Monthly archives: February, 2007

Feb102007February 10, 2007August 18, 200717Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Book of Doom: Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil #1

Posted in books of doom, reviews by

As the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase put it so well over the years, “Everybody’s got a price.” Apparently, that price is $5.99.

Jim Doom: “I read the first 10 pages or so in the store, and the rags-to-lightning story wasn’t enough to convince me to drop $5.99 on it.”

Both Jim Doom and Doom DeLuise passed on the Book of Doom this week because of the high cover price. Luckily, we were able to drag long forgotten Doomer Colonel Doom back into things to express his opinion on the book. Heck, you might even see something else from him in the next couple of days.

But let’s move on to Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, this week’s choice for the Book of Doom:

Jeff Smith Shazam!I loved the book. The art was absolutely spectacular. I loved looking at every panel. I’d forgotten how good Jeff Smith was at drawing people, since he spent so long drawing mostly grown-up cartoon characters in the pages of Bone.

The story was a little slow-paced, though. Of course, this is a complete retelling of the origin of Captain Marvel, so you can’t just rush through that sort of thing. In Smith’s story, Shazam is dead, Billy Batson’s a lot younger than he used to be, and Billy and Marvel are two different people. I’m sure that’s not the way things are today (except for Shazam being dead), but I’ve got practically no knowledge of Captain Marvel before modern day. So it’s entirely possible that was the status quo at some point. It was a little off-putting right away, so I’m glad Jeff took enough time to establish what was what before leaping into what looks to be a majorly action-packed story in the next couple of issues.

The brightest spot in the writing was definitely the humor Smith included, something you just don’t see much from a character that used to be so light-hearted (I blame you, Alex Ross!). The scene with the hot dog vendor in the park was my favorite. “And you protect [homeless people]–for hotdogs?” “No, but I like hot dogs.”

Let’s see what the rest of the Legion had to say:

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Feb092007February 9, 2007January 12, 20092Commentsby Jean-Claude Van Doom

Doom and Gloom: Back in Black

Posted in rants & nostalgia by

In case you haven’t picked up a single Marvel comic book in recent weeks (to see the omnipresent ads stuck on covers), I’ll let you in on a little secret: Spider-Man is going to be donning the black costume post Civil War. “The black costume?” you say, gasping loudly. “The costume that came to symbolize two of Spider-Man’s most feared enemies and nearly ruined his life?” Yep, that one. What could bring such a change? Well, the rumor is that MJ or Aunt May is going to bite an assassin’s bullet. Could Joe Q be so stupid? Of course. But, let’s forget the whys and hows of Peter P. “donning one of the most controversial costumes ever as he goes back to his black duds, to fight back to reclaim what is left of his shattered life.” (Thanks Marvel PR!)

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingIf you’re so entrenched in a cave that you missed out on the “Back in Black” ads popping up everywhere, then you might have also managed to miss out on all the hubbub about the upcoming third Spider-Man film. And you might not know that this film features the first celluloid appearance of the — gasp! — black costume. Not only that, but the villain is Sandman. And while he’s a steady figure from Spidey’s stable of foes, it’s pretty self apparent that Sandman is showing up in Spider-Man books for the same reason that Spider-Man is returning to the black costume — a shameless bit of cross promotion.

This process has been going on for years, of course. Why do you think we’ve seen the sudden release of the last Ghost Rider issue after a decade? Oh, yeah, a film is coming out. Every time a comic movie comes out, the comic book version of it is also released — from Superman Returns to X-Men. But that isn’t so much what bothers me. These comic adaptions have no relation to the ongoing series, just as the films have no relation to the ongoing series. What really pisses me off is when in-continuity editorial decisions are made for the express purpose of cross promotion. And that’s what we’re seeing with Spider-Man.

As a sort of parallel to Jim Doom’s call for more reverence of in-continuity stories, I want to present this point to the powers that be: Don’t needlessly %@$!& with our ongoing series because someone in marketing sends you an email reading, “Hey, we’ll probably sell more books and better promote our movie if we find a reason to stick Spidey in the black uniform.”
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Feb092007February 9, 2007February 9, 20078Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Two Things We Can Both Agree On

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So Jim Doom and I seem to be disagreeing about everything today, be it Lost or Identity Crisis or puppies (I say they’re adorable). And of course, everything sounds meaner on the internet. So I’m presenting this in the hopes that we can put aside our differences and unite in our hate for two people that are ruining comics: Reggie Hudlin and Michael Turner.

