Flash - back to 231 ?

What happened? I thought that DC had rebooted Flash and made Bart Allen the newest incarnation of the Flash. There was a new number 1 issue and everything. Then I find out that Bart was murdered in the All Flash one shot??? And that the next issue after that was issue 231?? And that Mark Waid has returned as Flash scribe?

I'm all in favor of the last two items, but what's up with the murder of Bart Allen? Why is DC so bloodthirsty in recent years? Sue Dibny. Blue Beetle. Max Lord. Bart Allen.

I think what is interesting to me about this list is that these characters either saw a renaissance in the mid to late 80s (Flash, too, come to think of it - in his own book and the Justice League books) or they were introduced to the DC Universe then. It's also interesting that the first three characters were big in the aforementioned Justice League comic by the heavily underrated Keith Giffen.

It seems that DC can't undo what Giffen did fast enough. He told stories that were fun and interesting, and he took the second rate JL characters and made them an important part of the team. Who else could have made G'Nort an interesting character? But apparently, comics aren't supposed to be fun. Grim and gritty is what we all want. Right?

Flash in the Giffen JL was a fun jokester type, just like Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. And Max Lord was a somewhat benevolent guy who funded the JL and tried to make the world a safer place. Lord's fate in recent years, and the actions that were attributed to him are kinda inconsistent with the character that Giffen created. But I digress.

Flash, like Giffen's JL, was relaunched in 1987 (I think it was then...maybe 1986?), and I thought the relaunch (both, actually) was quite good. I liked the Baron/Messner-Loebs issues better than the Waid issues, but I recognize that Waid still had a solid run.

And, of course, there were the Geoff Johns issues. I discovered them late (in the 180s), but once I started getting them, I really enjoyed reading them. And I was always a bit lukewarm about my affinity for this character. It was hit or miss. But for the first 60 or so, and the last 60 or so, of the relaunched Flash - I read and enjoyed it.

I look forward to reading Waid's return to this character. He did a lot to shape the current incarnation and it will be fun to see what he has in store.

A New Captain America

Well, I have to admit that I didn't see that coming. I just read that Ed Brubaker will be introducing a new person to be Captain America in January. This is probably old news to the folks who keep up with the day-to-day comic events, but it's news to me.

I really expected Marvel to just cancel the book, start over with volume 6, number 1 and act as though the assassination never occurred. Another person wearing the costume wasn't something I thought would happen.

The idea of someone else wearing the costume isn't new, but this is the first time it will be done at a time when Steve Rogers isn't around to keep an eye on things. And the idea that it could be the long-dead Bucky Barnes that will be taking over...well, I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I liked the fact that Bucky was dead long before I started reading comics. And that he stayed dead. I think that Gwen Stacy (discounting the clone) is the only other Marvel character that remained deceased. For a while, they had the decency to include Norman Osborn in this little club, but they ruined that in the 90s.

I am intrigued by this development. It's much like the return from the dead of Jason Todd in Batman. I didn't think it was a good idea, but Judd Winick wrote such good stories, I found myself reading and enjoying the Batman tales that featured this story arc. I suspect the same thing will happen here. I have enjoyed Brubaker's work as much as I've enjoyed Winick's.

I'll have to look for a trade paperback to see it though...as I doubt any of these issues will be found in a discount box!

Alternate to Spider-Man

I've complained a bit in the past about how disappointed I am in the current state of Spider-Man and even identified the time frame at which I think Spidey started down the slope of my discontent.

What I didn't mention is that there were alternates to Spider-Man (Amazing, Spectacular, Web and adjective-free) that I did read and enjoy. I was bummed that I disliked the main titles so much and was glad to have these three titles to read.

The three titles were Spider-Man 2099, by Peter David, Spider-Girl by Tom DeFalco and Untold Tales of Spider-Man by Kurt Busiek.

Spider-Man 2099

2099 was a fun read by one of my favorite writers (again, I have bored whatever readers I have to death on this topic in other posts). As Gerry Conway seemed to be trying to do with Firestorm, this seemed to be Peter David's effort to have a hand in "creating" his own version of Spider-Man and adding his own personal style and touch to it.

