Looking To The Stars - Looking To The Reviews.

Sign the “Remove Judd Winick From Green Arrow Right Now!” petition.

Action Philosophers #5
Company Name: Evil Twin Comics
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Ryan Dunalavey

The best Indie title I’ve seen in all the time that I’ve been reading comics. Not only is this more educational than the one philosophy class I ever took but it is also funnier – and I was taught by a Baptist preacher who only touched upon Nietzsche for five minutes to say that “everything this man said is a damn lie!” But it’s not a lie when I say that if you’ve got half a brain, you’ll love this book if you give it a chance. And given that there’s plentiful free previews on the AP website, there’s no reason why you can’t give it a shot.

Grade: A

Birds of Prey #93
Company Name: DC Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Paulo Siqueira & Robin Riggs

Some explanation as to why two prominent female characters seem to have switched places, a little Catholic girl trying to bum cigarettes and the return of a villain who hasn’t been used properly since his first appearance. All in all another solid issue from Simone & company.

Grade: A

Conan #27
Company Name: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Timothy Truman

I feel as bored as Conan sitting on the throne of Aquilonia writing reviews for this book at times. How many times can one pull out the A stamp, say that Busiek is a masterful writer and that whoever is doing the art is a wonder before the gilt loses its golden shine? Perhaps the book will lose its luster once Truman takes over as writer in a few issues, but I doubt it.

Grade: A

Conan: Book of Thoth #2
Company Name: Dark Horse Comics
Writers: Kurt Busiek and Len Wein
Artist: Kelly Jones

As far as I know, none of the pastiche writers building off Howard’s work ever wrote up a full background for the wicked wizard Thoth-Amon. But this story is as serviceable as any, though the Howard purist in me wonders if Thoth could really be singularly responsible for Set becoming the prominent god of the Stygian race when they are discussed as having always been a nation of evil snake worshippers in all I’ve read previously. Nevertheless, on its own merits it is an engaging read, though I think now that Kelly Jones the wrong artist for this book. The work is not bad, mind you – it just seems off somehow.

Grade: B

Daredevil #2
Company Name: Marvel Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Michael Lark

It would take the transplant of a writer and artist from DC Comics to make me say nice things about a Marvel book right now, but damn me if the new Daredevil isn’t a hell of a good read. There’s a lot of “oh wow!” moments in this book, but the best comes in the last two pages. Give it a looksee and I think you’ll be surprised.

Grade: A

Ex Machina Special #1
Company Name: Wildstorm Comics
Writer: Brian Vaughn
Artists: Chris Sprouse & Carl Story

Fans have wanted a story focusing upon the superheroic days of Mitchell Hundred for quite some time now. This mini-series looks ready to deliver as The Great Machine fights an actual, honest to goodness super-villain. Vaughn’s writing is hot as ever and I didn’t even notice that Sprouse and Story were aping Tony Harris’s art style until I sat down to write this review and looked at the credits page.

Grade: A

Hellblazer #219
Company Name: Vertigo Comics
Writer: Denise Mina
Artist: Leonardo Manco

The problem with decompressed writing is that it leads to a lot of stories that, while well-written, read better in TP editions than in monthly titles. Such is the way with Hellblazer at this time. Don’t mistake me – the story is good and the art is as well. But it is a wee bit slow at the moment, with half the book being flashbacks and half of it standing around while looking at a painting or sitting around while talking in a car. Still, I trust there will be some appropriate pay-off soon.

Grade: C

Red Sonja #9
Company Name: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Michael Avon Oeming
Artists: Mel Rubi & Pablo Marcos

Funny how I start noticing the dialogue more now that Mike Oeming is the sole writer, given that Mike Carey is more famous for his dialogue. Still, Oeming is proving himself more than capable of flying solo as he tells the engaging double story of Sonja’s origin as well as her taking on a sidekick of sorts. And we get another explanation of the infamous chainmail bikini armor where Sonja admits to baiting those who would take advantage of a seemingly helpless woman.

Grade: A

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars - A Time For Action!

A short column this week, as I have a four-day weekend this weekend that is being entirely devoted to going to Scarborough Faire and recovering from going to Scarborough Faire. (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme)

I honestly did plan to write something longer, but I got dragged into several conversations across a number of message boards, most of them dealing with one simple fact: Judd Winick is destroying Green Arrow and now we have mathematical proof!

I'll spare you the gory details; if you wish, they're spelled out on our forums. The long and the short of it is that sales have dropped with quality and the book has lost nearly 40% of the audience it had when Judd took over the book three years ago.

