Five Images

Calvin and Hobbes by Tom Fowler (via Comic Twart)

Supergirl by Batfee@DeviantArt

Sweet Tooth by Ron Chan (via Periscope Studio)

Wolverine by Rafael Grampa

Wonder Woman by Oliver Nome

Fear Itself #1 - How to appear relevant while saying absolutely nothing

Fear Itself #1
"The Serpent"
Written by Matt Fraction; Art by Stuart Immonen (and others? There's a bunch of people credited - with different names on the cover and inside the book - but it doesn't say who did what, so I'm confused); Marvel

Last week I wrote a post about my decision to completely ignore Fear Itself. And yet, here I am, reviewing issue number one. Why? Well, for one thing, it was kind of a slow week. But mostly I just got really curious. The advanced reviews were quite positive (hey, I guess that worked) and after flipping through the book at the store, Stuart Immonen's art was pretty enough to convince me to pick this up and give it a shot.

To be honest, it's better than I expected it to be. As someone who had very little interest in this event, I was surprised at how quickly the story drew me in. By now, everybody knows that Fear Itself is going to be about a bunch of people wielding powerful mythical hammers similar to Thor's Mjolnir. While this premise sounded a bit silly to me, Fraction and Immonen do a good job of establishing the villains who are behind all this as a credible threat. It sounds like a Big Deal, which is what events are about (and on a smaller scale, all super-hero comics, I guess). And by the time I'd reach the last page, I was itching to find out what happens next. Which is the best you can hope for, considering I went into it expecting not to buy the rest of the mini-series.

So, job well done, guys.

There is, however, one aspect of this comic that I found quite irritating, and if it continues to be a problem in future chapters then it could eventually be enough to make me regret bothering with this and dropping the whole thing. I'm talking about the "real world relevance" of the story.

As some of you may have noticed, my blog is called "Irrelevant Comics." Not a lot of people seem to get that joke. I've had publishers express concern about sending me review copies because they weren't sure they wanted to be reviewed on a site that claims right in the title that the material it covers is "irrelevant." I can see their point, but the title was initially an ironic play on the notion of "relevance" in comics that was introduced in the 1970s, when writers and publishers felt it was necessary to inject the medium with serious issues and social commentary, the most famous example of which was the issue of Green Lantern/Green Arrow where Speedy was turned into a junkie. These days, we recognize these early attempts at "relevance" to be somewhat clumsy though well-intentioned. The title of this blog wasn't meant as a big ideological statement against that, but simply as a playful reversal of it. My feeling is that comics are a perfectly valid means of telling stories and expressing ideas, just like any other narrative art form. I'm not saying that they can't or shouldn't deal with serious issues. But I think we've reached a point in the evolution of the medium that worrying about it is kind of unnecessary. Comics don't need to be socially relevant in order to be a legitimate art form. Sometimes telling a good story is enough. And if artists and writers do have something to say about the world we live in, then they should just say it. The "relevance" comes from having something to say and saying it, not the other way around. You don't start by asking yourself, "Hmm, how can we make this comic relevant? Oh, I know, let's do an issue about drug abuse."

How does this relate to Fear Itself? It should be pretty obvious. I mean, it's right there in the title of the book, the political reference which betrays that concern over saying something relevant about the world we live in. And when the event was announced way back in December, before we were told anything about what the story would involve, it's that relevance that was emphasized. Here's Joe Quesada at the press conference:

I know you're dying to know what it is, but before that, you know, I just want to get a little serious here and I want to say a few words. Look, times are tough. Unemployment is at an all-time high, families are losing their homes and worldwide economies are on the brink, and there's dissent and division basically everywhere you look. All you need to do really is turn on the TV, computer or radio, and you're sure to find a pundit, a politician, a prophet who's out there ready to tell you what you should be afraid of, who's responsible and why you should be afraid of it. It's a world divided, and at the end of the day you gotta ask yourself, who should you trust? Who do you trust? 24-hour news cycles, weather change, Wikileaks, depression, recession, bailouts, bankers. If you're anything like me, heck, it's a great time to be fearful. If you're anything like the people out there who are feeding fear and elect to gain from fear, well, heck, it's just a good time, right? And let's face it, Fritz, the world has gotten smaller and today more than ever fear above all else seems to be the great motivator. And there's no shortage of charlatans, tyrants or despots ready to stoke the flames. All they need is a spark. (...)

