The Four Color Media Monitor

The Global Post has an article about some of the communist propaganda comics North Korea churns out that are unsurprisingly very anti-western, anti-American, anti-capitalist, and other horrible stuff like that.

Via James Hudnall.

Labels: Europe and Asia, misogyny and racism, politics

Every Day is like Wednesday has provided some reviews and insight into some recent compilations of the current Teen Titans volume (Hat tip: Titans Tower Monitor), providing descriptions for some of the most skin-crawling acts of violent shock tactics to litter the series ever since DC went seriously downhill with Identity Crisis. These include:

- A full-page splash detailing the horrific wounds Kid Devil suffered while being gang-beaten by the Terror Titans

- Ravager beating Copperhead II’s face into a bloody pulp

- Miss Martian about to be raped in a bathroom stall by two men

- Adult supervillain Clock King in bed with his teenage girlfriend

- A gory spread in which a supervillain version of Miss Martian shows the superhero version images of her killing the Teen Titans, including choking Wonder Girl with her own lasso, tearing out Blue Beetle’s spine, putting a sword through Ravagers head and ripping Kid Devil’s head in half by his horns

- Kid Devil being tortured on-panel

- Robin being stabbed and his face beaten into a bloody pulp

- “Wonder Dog” killing Marvin before stalking a terrified Wendy through the halls of Titans Tower and mauling her

- Bombshell unconscious in a morgue, her throat slashed and bloody…three panels before an image of Wendy, scarred and bandaged, unconscious in a hospital bed

- Wonder Dog exploding, showering the team with gore

- Kid Devil’s desiccated corpse

- Brother Blood ripping someone’s arms off

- Short-lived character The Face being impaled

Much of this certainly has what to do with editorial mandate, but it would be ill-advised to let the assigned writers off the hook. Especially when you consider one of them happens to be a senoir editor now. I think I'm going to need some aspirin after reading this.

And if there's nothing like human interest stories (example: combatting drug rackets, and even examining race relations, like Wolfman/Perez did a few times during their famous run in the 80s) to counterbalance the gorefest flooding this new volume, that's one more reason why all these horrors become little more than cheap sensationalism.

As is mentioned in the topic, these books actually turned up in a public library among the few superhero titles they have, in the sections for teenagers. Parents are going to have to check that their own local libraries aren't screwing up this badly, because no matter what excuses apologists for this kind horror might say, it is possible for younger children to check them out. If they could pick up an issue of Playboy and leaf through all those centerfolds, and if they could watch a video of Nightmare on Elm Street, is it not possible for them to check out something as awful as Johns/McKeever's wretched works too, were such comics left around on a living room table unguarded?

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, misogyny and racism, Titans, violence

The finale for Flash: Rebirth has finally made its belated debut (Hat tip: Titans Tower Monitor), and what do you know, Geoff Johns has pretty much left things a mess, as the following suggest:

The Speed Force is re-imagined not as an impersonal energy field from which speedsters draw power, but as an energy field that Barry Allen generates…from which other speedsters draw power. Meaning that ultimately every other speedster on the planet owes his or her power to Barry Allen, even the ones who predated him. “Barry Allen made me the Flash,” indeed.

Indeed. As I once said, turning him into something not unlike a deity only makes him less human, and I thought that's what heroes like Barry were meant to be.

We’re clearly going to be seeing a Zoom Corps in the future. This might sound more exciting if the same author hadn’t introduced the Sinestro Corps a few years ago, then expanded it to an entire rainbow of fill-in-the-blank Lantern Corps.

Speaking of which, Johns took all those rainbow colors in Green Lantern more than a bit too far.

But few of these changes could be as bad as this one, which sadly looks canon, even as it ends:

Barry Allen’s past has been massively retconned to give him a tragic backstory, also providing a convenient excuse for anything that DC wants to revise about Flash history from the Silver Age onward. (As if half a dozen line-wide universe-altering events aren’t enough.)

