Freak Comics

After two years of waiting for a decent story line, Supergirl has failed me for the final time.

Two years ago I started reading Supergirl. The first several issues had decent art (if you like Michael Turner) minus the fact that Supergirl looked to be in her early twenties rather than her supposed age of 16.
The story lines were pretty basic and terrible: Supergirl fights people and then befriends or proves herself to them. She fights her inner demons and struggles with her identity. This was hardly a bad premise for a back story, however the execution was poorly done time and time again.

Issue #24 of Supergirl was brought to us by writer Kelly Pucket and pencilers Drew Johnson and Lee Ferguson. It concludes the two issue arc, Ghosts of Krypton, yet another story in which Kara attempts to prove what she can be to herself and the people around her.
In part 1, Supergirl attempts to find a war ship in deep space and almost suffocates, and that pretty much sums up Issue #23 (great pace, eh?).
In Part 2, entitled “Star Child”, Kara bursts through a portal (in her shower) just in time to catch her breath. She finds out that Superman not only found the ship, but also discovered a way to look back at Krypton from 30 light years away.
This prompts yet another flash back to Kara’s Kryptonian past… and that does it for issue #24.

The story of Krypton’s past has been done so many times in the pages of Supergirl (and Superman for that matter) that I have completely lost interest in Krypton and am now glad it was annihilated.
The constant repetition of Kara’s past makes me want to burn every issue of Supergirl I have in my possession.

Supergirl #24 has more than a terrible story. It also contains really awful dialog.
Consider this particularly bad exchange between Supergirl and her father:

Zor-El: “So are you analyzing that ghentta flyer or just watching it? You going to be a scientist like mom… or a ranger like your father?”
Kara: “I’ll be what I want to be. Once I figure that out. And rangers smell like bgzzt poop.”
Zor-El: “Is that… a challenge? Are you challenging me?”
Kara: “Yes. I’m challenging you not to smell like poop!”
Zor-El: “Aha! Very good. Then prepare yourself, little one–”

Prepare for what? For her father not to smell like poop? What in the name of Krypton was Puckett smoking?
This whole exchange reads like a poorly translated Japanese anime. And why is Zor-El dressed like Han Solo?

I really wanted to see this comic book get good writers, but it was not meant to be. I can’t waste another dime or moment on this series. Although I have threatened to drop it time and again in the past, this time it’s for real. As of issue #24 I am officially through with Supergirl. I dropped this terrible excuse for a comic book from my reading list, and I urge you to do the same.

Good-bye Supergirl, it was a rough two years… you will not be missed.

One More Day, at it’s roots is a simple story: Aunt May is on the verge of death, Peter Parker is trying to find a way to save her, but keeps running in to dead ends. The background behind One More Day is a bit more complicated.

A War and a Bullet

Months ago, there was a super-hero civil war. The government wanted all super-powered humans to register their identities and become government workers, or retire. If the individuals complied, they would go on saving the day under government direction. They would receive training, and a salary. If they refused to register, they would be banished to a holding facility.

Some registered, some rebelled. Spider-Man was convinced by Tony Stark not only to register, but to reveal his identity to the world on television. Immediately following this, the King Pin put out a hit on Peter Parker, and / or Mary Jane and Aunt May.
Meanwhile Spider-Man switched sides and went in to hiding with Aunt May and Mary Jane.
At the end of the Civil War, Aunt May wound up taking a sniper bullet in the chest. Being that she’s incredibly old and frail, this now has her at death’s door. Meanwhile Peter felt responsible and donned his black costume (just in time for Spider-Man 3) and set out to prove a point. What that point was, I’m still not really sure.

All of this brings us to the One More Day 4 part series in which Peter Parker has recently come to the realization that there is no saving Aunt May… that is unless he makes a deal with the Marvel Universe’s Devil, Mephisto.

The Devil’s Deal

Mephisto has offered Peter and Mary Jane the life of Aunt May (a life he claims only he can save) in exchange for the abolishment of their marriage.

