Trying a new approach

Okay, rather than the catch-as-catch can approach I have been using thus far, I am going to try to move to a weekly round-up of the comics I bought, and what I thought of them. For the most part, this will be Spoiler-Free, and where I include any kind of spoiler, I will say so, well in advance of the spoiler.

This week, the books I picked up were:

Action Comics #834:
Allow me to start by saying that in my opinion Gail Simone's writing is some of the most enjoyable in comics today. She doesn't always (or even often) weave plots that leave me saying "holy shit!" but she does a great job with characters, and that is more likely than plot twists and "events" to keep me coming back. This story is no exception. It was almost weird to read a non-Inifinite Crisis Superman story right now, but it was a welcome change. The characterization was good, particularly of Lois, I thought, and the story well-told. Byrne's art is an excellent compliment to the story, particularly in this story that deals with the Fairy Tales, specifically an old Kryptonian one.

Firestorm #20:
Firestorm is, in my opinoin one of the most improved books in comics right now. I stopped reading this series when the early issues seemed to be deeply infected with the darkness currently so prevalent in DC Comics these days, and unnecessarily so. I picked up another issue of Firestorm because it was a crossover of some sort, and was pleasantly surprised. While no longer surprised, I must say that I really enjoyed this issue as well.
Quality characterization of Animal Man, Firestorm, and an insight into the alien races involved in the Rann-Thanagar war which was more powerful and, in its own way, intimate than we were afforded by the large-scale mini-series, this book was a good read, and did what a cross-over should. It enhanced the story, but didn't demand that you read it to understand the story. This book could also likely be enjoyed without having read the Rann-Thanagar War mini, although having read the mini would certainly enhance your enjoyment of this comic.

Hawkman #47:
Hawkman is one of the DC books that I think belongs somewhat dark. He is also my favorite ass-kicker. In this issue, he does a lot of that. There has become a kind of pattern of late though, where the big baddy of a given issue manages to get Hawkman seemingly at his mercy, then through sheer bad-assitude Hawkman regains the upper hand. There was a little of that in this comic too. I don't want to spoil anything, but in my opinion, it was a little early for one of Hawkman's opponents to make a return appearance, and the outcome should not have been what it was.
Chris Batista's art on this book is a perfect fit. He makes you believe that Hawkman is at once capable of complete heroism and utter barbarism by the character's body language and facial expressions, a perfect complement to Palmiotti and Gray's straight-ahead, no-nonsense dialogue and story.

JLA # 23:
This story arc feels a little bit like filler. It does serve as a soap box for various characters to explain how they feel about the League. Many of them do in this issue. The story about the Key is really just back drop to the character-driven story. At least it has been thus far. We will see how it ends up, as it looks like it will be the last story arc for this version of the JLA series, so the plot will likely have a big finish.

Nightwing # 115:
Devin Grayson has written a good story here. The cover and story bear no resemblance to what is on DC's website for this issue, which is interesting in and of itself. The story line which has had Dick Grayson become a mob enforcer, and train Deathstroke's daugher, the Ravager, reaches a head - which side is Dick really on? Superman guest stars here as that determination is made. Note, however that this book does not cross over with any of the Superman books.
Phill Hester and Andre Story's art is not to my taste. It might be part of the reason why I haven't been enjoying Nightwing as much as I used to. However, this issue was excellent. Story has always been of greater importance to me than art, and in this issue of Nightwing, story carries it.

Teen Titans #30:
Geoff Johns wrote this issue and there are some interesting revalations. Not to give to much away, and I don't even think this qualifies as a spoiler, but Raven discusses in greater detail that the door between life and death is open, and someone is holding it open. She says it started with Superman's return, and has been open ever since. It should be interesting to see where this leads. This story is very character driven, with the action being a small yet enjoyable part. Tony S. Daniel & Alquiza do a great job with the art, and there are some moments of real enjoyment here. The climax of the book, though, does require you to have been a Titans fan for some time to really get the most out of it.

