The Boundless and the Bold--Wednesday Comics #2

As origin stories are often told and retold in as many series as publishers can muster, I remain struck by Grant Morrison's first issue of All-Star Superman. While Superman is a character that has existed in the popular consciousness for decades, all Morrison required to tell the character's origin was 1 page--on it, 4 wide panels with 4 succinct captions.

An even more impressive feat is to introduce us to the origins of the universe, the universe's largest threat, and the man who is out to stop that threat--and requiring only 1 more page to do so. Then, after the concise yet descriptive captions, the storytellers go one step further by telling us all we need to know about the book's sense of humor with the main character's first line: "Huh?"

The storytellers in question are Brian Churilla and Jeremy Shepherd, and the book is The Engineer: Konstrukt, a handsome hardcover collection from Archaia. The Engineer (a former cosmonaut) has been enlisted by three slithery, sinister cosmic harpies known as the "Witch Sisters." His mission: to retrieve the components that form the Konstrukt: a device that allows its bearer to shape reality as s/he sees fit. The stakes: it's the only thing in the universe that can stop the Lahar, an "immense sentient entity (that) feeds on the very fabric of space time" that will return the universe to the nothingness from which it sprang.

And yet, when dealing with such grand stakes, it does a story good to keep a strong sense of humor. With the aid of an anxious top-hat-wearing robot ally, mutant bats, gargantuan crab monsters, an angry village mob, an interdimensional pipe organ, and a positively inexplicable fetish for chickens, Churilla and Shepherd give us exactly the well executed absurdist humor that makes a story like this a sheer joy to read. The jokes are never out of place and are not born out of snark for snark's sake. Rather, they help forge our path through this strange, fantastic world.

As to the art (Churilla illustrates, Shepherd colors), I've seen others note stylistic similarities with Mignola, Oeming, and Powell, and these are all well-warranted comparisons. The panel construction creates well paced exposition, dramatic suspense, well staged action, and wry comedic timing, all with equal aplomb. There's also just the right amount of detail in every panel while maintaining a wonderfully expressive cartoony design. And the rich reds and vibrant blues rocket those panels right off each and every page.

But there's one more parallel I'd add to the list above, because when I read this book, I can't help but think of Kirby. I don't mean the artistic style here; instead, I'm referring to the book's overall sensibility. Even though this book has its roots in and references to many comics or sci-fi stories past, not for a second does it feel derivative or imitative. This is a book of bold, boundless fun, and that was Kirby's stock-in-trade. And, while there are a ton of fine comics in the marketplace, we can never have enough--and should never stop demanding--books of bold, boundless fun.

This is, on no uncertain terms, one of the best books you likely haven't read yet. This is the book that smart comic shops are recommending to their regulars. This is the book that deserves an even wider audience than that, and I sincerely hope it finds one.

Increasingly innovative publisher Archaia has certainly released this collection with that in mind. Coming in at over 130 pages, you'll find all three issues of the 1st volume, a hilarious backup story, bonus pinups (including one by Matt Wagner), a behind-the-scenes sketchbook section, all sandwiched in a lovely hardcover binding. All for a $9.95 cover price.

You now officially have no excuse not to purchase this book.

With any form of media--be it novels, comics, music, movies--the more you expose yourself to over time, the more you'll hunger for something to surprise you. The Engineer is one of those great surprises. I can't wait to see where these gents take us in the next volume, and I thank them for giving us this one.

Next time: A look at Jason Shiga's newest book, Meanwhile, which I believe is the first choose-your-own adventure comic, and is certainly one of the most formally elaborate comics ever created.

The Little Things--Old Man Sundays #1

You'd think "Old Man Sundays" would mostly be a jumble of grumbles; at least, that's what the title would imply.

However, the title refers to a propensity, however infrequent, to enjoy a few small pleasures on a Sunday morning that make me feel like an old man. Going out to breakfast by myself, reading a copy of Illustration Magazine while I eat, followed by a bit of pool. This is the program.

So while there are numerous things I could (and want to) gripe about, I'm not going to do that here...at least not today. Instead, in no particular order, here's a brief list of the small pleasures in which I've recently indulged, or to which I always look forward.

