The Rebirth Of The Cool
Static Shock
It doesn't matter what I think! The series will be cancelled at issue 8!
Nanny nanny boo-boo!
. . .
Okay, okay, all right. I never read the original Static series from Milestone, it premiered in the 90s when I wasn't reading much, if any, superhero comics, particularly independant stuff. When the cartoon Static Shock premiered, I would catch an episode here and there, and while I found it enjoyable, it was generally aimed at a younger target audience than I was comfortable being a part of, so I didn't get too into it. I liked that Virgil was a geek and suitably heroic, but until the Milestone Universe got folded into the DCU a couple years ago, I had never read a comic with Static in it. And then the Terror Titans happened, and he was the best part of it, really. And he was folded into the regular Teen Titans series, and I was disappointed because the average lifespan of a Titan at the time who wasn't part of a previous franchise was half a year at best, and he deserved better than to be a shocking sacrificial lamb for cheap pathos in yet another failure of a Teen Titans story. Virgil Hawkins deversed far better, for you see, he was still the best part of it all.
And then, in the relaunch, he was given his own title again! And it had art by Scott McDaniel, whose art I don't like. Ugh.
Aside from that, the first three issues weren't that bad. A teen hero being heroic and clever and having to find a balance between his superheroics and his teenage life? It was like the return of Spider-Man! (And incidentally, I think Static Shock is a better "black Spider-Man" comic than Ultimate Spider-Man). There were weird bits, like his sister having been doubled somehow and the family trying to deal with that (though I don't know where it came from, if it's new to this series or happened in the Milestone Universe before the merger, or what).
This series was also pretty much the sole Milestone book, with other heroes and villains appearing here instead of being incorporated into the wider DCU. So now that it's to be cancelled, I guess the Milestone Universe just doesn't exist anymore? And that's a shame.
Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; I love that the narration points out how bad Virgil's impressions are, too.
It doesn't matter what I think! The series will be cancelled at issue 8!
Nanny nanny boo-boo!
. . .
Okay, okay, all right. I never read the original Static series from Milestone, it premiered in the 90s when I wasn't reading much, if any, superhero comics, particularly independant stuff. When the cartoon Static Shock premiered, I would catch an episode here and there, and while I found it enjoyable, it was generally aimed at a younger target audience than I was comfortable being a part of, so I didn't get too into it. I liked that Virgil was a geek and suitably heroic, but until the Milestone Universe got folded into the DCU a couple years ago, I had never read a comic with Static in it. And then the Terror Titans happened, and he was the best part of it, really. And he was folded into the regular Teen Titans series, and I was disappointed because the average lifespan of a Titan at the time who wasn't part of a previous franchise was half a year at best, and he deserved better than to be a shocking sacrificial lamb for cheap pathos in yet another failure of a Teen Titans story. Virgil Hawkins deversed far better, for you see, he was still the best part of it all.
And then, in the relaunch, he was given his own title again! And it had art by Scott McDaniel, whose art I don't like. Ugh.
Aside from that, the first three issues weren't that bad. A teen hero being heroic and clever and having to find a balance between his superheroics and his teenage life? It was like the return of Spider-Man! (And incidentally, I think Static Shock is a better "black Spider-Man" comic than Ultimate Spider-Man). There were weird bits, like his sister having been doubled somehow and the family trying to deal with that (though I don't know where it came from, if it's new to this series or happened in the Milestone Universe before the merger, or what).
This series was also pretty much the sole Milestone book, with other heroes and villains appearing here instead of being incorporated into the wider DCU. So now that it's to be cancelled, I guess the Milestone Universe just doesn't exist anymore? And that's a shame.
Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; I love that the narration points out how bad Virgil's impressions are, too.