A large number of the replies on the review thread are negative and certainly disappointed with how this ended, in a tangle of padding for trades. It's clear that the book isn't so much meant to have an ending as it is meant to be a setup for what's to come, which, as noted before, does not look to be anything optimistic. "Brightest Day" indeed. Johns has only insulted past stories featuring Barry's parents, and forced in a tragedy for tragedy's sake upon one of the last DC heroes whose background wasn't built on that kind of overused premise, which is becoming aggravating by now.

With all the ensuing disappointment over the miniseries, it's likely that the relaunched book won't see much success when it comes out. One way to get an idea of this is by noting how it looks to be a tie-in to another crossover, Brightest Day, which is unlikely to live up to its name. Those who avoid the next volume of the Flash will be doing the right thing, IMO. Geoff Johns has been going overboard for too long now, and it's time to stand up and make clear that we're not accepting his out-of-control storytelling anymore.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, Flash, violence

In the Flash's tie-in to Blackest Night, the latest victim of character assassination is Captain Boomerang's corpse, and even his contrived son, Owen Mercer:

The younger Captain Boomerang, Owen Mercer, has captured the Black Lantern-animated corpse of his father “Digger” Harkness, tossed him in a pit, and is tossing down people for him to kill. [...] He starts with small-time super-villains whom even the Rogues would find repulsive, and works his way up to innocent bystanders. When the Rogues find out, they toss him into the pit, with predictable results.

[...]making him a child-killer crosses a line with the character. In the same way Dr. Light’s role in Identity Crisis and Inertia’s role in “Full Throttle” made the characters difficult to use again, this is going to be a problem for Owen — more than his death, because I’m still not convinced that any death is going to stick in a miniseries about the proverbial revolving door.

More to the point, I'd say that featuring a child-killer in a book related to that of the Scarlet Speedster's crosses the line for one that wasn't built on such grisly R-rated horrors. In fact, I'm wondering why there's no outrage over the whole scene in first place. The death of Owen himself, doesn't bother me so much as the grisly death of children does. Hey, here's even a comment that says:

I really disliked this issue for a couple of reasons. The Owen thing felt a little forced and creepy-for-the-sake-of-creepy, which comes off for me as more an indictment of the writer than genuinely, constructively creepy.

Hey, that's Geoff Johns for you, an alleged auteur who sees sensationalized mayhem as more valuble than real character drama, something he's really weak on.

And surely this doesn't harm George Harkness as a character too? After all, he was never into the supervillain business for killing people, and even if he's being controlled by the main enemies in this monstrosity of a crossover, this is still going way overboard.

Besides being spawned from a lowly book like Identity Crisis, Owen Mercer wasn't much different from the resurrected Jason Todd: just a character introduced without knowing what else to do with him. But if they had to kill him off, it could've all been done without the gratuitous violence, and the slaughter of unnamed kiddies was something we could definitely do without.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, Flash, violence

The San Diego Union Tribune tells that Comicon International, long a fixation of the city, might be moving elsewhere in 2 years:

Comic-Con International, the beloved behemoth of San Diego conventions, is in danger of leaving its birthplace for a larger home, spurring local tourism leaders to do all they can to keep the four-day show here.

[...]

After 2012, the event held each July at the San Diego Convention Center will be free to leave town.

I wouldn't be surprised if the incursion of the movie business is what's driving this urge of the directors to move house to another city, besides just the need for more floor space. In that case, it wouldn't be the wish to help give the books more exposure, but rather, to bring in other forms of pop culture at the expense of what this show was originally built on. Especially if their new destination is none other than Hollywood!

Labels: conventions

ABC News has reported that DC Entertainment, as they've been calling themselves for a few months now, is moving around the staff. They say that:

The company named Jim Lee and Dan DiDio as co-publishers of DC Comics.

And:

Geoff Johns, a comic book writer who helped resurrect classic characters like the Flash, Superman and Green Lantern, will be DC Entertainment's chief creative officer, the company said.

Yes, I think that means he'll take over as EIC. There's more on Newsarama.

