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Completely Ignorant CFP Championship Preview

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Introduction

I am not as adverse to college football as to the NFL. While the NFL has become a predictable mess of “follow the leader” college is almost 40 worthless bowl games between teams that have almost nothing in common. College football is wearing blue and gold because you spent half a semester skipping classes at Pitt 25 years ago. College football is selling out a 100,000+ seat stadium for a game between two barely .500 teams in the middle of a December snow storm simply because it is rivalry week.

Sure, there are just as many concussions as in the NFL, the players aren’t compensated, and 90+% of them won’t see the money that the NFL promises, but let’s not talk too much about that. Instead, let’s revel for one last game, the national championship which features two schools that Google Maps tells me are less than 300 miles apart. That’s a bit like the World Series between two teams in the USA. Okay, enough snark.

As of that was even possible.

Alabama

Alabama is in the unfamiliar position of coming into this game as the lower ranked team. I doubt that necessarily makes them the underdog though. Sure, their road to this game was not as Alabama like as previous seasons. They only lost one game, their last one against Auburn. that was enough to keep them out of the SEC Championship and my friend wrongly hoped, the CFP. I played along with his silly delusion. Ultimately, I knew the voters would never keep Alabama out if they could help it.

And, sure enough, there they were at #4. This time it was my turn to suffer silly delusions. I thought that the injuries and inconsistencies might finally catch up to them and Clemson would roll the Tide. I forgot about the fact that Nick Saban had a month to prepare for this game. I wrote that the NFL is boring and college offers some entertainment. That’s only during the regular and toilet bowl seasons. Once you get to the playoffs, Bama is New England and every one else is fighting for runner up.

Eff the Pats.

What Does Alabama Bring to the Game?

So, of course, the Tide were the ones who rolled. They dominated Clemson in a way that only a Nick Saban led team can. Their defense smothered Clemson’s potentially dangerous offense and they did just enough themselves on offense not to sabotage the clear victory. Alabama is in the title game for the 3rd straight time and 6th overall. The BCS championship game has only been in existence for 11 years. Ugh.

While last year’s team offered 8 All Americans, only 3 Crimson Tide players were named this year. Even so, they found a way to scrape together a season in which they only lost one game, put together one of the most unpredictable blowouts of the semifinal round in recent history, and they’ve only lost 2 out of their last 40 games or something like that. Alabama is a machine. It’s just that this year they needed a bit more from the oil can.

Eff the Tide? Nah, just eff this guy.

Georgia

Alabama and Clemson have become such staples in the National Championship picture that I wrote Clemson up there and had to delete it to write Georgia. I have a Facebook friend that I met in World of Warcraft many years ago who is a Georgia alum. Unlike me, who barely remembers my time at UMass, that seems like a big deal to him. He’s always posting about the games, including pictures of his family attending and this year was no different. Since my childhood team of Pitt seems content to be an academic school with a mid-major mindset regarding athletics, it has been fun to live vicariously through him.

Georgia’s path to the big game seems to have gone more smoothly than Alabama’s. Admittedly, I hate watch Alabama weekly and only get my UGA news from that friend. Sure, I could do research, but I’ll leave that to the “experts”. Instead, I will stick with my gut feeling. Ah, hell, now I feel guilty. I looked up their schedule. It definitely looked like an easier road for Georgia.

What Does Georgia Bring to the Game?

Like Alabama, Georgia only lost one game against Auburn. Unlike Alabama, they got a chance for revenge in the SEC Championship. Like Alabama, I thought that Georgia would get beaten handily by Oklahoma. I got to look like a genius for about a half. Then, some crazy stuff happened, followed by some crazier stuff, and culminating in an insane comeback win for the Dawgs.

Georgia had two players named to the AP All American team. I only know the names of the running backs and that’s just because I learned them while glancing at the ESPN GameCenter every few minutes in their game against Oklahoma. In my “research” of glancing at their schedule for a minute or two, I saw a lot of high point spreads for many of the games. They might be playing the scrappy underdog to Alabama’s juggernaut. But, they are no slouch of a team.

Is that Jake from State Farm?

The Pick

I lamented last year that it seemed like a year for evil to win. After heartwarming stories in the NHL, NBA, and MLB, there was the election and later the Patriots (they were still a month away, but virtually inevitable). I figured that Alabama would just ride that wave to a repeat win. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Clemson gave us a new hope.

Continuing with the obvious metaphor, that makes this the year that The Empire Strikes Back and an Alabama win. Honestly, though, independent of last week’s results, I might have been persuaded to pick Georgia and prolong the Alabama miser one more year. However, after “watching” last week’s games, I just think that even in this down year, Alabama is still the team to beat. Georgia doesn’t look like the team to be able to do it. In addition, similar to Bill Belichick, no former Nick Saban assistant has returned to beat “the man”.

And, to be the man…
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Completely Ignorant NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

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Introduction

As part of my annual awakening and post to the web page, I have picked the NFL Wild Card games each year. One of my shticks is that I go into the games as ignorant as possible. Since I stopped watching the NFL weekly about 10 years ago, that isn’t much of a problem. My research only consists of listening to the Bill Simmons Podcast with Cousin Sal weekly and watching the games on Thanksgiving. This year is no different.

Another idea that I got last year or the year before was to have a coin (actually a coin flipping simulator run 100 times) named George (because he’s a quarter, see) choose the games. I hate that we’ve made sports into such a big deal in this country that people can make money talking about them as if they have more or better insight than the people at home. If I can show that a flipped coin can have just as much, if not more success, than those on television, maybe it will invalidate them. Rage against the machine!

The Picks

Bills at Jaguars (Sunday at 1:05 pm): The Bills made the playoffs on the last day, sparing us the idiot talking heads discussing the Peterman/Taylor decision. Until Christmas, all I knew about the Jags is that Blake Bortles is the quarterback. I will forever love and be indebted to him for winning a fantasy league and then never being invited back. I think it’s a better story if Buffalo wins, at least for a weekend because they’ll be destroyed by the Pats. Instead, I think they’ll save us the false hope and get destroyed by the Jaguars this weekend. George’s Pick: He’s fairly confident that the Jags will win, too. Bills 46, Jaguars 54.

Falcons at Rams (Saturday at 8:15pm): With a rookie head coach and essentially a rookie quarterback, nobody saw the Rams coming this year. The Falcons ping ponged up and down all season, finally sneaking into the playoffs with an impressive 10-6 record. The Falcons would like revenge for their collapse in the Super Bowl last year. The Rams are playing a home game with house money. I think I like the Rams story better than the Falcons. Besides, with UGA in the championship, I don’t think I could stand Georgia being the center of the football universe for a month. Whatever happens, this will be a high scoring game. George’s Pick: He disagrees, firmly, with me and wants to see the Falcons get revenge. Falcons 56, Rams 44.

Titans at Chiefs (Saturday at 4:35 pm): This is the “who cares” bowl for me. If the Jags win, like I think they will, then the winner of this game plays the Patriots for the right to go to the AFC Championship. I guess the Chiefs are better in that scenario because they beat the Pats earlier in the season. However, the Titans winning this game and the next, plus the Jags beating the Steelers appeals to the chaos lover in me. I will go with the Chiefs on the slim chance that they catch the Pats on a bad day next week. George’s Pick: Apparently George is an anarchist and wants to see the whole NFL break down. Titans 51, Chiefs 49.