Peter Parker instantly rejects the deal, but Mary Jane wants to think it over.
At this point, if I’m Peter Parker, I’ve got to be feeling a little less-loved than before. Here his wife is actually willing to say “I Don’t” in exchange for the prolonged life of his living-mummy of an Aunt.
As Mephisto goes on to explain, taking this deal means the two will have no memory of their marriage what-so-ever. And what, prey-tell does the vile Mephisto get out of the deal?

… there will be a very small part of your soul that will remember, that will know what you lost. And my joy will be in listening to that part of your soul screaming throughout eternity.”

So Mephisto gets to listen to the screaming souls of Spider-Man and Mary Jane throughout eternity… I’d say everyone but Aunt May is a loser in this deal.

Final Thoughts

Most of this comic involved Peter parker in his Spider-Man costume with the mask up, (he’s been doing that a lot lately) conversing with alternate versions of himself in visions brought on by Mephisto. All in all One More Day has been pretty boring, although the idea of splitting the two love birds up is a slightly more inventive idea than killing off a character only to bring them to life later on.
And yet, I’d be willing to put money on Spider-Man and Mary Jane being reunited at some point.

No, I’d much rather see Aunt May dead. I really hate her.

Everyone is talking about Marvel’s online subscription based comic book service, Digital Comics Unlimited which launched on the 13 of November.

Offering an online subscription to older comics seems like a cool idea, but it is not something I am particularly interested in. I would much rather own the comic, whether in digital format or physical. For that matter I much prefer a physical copy. Call me outdated but reading a comic book online just doesn’t have the same feel.

I find it rather amusing that one of Marvel’s Digital Comics selling points states:

No need to download—read them directly through your web browser

That’s really more of a limitation than a feature. I’d venture to say that every subscriber would rather download the comic.

Marvel did work-in some pretty cool features to it’s Flash based comic book reader. For instance, you can click the magnifying glass icon in order to zoom in on word balloons. You can also zoom in on the page like a PDF, from there you can click and drag the screen in order to move around the page. Nothing particularly revolutionary in that feature, but it is worth mentioning that the images are large and the colors are vibrant. In other words, the comic is high quality.

You can preview pages of several comic books before deciding to pay for a subscription. Unfortunately their library is not complete at this time, however it will continue to grow.

The main area I can see this service coming in handy is research. There are times I would like to take a look at some older comics, but I really don’t want to shell out the cash to purchase an original copy, and don’t need an entire collected volume, or the collected volume is unavailable.
Even so, much like books, I would rather have a physical copy. You just can’t beat holding a comic in your hands. Reading feels less rushed with a physical copy… you also don’t have a reoccurring monthly fee when you go that route.

Marvel offers two types of subscriptions:

• $4.99/Month Annual Subscription ( billed as one payment of $59.88 )
• $9.99/Month Monthly Subscription ( billed monthly )

$9.99 a month seems a little steep to me, but time will tell how others feel.

This issue was more intriguing than the last. We discover that The Lodge houses more than just an oversized furry man-ape, it’s also home to various species that are on the verge of extinction, or thought to have been extinct.
It also houses mythological creatures, that for the sake of the comic are said to be real. Fairies, Dodos and even the Dover Demon thrive in a mysterious controlled environment at The Lodge.

This issue centers around Ginger Brown (the newest addition to the lodge, a former cop).
In addition to the revealed nature of the lodge, we get a bit more insight as to what drives Prufrock (Ginger Brown’s Bigfoot partner) .

Unfortunately Cryptoids still abound throughout the comic. Cryptoids were my number one complaint in my review of issue #1, and they still are, although I must admit they were rather interesting to read this time. Perhaps these would be better served as a footnote.

I have also complained a bit about the odd way Proof #1 was split in to two separate stories that tie in to one another, and #2 does this again. This time however, it did not feel as awkward, perhaps because I was expecting it.