• an unbroken Butterfinger from a vending machine
• fine book design (cover art, trade dress, the works)
• discovering a bourbon that reminds me of scotch (Black Maple Hill)
• discovering a rye that reminds me of all that's good in this world (Templeton)
• merely knowing there's a film out there that's titled Man on the Spying Trapeze
• Tina Fey making a reference to Tron
• almost everything Christina Hendricks says here (particularly her 6th point, which seems like a rare quality)
• sliding my fingers over well kept felt on a pool table, and likewise the feel of the Irish linen on my cues
• my E.T. ad about drinking and driving, shown here.
• the tactility of reading the Griffin & Sabine books
• a sketch that an artist draws inside your hardcover comic, precisely because you bought the hardcover
• tennis at sundown
• using a wooden bat at a batting cage when everyone else is using aluminum bats
• mail-order ribs (from Memphis, specifically)
• that moment during a run when you tell your burgeoning shin splits to go fuck themselves
• lip balm that tastes like Dr Pepper
• this article
• reading any Golden Age comic before I go to sleep
• a superhero who, clearly without any logic or motivation, uses a gatling gun instead of his magical powers
• having a theater to myself (and taking a call during the movie if I want to; it's plain sinful)
• ekranoplans
• watching the entire run of Homicide: Life on the Street in two months
• listening to every Miles Davis Columbia album chronologically
• great screenwriting
• feedback on this blog

It's the little things in life, after all.

And thus I have completed 7 straight days of posting, which for someone who hasn't posted in as many months, feels like a something of a minor feat. I doubt I'll be posting daily this week, but definitely expect new posts for "Monday Movies," "Wednesday Comics," "Friday Night Heists," and "Saturday Swigs."

I hope you've liked what you've read here this week. If there's something I can improve or change--however large or small--tell me. And if you expected a grumpier "Old Man Sundays," well...all I can say is to check back tomorrow for my first installment of "Monday Movies."

And with that, I bid you all a good evening.

Change of Plans--Wednesday Comics #1

I had every intention of posting my analysis of a Queen & Country page today, but it occurred to me that the longer I go without reporting on the C2E2 con, the less relevant what I have to say becomes. With that in mind, a brief report.

Overall, my experience was positive, but the con's main negative is the reason for my post, and it has to do with two of DC Comics' panels on Saturday.

The Brightest Day panel--the first DC panel of the day--was good fun. Even though there wasn't much in the way of news, the members of the panel did their jobs, in as much as they got us excited about what we are reading now and what we will be reading in the weeks and months ahead. The participants were lively and engaged, and I confess to being a fan of the comedy stylings of Ian Sattler.

But the second panel...that's where it went wrong. This was the DC Universe Editorial presentation, which was to be hosted by newly crowned Co-Publishers Dan Didio & Jim Lee and the new Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Jones.

And none of them showed up. There was neither acknowledgment of nor explanation for their absence. What's even stranger is that there was no mention of their absence in the press on the event.

Now, the guys I was with and I might have missed an announcement about this. Maybe there was a posting at the DC booth. If so, then you can all ignore this rant. If not, then can SOMEONE please explain to me why the new "Big Three" were no-shows? This is a brand new show in Chicago, and it behooves the publisher to have its heavy hitters running what should be the company's biggest panel on what is supposed to be the busiest day of the convention. Sattler and company did well enough (kudos to James Robinson and his surliness), but with the panel already being disappointing on the level of expectation, the seeming lack of concrete news combined with the fans' questions made for a less-than-enjoyable experience.

By the time my friends and I showed up for DC's third panel of the day, there were less people in the audience, and rightfully so, since there was a grand total of 3 people who showed up to present at the panel. (Note: Gail Simone did walk in after the panel started, and while she's one of those people who makes EVERYTHING better, we only had two hours left in the day. We wanted to get more out of our con than the same old fan questions.)

I was really pissed about the absence of the new heads of DC, and it's all but passed. I just want to know why it happened. If you've run across this entry and can put me in the wrong for being pissed, please do.

The rest of the con met or surpassed my expectations, and by all reports a successful launch for Chicago's newest show. There were plenty of guests, and, almost as important, there was plenty of room for everyone to move around. I got to meet Jonathan Hickman (who promises indie work in the not-too-distant that will surpass The Nightly News in design, which excites me no end), Mike Mignola (who seemed fine that no one was in line for him), and Ben Templesmith (who I've been waiting to meet for some time, and was impressed with how I held myself together). I also got the chance to see Carla "Speed" McNeil (who generously sketched Tara Chace for me) and Steve Bryant again, Steve in particular always being a great guy to chat with. Check out the "Support Athena Voltaire" and "Atomic Tiki Studio" links to the left to see some of his art and support his Kickstarter campaign.

More importantly, I did the two things I wanted to do that day. First, I kept my spending well in check. Second, Brian Hurtt did a fantastic sketch of Queen & Country's Paul Crocker (the young version) to add to my collection. Check it out here.

Most importantly, I went with my good friends Brad and Mark. And ultimately, they're the guys that made this whole thing fun.

Until next time, everybody. Next week: the analysis of the Q&C page, as advertised.

