Walking on the Moon

As the books go into the vaults, a couple notes:

• Moon Knight #9 (Huston, Suayan, D’Armata): Man do I want to like this. I was a fan of the Moench/Sienkiewicz Moon Knight, and I know that the character has great potential to explore non-powered vigilante stories that can’t be done with characters that, oh, sell books – you know Batman, Captain America, those guys. Huston seems not to realize that because this is almost certainly an impulse buy only book that you’ve got to grab readers amazingly quickly and tease them with enough continuity to keep them coming back. I do think that’s what he’s trying to do, but I think it works better with complete stories. The art’s a little muddy for me, and I’m having some trouble following who’s who as well. But I keep hoping it’ll grow on me.
• Love and Rockets #9 (Los Bros. Hernandez) I’ve read some magical realism since I’ve been reading Love and Rockets, and I understand a little better what Beto is up to in his “Julio’s Day” stories. I still don’t enjoy them much, but I understand them better. I find those stories offputting just by style. They’re not for me, but as far as I can tell, well executed and certainly nicely drawn. Xamie, on the other hand, is always enjoyable to me. I love his clean art, and even stories where little happens have their moments. I’ll admit that I enjoy getting a hold of a collection and taking big bites, but I can live with the nibbles that come out in the monthlies. These stories are catching up with friends.
• The Spirit #5 (Cooke, Bone, Stewart) No, I don’t know what happened to #4. I’m looking. (I do know, it sold out at Hi De Ho and wasn’t on my pull list; I’ve fixed half that problem and expect to fix the other shortly). These guys know how to do the episodic thing right to grab new readers. The Mortez subplot from #3 is still cooking in the background, but we spend this issue meeting the new Mr. Carrion and Julia and enjoying a Spirit-based advertisement parody (Manga-styled). All nice nods to Eisner’s Spirit, and Cooke, Bone and Stewart make it fun and engaging for new readers. And there’s another issue out that I haven’t read and should be able to lay hands on shortly. This comic is a must.

As I’m sitting down to file the comics I’ve bought this week, I thought it might be worthwhile to throw up some capsule reviews.  From least enjoyable to most:

•  Sandman Mystery Theater 5 of 5 (John Ney Rieber & Eric Nguyen)
  • This series seems to be setting the stage for a new Sandman series.  I was a big fan of Wagner and Seagle’s Sandman Mystery Theater and the book being on my pull list got this pulled for me.  I wasn’t really blown away.  The characters didn’t compel me particularly strongly and the art was muddy in places that made it difficult to follow the action.  It was atmospheric though. Wagner and Seagle’s work took a while to grow on me too.  Origins are always difficult to get right.  I’d stick around for another series, probably.
• Jonah Hex #18 (Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Val Semieks)
  • Heh.  Hex.  Well, it’s not Lansdale/Truman, but I’ve been enjoying this incarnation of Jonah Hex.  Not undying literature, but good pulp western fun with an almost completely irredeemable “hero.”  Almost always worth it, with a few gems.  This one was worth it.
• The Spirit (Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone & Dave Stewart)
  • I’ve been enjoying Cooke and company’s take on The Spirit.  I’m a little surprised by that.  I hold The Spirit in high regard and I’d be pretty perturbed to see a bad version on the shelves.  This team’s doing a good job keeping the spirit of the classic stories without being tied to the history slavishly.  They’ve moved the characters into the 21st century but kept their heart.  This issue seems to be the beginning of moving the characters along a real dramatic arc, where the first two (an introductory and fairly generic Spirit tale and a P’gell rewrite) were more taking them out for a spin to make sure they handled OK.  It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain their sure hand as they set out to take more ownership of the story.
• All Star Superman #7 (Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly)
  • For my money, All-Star Superman has done a great job at capturing the feel of Silver Age Superman stories without making you feel stupid for reading them.  Considering how goofy some of those stories are, this is a feat in itself.  Beyond just working the plot kinks and restoring a sense of wonder for the universe that Superman inhabits, Morrison and Quietly have been showing that these characters deserve to be the enduring touchstones they are.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Jimmy Olsen portrayed as someone who deserves to be “Superman’s Pal” because he’s gutsy, competent, and selflessly brave rather than the relation being deus ex machina.  Now, that issue wasn’t this issue, which is one of the weaker ones of the run – I’ve never liked Bizarro.  Still the series is fantastic.  Worth riding the dip.  The trade hardback for the first 6 issues is out this week as well.  Treat yourself.
• Fell #8 (Warren Ellis, Ben Templesmith)
  • Yum, Fell.  Ellis and Templesmith’s regular trip to the PD of the worst place on Earth is as good as usual.  The series is a series of one-off books with a very loose continuity, much more Dragnet than Hill Street Blues, but each story has some wonderful hook.  Intended as a simple comic for people who just want a good story and don’t want to follow any kind of continuity, it delivers a pop every issue.  And, as one of my comic shop guys said – it’s cheaper than anything on the shelf with no ads.  Buy it.  (Not for kids, though)

The other day I got spam mail from Bucky Barnes. As I mentioned, I’ve been a big fan of Brubaker’s Captain America run, so this pleased me much more than the average unsolicited advertisement.