The good part would have to be Jim Lee's promotion, since he seems like a reasonable fellow. But DiDio is the bad part of this, because he's done little to deserve it.

And Geoff Johns? I'd like to think that as EIC, he'd be in a position where he'd do less damage, and maybe he'd even allow for writers who want to fix any damage to characters affected by Identity Crisis have the freedom to do so. And with a job so demanding he wouldn't be able to write much more than 1 or 2 books. But I'm not holding my breath. Besides, Jim Shooter, who'd been EIC of Marvel for about a decade, manipulated the writing for 2-3 series back in his time, and was responsible for launching the now dreaded crossovers that finally deteriorated into meaninglessness, so it's not like we can expect Johns to do much better.

So finally, the editors are changing at DC. Yet that doesn't mean the situation will improve. Especially if those terrible crossovers continue.

Update: on Chuck Dixon's board, where they brought this news up, Dixon himself doesn't think he'll get rehired because DiDio is still there, and could nix that possibility.

Update 2: the blogmaster of The Savage Critics provides his thoughts, providing some pretty good points about the problems DiDio created.

Labels: bad editors, dc comics, dreadful writers

This article in the Japan Times talks about how manga and anime productions are helping build interest in learning Japanese.

Labels: Europe and Asia, manga and anime

Wow, no sooner did Mark Waid make his ill-advised attack on FOX News last week, Boom Studios, where he's the main editor, has revealed this is just the beginning, as they release an anti-conservative monstrosity called "Repuglicans":

Less than a week after controversy erupted over what some interpreted as an unflattering depiction of Tea Party protesters in last month's “Captain America #602”, independent comic book publisher BOOM! Studios has announced "Repuglicans!", a project apparently aimed squarely at riling the political right.

"Repuglicans!" is an upcoming 128-page, digest-sized book by artist Pete Von Sholly with “wry commentary” by writer Steve Tatham. The book will be published by BOOM! Studios' new imprint BOOM! Town, created to showcase "high quality, lit-oriented comix."

The publisher calls it a “completely unfair and not balanced take on Republican Party leaders and apparatchiks,” in an obvious satire of the Fox News slogan. The cover art depicts Wacky Packages-esque “creatures of the right” parody versions of major conservative figures, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a vampire and Fox News anchor Glenn Beck as a zombie. But artist Von Sholly does not mince words when he describes the book as showing, "...the true face of the right, and it’s not pretty."

Given the timing of the announcement, BOOM! Studios might be hoping to capitalize on the "comic books vs. conservatism" buzz that flooded cable news and political blogs last week.

[...]

Whether or not conservatives take the bait and respond to BOOM! Studios and “Repuglicans!” remains to be seen. Either way, it seems unlikely an apology will be forthcoming from the publisher any time soon.

No matter, because we don't need to buy their products anymore. I guess they must be hurting for cash, so they decided to take the easy way out. Clearly, Boom Studios is not worth supporting, and Waid's become hopeless. Time for boom to go bust.

Labels: dreadful artists, dreadful writers, politics

ICV2's latest sales charts have debuted, and though Siege's first issue is at the top, it sold only 108,484 copies. For a crossover, that's pretty low, and it shows that crossovers have lost their impact, even if the miniseries is only 4 issues.

Among other parts of note here:

• Captain America #602, the one where Ed Brubaker insulted/villified the Tea Party Movement, sold only 63,948. After this monstrosity, it'll probably sell even less.
• Teen Titans sold only 27,790, and Titans only 24,924 copies, which tells that, as the real team in the latter is replaced by a bunch of villains, the audience bails, while the former has been written badly enough to alienate more than enough people, regardless of Superboy's return.
• Amazing Spider-Man has begun to plummet as low as 56,837 copies, which shows the publicity stunts are wearing thin too.
• The Blackest Night specials DC released are nothing to write home about either in sales - they almost all sold less than 40,000.
• The Hulk is also falling to 54,000.
• Detective Comics has gone down to 45,000 copies, suggesting that even the Batwoman-as-lesbian publicity stunt has failed.
• And Action Comics is startlingly low, at 30,000!

