...and that is how I escaped from OH HELLO I DID NOT SEE YOU COME IN.
Comics!
A pretty dry week, if the Diamond shipping list is accurate- usually I use The Savage Critics' list to put these together, but that won't be available until tomorrow and I felt like posting something, anything to get back into the blogging groove.
Singles
Batman & Robin #1. What, you thought I would stay silent on this? Are you out of your goddamned mind? Final Crisis was fascinating, and provided a lot to go over from a critical perspective, but as far as storytelling goes it was kind of a damp squib. I'm aware of Morrison's ambitions for the series, and I think he achieved some of them, but the awkward dovetailing with Batman RIP, the unplanned change of artists, and the strong whiff of interference from the complete fucking madhouse of DC Editorial made for something far less than the sum of its parts. What I've seen* of Batman & Robin has me excited like nothing since, well, Morrison's Batman, and the fact that he's working with Frank Quitely again raises my expectations to a level that's nearly impossible to satisfy. As with any Morrison book (except maybe All-Star Superman), it'll be difficult to judge based on the first issue, so I wait with bated breath for issue #2 in October, and next February's issue #3, featuring the art stylings of Igor Kordey. ZING MOTHERFUCKERS
Trades
Age of the Sentry. Not a very substantial book, but one I enjoyed, and one I can see myself loaning out to friends or acquaintances who are curious about superhero comics and want a quick, fun read with no prerequisites.
Wonton Soup vol. 2. Again, not a whole lot going on here, at least if the first book was any indication, but fun. I like Iron Chef, I like space and things that happen in space, I like this kind of Brian Lee O'Malley/Brandon Graham/Corey Lewis Westernized manga style, and more importantly this costs less than ten bucks so I'm not out too much if it's not entirely satisfying.
*preview courtesy of the vile Ain't It Cool News; click at your own risk. Actually, I'd advise holding off until the comic comes out, since it's just the cover and first three pages. Though those pages do include Mister Toad's Safety-Conscious Ride. Your call.
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
dogg it must feel sick as hell to receive a knife in the face from a dude
While we're on the topic, does Bowie-Joker's speech pattern remind you of anyone?
Panel from this week's Batman #680;Photoshop MSPaint inspired by 4thletter's "Ruining the Moment" (scroll down for the doctored Achewood pages, including one that I am chagrined to find on re-reading does the same Achewood strip to much better effect. I knew I should have gone with Notorious L.I.N.C.O.L.N.
Panel from this week's Batman #680;
A few thoughts on Batman #680
Major spoilers for this week's Batman #680 ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So apparently I'm psychic!
Let me back up a little. Yesterday's Argento video was a bit of a lark, a lazy filler post based on the belated realization that Argento's gialli nearly always feature a black-gloved killer. And interestingly, whenever we see the killer at work, said hands are nearly always played by Argento himself- Grant Morrison is the Black Glove!
But anyway, this issue's climactic introduction of the Joker to the Black Glove's superwealthy playmates brought that back to mind- the Joker's murder of El Sombrero seems like an explicit homage to one of the famous deaths in Argento's masterpiece Suspiria:
As with the last Argento clip, this is utterly NSFW. But note the red and black pattern on the floor! If that's a coincidence, I will purchase, carefully season, cook, and eat a hat.
So what if Morrison really is staging a tribute to the giallo with "Batman RIP"? Most of the central elements of the genre are present- a whodunit-style mystery, dozens of red herrings, often extreme and brutal violence, and an emphasis on madness- though in this case, not the killer's, but the putative victim's.
In this issue we finally get to see Morrison's newly reborn Joker take center stage as well- the issue is even titled after him, "The Thin White Duke of Death," and he certainly does seem to have a horrible kind of mid-70's coked-up-to-the-nostrils Bowie thing going on; hell, he's even got the same haircut. The Bowie reference seems to play into this arc's focus on showmanship and over-the-top melodrama; remember Mr. Mayhew's past in film, and consider this issue's telling line from an oil sheik-type at the Black Glove's danse macabre (in reference to the Batman of Zur-en-Arrh): "I know an impostor when I see one. Is this another of your beloved actors, doctor?" Another? Hmmmmm.