Panthers at Saints (Sunday at 4:40 pm): Too bad this one is happening this weekend. This would have been a great NFC Championship. Sure, it stinks to have only one division represented in the championship round, but they are always the most fun games. Like the Rams, the Saints are a bit of a surprise, while the Panthers succeeded in spite of their owner resigning (somehow rather quietly) amid, for lack of a better word, weird allegations. I think I like the Saints in this one. George’s Pick: George is picking another road team. Panthers 56, Saints 44.

Wrap Up

Join us next Friday as we post mortem these games and prepare for the Steelers and Patriots to win, set up a rematch, and watch the Pats walk into the Super Bowl again. God, the NFL is so boring.

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of The Last Jedi

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Introduction

A little over 2 weeks ago, we went to see The Last Jedi. I invited my father in law because he went to see The Force Awakens with us and seemed to have a good time. Also, we enjoy our traditions in this family. Counter to seemingly everyone else, I went in search of leaks and spoilers. I have not been indoctrinated by pop culture to yearn for that “gotcha” moment to keep me entertained, so I don’t mind going in “spoiled”. I found a reddit thread that seemed legit and sated my Star Wars fever for a few days. I also stumbled on some hatred. While not unusual for a Star Wars film, this felt different. I will cover it more in the Ugly section. I also waited to write this review because I had made plans to see it again this past weekend, but they never materialized. So, before I forget any more details about the movie, on to the review.

The Good

At the risk of sounding cliche, the movie is good because it is Star Wars. Hey, the only reason that sounds cliche around here is because that is my one hacky writer move that I repeat in every one of these reviews. As usual, though, it is true. All of the things that make a Star Wars movie great are present in this film. Lightsaber battles, dog fights on planets and in space, family tension, mystery, cute stuffy type animals, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” (it’s hidden pretty well because I missed it), wonderful scenery, cool new aliens, and Princess/General Leia.

Although that last one isn’t going to be true anymore going forward. What, too soon?

After the near shot for shot remake of the original movie as The Force Awakens, I feared that we were in for a retelling of the original trilogy with new characters. That simply wasn’t true for this movie. Sure, there were tidbits that called back to the original movies, but this movie is exactly what it needed to be.

When talking with my friend that wanted to make plans to see it this weekend, that’s where I ended up on the movie. He asked me what I thought, and I said, “I loved it.” Then I started to walk that statement back a bit. It’s not that I didn’t love it, it’s just that there’s been some push back to this movie. I suppose that those complaints are valid in some form or fashion. I mean, even Luke Skywalker himself has said that he didn’t like the direction of his character for the movie. It’s just that I don’t agree with those criticisms.

So, I started with “I love it” and that is my true, unfiltered opinion of the movie. He replied, “Really?” I had no idea what that meant nor implied. Perhaps he had heard some of the criticisms of the film and now I’d have to defend this thing that I love because that’s what we have to do now. It’s not simply enough to say that you don’t like it. You have to tear it down and make the person who does like it feel bad about themselves for liking it and force them to defend it even though you have no intention of listening to their defense or changing your mind. It’s all very exhausting.

I have no idea if that’s what his “Really?” really meant or not. So, instead of launching into a lengthy defense of the movie, I took a breath and simply said, “It is exactly what it needed to be.” So, what does that mean? It serves as a bridge, giving old fans what they need to say good bye to their old heroes and giving new fans heroes of their own that they will have to say good-bye to someday. And, that’s where some of the normal Star Wars fan hatred is coming from. Change is difficult and scary. But, it is necessary so that things don’t become stagnant. I thought that this movie did a great job of showing that change in as thoughtful a way as it could, but people still weren’t happy. I was, though. As soon as we walked out of the theater, I looked at Aiden and said, “Let’s sneak into that theater and watch it again.” We didn’t, but I was completely serious.

The Bad

I’ve only seen it once and it was through the eyes of younger me as a fan and not as a critic at all. Therefore, I don’t have a ton of negative things to say about the movie, but at least they are the kinds of things that we always say about these movies. Hey, we Star Wars fans are nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

Actual quotes from Star Wars fans after every new movie.

Okay, so what do we always complain about? First, Captain Phasma died in a Boba Fett fashion. Second, cool characters like Maz and evil BB-8 were underutilized. Third, porgs? Seriously? Like I said, ever since Ewoks, there have been the stuffy friendly characters to keep the kids entertained and I must have finally transitioned from kid Star Wars fan who loved the Ewoks to grumpy old man Star Wars fan who could have done without the porgs entirely. I understand that they were inspired by the puffins or something native to the island. I just wished they weren’t there.

Porgs. Like Ewoks, only useless.

One other thing, and this is a common complaint that I’ve heard. The movie is a bit long. I get that they both want to tell the whole story and also want to give people their money’s worth as movie ticket prices creep up to 15 dollars and higher in some cities. However, not everything that was in the movie needed to be there, in my opinion. A few scenes went on for too long and the entire sequence on the casino planet contributed almost nothing to the movie. My cousin made the point that it will probably be more prominently featured in the next movie, which would make sense. Otherwise, I have no idea why it was there.

Finally, and this might just be me. Speaking of the casino planet, what the hell was up with that ending? It felt like more of an epilogue than a “to be continued”. I didn’t need a literal “to be continued” ending like The Force Awakens, but I had no idea what that kid has to do with the overall story. Sure, he’s force sensitive, but we already knew that there were other force sensitive people out there. Sure, he was one of the slaves that tasted a bit of freedom thanks to the rebels, but….oh. Never mind. I said earlier that this movie is serving as a bridge from old to new, but that bridge might be branching. Daisy Ridley has already said that she doesn’t know if she’s going to be back after Episode IX, so yeah. It makes sense. Keep your options open. Very shrewd, Disney.

The Ugly

I’ve complained about the movie a bit. I’ve also hinted that I found some hate on the internet about the movie. Again, that isn’t news. Search long enough and you will find someone on the internet that hates whatever you like. Also, I’ve made the joke a few times that only true Star Wars fans hate Star Wars. I mean, these are the people who pushed the creator of the mythos, their God, out of the picture.

See those jerks over there? Tell them to “Go to Hell” in 65 million different languages.

But, and I said this before, this hate felt different. There is a new malevolence out there. Maybe it’s an old malevolence that has bubbled to the surface. I’m not going to be reductive and blame it all on politics, but the climate has certainly made it more comfortable for these people to exist and let it be known that they exist. It started a bit with The Force Awakens when people got upset that there was a black Stormtrooper and it has been ever present in the Marvel fandom ever since Marvel tried to reinvent some of its heroes. Yes, in the case of the Marvel trolls, there are elements of racism and sexism that are troubling.

On that note, I’ve since heard that a group of internet trolls (some have said that they’re associated with the “alt right”, but I think that’s just a recent boogeyman catch all term to frighten people) that have made it their mission to make sure that these movies fail. I laughed out loud when I heard that. As I said to Chris, these guys might be able to pressure Marvel comics because the profit margin and margin for error are so low, but Star Wars doesn’t care if you’re mad. It will make a billion dollars with or without you. That theory has proven to be true as the movie just recently passed a billion dollars in about two weeks and I think I saw that it was the highest grossing movie of 2017 in only two weeks.

