GEEK U.S.A.Comics, Film, & Television

The more things change...

2007-06-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

GEEK U.S.A. has a new home. All future posts will be made here:

www.geekusablog.blogspot.com

Thank you.

Smokey and the BanditEpisode 3:04 Every Man for HimselfEpisode 3:05 The Cost of Living

2006-11-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

So. That happened.

So here's why I avoid spoilers. I would really have liked last night's big moment to be a shocker (especially since the rest of the episode was so dissapointing), but some DICK on a message board posted that particular spoiler without the customary 'SPOILER' tag. Like I said, DICK.

Anyway, I guess Mr. Eko's dead now. Again...huh. Ok. Apparently Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was a real pain on set, like was rumored about a certain now-unemployed Latina cast member last season. We can't all get married and bond whilst skinny-dipping, you know. Regardless, Eko's gone. And I thought he was going to be really important to the overall arc of the island.

He was, in that he put in doubt exactly what is causing everyone's visions (Jack and his dad, Shannon and Walt, Locke and Boone, Eko and Yemi), is the island out to help the survivors, or letting them serve some purpose then killing them? And also, we needed to see the monster again and be reminded that it is a genuine threat. So how better to show that than to have it off the one who sent it cowering last season? But Eko was a strong character, he played well off of Locke, and Adewale's performances were wonderful, even if he turned into a prima-donna on-set.

But on to how the episode played as a whole, which is to say: not well at all. This was an episode for people who have never seen a single episode of LOST (yes, I know it's very important for the show's health to grab new folks, but let's not start pandering, please). The opening segment, always an attention grabber, was instead a recap how Eko came to be a priest.

Dude-I know. I know how that happened because I watched it in my living room last year, and if I've forgotten I can pop in Disc Three of my Season Two DVD set. And so can anyone with Netflix. We've got a lot to get to here, just jump right in. Man.

I also wonder how a couple of newbies, Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen got the call from the bullpen to handle a moment this major. It certainly seemed to be the writing that was off.

And Paolo and Nikki: shut up. Just shut up. "Eko's brother is in that plane!" Fucking hell. What, did she learn that little fact while braiding Claire's hair? They're like that annoying couple at the movies that won't stop talking through the feature. Nikki's a little yummy, though. Still, keep it shut sister, I'm watching my stories.

But I did like a few things, among them Patchy McPatcherston here: We'll see him sometime in Season Four.

I liked bad-ass priest Eko scaring off the villagers. Note to McFarlane Toys: this is the Eko action figure I want, gripping that bloody machete in his hand.

And the island's taunting of Eko: "You speak to me as if I was your brother." Great line, good moment, and a nice cliffhanger.

Part of the reason this one seemed so dull is that LOST had been on a roll. Every Man for Himself was some great TV. Love the torture scenes, especially the twisted moment with Ben and the bunny. And Michael Emerson's brilliant delivery on full display at the end, quoting Steinbeck while staring with Sawyer at the survivor's home island. How do I feel about that? Why not? Pour on the weirdness. I love the show most when it throws you for a genuine loop. But what I really enjoy is the character moments, and seeing the ever-proud Sawyer genuinely decimated was awesome, and Josh Holloway actually brought something to the moment. Cheers all around.

Elsewhere: the producers have been getting my letters after all...
So they teased us with a Sawyer death, and I know I keep saying it, but despite the whole Eko thing, I still think possibly as soon as next episode, James Ford's gonna bite it.

What else is going on? A lot to cover in two episodes. Jack and Juliet's moment with the whole Bob Dylan cue card thing was ok. But we saw something like that coming. I don't know if that was the most effective way to do it. But it does set the good doctor up wth a genuine moral dillema. Oh, hell, people, it's JACK. He won't kill him. You haven't been paying attention the last three years if you think he will.

And back to 3:04, and the return of Cassie with baby in tow, I can't believe that Mr. Bad Ass con artist didn't even ask for a damn blood test before giving the kid a cool $10 million. Get it together, James! You taught the woman how to run a con, remember?

So we've got one more until the break (no LOST until February, not counting the LOST Nikki and Paolo Holiday Special featuring Bea Arthur), and a lot of end will probably be wrapped up in tiny ways while probably leaving us with at least a few GASP moments to tide us over all that time. This season really has been great so far, I have faith, and Damon and Carlton writing. And Captain Browncoat himself, Nathan Fillion is guest starring. What more do you geeks need?

"I was wrong": The Return of John LockeEpisode 3:02 ;The Glass BallerinaEpisode 3:03; Further Instructions

2006-10-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

In a clip aired in the preview for Further Instructions (but not, I believe, a moment that made it to the final airing, unless I missed it. Tim, help me out here!), John Locke holds a hunting knife in his grimy hands and says, "I missed this."

So did we, John. So did we.

There was a hint (ok, more than a hint) of 'give 'em what they want already' about 3:03. Didn't like the hatch? It's a crater now. Been missing the snarky hobbit (Beth Sweeney, I'm looking in your direction)? Here he is, in rare sarcastic form. Missed the John Locke whose faith in the island carried the castaways through Season One? Got 'im. Oh, and missed the polar bear? Yup. He's here too, horrid CGI and all.

Locke episodes are almost always good. This was good, if a bit rushed. I love that we're getting the mystical John again. But what I will say in defense of the way he was presented last year is that without his loss of faith, this episode wouldn't have felt so special. Like the retun of an old friend.

Speaking of old friends, Boone was back, and apparently Ian Sommerhalder couldn't be bothered to cut his friggin' hair for the guest appearance. Well, I guess your hair and nails do continue to grow after you're dead. I always loved the way that John and Boone played off each other in Season One. I had hoped to see a bit of Boone hauntings last season, but I guess this will do. I liked the airport hallucination, and I liked the hippie commune flashback. But really, did you think for a minute that John was going to pull that trigger?
But once again, we have a John Locke who gets betrayed by someone he tried to help, and being rejected by those he calls 'family'. This is why Locke works so well as a character. For all his mystical bravado, Locke is merely a lost little boy seeking daddy's approval (like every other male island resident, come to think of it). But still, it's very, very nice to have the hunter back.

Oh, and let me say this: Desmond is Jesus. Told. You. So.

I'm one to find some sort of religious symbolism in damn near anything (I was raised Catholic, that's what we do), but really:
That's a halo, people. And he sees the future now? Miracles! Hope! Where the hell is Penny?

Oh, and where have Nikki and Paolo been all this time? Are they staying in Cousin Oliver's tent?

Meanwhile:

I love that moment. But I don't believe that will be enough to make Jack pull a Michael and betray his friends. But with this show? You just never know.
And again, mad love for Michael Emerson as, apparently, Benjamin Linus. He's more fun to watch than any other actor on television. His delivery, his expressions, he's brilliant.

The Glass Ballerina was good. The more we see of Sun, the less we're able to sympathize with her. She got the MAID fired, for Chrissakes! And she's lied the her husband about every...single...thing. Quite an interesting turaround from the Sun we were first presented with, way back in the Pilot, who we felt sorry for because her husband was yelling at her to button her top button. Jin, you don't know the half of it! She can't keep her clothes on at all.

I doubt the efficiency of Sayid's 'let's build a bonfire and shoot whoever shows up' plan. But let's not forget that Sayid is operating out of revenge for Shannon's death (remember Shannon? I know we're all trying to forget). Even though it was Ana's fault and Michael took care of that a mere four days ago in island time. But when The Others did show up, it wasn't Sayid or Jin doing the shooting. There are other, better, websites tracking the amount of island residents who've taken a life either before or after the crash. Suffice to say: a LOT of them have now.

Sawyer is right, by the way: no matter how peaches and cream she is to Jack, Juliet would have plugged Kate in a second. This is a woman what loves her job. Does anyone else think that Sawyer might...die this year? Just a feeling, don't get all teary-eyed now.

In other news, Kate Austen tastes like strawberries. I knew it. I just knew it.

Season Three is on the right track. We're getting a return to the strengths of some of our heroes and we're playing on the weaknesses of others (Jack really, really wants to go home...). Everybody's all heroic and desperate.
But, please, can Charlie start using again? He was so much more interesting then. Don't choose life, Charlie! Who needs reasons when you've got heroin? And give Evangeline Lilly something to do as well, other than play the damsel in distress. Girl's got chops, let her show them off.
Boy, marry a couple of actors off and their characters get all the life sucked out of them.

'Tis the East: The Evolution of LOSTEpisode 3:01;A Tale of Two Cities

2006-10-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

We're back in business and true to form we open with a dodge. This is the problem with the modern era of fandom: obsessives knew it was a Jack flashback episode, even by avoiding any major spoilers. So Juliet HAD to be on the island. And she is, along with apparent former lover 'Ben', otherwise known as the twitchy, squirmy Henry Gale. Interesting to see Henry as a calm, collected leader, not as a captive scrambling to stay ahead of his story.

The opener was different from the norm in many ways, but the most essential was the fact that none of our captured regulars had any contact with each other until Sawyer and Kate had their moment in the cages. Which was sweet. And after all that time without our usual banter, we were just as relieved as Kate to hear Sawyer call her "Freckles" again. And really, the moment in the cages showed exactly why Kate is attracted to Sawyer, had that been Jack across from her he would have been moody and intense, desperately plotting a way out (as he spent all of his time in the aquarium), not cracking wise to ease a girl's mind.
But the producers know that as much as we love Sawyer, we love to see him get hurt even more. So here comes Juliet (who's frigging everywhere on that island, apparently) with the taser.

J.J. Abrams was back with Damon Lindelof for the first time since the pilot episode, and Jack Bender was directing, as he did with last year's Desmond bookends. Last season, our focus was shuffled onto the tail section survivors, but only after we'd learned the fate of the raft crew and the scret of the hatch. This season we're having new characters integrated into the cast AS we find out the fate of those who were either kidnapped or potentially magnetically blown up. Or whatever.
This, I think was the cause of some of the negative online response to this episode, and a lot of female Juliet bashing seems to be out there.
But you know what? I'm an Elizabeth Mitchell fan. From as far back as Frequency, and Gia before that. I think she brings an intelligent sweetness to Juliet that grounds her. Of course this woman's favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King.
I also think they're setting her up well as Jack's romantic interest, she is after all a "woman of Science" and argues for free will right before 815 goes down. She's not going to be an ultimately useless 'Libby'. I'm looking forward to her flashbacks, and I think she works. So there.

But Jack. Poor, poor Jack. The further down his story we get, the more we realize that the Jack we've known is a man with little to no grip on himself. How far removed from attacking his father at a frigging AA meeting was the doctor when he crashed anyway? And he's hallucinating daddy again (I know, I know...or...is he?). I'm still waiting for the mid-season Thailand era flashback. I bet I'm right about the good doctor chasing the white horse.
But man oh man, can Jack not give up (like the childhood bully said, "You should've stayed down, Jack."). I thought Matthew Fox did his usual Matthew Fox job in this one. I think he works as Jack because he brings with him an unassuming nature. The whole point is that Jack doesn't want to be the center of attention, but always will be. And I thought he did a great job at episode's end, when instead of asking for the name of the man that stole his wife he simply asks, "Is she happy?"
Maybe an old dog can learn a few tricks after all.
If you had problems with this one, watch it AGAIN. It was disorienting, and strange, but it was also very good.

GEEK u.s.a: Back on the air

2006-09-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so how did you all spend your summer vacations? Mine was clearly not spent blogging, as the lack of posts since Spidey's big trailer debut shows.

I had many reasons for the lack of posting, but keep in mind that I was posting a ridiculous three times a week at my peak. My current job does not allow for that, not in the slightest. I've been working twelve hour days and barely buying comics or watching things geek.

Oh, but that all changes on October 4th, doesn't it?

Yes, kids, I am posting again because LOST is soon to be back on the air. And if there's one thing worth blogging about, it's America's favorite sci-fi soap opera. Year Three is big. We lost a few viewers last season, but so did Desperate Housewives, so there. Those that stuck around got some genuine shockers and some brilliant episodes (ok, LOST geeks, how many times have you watched Live Together, Die Alone since it aired?).

Here is the preview for the premiere, featuring Sawyer all angry and stuff behind bars and Jack staring down a wall of water with very Jack-like earnestness and integrity.

Oh, fun. Anyway, I have to keep Matt's mom happy, so I'll be posting episode recaps again. I promise, Mrs. Gill, that I'll keep the swearing to a minimum. You know, until Michael shoots someone again.

I'll also be getting around to a few things I've wanted to post for awhile, most notably high praise for some recent comics, especially the always amazing All-Star Superman (also, I've been meaning to post a public apology to Joss Whedon for some time. I hate admitting I'm wrong).

But, careful attention will show that the REVIEWS is gone from the blog title. That's because I've decided that, in general, I'm a bit judgemental in life. Why carry that over to the geek world I love so dearly?
So: the commentary remains, the letter grades are gone. Dig?

I look forward to hearing from all of you again. Excelsior!, as the man says.

-Matthew Guerrero

Yes! Just...I mean...yes!

2006-06-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Take notes, Brian Singer: this is how you handle a superhero franchise.

Spider-Man 3 looks awesome, the fan-boy in me in squealing like a Beatlemaniac. I'm glad they're going with the black suit story, and I think Topher Grace is the perfect 'bad twin' to Tobey Maguire.
After the jaw-dropping brilliance of #2, I trust Raimi to the ends of the earth with Spidey, and I think he may be able to pull out an interesting Venom.
I can't wait.

Gill throws a Frosty gauntlet

2006-06-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

In his comment to my review of Astonishing X-Men #15, Matt "you down with SPP?" Gill said the following:

"We have an entire page devoted to Emma Frost forcing her tears. Stan Lee could have gotten the same thing across in one alliterative caption."

First of all, I agree with Matt that the scene is dull and that information could be conveyed either more simply, or more dynamically by any number of comic writers.
However, I think that Matt is perhaps forgetting Mr. Lee's long winded nature.
One panel? I'm sure he'd devote at least half a page to Emma's internal struggle, something the more 'subtle' Whedon has only hinted at.

So! What's that caption, dear reader? What would Stan the Man put in Emma's beautiful, wicked head? Extra points for alliteration, per Matt's suggestion.

The challenge is before you, now bring it!

New Comic Reviews:Eternals, Astonishing X-Men, All-Star Superman

2006-06-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

First off, a quick word about my selections this week.

I had intended to pick up copies of All-Star Superman #4, Astonishing X-Men #15, and the re-launch of The Flash. I even checked out Flash artist Ken Lashley on the Gallery of Comic Art, just to see what I could expect. I liked what I saw, and actually got a little excited about picking up the book.
Then I saw what they did to his art.
Flash #1 is without a doubt one of the ugliest comics I've ever seen (and I own a few Rob Liefeld books). I don't blame Lashley at all. Here's an example of his uninked work:

Not flawless, but kind of dynamic. Certainly not the screaming mess that it turned out to be. Coloring, since it all went digital, is a hit or miss proposition in comics these days. When done well (Jamie Grant, for instance in All-Star Superman), it can really propel a book's art into another realm of realism or fantasy. But when done this poorly, it can ruin a book completely. I'm not the only person that left Flash on the shelves because of it.

ETERNALS #1

This is what I bought with the money I'd planned to spend on Flash, and I think I made the right choice. I'm not familiar with Neil Gaiman much beyond 1602 (which is just ok), I never read Sandman or any of the other billion things he's written on his way toward becoming one of the most respected names in the business. So I picked up Eternals not because of his contributions, but because even on a cursory flip-thru read in the store, I was impressed with John Romita Jr.'s artwork. The Eternals are a Jack "King" Kirby creation, which was quite obvious even as I cracked the book open in the middle. You can tell a Kirby character immediately, even through another artist's vision. One thing I'll love forever about the King was that he was a cigar chomping New Yorker who created a pantheon of space age gods and goddesses. Here was a guy that appreciated how deeply the thread of mythology runs in our lives, and used it to create some of the most memorable characters in comics history, side by side with Stan Lee. But I'd never heard of The Eternals, which was Kirby doing for Marvel upon his return what he'd done at DC with the New Gods. Wikipedia tells me it ran for what looks like two years under The King's hand, starting in 1976, then popped up sporadically through the decades.

This version of The Eternals, anyway, is off to a good start. Gaiman has a good grip on Kirby's world, distilling a lot of information (and I mean a lot) but making it all fairly digestible. Again, not being a long term reader of the Eternals, I don't know if they were always trapped in these modern day lives, having forgotten their true identities as immortals. If not, this move by Gaiman is more than a little similar to Grant Morrison's treatment of DC's Kirby crew, the New Gods, over in the Mister Miracle mini. Though when it comes right down to it, that may be the only way to introduce these kind of characters in a modern context.

Regardless, this is a good issue, and the art is stunning in places. I can't quite tell if it's Romita's pencils I'm responding to, or if if Danny Miki's inking, but the whole operation strikes that balance between Kirby homage and something brand new. If Romita Jr. still resides under the shadow of Kirby and his father, it's no great knock against him, as practically every comic artist since those two has been aping one of them. This is a book with energy and life. I'm not sure I could see this world existing past the six-issue mini Gaiman's planned, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if it did.

ETERNALS #1: B

ASTONISHING X-MEN #15

As anyone who saw Serenity (and is being totally honest with themselves) knows, Joss Whedon has a tendency to spin his wheels a bit. His storylines are set up like a sitcom, set-up:punchline, set-up:punchline, drama, set-up:punchline, climax. Which is all well and good when you're on the punchline or the drama or the climax. But when he's setting up, sometimes your patience wanders. This issue seems rushed is what I mean. Everything, right down to John Cassaday's art, feels like we're just doing this to get to there. On whatever end, also, whether it's Cassaday or Whedon's fault, this is a poorly "directed" issue as well, in that scenes begin before we need them to and end before we need them to. This is disorienting, when we've got several strands of story to follow: Emma's turn, Scott's coma, Kitty sinking down to the abyss, the X-kids and their dire predictions, Wolvie and Beast's fight, the rise of Hellfire, the return of Danger (the sentient Danger Room from Whedon's last Astonishing arc which will interesting, but poorly executed), and the imminent peril of Breakworld.
Whedon's X-Universe is bursting at the seams, and it doesn't always seem like he has it under control.

There are fun moments as well, who doesn't love seeing Logan making paper dolls?
And the last page in the book is a nice reference back to Claremont and Byrne's Dark Phoenix/ Hellfire run. Again, though, Whedon's cramming this whole 'Kitty Pryde as potential badass' thing down our throats. Buffy she will never be, Joss. I half expected her, as she turned to 'camera' to be saying, "Do you know who I am? I'm Shadowcat, bitch."

Get it together, guys.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #15: B-

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #4

Thankfully, some things in this world you can count on. All-Star Superman delivers, issue after glorious issue.

This time, our focus is on Jimmy Olsen (Superman's Best Friend, as the silver age title told us); here transformed from naive, freckled sidekick to ultra-modern, metrosexual adventurer. Everything about Jimmy, his hair, his apartment, his luscious gal-pal, seem like a culmination of what people in the 60's thought people would be like in the new millennium.

To contrast specifically to Astonishing X-Men, here we have an issue that deviates from the central storyline of Superman's seemingly unavoidable death and doesn't feel like mere filler, but an expanding of the universe (wanna bet Krypto gets his own issue somewhere down the line?). Superman appears in the issue, but only as a Super-foil for Jimmy's adventures. While running Leo Quintim's P.R.O.J.E.C.T. for a day, Jimmy stumbles across Black Kryptonite which, they soon discover, turns Superman evil.
I love the way the effects are revealed, with Superman carving his symbol into the desk like a truculent teenager in detention:Evil Superman was the kind of thing that happened every other week in the silver-age, and everything about the fight is exciting. To go back to what I said above, just look at what Jamie Grant adds to these scenes with his coloring: One thing I'm loving about Quitely's layouts in this series is that even though he doesn't deviate from the standard 'block' format panels, his pages feel expansive, unlimited, because of the composition within the panels, a valuable lesson for most modern comic artists. Instead of trying to make the page look dynamic with jagged and ugly panels and exaggerated musculature, just learn solid anatomy and motion, fellas. What you end up with is so much more elegant.
Grant is unloading every silver-age fantasy he ever had into this series. This another title bursting at the seams, but Grant is able to make it all run smoothly. He knew going in exactly what he wanted this book to be, and his vision is being carried out phenomenally by his collaborators. As usual, this is the best book on the stands right now.

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #4: A

Even tho it don't make no...sense!

2006-06-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

We have our winner, and it's regular reader/commenter Jason Carlin aka the2scoops, who runs his own excellent blog as has fabulous taste in music.

Jason, hit me with your address at geekusablog@yahoo.com and you'll receive the prize which is...(drumroll)...

A barely read copy of Green Lantern #10 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Yes, this lovely issue is the only thing to receieve a failing grade (to find the review, scroll to the very bottom of the page) in the short history of this site.
Seriously, scoops, I want this the hell out of my house.

But, actually seriously, thanks for being a regular, 2 scoops and anyone else paying attention in the bloggosphere.

Between my new job and an upcoming move my posts will probably be a little less frequent in the next month or so (I have no idea if I'm gonna get those Sequart columns in on my already irregular twice a month schedule), and I look forward to having the time to really expound on all that is glorious and geeky soon.
It's a hell of a thing buying a copy of All-Star Superman or Astonishing X-Men when you're saving up for a deposit and first month's rent. So if I don't review those books for a month, you know why.

BB

Comic Book Meme Episode III

2006-06-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Part One here
Part Two here
Part Three below...

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Writer & Artist: Frank Miller

It's perfect, isn't it?
Just imagine what gloriously sacrilegious things Miller could do with Ol' Cap. I'm picturing a very Dark Knight Strikes Again type book, a bitingly funny mix of politics and supervillains.
Imagine Miller taking on Red Skull!
Get Marvel on the phone, this is brilliance...

HAWKMAN
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jim Lee

If there's one thing Geoff Johns is good at, it's straightening out tangled continuity, and no character right now features a more intricate and pointless history than Carter or Katar or whatever in the hell he's called right now. But I have a weak spot for the Hawk, so I'd have faith in Geoff to bring him back to Kubert-era glory.
I put Jim Lee on this title 'cause he can draw bare chested barbarians and big-chested valkyries like nobody's business.
Besides, he sells, sells, sells.

JLA
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Carlos Pacheco
Darwyn Cooke is the obvious choice here, and he's brilliant, but Brubaker's great at combining old characters with modern surroundings (see the resurrection of Bucky over in Captain America).
Pacheco is one of the underrated talents in comics today, when he's solidly inked, he represents the best the current era of comics has to offer. Never showy, always strong.

