It's the Final Countdown...

I bought an issue of Wizard recently in what could only be described as an act of random stupidity. The issue was made up almost entirely of movie, game and toy news and as I flew through its sparse contents it hit me that there wasn't a single bit of new news in the entire thing. Not only that but if I want to read kiss-up interviews with celebrities appearing in genre movies I could just go buy an issue of EW or Empire. Obviously, everyone knows Wizard is not a bastion of comic book information but, when the heck did it become a low-rent US Magazine. I guess in the future I'll simply need to seek out more of Two Morrows publications when I need a fix. Or I could just read Newsarama, CBR or even IGN Comics section.

Has anyone been reading Nightwing, Robin, Batman and the Outsiders, or Batman Confidential lately? Is anyone else shocked by the sudden upswing in quality these books have seen in the last year? Nightwing is the best its been since the Chuck Dixon days. I started picking it up when I found out Rags Morales was handling the art but ended up staying thanks to the work that Tomasi is doing with the character. Is it just me or is Rags' work on this title looking rushed and awkward? I was reading the awesome Wrath Child arc of Batman Confidential the other day and I actually picked up an issue of Nightwing and compared Morales work in both and there is definitely a drop in quality. It could just be the inker or colorist at fault however. The best Rags has ever been was on Identity Crisis and that was as much due to the work of Alex Sinclair. Who's been handling the inking on Nightwing? It sure doesn't look like Michael Bair but who maybe I'm wrong.

At any rate the return of Chuck Dixon to the second tier Bat-books has helped make it DC's equivalent of the X-Men franchise. Outsiders is action packed, Robin has seen a return to the form that Dixon himself established in the series' early days, and, as already mentioned, the Wrath Child arc in Batman Confidential was fantastic and it's looking as though that title won't see a huge drop, particularly with the upcoming Kevin Maguire story arc. His art makes anything worth a look. If you're any sort of Batman fan you owe it to yourself to check these titles out.

In completely non-comic related news, this weekend is the Call of Duty live fire event that runs for a ridiculous 72 hour span. I intend on spending as much time participating as possible and have to say I'm jazzed to play. Sadly I went prestige about a week ago which resulted in being sent back to square one weapons wise. Also, my 360 decided it had enough of me and decided it would simply die on me leaving me with no choice but to steal my brothers for the weekend. This means I've barely played in about two weeks. Still, I'm determined to win something.

Say a prayer for me.

I have something to say...

Well, since I haven't updated since my best of 2007 list I thought it was high time to post some random musings.



First of all, I was reading CBR's interview with Brian Michael Bendis today and was struck by a few things. One of them is that the man has something of an ego on him. Another was that his statements about his disinterest in 52 (and Countdown to a lesser extent though I actually agree with him on the suckitude of that particular title) due to the fact that he doesn't believe different writers should have to share a collective voice is absolutely ridiculous. Half the time I just get the impression that Marvel writers are running their mouths about DC like jealous pre-teen girls. This goes for Mark Millar as well who babbled on and on in his IGN pep talk this past week about how outdated Superman is.

52 was a success because it was a team effort. Sure it was next to impossible to tell who wrote which segments (though I have some pretty good guesses) but as the writers themselves said in countless interviews, it was more like a band than a group of writers. Each contributed their own special something to the project. I'd say without Greg Rucka we wouldn't have had some of the excellent character work, without Mark Waid the heart and history and wealth of knowledge about the DC universe, Geoff Johns brought... uh, death and cool superheroey things I'd imagine, and withouth Grant Morrison I'm pretty sure the insanity would have been absent. Its not that the writers threw out their own specific voices but rather that they brought them all together and through that created something wholey and wonderfully unique.



Birds of Prey lost Sean McKeever this past week. Frankly I just don't care. I lost interest in the title some time after the one year later jump and moved on soon after that. I picked up the most recent issue last week at the shop and wasn't impressed in the least with it. Apparently Tony Beddard is going to be picking up the reins from McKeever but I would have been much happier if Chuck Dixon had made a return to the book. I'm so glad that Dixon is back at DC as he's always been one of my favorite superhero writers. I can't think of a more fitting compliment to the man who helped launch the title than if they'd asked him back. Oh well, let the mediocrity continue.

