Is It Wednesday Yet? // Huntress, Batgirl, the New 52

If you've been paying attention to the comics blogs and news sites (and since you are reading this, I'm going to assume that you have), then you probably know that DC has announced a second wave of "New 52" titles along with other changes to their line, including some cancellations. As you might expect, some of the announcements were rather baffling. It was no big surprise that Hawk & Dove was cancelled, since it was undoubtedly one of DC's worst books and the sales were very low, but how could this possibly lead to artist Rob Liefeld being given not one but THREE books in exchange? It's really hard to understand how DC arrives at those types of decisions. I'm not going to waste any time speculating about it. The good news here is that the books Liefeld will be drawing are not books I would ever in a million years be tempted to read, so it's not like this has any effect on me at all.

Another bit of news had to do with the character of Huntress, who is currently starring in an eponymous mini-series written by Paul Levitz, and who will soon co-star with Power Girl in a new title by the same writer called World's Finest. What we learned about her is that she's not Helena Bertinelli, the character most fans are familiar with since she's been appearing in DC comics for the past 20 years, but Helena Wayne, her somewhat more obscure pre-Crisis equivalent. (Just read this post from DC Women Kicking Ass if you're confused.)

Why does this matter? As some people have pointed out, in the reboot, all characters have been changed, so this was never going to be the pre-New 52 Huntress, regardless of her name. That may be true, but clearly some characters are changing more than others. Bruce Wayne may technically be a few years younger than he was, and a few details from his early years as Batman may have changed, but if you're reading Scott Snyder's Batman, you know that he's pretty much writing him exactly the same way he would have written him in pre-52 continuity.

The point is, while there are a few New 52 books that I think are really good, almost all of them would have worked just as well in pre-New 52 continuity: Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Batwoman, Batman, Batman and Robin. The books and characters that have been changed the most - Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Superman, Justice League - are of no interest to me, because they all feel like inferior versions of their predecessors. (The only exception is Wonder Woman.)

So now we have Huntress in her own mini-series, wearing essentially the same costume as in her pre-New 52 appearances, drawn gorgeously by Marcus To, going on an international mission to Italy where we find out that she's fluent in Italian. I hope you'll forgive me for assuming that this was Helena Bertinelli. And I was reading it in spite of the fact that the story is a freaking bore and some of it is vaguely racist, simply because this is one of the only female characters I liked from pre-New 52 DCU who survived unchanged and got her own book, so damn right I'm going to support it.

But, hey! What an idiot! I can't believe I fell for it. Of course she's not who I thought she was. She's Helena Wayne. A character I've never read before and don't really care about.

Why the change? Is it because she's more interesting if she's linked to Bruce Wayne? Is it because DC is more concerned with appealing to old men who used to read comics and maybe might be interested in reading them again if they feature characters they recognize?

I don't know. But I lost interest. I'm not even going to finish the mini-series. I'm done with that one.

*

Incidentally, I'm also done with Batgirl. I read this interview with Gail Simone and it annoyed me for a few different reasons I don't even really want to get into. But the short version is that I have no desire to read this book anymore. I was very much against the idea of Barbara Gordon not being Oracle anymore and the only reason I decided to read the new series was to give Gail Simone a chance to prove me wrong. I think five issues is more than a fair chance, and at this point I have read absolutely nothing that in any way justifies what they've done to the character. The story they are telling is not terrible. But it's just not worth what was lost. Not even close. I miss Oracle. I miss Stephanie Brown. And I miss Bryan Q. Miller.

The worst part is that Gail Simone keeps mentioning that Batgirl is the top-selling female solo book on the market, which I suppose is one way to measure it's success, and I feel like a goddamn tool for having contributed to that success. I bought the first five issues was so that I could judge it for myself and nobody could tell me I was bashing a book I hadn’t even read. Well, I read it, and I hereby judge it to be bad. If I could go back in time and un-buy those five issues, I would.

