Quick Q&A

Fortunately, after refilling Calvin Pitt's belly with rejuvenating, content-enabling rum, the posting St. Bernard had some left over for me. So here's a quick Q&A that's been going around:

Favorite Regular Series:

This is a thougie, a month ago I would have said All-Star Superman (stretching the definition of "Regular"), but that series ended. I want to say The Immortal Iron Fist, but I'm not confident enough in the new creative team to give them the full stamp or favoritism. Right now, today, I'd have to say Captain America, it's the book that I usually have to crack open in the shop's parking lot just to see what happens next. Blue Beetle gets an honorable mention.


Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?

I'd have to say Iron Fist. I hadn't really paid the character much mind until the newest series started up, which I picked up as a whim due to liking both Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's previous work. It quickly became one of my favorites ever.

If you could write/draw one character, who would it be?

I share Calvin's hesitation on this one, simply because I'd fear screwing the character up. For that reason I think I'd prefer to go through the tons of forgotten, public domain heroes that have since fallen by the way-side since the Golden Age. Granted Alan Moore did it first, and very well with Terra Obscura and Jeff Parker did similar work with Agents of Atlas, but there's got to be a lot out there that's just waiting to be rediscovered.

Are you a big fan of multi-issue crossover extravaganzas?

Yes, if they're done well, which, since they are not really ever done well, I guess my answer is no. Granted, Annihilation was fantastic (and its sequel, Annihilation: Conquest, just slightly less-so) and despite not meaning to, I'm picking up pretty much every tie-in to Final Crisis, but, those are the exceptions that prove the rule. I've sat out every big cross-over since Infinite Crisis and haven't missed anything.


Last comic book series you dropped and why?

X-Factor. Mostly because it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. The best character was abandoned in an alternate future and doesn't seem to be returning anytime soon. There's no real direction for the series and it just seems to be bouncing from event to event with nowhere to go. Plus, I really don't like Larry Strohman's art.

Favorite character?

Jack Knight Starman. No doubt about it. If you're not in the know, go buy the book (or find the soft-covers that are sure to be all over eBay right now).

Are you a DC or Marvel fan?

I was originally a Marvel-zombie, but DC just seems to be resonating with me more right now. Despite their miss-steps, DC just seems to be taking more chances and building more actual new characters rather that concepts. Looking at series like Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and Manhunter, I just can't see Marvel taking chances on stuff like that.

Do you remember your first comic/series?

I can remember having a copy of my brother's Nova #13 from the 70's, but MY first comic was an over-sized, treasury edition of G.I. Joe #1, and I bought every issue from then on through the mid-60's (actually, #65, introducing Zanzibar! And it was illustrated by Todd McFarland).

Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?

Nope. But, in its defense, it can't be. Watchmen, more than its basic story, is an examination of comics themselves, of the form. There's no way you could get the same effect out of a movie, no matter how much time you give it, or how much money you pump into it. That is not to say that it can't be a good movie, it just can't be the same thing as the book.

Favorite comic book movie?

Right now, today? I'd say The Dark Knight, but I'm hesitant, simply because it's so new. My answer could probably be different in a year, when I have some more perspective. That said, if not The Dark Knight, I'd say Spider-Man 2, that movie is darn near perfect.

Worst comic book movie?

I'd have to say Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Not only because it was so dreadful, but because it wasted a Superman movie that had both Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman. I mean really, you couldn't do any better than that?

Character you'd like to see in a movie?

Nova, really. I think it'd be pretty darn easy to make a Nova flick. He's got n easy to understand origin, a (recently-redesigned) costume that could be realized pretty easily in the real world. Plus, since he's rather obscure, there won't be as much bitching if you change large swaths of his back-story.


Series that you'd like to see on TV?

Gotham Central. It's no secret that this is one of my favorite series ever, but it's concept (Law & Order: Gotham City) is one of the easiest to translate to series TV. There was a rumor back in the day, that the comic series was developed to be possibly turned into a TV series, but that the Birds of Prey TV series put the kibosh on it. Too bad.

And that's that.