I like the way Proof is shaping up. I am a big fan of cryptids (especially of the mythological variety), and it looks like Proof is going to be chalk full of them.

Proof #2 is set to release on November 28th, 2007 so be sure and reserve a copy today.

Well this was an unexpected surprise: a comic book featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes that left me satisfied and wanting more.

Action Comics #858, Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part One features yet another tale about the Superman worshiping youths of the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes. These kids are all over the DC Universe lately. In all honestly I don’t see the attraction. They are dull characters with dull story lines.
Back in 1958 I suppose audiences were amazed at the technology of the 31st century and Superboy’s adventures there. The Legion, like nearly all science fiction from the 50’s, lost some of it’s wonder throughout time and now feels and looks dated.

Strangely, Geoff Johns managed to overcome these problems. Although his Escape from Bizzaro World (Action Comics 855 - 857) series was fun and enjoyable, Action Comics #858 shows his true talent as a writer. He understands the characters he is dealing with and manages to bring them to life.
Rather than feeling dated, the Legion has a very nostalgic feel to it. I enjoyed this issue so much that I did not want to see it end.

Admittedly I was a little worried while reading the first page, and actually planned on breezing through the comic. The story begins with two alien humanoid characters sending their child to Earth. The male convinces his wife this is the right course of action since Earth made Superman in to the greatest hero to ever live.
I thought to myself, “Great, another retelling of Superman’s past”.
A few panels later and this alien child crashes to Earth in the 31st century and is found by an elderly man and woman while they drive across the countryside in their hover pickup truck.
“Wonderful,” I thought “A story paralleling Superman in an ultra-unrealistic way”.
Then the old man pulled out a futuristic shotgun and killed the alien child. I was instantly hooked.

The story only got better when it shifted to the modern age and in to the office of the Daily Planet where a conversation takes place between Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. This is where Geoff Johns shines. His dialog is amazing.
The stark contrast between Superman and Clark Kent is something we don’t always see a lot of anymore. It seems that writers have a hard time separating the two personas. Not so with Johns. Clark Kent is back to his bumbling, awkward, absent-minded self. Throw in the art of Gary Frank and you get a suit that doesn’t quite fit, glasses that need constant adjusting and hair that doesn’t want to lay down. These little details help to restore the nerdy Clark Kent that we all know and love.
Contrast this with the confident Superman who jumps from a window while changing in to his “action” clothes, flies off and immediately attacks a gigantic menacing robot.

Spoilers follow
Later in the comic Superman makes his way back to the 31st century at the request of Brainiac 5. It seems he is needed for an important mission. However when he arrives he is attacked by the Science Police. He is then informed by some of the Legionnaires that Brainiac 5 has been missing for over six months. He’s also urged to leave immediately. Of course he can’t and soon learns that he has no powers because the sun has been changed from yellow to red.

The idea of Superman trapped in the future without his powers is fun. The dialogue between characters and excellent art make this an amazing comic book and a promising series.

Supergirl #22 has been sitting on my desk for weeks now. Every time I picked it up, I would end up setting it down again without even glancing inside. I was dreading it.

This is the second part of a two part series entitled Reunion, and both issues are tie-ins to the worst series in DC Comics history, Countdown. This alone was enough to turn me off. To make matters worse, the cover features the most overused character DC has to offer lately, Karate Kid.
I’m not sure why DC thinks that the Legion of Super Heroes are suddenly popular. Perhaps someone out there actually likes them, but if you ask me they’re conceptually dull and not worth reading about. Actually so is Supergirl. I was worried that Combining the two would make for a very boring story… and I was right.

