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Review Linky Dinky: Animal Man #5

Animal_man_5

Over at Newsarama, I wrote a few words about Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman's Animal Man #5, trying to focus mainly on the art.

Foreman doesn't hide anything from the reader.  The bulbous monsters and the horrible disfigurement that Buddy suffers battling it are front and center in this issue. Nothing is hidden or left to the reader's imagination. A vision of Animal Man's daughter Maxine as the corruptor of the world is made complete by her spider-like legs and a thoroughly dissected Animal Man. It gets far more shocking when she pulls the skin off of his face in the vision, an image repeated from the cover but the vision in the book is more vivid and terrifying. Foreman makes an image that's impossible not to see. His horror is presented so matter-of-factly that you can not avert your eyes from it. It's not hidden and it's not implied. Foreman is drawing a horror story that won't let you look away from it. It's the kind of horror that's terrible in idea and concept but beautiful in execution.

You can read the whole review here.  

Jesus Christ: Superstar or Superman?


For at least the last 30 or 40 years, there’s been attempts by many to try and read a Christian message into the myth of Superman.  You can take it back to Action Comics #1 and the story of a baby being sent into the world of men to protect and lead it.  Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s (two Jewish kids, by the way) hero was the best of us.  He was a child without sin or compromise showing up in a time of great turmoil in America to inspire us.  That’s probably one of many ways to read a story about the ultimate man, imposing myths and stories on him that put him in a greater context but it’s also one that sort of works.  There are even ways to view 1978’s Superman: The Movie as a mystery play where Superman is quite literally Christ in skin tight blue spandex.

Grant Morrison even intentionally or unintentionally played with this during All Star Superman, where the ending is basically Superman as Christ on the Cross, dying to save the world.  My own reading of that story is here and here.  You can draw some really interesting connections between the story of Jesus and the story of Kal-El, sons of their fathers who sent them into our world.

While those connections are often inferred by the readers, I don’t remember them ever being explicitly implied by DC.  Sure, there’s the whole death and resurrection thing of the 90s but Superman’s was much more comic booky and no one ever accuses Superman of being a zombie either.  There was that Church of Superboy back during DC’s 52 and there’s probably been more focused Superman-like-character-as-Christ stories done but when has it ever been done in a continuity driven Superman book?

The answer is now in 2012 and Action Comics #5.

The back up story written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Chriscross shows us the young Jonathan and Martha Kent’s troubles with having children.  Like so many, they’re just not biologically capable of it, even after over a year of hormone treatments.  Feeling like God is punishing them, they go to their pastor and Martha asks “Why is God punishing us this way?  What did we do wrong?”  The pastor quotes Bible stories to them, telling them how Sarah couldn’t bear a child to Abraham until she was 90 years old and he was 100.

The story of Isaac is one that’s always fascinated me.  When Isaac is a boy, Abraham is told by God that he has to go up the mountain and sacrifice Isaac as an offering to god.  Being a godly man, Abraham listened and obeyed believing that there was a purpose to his Lord’s command.  Before he could plunge the knife into the boy’s body, an angel appeared to them and seeing Abraham’s faith in the Lord’s word, knew that Abraham loved his Lord.  A ram was substituted in place of Isaac for the sacrifice.  Isaac was a proto-Christ, a sign of the function that Jesus would fulfill centuries later.  

The story of Isaac is held as a sign for the coming of Jesus, showing how Jesus would be sacrificed by the world to atone for its sins.  And here, in 2012, a preacher is telling the story of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, using it to illustrate the patience that the Kents need to have.  You have to wonder though if they have to have the patience of Sarah and Abraham, is their son going to be the next sacrifice for the world?  Is their son going to be Isaac or Jesus? Again, see the ending of All Star Superman #12.

If that’s the case, you could almost read the opening of the recent Action Comics #1 as Jesus in the temple kicking out the money changers.

