Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!! My favourite Monday of the month is here! The third one! That means that DC's solicitations for three months from now come up. It's a chance to anticipate upcoming storylines, see what new trades are in the pipeline for the next several months, and see what's coming in the next 9 months or so from DC Direct. Marvel's will be along tomorrow morning, but given my growing disinterest in Marvel, that's not nearly as important to me. Now, let's look at the highlights of DC's offerings in December, 2008, capping off a year that saw DC struggle to find their footing, story-wise, only to come back strong as the summer dawned with the thus-far superb "Final Crisis". Let us begin...
Final Crisis
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #4
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by George Perez & Scott Koblish
Covers by George Perez
Don't miss this issue as lightning strikes again in the DC Universe! The Crisis of the 31st century continues as a great hero falls and another returns to help Superman and the Legion combat the murderous Superboy-Prime! Meanwhile, the Time Trapper makes his move against the three Legion founders, Polar Boy's bizarre mission comes to an end and Superman makes a shocking discovery that will redefine the terms of this war. On sale December 24 * 4 of 5 * 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Thus far, we're only one issue into the "Legion of Three Worlds" story, but it's got me hooked thus far. It's looking very much that Bart Allen will return during this storyline, which means that by the time that "Flash: Rebirth" starts next year, all four of the Flashes will be active in some respect in the DCU. It's also a little unfortunate that there's no issue of Final Crisis solicited yet, but I would wager it's because they're trying to hold off the conclusion of the storyline until all the tie-ins have finished up. Either that, or there's just more delays.
FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #5
Written by Greg Rucka
Art and covers by Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion
The sky rains blood, Darkseid's legion of slaves rampage across the planet, and in Gotham City, The Question and Huntress struggle to defend the few men, women and children who remain free. But without the Spectre, do they even have a chance against the might of Cain and the Spear of Destiny? The final battle is at hand, and the fate of the DCU hangs in the balance. On sale December 31 * 5 of 5 * 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US
Revelations has surprised me thus far. It was the only one of the three main tie-in series that I wasn't THAT stoked about, but I was buying it because the minimal tie-ins meant I could afford to get the whole shit and shebang. That being said, I've been very impressed with it so far. None of the characters are THAT familiar to me, and with only two issues currently released, they haven't had much time to become familiar to me, but I'm starting to dig on them. The Spectre is the viewpoint character, which is a somewhat odd choice, given that the Spectre is far and away the most powerful character in DC Comics. Being the Wrath of God tends to make a character somewhat unrelatable. Still, it sounds like the story is going to have one hell of a conclusion, as it's also been the tie-in series to most closely associate with the main story of Final Crisis.
Batman
DETECTIVE COMICS #851
Written by Dennis O'Neil
Art by Guillem March
Cover by Guillem March
Variant cover by Tony Daniel
"Last Days of Gotham" part 1 of 2! Longtime BATMAN writer and editor Dennis O'Neil returns to The Dark Knight for this special two-part tale. Joined by artistic rising star Guillem March (JOKER'S ASYLUM: POISON IVY), O'Neil's "Last Days of Gotham" dives into the soul of a city that has lost its most famous citizen, its favorite son, its beloved protector. How will Gotham City react in the wake of the horrible tragedy that has befallen The Caped Crusader?On sale December 3 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
BATMAN #684
Written by Dennis O'Neil
Art by Guillem March
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant cover by Tony Daniel
"Last Days of Gotham" part 2 of 2! In a world without a Batman, what happens when Commissioner Gordon lights the Bat-signal, in desperate need of assistance against the growing tide of crime sweeping his city? What does Nightwing do when his longtime partner fails to aid him in yet another of Two-Face's villainous assaults against Gotham? Without The Dark Knight to protect its walls, Gotham City may be facing its final days!On sale December 24 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
RIP is over, and Batman is gone. But where to? I really need to know. RIP started off a little weird, but has really picked up, and I'm anxious for the world afterwards. For probably the first time ever, the DCU will be in the shadow of no Bat.
