot in another idea we've been trying to tell, working for an editor we've been dying to work for on a character I've wanted to write for decades.  Then we are pitching some more Riddler stories, but they need a home and we need to find a way to fit them into the stories running in existing books, so we don't know if that'll happen.  We also have numerous pitches floating around DC, and because we just keep knocking on doors at DC, and because this Confidential arc is so well received within DC (from what we hear), maybe one or two of them might find homes someday.

CW:  Also in comics, we have a new graphic novel coming out from Oni Press at the end of the year.  It's called ALL SAINTS DAY and is a sequel to our previous book PAST LIES.  It's been a long time in the making since our artist is the father of triplets.  But we're very exciting with how the book is coming along.  We're developing an ongoing horror series for Oni called BAD MEDICINE, though the artist for the book has to finish a graphic novel before it gets on the schedule.  We also have the final volume of DESTINY'S HAND due out later this year.  That will wrap up our pirate adventure.  Otherwise, we're working on a feature film that we hope moves forward this year.  So as usual, lots of balls in the air and waiting to see what pans out. 
 

Doctor Doom Takes Off to the Great White North.

Why has Doctor Doom come to Canada?

a) To demand that Rush add Latverian dates to their latest tour;
b) To meet his favourite Degrassi character (Wheels);
c) To stock up on Clone High DVDs;
d) Ketchup chips

Alright, it's none of the above. It's actually because he's thirsty.

Well that seems reasonable. But of course he completely ruins everything by doing something evil.

I was inspired to post these panels from ALPHA FLIGHT #91 mainly because of this page, which I think is a fine example of diplomacy that I think the G-20 leaders could learn something from.

"And if they are not available, VICTOR VON DOOM demands that it be Bret 'The Hitman' Hart. DOOM would also not mind some maple-smoked bacon."

How awesome do you have to be to get that sort of lightshow happening when you talk?

I Hope They Put Bloodstrike In The Sequel.

One of the weirdest, couldn’t-make-this-up-if-you-tried announcements to come out of this February’s New York ComiCon was the news that Brett Ratner—the director of shameless popcorn fare like the RUSH HOUR trilogy, the third X-MEN installment, and the wholly unnecessary new adaptation of Thomas Harris’s RED DRAGON (to see it done right, check out Michael Mann’s somewhat dated but otherwise excellent MANHUNTER), was now lined up to direct a feature film based on Rob Liefeld’s YOUNGBLOOD. Not to be confused with the 1986 Rob Lowe hockey movie of the same name, YOUNGBLOOD was the inaugural title from the newly-formed Image Comics in 1992. Liefeld’s superteam ensemble has endured as a symbol of everything that sucked about the early nineties in comics, with its cast of characters seemingly cherry-picked from every superhero book of the previous decade  (a formula that would go on to serve WILDC.A.T.S., CYBERFORCE, and their assorted spin-offs well), its multiple covers and multimedia tie-ins, including action figures and an aborted animated series (well underway before even six issues had even been released), and a first issue that was supposedly a “hot” commodity, even though everybody who could ever possibly want one bought multiple copies anyway. Oh yes, there was also the art and story—Liefeld the artist is best known for tiny, triangular feet, speed lines in lieu of backgrounds, muscles that swell like sausage casings about to burst, and a range of facial expressions that include “angry”, “surprised”, some combination of the two, and not much else. And the writing! How bad is the writing? Image recently released an “Anniversary” hardcover compilation of the first several issues, with new dialogue by Joe Casey to replace the original script by Liefeld and Hank Kanalz. That’s gotta be some kind of first.

The announcement of a Ratner YOUNGBLOOD feature being developed was a bit of a shock at first, and the kind of story that sounded like some kind of elaborate, early April Fools’ Day prank—the director who, more than any other, makes film nerds’ collective blood boil, teaming with the artist whose name is the first to pop up when you type the phrase “Most Hated Man In Comics” into a search engine. However, upon reflection, there are a few things to consider before getting too worked up.

