John Boardman is what we used to call a Big Name Fan back in the days of Science Fiction fandom when fanzines were typed, and printed on mimeographs, or if you were really lucky, on the Xerox at your office if no one was looking. He hosted First Saturday at his home in Brooklyn, and was almost required attendance if you were a fan in NYC. I believe every fannish community had such a recurring party, and First Saturday was ours.
For those who played the complex boardgames from companies like Avalon-Hill, John is best known for inventing Play-by-mail Diplomacy, a game which is like Risk in the same way the Titanic is like the Minnow. He ran numerous fanzines and APAe over the decades, including APA-Filk, the first one to which I ever contributed with my first zine, "Beyond the Last Visible Dog".
When asked (which was often) and if plied with liquor (which was required), he would regale all and sundry with the following epic poem, a rhythmic and lyrical rendering of an old chestnut of a joke, making it so much better.
In honor of the upcoming film, it is presented for your pleasure, in tribute to Professor Boardman, and the many fine times spent at his domicile.
The Thong of Thor
by John Boardman
In days of yore the great god Thor would ramp around creation.
He'd drink a pint and slay a giant and save the Nordic nation,
Or kill a Wyrm and watch it squirm and vainly try to fang him,
Or lock up Loki in the pokey and on the noggin bang him.
Once he did bawl through Thrudvang hall that on a trip he'd wander
In a disguise from prying eyes in Midgard way out yonder.
So all his slaves and carles and knaves packed up his goods and gear-o,
And off he strode on Bifrost road, a perfect Aryan hero.
In Midgard land he joined a band of hardy Viking ruffians.
And off they sailed and rowed and bailed among the auks and puffians.
Whene'er they'd reach a foreign beach they stopped to raid and plunder.
Each Nordic brute got so much loot their longship near went under.
But though they rolled in coins of gold they had one joy forsaken.
For on each raid Thor's party made, no women could be taken.
Each drab and queen fled from the scene when Viking sails were sighted.
And Thor felt needs for certain deeds that had gone unrequited.
Thor's brows were black as they rowed back to Oslo's rocky haven,
Unto his crew he said, "Beshrew me for a Frankish craven,
"If I don't wrench some tavern wench, or else may Frigga damn her!"
Replied one voice, "You've got first choice. You have the biggest hammer."
Into an inn this crew of sin disbarked upon their landing.
Each tavern made was sore afraid of pirates of such standing.
But golden coins warmed up their loins, and soon the ale ran free.
Thor's motley crew poured down the brew and made an all-night spree,
Thor's glances strayed unto a maid with hair as gold as grain,
A lisp so shy, a downcast eye, and not a trace of brain.
He swept her chams into his arms and to an upstairs bower,
And did not cease or give her ease for three days and an hour.
When he arose and donned his clothes she looked like one near death.
Her limbs were weak, she could not speak, and scarcely gasped for breath.
"You ought to know, before I go, I'm Thor," he bade adieu.
"You 're thore!" said she. "Conthider me! I'm thorer; thir; than you!"
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
On the importance of having a Two
Freakazoid: One: Norm Abram is missing. Two:...
Cosgrove: We don't have a two.
Both Marvel and DC had returns of major characters today; one fairly well guaranteed ahead of time since it was the plot of the book, the other a pretty universally guessed (but denied till the last moment) secret.
Marvel has brought back The Scarlet Witch in the miniseries Avengers - The Children's Crusade. Now, Wanda Maximoff's history is a complicated one, due to a number of decisions and changes of mind made about her origins and adventures.
To summarize (and get a lot wrong) greatly, she first thought she and her brother Quicksilver were orphans, and first appeared working with/for Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She later found out she was the child of golden-age heroes Miss America and The Whizzer. She later LATER found out she was misled about that, and they were in fact the children of the selfsame Magneto who ordered them around like day-laborers. The both turned face, Wanda fell in love with and married The Vision, a synthetic human. He figured out a way to create artificial sperm so they could have children. She discovered later that she had in fact dreamed all that, and the children that she carried, bore and raised were creations of her own reality-warping powers. This started her decline into madness, one that first caused her to reshape the entire world into one where mutants were in power, with her father in charge. Realizing what she had done, she changed everything back, with a major change - 90% of the world's mutants lost their powers, and it seemed as if there would be No More Mutants. She vanished, and was presumed dead.
She popped up a couple times, seemingly depowered and with no memories of her actions, but that appears to no longer be the case. There are several issues to go, and there's every possibility that she'll be gone again (one way or the other) by the end, but a couple events in the latest issue, including seemingly undoing one of the deaths she caused (TANGENT ALERT in the EXACT FUCKING WAY I've been saying they could STILL bring back Ted Kord, by simply popping him away right after the presumed death, let every THINK he's dead, don't affect any of the events said deaths caused, and bring him forward to the present, where there would be much rejoicing. END TANGENT ALERT), I'm thinking they may try to rehabilitate her much like Geoff Johns did Hal Jordan by claiming much of her actions were out of her control, and in fact few if any people died from it after all.
Allan
Over at DC, the Brightest Day mini-series is one issue away from completion, and the new champions of both the White (life) and Black (death) energy have been revealed, and in a weird way...it's the same person. The Black Champion is Swamp Thing, who hasn't been seen in the DCU proper since the mid 80s. The champion of the White entity is revealed to be Alec Holland, the scientist from whose remains Swamp Thing would be created (again, to summarize greatly).
Swamp Thing was a...some term other than "game-changer"...for the comics industry. The first major US work by Alan Moore, it became the first comic from the Big Two to drop the Comics Code altogether and market to an adult/mature audience. It would become the tentpole title for Vertigo, DC's new all-mature titles line, which has been a success ever since.
The downside to that is that we never again saw Swampy in a regular DC title. The idea was that if he appeared in a DC book, kids might seek out the mature title, see something Mommy and daddy wasn't expecting, and here comes the media. That, combined with the alleged iron grip group editor Karen Berger held on the vertigo characters, rendered the character unusable by DC.
Vertigo hadn't used the character since 2005 after another short-lived attempt at a revamp. So the chance that he could return to DC became more and more possible, and considering the forest motifs that came up in Brightest Day, more and more folks posited the same Clever Theory that this would be his Rebirth.
In both cases, the return of these characters at both companies has been met with vocal reactions, mostly to the positive. But in both cases, I have to be the guy who asks "NOW what?"
Yes, we're all happy to see Swamp Thing back. But after a three-issue "aftermath" mini where the new guardian of Earth gets the hang of his new position, we've no idea what plans there are for the character. They tried, repeatedly, to spark new interest in the character at Vertigo, each sputtering to an end. Which of those versions will we see DC use? Are they all to be wiped off the map and go back the Moore version, possibly even ignoring Rick Vietch's contributions? Where's Abby and Tefe? Will see a new Swamp Thing title, and if so, will be similar to the horror theme it's had for decades, or a more Superhero-y bent? Or will it end like oh so many spectacular returns, going up like a firework, and ending just as fast? Will Swamp Thing sink to the mid-card of DC characters again, or have they got something specific in plan?
