My Comic List: April 2nd, 2008
I want to talk about comics more on this site. So I am! Maybe you read the same ones I do? Let’s talk. Here’s what I’m picking up this week:
Action Comics #863; a title I’m probably going to drop soon just because it’s not doing much for me.
Detective Comics #843; just because. I still have a backlog of about 10 months to get through.
Nightwing #143; same here.
Amazing Spider-Man #555; I’m still reeling from One More Day, looking for subtle hints that this is all a farce. But even if it’s not, I’ve been pretty happy. That Mr. Negative character is kind of creepy. Sometimes the writing is a bit campy, but it’s good enough to spend money on.
Cable #2; wait, I missed issue 1?? I can’t believe that. I’m all about anything X-Men at the moment, thanks to the Messiah Complex story arc.
Kickass #2; “The Most Badass Comic Book Ever,” or something like that, is the tagline. Agreed. It’s about a kid who dresses up like a superhero and tries to fight crime… something that, to my amazement, hasn’t really been done before. The first issue was about how bad he got his ass kicked after trying to stop a group of thugs. Can’t wait to read this one.
Logan #2; Wolverine & Brian K. Vaughan. Can’t ask for much more, except #s 3 and 4.
Omega Unknown #7; I’m waiting for all 10 issues of this run to come out before I dive in.
Secret Invasion #1; Ooo, “do you want to know a secret?” Yes, I do.
Young X-Men #1; like I said… anything X-Men.
Boys #17; if you aren’t reading this, you’re missing out. I usually wait until an arc is complete before reading so I can get it all in one sitting. I’m really hoping the series shows us more of the Seven, who should have thier own spin-off series. They’re so… real.
That’s it for this week! Actually it’s a pretty heavy week, I was hoping not to spend this much.
What do you have on your list? Anything I should have on mine but don’t?
Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed
Harleeeee Quinn.
Depending on who is portraying him, the Joker is arguably one of the scariest villains in the comic world. Part of what makes him scary is the idea that he’s just as crazy as Batman himself, expect Batman channels his craziness into something positive whereas the Joker is a mess of hate and… well… something I can’t comprehend because I’ve sat here for 10 minutes trying to think of a word.
Bottom line: Jack Nicholson’s version was always a let down to me because no matter who I talked to their opinion always seemed to be that Nicholson got it right. Because of that, I kind of always thought nobody would ever touch the Joker again, and since Nicholson apparently was so great, that’s how everybody would see the Joker from that point on. I’m glad the new movies are being bold enough to step out of Nicholson’s shadow, and I’m really looking forward to Heath Ledger’s version who looks a little crazier.
One aspect of the Joker that I also like is his side-kick introduced in the animated series. Harleen Quinzel is a doctor at Arkham Asylym where the Joker is locked up, and (this is how good the Joker is with other people’s minds), she goes crazy working with him. She takes on his gimmick and calls herself Harley Quinn.
I never really thought about it until all this press about Mary Kate Olsen’s relationship with Heath Ledger, but I got to thinking she might make a pretty good Harley Quinn. It would be a stretch and a true test of her ability but, if executed correctly, would define her as an individual and give her some credibility that one of those sisters needs to make it now that they are no longer considered child actors.
“Hey, hey, Mistah J…”
I don’t know, I’m just the idea guy.
Do you think that particular casting move would be taken seriously? What would the hype be like, do you think? Harley Quinn hasn’t been seen on live-action screen yet, so, who do you think would give a good portrayal?
*****
Slightly off-topic, but: here is a video someone made using the audio for The Dark Knight trailer and footage from the old 60s Batman show.
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn
Pride of Baghdad is a graphic novel (okay, comic book) about a group of lions that escape from a Baghdad zoo during the US invasion in 2003. I’m not sure why I just heard about it now, and why it was on the Borders New Releases shelf last week if it came out in late 2006, but I saw the name of the author and had to pick it up.
Brian K. Vaughn is the writer of the Y: The Last Man series I’ve talked about, as well as one of the writers on everybody’s favorite TV show, Lost. So I’m pretty much going to try and read anything he puts out.
This is a stand-alone story, and, for the most part, the pictures kind of tell the story. (So is it a picture book?) The dialogue is strong but if there was one negative thing I had to look for in Brian K. Vaughn’s writing it would be that he doesn’t really take anything seriously and always kinds of jokes in the wrong place.
However, he handles death scenes very well. In an earlier issue of Y: The Last Man, the crew finds themselves having to live with a group of escaped (female, of course) prison inmates. Well, the main character falls in love with one of them, only to have it end in tragedy as his sister shows up and shoots the girl. As she lay dying she tries to tell him “something I saw on TV once, about lions…” She says, “lions…. ” and you’re thinking, as you turn the page, she’ll say something about lions falling in love or finding each other or some other kind of sweet piece of dying-dialog, only to see that she died never finishing her thought. What was she going to say?! Scenes like that really make the death have more impact, because people die all the time never really finishing what they started, or never really getting to say goodbye. More on this in a minute.
I tried to think hard about this story and what it meant. I mean, anything having to do with talking lions in Baghdad has to have some kind of message behind it. As far as I can tell, it has to do with the nature of freedom and what it means to be “liberated.” These lions were set free after a bomb blew apart their cage at the zoo, so they set off, not really knowing what they were getting in to. They searched for food, but having too much compassion for the “keepers” (humans), refused to eat them. These animals weren’t necessarily meant to be free, being raised in captivity most of their lives, so, I think the message is… what does that mean for the war in Iraq? If freedom has to be earned, are we just setting up the Iraqi’s for disaster by “giving” it to them?
