Monthly archives: January, 2008

Jim Doom says: The Fall of the Super-Writers

I don’t know I’ve ever seen so many big-shot writers get exposed at the same time as in 2007.

While I definitely enjoyed Fallen Son, Jeph Loeb’s run on Wolverine was absolutely awful, and the first issue of Ultimates 3 was so bad that it immediately killed off all of the goodwill built by the first two series.

Not only did Brad Meltzer fail to even remotely live up to expectations on Justice League of America, Dwayne McDuffie managed to turn it into one of the stupidest comic books in regular publication. Whether it was Meltzer’s obsession with analyzing polaroids of potential recruits or McDuffie’s insistence on having a dozen superheroes and supervillains surprise each other by standing confidently in silence in the same room around 8 times per issue, this series became a horrible Groundhog Day that cost $2.99 (or more) each month.

The bloom came off Darwyn Cooke’s rose with the plummet of The Spirit and the fizzled sizzle of Superman Confidential, but perhaps no godlike writer cranked out a steady stream of four-color feces than Paul Dini.

His issues of Detective Comics went from being a highlight of 2006 to completely skippable in 2007, and there’s the 52-week elephant in the room known as Countdown. What a damning thing to have on your resume.

Honorable mention: The way Green Arrow was treated in 2007.

Not only did his series get cancelled (and it was really good)…not only did he have his origin retold horribly in one of the worst miniseries of the year…not only did his wedding get told and retold in a different way in at least three different comics…but his new series with wife Black Canary sucks. Green Arrow went from being one of my favorite characters to someone who I now read nothing about in the span of about a month.

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Doom DeLuise says: ASSBAR!

The Goddamn Batman started “regularly” shipping, and now that I have accepted it for what it is, I’ve found it to be wildly entertaining. This ain’t your daddy’s Batman, fanboys.

Jim Doom says: ASSBAR!

ASSBAR is good.

Upon reviewing ASSBAR #5, I got my first glimpse of thinking that this awful series might end up being something worth reading.

I said at the time, “I think we’re all guilty of loving Batman a little too much, because I think we all go through a phase of where we want to be Batman. He’s rich, he’s a ladies man, he has awesome gadgets and he gets to go out and fight crime. But what we often overlook is the fact that he puts on a bat costume and spandex and leaps through the night.

There’s a necessity for a certain maniacal side to him that is usually left out of comic books because I don’t think many writers want to treat him that way. If Batman is ever written with any flaws, it’s that he’s too paranoid or too judgmental. Basically he’s too much of a tough guy. But really – think about it. Batman may have some good excuses to do what he does, but ultimately he decides to put on a funny costume and fight crime. Frankly I love that someone is taking the character to the extreme that I really don’t think other writers have had the courage to do…

I’m not saying it’s the way Batman should be written, but I do think that Miller is writing him in the way that most other writers are too afraid to write him, in spite of the fact that it’s just as believable take as the cold detective we get in the mainstream DCU. Whether it’s the All-Star universe or Miller’s celebrity status that allows it to happen, I’m actually kind of excited to read this take on the character.”

That only continued to prove itself throughout the rest of the year. We only got 4 issues in 2007, but I am really looking forward to wherever this goes. I would have never guessed that after dropping the book in disgust after issue 2 or 3.

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Fin Fang Doom says: Spidey takes the deal!

Shipping the very last week of 2007, Marvel ruined my Christmas by saying the last 20 years of their flagship character don’t count in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

Doom DeLuise says: Shazam!

When Black Adam gave his powers to Mary Marvel in Countdown. That ruined all hope I had for that series, and it ruined one of my favorite characters, to boot. It made no logical sense compared to the last time we saw him in 52, and it still makes no sense when compared to him near the end of his mini-series. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Jim Doom says: Wolverine #55, the decapitation of Sabretooth!

What a horrible waste, but an ultimately fitting way to cap off the utterly awful Jeph Loeb run on Wolverine – a story arc that did damage to the character that simply cannot be overstated.
Sabretooth was a great villain over the years. Maybe they’ll bring him back, who knows. But man, what a pathetic way to go out.

