Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
"Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" Preview Online
The first four pages of Neil Gaiman's story "Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?" are online.
Gaiman is pretty universally regarded as a comic book genius, but he's had a pretty odd relationship with DC in regards to their superhero properties. His Green Lantern/Superman crossover, Legend of the Green Flame
went a weird, roundabout way toward publication, and even though his Sandman series is regarded as a classic, DC is still more likely to assign him to characters you'd see in the Outsiders than any of the people you'd see in the Justice League.
So everybody's curious to see how it goes, including you, I'll bet. So go feed your curiosity.
It involves cats.
Gaiman is pretty universally regarded as a comic book genius, but he's had a pretty odd relationship with DC in regards to their superhero properties. His Green Lantern/Superman crossover, Legend of the Green Flame
went a weird, roundabout way toward publication, and even though his Sandman series is regarded as a classic, DC is still more likely to assign him to characters you'd see in the Outsiders than any of the people you'd see in the Justice League.So everybody's curious to see how it goes, including you, I'll bet. So go feed your curiosity.
It involves cats.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Reviews: Batman & Son and Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
I like Grant Morrison.
At least, I thought I did.
I liked Arkham Asylum
as well as anybody else. And I enjoyed his run on Justice League right from the start.
But reading the books leading up to Batman: R.I.P.,
I can't help but wonder if I don't like him as much as I thought I did.
Take these two storylines.
The main plots of Batman and Son
and Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
are simply ridiculous. There's nothing to them at all.
In the first one, it turns Batman has a kid, and he's a more annoying version of Jason Todd. In the second one, Ra's Al Ghul comes back from the dead.
The first idea is a real stinker. Batman fans have already proven they're willing to pay money to kill off annoying kid characters. The second idea simply drags out something everyone knew would happen anyway--in a medium filled with characters coming back from the dead, Ra's is pretty much defined by coming back from the dead over and over. It's certainly not compelling enough to warrant its own book.
But that's not to say these books are entirely without value. There's a great subplot about Batman being attacked by alternate versions of himself. The subplot and the mystery surrounding it is far more compelling than anything in the main story.
And in the Ra's book, the interesting subplot isn't about Batman, Talia, or their little tyke--the most compelling conflict is the one involving Tim Drake and his parents. In order to win Tim's trust, Ra's offers to bring Robin's parents back from the dead.
There are some legitimate questions in the subsequent moral conundrum Tim has with himself and Nightwing as he debates why, in a world like the DCU, where people like Ra's can come back from the dead, where zombies and Dead Man and other heroes and villains run wild, why not bring his parents back?
Of course, that conflict takes place in the part of the crossover that wasn't written by Morrison. So what does that mean?
It doesn't mean I've given up on Morrison completely--he did write the great Batman-confronted-by-alternate-Batmans stuff that runs through these books, so I've got hope for the guy. And I've got hope for Batman: RIP, which I haven't read an issue of yet.
And I didn't hate it for the reasons I thought I would. I thought I'd hate it for the same reasons I hated Superman Returns--the idea of super-hero orphans going around having kids they don't know about is not only silly, but untrue to the characters.
But the history of this one is basically that the old graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon really took place, and Batman had the kid during a drug-induced farce of a wedding to Talia, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul.
So I've still got hope that Batman: RIP will be worth reading.
The G.I.Joe movie, on the other hand, I've just about given up on.
At least, I thought I did.
I liked Arkham Asylum
as well as anybody else. And I enjoyed his run on Justice League right from the start.But reading the books leading up to Batman: R.I.P.,
I can't help but wonder if I don't like him as much as I thought I did.Take these two storylines.
The main plots of Batman and Son
and Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghulare simply ridiculous. There's nothing to them at all.In the first one, it turns Batman has a kid, and he's a more annoying version of Jason Todd. In the second one, Ra's Al Ghul comes back from the dead.
The first idea is a real stinker. Batman fans have already proven they're willing to pay money to kill off annoying kid characters. The second idea simply drags out something everyone knew would happen anyway--in a medium filled with characters coming back from the dead, Ra's is pretty much defined by coming back from the dead over and over. It's certainly not compelling enough to warrant its own book.
