Monthly archives: May, 2007

May112007May 11, 2007August 19, 20079Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Doom and Doomer: Spider-Man 3 Part 3

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Spidey 3 CBe sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 before you start reading. Unless you’re the type of person that only likes to read the last third of blog posts. That’s just weird…

Jim Doom has been invited.

Jim has entered the room.

Jean-Claude Van Doom: hello

Jim: I got booted. Did my last few posts show up? I was trying to respond to

Fin Fang Doom and nothing was showing up.

Fin: Yes, they did.

JCVD: They finally did all as one.

Jim has left the room.

JCVD: Big rush. Goodbye again.

Jim has been invited.

Jim has entered the room.

JCVD: So, favorite moments or other favorable comments?

Jim: Did Fin post anything after “the last fight was Goblin/Venom vs. Spidey…”

JCVD: Nope.

Fin: Shall I continue?

JCVD: Yes.

Jim: If you want. But I think it’s absurd to say that Harry’s arc and the Sandman’s arc were the same thing. Like with Peter, they all fit into a theme of revenge and redemption, but each had its own nuance that was hardly interchangeable. (more…)


May102007May 10, 2007January 12, 2009NoCommentby Jean-Claude Van Doom

Worst to first: 5/9/07

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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketAnother big week, with a solid dozen books under the belt. We’ve got another huge event beginning, loads of Nightwing, three new Boom! series and, dare I say it, the biggest surprise winner of first place ever (at least so far as I recall). So, if you’re looking for something to take your mind away from the disappointment of Spider-Man 3, what better than a smorgasbord of reviews? As Stan Lee would say with all the acting chops of Jean-Claude Van Damme, ’nuff said:

Worst: Nightwing #132

As I was perusing the racks, I decided to make a few surprise purchases. Lucky for me, I managed to make it a theme day with two Nightwing-related books out that I normally don’t read. After reading this issue, I have to say that aside from slightly better villains, Marv Wolfman’s run really isn’t any better than Bruce Jones’ attempt at Dick’s story. This issue is an absolute mess, with incomprehensible narrative structure, hokey dialogue and a plot that’s like a hybrid of the 1970s-era stupid and 1990s-era stupid. This is a train wreck.

A good idea gone awry: Cover Girl #1

One thing you’ve got to love about Boom! Studios is they come up with clever premises for their books. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This story about a dumb actor who lucks into saving someone but unlucks into saving a person wanted by mysterious bad guys starts out on the right foot but falls flat amid a middle section bloated with way too much Hollywood mocking. It’s more Be Cool than Get Shorty, though I still think it’s salvageable.

As seen on TV: Supernatural: Origins #1

I don’t watch a lot of TV, and I’ve definitely never seen Supernatural, which I assume is about the Supernatural, though maybe it’s a crime procedural, seems like most shows are… Back on point, this follows a man whose wife is killed by some kind of fire demon, and he delves into the world of magic to try and learn what happened. It’s actually very well written, and I’d give it a much higher grade if it weren’t for the art by Matthew Dow Smith. Never heard of him? Me neither. Maybe that’s why he blatantly rips off Mike Mignola. Sadly, it ruins the whole affair.

Point Break redux: 2 Guns #1

Another Boom! book that just came out, this one has a so-so premise (undercover cop forced bad teams up with a criminal who turns out to be more than meets the eye) but overcomes it with a tight script, strong dialogue and slick, clean art that compliments the overall vibe. Surprises are layered throughout, making for a very fun read.

What movie: Amazing Spider-Man #540

Want to know what doesn’t make me feel better about an overly campy Spider-Man sequel? If you guessed an overly depressing Spider-Man comic, you’re our big winner!

On the right path: Hunter’s Moon #1

We go back to Boom!, which actually tied for most books bought this week with DC and Marvel. They put out three quality books, with this one (from Ray screenwriter James L. White) leading the pack. Hunter’s Moon is a nice change of pace for the publisher, very serious and introspective, with a very brooding, quiet start that lasts to the startling final pages. It’ll be very interesting to see where this series progresses.
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May102007May 10, 2007August 19, 2007NoCommentby Fin Fang Doom

Doom and Doomer: Spider-Man 3 Part 2

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Spidey 3 BClick here to read Part 1, then come on back and join the fun! Or just start reading now. It probably won’t make any sense either way.