None of this is anything to be happy about, of course. But it is the result of plenty of bad storytelling, disrespect for the audience, overflows of company-wide crossovers, and horrific characterizationn of characters. And if that's what Quesada and DiDio are going to do, then they can only reap what they sow.

It's almost funny how ICV2 says sales inched up by one percent, when it's really nothing to be happy about. This, sadly, is the result of many years of disrespecting the audience ever since the 1990s, and eventually, it's going to have it's toll, even if they finally turn around and fix things.

Labels: bad editors, Batman, Captain America, crossoverloading, dc comics, marvel comics, sales, Spider-Man, Superman, Titans

Geoff Johns sure doesn't take a rest. In the Atom and Hawkman special that's part of Blackest Night, which he wrote, with Ryan Sook drawing:

He is interrupted by the Black Lantern-ized version of his wife, Jean, who distracts him with taunts and then leaps into Indigo’s ring. Jean seems to have gotten Ray’s size powers from the one use of his belt back in Identity Crisis. Ray chases her and is forced to watch her re-enact the murder of Sue Dibny, and is forced to undergo the vision of his alien love interest, Laethwen and her tribe attacking him. Jean taunts him more about not ever forgetting her. He finally realizes that he needs to move on, his ring shifts green, and he forces her out of Indigo’s ring where all this has been happening. Indigo’s message goes out, and she tells Ray he just helped save the universe. His response is to ask her to help bring his friends back to life, and we get a To Be Continued in Blackest Night 7.

Not only has he kept on with characterizing/depicting Jean in this truly revolting manner that's been going since Identity Crisis, he even does something similar to the Rogue Wars story at the end of his first Flash run: he hammers the readers over the head with what Jean is accused of, just like the assault neo-Zoom pulled on Linda Park West. If there's anything worse than his "continuity porn", there you have it. I really can't care now whether he reverses this whole monstrosity later on, he's already done enough to alienate, including his termination of Josh Jackam in Rogues' Revenge.

Another ludicrous thing he's doing here is a subtle insult to the audience, implying that they need to move on from comics. Well, guess what, Geoff? That's just what people like me have done: we've moved on from your work, if anything. I'm certainly not going to let him off the hook anymore. He has been one of the worst things to happen to DC this decade. I do think a boycott of Johns's work would come in quite useful now.

Labels: Atom, crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, Flash, golden calf of death, misogyny and racism, violence, women of dc

Here's a short review in the Washington City Paper of a compilation of the Dan Dare comics published in Britain in the 1970s.

Labels: Europe and Asia

James Hudnall at Big Hollywood has written about the Capt. America vs Tea Party monstrosity, and come up with a pretty good slang for "progressives", pronounced as "progs". Yep, they're one of the biggest problems with today's industry. And as for the comment Sam Wilson makes about a black man not fitting in with a bunch of "angry white folks", what's really absurd about it is that back in the 1970s, the Falcon was characterized as an angry black man - he had ancestors who were slaves, and harbored some resentment for white society. So what are they trying to say here, really?

There's one thing here I must note though:

Disclosure time: I know Brian Michael Bendis, the architect of the current Marvel plot-lines like Dark Reign and Seige, very well. I also know Captain America writer Ed Brubaker fairly well, having known him almost since he was a teenager (and Bendis from back when he had hair). I like them, so I’m not going to bash them or anything. But I do need to point out where their politics can be a problem. Bendis is pretty smart about keeping his on the down low. From what I’ve read of his work, and I’ve read a lot, it generally doesn’t creep in that much. Just a dot here and there like you’d expect from a Hollywood writer. Brubaker lives in the San Francisco Bay area. And occasionally he’s thrown in some lefty views in his work. He generally doesn’t as a rule. But his latest Captain America crosses the line and it needs addressing.