I can’t help but think since first reading Action Comics #5 that Grant Morrison’s punkish Superman is his Christ story and honestly, I can see Morrison worshiping Superman in a religious kind of way.  This is the beginning of his Superman gospel while All Star Superman was the conclusion of it, even if they’re written in the opposite order.  It’s not that Morrison (and Fisch in the backups) are writing the story of Jesus Christ but they’re setting their Superman up to be something more than human or alien.

Flashmob Fridays-- Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes

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With the rest of the merry mobsters (I want to make that a thing,) I take my turn at tackling Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes, a collection of Carl Barks' duck stories.  Honestly, I think I've only ever read a small handful of Carl Barks.  I don't even know if I really read any Walt Disney comics before a couple of years ago.  I'm finding it this odd struggle to go back and read comics as a 41 year old that I probably should have been reading and loving as an 8 year old.  I was such a Marvel zombie when I was a kid that anything that didn't feature tights was not something that I wanted to read.  Sure I even picked up the random DC comic here or there but it wasn't until Marv Wolfman and George Perez brought a Marvel storytelling sensibility to The New Teen Titans that I found my gateway into DC comics.  

So as an introduction into Carl Barks' storytelling, here's a snippet of what I wrote over at Flashmob Fridays:

What I enjoy about Barks (and his spiritual descendant Don Rosa) is that he doesn’t tell stories about cartoonish ducks but he tells them about characters who happen to be cartoonish ducks. The stories themselves, from the adventurous and titular “Lost in the Andes” to the screwballish “Plenty of Pets” and even to the one page gag strips, are built around characters. Donald Duck is the loyal but easily flustered hero. He seems to be all about himself and how everything affects him but he’s always doing things for his nephews or his uncle out of a strong love that exists among these characters. Even as characters lose their tempers and get mad at each other, there’s never a sense of spite or selfishness around these characters. Donald Duck is like Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners. He’s quick to anger but there’s hardly a bigger heart around.

You can read my whole short essay here. 

@ Newsarama: Fatale #1

Fatale_1

Phillips' art takes a nearly imperceptible shift away from his usual Criminal work. He’s embracing his inner classic EC artist as he’s able to draw a comic not as grounded in our reality as Criminal has to be. Fatale #1 is more suggestive than anything we’ve seen him draw lately. The storytelling and pacing in Criminal and Incognito was all about building suspense in the moment of the panel. Playing with very familiar genres, Brubaker and Phillips don’t have to do a lot of world building in either of those series. Those worlds (superheroes and neo-noir) are practically pre-built in our imaginations nowadays. With Fatale #1, they almost have to take a step back and show the reader how to read it. The suspense in this issue is built not through our expectations of the story, but through the panel-to-panel pacing and the story elements that happen in the shadows.

Weekly Comic Shopping List 1-4-2012


Here’s what looks good or interesting this week at your local comic shop or online digital retailer.  
  • BPRD Hell On Earth Vol 2 Gods And Monsters TP
  • Witchfinder Vol 2 Lost And Gone Forever TP

Two Mignola-verse book.  Tyler Cook’s artwork on BPRD is quite impressive but I’m really looking forward to seeing all of John Severin’s work on Witchfinder.  I read the first issue and his artwork was as impressive as ever.  

  • Action Comics Vol 2 #5 Regular Andy Kubert Cover
  • Animal Man Vol 2 #5
  • OMAC Vol 3 #5
  • Swamp Thing Vol 5 #5 Regular Yanick Paquette Cover

I think the first week of the month is my biggest week for the new DC but that may change.  I’m so on the fence with Action Comics.  I don’t think it works that well from issue to issue but after reading all 4 issues a couple of weeks ago, I think this will be fine in the collected form.  And if you had asked me in August what one of my favorite books right now would be, I don’t think I would have ever said OMAC.  

  • Fatale #1 Cvr B

I’ve read this one already.  It’s good.  Really good.  Look for a review to pop up somewhere tomorrow.

  • Shaky Kanes Monster Truck GN

I thought this one came out last week.  