Similarly at marvel, while the story they're telling with Scarlet Witch right now is very good indeed, if she stays around, do they have a plan in mind? or will she simply go on a big apology tour, take a spot in the Avengers again, and drop back in place?
As a TV producer famously said when asked why he doesn't take advantage of all those internet videos for a show, "What happens in episode two of 'Cat runs into kitchen door'?"
DC has guessed right on a couple of returns: Green Lantern was a success beyond all hope, Flash has spawned the new event Flashpoint, and Legion of Super-Heroes is back to having two monthlies dedicated to it. Aquaman is getting a new series after Brightest Day, as is Hawkman is the rumors and tongue-slips are to be believed. So it's to be assumed that DC has step two firmly in mind. I'll just be curious to see how well fans react to it.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
On a classic example of the audience not wanting what it's been offered
It's Wrestlemania weekend.
To a wrestling fan, that's as big a deal as the Super Bowl, the World Series or any other championship for any other sport. It is traditionally the season finale, the event at which angles and plotlines running for much of the year come to a head and climax. It's the big one, the one event that you still get, even if you're a lapsed fan. Back in the day when there were only four pay-per-views a year, the three months between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania were an emotional rollercoaster. Now that they have to set up big matches every month for a PPV, that's reduced a bit, but they still do a good job of upping the ante for what is known as "The Showcase of the Immortals".
The list of the classic matches that have appeared at this event is long indeed, but there's one in particular I'd like to discuss today. The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hogan as WM 18, or as it was billed, "Wrestlemania X-8"
First, a bit of history. By this point in time, "Hulk" Hogan had long since left the WWE for its chief (and honestly, only) rival, WCW. Its boss, Eric Bischoff, had a radical idea; he wanted to turn Hogan into a bad guy, or "heel". To say it was a success was an understatement. With Hogan's help, WCW would beat the WWE in the ratings for almost two years. Hogan stopped using the "Hulk" moniker, and started being known as "Hollywood" Hogan. (This is not only because of the new persona, but because Marvel Comics got a check every time they used the name "Hulk".) The same charisma that made Hogan such a superstar was now being used to make him the most hated man in WCW, turning on old friends, teaming with people whose guts he once hated, everything a heel does. Seeing it done by Hogan was almost unfathomable.
Time passed, WWE took the upper hand once again, and eventually they ended up buying WCW. This meant they got ownership of WCW's sizeable film library, as well as all of the current wrestler's contracts. Many started working for WWE straight away, but many of the big names, including Hogan and the other members of his "stable", the NWO, took a bit more coaxing. They eventually showed up shortly before Wrestlemania, and The Rock (at the time the biggest good guy, or "babyface" they had) quickly challenged him to a match.
Wrestlemania was held in Toronto that year, at the SkyDome. Now Canadian fans love wrestling, and take it seriously to a degree that can't be fathomed by Americans. Not that they "don't know the truth" or anything, but that they suspend disbelief, appreciate the mechanics of the sport and can recognize a well-performed match when they see it. They don't watch it with the smug irony Americans do, but with the determined to have fun eye of a person who knows he's surrounded by like-minded people who aren't going to judge him, and is determined to have as much fun as he can. In that, I envy them.
Hogan had left the (at the time) WWF in 1994. In 2002, wrestling fans never thought they'd see him in a WWE ring again, so his return was a time of nostalgic joy indeed. The way the story was being played, Hogan was clearly the bad guy, and The Rock was the good guy. But after an absence of eight years, these old-school, hide-bound wrestling fans were simply not going to boo Hulk Hogan.
NOTE - I've posted three or four YouTubed versions of the match here over the years, with them eventually pulled down for copyright issues. But now that the WWE Network has started, you can finally see the match again, so go there and watch it as you read on.
After a nice recap/prologue, Hogan makes his entrance at 3:30 into the segment. He's not coming out to his classic song, "Real American", he's not in his traditional red and yellow, he's got a beard and is clearly playing an arrogant bad guy. Listen to that crowd. They Do Not Care. This is their chance, possibly their only and last chance to cheer for him, and damn the plotline, they choose to cheer. The announcers, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler, hastily amend their commentary from what was surely supposed to be clearly negative to the "You have to appreciate his past, regardless of what he's like now" variety.
He stands in the ring alone for a solid three minutes before they send in The Rock. They wouldn't stop cheering long enough to cue the entrance music. He gets a mere minute and a half to enter and do his moves for the crowd before the music stops and the match ostensibly starts at 7:45. Again, the crowd would not let the show continue. The pair can not start the match for almost another two minutes. They spend a good chunk of time looking out into the audience, clearly overwhelmed at the reaction.
The sound never lets up. When Hogan lands a blow or sends Rock to the mat, they pop like their son just scored a touchdown after triumphing over both cancer and a serious stammer. When Rock was winning, they acted as if he had called each of them, face to face, and in front of close friends, fat. Ross and Lawler swore blind there were people cheering for The Rock. At that moment, there were probably more people in the SkyDome cheering for Dick Butkus.
As the match went on, it was clear what the audience wanted, and the pair knew how to deliver it. Hogan started to flag, falling under Rock's blows, which gave Rock a chance to take on the heel role, prancing and preening, almost taunting the crowd as Hogan lay on the mat. This gave Hogan the chance to return to his traditional babyface role, if only in disposition, as he kept on using traditional "heelish" moves like biting, choking, and a glorious nut-shot that had the crowd wincing and cheering. If there was any question that the roles had reversed, Rock gets Hogan down and puts him in the Sharpshooter, signature move of Bret "Hitman" Hart, member of the Hart clan, the closest thing to the Canadian Royal Family of wrestling there is, and whose history with Vince McMahon is Quite Another Story Indeed.
When Hogan starts his "Hulk out" revival sequence, the crowd goes to eleven. Once that starts, you can call the match with your eyes shut: three blows by the opponent, Hogan stands straight up, stares him down, does the "YOU" point, Irish Whip, big boot, Atomic Leg Drop, 1 - 2 - 3. And by the time the ref got to three there wasn't a person in that arena over the emotional age of ten. A Hogan match is the wrestling equivalent of comfort food - you know exactly what you're gonna get, it's always warm, yummy and filling, and that crowd had not eaten in a loooong time.
Except the ref DIDN'T make three. Rock gets up, and after TWO Rock Bottoms, he wins the match. And it is not until the very end, when he goes for his big finisher The People's Elbow, do the fans start cheering for him. Because what tops off a nice meal of comfort food like a great dessert.
By this point, the lines of face and heel were lost - Hands were shaken, and the proverbial torch is passed. They'd obviously planned a long run with the NWO angle after this match, but after that reaction, it was clear it would not stand. In what felt like a hasty move, Hogan's NWO compatriots Scott Hall and Kevin Nash come out and start beating up on him for losing, giving Rock the chance to come to his aid and set up a quick face turn for Hogan. The traditional six minutes of posing for the audience followed, and it's clear that the crowd would have sat through another twenty.
