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 …
BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: I don't remember the first time I saw an endless horde of largely identical cannon fodder take on a hero (Stormtroopers? Something from Hydra or AIM? Cobra? Can't have been The Great Darkness Saga … hm …) but I don't know that I've seen them be as drab or as featureless as a lot of what's coming out of the Big Two in particular. Quick, without Google: tell me three things about Virule, or the Owl-themed assassin who attacked Bruce Wayne, or anybody who got punched in Captain America Corps or even say something about the Worthy from Fear Itself that's different from the character who got "possessed." No Google. I'd wager most people can't, because these are throwaway characters, and as such never present a credible threat to a protagonist, therefore creating empathy and interest in readers.
I'm not saying that an endless legion of identical bad guys can't work. The Cylons, stormtroopers, Cobra — examples where even the horde had an individual personality, idiosyncratic and interesting visual design, some detail that'd one day inspire cosplay. Who's gonna cosplay as any bad guy from Avengers 1959? How will we remember that limp Tombstone-looking knockoff at the end of Catwoman (and even Tombstone was a hard sell, he took some time to get it together)?
It can be done, even in the modern day. Mister Negative is fascinating, and his henchmen are like something out of Kill Bill in the best possible way. Brian Azzarello's take on Hellenistic-inspired henchmen or goddesses (helped by Cliff Chiang's art) could only be called outstanding. I love the work of John Rozum and Scott McDaniel, but if you're telling me Virule and Joey Piranha are the best they could come up with, I'd have them checked for head trauma. I know Duane Swierczynski could do better than whoever those anonymous losers were in Birds of Prey because I've seen him do it. Seriously, read his G.I. Joe prose story, it practically levitates.
THIS JUST HANDED TO ME: I got an email from a reader which said …
Hello Hannibal. I'm a big fan of your "The Buy Pile" column. I am just curious of your overall opinion of the DCnU as it relates to your reviews. Do you think the reboot itself has somehow biased your reviews? Do you feel more open or more critical of the DC books that you are reading because of their reboot? Six weeks in, do you like that they rebooted?
… to which I replied, in part …
Thanks for writing in and reviewing my work, and for the very kind words!
I think the DCnU has been (based on what my retailer said) a great sales boon to the front lines and a creative rollercoaster. I don't think the reboot — as an event, or even a business initiative — has changed my opinions a whit. The stuff I like, I do so because of what I read on the page. Ditto for what I hate or what I tolerate. I'm surely not more critical, as I've bought some I wasn't interested in (Wonder Woman, Deathstroke) for disparate reasons and I'm *not* buying some I actively have an interest in (Legion stuff, Batwing, Batgirl) because they're just not good enough based on my idiosyncratic aesthetic. For every genuine surprise I have — the nuance of Mister Terrific overcoming some art challenges, for example — I run across something like Catwoman or Voodoo or Starfire which makes me exhausted. I say as much in my weekly commentary tracks on Komplicated.com, which gives a more personal take on why and how I make my decisions, and what I'm thinking. Now I think about it, this paragraph will be a great addition! *smirk*
I do note that fans are using "reboot" whether DC wants them to or not. When you give Diana a dad and put blue jeans on Superman, people will call shenanigans.
XOXO: I already wrote an extensive fan letter about Kieron Gillen, and Journey Into Mystery almost made me do it again. I'm so grateful to be happy with something. Which reminds me …
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, I LOVE COMICS: I tweeted an interesting moment …
Kind of frustrating to be told "you hate #comics" while wearing a @CBR t-shirt that says "Comics Don't Suck." Oh, mortals …
when Quislet turned to me and said, "Hannibal, you hate everything, let me ask you …"
The point of Komplicated, and many sites like it, are focusing on things we love, things we're passionate about. Sure, those passions sometimes make us overly conservative, caustically critical … but as Ntozake Shange said, anybody who focuses that kind of attention … it's surely love. Was it Ruth Forman who said, "if it didn't change you, it wasn't love?" I've written about the many ways I've been changed by comics, science fiction and the escapism that takes up a quarter of the site's real estate in the nav bar. It's just weird that people forget that so easily …
THAT'S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: Jammed it in, on time, anyway, hahahaha! Tabu out!
Playing (Music): "I Walked" by Sufjan Stevens
[Source: Comic Book Resources]