It’s that time again!
Yes, it’s Thursday night, and with another round of foot-to-face jaw-jacking behind us, it’s time once again for another round of the Internet’s Most Smashing Comics Reviews! But first, a quick reminder about Planet X, the retro-future Sci-Fi action comic my pals Jim and Trey are doing over at Zuda with Animal Man’s
Click To Read!
If you haven’t already, click the image above to head over to the Zuda website to give their first eight pages a read, and if you like what you see, throw ’em a vote so we can get some more! And of course, while you’re at it, check out some of the other projects they’ve got going.
Now then, to get back to the stuff you have to pay for, here’s what put a dent in my wallet this week…
And here’s what I thought of ’em!
Comics
Amazing Spider-Man #577: With as much as I’ve been griping about the last few issues of Amazing, there are probably a few of you out there wondering why I don’t just go ahead and drop the book. It’s a fair question, but issues like this are exactly the reason I stick with it.
To be honest, it’s not the best Spider-Man story I’ve ever read, and while it’s certainly a refreshing change after the nonsense of the past few issues and the annual, it’s only a little better than average. But at the same time, it is better, and while Zeb Wells was one of the Spider-Man writers that I was expecting the least out of, but his work on the title’s ended up being consistently enjoyable, and this issue’s certainly his best. It reads like a classic Marvel Team-Up issue between the Spidey and the Punisher–which, for me anyway, is certainly not a bad thing–but I’ll confess that I was genuinely surprised that after teasing the reader with a Hulked-out Frank Castle, Wells goes in a different direction that, while not as exciting as “HULK PUNISH!” on the surface, works far better as a character moment.
The real draw, however, is artist and 21st Century Hunk of the Month Paolo Rivera, who is absolutely phenomenal on this issue. It’s not just that he’s got a great, fresh style and expressive faces, but that he’s one of the few artists in a long while to really get the visual aspects of Spider-Man. Grab the issue and look at the fight scenes: Spider-Man’s feet do not touch the ground while he’s in action. He’s in the air, on the ceiling, on the wall, sideways, upside down, but never on the floor, and it gives him a sense of dynamic motion that nobody outside of Marcos Martin
It’s gorgeous, and thirty-two pages of Rivera’s art–plus a six-page Joe Kelly/Barry Kitson backup, if you’re into that sort of thing–is well worth the cost, even with the extra dollar price jack for double-sized issue.
Batman: Cacophony #1: This is not the worst comic book I have ever read. It’s not the worst Batman comic by far, and it’s actually not the worst Kevin Smith comic book either, as that title is still held by Spider-Man/Black Cat, and the less said about that one, the better. So no, not the worst by a long shot.
That said, it is still pretty Goddamn terrible.
Seriously, I don’t even know where to begin with this thing, but I guess I’ll start by saying that for the first three pages, where Smith sets things up with the story of a laid-off Arkham guard selling secrets to the underworld, it’s actually pretty good. It’s a nice setup, and it works well in the context of a world that can’t seem to keep its most dangerous criminals locked up for more than a couple of story arcs. But then you hit page four, and once the Joker starts talking about his pubic hair, everything goes straight to hell.
Batman: Cacophony is what you’d get if you asked a twelve year old to write his idea of an “adult” comic: Everyone wears trenchcoats so that you know they’re super-badass, and there’s a string of sex jokes–continuing through the almost obligatory anal sex joke right on through Mr. Zsasz talking about cutting his penis because that’s the only spot he has left–that’s just embarrassing for everyone concerned. Not because they’re sex jokes, but–again–because they’re the sex jokes a kid trying to sound edgy and grown up writes in his fan-fiction. Which is pretty much what this is, but without the level of quality control you get from the online community that actually wants to read about the Mad Hatter trying to fuck the Joker.
And the rest of it’s just as awful. I actually did enjoy Batman’s appearance in Smith’s run on Green Arrow, but the more I look at this thing, the more I realize that was because Batman kept his mouth shut for most of that one. I mean, dialogue’s supposed to be Smith’s forte, but seriously, the easiest way to improve this thing would be to just take out Smith’s ham-fisted narration, where Batman grunts his way through the laughably maudlin (“Don’t worry, kids… the monster can’t hurt you anymore” and “Two people who somehow found each other in an otherwise horrible world. Like my PARENTS”) or the downright stupid (“I crash Zsasz’s unholy briss,” in which “bris” is misspelled, and “Baruch haba, SCUMBAG,” which I think speaks for itself). Cut those out, and the fight with Zsasz at least gets readable, but then you’ve got to deal with… well, with the rest of it.