Green Lantern
GREEN LANTERN #37
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert
Cover by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope
The prelude to "The Blackest Night" marches on with "Rage of the Red Lanterns" part 3! Hal Jordan continues his journey into the deepest depths of Ysmault, unlocking the strange secrets behind Atrocitus's crimson power and witnessing a bizarre prophecy all his own. On sale December 31 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #31
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Pat Gleason & Drew Geraci
Cover by Pat Gleason
A prelude to "Blackest Night" chapter! As the growing power of the Star Sapphires intensifies, the next law is burned into the Book Of Oa by the Guardians resulting in further life-altering reverberations amongst the personal lives of the Corps. Meanwhile Kyle and Natu battle Kryb for the soul of Lantern Amnee and Matoo's infant son.On sale December 10 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Ah, my beloved Green Lantern! The build for the Blackest Night continues, and it's making me all a-quiver with anticipation. I want to know it all, and I want to know it now.
Starman
THE STARMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
Written by James Robinson
Art by Tony Harris, John Watkiss, Guy Davis, J.H. Williams III, Chris Sprouse, Craig Hamilton, and others
Cover by Tony Harris
In this second volume, Jack Knight's disturbing dreams drive him to New York City to meet the Golden Age Sandman! Collecting STARMAN #17-29, STARMAN ANNUAL #1 and stories from SHOWCASE '95 #12 and SHOWCASE '96 #4-5. Advance-solicited; on sale February 25 * 416 pg, FC, $49.99 US
WEEEEEEEE!!!! I loves me some Starman, and it comes out less than 2 weeks after my birthday! W00T!
Jack
JACK OF FABLES #29
Written by Matthew Sturges & Bill Willingham
Art by Tony Akins & Jose Marzan
Cover by Brian Bolland
The siege is on! In Part 2 of the status quo annihilating storyline, "The Siege of the Golden Boughs," Bookburner's army storms the gates and the fight begins in earnest! After this issue, the JACK OF FABLES universe will never be the same! Of course, whenever even the most minuscule event happens, the universe isn't technically "the same" afterward, but you get what we mean. Go buy it! On sale December 31 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * MATURE READERS
Jack of Fables is my only Vertigo monthly that I buy on an ongoing basis, but there's a reason for that. It's ungodly funny. Seriously, go buy it.
DC Direct
SUPERMAN/BATMAN SERIES 7 ACTION FIGURES
DESIGNED BY SHANE DAVIS
The popular Superman/Batman series of action figures hits lucky 7!From the popular story arc "Search for Kryptonite," in which Superman and Batman attempt to rid the world of Kryptonite, this series also features Aquaman and Live Wire!
Another Batman and Superman to add to my collection. A drain on resources, but they're just so damn pretty.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
One More Day, one year later
So, it's been about a year since the most villified storyline of all time (most likely) began, "One More Day". Basically, it was a storyline designed to undo the last twenty years of Spider-man's history, through a satanic bargain with Mephisto. During the Civil War, Spider-man unveiled his identity to the world. This in turn led to Kingpin putting out a hit on Peter Parker and his family. Aunt May gets shot, slips into a coma, and apparently, no one can save her. Enter Mephisto, who offers to save Aunt May's life in exchange for his marriage to Mary-Jane. They do it, and voila! Pete and MJ are no longer married and indeed, were NEVER married, so God only knows how the past twenty years have now unfolded, but that's a story for another day.
When it first came out, I was deeply opposed to it for a variety of reasons. One, it was just a really bad story. The art, by Joe Quesada, was just atrocious. Nearly Frank Miller-levels of badness. Everyone looked old and decrepit, but he claimed it was to show how "aged" marriage had made Peter Parker. Uh huh. Whatever. It just looked terrible. The story itself was even worse. The story was riddled with plot holes. Reed Richards can't help Aunt May. A gunshot victim in a coma can't be saved by a guy who can make his own universe? Ooooook. Then Mephisto shows up, and he wants Spidey's marriage? Since when does he work that way? He's always been in the business of souls. Now he's in the business of marriages? Well, I suppose being a divorce lawyer DOES pay more than being the Lord of the Infernal Realm. Anyway, the biggest plot hole? Pete considers the deal. Spider-man's entire existence is defined by taking responsibility to make up for a mistake he made in the past. To even consider Mephisto's proposal is to dishonour not just the twenty years that were erased, but to dishonour the forty-five years that the character has existed. He made the same mistake that he made all those years before, and rather than man up and face the consequences, he bails on it and gets a demon to fix his life at the expense of the love of his life. Just...ugh.