  • Uncanny X-Force #19.1

Not really interested in the Age of Apocalypse stuff so I may end up sitting this one out.

  • Betrayal Of The Planet Of The Apes #3 Cvr A
  • Flash Gordon Zeitgeist #2 Regular Francesco Francavilla Cover

Two fun series about old science fiction concepts.  Both are also good looking books.


While it came out last week, the book I’m most looking forward to this week is DC’s long awaited reprinting of Chase.  Somehow I missed out on this book when it was coming out in the 90s.  I read the DC Comics Presents that came out last year but I want to read the whole thing now.  

2011-- The year in reviews

141 reviews (and an occasional honest-to-goodness article) over 5 sites in 12 months.  Over the last couple of months, I was feeling like a slacker for some reason until I started putting this together a couple of weeks ago and became kind of amazed at how much I wrote in 2011.  My guess would be that the average review is 500 words so that comes out to be over 70,000 words altogether.  A handful of them may even be decent.  

So here's my 2011 in comics and a couple of films.  

       

 

Review Site Date

 

Thor: The Mighty Avenger V1 Popdose 1/3/2011

 

Edge of Doom #3 Newsarama Best Shots 1/4/2011

 

Sweets #2 Newsarama Best Shots 1/6/2011

 

Who Is Jake Ellis #1 Newsarama Best Shots 1/6/2011

 

Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes #3 Newsarama Best Shots 1/10/2011

 

The Incal Wednesday's Haul 1/11/2011

 

Vision Machine TPB Newsarama Best Shots 1/11/2011

 

Captain America: The Korvac Cycle #2 Newsarama Best Shots 1/13/2011

 

John Byrne's Next Men #2 Newsarama Best Shots 1/13/2011

 

Atlas: The Return of the Three Dimensional Man Wednesday's Haul 1/16/2011

 

Casanova: Gula #1 Newsarama Best Shots 1/18/2011

 

Sweet Tooth: In Captivity Popdose 1/19/2011

 

Invincible Iron Man #500 Newsarama Best Shots 1/24/2011

 

Young Justice #0 Newsarama Best Shots 1/24/2011

 

The Sixth Gun #8 Newsarama Best Shots 1/27/2011

 

Uncanny X-Force #4 Newsarama Best Shots 1/27/2011

 

Cursed Pirate Girl: The Collected Edition Volume 1 Newsarama Best Shots 1/31/2011

 

Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever #1 Newsarama Best Shots 2/2/2011

 

Invincible Iron Man #500.1 Newsarama Best Shots 2/7/2011

 

Legion of Super Heroes Annual #1 Newsarama Best Shots 2/7/2011

 

Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali Popdose 2/8/2011

 

Magus #2 Newsarama Best Shots 2/9/2011

 

B.P.R.D: Hell On Earth- Gods #2 Newsarama Best Shots 2/10/2011

 

Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #1 Newsarama Best Shots 2/10/2011

 

Mid-Life Newsarama Best Shots 2/14/2011

 

The Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues Newsarama Best Shots 2/14/2011

 

Magdalena #5 Newsarama Best Shots 2/21/2011

 

Silver Surfer #1 Newsarama Best Shots 2/21/2011

 

Godland #34 Newsarama Best Shots 2/23/2011

 

Turf #4 Newsarama Best Shots 2/24/2011

 

Freakangels Volume 5 Newsarama Best Shots 2/28/2011

 

Annihilators #1 Newsarama Best Shots 3/3/2011

 

Green Lantern #63 Newsarama Best Shots 3/7/2011

 

Joe The Barbarian #8 Newsarama Best Shots 3/7/2011

 

Elephantmen #30 Newsarama Best Shots 3/14/2011

 

Weapons of the Metabaron Newsarama Best Shots 3/14/2011

 

Artifacts #6 Newsarama Best Shots 3/15/2011

 

Ruse #1 Newsarama Best Shots 3/17/2011

 

Dynamite C2E2 Panel Coverage Newsarama 3/19/2011

 