Still, like I said earlier, this kind of thing wears on you. Instead of simply being able to enjoy what you enjoy for reasons that you enjoy it, you are constantly being berated by those who don’t like it and feel that it is their mission to either get you to hate it too or simply argue with you for no reason other than to get you mad. They will stoop to racist, sexist, or just downright rude comments for no other reason that it will get a rise. They claim that they are fighting for free speech, but they’re simply fighting for their right to be jerks. It’s internet trolling taken to the extreme and I refuse to participate anymore.

The Verdict

I loved this movie. Whenever anyone asks and I don’t think about it before answering, that’s my answer. It is not a perfect movie. It is not even a perfect Star Wars movie. It is probably my second favorite of them all behind Empire Strikes Back. As my friend said, everyone liked Empire best and he’s mostly right. But, this one did exactly what it needed to, was a ton of fun to watch, and has left me just as excited to see Episode IX as I was to see this one after The Force Awakens. If you haven’t seen it, see it. If you have, see it again.

May the Force be with you. Always.

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2 Generations Gaming 2017 in Review

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Introduction

It’s the first day of 2018. This is the time every year that is traditionally set aside for reflection on the previous 365 (or 366) days. There are countdowns, marathons, and years in review. This article falls into the last category. While it has been difficult to maintain a consistent video or podcast schedule, I’ve done okay at updating the web page with at least one article a month. I’ve also kept busy with plenty of other geeky fun. Let’s reminisce on the best, the worst, and the ugliest.

The Good

APBA Baseball: I only recently rediscovered this game in one of my closets and I’m going to write an article this week about the couple of games I played last week. I know that others might prefer Strat-O-Matic or another simulator, but this is the only one I’ve played and it does what I want it to do. Overall, this has been a great addition to my gaming life again and I can’t wait to dive deeper into the baseball simulation greatness.

Mobile Gaming: Old school favorites like Candy Crush and Angry Birds. New favorites like Sim City Build It, Fallout Shelter, Magic the Gathering Puzzle Quest, and Pokemon Go. All of these games have been played with great regularity over the past year on my phone. In fact, most of my video game time has been spent on my phone. That’s saying something for a person who used to denigrate all mobile games as shovelware.

Eternal/Hearthstone: Yes, these are both games that could have technically been included in the mobile section. However, they’ve had more impact on me than the other games included in that list. I started playing Eternal during one of my rage quits from Hearthstone earlier in the year. I had seen Brian Kibler playing the game on stream and figured I’d give it a chance. I’m glad that I did. While I don’t play it as much as when I first started, it still has a place in my weekly rotation. I have had an up and down relationship with Hearthstone. However, as I said to Chris a couple of days ago, I seem to have found my comfort zone in the game. I have little to no interest in competitive play of any sort. I generally just log in every couple of days to do quests, earn gold, and every now and then win a pack that I won’t open.

Comics: 2017 was the year that saw me get back into comics. Marvel’s Secret Empire event led to a discovery of the well executed DC Rebirth titles. Following them for a few months led right into Metal and sticking with Secret Empire to the end let me experience the start of Legacy. Almost all of these events were well executed, but it wasn’t all good for comics this year. More on that later.

Magic the Gathering: You wouldn’t think that I’d rank this so highly in the good category. Given that Chris and I discussed a few times how little we had played the game this year. I wasn’t even watching streams. It just looked like the game had run its course for us. Then, a couple of things happened. Well, on my end, one major thing happened. During one of our summer trips, I played Magic with all three boys. First, we played a couple of two headed giant games with decks that I had built over the years. Then, I picked up the Nicol Bolas box set and finally the Explorers of Ixalan. We haven’t played the Explorers yet, but there is time. Any game that gets me closer to my kids is a great game.

The Best: I know that it came late in the year, but any time a Star Wars movie is released and it is half decent, that will be the best thing about my year. When it is one of the best of the franchise, it will be the best thing of the decade. When I get to experience it with my kids and father in law, it just might be one of the highlights of my life. I won’t say much more because I have an article planned to go into more detail, but I absolutely loved this movie and it was a perfect way to start my holiday break.

The Bad

No New Console: This is the first year in a few that we haven’t gotten a new console. I was going back and forth for a few weeks on whether or not to buy an XBox One Minecraft edition. I’ve had my eye on it for a while. Then, there seems to have been a mix up with my last December check and unless I sub in January, I won’t get paid at all, so economics won out. Liam did buy himself a Gamecube and we found the Dreamcast (but it needs to be repaired), so there are some “new” games being played right now, but no new hardware makes me feel a bit sad. We won’t be down for long, though. We are looking at a Switch and I’m almost positive that I’ll get an XBox in February.

The Worst: Only two for this one? Yep, and only two for the next one, too. By now, you should know my very positive outlook on things and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the fact that I just talked so much about how comics were a good thing this year might also make this choice for “the worst” seem weird at best and probably perplexing. But, I have a valid explanation. I loved the stories and art of the comics, but hated the cover prices. I was spending far too much money on them and I couldn’t justify doing so anymore. At least with games, I get massive replay value from them and they allow me to spend more time with my kids. Comics did neither of those. It was 3-7 dollars spent on 10-15 minutes of enjoyment. That’s just awful.

The Ugly

Our Podcast Lineup: I was just talking to a friend (and one of the first fans of the page) about the 2 Guys Gaming podcast. He said something about how he thought it was damn good and that it could have been something. Not one to take compliments very gracefully, I changed the subject quickly. However, the podcasts are fun for me to do and I really want to get back to doing them. There have been a few that I listen to that have taken long breaks and come back stronger. One, in particular, stopped and started a few times, but it is again one of my favorites. So, our planning is ugly, but hopefully by this time next year, it will be good.

Nerd on Nerd Violence: This is something that I’ve often spoken against. However, as nerd culture has become popular culture, the nerd on nerd violence has increased to an unacceptable level. It used to be that when you were picked on by somebody, you always had your nerd buddies to get your back. If there was an actual fight, you’d all get your butts kicked, but they were there to take your mind off of being the brunt of some sort of physical or psychological abuse. Now, some of the worst abuse of nerds is coming from other nerds. It isn’t just good-natured joke fights about whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better. It’s full on attacks of each other and the things we hold dear. I’m going to talk about this more in my Star Wars article and it might just be that all violence is increasing, but this makes me incredibly sad.

The Verdict

2017 wasn’t all fun and games. It wasn’t all poorly executed puns, either. It was a good bordering on great year that gives us an excellent foundation to make 2018 even better. Happy New Year, All! Make it the best one ever!

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The State of Comics

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Introduction

I guess you could say that I’m concerned about the future of comic books. Over the last few days, I’ve had two conversations with two different people (Chris and my cousin) about Marvel comics mostly. Neither conversation was completely out of context, but they were both initiated by me. I’m not usually one to fall into the trap of nostalgia, but there are a few things from my childhood that trigger it. As I have recently learned, comics are definitely in that category.

The Good

I mentioned that both conversations revolved around Marvel. I also wrote that I’m concerned about where comics are going. So, you can probably deduce that there might not be much in this section about Marvel. As you’re right, I will start there in an attempt to build some positive capital so that it doesn’t look like I’m piling on later.

First, other than the slightly (but understandable) disappointing ending, Secret Empire was a good story. Nick Spencer took what could have been a disaster and made it work. Then, while I didn’t like all of the titles that have come out of Legacy, I did like the idea of tying the past to the present and attempting to build a bridge to the future.