Read: The Engineer: Konstrukt, by Brian Churilla & Jeremy Shepherd

Watch: Going in Style (dir. Martin Brest, 1979)

Listen to: Big Fun, by Miles Davis

Eat at: Beefaroo

Getting the Memo--Tuesday Tomes #1

There is a moment about 2/3 through Private Wars, where author Greg Rucka uses the text of a memo not only to elide time in the story, but also to put a bullet through the plate glass window of the status quo, through which I'd previously thought I could see so clearly. And to think it wasn't even the text of the memo, but rather the "To" line, that did the shattering.

We've all had those moments where we have a piece of grave news dropped on us with the utmost mundanity. While seeming insignificant to others, both the what and the how stick with us forever. That Rucka knows this fact is laudable; that he demonstrates it so deftly is what sets him apart from his peers in the genre.

I give this example not only because it was so striking to me personally, but also because it illustrates what Rucka's Queen & Country series is...and what it isn't. Set among the ranks of the Special Operations Section of the British Secret Service, Queen & Country is the anti-James Bond (at least pre-Daniel Craig). Battles are fought as much with words as with fists, and they are won as much with pens as with pistols. Far from a world of laser-firing Omega watches and properly chilled Dom Perignon, Rucka never lets the reader forget his vision of the world of spies.

In short, it's a dirty business, best left to the indomitable and the sly.

Private Wars is the second novel set in the Q&C world (but the thirteenth story, the other eleven being comic volumes). Minder (i.e. operative) Tara Chace has returned from the devastating events of A Gentleman's Game and Operation: Red Panda, only to find herself plunged into an even more complex, dangerous mission in Uzbekistan. The current Uzbek president is close to death, leaving one of his two children to take office. Chief of the Minders, Paul Crocker, orders Tara to sneak into the country--without any local help--and come back out with the pro-West son and his child, before the power-hungry daughter gets to them. Add the complications of an arms deal come back to haunt SIS and Chace already being at her breaking point, and you have the setup for the most emotionally wrenching and politically labyrinthine tale Rucka has offered yet. (And since I've got at least a couple of good friends reading this series right now, that's all the plot I'm going to declassify.)

Private Wars serves as a turning point in the series. New characters are introduced, notably a new SIS Deputy Chief and a new CIA contact for Crocker, which shake up the long established relationships in the book from the word go. Supporting characters, particularly fellow Minders Nick Poole and Chris Lankford, are given more time to shine--an advantage over the comic format, of which Rucka makes the most, without ever slowing the book's momentum.

And Britain's top spy finds herself even more at odds with Britain's top spymaster. The increasingly rocky relationship between the icy Chace and her boss, the taciturn Crocker, gives the story its foundation and propels it forward. And beyond the fact that I...respond somewhat favorably to tales of grumpy spies, one of the most wonderfully accessible qualities of this book (the series, too) is that anyone who has worked in any sort of office can identify with the office politics these characters suffer. This identification, in conjunction with the realism with which the service is portrayed, makes the book's stakes and its characters much less abstract, much more personal.

Private Wars also seems like a turning point for Rucka's writing. He is already known as an author who gives his characters not only breath but brains, and he's especially praised for the complexity and authenticity of his female characters. But the increased maturity with which he writes Chace here--trying to speed through the intersection of duty and tragedy--points to the type of work he recently completed with Batwoman in Detective Comics and is beginning with Dex Parios in Stumptown.

Rucka has also grown even more fastidious (which I didn't think was possible) with respect to the integration of his research and his fiction. After reading this book, it occurs to me that, if I ever got lucky enough to interview Rucka, one of the first things I would ask him would be where he gets his news. I've heard him referred to as "Tom Clancy with a brain." Which is insulting, because this book proves Rucka's ever-growing place as a consummate--yet never overblown--stylist, where Clancy's work is a consummate, overblown bore.

Rucka gives us thoughtful prose, and with a Hammett-esque snap.

I cannot wait for October's release of the third novel, The Last Run, which will lead into the new volume of Q&C comics. I'm almost positive I know where the story will go.

And I know I'm going to love it when Rucka proves me wrong.

Bonus Feature:

I mentioned that the Q&C series is comprised of both comics and novels. To that end, because I've not seen it elsewhere very often, here is a comprehensive read order for the series to date.

Operation: Broken Ground

Operation: Morningstar

Operation: Crystal Ball

Operation: Blackwall

Declassified, Vol. 1 (technically published before Blackwall, but directly sets up Storm Front)

Operation: Storm Front

Operation: Dandelion

Operation: Saddlebags

Declassified, Vol. 2

Declassified, Vol. 3

A Gentleman's Game

Operation: Red Panda

Private Wars

The Last Run (available October 26)

Castor chrononautis or: How I Learned to Stop Saving and Love the Impulse Buy

Q: What do you do when you walk into a used book store and come across something like this?

A: Shell out the $2.98 without even thinking, the idiot's grin spreading slowly across your face, in nerd-shock that you've actually found a book called...ahem...Time Beavers.

