Comics Review (DC)
I saw Resident Evil: Extinction on Friday night, and it was fun. “Fun” in my mind is a specific variety of “good,” but “good” is a vague descriptor that can mean too many different things when applied to media. =) For example, I’d describe Vellum as “visionary” - another specific variety of “good” that I enjoy a great deal, but that others might not like so much (for some people “visionary” can translate into “confusing.”) Resident Evil was fun for me because it had Milla Jovovich kicking ass. It also had great music and some well-constructed moments of zombie horror. The plot was bad, but all I ask from a film like this is a strong enough foundation to support Milla looking hot and badass while killing zombies, and I’m pretty much satisfied.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about comics - I just got a new stack in the mail, and I’m finished with the DC stuff. Here are some reflections (with spoilers!)
Overall, DCs contributions over the last few months have felt wimpy. I think DC is still in a state of transition - to me it feels like they’re still recovering from the end of the Morrison/Waid run on JLA, which gave the whole DC continuity a “center” for a while that it has been missing lately. With Waid’s return to Flash, and Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League Unlimited) taking over on Justice League, I think they’re steadily moving in the right direction.
OK - from the top of the stack to the bottom:
My feelings on “The Sinestro Corps War” are shifting slightly. I started out hating this story (because I despise the notion of “Parrallax” the yellow-fear demon with a venomous passion), but Johns and Gibbons are kicking it into overdrive now, and the whole story is getting the kind of “cosmic space opera” feeling that the Rann/Thanagar War should have had, but failed to achieve. I don’t like the premise for the story, but I have to admit that the execution is doing something kind-of cool. I find myself digging the “Corps” issues (especially the “Mogo” stuff) more than the Hal Jordan GL book. We’ll see if it goes anywhere.
Countdown sucks. I was trying to get into it for a while, but I’m far enough in now to say, with conviction, that it sucks. It’s a shame, because the Mary Marvel story could be a blast in the hands of someone like Morrison. I hate Donna Troy and Jason Todd and “Bob” the Monitor, and yes, Jimmy Olsen MUST die. Nuff Said.
Birds of Prey - sniffle! I’m very sad that Gail Simone is leaving. This title, in her hands, has been a consistent favorite. I’m going to follow her over to Wonder Woman, and hope that she can bring something interesting to a character that no one ever seems to be able to do anything good with. (If there’s anyone who can breathe life into WW it’s Gail Simone). I’ll ride out the Birds of Prey transition and see if anyone can pick it up, but the death of Knockout in 109 totally blows. Don’t walk into this title and dismantle the Secret Six, jerk.
Waid’s Brave and the Bold is quite fun - I loved Batman vs. the Legion of Super Heroes. Despite George Perez’s weird art (which makes everything look like a Crisis!), this book has lots of promise. Frank Miller’s Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is just goddamn weird, goddamn it. Morrison’s Batman is probably awesome, but it will be hard to tell until he’s done and I can read the whole thing in one long chunk - Morrison’s storytelling doesn’t lend itself well to reading in individual issues. Batman #666 was great, though!
Justice Society needs to get a bit more momentum going, but I was surprised to find that I loved the Libery Belle story - surprised because I loved Jesse Quick back when she was part of the Speed Force crew, and I’ve never understood the whole “Liberty Belle” transition until now. (Why be a lame patriotic slugger when you could be a hot speedster?) I’m glad she has her speed powers back. In general, this book needs to focus on a few central core characters, or else it will spread itself too thin (this seems to be the danger now).
I’m glad Meltzer is leaving Justice League, and I can’t wait for Dwayne McDuffie to take the helm! Meltzer’s run had all the trappings of being really good, without actually BEING good. It was sad. I want McDuffie to pick this book up and whip it into shape - give it the kind of excitement and interpersonal character development that made JL Unlimited (the cartoon) so compelling.
