The magazine-inspired cover to "The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange" is a great indicator of what's inside this "super issue". Four black and white stories centered around Marvel's "Master of Magic", each with a distinctive flavor, yet altogether embracing the mysticism of the pulp days. Turns out it's four bucks well spent, a revealing approach to one of Marvel's coolest characters and the universe around him that's only slightly joking with its campy offer of "More Thrills".
The first of two expected Big Reveals have happened in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight: the identity of Twilight, the mysterious force organizing Buffy's enemies and assaulting the Scoobies wherever they go. I had my suspicions of who Twilight might be for months now and can't quite decide how I feel about who it turned out to be.
SPOILER WARNING: Hit the jump for frank discussion of details you might not want to know!
Grant Morrison has talked repeatedly about his desire to incorporate all the crazy silver age stuff into the mainstream Batman storyline, to undo the retcons and reboots and alternate whatevers, and he's done a lot of that with the Batman R.I.P. story and now with Batman & Robin. More than that, though, more than just feeling around under the couch cushions of the Batman mythos to see if there's any crazy left in there, Morrison has taken that over-the-top aesthetic and elevated it from silly to sincere without feeling the need also to divorce it from the camp that for many of us is an essential component of what makes the property work.
Issue #9 of Grant Morrison's Batman & Robin is in a lot of ways not the strongest example of that effort, but it concludes the most recent story arc in admirable fashion and it surprised me by its remarkably literal, linear nature. Morrison doesn't do a lot of dallying around with one-liners and such in this issue, and we get to see three of the most direct examples of characterization we've seen to date.
X-Factor #200, released in December but not winding up in my hands until a couple of weeks ago, saw the series re-numbered and a bit of a re-launch as the team moved to a disused funeral parlor in New York and took on an interesting case: the disappearance of The Invisible Girl.
This issue is months old, yes, but there was a lot to like in it - more of Strong Guy's struggle to synthesize his sincere friendship to Rictor with his unexpected difficulty accepting Rictor's relationship with Shatterstar, a story arc I'm finding more compelling the more I think about it and read about it. There's a great interview at CBR in which Peter David discusses what bothers Guido and why he constantly has to crack jokes at Rictor and Shatterstar's expense, saying:
"My feeling is that, as far as Guido is concerned, he grew up in one of those tough neighborhoods where no one was gay," the writer explained. "Which is to say that guys didn't cop to being gay because they'd get the crap kicked out of them. And sure, Guido is a liberal guy who's open minded, or at least likes to feel that he is. His attitude is that whatever some dudes do in the privacy of their bedroom is their own business. But now here's someone who he thought he knew, and it turns out he didn't know him as well as he thought, and now he's got a mental image of Shatterstar and Rictor going at it, and the whole thing just leaves him feeling kind of squeed about it. He doesn't hate them for it, but it's outside of his comfort level, and he's even frustrated by that because he didn't know it was a problem for him. So he feels guilty about feeling the way that he does, but he can't help how he feels. Consequently, he's dealing with it in a way that comes naturally for him: Making jokes about it."
There's also a great fight scene in which Strong Guy and The Thing go at it only to have Shatterstar step in and do his thing to great effect. It ends with an amusing and appropriate pop culture allusion that's both a callback to an earlier moment in the same issue and a perfect illustration of how Shatterstar's character is developing from tight-lipped emotionless Other to amusing and outgoing person. It reminded me of the transition my friends and I witnessed during college when one specific friend went in the course of a year from reserved, baritone-voiced dude bragging about the prestigious fraternity he was rushing to cracked-voice queen we came to call The Diva. Shatterstar isn't turning into a nelly queen but he is gaining an understanding of the theatricality of human relationships and adventure. He's becoming more comfortable with himself and exploring different ways of expressing himself, and I love that.
The main reason I want to pique your interest in a book published three months ago, though, is that the back of X-Factor #200 has detailed biographies of every member of the team. Every member of the team. If the story of Shatterstar and Rictor's kiss last year got you curious about X-Factor but you didn't think you could jump in at the mid-point in a book handled by many different writers and put through many different cast changes, ask your comics shop to order issue #200 for you. It will tell you everything you need to know to have some context. I'm going to be reading future issues of X-Factor with #200 close at hand just for reference material.
I've now read and re-read (and maybe re-re-read) Joe the Barbarian #2 and I am having trouble finding the right degree of hyperbole to express my enjoyment of it. No holds barred, this title is strongly recommended: beautiful art, great writing and a story that just breaks my heart. Grant Morrison, let's just move to DC and get married, okay?
Spoiler Alert: Hit the jump for more specific thoughts!