*

Oh, well. Here are some comics I will buy this week:

• Batman #5
• Wonder Woman #5
• Amazing Spider-Man #678
• Daredevil #8
• Superior #7

Books I read: Action Comics, Animal Man, Huntress, Swamp Thing

Yes, I do plan on spending some time this month reviewing some of the non-DC/Marvel comics on my pull list. But that doesn't mean I stop covering the New 52. Here are some quick thoughts on the new issues I read this week.

Action Comics #2
Written by Grant Morrison; pencils by Rags Morales and Brent Anderson; inks by Rick Bryant and Brent Anderson; colours by Brad Anderson; DC 

One of my biggest concerns with DC's relaunch is that their commitment to shipping all the books on time will lead to more unsolicited fill-in artists. I hate unsolicited fill-in artists with the passion of a thousand suns. I understand that artists need a break from time to time. But I think how much work an artist can handle should be planned into the schedule. Either alternate between two art teams, or plan for guest artists between story arcs. It's simply not acceptable to announce a book with one creative team and then ship it with a different (and most of the time inferior) creative team.

Consistency of art is really important to me. I have a feeling that I'm in the minority, but whatever. As a consumer, I'm just not willing to keep supporting books that constantly disappoint me in that department. I've learned my lesson from DC in recent months, and one of the conditions I set for myself when I decided to try out some of these New 52 issues was that the moment an unsolicited fill-in artist would appear in a book, that book would get dropped from my pull list.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, Action Comics made it through one-and-a-half issue before Rags Morales needed some help. The art in the second issue is wildly inconsistent. I'm assuming that the pages not drawn by Morales are the ones that feature Lois Lane. That would certainly explain why she looks like a completely different character in every panel she appears in.

The patch-up art job is already enough for me to stop buying this book. But there's another reason. This book costs $3.99. If I remember correctly, the justification for the extra dollar on some of the New 52 books (despite DC's much publicized "holding the line" campaign pre-September and their promises to stick to $2.99 till the end of the year) was that it's a longer than the standard 20 pages we get in other books. Well, I counted the story pages in this issue and there are 20. The rest are bonus material, ads and a preview for some Batman graphic novel. So where's my extra dollar going? Hint: It's not "bonus" material if I have to pay extra for it.

All this ranting and I haven't even talked about the content yet. Is this a terrible comic? No. It's an average comic book that I already wasn't that stoked on after the first issue, but I figured I would give it a chance. I did. And now it's over. I will not be buying issue #3.

Animal Man #2
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Travel Foreman; colours by Lovern Kindzierski; DC

I didn't enjoy this issue quite as much as I enjoyed the first one. I think it's because of the way Maxine feels more like a plot device than a character. I find it a little bit of a cop out that Buddy doesn't really have to do any work to figure out what is going on. All he has to do is listen to his daughter explain everything to him and guide him to this magical world nobody knew existed just 24 hours earlier. It's just awfully convenient that Maxine has all the answers.

In spite of that, I did enjoy the issue. I still think the art is visually striking and original. I think those who weren't sold on the art in the first issue will probably have even more problems with it in this one, but I actually find it refreshing to have a comic that is so stylistically different from anything else that DC puts out each month. It's about as far away from a conventional "house style" as you can get.

Still a strong title and in no real danger of getting bumped off my pull list for the foreseeable future.

Huntress #1
Written by Paul Levitz; pencils by Marcus To; inks by John Dell; colours by Andrew Dalhouse; DC

This is the first of a six-issue mini-series. The first thing that struck me about it is how unfortunate it is that DC hired Guillem March to do the covers instead of letting Marcus To handle them. The difference between the tacky mess of a cover and the gorgeous, classy art inside is almost shocking as you open the book. Marcus To was fantastic on Red Robin and here he continues to impress me with his clean lines and layouts. The only criticism I have of the art is that there isn't much to differentiate the women's faces from one another, but that's a very common problem in comics. In any case, it's not really a big enough deal to take anything away from my enjoyment of this first issue.

Paul Levitz has a good handle on the character. This was a good, introduction to what seems like it's going to be a pretty straightforward (but potentially very satisfying) story. Helena's character doesn't seem to be affected by the relaunch at all (from what I can tell), so if you're a fan of the character you won't be disappointed.