Marvel Comics have always the real world as the canvas on which we write and draw our stories and on which our characters live. From World War II to Apollo 11 to September 11th, the events that shaped our world have shaped the Marvel Universe. The truth of the matter is the reason Marvel comics have always excelled... Actually when we're at our best is when we've taken stock of the world we live in and which we're a part of and said something about it. Civil War, for example, resonated with fans of yon because it's reminded our heroes that they live in the same world that we all did and that these heroes represent the very best of us. (source)

It goes on for even longer, but you get the idea. That's one hell of a preamble to a comic book about people with super-powers wearing colourful outfits and beating each other up. And here we are, however many months later, and the first issue opens with a scene at Ground Zero in Manhattan where people are angrily protesting... something. "Let them build it! All the permits are signed, it's legally zoned, it's a free country..." says one angry protester. "Nothing should be built here," says another, "not a church, not a store, not another condo." So what are they talking about? Obviously this is a reference to the controversy around the so-called "mosque" (which is actually a Muslim community center). But in the comic, there is no reference to a mosque, community center or any other specific type of building. The word "Muslim" never once appears in the comic. The protest turns into a riot, and Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter attempt to keep things under control. When a reporter asks Rogers what side of the issue he comes down on, he replies, "Are you kidding me? I'm anti-riot."

In other words, let's not say a fucking thing about the actual world we live in. Let's not insert politics into the Marvel Universe. It's fine to use real-world images and locations, but they must first be completely stripped of any political implication or relevance and turned into empty signifiers for generic, unspecified "important issues from the real world." Not only is Steve Rogers' view on the issue conveniently left out, but we don't even know what the issue was to begin with. Something about a building permit, apparently.

And perhaps it's just as well. It seems to me that more you try to insert real-world events and politics into a super-hero universe, the more ridiculous the whole thing becomes. It's one thing to use whatever's happening on the stories as some kind of metaphor for or commentary on the current political climate. But when you get really specific about it, it opens up all kinds of logistical questions like why these incredibly powerful super-heroes don't do anything to fix those real-world issues. You also risk dwarfing the importance of those issues when put in a context where beings like Galactus threaten to devour the planet, or as in this case, when ancient Norse gods awaken and start fucking shit up. Who cares about building permits at Ground Zero when the state of the whole universe it what's being fought over?

But in that case, why even bother? Why choose to go half-assed and bring the real world in, only to shy away from actually saying anything about it? What is the purpose of that opening scene? After Steve and Sharon fail to control the crowds, there's a scene where the avengers are standing at the top of Avengers Tower, contemptuously looking down at Manhattan below, hardly able to believe that what happened wasn't caused by magic or drugs in the water or some other type of super-villain interference. Steve Rogers finds that "disappointing." Which leads to a discussion between Tony and Steve about how people are mad and scared and the solution is to build something. So they're going to make a big announcement about rebuilding Asgard, and that's supposed to cheer everybody up. None of that makes any sense to me!

I know this is only the first issue, and these things haven't yet been given a chance to play themselves out, so I should give Matt Fraction the benefit of the doubt. But all this empty real world context leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I think if you have nothing to say about the world, or are afraid to say it because you don't want to offend anyone, or whatever Marvel's reason for being so timid might be, then you shouldn't bother pretending to be saying something. You shouldn't hold a press conference and talk for fifteen minutes about unemployment and political unrest in the world and pretend that your big ultra-commercial entertainment event has something meaningful to say about all this. It's all empty posturing and kind of dishonest. This false air of relevance and cultural importance doesn't fool me. It's not why I buy comics. If you want to tell a big story about magic hammers and super-heroes (and, to be clear, that aspect of the story is off to a very good start in this issue), then just do it. Don't pretend that it's anything more (or less) than that.

Is It Wednesday Yet?

New comics this week!

