The Week In Ink: August 5, 2009

[NOTE: In a second, you’ll read a line about how it’s definitely Thursday night, and the more time-sensitive readers may notice that this is not the case. That’s because my Internet connection was knocked out so I couldn’t post anything, so I went ahead and wrote the reviews in Notepad anyway to post when I got the chance. Don’t say I never did nothin’ for you.]

This week’s issue of Street Fighter IV contains yet another kik to the face accompanied by the sound effect “KRA-KOW”, and while it’s tempting to run it as part of my ongoing tribute to the former capital of Poland…

 

 

…it’s starting to get a bit old.

But there’ll be time enough for pre-war European geography later! It’s Thursday night, and that means it’s time for another round of the Internet’s Most Fogliophilic Comics Reviews!

Here’s what I picked up this week…

 

 

…an Sweet Christmas, that is way more comics than I ought to be getting. Were they worth it? And which one will prompt me to use the phrase “moistly pawing at it?” Read on!

 


 

Amazing Spider-Man #601: As ISB readers who are tired of me going on and on about how reading “The Final Chapter” was a life-changing experience for me as a youngster can probably attest, there are maybe two things I like more than a good Spider-Man story–those being, of course, Batman hucking auto parts at his enemies and comics where talking gorillas fight crime with the SCIENCE! of the future–so it probably goes without saying that I loved this week’s issue by Mark Waid and Mario Alberti.

Waid’s not really a guy who needs much of an introduction, seeing as he’s hands down one of the best super-hero comics writers of our time with a character-defining run on Flash and one of the best runs on Fantastic Four ever under his belt (both of which saw him collaborating with the late, truly great Mike Weiringo), and at this point I’m pretty sure he can deliver a quality story in his sleep. That said, his recent work on Spider-Man has been even better than I would’ve expected, perfectly capturing the fun essence of the character in ways that it’s obvious they’ve been striving to hit since the “Brand New Day” relaunch. He does it again here, too, turning in a perfect, episodic “Parker Luck” story that Mary Jane’s appearance adds a nice little twist to.

Alberti, however, is a newer commodity. Or at least, he’s new to me; the only thing I’ve seen him do before this was the X-Men/Spider-Man mini-series with Christos Gage, which I absolutely loved. His art on this one doesn’t quite hit the highs of that story, though. MJ’s face, especially on the last page, doesn’t really come off as attractive as I think he was going for, but Peter’s expressions are perfect and the rest of his work is just beautiful, with Andres Mossa’s coloring pushing it right over the edge into “gorgeous,” especially in the scenes where he’s able to pull the old contrasting-water-and-fire trick. I can’t get enough of this guy, and while I love John Romita Jr., Barry Kitson and Phil Jimenez on this book, I’d really like to see a few years of Spider-Man that were defined by artists like Alberti, Marcos Martin, and Paolo Rivera. They’re all guys who bring something to the table that’s a little different than one expects from super-hero comics, but they all fit perfectly with Spider-Man, and that’s exactly what the character needs.

As to the details of the story, I liked it quite a bit, but it does raise some interesting questions, as well as–and, uh, Spoiler Warning, I guess–confirming that Mary Jane does still remember Spider-Man’s identity, which I’ll confess to being split on. On the one hand, in the year since the soft reboot and the promise that nobody knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man, not no way, not no how, he’s revealed his identity to the Avengers and the Fantastic Four (although notably skipping Daredevil), and if Mary Jane knows too, that seems like an awful lot of hubub just to get rid of one issue of Civil War. And if the speculation’s true and Mary Jane made a deal to not forget about her marriage, then the fact that we saw shacking up with a movie star a few months after the deal means she’s awfully quick to get over her heartbreak.

But on the other hand, there’s the idea that Kurt Busiek brought up in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #14–honestly one of my favorite Spidey stories ever, despite the fact that me and like eight other people have actually read it–which is that MJ’s known his secret identity since before her first appearance. I love that idea and the way it ties into MJ’s own “secret identity” as the flighty party girl that breaks down when she closes the door to stay with Peter after Gwen dies. It’s a core element of their relationship for me as a fan, and if Waid and the rest of Spidey’s “brain trust” are bringing that back to recast MJ as something other than a redheaded albatross around Peter’s neck, then I’m all for it.