Black Panther 25


Feb092007February 9, 2007April 4, 2007NoCommentby Jim Doom

Justice League: A New Beginning

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by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (W) and Kevin Maguire (P) and Terry Austin and Al Gordon (I)

Published by DC Comics. Cover price $12.95. Originally published in 1987 as Justice League #1-6 and Justice League International #7.

The Plot: Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, some mighty heroes from across previously-separate realities unite to revive the Justice League. Interpersonal conflicts threaten to overshadow the physical conflicts as this new Justice League has some help finding its place in a world that is less than friendly to its superheroes.

The Good: With a new relaunch of the Justice League of America in the works, I wanted to take a look back at a previous relaunch. Giffen and DeMatteis are known for their fondness of injecting humor into superhero tales, and this book is no exception. The personalities of Guy Gardner, Batman, Blue Beetle and Black Canary are the most developed and the most central to the group dynamic. Maguire’s art is humorously expressive at times and consistent throughout the book.

The story serves the purpose of introducing and establishing the new team and transitioning them into an international peacekeeping force, and the events involved ease that evolution of the League quite well. It’s also interesting to see the character of Maxwell Lord in his early days.

The Bad: Very often, the humor that Giffen and DeMatteis inject into the story seems forced and falls flat. It’s tough to balance that humor they pull off so well in later arcs, such as “Formerly Known as the Justice League,” when saddled with trying to make the drama and action mean something.

Also, it’s hard to find an eighties comic book that isn’t just hopelessly mired in eighties politics. While you can’t fault a book for being relevant in its time, constant references to the Cold War and cheap Reagan jokes definitely date a story and limit any potential timeless appeal.

The Grade: C. The book isn’t bad, but it’s not great. It’s right there in the middle. If you’re looking for Giffen and DeMatteis’ funnier stuff, this isn’t the place to find it. But beyond expectations of their comic craft, it’s just a so-so drama and more of a setup for the League’s new international role. I don’t recommend it if you’re looking for a profound moment in comics history. But if you’re just interested in a previous manifestation of the League, it is what it is.


Feb092007February 9, 2007August 18, 20078Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Identity Crisis

Posted in library of doom by

identity-crisisBy Brad Meltzer (W) and Rags Morales (A)

Published by DC Comics. Cover price $14.99/24.99 (softcover/hardcover). Originally printed as Identity Crisis 1-7.

The Plot: Long-kept secrets of the Justice League are revealed when Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man, is murdered, and the superheroes of the DC Universe race to find the person responsible before they go after another hero’s family.

The Positives: Identity Crisis is a really good murder mystery. There are plenty of clues along the way as to who committed the crimes, although you never really have enough information to figure it out on your own. There are plenty of red herrings along the way that bridge into other interesting stories and build anticipation for when the red herrings eventually stop and the killer is revealed. When you find out who did it, all the clues fall into place and the actions and motives of the killer make perfect sense. Well, perfect sense for a crazy person.

Over the course of the story, Brad Meltzer introduces a number of interesting concepts to the DC Universe. Of course, first and foremost are the mind wipes, which would help divide the Justice League during Infinite Crisis. Identity Crisis also set up the Calculator as the anti-Oracle, a character who has been put to very good use since then. The story also revitalized Dr. Light as a major villain and set up a Green Arrow/Deathstroke feud that would continue past One Year Later. All of these ideas would make for great stories…

The Negatives: …but Meltzer doesn’t follow up on any of them. Nor, I think, did he ever have any intention to follow up on them. It seems like those plot points were left dangling specifically so other writers would pick them up, so as to make Identity Crisis seem more important for influencing other stories. But these extra plot points actually hurt the enjoyment of Identity Crisis as a stand-alone story. Two issues probably could have been cut out to tell a better-paced, more concise mystery if everything with the mind wipes was just left out.