Look, I understand that knowing them personally, Hudnall feels he's got to be polite. However, I'd just like to offer a reminder that, even if Bendis is capable of keeping his politics to a minimum, that still doesn't make his writing worth reading. And it's not. He was the writer who degraded the Avengers 6 years ago, and beat up on Tigra almost 3 years later, and I don't think he's suited to put the Avengers "back together" if he couldn't disband them tastefully years before.

The point here is that, even if politics aren't the problem, there's still some very seriously bad writing that's dragging down what remains of mainstream comics today, and refraining from ultra-leftist politics alone isn't going to stand them erect again. Series like Superman and Spider-Man with a brighter viewpoint have to be toned down from some of the R-rated violence that's poured into them, and continuity and good characterization have to be respected. They also need to quit resorting to shock tactic deaths and villification, not to mention the horrid crossovers that have brought things to a standstill.

The Capt. America story has certainly drawn a lot of attention. I gotta say, it's rather amazing it took this kind of leftist nonsense to get the conservative movement, or any movement with common sense, to sit up and take notice of how something's gone wrong with mainstream books. Quesada has allegedly apologized for this, but frankly, I doubt he's any more sorry he allowed this than Brubaker is. It's about time they be taken to task for their disrespect for the audience and much of the wider public, as Brubaker's crummy story is doing. And for those who want to protest, maybe I can suggest a little something that's been tried for network television: contact their advertisers and ask them to pull their advertising in Marvel and DC's output. After all, advertising is one of the ways most comic book companies usually gain part of their revenue, just like television, and without it, they certainly won't have much to help them. I think it's a very worthy idea to try out, and a shame nobody's thought of it yet.

One more thing worth noting: it seems that Mark Waid:

is humiliated and mortified on behalf of my entire industry that Fox News is able to bully us into apologizing to lunatics.

Poor Mark, he has really lost himself. He should've stayed out of this, and now, he's only making it worse.

Labels: bad editors, Captain America, dreadful writers, marvel comics, politics

Once again, Joe Quesada, Ed Brubaker and their left-wing company at Marvel spare no expense in abusing Captain America for the sake of attacking contemporary conservatives and America, as Brubaker does in a story called Two Americas (Hat tip: Hube at Newsbusters). And yes, it's Bucky who's subject to this, but it really doesn't matter whether it's Bucky or Steve Rogers, it wouldn't be acceptable with either of them. Opposing people for objecting to government run heathcare, or any kind of big government lunacy, is just utterly tasteless, as is exploiting established characters for awful politics.

I've come to realize for a while now that Brubaker was bad news, and this has to be one of his foulest acts yet, for a writer who's as much a kneejerker as any of Marvel's other current contributors. This is truly awful, and for this, he should be avoided.

I've also been pondering that maybe the book publishing divisions of Marvel and DC should not be under corporate ownership. If Warner/Disney want to maintain the rights to movies, toys, and games, that's fine. But maybe the book publishing divisions should just be under the ownership of something like Macmillan. But definitely under an ownership that isn't so vast, and with more responsible overseers. That way, this kind of nonsense wouldn't take place so easily.

Here's more from Publius Forum (via Hot Air).

Labels: Captain America, dreadful writers, marvel comics, politics

The Nashua Telegraph gushes about Marvel's latest time-wasting crossover, Siege, doing little more than pay undeserved lip service:

A lot of comics fans say they have “event fatigue,” meaning they’re tired of sprawling, company-wide story lines.

If so, I hope that doesn’t put them off “Siege,” a sprawling, company-wide story line that began at Marvel Comics in January.

I'm afraid more than enough have been put off, long ago. This very article is enough to put one off too. And if the following tells anything:

January gave us “Siege” No. 1 (of 4), where the primary story takes place, and “Siege: Embedded” No. 1 (of 4), which follows various journalists covering the story. But naturally it’s bleeding over into other titles, especially the four Avengers titles and solo titles of major characters.