(NOTE: These are previews, not reviews. I haven't read any of the comics mentioned below. Recommendations are based on preview pages, solicitation text and "hype.")

Pick of the week: Nonplayer #1 (Image)
Nate Simpson has been documenting his progress on this project for what seems like ages on his blog, Project Waldo. He says he's "learning how to draw comics by drawing a comic." And wow. The previews are just breathtakingly beautiful. Early reviews suggest the script does the art justice as well. This looks like a must-read. More here.

NEW STUFF

(listed in totally subjective decreasing order of interest)

Madman New Giant Size Super Ginchy Special One Shot #0 (Image)
A new comic by Mike Allred. I was going to say that's all you need to know, but then I realized Matt Kindt, Emi Lennox and Tonci Zonjic are also listed as artists. Maybe this should be my pick of the week!

Fear Itself #1 (Marvel)
Fear Itself: The Home Front #1 (Marvel)
Marvel's big summer event kicks off this week, and it's... so... hard... to resist. As I posted this weekend, I decided to skip this one completely, but early reviews of the first issue of Fear Itself are very positive, which fucks everything up for me, because I'm so easily convinced. These are both seven-issue mini-series, by the way. The main one is by Matt Fraction and Stuar Immonen. The Home Front is by a bunch of people and doesn't sound very interesting. I'm probably going to at least flip through the first issue of the main series at the store tomorrow and try not to let it suck me in. Advance spoiler-free review and preview here.

iZombie #12 (Vertigo)
While you get your Mike Allred fix from Madman this week, he takes a break from iZombie and lets guest artist Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets, etc.) take over for an issue. Script is still by Chris Roberson. If I understand correctly, this is going to be a done-in-one story, with a new arc starting next month with regular artist Allred back onboard. Sounds like a good place to jump on.

BPRD: The Dead Remembered #1 (of 3) (Dark Horse)
A new BPRD series by Mike Mignola, co-written with Scott Allie and pencilled by Karl Moline. Story involves a 14-year-old firestarter who accidentally burned her family alive, a small New England town, a witch hunt, a ghost and a priest. Preview.

Herc #1 (Marvel)
Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente continue their epic Hercules story in a new series with an abbreviated title. That seems to be the in thing at Marvel these days. Georges Jeanty is on art duties. The first two issues come out this month. This one is 40 pages and $3.99 and next one drops to 32 pages and $2.99. While this isn't listed as a Fear Itself tie-in, it'll get sucked into that event next month, so beware. For that reason, I'm going to sit this one out.

Skaar: King of Savage Land #1 (of 5) (Marvel)
"It's dinosaurs, giant robots and an ancient evil mastermind in Marvel's finest jungle adventure tradition." Okay. By Rob Williams and Brian Ching. Preview.

JLA 80-Page Giant 2011 (DC)
Oversized and six-dollar collection of short stories from various writers and artists. The best thing it has going for it is that it seems to feature a pretty classic line-up of the JLA, with Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Martian Manhunter and John Stewart Green Lantern featured on the cover. I'll never understand why DC insists on having this team consist of anything other than the so-called Big Seven. It just seems so obvious that the appeal of the JLA is that they're the team of DC's biggest and most popular heroes. If you absolutely want to have a team of B- and C-listers fighting Eclipso, can't they do it in some other book? Anyway.

Superman/Batman Annual #5 (DC)
This is some shitty "Reign of Doomsday" tie-in. The only reason I'm even remotely interested in it is that I'm reading two ongoing books that are getting hijacked by this stupid crossover (Superboy and Action Comics). But I still won't be buying this.

Blue Estate #1 (Image)
Green Wake #1 (of 5) (Image)
Two new series from Image. I can't say I'm particularly interested in either of them, but check out the previews here.

Also:

• Thunderbolts: From the Marvel Vault #1 (Marvel)
• Solomon Kane: Red Shadows #1 (of 4) (Dark Horse)
• First Wave Special (DC)
• Vertigo Resurrected: Hellblazer: Bad Blood #1 (Vertigo)
• Deadpool Family #1 (Marvel)

ON MY PULL LIST

• Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #2 (of 3) (Dark Horse)
• Sweet Tooth #20 (Vertigo)
• Orc Stain #6 (Image)
• Avengers: Children's Crusade #5 (Marvel)

One-paragraph reviews: Jimmy Olsen, American Vampire, Butcher Baker and Godzilla

Jimmy Olsen #1
"Jimmy Olsen's Big Week"
Written by Nick Spencer; art by RB Silva; DC.