Hogan stayed with the WWE for another year and change, but to draw a parallel to a previous era, Andre the Giant stayed around for a while after Hogan beat him in WM3 so many years before. In both cases, most consider those matches to be each wrestler's last great moment. But the real star of that match was the audience. There's hasn't been a crowd that hot and excited for a match since the fifties, and there hasn't been one since. They told the WWE what they wanted, and they were smart and deft enough to change plans and deliver.
To a wrestling fan, that's as big a deal as the Super Bowl, the World Series or any other championship for any other sport. It is traditionally the season finale, the event at which angles and plotlines running for much of the year come to a head and climax. It's the big one, the one event that you still get, even if you're a lapsed fan. Back in the day when there were only four pay-per-views a year, the three months between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania were an emotional rollercoaster. Now that they have to set up big matches every month for a PPV, that's reduced a bit, but they still do a good job of upping the ante for what is known as "The Showcase of the Immortals".
The list of the classic matches that have appeared at this event is long indeed, but there's one in particular I'd like to discuss today. The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hogan as WM 18, or as it was billed, "Wrestlemania X-8"
First, a bit of history. By this point in time, "Hulk" Hogan had long since left the WWE for its chief (and honestly, only) rival, WCW. Its boss, Eric Bischoff, had a radical idea; he wanted to turn Hogan into a bad guy, or "heel". To say it was a success was an understatement. With Hogan's help, WCW would beat the WWE in the ratings for almost two years. Hogan stopped using the "Hulk" moniker, and started being known as "Hollywood" Hogan. (This is not only because of the new persona, but because Marvel Comics got a check every time they used the name "Hulk".) The same charisma that made Hogan such a superstar was now being used to make him the most hated man in WCW, turning on old friends, teaming with people whose guts he once hated, everything a heel does. Seeing it done by Hogan was almost unfathomable.
Time passed, WWE took the upper hand once again, and eventually they ended up buying WCW. This meant they got ownership of WCW's sizeable film library, as well as all of the current wrestler's contracts. Many started working for WWE straight away, but many of the big names, including Hogan and the other members of his "stable", the NWO, took a bit more coaxing. They eventually showed up shortly before Wrestlemania, and The Rock (at the time the biggest good guy, or "babyface" they had) quickly challenged him to a match.
Wrestlemania was held in Toronto that year, at the SkyDome. Now Canadian fans love wrestling, and take it seriously to a degree that can't be fathomed by Americans. Not that they "don't know the truth" or anything, but that they suspend disbelief, appreciate the mechanics of the sport and can recognize a well-performed match when they see it. They don't watch it with the smug irony Americans do, but with the determined to have fun eye of a person who knows he's surrounded by like-minded people who aren't going to judge him, and is determined to have as much fun as he can. In that, I envy them.
Hogan had left the (at the time) WWF in 1994. In 2002, wrestling fans never thought they'd see him in a WWE ring again, so his return was a time of nostalgic joy indeed. The way the story was being played, Hogan was clearly the bad guy, and The Rock was the good guy. But after an absence of eight years, these old-school, hide-bound wrestling fans were simply not going to boo Hulk Hogan.
NOTE - I've posted three or four YouTubed versions of the match here over the years, with them eventually pulled down for copyright issues. But now that the WWE Network has started, you can finally see the match again, so go there and watch it as you read on.
After a nice recap/prologue, Hogan makes his entrance at 3:30 into the segment. He's not coming out to his classic song, "Real American", he's not in his traditional red and yellow, he's got a beard and is clearly playing an arrogant bad guy. Listen to that crowd. They Do Not Care. This is their chance, possibly their only and last chance to cheer for him, and damn the plotline, they choose to cheer. The announcers, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler, hastily amend their commentary from what was surely supposed to be clearly negative to the "You have to appreciate his past, regardless of what he's like now" variety.
He stands in the ring alone for a solid three minutes before they send in The Rock. They wouldn't stop cheering long enough to cue the entrance music. He gets a mere minute and a half to enter and do his moves for the crowd before the music stops and the match ostensibly starts at 7:45. Again, the crowd would not let the show continue. The pair can not start the match for almost another two minutes. They spend a good chunk of time looking out into the audience, clearly overwhelmed at the reaction.
The sound never lets up. When Hogan lands a blow or sends Rock to the mat, they pop like their son just scored a touchdown after triumphing over both cancer and a serious stammer. When Rock was winning, they acted as if he had called each of them, face to face, and in front of close friends, fat. Ross and Lawler swore blind there were people cheering for The Rock. At that moment, there were probably more people in the SkyDome cheering for Dick Butkus.
As the match went on, it was clear what the audience wanted, and the pair knew how to deliver it. Hogan started to flag, falling under Rock's blows, which gave Rock a chance to take on the heel role, prancing and preening, almost taunting the crowd as Hogan lay on the mat. This gave Hogan the chance to return to his traditional babyface role, if only in disposition, as he kept on using traditional "heelish" moves like biting, choking, and a glorious nut-shot that had the crowd wincing and cheering. If there was any question that the roles had reversed, Rock gets Hogan down and puts him in the Sharpshooter, signature move of Bret "Hitman" Hart, member of the Hart clan, the closest thing to the Canadian Royal Family of wrestling there is, and whose history with Vince McMahon is Quite Another Story Indeed.
When Hogan starts his "Hulk out" revival sequence, the crowd goes to eleven. Once that starts, you can call the match with your eyes shut: three blows by the opponent, Hogan stands straight up, stares him down, does the "YOU" point, Irish Whip, big boot, Atomic Leg Drop, 1 - 2 - 3. And by the time the ref got to three there wasn't a person in that arena over the emotional age of ten. A Hogan match is the wrestling equivalent of comfort food - you know exactly what you're gonna get, it's always warm, yummy and filling, and that crowd had not eaten in a loooong time.
Except the ref DIDN'T make three. Rock gets up, and after TWO Rock Bottoms, he wins the match. And it is not until the very end, when he goes for his big finisher The People's Elbow, do the fans start cheering for him. Because what tops off a nice meal of comfort food like a great dessert.
By this point, the lines of face and heel were lost - Hands were shaken, and the proverbial torch is passed. They'd obviously planned a long run with the NWO angle after this match, but after that reaction, it was clear it would not stand. In what felt like a hasty move, Hogan's NWO compatriots Scott Hall and Kevin Nash come out and start beating up on him for losing, giving Rock the chance to come to his aid and set up a quick face turn for Hogan. The traditional six minutes of posing for the audience followed, and it's clear that the crowd would have sat through another twenty.
Hogan stayed with the WWE for another year and change, but to draw a parallel to a previous era, Andre the Giant stayed around for a while after Hogan beat him in WM3 so many years before. In both cases, most consider those matches to be each wrestler's last great moment. But the real star of that match was the audience. There's hasn't been a crowd that hot and excited for a match since the fifties, and there hasn't been one since. They told the WWE what they wanted, and they were smart and deft enough to change plans and deliver.
Friday, March 18, 2011
On how some things end in a...oh, I just can't DO it!
It's just been announced that DC will be cancelling the latest version of The Flash with issue 12, ending it just as their next event Flashpoint starts.