And now, on to the Marvel books I picked up this week:

Books of Doom #2:
Nothing new to any fans of Doom in this series - we know about his origin - but these books, narrated by the man himself are a lot of fun to read, if a bit slowly paced for me at this point. Doom is possibly the greatest villain in the history of comics. Here we see how he became such. We see the distance he feels between himself and everyone else, and it is presented in a way that almost makes you understand how he takes each obstacle, small or large, so very personally. This series has done a great job so far setting the stage for the man who will become Doom to emerge as perhaps the greatest threat the Marvel Universe has ever known. (He and Thanos may need to play Rock, Paper, Scissors for the title.) As an aside, I have also been reading Marvel's Essential Dr. Doom. It is a fun read, for sure. I highly recommend the Essentials collections to anyone who has an interest in the rich history of Marvel.

GLX-mas Special:
I love the Great Lakes Avengers/Lightning Rods/Great Lakes Avengers/Great Lakes X-men/Whoever. Dan Slott, the writer of GLA: Misassembled and this special obviously does too. I think it is a credit to how much people enjoy these characters that a writer like Dan and an artist like Ty Templeton combined their considerable talents on this one. You have to love a comic where one of the characters mentions that if you are easily offended maybe you should check out the Punisher Christmas Special. There is some interesting back story on the characters in this book, some real amusement with the new Grasshopper, and some significant Squirrel-girl silliness. I didn't get the same feeling of mean-spiritedness towards the characters that I felt in parts of the GLA:Misassembled series. Which was still funny, and incidentally hit in Trade Paperback this week as well. And I will forevermore fear the name of... Dr. Tannenbaum!

Marvel Knights: Spider Man # 21:
Part 8 of Spider-Man: The Other. Okay, this one I have a complaint about. The cover ruined it. The cover clearly shows what is supposed to be the big reveal at the end of the book, so this comic was just an exercise in how they got from Point A to Point B. Which isn't always a bad thing. A well enough written book can make this entertaining enough. But this wasn't that book. It moved a little slowly, and while it contained some interesting ideas, it seemed like a strange time to establish them, so (relatively) closely on the heels of Avengers: Disassembled. Since these things weren't touched on there, they seemed a little shoe-horned here. For my money, the writing and art of part 6 of this series has been the high point so far.

New Thunderbolts # 16:
Not a bad comic at all. As always, the art was beautiful. Thunderbolts have been blessed in that department. This comic is an interesting ongoing, as it ponders moral questions, and you really never know which side a character will come down on in the long run. The Squadron Sinister versus the Thunderbolts? That was fun. The Radioactive Man remains one of the coolest things in this comic. He fits so well into a team book like this. Thunderbolts continues to be a fun read, month after month.

Secret War # 5 Spoilers Ahead!:
A good book, but a little anti-climactic for my tastes and not necessarily worth the wait. #4 came out before I moved here to Florida in September. This book has a few good things, and a few problems. I always hate when a comic introduces a new character who can supposedly pull off threatening the X-Men, the Avengers, etc. and yet somehow you know this character will not have the future that such a character should, and really, it seems to me that a two-pronged attack, or even a charge shield-first by Cap (whose shield absorbs impact and vibrations) would drop her pretty quick. And this comic also had the same issue I have with Punisher: the original mission failed! How crappy does Nick Fury have to be to be able to hand pick a team of heroes, and still not be able to kill the leader of Latveria? And then he manages to brainwash all of them? Ouch.
The art, however was breathtaking.

Well, sad to end on a down note, but it was a pretty good week for comics all told. Next week, in Infinite Crisis # 3, the summary issues end, and the story really gets rolling!

All Stars: Batting .500

This week saw the release of All Star Superman. Much like All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, this is a subtle re-imagining of the character (or characters, in the case of Batman and Robin). I say subtle becuase this is more in line with Marvel's Ultimate line than with Elseworlds. Batman is a little edgier than much of the stuff that you will read with him (which isn't surprising - he is the writer of Sin City, and of some of Batman's edgier tales) and Jim Lee's art is gorgeous. I understand that the name of the title is because it will eventually focus more on Dick Grayson, with Batman being more of a very important supporting character. It is only my affection for the character of Dick Grayson that will have me buying number 3.