Meltzer also has a nasty habit of having things happen for no reason, or giving a very poor explanation as to why something happened. Did the ret-conned rape of Sue Dibny really need to be brought into the story? Did that make the story better? I don’t think it did. And why was Firestorm killed off, only to have everyone in the story ignore his death? The most annoying part was how the Flash found out about the “Secret League” mind-wiping Batman: he saw Dr. Light’s memories. That’s the best Meltzer could come up with? How does the Flash even see someone’s memories? Wouldn’t it have just made more sense to have one of the seven JLAers involved slip up a little and mention something about Batman being there? Did the Flash even need to find out that Batman had been mind-wiped? I don’t recall it ever being brought up again until Batman himself remembered. All of these questions were rattling around in the head when I was reading the story, when the only questions I should have been asking were “Who did it?” and “Why?”

The Neutral: The art provided by Rags Morales in the book, while always acceptable, is never spectacular. He’s a great example of one of DC’s stable of artists who are reasonably talented and can keep a deadline, as opposed to the bulk of Marvel’s artists who generally produce better work at a much slower rate. Morales’ art doesn’t take away from the story, but it doesn’t add anything either, which is a real shame.

The Grade: C+. Stripped to its core, Identity Crisis is a great whodunit. The story works better if you’re new to the DC Universe, which I was the first time I read it. After immersing myself in the DC Universe for two years, the liberties Meltzer took with certain characters and events stand out and lessen the story. And quite frankly it’s hard for any story to shine amidst the brightness of Infinite Crisis.


Feb092007February 9, 2007August 18, 2007NoCommentby Jim Doom

Pick 4!

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So as somebody who doesn’t read Fantastic Four, I hadn’t noticed all the news and rumors about the secret surprise new team lineup coming after Civil War. I also hadn’t caught all the excitement about Dwayne McDuffie writing the book (even though he’s written what, Deathlok?). What did catch my eye was the small ad in this week’s Marvel Comics – the ad teasing the mystery lineup for issue #544…

…AND A SPECIAL COVER BY MICHAEL TURNER!

So I did a little catching up on this topic. Read about the first leaked cover image and then the second one. So much Michael Turner. So many characters he might be drawing on that cover!

It should come as no surprise to regular readers that we – hate – Michael – Turner … so – much – I – had to extend this sentence to accommodate all the Turner-bashing links on this blog. So it was pleasing to read the comments section on that Newsarama post…


Feb092007February 9, 2007February 9, 20077Commentsby Jim Doom

Leave the $5.99 on the dresser

Posted in rants & nostalgia by

I’ve come up with an analogy, my friends, and I dare say it’s a good one.

I was trying to think, what is it that has been bugging me so much about comics lately? What can I put my finger on that encapsulates so much of the disillusionment I’ve been feeling about new series, new directions, new costumes, and new whatevers?

And two things come up most often – out-of-continuity stories and special treatment given to rockstar talent. And these two regularly overlap.

It makes sense that they do. If you’re going to bag yourself a rockstar creative force, you want to showcase that talent to make as much money as possible. And often to bag such a talent, you have to clear out a whole section of Chuck E Cheese or McDonald’s so that they can have as much room and as many toys to play with as they want.

But hold – the playground analogy is not the profound one I wish to make.

Rather, it is that comics writing gigs are like relationships. And while editors used to play the role of good friend, wingman or matchmaker, they are now playing the role of pimp.

I admire a writer like Kurt Busiek or Mark Waid. These are guys who have been around a long time. They hop from title to title, lending their talent to the characters’ rich existence. For these writers, their relationships with the characters is like a loving marriage. Their stories – most often – rest in continuity, showing a respect and admiration for what came before them and a commitment and willingness to dedicate themselves to the future of the characters.

Some may say that writers like these are not unlike whores, willing to come and go (no pun intended) from book to book with no long-term commitment. Perhaps, if one examined their careers only on that most superficial level, one could make that argument. But their willingness to respect and contribute to a character’s canon shows a desire to commit oneself to the overall existence and improvement of that character.