I'm looking forward to Secret Invasion so much that I actually put it on my hold list along with the tie in arcs in Might and New Avengers. Usually I'm a trade waiter when it comes to most things Marvel but this time I just gave in to the hype. Between SI and Final Crisis I'm looking forward to this years big events much more than last years. I only hope Bendis can sustain some sort of momentum through the whole series and that Morrison doesn't throw so many ideas at us during the course of Final Crisis that our collective head explodes.

In closing let me just say that so far my favorite book of 2008 is... Batman. Though half the time I'm completely oblivious as to what's going on, the two issues since the start of the new year have both been fantastic. I'm looking forward to the inevitable, overly publicised "death" followed by the much ballyhooed "resurrection" of Bruce Wayne. Play on...

Looking Back at 52

I was bored, and looking for something substantial to read rather than the usual six issue story arcs I'd been mulling through lately. You know, the made for trade work of Bendis and Brubaker and pretty much everyone out there these days. I'm not faulting these guys, just saying I was looking for a big story to read.
I'd read 52 last year almost entirely in one two day period when I was sick in bed. You see, for a few months after getting married I was just too darn broke to go get my pulls. When I finally did I managed to pick up about four months worth of 52 in one offing and combined with the fact that I'd been holding off on reading most of the previous months issues I had nearly 40 some odd issues to read. I remember enjoying it thoroughly but something about rushing through a series in the way I did just didn't let it stick at all.

Now here I am almost a year later, and I stumble back to it. Upon reading through the first 40 issues I am shocked at just how good this series really is. I shouldn't be, I know. It was written by four of the most creative minds in comics. Still, the plotting, the dialogue, even the art is of such a high quality (especially when compared to it's offspring; the utterly dreadful Countdown) it's hard to believe they pulled it off on a weekly basis.
Each separate story is fascinating to watch unfold. I believe there are really only six main characters with other stories drifting in and out but never creating a sense of disorder. Steel, Renee Montoya, Animal Man, Ralph Dibny, Black Adam and Booster Gold are the leads of each of their separate stories with multiple characters in each filling in supporting roles. The fact that the writers managed to juggle as many characters as they did speaks volumes about the professionalism and talent involved in putting this thing together.
As I said there are a lot of other characters drifting in and out of 52 like Nightwing, Oracle, Batwoman, The Suicide Squad, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and a metric buttload of others. Also, one of the story lines that takes over the series around the midpoint is that of Will Magnus and his wacky adventure on Oolong Island with the Mad Scientists creating means to achieve world domination. Its a brilliant storyline, and one of my favorites. Also, its because of the abominations created by the scientists on the island that bring about the start of World War 3 in the latter issues of 52.

I love the more B, C, and D-list characters being made the star of the series. I've always loved Black Adam, and Booster Gold but before 52 I hadn't gotten to know the rest of these characters very well. By it's conclusion I had grown to love Animal Man and Steel, not to mention the Metal Men. It's this focus on these lesser known characters that I think drives this series. There's a lot of heart in it. Steel's sadness over Natalie's going over to Luther's camp in the early issues of the series, the Question's battle with cancer and the way in which Renee deals with it, not to mention the entirety of Animal Man's story are all deeply affecting. Like I said, after this series I'd grown to love Animal Man.
Black Adam also has a brilliant character arc as he goes from egotistical dictator, to love struck king, to maniacal murderer. His story is especially tragic in a Shakespearean way. I've always liked Black Adam more as an essentially decent guy who just goes too far in his quest for justice but after what happens to him here something tells me he may not be coming back to the light anytime soon.

Again on the creative side, I've already mentioned how strong the writing is, and I don't really think I can stress this enough. This is serialized storytelling taken to new levels. When read as a whole rather than spread out over the course of a year this is like a superhero version of War and Peace. I especially admire the character's separate journeys and the ways in which each has changed by the end of this story.

Also, the art is strong here. Obviously the issues drawn by Phil Jiminez and Dale Eaglesham were especially strong but Joe Bennett, Pat Olliffe, and Chris Batista turned in solid work too. The covers by J.G. Jones were exceptional as well.

I realize it's a little off to write about a comic series nearly a year after it finished but this is one series that deserves to be rediscovered. If you haven't had the pleasure of picking this one up I'd suggest you run out and buy the collected editions. Although, I have to say I've been going through my back issues of this one and something about reading this one in floppies just makes it connect that much more. I love this series. Simple as that. Read, and enjoy.