Despite the weather being far less than ideal here in the Chicago-land area, I hope everyone is celebrating a happy and safe Fourth of July. Here's a shot of patriotism from The Muppet Show to help you get in the mood:
Video via twitter pal, Joseph Finn.
Scored a boatload o' comics at the shop today, so let's talk about them.
Captain America Reborn #1
So he's back...or rather he's coming back. Maybe. But anyway, Cap's certainly alive and from the explanation we're given, it becomes pretty clear that they've been building this up since the very beginning of Brubaker's run on this series. Spoilers follow.
So Cap's become unstuck in time, and I had a feeling it would be something like this since the Red Skull and co. have made a lot of hints in the past that their plans involved one of Dr. Doom's time platforms. In the issue we are given the parallel stories of Cap in WWII, Carol trying to explain to the Avengers what's going on, Bucky & Black Widow breaking into a HAMMER heli-carrier, and Norman Osbourne meting with Arim Zola and all of them getting bits and pieces of the whole story.
Overall, this was very well done and though it's obviously a first/set-up issue, the pieces are moved into place nicely. My only problem with the issue is the art. Not that it's bad, in fact, this is far better work from Hitch than on Fantastic Four, but the inks by Butch Guice makes this look less like a Hitch book and more like a Butch Guice book. Again, I like Guice's stuff, and his art is very comparable to Epting and Perkins who were the back-bone of the art in Brubaker's Cap run, it just,seems odd. My other issue is that, during the flashback to WWII, Cap is in his Ultimate Universe outfit. I understand that Hitch probably spent a lot of time re-designing the costume for his gig on The Ultimates, but every time I saw it, it just pulled me right out of the book. These are all minor quibbles with the book, mind you. I'm really looking forward to see where this is going and I have a feeling it's going to be really good.
Justice League: Cry for Justice #1
I've been excited for this book since it was announced, however the preview that had been appearing in books last month left me cold. Once again, they were running out the old trope of a pro-active superteam, one that identifies threats and takes them down before they hurt people. We've seen this before (Justice League Elite, The Outsiders, etc.) and it never works. However, after reading the first issue I'm hopeful again. After we get the opening scene of Green Lantern yelling, "Fuck you Dad! I'm gonna fight crime on my own!" at Superman, we get a gathering of heroes who have recently met with a tragedy and who doesn't think that all of them have the same cause?
Anyway, it's well done, and I'm always happy to see James Robinson going back to Opal City, but the fact that so far we've only been introduced to 5 out of the 8 members of the team means we're probably not getting to the plot anytime soon. Anyway, it's good, maybe even very good, but I'm holding off on loving it till it gets somewhere.
OK, that's it for tonight. Maybe I'll get some more up tomorrow, including the best book of the week.
If you grew up in the 80's, and love good pop music, you probably have a mixed thoughts about Michael Jackson. On one hand, he was responsible for some of the most amazing and inventive music of our generation. On the other hand, he was widely suspected of committing some of the worst crimes you can think of.
Let's deal with the first one first. I don't know how you explain it to people who weren't around when he exploded onto the national consciousness with his performance of Billie Jean on the Motown 25 special back in 1983. Off The Wall had already been released and was a huge hit, but Thriller, and that performance in particular, turned him into the type of superstar that hadn't been seen since The Beatles, and has not been seen since (and most likely probably never will). Everyone was a Michael Jackson fan, when the Thriller music video was release on VHS (when I was nine), they actually took all of us out of class so we could all watch it at school. How did that happen? I have no idea, I just know I was caught along with it. I wanted a sparkly glove, just like Michael! So did everyone I know, and probably everyone you know that was conscious during that time.
But once that superstardom faded away, we were left with the music. Two perfect albums (and one that was pretty damn great), I still have my battered vinyl copies of all three of those (though only one is the original one that my Brother bought at Musicland at Orland Mall) and I'll be honest, I've really wanted to upgrade and get some nice CD's of all of them. And that's where the second part of Michael Jackson's legacy comes in. He was one weird motherfucker, and there was no denying it, really there wasn't a damn thing you couldn't accuse him of that you couldn't see being true, so when the pedophile allegations came out, no one had trouble believing it, and that's why I just couldn't drop any cash that could find its way into his pockets, much like the difficulties I have with other troubled pop genius/bat-shit crazy mofo Phil Spector.