You can see from the cover that they had a slightly darker ending initially. However, apparently due to fan pressure, they succumbed to the obvious. More on that soon.

So, decent stories and characters, what’s the problem? Patience. I will get to the bad and ugly (in spite of my promise of possibly doing away with this format) in the net sections. For now, that is the good of Marvel. In contrast, DC not only has good stories (better than Marvel some would say), but their cover prices are so much less. I know that sounds odd when the difference is only one dollar, but a dollar per books adds up. At the standard prices of 2.99 v. 3.99, you get an extra DC book per $12 spent. If you were on a $50 a week habit like me, that’s four books a week.

As a result, even if the books are of equal quality, the DC books will have more value. That point, in fact, came up in my conversation with Chris. He said how he wasn’t buying Marvel anymore unless they were on clearance. He then went on to mention that he thought the DC books were of better quality. I initially agreed and probably still do.

However, the more that i thought about it, the more that I realized that might be a false narrative. At the least, it is an exaggeration. Sure, Batman is the best book currently and might be one of the best ever. Scott Snyder has blown it out of the stratosphere with Metal. After those and maybe Tom King’s other book, Mr. Miracle, there is a definite drop off in quality. I sense a turn for the negative here, so let’s trot out that by line.

The Bad

In contrast to the last section, I am going to start out with DC here to keep the thought going and then switch to Marvel, because as it stands, the only ugly is going to be Marvel, so that thread will continue from this section into that one. I’ve already said that most, if not all, of the DC books have good characters and stories. Their Rebirth has been a reboot that has worked on so many levels. However, it hasn’t all been completely positive. Other than the books mentioned in the last section, there isn’t much that is worth the cover price. Wonder Woman without Greg Rucka has been quite the drop off. No other book makes me want to shell out 2.99 for 32 pages worth of entertainment.

I get that creators need to do what they enjoy and I actually like Black Magick very much, but I selfishly want him back on WW.

Well, if there’s nothing in DC that I’m willing to pay 3 dollars for, then there’s certainly nothing that Marvel is putting out right now that I’d pay 4 dollars for. I liked Secret Empire and was willing to give Legacy a chance. I liked that, too, and especially liked that it wasn’t a reboot. However, all of this was secretly while hoping that they might come to their senses and drop their cover prices. They never did, so I’m officially out again from comic collecting. I just cannot justify the price for what I’m getting.

The Ugly

So, perhaps I’m part of the problem. The other major revelation came during the conversation with my cousin. It actually started while I was talking to Chris, but when combined with the subject matter of the conversation with my cousin, it crystallized into a more solid form.

My cousin and I were talking about the new Star Wars movie (impressions coming in a couple of days), and I said something about Star Wars fans being the worst, but Marvel comic fans giving them a run for their money. While talking to Chris, I made the point that comic fans have disproportionate power right now. Star Wars can tell each individual fan to go fly a kite because they’re still going to make a billion dollars on every movie.

The profit margin is so low for comics and the audience is so small that every fan they lose is a huge blow to the bottom line. I thought that Disney might allow the comics division to be a loss leader because the movies have proven to be a money printing machine. Perhaps that was true for a while, but there seems to be a turning tide and that they are putting pressure on the comic guys to deliver the goods.

This is how I imagine all the Broflakes who get mad about the changes to the Marvel universe.

The main driver for this train of thought is that they are killing the Guardians of the Galaxy (or that was the chatter a couple of weeks ago) book in January even though it is one of their better movies. Chris mentioned that Marvel just doesn’t have the talent that DC does and I reiterated my point that they could drop the price, try out some “new” talent, and take a chance. However, that doesn’t seem to be an option anymore and now they’re stuck with this mess of a situation and no good plan as how to proceed because their fans have dictated so much of their recent plans.

The Verdict

Things don’t look good for comics. Like I said to my cousin, because he’s not a comics fan, just a fan of the movies, “Who cares, right?” Well, I care. Comic books were an outlet for an awkward teenage me and they have been a steady force in my life ever since. Whenever things start to get a bit too chaotic in the real world, I can pull myself into the pretend world of Gotham or Wakanda and forget about it for an hour or so. Video games also became that for me, but it’s been harder and harder to sit down to play a video game now that I’m older.

I honestly like what comics are doing now. I don’t mind the new characters, enjoy most of the events that have happened in my time back in the books. What I don’t like is the cover price and it isn’t just because it’s prohibitive for me. I can find ways around that. It’s also prohibitive to new fans that they are courting with these new characters. Who is going to take a chance on something that is so obviously and grossly overpriced? I will be the first to admit that I don’t have answers, but I’m hoping that someone out there with the power to do something will figure it out.

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Comics Round Up: World’s Finest

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Introduction

At this point, I don’t think that I even have to mention that I’ve been back into comics since the Secret Empire event sucked me back in. However, even I am surprised that I’m still reading them now that the event is over. I didn’t last much past Civil War during my previous comics phase. We will obviously see if this current run continues, but I haven’t missed a week in nearly three months and getting a steady paycheck through December means that I probably won’t for the foreseeable future.

Justice League

The Good: I wasn’t terribly impressed with the first issue of this story arc. It wasn’t terrible. I just thought that they could do so much more with the premise. ranted, it was an introductory issue. I kept that in mind and I held out hope that it might get better. This is usually where I say, “I’m glad I did” or “I shouldn’t have bothered”. While I’m not sorry that I continued reading, I won’t quite say that I’m glad I did, either. Wow, what a weird good section, right? Don’t get me wrong. The story is decent. It’s just a bit too generic “coming back to the present to save the future” for me.

The Bad: Well, if that’s “the good”, then there must be plenty of bad. No, not necessarily. Overall, the story isn’t good more bad. It just sort of is. With both Marvel and DC playing with the idea of a multiverse, alternate history, and reinvention, this is one story that really didn’t need to be told right now. At least, it should have spent a little more time in development.

The Ugly: Loo, I get that I’m a frustrated writer. I also understand that critics are often failures in whatever they criticize. That is why I’m very careful and overly positive in my reviews. I’m not going to tear into this book. But, as you’ve seen, I haven’t been able to give it the full stamp of approval, either. For someone like me, that feels ugly and like it betrays my positive outlook on creative projects.

Justice League America

The Good: Similar title, similar heroes, vastly different results. This has been a much better book overall than the other Justice League title right now. That is in spite of not focusing too much on the main heroes. Maybe it is because they haven’t centered the story around them. I mean, the book has Lobo in it. The story revolves mainly around a character with size manipulation powers that travels to the “microverse” to find his mentor. It controls the narrative by itself and lets the JLA do theri things in the background. It plays much better than the Justice League title right now.

The Bad: This one, too, started off a bit slow. Like the other Justice League book, I almost didn’t give it more than one issue. Seeing as how this is a recurring theme, I suppose that I just have to realize that DC arcs–other than their big ones–use the first issue to set the stage. I will accept it, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

The Ugly: Speaking of Lobo, I’m glad that he has only a small supporting role. Similar to Deadpool, I can only tolerate Lobo in small doses. Anything more and the schtick just gets tired. Kudos to DC for recognizing my aversion to the character and writing specifically for me. Otherwise, it could have gotten ugly.