The final pages seem like they might be intended as a Big Reveal of the Black Glove's Identity- if so, it's a disappointment, as it's a character everyone was sure was involved in the conspiracy to some extent- but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out in next month's concluding issue.
An interlude: this is what it is like when Aaron and I discuss comics
Ryan (7:20:54 PM): also, everyone knew it was going to happen, but I'm still a little choked up over the Joker's murder of El Sombrero. *sniff*
Ryan (7:21:36 PM): Every DC comic for the next month should have a corner logo of his little neon-skull-in-sombrero-on-black-velvet business card and the legend "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE SOMBRERO DIED?".
Aaron (7:23:02 PM): A NEW EL SOMBRERO WILL DEBUT IN DETECTIVE COMICS NEXT YEAR. SHE WILL BE A HALF-MEXICAN, HALF-ESKIMO BISEXUAL (CURRENTLY DATING BATWOMAN) AND BE AN ANTI-HERO WHO KILLS WITH HER DEADLY RAZOR-EDGED SOMBRERO.
Ryan (7:23:20 PM): NO she will debut in NEW AVENGERS and she will be LADY SOMBRERO
The Algonquin Round Table we are not.
So apparently I'm psychic!
Let me back up a little. Yesterday's Argento video was a bit of a lark, a lazy filler post based on the belated realization that Argento's gialli nearly always feature a black-gloved killer. And interestingly, whenever we see the killer at work, said hands are nearly always played by Argento himself- Grant Morrison is the Black Glove!
But anyway, this issue's climactic introduction of the Joker to the Black Glove's superwealthy playmates brought that back to mind- the Joker's murder of El Sombrero seems like an explicit homage to one of the famous deaths in Argento's masterpiece Suspiria:
As with the last Argento clip, this is utterly NSFW. But note the red and black pattern on the floor! If that's a coincidence, I will purchase, carefully season, cook, and eat a hat.
So what if Morrison really is staging a tribute to the giallo with "Batman RIP"? Most of the central elements of the genre are present- a whodunit-style mystery, dozens of red herrings, often extreme and brutal violence, and an emphasis on madness- though in this case, not the killer's, but the putative victim's.
In this issue we finally get to see Morrison's newly reborn Joker take center stage as well- the issue is even titled after him, "The Thin White Duke of Death," and he certainly does seem to have a horrible kind of mid-70's coked-up-to-the-nostrils Bowie thing going on; hell, he's even got the same haircut. The Bowie reference seems to play into this arc's focus on showmanship and over-the-top melodrama; remember Mr. Mayhew's past in film, and consider this issue's telling line from an oil sheik-type at the Black Glove's danse macabre (in reference to the Batman of Zur-en-Arrh): "I know an impostor when I see one. Is this another of your beloved actors, doctor?" Another? Hmmmmm.
The final pages seem like they might be intended as a Big Reveal of the Black Glove's Identity- if so, it's a disappointment, as it's a character everyone was sure was involved in the conspiracy to some extent- but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out in next month's concluding issue.
An interlude: this is what it is like when Aaron and I discuss comics
Ryan (7:20:54 PM): also, everyone knew it was going to happen, but I'm still a little choked up over the Joker's murder of El Sombrero. *sniff*
Ryan (7:21:36 PM): Every DC comic for the next month should have a corner logo of his little neon-skull-in-sombrero-on-black-velvet business card and the legend "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE SOMBRERO DIED?".
Aaron (7:23:02 PM): A NEW EL SOMBRERO WILL DEBUT IN DETECTIVE COMICS NEXT YEAR. SHE WILL BE A HALF-MEXICAN, HALF-ESKIMO BISEXUAL (CURRENTLY DATING BATWOMAN) AND BE AN ANTI-HERO WHO KILLS WITH HER DEADLY RAZOR-EDGED SOMBRERO.
Ryan (7:23:20 PM): NO she will debut in NEW AVENGERS and she will be LADY SOMBRERO
The Algonquin Round Table we are not.
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