But some people have asked me, why do I rage against the machine? Why do I keep reading a book I don't like? Why do I keep trying to talk sense into people who don't want to hear what I have to say?

Maybe it's because Ollie is a very special character to me and it pains me not only to see him badly written, but to see people holding up as strengths what I see as weakness in what was once one of my favorite books.

Maybe it's because I feel it's my duty as a critic to keep digging through the rubble and describing the horror, though I'd rather not.

Maybe it's because I'm a liberal in Texas and it is second nature at this point.

Regardless, my discussions have made one thing clear to me. Ranting will do nothing. Raving will do nothing. And even boycotting the book won't work at this point. The people have already spoken with their dollars and apparently DC is content to let the book float along the sea of mediocrity when it might fly into the heavens once sailed by writers such as Smith and Meltzer.

The time has come for drastic action.

I was going to do a hunger strike, but the editorial staff of Comics Nexus wouldn't hear of it. Besides, it was politely pointed out to me that nobody cares about a 225 pound white guy trying to starve himself to death and that it would be months before there would be any noticeable change.

And then it hit me; since I cannot starve myself, I will merely change my diet.

Henceforth, I take an oath before you my readers as well as whatever gods are so bored as to be reading my column. So long as Judd Winick is writing Green Arrow, I will no longer patronize any local family-owned Mexican restaurant.

Why? Why not? We know that dropping sales doesn't seem to have any effect on DC Comics. And it is my hope that Judd Winick will hear of this noble crusade and, being a man of honor, will step down rather than deprive the people of La Taquerita Le Sierraita near my place of work of the $20 they make weekly off of my lunch breaks.

Besides, it makes as much sense as trying to finance a disaster ridden city with gay marriage.

Should you wish to join me in this quest, I have started a petition.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.


Looking To The Stars is a critique/satire published by The Comics Nexus, and is not intended maliciously. The Comics Nexus has invented all names and situations in its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental, or used as a fictional depiction or personality parody (permitted under Hustler Magazine v. Fallwell, 485 US 46, 108 S.Ct 876, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988)). The Comics Nexus makes no representation as to the truth or accuracy of the preceding information.

Looking to the Stars - Illumination

Do you remember when Marvel Comics actually LET you read a storyline before they told you what amazing things would be happening, much less what the NEXT big storyline would involve?

Me either.

Seriously, it's getting to the point where a simple creator interview needs to be labeled "SPOILERS AHEAD" lest we inadvertently have the story that will rip the internet in half spelled out to us in graphic detail before the book comes out. And forget about reading through Diamond Previews if you want to be surprised.

Then again, this does save me the trouble of actually having to read the damn things. Illuminati #1 managed to tell me the whole story of Civil War in one page with foreshadowing so unsubtle that it would be spotted as foreshadowing if it were painted black, moved in the dead of night and provided with forged documents and photographs confirming that it was not in fact foreshadowing, but a traveling toy salesman from Fresno going on vacation in the Swiss Alps.

I've honestly lost all urge to even glance at Amazing Spider-Man just to see what happens there, I'm so disenchanted with the story so far. And for me to not care about Spider-Man takes a lot.

See, this is what DC is, for the most part, doing right with One Year Later. Most of the writers have given us mysteries that don't seem like arbitrary plot gimmicks. And even the mysteries that do seem like contrived plots to keep us reading (and yes, I KNOW that is the goal of most serial writers but there's an art in making it seem like they aren't doing that) are at least mysteries. We may grouse about how bad it is, but at least we're going into the book unknowing and coming out surprised.

That is where Marvel, as a whole, fails. With Joey Q's constant ranting there is no sense of mystery at the House of Ideas anymore.

In fairness, there are some writers who DO manage to surprise in their writing when they aren't forced to toe the line and provide cross-over fodder. Brubaker? He killed Foggy Nelson and brought back Bucky! JMS? Say what you will, but NOBODY saw Sins Past coming. Slott? About the only thing you can predict is that you CAN'T predict the lunacy inherit to his writing.

But for the most part, Marvel is a sea of mapped-out mediocrity. I was content to ignore them apart from the occasional glance in the store. It wasn't until this week that I got full blown annoyed.

I don't know for sure if the rumor is true – I can't find any official statement from Marvel one way or the other – but apparently word was leaked that in the aftermath of Civil War a group of heroes will flee to Canada to form a new Alpha Flight, in order to dodge the United States new laws regarding super-power registration...

... and Captain America will lead them.