Wonder Woman/Conan

The Good: As far as I know, this is an original story, which is hard to find in a medium that has been around for 70? 80? years. Furthermore, it is an entertaining blending of the two mythologies. Of course, I’m not a comic book scholar, so this might have been done before. Alsok if I’m being honest, the story is simply an alternate telling of the Wonder Woman origin in the context of the Conan world. Still, the first issue was good.

The Bad: As I jus wrote, they may have done this crossover before. Now that I think about it, I’m sure they must have done this a least one other time during the “wild and crazy” 90s. I’m too lazy to Google right now. If so, then there’s no shock here. If not, or if there are new fans due to the movie, then the retelling of the Wonder Woman origin might turn some away.

The Ugly: Look, I know the rather sordid background of Wonder Woman. More specifically, a few months ago, I read an article about some of the stuff that her creator wrote into the book because of his “preferences”. The end of this book, while not fully embracing the roost of the character, came uncomfortable close to those dated and ugly themes.

Wonder Woman

The Good: While the stand alone title has not been as good as it was in the beginning when Greg Rucka was writing it, the lastest storyline has grown on me over the last few issues. As mentioned earlier, an all too familar refrain with DC arcs is that the first issue is very weak. Since that introduction, the story has improved enough to keep me buying a book that I thought might end up only being “I bought this for Greg Rucka.”

The Bad: I hate to harp on a point over and over, but DC really has to work on their intro issues for new stories. As a frustrated writer, I understand that stories have a certain structure; introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. I also understand that ever since Brian Michael Bendis changed the format, comics are all about setting things up for the eventual trades. As a result, that first issues ends up being a throw away for the minor stories.

The Ugly; I guess that, ultimately, my quarrel is with the structure of comics in the current era. Since every story has to be a 5 or 6 story arc and there isn’t much room for the random one off issue. Although, I will say that Batman did a successful one of team up with Swamp Thing that I thought was going to span multiple issues. That’s how ingrained the thinking is. I just wish that there were more of those and less focus on dragging their feet to fill the issue quota. Oh well, something ugly that I’ll just have to live with for now.

Next: That’s all we have time for in this review. I’ll be back in a few days with my thoughts on how Aquaman is succeeding (or not) in taking back his throne, how Batman is dealing with a war between two of his worst enemies, and how another Batman is coming face to face with nightmares from other universes!

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Fail Hydra

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(Editors Note: We’ve reached the end of Secret Empire and, with it, comes my review of the overall event. I’ve already done at least 2 (maybe 3) reviews of the beginning and middle (so, I guess 2) and promised that when all was said and done, I’d be back for the big send off. Away we go…)

The Good: This was a good story. I remember when the event started that I wasn’t completely on board with the idea. It seemed to go against everything that the Captain America character has ever stood for. How are you going to make Captain America into a facist? I understand that comics maybe aren’t selling as well in the face of movies and television shows that provide the same entertainment value at a possibly reduced cost for the consumer. But, come on, there are some things that you just don’t do. Turning Captain America into Hydra is something that you just don’t do. There are numerous instances of him fighting facists. One of the most recognizable images in comic book history is Cap punching Hitler straight in the face. I’ve shared that very image on this page probably to prove a similar point.

And, if punching Nazis is wrong, I don’t ever want to be right. Give ’em hell, Cap.

I won’t say that I ever came to terms with Captain Hydra. However, this story did a decent to good job of explaining a situation that, for many (myself included), had no good explanation. Granted, they jumped through hoops and the suspension of disbelief was almost too much at times. Still, it got me back into reading and enjoying comics and that is the name of the game. Well played, Marvel. Well played.

Aside from all of that, the story was compelling. It followed a good, logical arc with plenty of all the good kinds of conflict that make me want to invest my time in the story. In fact, I became so invested in the story that I did what I told myself I wasn’t going to do and I bought all of the crossover issues for the event, too. The last time I fell for that trick was the first Civil War and some of those books just felt like filler. That wasn’t the case with this event. Every book, even the crossover books, told a piece of the story. When you put them all together, you get a well executed event.

The art, for the most part, was very good, too. In a previous review, I mentioned that one of the reasons I enjoyed Civil War was Steve McNiven’s art. He didn’t do all of the books, but there was only one or two that I didn’t care for the art because another one of my favorite artists, Leinil Yu filled in for a couple of issues.

The Bad: I already mentioned that there were a couple of issues that I didn’t like the art. Granted, in the issues that I didn’t care for the art, there was a reason to use that particular style. I understand that, but I just didn’t care for it. It took me out of the story and, for me, had the exact opposite of the intended effect.

By my understanding, the art is supposed to convey an otherworldly or dream feel. It does make sense as this is an alternate reality, so every once in a while, it was interesting to have the art break down into the gauzy and ephemeral which was a stark contrast to the hyperrealism of Steve McNiven. However, for me, it was a reminder that this was only temporary. Steve Rogers was not going to remain a Hydra agent and Marvel insisted that things weren’t just “going to magically go back to normal at the end” during the whole event.

The art isn’t bad. It’s just different. Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but it just didn’t fit well in my opinion.

I’ve recently heard rumors that initially, they meant for the Captain Hydra event to lead to another “Dark Reign” type storyline, at least temporarily. But, response to the change in Cap’s character was met with such resistance (probably the most out of any of the recent changes) that they had to figure out another way to wrap it all up. I don’t know about all of that, but I will say that another bad thing about this arc is that it got pretty dark in the middle. Granted, there were things happening in real life that probably exacerbated my feelings about Hydra ruling the country. But, I strongly considered not reading anymore.

The Ugly: Other than that middle “despair” arc of the story, the ending was not all that great. I think that we all agree that if they were going to end the story in this fashion that this was the only logical ending. Still, I’m a guy who likes a good ending and this one was just okay. It was what was supposed to happen and it happened.

So, why put this one in the ugly column? Well, it’s disappointing for one major reason. They said all along that this wasn’t going to be one of those stories where everything just gets fixed and we pretend that nothing happened after a few months. Before reading that, I was convinced that the cube would realize her mistake and work to fix what she broke. Then, I read that’s not how it would end and I was intrigued as to how they would end it. Chris suggested the old Dallas “it was just a dream” ridiculousness. While I didn’t have to make good on my threat and return all of the books that I bought if they actually went through with that, the ending was sort of along the lines of what I initially suspected. Okay, fine, but given everything that they said about it not being that ending, this deserves an ugly.

The Verdict: Similar to Civil War, this event will go down in history as bringing me back to comics. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as that one, but I did like the cohesiveness of this story with the crossover titles. So, this one might end up being more enduring and keep me in comics for at least the next year, if not more. Soon after Civil War ended, I found other things to spend my money on and quickly dropped comics.

Even though I complained to Chris about not having enough comics as the event wound down, I still found a way to spend almost 40 dollars this week. I’m back into comics in a big way. I have branched out from my almost 40 (well, with a few decades of breaks in between) year status as a Marvel zombie to read far more DC books that I’ve ever read. I have even picked up several independent books that aren’t Image while sticking with Spawn long enough to start to appreciate that book again. I have no idea what the future of comics holds but, I’m along for the ride no matter what.

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Comics Round Up: World’s Greatest

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(Editor’s Note: We postponed this edition of Comics Round Up to give me an opportuinity to actually read the latest Batman and first issue of Metal. As I said to Chris, I ration my books so that I have something to read the entire week. I could have moved the books up by a couple of days, but what are we if we aren’t true to ourselves?)

