Comics. Do I honestly care anymore?
Aug. 22nd, 2006 04:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerWe just got the new comics shipment in today. Every new shipment day for the past six or so months, maybe even a year now, a thought has been popping in my head more and more as I sort through the brand new comics week after week.
It's kind of amazing how little of a shit I could really give about most of these books.
I mean, I'm a comic fanboy. I adore comics. I adore superheroes especially. But most of what DC and Marvel have been doing of late has just been making me increasingly apathetic toward these brilliant characters. I used to get downright outraged, but I don't have the energy for being outraged month after month. I just don't give a shit. Increasingly, it seems to me that we're seeing stories done for shock value to jack up sales and controversy; "Hey, let's kill off this character! Hey, let's fuck over this other character! Hey, let's rape this character! Hey, let's turn this character into a villain!" I'm not saying I'm against these things necessarily, but more and more they are all so cynically handled, without any heart or respect. What happened to good storytelling, for God's sake?
I just could really give a rat's ass for most comics these days, it seems.
Here, for those that are interested, are the comics I actively enjoy:
EX MACHINA and Y-THE LAST MAN: One a drama of political intrigue about a superhero who becomes Mayor of New York and the other about the only surviving male in a world of women, Brian K. Vaughan is writing two of the best books on the market today.
INVINCIBLE and THE WALKING DEAD: And meanwhile, Robert Kirkman produces the other two best books out there. DEAD is like a Romero TV series, a story focusing on the survivors in a post-zombie-apocalypse world. INVINCIBLE is a sneaky little book that starts off so slow and light that you wouldn't ever think that, within a few issues, it will become the single best superhero comic coming out today.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN: Or at least, it's tied closely with this. Pure, elegant, fun, and powerful superhero stories. Near perfection each issue.
DAREDEVIL and CAPTAIN AMERICA: Ed Brubaker is kicking so much ass with these.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: I've known Brad Meltzer since his days as a customer at Big Planet in Bethesda, when he was just a lowly best-selling author of legal thrillers. So I've gotta support my boy since he's made it to the big leagues in comics. While I may have disliked (intensely, in places) what he actually did in IDENTITY CRISIS, there's no denying that he writes the DC Comics superheroes better than I have read in years. He *gets* these characters, even if his plots have him putting them through the wringer. So far, his JLA promises to be damn good.
GREEN LANTERN: "Well duh," you may say. But honestly, this book started off really slow, and even this hardcore Hal fan had a damn hard time keeping interest for the first six or so issues there. But lately, it's been kicking serious ass more and more.
ASTONISHING X-MEN: Most of you know that, for the most part, I kinda hate Joss Whedon. I'm the one guy who hates hates HATES his snappy dialogue. It drives me absolutely bonkers. "Yeah, your not saying that would be nifty."? GAHH! Makes me want to smash something. Give me Shane Black over Joss Whedon any fucking day of the week. And yet, *regardless* of these feelings, his writing on ASTONISHING is... well, bloody astonishing. Coupled with John Cassaday, it's an excellent book. And hell, I'm even in the minority that liked the universally-panned "Dangerous" storyline. I am totally weird.
PLANETARY: When it actually comes out, nothing else that week can top it.
JONAH HEX: Pure hardcore kick ass western. God, I hope it doesn't get canceled.
SHE-HULK: Wacky superhero legal comedy. Utter delightfulness.
NEXTWAVE: Crack.
SHAOLIN COWBOY: A shaolin monk who's a cowboy. The most satisfying example of style over substance I have ever seen in a comic.
PUNISHER: Month after month, one of the most brutal, powerfully depressing books out there. I'm the kind of guy who can watch REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and come out of it grinning. Garth Ennis' work on PUNISHER is unrelenting, disturbing, and without a shred of Ennis' trademark obnoxiousness.
CONAN: Dude, I need to read the original Conan books, clearly. Because these are hardcore. Conan is a smart motherfucker, and these stories are just pure awesomeness.
SQUADRON SUPREME: Well, the previous series SUPREME POWER was awesome, but since they changed it to a PG-13 book (stupid, stupid move) it's kinda been dragging. C'mon, J. Michael Straczynski! Pick up the pace! Show me you still got it in you!
And pretty much anything Alan Moore does is worth the money. He's the greatest.
Ok, I just needed to make that list to prove to myself that I actually do still read comics. I just look at the vast majority of this CIVIL WAR and 52 claptrap and just roll my eyes before tossing it back on the shelves. As long as I never become the comic lover who doesn't read comics anymore (and they exist), I know I am just that much further away from becoming the Comic Book Guy. Just a teeny bit.
It's kind of amazing how little of a shit I could really give about most of these books.