Now, the biggest reason for them to even do the storyline was because Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel, apparently decided that Spider-man being married was a detraction to the character. That having a beautiful wife made the fact that Spider-man is supposed to be a lovable loser a non-issue. That he was too far from where he had come from. Now, I disagree with this position because Spider-man's life still sucked, even when he was married. I'd even argue that he had more trauma AFTER getting married than he did before. Venom, clones, Green Goblin's return, new powers, Civil War, DYING, etc. Mary-Jane was his rock. He's got a crappy job, villains are trying to kill him, and everything's going wrong, but he comes home to a wife that loves him, and that makes it alright. It's the saving grace to keep Spidey from being totally unsavoury. But apparently, that was overruled in favour of making Spidey a dateless loser who crashes on his aunt's couch. Much more relatable for the average comic fan. The second reason was that Spider-man as a swinging (no pun intended) bachelor was more identifiable to new fans. My response to that is: What new fans? Being single is not going to bring in thousands and thousands of new fans to the medium, it's only going to annoy the dedicated fanbase you've already got. Indeed, sales on Amazing Spider-man have fallen since OMD was published. However, they now publish the book three times a month, so from one perspective, it's doing better now. Really, what's happened is that they're just selling more books to fewer people. It's not a great business model, but I guess it's enough for them. Plus if they went back, they'd lose a lot of face in the industry, since they put so much emphasis on this "old-school Spider-man".
Brand New Day. The Spider-man since then has been...repetitive, I guess is the best term. They've introduced a generic new supporting cast and villains, and basically have retold a lot of old Spider-man stories. A few years ago, when Spider-man first developed organic webshooters in the comics, they said it was because the stories involving his webshooters running out, or being broken at a critical time, had become so stale by being so overused that they hadn't been used for years, and it didn't matter if he had them or not. Now that he's somehow lost these new powers, his webshooters breaking/running out has become a standard plot device again. Two years ago, the editorial department said that they were unnecessary because it was lame to use that for suspense. Now, those same editors are churning out issue after issue where that same refrain is being beaten into the ground again. Add to the fact that, thus far, not one single story they have told could not have been told with a married Peter Parker. They said that they wanted to tell new stories not "bound down" with his marriage. Well...none of these stories have done that. The entire ordeal was based on a promise, and it has yet to be fulfilled. With all the other unanswered questions surrounding the reset, such as why Harry Osborn is alive again, why no one notices not knowing who Spider-man is anymore, what happened to his daughter, etc.,, it's just one big letdown.
Finally, now that I've exhausted all my arguments, arguments I was tired of making months ago, I look back on this whole thing with maybe a more jaded view than I should, or at least more than I want to. Joe Quesada said that he wanted the Spider-man of his youth back. He apparently didn't realize that that same Spider-man could be found in the movies, in the cartoons, in the Marvel Adventures books, in the Ultimate Spider-man book (which outsells Amazing every month), and in so many other places. The core 616 universe is the only place where I could go to read about the Spider-man I grew up with. The one who was married to MJ. There was only one place to go for that. Spidey married MJ in 1987, the year I was born. It was the "version" (I dislike that term, since it was the evolution of the character that got him there) that I spent my childhood thrilling to the adventures of. He was my Spider-man. And now, I can't get him anymore. Nowhere else can I find the adventures of a Spider-man who was married to Mary-Jane Watson. He's gone. I miss him. I know he's a fictional character, but dammit, Spider-man was important to me. Now I have nowhere to read about him anymore, but I'm not mad, not anymore. Like with Wally and Kyle being squeezed out by the returns of Barry and Hal over in DC, I know that things will swing around again. Comics are cyclical. What was, will be again. In ten or fifteen years, the people who will be running the show will be my generation, who grew up with Pete and MJ, happily married. Hopefully, I'll be one of them.