Solid first issue. I'm onboard.

Swamp Thing #2
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Yanick Paquette; colours by Nathan Fairbairn; DC

The first issue was good, but this second issue is even better. Paquette's art (helped by Fairbairn's detailed colours) is blowing my mind.

A large part of this issue is mostly just an info dump, as (one version of) Swamp Thing explains to Alec Holland what the deal is with the Green, the Parliament of Trees, and his connection to Swamp Thing. I was a little bit worried when I found out a few months ago that Swamp Thing was coming back to the DCU and that Alec Holland would be resurrected. I don't worship Alan Moore's work, but I think some of the concepts he established in in run on Swamp Thing are really rich and fascinating, and I didn't want to see that get wiped out of continuity.

What's amazing is that Scott Snyder somehow manages to honour Moore's run while establishing a new status quo for the character. Instead of just retconning Moore's run, he adds new elements that force us to reinterpret it. I don't know how interesting it is to new readers, but I thought all the back story in this issue was great. And now I'm really excited to see where it's all going to lead.

Scott Snyder is simply amazing. There's no doubt in my mind now that he's the best writer working for DC. I am so completely sold on what he's doing here and in Batman (and in his creator-owned work) that I'm basically just going to buy anything and everything he writes from now on. You want good comics? I suggest you do the same.

Comic Book Carnage 004: Legion of Super-Heroes and Silver Surfer

It's time for another edition of Comic Book Carnage, in which Mike (from It's a Bit of a Shame) and I put our friendship to the test and argue about stuff. Today, we review Legion of Super-Heroes #10 and Silver Surfer #1.

(Contains spoilers, mostly for Silver Surfer #1)

Legion of Super-Heroes #10
Written by Paul Levitz; art by Yildiray Cinar and Wayne Faucher; DC

Mike: I'll be honest. I don't like this book because it did anything better than any other book; I like it because it features characters I like doing cool stuff. Which made me wonder if it's enjoyable to someone who's not as big a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. So, Yan, you're nearly a year into reading this book. Have these characters grown on you at all?

Yan: Yes, they have. I feel like I'm starting to get a sense of who the individual characters are and the relationships between them. I'm still fascinated by the way Paul Levitz is handling this huge cast of characters who are often busy doing several different things at once in different parts of the universe. As far as I can tell, this kind of storytelling is unique to this book (at least in terms of what is currently being published by DC and Marvel).

Mike: Well, I'm glad to hear the book's succeeded at appealing to newer readers.

Yan: Yeah, although I wouldn't say it's new-reader friendly. It's definitely a challenge. If you don't already know the characters, you have to make an effort to get into it, but that's sort of inherent to the LOSH, I think. As far as the story goes, I confess that I'm not sure I fully understood what was going on with the Durlan assassins plot. It's probably not that complicated, but for me, because I'm already struggling to remember who the characters are, it was a bit hard to follow at times. At the end of the issue, when that whole plot seems to be resolved, it kind of took me by surprise. Because I was still kind of waiting for everything to click together and make sense.

Mike: One part that's bothered me about the direction of the story, and obviously this isn't Levitz's fault, is the choice of team leader.

Yan: Yeah. Maybe we should explain that, in case readers don't know what we're talking about. Traditionally, the leader of the team is chosen by the fans. They have an election in the story, but DC actually gets the fans to send in their votes. And this time, the Mon-El won the election, and the problem is Paul Levitz obviously had different plans for him with the whole Green Lantern of the 31st Century plot. You can really sense in this issue that he's trying to reconcile the results of the poll with the story that he'd already started working on. And it's kind of clunky.

Mike: I felt kind of sad when Mon-El's called back to take over leadership duties. He's right in the middle of what could have been a great subplot.

Yan: Yeah. It's a bit of a bummer. Fans really shot themselves in the foot with that one.