I mean, I'm a comic fanboy. I adore comics. I adore superheroes especially. But most of what DC and Marvel have been doing of late has just been making me increasingly apathetic toward these brilliant characters. I used to get downright outraged, but I don't have the energy for being outraged month after month. I just don't give a shit. Increasingly, it seems to me that we're seeing stories done for shock value to jack up sales and controversy; "Hey, let's kill off this character! Hey, let's fuck over this other character! Hey, let's rape this character! Hey, let's turn this character into a villain!" I'm not saying I'm against these things necessarily, but more and more they are all so cynically handled, without any heart or respect. What happened to good storytelling, for God's sake?
I just could really give a rat's ass for most comics these days, it seems.
Here, for those that are interested, are the comics I actively enjoy:
EX MACHINA and Y-THE LAST MAN: One a drama of political intrigue about a superhero who becomes Mayor of New York and the other about the only surviving male in a world of women, Brian K. Vaughan is writing two of the best books on the market today.
INVINCIBLE and THE WALKING DEAD: And meanwhile, Robert Kirkman produces the other two best books out there. DEAD is like a Romero TV series, a story focusing on the survivors in a post-zombie-apocalypse world. INVINCIBLE is a sneaky little book that starts off so slow and light that you wouldn't ever think that, within a few issues, it will become the single best superhero comic coming out today.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN: Or at least, it's tied closely with this. Pure, elegant, fun, and powerful superhero stories. Near perfection each issue.
DAREDEVIL and CAPTAIN AMERICA: Ed Brubaker is kicking so much ass with these.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: I've known Brad Meltzer since his days as a customer at Big Planet in Bethesda, when he was just a lowly best-selling author of legal thrillers. So I've gotta support my boy since he's made it to the big leagues in comics. While I may have disliked (intensely, in places) what he actually did in IDENTITY CRISIS, there's no denying that he writes the DC Comics superheroes better than I have read in years. He *gets* these characters, even if his plots have him putting them through the wringer. So far, his JLA promises to be damn good.
GREEN LANTERN: "Well duh," you may say. But honestly, this book started off really slow, and even this hardcore Hal fan had a damn hard time keeping interest for the first six or so issues there. But lately, it's been kicking serious ass more and more.
ASTONISHING X-MEN: Most of you know that, for the most part, I kinda hate Joss Whedon. I'm the one guy who hates hates HATES his snappy dialogue. It drives me absolutely bonkers. "Yeah, your not saying that would be nifty."? GAHH! Makes me want to smash something. Give me Shane Black over Joss Whedon any fucking day of the week. And yet, *regardless* of these feelings, his writing on ASTONISHING is... well, bloody astonishing. Coupled with John Cassaday, it's an excellent book. And hell, I'm even in the minority that liked the universally-panned "Dangerous" storyline. I am totally weird.
PLANETARY: When it actually comes out, nothing else that week can top it.
JONAH HEX: Pure hardcore kick ass western. God, I hope it doesn't get canceled.
SHE-HULK: Wacky superhero legal comedy. Utter delightfulness.
NEXTWAVE: Crack.
SHAOLIN COWBOY: A shaolin monk who's a cowboy. The most satisfying example of style over substance I have ever seen in a comic.
PUNISHER: Month after month, one of the most brutal, powerfully depressing books out there. I'm the kind of guy who can watch REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and come out of it grinning. Garth Ennis' work on PUNISHER is unrelenting, disturbing, and without a shred of Ennis' trademark obnoxiousness.
CONAN: Dude, I need to read the original Conan books, clearly. Because these are hardcore. Conan is a smart motherfucker, and these stories are just pure awesomeness.
SQUADRON SUPREME: Well, the previous series SUPREME POWER was awesome, but since they changed it to a PG-13 book (stupid, stupid move) it's kinda been dragging. C'mon, J. Michael Straczynski! Pick up the pace! Show me you still got it in you!
And pretty much anything Alan Moore does is worth the money. He's the greatest.
Ok, I just needed to make that list to prove to myself that I actually do still read comics. I just look at the vast majority of this CIVIL WAR and 52 claptrap and just roll my eyes before tossing it back on the shelves. As long as I never become the comic lover who doesn't read comics anymore (and they exist), I know I am just that much further away from becoming the Comic Book Guy. Just a teeny bit.
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Re: Question
Date: 2006-08-22 09:38 pm (UTC)Yeah, it's FARRRR superior to Kordey, I can say that.
Hey, don't ewww, it's John Constantine's joke. One of my favorite Hellblazer moments ever.
Re: Question
Date: 2006-08-22 09:52 pm (UTC)Re: Question
Date: 2006-08-22 09:57 pm (UTC)Re: Question
Date: 2006-08-22 10:01 pm (UTC)