 

Captain America Reborn #2: It’s the second issue of the book I like to call Cap’s Big Comeback, and as should be expected by this point, Ed Brubaker’s turning in his normal–which is to say superb–story, but there’s something else on my mind tonight. I’ve got a confession to make, folks: I like Bryan Hitch just fine and he’s doing a great job here, especially with unsung hero Butch Guice coming in on this one to make sure it actually comes out on time. You’d have to be out of your mind to say that the guy’s not talented, but man… the way he draws Cap with the more “realistic” style costume, with the boots and the chinstrap and all that. For some reason, that just sticks right in my craw. I don’t know why, but there you go.

That said, if you draw Captain America choking out Hitler with the Million Dollar Dream on the cover of your comic, you can put him and Bucky in whatever stupid helmets you want. You earned it.

 

ISB BEST OF THE WEEK

 

 

Chew #3: A few weeks ago, I gave a decidedly glowing review to the reprint of Chew #1 that appeared in its entirety for no extra cost in an issue of Walking Dead–still an incredibly cool thing to do, Robert Kirkman and Image Comics–but this is the first issue of the series that I’ve picked up as it hit the stands, and I’ve gotta say, Layman and Guillory are still just killing it with this book.

As I’m sure we’re all aware by now, Chew is currently enjoying the “Sleeper Hit/Indie Darling” status that was most recently occupied by David Petersen’s Mouse Guard, and like Mouse Guard, every bit of the praise it’s gathering is deserved. There’s nothing not to love about this book, from the truly bizarre and bizarrely compelling premise (a man who gets psychic impressions from food busting crimes in a world where a ban on poultry has made the FDA the most prominent branch of Federal Law) to Guillory’s beautifully stylized art that plays up the cartoonish aspects of the story to great comedic effect.

It’s exactly the kind of book comics need more of: Innovative, stylish, and perfectly executed. And this issue follows right along with the last two, introducing another strange wrinkle into the already odd storyline with a love interest for Tony with her own power that can allow him to taste food without the lingering psychic impressions. There’s something really beautiful about that in an Alicia Masters/Ben Grimm sort of way, but the premise of the book allows it to be taken to an extreme in a way that you don’t get to see too often. After all, if you’re willing to accept a cibopath like Tony, then why not everything that goes with it?

I’ve known for a while now that John Layman had a great sense of humor and a killer wit to go along with it–seriously, you guys thought I was kidding about Dark Xena–but I didn’t expect him to come out with something this well-done and engaging. If you missed out, this week also saw a second printing of #2 and a third for #1, so gamble three bucks and give it a shot. It’s good stuff.

 

Doom Patrol #1: A few days ago in the comments section, someone asked me if I thought this one was going to be any good, and I said that with Keith Giffen doing the main story and a backup by Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire, it sounded like the single best DC comic of 1989.

That’s not to say that they’re has-beens or anything–especially Maguire, who continues to be one of the best and most expressive pencillers in comics–but when a team is that influential and that perfect for a particular era, it’s hard not to come in with a set of expectations. And the backup–or “co-feature,” as they’re called in solicitations–meets them perfectly, with Giffen and DeMatteis bringing everyone’s favorite dysfunctional and destructible robots back with a story that reads a lot like an encore performance of the JLI: Gold has swapped nobility out for narcissism to appropriately fill Booster’s spot, Mercury’s playing the role of the hotheaded Guy Gardner, and one assumes that in 20 years, Will Magnus will shoot Iron in the head and set off a whole new round of angry message board posts. It’s the kind of story these guys are comfortable with, which owes largely to the fact that it’s the kind of story they’re really good at, and while it hews closer to what they’ve done in the past than the outright bat-shit craziness of the original Kanigher stories that I love to pieces, i’s worth reading.

The main story, though, I’m not quite sure how to pin down yet. To continue with my theme of dredging up the creators’ past work, it reads more like Giffen’s short-lived Suicide Squad revival (of which I am not a fan) than anything else, right down to the completely expendable secondary characters getting killed off with very little preamble. It’s a curious thing with the Doom Patrol that everybody who has come to it after Grant Morrison seems to want to have as little to do with what he did on the title as possible (as opposed to Animal Man, where, not without good reason, they just ignore everything after Morrison left), and this one seems to follow right along with that trend. I can’t quite tell if it’s supposed to fit with the Creepy Livin’ In A Castle DP that Geoff Johns came up with a while ago or the “TOTALLY ALL NEW YOU HAVE DEFINITELY NEVER SEEN THESE CHARACTERS BEFORE” John Byrne relaunch that landed with a resounding thud after that one Justice League story–

BRIEF ASIDE: Man, remember that Justice League run? When you were all excited because it was Claremont and Byrne gettin’ back together and you thought it might spark a little bit of that old X-Men magic but then you suddenly remembered it was 2006 and you were reading a story about a vampire named “Crucifer?” Good times, man. Good times.