Which of course brings us to Onomatopoeia. Now, I’ve mentioned before that I actually like Onomatopoeia as a villain, but probably not for the reason I’m supposed to. To me, he just seems like one of those goofy Silver Age villains that got a dark and gritty revamp in the ’90s, only there was never any Silver Age Onomatopoeia running around robbing the Radio Museum or whatever, which somehow makes him even funnier. But he’s not exactly the sort of character that I can buy as presenting a legitimate threat to Batman, and Smith knows that, so he goes to one of the oldest, laziest, and worst tricks in the comics writer’s handbook, and has him saunter into the story and take out someone who does: in this case, Deadshot. It’s a cheap trick that panders to the same crowd that wanders around talking about how Gambit could totally kill the Silver Surfer by charging up his board, spouting trivia without learning that there’s a greater narrative structure at work. He is essentially telling us that Onomatopoeia is as powerful as ten Gokus.
As for the art, well… Look. I’m not trying to rag on Walt Flanagan here, because let’s be honest: If I was an artist and my friend was writing a Batman story and he wanted me to draw it, I’d totally do it. And if Smith wanted Flanagan for the job, there’s no reason for DC to say no, because, c’mon, it’s not like any Kevin Smith fans are going to be upset that Steve-Dave’s sidekick from Mallrats is drawing Batman, and to be honest, he actually does a heck of a lot better than I expected. It’s a fantastic opportunity for him and I’ve got nothing but love for a guy who’s chasing the dream, but none of that changes the fact that there are a lot of sections where the art is amateurish. Nothing glaring, but there are rookie mistakes like the panel where Onomatopoeia’s holding two water pistols in his tiny hands at the end of a pair of very out of proportion arms, and in a book with a company’s flagship character, that stuff sticks out.
So for those of you who didn’t have the patience to get through seven paragraphs about this thing, here’s the short version: It is rough, but since it’s Kevin Smith writing Batman, I’m pretty sure that most of you guys are going to pick it up anyway, because, hell: I did, and I knew better going into it. Fortunately, my curiosity’s been taken care of, and when the next two issues roll out sometime in 2011, I can be sure to avoid those.
I Hate Gallant Girl #1: Okay, so full disclosure here: Back when Shadowline was having their Super-Heroine Contest, I entered and–obviously–lost, with a project that’ll hopefully see the light of day sometime soon over at The Action Age. Still, despite the fact that my genius wasn’t appreciated in its time, I did check out the ones that made it through, and out of all the finalists, I Hate Galaxy Girl (as it was originally called) certainly sounded like the most fun. Oddly enough, it didn’t win either, and yet, here we are with the first issue, while the winning book has yet to come out.
In any case, here’s the deal: Kat Cahill’s I Hate Gallant Girl is about Renee Tepete, the powered hater of the title who lost a super-hero beauty contest to a prettier but less powerful girl, and is then offered the humiliating job of working as the new Gallant Girl’s stand-in when they need somebody to handle the grunt work. It’s a very fun premise that could lend itself to some great, comedic action, and while the first issue deals largely in setup, Cahill and artist Seth Damoose still show a heck of a lot of potential, and I’m pretty interested in seeing where it goes from here.
Jack Staff #19: This week brings us another long-awaited issue of my favorite comic, and while it’s fantastic as usual, ISB readers might notice that this one has a little something extra. Specifically, it’s got me!
Or at least, it’s got my name and the address of one of my reviews of the book, dutifully namechecked by Friend of the ISB Benito Cereno in a message board post about The Butler, who is unquestionably the Sensational Character Find of 2008. In any case, it was a nice surprise, as one doesn’t usually expect to see their own name crop up in a comic they love as much as I love Jack Staff, but the real draw, as always, is Paul Grist who expertly juggles the various fun plot threads that make up the book. It’s great stuff, and as always, it’s one of the few books that disappoints me every time I finish it because I always want there to be more.
But that’s old news, right? Right.
Trades
Ghost Rider: Hell Bent & Heaven Bound: You know, I was originally going to suggest that this book ought to be titled “Hell Bent & Heaven Sent,” but I’m pretty sure the ISB hit critical mass for Elvis Costello references back on Monday.