Roster: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, The Atom, Hawkgirl, Hourman, Booster Gold

THE AVENGERS
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Cameron Stewart

Cameron Stewart's bound to burst into stardom at any moment, why not give him a boost towards that by putting him on a classic title with a classic roster?
Cap and Iron Man are gimmes, and I miss Thor in the Marvel U, let's make him work again. Hawkeye returns from the dead, Black Widow hangs around for a little Iron Curtain sex appeal, and we'll keep the Spider-people from New Avengers but kick out Wolvie and Luke Cage.
Peter David is the ideal collaborator for Stewart, this would be another fun book.

Roster: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Black Widow

SEVEN SOLDIERS
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Jaime Hernandez

Oh yeah. I think that Jaime could do an amazing superhero comic, and I think that given the schizophrenic nature of the Seven Soldiers and the varying artistic styles throughout the minis that Jaime is one of the few artists capable of bringing them together in a way that truly works.
I think working with Jaime would be great for Grant, also. I really would love to see what these guys would push each other towards.

Comic Creator Meme Part Two Contest Update

2006-06-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

Part One here. Now to continue:

FANTASTIC FOUR
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Rags Morales

These guys must be brought back together, and I think they'd do well on Marvel's First Family. Peyer was always great at using sentimentality without getting too saccharine, and would have an absolute blast with the self-pitying Ben Grimm.
Morales would be a natural for Mr. Fantastic, after the great job he did with Elongated Man over in Identity Crisis. Since the Richards are probably about to be split up in Civil War, this is the perfect team to being them back together.

THE FLASH
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Mike Wieringo

Ringo's done Flash before, but he's matured since then, and between his kinetic art and Millar's wicked sense of humor, they could make this book the most fun of any on our imaginary roster.

DAREDEVIL
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Artist: Moebius

I considered making this a silent book with Moebius on art, since a concept as goofy as a blind superhero is perfect sci-fi artist territory. Also, Moebius is brilliant with shade and texture, and could make the back alleys of Hell's Kitchen alive with danger.
I put Vaughn on this book because I think he deserves work, frankly, and I think he could do a wonderful job with Matt Murdock, a character not unlike the central figure of Ex Machina in his guarded nature.

GREEN LANTERN
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: J.H. Williams III

This book would cover all members of the Green Lantern Corps, and I'm sure Alan Moore could do amazing things with the physics of the Lanterns, and the nature of their powers.
Williams does his best, most far-reaching work with Moore, and I think they could turn this book into the next Swamp Thing, mysterious and cosmic.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely

I want to see these guys take on the Hulk for the very reason that they've made Superman soar: the Hulk, as is, is boring. Not with this team on board.
While Grant's delving into the intense dual psychology of Banner/Hulk, Frank gives Hulk the wide open spaces he needs to express his boundless rage.
With Quitely's gift of emotion and Grant's brilliant prose, this could be the Hulk project that Ang Lee was trying to accomplish. I have no doubt this would be the best book of the 15.

That's it for the meme post today. Look for the thrilling conclusion soon. Will I put R. Crumb on Birds of Prey? Hup!
In contest news: Reading's off the clock, and our next candidate is from Ontario, Canada, and was referred by good old Site Meter. 2scoops, is that you?
2 days to write, buddy.

Wherein I join a comic book meme already in progress...

2006-06-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hypothetical situation: Due to diminished readership and rising paper costs, it has been decided only fifteen comic titles will be published from this day forward. You have been charged with the decisions of which titles shall be printed and what creative teams will be assigned to them.

Artists may only draw one title; writers may script up to four (unless the writer is also the artist, in which case he's limited to one). Also, while it would be awesome to have Art Adams drawing a monthly NFL SuperPro book or Alex Ross painting the further adventures of the TRS-80 Computer Whiz Kids, we all know that's not going to happen, though feel free to use them for a few issues a year as fill-in artists or to take advantage of other such loopholes.

You may also set a creative direction, tone, or other details if you see fit (i.e. choose the Avengers or JLA members who would appear should you decide to have those titles make the final cut).

This comes from a meme thread posted on Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge several months ago. I just now saw it, and will weigh in with my choices, five at a time. So!

SUPERMAN

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Phil Jimenez

Since people are just going to insist on keeping Superman going, why not throw big daddy Grant Morrison on it, and see if he can bring the kind of off-the-wall fun to the title that he's bringing to All-Star. No one's had a better take on the Man of Steel in almost 70 years. While I'm at it, I'm going to reunite Grant with his artist through the bulk of his Volume 2 of the Invisibles, Phil Jimenez. Phil did a good job with the various Super-people of Infinite Crisis, but we'll get a better inker on him this time.

BATMAN

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Joe Kubert

For the all-time best DC character, we're giving you the all-time best DC artist: big Joe Kubert, whose two sons are tragically unemployed in this alternate universe. Thinking about it now, I'm surprised that they never tried Kubert on the mean streets of Gotham. We'll fix that. And for writer, why not bring Alan Moore, who's written some excellent Batman stories through the years and has the darkness that the title requires.

SPIDER-MAN

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: John Cassaday

Mark isn't here because I think he did a particularly good job the last time he took on Spidey, but because I think that he can do better. With Cassaday as a partner, I think his imagination would be unlimited. What I like about putting Cassaday on this title is he brings a weight to his art, a realism that would work well with Millar, since Mark never really gets spacey.

X-MEN

Writer: Peter David
Artist: Steve Mc Niven

McNiven is good with teams, and David has the ability to keep things fun, and both would suit the X-Men well. The roster is: Cyclops, Wolverine, Phoenix (Rachel or Jean, writer's choice), Shadowcat, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Iceman. Emma Frost and Magneto are both evil, as is Quicksilver. Also: we're killing Professor X off right away.

WONDER WOMAN
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: Ryan Sook

Whedon's great with women that kick ass and take names, and Sook is maybe the most dynamic artist working today. I think having a partner with those capabilities would open up new worlds for Joss. Also in this alternate universe, Ryan Sook would be capable of bringing a book in on time every month.

Ok, dear readers: it's your turn. You don't have to pick fifteen, you don't have to agree with my choices (except for Kubert on Batman, I mean come on).
If you want to put Chris Ware on The Flash (think about it, the most static artist teamed up with the most fluid character.), that's totally cool with me.
Comment away.

Spidey Column, Hard Luck for Italy

2006-06-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Not only does Italy have to suffer the indignation of a tie with the United States in the World Cup, but the three days are up and my Italian visitor has not e-mailed me to claim this fershlugginer No-Prize. So we move on.

Our next potential winner comes from the UK (Oi!), specifically The University of Reading. He or she was referred by Matt Gill's The Silent Penultimate Panel Watch. You've got two days, Reading. I hope to hear from you at geekusablog@yahoo.com

Also, another Sunday edition of the Black Hole is up over at Sequart.com.
Today, the first in a four part series examining the recent "Spider-Man: The Other" cross-over that, to use a Phil Hendrie quote, went down like a freaking Piper Cub. See where it went wrong here:

The Other: Part One

Spider-Man Unmasked:Marvel's Civil War #2

2006-06-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Let's not waste any time here:

Every one of these blockbuster events promises to shake its respective universe to its very core. Usually that means a minor character is bumped off, a team or two splits up, but the status quo is held intact. But this.

Peter Parker is defined by his outsider status. Keeping his secret identity is central to everything he holds dear in his life. How many times did they play the 'Oh no, someone's going to learn Peter's secret and that puts ______ (Aunt May, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, etc.) in grave danger!' card back when people actually read Spider-Man comics?

Do I think they should have done it? Absolutely not. Do I think it's in Peter's best interests? Oh hell no it's not. Do I think it works?

Yes.

It works, it's brilliant, I actually love it. Even though I hate it, I love it. Even though I think someone very close to Peter is dead, rotting meat now, I love it. Even though this would appear to put Pete in Tony's camp, I love it.
Because it takes guts. Because it's something real. Because it represents a genuinely life-changing moment for one of our most beloved comic book icons.
Make no mistake about it: I love this move.

And I love this book. In my review of Civil War #1, I said I hope that this book would finally give the company a solid identity for the first time in the remarkably scattershot Joe Quesada era. It's living up to that promise for me.

I'm completely gripped by the action scenes. Here's where Steve McNiven really excels. Take the scene where Patriot of the Young Avengers is chased by S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters:It's an extremely cinematic scene, but at the same time it works in the language of comics, something that many other artists can't seem to get the hang of. Especially that second panel above, with Patriot leaping from building to building: you feel the silence, you feel time slow down for the terrified young man. This book is Steve McNiven's coming out party.

And I like Mark Millar's writing, and his dialogue especially. He creates scenes that feel real but-again-still belong to the world of comics.
He's great with Tony Stark's confusion, just like he was with Captain America's last issue. If there's a glaring weakness to this book so far, it's that Millar and the editorial crew are so clearly on Cap's side. But that makes the plight of Tony Stark all the more compelling as he's swept along by his own self-doubt into battle against his brothers.

I love the sad moments with Sue and Reed in the Fantastic Four's headquarters as well. This is what you always figured their marriage was like: Sue, neglected and pining for attention, and Reed completely absorbed with his equations and gadgets. The only time he takes any notice of her is when she reaches for his disk marked '42' (is Millar giving a nod here to Hitchhiker's Guide?) and Reed grabs her wrist (not her hand, her wrist) and says "I'm sorry Susan. But I'm afraid that's classified information."

There's a lot of internet fuss about Joey Q bitching about how writing for married couples is boring, and perhaps the unmasking and Reed's coldness are calculated to split both super-marriages up. I think Joe's interview was a great big red herring, and if not it ultimately says more about his own personal issues than anything else. Pete, Reed, Mary Jane, and Sue function perfectly as married folk. If your writers are having trouble with that, get better writers. If you don't like marriage, Quesada, get counseling and leave Spidey alone.

But regardless of that kind of wild speculation, whether or not Reed and Sue are torn apart by this crisis, we're only two issues in and we've gotten something as big as the Spidey reveal. Who lives? Who dies? Who can guess after this?

For the first time in years, I'm proud as hell to say: Make Mine Marvel.

CIVIL WAR #2: A

We Have a Winner

2006-06-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, we reached visitor 1,000 on GEEK U.S.A., and as promised that person will receive a lovely prize.

But first, I want to thank Mr. Tom "Superfrankenstein" Peyer, writer of the brilliant Hourman for linking to my review from the main page of his site. I've gotten more hits in the last two days than I usually get in a week. Namaste, brother.

Ok, so the winner is from Italy: Milano, Italy to be specific, and reached the site from a Google search for Super Skrull reviews.

As stated in the rules, he or she has three days to write me at geekusablog@yahoo.com

If not, we move on down the road.

Am I legally required to blog about this?

2006-06-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

It seems that everybody and their mother (but not mine, she's too Catholic) is sounding off about this lesbian Batwoman nonsense.
Apparently, it's major world news, as well ( There are wars still going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, right? I'm just checking).

Ok, so how do I feel about Lesbat?
Well, when I initially heard they were bringing back Batwoman as a lesbian I thought, Great: That must be Rene Montoya! And only a week after I asked someone at DC to make her a superhero "like, now".
No such luck, instead we've got Kathy Kane, who every major news outlet insists on referring to as a "buxom lipstick lesbian". What's the matter, DiDio? Don't have the cojones to put a raging bull dyke under the cowl?

They've got a regular Castro District going on over there in Gotham City, man. I'm waiting for Gay Vito and Johnny Cakes to come strolling along hand in hand.

It's all about sales, and that's fine. Same thing years and years ago when Northstar came bursting out of the closet. It got a lot of mainstream press, and that's the whole point.
Infinite Crisis was big, but didn't make the dent outside of the comics world the way DC probably hoped it would (try explaining why three Supermen are fighting each other to a lay person. Try it). But now DC is getting some serious coverage and gets to look progressive, or even cool.

Also, I don't like the costume. Red on black is an ineffective choice, especially since Batgirl and her classic blue and gray is so ingrained in people's minds.
Since DC's best writers and artists are wrapped up with other things, expect this whole Batwoman experiment to go down in flames, and quick.

The First Official GEEK U.S.A. No-Prize

2006-06-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

We are rapidly approaching our 1,000th visitor here at GEEK U.S.A., and it took only four ever-lovin' months to do it. But since I do have regular readers (you're quiet but you're out there, hello people), I thought it only fair to thank them.

Anyway: for that lucky visitor we have quite a surprise planned. In the tradition of the eternal blowhard Stan Lee and Marvel Comics, we will be sending the first Official Geek U.S.A. No-Prize. What is it? Maybe it's candy. Maybe it's wine. Maybe it's a comic book that I really don't want anymore. Perhaps it's a handsome plaque.

Sometime next week, we'll all know the answer. I will mention that family members are ineligible (sorry Uncle Fester). I'll know who the winner is by checking my Site Meter reports, I'll post the general location when the magic number is reached, and the winner will have three days to e-mail me at geekusablog@yahoo.com, if they fail to do so we'll move on down the line to visitor 1,001 and so on.

Excelsior!

PS: That is indeed a young Billy Black in the photo, Los Angeles, circa 1983. I've been a geek for a very, very long time, kids.

New Comic Reviews:X-Factor, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Ion, Wonder Woman

2006-06-11T05:04:00.000-07:00

X-FACTOR #7

Musical artists continues over at X-Factor, with Denis Calero yielding to Ariel Olivetti for issue 7. Calero will be back, but someone at the top over at Marvel needs to decide on a permanent artist, like now. For the first time, the lack of a steady hand has really, really hurt the book.
The problem with this issue is that Olivetti doesn't appear to have any clear style to speak of. At different times he appears to be attempting to channel Rags Morales, Terry Dodson, Frank Cho, former X-Factor artist Ryan Sook, or a hundred other current pencillers par-excellence. But he fails. Let me tell you something about our man Peter David:he needs to work with talented artists because he is wordy as fuck, and in the hands of amateurs his pages can be stilted and boring. That, unfortunately, is what we've got going on here.
There is a nice story here, as Syrin deals (or doesn't deal) with her father's death. There is the all-important continuation of the Singularity storyline.
But the composition of the issue is so dreadfully boring that the words have no time to sink in. Needless to say, Olivetti does not have my vote as full-time penciller. I have a newfound appreciation for Calero. He may have been imprecise, and at times ugly, but he was never this boring, a far greater sin.

Next time in X-Factor, Civil War comes to Mutant Town, and the great Ryan Sook returns for one issue.
Say, Jamie, do you think maybe Ryan can put aside whatever personal issues he's got going on, come onto the title again and make this the classic X-book it always should have been?Yeah, that's what I thought.

X-FACTOR #7: C+

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #9

I know that saying a Peter David comic is self-indulgent is like saying John Wayne Gacy had a thing for clowns: a massive understatement.
But no other words come to mind to describe the messy, pointless ninth issue of Friendly Neighborhood, a title that started out strong, but is treading water right now. All the expository hoop-a-joop in the world isn't gonna make this storyline any more plausible or any more interesting. The revelation that The 'Hobgoblin of 2211' is the daughter of that timeline's Spidey is a great big who cares, and the costume they give to that Spidey is so ridiculous as to be distracting to what is, ostensibly, a dramatic story.
There's some lovely art here; Mike Weiringo brings his A-Game as usual, but this issue is dead from page one, and our own Spidey doesn't make his first appearance until the very end of the book, and then mainly used as a kind of un-funny comic relief. One of the things I like best about David, his corniness, derails here.
Fonzie is circling the shark, baby, and he looks ready to jump.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #9: D-

ION #1

This book is over a month old now, but I had made a note to check it out when I had spare time (and money), and when I did I was pleasantly surprised.
Kyle Rayner is my favorite of the many Green Lanterns. Yes, Hal is the classic, John Stewart is the moral center, and Killowog would look great on a Burger King glass; but Kyle stands out for me. I especially enjoyed Geoff John's treatment of him in Green Lantern:Rebirth. I like the concept of Kyle being the strongest Lantern because he is the only one to know fear. He's the Frodo of the DCU.

In the fall out of the Rann-Thanagar War, Kyle is now Ion, but we (and Kyle) are not exactly sure what that means yet. What we do see is that Kyle's self-doubt makes him eternally, violently unstable. And with great power comes, well, the ability to wipe out entire galaxies. Ion, it seems, is the DCU's Dark Phoenix.
What is causing this instability? And why doesn't Kyle remember any of it? Writer Ron Marz isn't tipping his hand yet. What I really loved about this issue, though, was the impressionistic, sketch-like art work of Greg Tocchini. His work in this issue reminded me of those 70's life-drawing instruction books, and I mean that as high praise. All the more appropriate because Kyle is an artist, the style of the book mirrors the unpredictability of its central character.This book was far better than I'd hoped it would be.

ION #1: B+

WONDER WOMAN #1

When 52 was first announced and the news came out that DC's Holy Trinity, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were going to be leaving the scene for a full year, it was speculated that their respective partners or former partners: Conner Kent, either Dick Grayson or Tim Drake, and Donna Troy were going to step in and fill their shoes.
I thought this was a great idea, it seemed like the perfect way to breathe a little more life into both sets of characters, young and old.
Conner's death in Infinite Crisis slammed the door on that fascinating concept, but look:Donna Troy does get to play at being Wonder Woman for awhile. And, thanks to Terry and Rachel Dodson, she looks perfectly adorable while she does it. Yes, the Dodsons are known for their gorgeous women, but they (unlike, say, Frank Cho) understand how to make a comic page feel vibrant, not just scandalous.
I don't know a damn thing, really, about Wonder Woman's history. In fact, this is the very first Wonder Woman comic that I have ever picked up and read, cover to back, in my life.
But this is good: a fine re-launch and an inviting introduction to her world.
I was skeptical about Allan Heinberg's ability to write an engaging comic, since I'd not read Young Avengers and I absolutely loathe Sex in the City, but he has a great deal of fun with a sixty-year old concept that never really got off the ground (invisible plane, my ass).
Moreover, the art and the writing are so complementary that it feels like this creative team has been together for years, not that this is their first issue. Heinberg has found a way to make Wonder Woman interesting without breaking anybody's neck, and that's no small feat.

WONDER WOMAN #1: A

Top 10 Comics since 19794. Hourman #7: The Human League

2006-06-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

DC Comics
October 1999
Writer: Tom Peyer
Penciller: Rags Morales
Inker: David Meikis

Hourman didn't last long: it ran for only two years, and has yet to be collected in trade paperback form. It's the quintessential modern cult classic. What made Hourman work was the team-up of two of comic's most expressive creators, Tom Peyer and Rags Morales.
I have gone on at length before about the high esteem I hold Morales in, but to hit on it again, briefly: no one in comics is better with emotion, and his facial expressions bring a whole different level of 'performance' to his characters than most other artists in comics today. In Hourman especially, though, Rags is having a blast. Big, bold layouts. Figures flying though panels and out of windows. Hourman was a playground for Rags, a showcase for his playful nature.
Same can be said for Peyer's writing on the series. Few series have ever been as unpredictable as Hourman was, literally anything could and did happen. Hourman, essentially, was a Pinnochio story where the puppet stayed a puppet. Tagging along beside him, playing Jiminy Cricket, was Snapper Carr, disgraced former JLA groupie.
Peyer also brought with him great pathos and understanding of what it is to be human: a never ending struggle between wants and needs. It is that sense of eternal longing that makes The Human League so special.

Amazo, an android with the ability to absorb the powers of any superhero he faces, now has the ability to literally steal the humanity from his victims and leave them, in Snapper's words, "humming like a refrigerator." He has already done this to the entire JLA, who are now dispassionate robots.
Amazo is handling his newfound humanity with the grace and subtlety of any newborn: He's a mewling, puking mess; grabbing every sensory distraction near him.Amazo is a bull in a china shop, a being of unlimited power who cannot cope with his newfound emotions. Overriding, though, is his guilt and shame. But when he can't deal with the shame, he rages. Peyer makes you believe his transformation not because of the wrath or because of the shame, but because Amazo experiences them simultaneously.

The JLA, now androids, show up to stop him, and he throws a crew man into he ocean to distract them. "He presumes that endangering an innocent will divert our attention," says android Superman, "His presumption is inaccurate."
It is Amazo himself that saves the man, screaming in anguish, "What have I done?", and diving into the ocean after him. "It's human to regret one's actions," Amazo tells the confused JLAndriods, "I feel great compassion for this man--but I still have none for you." With that he snares them in a net and drags them below the water. He takes him to his lair, where he bombards their circuitry with self-contradicting stimuli: Baby Hitler, planes dropping flowers instead of bombs. "A terrible way to go, I know, but if you want a job done cruelly, give it to a human!" says Amazo.

Meanwhile, Hourman is having a crisis of faith. Snapper, his "humanity coach", has been turned into an android, not even phased by the fact that his poor little kitty Starro has been knocked out by Amazo's attack in the previous issue. It's finally by accepting his unhumanity that he succeeds, using a modem signal to locate the JLA, and souping himself up into a battle tank to take out Amazo."You can add options and extras until you're big as the moon, but you'll never match my complexity! I have feeling ! Free will!" screams Amazo, charging towards Hourman. With a giant WHONK, Hourman knocks him out.
His humanity restored, Snapper asks Hourman if what Amazo said about him not being human bothers him.
The issue ends with Hourman speeding off to his next breathless adventure, and the series ultimately ended that way.
When Hourman 'unmakes' Amazo, it is in one way his first act of compassion. Not just to bring back the JLA and his friends, but to ease Amazo's own suffering. It is that same compassion that sends him into battle with Amazo at series' end; this time overtly to save him from himself.
Hourman's book was a joy, a touch of Silver-Age goodness with a modern twist. That sense of fun and adventure is rarely seen in comics anymore, and when it is it should be celebrated.

Where we are, guys: LOST Season Two in review

2006-06-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

LOST took some major risks this season. It is a testament to the strength of the writing on the show that almost all of those risks succeeded.
To begin with, they answered the question that dominated last season and the following summer: what's in the hatch. Well, Desmond's in the hatch. But who is Desmond and why is he there? That question lingered until the finale, which set the stage for a whole new show next season. We know the world is still out there, but will Penny find her man? And will he still be alive for her?
This was a deeper,richer season than the first. The writers played with show constructs like the flashbacks and redemption story lines. The Dharma Initiative is a fun addition, an all-powerful corporation with unknown agendas. Having Dharma at once grounds the show further in reality, and allows for more sci-fi foolishness.
We had the saga of the fake 'Henry Gale', Ana-Lucia and Shannon lived up to the horror movie tradition of dying after sex, and we got just a little more of the Monster that eviscerated the pilot last season. But what a scene.
That's the thing about this show: it takes a long time for story threads to be fleshed out but, man, when they are...