Now let’s take a look at some recent creations in the comics world, or as I like to call them, the sluts.
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Feb072007February 7, 2007January 12, 20091Commentby Jean-Claude Van Doom

Worst to first: 2/7/07

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I went to the shop today thinking I had hardly anything to pick up, but still managed to come home with five books, plus two preview copies that had come in the mail earlier. So, a decent sized week, with no huge books but a strong slate from top to bottom. Without further ado, the reviews…

Seven: Bullet Points #4 of 6

This series has been really enjoyable so far – the theory of what would’ve happened if Steve Rogers had never been injected with the super serum and how widely the change could affect the Marvel Universe. This issue wasn’t quite as good, at least until the last couple pages. Before then, all we get are a couple more switch-er-oos, with a new person filling the Spider-Man role that was vacated when Peter Parker turned into a petulant little prick and ran headlong into gamma radiation (Peter SMASH!). This “change” just seemed too easy compared to some of the creative choices made earlier in the series.

The next penultimate (that means last, right?) issue should be fun as everything comes to a very large, purple head. I’ll just chalk this one up to the weak link on a very fine story.

Six: Jonah Hex #16

The Ballad of Tallulah Black (this is part one) is gearing up to be one twisted torture porn of a ride. Tallulah is a very scarred and ruined woman who eventually goes after the men who done her wrong, with Jonah Hex’s help. But first we get her origin, which goes as follows: people die, she’s raped and tortured, she’s nearly killed again, she’s nearly raped again and tortured some more. The underlying problem is that Gray and Palmiotti invest zero time in Tallulah prior to her great victimization, so we as readers can’t even begin to identify with her character as anything more than a bloodied face. Not fun reading.

New artist Phil Noto brings a very different style, which is really good in places and really bad in others. He uses very spare inking and lots of washes for color (or computer simulated washes), and in some places it’s too light and near whimsical, which feels wholly disjointed considering the content. His layouts also had fits of convolution, but he does a mean scarred-ass Jonah face.

Five: The Gunslinger Born #1 of 7

My local comic book store had one of the midnight openings last night for this and apparently did good business, though they still had a big stack of books remaining. I haven’t read any of the Dark Tower stuff, so this isn’t really up my alley (I like Stephen King, but I’m no fanatic). I do like Peter David, though, and he spins his usual magic here. I know Jae Lee is a love-him-or-hate-him kind of artist, but I enjoy his pencils and they work well here with Richard Isanove’s paints.

I’m still on the fence though for issue #2. Four bucks is a lot to drop on a comic, especially one that’s so overladen with useless (to me) maps and encylopedic entries in the back. With more real content, I’d probably be settling in for the long haul.

Four: Astro City, The Dark Age, Book Two #2

I really dig this series, but I just don’t think I’m willing to wait around for all the individual issues, whenever they come out. This story is so weird and interesting and Busiek’s world is rich with great characters and ideas and the two brothers aspect works really well and the art is consistently solid. And I could keep going on. But, eventually, I’m going to forget about the series after waiting two months and then miss an issue, so I figure I’ll probably call it a day for now and await the trade.
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Feb072007February 7, 2007July 24, 20076Commentsby Doom DeLuise

Week Forty

Posted in 52 / countdown / trinity by

If you came looking for a fight, you came to the right place. Natasha, as we saw last week, is in trouble at Luthor Tower, and her uncle, John Henry Irons, knows about it. And he’s none too pleased. This week, he suits up (for the first time since, what, week five?) and takes the fight straight to Luthor, with the aid of the Teen Titans. He makes short (and highly bad-ass) work of a few Infinity Inc. members, beats down Mercy with a backhand punch, and snaps that Everyman prick’s hand open. From there, the shape-shifter falls many, many stories down to his death. Good riddance.
52week40
The main fight takes place between Steel and Luthor, obviously, as Steel shows the billionaire that it’s not about having superpowers that makes you heroic; it’s about having a cause worth fighting for. This may be one of the most bad-ass fights we’ve seen in “52” so far, as Luthor just metes out the punishment and Steel keeps standing to fight back, even after breaking several ribs and rupturing his appendix. The fight ends when Natasha figures a way to jam the artificial exo-gene with a close-range electronic pulse from Steel’s hammer. Luthor loses his powers, and Steel beats him within an inch of his life, just before knocking that big “L” from the cover off the side of the building. The issue closes with shots from Kahndaq, where it’s been raining a week, everything and everybody’s dying, and Osiris asks Sobek to accompany him to the Rock of Eternity, for a new family.