Jean-Claude Van Doom: Every important event was based on an incredible coincidence.

Fin Fang Doom: Explain.

JCVD: The alien symbiote crash lands next to Peter in the park. The butler makes a stunning revelation at just the right moment. Eddie Brock happens to go to the same church that Peter runs to….Those are just the first that come to mind.

Jim Doom: Yep, those are some good ones.

JCVD: May as well include the physics experiment at night mess.

Colonel Doom: Yeah, well, Dickens was all about coincidence.

Jim: Don’t forget that Eddie Brock happens to be dating Gwen Stacy, who happened to be modeling in that building where Eddie was shooting photos next to Captain Stacy…

Colonel: …who was in “A river runs through it” with KEVIN BACON

Colonel: SIX DEGREES!

Fin: Wasn’t he not so much dating her as stalking her? That’s not a coincidence, then

JCVD: If Dickens was around now he’d be writing Daredevil and Ghost Rider.

JCVD: It took me a minute to think of that.

Fin: Here’s the thing…without coincidences comics wouldn’t exist. Joe Chill didn’t plot to murder Bruce Wayne’s parents. Jor-El didn’t plan for the Kents to Find Kal. Reed Richards didn’t expect there to be cosmic rays in outer space…

Jim: How are those coincidences? Those are just events.

Colonel: I disagree!

JCVD: Coincidences are what starts a plot moving, not what powers them along. (more…)


May092007May 9, 2007October 8, 20081Commentby Jim Doom

Frank Miller’s Robocop

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story by Frank Miller; sequential adaptation by Steven Grant; art by Juan Jose Ryp

Published by Avatar Press. Originally published as Robocop #1-9. Cover price $29.99.

Frank Miller is probably the biggest name in comics-to-film adaptations. Sin City and 300 were both big hits, and now Ronin is on its way. But way back in the 1980s, Frank Miller took on the writing duties on Robocop. Word is that the version that hit the screen was a far cry from what Miller originally penned, so this series set out to present the definitive version.

While not directly written by Frank Miller, this series was adapted from Frank Miller’s script for the Robocop film by Steven Grant. I’ve never seen the film, nor have I read Miller’s original script, so I have no idea what aspects of this book differ, what is taken from the film, and what was preserved from Miller’s original concept. What I do know is that Robocop (the comic) has all the traditional Frank Miller characteristics – gratuitous violence, caricatured media pundits, bloodthirsty governments, attempted political allegories, and even a lesson on the battle of Thermopylae.

I have to admit a bias going into the reading of this book: I wanted to like it. I was grateful that the good folks at Avatar Press sent a promo copy to review, and that soft, human part of me wants to reward people for their generosity and cooperation. So keep that in mind as you read this review.
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May092007May 9, 2007August 5, 20076Commentsby Doom DeLuise

Countdown: Fifty-One

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I sure could have used a break. Don’t get me wrong, I loved “52,” and I’m just as excited as the next comic fan for “Countdown,” but, seriously, they could have at least given us a week off to enjoy the finale of one series before throwing us right into the next. The cover of Week Fifty-Two had the words, “It ends here” splashed across the top of the page. The cover to the first issue of “Countdown” has something similar, with the phrase “So begins the end!” appearing above the big logo. Color me annoyed. Which is it, DC?countdown 1

I’m sure that I’m not the only person experiencing event fatigue, and I wouldn’t be nearly as annoyed with this first issue if they had set up this series with something more interesting than the Red Hood and Joker’s Daughter horsing off on roof-tops. Sadly, there’s not too much to grab one’s attention here, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if sales drop steadily during the first few weeks.

That aside, let’s talk about what actually happens. This is DC’s next big event lead-in (and, seriously, what a long lead-in), and it’s going to be shaping the “spine” of the DCU for the next year, which means we should probably pay it close attention, even if it is a fairly pedestrian debut.

Here’s what this issue establishes: Darkseid is alive and nefarious. Jason Todd is back to being the Red Hood. The Monitors are trying to fix the anomalies in the Multiverse (well, one of them is, anyway). The Flash’s rogues are throwing a booze fest. Some guy with a flute on a rooftop says some cryptic stuff. Mary Marvel can’t call on the powers of Shazam. A great disaster is coming, and the only solution to it is to find Ray Palmer, formerly the Atom, last seen in Identity Crisis, when his former wife, Jean Loring, used his Atom suit technology to kill Sue Dibny, wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.