Anyway, after a year of this, I really have only one thing to say to Joe Quesada, if I could: Mister Quesada, you took away my Spider-man, and you did it with one of the most horrible stories ever written. But I'm not mad at you for doing it. You taught me a valuable lesson with it, a lesson about Spider-man himself, with his themes and his values and everything he represents. You taught me a lesson that speaks true to the character that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created 46 years ago, all the way back in Amazing Fantasy #15:
Sir, you took my Spider-man away. That's not fair, but I'll get over it. Because that's life. Because that's Spider-man.
When it first came out, I was deeply opposed to it for a variety of reasons. One, it was just a really bad story. The art, by Joe Quesada, was just atrocious. Nearly Frank Miller-levels of badness. Everyone looked old and decrepit, but he claimed it was to show how "aged" marriage had made Peter Parker. Uh huh. Whatever. It just looked terrible. The story itself was even worse. The story was riddled with plot holes. Reed Richards can't help Aunt May. A gunshot victim in a coma can't be saved by a guy who can make his own universe? Ooooook. Then Mephisto shows up, and he wants Spidey's marriage? Since when does he work that way? He's always been in the business of souls. Now he's in the business of marriages? Well, I suppose being a divorce lawyer DOES pay more than being the Lord of the Infernal Realm. Anyway, the biggest plot hole? Pete considers the deal. Spider-man's entire existence is defined by taking responsibility to make up for a mistake he made in the past. To even consider Mephisto's proposal is to dishonour not just the twenty years that were erased, but to dishonour the forty-five years that the character has existed. He made the same mistake that he made all those years before, and rather than man up and face the consequences, he bails on it and gets a demon to fix his life at the expense of the love of his life. Just...ugh.
Now, the biggest reason for them to even do the storyline was because Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel, apparently decided that Spider-man being married was a detraction to the character. That having a beautiful wife made the fact that Spider-man is supposed to be a lovable loser a non-issue. That he was too far from where he had come from. Now, I disagree with this position because Spider-man's life still sucked, even when he was married. I'd even argue that he had more trauma AFTER getting married than he did before. Venom, clones, Green Goblin's return, new powers, Civil War, DYING, etc. Mary-Jane was his rock. He's got a crappy job, villains are trying to kill him, and everything's going wrong, but he comes home to a wife that loves him, and that makes it alright. It's the saving grace to keep Spidey from being totally unsavoury. But apparently, that was overruled in favour of making Spidey a dateless loser who crashes on his aunt's couch. Much more relatable for the average comic fan. The second reason was that Spider-man as a swinging (no pun intended) bachelor was more identifiable to new fans. My response to that is: What new fans? Being single is not going to bring in thousands and thousands of new fans to the medium, it's only going to annoy the dedicated fanbase you've already got. Indeed, sales on Amazing Spider-man have fallen since OMD was published. However, they now publish the book three times a month, so from one perspective, it's doing better now. Really, what's happened is that they're just selling more books to fewer people. It's not a great business model, but I guess it's enough for them. Plus if they went back, they'd lose a lot of face in the industry, since they put so much emphasis on this "old-school Spider-man".
Brand New Day. The Spider-man since then has been...repetitive, I guess is the best term. They've introduced a generic new supporting cast and villains, and basically have retold a lot of old Spider-man stories. A few years ago, when Spider-man first developed organic webshooters in the comics, they said it was because the stories involving his webshooters running out, or being broken at a critical time, had become so stale by being so overused that they hadn't been used for years, and it didn't matter if he had them or not. Now that he's somehow lost these new powers, his webshooters breaking/running out has become a standard plot device again. Two years ago, the editorial department said that they were unnecessary because it was lame to use that for suspense. Now, those same editors are churning out issue after issue where that same refrain is being beaten into the ground again. Add to the fact that, thus far, not one single story they have told could not have been told with a married Peter Parker. They said that they wanted to tell new stories not "bound down" with his marriage. Well...none of these stories have done that. The entire ordeal was based on a promise, and it has yet to be fulfilled. With all the other unanswered questions surrounding the reset, such as why Harry Osborn is alive again, why no one notices not knowing who Spider-man is anymore, what happened to his daughter, etc.,, it's just one big letdown.