But that's not to say these books are entirely without value. There's a great subplot about Batman being attacked by alternate versions of himself. The subplot and the mystery surrounding it is far more compelling than anything in the main story.
And in the Ra's book, the interesting subplot isn't about Batman, Talia, or their little tyke--the most compelling conflict is the one involving Tim Drake and his parents. In order to win Tim's trust, Ra's offers to bring Robin's parents back from the dead.
There are some legitimate questions in the subsequent moral conundrum Tim has with himself and Nightwing as he debates why, in a world like the DCU, where people like Ra's can come back from the dead, where zombies and Dead Man and other heroes and villains run wild, why not bring his parents back?
Of course, that conflict takes place in the part of the crossover that wasn't written by Morrison. So what does that mean?
It doesn't mean I've given up on Morrison completely--he did write the great Batman-confronted-by-alternate-Batmans stuff that runs through these books, so I've got hope for the guy. And I've got hope for Batman: RIP, which I haven't read an issue of yet.
And I didn't hate it for the reasons I thought I would. I thought I'd hate it for the same reasons I hated Superman Returns--the idea of super-hero orphans going around having kids they don't know about is not only silly, but untrue to the characters.
But the history of this one is basically that the old graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon really took place, and Batman had the kid during a drug-induced farce of a wedding to Talia, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul.
So I've still got hope that Batman: RIP will be worth reading.
The G.I.Joe movie, on the other hand, I've just about given up on.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
What's going on with the old Marvel GI Joe comics?
So you may have been wondering what's going on with all the G.I.Joe comics. Why are old volumes so hard to get? Why does the property change hands so much? And where can I get a hold of them?
Well, the answer is Hasbro. Hasbro keeps a pretty tight reign over the G.I.Joe comics franchise, and they have a tendency to change companies. And under the terms of their contracts, publication rights transfer back to Hasbro when they pull the comic liscence. So the reason Marvel's old trade paperbacks of the Marvel comics are out of print is because Marvel simply doesn't own the rights to those comics any more.
But here's the good news. Hasbro is trying to get those books back into print with the new publisher, IDW.
The first G.I.Joe trade paperback, collecting issues 1-10, will be coming out in January.
In April, they're going to be releasing a special hardcover of G.I. Joe: The Best Of Larry Hama
. This will include issue 21, the famous "Silent" issue, which featured Snake Eyes trying to rescue Scarlett from Storm Shadow, and was told entirely without dialogue, and issue 85, a follow-up called "SFX," which was told with only the sound effects (like "Whoosh" and "Zip").
Other issues included are 26, the part one of the first Snake Eyes origin story, issue 63, where Snake Eyes and Scarlett rescue Stalker, Snow Job and Quick Kick from a gulag-style prison, and issue 86, the anniversary issue where the Joes meet "Just Another Guy Named Joe."
In the meantime, they're putting out more of the G.I.Joe Comic 2 Packs--the ones where you get a couple of figures bundled with a classic comic book.
Well, the answer is Hasbro. Hasbro keeps a pretty tight reign over the G.I.Joe comics franchise, and they have a tendency to change companies. And under the terms of their contracts, publication rights transfer back to Hasbro when they pull the comic liscence. So the reason Marvel's old trade paperbacks of the Marvel comics are out of print is because Marvel simply doesn't own the rights to those comics any more.
But here's the good news. Hasbro is trying to get those books back into print with the new publisher, IDW.
The first G.I.Joe trade paperback, collecting issues 1-10, will be coming out in January.
In April, they're going to be releasing a special hardcover of G.I. Joe: The Best Of Larry Hama
. This will include issue 21, the famous "Silent" issue, which featured Snake Eyes trying to rescue Scarlett from Storm Shadow, and was told entirely without dialogue, and issue 85, a follow-up called "SFX," which was told with only the sound effects (like "Whoosh" and "Zip").Other issues included are 26, the part one of the first Snake Eyes origin story, issue 63, where Snake Eyes and Scarlett rescue Stalker, Snow Job and Quick Kick from a gulag-style prison, and issue 86, the anniversary issue where the Joes meet "Just Another Guy Named Joe."
In the meantime, they're putting out more of the G.I.Joe Comic 2 Packs--the ones where you get a couple of figures bundled with a classic comic book.
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