Hellraiser #1 Newsarama Best Shots 3/23/2011

 

Batman Incorporated #4 Newsarama Best Shots 3/28/2011

 

Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker #1 Newsarama Best Shots 3/29/2011

 

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 Newsarama Best Shots 3/30/2011

 

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8 Newsarama Best Shots 4/4/2011

 

iZombie: Dead to the World Popdose 4/6/2011

 

Blue Estate #1 Newsarama Best Shots 4/11/2011

 

Fear Itself Popdose 4/13/2011

 

Infinite Vacation #2 Newsarama Best Shots 4/13/2011

 

John Byrne's Next Men #5 Newsarama Best Shots 4/14/2011

 

Uncanny X-Force #7 Newsarama Best Shots 4/18/2011

 

The Sixth Gun #11 Newsarama Best Shots 4/19/2011

 

Marijuanaman Volume 1 Newsarama Best Shots 4/20/2011

 

Black Dynamite #1 Newsarama Best Shots 4/25/2011

 

Stumptown Popdose 4/27/2011

 

Batman Incorporated #5 Newsarama Best Shots 4/28/2011

 

Rasl #10 Newsarama Best Shots 4/28/2011

 

The Bulletproof Coffin TPB Newsarama Best Shots 5/2/2011

 

Batboy: The Complete Weekly World News Comic Strips Newsarama Best Shots 5/9/2011

 

Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus Wednesday's Haul 5/10/2011

 

'Breed III #1 Newsarama Best Shots 5/12/2011

 

FF #3 Newsarama Best Shots 5/16/2011

 

Flashpoint #1 Newsarama Best Shots 5/16/2011

 

I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow Volume 3 Newsarama Best Shots 5/23/2011

 

Walt Disney Treasury Donald Duck Volume 1 Newsarama Best Shots 5/23/2011

 

DV8 Gods and Monsters TPB Newsarama Best Shots 5/31/2011

 

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10 Newsarama Best Shots 5/31/2011

 

The Tooth Newsarama Best Shots 6/1/2011

 

Criminal: Last of the Innocent #1 Newsarama Best Shots 6/6/2011

 

Empowered: Ten Questions for the Maidman Newsarama Best Shots 6/9/2011

 

Savage Dragon #171 Newsarama Best Shots 6/9/2011

 

Baltimore: The Plague Ships HC Newsarama Best Shots 6/13/2011

 

Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 Newsarama Best Shots 6/13/2011

 

Deadlands: The Devil's Six Guns Newsarama Best Shots 6/16/2011

 

Legion of Super Heroes #14 Newsarama Best Shots 6/16/2011

 

The Walking Dead V14: No Way Out Newsarama Best Shots 6/20/2011

 

Daredevil #1 Wednesday's Haul 6/24/2011

 

American Vampire Volume 2 Popdose 6/28/2011

 

New Avengers Volume 2 Wednesday's Haul 7/2/2011

 

Batman Incorporated #7 Newsarama Best Shots 7/5/2011

 

The Incal Classic Edition Newsarama Best Shots 7/5/2011

 

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Wednesday's Haul 7/10/2011

 

Life With Archie #11 Newsarama Best Shots 7/11/2011

 

Vengeance #1 Newsarama Best Shots 7/11/2011

 

Captain America #1 Newsarama Best Shots 7/18/2011

 

Green Lantern #67 Newsarama Best Shots 7/18/2011

 

Tree of Life Wednesday's Haul 7/20/2011

 

Captain America: The First Avengers Wednesday's Haul 7/28/2011

 

Kirby Genesis #2 Newsarama Best Shots 7/28/2011

 

X-Men Schism #2 Newsarama Best Shots 7/28/2011

 

John Byrne's Next Men #8 Wednesday's Haul 7/31/2011

 

Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker #5 Newsarama Best Shots 8/1/2011

 

Criminal: Last of the Innocent #2 Newsarama Best Shots 8/1/2011

 