I don’t have to tell you how awesome it was to finally see Steel beat the holy hell out of Lex Luthor. It’s been a long time coming, and they aced it. Very exciting issue. That may be the last we see of Luthor and company, and, if that’s the case, they did a fine job tying that storyline up. I’m not sure how it fits in with everything else that’s going on in “52,” but, then again, I’m not sure that it has to. It was some good old fashioned good guy vs. bad guy entertainment, and it paid off in spades.

See ya in seven.


Feb062007February 6, 2007January 12, 2009NoCommentby Jean-Claude Van Doom

The American Way

Posted in library of doom, reviews by

By John Ridley (W) and Georges Jeanty (A)

Published by Wildstorm, 2006, originally as eight issues. $19.99

Last year, I deeply considered picking up the first issue of The American Way, a mini-series from Wildstorm. After the first issue, I heard so much positive press that I decided to give it a try, but by that time the first issue was sold out and I never followed through. I finally found out what I’d been missing when Wildstorm released the eight issues collected (coming out tomorrow).

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingThe Plot: The story takes place in 1961. Kennedy is in power. The Cold War is hot. Civil Rights battles are breaking out. And the United States is held together by a superhero team aligned with the government. Through the eyes of Wes, an auto promoter turned government shill, we’re taken inside this superhero team. And we learn that it’s mostly bull flop – real heroes fighting fake villains to keep the populace feeling patriotic. Think Marvels meets Watchmen meets New Frontier meets X-Statix meets Astro City. (Don’t take my word for it. read author John Ridley saying as much.)

The Positives: Looking at the list of influences above, it’s pretty obvious that The American Way is trading in high intellectual currency, at least when it comes to comics. The story is essentially a metaphorical (and sometimes literal) examination of the Civil Rights movement, as a black superhero is incorporated into the team, which also contains some southerners who are not at all happy to have him around. In many ways, the story rises from its influences into new ground, and especially in the look it takes into race relations. The true battle of the book is over race (although there is a “big bad” inserted), but the sides don’t break down to black vs. white or north vs. south. Yet, it’s also a superhero book and manages to keep up a pretty steady pace, which isn’t a surprise considering Ridley also wrote the excellent movie Three Kings. And while all the characters are archetypes, they’re still made into individuals. My favorite is the rendition of Lois Lane.

Penciler Georges Jeanty and inker Karl Story also deserve a good word. While their art isn’t so groundbreaking as Ridley has claimed, it is very traditional hero stuff (think Invincible meets Ultimate Spider-Man), which is perfectly fitting for the story. The book is also laid out very nicely. Nothing radically new, just strong.

The Negatives: Looking at the list of influences above, you can tell that a lot of what’s contained in this book is rehash. Yeah, it’s been shaped in a new way, but it’s still old territory (that whole “real look at superheroes thing”). The “big bad” also leaves something to be desired. He’s just kind of stuck in there, like a random cog kicked into play so the gears of the plot have something to catch on. He’s evil personified and has wholly unknown powers, okay? Speaking of which, for some reason it really bothers me that the story is written to set in this world where everything happens exactly as it really did in history. Except, there are superheroes. I guess the problem is that after reading something like Watchmen, you expect these sorts of books to show that the presence of heroes has impacted the course of the world. Here, it hasn’t.

There are also some moments of flawed logic. For no real reason, there’s a character who sees the future, except he refuses to do anything with that only power of his, when the fate of the world is on the line. There’s another hero that’s a super intellect, and he apparently solves the mystery that comes into play in the last act, and he makes only the smallest of efforts to prevent trouble, when it’s implied that he could’ve saved the day. I think the problem might be that the story is just too big for eight issues. Given how much happens (it’s a LOT), it easily could’ve handled another couple of issues for room to breathe.

Grade: B+ It’s a flawed book, yes. But it’s still enjoyable, interesting and exciting, a trifecta that many books fail to achieve. A slight bummer is the near complete lack of any special features (not even an introduction), but the story stands up on its own. Which is to say, if Ridley ever decides to return to the material, I’ll make sure and pick up issue one.