As if you needed more convincing of the value of this impulse buy, here's the back cover summary:

"An epic historical adventure that takes the reader on an historical odyssey from 17th century France to the Lincoln presidency, from the final days of the Third Reich to the Great Dam of Time where the eternal Time Beavers battle to protect the very essence of reality!"

What a steal, kids. What. A. Steal.

To you readers of these rambles, my apologies for being gone so long. I'll be back, with more musings, in the not-too-distant.

'Smatter?

The matter? Nothing really, save that I'm currently sporting a headache roughly the size of Montana. I'm afraid this is not the time for focused thought.

Yet, I'm here. Thus, a smattering.

First off, here's something I require from you all, you steadfast readers of my meager, meandering chronicle. I have recently discovered the glory of swearing by saying, "Trousers!" Do this. Do it with a British accent. Be fruitful with this expression and let it spread throughout the land. Do me proud.

You know what, kids? Dr. Pepper made with pure cane sugar is better than almost any scotch. (Note, I said almost. I've still got my eye on that Bunnahabhain 25-year.)

I lament what a bad moviegoer I've become. Used to be, back in my non-comic reading, non-suit wearing, non-scotch drinking days, I'd see damn near anything that came to my local multiplex. And I live across the street from one now, but I'm lucky if I see one movie at the screen every couple of weeks. It's not so much that I am diverting my so-called disposable income to other pursuits, so much as it is the fact that I just flat out don't care about seeing everything anymore. I remember believing that any film was worth watching (even Salo). I suppose I still do believe that, but I expend no effort in putting that principle into practice. My real hope is that my sense of curiosity isn't in a state of atrophy.

Along those lines, I'm pretty well burned out on superhero comics. At least current superhero comics. And while I love books like Queen & Country & Fell, they don't come out with any regularity (or, you know, at all for quite some time). However, here are the 7 books that you should be reading. This is not some edgy underground list or a small catalog proving how much more sophisticated my taste is for reading only books published by Drawn & Quarterly. They're just good books. Go read them. Drop whatever comic you're buying out of habit (Trinity) and pick up one of these:

Criminal
Zorro
The Lone Ranger
Incognito
FreakAngels (Start at the bottom of the page. It's free. You are, officially, without excuse.)
Madame Xanadu
Rasl

Some webular curiosities:

Curiosity #1, in which the author indicts Fox Studios for its dicketry with his own brand of dickery. http://www.cracked.com/blog/fox-can-eat-several-dicks/

I suppose I could judge this guy, but if this kind of crap had happened to Bond, we all know I'd react with similar charm and grace.

Curiosity #2, in which we find the author expounding on the virtues of the Cinema of Jason Statham: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=67077201&blogID=461660900

There are certainly exceptions to Mr. Oswalt's argument, but how do you not love something that includes the phrase "fuck an explosion?"

Curiosity #3, in which we find the author, with the utmost clever-clever tone, defending Frank Miller's celluloid psychological upheaval. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=82986370&blogID=461565928

While I still haven't seen the film, I can't imagine liking it. However, there's some truth to be found in Mr. Baker's review. I also particularly respect the fact that he's defending a friend (see some of the usual boards for more info, if you can stand the boards that long).

Curiosity #4, in which I find, thanks to spotting it on the Occasional Superheroine blog, an unhealthy fascination. http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4242098/11392286

In other news, I live in a place where--on the morrow--the high will be lower than the low. Why do I that again? Trousers!

Seriously, do any of you have ANY deliriously happy music you can recommend? Not heroic. Not inspiring. Happy. I need the musical equivalent of Eric Joyner's Robots & Donuts. See example below, in which robots are fending off a donut invasion. (By the way, go buy this book. Now.)

A conversation I overheard the other day, the topic being Tim Sale's artistic rendering of Batman. (Groan.) Here we go:

Fanboy 1: "So do you prefer Batman with the long ears or the short ears?"
Fanboy 2: "Short ears."
Fanboy 1: "And do you prefer them in the middle or in the back?"
Fanboy 2: "I don't understand the question."

At this point, I had to walk away. I'm not sure whether it was because I was going to start laughing or join in. Six of one...

You know that feeling that wells in the pit of your stomach when your friendly neighborhood video store doesn't have the Blu-Ray version of the movie/show you're searching for? That's called Blu-Rage, kids. Gotta learn to control that. Copyright pending.

Speaking of movies, it's 2009. This means that the following films will be 10 years old this year: Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, The Limey, Fight Club, The Matrix, The Mission (To), The Insider, Three Kings, All About My Mother, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Episode I. Does this fact just seem OUTRIGHT WRONG to anyone else? I may not feel aged, but I do feel old.

Wow. Headache's all but gone. How 'bout that?

Hey, Sleep? I'm on my way.

