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thehefnerThere are rare days when I'd like to smack the entire collective of comic book fans out there, even the vast majority of folks at my beloved ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
scans_daily. A loving smack, but a hard smack nonetheless.
Ever since the big super-spoilery news of a certain character's return hit the New York Daily News, coupled with yesterday's DC UNIVERSE # 0, the internets have been aflame with wankery and bitching. Now, I personally do not possess any great specific affinity for the character in question, aside from just a general appreciation for the classic greats.
But the more I read these people complain, the more I find the urge to smack is rising... rising... rising.
I won't go into specifics for right now (unless y'all wanna discuss this in the comments), but I will say this: I hope that what Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns have planned for this character utterly, thoroughly kicks ass. I hope it's up there with the best of what they're both capable when they really try, and I hope it all blows everyone's fucking minds.
Yes, this is a new one for me: I want a comic to be awesome purely out of spite.
Y'know, I really want to be wowed by the brand-new trailer for THE INCREDIBLE HULK. All the elements are there: a pissed-off Hulk smashing things in creative ways, William Hurt with a mustache...
... yes, indeed, all of the elements are there. But I dunno, something about it just ain't clicking.
Part of it may be the specter of Ang Lee's HULK still floating over this whole production. In case you missed it, it seems like Lee's HULK is one of the most reviled superhero movies ever made. It's so widely derided, in fact, that I have felt pressure to keep my opinion to myself. Did I think it was brilliant? Did I love it? Did I hate it? Hell, I still have a hard time articulating my thoughts to myself on this matter, let alone a pissed-off comic geek who just wanted to see things get smashed up real good.
Thankfully, it seems a handful of intellectuals are coming forward to defend and celebrate Ang Lee's HULK, including The AV Club's Natham Rabin for his excellent series, "My Year of Flops" and even the joyless bastards at CHUD.com, who even go so far to call it the "best superhero movie ever, man."*
I don't agree with that, if only because... hell, does it (or the Hulk in general) even count as a superhero movie? As the above essays indicate, the biggest problem is that Lee's HULK is just like the Hulk himself: a misunderstood monster.
People were expecting brainless smashing, only to get a Freudian psychological drama where the only huge action scene is murky, indiscernible, and metaphorical. I'm only now starting to realize how easy it is for someone to hate a film, no matter how good that film is, if they walk into it with different expectations. Expectation is a huge--perhaps vital--part of the film experience for many, it seems.
HULK suffered from not living up to what was expected of him, instead delivering something that--dare I say--may have been too smart for your average person.** I dunno, maybe I'm just a bit too much like Mr. Rabin, a self-proclaimed "card-carrying pompous boob who never leaves home without wearing a neckerchief, cravat, and ascot."
Or maybe I just have a thing for slow-burn psychological tragedies about guys with split personalities brought on by repressed rage and Daddy issues. That could be it too.
*In fairness, that article also features a rebuttal by the most joyless bastard of them all, my abusive hobbit boyfriend Devin Faraci. He only hits me because he loves me.
**Okay, I don't know if I can defend the Hulk Dogs. Especially the Hulk Poodle. That right there might have fit in better with this new INCREDIBLE HULK movie, from the looks of things.
scans_daily. A loving smack, but a hard smack nonetheless. Ever since the big super-spoilery news of a certain character's return hit the New York Daily News, coupled with yesterday's DC UNIVERSE # 0, the internets have been aflame with wankery and bitching. Now, I personally do not possess any great specific affinity for the character in question, aside from just a general appreciation for the classic greats.
But the more I read these people complain, the more I find the urge to smack is rising... rising... rising.
I won't go into specifics for right now (unless y'all wanna discuss this in the comments), but I will say this: I hope that what Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns have planned for this character utterly, thoroughly kicks ass. I hope it's up there with the best of what they're both capable when they really try, and I hope it all blows everyone's fucking minds.
Yes, this is a new one for me: I want a comic to be awesome purely out of spite.
Y'know, I really want to be wowed by the brand-new trailer for THE INCREDIBLE HULK. All the elements are there: a pissed-off Hulk smashing things in creative ways, William Hurt with a mustache...