Why? Well, apparently it's meant to mirror the many people who said they would leave their country if Bush were elected or reelected. And they wanted to be all hot and topical.

Thing is... you know anybody who actually DID that? I heard that statement attributed to Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin and Johnny Depp and last I checked the first two were still in America fighting for their beliefs and Johnny Depp was still living in the South of France with his supermodel wife.

I work with a bunch of women who LOVE Johnny Depp and lamented his marriage – THAT'S how I know, okay?

I'm all for more realism and relevance in comics but there are some basic truths that always hold true. And one of these is that Captain America, like all true patriots, does not abandon his country even when it abandons him.

Or am I the only one who remembers all the stories where he became Nomad or The Captain? Still a hero. Still fighting for the American Dream. And not running off when things get tough.

I don't think I am. But apparently nobody working at Marvel on Civil War remembers. Or maybe they just don't care. Either way, if this rumor is true it's a crying shame. And one more reason why I say Make Mine Marvel No More!


Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Visit our blog at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/looking2dastars/

Looking To The Stars - Looking To The Reviews!

A word of warning: Here Be SPOILERS! Turn back, lest ye learn more than ye ever wanted ta be knowing.

Action Comics #837
Company Name: DC Comics
Writers: Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek
Art: Pete Woods

I wasn’t much of a Superman reader before but damn me if Johns and Busiek haven’t succeeded where lesser writers failed in making the mysteries of this book seem more like invitations than a device to keep us reading just to figure out what is going on. How did Superman loses his powers? Who is this new Toyman who looks like The Animated Series version as opposed to a creepy old man? When did Metallo regain a more human body? And what the heck is Lex Luthor up to anyway? These are questions this author will stick around to find out the answers to.

Grade: A

All-Star Superman #3
Company Name: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Frank Quietly

Grant Morrison once said (and I am paraphrasing here) that he wishes he could be half as crazy as everyone thinks he is because only some of the great minds of the Silver Age could come up with the ideas that they did. With tongue NOT in cheek, Grant borrows one of the more infamously ludicrous classic Superman stories to create this – a story of Lois Lane’s birthday where Samson, Atlas and Superman compete for the pleasure of her company. If that last sentence didn’t make you smile a bit, not even a little inside, then you may as well skip this book; there is nothing for you here. But for those of us who still believe that a man can fly, this is one heck of a good read.

Grade: A

Fantastic Four #536
Company Name: Marvel Comics
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Art: Mike McKone & Andy Lanning

Despite the cover, this is not truly an Illuminati tie-in. And thank goodness for it, because I’d much rather see a good-ol-fashioned Doombot smackdown in this title than another issue of Bendis’ Talking Heads Theater. JMS, rather infamous for his own grasp of flowery dialogue, knows when to let his characters talk and when to let the action and the concept speak for itself. And when you are dealing with a concept such as Dr. Doom making a bid to get the Hammer of Thor and wield it, there is preciously little else to say except “That is cool!” Sadly, we don’t actually get to see the good Doctor wield the hammer this issue… merely his declaration of intent to Reed Richards. Such is the power of Doom that he can monologue BEFORE securing ultimate power – he is that good.

Grade: B

Green Lantern #10
Company Name: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ivan Reis and Marc Campos

This title was a little slow to get started but now that the framework is laid, Johns is bringing up the subplots full-tilt. One Year Later, we find that Hal Jordan’s relationship with the Green Lanterns is as strained as ever, he’s in hot water with the global superhero community on Earth and even Ollie Queen is accusing him of being a dangerous maverick. If nothing else, I love this book for the irony and perfect portrayal of the Hal/Ollie dynamic – that the eternal iconoclast is now in a position of authority and the good soldier is now rebelling against authority in the name of a higher cause. All this, and the creation of The Sinestro Corps.

Grade: A

Lucifer #72
Company Name: Vertigo Comics
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Peter Gross and Aaron Alexovich

Reviewing this book seems a tad pointless now. With the final issue months away and the current storyline being devoted to summation and tying up loose ends, there is not much for me to say. Except that if you were a fan of the old Sandman series or like mature magical comics, start tracking down the Trades or the old back issues of this series. Lucifer is as worthy a successor and sequel to Sandman as if Neil Gaiman had penned it himself, and this author will sorely miss it once it is gone.