Mike: Although this lead to some great moments involving Brainiac 5, who is acting as leader until Mon-El's return. I feel like Brainiac 5 is the key to enjoying LOSH, much like Damian in Batman & Robin, there's just something really enjoyable about an arrogant jerk with the intelligence to back it up

Yan: Yeah, I agree. He's an enjoyable character for sure. I don't remember who I voted for in the election... In fact, I'm not even sure I did vote. But he's the character that stands out the most to me in terms of personality and I considered picking him. But then I realized that was too obvious, and in a way his character is more interesting if he's not in a position of authority. I like how he sort of stays on the sidelines and does his own thing, and then before anyone else has even had a chance to process what's going on, he's solved the case.

What do you think about the art? I know you were very critical of Cinar in earlier issues. Are you warming up to his style, or you still don't like it?

Mike: I acknowledge that this is an backhanded compliment, but I realize that in comparison to other artists working at DC he's not so bad.

Yan: Okay. Maybe that's why I never had a problem with his art in the first place. But another way of putting it is that it's competent. It may not be spectacular, but there's nothing really wrong with it. It's consistent.

Mike: I guess my problems stems from the fact that the last major take on these characters was by Gary Frank and George Perez, which shaped my current interpretation of these characters. So basically Yildiray Cinar's biggest crime is not being as good as the best of the industry.

Yan: Which is maybe a bit unfair. I mean, I wish this level of art quality was the standard at DC. This should be what average books look like, and then you'd have the really stand-out artists (Francis Manapul, Dustin Nguyen, etc) kicking it up a notch. If this were the case, I'd be satisfied. But when I look at the revolving door of shitty fill-in artists that Birds of Prey has seen since it relaunched, or the hacks they have on some of the high-profile books, it's really disheartening.

Okay, unless you have anything to add, let's maybe wrap this one up. I was thinking maybe we could start rating these books using my Patented Custom Super-vague Nebulous Non-scientific Rating Scale™. It's completely adaptable in the sense that you don't have to follow it at all. But basically, summarize your assessment of the book in a word or two.

Mike: Okay. Considering all that we have said, I think I will give this a GOOD.

Yan: Yeah, agreed. GOOD.

Silver Surfer #1
Written by Greg Pak; art by Stephen Segovia and Victor Olazaba; Marvel

Yan: I have a feeling we might not agree as much on this second book.

Mike: Yeah! This will be exciting. Since I get the impression that you enjoyed it, I want you to start us off so I will have more ammo for when I rip the book apart.

Yan: All right. As always with Marvel, I have limited exposure to the characters. Although in this case, I've at least read some Silver Surfer before. I read the classic Stan Lee/John Buscema stuff, and I've also encountered the character in The Infinity Gauntlet.

I was initially a bit thrown off by the way this ties into continuity. I figured out later that this happens immediately after Chaos War, which I haven't read, so I guess that explains why Galactus is knocked out at the beginning. At least they dealt with this quickly enough and then moved on with the story. So even though it starts as a kind of epilogue to a story I haven't read, it didn't take too much away from my enjoyment of the rest of the book.

What I liked about it was that it seemed pretty true to the character as I understand him: a kind of theatrical/emo drama queen. The Silver Surfer's inner monologue had a cheesiness to it that I always associate with the character.

I don't know who that Suzie Endo character is, and the whole plot about her working with the military and tracking those drug dealers or whatever was going on there... I wasn't too keen on that part of it. It was a bit hard for me to care about any of that, since it's a bit devoid of context. However, I thought the issue ended on a really strong note [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS] with the reveal that Silver Surfer is losing his power. That scene was well done and it got me excited about where this was going, so I'm looking forward to the next issue.

Mike: First, yes, I agree that Greg Pak has nailed the highly emotional tone of the Silver Surfer, and for me that was one of the book's strongest points. But ultimately there were too many problems. Like the artist. Stephen Segovia's art just doesn't work for me. His Silver Surfer is too beefy. The Esad Ribic illustration featured at the beginning of the book is the ideal Surfer to me - smooth, kind of androgynous. Segovia's characters also lacked unique faces. The Mexican girl who shows up at the beginning doesn't look too different from Suzie Endo.