–but at this point, that hardly matters. It could be that in dropping Nudge and Grunt–because apparently we’re just going to name characters after whatever nouns are handy–Giffen’s symbolically killing off any link to those past incarnations. Or maybe he just thought they were stupid, I don’t know. Point being, it reads like a fresh start (give or take a reboot or two) and when that happens, there’s always the danger of it reading like a book that was just put out to service the copyright.

There are more than a few interesting bits to it–I think Oolong Island is one of the best versatile plot hooks to come down the pike at DC for a while, and casting the Doom Patrol as their military strike force isn’t a bad idea at all–and it’s good enough that I’m going to stay with it for now, but I’m hoping it gets better. At the very least, they could get a proper logo for it.

 

Exiles #5: Last week, the word came down that Exiles was canceled with #6, and once again, I am completely mystified by the comics-buying public.

It’s not just that I can’t imagine not wanting to read a comic by Jeff Parker, or that this one’s been a ton of fun and had some absolutely fantastic art, but this one came as a complete surprise, because at my store–and the usual caveat applies here; I know I’m dealing with a pretty tiny slice of the market–Exiles was actually doing pretty well. The people who liked the franchise were picking it up, the people who liked Parker’s other stuff were picking it up, and the people who were into Dave Bullock’s cheesecakey covers were at least moistly pawing at it on the shelf, so it seemed like everybody was happy. But apparently my shop was an anomaly.

The way Jeff Parker phrased it on his website, it sort of seemed like it was between Exiles and Agents of Atlas, and only one of ’em could stick around. And to be honest, I would’ve picked Atlas too, as it’s easily the best team book going.

That doesn’t mean Exiles is a slouch, though. I’ve already mentioned the fantastic artwork (which this issue comes courtesy of Casey Jones and Karl Kesel), and Parker nails the fun of the where-did-it-all-go-wrong alternate realities that hae always been the strongest point of the book. It’s thrilling, and as though that weren’t enough, it’s also a book where someone is constantly making Forge sock himself in the face:

 

 

Cracks me up every time. How could you not want to read that?

 

Justice League: Cry For Justice #2: The second issue of Cry For Justice hit the stands this week, and while it’s worlds better than the first installment, let’s be honest here: That’s not a very tough feat to accomplish. Considering that the first issue involved weeping Congorilla, the Atom torturing someone and something like six pages of Hal Jordan–who once lost his temper, killed 3000 people and starred in two bad crossovers–complaining about how it sucked that he couldn’t just go punch out people who hadn’t committed any crimes yet, the standard for a massive improvement was pretty much just James Robinson managing to avoid throwing a kitten into a blender.

I guess the obvious question is why I even bothered with the second issue when I hated the first so much–and I like it even less the more I think about it–but it really just comes down to me wanting to give Robinson as fair a shake on this as I can. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge Starman fan, and I’ve been re-reading it in the Omnibus editions that’ve come out recently, and they make a nice reminder of everything there is to like about Robinson’s work. And there’s a bit to like here, too. Jason Bard’s role as Batman’s “Daytime Detective” was an really interesting bit that Robinson introduced in “Face the Face” that subsequently went absolutely nowhere, and it’s nice to see it crop up again.

But on the flip side, it’s not really balancing out with what there is to hate. Robinson’s dialogue has always been a little stilted (and some would say that’s putting it charitably, but compared to them, I’m Chris Isaak), but here it’s unnatural to the point of distraction. Everyone talks like they’re reciting lines from an overwritten stage play and doing their best to emote so that the people in the back can figure out what’s going on. Admittedly, it does serve a purpose when Congorilla’s discussing the finer points of a martini to set up Mikaal for a nice little punchline, but when it’s Hal Jordan and Green Arrow soliloquizing at each other, it’s just annoying. And again: the entire premise of the book is fundamentally flawed. Hal’s upset because some people died, so he and Green Arrow go off to meet up with the Atom, and they talk about how much they missed each other when they were all dead themselves (or, in the Atom’s case, when they all thought he was dead because he was bopping around the multiverse, which is still a better excuse than a giant yellow space-bug). We all know that mortality in super-hero comics is a joke, but acknowledging that while trying to build a story around death being Super-Serious Business is maybe not a great idea.