Let's take a look at where we are now, two seasons into the best show on television.

JACKJack is the guy that got on everyone's nerves this season. His main problem seems to be that whereas last season he was the go-to-guy on the island, this year he wasn't so much. Everyone seemed to be contradicting him, and with good reason. The good doctor is clearly losing it: running off half cocked into the woods after Desmond and then Michael isn't going to help his rep in the camp any. Though he made peace with John towards the end of the year, I'm certain that if Locke survives the hatch explosion, the old rivalry will flare up again. What do The Others want with jack? Why is he on the list? Is it merely another good people, bad people list? Jack seems to be a saint, even in his 'hey honey I just made out with a smokin' hot Italian chick, what do you mean you're leaving me?' flashbacks. But there's still a lot we don't know about Jack's past. Is he one of the 'bad' people after all?
I like Jack, and I like Matthew Fox as Jack. He's a centering presence on the show, he's our main character and our eyes on the island, from the very beginning. But his profile needs to be restored in Season Three.

LOCKE"I was wrong."
Locke is always wrong. John's ''pathetic struggle through life" (as he called it) just keeps on getting more pathetic. If last season was about his renewed confidence, this season was about that confidence shattering. John was not quite the mysterious jungle man he was a year ago, either. Part of that is the flashbacks. The more we know of Johnny Locke, the more he seems like some schmo from a box company playing a real-life version of Pitfall. If John survives in Season Three (and he has to: if LOST stopped right now, John Locke would be its greatest contribution to pop culture), he will have lost his stature and will be even more desperate that this year. Or he could be embittered. Locke's arc is to go evil, I guarantee it. Season Three is the start of that, I hope.

SAWYERAfter the cuddly, lovable Sawyer we'd been saddled with since the raft explosion, the bad-ass wild card's return in The Long Con was a breath of fresh air. We saw just how his mind works, and what he's capable of getting people to do. Aside from holding the guns and drilling Ana-Lucia, though, Sawyer was relegated mostly to one-liner dispenser for the bulk of the season, even though he invited himself along on most of the expeditions. He'll be in the thick of things next year, though.
Put money on it: big reveal in Season Three or Four: Zeke is the "real Sawyer".

SAYIDTalk about disappearing. Sayid, aside from torturing Henry Gale, did jack -all this year. He lost Shannon, but that was never a believable romance. Had Ana-Lucia survived, that would have been more intriguing a pair.
Naveen Andrews is a magnetic presence, and Sayid is a good character, but he needs more screen time; with Jack taken away does he become the leader of the castaways now?

MICHAELThe defining moment of the series so far. The biggest shocker, no kidding. The moment where the writers stepped forward and said: no one is safe.
Yes, Michael was heading down a desperate path all year. But this? If anything, I thought he'd get himself and his boy both killed by the Others. But the Others aren't so mysterious after all. They kept their bargain, and Michael and Walt are gone...but forever? Walt, sure. But Lando will be back to save his friends (it was significant that he called them "friends", by the way, and thinking of them in that way will make it all the harder for Mike to stay away).
That would be the ultimate test of the redemption storylines: if they can redeem Michael, they can redeem anyone.

KATEWhat did Kate do this season?
She hallucinated a horse, but no wait: that was real. Umm, let's see...she got captured at the end. That's something, right?
Didn't give Evangeline Lilly a whole lot this season, that's for sure (we didn't even get any gratuitous Kate cheesecake, what gives?), she tagged along on a few missions, got "caught in a net" with the good doctor, and we found out who she killed and why. But again she, like Sawyer, needs to have a bit more to do next year.

CHARLIECharlie went evil, and back again, in and out of crush with Claire. He knocked out Sun on Sawyer's behalf to get back at Locke, who pounded him into the surf the episode before. We saw the depths of Charlie's addiction, and the heights of his promise: he finally got rid of those Mary statues.
Dom Monaghan has always struck me as a actor who over thinks his roles. His Charlie is no exception: the creepy sith voice, the twitchy withdrawals. But it''s to Dom's credit that Charlie, as annoying as he can be, remains likeable. Charlie is one of the many characters that slipped in and out of our focus this season. He basically just hung out in the background until Eko forced him into jungle adventuring, and he was the only witness to Eko's stare down of Smokey Smoke Monster.
But here's one big problem with the finale: Charlie and Claire's kiss was nice, but shouldn't he be more concerned about Eko and the hatch?

CLAIRELost that baby weight super fast, huh? They may not give Emilie de Ravin a lot on this show, and that's usually a good thing. Claire's adorable, but Season One's flashback episode was boring, and so I was surprised that they had fun with her flashback this time around; giving Claire the first on-island flashback was brilliant. Making her a doped up mess, therefore throwing that flashback into doubt for the first time, was even better.
I also loved Rousseau's warning, that Claire should be prepared to kill her baby if it comes to that.

SUN & JINSeason Two was bookended by the exclamations: "UDDERS!", and "BOAT!" When Jin manages the former, we're two hours into the second season, when Sun yells the latter, we've only got two left.
I don't think the writers knew what to do with these guys this season. Once Jin and Sun were reunited, we didn't hear much from them. They became camp scenery, getting an occasional thumbs-up from Hurley but otherwise just fishing and doing laundry.
We did learn Sun is pregnant, and it may not (probably is not) Jin's kid. Did the island heal Jin? I guess that's a possibility; but clearly Sun had an affair with the dapper bald gentleman from Korea, or she wouldn't be so nervous.
Here's a big question for season three: will Jin ever find out that, besides bugging him with Kinks songs, Charlie's been beating his wife and dragging her through the jungle?

EKOEveryone's favorite new bad-ass. Eko could straddle that line of the stereotypical 'mystical black man' figure, but as with the other stereotypes on the island (redneck, brit rocker, noble arab) they've fleshed him out very well in his flashbacks. Eko was a bad, bad man. Now he's trying to be good, but some of his former life bleeds through (for instance, head butting John to get him to lead him to the question mark).
Eko will survive. You can't set up a character that brilliantly then walk away from him in Season Three. And besides, the way that he plays off of Locke seemed, and is important in the grand scheme of the show. Plus, Eko shows the kind of bold, faithful leadership that the panicky Jack and the shaky Locke have none of. The island residents need him more than they know.

HURLEYPoor, poor Hurley.
At times irrational, at times insane, at times violent (just ask Sawyer), but more than anything, life gave Hurley one great reward, and then took her away from him.
What I love about Hurley is that they keep him consistent. He didn't charge Michael after he confessed: he looked destroyed, weakened. His voice cracked on Libby's name. Hurley is our innocent, but Season Three could be the time he's forced to grow up.

ROSE & BERNARDOh, these guys killed me. What's wrong with me that I almost cried when we found out that the schlubby white dude in the other hatch was indeed the husband that Rose just knew was alive somewhere on the island.
Ok, so they didn't have much to do in the larger scheme (they're not even 'official' cast members yet), but they make me smile, and that's enough.

DESMONDMaybe it's the Scottish accent, but Desmond cracks me up. My favorite moment of the finale was his exasperated "dammit" after his gun runs out of ammo on the boat, at the very beginning.
The only problem is since Desmond represents hope and meaning and connection (for Jack, and Locke, and all the survivors in the form of Penny and rescue), he is a symbol. And symbolic characters have a way of being the only characters to not survive things like giant electromagnetic explosions.
I'm just saying.

'HENRY GALE'Love that Michael Emerson: but is Henry truly evil? He seems to be playing him that way. There are shades of doubt, though. My guess is Season Three will be a lot about the Others and Dharma, and we'll probably get a Henry flashback by the end of the season.

ANA LUCIA: R.I.P.I'll miss Ana, and not just for her low-riding jeans and devastating swagger. She was the female Sawyer, so it made sense that for all the puppy dog eyes she was making towards Jack, she jumped James Ford at the first opportunity.
Ana had two flashback episodes, both were brilliant and changed the direction of the show. Michelle Rodriguez has one hell of an agent, let's say that. Too bad she can't stay out of county lock-up long enough to enjoy it.

LIBBY: R.I.P.Libby did nothing but die and not tell anyone who shot her. Lucky for her, Michael was dying to tell them.
Really: what did Libby do, besides be crazy and get shot? I guess she gave Desmond a boat as well. Anyway, kids, the Disney corporation would like you to know: their employees do not drink and drive.

SHANNON: R.I.P.The best thing Shannon ever did for the show was to take one in the chest.
Shannon was universally abhorred, and now she's gone. But she gave Season Two the kick start it needed, and it made Sayid into the first of Season Two's wild cards.
Now that she's gone, do we miss anything about Shannon? No, except the way that she played off of Boone, and without Boone she had little to do.
Shannon was a sacrifice that the island (or ABC anyway) demanded.

EPISODE GRADES

Man of Science, Man of FaithIntroduced Desmond and the hatch. It was disorienting, but brilliantly done.
A+

AdriftOverlong stretches with Michael and Sawyer on the raft slow down an otherwise fine episode. One hell of a cliffhanger, though.
C+

OrientationThe button and Dharma are introduced. Desmond runs off into the jungle, and Terry O'Quinn excels.
A

Everybody Hates HugoA hard shift down to a Hurley flashback. Awkwardly written and directed.
B-

...And FoundThe least engorssing of the Sun & Jin flashbacks, essentially their meet-cute.
B-

AbandonedShannon gets a wretchedly boring flashback, and whines in Sayid's arms, but at least she dies. Also, Walt is back and creepy.
C

The Other 48 DaysThe crash of flight 815 from the other side of the island. The first time that Ana-Lucia and Eko stepped up to be characters with real depth.
B+

CollisionThe best episode of LOST so far, Ana-Lucia and Jack's meeting in the jungle with its haunting memories of a life lost forever, made me a Javi fan for life.
A+

What Kate DidRushed and silly. Seemed to need to find a place to fit in a Kate flashback in a season that she did very little in.
B-

The 23rd PsalmEko stares down the smoke monster. Truly, he is the shit. By the way: Charlie really, really likes heroin.
A

The Hunting PartyJack makes pointless threats in the woods. 'Light 'em up!'
A-

Fire + WaterCharlie still likes heroin, Locke beats the shit out of him. Diaper commercial the stupidest thing ever on the show.
A-

The Long ConSawyer gets evil again, Charlie goes to the dark side.
A

One of ThemHenry Gale is introduced, but the Sayid flashback does not advance the story much. Also, Naveen's performance falls flat.
B-

Maternity LeaveThe flashbacks are thrown forever into doubt with Claire's' drug-addled memories of Ethan and the other hatch.
A-

The Whole TruthSun is a slut, Henry is a liar.
A+

LockdownWe see the map, and John gains a new obsession.
A+

DaveIt's all a dreeeaaam.
B+

S.O.S.Rose is healed by the island, Michael returns.
B-

Two for the RoadMichael shoots Ana-Lucia and Libby.
A+

?Eko and John find the viewing station, and Libby's final word is "Michael."
A+

Three MinutesMichael and Walt are reunited
B-

Live Together,Die AloneDesmond blows the hatch, the big three are kidnapped, the world still exists outside of the island!
A

LOST Season Two: B+

Bryan who? X3: The Last Stand Review

2006-05-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

First of all, the big question: did Brett Ratner ruin the X-Men?
Answer: no.

But, briefly, let me just say that there's not a whole lot to ruin there. These are not classic films, they're big, loud comic-book fun. None of the X-films has come close to having the resonance of a Spider-Man 2, but they've both been entertaining and X2 especially strong.
X3 definitely lacks the steady hand of Bryan Singer, and at times the actors seem lost without him. Early stretches of the film are stilted, and the world of the mutants, at school and at large is not as graceful as in X2. It's a bit like difference between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. With a better director, you just buy the world a bit more, that's all.

Also, certain scenes lose their emotional impact in the quick flow of the film. There is a lot to get to, granted, but couldn't we have spent more time with Jean and Scott and their moment at Alkalai Lake? Cyclops is dispatched with quickly, like he was in X2, and Rogue gets the same treatment. The love triangle between Kitty Pryde, Bobby Drake, and her never even gets off the ground, but at least it's not a point the film dwells on. We get just enough, and then we're off.

What Ratner does have in his corner is a fun script. Taking its story genesis from Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, X3 focuses on a potential 'cure' for the mutant gene. But where the film really excels is past the talking heads (which there are thankfully few of), and into its breathlessly paced battle scenes. This, finally, is what I thought an X-Men film should be six years ago when the first film came out. Balls-to-the-wall mutant madness. All-out battles with all our heroes using their respective powers to their full advantage. Even the adorable little Shadowcat gets to kick some ass.

What truly saves the early parts of the film is the wicked glee that Ian McKellan has with his Magneto. There are very few actors that are more fun to watch than Sir Ian. He makes consistently interesting choices, and all of his scenes have the impact that you wish the rest of the film would. It also helps that McKellan is not an actor that leans on his director to bring out his performances: his vision of the character is what carries the day.

This is certainly the X-film in which Wolverine steps forward from the pack (jockeying for that spin-off are we, Fox?). The films have always featured Logan heavily, but here he is their last, best hope when Jean goes bad. Not because he's ruthless, but because he loves her.
That said, Logan's way too cutesy in the beginning, I'll give Harry Knowles that much. But goddamn Harry, did they kick you out of a screening or something? They did a perfectly good job with the Dark Phoenix material, and you know it.

The filmmakers obviously have deep respect for the source material. They stay true to the spirit of Dark Phoenix, even if they have to change the nature of her powers to coincide with the film's more Earth-bound reality. I love the explanation that Jean's psychic powers are a mutation of her unconscious mind. I'll even go this far: I like that explanation more than the 'Phoenix Force' of the comics.

Another thing I enjoyed is the continuing narrative, not only with Jean but with the X-kids. Seeing their evolution from students to full fledged leather-clad X-Men was a trip, and I loved the showdown with Pyro and Iceman, even if the effects once Bobby went into his ice-body were cheesy. This film, for all its weaknesses, was a hell of a lot of fun.

X3:The Last Stand: B

New Sequart column

2006-05-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

My latest 'Black Hole' column is up over at Sequart.com:

Adrian Tomine and the Infinite Sadness

Enjoy!

Also: we're going to see X:3 today. Did Ratner fuck up a great franchise and a classic comics storyline? Stay tuned...

LOST recap: Live Together, Die Alone

2006-05-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Now that we know that it's not just a 'snowglobe'...
Now that we know that you can get off the island...
Now that we no longer have 'the button' to deal with...
How does the show change?

Where do we go in season three? I've said it before, but it bears repeating: imagine the show without Dharma (Namaste and good luck, as Kelvin says); without Desmond, without the button, without the hatch, without Henry Gale.
And remember that these things didn't exist a year ago.
But they did in Season Two, and thank God for them. Because of them the season was deeper and richer than Season One, full of twists and turns. Everything, and everybody, was up for grabs.

Now imagine the show without Michael and Walt.When the electromagnetic pulse blows at the end of the episode, Michael looks like the wrath of God has come down upon him. His weary confession in the woods, his admission that he would have killed Libby even if he didn't have to. Michael's season was one of desperation and irrationality. And what does life off the island hold for him? How do you move on from that? What do you tell your boy, after all you've done to get him back. How can you ever look him in the eye knowing you murdered for him?
And that horrible look of regret he flashes Jack and the gang as he drives away. Notice that after that look, Michael never looks back. But Walt does.

On the other hand, when the pulse hits Henry, he looks straight into it, and he is pissed. Henry clearly holds a powerful position among the Others, even if he's not the 'Him' that he spoke of in the hatch.
I haven't read too much into the map that we see Kelvin painting on the blast doors, but I do remember one thing: it mentions that Alvar Hanso has a son on the island. Henry has to be that son. And maybe he's leading a rogue group of scientists who are rebelling against his father's work. Maybe they really are the good guys.

And will we be following Penny as she tracks down Desmond, with the Hanso Foundation fighting her every step of the way? Will we again be leaving the island for the regular narrative, not just flashbacks?
(How many people thought they'd just gone to commercial when you saw that frozen wasteland pop onto screen?)
Will this be good or bad for the show? Has some of the mystery been taken away?

Enough questions. Let's deal with what we saw.
Jack Bender was back in the director's chair for this one, and he's good. He's real good. So is Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond. Schmaltzy 'I'm winning this race for love' moments aside, the flashbacks worked and were just as entertaining as things that happened on the island.
What's with that bird, by the way? And why did it say 'Hurley'? And that 'Colussus of Homer Simpson'? Da fug?
Anyway: LOST is all about guilt (that's why I was so quick to jump on the Purgatory bandwagon, a spot I begrudgingly relinquish after this one), and it was the overriding theme in this episode again.
Michael's guilt of course. Desmond's guilt, for prison, for Pen, and finally for Kelvin. John's guilt for Boone.
But for John and Desmond there was a bright shining moment of connection, of purpose. That was maybe the best moment of this episode: That radiant beam of light uniting two men and giving them the strength to go on (by the way, I'm not going to overburden you with this: but Desmond's moment with the gun and the bottle was his Gethsemane, and there was a ton of Jesus symbolism revolving around him in this one.)

There was a lot of cheesy sci-fi fun here as well, especially Kate and Sawyer twitching after being hit with the darts. It's to Bender's credit that the scene doesn't come off as goofy as Pippin and the palantir in Return of the King. Oh, and speaking of the world of Tolkien, what a great Two Towers cliffhanger: Mister Frodo's still alive, but he's in the hands of the enemy.
Or, if you prefer, Luke, Han, and the princess all just got put into Carbon Freeze.
Is it September yet?

LOST Episode 2:23, Live Together; Die Alone: A

New Comic Reviews:52, Captain America, All-Star Batman

2006-05-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

52 #2

Marvel's big summer event, Civil War may have deep allegorical signifigance and intrigue, but look:52 has lesbians!

It's also having fun with itself. It's not the boatload of pomposity that I'd feared going in. It knows a few things about its characters: The Question has to be mysterious, Booster Gold is an ass, and Rene Montoya likes the booze ("I've got a new job, it's called being a drunk.")

I like the stuff towards the end involving the Kryptonian Super-Religion. Superman as DC's Jesus hasn't been fully explored, not in this direct a fashion anyway. I don't remember ever seeing any image this blatantly Catholic in a Superman comic before. This has to be Grant Morrison's doing. No way Geoff Johns came up with that (if he did, bravo Geoff, there's hope for you yet).
Next time in 52, Black Adam rips off more faces, and Power Girl has breasts.
52 #2: B+

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18

I always liked the Red Skull. He's always been one of my favorite Marvel villains. So when Ed Brubaker killed him in the first issue of his Captain America run, I didn't fret. He's just too good to stay dead.And there he is...kinda. I'm not sold yet on the Red Skull in General Lukin's brain thing yet. I need to spend a little more time with it. But I trust Brubaker, I've loved his run on this book.

Captain America right now lives and dies on Steve Epting's art. He has an ultra-realistic style that works well for a meat and potatoes hero like ol' Cap. Since there's something so basic about what Captain America stands for, it only makes sense to have his world portrayed in the same no frills manner.

That said, the style doesn't always make for an exciting comic. Especially in the fights. When the art seems a bit rushed, it can lead to boring images like this:
But at his stylistic peak, Epting is capable of some truly sublime moments. I love this image,and I love this bad guy, even though I've not been reading Cap enough lately to know who he is. I wouldn't fuck with him, that's all I know. Or his girlfriend.

The main plot, though, with Cap teaming up with British C-list superheroes is more than a bit boring. Maybe it's that I don't know who he's fighting alongside, or their history together that is alluded to in conversation. Maybe it's because the big reveal, The Nazi Supermen at the end of the book, feels like nothing new. But, for any reason, I just didn't fully connect with this issue. It was pretty at times, but never exciting. Just ok.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18: C+

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #4

OK:

Why is Vicki Vale dying, why can't Superman fly, why is Batman such a douche bag to Dick Grayson, and why isn't Frank Miller even trying to make a good book here?

It just keeps getting worse, I swear to God.
On the one hand, Miller clearly wants to do a throwback book: Vicki Vale collapsing into Alfred's arms with a damsel-in-distress sigh, a Golden Age Superman who can only 'leap tall buildings in a single bound', and a murderous perverted Batman.
But then why is Robin the only character who seems to be from a time past the 1950's? He calls things queer, he gives Batman lip, he reeks of Generation-Z.
Is this deliberate?
Is Miller, since he's never written the young Grayson Robin before, having fun with the idea of one of today's back-talking wise asses thawing the heart of the grizzled, gun toting, Golden Age Dark Knight?
Is he pointing out how old-fashioned these iconics figures are?
Or has he just lost it?
And don't get me started the ridiculous six-page fold-out reveal of the Batcave. It's not effective, it's numbing; and not all that impressively rendered by Jim Lee.

I am done done done with this damn book.

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #4: D-

New Comic Reviews:Moon Knight & Super-Skrull

2006-05-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

MOON KNIGHT #2

Somewhere, William Gaines is sitting at the right hand of the Lord, smoking a fat cigar and loving the hell out of Moon Knight #2. They never did let old Bill get away with the whole ripping off the bad guy's face thing.
But here we are, sixty years on, in a mainstream comic with the words 'PARENTAL ADVISORY' camouflaged into the bar code, and yup, old Moonie just ripped off that dude's face. Why did he do this? Well, we're led to believe Moon Knight's insane. But beyond that, I just think Moon Knight's got a hack writer working for him. Exactly the kind that E.C. employed all those years ago.

It's a fine line to travel when you're doing the whole 'hard-boiled' thing. It's all too easy to veer off into unknowing self-parody.
Example: "Blame it on the passing years. Blame it on him. Blame it on our hatred. The hatred born from slaughter. Slaughter born from friendship. Friendship born from recognition. Recognition of a kindred soul. Souls hating each other. Hating as you can hate only one thing. The reflection in the mirror."