Speaking of Suzie, she didn't really grab me as a character, and I'm not fond of the idea that Pak feels this need to inject a more grounded character for readers, like the Silver Surfer is too hard to identify with. And my final gripe (I promise) is the use of the High Evolutionary. I'm guessing he's going to be the central villain, but he's only in this book for a startling two pages. Considering he's the catalyst for the main conflict, I would expect a little more time dedicated to him.

Yan: Okay. Let me tackle these points individually. I agree with your criticism of the art. It's not so bad that it detracts a whole lot from my enjoyment of the book, but I agree the female characters look too similar. I hadn't really thought about Silver Surfer's beefiness, but now that you mention it, I can see that also.
Although for me that applies to pretty much all super-heroes - I always prefer them with leaner bodies, so maybe I've learned to tune that out.

While I'm not really drawn to the character of Suzie very much, I'm not sure that her purpose here is to ground the reader who can't identify with the Silver Surfer. I'm hoping that she has an important role to play in the coming issues. Traditionally, Silver Surfer is always misunderstood by the humans, who see him as a threat. This is how the army guys react to him. Suzie's the only one who's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And with him losing his powers, I'm assuming she'll have an important role to play in helping him regain them. So while I'm not really stoked on the character, I think she's there for a reason, and hopefully by the end of this mini-series she'll have grown on me.

Finally, about the villain, I don't know if that's a fair criticism. It's a pretty standard trope to introduce your major antagonist near the end of the first issue. I don't know that we really needed to spend more time on him. I'm surprised this bothered you. Is it more that you don't like this particular villain, or you would have felt the same way no matter who it was?

Mike: I felt that it ruined the flow of the story to have him show up so briefly. To me, Silver Surfer losing his powers should have had more attention. Basically the whole sequence felt rushed to me. So I guess pacing is my problem, not the villain.

Yan: Okay. Well, I disagree completely. Those last five or six pages were my favourite part of the issue, and I thought the pacing was perfect. I'd argue it's the strongest thing about the issue, even. The way that he first breaks away from the High Evolutionary and seems to have the upper hand, then he loses control of his board and it's like, "What the fuck?" Then the blood, then the bullets going through the board, then the reveal in the final full-page slash. That was like a perfectly edited sequence - very cinematic and calculated for maximum effect. And the fact that the guy who causes all of this basically just shows up, does something unclear, then says "my apologies" and leaves, is kind of awesome.

Mike: I guess then all the other problems I had made it so that I was no longer invested in the story. So when that sequence came along I wasn't capable of enjoying it.

Yan: Hmm. Well, too bad. So I guess this is a DROP for you, i.e., you're not gonna buy the next issue?

Mike: I feel bad saying it since you enjoyed it so much, but I am going to have to go with DROP.

Yan: That's okay. I don't take it personally. I'm going to go with a cautiously optimistic GOOD. Not a huge fan of the art, but a promising start. My enjoyment of the rest of the series will mostly depend on whether Greg Pak can make me like Suzie or not.

Comic Book CA-CA-CAAARNAAGE! #001

Welcome to the first edition of a new semi-regular feature where Mike (from It's a Bit of a Shame) and I talk about some comics we bought. This week, we're looking at Legion of Super-Heroes #3, Neonomicon #1 and Meta 4 #2. There may be spoilers.

Let the ca-ca-carnage begin...

Yan: Good morning.

Mike: We're all professional, getting up before 1:00.

Yan: Yeah.

Mike: I guess we can get right down to business. Oh, and don't worry if we get off topic.

Yan: No, I'm not worried. If it gets really bad, we can edit later. Or just throw it all in. It's not like anyone's gonna read this. Except maybe Gail Simone. So how are we going to do this?

Mike: I guess we name a comic and then start talking about it until we get bored and then move onto the next.

Yan: That sounds like a pretty good plan.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #3
Written by Paul Levitz; art by Yildiray Cinar, Francis Portela and Wayne Faucher.