I have no information to prove that either writer was, in fact, looking at their respective books in this fashion (i.e. in an "if I created Spider-Man, here's what I'd have done" sort of way)...but I can't deny that the thought didn't cross my mind in both cases. Just me thinking out loud here.

2099 had a great origin story, good supporting characters, interesting ideas and interesting plots. All the things you'd expect from Mr. David.

Spider-Girl

The same could be said for Spider-Girl. In addition to the great aspect of seeing Mary Jane and Peter (retired from the Spider-Man thing, but occasionally jumping in) about 20 years after the current continuity, you get the daughter who has inherited the Spider powers!

DeFalco also threw in old school characters like Kaine, J. Jonah Jameson, Felicia Hardy and Flash Thompson were featured. Also featured were ancillary characters who you didn't need too much to draw the connection - like Phil Urich (fresh off the decent, but short-lived Green Goblin series), Normie Osborn and Franklin Richards.

There were also interesting new characters galore (too many to name) populating this fun and fresh title. And Tom DeFalco (and Ron Frenz) wound it all together and made it all run beautifully.

Untold Tales of Spider-Man

Finally, there was Kurt Busiek's Untold Tales. These were stories that took place kinda "in between the lines" of the earliest days of the Amazing stories. There were always some threads that more intrepid readers could recognize and get a proper time frame for where that particular story took place in terms of the genesis of Spider-Man.

Busiek gave us some new stories with old classic villains and mixed in a dash of new tales with some cool new Spider-Man foes. As DeFalco did, Busiek spun all these tales and just told some great stories.

As a Spider-Man purist, I have to give Busiek credit. He was merely adding to the Spider-Man legend...never threatening to alter it. It could easily have been misinterpreted. But he did too good a job for that.

Speaking of which, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Busiek's brilliant Marvels mini-series he did with Alex Ross. If you haven't read this, you're missing out. It's really really good.

Anyway, the third issue of Marvels was a "between the lines" tale that took place shortly after the death of Captain Stacy - the first of what I consider to be a few watershed moments in the Amazing title.

There is an interview with Gwen Stacy and a chilling scene with Doctor Octopus in which he acts exactly as you would expect a master villain to act. Cold. Remorseless. Excellent writing.

That's my take on this. Three excellent Spider-Man alternate titles. All came along at a good time for someone who was a lifelong Spider fan and felt alienated from the main titles.

If you are of a similar vein, look for any of these titles. They all read like the Lee/Ditko or Lee/Romita Sr. Spider-Man tales. Not a bad thing at all.

Recommended Reads - Alan Moore

It pretty much goes without saying that Watchmen, V For Vendetta and Swamp Thing are automatic suggested reads for Mr. Moore. But what else?

Some of his more obscure works (perhaps a bit less obscure now that there is an Alan Moore trade paperback) are every bit as worth reading as the above three mentioned titles. This list would include such titles as Miracleman and Halo Jones.

Miracleman

I remember reading the initial issues of Miracleman and thinking that it read like an alterante take on Superman (more like Shazam...or Captain Marvel, really). Here was a God-like character who could fly and had incredible strength...it's pretty close. But there were differences.

He had a human alter-ego and a mysterious past. The fun of the title was reading along as Moore filled in the blanks. One of my favorite scenes in the series was when the terrorist was questioned by Evelyn Cream in the hospital. Just great stuff.

Then of course, there were the two battles between Miracleman and Kid Miracleman and the destruction of London and pain that these battles caused the bystanders. What happens when two people with God-Like powers battle? Read this series to see one possibility.

Then -- Moore gives us the great twist. Miracleman leaves his human side behind and goes off to be a God (or...something like that - I haven't read these issues for a few years now)! This aspect of things was explored in rather middling fashion by the otherwise talented Neil Gaiman. Too bad - if Moore had done the second half of the Miracleman series, I think it would have been great.

Halo Jones

Then there's Halo Jones. The future-based story of a woman who left her simple life to explore the galaxy, this is truly one of my favorite all-time comic series. The characters and situations Moore created are brilliant and could serve as a primer for comic creators.

This series was told in three parts, comprised of (I think) 8-page installments in 2000 AD (or was it Warrior Magazine?). When I finished the first part, I thought that it was the best thing I'd read up to that point. And there were still two parts to go.