Everything about this is fabulous. I'm not even going to spoil this review by mentioning how annoying it was that I had to pay for half the content in this book twice... Oh, wait, I guess I just did. Well, that is annoying, but let's focus on the positive. Nick Spencer's script is brilliant. I've read quite a few of his recent work (Morning Glories, THUNDER Agents, Infinite Vacation, that one issue of Supergirl) and I think it's pretty safe to say that this is by far the best thing I've read by him. He gets the characters' voices so right it's uncanny. The remarkable thing about his take on Jimmy Olsen is that he manages to update him and make him really cool, while somehow staying true to the character's wacky origins, which in theory almost sounds impossible and yet here it is all perfectly realized in comic book form! Grant Morrison did something similar in All-Star Superman, but his reinvention of the character was a little more radical. This is closer to home, and therefore doubly impressive that it works. RB Silva's art is also just perfect. Where did this artist come from!? And please, DC, don't let him get away. Put him on another book ASAP. Everything about the art is excellent, from the layouts to the facial expressions. The only complaint I have is that the quality of the art dips a little on the last two chapters, as Silva gets help first on ink and then on pencils as well. There are a few panels in the last chapter that you can really tell were pencilled by someone else, and that's a bit of a shame. But it doesn't greatly harm the overall quality of the book. (Also worth mentioning: excellent cover by Amanda Conners and great colours by Dave McCaig.)

AWESOME

---

American Vampire #13
"Ghost War part 1"
Written by Scott Snyder; art by Rafael Albuquerque; Vertigo.

Apparently everything that Scott Snyder writes is gold. He's been blowing my mind on Detective Comics, but it's this his series that first brought him to everyone's attention. I regret not jumping onboard earlier, but can you really blame me for being sick of vampires? Thing is, though, this is a really original take on vampires, quite unlike anything else I've ever encountered. This issue starts a new story arc set during WWII. It's only the second issue I read and the last one was a done-in-one with a (pretty good) fill-in artist. Regular artist Rafael Albuquerque is back on this one and it makes a big difference. I'm hooked, and I'm definitely going to have to get the first year of the series in trades. This is worth catching up on.

VERY GOOD

---

Butcher Baker: The Righteous Maker #1
Written by Joe Casey; art by Mike Huddleston; Image.

This book is out of control. It's also filthy. It's also a lot of fun. Needs more cock, though, to balance out all the tits and ass. I'll give this series a few more issues before I come up with something intelligent to say about it. Just let it be known for now that I'm enjoying the ride.

GOOD

---

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1
Written by Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh; art by Phil Hester and Bruce McCorkindale; IDW.

It's a book about a giant monster who comes out of the sea, smashes things, causes mayhem. There isn't much set up for it either. A couple of kids are playing on the beach at the beginning, then the monster shows up and apparently eats them. There's a shot of their father, who's on a boat and yells out "My children are on that beach!" I assumed the story would focus on these characters, with the father trying to get to his children to save them. Seemed like a classic way to add a human element to the story. But except for those two panels on page 6, we never see the father again or find out what happened to him or his children. Presumably they are among the dead, but for a the havoc Godzilla is wreaking, it feels oddly like there are no victims. We're told by military officials that hundreds are dead and bodies are still being recovered, but we don't see any of them. There's no gore, no blood, no on-panel death. There's one panel where you see people on the street and the shadow of Godzilla's foot, then the next panel the foot slams down on the street, sending cars out flying, but I wasn't sure if the people got squished or not. I'm not saying the book would have been better if it was filled with gory details. But it seemed too clean and unsatisfying in the same way that a horror movie rated PG-13 would be. Phil Hester's art is nice, although I find some of his layouts a little confusing - not in the sense that I can't figure out what's going on, but in the sense that it requires me to stop and think and realize that what looks like a single splash page is actually showing me three different moments in time from different angles, without the use of panels or clear borders. I've been sort of obsessing over layouts and panelization lately, so this is actually a pretty interesting example of a non-conventional style. I'll probably write more about it in the future. I'll leave it at that for now. There's enough going on here for me to give the stick with the book for a few more issues and see where this is going.