And then there are the characters themselves, none of whom have displayed any likeability beyond what we’re supposed to bring to the table ourselves from seeing them in other, better books. Seeing super-heroes blowing up cars and torturing people because they’re angry doesn’t make me sympathize, it makes me want to read a Garth Ennis story where they get taken down a peg for acting like pricks, and even if you’re making a reference to it in the story itself–Green Arrow stops just short of calling Hal Jordan an asshole for complaining all the time–it doesn’t make the character any easier to like. It just makes you wonder how they got people to hang out with them.

But the weird part here is that I’m actually not sure if I’m done with this thing. If the third issue is as much of an exponential improvement as the second was, then we could come away from this series with something really good. I doubt it’ll happen, but I’m at least considering giving it a shot.

 

Wednesday Comics #5: I pretty much all I have to say about Wednesday Comics last week, and while not much has changed–Gibbons, Sook, Pope, Gaiman, Allred, Palmiotti, Conner, Baker, Kerschl, JLGL, Nowlan and even Dan Didio his own self are doing a damn fine job, Busiek continues to forget that the title of his strip is Green Lantern and not Hal Jordan: The College Years, and now that I’m not actually trying to read it, Ben Caldwell’s Wonder Woman is just beautiful to look at–the Superman strip has managed to get even more frustrating than it already was.

I got into a friendly debate (and yes, it’s possible for two folks to disagree on the Internet while still being generally amicable. I know, I was shocked too.) with LBFA’s Chris Haley where we both laid out our positions. And like I said, I’d prefer more action, but I’d settle for anything that wasn’t Superman whining. Well, almost anything, because the one thing we need less than a story that would’ve been called The Super-Mope From Krypton forty years ago is yet another recap of his origin.

Superman’s origin is so incredibly simple that Grant Morrison was able to do it in exactly four panels with exactly eight words, and the fact that there’s an entire page of absolutely gorgeous Lee Bermejo art that serves just to remind us of something that everyone who is going to read this thing already knows by heart. And if it was strictly necessary to include an origin recap–which it’s not–then why wait until five weeks into a 12-week run to put it out there? Why not do it right from the start so that we can get to the action that we’re not having either? The whole thing has just become a beautifully drawn oroborous of unnecessary stories, and every time I look at those giant-sized pages, I think of all the stuff Bermejo could be filling them with instead.

And again, I’m not trying to hate on John Arcudi here–well, yes I am, but only a little–because I do think he’s a genuinely talented guy that’s done some great work, but this isn’t a story that plays to his strengths. Or maybe it is, and I’m just a cranky old man who wants to see a 14″ x 20″ Terra Man story by Cary Bates. Either way, it’s not my thing.

 

Spider-Man/Human Torch HC: All told, this hardcover represents the third time I’ve purchased this series, the other two being the single issues and then the sadly out-of-print digest paperback that came out shortly after, and that alone should give you an idea of how much I love this comic.

This was the one that cemented Dan Slott as one of my favorite writers. If you’ve read any of his work on books like The Thing (also sadly out of print, c’mon Marvel!) or the stuff he’s done with Amazing Spider-Man, it’s clear that he’s a guy who has a deep and abiding love of the Marvel Universe, and while that’s true of a lot of people, what’s unique about Slott is that he’s one of the few with the talent to go back and tie that stuff together in incredibly entertaining ways, and this one is the perfect example of how he does it. It follows the relationship between the title characters through their history, starting in their earliest encounters from the Lee/Ditko days of Amazing and moving on to the way things were shortly before Civil War when it was published, and it’s just pure comics joy through and through.

I will say, though, that it’s a pretty odd choice to put out now–as the last issue hinges both on on Spidey revealing his identity to the Torch and the fact that he’s married to Mary Jane–but that’s only going to bother you if you overlook the fact that it’s an absolutely incredible story with note-perfect art from Ty “The Guy” Templeton. If you missed out, pick it up. You won’t regret it.

 

Girl Genius v.8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones: I’ve mentioned the fact that I’m a huge fan of Phil Foglio here and there over the past few years, and as much as I’ve enjoyed his other work, Girl Genius is far and away the best thing he’s done.

This is one of those occasions where reviewing it is almost pointless thanks to the fact that you can just go read the whole thing yourself online for free, but I prefer to wait for the paperbacks and get a big chunk of the strips at once. And since the content really isn’t in question, I’ll just go ahead and say that the trades are very well done, beautifully designed and loaded up with bonus features to make it worth it. But in either case, it’s a fantastic story and it’s something more people ought to be reading.