I have not, so far, found there to be much to love about this series besides the art. Miller's Vikki Vale is not engaging. And she dresses like a charcter out of Sin City. That is to say, like a tart at best, or a whore at worst. The Frank Miller-drawn cover of the issue that will feature Black Canary makes me believe that her origin can only involve being a stripper, and she wears the same outfit for both "jobs." Needless to say, I am not enthused.

This week, however, All Star Superman #1 came out. I am enthused. I am not typically a fan of the style of Frank Quitely's art, however, I think it suited the book very well. Grant Morrison, who is a man who in my opinion is very hit and miss (I'm currently not picking up any of his Seven Soldiers, although I did try the first issues of the original ones) definitely scored a hit here. It is an interesting interpretation of the Man of Steel, and right from the first issue puts him in a position that we have not seen him in. Not to mention, a cute bit in which he keeps his secret ID safe while saving someone. I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone who would like to see an interesting new take on the Last Son of Krypton. Assuming in this world he even is the Last Son.

I also went a little more Marvel-heavy this week than I have been of late. Thing #1 came out, as did The Books of Doom #1. Thing #1 had its moments, but overall, didn't do much for me. But then, I never like the idea of Reed Richards treating his friends like guinea pigs, and I got a little of that from his issue. That being said, "Milan Ramada" hiring a Super-Villain to take revenge on an entire party because she wasn't invited is an amusing idea, and it looks like we might see a switch of sides for the constrictor, a villain who I always liked, if only for his costume. I hope there is a spot for him on the Thunderbolts. I'm looking forward to issue #2.

Books of Doom was... interesting. Not much really happens, but it does give a lot of history as to what made Doom the man he is. It was told entirely in flashback, and is during his formative years, so do not look for super-battles to be taking place during this one. I'll be picking up the next issue, but if it doesn't pick up a bit, I will stay with the Marvel Essentials reprints of classic Doom stories.

I also picked up issue #1 of the 6-part X-men: Dark Genesis. It feels to me already like a story that could have been told in 4 issues, but was stretched, as very little happens in this issue, except, as far as I could tell, someone forgot that Cyclops is immune to his own blasts. (As is his brother, Havoc, but that is neither here nor there) Again, a little disappointed, and not sure I'll be seeing this one through to its six-issue conclusion, but I will at least pick up issue #2 before I make that call.

That's it. Good reading.

Impressed? Not yet.

Okay, so Infinite Crisis #2 is out. I bought it (I went with the Perez cover - being the comic geek I am, I loved looking at all the historical images he managed to cram on there) read it, and was not happy. If they turn Earth-2 Superman (Kal-L) into a "misguided villain" type, it'll be a travesty. It looks to me like that is the direction that they are heading. I hope it is just a bait-and-switch, but one never knows. This man was the original hero. Plus, it's a little too "Zero Hour" to have one of the biggest heroes going switch to the "dark side."

I did like his re-introduction, particularly Psycho Pirate's reaction ("... he's here") but I really hope they didn't bring this symbol of what was right with DC out of his well-deserved and well-written retirement to sully his good name.

What I do hope for is the following:

1. A lightening of some corners of the DC Universe. Not all of them, though. I kind of like my Hawkman a little dark. But superman should be about inspiration and Wonder Woman should be about hope.
2. A return to a Superman who is both fun to read and who reads like all the other heroes should, and do, respect him.
3. A Batman (Bruce Wayne, as there are rumors that Batman may die in the Crisis. Of course those rumors exist for all the big characters) who is capable of trusting others. Even if he starts small, with just some of his more regular supporting cast.
4. A return to coolness for the Joker. Obviously given the scene where he takes out the Royal Flush Gang, they have some plans for him, and I think that the Society might end up regretting their snubbing of him. He's been kicked around a lot lately, and I think it is time he kicked back, and had a return to old form. Back when he wasn't about taking out Batman, but was about being insane, and taking out Batman was a fringe benefit.
5. The legacy of the Golden Age characters left strong.
   