Finally, now that I've exhausted all my arguments, arguments I was tired of making months ago, I look back on this whole thing with maybe a more jaded view than I should, or at least more than I want to. Joe Quesada said that he wanted the Spider-man of his youth back. He apparently didn't realize that that same Spider-man could be found in the movies, in the cartoons, in the Marvel Adventures books, in the Ultimate Spider-man book (which outsells Amazing every month), and in so many other places. The core 616 universe is the only place where I could go to read about the Spider-man I grew up with. The one who was married to MJ. There was only one place to go for that. Spidey married MJ in 1987, the year I was born. It was the "version" (I dislike that term, since it was the evolution of the character that got him there) that I spent my childhood thrilling to the adventures of. He was my Spider-man. And now, I can't get him anymore. Nowhere else can I find the adventures of a Spider-man who was married to Mary-Jane Watson. He's gone. I miss him. I know he's a fictional character, but dammit, Spider-man was important to me. Now I have nowhere to read about him anymore, but I'm not mad, not anymore. Like with Wally and Kyle being squeezed out by the returns of Barry and Hal over in DC, I know that things will swing around again. Comics are cyclical. What was, will be again. In ten or fifteen years, the people who will be running the show will be my generation, who grew up with Pete and MJ, happily married. Hopefully, I'll be one of them.
Anyway, after a year of this, I really have only one thing to say to Joe Quesada, if I could: Mister Quesada, you took away my Spider-man, and you did it with one of the most horrible stories ever written. But I'm not mad at you for doing it. You taught me a valuable lesson with it, a lesson about Spider-man himself, with his themes and his values and everything he represents. You taught me a lesson that speaks true to the character that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created 46 years ago, all the way back in Amazing Fantasy #15:
Sir, you took my Spider-man away. That's not fair, but I'll get over it. Because that's life. Because that's Spider-man.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Well, with a new blog comes yet another declaration of intent to not fall behind on it...yeah, I don't believe it either. Hopefully, I can make a go of it this time, as I really don't have anything else to do with my time. At least, not until Lego Batman comes out. Anyway, just a few different things catching my attention these days, mostly movie-related right now...
- "News" on the third Batman movie. Apparently, Michael Caine is under the impression that Johnny Depp is going to play the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is going to be playing the Penguin. Unfortunately for him, there's no script yet, so there's utterly no basis to the statements. Hoffman is interested in playing Penguin, and while I think he could do a good job, I like Bob Hoskins better for the role. As for Depp...well, I think he's terribly overrated, although still a pretty good actor. But I don't see him as the Riddler. Personally, I think they should put villains in the movie who haven't been in others. While Penguin and Riddler need redemption, it should come after Deadshot, Clayface, or Killer Croc get their shot. But I am glad this rumour is taking the steam out of the claims that Cher is going to be playing Catwoman. Ugh.
- Apparently, it's been confirmed that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are going to be back for Spider-man 4. While I'm not entirely thrilled with this, I'm not entirely disappointed. Spider-man 3 was a collossal disappointment, but I am glad that the style of the movies will be continued. They should go for a clean break with the older storylines, maybe skip things forward 6 months. Give up on the Goblins. Now, the guy who wrote this movie also wrote "Zodiac", so I'm hopeful that it means a more mature, and tighter, storyline. I'd like to see the Lizard in Spidey 4, and I'd like to see him be hunted across the city by Kraven the Hunter. And the rumour further states that both Spider-man 4 and 5 will be filmed simultaneously, so maybe instead of cramming too much story into one film, and breaking it, like they did with Spider-man 3, they can go with a bigger story spread out over two films. Perhaps an adaption of "Kraven's Last Hunt", one of the most acclaimed Spider-man stories of all time.
