Last Week's Haul!

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Well screw it. If Johnathan is going to post reviews this late then so am I. Memorial Day in the States screwed up our comic buying schedule, and I didn't end up picking up my comics until Saturday either. And for the past couple of days I have been doing a whole "should I...shouldn't I..." inner struggle about whether or not there is any point in posting reviews this late. But Johnathan did it, so I will too. Because I actually have a lot to say about last week's comics.

Batman in Barcelona (one-shot)

These days I tend to pick up any Batman comic that is independent of the Battle for the Cowl. Or basically any Batman comic that has Batman in it doing Batman stuff. This comic was basically created for the Barcelona comic convention which ran over the past weekend. It was pretty flat, I gotta say. It will probably be fun for the comic fans in Barcelona, but it sort of had that Spider-Man goes to CANADA! feel, y'know? Not that I don't collect and love any piece of American pop culture that I can get my hands on that involves a trip to Canada. So what I am saying is that although I have already forgotten what this comic was about, I am sure that the fans in Barcelona are at least a little thrilled to see Bruce Wayne partaking in Festival of St George celebrations (or, at least, acknowledging them).

Superman #688

Oh, Mon-El. So tragic. In this issue Mon-El finds out why his powers have been unreliable of late, and the news ain't good. He's dying. His stupid body is killing itself. But for now at least he is attractive and talking with a vague accent that passes for British. He also kinda wants to live, especially after a fairly (and maybe I read this wrong?) romantic encounter with a young man who runs an Italian restaurant downstairs from Mon's apartment. The man gives Mon a panini and encourages him to check out some café in Paris (which is undoubtedly writer James Robinson's favourite Paris café). It definitely felt like he was hitting on Mon, and that Mon was into it. Maybe it was the beautiful Renato Guedes art that was making everything seem so romantic. Anyway, after going to the café and drinking some espresso, Mon decides that not dying would be nice. To be continued!

Wonder Woman #32

Wonder Woman says enough is enough and beats the holy hell out of Genocide for this entire issue. It's awesome. She also admits that she never loved Tom, she just wanted to attractive children with him (children who would have been at least a little douchey, if you ask me). It's a tough day for Tom. There's only one issue left of this awesome storyline!

The Last Days of Animal Man #1

This six-issue series is set maybe ten years into the future, where an aging Buddy Baker is dealing with the fact that his powers are fading. Gerry Conway is writing it, and he knows a thing or two about writing comics. I really enjoyed this. Fans like me have been whining for years about DC and Vertigo having some sorta problem that didn't allow Vertigo heroes to return to the DCU. Over the past couple of years we have seen Animal Man slowly work his way back into the main DC line-up, and while I doubt we'll see him in the JLA anytime soon, he works really well in off-beat stories like this one. I think this series will be pretty fun.

Spider-Man: The Short Halloween (one-shot)

An oddly-timed but charming little Spider-Man comic written by SNL's Seth Myers and Bill Hader, and drawn by Kevin Maguire! It's a wacky story of mistaken identity when the real Spider-Man gets confused for a drunk dude in a Spider-Man halloween costume. Hilarity ensues. The comic does have pretty sharp comedy writing, and Maguire, the master of physical comedy in comic books, makes it funnier with his art. Plus it's a great stand-alone Spider-Man comic for those fools who aren't reading Amazing Spider-Man.

Ghost Rider #35

Whoever had the idea of making Tony Moore the artist on this book deserves a massive high five. What a great pairing! Like all Jason Aaron issues of Ghost Rider, this issue was gross, awesome and awesome.

Green Lantern #41

Looks like Hal Jordan's Guitar Hero playing days are over!

Bayou vol 1

The first book to be released under DC's Zuda label, Bayou vol 1 collects the acclaimed and beautiful webcomic. For those of you who weren't paying attention to Zuda, it's something DC set up a couple of years ago where creators could post the first few pages of a webcomic for people to read and rate. It has an American Idol-style competition element where the winner of each competition will become an ongoing webcomic on the Zuda site (complete with a contract). Unlike Idol, however, Zuda has actually brought recognition to people who deserve it. Bayou, by Jeremy Love, is the first of the winners to be collected into an actual physical book.

It's a very touching story about racism set in Depression-era Mississippi. The fantasy and folklore elements, and young girl protagonist, make it appropriate for young readers as well. I was hoping the paper quality of the book would be higher, but that's my only complaint. It's a lovely book.