So get on that.

 


 

Annnnnnnnnnd that’s the week! As always, any questions or concerns can be left in the comments section below, so if you want to discuss whether Irredeemable is worth the price for the 99-cent fifth issue or the $10 trade of the first four (yes it is, it’s highly enjoyable), feel free to put them below. And for those of you about to tell me that that’s not really the Million Dollar Dream, yes. I know. It is a joke, and I write those on occasion. But since I doubt anyone got this far before their pedant-sense took over and directed them to right the terrible wrongs of mild inaccuracy on the Internet, this oughtta make for a fun read later.

But before I wrap up though, two quick announcements. I’ve been meaning to mention this for the past few weeks, but friends of writer John Ostrander are trying to raise money to cover the surgery that kept him from going blind. I’ve mentioned several times that Ostrander wrote one of my all-time favorite series, Suicide Squad, and I’d encourage you to donate to help him out. Plus Gail Simone–who it turns out is not just a great writer but a great human being–has been very active in putting together a benefit art auction with work by Joe Kubert, Neal Adams, Jeff Smith, Phil Noto, Art Adams, Jim Lee, Thom Zahler, and others. Go check it out, and if you can, help.

And if you still have money left over, I’ve heard through the grapevine that Nate “the Great” Bellegarde is accepting commissions and selling some original art himself. He’s darn good.

And that’s all I’ve got! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go enjoy my Thursday night. Because that’s definitely what it is. Thursday night.

69 thoughts on “The Week In Ink: August 5, 2009

  1. chris, no TMNT collected book?

    i would of thought you would of been a fan of the original eastman and laird stuff.

  2. Re: Doom Patrol #1. Giffen is trying to get back to the Doom Patrol being the book of offbeat superhero weirdos while not not completely sweeping past continuity under the rug. It’s a really hard line to walk, and I think it will take a good handful of issues before I can say whether his style on it is working.

    I’d heard about John Ostrander’s medical bills. That really bums me out. His run on The Spectre is, in my mind, the definitive take on the character and probably one of the best single-writer runs I’ve ever read. I’ll definitely be donating what I can, and I really hope things work out well for him.

  3. Boy, I’m glad I read it all the way through. I was all set to call you out on the Million Dollar Dream thing.

    I’m sorry for doubting you.

  4. So did Marvel (or more likely Diamond) just decide to give the UK The Marvels Project #1 a week early as a joke or something? Not that I’m complaining – I got to read a fantastic little issue (as you would expect from Brubaker), and now I’m ready for the rest of the series.

    Also, regarding Exiles: It’s all Claremont’s fault. Well, him and Marvel editorial. I read Exiles (v.1) from early in Bedard’s run up until the end, and once CC took over, it was all downhill, and in a hell of a hurry too. I don’t think I even made it onto issue 2 of New Exiles. Essentially, the name had been poisoned, and (this is at least partially my fault) I’ve not read enough Parker to justify going back to it, especially when there was only a two month break between the end of New Exiles and the start of Exiles (with a CC wrap-up one-shot inbetween). I suspect a lot of potential Exiles readers were in the same boat.

  5. So, with this being your first time with a “Dragon’s dead! Who will pick up the slack?” arc on Savage Dragon what did you think?

    And did you find Jersey Gods as improved as I did now that they’ve moved to focusing more on the whole Zoe/Barock relationship?

  6. An interesting note on Spidey – which of course you know, but still – Daredevil wouldn’t *LET* him tell. Which I thought was perfect for them, both Spidey feeling guilty about it and Matt knowing the consequences. Great moment.

    On Exiles: They weren’t even giving it a chance this time. Six issues shows you next to nothing. And damn right it’s all Claremont’s fault. He tanked that series, a series that was mildly successful for years. A series that saw great work from Judd Winnick, and yes, Chuck Austen. A book that Tony Bedard did an average job on with some high notes (that giant Rube Goldberg story was a hoot!). But Claremont took that and just drove it into the ground, much like he took the good stuff Tieri did on Excalibur and drove it into the ground.

    Meh, Claremont.

  7. The biggest problem in Cry for Justice 2 for me was the absolutely criminally bad Princess Bride riff between Mikaal and Congorilla. I mean, I love bad superhero comic books (except for the ones written by Morrison, Simone, Fraction, or Brubaker they’re all I read), and they don’t come worse than Cry for Justice, but I’d just as soon not read James Robinson butchering a true classic.

  8. The worst thing about the ignoring Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol is that my dream of seeing The Quiz vs/ Batman will never happen.