This is not the first time they've ended the book's (you should pardon the expression) run abruptly. They cancelled the book when Bart Allen was in the red suit right in the middle. Even went so far as to solicit three fake issues so when the book came out, the surprise of the events of the book were not ruined three months back. The surprise was of course that Bart died.
And a bunch of people wailed and screamed and rent their garments and went on about the commonality of death in the DCU, and all that. And another bunch of us read the issue of JLA that came out the same week (almost as if it were planned) and saw Brainiac 5 holding the little wand, and we all said "Well okay, this is obviously already handled".
And sure enough, a year and change later, Bart came back in the stellar Legion of 3 Worlds, and Barry had already come back in Final Crisis, and all told, it was looking pretty good for Flash fans.
But now they're cancelling the book again, and once again everyone is cursing the darkness, complaining that DC can't seem to get a book off the ground, it's all the fault of the creative team, yadda yadda.
And I stand here nonplussed, asking "Really?"
I will tell you right now, this was planned from square one. Geoff Johns is the current reigning master of the Long Game. He plans to a degree that put the Bene Gesserit to shame. He plans his stories over the course of YEARS. He had the Sinestro War in the planning stages by the time the new Green Lantern book started. And he teased both Blackest Night AND War of the GLs in the middle of Sinestro War. They told us about Flashpoint right at the beginning of the new title, and pretty much everything that's happened in it has been connected to it, directly or obliquely. It was a single 12-issue story, intended to bring us right to where we are now, primed and ready to see what Eobard Thawne can do with full access to the timestream.
This is not changing horses in mid-stream. Geoff raised this horse from a foal. He helped birth it. He may have held the stallion's hat while it was shagging the mare. In a very real way, we've been reading one huge over-arcing tale since GL Rebirth, possibly longer.
Now, in the case of Bart, I don't think it was as carefully thought through. As I understand it, they did want to get Bart over as the Flash, although they were already talking about bringing back Barry. The first six issues by Bilson and DiMeo were, I'll be honest, disappointing. It felt like stunt-casting; get the guys who did the did the Flash TV series (Which was at best, small islands of great in a sea of meh) to write the comic, and get a little mainstream publicity. It consisted of several issues of Bart...not running. The idea was that accessing the Speed Force could kill him, so he was trying to give it up, but then things happened that made him change his mind and it all just felt like I was watching Robert Altman's Popeye again, and as good as it all looked and as fun as it was to watch I just wanted to see him EAT...THE FUCKING...SPINACH...AND GET ON WITH.IT. That, combined with the fact that the several years Bart spent in the Speed Zone were summarized in a single chaotic two-page spread that answered NO questions, left a sour taste in my mouth.
This was followed by a move by Bart to Los Angeles and becoming a forensic scientist, a move that was supposed to make a connection to his grand-dad, but felt far more like a last-minute change because what they were doing wasn't working. And by this point, Lightning Saga was getting ready to go in JLA and JSA, and that's about when they decided that Bart had to go. Just not for too long.
Supposedly it was originally Barry that was to return in Lightning Saga, but they held off till Final Crisis to give the return more weight. So they brought back Wally from his exile to the Speed Force, a move that was originally supposed to mirror the events of IC when Wally took the torch from Barry. Wally and his family were back, and the kids were older, and they tried to make his story stick, but once again, for reasons no one can pinpoint, it didn't catch on. I think by this point, the apparent bait-and-switch of Lightning Saga (Heck, even Batman thought it was Barry coming back) had the fans thinking that we'd see the "real" Flash back sometime soon, and as happens all too often (See Shooter's recent run on Legion) the readers looked past what they had in anticipation for what they may have at some point in the future.
So while he didn't get killed off or shuffled off to another dimension (this time), Wally's tenure as the titular Flash ended shortly before Final Crisis. And that where we saw both Barry and Bart come back, and things looked rosy.
Plans for a Kid Flash book by Sterling Gates were put on hold. The idea was to give people just one Flash for a bit, to get people re-acquainted with Barry. And it's worked well. The new Flash title has been exciting, and has really turned up the Sci-fi and time-travel facets of the character. Some don't care for that, but it makes perfect sense. Remember, the Multiverse had its origin in Flash, with the seminal Flash of Two Worlds. Time-traveling villains were part and parcel of his story from the beginning. So if you're going to do a story about time travel, Flash is the character to do it with.
From the first issue of Flash Rebirth we saw that The Reverse Flash's plan involved dicking with time to mess up Barry Allen, but not to the point of destroying him. So the plot of Flashpoint is simply that taken to the extreme.
Now I was right there saying "Hang on, changing history, that's supposed to be impossible, it's what Booster Gold was supposed to be combating in his book, you know, the one that Geoff co-wrote for a while". So when it was announced that not only was he going to be involved, his title was going to be the only monthly book tying directly into the event, I was REALLY chuffed. Is it possible that even the threads he set up in Booster Gold were part of the groundwork of Flashpoint? I wouldn't put it past him.
So if you think that this end to the Flash book is "another example of what's wrong with DC today", I suggest you have it exactly backwards. It's an example of what they're doing right.
This is not the first time they've ended the book's (you should pardon the expression) run abruptly. They cancelled the book when Bart Allen was in the red suit right in the middle. Even went so far as to solicit three fake issues so when the book came out, the surprise of the events of the book were not ruined three months back. The surprise was of course that Bart died.
And a bunch of people wailed and screamed and rent their garments and went on about the commonality of death in the DCU, and all that. And another bunch of us read the issue of JLA that came out the same week (almost as if it were planned) and saw Brainiac 5 holding the little wand, and we all said "Well okay, this is obviously already handled".
And sure enough, a year and change later, Bart came back in the stellar Legion of 3 Worlds, and Barry had already come back in Final Crisis, and all told, it was looking pretty good for Flash fans.
But now they're cancelling the book again, and once again everyone is cursing the darkness, complaining that DC can't seem to get a book off the ground, it's all the fault of the creative team, yadda yadda.
And I stand here nonplussed, asking "Really?"
I will tell you right now, this was planned from square one. Geoff Johns is the current reigning master of the Long Game. He plans to a degree that put the Bene Gesserit to shame. He plans his stories over the course of YEARS. He had the Sinestro War in the planning stages by the time the new Green Lantern book started. And he teased both Blackest Night AND War of the GLs in the middle of Sinestro War. They told us about Flashpoint right at the beginning of the new title, and pretty much everything that's happened in it has been connected to it, directly or obliquely. It was a single 12-issue story, intended to bring us right to where we are now, primed and ready to see what Eobard Thawne can do with full access to the timestream.
This is not changing horses in mid-stream. Geoff raised this horse from a foal. He helped birth it. He may have held the stallion's hat while it was shagging the mare. In a very real way, we've been reading one huge over-arcing tale since GL Rebirth, possibly longer.