While the second two parts were, to me, not as good as the first part - they were still excellent reads. It was one of those times where I came across this title totally by accident (in a 50 cent box!) and picked it up just because Alan Moore had written it. Then I got the trade paperback and was able to enjoy the whole tale.

So these are two titles that I would recommend to any Alan Moore fan. I don't know if I would recommend them over Watchmen, V or Swamp Thing....but they are at least on par with these great titles.

The Hulk - better or worse?

Hmmm...So at least two end-of-the-year newspaper writers - one from the Contra Costa Times and the other from the Times Union (Albany, NY) have proclaimed that the recent Hulk storyline (World War Hulk, I guess) is one of the top story arcs of 2007.

I guess so. I haven't read it myself, but I am puzzled by this. Here's a description I got from the Times Union: "This started almost three years ago, when Earth's superheroes decided they had enough of the violent and powerful Hulk, so they shot him off into deep space. The Hulk liberated the world he landed on and found a way back to Earth to declare war on everyone who crossed his path in World War Hulk. Well-plotted."

I'm sure this is oversimplyfying things, but it doesn't sound all that earth-shattering to me. It also sounds a bit like the storyline that began in Hulk 300. This, of course, was preceded by the Hulk gaining Bruce Banner's intellect, only to have that slowly slip away.

Then Dr. Strange banished the Hulk to some otherworldly dimension, where he was free to roam from planet to planet until he found something he liked. Since the Hulk in these stories was totally brutish and pretty much growled the whole time, finding that happiness was not likely to happen. There was also a "fail-safe" spell that would remove Hulk from any world once he tired of it.

Bill Mantlo wrote some very good stories exploring this plot device and made it interesting. Of course, it wasn't long before the Hulk returned to Earth, was written and drawn by John Byrne for six issues and then was turned over to master craftsman Peter David.

It would take me too long to list all the great plots and character development the Hulk underwent under David's reign as Hulk scribe. Suffice it to say that I have not been bowled over by any Hulk run since David was forced off the title.

The Bruce Jones stuff was interesting, and I was glad to see David return for some issues...but in my mind, even the less compelling Peter David Hulk stories were better than other people's best efforts. But I guess nothing lasts forever. I'll just be glad to have read those Peter David Hulk tales and figure that, maybe someday, someone will give us Hulk comics that are that good.

Or, really, any comics that are that good.

Super Villain Team-Up!

Because you demanded it! Well, maybe not. Amazingly, the ultra-cool 1970s Super-Villain Team-Up did not carry that tagline. But even though I did not demand it, it was great.

It all started in March 1975 with Giant-Size SVTU number 1 featuring Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner. Of course, it had the obligatory 70s "And Now the Iron-Masked Master of Menace Thinks Back..." line that leads to the reprint that allegedly propels the story forward.

But it was still cool. The new stuff was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema. So far, so good, right? Issue 2 of GS SVTU, published 3 months later, had a full original story, again by Thomas, but this time the artists were Mike Sekowsky and Sam Grainger. Clearly, Marvel was a bit too ambitious with the GS part of this, as they inexplicably have a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man 8 included in this issue! Huh???

Anyway, fast forward 2 more months to SVTU number 1! Doctor Doom! Sub-Mariner! And some new characters - Attuma! Dr. Dorcas! And the Terrible Tiger Shark! This time out, we have Tony Isabella doing the writing, and George Tuska & Bill Everett doing the art chores. They even throw George Evans into the mix with the second part of the story.

And so it went. Each issue, you didn't know who would deliver the goods - but each issue was entertaining. Later issues added the Red Skull to the mix! All that was missing was the Green Goblin. Too bad he was dead (at least at the time he was).



And just look at some of the great names that lent their considerable talents to this excellent title: Sal Buscema, Jim Shooter, Bill Mantlo, Herb Trimpe, Jim Mooney, Steve Englehart and Keith Giffen.

Maybe I was just at the right age and very impressionable. Whatever it was, I can say that I still think this is one of my favorite 70s titles. It was a fun 19 issues - and what more can you ask for when it comes to comics? Fun is exactly what all comics should strive for.

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Awesome! I just found out that there is an Essentials that collects all these issues and more! I may have to get this myself! You can get them all in one place! Lucky you!