The Discombobulated John Buys Comics

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Thanks to Memorial Day down South and having to work late a couple of nights, I didn't actually get my comics until Saturday this week. I wouldn't even do this post, actually, except for the fact that there are a couple extraordinarily good things that I want to shout out to.

First, the rundown of the regular stuff:

Batman in Barcelona: Dragon's Knight (One-Shot) - This is a good solid standard Bruce Wayne Batman story, which would be much more unremarkable even two years ago but is almost a rarity now. Batman vs Killer Crock in Barcelona is a good time, it turns out. Bonus: someone being disappointed in Bruce Wayne for not making anything of his life.

Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? (Also a One-Shot) - This was fun. There were an assortment of art teams and a lot of shots of ladies' heineys, which I can't quite bring myself to complain about, sensitive New Age leanings or not. Leslie Thompkins rehabilitating the Cavalier and Vicki Vale becoming a bit less of a poor man's Lois Lane (in that she's finally becoming a bit more interesting) are the high points.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink No. 1 of  6 - Not bad, but definitely the weakest of the four Aftermath first issues. The theme of this one seems to be "super-villain going straight and the challenges thereof", which has  been done quite well at various points in tthe past (Astro City: The Tarnished Angel, I'm looking at you), so Ink's going to have to work at things to keep my attention. Bestt part: the Tattooed Man getting mad and unleashing the scorpion that's inked on the back of his head. It rides him likee a creepy hat!

Green Lantern No. 41 - Still good. More info on Larfleeze and some interesting art experimentation for this title. Does anyone else want the Orange Lantern shirt that's on sale now to an ironic amount?

The Last Days of Animal Man No. 1 of 6 - Animal Man losing his powers an indeterminate amount of time in the future while fighting a late-Nineties reject named Bloodrage. It's okay, but I was hoping for another origin story for A-Man so I could bitch about how many of those there have been. The biggest question that I had after reading this was from the cover and was "What kind of useful power could Animal Man get from a giraffe?"

Muppet Robin Hood No. 1 of 4 - Eh, this is okay. Not as good as the Muppet Show comic that BOOM! Studios is also putting out. My girlfriend made me read this to her with funny voices, so I can vouch for its suitability for that, if you have kids.

Rapture No. 1 of 6 - Earth has been devastated by a big ol' super-hero battle and is now devastated and hero-less. Into this mess drop two young star-crossed lovers, one of whom is the appointed savior of mankind. Not bad so far - I'll be checking out No. 2.

Superman No. 688 - Oh, Mon-El. Why can't you swim? As good as ever. Features the return of the two philosophy-spouting guards that endlessly stand outside the door where Tellus is kept.

And now, the feature reviews:

Jan's Atomic Heart

Jeepers Christmas! This is great! Set in "the far-ish future", Jan's Atomic Heart features the trails and tribulations of a man named Jan who has been in a terrible car accident and must wear a loaner body while his regular one is in the hospital being repaired. Things get freaky weird, though. I don't want to spoil it - even the back cover blurb is too much.

The art is black and white and super nice. It shares that sort of weird expressiveness that Guy Davis' work has. The Frankfurt of the future is extremely well-realized - lots of multi-lingual signs and advertisements for products that will likely be of interest someday and robot-headed pedestrians. Likewise, the future society and its problems ring true.

Plus, Simon Roy, the guy responsible for all of this, is a 19 or 20-year-old student living in my old stomping grounds of Victoria BC. Cripes - if he keeps up the comics-work he could be turning out masterpieces some day. If it weren't for the unfair competition of the next comic, this would be the best thing that I read this week.

Cursed Pirate Girl No. 1 of 3

Dang it, I can't find the cover to this thing. Trust me, it looks great, and is printed on unbleached cardstock, which is neato.

Jeremy Bastian, how did you make something this good? It's... it's so good! It warmed my jaded heart!

First off, the art is amazing. It's like people never stopped making those 18th and 19th century-style political cartoons, with all of the intricate linework and the teardrop-shaped speech baloons and eccentrically-shaped heads, and they evolved into comic book form. There's a pretty astonishing menagerie of weirdo characters, with the titular Cursed Pirate Girl standing out like a beacon in the centre of it all by virtue of her (comparative) normalcy. It's by turns delightful and extraordinarily delightful. I heartily encourage you to check this one out.