Let's start with Legion of Super-Heroes #3 then. This one should be interesting, because you're an experienced Legion reader, whereas I'm a total noob.

Mike: Yeah, and after reading this most recent issue, I was left wondering if any casual reader could enjoy this.

Yan: It's a bit overwhelming.

Mike: It's like this explosion of characters that never really get fleshed out. I mean, how many friggin' characters have shown up in this issue?

Yan: A lot. I think it was Johanna at Comics Worth Reading who said something about how if you want to be a fan of the Legion, you have to do a lot of work. But I kind of like that it's a challenge, even just in terms of the ridiculous number of characters.

Mike: Yeah, but I don't know if it's much of a reward. Like, this book continues the tradition of having the Legion books get saddled with the most average artwork possible. Also, the two artists on this book do not resemble each other in the least.



Yan: I guess the art is sort of average. But it hasn't bothered me too much so far. Maybe because I'm too busy trying to figure out what's going on and who these characters are. But I do like is that there is so much happening, and while Levitz keeps a fairly quick pace in terms of the action, I also get the sense that he's very carefully putting a lot of story elements in place that are going to pay off later. I mean, there's a lot of different plot threads going simultaneously.

Mike: Thoughts on that last page?

Yan: Some jerkoff blogger spoiled it for me. I took him of my RSS reading list. But I'm excited. I just wish I had read Great Darkness Saga already, but I'm waiting for that Deluxe Edition to come out. Is it next month?

Mike: I have no clue as I possess the actual issues and therefore have no need for a luxury priced hard cover. Yes, that sounded as catty as I had hoped for.

Yan: Oh, yeah, I forgot we were supposed to make this catty.

Mike: You can always play the role of the guy who gets befuddled by my sassy remarks and mumbles "Oh, jeez" to himself.

Yan: I don't like that role. I'll come up with a better one. Anyway, what's your take on the last page?

Mike: It's cool. Definitely had me excited about the next issue, but at the same time I was rolling my eyes because Levitz is already going back to that story.

Yan: Yeah, I guess it's a bit obvious.

Mike: Any final thoughts before we move onto our next book?

Yan: Maybe just a few comments on how the Green Lantern power ring ties into all this. That was an odd choice, I thought, and I'm wondering how it's all going to come together. It seems like the Green Lantern mythos ties into this story in a big way. Even the thing that triggers the destruction of Titan at the beginning is tied into Oan mythos and their ban on witnessing the beginning of the universe.



Mike: I didn't even think of that!

Yan: I can't remember the character's name... Who was it again?

Mike: The one who received the ring?

Yan: No, the guy who wanted to study the birth of the universe and 'caused all that shit to happen the first time around.

Mike: Krona.

Yan: Yes.

Mike: Ugh, how do I know this?

Yan: 'Cause it's important.

NEONOMICON #1
Written by Alan Moore; art by Jacen Burrows.

All right. Let's move on to Neonomicon #1.

Mike: It makes me think of a friend I had who looked just like HP Lovecraft. He used to carry around a cigarette case which he used to store his coke straws.

Yan: LOL. Was HP Lovecraft a cokehead?

Mike: No. I doubt there were any coke dealers in Providence.

Yan: That's a shame.

Mike: I see him being all about absinthe, probably thought that would make him look like a rebel in front of the ladies.

Yan: Yeah, that seems more his style.

Mike: I liked this comic. It was scary, which is such a rarity in comics.

Yan: True.



Mike: But I was not down with the artwork. I felt like Jacen Burrows wasn't getting Alan Moore's script, like certain character actions weren't emphasized correctly and there were scene transitions that didn't work.

Yan: I'm not a fan of the art either. I'm not even sure I understand what's going on with the location. Are they in some kind of domed city? Is the city underwater?

Mike: Yeah, that was pretty weird. I guess we're just supposed to roll with it.

Yan: The page where you see the dome for the first time is confusing as hell. I think it's meant to be the equivalent of a crane shot, with the camera pulling back until you eventually move out of the dome. But when I saw it, I thought the dome was a completely different location and it took me a while to put it together. Aside from the art, though, I was really surprised by how much of a Law and Order feel this book has. I didn't really expect that from a Lovecraftian story. But it's an interesting start.