Now, in the case of Bart, I don't think it was as carefully thought through. As I understand it, they did want to get Bart over as the Flash, although they were already talking about bringing back Barry. The first six issues by Bilson and DiMeo were, I'll be honest, disappointing. It felt like stunt-casting; get the guys who did the did the Flash TV series (Which was at best, small islands of great in a sea of meh) to write the comic, and get a little mainstream publicity. It consisted of several issues of Bart...not running. The idea was that accessing the Speed Force could kill him, so he was trying to give it up, but then things happened that made him change his mind and it all just felt like I was watching Robert Altman's Popeye again, and as good as it all looked and as fun as it was to watch I just wanted to see him EAT...THE FUCKING...SPINACH...AND GET ON WITH.IT. That, combined with the fact that the several years Bart spent in the Speed Zone were summarized in a single chaotic two-page spread that answered NO questions, left a sour taste in my mouth.
This was followed by a move by Bart to Los Angeles and becoming a forensic scientist, a move that was supposed to make a connection to his grand-dad, but felt far more like a last-minute change because what they were doing wasn't working. And by this point, Lightning Saga was getting ready to go in JLA and JSA, and that's about when they decided that Bart had to go. Just not for too long.
Supposedly it was originally Barry that was to return in Lightning Saga, but they held off till Final Crisis to give the return more weight. So they brought back Wally from his exile to the Speed Force, a move that was originally supposed to mirror the events of IC when Wally took the torch from Barry. Wally and his family were back, and the kids were older, and they tried to make his story stick, but once again, for reasons no one can pinpoint, it didn't catch on. I think by this point, the apparent bait-and-switch of Lightning Saga (Heck, even Batman thought it was Barry coming back) had the fans thinking that we'd see the "real" Flash back sometime soon, and as happens all too often (See Shooter's recent run on Legion) the readers looked past what they had in anticipation for what they may have at some point in the future.
So while he didn't get killed off or shuffled off to another dimension (this time), Wally's tenure as the titular Flash ended shortly before Final Crisis. And that where we saw both Barry and Bart come back, and things looked rosy.
Plans for a Kid Flash book by Sterling Gates were put on hold. The idea was to give people just one Flash for a bit, to get people re-acquainted with Barry. And it's worked well. The new Flash title has been exciting, and has really turned up the Sci-fi and time-travel facets of the character. Some don't care for that, but it makes perfect sense. Remember, the Multiverse had its origin in Flash, with the seminal Flash of Two Worlds. Time-traveling villains were part and parcel of his story from the beginning. So if you're going to do a story about time travel, Flash is the character to do it with.
From the first issue of Flash Rebirth we saw that The Reverse Flash's plan involved dicking with time to mess up Barry Allen, but not to the point of destroying him. So the plot of Flashpoint is simply that taken to the extreme.
Now I was right there saying "Hang on, changing history, that's supposed to be impossible, it's what Booster Gold was supposed to be combating in his book, you know, the one that Geoff co-wrote for a while". So when it was announced that not only was he going to be involved, his title was going to be the only monthly book tying directly into the event, I was REALLY chuffed. Is it possible that even the threads he set up in Booster Gold were part of the groundwork of Flashpoint? I wouldn't put it past him.
So if you think that this end to the Flash book is "another example of what's wrong with DC today", I suggest you have it exactly backwards. It's an example of what they're doing right.
Monday, February 28, 2011
On Pete, Pully and the Postcard
It would have been my father-in-law Pete's birthday this week. He was a guy who lived life to the fullest, and spent much of it in the company of...certain people. To give you an idea of what I mean, The Wife, her mother and sister and I went to see Casino, and they spent most of the film reminding who each of the character really were, and how they knew them; "Oh, that's The Corporal, and that's supposed to be Uncle Tommy..."
Pete was the kind of guy that when we went out to eat on the weekends, people would come over and introduce other people to him. Far more a Damon Runyon type of company than Mario Puzo, if you know what I mean.
This is a story as much about Pete as it is about character actor B.S. Pully. Pully is best known for playing Big Julie in the film version of Guys and Dolls, a role he created on Broadway. Before that, he was a nightclub comedian, and recorded an album, "B.S. Pully's Fairy Tales". A joke from his act went:
When Pully was called to Hollywood to reprise his role in Guys and Dolls, he was short on cash, and went to Pete for a touch.
"I'll pay you as soon as I get out there," Pete recalled in one of our Saturday afternoon lunches, doing a passable impression of B.S., a voice not too far from his own.. "They can't pay me till I get there." So Pete fronts him the money, and off he goes. Two weeks pass, no word from B.S.; three weeks, four, nothing. Pete figures that's money he'll never see again.
Six weeks later, a postcard arrives to Pete's restaurant.
Pete flips the postcard around in his hands once or twice, and asks for a really sharp knife.
"I thought he was crazy enough to paste it inside somehow."
I miss Pete.
Pete was the kind of guy that when we went out to eat on the weekends, people would come over and introduce other people to him. Far more a Damon Runyon type of company than Mario Puzo, if you know what I mean.
This is a story as much about Pete as it is about character actor B.S. Pully. Pully is best known for playing Big Julie in the film version of Guys and Dolls, a role he created on Broadway. Before that, he was a nightclub comedian, and recorded an album, "B.S. Pully's Fairy Tales". A joke from his act went:
"I was in the elevator in the hotel, and I accidentally bumped into a lovely lady with my elbow.
'I'm terribly sorry, madam' I said, 'but if your heart is as soft as your bosom, you'll forgive me.'
She says, 'If your cock is as hard as your elbow, meet me in room 519'! "
When Pully was called to Hollywood to reprise his role in Guys and Dolls, he was short on cash, and went to Pete for a touch.
"I'll pay you as soon as I get out there," Pete recalled in one of our Saturday afternoon lunches, doing a passable impression of B.S., a voice not too far from his own.. "They can't pay me till I get there." So Pete fronts him the money, and off he goes. Two weeks pass, no word from B.S.; three weeks, four, nothing. Pete figures that's money he'll never see again.
Six weeks later, a postcard arrives to Pete's restaurant.
"Dear friends, am having a wonderful time filming the movie, miss you all terribly, (signed) B.S. Pully.
P.S. - Dear Pete - enclosed, please find the money I owe you."
Pete flips the postcard around in his hands once or twice, and asks for a really sharp knife.
"I thought he was crazy enough to paste it inside somehow."
I miss Pete.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
On the run-up to the next adventures of a timelord
We're just weeks away from the next season of Doctor Who, and if I have to tell you what that is, kindly leave the Internet.
Gleefully little information has come out about the upcoming series, and while that's torturous, it's also for the best. Here's a brief look at what we know so far.
We know that the season will indeed be two mini-seasons. The average BBC series is six or so episodes in a series, while Doctor Who is 13 episodes, plus the Christmas special. Showrunner Steven Moffat realized that by splitting the season in half, you can spread the excitement out - the first half of the season will run starting in April, and the remaining episodes in late summer or early fall, followed by the Christmas episode. This means there won't be as long a wait between new episodes, no more than a couple of months at any time. This also means they'll be able to change up the current narrative format of the season, that of one long narrative arc, culminating in the last two episodes. Now they can do two smaller arcs, with what they describe as a gamechanging cliffhanger in between. One wonders if they could extend things and make the Christmas episode part of the storyline as well, as opposed to the more standalone story they are now. Odds are it's not necessary, as it does quite well as it is.