  9. The M.J./Spider-Man identity thing may turn out to be a little bit of a cheat… I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out she just thought Peter was there photographing Spider-Man.

  10. “I’m just a cranky old man who wants to see a 14″ x 20″ Terra Man story by Cary Bates.”

    Marry me?

  11. [A]s much as I’ve enjoyed his other work, Girl Genius is far and away the best thing he’s done.

    Out of curiosity, have you read either of the four-issue miniseries he did for DC in the ’90s? If so, what do you think of them?

    That’d leave The Quiz with no powers.

    I’m still wondering why thinking of the power to have all the powers one hasn’t thought of didn’t leave her powerless in the first place.

  12. How funny – last night when I was reading my Wednesday Comics # 5 I decided I was too foxed to read the Wonder Woman strip and looked at the lovely art instead (I’ll read it on my next re-read). And you’re totally right about the Superman strip: it’s all beautifully rendered but bring on the giant robots already!

    I’m afraid the Batman strip left me baffled this week.. What would Batman say without the mask on? Anyone?

    The Strange Adventures and Flash strips were my favourites this time.

  13. Girl Genius is great – but Foglio’s greatest?

    Not Stanley and His Monster?

  14. That John Ostrander thing should be a rallying cry for change in the health service. Don’t get me wrong, the Internet whip-round is probably going to do him more good personally, but still…

  15. I might wait until I hit a few conventions to pick up the rest of Cry For Justice. I really want to believe Robinson will make this book count, but he’s making it so hard. “Robinson” shouldn’t be a four-letter word, but that’s exactly what is happening here.

    coren . . .Chuck Austen is incapable of doing good work. His Exiles stories looked like he ripped off Winick’s backlog when he went exclusive with DC.

  16. Fact: If your version of the Doom Patrol features Robotman, Elastigirl, and Negative man, YOU HAVE NOT EVEN SORT OF CUT TIES TO PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS OF THE TEAM.

    Also, while I agree that the Byrne reboot was lame, I don’t think the new characters from it should be tossed away nonchalantly like that. I mean, Rob Liefeld created Deadpool but other writers made him awesome…

    I also think acting like the previous revamps didn’t happen is a bad idea, but that might just be my affection for the Arcudi series talking.

    As for Exiles: That is a damn shame, and I have to agree that Claremont is to blame. I seriously read all of vol. 1 and could not bring myself to enjoy it after Claremont came on. Just “HAY LET’S USE ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS SOME MORE” and… augh.

  17. As one of the eight people who have read Untold Tales of Spider-Man #14, I can back you up on just how great it is. Really, as much as I loved the entire series, the two issues focusing on MJ and Betty Brant were the best in the run as far as I’m concerned.

    I’ll be picking up the SM/HT HC this weekend. I don’t care that I own it twice already. #3 is my favorite comic ever and I need it in as many formats as possible.

  18. Stanley and His Monster!!! Seriously, I can’t think of a four-issue miniseries I like better. Foglio is easily one of the top five writers out there, and a first class artist too.

    Also, if I remember correctly, SaHM contains some early references to the Girl Genius universe…

  19. >> But on the other hand, there’s the idea that Kurt Busiek brought up in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #14–honestly one of my favorite Spidey stories ever, despite the fact that me and like eight other people have actually read it–which is that MJ’s known his secret identity since before her first appearance. >>

    Not my idea — Gerry Conway established that, in the SPIDER-MAN: PARALLEL LIVES graphic novel.

    kdb

  20. Man, I totally thought you’d have gone with Destroyer #5 for your top image. I mean, the dude dropkicks Death’s head.

  21. While I’m thinking of it . . . wasn’t Spider-Man/Human Torch collected and released under the title “I’m With Stupid” and in a smaller format? Why the hardcover treatment? Is the original out of print?

  22. “now that I’m not actually trying to read it, Ben Caldwell’s Wonder Woman is just beautiful to look at”

    Finally! someone who appreciates WW. I know that its panels are hard to follow but what I like about it is that it has a perky Wonder Woman and divine artwork that perfectly fits the tone of the story.

  23. While I’m thinking of it . . . wasn’t Spider-Man/Human Torch collected and released under the title “I’m With Stupid” and in a smaller format? Why the hardcover treatment? Is the original out of print?

    You may want to re-read the first sentence of my review.

  24. The really maddening thing about Ostrander’s situation is that he HAS insurance, and the treatment he needs is still insanely expensive. It really is an utter mess, and just horrible that things like that happen in the US.