I'll end tonight by saying thanks to all of you who follow this blog. That you care at all about what I have to say is heartening, to say the least. And I look forward to my eventual trip to Norway, where I can apparently anticipate a reception resembling unconditional worship.


Read: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Watch: Sparrow (dir. Johnnie To, 2008) [Two words: pickpocket showdown.]
Listen to: Born to Hustle: A Collection of Rhythm and Blues by Various Artists

Perhaps You Didn't Know, But...

Hmmmm. Yes, well...we'll see about that. And perhaps sooner than you might think.

Oh, don't worry, kids.

I'll return to less vexed verbosity soon enough, with such fascinating topics as my thoughts on Bond fans (hint: they make comic nerds look pretty sane sometimes), a meeting with Steve Rude, my disappointment in the International Mind Sports Association, bemused wonderment at the power of sentence fragments, an in-depth analysis of a few panels and gutters...

...and why--when robots do battle with donuts--we all win.

Meantime? Crooked Little Vein and sleep will do battle to hold sway over me. I bid you all a good night (or a good whatever time of day you find your eyes upon my meager text).

I've Read Watchmen, Too

A while back, I came across this story on Newsarama: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080828-AfterWatchmen.html

This brief article posits next steps for new comic readers after reading Watchmen, those novice 'mics readers presumably dashing to better bookstores everywhere in fevered anticipation of the film coming to a theater near everyone in March.

Before I go off on my little rant here, let me first say that I love the book. It's far from my favorite comic, but any reader with half a brain will tell you what a seminal work it is for graphic storytelling. I'm also simply blown away by the fact that a teaser trailer for the film is moving so much paper. And heartening as it is to see stacks of Watchmen flying off the shelves--be it at a comic shop or at a Borders--my fear is this:

If you're starting out with Watchmen, you're never going to want to go near another comic book ever again.

No disrespect to the retailer who provided the article, but I would NEVER send a new comic reader immediately to Alan Moore (with 1 exception), or Grant Morrison for that matter. Maybe I'm wrong. True, Watchmen has few continuity obstacles, but it also belongs to a very specific time in comics history and is, in several ways, much too cumbersome a work to hurl into a new comic reader's hands and say, "Hey, newbie! This is what comics are all about! En-joy."

People need to go gently into that good night.

I know, I know. Opinions are like assholes. So let me be an asshole and give you my opinion.

The books below are, in my view, all perfectly reasonable--and reasonably perfect--jumping off points to read comics. I feel there's a solid mix of styles below, though all of the titles very clearly play to my sensibilities. The scripts possess no substantial continuity problems for the reader to tackle. The panel construction is readily decipherable (something I've given quite a bit of thought to over the past couple of years, as I've introduced or re-introduced several of my friends to comics).

And, perhaps most importantly, while Watchmen may be tossed around by the cartooning cognoscenti as comics for smart people, only the most ignorant of readers deny the intelligence to be found in a story simply told.

This is also not to say that what I've listed below are my absolute favorite books. For example, you won't find books like DC: The New Frontier or Identity Crisis on this, because they both require a working knowledge of the scope of the DC Universe. Even so...

Alright. Enough disclaimer-esque foreplay. Want to start (or restart) reading comics? These'll suit you right down to the ground:

Here we go, in no particular order...

1) Superman: For All Seasons, by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
2) Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
3) A Contract with God, by Will Eisner
4) Queen & Country, Vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground, by Greg Rucka & Steve Rolston
5) Fell, Vol. 1: Feral City, by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith
6) Rising Stars, by J. Michael Straczynski et al
7) The Amazing Spider-Man, by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
8) Marvels, by Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross
9) Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
10) Concrete, by Paul Chadwick
11) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
12) The Lone Ranger, by Brett Matthews et al
13) Jack Kirby's Fourth World Saga, by Jack Kirby
14) Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon, by Steve Bryant
15) Grendel, by Matt Wagner
16) Criminal, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Philips
17) Peanuts, by Charles Schultz
18) Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra
19) Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine
20) Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan

Let me know what you think of this list, particularly if you read any of these for the first time. I'll try to write more on each title at a later date.

As I said, while many of them are, not all of these are my absolute favorites. However, maybe one or more of them can serve as a good first step...to you finding your own.


Read: um, any of the above, eh?
Watch: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (dir. Mike Hodges, 2003)
Listen to: Do You Believe in Gosh?, by Mitch Hedberg (may he rest in peace)

Shotgun Full of Buck-thought

Another smattering for you. Here we go.

Apparently the word "millennials," as a reference to Gen-Y'ers, has been around since the early 90s. I only heard it for the first time this past week. I bloody hate it. I mean, it makes our generation sound like we're on a space-faring quest for some crystal city or some such nonsense as that.

You know, there's nothing like a good French gangster film to make you (meaning me) feel utterly grand. Especially if it's got Jean Gabin or Alain Delon. Or Jean Gabin AND Alain Delon.