We know Neil Gaiman has written an episode. And that's damn near about it, save that "It will be on television, and it will be in color" We know it'll be broadcast in the first half of the season, or at least that seems likely, considering when it was filmed. Suranne Jones (who played the Mona Lisa in Sarah Jane Adventures last year) plays a character named Idris, about whom many have already kvelled.
Mark Gatiss is writing another episode, as is gareth Roberts. Moffat's writing five, as it's tradititional for the showrunner to provide the lion's share. Steve Thompson, who wrote for Sherlock, is writing one as well, and Matthew Graham, creator of Life on Mars, is writing a two-parter
The casting news has been trickling through as well. Another British comedian with a long history with the series is joining - David Walliams of Little Britain fame will be playing a character named Gibbis in what's being called "A spooky episode" written by Toby (Being Human) Whithouse. Also, elfin waif Lily Cole and ubiquitous British actor Hugh Bonneville will be in an episode with a pirate theme of some type.
Most recently, James Corden announced (quickly confiemed) that he'd be back this season, reprising his role of Craig Owens from last season's The Lodger. Considering we saw a control room that looked just like the one from that episode in the season teaser, this raises many questions as to how much of that episode was more important than originally thought. It is in fact very possible that the control room we saw in the teaser is the EXACT same one from the Lodger - considering that Corden's episode has yet to film, that may be a clip from the previous episode, or just a random unused shot of the set, tacked on there.
It's amazing the actors that the new series has been attracting. Not just for the cool factor either; the show has been doing such a good job that people know that an appearance on the show will be a feather in their cap.
If you need a bit of a look back on the previous season, I happen to have done recaps of each episode for the folks at Newsarama. Here's a list of them if you want to give them a perusal...
01. The Eleventh Hour
02. The Beast Below
03. Victory of the Daleks
04. The Time of Angels
05. Flesh and Stone
06. The Vampires of Venice
07. Amy's Choice
08. The Hungry Earth
09. Cold Blood
10. Vincent and the Doctor
11. The Lodger
12. The Pandorica Opens
13. The Big Bang
14. A Christmas Carol
See you all in a couple weeks.
Gleefully little information has come out about the upcoming series, and while that's torturous, it's also for the best. Here's a brief look at what we know so far.
We know that the season will indeed be two mini-seasons. The average BBC series is six or so episodes in a series, while Doctor Who is 13 episodes, plus the Christmas special. Showrunner Steven Moffat realized that by splitting the season in half, you can spread the excitement out - the first half of the season will run starting in April, and the remaining episodes in late summer or early fall, followed by the Christmas episode. This means there won't be as long a wait between new episodes, no more than a couple of months at any time. This also means they'll be able to change up the current narrative format of the season, that of one long narrative arc, culminating in the last two episodes. Now they can do two smaller arcs, with what they describe as a gamechanging cliffhanger in between. One wonders if they could extend things and make the Christmas episode part of the storyline as well, as opposed to the more standalone story they are now. Odds are it's not necessary, as it does quite well as it is.
We know Neil Gaiman has written an episode. And that's damn near about it, save that "It will be on television, and it will be in color" We know it'll be broadcast in the first half of the season, or at least that seems likely, considering when it was filmed. Suranne Jones (who played the Mona Lisa in Sarah Jane Adventures last year) plays a character named Idris, about whom many have already kvelled.
Mark Gatiss is writing another episode, as is gareth Roberts. Moffat's writing five, as it's tradititional for the showrunner to provide the lion's share. Steve Thompson, who wrote for Sherlock, is writing one as well, and Matthew Graham, creator of Life on Mars, is writing a two-parter
The casting news has been trickling through as well. Another British comedian with a long history with the series is joining - David Walliams of Little Britain fame will be playing a character named Gibbis in what's being called "A spooky episode" written by Toby (Being Human) Whithouse. Also, elfin waif Lily Cole and ubiquitous British actor Hugh Bonneville will be in an episode with a pirate theme of some type.
Most recently, James Corden announced (quickly confiemed) that he'd be back this season, reprising his role of Craig Owens from last season's The Lodger. Considering we saw a control room that looked just like the one from that episode in the season teaser, this raises many questions as to how much of that episode was more important than originally thought. It is in fact very possible that the control room we saw in the teaser is the EXACT same one from the Lodger - considering that Corden's episode has yet to film, that may be a clip from the previous episode, or just a random unused shot of the set, tacked on there.
It's amazing the actors that the new series has been attracting. Not just for the cool factor either; the show has been doing such a good job that people know that an appearance on the show will be a feather in their cap.
If you need a bit of a look back on the previous season, I happen to have done recaps of each episode for the folks at Newsarama. Here's a list of them if you want to give them a perusal...
01. The Eleventh Hour
02. The Beast Below
03. Victory of the Daleks
04. The Time of Angels
05. Flesh and Stone
06. The Vampires of Venice
07. Amy's Choice
08. The Hungry Earth
09. Cold Blood
10. Vincent and the Doctor
11. The Lodger
12. The Pandorica Opens
13. The Big Bang
14. A Christmas Carol
See you all in a couple weeks.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
On a week of Death, part 2 - Fictional
In amongst the real-world sadness of the past couple of days, several comics were released today that dealt with death as well, two about the reactions of loved ones, one an actual death, or more correctly a confirmation of what readers assumed from events two weeks hence.
Dan Slott and Marcos Martin presented a heart-rending memorial to a character the general public has never heard of in Amazing Spider-Man #655. In the previous issue, J. Jonah Jameson's wife Marla was killed in an attack by the Spider-Slayers, creatures who, in the various years hence, she helped design, and JJJ helped finance. This issue dealt with the ways various characters dealt with said passing.
The first 11 pages of the 32-page story are silent, and utterly gripping. It's not just a case of not hearing what people are saying, it's people not speaking, too shaken by events to do anything but shuffle mutely through their day and the communal sadness of the funeral of a friend. Considering the emotion portrayed in the pages, I'll lay odds that even sans dialogue, the script for them is as long as the rest of the book.
The remainder of the issue is a massive dream sequence, courtesy the guilt-besotted subconscious of one Peter Parker. He sees and talks with all the people who he is directly and indirectly responsible for the death of, from Uncle Ben , right up to Marla. Some were killed as he faught, some in revenge by villains, and one he killed himself. They all demand their moment with him, some asking for explanation, some just marching by, reminding him of his actions.
The issue ends with Peter making a vow to himself, one that also serves as the title to the two-part story - "No One Dies". It's a moving promise, but tragically, one that can almost never be kept. Peter has spent his life taking the weight of his misdeeds (real and imagined) onto his shoulders - this decision, all but doomed to eventual failure, is going to shatter him, and send him to a place that will spawn great literature.