    Suicide Squad and The Spectre…damn, those were some amazing comics.

  25. I can’t really blame anyone on not “following up” on Morrison’s Doom Patrol incarnation (I guess Rachel Pollack doesn’t count?), because… how could you? I mean, really? You could, but why? I don’t need or want to see Crazy Jane again– her story is done. Arcudi went and killed off Dorothy, and the others have been retconned back to normal, so why re-retcon anything? So that pretty much leaves the Sex Men and Flex Mentallo. And we’ll never see Flex again.

    I’d rather someone follow the Drake and Morrison and Arcudi versions by forging ahead and doing more new and wacky things with the group.

  26. My bad, Chris. Looks like Marvel would rather make a few extra bucks with a hardcover version. But then again, seeing how there’s stuff like the Super-Apes, the symbiote screwing Peter over repeatedly, and Spidey finally revealing his big secret to Johnny, it’s hard not to recommend it.

  27. I love Dan Slott. Somehow, his continuity-geeking always seems so much more inviting than the kind they do at DC.

    I agree that, as long as there have to be a dozen X-books, Claremont should get one. He has clearly earned Writer Emeritus status in the X-universe. But Exiles was a charming, fun book. The setup made for nice clean 6-issue episodes, so you could jump in and out (most didn’t need six issues, but that was the nature of the beast). There was no way the poor little bastard could survive both barrels of the Claremont Gun.

    Nobody seems to remeber this book, but I still love Ostrander and Truman (and Mandrake, etc.) on Grimjack. I’m going to have to dig around in the sofa cushions and see if I can’t pitch in.

  28. re: Exiles. Really? It was a choice between Exiles and Agents of Atlas? Couldn’t it have been a choice between, I don’t know, Exiles and another House of M miniseries?

  29. Curse you, Sims! I’m still waiting for my preorder on that Girl Genius volume to arrive!

    Did you get the hardcover or just the paperback? How about the sketch bookplate?

  30. Not to do with the Million Dollar Dream, but it’s similarly pedantic: Justice League may have had a great leap in quality, but it’s wrong to say it’s exponential. Exponential means the rate of change is itself increasing, which cannot be observed when you’ve only two points of data.
    I regret nothing!

  31. Bryan Hitch is definitely talented, but he just has a lot of ticks that really get in the way of my enjoying his art. The biggest of which is that unless they’re masked, his human faces look odd (though for some reason, Norman Osborn has looked solid so far, but he’s the exception). Like they’re built for studio shots. Same with his women always looking like they’re posing for photo shoots.

    Yeah, posing and looking good is part of drawing superheroes, except superheroes have to pose to look kickass and full of energy; his superhero poses look stiff and photogenic.

    He’s toned it down, I notice, in Rebirth…but, I really don’t like pointing this out, but you can see how rushing has hurt his art. “Hurt” probably isn’t the word, it’s just that it isn’t up to his usual quality. If this was my first Bryan Hitch book I’d probably be plenty impressed. But knowing it usually looks like, and seeing how much different his art is here…that just gets in the way of my enjoying it, too.

  32. Now, on the side of art I liked, HOT DAMN was the artist on Spider-Man this week awesome.

    Waid is absolutely getting the lion’s share of truly great artists for his Spider-Man stories. And if that’s deliberate, KEEP DOING IT MARVEL, as Waid’s BND stories are among the only ones I read :)

  33. Not Stanley and His Monster?

    Didn’t you mean, Not Buck Godot, Zap Gun For Hire?

    (Though I like the Stanley series a great deal, too.)

  34. Girl Genius is great – but Foglio’s greatest? Not Stanley and His Monster?
    Didn’t you mean, Not Buck Godot, Zap Gun For Hire?

    No. His greatest is Girl Genius. It is provable with Science.

    Mad Science.

  35. Bah, when it comes to Foglio work What’s New With Phil and Dixie is a classic for the ages!

    Okay, not really, but my options here were that or XXXenophile and while I like XXXenophile declaring my undying love for it might have some unfortunate connotations.

  36. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Foglio’s Angel and the Ape — awesome, awesome mini– but Girl Genius is not only pure win, but pure creator-owned win, which gives it a slight edge.

  37. Gentlemen and ladies! Let us simply agree that Mr. Foglio is awesome in all he does.

  38. “Tony Stark’s love life is one hot tranny mess”

    Not at all cool, Sims. It *might* be understandable if Masque or Pepper had a trans history, but it still wouldn’t be cool to be so dismissively disparaging.

