I was just hanging out with some folks and the Czech student who is staying with my friend told us this amazing fact: in the Czech Republic (or at least the part that she went to school in), practical jokes are called Canadian jokes.
I have no idea of the etymology or anything like that, but I have never felt more patriotic in my life.
That at one point the concept of a man so fat that he could only move around with the aid of a little motorized cart was so novel that it was a suitable gimmick for a Boy Commandoes villain?
Yep, it’s the truth. Also, the competition of title of “World’s Fattest Man” has risen sharply since the 40s.
Not only am I uncertain of the joke that is being attempted here, I am also unsure of the following:
- Does Willy normally smash his food into his maw with his bare hands?
- By "company", do they mean "pie-eating contest"?
- Is Willy legitimately implying that he needs to practice eating with a fork? Is he trying to scam some pie? Is it both?
- What's with the air currents in this place? That steam is going everywhere.
- From World's Finest No. 30
This may be it, folks. We may have hit my point of karmic balance for those two astonishingly good weeks of new comics: a week of decent comics that are components of pretty good series. And that's okay, I guess. Kind of leaves me high and dry for reviews though. Let's see what I can do with talking about series rather than issues:
Legion of Super-Heroes - By Gar I'm happy to have a Legion series coming out, especially one that features lots of focus on Legionnaire interpersonal drama and sweeping future society hijinks. And heck, even if Matter-Eater Lad left for parts unknown off-panel last issue, the fact that Quislet and Tellus are hanging around balances my humours sufficiently to be joyful. Best of all, I kind of think that this series could be jumped onto with minimal research. Sure it's filled with callbacks to olde schoole Legion history, but none of it is actually necessary to understand what's going on. Pick up the trade of Geoff Johns' Legion storyline in Action a few years back and you should be good, plus you'll have a really fun comic to read.
Power Girl - Sure it's not as amazingly great as the first twelve issues were, but honestly I don't know if there's another creative team on the planet who could have continued the Connor/Palmiotti/Gray magic. Anyone who could have produced something equally as marvellous would have also done something completely different with the series, which would have paradoxically made it less good. So hooray for decent continuations, yes? Winick and Basrai have taken the reins with a minimum of fuss and have produced some genuinely enjoyable stories - I can be happy with that.
Supergirl - I read this comic, along with maybe four others, at lunch today and for some reason this was the one that the office wags mined their material from. "Supergirl!", they'd exclaim, a one-word challenge to my masculinity. "Why not Superman?", they would continue, but that was dangerous territory, and my boss for example got a pocket explanation of the House of El and its doings on Earth that he wasn't quite prepared for, mwaha. Besides, how can I stop reading what has been the most consistently entertaining of the Super-books for, like a year and a half and counting?
Justice League: Generation Lost - Wait, so the white lantern wants to prevent the events of Kingdom Come from happening? Isn't that, like Earth K-12 now anyway? How much do I have to pay for a multiverse that doesn't double up on themes? At least it kind of looks like Brightest Day might end with someone bumping off Magog.
Cowboy Ninja Viking - This is one of those series, one with a basic idea - folks with multiple personalities being trained as assassins - that could turn into a bunch of stupid and repetitious jokes by issue three but instead we have an engaging if somewhat silly character-driven tale of extremely violent international espionage. How did this happen? The main character is just a collection of memes, and yet I was genuinely heartbroken over a plot development in this issue. Bravo, I say, from my nest of perplexedness.
Hit Monkey - Okay, I guess that this one is over. But it was good, and that is important. See, you may have noticed that I don't read a lot of Marvel comics. At first, this was because I came back to reading the comical booklets just as Civil War was kicking off and DC was in its astonishing couple of years of excellence post-Infinite Crisis. Nowadays, it's mostly inertia that's keeping me away from the Marvel books, that and the event banner that most of them are sporting across the top of the cover. Books like this, that tie in to the Marvel Universe but don't really require outside knowledge, are really helping me ease my way in. Plus, you know: monkey assassin.
Sleep tight, folks. I am out of here.
Skullkickers is the latest Image series to garner crazy accolades and fevered speculation before the first issue has even hit comic shops, alongside recent hits like Chew and Morning Glories. Fueled by positive early reviews, the first issue of Skullkickers has sold out at the distributor level before it’s even shipped (a second printing has already been announced). There’s always an element of hysteria surrounding this kind of pre-release excitement, and I find that, as both a reader and a retailer, I’m usually a bit suspicious that somehow, somewhere, somebody has manipulated the internet and/or media to give the book an added promotional push. I’m happy to say, though, that like Chew and Morning Glories, Skullkickers is a fun book with broad appeal that, unlike most of the offerings from the Big Two these days, makes a point to reach out to potential new readers with an accessible concept rather than trying to squeeze even more money out of an existing, ever-shrinking readership. The breezy script and slick artwork don’t hurt, either.
Living Between Wednesdays is a place for people who love comic books and superheroes.