Singin' in the Rain will also make you feel grand. I watched it in 35mm last night. If you don't walk out of that film with a smile on your face, um, check your pulse. There were three times where the audience applauded. Now, I've never been afraid to applaud for a movie, but I confess to feeling always a bit awkward when I do applaud. No reason to feel awkward, though. An audience breaking into applause is the same thing as the stars breaking into song. Our emotions can't be contained by our thoughts, our feelings, and our widespread smiles any longer, just like--as a friend once told me--the characters' emotions are so full that they can only be expressed in song.

Most of you who know me know that I'm not easily offended by violence. Indeed, I'll say it: I like it. In my movies, comics, etc., of course. In life...not really, no. But in fiction, oh yes. So, how can a comic book cross the line?

If this were a book by Warren Ellis or Garth Ennis, I wouldn't think twice. I expect this kind of ultraviolent gore from those esteemed gents. (Well, Warren's esteemed, at least.) But in a little ol' DC comic called Teen Titans, whose title would ostensibly intend it for people of a teen demographic, it's just plain wrong. I don't care that it's a dream sequence. I don't care that it's a villainous character and she's just doing her thing. This is just plain unnecessary. Although, in a way, I'm kind of grateful. It saves me 3 bucks a month, after all. This sort of crap actually does have wider implications for mainstream comics, and I would point you here for more: http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2008/08/in-this-issuewendy-and-marvin-die.html. She pretty much says all that I want to, and where she mentions there being "no in-between?" That's an ongoing concern for me, which I'll probably talk more about another time.

Current needs: some tennis matches, a trip to a large city, a good freeware program for DVD screen captures on the PC. Oh, and ribs.

Rewatching The Sandbaggers. Dear God, I hope I'm not as dour as Neil Burnside ten years from now...though working for SIS wouldn't be all bad. And I have such better looking hair...

Working on another list for you good folks. This one's a list of the 20 best books to start with if you've either never read comics or haven't read them in a while. Coming soon to a monitor near you.

As much as I'm TV'ed out right now, I went on and started The Office (the US version). I finished the first season. You were all right: taking a break between the British version and this one was a very good idea.

Books I need to reread soon (can't say why, just need to):

• Light in August, by William Faulkner
• Gun, with Occasional Music, by Jonathan Lethem
• Minotaur, by Benjamin Tammuz

Finally...in a world...where Don LaFontaine is no longer with us...Damn. It's just hard to imagine that world.

DC Now Means Darker Cinema

It is, of course, too early for these reports to count as gospel. Nevertheless, it looks like my earlier suspicions about a darker DC Universe on the silver screen are already justified:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080822g.php

Let me say first that I am all in favor of rebooting Superman. While I liked Superman Returns well enough upon initial viewing, it has aged very, very poorly. At the end of the day, while it's a solid bookend to the Donner films, it just was not the Superman film we needed. It was too much of a rehash of, well, everything that had come before. For an example of what I think a reboot should look like--or at least the tone it should take--look to my reading suggestion.

The film's problem was its darkness (and its ultimately yawn-inducing plainness relative to the other films). And now we want to make the reboot darker? So, is Superman forbidden from even cracking a smile now as he stands tall in a black and silver costume? Will Batman start introducing himself as "the goddamned Batman?" And how does one make the Flash darker without killing everything that makes him great, both in and of himself AND in relation to the other characters in the DC Universe?

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad DC's following Marvel's plan to introduce characters in their own movies first and then tie them together into the Justice League. It's what they should have done in the first place. And, it should be said that I've liked the Marvel films leading up to The Avengers (i.e. Iron Man & The Incredible Hulk).

I just find the irony ridiculously rich with respect to tone of these films. Excepting the last few years, these companies' film series are taking the polar opposite approaches to their respective comic universes. I generally consider Marvel's to be a darker comic universe...mostly because DC characters smile more often. (Okay, that's not the only reason, but still...) DC has always felt more fun and sweeping to me, as opposed to Marvel's more grounded approach.

Now Marvel is shooting to make us marvel again at their characters on the silver screen, while thanks to the brain donors over at Warner Bros., DC now means Darker Cinema.

I hate being right about crap like this.


Read: Superman: For All Seasons, by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Watch: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (dir. Eric Radomski & Bruce Timm, 1993)
Listen to: ME, you idiots who are going to make ruinous films with some of the greatest characters ever created! Don't do it! Do right by the characters!

The Movie We Deserve, and the Movie We Need Right Now

I had much grander plans in mind for this entry. I wanted to write a review of The Dark Knight that was as polished as the script was tight. Actually, that's not even it. I was well on my way to writing an interminably long, grand unifying theory of Batman. Particularly for my humble ol' blog, that's a touch too much. It's just taken entirely too long.