In any case, I knocked this one out over lunch today, and while I’d heard a lot of good things about critical darling Jason Aaron’s run on the book, the impression I was left with was this: Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider is what would happen if Michael Bay directed Preacher
Yeah, I know, but bear with me here: At its heart, once you strip away the trappings of the characters, Preacher is the story of a country-ass redneck with an unstoppable super-power who wanders around trying to find the best way to pursue his vendetta against heaven, and that is exactly what Aaron’s here. Except that in the grand tradition that makes Marvel Comics Marvel Comics, he’s doing it with what has to be the least amount of subtlety possible by adding as many explosions as he can fit and having it star a flaming skeleton in a leather jacket who rides a motorcycle that is also made of fire.
This is not, by any means, a bad thing.
In fact, it actually works out to be really fun,with Aaron taking the innate over-the-top craziness of a character like Ghost Rider and applying it to the rest of the world. I mean, there’s a story here that involves a cannibalistic funeral director whose ancestors are responsible for a haunted highway, and brother, he’s thrown in almost as an afterthought because Johnny Blaze already has his hands full with a gang of gun-toting hit-nurses. It’s non stop, and that’s exactly the way a Ghost Rider comic oughtta be.
And that’s the week! As always, if you’ve got any questions about something I read or skipped over this week, feel free to ask about it in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best not to respond with a hate-filled 900-word essay about it.
But I make no promises.
Damoose also does a webcomic called “Brat-Halla” where one of the main villains is the eye Odin gave up for knowledge with the majority of the Norse pantheon as school kids…
And as a relative newcomer to Butcher how well do you think the first book-to-comic issue worked?
do comics written by Kevin Smith suffer from worse delays than Ultimates did under Millar and Hitch? I only became aware he even wrote anything for DC or Marvel until after his runs ended.
On the cover of Amazing Spider Man the skull on the Punisher’s chest looks sad:-)
And Brat-Halla used to be spotlighted on the moviepoopshoot.com website, which was owned by Kevin Smith. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
The scripts for the other issues of Cacophony are already done as has been often mentioned by everyone at DC in the past. I have slayed your joke, Chris. Mercilessly.
But yeah, it’s pretty damn bad.
Ooh! I entered that contest, too. I really thought I might have had something there, but, well, them’s the breaks. I really want to do something with my idea, too, and might make it a summer project. I had no idea they were publishing a non-“winner,” and that kinda gives me some inspiration.
Are the delays on a Kevin Smith book worse than Ultimates? Yes, because there have been more than two issues of the Ultimates published. Kevin Smith started the Spider-Man/Black Cat series at the same time he started Daredevil: The Target(I think that was the title?) There was a gap of two or three years between issues 3 and 4 of the Spider-Man book, and issue #2 of his Daredevil miniseries has never been completed.
I also believe his Green Arrow comic was pretty late from a month to month basis, which made the “No one can use this character” clause he has in his contracts kind of suck. Ollie came back from the dead, but no other book could give a nod to it because it would have stepped on Smith’s very delayed story arc.
The Punisher’s skull shirt on that cover makes me think he would have a hard time fighting Mexican criminals. Has Frank ever been to Mexico? Did children flock to him and paint pretty things on him?
issues like this are exactly the reason I skip with it.
I can’t tell if this is a Freudian slip or if that’s how you travel home when a new issue arrives.
Maybe it’s because I’m Jewish and work for a synagogue and stuff, but Batman saying “baruch haba, scumbag” was maybe one of my favorite comic book lines ever. Other than that and learning how Deadshot played dead, I have to say the thing was, in fact, pretty much crap.
“Batman: Cacophony is what you’d get if you asked a twelve year old to write his idea of an “adult†comic.”
This is pretty much my impression of Kevin Smith’s entire output in whatever medium. Why anybody is interested in anything the man does is beyond me.
I did get a chuckle at Joker reading Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. I tried that once too.
Is it me or does Batman’s costume on the Cacophony cover have scars?
I don’t think we can ever have enough Elvis Costello references. Unless we suddenly see a comic book starring Elvis Costello, then we might overload.
For example, I am criminally ashamed of myself for not thinking of the Joker set to “God’s Comic.”
I may be in the extreme minority, but I would rather read about Zsasz cutting on his weenie than read about Batgirl being called a “cunt” over and over and over again. Sure, I’m a fan of dick and fart jokes, but is that truly more pre-teen than a talking gorilla hitman? Jess sayin. And, no, I haven’t actually read it yet… so, the jury’s still out for me. It might suck… we’ll see.
No Dave…the scars are wearing a Batman costume.