First, there is very little chance of a YOUNGBLOOD movie actually getting made. Comics are optioned all the time without ever materializing. The late 1980s magazine COMICS SCENE used to have a lengthy section at the back of each issue detailing which comics had been optioned by what studio, and who was attached to direct or star. I’d say maybe 4-5% of those films were ever made, and I might be being a bit generous—I don’t have the actual figures in front of me, but it was not uncommon to pick up an issue and read about the development of a CONCRETE feature, or how Francis Ford Coppola was THIS CLOSE to making a DOCTOR STRANGE movie. Even Liefeld, quite the Hollywood player in his heyday, has been down this road a few times already. He once created a comic series called DOOM’S IV, a thinly-veiled knockoff of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. The comic was supposed to form the basis for a big-budget feature, but it never materialized. A few years later, he was said to be developing a property called THE MARK for Will Smith to eventually star in, featuring a premise that borrowed heavily from Marvel’s STAR BRAND series, which in turn owed a lot to DC’s GREEN LANTERN franchise (see a pattern forming here?), but again, the project languished in development hell. More recently, Liefeld was said to be working on a project with J-Lo’s production company—something about a sexy shrink for superheroes—but…well, you figure it out. The most likely possibility is that YOUNGBLOOD: THE MOVIE will see the light of day around the same time as that long-promised BLACK PANTHER movie with Wesley Snipes or IRON FIST starring Ray Park. You know, the guy who played Darth Maul? You’d pay good money to see that, right?

Second, if Ratner, or anyone for that matter, actually does the unthinkable and makes a YOUNGBLOOD movie, it will most likely bear little to no resemblance to the comic that spawned it. It’s much easier to imagine Ratner delivering a movie about a high-tech group of government operatives than a big, colourful, superhero movie. To be fair, the team in the comics was a government-sponsored organization, but I imagine the costumes and superpowers would probably get tossed in favour of guns and armour and the like. It’s cheaper, easier, and less ridiculous-looking—in fact, I’m sure it’s this type of thinking that led to WANTED looking nothing like the comic it was allegedly based on, and is just as likely behind the G.I. JOE movie due out this summer. The cast of the YOUNGBLOOD comic aren’t exactly household names (for most people, the name Shaft will conjure up images of Richard Roundtree rather than a guy whose bow has no string), and the comic is far, far from respected even among the fan community, so I’m pretty sure no one will mind if more than a few liberties are taken. Liefeld won’t even care, I’m sure, so long as the check clears.

However, one possibility still occurs to me—a remote one at best, but one that carries with it a certain masochistic thrill: what if Brett Ratner, rather than running from the comic book’s, ahem, distinct visual stylings, embraced them? What if he pulled a Robert Rodriguez or a Zack Snyder and did his level best to replicate YOUNGBLOOD on the movie screen exactly as it appeared in Rob Liefeld’s comics? Utilizing the actual panels from the comics themselves as virtual storyboards, Ratner could make YOUNGBLOOD: THE MOTION PICTURE the most faithful comic book-to-screen adaptation since SIN CITY or 300. Think about it--with state-of-the-art prosthetic makeup appliances, the actors could be made to look uncannily similar to Liefeld’s depictions, with jutting pectoral muscles that resemble matronly bosoms, chins so square you could cut your finger on them, and eyeballs that sometimes have pupils, but often don’t for some reason. CGI could be utilized to bring specific panels to life in widescreen glory, with nary a poorly-drawn background or physically impossible pose compromised. It would be the most gaudy, horrifying, and insane-looking motion picture in history, and it would almost certainly bomb at the box office. But dammit, it would be honest. Obviously, I have no expectations of anything remotely resembling this scenario taking place, but it sure would be more funny and interesting than what we’ll likely see if this movie ever gets made.

And hey, at the very least, Ratner could always hire Joe Casey to rewrite the dialogue for an “Anniversary Edition” fifteen years later.
 