In Supergirl #21 Karate Kid and Una had to fight an incredibly lame villain named Equus. He looks like Doomsday… if Doomsday had been a character on Back to the Future 2. The stupid outdated sunglasses, dumb looking headphones and ridiculous lines he speaks remind me of every 80’s cartoon I ever watched as a kid.
His powers are stupid too… he shoots hardening Nickelodeon-like slime from a metal plate on his chest!
This character was so stupid that I could barely focus my hate on any other part of the comic. Apparently he made his first appearance years ago in Superman #206. I don’t really care that Superman #206 was done by Jim Lee, Equus looked just as stupid back then.

After reading this terrible issue as fast as possible, I shut the comic and looked at the cover.
It was then that I realized DC had completely lied about the contents of this issue.
The cover plainly says “Supergirl vs. Karate Kids?!” and shows the Girl of Steel being choked by one Karate Kid, while punching out another.
In reality Supergirl never battles Karate Kid… let alone two of ‘em! Thanks for the false advertising, DC.

A recent comment reminded me of an article I wrote about the death of Captain America. I invited the general public to get over it. It seemed the day Captain America #25 was released the media couldn’t keep from talking about it.
Some fans of Captain America went in to a depression, some lashed out at Marvel, and some (myself included) accused Marvel of sensationalism simply to make an extra dollar.

That was at the beginning of March in 2007.
Prior to that, civil war had erupted between Earth’s heroes who were split on an issue involving their rights. Tony Stark (Iron Man) led the way in getting the government to pass a law stating that all super powered humans had to register their secret identity and be trained and employed by the government.
While Iron Man led the pro-registration side, Captain America led the anti-registration underground rebels.

I was down on Civil War and claimed it was boring. I still feel this way. The concept was brilliant, but the execution was drawn out and over-hyped. However the final outcome (the death of Captain America) and after effects have proved to be very interesting indeed. The stories that have come from Civil War made the whole event worth while.

I till say that Marvel killed Captain America for two reasons:

1. In real life they killed him to make more money on comic book sales.

2. In the comic book world he died by the hands of a former agent of shield (agent 13) who was being mind controlled by Dr Faustus. He was first wounded by a sniper as climbed the steps of a courthouse in handcuffs after turning himself in to Tony Stark.

The death of Steve Rogers (Captain America) has only proved to enhance the Captain America comic book. In fact, I actually look forward to reading this comic book. Instead of halting the comic (Superman style) the stories have focused in on Bucky, Captain America’s sidekick in World War II, the Red Skull (a long time enemy of the Cap) Agent 13 (Captain America’s killer) and several other characters. Written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Steve Epting, this comic book has a very nice conspiracy / espionage feeling to it.

Many other Marvel titles are really worth your money right now, which brings me to my final point.
During the course of this blog I have been somewhat down on Marvel in general for such things as the House of M, and just having bad stories in general. Recently I’ve reversed my feelings. Marvel is pumping out some high quality stories, you just have to buy the right ones.
X-Factor, Iron Fist, Captain America… even Iron Man are all very well written and illustrated comic books. Good job Marvel, and keep up the good work.

Months ago I talked about Punisher War Journal and how it’s one of my favorite comics. It’s action packed, well written, and constantly considers the blurry line of justice.

World War Hulk has been a pretty decent read thus far, albeit rather slow moving. I’m not much for tie-ins and as soon as I saw that World War Hulk would be crossing over with my beloved Punisher War Journal I expected a boring issue. Thankfully I wasn’t bored in the least.

Punisher War Journal #12: World War Frank, was a fun one-shot story. It managed to show Frank as a warrior and a protector. A blood thirsty vigilante with the people’s best interests in mind.

In this issue, Frank (Punisher) arrives in New York after a massive evacuation of the city only to find it overrun with Sakaar warriors… and a few stragglers who were left behind in the city. Frank does his part in helping the left-overs escape, while fending of hoards of Sakaar.
The final battle between Punisher and Mung the Inconceivable is gratifyingly gory, and Frank’s temporary new suit looks incredible. I would actually like to see that thing stick around for a while.