Dark Knight pictures

First there were the Watchmen images. Now, images for the Dark Knight movie have been released. Heath Ledger as the Joker looks pretty good. He looks menacing and crazy - exactly what the Joker should be.

Here's hoping this will move the memory of the Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson Jokers even further into the depths of my consciousness. I'd really like to forget I ever saw either one. It's not as though either version was visually terrible. They just weren't...the Joker as I thought of the character.

I take some solace in that as bad as those Jokers were, they were visually superior in every way to what the movies did to the Green Goblin. Boy, do I wish they'd kept that simple.

They seem to be on a good path here with the upcoming Batman movie. I will be interested in seeing more images, and hopefully soon - more trailers.

Recent Batman readings

Well, I guess it can't all be great....I just read the 'Grotesk' storyline in Batman, and I was a bit disappointed. It's too bad, really. John Ostrander has done some good comics in the past, but this does not show that.

I'll give him a pass because these are filler issues, after all. They follow the great Grant Morrison 'Son of Batman' storyline and then are in turn followed by some more teriffic Morrison issues. And of course, all of this follows the Judd Winick issues, which I think I've blathered on about how much Iiked them in a previous post.

I'll try to remember Ostrander on Firestorm, The Spectre and some of the other titles he did in the 80s and 90s. He deserves that.

But I do look forward to reading the newest Morrison issues, and I hope he is the regular writer for some time. It's nice to be able to say that about Batman. For a long while, up to and including the bloated and overrated 'Hush' storyline, I didn't like Batman all that much.

And please don't get me started about the little regard I have for the soulless "All-Star Batman and Robin" series.

I'm just happy to have someone of Morrison's caliber writing such a great character. And with the hype machine working overtime for the upcoming Dark Knight movie...I doubt I'm alone in this opinion.

More great comic book covers

As the first post was one of the few that I've actually had comments on, I decided to see if I could find some other cool covers. See what you think:



Daredevil 146 by Gil Kane (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Marvel Team-Up 39 by John Romita, Sr. (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Detective 467 by Rich Buckler (Copyright DC Comics)

Some good ones, eh? I wonder if I'll find any to post that were published after the mid 80's? There must be some covers worthy of display. Let me know if you think of some.

Of course, there is a catch - I'll only post them if I agree! But I am an agreeable guy...

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Ask and ye shall receive! Here are a few more covers, one from a direct answer, and the others that I remembered as being similarly themed.



Thor 276 by John Buscema (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Hulk 255 by Rich Buckler (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Captain America 230 by Ron Wilson (Copyright Marvel Comics)

And still more - another suggestion and some other cool ones. I seem to be favoring Marvel in general, and Spider-Man in particular....



Superman 217 by Ed Benes (Copyright DC Comics)
Spider-Man 251 by Ed Hannigan (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Spider-Man 258 by Ron Frenz (Copyright Marvel Comics)

By the way, I am sure I am right about the artist in most cases, but if you see an error, please let me know so I can have the attributions correct.

Nostalgic for the 70s

As I sell things on eBay, I come across some really cool items from the past. Recently, I sold a Draco the Dragon Spider-Man book & record. As far as I know, the story had not been published as a comic book, so the story was unique. How cool is this? It's doubly great because I get to remember how much I enjoyed it all those years ago, and the buyer told me that it reminded them of their own childhood. I'm happy to be a part of something like that.



And John Romita Sr. art on Electric Company Magazine? That rocks! Marvel and DC both used to put some cool stuff out there for the fans. I have a roll of toilet paper with panels from Spider-Man 119 and 120 on it. Gil Kane art! How could it get better?!?

I have Fun Books with word searches, mazes, crossword puzzles and games all based around the Marvel Universe. I have Spider-Man, Batman and Superman calendars, maze books, magnets, cars, games, puzzles (a Batman puzzle with Neal Adams art!) and coloring books.



And LPs! Lots of 12-inch, 33 1/3 long play records with great, cheesy and totally cool superhero stories on them! The Justice League one was always my favorite. Some of the worst songs and corniest stories you'll ever hear...but I can't help but smile to think of them! One of the songs starts like this: Metamorpho, Metamorpho....This is the story of the Element Man...You just don't get stuff like that nowadays!