Chris – thank you for the shout out for Planet X! Much Appreciated!
…now about this Gambit vs Silver Surfer thing…how’s that supposed to work again, because it just sounds like the Surfer would get a surfboard that explodes when he hits Gambit in the face with it…
Yeah, the Preacher similarities in Aaron’s GR arer really heavy.
“I may be in the extreme minority, but I would rather read about Zsasz cutting on his weenie than read about Batgirl being called a “cunt†over and over and over again.”
Isn’t that one of those “I’d rather be punched in the face than stabbed in the kidneys arguments”?
Wow… the FIRST comment is about Brat-Halla. You guys are great.
That Spidey panel that starts the post has SFX that ride along Spider-Man’s line of motion, and are lettered and colored perfectly to denote “Action Glass-Smash!”
Such things make me terribly happy. They’re all too rare.
Wait…Chris talked about the latest horrible and indefensible thing, Batman: Cacophony, and no one’s defending it in the comments?
I’m officially flabberghasted.
Kevin Smith>>>>>Chris Sims
“do comics written by Kevin Smith suffer from worse delays than Ultimates did under Millar and Hitch? I only became aware he even wrote anything for DC or Marvel until after his runs ended.”
Let’s put it this way. I’ve been reading comics for about five years, and one of my first comics was Daredevil: Target #1. There hasn’t been another issue since. Part of me wonders if issues of that will come at the same time as different landmarks in my life or something.
My sympathies if Daredevil:Target was one of your first comics. It makes me wonder why you kept reading them. You must be either very forgiving or most stubborn.
Hey Chris, you mentioned that this weeks Amazing was not the worst Spidey story you’ve ever read and that Batman:CaCa-phony was not the worst Batman story you’ve ever read.
Well, what is the worst Spidey story and Batman story that you’ve ever read?
I, too, got suckered in by Smith’s pages 1-3. I read them in the shop, and looked forward to a romp with Deadshot, The Joker, and Bats.
Instead, I ended up with Deadshot getting jobbed out to a one-shot villain, super-villainous sodomy, and genital mutilation.
I felt–and still feel–unclean.
Benor, you have unexpectedly sparked a synapse in the back of my head. I’m sure this never actually happened, but maybe if I describe it, someone can tell me what it means: Did Spider-Man and Elvis Costello ever team up to fight Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man?
I might pick up Cacophany just because I’m interested in learning if Smith has learned how to pace a comic book yet after his now-several years of experience. Even when GA came out, it seemed like each issue had big chunks of filler.
Guess that’s my cue to defend the indefensible.
First – the lateness trolls? As Furu pointed out, Smith has turned in all the scripts for this one. DC insisted on that before they would even promote the project – showing a lot more savy than Marvel has in working with Smith’s schedule. They had a similar provision with the first six issues of Green Arrow and those issues came out on time, no problems.
And – in fairness – most of Smith’s lateness can be explained away by cocurrent problems with movies he was working on at the same time (Which are you going to worry about more when the deadlines come down – the multi-million dollar film or the comic book maybe 50,000 people will read?) or delays in the art. For instance, the final issue of his Daredevil was delayed because Joe Quesada had a death in the family – not because the script wasn’t finished.
To everyone complaining about the crude content: Honestly, at this point, you know what you’re in for with a Kevin Smith story if you know anything about Kevin Smith’s movies and other comics.
And to those who think it is inappropriate for The Joker to do or say shocking things just to throw people off balance… did you complain about Joker dressing like a sexy nurse in The Dark Knight? Did you complain just as loudly about Joker making references to S&M and sodomy in Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League?
Man I am glad to see these latter comments. I knew that Sims’ commenters would defend cousin-fucking, so I wasn’t prepared for them not to defend Kevin Smith. My world is now in order.
Which are you going to worry about more when the deadlines come down – the multi-million dollar film or the comic book maybe 50,000 people will read?
I dunno, I tend to think honoring a contract remains a top priority, regardless of customer size.
As for this…
Honestly, at this point, you know what you’re in for with a Kevin Smith story if you know anything about Kevin Smith’s movies and other comics.
The thing here isn’t “ZOMG KEVIN SMITH WAS CRUDE,” but rather, “is Kevin Smith really the guy to write Batman?”
regardless of customer size.
Is that a fat joke? I think that was a fat joke.
I was kinda expecting something about Fables after the sad turn of events for our 2 new cast members (Mister Dark is awesome though)
also will Boy Blue ever catch a break?