Most importantly, Punisher War Journal manages to remain true to it’s style even while crossing over with World War Hulk. That’s not easy to accomplish, and certainly isn’t seen in too many titles.

Years ago I saw this graphic novel at the comic book shop. I flipped through it a few times, but never did read it. The title, 30 Days of Night, and the image on the cover kept drawing me to it, but I just couldn’t find enough gumption to actually purchase it.
Now it’s been made in to a major motion picture and this slightly piqued my interest, yet still not enough to purchase the book.

A few days ago a coworker stopped by my desk and handed me his newly purchased copy. He warned me that it only took him 15 minutes to read, but it had a great concept.

After reading this book I can understand why it was made in to a movie, but I simply can’t see what all the adulation heaped upon Steve Niles is for.
The concept is definitely an interesting and somewhat unique one. Alaska has 30 days in which the sun does not rise, so what better place for vampires to gather and feast upon the blood of the living?
The execution of this is concept however is horrible.
30 Days of Night lends itself well to a movie format. But therein lies the problem. It feels as though it was made simply to become a movie. In fact, I felt as though I was looking at the movie’s storyboard with word balloons thrown in for fun.
The dialogue is contrived at best, the characters have no soul, and the art, while edgy, simply servers to further obscure the identities of the characters, making them that much easier to translate to the big screen, and that much harder to relate to.

Being disconnected from the characters is never a good thing in a comic book. Psychotic vampires who storm around town and kill everyone in sight isn’t frightening, it’s just gory without a point.

The plot, like the characters, feels empty and there are many unanswered holes in it.
For instance, why did the main vampire, Vincent, seem to support the group meeting in Alaska if he thought it was a terrible idea, only to show up later and shut the whole thing down? Why did the guy from New Orleans risk his life to send vampire photos back to his mother? And who was his mother anyway?
This was all just a vague attempt at setting up sequels, of which there are plenty.

Then there were outright mistakes made. Why on Earth did the main character, Ebb, claim that the only way he had seen a vampire killed was by another vampire, when seconds prior to that statement he and the others in his group killed a vampire? Steve Niles must take the reader for a complete dolt.
Whole chunks of the story felt like they were missing. But why fill in the blanks when the movie writers can do that for you?

30 Days of Night is a lazily written graphic novel. It’s a piss poor excuse for a comic book and gives independent writers a bad name. It was however, a successful attempt at getting an idea in to main stream hollywood and making a lot of money for Mr. Niles. And if the movie is a success, it will also help to generate interest in comic books in general, so I guess it’s not all bad… just mostly bad.

I’ve been rather disconcerted with comic books as of late. I think my tastes are changing yet again. Either that or most books are just pretty boring right now. I haven’t really felt the urge to write. And then I read Iron Fist #8.
Where has this book been all my life?

A couple of weeks ago I picked up my latest shipment of comics at Graham Crackers Comics. Usually I take a few minutes to paw through the stack and make sure nothing had snuck in to my box, but this time I was in a rush and didn’t bother checking. Later when I got home I took a look at my new comics. To my dismay Iron Fist #8 had managed to sneak in to my pile. I was none too happy about this. I know nothing about Iron Fist, I didn’t feel like finding out about the Iron Fist, and quite honestly the cover sucks. I put it away for a while and went about my business.

Yesterday I finally picked it up, assuming I’d be writing a scathing review. To my surprise I found that Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction were the writers. This changed my perspective instantly. I was suddenly looking forward to reading this comic, and it turns out I was not disappointed.
Not only is the writing superb, the art is beautiful. David Aja has put together a really beautiful book and rocketed to the top of my Favorite Illustrators list. He is now among the greats such as Tony Moore and Cliff Rathburn. I actually paused several times throughout the comic to take a closer look at his illustrations.

I have decided to go back and read The Immortal Iron Fist issues 1 - 7 and will be adding this title to my list on Wednesday. Thank goodness the guys at the comic shop screwed up and stuck this comic in my box!