The winner this month is the Flash - it is such a relief to hear Mark Waid’s voice in this book, after all the crap that’s happened in the Flash continuity since Geoff Johns left! I’m glad Bart is dead, I’m glad Intertia is a statue, and I’m really happy that Wally is back. I also really enjoy Daniel Acuna’s artwork (he was great in Uncle Sam, and he’ll be great here). I’m not sure if I’m going to be much of a fan of the Wonder Twins, but I’ll give Waid some time to develop this before bagging on them too hard.
Enough for today! More after I’ve finished the Marvel stack… =)
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about comics - I just got a new stack in the mail, and I’m finished with the DC stuff. Here are some reflections (with spoilers!)
Overall, DCs contributions over the last few months have felt wimpy. I think DC is still in a state of transition - to me it feels like they’re still recovering from the end of the Morrison/Waid run on JLA, which gave the whole DC continuity a “center” for a while that it has been missing lately. With Waid’s return to Flash, and Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League Unlimited) taking over on Justice League, I think they’re steadily moving in the right direction.
OK - from the top of the stack to the bottom:
My feelings on “The Sinestro Corps War” are shifting slightly. I started out hating this story (because I despise the notion of “Parrallax” the yellow-fear demon with a venomous passion), but Johns and Gibbons are kicking it into overdrive now, and the whole story is getting the kind of “cosmic space opera” feeling that the Rann/Thanagar War should have had, but failed to achieve. I don’t like the premise for the story, but I have to admit that the execution is doing something kind-of cool. I find myself digging the “Corps” issues (especially the “Mogo” stuff) more than the Hal Jordan GL book. We’ll see if it goes anywhere.
Countdown sucks. I was trying to get into it for a while, but I’m far enough in now to say, with conviction, that it sucks. It’s a shame, because the Mary Marvel story could be a blast in the hands of someone like Morrison. I hate Donna Troy and Jason Todd and “Bob” the Monitor, and yes, Jimmy Olsen MUST die. Nuff Said.
Birds of Prey - sniffle! I’m very sad that Gail Simone is leaving. This title, in her hands, has been a consistent favorite. I’m going to follow her over to Wonder Woman, and hope that she can bring something interesting to a character that no one ever seems to be able to do anything good with. (If there’s anyone who can breathe life into WW it’s Gail Simone). I’ll ride out the Birds of Prey transition and see if anyone can pick it up, but the death of Knockout in 109 totally blows. Don’t walk into this title and dismantle the Secret Six, jerk.
Waid’s Brave and the Bold is quite fun - I loved Batman vs. the Legion of Super Heroes. Despite George Perez’s weird art (which makes everything look like a Crisis!), this book has lots of promise. Frank Miller’s Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is just goddamn weird, goddamn it. Morrison’s Batman is probably awesome, but it will be hard to tell until he’s done and I can read the whole thing in one long chunk - Morrison’s storytelling doesn’t lend itself well to reading in individual issues. Batman #666 was great, though!
Justice Society needs to get a bit more momentum going, but I was surprised to find that I loved the Libery Belle story - surprised because I loved Jesse Quick back when she was part of the Speed Force crew, and I’ve never understood the whole “Liberty Belle” transition until now. (Why be a lame patriotic slugger when you could be a hot speedster?) I’m glad she has her speed powers back. In general, this book needs to focus on a few central core characters, or else it will spread itself too thin (this seems to be the danger now).
I’m glad Meltzer is leaving Justice League, and I can’t wait for Dwayne McDuffie to take the helm! Meltzer’s run had all the trappings of being really good, without actually BEING good. It was sad. I want McDuffie to pick this book up and whip it into shape - give it the kind of excitement and interpersonal character development that made JL Unlimited (the cartoon) so compelling.
The winner this month is the Flash - it is such a relief to hear Mark Waid’s voice in this book, after all the crap that’s happened in the Flash continuity since Geoff Johns left! I’m glad Bart is dead, I’m glad Intertia is a statue, and I’m really happy that Wally is back. I also really enjoy Daniel Acuna’s artwork (he was great in Uncle Sam, and he’ll be great here). I’m not sure if I’m going to be much of a fan of the Wonder Twins, but I’ll give Waid some time to develop this before bagging on them too hard.
Enough for today! More after I’ve finished the Marvel stack… =)