“Kevin Smith>>>>>Chris Sims”
True. By at least 50 pounds.
Tim C, I don’t know-I suspect they didn’t-but now I want them to do exactly that.
I don’t think I’ve actually seen any serious complaints about “crude” content in Batman: Cacophony. I’ve seen lots of “wow that’s stupid” and “how incredibly ill-conceived” and “it’s exactly what you’d expect a Kevin Smith Batman comic to be like” complaints, but no one genuinely upset about the Joker making prison rape jokes.
Did you complain just as loudly about Joker making references to S&M and sodomy in Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League?
Yes, actually. You might’ve noticed that I dropped that book in disappointment.
Batman:CaCa-phony
I know that seems like an awesome, super-maximum clever pun, but the “caco” in “cacophony” is actually already from the same root as “caca,” so it’s kind of, you know, already there. But still, yeah, the comic is bad or whatever.
[i]Tim C Says:
Benor, you have unexpectedly sparked a synapse in the back of my head. I’m sure this never actually happened, but maybe if I describe it, someone can tell me what it means: Did Spider-Man and Elvis Costello ever team up to fight Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man?[/i]
This did not happen exactly as you describe it. But in 1981’s Marvel Team-Up Annual #4 the Purple Man does make Spider-Man sing a song and Pete starts belting out “Oliver’s Army.” Also, even though Spidey doesn’t team-up with Elvis Costello, he does team-up with Daredevil, Moon Knight, and the original Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage and Iron Fist! See this link: http://www.samruby.com/MarvelTeam-Up/Large/MarvelTeam-UpAnnual4.jpg
Chris, what is your opinion of the Rick Remender Starro arc on Booster Gold?
I was thinking about Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow today, actually. Its one of the most vile things i’ve ever read. Teen rape? Cannabalistic Stanely & The Monster? i dunno… it was just lame
To defend those making Kevin Smith late jokes, wasn’t this series originally announced at a con/in a DC Nation col as a two-parter, and that both scripts were already in? Because now it’s a three-parter.
But, more importantly, the guy going on record as saying this will be on time guaranteed is the same guy who said Final Crisis will be on time with one, single artist, guaranateed as well.
Chris, what is your opinion of the Rick Remender Starro arc on Booster Gold?
Oh, I quite liked it. Not as much as the Johns/Katz issues, but those are a hard act to follow.
And they had Wild Dog in them.
Guardian Devil was the only Kevin Smith comic I’d ever read, and while I didn’t particularly enjoy it, I didn’t think it was that bad. So I couldn’t imagine how Cacophony could be as awful as I’d heard, but… yeah, wow.
My favorite part was when it didn’t seem to come to either a conclusion or a cliffhanger, so I thought there was another page left, but it turned out that it was done.
“Guess that’s my cue to defend the indefensible.â€
Huh. I guess. Or you could, you know, let it go undefended. That’s also an option.
“First – the lateness trolls? As Furu pointed out, Smith has turned in all the scripts for this one. DC insisted on that before they would even promote the project – showing a lot more savy than Marvel has in working with Smith’s schedule. They had a similar provision with the first six issues of Green Arrow and those issues came out on time, no problems.â€
Do you know why DC felt the need to a) insist all the scripts be turned in, and b) emphatically advertise the fact? Because Kevin Smith has a well-deserved reputation for turning books in late. Calling people “lateness trolls†doesn’t change the fact that Smith was the writer on previous comic books, and the books took years and years to ship.
“And – in fairness – most of Smith’s lateness can be explained away by cocurrent problems with movies he was working on at the same time (Which are you going to worry about more when the deadlines come down – the multi-million dollar film or the comic book maybe 50,000 people will read?) or delays in the art. For instance, the final issue of his Daredevil was delayed because Joe Quesada had a death in the family – not because the script wasn’t finished.â€
I don’t understand why this line of reasoning is supposed to inspire confidence for comic book fans. “Because Kevin Smith has other projects that he considers a greater priority, then you should not feel frustrated that the comic stories you are purchasing won’t be completed.â€
Let me get this straight. Kevin Smith ran into difficulties on his movies, and Joe Quesada’s dad passed away, therefore we should be more understanding of the fact that Daredevil: The Target hasn’t released a second issue in six years (and running)? The readers are the ones being unreasonable here? And if so, what kind of reader expectation should be considered reasonable – an issue every forty years?