Aquaman

The Good: This is a well written and engaging story. I’ve never heard of the writer or the artist, but they work well together to bring this story to life.

The Bad: While the story is good, the narrative style is a bit dense. I’ve complained about Batman being a “talkie” recently and this book has action, but there are just so many words on some of the pages. It’s distracting.

The Ugly: Well, I’ve added another book to the monthly pull that I initially said that I was only going to experience in trades. DC knew exactly what they were doing with this Rebirth event. There are so many new jumping on points and all of the books are great. My wallet is going to suffer badly.

The Verdict: I had virtually no experience with Aquaman previous to his introduction in Batman vs. Superman. I’m sure that I watched the old Justice League cartoon and he might have even had cameos in others like Scooby Doo (?), but I was one of those guys who always derided him as the dude who can swim fast and talk to fish. This book has changed my tune completely. I like the “King is Dead, Long Live the King” story and they’ve done it in a way that makes it feel not quite so much of a retread. I might have to shelve it again after the conclusion of this story, but that’s only because my monthly comic budget is pushing 200 at this point.

Justice League

The Good: Another perfect jumping on point to get started with another comic book that I haven’t read before. This one even has an interesting premise.

The Bad: That premise doesn’t quite live up to my initial ideal. I know this next statement might seems strange as this is the “bad” section of this review. However, the story isn’t bad. It just seems very slow. The whole book is the set up for a story that honestly isn’t as interesting as I had hoped.

The Ugly: I don’t think that I want to keep reading this story. However, I’m not a quitter, either. I’ve started the arc and now I might just have to keep going, but I won’t be happy about it. Hopefully, it gets better. Otherwise, I’m going to be out about 20 bucks and it’s going to get ugly in here.

The Verdict: I was very excited to meet the “future children” of the Justice League. I also thought it was cool to see that future. However, the overall arc of the story and narrative was just too uneven. I will give it one more issue. After all, the Venomverse intro event had a similar feel and I got some enjoyment from sticking with it.

Mr. Miracle

The Good: Tom King is one of the best writers in comics today. His Batman has been as good as (and, blasphemy!, maybe even better than) Scott Snyder’s, but I can’t say that with confidence. I only know Snyder’s Batman from The New 52 and that was good, but it didn’t have me on the verge of applause as Tom King often does. This book was no different.

The Bad: As is rapidly becoming a theme, I arrived way too late at the Tom King party. Chris was much more versed in his work than I am, meaning that when we were discussing this book, he said that he liked both King’s Batman and his work with Vision, a book that I haven’t read. Still, art is supposed to be his thing and writing my thing, so it was a bit embarrassing.

The Ugly: That opening scene. My goodness! I know that it’s often good to go for shock value, but I’m becoming much more aware of these types of things since there are kids in the house. Aiden had a friend sleep over the other night and he grabbed a stack of comics. I had to stop him and he asked, “Oh, they’re not appropriate.” I had to admit that I hadn’t read them and I didn’t know if they were or not.

The Verdict: Initially, I didn’t care all that much about this title. It seemed interesting, but it wasn’t really something that ultimately grabbed my attention enough to buy it. For some reason that changed when I saw an ad in one of the DC books that connected it to Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday. I’m always a sucker for the origins of comics and the old guys. I’m glad that I followed Jack Kirby on this one. They steered me in the right direction. I’m hooked after only one issue and can’t wait to see what happens next. I might have to go back and read some Vision now.

Wonder Woman

The Good: This story has been decent and has continued the theme of Diana trying to balance the expectations of Wonder Woman with the fact that she is living with humans who can’t possibly understand her burden.

The Bad: The writing is not nearly as good as it was with Greg Rucka. I’m still interested in the story, but I’m not as engaged by the characters or the story. Maybe it will get better, but this might be one that gets cut for later reading as trades.

The Ugly: I’m majorly upset that it has come to this. I’m almost positive that my current comic budget is not sustainable, even if I am teaching 5 classes next semester, but this is one of the books that I was sure would survive the cut.

The Verdict: When we last left DC, Wonder Woman was one of my favorite comic books. Now that we’re back, things have changed a bit. The book is still decent, but it isn’t the same. Since I don’t have the same connection to the character, writer, or artist as some other books that I might give more of a chance, this might actually be the first book to go if I decide that my budget is getting out of control.

Batman

The Good: I’ve already fawned over Tom King in the Mr. Miracle review, so I won’t repeat myself here. However, this book is a prime example why he is such a great writer. He wrote an entire comic book around the premise that Bruce Wayne invited the two sides of the war to dinner and created a story that I couldn’t put down. Both the set up and the execution were perfect. Great book.

The Bad: I struggle to find anything wrong with this book. In the past, I said if I had to find a flaw, it would be that it was too much of a “talkie” and not enough action. I can’t even say that anymore. This book was just so well executed, even though there was absolutely no action, that I just don’t care.

The Ugly: I have no idea if this is the plan or not, but for a war between the Riddler and Joker, there has been surprisingly little action. If they are going to blow it out with one huge blowout finale, that’s exactly what it’s going to be. The streets of Gotham will run red with the blood of both armies. It’s going to be brutal.

The Verdict: Batman is still the best monthly book right now. I might be enjoying some of the event books just as much and maybe more, but this book is the best thing to happen to me every month when it comes to comics. The writing is fantastic. The art is amazing. The stories are engaging and entertaining. If, as I suspect is possible, we are in fact going through another golden age of comics, people will point to this book as one of the primary reasons why. Superman might get the headlines and Wonder Woman might grab the lady readers, but Batman is DC’s flagship title and they are absolutely doing right by it. Superb.

Dark Nights: Metal

The Good: Snyder and Capullo. Capullo and Snyder. The introductory books contained art from Jim Lee and JR JR, too, but this one is back to basics. While it was fun to see the influence of the other artists, less is definitely more here. Just two guys who are amazing at working together to make great comics doing just that. It’s still early to tell if the combination will continue to work, but previous experience and the pacing of this book suggest that it will.

The Bad: Scott Snyder is one of these “talkie” guys that are so prevalent in comics these days. I have no idea if he is one of the first, as I remember the push for the current state of comics coming in the 1990s with Brian Michael Bendis and his tendency to push narrative and dialogue over the usual super hero shenanigans of punching and kicking their way through a book. However, he fits in very well with that crowd and his books can get a bit tedious at times.

The Ugly: There are a ton of open threads in this story right now. Scott Snyder said himself in an interview that some of the references and stories come from his earlier Batman books and that he’s been dropping hints for years. This book does some to tie up a few of those threads, but it adds even more. I’d like to think that he can bring everything all together in a coherent and satisfying fashion, but I worry when stories get this spread out.

The Verdict: When I first saw the announcement of this series, I texted Chris with a picture of the talent and the simple message, “I’m going to end up going broke.” That was before: (a) I had even read an issue. Now that I have, I realize the size and scope of this event and realize that it is possibly on par with Secret Empire, if not bigger and (b) I saw that it was a cross over event. If Secret Empire has taught me anything, it’s that I buy every stupid book in the event. Given that the first issue already has me looking forward to what comes next and wondering how many books this might hook me into eventually buying on a weekly basis. Well played, DC. Well played, indeed.