Now, I really do believe that Geoff Johns loves these characters, and will try to do right by them. I think that Dan DiDio loves them too. I just hope that love plays out in a positive way.

Also, I think this issue was much more... accessible. I think they did a good job of explaining the back story in this one. I read somewhere that the first issue was intentionally a little overwhelming, and that this one was the real starting point of the story. I certainly felt that way.

Another highlight of this week was Teen Titans. I did not really enjoy Gail Simone's fill-in issues, which is surprising to me - she is one of my favorite writers in comics today and I have always really liked Hawk, Dove and Kestrel- but this issue was really good. A confrontation between Jason Todd (the Robin who was killed but recently returned) and Tim Drake (the current Robin). I like that Todd dropped his "Red Hood" identity and wore a stylized Robin costume for the battle. I liked that it was both an emotional and physical confrontation, and I thought the interaction between the two was well-written, and showed their differences and similarities really well.

I haven't read "House of M" yet (I will be soon, now that it is over) but picked up the first issue of the New Excalibur. The jury is still out, but it was an enjoyable read, and I was glad to see Dazzler back, particularly her brief appearance in her classic "disco queen" costume.

Over all, I found it to be a good week for comics, and am at once both optimistic and pessimistic about where Inifinite Crisis is heading. It looks like however it ends, I will be enjoying the ride, and in the world of comics, that is really all I can ask for.

Infinite Crisis is here!

Okay, folks, if you haven't read this week's DC comics, you will find some spoilers below. You have been warned, and this will be your only warning. Read on at your own peril.

DC started their latest big crossover story this week - Infinite Crisis and I was... somewhat impressed.

Also out this week was Villains United #6. Villains United was one of 4 mini-series that were essentially countdowns to the big event. Villains United borrowed an old (OLD) DC schtick of "the Secret Six." A group led by a mysterious figure known only as Mockingbird. In that story, the Six worked for the US, and were "good guys." In this one, they are Villains who refused to join Lex Luthor and company's new Society of villains. The writing has been good.

Gail Simone took a second (or even third) string villain in Catman and made you believe he could stand up to some of the baddest bad asses on the planet. She took two new characters - Parademon and Rag Doll and made you care about them. I think she had a little bit of a misfire on Vandal Savage's daugher, known as Scandal (Scandal Savage? Really? But I guess the name was a bit of a tip off, given the similar natures) And she took a couple of the coolest villains in DC, Deadshot and Cheshire, and kept them as cool as ever. The Deadshot/Deathstroke showdown was something I've wanted to see for a while.

Where the series failed for me was the ending. In the original series, Mockingbird was one of the Six who had faked his own death in the first issue. They threw us a bone in this series - The Fiddler died in the first issue. It was a red herring, though. The real Mockingbird was really - an alternate version of Lex Luthor.

I found this disappointing. I was waiting for it to be someone who was bad ass enough to go against the Society, and was willing to stand up to the worst the world had to offer. A copy of the leader (essentially) of the Society doesn't cut it for me.

Similarly, Infinite Crisis #1 is a not-bad read - it isn't great for those of us who have read all the stuff leading up to it, but it isn't terrible. Until the end. Here was a character who was allowed to retire as he should have: Saving the Universe, and finally ready to settle down. The original, Earth-2 Superman, and the Superboy from Earth-Prime, who I think matches up Power Level-wise with Superman from the Pre-crisis era, and who is significantly more powerful than current Superman. They went, and retired. They were done. We weren't even thinking about them any more.

And now they are back. All I know is this: They had better not give Kal-L (the Kryptonian name of Earth-2's Superman) a punk's death at this point. He is the man. The classic ending of Crisis on Infinite Earths proved that. It's bad enough that DC apparently has brought Jason Todd back from the dead, but to haul Kal-L and Superboy out of retirement too?

This series had better blow my socks off.