(Also, the words are correctly spelled “coNcurrent†and “savVy.â€)
“To everyone complaining about the crude content: Honestly, at this point, you know what you’re in for with a Kevin Smith story if you know anything about Kevin Smith’s movies and other comics.â€
Just because you know what you’re in for doesn’t make it good. Just because it’s predictable doesn’t give the material a blanket excuse to be horrible. “You know that Hulk Hogan is a bad actor, so you should not be allowed to give his movies or his acting performances a bad review.†Uh, no. If Kevin Smith writes a bad comic book, we reserve the right to discuss its shortcomings
“And to those who think it is inappropriate for The Joker to do or say shocking things just to throw people off balance… did you complain about Joker dressing like a sexy nurse in The Dark Knight? Did you complain just as loudly about Joker making references to S&M and sodomy in Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League?â€
Comparing Batman: Cacophony to The Dark Knight probably isn’t going to do your arguments any favors…
Look, it’s okay to say you enjoyed the book. It’s okay to say you enjoy Kevin Smith’s work. That’s fine. I like a lot of Kevin Smith’s work as well. I think he’s a pretty creative guy. But acting like people are being unreasonable for pointing out Smith’s deadline issues, and for criticizing his inability to write the characters properly seems a little misguided.
Respectfully,
rt
Kevin, I wish I could thank you for untangling that for me, but in so doing you’ve reminded me how old I am. 1981, jeez…Oh, what the heck, I thank you anyway!
Roel Torres wrote a reasoned, logical, point-by-point refutation of another commenter’s screed.
I think he should be banned from commenting.
Glad to see you enjoyed Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider, Sims! I interviewed Aaron last month for my Ghost Rider site, and the dude is seriously One Rad Guy. Ghost Rider hasn’t been this good in…well, let’s just say “a really long time” and leave it at that.
The one thing that galled me about Smith’s Daredevil series was his comment about how it would never be finished. I may have the wording off, but it was basically “It’s Daredevil vs. Bullseye. What do you think happens?” Fair enough, but not exactly high praise for his own writing.
I’ve never read a Smith-penned comic. I did flip through the first issue of this, but I must have started in the middle. I liked the interplay between Deadshot and Batman, and between Maxie Zeus and the Joker, but not enough to buy it. It sounds like that was a good move on my part.
Did you happen to flip throught The Cleaner #1 at all? if so, worth picking up?
Nope, I sure didn’t.
Oh man, on my second read-through of this week’s ASM I just noticed a subtle bit of fantastic comics drawin’ – on the page after your first image up there, Spidey fights some goons on the boat and at first it seems like he’s just kicking one dude in the chest but he’s actually disarming him by grabbing the gun with his sticky Spidey-foot. You see it stuck to his sole in the next panel. What an awesome little detail.
Re: Bats:Cac
Again, I do stress that my tastes are in the minority… but, I enjoyed reading it. Admittedly, I applied Hypertime theory, so it isn’t actually happening on New Earth or Earth 1 or whatever. As an Elseworlds, it was dirty ol’ fun. Similar to my enjoyment of Veitch’s Bratpack. I got my money’s worth, and I’ll pick up the next ish. The art was mediocre, but it kicked the shit out of the art on the first arc of the new Titans. Let me be clear, I’m not making an arguement for why it didn’t suck (as Brad C. implied), I’m just saying that when Smith gets goofy with it, I enjoy it because I expect it. Frank Miller used to be so much more than a parody of himself. I’m supposed to take ASBARTBW seriously? Whatever. I’m just stating that I have possibly peculiar taste in comics as the “cunt” book sells like hotcakes.
I think the difference between Batman: Cacophony and ASBAR is that in the former, Kevin Smith seems like he’s trying too hard, while in the latter, Frank Miller’s not trying at all.
And holy crap, I totally didn’t notice he was disarming the guy with his spider-foot. I don’t know if Zeb Wells had that in his script or if Paolo Rivera just threw that in because he’s awesome, but NICE ONE, BRUVVA.
I notice you’re still reading Captain Britain and MI-13. I’ve heard some good (and some bad) things about that book. There’s a trade paperback coming out early next year. Is it worth me getting it?
Oh, totally. It’s easily one of Marvel’s ten best titles right now, and I was saying the other day that it’s everything Cornell did right in WISDOM, but even better.
While I’m never in the least bit interested in any comic book Kevin Smith writes, I think you’re right about Onomatopoeia. If that character was a goofy Silver Age villain stealing antique grammar primers from the Gotham Archives, I’d love him. But as a badass? No thanks.
You are a very smart person! :)