I don’t have an answer. But the way the animals view the war and human civilization (they have no idea what anything is or what it means) is amusing. A wise turtle tells them, in passing, that they’re fighting over black water, and the way they talk about it makes you think “is that really it? We’re stupid.”
The death scene comes in the end and (well, I guess I should put a spoiler warning here… so)… (more…)
“Evening…. commmmmmissioner….”
“ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A MALE, WHITE, 28, UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”
So, in case you haven’t heard from all over the place… Heath Ledger is dead.
One time, years back, I remember waking up on Saturday morning and having my dad tell me that “Siskel & Ebert” won’t be on because Gene Siskel was dead. That was the first time someone I knew from TV died, and I remember being kind of upset because “Siskel & Ebert” was just something we always watched on Saturday. It was really sudden, and I remember it was the first time I actually thought “but he looked so young and healthy!” when responding to someone’s death.
Apparently this was a suicide, so all bets are off. Being young and healthy has nothing to do with it if you’re still fighting demons in your own head.
RIP, Heath.
So what does this mean for the Batman movie, I wonder? Filming is already complete so it can still be released as scheduled. Delaying it would only be a knee-jerk reaction to an immediate tragedy… kind of like how The Sarah Connor Chronicles was supposed to have the ‘terminator hunts John in school’ scene redone because of the Virginia Tech shooting, then never did because we all apparently got over it in time. I hope this is not delayed, because it really doesn’t need to be, and I think the Joker will be Heath’s career defining role. And like any good “artist,” the value of their work always increases after their death.
I had doubts about him being cast as the Joker at first, but when I read director Chris Nolan’s reasoning, I was convinced. And after seeing the trailer, there is no doubt… this is the Joker. I always hated Jack Nicholson’s version, even though everybody else swears it’s the best. Jack Nicholson always just kind of looked like a guy in a Halloween costume to me. This new Joker looks as messed up as the Joker should.
“Why so serious?”
I remember once hearing that celebrities die in threes. Brad Renfro was one week ago to the day. Next Tuesday it has to be someone else if this “three” theory is correct. Britney Spears is the clear choice, but that’s too obvious. Let’s say… Barry Watson. That would be just as surprising.
One More Day
Sometimes you get so wrapped up in a story that when it’s over you have a hard time letting go, so your brain tries to draw connections where probably none exist. Like how I can’t stop thinking that Cameron the Terminator Girl on “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is future-John Connor’s lover, or in the new Spider-Man comics whenever they show Mary Jane I can’t help but thinking that she knows and because she knows, this weird “start-over,” for-the-kids, fake reality will be over soon.
Let me back up! (Spoilers ahead, so watch ya step, kid.)
So, you have your Peter Parker, who is your Spider-Man. Then you have your Mary Jane (the lovable MJ) Peter/Spider-Man’s love interest and, since 1987, his wife (not yours).
I’ve not been a reader of Spider-Man, and, actually, the “One More Day” arc that I’m about to talk about is the first time I’ve actually read a Spider-Man comic. But I kept up with the lore, and like to say I know my way around the web. But, after reading “One More Day,” I can’t help but feel cheated, as if someone slapped me in the face and said, “NOW you want to start reading Spider-Man? Take this! Haha, everything that’s happened in the past 40 years is GONE!”
The plot of “One More Day” is essentially just that… one more day. One more day of what? Good question.
More evidence that BSG is the shit and you should watch it.
If I were to let you borrow the Season 1 DVDs and you gave them an honest watch, turned around and gave them back and said, “Nah, I don’t really want to keep watching,” I will give you $100.Okay, not really. But the fact remains: if you are missing this show, you are missing a quality story. It was the name that originally held me back until I found out what it meant.
Steven King’s Top 5 TV shows of 2007 as told to Entertainment Weekly:
5.) Friday Night Lights. I’ll admit I am curious about this show, because one time on Friday night I was flipping through the channels and was caught by a show that looked awesome (visually), had solid characters and seemed to have believable dialog (something a lot of potentially good shows are ruined by). Only later I noticed I was watching a sports show. I might give this another shot soon.
4.) Dexter. Also another one I feel I should try. Considering re-starting my Netflix to get the DVDs.
3.) Battlestar Galactica. Steven says: “It sagged in the middle, but picked up at the end. The best of Battlestar are the tough-as-nails women. Call them Space Grrls.”
2.) Damages. Never heard of this one.
1.) Lost. Steven says: “Still the best. I re-watched the entire third season to make sure, and–yes–still the best. Heroes just doesn’t have it’s mythic grandeur. People are reaching for the stars here. And maybe beyond. Really, there’s never been anything like it.”
Speaking of Lost, I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this yet. Verizon has released a few of the “missing pieces” of episodes. I think they’re just deleted scenes from certain episodes but they are still pretty cool. They could have been released during the summer when I was really missing Lost, but what can I do? The latest one, “Operation Sleeper,” is the best one and explains what exactly Juliet was talking about when she asked Jack “should we tell her?” after Kate confronted them about her mistrust toward Juliet. As an audience, we went, “Jack knows?” Yes, Jack knows.
Speaking of good, believable dialog: “Thank you, please let me finish.”
(Side note: the writers are still not being paid for such dialog.)
*****
The comic of the day is the first time Superman found he was not only invulnerable on the oustide, but on the inside as well.
Second-side-side note: does anybody besides Crystal enjoy the comics? If not, that’s okay, I’ll post them for her benefit. Just asking. I feel like maybe people don’t know how to read comics so that’s why nobody other than her has really said anything. I, too, had trouble following comics (when I was a wee-lad) and it was, ironically, my dad who gave the best, most obvious advice: “Read it like a book–left to right, top to bottom. Go with the flow of art and text.”
(click to enlarge)