Honorable mention: Supergirl & LOSH #29: Explaining the Dominators’ Invasion of Earth
As I said at the time, “Bravo to DC for managing to tie in 52 with their other books – even those set a thousand years in the future – and managing to time the release of this book with the shutdown of 52 – but that was the tie-in? The Dominators misunderstood Booster Gold’s utterance when he popped in and out of their timeline years ago? On top of being let down, I felt downright insulted as a reader. That might work as a plot setup for an episode of Perfect Strangers, but as the reason for an intergalactic war that cost the lives of billions (if not more)? What a crock.”

Hey! Check out what we had to say about this category in 2006 and 2005!

Doominator says: movie trailers!

Hearing the Joker laugh in “The Dark Knight” trailer and seeing Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man had me pretty pumped. They’re close enough to call it good.

Fin Fang Doom says: The death of Captain America

The best moment of 2007 wasn’t something anyone was surprised by (we can thank the Associated Press for that one), but it was very memorable. It sparked off possibly the best arc so far in Ed Brubaker’s Captain America, and that’s saying something. It’s something that was felt throughout the Marvel universe, and seems like it’s going to have a lasting impact. All too often, when there’s a major status quo change for a character, you’re just left wondering “how long is it going to be until they undo this one?” The effects of Cap’s death have been so great that this time I’m left wondering “wait…did something actually just change?” It’s not certain at this point if Steve Rogers is DEAD dead, and that’s a great thing. If Spider-Man dies, he’s coming back. If Superman dies, he’s coming back. But Captain America? Or rather, Steve Rogers? That’s not quite so certain.

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Jim Doom says: finding out exactly what DC writers liked when they were kids!

Whether it’s the Saturday Mornification of the Justice League – complete with the Hall of Justice monolithic headquarters and the Hall of Doom sitting in the swamp – or bringing back the Legion of Superheroes in as many books as possible or just wanting to relive the Silver Age, DC after Infinite Crisis absolutely reeks of comic book creators having free reign to relive their childhood.

I kind of like the Legion of Superheroes, but I’m really sick and tired of them popping up everywhere. They were in JLA, they were in JSA, they were in Countdown, they were in Action Comics (I’m not even sure if that’s the same version of the ones we saw in the Lightning Saga; how additionally awful if it’s not).

Silver Age comics even infected the modern version of the LoSH, as Mon-El made his own individual appearances in Action Comics and way off in the 31st Century Mark Waid version of the Legion.

I don’t think I’d mind so much if the comics seemed to be written by kids as well. Dwayne McDuffie just made JLA stupider than I could ever imagine a professional writer being allowed to.

Honorable mention: Zombie Covers.
God, zombie covers are stupid. Shame on anyone who is buying them and encouraging Marvel to keep doing it.

Honorable mention: $3.99 comics
It’s happening all the time now. It doesn’t even need to be a special event. Wolverine #56 was $3.99 FOR NO REASON.

Doominator says: lateness!

Everyone else is going to say zombies. I think the worst trend is chronic lateness. See All-Star Superman and Astonishing X-Men … if you can find any of the scant issues that came out this year.

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Doom DeLuise says: less Countdown crossovers!

Since it started, we’ve been having less and less tie-ins with Countdown. After they threw that entire, “This is the backbone of the DCU,” PR line out the window, they’ve trended away from tie-ins, which means my regular monthly DC stuff hasn’t been tainted with the awfulness of that dreadful, mind-numbing, hatred-inducing pile of dog poo.

Jim Doom says: Killing off Jack Kirby!

Jack Kirby was great for his time and definitely deserves credit in the proper context. But that’s IT. Jack Kirby made a whole lot of crap, and 2007 was a step toward putting that stuff in its proper place. The problem is, a lot of it might have been accidental.

Whether it was Marvel accidentally exposing The King with the misguided and overpriced Avengers Classic series or DC building a company-wide crossover on Kirby’s 1970s crap (including killing off all the New Gods), I really doubt that Kirby will be spoken of in the same untouchable holy manner after 2007.

Doominator says:

Writers and artists meeting deadline.

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It’s that time of year again, where the members of the legion of Doomkopf take a crack at praising and condemning the very best and worst of the previous year in comics. A new Best or Worst post will go up every day at noon, and its opposite number will show up 12 hours later at midnight. We’re going to start with a few looks at the business side of comics, then transition to the stories we loved and hated, and end it all with the best and worst creators of the year.

This year we’ve dropped “Best & Worst Publisher,” because there’s usually only two companies we’d ever bring up in that discussion. So this year I’m just being a little blunt about it. To start things off, we’re going to discuss which publisher was better in 2007:

Marvel or DC?

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