  39. Busiek himself beats me to pointing out Parallel Lives! It’s great and well worth tracking down if you’re a Spidey-fan. It came out a around the time of the marriage and basically retells the story of Pete and MJ’s relationship, with the origin DeFalco gave her in mind.

    If you really want to sell people on Slott’s Spidey/Human Torch mini Sims, you would have pointed out that the middle chapter is an in-continuity Hostess story!

  40. Eh, I was more of a Elliot Maggin man than Cary Bates. Too bad the former swore of the character in the 80s.

  41. Kurt Busiek and Joe Gualtieri both beat me in mentioning Gerry Conway’s very cool Parallel Lives story, so I’ll just point out that you’re thinking of Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #16, not #14.

  42. Now y’all have me wondering what it would’ve been like if Phil Foglio had been handed Doom Patrol after Morrison left.

    Short answer: AWESOME.

  43. I do wish more people would do things with Morrison’s legacy on DP. He created a lot of brilliant scenarios and characters that seem to have been left to waste, with little of comparative worth being put in their place. Still, I’m cautiously optimistic about the new run.

    Adrien: Agreed.

  44. Not my idea — Gerry Conway established that, in the SPIDER-MAN: PARALLEL LIVES graphic novel.

    I’ll just point out that you’re thinking of Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #16, not #14.

    That’s what I get for writing reviews without access to the Internet to clarify my dim, half-remembered “facts.”

  45. Chris, thoughts on Ghost Riders: Heavens On Fire? Over the summer I seriously missed Aaron’s GR while it was on hiatus, and I was thrilled to see it finally back on track.

    And I suppose I’m the only person that prefers the Arcudi/Eng Huat version of the Doom Patrol? Fever and Ted “Negative Man” Bruder were fantastic characters that I hated to see get booted in favor of (sigh) John Byrne’s shit.

  46. “Not at all cool, Sims. It *might* be understandable if Masque or Pepper had a trans history, but it still wouldn’t be cool to be so dismissively disparaging.”

    Not a big Achewood fan, are you?

  47. @AERose:

    Not a big fan of disparaging a class of people, no matter what the source. I wouldn’t care if Grant Morrison made a joke about minorities; it still wouldn’t be clever or funny.

  48. I am fairly certain that Chris wasn’t insulting transgendered people. He was just quoting Chritian Siriano, from Project Runway.

  49. And Girl Genius: Volume 8 just won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story from the World Science Fiction Society. (This is the first year the award has existed—as Neil Gaiman remarked when presenting the award, it represents a definite improvement over the situation 23 years ago, when voters gave The Dark Knight Returns an award for Best Nonfiction Book—and IMHO it gets the award off to an excellent start.)

  50. @That Guy…

    Right, I think I got the initial reference, but seriously, it’s not like Siriano’s invocation of transgendered people as an additive to “mess” wasn’t unproblematic. Quoting an asshole does not automatically exempt one from assholish actions oneself.

  51. I was also an avid fan of “Untold Tales of Spider-Man.” Back when your average Spider-Man book was $1.99, the best Spidey stories were being told by Kurt Busiek, just before he did his now legendary Avengers run, for the bargain price of $.99 an issue. Good times.

  52. Yeah, I’ll join the chorus in saying that Morrison left much that could have been done with the Doom Patrol. Weird heroes that battle weird threats with Cliff Steele as the most human of the bunch. And the weird was an 80s weird, not a rehashed 60s weird where the appeal lies in nostalgia.

    What’s 21st century weird? Figuring that out will give Doom Patrol a niche again.

  53. Thanks for the suggestion (and link) to go read all of Girl Genius for myself… now I have. Whew! That’s good comics.

  54. I know I’m coming in WAY late here (no internet for a while, sorry), but MJ knowing Spidey’s identity long before they finally got their relationship back together was established in the ’80s. I seem to recall in some issue of Amazing or PPTSM or Web or whatever, MJ either telling Peter or thinking to herself something along the lines of “I think I’ve kind of always known.” Please don’t make me go longbox digging.

    So the current ASM storyline hinting that MJ knows doesn’t necessarily mean the deal with Mephisto/Quesada was more faceted than we thought.

    Then again, I haven’t read ASM since the end of “One More Day,” so what the hell do I know?

  55. If I had a woman like MJ sitting on my couch, I would not be leaving the apartment for ANY reason ever.

  56. The MJ knowing Peter’s secret was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man 259 by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz back in 1984.