Ugh. That just makes me want to yurk (how the fuck is slaughter born from friendship?), and the blood dripping from every goddamn panel in this book does the same. Finch's art still impresses, on a basic, visceral level, but the detailed beauty of it is deadened by constant closeups of blood drenched eyeballs and cut sinew. Also, the layouts are starting to bug: every once in awhile, we could use some basic eight-square panel pages, thank you. Slow that camera down, Scorsese, ok?
I kind of like this guy, though. He seems like he stepped into the wrong comic, like Bill Murray in Wild Things or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. An oddball you can't take your eyes off of, but has nothing to do with the plot-not really. Just some actor with his own agenda.
Again: I know nothing of the world of Moon Knight previous to this, so he may be an old character. But either way, he's the only thing that gets close to being interesting about Moon Knight 2, an ugly, poorly written book.

MOON KNIGHT #2: D

ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL #2

Super-Skrull, on the other hand, is looking up. The art is still inconsistent. At times, Greg Titus manages a great sense of atmosphere, either cartoony or dangerous:Other times, he seems to have missed the boat entirely, and it's all ugly, confusing lines that blend one into another. This impedes not only the flow of reading, but the ability to follow the story. And the story ain't bad.
It may not take a rocket surgeon to figure out that little R'Kin is Super-Skrull's long lost son, but until that big reveal, there's a lot of whizz-bang action to keep us satisfied. And I love how Javi's dealing with R'Kin's growing mixture of disgust and awe towards Super-Skrull who, while certainly not a hero, is working out of a moral duty to first his planet, and now his son.
Against this Annihilation Wave, it may not be heroes who will carry the day. Sometimes you have to be willing to do what the other guy won't. Like setting your enemy on fire after he's given you the information you requested of him. 'Flame On', indeed.
This is a fun book. It will undoubtedly be in the 50-cent bin in a few months, but it'll be the best 50 cents you've ever spent.

ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL #2: B+

LOST recap: Three Minutes

2006-05-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

Where do we go from here? Now that so many character's dynamics have changed forever, what can keep us with them?

How do we still sympathize with Michael, after he's killed two people for nebulous reasons?
Notice that Miss Clue never told him to kill anybody, but she did say to bring four back (are they the good people or the bad ones?) Mike created his own situation, he dug his own grave, just as he dug Ana-Lucia's later in this episode.
I also like the symbolism of Michael being unable to clean up the blood on the floor (out, damn spot!); while Eko did it with ease. Michael's new to this killing thing, Eko is not. But he has made peace with his past, he can absolve himself and others. Michael, on the other hand, keeps painting himself into his own blood-stained corner.

How do we still believe in Charlie, after he's beaten Sun and scared the camp half to death for petty revenge (his own and Sawyer's)?
Well, we start by getting clean forever, don't we Charlie? One day at a time brother, chuck those things as far as you can.
The fetch scene with Vincent though-that was hilarious.
But Charlie's written likeable only half the time: what's with his little bitch fit to Eko? But, alternately, Eko's really taking this whole pushing the button thing to heart. I guess dreams of your dead priest brother will do that to a fella.

So: how do we stay with our characters, after so many of them have darkened?BOAT!

So: it's The Others, right? But that's too much like last year. Perhaps it's the Hanso/Dharma/whoever folks. Or maybe it's fucking Desmond. I dunno. What I do know is we've got two hours of Season Two left, and a hell of a lot more questions raised than answered. But that's the way I like it.
We'll find out who's on the boat in a week, we'll find out a lot according to ABC. This is the twentieth time we've been told the next show 'changes everything'. I feel a little more likely to believe them now.

The Others seem startled, even scared, of Walt's abilities. Is Walt even aware of them? Is it a sort of remote viewing thing he does, perhaps in his sleep? Something very important about Miss Clue's words to Michael: "For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him." Those are the exact words of the lawyer in Michael's flashback earlier this season. Coincidence? Plain truth, since half of Michael's desperation is built of the guilt he feel for not being there for Walt as he grew up? Or is this meant to throw all of the flashbacks into doubt? Look for more strange flashbacks in Season Three. They are not all they seem.

Beyond all of these questions, was this a good episode?
Well, yes and no. It was fun, with its cheesy Others camp (Dad! They're pretending!), and 'Planet of the Apes' homage (Zeke's takedown of Michael).

It was moving, with Hurley's simple: "They're DEAD."
Even Sawyer and Jack seemed to have a genuine moment, before Sawyer charged gleefully out to kill Zeke. Sawyer is a con man, yes, but he doesn't deal well with death. I think this will shake him to the core. This many finally be what links him and Jack.

But the money scene, Michael and Walt's reunion, was flat. A lot of this episode seemed a bit too by-the-numbers. Something to move the story along just far enough to keep us tuned in for the big finale (which does look good. Real good.) Nice to see ya, Walt, gee you look like you've grown two years in these 20 days. Oh, I'm kidding.

This was a stay-tuned episode, and it did well enough as that: same Bat-time, same Bat-channel? I'm there for sure.
LOST Episode 2:22; Three Minutes: B-

New Comic Reviews:52 & Super Skrull

2006-05-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

52 #1
"Booster Gold, Ladies and Gentlemen! He's from the future! How cool is that?"
Well, actually, surprisingly cool. I like Booster Gold, his pomposity, his grandeur, but mostly the fact that he's an E True Hollywood Story waiting to happen (sorry, I've been reading Godland). If we didn't know that Booster is a genuine hero when the chips are down, all this grand show would be unforgiveable. But we do know that, so we cut him some slack.

I've never been sold on the fact that DC can pull off 52. Monthly is hard enough to sustain fan interest and as we saw last year over in the Spidey books at Marvel, 12 issues is a long story arc when it's done badly: so 52 straight weeks of story?
Well, I'm still not convinced about the long haul, but they've started well here. Issue 1, while not perfect was fun.
I'm not sure if the split page storytelling with Ralph Dibny, Rene Montoya, and Steel is going to work. It was fairly tedious in this issue, especially the Steel fragments. Luckily, they dropped it after the first few pages. Still, it could become a crutch as they go on.
I do like where the Montoya story arc is going, and this is the first time I've seen the character. But, again, 52 weeks of redemption is a lot of heartache to handle. Can we make her an honest to god superhero, like, now?

Can I stop for a moment and just say that Black Adam is a bad-ass? Did you see what he did to Psycho Pirate in Infinite Crisis? Bad-ass.
I hope they do him justice here, he's got great anti-hero possibilities.

I also like the twist towards the end, with Mr. From-the-future-isn't-that-cool totally freaking out at the absence of the DC Holy Trinity. I think we're figuring out that IC re-arranged not only DC's past, but its future as well. And what is Booster without his foreknowledge? I guess you'll have to stay tuned, won't you?

Over in Gotham, Rene goes to sleep one off but is distracted by some Dick Tracy reject stamping his symbol over the Bat signal. Somebody tell Mr. Eko! Take me to the question mark, Locke!

Anyway, one last thing: I love the ultra-dramatic, 'Next time in 52':Which tells us nothing at all, of course, but is a blast.
Kind of like the whole issue.

52 #1: B

ANNIHILATION: SUPER SKRULL #1

This book is a few weeks old, but I missed it and had meant to pick it up, because I am a great admirer of Javier Grillo-Maxuach.
For those of you who don't know Javi's work, he wrote some of the best episodes in LOST's brief history, including All the Best Cowboys..., Collision, and ...In Translation.
He's really good at the kind of redemptive stories that are the cornerstone of the show, and he jumped full steam into comics last year with the fun-for-all Middleman. So how does Javi fare when set loose in the Marvel Universe?

Um, well...uh...

Ok, first of all, I admit I don't know anything at all about what this 'Annihilation' cross-over is all about, all I've noticed about it is bitchin' covers and god-awful interior art. Unfortunately, that's a pattern that continues here.
Greg Titus' layouts are confusing and his faces contorted when they don't need to be and not contorted when they should be!
It's the kind of Marvel Western-Anime hybrid style that kept me from getting back into comics for years. One of the few people any good with this style is Chris Bachalo over at Uncanny X-Men. But do you see me reviewing Uncanny?
Nope, cuz I ain't reading it.

There are some vintage Javi momets shining through:

"...you so much as look at me the wrong way and the last thing you ever see will be your spinal cord in my clutched fist--do we understand each other?"

And I like the plot, with Super-Skrull, by all rights one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe, considered a joke by his people for his inability to beat Reed Richards and his Fantastic Four. And the fact that Super-Skrull must ultimately team up with Reed to save his son (Son? Whaaaa?). There's a lot to like here, but the difficult-to-follow art is derailing a potentially strong story.

ANNIHILATION: SUPER SKRULL #1: B-

Opportunity Knocks

2006-05-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am now what they're calling a 'featured columnist' over at Sequart.com. My first article is a side by side comparison of All-Star Superman to All-Star Batman and Robin:

All-Star, So Far

I'd like to give sincere thanks to David Golding for turning me on to Sequart, and Mike Phillips for welcoming me aboard and helping me with the posting process. I'll be posting a new column there every other Sunday, along with continuing work on good ol' GEEK U.S.A.

Top 10 Comics since 19795. We3 #3: Pirate

2006-05-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Vertigo
January 2005
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely

Frank Quitely is hands down the best artist in comics right now. By the time he's done, he'll have redefined sequential art in the same way that giants like Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, and Jack Kirby have. He's just that good.
Most of his recent projects have been collaborations with Grant Morrison, which is appropriate because Grant is altering comic writing in the same spaced-out fashion.

We3 is the story of a military project gone wrong: super intelligent, talking animals placed in mechanized suits with unlimited firepower.
Stay with me here, I promise it's worth it.
Anyone vaguely familiar with the movie Short Circuit or Project X knows what happens next, the project is decommissioned, and the sweet, lonely doctor sets her subjects loose. The animals roam the countryside, an ultra-violent version of The Incredible Journey.
There is a dog, Animal Weapon 1, leader of the group; a cat, Animal Weapon 2, loose cannon (like all cats are in their hearts), and a bunny, Animal Weapon 3. The animals have been given a serum to make them understand and imitate human speech, though in a pidgin style (good, for instance, becomes 'gud').
Issue 3 is the conclusion and the awakening, when the animal's newfound consciousness leads to their salvation.

A drifter runs from helicopters overhead, stumbles through the rain into an abandoned shack. He can't know if the cops are after him or not, but he's had enough experience to stay away. Inside, he discovers the animals, who have become very sick as the serum wears off. "Sick. Bad sick." 1 says, as he shuffles towards the drifter's outstretched hand, "Is gud dog?"

The drifter leaves in search of food for the animals and tool to get them out of their battle armor. Look at the way Quitely plays the moment when the drifter steps out, and is confronted by the police. Time slows down and speeds up all at once. The drifter's (and the reader's) eyes are everywhere at once, the brilliant lights of the squad cars, the gloved hands reaching towards us, the all too threatening police tape.The drifter is offered a reward, "...sorta money you could use. A guy like you." He responds:
The army and the cops have the animals surrounded, and have released their newest project, Animal Weapon 4, a giant Rottweiler, mechanized and larger than life. Poor little 3 is the first to come face to face with him, while the others search frantically for him.
Look at this moment, with 2 leaping over an abandoned train car. This is how you portray quickness in a static medium: In one leap, 2 is gone and 1 is left alone, and whines plaintively,
On the very next page, we get the ugly truth. 3 hangs crushed in the jaws of the enormous black beast, blood pouring out of his head and sparks flying from his damaged armor. 1 growls and readies his attack, but a tiny pellet comes from 3's behind which, naturally, is explosive. 1 survives the blast, and runs towards a familiar voice, Dr. Roseanne Berry, his caretaker in the lab. Dr. Berry knows that the shoot to kill order has been given, and her mission is to give the sharpshooters enough time to hit their mark. But as the red laser targets of their rifles collect on 1's forehead, she pulls him close to her and whispers:"Run Bandit, run far!" she screams, and pushes him out of the way, taking the bullets meant for him. Quitely presents us with an image of fearful symmetry: the red lasers entering her body at one end and the red blood shooting out of her at the other. Comic art is like photography, it's all about stopping time at the right second, and Quitely is the master.
And look at this brilliant, heartbreaking moment, rain drops falling into eyes that will never close on their own again. A more poignant image of death has rarely, if ever, been seen on the comics page. That we're given the scene upside-down makes it all the more unsettling.

Bandit runs howling after 4, and finds him at the same time as 2, who comes leaping off the train car to bury his claws in 4's eyes.
I have to give you this entire sequence, look at what Quitely does here,First we have the raging mania of 2 as he plunges his claws over and over into the beasts eyes and circuits. Then, watch the way that Quitely follows their frenzied battle:4 and 2 stumble into a brick wall, and go crashing through it, falling infinitely through the panel borders. As we turn the page:They continue their fall, their momentum stopped only by the cars crashing into them. It's a spectacular sequence that very few comic artists could have pulled off, but Quitely makes your heart race here.

Weapon 4 is remote terminated after the crash, his head bursting like a water balloon ("Damn thing almost ate a police officer.") and 2 and 1, now forever Bandit, make their escape into the countryside. They return to the same place that they met the drifter, and plan to wait for him, but the army is still following them.
As they descend the stairs Bandit, who has taken human life and saved human life comes to a stark realization, "Broken." he says, "Is leg coat...Bad Coat. Coat. Is coat not 'Bandit'."
Bandit's journey of discovery has ended. He understands who he is, and what he was used for. He has come to the depths of his purpose there in the basement. He decides to be a regular dog again. To destroy the suit that has turned him into a killer.
Nature has cast of the shackles of man, and is again pure. Bandit and the cat stay with the drifter, to live out their days as innocents.

Grant Morrison has written stories dealing with animal testing and its cruelty before, but by giving the animals voice he makes his strongest statement yet. Not only about the terrible things that people do to nature and ourselves, but ultimately, what it means to be human at all.

LOST recap: ?

2006-05-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

That, by the way, is really the episode's title. As in "what the ? is Michael doing shooting people in the hatch?"We've had a week now to get used to the notion of Michael the murderer. It hits me sometimes how very early we are in the history of LOST. Go back and watch the shows before the hatch, before the Dharma Initiative, before we'd seen the Others. It's hard to imagine the show now without those things in them. And now we'll always look back at a time before Michael did what he did. Five years on, it'll be unthinkable that he was a relative innocent. But now he's forever untrustworthy, regardless of what they did to Walt, and what was promised to him.

His secret is apparently safe, with Libby unable to finish her dying thought. Libby was expendable, just like Boone, but all the characters on LOST go out with style. Libby's death was without a doubt the most wrenching, the most heartbreaking moment yet. Hey wide eyed terror that she might be putting all the survivors at risk if she just...can't...finish...
Give first time LOST director Deran Sarafian the credit here, everyone was spot-on tonight. Every note hit home.

What an episode. What performances.
This is not an astonishing collection of actors, they're mostly has beens and never weres, but when they have material this good to work with they step up to it, time and time again. This is a show hitting its creative peak.
My favorite moment tonight, and it's a little thing really, was the scene right after Libby dies, when they're panning across the broken Virgin Mary statue, and we see Kate crying. Not only because it was beautiful and evocative of loss and sadness, but because it perfectly fit the theme of the episode which was shattered faith.

Tonight, it was Locke losing his way. His arc this season has been his 'personal' relationship with the island: what it has shown to him, what it demands from him, what his ultimate purpose is. Finding out he was a 'rat in a maze' crushed him, but Eko let him in on the bigger picture, and renewed his faith in the island and in himself. Yemi would be proud. Eko may be a killer, but he is a true man of faith as well.

There's something about Jack's reaction to the heroin that makes me think he's a former user. He figured out Charlie's secret pretty quick, although he is a doctor and doctors are used to watching for druggie behavior in patients. Still-Jack has a secret Thailand history we know nothing about.
Speaking of Jack: the moment in which he uses Kate as a tool to find Sawyer's stash was brilliantly underplayed, Jack was truly ashamed, but he just couldn't help himself. Something dark's going on inside the good doctor.

I love the new hatch, the viewing station, reminds me of an old sci-fi movie (well, a lot of them actually,), I think I'm thinking of Logan's Run but I've only seen it once ten years ago. Anyway, it's old and creepy and I love the new Dharma training video.

Also: Claire's psychic? You know he's lying, but now I think we can guess that he is connected to the Dharma Initiative in the same way that Jack's father is. Look for a lot more of this in the Third Season flashbacks.

I still wonder if we can trust Eko's dreams. What does the island want from him and John? Eko trusts too blindly, while people like Jack don't trust at all. But it's important that the island has picked those two to speak to and that those two have had the closest contact with Smokey the Smoke Monster.

This was a moving, tragic, wonderful episode.

LOST Episode 2:21; ?: A+

Top 10 Comics since 19796. Chosen #3

2006-05-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Dark Horse
August 2004
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Peter Gross

Jodie Christianson is a pretty normal twelve year old boy. He has a crush on the girl next door, he picks his nose and wipes it under the furniture, and oh yeah-he's pretty sure he's the reincarnated Jesus Christ.
After Jodie survives a run-in with a pickup truck that by all rights should have crushed him, he becomes aware of certain abilities: turning water into wine, walking on water, and awakening coma patients, for instance. Sometimes puberty's a bitch.

Welcome to the mind of Mark Millar.
Millar, in this story at least, is reminiscent of Stephen King. He has King's formula of heavy religiosity mixed with heavy vulgarity. He's also wickedly funny and bizarre. Fortunately for the reader, Millar can tell a story like this in a few dozen pages, not two thousand.
The art is by Peter Gross, and what stands out are his watercolor backgrounds. His figures and faces are very simple, but that is appropriate for this story of an average American small town rocked by a possible Second Coming.
At the end of issue 2, the town is paralyzed by a mix of awe and fear. Because if God and Jesus are real, then so is their judgment; and so is Satan and his Antichrist. That fear is what issue 3 is all about.

The local church is filled now only with non-believers. Those that refuse to follow Jodie as it becomes more and more clear that he is performing genuine miracles.
Chief among the non-believers is Father Tom himself, who is angry at God for taking his brother away in a senseless accident years before. He has held on to that anger his entire life, and become so bitter towards God that the sacraments of the Church are empty ritual.Father Tom is always drawn angry, his eyes rimmed with dark circles, his brow furrowed. You could imagine a chubby Billy Bob Thornton in a blonde wig. This is a man who has given in to his hidden rage and doubt.

When Jodie is approached by his teacher to heal his sick mother, he refuses. "Trust me," he says, "She'll be fine. You're the one who has to live down here among all the squalor and dirt." Even the old woman is at peace:Outside, it's a far different story: "Avert your eyes!" screams a voice from the crowd as Jodie emerges from the house. The adults in town are a terrified rabble, with bowed heads and grey faces.
The only rational calm in the face of the hysteria are Jodie and his 'disciples', all his school friends who were the first to believe his abilities and whose doubt has never wavered.
Even Jodie himself lacks any fear. Children have a remarkable ability to just accept whatever life presents them. Fear is a learned behavior, and Jodie has a complete confidence in his faith and in his powers.

Father Tom, meanwhile, is still racked with doubt. Not only about Jodie's powers, but about his role in Jodie's story.So this man of the cloth does what he hasn't done in far too long: he prays for guidance. For a sign.Outside, one of the first recipients of Jodie's powers is hitting a towering home run, aided by his newly perfect vision. The ball lands in the street and bounces, attracting the attention of Father Tom's dog. He gives chase, right into the path of an oncoming car.
Devastated, Tom takes the dog to Jodie's. While his mother and his step-father (a pale and fearful worm of a man) begs for reason, Jodie clears off the table and prepares to bring the dog back to life. "I can do this, Dad. Just stand back and don't throw me off."Jodie places his hands on the dog. There is not a shred of doubt within him. He can do this. He believes in himself and in God. But there's something strange about the look on his face, about the power coursing through Jodie's hands as he works.A red glow spreads throughout the room. Lightning fills the sky.From the narration, Jodie describes the chaos: "Outside, it was like somebody turned the streetlights up until they just couldn't take it anymore and popped like firecrackers from one end of town to the other...children's hair turned grey, people's eyes changed color, everyone having sex orgasmed for a full twelve minutes..."

The dog is healed, and with it Father Tom's faith. He collapses and embraces his pet. If anything, Jodie's parents behind him look more terrified than ever. But no one can ever doubt Jodie's powers again.
Jodie makes the decision to leave home, "They said I could see my parents whenever I wanted, but I just didn't see the point after awhile...there was no malice in this decision you understand. The sad truth was they just didn't even smell right to me anymore."
A Cadillac pulls into the driveway to take Jodie, dressed in his Sunday best, off to his important new life.
"We gotta train you..." says the mysterious woman inside, "we gotta teach you to focus so you're ready for the big Grand Finale twenty one years down the line..."
She tells Jodie that he's off to meet the boss, his true father.
"I'm going to meet God?" Jodie asks.
"No, silly boy, whatever gave you that idea?"
Before the big reveal, two panels down, we see the license plate:
IM 666 Jodie himself is the Antichrist he had thought he'd be facing.

We flash forward twenty one years. Jodie is telling this story to a collection of reporters and yes men, his face eclipsed by shadow. He laughs at the notion that he had once assumed he was Christ the redeemer, "It's only natural, I suppose. No one likes to think they're the Grendel to someone's Beowulf."
A woman asks him if his father found it funny that he's assumed he was the son of God.In those horrible lost years, Jodie learned a fear he could never have imagined. Fear that became hate, hate that became a pure, destructive rage.
Jodie, now President of the United States, readies an attack on the Holy Land. He is twisted and dark. We know how great his power is, and it can only have grown in the decades since an innocent and faithful child brought a man's only friend back from the dead, a gift of perfect kindness.
That child is gone forever, replaced by a man built of a deep and awful fear, and filled with power and anger.

My Flagboy and your Flagboy:Marvel's Civil War

2006-05-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

The above panel is by Civil War penciler Steve McNiven, who has been Marvel Comic's best kept secret for some time. His guest shots on New Avengers highlighted not only his own ability, but the weaknesses of regular artist David Finch. He's got a touch for hyper-reality: he's great at breaking down moments into exact seconds; making each image a snapshot of time. It's an ability that Frank Quitely shares, though McNiven's figures are not as fluid as Quitely's.
Civil War's lead writer (though it's an event spanning several books, and used a by-committee creative process) is Mark Millar, who at his best is playful and energetic, but at his worst is obvious and bland. So far, in Issue 1, we're seeing Millar at his high energy best.

