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Read GOOD Comics, not just the ones you're used to! Try something new EVERY month.
My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 7/26/06. The full shipping is list available at ComicList.
[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]
A city devastated by metahumans. Political intrigue and post-9/11 fear-mongering. Heroes pitted against the government and each other, forced to choose between wildly uneven sides.
Marvel's Civil War?
No, actually, it's DC's Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #1, "from the pages of Brave New World" and spinning out of the events of the Battle for Blüdhaven! So, did writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray pinch Mark Millar's notes, or vice versa? Or, have the Big Two simply hit the inevitable bottom of the "big idea" barrel and are now scraping up similar muck from its depths?
Whatever the reason, credit Palmiotti and Gray for doing more with less -- Battle for Blüdhaven excepted, as I only quickly flipped through the last issue to see where Uncle Sam was coming from -- if for no other reason than their use of less-familiar characters requires them to actually dig a little deeper in telling their story, offering solid characterization and plotting where Millar opts for lazy "F*@% Yeah Moments" designed solely to titillate the fanboys, while leaving the real storytelling to the likes of Fabian Nicieza (Thunderbolts), Peter David (X-Factor) and David Hine (Civil War: X-Men).
It's an election year in the DC Universe and Senator Knight, Phantom Lady's father, is on the Presidential campaign trail, proclaiming the dangers of unregulated metahuman activity and the sacrifices required for freedom. Palmiotti and Gray offer a jarring juxtaposition as agents of S.H.A.D.E. ("Super Human Advanced Defense Executive, the final solution to unsolvable problems") violently and decisively take out an Intergang drug runner during his five-year-old son's birthday party. The two scenes hit a note of comic book "realism" that Lex Luthor as President and Wonder Woman's snapping Max Lord's neck couldn't, primarily because we don't really know these characters as well and, unlike most of the major spandex icons, their actions make sense in context.
The first issue puts a lot of meat on the table, setting multiple sub-plots in motion while offering brief but effective glimpses into several of the primary characters' heads. Doll Man -- a miniature, flesh-and-blood G.I. Joe with a license to kill -- and the much-maligned Phantom Lady -- Jenna Bush with super powers and triple-Ds -- get a couple of nice, humanizing moments, and have the inside track on being my favorite characters. A humorous scene featuring the Human Bomb serves as a perfect metaphor for the two sides of the story's underlying premise, while also illustrating the fledgling team's dynamics and chain of command.
S.H.A.D.E. architect and commander Father Time is exactly what Civil War is missing, a more believable representation of a government that views metahumans as a potential terrorist threat and is willing to "do whatever is necessary to protect our freedom." He completely crosses the line in the name of of the greater good, and it works because there's no meta-thinking about Life Model Decoys or clones or mind control or whatever deus ex machina Millar's going to have to pull out to make his story work.
Visually, Daniel Acuña's artwork is extremely hit and miss, as if he cherry-picked his favorite scenes to spend the most time on while whipping out the rest at double-time speed. The whole is greater than the sum of its unequal parts, though, as his style is distinctive and appealing, and Javi Montes' coloring is a nice complement. Hopefully he's way ahead of schedule as it would be disappointing to see a fill-in artist (or a delay) on this eight-issue mini-series.
Civil War is pure spandex fan-on-fan service; no foreplay, no kiss, no dinner and a movie...barely an exchange of names before "wham, bam...you have to go before my mom gets home." If you feel cheap afterwards, it's your own fault because you knew what kind of comic book it was when you picked it up.
Uncle Sam, on the other hand, just might be the one your parents warned you about. All candy and roses and promises in the beginning, it's probably going to break your heart because, in the end, all superhero comics are alike. It's how they treat you before it's over that counts, though, and Uncle Sam is starting off with all the right moves. Maybe this time it'll be different?
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #1, by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Daniel Acuña (DC Comics, July 2006; $2.99)
NOTE: Uncle Sam, like several other recent DC comics, bears the annoying little disclaimer, "Based on ideas and concepts developed by Grant Morrison." That he rates such prominent credit for remixing other people's creations while Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Arthur Peddy, Paul Gustavson, Len Wein and Dick Dillin all go uncredited is reprehensible.
"The members of the 9/11 Commission, since we finished our work, have been very careful not to participate in a number of documentaries and at least a couple of books on the subject. We have believed since the beginning that what we have said and the official report itself ought to stand alone on its own merits. Then this came along as the exception."
--Senator Slade Gorton, SDCC '06: THE 9/11 REPORT
"Unlike the past couple of years, this Comic-Con wasn't marked by the frenzy of creator-exclusive announcements -- most of the "marquee names" at Marvel and DC are already under contract. And with 52 and Civil War only really beginning, and Infinite Crisis and House of M still in our rearview mirrors, there wasn't talk of The Next Crossover That Will Change Everything."