The Infinite #1 Newsarama Best Shots 8/3/2011

 

Sergio Aragones' Funnies #1 Wednesday's Haul 8/9/2011

 

Hellboy: The Fury #3 Newsarama Best Shots 8/15/2011

 

Criminal: Last of the Innocent #3 Floppytown 8/18/2011

 

Venom #6 Newsarama Best Shots 8/18/2011

 

American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #3 Floppytown 8/19/2011

 

Generation Hope #10 Newsarama Best Shots 8/23/2011

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Newsarama Best Shots 8/24/2011

 

Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #1 Newsarama Best Shots 8/25/2011

 

Dark Horse Presents #3 Newsarama Best Shots 8/29/2011

 

Batman Incorporated #8 Floppytown 8/31/2011

 

DC Retroactive: Justice League of America #1 Floppytown 8/31/2011

 

Justice League #1 Newsarama Best Shots 8/31/2011

 

Justice League #1 Wednesday's Haul 9/5/2011

 

One Soul Wednesday's Haul 9/7/2011

 

Animal Man #1 Newsarama Best Shots 9/12/2011

 

Swamp Thing #1 Newsarama Best Shots 9/12/2011

 

Green Lantern #1 Wednesday's Haul 9/15/2011

 

Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #1 Newsarama Best Shots 9/19/2011

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 Newsarama Best Shots 9/19/2011

 

Batman #1 Newsarama Best Shots 9/26/2011

 

Holy Terror Newsarama Best Shots 9/29/2011

 

All Star Western #1 Newsarama Best Shots 10/3/2011

 

Avengers 1959 #1 Newsarama Best Shots 10/10/2011

 

Batwoman #2 Newsarama Best Shots 10/13/2011

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3 Newsarama Best Shots 10/13/2011

 

Shade #1 Newsarama Best Shots 10/17/2011

 

The Death Ray Newsarama Best Shots 10/17/2011

 

Wonder Woman #2 Newsarama Best Shots 10/24/2011

 

Wolverine and the X-Men #1 Wednesday's Haul 10/27/2011

 

Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes Newsarama Best Shots 11/2/2011

 

Uncanny X-Force #17 Newsarama Best Shots 11/14/2011

 

Hawken #1 Newsarama Best Shots 11/21/2011

 

The Sixth Gun #17 Newsarama Best Shots 11/23/2011

 

Rasl #12 Newsarama Best Shots 11/28/2011

 

Haunt #19 Newsarama Best Shots 11/30/2011

 

Daredevil #6 Flashmob Fridays 12/2/2011

 

Spaceman #2 Newsarama Best Shots 12/5/2011

 

Kevin Keller #2 Flashmob Fridays 12/9/2011

 

O.M.A.C. #4 Newsarama Best Shots 12/12/2011

 

Action Comics #4 Newsarama Best Shots 12/12/2011

 

Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #1 Newsarama Best Shots 12/14/2011

 

Doctor Who #12 Newsarama Best Shots 12/15/2011

 

Uncanny X-Force #18 Newsarama Best Shots 12/19/2011

 

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent Flashmob Fridays 12/23/2011

 

Love and Rockets New Stores #4 Newsarama Best Shots 12/27/2011

 

Congress of the Animals Newsarama Best Shots 12/27/2011

 

A Zoo In Winter Newsarama Best Shots 12/27/2011

 

Batman: The Black Mirror Wednesday's Haul 12/29/2011

@ Flashmob Fridays-- Criminal: The Last of the Innocent

Criminalinnocent

Last week over at Flashmob Fridays, we tackled the lastest edition of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Criminal series, The Last of the Innocent, maybe the best yet more frustrating volume of the book.  