We begin with tragedy. Half a city is leveled and thousands are killed when a superhero reality show gets out of hand. In the quest for ratings, the New Warriors and their camera crew pick the wrong fight with the wrong people, and pay the price.
That moment, while a bit overblown, does connect Civil War to the real world, which is something that Marvel in its heyday prided itself on doing. With its heavy political overtones, complete with cameo by G.W. Bush and his cabinet, Civil War is not shying away from allegory. From the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act to the proposed National ID card.

We're also getting a look into the hearts of two characters that have for most of the Marvel Universe' history been its strongest pillars: Captain America and Iron Man.
Their friendship and trust has been key to the world's survival from the Silver Age on. From Avengers to Secret Wars to the New Avengers, they've been through it all, always on the same side.
But it's finally the issue of what liberties each man is willing to give up for security that divides them.

The public outcry against costumed superfolk hits Tony Stark, in a sense, harder than the rest, because he is the public face of the New Avengers. Everyone knows where their money comes from, and when they mess things up, it's Tony Stark who gets dragged through the mud. Other heroes, whose alter-egos are also public, such as Reed Richard and the rest of the Fantastic Four, are also affected by the incident in their normal lives. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, is beaten outside of a nightclub by an angry mob:Though, to be fair they're not concerned citizens, they're people who paid to see Fantastic Four in the theater. And Johnny Storm's been begging for a beating for forty-odd years.

What we see in Issue 1 as well is that Captain America stands not so much for the country itself, but for its ideals of 'life liberty and the pursuit of happiness'.
And, when the government turns against those ideals, it's Cap who fights back. The scene is brilliantly done. It manages to be what so few comic book fights are: genuinely thrilling.
In true corny Millar fashion, when Cap hitches a ride on a passing F-14 by smashing through the cockpit, the stunned pilot screams: "JEEZUS", and Cap admonishes him, "Watch that potty mouth, son." Keep in mind, Cap is a leftover from the Golden Age, and this moment is meant, no doubt, to highlight his old-fashioned values. It's silly, but I think it works.

At the end of the book, Tony and Reed have promised President Bush that they will do what Cap would not, which is take care of all the rebellious superheroes who oppose the registration act (check out Daredevil's creepy cameo, earlier in the issue: he's not going along with the group, and he's not going down without a fight).
The battle lines are clearly drawn.
It's appropriate that Marvel's big event is about its heroes struggling amongst themselves, since that's what they've been doing since the beginning. Marvel has always been defined by angst, as opposed to DC, who in their big event was fighting against the weight of their own history.
The book is off to an incredible start. If it keeps up this level of quality, this could be the moment that Marvel Comics regains a solid identity for the first time in more than a decade.

CIVIL WAR #1: A+

New Comic Reviews:Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man &Infinite Crisis

2006-05-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #8

It great to have Mike Weiringo back on this book, it's really not the same without him. He adds a gentle, humorous touch that carries the lightweight stories well.
Friendly Neighborhood is carving out its niche as the 'Twilight Zone' Spidey comic, one or two issue tales with twists at the end. I just wonder if this book is in a bit of trouble, since this is the second storyline in a row that I just can't quite get behind.The issue starts with a twist, actually, a re-creation of Lee and Ditko's first Spider-Man tale, except--wait for it:Yes, Uncle Ben survives and Aunt May dies, by simply falling down the steps as any typical old woman could do whether or not her nephew had just been bitten by a radioactive spider.
Peter learns no responsibility from this experience, but he still has that 'great power', so he becomes an insufferable prick: first hiring Uncle Ben as his manager (in this story, Spidey continues his wrestling career, something David is clearly hung up on); then firing him when he becomes inconvenient.It's an interesting take, but a bit too 'Behind the Music' obvious.

Luckily this is all an illusion, a mind game being played on poor old Uncle Ben by The Hobgoblin of of the Year 2211. Y'see, I want to like that idea, but I just freaking can't. It's a fun thing, sure, but it's also more than a bit lazy. The whole issue, in fact, doesn't stand out. Maybe because it doesn't play to Ringo's strengths: slam-bang action. But, for whatever reason, it's just sort of there.

And, I know every time I come upon an Iron-Spidey sighting I bitch about it (I'm not even buying Amazing until they dump that shit); but it's a giant artistic handicap:Artists from Ditko on have managed to turn a faceless character into one of comic's most expressive. But the blank golden eyes of the new suit betray no emotion (especially in an issue where he has been reunited with the man he loved most in his life).
Anyway, we're promised some craziness and great art next issue, so in the meantime this issue did give us Spider-Man with a lightsaber:Which is really more than enough.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #8: B-

INFINITE CRISIS #7

Holy Double-Page Splash, Batman!
Yes, the two-page spread, when you just don't feel like writing anymore.
I liked Infinite Crisis 7, it did what it had to do. It was exciting, it wrapped up the main story, it even kept the door open for a sequel(!). But a lot of it felt like a Michael Bay film: jumbled and disorienting. Confusing composition and action with little time for story or character. Where to look? What's going on? Is this person dead or...no wait, there he is...but...

Infinite Crisis should have been subtitled 'Superman Grows a Pair', because finally he does so in the conclusion, beating raging teenager Superboy-Prime senseless ("You won't let me be Superman, so I'm gonna blow up the whole universe! Nyah-nyah! That'll show you!").I love that self-destructive race to the center of the Universe with Superboy and all the flying members of the DCU.
And we finally get some clue into Alex Luthor's motivations, in a single panel, tiny and locked into the middle of an action sequence.We got so much of Superboy-Prime's backstory, but hardly anything real with Alex. He was, and he dies as, a cardboard villain. There's no excuse for Johns not developing him more. None.

Along the way there is a dreadfully confusing bit with the Flash:Long story? We got time, junior. Explain yourself. And he stands de-powered at the end of the issue, handing over his gear to old Jay Garrick, who had previously been de-powered in issue 4. Oh, whatever.

By the way, is Dick Grayson dead?
He sure as fuck looks dead there. That's the red, red vino spilling out of his skull there, all right. Man, DC has not been very kind to poor ol' Dick lately: first Frank Miller turns him into a mass-murdering pederast in Dark Knight Strikes Again, and now this.
So he's dead there, and we have a Nightwing in the great big hero spread at the end, but no Robin. Not that I could find, anyway. Does that mean Tim Drake takes on the role of Nightwing? But what sense does that make? And if Dick is ok, why not a moment with him saying as much?

But, there are many things that work in this issue. Batman's attempted murder of Alex Luthor is intense, but I didn't get the whole thing with Wonder Woman afterwards, Did she break her sword on purpose, to send a message to Bruce?
And the all-Superman showdown was bloody fun, but since Superboy was drawn exactly like the other two, it was very hard to tell who was hitting who, until our Superman ripped the "S" off of Superboy's chest.
And, since we still have Alex to deal with, the most hideous figure in the DCU takes care of him for us: But, really, why wasn't the Joker in more than two scenes for the biggest DCU event in 20 years? He's the creepiest, baddest villain they've got.

The epilogue, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, deciding to walk away from their heroic alter-egos for a year (I believe Superman has no choice, since he flew through so much Kryptonite he has no powers for awhile) was boring and dreary.
In the sum of it, Infinite Crisis was entertaining at most, brilliant at times, awkward at worst. It was not the awe-inspiring event it should have been. The inconsistent art is a big reason, but the wishy-washy story is a bigger one. What it did give us, though, is a 'Break Glass in Case of Emergency' all-purpose Super Villain.Which is more than I had expected it to do.

INFINITE CRISIS #7: B-
INFINITE CRISIS: B

LOST recap: Two for the Road

2006-05-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Holy shit.
Well, they certainly gave Harold Perrineau something to work with this time, right?
This is why I go out of my way too avoid message boards and other potential spoilers. If I'd had any notion that Michael was going to turn that gun on Ana, and that Libby was going to bite it along with her, I wouldn't have had the moment of complete slack-jawed surprise that I did tonight.
With Michelle Rodriguez's legal troubles, it's not a big surprise they wrote her off the show. Just this week, when the story of her sentencing came out the show's producers said they could work around her absence.
Yeah, by putting a freaking bullet in her! (Yahoo UK had it right, though.)
They even made her last episode revolve around her drinking problem. Was tonight's episode just one long intervention for Michelle? Or a 'Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out'?

Just when I was starting to like Ana-Lucia, too. I'll say this much for Ana, now that she's gone. She provided for us two of the best episodes of the season, Collision and now Two for the Road. This was a remarkably well directed episode, in terms of pacing and performance. Paul Edwards, who previously did the just OK What Kate Did was behind the camera and he gave us a tight, engrossing episode even before the gut-wrenching final minutes.

I love having John Terry back as Jack's dad, even if it was a bit far-fetched that he'd meet up with Ana and whisk her away for a Lost Weekend in Sydney. But, really, what else was Ana doing? What else did she have to live for? This episode was, more than anything else, about the guilt that Ana kept wrapped around herself, guilt that finally killed her.

Ana didn't just jump Sawyer, she essentially raped him, because she used her sex as a form of control, as the only power she had available.
More revealing is how she reacted to Sawyer when he yelled, "Go on, GET!." Ana was just a stray dog, whimpering around with her tail between her legs, occasionally snarling or biting but really no danger to anyone but herself. Michelle Rodriguez did a great job tonight, she was believable and sympathetic. I'll actually miss her on the show, something I could have never predicted her first few episodes this season.

So: Is Michael a bad guy now? Is he a mole? Is he infected with the 'sickness' that Rousseau's always going on about? He was clearly conflicted right up until that last minute, when he pulled the trigger, and horrified when Libby walked in, and he had to pop her, too (Ana was really almost a mercy killing). And Edwards gave us a nice long moment after the shooting to absorb what had just happened. I hope in the last few episodes of this season Perrineau gets a chance to shine, and I also hope that he survives the season because suddenly Mike's interesting again.
Was he possibly doing this because it was the only way they'd let him have Walt back?

LOST is all new until the finale. Everything changes now. One huge question I have: What evil shit are the Others doing that makes someone turn this violently?
This was sweeps television as it should be.

LOST Episode 2:20; Two for the Road: A+

Top 10 Comics since 19797. Animal Man #5: The Coyote Gospel

2006-04-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

DC Comics
1989
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Chas Troug,
Doug Hazelwood

Grant Morrison makes his first of four appearances on the countdown here. Animal Man was a mostly forgotten Silver Age character when Grant got his big stateside break on his revamp. The basics: Buddy Baker, by virtue of being to close to an exploding spaceship is given the ability to take on the natural abilities of any animal he comes into contact with (instead of, say, getting third degree burns or losing a limb). If he's around a bat he has radar, around a bird he can fly, around a...you get the idea.
It's Silver Age cornball at its height. But Grant made the correct decision, very early on in the run, of focusing more on Buddy himself, and his family, than on what fantastic abilities Buddy possessed. Paying the bills was just as important to the Bakers as saving the Universe.
That said, The Coyote Gospel has next to nothing to do with Buddy Baker, his family, or his abilities. Instead, it's Grant Morrison's howling, bizarre introduction to the DCU, a place he would always do his best work.

We begin with roadkill on the desert highway. Immediately we're given an image of nature under man's control, of destruction and violence.
But we're also shown the caring side of humanity, as we're privy to the conversation between a trucker and a runaway he's picked up along his route. He's full of stern, parental concern:
"I don't think you know how lucky you are I came along. Hitching In the desert is suicide, man."
"Yeah, well, the last guy kicked me out because I wouldn't, like, y'know..."
"Yeah, I know."
The trucker has a past in L.A., where young Carrie is heading. He offers her advice, turn back and go home. He knows the streets she'll be on soon. He also knows the road out:They drive on, singing along to the radio, their worries momentarily forgotten. Then, a shadow comes into the middle of the road, they slam into it head on. The girl is terrified, the trucker just stares ahead grimly. "Forget it, just don't look back."
But we don't follow the girl and the trucker down the road, we stay with their fresh kill.
The creature writhes in the sun, his organs and bones reforming. From the narration: "A newly activated nervous system is suddenly jammed with frantic signals, like an overworked switchboard. The creature shudders, weeping. Its pelvic girdle fuses along hairline sutures, to cradle rapidly healing organs..."
Grant's words give the creature vivid, disgusting life. He rises to his feet and, like any good movie monster, stares at his audience.
From the very beginning, we see there's something different about this beast. Something...strange, goofy, ok I'll say it: Looney.
Our friend Crafty is none other than Wile E. Coyote, Christ figure.

We rejoin the trucker, but he's much different. The silver cross is gone, and his head is shaved. His 'friend' Billy has died in an accident, his mother is dead of cancer, and he finds out that Carrie has been killed in a drug raid, after living as a prostitute in L.A.
He has lost the gentle, loving look in his eyes. He's a desperate, scared man. He has come to blame his loss on the devil. And the devil, in his eyes, is Crafty. Only by destroying the beast can he soothe his heart, and deal with his loss.
He finds Crafty and blows him off a high desert cliff. Any fan of Chuck Jones knows where this is heading:Troug and Hazelwood are not amazing artists, their style was pretty much par for the course in 1980's comics: just good enough to not be distractingly bad. But they do a wonderful job of recreating typical cartoon moments like the ones above, and I love this reaction shot, which is as close to eyes popping right out of Crafty's head as his new, more dynamic anatomy will allow.
But to the trucker he is Satan incarnate. That's the only thing his Christian background will allow him to see Crafty, and nature in general: as tools of the devil.This is not to say that the book is an attack on Christianity. The trucker is every bit as pathetic and pained as the coyote. But his single minded obsession with defeating evil blinds him to the fact that he shares Crafty's pain.

Crafty seeks out Buddy, and it is Buddy that he gives his grand message of faith to: The Gospel According to Crafty.Crafty comes from a world where constant, meaningless violence is accepted as the norm and never questioned. Where cartoon critters maim and explode each other endlessly for the entertainment of a cruel, vengeful God. Crafty goes up into the presence of God, an animator on a golden throne with blood red paint dripping from it.Crafty is sent 'into the dark hell of the second reality" to bear "the suffering of the world", on the condition that while he does, God will make peace between the beasts of his world. Crafty is not so much a Christ as a Prometheus, defying the will of God to serve humanity, to "overthrow the tyrant God, and build a better world."
But even Animal Man cannot help Crafty.And the trucker, slave to a vengeful God just as Crafty is, makes his last effort, with a silver bullet made from the cross he'd worn (a denial of Christ, of the resurrection). The bullet finds its mark, and the trucker collapses, mission accomplished.Will he ever get up again? Given that he has nothing left to live for, it hardly seems to matter.

There's no way Buddy can know the larger importance of what he's witnessing, but he stays with Crafty as he dies, out of basic, human compassion.You don't need a thought bubble to read "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" in those eyes.
But, as he bleeds his last, Crafty is ultimately given the peace that he sought. His God delivers to him, at last, a dignified and merciful death.

New Comic Reviews: Astonishing X-Men, X-Factor, Frankenstein

2006-04-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

ASTONISHING X-MEN #14

I'm not a giant Joss Whedon fan: I liked Buffy, but I hated Serenity.
But what Whedon's doing for the X-Men I totally love.

I grew up reading X-Men, so they're characters that are ingrained in my psyche: Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm, the whole lot of 'em. But when you look at the stands and see 17 X-books, and only a handful of them worth exploring, you realize that Marvel is stretching the concept way too thin.
What Whedon does that the other writers don't is take risks. Some, like the return of Colossus, are unforgettable; some, like the sentient Danger Room, are brilliant failures.
What I love about this issue is that it puts the spotlight, finally, on Scott Summers, aka Cyclops. Most writers never touch on Scott, except as a straight-laced foil to Wolverine. No run that I can remember focused on Scott himself, who he is inside and what drives his need for total control, of himself and mutants at large.
Whedon also does what should have been done a long, long time ago: making Emma the White Queen again. Emma Frost will never be anything but, well:That's not Wolverine, by the way, it's Emma toying with Scott's confidence. Emma is slipping back to her old ways, and she's doing it gradually, even though she's such a powerful psychic she could do whatever she wanted to Scott. She's molding him into the man she needs him to be to stand at her side when she flips.
But, whether or not Scott's decision is an illusion, placed in his memories by Emma, it's a sad and moving moment. Also, I'm damn near giddy about the return of Cassandra Nova, the best thing Grant Morrison ever gave the Marvel Universe. She's pure malice in that panel, and Whedon should take full, evil advantage of her presence.
I continue to be floored by John Cassaday's art: he's a man among little boys over at Marvel, and I'm glad they give him the time he needs to be this wonderful. What I love the most is how ordinary he makes the X-Men look. These are not the straight-from-an-80's-fashion mag X-people of Jim Lee or even John Byrne: these are real people, and you grieve and laugh with them all the more because of it.
And, along the same line of thought, I really love his Jean Grey. She's so girl-next-door lovely, but haunted. Just like she should be. I hope this is setting up another return, because enough already: we need Phoenix back. This was a great, fun issue. Astonishing is back on the right track, this run looks amazing.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #14: A+

X-FACTOR #6

Meanwhile, over in the only other X-book you should be bothering to read, Syrin lies in bed recovering from her viscous beating two issues back, and her bondage-tinged ordeal last issue. While the X-Factor crew talks over each other about what to do, Rictor lashes out at Layla. "You come out of nowhere saying you 'know stuff'...You made sure I was at that gas station when that girl was in trouble...and that guy who was ready to kill me...winds up being taken out by you, because he just happens to be standing in the right place to be electrocuted?...Did you know Terry was going to be jumped, Layla? And if so, why didn't you do whatever it is you do to stop it?"
Finally we get to the heart of Layla Miller, who she is, where she came from, and how she 'knows' what she 'knows'. Ever since she first appeared in the big House of M event, she's been at once an irritant and a breath of fresh air. We learn here that Layla is essentially a ripple in space and time, a living embodiment of chaos theory. But beyond that, we like Layla immensely by the end of this one. Stripped of her adopted family she loses her know-it-all smirk and is subject to the same abuse that her mutant (and former mutant) brethren are. She becomes fragile and real.Denis Calero is surprisingly effective here. He does best at small, personal moments (he could never have made the splash page at the end of issue 1 hit as hard as Sook); there is some striking art in this book. There is also more of the amateurish, ugly postures and bizarre expressions of the last few issues.
I'll say this much about Denny Calero: he is not a great artist now, but in time he could be. I'm still not sure I want him on X-Factor, but I'm having trouble now picturing it without him.
X-FACTOR #6: A-

FRANKENSTEIN #4

I've never tripped on mushrooms, but after reading this issue I think I may know what it's like. Frankenstein #4 genuinely threw me, but in a good way. It took me quite a few reads to pin this issue down, but once I did, it blew me away.Grant Morrison may have found his ideal collaborator in Doug Mahnke. There is something so specific about the worlds he can create visually that syncs pefectly with what Grant does. His worlds are fantastic, but they feel real, and immediate.

We open with our man Frankie trudging to battle with Neh-Buh-Luh, the Huntsman who we find is still pining away for Misty, Zatanna's sidekick and Snow White of this here tale.
"There was harmony, symmetry and beauty in her. I cannot forget. Like an insect writhing on a pin in the glare of the sun. I cannot forget her."
I love how much more elevated the speech and narration is in the Frankenstin minis than the other Seven Soldiers books, it adds to the out-of-time feel of the hero.

Neh-Buh-Luh is defeated, not so much by Frankenstein, but by an internal flaw, so says Frankie:Those supermen were the International Ultramarine Corps way back in JLA Classified. He is brought down by billions of years of internal decay. I'll miss the Nebula-Man, though. I hope, somehow he still makes an appearance in Seven Soldiers #1.
Frankie, with the help of S.H.A.D.E., tracks the Sheeda to Miracle Mesa, where this whole thing began, to Castle Revolving. Oh, and he's not alone:Justin, is that you?

From that point, we flash forward to one Billion years later.
The Earth is being pulled into the sun, the Sheeda stand victorious. We are at the end of time. We are, at last, at Summer's End. We now know where the Sheeda come from: they are invaders from our own end, they are (as Gloriana tells Frankie, taunting him with the apple like the snake in Eden) human, the last end of evolutionary progress. The final stop in the survival of the fittest, and they travel back through time to feast on civilizations throughout history at will. Frankie, bless his undead heart, is unimpressed as ever. He brings down the bulk of the Sheeda fleet, and challenges Gloriana, taking her back to our time to face death and judgment. A thrilling end to a spectacular series. To be continued...

FRANKENSTEIN #4: A+

Top 10 Comics since 19798. Infinite Crisis #4: Homecoming

2006-04-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

DC Comics
March 2006
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Phil Jimenez, George Perez, Ivan Reis

What in the hell is this issue doing on my list, you ask? Well, let me put it this way: I'm pretty discriminating when it comes to film (or a snob as some wags might say); but until I die The Empire Strikes Back will be on my all-time Top Ten Films list. Sometimes, you just need a little action and excitement.
Or one hell of a good fight.

Infinite Crisis, as detailed elsewhere on this site, has been up and down. I read the first issue and enjoyed some of it (Bizarro's bloody dispatching of the Human Bomb, for instance; Batman's scathing line to Superman: "The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead."); but the ending, bringing back the Crisis on Infinite Earths alternate universe crew seemed oddly handled. I was left cold by issue two, the Power Girl origin crap and the continuing drone of how rotten the current DCU was, and how beautiful it had been in the Golden Age (otherwise known as Earth-2).
But Issue 3 was a tremendous turnaround: Alex Luthor ad Superboy-Prime revealed as the masterminds behind the Crisis; Earth-2 Superman's offer to Batman; and Themiscrya Island fading into oblivion as Wonder Woman looks on.
Also, the art was gorgeous. Something about the look of the first two books just felt off,the inking in particular. All the Crisis books have been inked 'by committee' to get the product out faster, and the first books were ugly and rushed as a result.
But the penciling has been solid: Phil Jimenez has proven himself, on his days penciling the Invisibles, as one of the tightest artists in comics today. His style is clean and bold, making him a perfect choice for a big event like this. The messy look of the first issue especially caught me off guard, but by Issues 3 and 4, the inks were better and as a result, the action hit harder.

We open on Alex and Luthor overseeing the destruction of Bludhaven, in a great opening sequence featuring Chemo, the evil green giant of the DCU and a gorilla in a bandolier (sweet Christ I love comics in moments like these).
"Do you think Chemo understands what we're gonna do?"
"I do not think he cares."
Chemo himself has very little to say on the subject.The whole sequence reminds me of Hitchiker's Guide when the Sperm Whale is brought into existence by the Probability Drive, only to be splattered blubber bits seconds later ("Hey, what's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide-sounding name like...ow...ound...round...ground! That's it! That's a good name-ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?")