- The success of "Iron Man", "Incredible Hulk", and the monstrous juggernaut that is "The Dark Knight", has caused Fox to re-evaluate their own superhero line-up (re: the characters they're licensing from Marvel). In addition to Wolverine and Magneto getting their own movies, we may get an X-Men prequel. Also, they're thinking of dusting off Daredevil, which given the hard-on people have now for dark and gritty heroics, is perfect, as Daredevil is one of the grittiest super-heroes out there.
- So, the summer has come to an end, and while I missed two of the movies I wanted to see (Hellboy 2 and X-Files 2), I did see some movies that I wasn't planning on catching that turned out pretty good, like "Wall-E" and "Pineapple Express". All in all, a great summer for movies. And TDK, ah, what's left to say? For me, nothing. The fall still has some movies left for me, with "Burn After Reading" and "Quantum of Solace" still upcoming.
- Next summer looks good, although there's no real comic movies I'm looking forward to. "Star Trek" and "Harry Potter" were delayed from this year to next summer, so I'm still looking forward to seeing them. "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers 2" are the big ones for me next year, and I'm hoping that there will be a crossover of sorts between them, as I believe that they're being made by the same studio, and there's a rich history between the two franchises. Also at some point next year, "Ant-Man" and "The Mighty Thor" are SUPPOSED to come out, but until there's a set date, I'm not getting excited.
- "News" on the third Batman movie. Apparently, Michael Caine is under the impression that Johnny Depp is going to play the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is going to be playing the Penguin. Unfortunately for him, there's no script yet, so there's utterly no basis to the statements. Hoffman is interested in playing Penguin, and while I think he could do a good job, I like Bob Hoskins better for the role. As for Depp...well, I think he's terribly overrated, although still a pretty good actor. But I don't see him as the Riddler. Personally, I think they should put villains in the movie who haven't been in others. While Penguin and Riddler need redemption, it should come after Deadshot, Clayface, or Killer Croc get their shot. But I am glad this rumour is taking the steam out of the claims that Cher is going to be playing Catwoman. Ugh.
- Apparently, it's been confirmed that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are going to be back for Spider-man 4. While I'm not entirely thrilled with this, I'm not entirely disappointed. Spider-man 3 was a collossal disappointment, but I am glad that the style of the movies will be continued. They should go for a clean break with the older storylines, maybe skip things forward 6 months. Give up on the Goblins. Now, the guy who wrote this movie also wrote "Zodiac", so I'm hopeful that it means a more mature, and tighter, storyline. I'd like to see the Lizard in Spidey 4, and I'd like to see him be hunted across the city by Kraven the Hunter. And the rumour further states that both Spider-man 4 and 5 will be filmed simultaneously, so maybe instead of cramming too much story into one film, and breaking it, like they did with Spider-man 3, they can go with a bigger story spread out over two films. Perhaps an adaption of "Kraven's Last Hunt", one of the most acclaimed Spider-man stories of all time.
- The success of "Iron Man", "Incredible Hulk", and the monstrous juggernaut that is "The Dark Knight", has caused Fox to re-evaluate their own superhero line-up (re: the characters they're licensing from Marvel). In addition to Wolverine and Magneto getting their own movies, we may get an X-Men prequel. Also, they're thinking of dusting off Daredevil, which given the hard-on people have now for dark and gritty heroics, is perfect, as Daredevil is one of the grittiest super-heroes out there.
- So, the summer has come to an end, and while I missed two of the movies I wanted to see (Hellboy 2 and X-Files 2), I did see some movies that I wasn't planning on catching that turned out pretty good, like "Wall-E" and "Pineapple Express". All in all, a great summer for movies. And TDK, ah, what's left to say? For me, nothing. The fall still has some movies left for me, with "Burn After Reading" and "Quantum of Solace" still upcoming.
- Next summer looks good, although there's no real comic movies I'm looking forward to. "Star Trek" and "Harry Potter" were delayed from this year to next summer, so I'm still looking forward to seeing them. "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers 2" are the big ones for me next year, and I'm hoping that there will be a crossover of sorts between them, as I believe that they're being made by the same studio, and there's a rich history between the two franchises. Also at some point next year, "Ant-Man" and "The Mighty Thor" are SUPPOSED to come out, but until there's a set date, I'm not getting excited.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