I've struggled with the ending of this series since issue4 came out and had a chance to explore my own issues with it:  

Of all of Brubaker and Phillips characters, Riley Richards is the one who wins. He gets exactly what he wants. It’s not a dream and it’s not an imaginary story as Richards’s plan works to near-perfection. Even better yet, he gets his wife’s fortune, much to the ire of his father-in-law. He wins and that’s what makes Criminal: The Last of the Innocent so frustrating. Going back to the idea of Brubaker and Phillips’ heroes, the struggle between a desire to do good and an instinct to do bad does not exist Riley’s character. Once he gets the idea that Felicity has to go, there is no turning back for Riley as the story becomes about the journey to him finding his own happiness. Unlike other characters in other Brubaker and Phillips’s stories who have gotten dragged down deeper and deeper into the darkness mostly through their own weaknesses and failures, Riley’s story is about him rising up into that darkness, accepting it and controlling it so that he is never overwhelmed by the circumstances around his life. There is no failed heist or tragic death for him to try to overcome. There is no outside force manipulating Riley into actions he doesn’t want. There is only his plan and it’s all about his control of the world around him. 

You can read more of my piece as well as other essays on the book over at Flashmob Fridays.

Catching up with Flashmob Fridays- Daredevil #6

Daredevil6
So there's a new website in town- Flashmob Fridays and the inaugural review was Daredevil #6 where I spent more time talking about Marcos Martin's artwork than anything else, even comparing him to Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr. and John Buscema:

Over the years, there have been plenty of images of Daredevil kicking a thug in the face but it’s Martin’s simplicity that makes this image and his art in the whole issue something special. The clean lines that Martin uses to draw Daredevil make it nice and easy to just follow the action from one side of the page, all the way across it and then out of the page. His Daredevil looks like he belongs in the air, not like he’s flying but more like he is an acrobat or martial artist and this is just one of his go-to moves. Martin carries that lightness and motion of the character throughout the book. 

If I had spent anytime talking about the story, I think my thoughts would have echoed Matt Springer's piece on the site.  I don't quite hold Waid in as much esteem as a lot of people do.  I like a lot of his writing but I find most of it ultimately forgettable.  I realize that's just me and on some level I'm just not connecting with it the way that other people do.

A quick word on Flashmob Fridays-- Just take a look at the talent involved there.  Alan David Doane's Comic Book Galaxy was always a site that I read and one that I've really missed over the years.  When he put out the call to find out if people were interested in Flashmob Fridays, I felt a bit intimidated.  But then I saw the pool of people that he pulled together and wanted to be a part of it.  I love this group because it's made up of a few people I don't know, a couple of people who have become friends thanks to Twitter and other various social media hangouts, two or three reviewers that I've worked with before and had a great time with and it has a people whose work I've read and who I've admired in an internetty, non-stalkery way.  This should be fun site to check out every Friday.

@ Newsarama- a review of Hawken #1

01hawkennewscan

Honestly, it doesn't take me too much to talk a bit about n's artwork but that's just what I did last week over at Newsarama:

With Hawken, Timothy Truman shows that it's not the years but the mileage, and that this character has plenty of both. Every wrinkle and scar on Hawken's face have their own story to tell, as Truman uses every opportunity to put in small details into the artwork that builds a vivid story. From Hawkin's blind mule to the one-eyed ghosts that follow him to the dog who urinates on the arid Arizona ground, Truman builds in many small little details to alert us that we need to pay attention to this story. And all of those details are just in the first few pages.

You can see a sample of the artwork above or over at Truman's website.  

@ Newsarama: Uncanny X-Force #17

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So over at Newsarama this week, I reviewed Uncanny X-Force #17, which may be my favorite X-Men comic in quite a long time.  It's also one of the best looking mutant books in a long time:

Opena takes that force and speed that Remender writes and makes these character's conflicts and turmoils completely believable. Opena draws this issue as if he's drawing a superheroic opera. His characters are larger than life on the page, whether it is a gigantic, menacing Iceman or the conflicted Fantomex, who does not quite know what he is fighting for. He makes Remender's fantastical vistas and struggling characters real because of the conviction of his artwork.   There's no doubting the characters or the settings of this issue because Opena just makes them all look so natural.