There’s been a huge amount of hype about Captain America #25, meaning that there has been a mainstream news story about it. Basically Cap gets shot in the issue and appears to be dying as the book closes. Marvel, trying to make a few bucks and generate some kind of Death of Superman hype, issued a press release alerting the world to Cap’s situation. Because there’s nothing else for the news to talk about, Cap’s latest peril got some air time.

As Mike Sterling points out artfully, superheroes often find themselves in dire straits, so I’m not worried about Cap in any long-term sense. Hell, the last page of the comic indicates its the first chapter of a 4-chapter arc. Cap’s too valuable to Marvel thematically and financially to be gone long.

I was afraid this was going to be some arbitrary Civil War crap that would hijack Ed Brubaker’s so-far excellent run on the title. I’m shocked and delighted to find that wasn’t the case. I mean it is a Civil War tie-in, but I didn’t buy Civil War and I enjoyed the story. Come to think of it, I enjoyed the other Brubaker Civil War tie-in with the Winter Soldier.

In fact the point of this whole post is to praise the excellent work that Brubaker and Epting are doing on the title. They’ve got a convincing Red Skull incarnated in a precarious situation (he’s assassinated in the first issue of the Brubaker/Epting run, without benefit of press release) but still going after Captain America with everything he has, a complex tone featuring everything from today’s fears of terrorism to the Cold War to WWII (can’t be Cap without WWII), and a fantastic grasp of Cap’s history. Better than just having a grasp of the history, they’ve got the guts to turn that history on its head in ways that hasn’t been done. Ever.

Throughout it all they’ve really breathed life into these folks. Because of their iconic nature, it’s really difficult to portray these characters as actual people, but Brubaker’s and Epting’s depiction has been sure-footed and revealing. Both the Civil War tie-ins have had moments of genuine resonance for me, and these are the tossed-off tie-ins. The main run has been even more consistently rewarding.

As I say, I was afraid that issue #25 was a stunt and I was going to be so disgusted I’d leave the book. I’m delighted that the creative team is continuing to keep their senses when all about them are losing theirs.

It’s a good book; give it a look.

I’ve been thinking too much about the Mallard Fillmore “comic strip” lately, and I think I finally understand what I dislike most about it. It isn’t the politics, though I rarely agree with them; it isn’t the art, though I don’t much like it; it isn’t the half-assed citations without dates or pages, though they drive me crazy. Confused by the chaff of annoyance thrown up by those characteristics, it’s taken me a while to figure out what causes me the most discomfort about the thing.

It’s not a comic.

It’s an illuminated blog post. Every day Bruce Tinsley writes a blog post about current events or fruit cake or mushroom soup or whatever else is on his mind (all fine blog fodder, by the way), illuminates it with a cartoon duck motif and mails it to King Features Syndicate. Two weeks later (that’s a guess) his blog post appears in its illuminated glory in newspapers across this great land of ours. Try reading a week of them aloud to someone. See how often you need to describe the illustration or name a character speaking to get the point across. My guess – never. This isn’t a politics or content issue. Try the same on the editorial cartoon pages or with Doonesbury.
Now, it only amuses me that this is about the least efficient way to blog, ever. But I am perturbed that he’s taking up space on the comic page that an actual comic strip artist could use. If Tinsley wants to have the words published, just transcribe them and let someone who can use the art space do so.

I’ve managed to take Hellblazer and 100 Bullets off my pull list. I know you’re all very happy for me. Seriously, they just weren’t enjoyable any more. I’m sure I’ll buy another Hellblazer before I die. I like the character too much, and he occasionally draws great aritsts and writers. But I need a break.

To assuage my guilt (at leaving Constantine? I must be crazy), I picked up the first four issues of Desolation Jones and an issue of Nextwave. Both are written by Warren Ellis, so I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. Jones was stronger, but then I had 4 issues to play with. I think Nextwave could become a guilty pleasure in a hurry, though.

While I’m thinking about Snakes on a Plane and good ideas gone bad, I think 100 Bullets was a good idea that’s execution hasn’t lived up to its promise. The idea is great pulp: some fellow steps out of the shadows with ironclad proof that the worst thing in your life wasn’t your fault, proof of whose fault it is, and a gun with 100 untracable – and I mean untracable – bullets in it – do what you will. As an author, you can’t lose. You get to tell a bunch of tense action-packed stories on that premise alone all the while stringing us along about who this shadow-lurking guy is, how he does this, and why. It’s a brilliant structure to hang a series on.
The execution hasn’t worked for me. The pacing is too slow. We got out of the short stories and into a maisma of conspiracies too quickly, and the conspiracies aren’t being resolved quickly enough. It doesn’t help that although the art is distinctive and stylish, it can be hard to tell the bad asses apart. With months between slow-moving arcs, it’s easy to forget who’s who.

I stopped buying at issue 75. Sandman was finished at 75, and it’s a sprawling series by any standard except Dave Sim’s. Preacher was also 75 issues, and IMHO was a nice size. There’s no sign of 100 Bullets coming to a head any time soon. I’m outta here. Execution matters.

I have a problem. I can’t seem to stop buying Hellblazer. I’d like to. I mean, I enjoyed Carey’s run, and there are occasional good stories, but I really haven’t looked forward to a Hellblazer story in ages. A sane person would drop the book.

But, see, I have all the issues so far.

I’ve really got to stop this compulsive completeness.

Don’t even get me started about 100 Bullets.

Now there’s a headline more suited to a Tintin book than the real world. And yet the BBC ran it. OK, something close.