Anyway, millions of people are vaporized, and Alex and Superboy-Prime have a typically James Bond villain moment with Power Girl, locked into her place on their tower. They explain to her, now that she's locked into Anti-Monitor corpse powered phallic symbol, just how they've manipulated both the heroes and villains of the DCU. All they need is Alex Luthor sitting in a chair stroking a fluffy white cat.

Geoff Johns is a fun writer, he has good ideas, but sometimes he gets cutesy, or maudlin. In this issue he strikes, most of the time, the right notes in his scenes. The focus of the emotion here is between Batman and Nightwing, Dick Grayson, former Robin. Bruce Wayne clearly views Dick with the stunned pride of a father realizing his son's grown into a decent and noble man and wondering: what did I possibly have to do with that?
Batman's raging self-doubt has become personified in Brother Eye, his superhero spy satellite, and here is a man who lived through the same trauma that Bruce did, who fought the same criminals, felt the same pain, joined the same cause.
But he is standing tall in the light while Batman cowers in the shadows.It's a nice moment, but a note that has not been maintained for the rest of the Crisis books. Dick Grayson made a choice to walk away from Batman, and become his own man, and take on another identity while still fighting crime. I had thought Infinite Crisis was going to make it clear just how hard that decision was, and just what kind of a man Dick was. But so far, it's fallen short of that promise.

But the main event, taking up over half of the book's length, and the reason that this book ranks on this list, is without a doubt the spectacular fight between the current DCU Superboy, Conner Kent and Superboy of Earth-Prime. Superboy-Prime is a bundle of raw, eternally pubescent nerves who's been huddled away in a heavenly prison for the past twenty years. He watches Conner live the life he never had a chance to, and grows to hate him for his inaction, for his self-doubt.
In a sense, Conner's doubt is a greater reflection on the fact that Superboy-Prime is forever frozen in time: he's never experienced the doubts that Conner has because he is forever young and hopeful, never feeling the heavy weight of responsibility that comes with age.
Superboy-Prime sees in Conner a reflection of his lost future: the cute girlfriend, the cool friends, the supportive family. Face to face with his doppelganger twenty years of pent up, homicidal rage come pouring out.The battle is intense, Jimenez is just great here. He perfectly captures Superboy-Prime's supreme indignation and growing insanity.
Going into this issue I knew nothing about either of the fighters, aside from the basics. I knew that Superboy-Prime was the silver age Superman-to-be; and that Conner came out of the whole Return of Superman mess and used to dress in leather and look like a complete tool. After this issue, and this fight, Superboy-Prime went down as the best villain in the DCU in years, and Conner Kent became somebody that I could really root for.
Conner is little match for the pure fury of Superboy-Prime's attack. What do you do against a guy who can fling a taxi at you like it's a Matchbox racer?You call in the Teen Titans, of course.This is where Superboy-Prime loses it forever, when everything truly goes to shit. Cornered and scared, and not understanding the unlimited depths of his powers, Superboy-Prime mows through C and D list Titans, in bloody and horrific fashion.
No, really:The moment is as heartbreaking as it is visceral, as Superboy-Prime pleads for understanding, but can't contain his impulses. He kills at will, tears streaming down his face.Again, I give Jimenez credit for the power of this scene. He creates a chaotic composition that mirrors Superboy-Prime's mental state. He is a little boy lost. He was a hero all his life but now he is beyond saving. What we are witnessing is the tragic origin of the most powerful villain in the DC Universe.
The Titans are bailed out by the Flashes (Jay Garrick the original, Wally West the Post-Crisis Flash, and Bart Allen, current Kid Flash), who come out of nowhere and drag Superboy-Prime along with them at supersonic speed.This is the great moment in Infinite Crisis. The moment that forever links it with its predecessor, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Jay's body gives out on him, and he falls behind. Wally disappears to who knows where (with his family in tow, a cheesy moment that almost stalls the momentum of the scene). Bart is left alone to pull Superboy into the speed zone, with Superboy taunting him all the way. Bart releases his anger and, out of the great shining oblivion beyond comes a hand:It's Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, whose death in Crisis on Infinite Earths was one of the all-time great moments in superhero books (creepy just to think about, his face receding until the Flash was nothing more than an empty costume). And, even better, it's George Perez, penciller of the first Crisis, supplying the art. Perez has improved with time. He could always draw a spectacular crowd scene, but this the level of surprise and emotion he brings to this scene is unmatched in his career.
It's the goose-bump moment that Ininite Crisis needed so badly.
With his grandfather's help, Bart pushes Superboy-Prime away into the Speed Zone. As as he fades into nothingness he cries, "When I grow up I'm going to be Superman! Don't any of you understand?! I'm going to be Superma..."
The Silver Age hero that sacrificed himself to save the world has returned to defeat the Silver Age hero that came to destroy it.

I'm a sucker for cross-overs. Well done cross-overs, that is. One of the things I love most about DC Comics is their rich, full Universe, and their ability to shift and play with their characters in ways that are far more meaningful than they're doing down the street at Marvel. Think about it: one of the most beloved icons of the Silver Age has been turned into a raving psycho killer. That takes a measure of guts, because although the kids buying this book don't care about the old Superboy, the collectors who grew up with him do. I hope to see Superboy-Prime stay, he's a great, great villain.
In the end, Infinite Crisis is like a typical summer blockbuster. Loud, corny, and at times obnoxious. But at its heights, it's an absolute blast.

Top 10 Comics since 19799. Daredevil #181: Last Hand

2006-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

Marvel Comics
April 1982
Writer: Frank Miller
Art: Frank Miller
Finished Art
& Colors: Klaus Janson

Frank Miller, over the course of an almost 30 year career in comics, has been many things: ugly, misogynistic, excessively violent, and sensationalistic.
He is also one the undisputed masters of the form, and holds a complete understanding of comic's strengths and weaknesses. His work envelops you into a world of sight and sound: a total sensory experience. You can hear the voices of his Hell's Kitchen street thugs, you can feel the chill of the night and the steam rising from the street.
His hard-boiled writing style works sometimes and sometimes it falls flat. But, where his characters may lack depth emotionally, he makes up for it through his art that allows you to feel the depth of their suffering.
Last Hand puts a giant-sized, 40 page capper on what may have been the best run of Miller's career: his re-invention of Daredevil. He took one of Marvel's goofiest ideas (a blind superhero. oh-kay...) and made you believe in it. By the time he was done, you had a clear picture of who Matt Murdock was, how his powers functioned, and what was at the seat of his compulsion to stalk the shadows at night.Issue 181 also features a heaping handful of Bullseye, maybe the most underrated, underutilized villains in the Marvel Universe. When the issue starts, he's in Ryker's Island prison, plotting revenge against Daredevil, who put him there. Bullseye is still suffering from his debilitating migraines, and the guards only toy with him, taking their sweet time giving him his medication.Miller turns his pain into a spiky, bright red halo, shooting straight up into the infinity of the panel gutters. This is Bullseye's life: unnerving pain and burning resentment towards the man that not only took away his freedom, but also saved his life.
Three pages later, Bullseye starts his rampage. He breaks out of prison during a live TV interview, and begins his hunt for Daredevil, killing indiscriminately as he goes. Over the course of the book, Bullseye kills at least six people on page, and certainly more off. This is Miller at his best. The fight sequences are kinetic and fascinating, the violence sudden and ugly.
Look at this sequence with Bullseye wondering to himself if Matt Murdock, blind attorney, could actually be Daredevil. It's essentially a splash page, right? Just one picture cut up into a few separate panels.But look at the divides: an empty bottle of booze lies on the floor, a bottle of pills lies spilled, cigarettes burn to their filters untouched. And, running again past the gutters into infinity, Bullseye's echoing, psychotic laughter. With this one page,and with those divisions of time, Miller tells us all we need to know about the character's single minded obsession.

Now, we come to the inevitable. The showdown between Bullseye, Daredevil's greatest enemy and Elektra, assassin for hire and former college lover of Matt Murdock.
Miller can't write women for shit. Elektra is never, at any point during this long arc about her descent from a privileged childhood to a life of vigilante revenge, a well-rounded and defined character. She exists, as so many women do in comics, solely to give the man in her life a stronger motivation for his deeds.
That said: this may be the defining moment in Daredevil's career. This happens right at the right-hand side of the page. When you turn the page, the very next panel, taking up the full left hand side, big as life:That hurts to look at. The same goes for Elektra's last stumbling moments as she makes her way step by agonizing step to Matt's door.Especially chilling: the blood pouring out of her in the first panel, and Bullseye calmly putting on his jacket in the next.

Daredevil and Bullseye meet, finally, in a six-page deathmatch, with Bullseye using Elektra's swords against her former lover. The above panels are among my favorite in the book. Bullseye is so iconic, with his logo well-defined against the black, and I love the frightening, animal ferocity with which he leaps onto the tracks below.
And here is a prime example of Miller's sensory overload:The sound of the train fills up the gutters, becoming an overwhelming roar. You don't need to imagine the sound, it's right there in front of you blocking out all other information, disorienting you just as it does the characters on page.
The climax of the fight comes with the two face to face on a wire high above the city. Miller slows down time, focusing on each second as Daredevil finally gains the upper hand, and again is about to save Bullseye's life.Bullseye would rather fall to his certain death than be in debt to his enemy again. When we see him for the last time he is in the hospital, hooked up to machines and in a full body cast. Even though we can't see it, we can imagine him with an evil grin of satisfaction.
"Maybe I didn't get you this time Daredevil, " he says in the narration, "But I got her, didn't I? I got her good. I wish that hurt you. I wish she's been yours, so that you'd spend long, lonely night staring at the ceiling, thinking about her...but ya can't win 'em all...Meanwhile, there's your buddy Murdock, who helped you beat me. How does he feel?""
Daredevil has won nothing. Bullseye will be out of prison again, Elektra will even rise from the dead. But there is still no victory, the fight simply goes on. Matt Murdock stands at Elektra's grave until he is as still and snow-covered as the tombstones that surround him. As a much better writer than Frank Miller once said:

"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

Did I just quote James Joyce in a critical analysis of a Marvel comic? Oh, you bet your ass I did.

Finally, a use for Garfield

2006-04-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

I knew something this horrible had to be modern art in disguise. Garfield's true purpose revealed here.

I can't say it's at all surprising that Jon Arbuckle is really a Son of Sam style psychopath.

Seriously: someone needs to do do this every day. This is fucking brilliant.

Top 10 Comics since 197910. Identity Crisis #5: Father's Day

2006-04-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

DC Comics
December 2004
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Penciller: Rags Morales
Inker: Michael Bair

If you ever want to pick a fight at a convention or a comic store, just mention Identity Crisis. Little in recent superhero territory has been as controversial, or as critically acclaimed.
At its most basic level, Identity Crisis is a murder mystery, written by Brad Meltzer, veteran of the genre. Someone is threatening those closest to the DC heroes, which means that someone knows the secret identities of even top tier good guys like Superman; and during the course of the investigation it is revealed that the Justice League has been performing magical lobotomies on C-list villains for decades.
The mystery is a good one, but the story functions best on a basic human level: Superman rushing out the door of the Kent's farm and into the Smallville sky, "Pa, do me a favor and lock the doors."; Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, rushing to his wife's smoldering corpse, his arms and face drooped to their limit with grief; the Atom shrinking away into oblivion, destroyed by his wife's betrayal.
Meltzer does first and foremost what any good novelist should do, which is get you deep into the heads of the characters. Green Arrow, political conscience of the JLA, is the pivot point for the big reveals in the book, but Meltzer also breathes life into previously irredeemably goofy characters like the Captain Boomerang and The Calculator.
Rags Morales provides the art, and he's spectacular here. In his theatrical expressions and open layout he's very reminiscent of the great Will Eisner. Also, he has Eisner's sense of using posture as a way to convey character (usually only animators do this well, for some reason comic artists usually don't bother). Without Rags' contributions Identity Crisis would have still been a good read, but with him it's a classic.

Father's Day is the fifth of seven issues. The previous issue ended with Lois Lane receiving a note that read: I know who your husband is, You're Next.
Five opens with the fallout: teams of adrenaline crazed superheroes on a rampage, desperately hunting for information.
Meltzer and Morales create a palpable tension, and a real sense that every hero is at their breaking point. Finally, there is a casualty in the rushing confusion, as Firestorm is pierced by Shining Knight's sword and explodes in the sky above his companions.I have no particular affinity for Firestorm, but the sequence is heartbreaking. Look at the way Morales plays with time in his panels, holding onto those last moments of his flight as Firestorm becomes just a glowing ball over the horizon (Scott McCloud would surely have a thing or two to say about how only the medium of comics could have portrayed this scene in this way, with that kind of lingering impact. Lucky for you, I'm not Scott McCloud).
Then the gorgeous, silent supernova as a hero dies.

The bulk of Issue Five is given over to the story of two sets of fathers and sons. First is Captain Boomerang, Flash's long suffering nemesis, and his son Owen, who he's just recently reunited with. Second, Tim Drake, the current Robin, and his father Jack who has just learned exactly where it is his son goes at nights.
While the Boomerangs gleefully toss their razor tipped and explosive namesakes around in the park; Jack frets endlessly over news coverage of the recent deaths. He is torn by fear and admiration. His son is a hero, a superhero even, and he has at a young age become a man his father has never been. He wants his son safe, but he knows the world is safer with him out fighting for it.
Captain Boomerang is given new life by his son's pride. He's no longer a has-been or a never-was, he's an immediate and terrifying danger.

The horror of this moment is made all the more real by how mundane the set-up is. Jack says goodbye to his son and shuffles into the kitchen, and within moments is crouched on the floor; in one shaky hand a gun, in the other Tim's Teen Titans communicator. Oracle patches the feed into the Batmobile, and it becomes a panicked race against time to get Tim home.
In his fear and vulnerability there is no more Robin, only Tim Drake, tiny and helpless, listening to his father die.
Rags handles this moment perfectly. He shows, for the first time in the book, just how young Tim really is:But, more importantly, the expression on Batman's face when he sees how young Tim is, and remembers not only his own loss, but Dick Grayson's and Jason Todd's. Bruce Wayne, eternally cursed to relive the tragedy that drove him to the shadows. Batman, more than any other hero, wallows in his suffering. He has become his grief and rage. He bears the collective guilt of the DC Universe on his shoulders. He chose to fight crime, but in fighting crime he only ever brought it to his doorstep. That guilt is what Identity Crisis is about. As he drives Tim home, with each moment knowing it's a futile effort, all Bruce can say is, "Not again."The power in the final moments of the book lie in their deafening silence. It's a great comic writer who knows when to trust his artist, and Meltzer lets Rags tell the story. The snarling pride in Captain Boomerang's face as he crashes through the door. The tears streaming down Jack Drake's face as he fires.
The ultimate futility of both men caught in a snare larger than either of them imagined, bleeding their life out together.

Identity Crisis forever changed what was possible in the DCU. For the better or the worse is a matter of opinion. In fact, much of what is being termed as negative about the DCU (and therefore, in need of negation) over in the ongoing Infinite Crisis stems from the brutal drama of Identity Crisis. But the story is about the choices that people make, whether it's putting on a cape or signing divorce papers, and the very real consequences of even the smallest act.

(Hate Idenity Crisis? You're not alone...)

Next time, on GEEK USA...

2006-04-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am facing that oh-so-dreaded thing in the world of blogging: down time.

LOST is repeats for a few weeks, it's another month until Infinite Crisis' (or is it Crisises?) wrap-up, Seven Soldiers hasn't been heard from in awhile, Marvel's Civil War isn't going yet (and besides, I'm tired of Iron Spidey), and DC's One Year Later books are just...ugh.

So here's what's happening here for the next week or two:

You fellow superhero geeks may have seen the latest issue of Wizard, in which they rank the top 100 single issues in comic books 'since you were born'. Which means approximately 1970 in their eyes.
It has been said that I waste my money in buying Wizard, and I wholeheartedly agree. But I tend to use Wizard as a tool for catching up on books that I'll never pick up. Old characters that while they may be growing tired and poorly used, I still have an affection for (Hulk, Iron Man, Silver Surfer. I used to be a big ol' Marvel Zombie, it's true). Also, during my reentry to the world of the spandex-clad after reading only indies for about ten years, it was a great source for all I'd missed in the 90's (admittedly not much, did you know Batman wasn't Batman for a year and Superman died?).

Anyway, I read Wizard and plan to continue. And, probably because I was out of superheroes for so long, I hadn't read most of the issues they picked. Also, I only go so far with Alan Moore. I think the beard disturbs me. They tend to like him in Wizard world, and a lot of other writers I don't have any particular use for: Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis and others whose names aren't quite so similar.
Another very important problem I had with Wizard's list is that the rules for inclusion stated that the issue had to be a self-contained story. This takes away what, for me, is one of comic's greatest strengths: the forever continuing narrative. There's nothing better than a truly great story arc, and my list contains only one one-shot story.

So here, then is my list of the top 10 comic books since I was born, which in this case is 1979.

1. The Invisibles #23
2. The Dark Knight Returns #1
3. Manhattan Guardian #4
4. Hourman #7
5. We3 #3
6. Chosen #3
7. Animal Man #5
8. Infinite Crisis #4
9. Daredevil #181
10. Identity Crisis #5

Over the next few weeks I'll be discussing (and if neccesary defending) these issues in ascending order, in my usual scan happy fashion. I'd love to get some feedback on my picks, sure, but mostly I want you all to chip in your two cents.
What's your list? What issues get your rocks off? I've shown you mine...you know how it goes.

Ok, thanks for listening. You can go back to surfing porno sites now.

New Comic Reviews:JSA and Infinite Crisis Secret Files

2006-04-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

JSA #84

I picked up JSA #84 because I'm a huge Rags Morales fan, loved his work on Hourman and Identity Crisis. He's especially strong with expression, maybe because of the huge doe eyes he gives all his characters (in a good guy, it makes them seem more sincere; in bad guys it makes them seem completely bat-shit insane).
Also, I'd read the recent JSA: Classified Infinite Crisis tie-in Power Girl storyline and found the world of the JSA a pretty inviting place: interesting characters, fun villains, a good-time throwback.
But really: what is going on here? I know I walked in on Part Two of this story here, but I don't have any evidence that reading the opening chapter would have aided my understanding of this. I admit I'm not quite as up on the histories of Wildcat or Mr. Terrific as I am the more mainstream members of the DCU, but can any long time readers tell me what is going on here?

We have a LOST-style flashback to the origin of the Gentleman Ghost, and we have him bringing up specters of the JSA's past. This could be all right, but the dialogue is so pedestrian it's painful:
"Back for you in a tic, GL, after I get this Halloween horror locked up!" says the Jay Garrick Flash, who is given a time reference in practically every line. Once is cute, every time is obnoxious.

Rags is one of the most dynamic storytellers in the business, but even he seems stymied by this incomprehensible plot.
Baffling, just baffling.

Side note: since we know Morales uses actors as character references:Drew Barrymore? Am I right, Rags? Do I get a no-prize? Or the DC equivalent?

JSA #84: D+

INFINITE CRISIS: SECRET FILES & ORIGINS 2006

Marv Wolfman was never a spectacular writer, but he has an uncanny ability to take a story overflowing with continuity and make it not only readable, but entertaining. There's a sense of excitement and depth that he brings to this issue that has been lacking from the overall tone of the other Infinite Crisis books. The main reason is that he's telling a full story, spending time with the characters and their motivations instead of just moving them around the chessboard randomly.
We see the sense of longing, and the arrested development, that drives Alex Luthor and, in turn, Superboy-Prime insane. Wolfman turns both our villains into true tragic figures. Alex, robbed of his childhood and locked in a 'heaven' of his own creation outside of time. Superboy, forever haunted by the death of everyone he ever knew; locked in eternal puberty.

There's something more than a little homo-erotic about Alex and Superboy's relationship, as when Alex strips to reveal his Anti-Matter body.What exactly are you 'funneling' into poor little Clark?

Regardless, this is a very good issue. It illustrates that the chief failing of Infinite Crisis is that there's too damn much of it. A self-contained year long event (like the original Crisis on Infinite Earths) would have been more than enough for this sometimes meandering, sometimes wonderful story.
Infinite Crisis Secret Files & Origins 2006: A

LOST recap: S.O.S.

2006-04-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

Mike's back! Say it with me:

WAAAAAAAALLLLLTT!!!

I wonder if poor Harold Perrineau knew that his only contribution to the second season, after being one of the top three or four featured players in season one, would be running through the jungle shouting that exact line; over and over again.
I'm glad to see the Michael-Walt storyline addressed again, because as good as the second season has been it's been painfully obvious that they've written themselves into a pretty big corner here.
The bottom line is: the show has a short timeline, and Malcolm David Kelly will be growing much faster than Walt is. So the writers are faced with the choice of dumping the character or concocting a plot involving time travel or growth experiments that could strain credibility.
I think LOST in general is pretty fearless with their characters, so whatever's happening with Walt, they need to resolve it this season. Hopefully Michael's return is the beginning of that.

Rose and Bernard make me smile. I really, really love these guys, and I was jazzed to see they were getting their very own flashback episode; a nice breather from all the hot angsty flashback action we get with the younger, sexier island residents.

The problem with the episode is that it seemed like they just wanted to get their flashback out of the way, and so they ran through the entire length of their relationship: the meet-cute in the snow, the proposal at Niagara Falls, and the visit to the faith healer to explain their presence on an Australia to Los Angeles flight.
They're good characters, they deserve more than that, the same slow reveals that we've gotten with Sawyer and Locke.

And the visit with the healer was far too similar to Clarie's visit with the psychic in Season One.
There's also the hint that the island itself, and the the big giant magnets or whatever therein, may have healed Rose and Locke.
We also learn that Rose is the only castaway so far to know of John's previously disabled status. The moment with the two of them on the beach was nice (if a bit creepy). L. Scott Caldwell brings a quiet peace to Rose, (which is also needed when certain supposedly level headed 'leader figures' go off screaming in the rain like idiots), but we've seen that side of Rose. The flashbacks were a chance to see different, deeper Rose; and I don't feel like we got that.

We learned a lot here, so why does it feel that we're just like Rose in the snow: spinning our wheels?

In other island happenings; Locke's still throwing a little hissy girl fit about whether or not 'Henry' pushed the button . How about this evil smile:Love that Michael Emerson.
But it's a note too similar to the one Locke's been playing the last few weeks.

