As you noticed we changed the format of the blog. There are
a bunch of options for how you view it and by scrolling down you can see a heck
of a lot more posts on the front page. On the right side bar are other buttons
that will pop out on certain browsers. I’m still not sure how to get the little
preview to look right, but we are just playing with format for a little while.
Let us know if it sucks or not.
This week I want to focus on just a few books and use them
as a springboard to talk about more general themes. Of course before I jump
into that we have to hit the list for next week’s books. The clean and simple
list from my friends at Cosmic Comix is here and the detail listing from
Midtown Comics is here. A brief side not Cosmic Comix is holding its Cosmic
Comix Madness again where a comic character duel takes on the form of the NCAA
tournament. This year the showdown is between the best female characters in
comics, great stuff and anyone can go and vote, click here. Some of the titles
I can’t wait to read next week are Todd
The Ugliest Kid, Where is Jake Ellis, Walking Dead, Batman and Robin, Before
Watchmen Ozymandias, Age of Ultron and
Wolverine.
The first books I want to focus on are Animal Man #18 by Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh and Swamp Thing #18 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette.
When these series first started I was excited about the
books. Lemire and Snyder are both favorite writers and the characters are ones
that can be interesting with the right type of stories. Although Swamp Thing is
a hard character to make interesting I figured Snyder could make it work.
Animal Man is a little easier and I had faith Lemire could do wonders with him.
After essentially 20 issues of each book (counting the Zero issues and Annuals)
we finally reached the end and it and it left me
cold. I followed the whole darn thing and the pay off was not there. Even the
death of Cliff (Animal man’s son) felt hollow. The only “death” lately that has
felt like it had an impact to me at all was Damian, but that is because I liked
the character.
One of the new DCU problems has
been the never ending story line. It is okay to continue to build a character
over time and have sub plots and threads that pay off deep into a writer’s run
on the book. It is not okay to tell one long story over 18 months. Batwoman,
Animal Man and Swamp Thing all did and I’m turned off on all three series. I’m
dropping Batwoman, see no reason to follow Swamp Thing and I’m iffy on Animal
Man. Marvel has similar problems with some writers and I name Hickman as a
major offender. I eventually fell off his FF run after he finally had old
Franklin save the Universe, but it took years (actual YEARS) to get there.
Have an adventure, a battle with a
villain, fight against some personal problem and do it with a few issues but
have an ending and build on the underlying character as you go along. Way too
many writers are writing novels that go on forever. Scalped was a 60 issue book
that had endpoints and even one shot stories as it told the tale of Dash Bad Horse
that should be the model for a long story not one long 18 issue story.
What is even worse is I read an
article on The Beat that said the
writers wanted to do something that would impact the series going forward and
have a meaningful change in the dynamic of the book. I almost fell off my chair
laughing. DC has just hit the re-set button less than 2 years ago and is still
constantly changing the past continuity. There is not a hard and fast
continuity in the DCU. Before the reset it was always a little squirrelly, now
it is just a joke. I think Mark Waid said it best that when you are writing for
Marvel or DC nothing you do will leave a lasting imprint. Mark made Wally West
into a great Flash, poof that is all gone. A writer can’t make a lasting impact
because the characters are in never ending stories. So when the next writer
picks up Animal Man and he talks it over with the editor, Cliff is brought back
to life by Maxine who is a powerful person in regards to the Red. She saved
Cliff, but since she was so young she accidently put him into a comatose state
that appeared to be death. In Swamp Thing it is even easier. Meaningful change
is an oxymoron in the world of DC and Marvel. I hate that it is the case, but I
have now come to appreciate good story arcs that I like and try to move on
after they are over.
I see Grant Morrison’s work in
Batman as a great seven years or so, slightly marred by the new DCU being
launched in the middle of it. I still wish we had continued forward with Dick
and Damian as Batman and Robin for a decade or so and seen where that took us.
Instead we are back to Dick is a 20 something, Barbara has never been Oracle
and the changes go on and on. Meaningful change is a fantasy that I’m sure
every writer wants to be able to say they have accomplished with a character
but the corporations that own them will fight against any true change.
My big problem is that the
Rotworld 40 issue epic actually was a miss for me. Lemire and Snyder had not
had a clean miss for me with anything else yet, so it was hard to take. Of
course any writer worth his salt who produces a massive quantity of work can’t
hit a home run every time. I can’t think of a single writer who has been
perfect on every story they have every done and I don’t expect that I will like
every piece they write. This is a commercial endeavor after all and when you
have to produce material on a deadline sometimes you have to let it go before
you feel you have done your best. Especially at DC right now where being on
time has taken on paramount importance.
Does this mean I’m not looking
forward to other projects by Snyder and Lemire, of course not. When I see those
names as the writer, it guarantees at the bare minimum a three issue try out.
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