Dan's writing has been stellar as far back as his Arkham Asylum mini for DC - losing him to Marvel stands as one of DC's biggest business missteps in recent history. As good as he's been on She-Hulk, Thing, et al, he seems almost genetically bred to write this title. He once posted a picture of his refrigerator - under a series of upcoming covers stand the words "YOU GET TO WRITE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" emblazoned in multicolored alphabet magnets. The sheer joy that oozes from his pores as he writes this book shows on the page. This issue has no joy, of course, but his deep knowledge of the character shows as he includes mentions and cameos of characters that you were convinced you were the only one who remembered them. I saw Tim Hammond, AKA "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", for pete's sake.
They are going to have to pry this book from Dan's withered and arthritic hands, and I'll be there with a stick to smack the people who try it.
In the years since the great unpleasantness that was One More Day, one artist has risen from nowhere to be the most stunning creator Marvel has. He is Dan's favorite collaborator Marcos Martin, and he doesn't just handle the art on this issue, he makes it his bitch. Already sporting a thin line and sparse design that demands positive comparisons to Steve Ditko, he piles on layout tricks that defy description. Cinematic and moody camera angles and in-page tryptyches to denote passages of time challenge other creators to keep up. A double page spread of an Inception-style spiraling midtown, centered at the Flatiron building, is at once staggering and still ultimately readable. You will draw Norbert one day, Mr. Martin. This I swear.
One More Day will never be forgotten. Brand New Day Almost got it forgiven. Big Time, the plot arc Dan has been writing now that he's the sole writer on the book, is good enough to let it be put on the shelf and not brought up anymore. Spider-Man is joyous, broad and the most fun it has been in years.
While Spider-Man is experiencing a rebirth, modern Marvel's first title experienced and ending this week. Fantastic Four ends its run (insert cynical eyebrow raise here) with an issue dealing with the MU's communal reaction to the death of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in the previous issue.
Now as I've said before, death in comics is at best, fleeting. With Johnny's demise, now ALL FOUR MEMBERS of the Fantastic Four have now died, at least one more than once, and all have come back hale and hearty, save (so far) for Johnny. He died (allegedly) in the Negative Zone, an extradimensional space where the laws of physics are scarcely suggestions. There's no body - first rule of comic-book death; no body, no death. The only real purpose for a character to die in comics, honestly, is to provide a good story. And Jonathan Hickman has done so.
Like in Spider-Man, the issue is silent, tho in this case it's the entire story, save for the last panel. Unlike Spider-Man, the reactions are not all sullen and quiet. Valeria Richards declares (via a to-do list on a blackboard) the aim of her organization of savants is to kill Annihilus. Reed apparently tries to with the help of the Ultimate Nullifier (Though one could argue this was a dream sequence). Ben Grimm has a cathartic episode with the help of Thor and the Hulk, and Franklin Richards has a heart-to-heart with Spider-Man in a backup story where they remember their respective uncles, both of whom they feel they could have saved, has they only acted.
It's a good issue, albeit with (IMHO) somewhat weak and decidedly muddy art. Hickman has done a great deal to get the FF back to its "Cosmic" level, where it belongs. The issue sets up a number of plot threads that will be picked up in the new title, FF (Future Foundation) starting next month. But in honesty, like the deaths of so many tentpole characters in the past, I have no belief it will stand. I have no doubt Hickman will tell great stories, ones that may not deal with Johnny's return at all. But ultimately, they will bring him back with great pomp and circumstance, re-lauch the Fantastic Four title, and return us to the first-position at which we feel the most confortable. There's just too much money on the table from licensing, movie rights, etc, for any major changes to take place.
It's the desire to return to square one that annoys me the most with the third major comic book death this week, the confirmation of the passing of Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle in Justice League: Generation Lost. After the headshot max Lord gave him last issue (a thematic bookend to the one he gave to Ted Kord in Countdown to Infinite Crisis), Reyes was declared DOA on the last page of the latest issue, surprising no one.
Reyes was met with the most vehement opposition of a new character since Kyle Reyner replaced Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. In both cases, the fans saw the change as a deliberate attempt to generate hype for a new character at the expense of the old, at the cost of the original's entire fanbase. The fact that Jaime was Hispanic was seen as insult to injury by (too damn) many, claiming it was just another attempt to "cram another minorty character down our throats".
I am a huge Ted Kord fan. But I'm honest enough to know why they killed him off. He was burnable. He had his fans, but ultimately, little enough had been done with lately that he could be used as a plot point to spark a big new story. Unlike what they did with Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis or even Bart Allen in the final issue of his run of the Flash book, they did so with no plan to bring Ted back, or indeed, any desire to.
But a couple of very strange things happened. First off, the new Blue Beetle was really really good. The first few issues co-written by Keith Giffen were good, but when he left and John Rogers took the reins, it kicked into high gear. Several issues (especially an issue-long fight with Typhoon, who will forever be known in my head as "The Giant Naked Bad Man") stood as the best issues of their moth of release. Second, Ted Kord started getting a LOT more respect. In the Blue Beetle book, in Booster Gold, and elsewhere across the DCU, writers started doing stories about how Ted was not the BWAH-HAH-HAH guy we got used to in JLI, but a solid detective, a great adventurer, and generally deserving of far more respect by both the hero and reader community. He got more ink after he died than in easily the last five years previous. Death was the best thing to happen to him.
But the hardcore Tedfen wouldn't give in. They stubbornly refused to sample the title, regardless of the fact that in many cases, it was exactly the kind of fun lightheated entertainment they were demanding more of from DC.
DC responded by doing an end-run. They made Jaime a featured character on the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold series, exposing him to more people than any issue of any DC issue could. But even there they gave tribute to Ted, featuring him in a couple stories, voiced by Wil Wheaton. The Beetle action figures regularly sold out faster than others in the assortments - Jaime was a breakout star. He's going to be featured on Smallville soon, along with Booster Gold.
But the petulant comics fans kept on whining. And regardless of the number of fans he's collected in the past few years, they chose to take him out in the same fashion )and pose) as Ted, as a sort of apology. And in both cases, the death served to show what a badass Max lord was.
Now again, I don't expect this to last. Specifically, I don't think it'll last more than a couple weeks. (Jaime shows up in an upcoming issue of Supergirl, so that's a pretty big clue, or a really clumsy mistake). But what infuriates me is that there are thousands of people reading the last two issues, pumping their fists in the air and saying "YEEESSSSSsss!!!!"
I invite those people to line up and kiss my pudgy ass.
Dan Slott and Marcos Martin presented a heart-rending memorial to a character the general public has never heard of in Amazing Spider-Man #655. In the previous issue, J. Jonah Jameson's wife Marla was killed in an attack by the Spider-Slayers, creatures who, in the various years hence, she helped design, and JJJ helped finance. This issue dealt with the ways various characters dealt with said passing.
The first 11 pages of the 32-page story are silent, and utterly gripping. It's not just a case of not hearing what people are saying, it's people not speaking, too shaken by events to do anything but shuffle mutely through their day and the communal sadness of the funeral of a friend. Considering the emotion portrayed in the pages, I'll lay odds that even sans dialogue, the script for them is as long as the rest of the book.