As was the case with the first few issues of “52,” none of these stories gets much attention, as they’re trying to set up a whole bunch of different storylines all at once, before eventually giving each a bit more in-depth focus.

I guess I’m just tired. Infinite Crisis ended, and 52 started up the next week. 52 ended, and Countdown is right on its heels. And it’s not like we can anticipate a breather any time soon. I mean, c’mon, the very nature of a countdown tells us that once this thing is over, we’re going to be thrust into another gigantic crossover event. It doesn’t help matters that the majority of the story focuses on Duela, the Joker’s daughter (?) from another earth, or, as I like to call her, Harley Quinn without the sense of humor, sass, or personality. Glad she’s dead.

And that’s another thing. The solicits for Countdown hyped up a death that would take place in the first issue that would set off a ripple that would touch nearly every character in the entire DCU. Are you telling me that much-hyped death is of a character nobody’s ever heard of? The Joker’s daughter? Come on. That’s totally lame.

I’m unimpressed so far. Luckily, I have mountains of cash to burn, so I’m more than willing to stick with this series until the end, even if it never picks up and never even remotely captures my interest. I’ll lay off on any heavy criticism until it’s had a few weeks to give a proper go of it, but, seriously, the timing is everything, so they say, and this sucker needed to be put on hold for a few weeks.

Man, 52 was so good, though.


May092007May 9, 2007May 8, 2007NoCommentby Fin Fang Doom

Doom and Doomer: Spider-Man 3 Part 1

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Spidey 3 AArguable the biggest movie of the year, Spider-Man 3, opened last Friday to record numbers. Naturally, all of us Doomers took in the spectacle. What’d we all think? Well, here’s what four of us thought, at least…

Jim Doom: My criticism is that the movie lacked the depth and sophistication of the previous two movies. Spider-Man 1 and 2 were good movies, whereas Spider-Man 3 was good for the modern genre of the superhero movie. Its level of unnecessary camp and emotional shallowness was more reminiscent of Fantastic Four or X-Men 3 than either of the first two Spider-Man >movies.

Fin Fang Doom: Let’s start with the camp thing. That’s a pretty common criticism, no?

Jim: I don’t know. I haven’t read any reviews.

Jean-Claude Van Doom: That’s pretty consistent.

Jim: But I think that camp can be endearing and charming, but it can also cross the line and cheapen the characters at the expense of gags. I thought this fell into the latter category.

Colonel Doom: There’s a high level of goofy in Spider-Man 3

JCVD: And I would agree with that assessment. It felt like a cheap popcorn flick far too often.

Fin: Spider-Man is probably the campiest superhero out there, though. In comics, I mean

JCVD: Jim, what were the campiest moments that hurt the flick for you?

Jim: One place in which I thought it really weakened the film was when Peter was “Bad Peter.” I was really intrigued by Bad Peter when he was telling off Harry and flung the grenade. I really wanted to see more of Dark Peter, but I thought Dark Peter was completely ruined by the excessive sidewalk dance sequence. Peter’s inhibitions were removed and his aggression was enhanced. We saw a Peter Parker in Harry’s lair that was dark, sinister and EXTREMELY INTRIGUING. That turned out to be all that we saw of that aspect of his personality, because for whatever reason, the powers that be thought the movie would be better served by dancing and stupidity so that the audience would laugh rather than seeing an actual emotional change to Peter.

JCVD: The reasoning I’ve heard for that is Peter Parker is an extremely dorky guy, so him acting in a very aggressive way would essentially be a super-aggressive dork

Colonel: Not to mention the jazz bar dance-off. Having dark Peter scar his best friend in a rage is a great twist on the “great power/great responsibility” theme that is the core of spider-man. But then having Peter improv jazz piano, well, that makes him more humorous than threatening or as easily corruptible as any non super-powered person. And just kind of makes it funny when he slaps Mary Jane at the end of it. (more…)


May092007May 9, 2007August 5, 2007NoCommentby Fin Fang Doom

Book of Doom: Marvel Zombies: Dead Days

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Let’s face it: this is a pretty crappy week for comics. Nothing much of interest comes out this week besides Countdown (which Doom DeLuise has dibs on), and almost everything else worth reading is in the middle of an arc. Not exactly the best pick for a Book of Doom.