So there's two miniseries or more as the hub of this crossover? In that case, there's even less reason to bother: with their comics going up to four dollars now, it means that the customer is expected to buy more than 10-20 dollars worth in just one month. Pure ripoff. And that shows how they're still trying to milk the buyers for what'll become a big nothing in the next decade or so. Which contradicts their claim that they're trying to make it easier on everyone.

Now, I wouldn’t be telling you all this if I didn’t like the story. In the first month alone, we’ve seen a spectacular invasion, sometimes surprising reactions, a vicious attack on the New Avengers, the shocking fall of Thor, a major betrayal and, of course, lots of cool fights.

But my favorite part is the terrific characterization. (This is achieved primarily through dialogue, Bendis’ strongest suit.)

Oh please. Even dialogue is one of Bendis' weakest suits. It was when he did Avengers: Disassembled 6 years ago, and it still is now.

“Avengers: The Initiative” gets into the heads of grade-z characters Taskmaster, Constrictor and Diamondback. Taskmaster is a blue-collar villain, who usually avoids the spotlight. But now he sees the invasion as a chance to be something more – although it will very likely get him killed. Is leaving his mark worth dying for?

Then there’s Diamondback, described derisively as “a gymnast who throws fake diamonds,” but who is a mole for the good guys – which might get her killed. How far does she go?

That problem also confronts Constrictor, who knows his girlfriend is a traitor and also knows he’s in over his head. Does he flip sides? Does he turn her in? Does he run?

Thanks to Bendis, I care about these dead-end characters despite myself.

But I don't, and I'm not sure what they mean by grade-z. That only describes Bendis' very own work on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Then there’s “Embedded,” which contrasts Ben Urich, a principled newsman, and Todd Keller, a Glenn Beck-ish Osborn shill. Urich is accompanied by a former anchorman and recovering alcoholic who is balancing a desire for redemption against self-preservation.

So either the miniseries, or the reporter, or both, are injecting their personal politics with a gratuitous dislike for Beck? Sorry, but that too, falls flat.

“Dark Avengers” is finally telling us not who, but what, The Sentry is – and it isn’t pretty. “New Avengers” spotlights the original Captain America and his successor, plus Spider-Man hitting on Spider-Woman. (Maybe.)

I'm sure I won't want to know how that turns out.

So, yes, “Siege” is a superhero comic-book story with lots of bright costumes, exotic powers, bizarre technology and things blowing up real good. But the psychological explorations, the complexity of the plot, the character arcs and learning curves, the conflict of principle, the romantic complications, the classical allusions and the epic scale all push “Siege” a little higher up the scale, bordering on literature.

[...]

Plus, did I mention things blow up real good? “Siege” is superhero comics at its best, and I highly recommend it.

I'm sure even the explosions are nothing great, and border more on implosions.

Labels: Avengers, Captain America, crossoverloading, dreadful writers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics, Spider-Man

Cinema Blend reports that there's a documentary in the works about DC Comics and their history, set to debut at this year's Comic-Con.

As much as I'd like to enjoy the idea of this being made, I'm worried that the documentarians behind this may end up sugarcoating some of the weaker moments of DC's history, that could tell what went wrong by the 1990s. If they don't deal with that, nor do they ask any meaty questions to their current staff like Dan DiDio, then this is unlikely to be an objective documentary.

Labels: conventions, dc comics

NYC Graphic Novelists does a sugary interview with Brian Bendis, where he continues with his blatant gushing, telling a bit more about why his books would be better avoided. First:

Under Bendis’ tenure, the Marvel Universe has become a more noir-ish place, as heroes question their own missions and clash over beliefs, and – every once in a while – the badguys win.

But that's the problem - under his tenure, the Avengers became so noir-ish, the series became less imaginative. And if they questioned their missions and duties, it wasn't in a good way. Worse, their clash over beliefs, as in Civil War, was contrived and forced. And if a villain like the Hood won, it was in the poorest taste possible. His assault on Tigra certainly was.

Brian Michael Bendis grew up in Cleveland, Ohio; aside from American Splendor writer Harvey Pekar, there isn’t much comics culture there.