Mike: So that Cthulhu punk band singing in that...uh, squid language. Were you also more amused than scared by that?

Yan: Yeah, that part was hilarious. I don't know if it was meant to be scary. I mean, "I want my thing on your doorstep." I'm totally stealing these lyrics for my punk band.



Mike: I really don't see R'lyeh bands ever getting popular though. They'd probably all come off as extremely nerdy, kind of like Nile and their Egypt thing.

Yan: To get back to the police procedural feel... I'm not sure how well it's working for me. I like the mystery that Alan Moore has set up, and the creepy scene with the Michael Jackson lookalike in the mural painting was my favourite part. But the police work seemed kind of amateurish. I didn't find it very believable the way they botched the club raid at all. Why would they spot the guy, immediately call in back up, and let him run out of the building? If they were after him specifically, the first thing they would have done would've been to arrest him before blowing their cover. I don't know how much of that is the art and how much is the script, though.

Mike: Naw, that's probably 100% Alan Moore. I'm sure he thinks Americans do things exactly like they do in 24 and Law and Order.

Yan: But look at the panel where the guy escapes. Every cop in the club has his back turned on him. You'd think they would since he was their #1 target they would pay some attention to him instead of letting slip out the back door. And then Gordon's like, "Don't worry about it. We've got cops in the back. They'll take care of it." It's like they don't even give a shit.

Mike: They live in a domed city that's either at the bottom of the ocean or on the moon. Things don't work the same in there!

Yan: My guess is that this is still on earth. They mention Washington DC and Brooklyn. Maybe the air has become unbreatheable, or the ocean levels rose and covered the continent. Underwater would make sense, since that's where Cthulhu sleeps. What did you think of the "money shot," the naked old woman with her throat sliced and her genitalia exposed. Gratuitous?

Mike: For an Avatar book I thought it was pretty tame. Did you catch the spent strap-on dildos in the corner of that panel?

Yan: OMG, no, I totally missed that.

Mike: Oh man, and they only had one bed in that house!!

Yan: Yeah, that part I did catch. Anyway, I'm going to keep reading and see where this goes. How many issues are planned for this?

Mike: No clue.

META 4 #2
By Ted McKeever.

Now for Meta 4 #2! I picked this up because you were fond of the first issue, so why don't you start us off?

Yan: Okay. Did you read the first issue?

Mike: I did. I rather liked clip art speaking Santa woman.



Yan: Yeah. I have to confess I have no idea what this comic book is about. It's pretty hard to say anything about it without having read the full 5-issue run, I think.

Mike: Totally. Will you feel cheated if those police transcripts add up to nothing?

Yan: Um, I don't know. I don't necessarily expect them to be directly tied to the main narrative. I'd like to think they're not just totally random, but I don't know how they relate yet. The cover calls this an "allegorical series" which seems like a big clue as to how one should read it. The police transcripts in this issue hint that they are from some kind of school shooting, which adds a new dimension to it all. I haven't had a chance to go back and re-read the first issue with that in mind.

Mike: Yeah, I got a Columbine feel with this issue's transcripts as well.

Yan: Oh, actually, a quick Google search led to this. This matches the address given in the transcript. So I guess it's not a school shooting. [EDIT: For more on the Binghamton shootings, see here.]

Mike: I guess those transcripts really don't have anything to do with the story. So have you read much else by Ted McKeever?

Yan: No, nothing.

Mike: All of his comics are like this. Really ugly looking people doing weird stuff.

Yan: I'll probably try to write about it once it's done, but it seems kind of silly at this point to say anything more than, "Huh?"

Mike: Very true.

Yan: Well, this was fun. Next time we'll try to keep it down to an hour. Maybe if we're more focussed or something.

Mike: Yeah, we'll get better at this.

Yan: Might even prepare for it with some specific things to bring up for discussion.

Mike: Bluh. I'm going to go fall asleep now.