--Kevin Melrose, Comic-Con: There's got to be a morning after
"What I wasn't seeing was any way of addressing audience stagnation or expansion of comics outside the direct market, or the aggressive creation of new characters that are likely to appeal to new readers or anything resembling genre diversification. What I saw from the big two, certainly, was a lot of treading water."
--Matt Maxwell, This year, you betcha
"Also, it seems to me that maybe DC's 52 in this month started what seems likely to be a sustained drop, while Civil War is performing ahead of expectations, although that's only a hunch. I like making that hunch because it kind of parallels the fortunes of the film industry, where Time Warner's Superman Returns seems to lack legs while Marvel would represent all the studios with poorly reviewed blockbusters that people like anyway."
--Tom Spurgeon, ICv2.com: 18 June Comic Books 100K+
"Instead of dumping two hundred million dollars or so into superhero movie series that come out with installments every, oh, say, three or four years or so, why not give twenty million to the guys who do some of the better fanfilms (like Grayson or World's Finest ) and have them produce a superhero movie serial? Weekly or biweekly installments, not more than about ten minutes long, plugged in front of whatever the new release happens to be that week. Might get some people back into the habit of going to the movies on a regular basis..."
--Mike Sterling, Some random stuff.
"The savvy comics shops are reaching out. The bread-and-butter appeal of someone like us is that we carry a lot of stuff, like Abrams Image, at close to Diamond's discounts."
--John Davis, Comics Shops Turn to Book Distributors for Graphic Novels
"600 million teenagers. Think about that number. That's twice as many people as there are in America, from infants to the elderly. One doesn't have to squint hard to read between the lines: There is a hell of a lot of money to be made in India. And you don't have to ape other cultures to do it; India has more than enough source material to work with. So why does Devi look so much like something Top Cow would put out?"
--Ken Lowery, Devi #1
One of PopCultureShock's contributors, Ryan Burton (who conducted the recent Becky Cloonan interview, and has a couple more in the pipeline), has been named a finalist in Platinum Studios' Comic Book Challenge for his story "The Six Sinners".
"The Six Sinners is about a group of people make a pact with the devil to capture the human incarnations of the deadly sins, only to find out the devil wants them to become the sins themselves." (Emmanuel Xerx Javier is the artist.)
Go forth now and vote.
ITEM: Heath Ledger as the Joker? Hmm... not a terrible choice, but I don't know that he's got the required gravitas for the role. If that's the direction Nolan is going, though, I'd rather see Ryan Phillipe given a shot at it. Of course, my number one choice remains Terrence Howard.
ITEM: The Incredible Hulk's new director is Louis Leterrier -- of the action-heavy The Transporter movies -- confirming the expected 180 degree shift from Ang Lee's somber take on the Green Goliath. Screenwriter Zak Penn seems to be on the right track, talking about how the sequel/remake/reboot will be different from the first one:
What I didn't like was the father/son stuff. Honestly I didn't like the dogs.More than anything, it was the bad CGI that kept me from seeing The Hulk when it first came out, so hopefully they can figure out a way to do it Lou Ferrigno-style this time.
I felt -- weirdly since I get so much shit for fucking with the continuity on X-Men 3, which not all of which was my doing but some of which is -- I feel like on the Hulk that was one which didn't need to be revamped. I didn't like that the Hulk was something his dad injected into him as opposed to him being a repressed guy with all this rage to unleash.
The other thing is that there's something about the tone of the TV show -- despite the fans' insistence on going with 'Hulk smash' and all that stuff -- there's something about the man on the run with a dark secret, Jekyll and Hyde, theme that we could do more with. There wasn't much of that in the Hulk movie. I can't think of one scene where he was trying to solve his problem while keeping it a secret from anyone. To me that's essential to the Hulk.
Miller is a tremendous Eisner fan; that's a given. If he's going to direct this film, he's gonna want it to be as true to Eisner's vision as possible. But it should also be remembered that this is a man whose entire career in comics and film has been about shaking people up. Miller's in his element when he's tweaking the nose of convention, pushing the boundaries of propriety, tradition, and good taste. Being an agent provocateur is in his blood and he delights in creating images and dialogue that shock, titilate, anger, thrill, outrage, or confound readers... Simply put, the words "Frank Miller" and "politically correct" do not go together in any combination.I've heard of Ebony White before, but my copy of The Spirit Archives, Vol. 1 has yet to be cracked open, so I'm not yet personally familiar with how offensive the character is or isn't, but Watson's a smart guy and his thinking here seems quite rational.
Given all of this, is it possible that the version of Ebony we will eventually see on the big screen will reflect the print version, or will the studio heads step in and demand something less offensive?
...He has to be aware of the fact that if he were to keep Ebony intact, he'd have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and Bill Cosby up his ass in five seconds screaming for a boycott.