Thankfully, there is one comic I expect to be quite a gem: the Marvel Zombies prequel entitle Dead Days. The creative team from last year’s surprise hit is back for the issue, unlike the not-nearly-as-good-but-still-a-decent-read Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness. So hopefully Dead Days will have all the things we loved about the original Marvel Zombies series. It’s at least going to have Marvels and zombies, so there’s two positives right off the bat.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a guest blogger this week, because, well, I dropped the ball and didn’t think far enough ahead. But if you’ve got a comics blog and want to join the roundtable (and create a little crossover traffic in the process), leave a comment below and we just might have one after all.

Marvel Zombies Dead Days

COVER BY: ARTHUR SUYDAM
WRITER: ROBERT KIRKMAN
PENCILS: SEAN PHILLIPS
INKS: SEAN PHILLIPS
COLORED BY: JUNE CHUNG
LETTERED BY: VC – RANDY GENTILE

THE STORY:
At last, witness the birth of the Marvel Zombies as told by the creative team of the best-selling limited series! Kirkman and Phillips pull out all the stops as they reveal the secret story of the day the Marvel Heroes became brain-eating monsters! Want to see the Avengers eat Jarvis? You won’t get that in this month’s New Avengers, effendi! And we dare you to pry your eyes away from Arthur Suydam’s top-secret double-gatefold zombified homage to a classic 1990’s cover you don’t want to miss.
48 PGS./Parental Advisory /$3.99


May082007May 8, 2007August 19, 20075Commentsby Fin Fang Doom

Meaningless Awards of the Week- 5/2/07

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JackpotHorrible Idea of the Week- Jackpot, Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift

Mary Jane as a superhero…WTF was Dan Slott thinking?! There was a time when it was commonplace for the non-super-powered friends of superheroes to dress up in colorful costumes and fight crime. That time was the Golden Age, and half the comic blogs on the internets are devoted to calling attention to how ridiculous that time period was. “Super-MJ” is a ludicrous concept that has no place in modern comics outside of a one-time joke, and even that’s pushing it. But according to Joe Quesada, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Jackpot. Face it, tiger…this is stupid, stupid idea. I doubt even Jim could argue that point.

Book of the Week- 52 Week 52

I won’t go into much detail about this particular issue (since Doom DeLuise reviewed it already last Wednesday and we all sort of already had our say), but this issue was hands down the best of the week. The penultimate (that means last, right?) installment of the most ambitious comic book series since I’ve been reading comics delivered in a way I didn’t quite expect to be possible. It was an exciting story a start to finish and had plenty of OMG moments. There are two specific things I was very pleased about from the issue. First, it firmly established Kingdom Come and Wildstorm universes as part of the DC multiverse. Second, it didn’t tie everything up into a nice little bow. We still have 40+ unidentified universes out there, and they even set up a brand new storyline involving Ralph & Sue Dibny: Ghost Detectives that I hope continues into Countdown.

Splash Page of the Week- John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men #21

Astonishing 21 splash

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May082007May 8, 2007January 12, 20091Commentby Jean-Claude Van Doom

Preview: I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets

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By Fletcher Hanks (compiled by Paul Karasik)
Fantagraphics, 2007, $19.95

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketFor a sneak peek into the brain of one of comics’ original weirdos, all you need is to learn the source of the title to this collection. Set almost perfectly in the middle of a dozen or so tales from the pen of Fletcher Hanks (or Henry Fletcher, or Barclay Flagg, depending on whether Hanks was in the mood to use a pseudonym) is a space opera. Buzz Crandall and Sandra Hale of the Space Patrol learn of a plot by Lepus the Fiend, a hairy guy who only wears green pants, to wreak havoc with his secret ray.

Lepus says: “I shall make all the universe wild and primitive! I shall destroy all the civilized planets!”

But, fear not, the space guardians prevail, and Lepus dies a terrible death, crushed in the rubble of his destructive dreams. This is essentially every Fletcher Hanks story rolled into one. Working in comics in the medium’s earliest era (1939-1941), Hanks wrote and illustrated bizarre and nonsensical worlds, in which exposition serves only to further confuse. The plot, though, is simple and always the same: bad guys do something very bad, heroes save the day, fitting justice is inflicted.