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Comic Round Up: The Little Guys

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(Editor’s Note: We said something about plans in our previous article and how they easily go awry. We planned to do a Comic Round Up on Marvel next, so enjoy this article about few independent titles that I’ve (re)discovered since coming back to comic books again.)

It feels weird calling this article the “little guys” when I’m reviewing 2 Image books. I mean, they have some comics that have a definite “little engine that might” quality, but they also have the old gray mare in Spawn and the 900 lb. gorilla that is The Walking Dead. Still, they are considered independent, and with the rate I’m picking up titles, “the little guys” might soon outweigh even that 900 lb. gorilla, so I’m sticking with the title.

Chris and I were talking a few weeks (maybe a month) ago about our newly found interest in comics. I was still in my Wonder Woman trades only, Batman, and only books that had the Secret Empire flag on them phase. One of us mentioned that there were so many good books to read right now. If it was me who said that, I followed up with the following. If it was Chris, then it was my reply. In either case, I said, “I know, and I have barely even touched DC comics and haven’t even considered any of the independent books.”

Side note: I was still reading Spawn, a book that will be included in this independent book review. What can I say? I didn’t consider Spawn an independent book then and I’m changing my mind now to suit the theme. As if there’s no precedent for that around here.

Well, I’ve now ventured into the world of independent comics outside of Spawn and my poor budget is about to take even more of a hit. Similar to my adventures into both Marvel and DC, I have really enjoyed both of the new books that I’ve read and that will most likely lead to me spending more time with the independent rack. It’s either the best of times or the worst of times, too, as August promises to be light on volume each week due to the “extra” Wednesday. Oh well, more fodder for the next article!

When I picked up the latest issue of Spawn, the woman who owns the store that I’ve adopted as my LCS remarked something about a new Spawn in my pull.

Side Note: I’ve only started the pull, am not sure that I set it up the way that I wanted to get all of the issues I want, and am a little embarrassed by my “mainstream” tastes. The comic book store is in a very eclectic city and I always get the sense that the town itself is judging me for my comic book tastes.

Nonchalantly and trying not to let my embarrassment over my comic choices show, I replied, “Yeah, Spawn is a relic from my reckless youth.” It must have worked on some level because she chuckled and said, “Yeah, we all have those, don’t we.” Whew, crisis averted. She also continued the conversation by saying, “It’s about the art,” to which I nodded and then she continued, “and this cover is so cool.” That’s the cover up there and yes, it is cool.

As far as the story goes, it’s been a bit hit and miss. The first issue that I read felt very familiar as if it’s all been done before. I know that the book has been around for over 20 years, is about 2 years short of #300, and hasn’t experienced a full reboot or crisis in that time. So, it’s gotta be tough to keep coming up with new stories. Still, it was slightly disconcerting to come back to such a ho hum issue. I even considered just jettisoning Spawn to the trash bin of history. I did so with The Walking Dead and while I’ve recently considered a return, Chris talked me off of that ledge.

But, Spawn and I have history, Man. I was there from the beginning. I bought issue #1 off of the rack when it was released. I replaced the first 150 issues (because I threw them out during one of my moves) 20 years ago when I got back into comics again for the Civil War event. The Walking Dead was part of a phase. It was a college thing. I was curious, okay?! Spawn will have to get a lot worse for me to abandon the book completely. So far, that hasn’t happened. It’s actually steadily increased in quality as far as the writing goes. The latest arc, that’s starting with 276, isn’t great, but it’s good enough to keep me interested at least in the short run.

The Good – The art quality for this book has always been great and some amazing artists have worked on the book. That hasn’t changed. Todd McFarlane has an eye for what works visually on this book.

The Bad – The writing is uneven and was almost enough to turn me off from the book, but it has shown signs of improving.

The Ugly – I called Spawn the old grey mare. While she isn’t as long in the tooth as some of the Marvel or DC books (and they’ve even tried changing some of those books to loud and angry nerd shouts), but it is one of the longest running books not published by one of those two. It is showing it’s age.

The verdict: If you’re a fan, you know what you’re getting. If you’re not, there’s not really much here to recommend over some of the other books out there. I will say that if this current arc doesn’t pan out and I’m crunched for money, this will be the first book to go.

I was in line at the comic book store, waiting to pay for my latest haul of Secret Empire tie in books, when I overheard the guy in front of me talking to the owner of the store about Sam Kieth. I’ve already mentioned that I feel weird about not having as many “offbeat” comics in my reading list and Sam Kieth is as “offbeat” as they come. I’ve been a fan of his since discovering him during my first discovery of comic books as a teenager. Like Todd McFarlane, I wasn’t aware of Sam Kieth’s work with Marvel and DC. I found him through his Image book, The Maxx.

Side note: See, I used to be much more hip and with it. Image probably never was the “fringe” of comics, but it was alternative in a time when that word had a much more positive meaning. I suppose that I’m just getting safe in my old age, falling into patterns from my youth.

The Maxx was, and probably still is, my favorite comic book of all time. Like most Image books, it suffered from delays, but I always looked forward to every new issue. Also, like Spawn, I trashed my Maxx books, but bought the entire run again. Unlike Spawn, or any other book for that matter, all of the books are in a binder for safe keeping. I loved the weirdness of The Maxx and how it wasn’t typical comic book stuff. Now I might need to go back and read it again.

And, back to the present. After a casual conversation about the books in my hand, that ended with an awkward admission (as an attempt to gain some cred) by me that I thought Ultimates has been a really good book lately, I quickly changed the subject. “What’s Sam Kieth been up to?”The owner’s eye’s lit up, she mentioned the title, and took me over to the rack. Only issues 2 and 3 were available, but she said that she would try to get issue 1 for me. She was great about getting me issue #5 of Secret Empire, so I have no doubt that she will make good on it.

It might just be the bias of having read The Maxx, but similar themes run through Eleanor and the Egret. It is nowhere near a carbon copy of it, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t notice the similarities. Strong female protagonist accompanied by a non human ally. Weird creepy man in black. Flash backs (though in The Maxx, it was not always clear if they were flashbacks, flash forwards, or alternate realities) that serve to drive the story. Okay, so maybe there aren’t as many similarities as I thought and I’m just reaching here.

In any case, the book is very good. I don’t know the writer, but apparently he’s very well known for something that he did while I was away from comics. I will say that I’ve enjoyed this book so much that I might have to go back to read that series one of these days. Eleanor is not your typical comic book stuff, even more so than The Maxx wasn’t. It revolves around an artist turned art thief and her pet bird, who seem to have a bit of a bone to pick with another artist for some reason. They steal this other artist’s paintings and the bird eats them. I know. It sounds weird. And it is weird. In my opinion, it’s very good, too.

The Good: Sam Kieth’s art takes me back to the beginning and reminds me again why I love comic books. It isn’t always just about the beautiful photorealistic art. Sometimes, the fuzzy lines and muted colors work just as well, if not better.

The Bad: It’s not a book for everyone. If you are super hero only, avoid this book. There isn’t anything for you here.

The Ugly: As with any of these indy companies, I wonder how long they will last. I know that it isn’t the wild 1990s anymore, but I’d hate to get invested in a book only to see it killed due to low sales or delays.