Archie Sunday: Archie Plays to Win

Tired of mere threesomes, Archie devises a way to make Spin the Bottle more exciting:

Henchman Fashion File: The Birdmaster's Feathery Thugs

Hello folks and welcome to my first Saturday post for Living Between Wednesdays, where I share all of the odd things that I have found whilst reading hundreds and hundreds of comics from any number of metallic ages. Mad props to Rachelle for organizing the whole thing (though why she wouldn’t take my suggestion to name it “Rachelle and John and Tiina and Dave Review” I’ll never know), to her husband Matt for all of his excellent design-work and to my long-time pal and former blog-partner Paul for putting the whole thing together.

 

In honour of the occasion, I’m inaugurating a new feature in which I’ll critique the design choices made by super-villains of yesteryear when outfitting their henchmen. We’ll be looking at these costumes for utility, attractiveness and budget, as well as taking a look at the final fate of the head honcho involved, just to see if attention to detail in henchman-costume-design translates to long-term criminal success. Maybe someday I’ll do a chart, I don’t know.

 

The Villain: The Birdmaster! Appearing in Detective Comics No 348, this vaguely Middle Eastern evildoer used giant trained condors and eagles to shut down air travel around Gotham city in order to… collect ransom? Steal things? If this sentence is still here then I didn’t bother to go back and check. Actually, I did check: as far as I know this guy had no goal whatsoever. He was just... jealous? He didn't want anybody else using the sky.

 

 

The Henchmen: They never really get a name, but a couple of times they get referred to as Feathery Thugs, so that’s what I’m calling them. Let me tell you: these guys might prove the theories about henchmen having really low self-esteem.

 

 

 

Attractiveness of Costume: Not very. Aside from the fact that they break Blockade Boy’s “long sleeves with bare legs is verboten” rule, the only thing that I think of when I see these things is “bad Hawkman cosplay”. I think that the best explanation for this is that it’s like in a fantasy novel when the villain saunters into the nearest half-assed evil cult and takes over by killing the leader. Birdmaster obviously must have offed the president of the Gotham chapter of the Carter Hall Appreciation Society so as to have thematically-appropriate minions. Of course, he could just have horrible design sense. Whichever.

 

1/5

 

Utility of Costume:  I don’t know if any consideration of the day-to-day duties of a thug passed through the mind of whoever created these things. Look at how they all have their arms held stiffly out to the side, even the guys with the net, kinda. I bet that those feathers fall off really easily and double-bet that these guys are never going to learn how to fly. Also, remember the first Tim Burton Batman movie, how Michael Keaton had to turn his whole torso to look to the left or right? You can’t tell me that these guys aren’t doing that constantly. Even if they weren’t obviously incompetent fighters, these outfits would do a fine job of making them so.

 

However:

 

 

Nose-mounted knockout gas dispensers are a very nice touch. I could almost believe that the costumes were deliberately designed to look stupid so that this bit of cleverness would come as a surprise. Looking at the rest of the Birdmaster’s half-assed operation (his plane, for example, is not only not shaped like a bird but doesn’t even have a bird painted on it) I think that that might be giving him too much credit.

 

2/5

 

Budget for Costumes: I’d say that there’s a pretty good chance that those feathers are made out of construction paper, an excellent chance that the eagle heads are made of papier mache, and I’m near-certain that the whole thing was put together in the Birdmaster’s garage on a rainy day, possibly to get the henchmen out of his hair for a few hours so he could have a relaxing bath.

 

1/5

 

Chance for Bonus Points: Does the Villain Have a Lieutenant With a Marginally-Cooler Costume and Possibly a Name?: Nope.

 

So, out of an arbitrarily-decided fifteen possible Henchman Costume Points, Birdmaster scored a 4. And what was the final fate of this Sultan of the Skies? (see if there’s another one of these in the comic)

 

 

 

Hmmm…

 

(these costumes are NOT APPROVED, by the way)