One might wonder, then, why Hanks has become a hero of the comic book aficionado (finally now with a handsome collection fitting his esteem). It certainly doesn’t hurt that his works are old and rare, often the only qualification collectors need to drive up the value of someone’s work. But, beyond the good fortune Hanks had to work in the golden age and not enjoy much popularity, his work is strangely good in the way that Plan 9 from Outer Space is savored: Yes, Hanks is indeed the Ed Wood of comics.

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The perfect summation of Hanks’ insanity can be seen in the above panel, which features “Fantomah,” a guardian princess of the jungle. A villain has loosed giant spiders onto the serene land. Fantomah becomes pissed, and the only thing more bizarre than a very Caucasian blond woman lording over a foreign jungle is that she deals with problems by turning into a female Skeletor and devastating her foes with unseen powers.

In addition to Fantomah, the other character featured most regularly is Stardust, a crime-fighting sorcerer from outer space. Stardust just floats around above the world, using powerful crime-detecting equipment and attacking once dastardly deeds commence. Criminals commit such atrocities as gassing all of humanity, or stopping the earth’s gravity so that everyone but them floats off into space to die.
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May072007May 7, 2007May 7, 2007NoCommentby Fin Fang Doom

JLA One Million

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JLA One MillionBy Grant Morrison (W) and others

Published by DC Comics. Cover price $19.99. Originally printed as DC 1,000,000 1-4, Green Lantern 1,000,000, Stannan 1,000,000, JLA 1,000,000, Resurrection Man 1,000,000, and Superman: The Man of Tomorrow 1,000,000

The Plot: The JLA of today and the JLA of the year 85,271 fight the threat of Vandal Savage and an evil sentient star, both in present day and the far future.

The Positives: The present day JLA is sent into the future near the beginning of the trade, and don’t reappear until the last quarter of the story. While this could be viewed as a negative, it gives the background players like Huntress, Steel, Big Barda, Plastic Man and the Blue Beetle, as well as the newly introduced Justice Legion A (the JLA of the future) a chance to shine in the spotlight. We’ve seen the Justice League save the world, the universe, and the whole of space and time over and over again. Seeing the B- and C-listers do it every now and again is a nice change of pace.

With all the creators working on this one story (twenty one writers, pencillers and inkers are attached), you might expect it to be a giant clusterf@#k. But with the exception of one artist who stands out (Butch Guice, whose art certainly isn’t worse, just very different), it really feels like one creative effort put forth by one creative team.

DC One Million was a massive company-wide crossover, so reading only a handful of the issues from the crossover might be a little confusing. However, throughout the trade there are recap pages that lets the reader know what happened to the characters off-panel. Thanks to these pages, the reader is never left wondering “what happened?” However…

The Negatives: One of the oldest rules is storytelling is it’s usually better to show than to tell. Telling the reader what happened is okay when you just want them to understand the story. In cases such as Prelude to Infinite Crisis, it’s what the reader is looking for. But when you buy a trade paperback, you don’t just want to understand the story, you want to read the story. Understandably, not every single issue of what was a company-wide crossover could be included in the trade. But it seems to me like DC showed when it should have told and told when it should have showed.

Part of the story featured Vandal Savage trapping the Teen Titans inside of Rocket Red suits. Turns out they were nuclear-armed suits, and Savage was planning to fire them at populated areas, but the actual launching and detonation of the first suit happened in an issue not included in the trade. In another part of the story, the Justice League is sent into the future to compete in gladiatorial games in honor of the future return of Superman. None of the issues including these (assumedly) cool battle scenes made the cut.

So what did make it into the trade? A 22-page story featuring future Starman talking to the elderly Golden Age Starman, just to establish that future Starman got his hands on a chunk of kryptonite. A full issue of Resurrection Man, a character I had forgotten exists, featuring a fight between future Resurrection Man and future Vandal Savage that was only used to set up the (completely unnecessary) one-page epilogue that saw Savage getting his just deserts. Several pages out of a Batman book that reminded the reader that Batman’s body was still in the present while his “soul” was in the future, even though that had been clearly established earlier. If part of the story needs to be re-capped, it should be that kind of stuff, not cool fight scenes and pivotal plot points.

The Grade: D. JLA One Million was too much story to fit in one $20 trade. By whittling down the story to that point, DC really doomed the story. The DC One Million mini-series was decent, but too many vital moments in the DC One Million crossover took place outside of that mini-series and this trade for it to tell a compelling story by itself.