How’d you like to wake up to this on the bedroom wall every morning?
Gargoyles #4
SLG Publishing (May, 2007)
“Clan-Building” part 4 (no subtitle given but I’m thinking it’s still part of that arc)
WRITER/CREATOR: Greg Weisman
ARTIST: Nir Paniry (wrongly credited as David Hedgecock, correction made in issue #5)
COLORIST: Dustin Evans
ART DIRECTOR/COVER PENCILER: Greg Guler
COVER COLORIST: Stephanie Lostimolo
I’m not a fan of what Brian Michael Bendis had announced he wanted to do with Superman. Marvel seems to have forgotten how superheroes fight supervillains and wanted to add some social commentary because Marvel loves that. But now we see that he’s even retconning the reason Krypton was destroyed by restoring an older retcon nobody asked for. This is why Bendis should never be allowed to work in a mainstream continuity. Give him his own universe to play with and you get Ultimate Spider-Man, a rather good take. Have him take part in the main universe and you get a man who doesn’t care.
I’m thinking this may be the last of it. Oh the series is continuing. I’m just losing interest thus far. It’s like they took the show I grew up with and re-edited it, which given the history of Robotech is more annoying than you’d think. Thus far we’ve seen political intrigue added in, an important character killed early, a slightly altered relationship, and no reason for me to enjoy it. I thought the story was fine as it was, and so did every other comic publisher that came before it. Academy even continued the continuity Malibu was setting up and it was still the same continuity as the TV show Comic adapted. Other publishers after them did their own thing apart from the other comics but the show was still canon.
And it’s not that I can’t accept the comics altering the show. The Devil’s Due run on Voltron remember is my favorite interpretation. It’s just I’m not seeing a huge enough difference to really get into it. And my friend Sean, who has been supplying these comics because he wanted my thoughts, says there’s another big twist in here, which means if you want to avoid spoilers this isn’t the review for you. So let’s get on with it. We have two comics to go over. Maybe something will finally click with me. Not the faces, they’ll still be stuck in “dull surprise” but maybe something will.
This is what happens when you don’t clean out your garage often enough.
Captain America vol. 3 #8
Marvel Comics (August, 1998)
“Live Kree Or Die” part 2: “Stuck In The Middle”
WRITER: Mark Waid
PENCILER: Andy Kubert
INKER: Jesse Delperdang
COLORIST: Jason Wright
SEPARATIONS: Digital Chameleon
LETTERER: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
We have one last chapter of setup before the main story begins. And since I need to pad out this intro let me say that I’m not pleased with all of the changes made post-Crisis. There were some that worked for me. Superboy (“the adventures of Superman when he was a boy”) was a fun idea but I don’t think it should of been canon, although that did give us Krypto. I do like that we met the Kents, and since they were popular thanks to Superboy it was good to keep them alive. I like that his powers had to slowly grow as he got older, although most Kryptonians since then seem to power up rather quickly after only a few days.
But I don’t like that the Supergirl we knew and loved was written out of continuity (making her death rather pointless, but at least she went out properly) and replaced with an otherwise cool shapeshifting artificial being because they didn’t want Superman to have other Kryptonians. (Except the Phantom Zone criminals apparently.) I preferred Lex Luthor as a criminal scientist out to prove his genius and yet wasn’t what we would consider a “mad scientist”. I don’t like that Krypton was re-imagined as this cold, all-about-science world because John Byrne thought it was better to have Krypton not be a loss. Krypton was fine before…actually I put more blame on Richard Donner’s vision, with all the crystal usage and a Fortress Of Solitude that lacked decent camouflage but that’s another discussion, but everyone seemed to gravitate to that for the longest time. It’s all personal preference. I’ll take it over Man Of Steel (cool as the “pin technology” was) because it still feels like Superman and there were some good stories. For example, we’re reading the novelization of one now.
Yes, I know the chapter and section part numbers are the same and that won’t change until chapter 11, which reaches the next story arc. I’m still doing it here for consistency.
Primaid looks less rage-y and more confused. Guess she can’t figure out why Superman still has a mullet either.
JLA #2
DC Comics (February, 1997)
“The Day The Earth Stood Still”
WRITER: Grant Morrison
PENCILER: Howard Porter
INKER: John Dell
COLORIST: Pat Garrahy
SEPARATIONS: Heroic Age
LETTERER: Ken Lopez
EDITOR: Ruben Diaz
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
BW’s Morning Article Link: When Is Suffering Too Much
English: Depiction of a Magical girl (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I cringe when writer talk about the fun they’re having “torturing” rather than challenging their characters. Maybe it’s my time as a bully victim. However, while having characters suffer doesn’t necessarily destroy a story. It can lead to them being better people. But when is it too much, to the point that the audience you’ve made invested in these characters just hate life in general, fictional or otherwise? Chris Voyage of Galvanic uses the anime Magical Girl Site and the Joker to explore that very topic.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on April 17, 2018 in Animation Spotlight, Book Spotlight, Comic Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged commentary, Joker, magical girl, Magical Girl Site, writing.
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