OKAY

"Why so serious?" -- by pre-teen kids!

A friend of mine put together this totally bizarre collection of found YouTube videos of young kids doing the "Why so serious?" Joker scene from The Dark Knight.

It's on a loop, too, so you can watch it ad infinitum!

Flashpoint vs. Fear Itself

So I've given this a lot of thought since Marvel and DC's big summer events were announced, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to give some of this Flashpoint nonsense a try, while completely ignoring Fear Itself.

This may not be a very wise decision, and I want to make it clear that I don't necessarily recommend that anybody follow my example.

I'm giving Flashpoint a try not so much because I believe it's going to be good, but more because I have a desire to participate in at least one of the big summer events in some capacity, and of the two, this is the one that appeals the most to me. And the reason it appeals to me the most is that Fear Itself appeals to me none at all.

Why doesn't Fear Itself appeal to me? Partly it has to do with my relationship to Marvel. I'm a casual reader at best, so I'm just not that invested in the Marvel Universe. I've tried to get into Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the (various) Avengers titles, but none of them have stayed on my pull list very long. And since Fear Itself is by being "architected" by the same people who are "architecting" those book, I'm just not thrilled about it.

The only Marvel books that I'm currently really digging are Amazing Spider-Man (which as far as I know won't tie directly into Fear Itself) and Wolverine and Jubilee, which is a mini-series with only one issue left.

As for Flashpoint... well, I read a lot more DC, so I know and care about almost all the characters involved. The Flash has been pretty good since it relaunched, and that leads directly into the main Flashpoint mini-series.

The story itself seems like a bit of a clusterfuck and it remains to be seen if it's going to make any sense at all, but at least some of the ideas that are getting thrown around sound like fun. It just seems like a really colourful and trippy event, whereas Fear Itself seems dark and serious and kind of tedious. I'm sure that difference is only superficial at best, and Flashpoint will have its share of darkness and unpleasantness and dismemberment. After all, that's the only way super-hero comic books know how to show that they "matter."

So anyway. I'll give it a shot. And possibly live to regret it. Now the question is, how much of it should I get? Because 16 mini-series and God knows how many one-shots is INSANE, and I just can't afford it all.

I'm obviously going to get the core mini-series, which is presumably the only "essential" part, although if past events are any indication, this is usually not true. I think I'm also going to get Booster Gold, since Dan Jurgens is returning to the title around the same time and it looks like it's going to be a major tie-in. The Flash is getting cancelled during the event, so that's one less book to worry about.

Looking at the various mini-series, it's hard to gauge which ones are going to be "important" to the story. My impression is that they're all more or less on the same level, which suggests that they might all be unnecessary, so it's really more a matter of deciding which characters, concepts or creative teams appeal to me personally.

Here are my thoughts on each of them:

• Batman: Knight of Vengeance: Brian Azzarello writing makes this tempting, but I'm not really thrilled by the premise of Bruce Wayne running casinos. WEAK MAYBE.
• Secret Seven: Peter Milligan and George Perez are a plus. Shade the Changing Man is a trippy fan-favourite character that I'm curious about. But I fear this might not be the best place for me to get introduced to him, so that makes me hesitate. WEAK MAYBE.
• Abin Sur: Green Lantern: I'm not big on the Green Lantern books these days. Plus, Felipe Massafera on art? Blargh. NO.
• The World of Flashpoint: A bunch of different writers, no specific character? This is going to be a mess and definitely not essential. NO.
• Emperor Aquaman: Very tempting. With the solid creative team of Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf and the totally badass-looking Aquaman on the cover, this should be good. STRONG MAYBE.
• Deathstroke and Ravager something or other: I hate Deathstroke, so NO.
• Frankenstein and I forgot the full title: I have no idea what Frankenstein is doing here. I mostly want to ignore this, but the fact that Jeff Lemire is writing makes me kinda curious. WEAK MAYBE.
• Citizen Cold: It's a character from Flash's rogues, so this might be "important." I like Scott Kolins' art, but didn't know he wrote. ON THE FENCE.
• Wonder Woman and the Furies: I'm sick of alternate-reality Wonder Woman. And I don't like the creative team. NO.
• Deadman and the Flying Graysons: Love the concept. Not super-thrilled about J.T. Krul. ON THE FENCE.
• Legion of Doom featuring Heatwave: As much as I'd love to support these Milestone characters, this doesn't do anything for me. NO.
• Lois Lane and the Resistance: Damn it. I really would like to get this, if only to support the idea that Lois Lane can lead her own book. But with DnA writing, I don't have much faith in it. NO.
• The Outsider: I'd like to give James Robinson a chance, but the concept here just doesn't do anything for me. NO.
• Kid Flash: It's Bart. How can I say no to Bart? YES.
• Project Superman: Scott Snyder is writing. And everything of his that I've read so far has been fantastic. STRONG MAYBE.
• Hal Jordan: HELL NO.

So that's one yes, 2 "strong maybes", 2 "on the fences", 3 "weak maybes", and 8 "definite nos". Considering how many titles there are to pick from, I can probably write off the "weak maybes" as "nos," and that leaves me somewhere between 1 and 5 titles to chose from. My final decision will probably be based on how many other titles I have on my pull list that week and a quick flip-through at the store.

Then there are the four one-shots in June: Grodd of War, Reverse Flash, Green Arrow Industries, Canterbury Cricket. That last one sounds kinda cool, but I think I'm going to skip all of those. One-shots are almost never worth it.

As a blogger/reviewer (and I suppose as a fan), I kind of wish that I had unlimited income and that I could plunge head-first into this insanity and review the full event. On the other hand, that could be the kind of thing that would then turn me off of mainstream comics forever, so it's probably a good idea to exercise some restraint, and not just from a financial point of view.

All of those secondary mini-series and one-shots are hitting in June. The first issue of Flashpoint comes out in May. Until then, the prelude is appearing in the few issues of Flash that are left.

Read in March 2011

Here's a list of all the comics I read last month.

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 (Dark Horse)
Sweet Tooth #19 (Vertigo)
Astonishing Thor #3 (Marvel)
Captain America and the Falcon #1 (Marvel)
5 Ronin #1-3 (Marvel)
Annihilators #1 (Marvel)
Amazing Spider-Man #648-654, 654.1, 655-656
Birds of Prey #10 (DC)
Batman and Robin #21 (DC)
Batgirl #19 (DC)
Sigil #1 (Marvel)
Superboy #5 (DC)
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1 (DC)
Legion of Super-Villains #1 (DC)
Magus #3 (12-Gauge)
Starborn #4 (Boom)
Xombi #1
Batman, Inc #3-4 (DC)
Avengers: Children's Cusade: Young Avengers #1 (Marvel)
Red Robin #21 (DC)
Book of the Skull (Marvel)
Venom #1 (Marvel)
Neonomicon #4 (Avatar)
Wolverine and Jubilee #3 (Marvel)
Silver Surfer #2 (Marvel)
Legion of Super-Heroes #11 (Marvel)
Supergirl #62 (Marvel)
Action Comics #899 (DC)
Detective Comics #875 (DC)
Teen Titans #93 (DC)
Jimmy Olsen #1 (DC)

Top 5 of the month

1. Detective Comics #875 (One of the best comics I've read in a while.)
2. Xombi #1 (Super-stoked about this new series.)
3. Jimmy Olsen (So much fun! The only disappointment is that Nick Spencer is now Marvel exclusive, so there's no chance of him returning to this character.)
4. Amazing Spider-Man (Catching up on "Big Time" was a lot of fun, and the issues with art by Marcos Martin were simply breathtaking.)

5. Wolverine and Jubilee #3 (Cool story. Beautiful art.)

Stinker of the month: Red Robin #21. I've had enough of this book. Dropped.