I read the debut issue of this new The Tick book from New England Comics - a holiday-themed issue about a superhero Secret Santa party - and while I enjoyed it, and I thought some of the art was great and some of the zany creativity typical of The Tick was on display, to be honest I was kind of underwhelmed. It seemed to have all the right individual elements, yes, but I wasn't entirely convinced that the old magic still worked.
Two months passed, though, and when The Tick #2 landed in my bag I found myself surprised at my excitement to see it there. When I got around to cracking it open over brunch on Sunday, I laughed aloud at least four times. Issue #2 conjures up plenty of classic Tickery, full of puns, visual gags and allusions - including one joke that manages to be all three at once and which I simply refuse to spoil for you - and that's what The Tick is supposed to be. It also features a B story that suggests they are, in fact, building towards an overall narrative featuring a classic Tick villain, which would be pretty sweet.
The art in this book is also very strong. I think it's as good as if not better than the art for issue #1, much better than the art in "classic" Tick comics (and the show) and it's better than the art I've seen in some "serious" comics lately. I definitely appreciate the effort that's going into this new book, and I think it shows that the NEC folks are making full use of the extended time between issues.
When I said last week that I'd picked up X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back in hopes of something fluffy to cut the taste of metaplots, this is what I should have been reading instead. I really enjoyed this second issue and I can't wait to see what they produce in April. If you're a fan of comedy in general or The Tick in particular, pick it up.
I've now read through the first in this four-issue series and I have to say that it took its time appealing to me. I bought it mostly for novelty, read the first few pages thinking it had been a mistake, found myself intrigued and then fell in love with it. Yet again, the shadows around Utopia hold the most interesting stories and narrative opportunities.
The DC animated universe has seen a revitalization as of late, with its direct-to-DVD movies featuring Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. They're all interesting takes on the capes, like revamps without that washed-out 'Secret Origins' feel, but ultimately they remind me of how much I miss the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. The show just had a big feel to it- powerful team-ups, interplanetary implications. And with 'Crisis on Two Earths', the weighty feel returns with a universe-shattering bang.
Yes, this comic is like three months old, but I just got around to realizing that I had never set up a subscription to X-Factor at my local shop so a backlog of that comic is coming to me now.
This comic is just a one-shot, so I don't want to dither over it or get too deep into my usual philosophical quagmire, but I do have some pretty raw reactions to it. You can find them after the jump!
This Wednesday saw the conclusion to one of the last Blackest Night tie-ins, the three-part Blackest Night: Flash. Penned by the Blackest Night's creator Geoff Johns, how does this limited series stack up against the other concurrent event titles?
The second issue of Marvel's big storyline event, Siege, is out and it continues to chronicle Norman Osborn's assault on Asgard with the forces of evil or, in some cases, simple obedience. It's an interesting issue with one big(-ish) death and some gorgeous artwork but really, the most exciting thing about it is what - or rather who - it indicates could be major players in the next issue. If the goal of Siege #2 is to sell me Siege #3, then mission accomplished. If the goal was to entertain me, well... I guess.
Spoiler Alert! Hit the button for more detailed impressions, sure, but know that you've been warned!
The first issue of Grant Morrison's newest original title, Joe the Barbarian, hit the stands for the bargain basement price of $1. As a Morrison fanboy and a sucker for a story about an outcast with a destiny, I snatched it right up.
What did I think? I liked it, I plan to keep reading it, it might be about shamanism and it notably refuses to hold the reader's hand.
Northstar's Boyfriend Coming In January!
You guys may recall I was a bit cranky about Northstar and his lack of lovin' about a year and a half ago. In fact, at the time, I issued a challenge to Marvel to get him a kiss by June 2009 or I would declare him not really gay. I have not forgotten about this. However, when the X-men moved to San Francisco this year, we were teased with the existence of what looked to be Northstar's boyfriend (and manager), so I delayed judgment until we could see more. Since then, Northstar hasn't had a lot of major appearances, as there have been about a thousand major crossover events in the Marvel universe in the last six months, and each one tends to disrupt the normal storyline for most books, including the many X-books. So I waited. Our patience seems to have been rewarded! Artist Tim Fish revealed on his blog that his upcoming story in Nation X #2 (which comes out in Jan.) is a story about Northstar, and will feature Kyle, his boyfriend in an 8-page story. I'm not sure if an actual kiss is in it, but it's implied that there is some lovin' going on. Check out some sketches of Northstar, Kyle, and Aurora below, and we'll keep you up to date when we get closer to Jan. NATION X #2 1/6/10 [TimFishWorks]...