We also get Jack and Kate caught in a net together because, well, I guess that's the only way the writers could think to get them that close together. It was a cute moment, if a bit too sitcom-ish. But, for once, Jack actually out-testoseteroned Kate, when he shot the rope.
We also see that Jack still has his Season One crush on Kate, in spite of her stubborn disobeyance in The Hunting Party.

And lonely little Ana Lucia in the hatch: pobresita. She must be pining for the good old days of the Jack and Ana army of two. Maybe if you tried smiling, dear, the boys would pay attention to you.

LOST is all repeats and clip shows until May 3rd, so download the ones you missed kids: we're a-headin' for a showdown.

LOST Episode 2:19; S.O.S.: B-

New Comic Reviews:Infinite Crisis and Moon Knight

2006-04-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

INFINITE CRISIS #6

Infinite Crisis! Do something already!That'll work.
I guess.
Which Superboy was Conner Kent, anyway? Earth Zero? Earth Fuschia? Planet Starbucks?
Well, no, I guess he was 'ours', and his death, while tragic, gave a much needed shot in the dramatic arm to an entirely lackluster sixth issue.

This one seemed rushed to print. Maybe DC freaked about deadlines after going all of February with no Crisis book, and with all this One Year Later nonsense , and 52 coming right around the bend; it's all about product, people. So Infinite 6 gets a paper thin cover and shoddy art.
It seems like something that (shudder) Marvel Comics would do.
Yeah, I said it.

Infinite 6 begins with this useless exchange:
So it's nice to know that Yankee Stadium has survived the carnage and flooding in New York City, and that Major League Baseball is callous enough to say 'Play Ball' in spite of the death of bazillions (after all, if we don't resume our normal lives after the Infinite Crisis, the OMACS win).
A word to Geoff Johns: quit shoving Ollie and Hal down our throats. We know you like the 70's Adams-O'Neill run, we all did. We get it.

God this issue is just bad all over: cheesy dialogue, and some real ugly art. I think it's Jerry Ordway responsible; though I may be wrong. But just look at this:Ugh! Couldn't they have cleaned that shit up in inking? Ugh!

I think what frustrates me the most about this issue is that there's enough potential there; it just seems like Johns has no idea how to wrap up the series. And One Year Later and 52 just seem like a way to avoid him having to do so.
The reason that something like Crisis on Infinite Earths, or even Identity Crisis, worked was that it was self contained: beginning, middle, and end. Making us slog through back issues of freaking Catwoman to follow lingering story threads is a practice of DC's that's growing old.
I like the interaction between Batman and Brother Eye (a bit too 2001, admittedly); if only because it feels like it's all in Batman's head, that a darker side of himself than he's willing to face wanted this all to happen.
Those scenes feel like the genuinely exciting climax to some old cheesy sci-fi movie you'd run across on TBS at 3 in the morning.
And Superboy Prime continues to be a real kick-ass villain. The mostly Jimenez penciled rematch with him and Conner Kent at the end of the book is really fun.

There are some nice gory moments, like the Spectre disintegrating Star Sapphire:But, who is she again? If Johns had balls, Spectre would have passed judgment on Zatanna for her Indentity Crisis brain tampering. But, being a Seven Soldiers man, I'm glad they didn't. Speaking of the Seven:This makes the only soldier not to make a Crisis guest shot (and Crisis takes place after Seven Soldiers #1, don't forget) The Bulleteer.
A soldier must die, I know, but Alix? Say it ain't so.

I'm not holding a lot of hope now for the wrap-up of Crisis in number 7. Will we actually get to see the great event that takes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman away from the world for a year, or will that be revealed in Hawkgirl #whatever?
Wake me when it's over.
Infinite Crisis #6: C-

MOON KNIGHT #1
I'm not really at all familiar with Moon Knight: his world, his powers, his enemies. Which makes his re-launch a perfect place for me to jump in.
Moon Knight #1 does everything that a re-launch should do, it introduces our hero, gives hints of his backstory but also hints of a larger arc of redemption, it paints his world in a specific color (in this case the intense black and grays of the city contrasted with the brilliant white of the hero). Most of all, it's entertaining.

The art is really nice, too. I'm not a big fan, in general, of David Finch's work in New Avengers. Sometimes it comes off as an uneasy compromise between Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee; pinched, tiny faces with rippling abdominals and gigantic breasts.
But here his style works, probably because the general dark atmosphere (and masked hero) feel more authentic than Finch doing the bright red and yellow world of New Avengers.
The only problem, once again: it's too short.
Marvel comics in general, and their top selling titles specifically like New Avengers and Astonishing X-Men, puts out all their stories in a very cinematic style. Few words, lots of action, large splash pages (or pages with only three or four panels to them). It can, when done well (especially by Finch here and X-Men's Cassady) be extraordinary, drawing you deeper into the world on page than you ever could have hoped.
It can also leave you feeling ripped off, getting through a 22-page story in two minutes tops.I'm also not sold on Charlie Huston's writing skills. Yet.
It seems like this issue could have worked well (or even better) as a silent book. The narration really adds nothing to the proceedings, except to tell us that Moon Knight really really likes breaking necks.

And certain aspects of the story, especially the 'Moon 'Copter' and its pilot Frenchie, while probably faithful to the character's history, play more than a bit silly.
If Marvel plays it right, they could finally have their Batman. Handled wrong, just another Spawn.

Moon Knight #1: B

LOST recap: Dave

2006-04-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Let's just make one thing clear:
This is not all just happening in anyone's mind...
Ok?

Anyway: The knock against Hurley, when anyone dares (or bothers) to knock Hurley, is that he says 'dude' all the time and sounds like a message board (he's still the only character to use the word 'tailies'). Even the episodes featuring Hurley have been primarily comic relief, or just a bit flat (this season's Everybody Hates Hurley). But this one caught me a bit off guard.I was wary coming in, after the roll we'd been on with the Henry Gale storyline the last few weeks; and the decision to switch focus onto a character that hadn't really been doing much of anything this season. The opening with Hurley and Libby ripping up Hurley's stash (Hurley is this season's Charlie, since we actually are seeing him indulge in his addiction) felt off. I do think they're forcing those two together, in spite of whatever mental-hospital-stalker thing Libby has going on:I'm also not sure I like that whole sub-plot, seems like a desperate attempt at making Libby more interesting. And Watros' performance as crazy-Libby reminded me of Jodie Foster in Nell: I'm not sure if she's supposed to be playing it crazy or retarded, and the performance is insulting to either group.

But this episode was funny, very funny in fact. Any episode with the big guy dishing out a well-deserved walloping to Sawyer can't be all bad. And that was hilarious, especially Sawyer trying to crawl out from beneath the tarp, only to be dragged back under (That's for the tree frog, motherfucker!).
What I didn't expect was to be so moved by the moment in the doctor's office, with Hurley talking about the balcony collapse. Probably because his character says 'dude' all the time, and sounds like a message board, I never had Jorge Garcia pegged as one of the better actors on LOST. Turns out he's capable of deep emotion; it was sad and sweet. Loved it.

Back in the hatch, Henry is still just fucking with poor Locke's mind. I pushed the button, I didn't push the button. Good Lord. And John is, as usual, the only one taken in by him.
Now, I'd like to believe the button's nothing. Just a bizarre, sick psychological experiment to drive poor saps like Desmond (where is Desmond, anyway?) and John insane. But if the button really is important, what are Henry's motivations for leading Locke astray?
Besides pure evil, that is.

Next week, Jack gets captured and it's a Bernard and Rose flashback, as if that makes any sense.

LOST Episode 2:18; Dave: B+

A Day in the Life: All-Star Superman #3

2006-04-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's the LSD or the magic but, for whatever reason, Grant Morrison is a much more openly emotional writer than any of the other 'cool' comic writers. The problem with 'cool' is that it so often falls into the trap of mean, of overwhelming irony and sarcasm. 'Cool' in comics all too often means bloody, means constant cursing, means whiny petulant slacker diaries.
Instead of running from emotion, Grant uses it to his advantage, creating fuller characters and more genuine, thrilling moments. In Animal Man's finale, he wrote himself into the story, apologizing to his character for the turmoil in his life, and gave Buddy Baker back his family. Like any decent creator, divine or otherwise, would.
In Manhattan Guardian #4 he raised the emotional stakes to 11, with Jake Jordan on the edge of something beyond his understanding and grateful just to not be alone in facing it.
All-Star Superman is a throw back to the Silver Age of comics. A time that, while undeniably goofy, was fun and sweet. In embracing the spirit of the Silver Age, Grant and his partner Frank Quitely have finally given us (after over 60 years of trying) a Superman that works.

Issue 3, in fact, presents us with a familiar Silver Age scenario: Lois Lane is given Superman's powers for 24 hours.
Superman's powers are so familiar to us that we take them for granted, but through Lois' eyes we see them anew. As she says after her powers wear off, "...I can't smell the trees in Canada. I can't see all that gorgeous radio anymore...the stars have stopped singing like they used to."
Where Superman yawns at nuisances like Krull of the Subterranosauri ("MEH-TRUH-PUH-LIISZZ! KRULL WILL EAT YOU!"); Lois charges into battle.
"I'd have felt cheated if there hadn't been monsters."

"Everybody can see what Lois Lane sees in you, but...y'know, why me, Superman?"
Superman kind of dodges that question in the book, but he doesn't need to answer. We see why Superman and the super-powered fools Atlas and Samson are fighting like eight-year-olds on the playground for her.Grant and Frank's Lois is defined by strength, inside and out. This is not some pushy girl-reporter trying to prove herself to a room full of men; this is a supremely confident and intelligent woman.
Quitely (or Vince as his mother calls him) shows this, and much more, through facial expression and posture. He really is the best artist working in comics today, All-Star Superman could function without words. For instance, we know that Lois is only trying to make Superman jealous with the dueling strongmen: she's flirty whenever Superman's watching, bored with their antics when he's not.
I'm also beginning to think that Quitely is using Elvis Presley as a reference for Superman:Do you see it?
Anyway, dead rock stars aside, this Superman is one thing above all: humane. He acts out of love and compassion, not just for Lois, but for the whole world.
Since we are given a fresh sense of his powers through Lois' experience, we can understand what it must be like to live in constant awareness of your surroundings. Remember, now, from issue one where Clark Kent runs into a man on the street, saving him from being hit by falling debris from a car wreck.
Superman is at all times decent and caring. He helps people, he saves the world again and again, because it is the right thing to do.
(A very Silver Age concept. Truth, Justice, and the American Way never had the same ring after Watergate.)
He helps people because it's what people should do. Basically all the best parts of the Sermon on the Mount.
In All-Star Superman, we also know that Superman is dying. In issue 1 he absorbed too much solar radiation, which only he and the time traveling Samson know in issue 3.
In this issue, Superman descends into the Underworld like Orpheus, but his faith in Lois, and her faith in him, save her from oblivion. Lois' experience on the border of life and death further links her to the dying Superman.
In giving Lois his powers for a day, he showing her what it was like to be him. To share with her the all-encompassing love of the world that only he can feel.
All-Star Superman #3: A+

New Comic Reviews:Green Lantern and Ex Machina

2006-04-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

GREEN LANTERN #10

You're right, Hal. I shouldn't have bothered.
I had high hopes for this series, since I liked Geoff John's writing on Green Lantern:Rebirth. He seemed to have a pretty good handle on Hal Jordan; and I really liked Ivan Reis' work on Rann-Thanagar War (until the farmed-out jumble of the last few issues).
So I was very dissapointed to find Green Lantern #10 a confusing, artistically dreadful bore.

This is the only of the 'One Year Later' series of books I've bothered to read so far. In effort to maintain fan excitement in their universe's struggles, DC is wearing itself way too thin.
First we had several months of a 'countdown' to Infinite Crisis, then we've had the Crisis itself, now the whole of the DC Universe is jumping forward a whole year which will play out in book form after Crisis is over (still another few months away!) in a weekly series, 52.
The Countdown books were, overall, entertaining, and Crisis itself (see below) has been good. The idea of jumping straight into a whole new world, and slowly revealing what happened during that missing year is a good one (but didn't Marvel do that 20 years ago with Secret Wars?).
This is just a bad book.

It seems like Reis, who was working on his own style, has back pedaled into a bad Neal Adams impersonation.His composition is clunky; it's an ugly book.
Where does the fault lie? Is his work rushed? Or is he poorly inked?Marc Campos worked with Reis on Rann-Thanagar, and did a solid job.
For reference, here's a few panels from Rann-Thanagar:
Love that.
But they're shit here.
And Johns' story doesn't capture us in a way that could make up for the lousy art.
We see a womanizing, somewhat brooding Hal; a whiny Ollie; and cookie cutter Top-Gun reject pilots.
Oh, and we end with this:Ugh. You can stick around for the cliff-hanger. I'm outta here...

Green Lantern #10: F

EX MACHINA #18

This issue seemed too much like a place holder. It's not bad, but it proceeds the storyline ahead in a way that's a bit too predictable.
Typical war room scene, typical bedside hospital scene, typical roving gangs of new york lynching arabs scene.
The dialogue was way too cute. Yet another 'Journal was my intern but I swear I never fucked her' joke (one is ok, but we should be past that). Mayor Hundred, in the same scene, quotes the first Superman movie and it plays ridiculous, not heartbreaking. And the exchange between the aforementioned Punks and Arabs:
Nitpicking, maybe, but all of these moments threw me out of the story (which is a good one).
I liked a few things, especially Commissioner Angliotti's harangue of the the FBI:I still like where the story arc is going, but overall, there just wasn't enough here.

Ex Machina #18: B-

LOST recap: Lockdown

2006-03-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, kids: get out your official LOST Dharma Initiative Decoder Rings!
Funky symbols and creepy black light. What does it all mean?
Who fucking cares? This was a great episode, with or without any Dharma hoojoo.

Director Stephen Williams is LOST's go-to-guy. He has a way of bringing the best out of his actors, especially whichever character is being given that episode's flashback treatment. He's directed the very best Jack episodes, and he wrangled a moving performance out of Michelle Rodriguez in Collision, which is no small feat. When he's behind the camera, LOST feels more like a film than a TV show. The performances are more honest, the action hits harder. Which is no doubt why Lockdown was so amazing: the show's best director and the show's best actor, Terry O'Quinn, united. The range of emotion O'Quinn has brought to John Locke from the beginning is astonishing. At times, he's a mysterious, almost sociopathic, figure; other times he has a gentle grandfatherly appeal.
Then there are the times he beats the living hell out of hobbit junkies
(Yes, Charlie, former junkie. We know).
Locke, ever since the discovery of the hatch and the death of Boone, has been approaching his boiling point. He's not someone who can handle a situation that's spinning out of control, he's rash and panicky.
All he wants is someone else to believe in him. That's why he needed Jack to be the first one to push the button. That's why he so desperately wants Jack's approval. For validation.

When he meets his father at the hotel, he says "I didn't do this for the money", and he didn't. He did it for his father's approval, so that he could finally be 'good enough' for him. Only when his father is grinning at his haul and complimenting his choice in women does Locke feel secure enough to share with him his feelings for Helen. For John, it's just like when dad used to take him hunting again. The fact that they're hiding $700,000 from mobsters rather than strolling through the pasture means nothing to John.
He feels wanted.
Locke believes in destiny, in fairy tales. That's why he proposes to Helen as she's leaving him, clearly forever. Because he really believes that if he does that, she has to say yes. That this one magical act wipes away his deception. That moment of John on his knees, searching Helen's face for any sign of love, is devastating.
That faith, that belief in people, is also why Locke is taken in by Henry Gale.

We have our answer now, Henry is not who he says he is. But now we face another situation like we had last season, with Charlie and Ethan. Will Sayid blow a hole in Henry's face before he's able to give any information about the Others? Judging by the direction Sayid been heading, it's a safe bet that he will. And now that the word's out about Henry's presence in the hatch, how will people kept in the dark (or 'the loop', as Hurley says) react?

And where the hell did that big air drop of Dharma Initiative mac and cheese come from?

Anyway, I'd like to see Henry kept around as an informant, if only because I think Michael Emerson's been entertaining as hell. His pratfall off the shelves, right as the alarm goes off, was hilarious. And he's managed to play Henry just right, not tipping his hand in either direction. He could always have been a schlub from Minnesota who ran a mining company. You would have believed that.

In other island business, we get more Jack and Sawyer power struggles ("Should I get a ruler?"); Hurley says "Dude"; and for Christ's sake, Claire your baby...is...fine.

The Jack and Sawyer card game was especially fun. I always get a kick out of watching the castaways play golf or backgammon, or whatever, just to keep themselves entertained. It's one of the things that grounds the show when it gets too sci-fi or too soap opera-ish. It's also good to see Jack winning back a little of his leadership role after being sideswiped by Sawyer in The Long Con, and running after Michael like a jackass in The Hunting Party.
"When I want the guns, I'll get the guns."
This was LOST geek overload. The message boards are buzzing, I'm sure. Oh, did you notice:Nadia? No shit.
I told you there was a lot in this episode. And so, in true geek fashion I can only say:
Best. Episode. Ever.

LOST Episode 2:17; Lockdown: A+

New Comic Reviews:New Avengers, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, X-Factor, Ex Machina

2006-03-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

This is not Spider-Man.
That may be Peter Parker underneath that mask, but this hideous red and gold thing is not our Spidey. Did Marvel learn nothing from DC's ill-planned Superman costume change of the mid-90's? Don't mess with our icons, please.
Also, this makes three New Avengers with the red and gold color scheme:

NEW AVENGERS #17

The above panel is by new New Avengers artist Mike Deodato, who's done good (not great, good) work on Amazing Spider-Man for the past few years.
The Problem with New Avengers is that it's a Brian Bendis book, and that means mediocre. Not horrible, sometimes funny, always corny, bafflingly plotted, and deux ex machina? You bet!

This is a good group he's assembled: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, the ubiquitous Wolverine, the totally unnecessary Sentry, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage (once known as Power-Man, now known as generic tough black guy #59 in the Marvel Universe):I can assure, you, he pities the fool.
Which wallet is Luke Cage's? The one that says BAD MOTHERFUCKER.

Anyway: this is a good group he's got, but he doesn't seem to know what to do with them. He's got Spider-Man, Marvel's franchise player, riding the bench in all the big battles (it's like Phil benching Kobe! Kwame Brown ain't gonna get you to the Finals, pal). And really, through 17 issues there haven't been that many battles of note.
In 17, we meet up with this dude: Now, for those of you who slogged through House of M, you'll remember that when all the mutants were de-powered all that excess energy was released into space. Well, apparently it's returned and it's name is MIK...AL.

Ok.
So just as we might learn something about the nature of the beast, before we can get any clues as to its motivation: Ms. Marvel (Mizz? Yes, we have one of those now. Makes me miss the days when they were all just suffixed 'girl') comes charging in and manages to muck things up good and proper.
Like I said, this is a Brain Bendis book.You said it, sister.

New Avengers #17: C-

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #6

We also have an Iron Spidey sighting over here; and another look at his new powers: those controversial claws. Or stingers or whatever they are. Spider-Man in his classic form was apparently a little too cuddly for Marvel. Every character, I guess, should be another Wolverine, even one that has a good couple decades on him.Art chores this issue have been given over to Roger Cruz, and he has a kinetic, Manga-esque style that fills in well for Mike Weiringo. The story is fun, about a Mexican wrestler (and me and my friends like Mexican Wrestlers) who must challenge Spidey 'Mascara Contra Mascara', with the loser unmasked in front of the world. There's also a B-plot running through the whole series about Peter Parker's old high-school nemesis Flash Thompson's return (apparently he was in a coma, and also apparently he and Peter were friends. Sorry people, I just got here).
Nothing is wrong with the issue, but it left me a little flat.I like El Muerto, and his backstory. I liked the art in general, though again there was just something missing. The story is intriguing: how much control does Peter really have over his new powers, and how will El Muerto save himself (from, hey...is that Doctor Doom?) without revealing Peter's secret identity? I'm sure PAD's got an ace up his sleeve. Pardon me, though, if the answer's not keeping me up at night.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6: B

X-FACTOR #5

With Ryan Sook now only designated cover artist, Dennis Calero takes over full-time art duties (penciller and inker). And he is much improved over his first few stop-gap efforts in the series. I could quibble about a few things:What is she, a leper? Or a dalmation-human hybrid?

But those are minor things. Issue 5 is great, a stand alone issue in which Syrin (last seen beaten and left for dead) is kidnapped by a psychotic mutant who has lost his powers in the Decimation. We see the toll that the loss is taking on your average everyday mutants, and that they even blame the X-People a bit for not stopping it.This is Pulp Fiction as an X-Book (complete with ball gags, but no Gimp), and Peter David is clearly having as much fun torturing his female lead as Tarantino did with Uma in the Kill Bills. Syrin is hard as nails, essential to a group featuring so many characters filled with self-doubt:
"Ric? Just so you know...I wasn't afraid. Not of him. Not for my life. I wasn't afraid."
This continues to be Marvel's best book.

X-Factor #6: A

EX MACHINA #17

Ex Machina is brilliant, a breath of fresh air every issue. You can count on Brian K. Vaughn to spin every storyline into something new and politically daring. This is definitely the book to give your snooty cousin who hates superheroes. It's 2003, and the US is on the verge of war with Iraq. From his bunker, Saddam Hussein watches footage of Mitchell Hundred, aka The Great Machine; superhero turned mayor of New York City; and ponders whether or not President Bush will send America's greatest weapon after him.

SOLDIER:I don't think they'll send him here, sir. After the "Great Machine" stopped the second plane on 11 September, they gave him a cushy political position.
SADDAM: Patronage in exchange for half-assed military victories? Maybe this bastard and I aren't so different, huh?

Back home, Mayor Hundred isn't any more certain of his future than Saddam is. There's a huge peace rally planned downtown and his free-spirit aide, Journal, has quit to join in; rather than stay and become a political liability.The writing is sharp. It's a rare ability to be able to work political commentary naturally into the flow of dialogue without being preachy or obvious, but Vaughn manages a nice balance. And Tony Harris continues to amaze as penciller. He draws directly from photos of live models, which adds to the realism of both image and story. My only problem with this issue is that it seems so short. It's a quick read, and that makes you wonder whether you should spend your 3 bucks now, or wait until it's in trade paperback.