... yes, indeed, all of the elements are there. But I dunno, something about it just ain't clicking.
Part of it may be the specter of Ang Lee's HULK still floating over this whole production. In case you missed it, it seems like Lee's HULK is one of the most reviled superhero movies ever made. It's so widely derided, in fact, that I have felt pressure to keep my opinion to myself. Did I think it was brilliant? Did I love it? Did I hate it? Hell, I still have a hard time articulating my thoughts to myself on this matter, let alone a pissed-off comic geek who just wanted to see things get smashed up real good.
Thankfully, it seems a handful of intellectuals are coming forward to defend and celebrate Ang Lee's HULK, including The AV Club's Natham Rabin for his excellent series, "My Year of Flops" and even the joyless bastards at CHUD.com, who even go so far to call it the "best superhero movie ever, man."*
I don't agree with that, if only because... hell, does it (or the Hulk in general) even count as a superhero movie? As the above essays indicate, the biggest problem is that Lee's HULK is just like the Hulk himself: a misunderstood monster.
People were expecting brainless smashing, only to get a Freudian psychological drama where the only huge action scene is murky, indiscernible, and metaphorical. I'm only now starting to realize how easy it is for someone to hate a film, no matter how good that film is, if they walk into it with different expectations. Expectation is a huge--perhaps vital--part of the film experience for many, it seems.
HULK suffered from not living up to what was expected of him, instead delivering something that--dare I say--may have been too smart for your average person.** I dunno, maybe I'm just a bit too much like Mr. Rabin, a self-proclaimed "card-carrying pompous boob who never leaves home without wearing a neckerchief, cravat, and ascot."
Or maybe I just have a thing for slow-burn psychological tragedies about guys with split personalities brought on by repressed rage and Daddy issues. That could be it too.
*In fairness, that article also features a rebuttal by the most joyless bastard of them all, my abusive hobbit boyfriend Devin Faraci. He only hits me because he loves me.
**Okay, I don't know if I can defend the Hulk Dogs. Especially the Hulk Poodle. That right there might have fit in better with this new INCREDIBLE HULK movie, from the looks of things.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-01 10:04 pm (UTC)Johns & Morrison are on fire, even though the prose was occassionally a bit overblown. The narration was pitch perfect, the slow turn from being all at one with the universe to the self-realisation of "And now I remember" was wonderfully done.
The final page was wonderful, as was the gathering of soil from places of death (presumably to create an Evil Wonder Woman) but my favourite is of course the pages showing Black Hand and the the new spectrum of Lanterns. Those pages made me gibber incoherently, like any good GL fan should.
In conclusion: Yay, comics!
no subject
Date: 2008-05-02 04:36 am (UTC)Yeah, by and large, I felt like I was reading a big ad rather than a comic, but there were distinctly cool moments. The Blackest Night two-page spread and the finale especially.
Yay comics indeed! I'm actually somewhat interested in Final Crisis now!
These grumbling geeks need to calm the heck down. Coming from a grumbling geek like myself, that's saying something.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-02 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-02 08:52 pm (UTC)IIRC, Arkham Asylum wasn't that great either, and that mainly focused on the Joker too. He overreaches when it comes to the Joker, thinking that symbolism can stand in for coherent character development, and it comes across as merely pretentious tosh I'm a Morrison fan, but sometimes even I realise he's a bit up his own arse at times (please forgive the expression).
no subject
Date: 2008-05-02 09:12 pm (UTC)(On a personal note, I also love Harvey in that book; it's so beautifully tragic about the character, breaking free and becoming whole for a moment even though it means becoming a broken monster once again.)
I also love the Joker there, but there's no way in hell I want to see that Joker in the regular DCU.
Dave McKean Joker? In my DCU? It's more common than you think. At least, it will be, if perma-grin Joker becomes a staple post-FC.
As long as it stays within Morrison's Bat-verse, great, fine. He clearly has his ideas and plans, let him see them through and we'll see where he's going with all this. But KEEP IT OUT OF THE GREATER DCU, GOD DAMN IT.
So yes, arse! Arse away!