Meaningless Awards of the Week- 2/13/08


Walking Dead 46The Dead Is Dead Award- The Walking Dead #46

People don’t stay dead very long in comics. Cable came back before the crossover during which he died had even ended. Professor X and Layla Miller probably won’t be dead all that long from their deaths in the very same crossover. Ted Kord, Green Arrow and Harry Osborn were all in comics I read this week, and all are recently back from the dead.

But when someone dies in The Walking Dead, they tend to stay dead. Or else, y’know, undead. Death in The Walking Dead isn’t a sales stunt, it’s just part of the story. And absolutely no one is safe. Case in point: SPOILERS!!! Tyrese, the second male lead of the series, was beheaded by the Governor with Michonne’s samurai sword in issue #46. It was a shocking, gruesome death, and it was a major character in the series, and things are going to be drastically different because Tyrese is not coming back. Unfortunately, that’s the exception to the rule.

The Why Do I Care? Award- Beautie, An Astro City Character Special

How is it that Kurt Busiek can write a story featuring a character I’ve never heard of, set in a universe I’m barely familiar with, and make me care about the story? Seriously, this was a story about a living Barbie doll, and Busiek had me hook, line and sinker the whole way through. Is he just that damn good?

Booster Gold 0The Too Good to Be True? Award- Booster Gold #0

Ted Kord is back. Despite the fact that his death was possibly the most meaningful comic book death of the last decade, I’m happy to see him back. I would have been fine with Ted staying dead since his death was so important, but from the very moment Max Lord shot him in the head, I’ve been hoping for his eventual resurrection. He’s just too awesome of a character to never see again. Sure, they could always do another Formely Known as the Justice League-type story out of continuity, but that’s just not the same as having Ted Kord back among the living.

But now, he’s back. Booster Gold and a trio of Blue Beetles plucked Ted out of the timestream right before Max Lord should have killed him. Everyone on New Earth still believes Ted to be dead. As long as Ted stays in the timestream and out of New Earth affairs (just like his old buddy Booster Gold), it shouldn’t be a problem.

But there’s got to be a problem, right? Geoff Johns found a way to bring Ted Kord back that didn’t negate his important role in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Blue & Gold is back together, and they’re gaurdians of the timestream. It just seems too perfect. Which makes me worry that it must be. I’m glad to see Ted back, but I’ve already begun to brace myself for his eventual re-demise. Prove me wrong, Johns, prove me wrong.

The Gorilla Ass-Whooping Award- Salvation Run #4

Salvation Run has ended up being quite enjoyable. For the most part, it’s been villains doing what they do best: being evil. These guys aren’t afraid to rough each other up a little if necessary, and it turns out it’s pretty damn necessary. Especially if you happen to have a brain enclosed in a glass dome.

See, a few issues ago, The Joker decided to cave in Psimon’s glass skull with a rock. This week, Gorilla Grodd takes it upon himself to use The Brain to beat on it’s would-be interspecies lover, Monsieur Mallah. And hot damn, did Grodd ever wail on him. I’d say I was sorry to see Mallah and the Brain go to the big banana shack in the sky, but really, what else can you do with a supervillain duo whose only goal is to implant The Brain in a cloned body so he can have sex with his male French gorilla soulmate?

The best part of the fight, though? The Joker kicking Grodd into a ravine after it’s all over. You’ve got to love that homicidal clown.

FF 554The Underwhelmed Award- Fantastic Four # 554

Only one word can describe my feelings about the first issue of the Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch run on Fantastic Four: eh.

Not that it was a bad issue, mind you. There were some nice character moments, which gave me hope that MIllar does understand these characters. And of course with Bryan Hitch on pencils, the thing looked amazing.

But there wasn’t really anything that grabbed me and hooked me into the story. “This is where we’re going to go when the Earth dies.”? Really, that’s the big idea for the Millar/Hitch FF? That seems sort of mundane, even by Fantastic Four standards. If (when?) Hitch gets behind on art, I see my interest in this storyline waning pretty quickly. Even Ultimates 2, which was a great story, got a little uninteresting when it took nine months for an issue to come out.