This past week was light on the main books. There was no Secret Empire, only one or two tie ins, the Hulk generations book, and a new Batman. Instead of putting away the rest of my budget for next week, I started to wander through the independent titles. At first, I thought I might get suckered back into The Walking Dead, but the book just doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. I also found myself looking at Kirkman’s other book, Outcast. That looked really good, but I had already committed to my new obsession. Maybe next time.

While looking at the racks, I noticed the name “WARREN ELLIS” on one of the books. I know him best from his insane super hero book Nextwave: Agents of HATE followed shortly after by my discovery of his work on Thunderbolts at the same time. He was somewhat restricted by the characters in Thunderbolts. However, at that time, it was a book with completely bonkers Green Goblin, off his rocker Venom, nutso Penance and Bullseye, and slightly less crazy, but still perfect for Ellis’ off the wall writing style, Moonstone, Radioactive Man, Songbird, and Swordsman. He faced less resistance from the roster in Nextwave, as it was mostly 3rd and 4th tier characters that nobody ever heard of and he could be much crazier with them. I read his Thunderbolts, but I loved Nextwave and it put Warren Ellis on my must buy list.

While checking out, I remarked what a slow week it was for books and the owner replied, “Going to be that way all month because of the 5 Wednesdays. Need to spread it out.” I talked about picking up Injection to fill the void because of my undying love for Warren Ellis. She said that she loved the book, but it could get a little hard to follow because it is vintage Ellis. And, boy is it ever. If you thought I had a tough time explaining the plot of Eleanor, this one is beyond words.

The Good: Nextwave was Warren Ellis with minor restrictions. This is Warren Ellis with the gloves completely off. She said that it might be difficult to follow. I didn’t find that to be true, but the story is absolutely insane in the best way possible.

The Bad: I blew through the first two TPB volumes in no time at all. That leaves only 4 issues and then I think I have to wait until October for Issue #15. Bummer.

The Ugly: It took me until the end of Volume 2 to realize that he’s writing the series to focus each 5 issue story arc on one of the 5 main characters. I’m not sure how he will handle it if it goes beyond 25 issues, but that was a bit embarrassing.

Okay, I’ve branched out and bought a few other DC books. I’m now entrenched into two independent books. I’ve admitted to Chris that I may go hunting for the Dale Keown variant cover for the Hulk Generations book even though I already bought the main cover. I’m deep into comic books again and there isn’t much hope for me now.

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Comics Wrap Up: DC

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(Editor’s Note: I know that I have the good, bad, and ugly format for review articles. However, these comics articles are often going to cover several titles and that format might cause the articles to become so long as to be cumbersome to read. I’ll work the good, the bad, and the ugly into the articles somehow, but they won’t be the focal point.)

The title of this article is a bit misleading. Unlike Marvel, which has hooked me into buying multiple new books with their Secret Empire event, I’ve only read Batman and Wonder Woman from the DC Rebirth universe. That may change with the “Metal” event or as I become more adventurous and branch out into other titles. For now, though, enjoy my first edition of comic Wrap Up for Wonder Woman and Batman. Only two titles lets me test out some things and figure out what works and doesn’t.

Wonder Woman

Part of the reason that I haven’t gotten into more DC books is that I have been having trouble figuring out starting points for the books that are unfamiliar. Due to having grown up an unabashed Marvel zombie, most of the DC books are unfamiliar. I’ve always liked Batman, used that to get into Batman/Superman title of the early or mid 2000s, branched out from that into Superman for a very brief time, and not much else.

From the looks of things, Aquaman 25 appears to be a good starting point, so that might be the next DC title that I start collecting.

The new Wonder Woman movie led me to check out the comic book. Luckily, the 2nd volume of the trade came out during one of my visits to the store, so I picked it up. I found it strange that Volume 2 was titled “Year One” because I then had no idea what the story of the first book might be. Having never read any Wonder Woman before, though, I was thankful for the origin story.

After getting the first volume second, which actually made sense in the context of the two books, I did some research. I discovered that the writer was intertwining two stories concurrently during a particular story arc. As an example, the first 12 issues alternate between the year one origin story and another story where Diana is trying to find her way back to Themyscira. The odd issues tell one story and switched to the other for the even issues.

Because I bought the trades, I haven’t been able to experience how they worked together and if it enhanced the narrative at all. However, I’m a huge fan of alternative story telling methods. I recently watched Shimmer Lake and it was told in reverse. Hopefully, he keeps it up and I will be able to see if and how it affects the flow of the stories.

“The Lies” are leading the “The Truth”, which looks similar to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer storyline, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.

As far as the stories, they are of high quality. Having never read Wonder Woman, I only had the movie to give me any expectations. But the origin story moved quickly, set the scene and established characters. The other did the exact opposite and is serving to undermine the entire mythology. While they are antithetical and you might wonder why he’d immediately work so hard to destroy his creating, the stories oddly fit together. I see now how weaving them together heightens the drama and keeps the reader on edge. It is actually a brilliant strategy.

The Good: The stories are fantastic. They are well paced and complement one another and bring together what is an unorthodox story telling style that could have gone very badly.

The Bad: At least the first 2 arcs that I’ve read will be familiar to Wonder Woman fans. They might have switched some things up to modernize it a bit, but it is an origin story.

The Ugly: Infinite Crisis, The New 52, now Rebirth? Jesus, how many reboots do we need? At least they seem committed to this one for the long haul. Here’s hoping.

Batman

Unlike Wonder Woman, Batman has been a part of my life since I watched the old TV series with my father. I saw several Robins killed. Witnessed the Batman broken by Bane. Lived through watching the Tim Burton franchise lose all credibility when it grew “bat nipples”. Threw out an unenthusiastic “Meh” followed by a slightly less enthusiastic “this is fine” over the announcement and current reign of “Batfleck”. So, there’s little that they can do with the character that would surprise me.

So, even though I joined Batman around issue 23, I don’t have an incentive to fill in the first two dozen or so issues via trades. I will continue forward. If I have some left over some week in my comic budget (not likely), I will grab the trades and see if there’s anything new in the Bat’s history since Rebirth.

Remember when I said that not much could surprise me. Well, more on that in a bit.

As far as the story that I’ve read, I was wrong about there being no surprises. The first issue that I read involved a team up with Swamp Thing. While only a one off, it was so well written that it hooked me. Then, Batman (spoiler alert) proposed to Catwoman. Yeah, it’s a gimmick. But, holy crap, what a gimmick! Plus, the book is so well written with good pacing and dialogue that it doesn’t feel like a gimmick. Currently, they’re setting the stage for a huge arc with Joker and The Riddler. Chris has said a couple of times that this is his favorite book right now. I don’t know if I can say that unequivocally, but there aren’t many, if any books right now that I would put above it on my most anticipated every month.

The Good: Again, just good writing. Great story, characters are familiar.

The Bad: The pacing of the story is a bit odd. It’s a good story, but sometimes there’s a little bit too much talk and not enough action.

The Ugly: Oh man, that Catwoman thing has worked so far, but it could have been a book killer if they didn’t do it right.

Batman is great. Wonder Woman is great. For some reason, none of that has led me to explore other books. I grew up as a Marvel zombie, a Marvel zombie I remain, and some day I will die and rise from the grave as a true Marvel zombie. Secret Empire and the tie in issues have swallowed much of my comic budget. However, I’ve mentioned to Chris that the Trinity series looks intriguing and I might have to read some Justice League before the movie comes out in November.