The remainder of the issue is a massive dream sequence, courtesy the guilt-besotted subconscious of one Peter Parker. He sees and talks with all the people who he is directly and indirectly responsible for the death of, from Uncle Ben , right up to Marla. Some were killed as he faught, some in revenge by villains, and one he killed himself. They all demand their moment with him, some asking for explanation, some just marching by, reminding him of his actions.
The issue ends with Peter making a vow to himself, one that also serves as the title to the two-part story - "No One Dies". It's a moving promise, but tragically, one that can almost never be kept. Peter has spent his life taking the weight of his misdeeds (real and imagined) onto his shoulders - this decision, all but doomed to eventual failure, is going to shatter him, and send him to a place that will spawn great literature.
Dan's writing has been stellar as far back as his Arkham Asylum mini for DC - losing him to Marvel stands as one of DC's biggest business missteps in recent history. As good as he's been on She-Hulk, Thing, et al, he seems almost genetically bred to write this title. He once posted a picture of his refrigerator - under a series of upcoming covers stand the words "YOU GET TO WRITE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" emblazoned in multicolored alphabet magnets. The sheer joy that oozes from his pores as he writes this book shows on the page. This issue has no joy, of course, but his deep knowledge of the character shows as he includes mentions and cameos of characters that you were convinced you were the only one who remembered them. I saw Tim Hammond, AKA "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", for pete's sake.
They are going to have to pry this book from Dan's withered and arthritic hands, and I'll be there with a stick to smack the people who try it.
In the years since the great unpleasantness that was One More Day, one artist has risen from nowhere to be the most stunning creator Marvel has. He is Dan's favorite collaborator Marcos Martin, and he doesn't just handle the art on this issue, he makes it his bitch. Already sporting a thin line and sparse design that demands positive comparisons to Steve Ditko, he piles on layout tricks that defy description. Cinematic and moody camera angles and in-page tryptyches to denote passages of time challenge other creators to keep up. A double page spread of an Inception-style spiraling midtown, centered at the Flatiron building, is at once staggering and still ultimately readable. You will draw Norbert one day, Mr. Martin. This I swear.
One More Day will never be forgotten. Brand New Day Almost got it forgiven. Big Time, the plot arc Dan has been writing now that he's the sole writer on the book, is good enough to let it be put on the shelf and not brought up anymore. Spider-Man is joyous, broad and the most fun it has been in years.
While Spider-Man is experiencing a rebirth, modern Marvel's first title experienced and ending this week. Fantastic Four ends its run (insert cynical eyebrow raise here) with an issue dealing with the MU's communal reaction to the death of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in the previous issue.
Now as I've said before, death in comics is at best, fleeting. With Johnny's demise, now ALL FOUR MEMBERS of the Fantastic Four have now died, at least one more than once, and all have come back hale and hearty, save (so far) for Johnny. He died (allegedly) in the Negative Zone, an extradimensional space where the laws of physics are scarcely suggestions. There's no body - first rule of comic-book death; no body, no death. The only real purpose for a character to die in comics, honestly, is to provide a good story. And Jonathan Hickman has done so.
Like in Spider-Man, the issue is silent, tho in this case it's the entire story, save for the last panel. Unlike Spider-Man, the reactions are not all sullen and quiet. Valeria Richards declares (via a to-do list on a blackboard) the aim of her organization of savants is to kill Annihilus. Reed apparently tries to with the help of the Ultimate Nullifier (Though one could argue this was a dream sequence). Ben Grimm has a cathartic episode with the help of Thor and the Hulk, and Franklin Richards has a heart-to-heart with Spider-Man in a backup story where they remember their respective uncles, both of whom they feel they could have saved, has they only acted.
It's a good issue, albeit with (IMHO) somewhat weak and decidedly muddy art. Hickman has done a great deal to get the FF back to its "Cosmic" level, where it belongs. The issue sets up a number of plot threads that will be picked up in the new title, FF (Future Foundation) starting next month. But in honesty, like the deaths of so many tentpole characters in the past, I have no belief it will stand. I have no doubt Hickman will tell great stories, ones that may not deal with Johnny's return at all. But ultimately, they will bring him back with great pomp and circumstance, re-lauch the Fantastic Four title, and return us to the first-position at which we feel the most confortable. There's just too much money on the table from licensing, movie rights, etc, for any major changes to take place.
It's the desire to return to square one that annoys me the most with the third major comic book death this week, the confirmation of the passing of Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle in Justice League: Generation Lost. After the headshot max Lord gave him last issue (a thematic bookend to the one he gave to Ted Kord in Countdown to Infinite Crisis), Reyes was declared DOA on the last page of the latest issue, surprising no one.
Reyes was met with the most vehement opposition of a new character since Kyle Reyner replaced Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. In both cases, the fans saw the change as a deliberate attempt to generate hype for a new character at the expense of the old, at the cost of the original's entire fanbase. The fact that Jaime was Hispanic was seen as insult to injury by (too damn) many, claiming it was just another attempt to "cram another minorty character down our throats".
I am a huge Ted Kord fan. But I'm honest enough to know why they killed him off. He was burnable. He had his fans, but ultimately, little enough had been done with lately that he could be used as a plot point to spark a big new story. Unlike what they did with Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis or even Bart Allen in the final issue of his run of the Flash book, they did so with no plan to bring Ted back, or indeed, any desire to.
But a couple of very strange things happened. First off, the new Blue Beetle was really really good. The first few issues co-written by Keith Giffen were good, but when he left and John Rogers took the reins, it kicked into high gear. Several issues (especially an issue-long fight with Typhoon, who will forever be known in my head as "The Giant Naked Bad Man") stood as the best issues of their moth of release. Second, Ted Kord started getting a LOT more respect. In the Blue Beetle book, in Booster Gold, and elsewhere across the DCU, writers started doing stories about how Ted was not the BWAH-HAH-HAH guy we got used to in JLI, but a solid detective, a great adventurer, and generally deserving of far more respect by both the hero and reader community. He got more ink after he died than in easily the last five years previous. Death was the best thing to happen to him.
But the hardcore Tedfen wouldn't give in. They stubbornly refused to sample the title, regardless of the fact that in many cases, it was exactly the kind of fun lightheated entertainment they were demanding more of from DC.
DC responded by doing an end-run. They made Jaime a featured character on the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold series, exposing him to more people than any issue of any DC issue could. But even there they gave tribute to Ted, featuring him in a couple stories, voiced by Wil Wheaton. The Beetle action figures regularly sold out faster than others in the assortments - Jaime was a breakout star. He's going to be featured on Smallville soon, along with Booster Gold.
But the petulant comics fans kept on whining. And regardless of the number of fans he's collected in the past few years, they chose to take him out in the same fashion )and pose) as Ted, as a sort of apology. And in both cases, the death served to show what a badass Max lord was.
Now again, I don't expect this to last. Specifically, I don't think it'll last more than a couple weeks. (Jaime shows up in an upcoming issue of Supergirl, so that's a pretty big clue, or a really clumsy mistake). But what infuriates me is that there are thousands of people reading the last two issues, pumping their fists in the air and saying "YEEESSSSSsss!!!!"
I invite those people to line up and kiss my pudgy ass.
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