Good Comic, Bad Movie: From Hell

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I'm kicking off a new regular feature here at Living Between Wendnesdays, where we watch and review the painful adaptations of your favourite comics. Sometimes it might be more like, Good Comic, Pretty Good Movie (Ghost World), or Terrible Comic, Awesome Movie (The Spirit...kidding!).

I'm starting with an Alan Moore book, since those are the smoothest and most faithful comic adaptations there are...NOT! (Yup, I'm bringing that back.) It's old news that Moore hates all the film adaptations of his books and they are the most whined about, refuted, debated and delayed comic movies around.

I actually think From Hell might be a pretty tolerable film on its own, but having just read the comic for the first time, I wanted to punch this movie in the nuts while wearing giant silver rings on every finger.

Like most adaptations, From Hell is just skimming the surface. Johnny Depp stars as vision-having, opium-smoking Inspector Abberline, who is a sort of mish-mash of the comic's Inspector Abberline and the psychic Robert Less. Heather Graham is Mary Kelly, the only prostitute in Victorian London who looks like she just spent a week at a spa.

An adaptation that's skimming the surface is fine for say, Twilight, but Moore and Eddie Campbell's comic is amazingly complex. From Hell itself is a historiography—not just a history or historical fiction—but a story about how we understand history and fiction, how the lines between what's true and what's made up are constantly blurred. From Hell the comic is about the culmination of  everything wrong with Victorian culture, and about the sickness within the whole Western world. From Hell the movie is about Jack the Ripper cutting up ladies and Abberline solving the case.

The film is basically a cop drama set in the 19th century. There's even a carriage chase at the end, and Abberline is kicked off the police force because of his crazy obsession with the case. He doesn't turn in his badge and truncheon, but close enough.

It just seems silly to turn the whole thing into a mystery, when in the comic, we know that *spoiler alert!* William Gull is the murderer from very early on. In the newest edition, dude is on the cover! He's almost the protagonist, or the anti-hero at least, and the story at times serves as a character study of man going totally bananas.

 

The otherworldly elements that pepper the book are almost entirely left out. You get none of Gull's spooky metaphysical time-traveling or his hallucinations brought on by his stroke. The whole is-it-magic-or-is-he-insane or is-there-really-a-difference thing doesn't come across. The only supernatural element still there is that Johnny Depp's Abberline is psychic, which actually doesn't serve much of a purpose, except that we get to see Johnny Depp tripping out in a bathtub a lot.

The art direction in this movie is definitely lacking. You can tell they tried, they really tried, oh so hard!

Moore and Campbell's book gave you the feeling of what a gross, awful place Victorian London was, what with the lack of hygiene, rampant alcoholism, unlivable slums, no social systems to support people, etc. The women who were having sex in alley ways, making just enough to survive, really were already in hell.

The film, however, looked like a stage play. I kept expecting Abberline to break into a dance number on the street and sing, "I'll find the Ripper if it kills me! The Ripper's day has come! I'll use my psychic powers! Now where's the opiuuuummmmm!"

The biggest thing that broke the illusion was defintely Heather Graham, with her perfectly sculpted eyebrows, her gleaming white teeth and her perfect skin. Her characters is super whitewashed and totally hotted up. We never, ever see her having awful sex with scary, plague-ridden dudes. She only has hot make-out sessions with Johnny Depp. While the book's Mary Kelly is an alcoholic who is trying to survive when she knows she's on a serial killer's to do list, Heather Graham is basically just a one-dimensional love interest. At best, Mary Kelly is Abberline's buddy cop sidekick, hot on the trail of the Ripper! 

 

Johnny Depp was fine. Whatever. And the rest of the cast was pretty good, especially, Jason Flemyng, and the fat guy who announces the news in Rome. Oh Robbie Coletrane was in there too, although I can't think of him as anyone but Hagrid now, so that was a little distracting. "'Appy 11th birthday! Yer a wizard, Inspector Abberline! Blimey, that's why ya 'ave dreams about murdered women! There a be more a that at 'Ogwarts!"

The thing is, I don't know how this book could be adapted properly. Maybe our old standard request as comic fans— an HBO series? I'm not even sure that would work. Moore knows the score, Hollywood. Maybe you should leave his books alone. Except Lost Girls. I think we'd all watch that one.