Every week I do a column full of comic book reviews as I've done since March 2003 and currently published at Comic Book Resources. Then, after the reviews post, I try to come over to Komplicated and expand on the thoughts and ideas listed there. Why talk about stuff at some other site? Oh, like you've never done any private projects when you're at work! Sometimes things get profound, sometimes it's gibberish, but it's always about comics … let's see what we get this week!
What? This week's reviews …
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO? Watching the foibles of three of my childhood ideals of heroism — Superman (standing around while others argued), Captain America (frozen before flashbulbs and reporter mics) and Optimus Prime (I still won't spoil the cowardly thing he did, BUT HE KNOWS WHAT IT IS) — I realized another core problem (aside from the “dull villains” one I wrote about a few weeks ago) with much of today’s genre fiction. In our mad rush to follow Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis and their UK ilk down the paths of deconstructionism, we are forgetting how to inspire. I’ll cite two examples of what I feel is missing.
There was an issue of (I think) Secret Warriors which started with Captain America on a landing craft with Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos. Cap makes a speech about what kind of difference one man can make. It’s rousing. It’a the kind of thing you’d say to inspire men to risk their lives over an ideal. If only there were some way people could have captured this moment and shared it with everybody …
That's just one example. Some years back, Grant Morrison wrote Marvel Boy (now rudderless and called “Protector,” don't even get me started on that). The lead, Noh-Varr, ran to his ship’s captain as the massive hunk of impossible metal and engineering was literally crashing through dimensions. The captain replied, saying something like, “this ship’ made it through …" gah, if only I could remember the exact thing, it's almost like I can see the pages in my mind …
Please ignore the fact that most of them, in fact, died horribly.
The point here is that, even in these jaded times, you can make a hero that pulls at the heart strings and makes you think an inspiring score is welling in the background. Heroes should show us higher ideals as well as how they can be human, shown with their feet of clay. Far too many current books (and this week’s batch of comics was a great indicator of that) lean too heavily in tearing down the heroes due to their own inadequacies. Captain America doesn't know how to fight a data war. Superman may lead the charge but his ideas can never shape the strategy. Optimus Prime, for all his prattle about freedom and peace, doesn't know what to do if there’s nobody to shoot. Daredevil’s doomed if it’s snowing (should he move to California, or would the Santa Ana winds similarly stymie him?), Hal Jordan’s now neurotically trying to impress everybody he meets (super depressing retcon, kids) … we get it. They’re not so high and mighty … except we need them to be, far more than they are, especially in these trying times.
Either we need newer heroes (paging Michael Holt and Virgil Hawkins) or newer ideas behind the words. I can't turn my kids on to comics with this stuff. Come on, now.
THAT'S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: Miles to go before I sleep …
Playing (Music): "Empire State of Mind" by Mateo
[Source: Comic Book Resources, F*** Yeah Captain America, Scans Daily]
Yeah, I’m done with the Transformers again. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the heck went on during Chaos. I loved Roberts and Coller’s work, but with Prime gone again, I might as well jump off.
You have to look for trades and other reprint material in order to find truly inspiring writing. Otherwise, it’s a dead zone out there.