And then two things happened to make me--as the man says--mad as assholes. First, in the midst of the backlash against the movie, people are reaching for the most inane reasons not to like the film--like questioning Christian Bale's voice as Batman. (When, again, was it so bad to sound like Clint Eastwood?) Second was this article, entitled "The Dark Knight Regurgitates," from Comic Book Resources, http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17578

And so, here I am, my wry smile holding back vomitous contempt.

Now, most of you reading this...you're a group of kindred spirits and like minds, and what I'm about to write in these next two sentences is not for your discerning eyes. For those of you random strangers who will stumble upon this blog (and, bizarrely, I know you're out there), take heed:

If you didn't like The Dark Knight, I'm sorry to say that one of two things is the cause:

1) You're engaging in exceptional self-delusion, or
2) While the film was running, your eyes were shut.

After all, I can't think of a movie in recent memory that has garnered such a universally positive reaction as The Dark Knight. Oh, but no...we can't have that. Not a superhero movie. It can't be that great. Not a chance.

But you know what? Yes it can. I went in with the highest expectations possible. I came out with those expectations surpassed. As I said before, this is the Batman film I've always dreamed of seeing. Instead of posting some elaborate treatise, just lemme give ya the reasons why.

CAUTION: for those of you who haven't seen the film, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! Come back when you've seen it, or keep going if you don't mind spoilers...but you DO mind spoilers, don't you?


(HINT: You bloody do.)


Here we go, in no particular order...

1. Let's get this out of the way: Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is one of the greatest in cinema history. Bar none. I'd speak of it in the same breath that I would Renee Falconetti as Joan of Arc or George C. Scott as Patton. He gets "all those little emotions," hilariously terrifying though they may be, so perfectly right that it's heartbreaking. Ledger flawlessly strikes the balance in the script between the chaotic clown and the scheming psychopath. Even taking into account that final, epic fight in Spider-Man 3 or the final scene of Batman Begins, the hospital scene between the Joker and Two-Face captured the spirit of a comic book scene more than any other film. Near the end, when the Joker says to Batman that they're destined to battle each other forever, it should make us all sad--as my good friend Brandon put it--because he's absolutely right...and they tragically can't.

2. The movie captures both the hope and the tragedy of the Gotham trinity's war against crime (i.e. Batman, Jim Gordon, & Harvey Dent) better even than most of the books, including Batman: The Long Halloween, which provides much of the spirit of these characters' relationships. You need only look at the final showdown when Two-Face holds a gun on Jim's son to see that come together. I don't think there's been a more tension-filled scene in recent movie history, particularly with that crushing declaration from Harvey: "You thought we could be decent men...in an indecent time!"

3. Batman goes to Hong Kong. Seriously, what's not to love there? Particularly in IMAX. And aside from the automatic cool factor, it worked quite well narratively. With a few exceptions, it always seemed strange for Batman to leave Gotham in the comics. It works here. And the fact that the skyhook that's used to lift him out of that building was seen before in a little film called Thunderball...well...that just warms the heart.

4. The action sequences were fantastically shot. Forgive my harsh, rhyming tongue here, but I don't give two bits and a bucket of shit for the opinions of those who claim the fight scenes are woefully incomprehensible (you same, ahem, critics who just splooge over the Bourne films being the pinnacle of action cinema). TDK's staging was just plain great. The cutting was admittedly quick, but you know what? So are real fights, kids, or real fights between people who know how to fight, anyway. Besides, the quick cutting was never to the point of "confuse-o-vision" (TM pending). At no time did I lose myself in the space, and the planar staging had the added bonus of allowing me to watch Batman dispatch--one by one--anybody in his path with just the sort of elegantly brutal hand-to-hand combat I expect from the world's greatest martial artist.

Additionally, Nolan has stated in an interview that he's thought about doing the next film entirely in IMAX. This thrills me no end with the possibilities for future fight scenes. After all, in a 1.44 ratio, it'd be pretty fantastic to see fights taking place on, say, the ground floor of a room, and then a second floor scaffolding...all in the same frame.

Two floors of kick-assery. In IMAX. Yes.

5. One of the changes to this Bat-universe that I love is cemented once and for all in this film. Namely, Lucius Fox (as portrayed by Morgan Freeman, in a performance every bit as reliable as his character) knows that Bruce is Batman. This is a correction the comics have required for years. Admittedly, it may have come and I might have missed it, but I don't think I have. It's heartening to see the film treat Lucius as the brilliant man he would have to be to run Wayne Enterprises for Bruce. More than that, it gives Bruce an extra member of his extended family, which as a whole is much more grounded and compelling in these films (Alfred, Rachel, Lucius, Jim, Harvey) than in the comics (Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Oracle, etc.).

Oh, let's see...what else...

6. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard top their already superb score for the first film. It's easily one of the best 5 or 10 scores of the past 8 years (hmmm, I see that entry in my future).

7. Gary Oldman is Jim Gordon. Rolling Stone offered the best comment I've seen about this film, and it regards his performance: "Oldman is so skilled he makes virtue look exciting."

8. On the subject of performances, the rest were outstanding too. I remember Christian Bale said something that caught my ear at the 2007 TDK panel in Chicago: "Once I put on the suit, there's only one way to play it." In much the same way that Daniel Craig has brought my vision of Bond to life, so too has Bale done for Bruce and for Batman. I could rave about everybody else, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Maggie Gyllenhaal, who imbues Rachel Dawes with greater beauty, intelligence, and screen presence than Katie Holmes ever could.

9. At the film's end, when Batman chooses to shoulder the blame for the cops Harvey's killed, he says something to Gordon that moves me every single time I hear it:

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be."

That's the other focus of this Bat-universe that sets it above its source material: Bruce's love for Gotham, and his resolute belief that it is a city both worth saving and within his power to save. The comics have moved away from this in favor of...oh, how best to put this...other aspects of the character's mythos (read "continuity porn," a new favorite phrase of mine). There's that line in Rachel's note where she tells Bruce not to lose his faith in people. It seems very much like a throwaway line, but remember that this is a Batman that's out not only to terrify evil but also to inspire good. He believes in Gotham's people.

That's the truly great thing about the ferry scene: some of us may not think it's realistic, but it taps into that part of us that believes that humanity could actually be that noble. (Reminds me of the unmasking scene in Spider-Man 2...except better.) Gordon says of Batman that, "He's the hero we deserve, but not the one we need right now." He was, heh, half right.

10. I like the fact that the movie leaves Two-Face's fate ambiguous. I've talked with people who are convinced he's dead as can be, and I've talked with others who are convinced that his funeral was a sham and that Gordon secreted him off to Arkham Asylum. While there's more evidence in the film to support the first viewpoint, I tend toward the second for two reasons: 1) Two-Face is my favorite villain next to the Joker, and I really would like to see him in another film (though perhaps not the next one), and 2) it seems to me that if Two-Face is dead, then Batman would have to concede that the Joker did indeed win. After all, Batman would have broken his one rule: not to kill. This was a problem I had the first time I saw Batman Begins, when Batman says to Ra's al Ghul, "I won't kill you...but I don't have to save you."

Then again, whether with killing Harvey to save Gordon's son, or using the cell-phone sonar device, there now comes an interesting possibility for the plot of the third film. With Bruce having now "finally learned to do what is necessary," and running from Gotham's finest (time to introduce Montoya and Allen and the rest of Gotham Central), I'd like to see the return of Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul to try to reclaim Bruce as his greatest student. For those who don't know, Ra's al Ghul is able to return from the dead through Lazarus Pits, which are...argh, just go here for more info on how he's definitely not dead.

As further enticement for Bruce to go over to his former teacher's side, his daughter Talia could be introduced. I like Eva Green for this, but then what don't I like her for?

This approach makes so much more sense to me than to introduce a new villain, such as the Riddler or the Penguin, who couldn't possibly top the Joker. We might as well have the next film bring us back to the beginning, which provides some really interesting character opportunities for our Dark Knight.

However, the next installment would need a new, bona fide love interest, and Talia won't do--particularly if the series continues after a third film. Ms. Selina Kyle? You're up.

Regardless of the storyline, though it will have nothing to do with the book of the same name, there's really only one title for the third film.

The Dark Knight Returns

I could talk more about how amazingly tight the script is, how excellent the dialogue is, or even how the film really ISN'T an endorsement of the Bush administration's wiretapping tactics (after all, that technology nearly costs Batman his life in his fight with the Joker).

Instead, I'll leave you with this...

Grant Morrison, in his very aptly titled blog, "HEAD," compared The Dark Knight with the comic epic Watchmen, in that he believes that The Dark Knight's impact on superhero filmmaking will be as comparably enormous as Watchmen's on superhero comics (Watchmen itself to come to the silver screen in '09). I agree, but there's a modicum of dread that stems from that notion. In Watchmen's wake followed a slew of "dark" and "edgy" comics that pushed that medium's mainstream storytelling into the intellectual red. I don't want that to happen with the films yet to come, for making films like The Dark Knight or Casino Royale--it's not about making them dark or edgy. It's not even about making them serious.

It's about making them right. It's about giving us, as intelligent moviegoers, the movies we deserve, and the movies we need right now.

And every bit as much as Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, The Dark Knight is exactly the movie we deserve.


Read: Screw reading tonight, kids. Go see The Dark Knight.
Watch: Um...I believe we've covered this.
Listen to: A certain soundtrack. I'll give you two guesses, but you'll get it in one.