thehefner | Furthermore, in the world of comics

First of all, have all you comic-reading types bought the DEADPOOL/GREAT LAKES ~~AVENGERS X-MEN CHAMPIONS DEFENDERS~~ INITIATIVE: SUMMER SPECIAL yet? If not, for shame! It's pure joy from start to finish, with satire and commentary that's sharper than the spikes on the inside of Penance's armor!

Most people aren't buying it at the comic store. What the hell's wrong with people? Between this and NEXT WAVE getting canceled, why are people so adverse to comedic superhero books?

Dan Slott is awesome on this shit, and he cannot be hired to write SPIDER-MAN too soon!

Also,

justhappynstuff, you ARE Squirrel Girl, the greatest superhero in all of Marvel Comics. No, seriously: she pwns Dr. Doom AND Thanos. It's canon! As her squirrel sidekick Tippy Toe says, "Deal with it, fanboy."

pondering_duck, you are a lucky, lucky man.

I had forgotten how absolutely wonderful Brubaker's run on CATWOMAN was. As I reread the second and third collections yesterday, I realized that this was everything I'd ever want to do if I wrote for DC. It's superhero/crime noir with an indie, relationship-based flair, and it's simply great.

I'm tempted to say that book 3, "Relentless," might well be one of my personal favorite comics of all time now (ten twenty, anyway... maybe ten). The first part is great noir thriller, while the second part... is, to my mind as a writer, simply dazzling: with emotions rather than ass-kicking action, Brubaker creatively does acrobatics while juggling these flawed-but-human characters. He actually managed to make me feel bad for Holly, even after making me really dislike her, and I came to realize that, as Selina's best friend but also a recovering heroin addict, that's the point.

I love stories that put the characters through Hell, but then salvages them in the end. And read as a whole, single volume, I absolutely adored CATWOMAN: RELENTLESS. Why don't people give Brubaker's run here more props? I still lament that stupid DC changed the artistic style, but it was brilliant while it lasted.

Yes, this is one of those rare DC comics I know that I could happily, easily give to a girl who doesn't read comics. That is a grand thing.

Joe Matt's SPENT made me occasionally laugh, feel dirty, feel turned-off, and I'm still wondering if the book was ultimately any good, or if (as he himself feared in the book) the whole thing was just an exercise in masturbation.

Which reminds me: twenty times in one day, Joe? Ouch! *shudder*

Being self-aware and self-loathing about your flaws and addictions is interesting at first, but I can't shake the feeling that I kinda wanna smack him for just whining and doing nothing about it. But maybe that, too, is the point.