Say what? Didn't these guys ever hear of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, Star Spangled Kid and the Spectre? (Superman was co-created by both, the other 2 heroes were created seperately.)

Marvel’s pride has always been a solid continuity since the 1960s, unlike rival DC Comics, who has constantly restarted their superhero series anew.

Oh god, is this site totally out of touch with reality: since the turn of the century, their continuity has been lost in outer space. And let's not forget Quesada and company's classic groaner "we don't need to explain anything, it's magic."

Now, here's where Bendis comes up with a very sleazy statement:

Bendis’ start on Avengers in 2004 was with the end of the book; in a storyline called “Avengers Disassembled,” several Avengers were killed (including fan favorite Hawkeye), and the team was relaunched with a new line-up in New Avengers

“When I look back at it, I came in and wanted to blow shit up,” Brian admits. “I came in like a bull in a china shop and blew up Avengers Mansion on page six, and everybody died. Then there were my Avengers…

“There was no difference between what I did and a little kid coming up on the playground, coming up to a toy, and stepping on it. I did exactly the same thing: you don’t know who I am, and I came up to you and popped your balloon with a pin. I kept doing it, for five straight months, and then I ended it. I had a great idea that I would direct my Avengers so that every reader is an Avenger. If you were sitting at the table with them, you were the one at the table, and were an Avenger. If I made you an Avenger, then I could sit you down at the table and blow your world up. It wasn’t the nicest first thing to do to you as a reader.”

With that kind of attitude, it's a wonder anyone could be a fan of his. It just simply boggles the mind how he can claim he wants to make the very readers Avengers, and then proceed to ruin everything for them. With the way he handled Hawkeye, who'd want to be Clint Barton if all that's going to come about is misery?

This also brought to mind Steve Ditko's essay (Toyland) about how today's writers are taking apart stuff that doesn't need fixing and rebuilding it into something that suits only their idea of how things should be done. That's what Bendis did. That's also what Quesada's done with Spider-Man. It's what DC is doing too since Identity Crisis. Why, it's what Geoff Johns is doing with Barry Allen and the Flash.

Bendis is not the kind of person I'd want to hang around with if he's willing to take my favorite toys and what I'd built as a labor of love and turn it into junk. The sooner the "success" of his books drops further down the charts and he leaves Marvel, the better.

Labels: Avengers, dc comics, dreadful writers, Flash, marvel comics, Spider-Man

Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes fame has provided the Cleveland Plain Dealer with possibly the first interview he's done in many years since he retired from drawing it. And here's another article about how, even 15 years after it came to an end, there's still a cult following devoted to the comic strip.

Labels: comic strips

Here's an interview Publisher's Weekly did with Stan Lee at the last San Diego Comicon about a manga book he's working on with Viz Media called Ultimo, which is coming out soon, as told in this more up to date article.

Labels: conventions, manga and anime

The Colorado Springs Gazette has a fluff-coated article about a Valentine's Day special called Marvel Heartbreakers, whose lead story puts a teen Peter Parker in an Archie-like role:

“I was raised on a healthy diet of Betty and Veronica comics, so you could say I’m a sucker for a good tearjerker,” Horwitz said via e-mail. “When we realized we had these various stories that were all thematically linked, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

The book leads off with a Spider-Man story that follows a college-age Peter “Spider-Man” Parker as he’s forced to choose between Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. But first, Horwitz said, “he has to survive a science experiment gone horribly, horribly wrong. It’s the Blob meets Betty and Veronica.”

I've got a feeling something could go wrong with the script itself. It sounds vaguely like the story in 1971 where Peter did an experiment that resulted in his gaining 8 arms, in the 100th issue of Spider-Man; not a very good issue at that. On top of all that, Peter Parker is not Archie (and Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy are not Betty & Veronica), and I don't think this is likely to be what Spider-Fans are really after.

More likely that it will just break fans' hearts.

Labels: marvel comics, msm propaganda, Spider-Man