Ex Machina #17: A-

This goddamn miserable trip: The Sopranos Season Six

2006-03-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

There are themes for every season of The Sopranos; whether it be family, business, or Season Five's two Tony Sopranos. This season; which is filmed as one and cut into two so that the very last episodes, while still a part of this season, will air in 2007 (whew...got that?); is about death. Specifically , Tony's death.
There is no other way to end the series, Tony has to die: whether through the treachery of his troops or by his own hand.
"I'm gonna put a bullet in his fucking mummy head!"
Welcome to the family, Anthony Junior.
Since the beginning of the show, fatherhood (not just family) has been the overriding theme. The way Tony has raised not only AJ and Meadow, but his 'nephew' Christopher; and what Tony's life choices would do to his family. Chris proved his loyalty last year when he had Adrianna taken out, and AJ is just now crossing that threshold between sullen teenager and angry young man (Also: are we hinting, oh so delicately, that AJ might be gay? The Jack White haircut; the interest in interior design; the possible eating disorder? This would put another spin on Vito's line, ""Maybe he was a homo and thought there was no one he could talk to about it...it happens you know.").
According to the opening episode William Burroughs monologue, AJ is "Ka, the double. The Ka, which usually reaches adolescence at the time of bodily death, is the only reliable guide through the Land of the Dead."
We're also shown that Meadow is the Khu, Guardian Angel (and Tony's only reliable conscience throughout the course of the series).
Burrough's monologue continues (but not on the show): "The Khu is responsible for the subject and can be injured in his defense-but not permanently, since the first three souls are eternal. They go back to Heaven for another vessel. The four remaining souls must take their chances with the subject in the Land of the Dead."
Tony will die, one of the kids may go with him (or both).
The first episode felt a bit rushed, but it had a lot of exposition to do away with. It may have seemed odd to focus so much on one soldier's desperate attempt to leave the life, but it was just another way of drilling into our heads that these are choices these men have made for life. There is no leaving. "No wonder the papers call this 'the year of the rat'".
Will Tony turn over to the feds? Or will Chris, who's becoming buddy-buddy with the feds who haunt Satriale's? Both are possible, but I can't help feeling that all of this political Mafioso stuff, who's ratting who out, and who's in power and so on, is all a red herring. It's not going to matter, in the end, who the boss is or where the power is, but what happens to the family: the real family.
So in episode one we get old mobsters keeling over dead in FBI cars; Bobby playing with trains; and Tony's battle with the scale (it reads 280. He takes off his shoes. Still 280. Takes off his pants...still 280).
But, as we've come to expect, there's a twist: by the end of the episode, Tony is crawling on the floor, bleeding his life out, shot in the gut by a senile Uncle Junior, reaching for the phone to dial 911.

The second episode was written by David Chase, the shows creator, and it puts Season Six right on track: the writing is sharp, the performances are great, the drama is real. The gut-wrenching sight of Tony's bullet wound, Uncle Junior's interrogation ("If somebody shot my nephew it was him himself. He's a depression case."), Christopher holding a weeping Carmela, Janice's look-at-me meltdown. Every note is right, every beat is true.

Tony's coma dream that occupies half of the second episode is about identity:

Doctor: What is your name?
Tony: What does it matter? I won't know soon, anyway.

Tony is on the threshold of the hell that Carmela damned him to way back in Season One. Costa Mesa is burning, the bar is 'dead' (hell as Southern California, only a New Yorker could write that).
When he meets the only person in the bar who knows the man who's taken his identity, he tells Tony: "He drives a Lexus...It's a joke, Infiniti, Lexus".
Kevin Finnerty is the other half of Tony, the half that will not survive the coma.

The light pulsating on the edge of the horizon: does Tony go toward it? Does Tony find his wallet? Is he forever trapped in the role of another person? Or, in the end, did that second person ever really exist?
Tony, his entire life, has convinced himself that he is more than the measure of his actions, that he is more than a brutal psychopath.
"Lose your arrogance", says the Buddhist monk that slaps him.
This season, Tony will not escape judgment.

The Sopranos Episode 6:1; Members Only: B
The Sopranos Episode 6:2; Join the Club: A+

LOST recap: The Whole Truth

2006-03-23T22:47:00.000-08:00

Miracle, my ass. She may look like perfection, Jin, but she's lying to you, brother.
So we've got another baby on the way, though given the show's timeline it'll be into season four or five before she delivers; leading to some huge showdown with the Others, no doubt, with their hard-on for baby snatching.

This was an all-female episode of LOST, in that the writers (Elizabeth Sarnoff & Christina M. Kim) and director (Karen Gaviola) were all of the fairer sex. And, of course we had a flashback told entirely from Sun's perspective instead of the Sun and Jin flashbacks we usually get.
This was also a really funny episode: Rose and Bernard's bickering ("it's Saturday, Bernard!"); Jack and Locke's shower rendezvous (By the way, here's Locke staring right at Jack's little doctor); Sawyer reading Judy Blume; and Hurley and Sun's meeting in the jungle.

It's interesting the past few episodes to see the writers taking the characters back to their season one comfort zones: so we get angry Jin again, just when we need him. Since the first half of the season focused mostly on getting Michael and the raft crew, with the tail section group, back with Jack and Locke's camp (more on this adorable couple later); we saw a bit more of 'Han Solo' Sawyer and 'Chewie' Jin. Now that they're nice and settled in, Sawyer's again a petulant brat and Jin's a raging wookie.

A hell of alot happened in this episode; which is great because it didn't come at the expense of character development. Sometimes it feels a bit like they're spinning their wheels (I'm looking in your direction, One of Them); but at its top form, nothing on TV (except maybe the Sopranos) beats this show's writing.

Sayid is going to do something stupid, that much is clear. He's going very dark. And he's got Darth Charlie along with him, literally sleeping at his feet like a dog.

Ana-Lucia may be in like with Jack, but she's clearly more intrigued by Sayid, who is closer to her wavelength, in the same way that Kate and Sawyer are to each other.

So now to this wormy little fuck: Yes, Henry Gale is an Other. We know this, but we can't prove it. Like Sayid, we just know.
What it feels like we're leading to is Henry's confession. We almost had it this episode, but since we see his balloon in the sneak previews for next week, who knows? And it really would be more of a surprise at this point for the writers to go the other way with Henry, and make him a genuine nerd from Minnesota; to have him be telling the truth.
Remember though, since Grizzly Adams was revealed to be wearing a fake beard, the Others are nothing more than a skilled improv group (and we all know how soulless and evil improv groups are), so they could easily have put it there to help Henry's cover story. Lead me to the body is what they should be asking next.
As Sawyer said after he stole the guns in The Long Con, Jack and Locke were so worried about each other they never saw Henry Gale coming. He riled up Locke especially, who has been cranky this season (beat the shit out Charlie, didn't he?), and is getting crankier, judging by the tired disgust in his voice when he told Ana-Lucia "There's a man in my hatch and I want him out."
My hatch.

Next week looks great, and it's a Locke flashback. It also appears that the blast doors are comin' down and we'll get more spooky heiroglyphics. We've got practically every character on the edge, and three of them possibly in mortal danger. Should be fun, kids.

LOST Episode 2:16; The Whole Truth: A+

New Comic Reviews: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, X-Factor, Bulleteer, Infinite Crisis

2006-03-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

There are lots of good things going on in comics right now, and while they don't all necessarily revolve around Peter David and Grant Morrison, this round-up certainly does.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5

Freed at last from the story confinements of the ultimately useless "The Other" arc, Peter David and Mike Weiringo shake the cobwebs off and have a little fun (get it? spiders, cobwebs...sorry) with a one-shot issue about a woman who is convinced that Spider-Man is stalking her.
Weiringo and David make a great team, especially on lighter issues like this. David may not be the best writer in comics, but he certainly seems to be having the most fun. One thing I dig so much about a PAD issue is that they're so densely written (and his plots well constructed). Compare to a typical Bendis or Whedon comic which, with the splash pages and silent reaction panels, can be read in two to three minutes.
Weiringo's style continues to impress me. In an era of hyper realism and exaggerated musculature, it's nice to see his almost Saturday morning feel. Which doesn't mean that he can't draw a mean fight. In fact, his loose style is perfect for a fluid character like Spidey.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #5: A

X-Factor #4

X-Factor is all about secrets. Jamie is reluctant to unleash his doubles anymore, after one almost killed Rictor in #1. But he doesn't explain this to the rest of the team. Layla Miller joined the group specifically to keep them from finding out what happened in the Decimation. Of course, the only person she told this to was the hitman that met his messy end at her hands (kind of) last issue. Monet keeps this from Jamie, not so much as a secret, but in keeping with her self absorbed ignorance:
Issue 4 is good, if a bit spare at times. The problem lies in the art, which is split between the brilliant Ryan Sook and the, well, not so brilliant Denis Calero.

Really: what is this? That face is hideous.
But at least in this issue, unlike the first 3, the inking on both artists helps seal the gap between the two styles. It's not quite as jarring a shift as before, especially on the pages that face one another. But Calero's sense of composition leaves a lot to be desired. There are some bright moments for him, though: Monet's manipulation of Vaughn is well handled.
And the brutal beating at the end of the book is nicely done, again by Calero.
Still, the promise of a monthly book by David and Sook was what drew me to this book. I'll be sticking around for PAD's writing:

Rictor: ...I figure the best thing to do is get drunk.
Syrin: That's no way to handle it.
Rictor: How do you know?
Syrin: 'Cause I'm a drunk.
Rictor: Oh, yeah. So how do you handle it?
Syrin: I eat.

If Marvel wants to keep up with DC from a quality standpoint, they're going to have to give their artists more time and support than they gave Sook. But since Marvel's sales are consistently higher than DC's, I guess they have no real reason to do that.

X Factor #4: B

Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #4

Bang, indeed. Holy shit, Dr. Wertham was right!
The final issue of the Bulleteer mini is given over to Alix's brand new arch-rival, Sally Sonic's origin. We follow her into the underground world of super-heroine porn, where she becomes an instant sensation for her permanently sixteen-year-old body. In her rage and confusion (and with a little help from Dr. Hyde's Evil Serum), she strikes out at the one person she blames for stealing the life she so desperately wanted.It's genuinely tragic, you really feel sorry for her. You...uh, what's that Alix?
Right: lest we forget whose book this is, or that we have an incoming invasion to think about: Alix proceeds to drop a fucking engine block on little Miss Sonic, whereupon the Ghost of Greg Saunders shows up to tell her that she is indeed "the spear that was never thrown" (which we pretty much knew), and that only she can stop the Sheeda invasion (but that's what he says to all the girls; oh, those wacky Cowboy Werewolves.); to which she replies:
So now, almost at Seven Soldiers #1, we have: Shining Knight charging after Glorianna, Jake Jordan ready to "take it to the streets" of Manhattan, Klarion on his way to the same streets to be a "a soldier", Zatanna summoned by Misty, Mister Miracle back in New York, but with no knowledge of the impending doom (besides cryptic hints dropped by Oracle and Metron), and The Bulleteer denying her destiny in disgust. Only Frankenstein #4 remains before the big showdown, and he knows the Sheeda well.
Leave it to Grant to play apart from our expectations by focusing on Alix's internal struggles and doubt in lieu of a Sheeda-showdown in issue 4. This series has been about Alix growing past her husband's mind games and sick betrayal. At the end, even though she's denying her larger role, she's at least standing tall. She'll be ready.

Bulleteer #4: B+

Infinite Crisis #5

DC's big to-do has been a pretty mixed bag. The first two issues left me cold, but I really enjoyed issue 3 and absolutely loved Superboy Prime's Teen Titan thrashin' freak out in number 4.
Number 5 feels like a place-holder issue, nothing of any real import happens here, at all. But there are some nice moments, like Blue Devil's skin burning inside the church ("Danny's a good Catholic boy. Unfortunately, he's also a human-turned-demon."); and the pretty snazzy Superman fight:(Check out the Action Comics #1 reference.)
But once Wonder Woman lassoes Earth-2 Supes, he just spouts the exact same lines echoing throughout Crisis and every inter-related title: Wonder Woman killed a guy, the JLA fucked with Dr. Light's memory, and so on.
Nothing new there, or in the appearance of golden-age Wonder Woman. In fact, that was just plain confusing (if the DC editors can keep this shit in order, could they maybe get started on Einstein's elusive Unified Theory?).
So we get a new Blue Beetle, in uniform. Here's what he looks like.And here, in case we've forgotten, is what happened to his predecesor:

Jamie Reyes might want to rethink that career move.
We again get the notion that Dick Grayson is going to be very important to the way this all turns out, but that story is just barely advanced. Instead, we get more of the hideous Photoshopped multiple Earths, and the return of Superboy Prime in what is without a doubt the ugliest panel yet in the othewise well-drawn Crisis.Where exactly did he find that armor, hidden away in the Speed Zone, fighting four generations of Flashes? And the pose is awkward, he should be zooming straight into camera, red eyes blazin', going after Alex Luthor's double-crossing ass.
Oh, but for fans of more successful cross-overs:
Tell me that's not our man Frankenstein on that bus in NYC.

Infinite Crisis #5: C+

Don't you know that you can count me out (in): V for Vendetta review

2006-03-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

What, V worry?

Alan Moore, notoriously cranky and wickedly bearded writer of the graphic novel that V for Vendetta is based on, reportedly said that an early draft of the film he read was "rubbish".
It's a pretty good bet that most of that rubbish survived to its final incarnation. V is a mess, and not even a glorious mess in the way that something like Fight Club is: it's a not a failure of ideas, it's not a failure of vision, it's a simple and dreary lack of talent.
Watching V camp around the first half-hour or so of the film reminds you of what was once said about Darth Vader: that in every film of the saga besides The Empire Strikes Back, he just looks like a tall guy in a shiny black suit. There is nothing menacing or intriguing about V. The direction of the film is too basic for that. Not a mysterious creature of the underground, just some ponce in a Guy Fawkes mask who uses the letter 'v' endlessly. When he saves Evey from the Fingermen with his v-laced opening monologue, you just wait for it to end. And wait. And wait.
There's nothing clever in the dialogue, nothing interesting about the way the scene is staged or the performances therein. At this first, most critical juncture of the film, we are completely and utterly bored.
About those performances: Hugo Weaving, supplying the voice of V, does his usual wonderful voice-over job (he has one of those great attention grabbing, instantly recognizable voices); but the party leaders, especially John Hurt as Sutler, are overbearing to the point of numbness. We've seen the whole "big head of the fascist leader screaming at his underlings" thing before, in fact in practically every dystopian sci-fi film ever made. We've seen the gratuitous cut to the rotted out teeth of said fascist leader before. We've seen everything about this world before.
Also: is it possible that Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley are getting their scripts mixed up? It seems they should have switched places in most of their roles lately. Certainly Keira wouldn't have been struggling through the entire film with her british accent. Natalie seems lost in it, and can't emote through it. She can't blame George Lucas for her wooden performance here. It's only when Evey is shaved and tortured that Natalie breaks through with something different. When V unveils the truth she is believably devastated. But again, the boring corporate-training-video simplicity of the direction undermines the power of her scene.
Another irritating thing about the adaptation is that there is scene after scene of characters describing what has happened to them, instead of these moments being shown. There is no reason that we can't see these scenes, either in flashback or worked into the film. Some of these moments, like Evey's co-worker not recognizing her in line at the store after she leaves the Shadow Gallery, could have been quite effective. Some, like the Inspector's visit to Larkhill, were crucial in the book,and their absence is remarkable.
The film also differs from its source material in ways that, while minor to the overall story, create a far different atmosphere. The first time we meet Evey Hammond in the comic, she's a poor factory worker preparing to sell herself on the street for the first time; which she attempts, awkwardly, and is accosted by the fingermen, leading to V rescuing her.
In the film, Portman is just some chick who works at a TV station (therefore allowing V easy access later on), and she's on her way to her boss's house. Instead of a desperate, undereducated sapling, the Evey of the film seems self-possessed and intelligent. V doesn't seem to have very much to teach her about the world: she already can quote Macbeth in a future where those works were presumably destroyed long ago.
Also, and this is more damaging to the flow of the story, much of the film is given over to police procedural hokum, while Inspector Finch (a wasted Stephen Rea) tracks down V. He gets every piece of evidence at the exact moment that the film requires him to know it; it's screenwriting at its laziest. There is the intimation that V has been planting the information for him, but the movie doesn't give us the slightest clue as to how V can do this. I didn't notice a computer in the Shadow Gallery, but clearly V has access to internal records of the most fearsome fascist government since the Third Reich.
The film also changes the all-powerful Voice of Fate, Prothero, into a figure more clearly derived from televangeslists and right-wing television pundits; just another frothing, screeching talking head. But a huge difference from the book is that the people don't seem as enthralled by their government's lies as in the book. In the book, when the Voice of Fate is silenced by V, the populace is thrown into fear and confusion.

In the film, there is no such disruption.

In the book, Evey is taken by the police as she is about to shoot the man who killed her lover, Gordon.
The revelation that V has been behind Evey's torture later makes it clear that he has snatched her at that moment to focus her emotions from dull anger to focused revenge. The lack of this moment in the film makes its V seem even more cruel.
All of this is not to say that Moore's V is perfect: far from it. It shows all the signs of a young writer struggling with dialogue and pacing.
What I had hoped, though, is to see more of the fascinating world and mood that Moore and David Lloyd created so well.

The ending of the film again differs from the book, instead of Evey taking on the mantle of V after his death, the citizenry of London all don masks and march (in a ridiculous overhead CGI shot) on their government. But there's a huge missing link here: what reason do they have to do this? What excuse has been given in the film for this change? There are scenes of rioters taking on the fingermen, but that's not enough. The idea of a slower, personal revolution in Moore's book seemed not only more plausible, but more powerful.
Underlying both versions is the message that (and to the filmmaker's credit they manage to convey it) "people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people." This is all well and good, and I'm not offended by the sight of Parliament exploding or the bronze liberty of the Bailey building being detroyed, but the notion (that haunted the Wachowski's Matrix films also) of killing people to set them free seems counterproductive and ultimately self-destructive.
V is blinded by revenge. The government is blinded by greed. Both of these are a kind of addiction to power. Both sides render their opponents inhuman to make them easier to kill. Both sides kill to maintain their power.
But, what happens the day after the people march through the streets? What happens when the people of London take their power back? What happens when that system becomes corrupt, and how long will that freedom last?
V for Vendetta: D

Escaping the Life Trap

2006-03-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

"Swirling fog. Bizarre, inhuman cries. A mystery for Frankenstein!"

So begins the continuing adventures of our favorite undead Sheeda killer. Frankie's mini has been without a doubt the most fun of the final three Seven Soldiers miniseries. In contrast to the grueling Mister Miracle, which has been a bit too abstract (not to mention the artistic nightmare of issue 2, after Pasqual Ferry left the series to do Wolverine vs. Hulk part 157 or whatever); the bloody, gory fun of Frankenstein was refreshing.
I read Frankenstein 3 and Mister Miracle 4 in one sitting. As Seven Soldiers draws to an end, Grant Morrison is putting all his cards on the table. It's a recapitulation of his entire life's philosophy, echoed through the Invisibles, Seaguy, even Animal Man. The notion of a world beyond our senses. A deeper reality at the edge of our human consciousness.

Mister Miracle 4 is a never ending labyrinth of life; the endless parallel choices that Shilo cannot escape. He must live his life over and over again, like in Matrix 2 where Neo meets up with The Architect only to find that he has tried, and failed, a million times over already to defeat him. Shilo is caught in the eternal cycle of death and rebirth: the Life Trap.
This, then, is what life and society do to the human soul (compare to the Invisibles, where society is a virus). The only hell is that which keeps us seperate from the creator.

Shilo, then, is Jesus the escape artist. Or more accurately, Buddha. Only by accepting his role as savior can he deafeat his unchained destroyer. Like Job, he calls down the whirlwind.
In his suffering, detatched from time and space, Shilo ranges through the whole of human experience. The "Forever Flavored Man", cursed with eternal life. His soul is shattered like a mirror, reflecting infinite images of himself back toward him.
After reading MM4, I returned to a book I've been reading this week: Hidden Wisdom, a guide to the Western Inner Traditions. By mere chance, the chapter I was starting at that point was on Shamanic rites and here's what I read, specifically about shamanic initiation rites:

"...The actual initiation can be equally excruciating. Most initiations in most cultures involve a symbolic death and rebirth: the candidate 'dies' to his old identity and is reborn to a new one. Shamanic initiates often experience this resurrection in gruesome ways. When the rai (spirits) make a shaman in western australia, they take him to their home.
'There they cut him up and hang up his insides...his body is dead, but his soul remains there, and on the order of the rai to look steadily at the part hanging up, he recognizes [his organs]. His body is put over a hot earth-oven, with magic cooking stones in it, and covered with paper-bark. The perspiration streams down. The rai replace his insides and close up the flesh. He is told that he can henceforth travel in the air like a bird or under the ground like a goanna..."

See?

Now, let's return to Frankenstien 3.
"I'll leave you with the story of Marsaru Emoto and the memory of water. Doctor Emoto found that whenever he labelled a beaker of water, the crystal sructure of the liquid inside changed accordingly....We tried to make a weapon out of water. The water fought back. Scratch one more big, dumb idea."
So says the agent of S.H.A.D.E. after their giant mistake has been dealt with (according to this anyway, he's right).
Again: The Life Trap. The water monster has been bred to destroy, that's all it knows how to do. Now consider the only words the monster speaks: AUUU
This is the call, also, of the Grundy-men in Klarion's village waaaaay way back in Seven Soldiers: Klarion #1.
Why the same call for creatures that should not posses a consciousness?

AUM. You may know it better as Om, the mantra chanted in many meditation techniques. It's a four syllable word that is meant to fill the whole mouth with sound:
A stands for birth
U stands for life
M is death
and the silence before you start again signifies the rest between death and rebirth. But the Grundy men, and the water monster, can have no peace. All they can know is life, never death, never rest. Like Shilo, they are caught in the life trap.
But so, remember, is Frankie:

"Therefore I grant you the sweet remedy I am denied, monster. The solution to the suffering of self-awareness in a hostile world. OBLIVION."

The Grundies, denied eternal rest to work the fields for their offspring; the water monster brought to existence only to kill; and Shilo Norman, trapped in his own consciousness.
Only Shilo, the shaman of the New Gods and the Christ of the Seven Soldiers; has escaped the Life Trap. And having reached enlightenment, having escaped the Black Hole, only Mister Miracle can free not only Metron and crew but stand up to the oncoming war with the Sheeda.

Mister Miracle #4: A+
Frankenstein #3: A-