So what am I trying to say here? Hell if I know, but it sucks that Michael Jackson didn't make more great music, and it sucks that his own ego/fucked up up-bringing/crazy-asssedness got in the way of that. But we still have the great music did make, and maybe his death will allow us to appreciate that a little bit more.
Well, it's late on Father's Day 2009, and I just got struck with a great comic to talk about on this most "Dad" of days, and rather than let it marinate (and probably get forgotten about) for another year, I figured I'd just throw it out there before it's all over.
Top Ten is one of my favorite series of the last ten to fifteen years, part of Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line, it's the story of the police officers of Precinct 10, cops in a city populated solely by super-heroes. It's just an amazing series, and almost more that Moore's excellent writing, it is brought alive by the art of Gene Ha* and Zander Cannon. The sheer amount of detail thrown into the images is just amazing and it pays to go back over the art again and again for "easter egg" images. If you've been reading comics for any significant length of time, you owe it to yourself to check it out, as it takes the piss out of much from the genre.
Anyway, the Father's Day aspect of the book, during the course of an investigation, the detectives of the 10th pick up Ernesto Gograh who's father just happens to be the neighborhood Godzilla analogue:
Who happens to be not only a giant monster, but a drunk as well. Needless to say, things do not go well, as the drunk as a skunk monster-redneck throws up all over the neighborhood. Anyway, long story short, thanks to their staff size-changer, they manage to bust the big guy down to size:
So what does this have to do with Father's Day? Jack shit, but for some reason it just struck me as appropriate. So obviously, I have no idea what is and is not appropriate. Regardless, get the book, read the book, love the book..and then send me money.
I've long made no secret of the fact that Jeff Parker is probably one of my favorite writers working in comics today, though most of his work that I've read of his has been his work for Marvel, specifically his excellent work on Marvel Adventures: Avengers and his own creation of Agents of Atlas. I've always intended to pick up his independently published graphic novel, The Interman, but have yet to. Anyway, when I heard that he was going to be working on a series with Steve Lieber, artist on one of my favorite series of the last ten years, Whiteout* I was excited to see what they were going to come up.
Fortunately, they posted the entire first issue on-line, so I took a looksie at it and it's pretty great so far. Very reminiscent of Whiteout, and not just because of Lieber's excellent artwork, though it certainly helps. The series is set in Marion, KY in the Appalachian Mountains, which has little going for it other than a set of spectacular caves which they are itching to turn into a tourist destination, however, it's up to the government whether they are allowed to turn a national landmark into a tourist trap. Though most of the residents of the depressed region are all for it, Park Ranger Wesley Fisher would like nothing better than to not see another human being step foot into the caves to preserve their unique ecosystem. Of course it's this clash of ideas that cause things to go wrong. Though the first issue is largely set up, it flows very well and gives you a great feeling for the characters. As I said above, Lieber's art is great and looks fantastic in black and white in the preview, it'll be interesting to see it in full color.
Anyway, the book so far is pretty great and I heartily recommend hiking on down to your local comics retailer and putting in an order for the first issue, hitting stands in September. Check out the web site they've created for the book to learn more!
*I hope to have a Favorite Things post up on Whiteout soon.
So here it is, Captain America #600, the book that's been talked/bitched about for the last few weeks. Since my shop was kind enough to request the Monday delivery of the book I figured that I'd pick it up, and much like every issue of Ed Brubaker's run on the series so far, it's pretty darn good. Now mind you, it's an anniversary issue, celebrating 600 issues of Captain America in the real world, and a year since Cap was shot & killed in the Marvel Universe. Mostly it's a series of vignettes featuring the main characters in the book showing how they were going to mark the anniversary, along with some remembrances from some of his former supporting characters.
But that's about it, except for one plot point revealed in the very beginning, the big event that we all thought was going to happen, doesn't happen here. It's all a big "To Be Continued In Reborn" which doesn't really bug me, but if anyone actually picked up this book based on the mainstream media coverage, man, are they gonna be pissed since it doesn't happen here, just the ball starts rolling, but it all feels like a giant bait & switch. I love what Ed Brubaker's done with Captain America, making it one of the best superhero comics of the last 10 years, but Marvel's continuing jackassery about how they're marketing it is a giant thorn in my side.
Overall, if you've been enjoying this book, your enjoyment will continue. If you haven't been, well, start at the beginning.
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