Grade: A

New Avengers – Illuminati #1
Company Name: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Alex Maleev

Against my better judgment, I read this book in the store. And I learned nothing except that Tony Stark is a jerk. A real jerk. Everyone says Superman is a jerk but he should take lessons from Tony Stark. You know he’s a jerk because Namor tells him he’s a jerk (not in so many words) and when Namor says someone is being a jerk, then you know it MUST be bad. And I’m not saying this because he spurred the creation of the secret He-Man Girl-Haters Club For Jerks. Not because he is so ready to sell out the vast majority of the superhero population to save his own butt. No – it’s because he gives away the whole plot of Civil War (such as it is) under the guise of “seeing-the-future”. Because only a jerk would give away the plot of a story without warning. That is why Tony Stark, and Brian Michael Bendis by extension, are jerks.

Grade: D

Superman/Batman #24
Company Name: DC Comics
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Art: Ed McGuinness & Dexter Vines

Me am enlightened by this comic. Me think it make lots of sense. Me think it confusing now we know Joker am not behind whole thing. Me not wondering at all why Bizzaro am involved. Me think this comic not make more sense in one sitting, in kept hardback. Like comic am on time for three months now. Still, while Darkman am liking unconfused writing, he am hating cartoonish artwork. He am hating it so much on serious, dark book like this one he want to hurt it very much.

Grade: C

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Visit our blog at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/looking2dastars/

Looking To The Stars - Prose And Cons

There is an old saying that if one cannot say something nice, one should not say anything at all. But if I were to follow that advice, I would have nothing to say about the previous weekends' All Con. And as I have a column to write, it is time to break out the poison pen.

Granting that this is a second-year convention and that I was not present for the fiasco that was the New York Comic Con, I can still easily declare this – within the realm of my own personal experience –

*slight pause as he gets ready to do the Comic Book Guy voice from The Simpsons*

WORST CONVENTION EVER!

In all fairness, I do believe that the organizers did have good intentions that far outweighed their ability to put on a good show. As I said last week, I was there as part of Los Bastardos; an acting troupe I am part of that performs (among other things) The Rocky Horror Picture Show. To say that we had a rough time of it would be an understatement. From the Thursday night press junket (where apparently the professional press came and went before any convention personnel showed up), to our Friday night performance (during which we had power problems due to a rock concert in the room next door) to our after-show party Saturday morning, nothing was as it was promised by the convention staff.

As I said, I choose to believe and hope this was due to unexpected complications rather than outright lying. We had a rather good after-party planned only to have it shut down after 20 minutes. It seems that we were misinformed when we were told that the floor was secured for the convention and that security was advised to ignore any complaints from that floor not involving fire, rape, murder or cattle stampedes.

Apart from that, the staff was nothing but polite to me and mine as were most of the vendors. Even the ones I outright told that I didn't have any cash and was just looking and dreaming of that which I could not have. (Conan #12 – it will be mine some day!)

This is, I might mention, my test for any vendor at a convention. Tell them you don't have money now. If they become rude or are anything but polite when faced with naught but the hope that you might have money later, they aren't worth your trouble.

And I should make mention of Ethan Nahte – a rather cool bloke who was kind enough to give me a free preview copy of his Robert Howard inspired novella Buckeye Morris of Timber Ridge for free. He's got a few articles of his own up at herorealm.com which are well worth reading. And he's currently at work on a documentary about that master author which, from the preview I saw, looks like it will be something special. So thanks to Nate and his compatriot for not being at all insulting when I stuck my foot in my mouth and revealed that everything I knew about Robert Howard's historical novels was wrong.

Anyway, the biggest problem with this convention is that it tries to do too much. As the name suggests, it tries to have something for ALL geeky interests. The problem brings to mind another truism of the same school of "if you can't say something nice" – "You can't please everybody." Indeed, by trying to please everybody you are almost guaranteed to make something that nobody enjoys.

Here then is the problem – I am a collector of comics, a table-top role-player and a very occasional collector of some very specialized action figures; three rather diverse interests, three different camps of geekiness. So what did this convention have to offer me?

Apart from one vendor selling some D&D books, a few comic book and AF dealers and a signing by James O'Barr of The Crow… all of which I went through in one hour, not much.

And I never did find that Starman variant figure I was looking for…

Other bases of fandom will be equally ill-served. Star Wars fans can meet one Jedi actress, get their picture taken with the local Storm Trooper platoon and shop for action figures – but that's it. Star Trek fans can meet an actor who has the honor of having guest stared in nearly every Star Trek TV show there is, get their picture taken with the local Klingon platoon and shop for action figures – and that's it. There is nothing to support any individual branch of fandom for more than an hour at the most.

