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 …
TICK TICK BOOM: I'm as sick as a dog. I have a huge life change coming up, and I'm working like a crazy bastard. This is late, and this week's newer reviews are late. You'll be fine.
TEST YOUR METTLE: I can't say enough good about that issue of Transformers. I've been worried that the claustrophobic surroundings of a war-torn Cybertron wouldn't be a "big" enough tableau, but with a limping Bumblebee at the core of a less-than-secure Autobot power structure, a military government ruling two populations who hate them, there's so much dramatic grist it's hard to even grasp. Making giant robots relatable characters is no easy task, and it's one done on both writing and art sides, so that's great to see from one of my favorite properties.
CLICK HERE: A few weeks ago, the CBR staff stopped including the links to Komplicated stories at the end of my reviews. I sent 'em over, pre-coded and ready, but they got stripped out on the way to the site. Now, I get that in some ways Komplicated could be viewed as a "competitor" (which I find ridiculous, as we serve and aim for a much narrower demographic) but if you were wondering where the links went, they got eaten somewhere along the line. It should be noted that I am not mad about this. CBR's not my site, and despite the original agreement (that I could do anything that didn't get anybody sued), this is probably a fair decision for their robust editorial team to make. I just never got to mention it, as it's kind of meta. Sorry for any inconvenience.
PIECES: I wish this commentary taking Matt Fraction to task didn't feel so … familiar. To quote Mister Fraction himself …
It wasn't poorly researched; I promise– but it was written for a predominantly American comics audience, which resulted in me making some choices for ease-of-reading rather than absolute cultural accuracy. I made that call because I felt if I had to explain and contextualize things for every reader, it would've slowed the story to a halt. Were I writing a Filipino team for a Filipino audience it would have been different …
I know Mongoose aren't indiginous [sic] to the Philippines, but they ARE there, and had i time and space to talk about the character, I would've and i think it would've made sense (it's a reference to his kung fu fighting style, but how do you casually bring that up at a ceremony like that?). St. George I disagree with– as a judeo-christian [sic] and catholic icon, I think that's an appropropriate [sic] name, especially for the religious makeup of the country …
I know there's been issue with the use of the faux-Buddhist/Krishna-ish monks in the scene, but as the Philippines is mostly Roman-Catholic, I wanted to pick a visual signifier for a religion and a religous [sic] group and its practitioners that, in both countries (the US and the Philippines), indicated a signifigantly [sic] small minority. To dress the bombers in a way that immediately suggested a devout religious group, and a somewhat…. not necessarily mysterious, but an exotic one. they were SUPPOSED to a startling and rare group of people, which is exactly what they were.
The bad part is I didn't notice stuff was spelled wrong until I pasted it here.
Anyhoo, I get it, you're trying to sell comics. However, you're one of the freaking architects of the modern Marvel universe with the power to make canonical work people will refer to for years. That kind of corner cutting? Not cool. Hash tag eye jay ess.
GHOST WRITER: Here's most of what I'd wanna say about the Ghost Rider lawsuit.
I get it. You need to defend your intellectual property. Fine. Then why did legal ninjas contact the creator of the aforementioned web comic and try to bully him into stopping? Shame eating you up at night? Come on, son.
Two things: one, he's not making any money, so he told them to go to hell on the advice of counsel. Two, yes, I'm four pages into a script for a project with him. Full disclosure.
SOON COME: I'm really gonna try to get the next track on line around the time the reviews hit. For real.
THAT'S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: *cough* Bye … *cough*
Playing (Games): Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iOS/iPad
[Source: Comic Book Resources]