Maybe I'm just not in the know and items like these things are readily available now. I know that some of this stuff is - like calendars, magnets and coloring books. But it's different compared to the 70s. Maybe it's because I was a kid and I am seeing it through nostalgic rose colored glasses. But I can't imagine what's out there now could possibly have the soul of the 70's stuff!

I'd like to see book & cds based on issues that have been published. Toilet paper with Ultimate Spider-Man panels on it. And of course, let's see Fun Books come back! Wouldn't that be cool?

Likes & Dislikes - Grant Morrison

A bit of a no-brainer to make this post, eh?

Start with Animal Man 1-26 where he took a pretty ordinary character and gave us compelling stories, culminating with one of the most shocking and sad moments in comics. Then the great look at the aftermath and reaction that most people would likely have if that had happened to them. Definitely not your typical superhero fare.

Move forward several years to JLA. His handling of this super-team was second only to Keith Giffen's in the modern era. And it's not like the two are all that far apart in my mind. I just prefer the Giffen version. But Morrison again took some established, traditional, and (at the time) kinda boring characters and made them interesting and relevant again.

Then top it off with New X-Men.

If there was any comic book that I DIDN'T like, it was the X-Men. Never really read Uncanny X-Men, no interest in Ultimate X-Men. I'll politely pass on Wein/Cockrum, Claremont/Byrne, Claremont/any artist. Outside of the Stan Lee and Neal Adams issues, the X-books just didn't interest me.

And yet, there I was happily reading New X-Men and loving it. Some X-motifs were recast in new and interesting ways. Xavier walks. Scott Summers steps out - Cyclops/Jean Gray, Cyclops/White Witch. Cassandra Nova...Xavier has a sister?? And - best of all - no stupid crossovers with the other X-titles!

I knew it was good when I found out that my X-Men loving, Marvel Zombie buddy kept telling me that it wasn't the "real" X-Men. You know what? It should be the "real" X-Men! Or...perhaps not. Well - it was new and interesting to me. Maybe that explains why I was not upset by it as X-Men fans were.

Now Grant Morrison is writing Batman - and it's great! He starts with the "Son of Batman" story - a sequel to the excellent Mike W. Barr/Jerry Bingham "Son of the Demon" graphic novel (which really is a graphic novel!) - and keeps going from there. I really liked the Judd Winick run, and it remains to be seen how the Morrison run will stack up. If the past is any indication, it will stack up well indeed. He's off to a great start thus far.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention other Grant Morrison works such as Sebastian O, Skrull Kill Krew, Invisibles, Kid Eternity, Doom Patrol, Seven Soldiers of Victory, We3, Marvel Boy, Fantastic Four: 1234, Zenith (2000AD), Aztek and All-Star Superman (which is so much better than Frank Miller's All-Star Batman, it isn't even funny).

I'm sure there are some other Morrison works I'm omitting, but this is a pretty good list. So go out and find some Morrison issues. Amazingly, you'll be able to find some in the dollar boxes. You can get some really good stuff from these boxes.

Watchmen Movie

Saw some images from the upcoming Watchmen movie. Hard to know which way to go on this. What I do know for sure is that Alan Moore is against it - but that's true of any of his works. And based on some of the movies that have been based on his comics, I can't say I blame him.

On the one hand, it seems that the story has too many nuances to properly capture in a 2-hour movie. There are a lot of characters to keep track of. And a lot of history and motivations established over the course of those 12 issues. They could spend the first hour of the movie just introducing the characters.

On the other hand, it is going to be directed by Zack Snyder, who directed 300. Snyder has said (according to IMDB's trivia) that in order to be true to the source when adapting a graphic novel to the screen, the original visual art should be respected as much as the written portion."

That seems to bode well, doesn't it?

Another good thing: According to IMDB, both Tom Cruise and Jude Law expressed interest in the role of Ozymandias. And neither were selected. This is a good thing. Make that great. Looking at the cast list, it seems that it has some good names, but there doesn't look to be any one person with an overblown, Cruise-like ego to destroy the project.

So, I guess in the end, it doesn't matter what I think, because they're going to make the movie anyway. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised. I hope Zach Snyder can deliver that surprise for me.

It's a great story - and it would be nice to see a great film come from it.