And even with their efforts to acknowledge all aspects of fandom, some were given the short end of the stick in favor of some rather questionable events. Why was there no open gaming area? No tables where gamers might meet and play Magic or get a pick-up game of D&D together?


The answer to this may lay with the fact that the hotel picked to host the event was far too small to hold so lofty a convention. Everything was contained upon the third floor with some events being held inside hotel rooms. Yes. Actual hotel rooms.

Given this fact, I can't be too upset that there was no place for me to try and get together a group to run the latest Conan RPG module. Not when the DFW Alias Fan Club is having to hold their marathon viewing session inside a hotel room.

Ultimately, the best symbol of All-Con is the one pictured above. When I first got there, I saw the Darth Vader balloon they had set up in the lobby breakfast bar. I knew something was off about it, but could not put my finger on exactly what it was. It was my friend Animal (who takes his nickname from the Muppet, as I take mine from Jack Knight) who figured out why the back flaps of Darth Vader's helmet stuck out so badly.


"They repainted a Bozo the clown balloon! It's Darth Bozo!"

Look at the picture and judge things for yourself.

And speaking of judging things for yourself, I believe that I did promise you all an appraisal of the new V For Vendetta film last week, didn't I?


Let us address one thing right of the bat, which I did mention in passing last week. Namely, that Alan Moore has come out as being not just opposed but DAMNED opposed to this movie. Quite honestly, I cannot blame him given that the producers of said film were more than just a tad disingenuous in mentioning invoking Moore's name in order to garner early public support for the film.

I believe Moore has the right to boycott the movie for this reason. I believe he has every right to ask that his name be removed from his work in future editions of the works that DC Comics owns. After all, if a writer has the right to claim credit for a work, surely the right to refuse credit is logically implied? Directors have been refusing to take credit for movies they had no control over, opting to go as Alan Smithee for years – why not allow writers the same right?

That being said, I cannot help but note the irony that Moore's biggest complaint about the film itself, according to a recent interview, was his concern that the pro-Anarchism message and the idea of encouraging people to think independently had been completely lost in translation, when the most intelligent defense I have heard as to why not to see the movie coming from the mouths of Alan Moore devotes is "Because Alan Said It's Total Bollocks."


You may as well go form an Anarchy Club at your school, if you're going to take that route toward subversive behavior.


And while we're on the subject of subversive behavior, I should probably mention that yes, this film does contain a rather unsubtle indictment of the American War in Iraq. Specific reference is made to things going wrong shortly after the American war. From there, fascism becomes the new ruling order and reference is made to a government orchestrating an attack on its' own people in order to make people scared and more willing to give up their freedoms in the name of security. Secret wire-tapping is conducted in a most decidedly not secretive manner and the whole-sale torture and slaughter of Muslims is encouraged.

And yet, this is all done in the fashion of a parable or a cautionary tale. While it is unsubtle, it is not meant to be subtle in the same way that sledgehammers are not meant to be subtle. The film is meant to pack a punch and to hit hard. And on that front, it succeeds. And while some of the political statements are less subtle than in the book, the movie succeeds in being more subtle in some respects. For instance, the book outright states that all the non-White Anglo-Saxon Straight Protestant were exterminated by the Norsefire Party in their rise to power. In the film, mention is made of efforts to control Muslims, liberals and homosexuals but if there was a single African, Asian, Latino or non-White face in the whole film that wasn't in the death-camp scenes, I didn't see it.

I put it then to my conservative readers, and I know that I do have some, that if you are offended by this film – if you think a parallel can be drawn between your government or your politicians and people you honestly think have your best interests at heart – that the problem likes not in the film. The problem lies with you and the fact that there's some part of you that thinks that what your government is doing CAN be compared the politicians in the world of V For Vendetta.

That being said, you probably want to ask, ignoring all the politics and the fanboy squabbling... how is the film?

If we must have a bastardized Alan Moore epic on screen, then this is by far the best we could have hoped for. It is not nearly as redundant as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen nor as insipid as Constantine. It is as well-acted as From Hell and much better plotted than any of the three. In short, I enjoyed it. I think most of you will enjoy it too.

In closing, I would ask you to take what I have said with a grain of salt. Remember that my thoughts are my own and in no way an indication of what you should think. Experience is the best teacher and I encourage all of you, especially you devotees of Mr. Moore, to go and give this movie a chance in the interest of forming your own individual opinions. For if you are content to sit on your laurels and let the word of any man, even an esteemed author like Alan Moore, dictate your actions... well, then I think you could stand at least one more rereading of the book you profess to honor so much with your protest.

Just an idea.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.