Heroclix, or a taste of normalcy in Florida

Okay, so I promised to do more than just talk about the comics themselves here. Yesterday, I went to the local gaming/comic/LAN Gaming shop here in Melbourne, Florida, The Wizard's Wall, and was sitting to do some e-mailing when I heard the Monday night Heroclix guys talking.

For those of you who don't know, Heroclix is a game where you get to make the decisions for a group of comic book characters fighting each other, and roll the dice to see how well things turn out.

Turns out, they were about to play a Marquee tournement for the newest set from DC, icons. Marquee means that it is a celebration of a new set coming out. It also means that everyone has to buy three packs of figures and make their best team from that (each figure has a certain point value, and your entire team cannot surpass a certain maximum point value) to play. This puts everyone on more-or-less even footing. So, I decided, "What the hell? Why not?" and I did. I haven't played heroclix in about... mmm... forever. Heroclix is a collectible game (different pieces have different rarities, and you only get 4 of about 96 figures from a set in any given box. This means to get all the figures you have to spend a few hundred dollars per set or so) and at some point they decided to start retiring figures. What this means is the hundreds (and hundreds) of dollars we had spent on the early Heroclix sets were now no longer worth anything in most tournement formats. Which sucked. In fact, for some of the group I played with, it sucked the fun right out of the game. So, we stopped playing.

But here I was, a stranger in a strange land, looking to meet people just as strange as I. So, I ponied up my $20 for the three boosters. And got my ass kicked. The first game, I made a couple of strategic errors - I will blame it on being rusty. The second game, I sacrificed one character for a couple of good shots at two others. It worked. I lost the one character, but wiped out my opponent. The third game, I played a younger player who was new to the game. He slaughtered me. I have never been beaten so badly in my life. The dice hated me and loved him. He couldn't miss (that's a lie. I think he did miss once, when he had about a 20% chance to hit. But it is worth noting that he tried that roll three times, and only missed it once), and I could almost never hit. And of the 5 times I did hit, he made a roll that let him ignore the damage done 3 times. Now, mind you, this roll is a straight up 33.33% shot. It was ugly. About as ugly as it can be. But hopefully, it'll have my opponents underestimating me next time.

Anyway, it was fun to forget about the fact that I am all alone down here for a few hours and meet some guys who may some day develop into friends. That is one of the great things about hobbies - if you meet someone else who shares them, then you know you will have at least something to talk about.

Playing Catchup

Lots has happened since my last post. I have moved to Florida, and been so distracted by my real life that I haven't been posting as often as I'd like to. (Nathan - if you are reading this, your father told me you were disappointed in me.)

A lot has happened in the world of comic books, too. DC has driven a wedge between their trinity, but not as I expected them to: Superman did not make the choice to kill, but Wonder Woman did. I was surprised by the extreme reactions of both Superman and Batman to her choice. I think they always knew she was a warrior, but maybe this smacked too much of an execution rather than a casualty of battle.

Overall, I thought the "Sacrifice" story arc was enjoyable, but felt rushed or something. Essentially, in it, illusions are cast right into Superman's mind by Maxwell Lord to cause him to beat Batman nearly to death. Of course, this has no real effect on Batman - he is still find in his own title and in other comics going on concurrently with this story arc - that was one of the shabbier aspects of the story - it wasn't well prepared. If you are going to have Supes beat Bats, have him out of action for a month or two of books. It made that part of the story seem less real, particularly since there was so much going on in the arc that was illusory.

Also, Superman's extreme reaction to Diana killing Lord seemed a little strange, given that in each of the visions he had been subjected to, he had flown into a rage, to the point of trying to kill the villain who he was seeing. Again, perhaps it was the cold nature of her decision, rather than it being in the heat of passion that bothered him so. The scene where Wonder Woman tells Batman what he had done, was extremely well done.

In another little corner of the DC Universe, Hawkman has apparently been killed, and replaced, but at the same time come back and is seeking vengeance himself. This series of Hawkman stories has kicked ass. I dropped the book for some time, but this has it back near the top of my reading list. Hawkman is the most bad ass character in DC for my money right now. For straight-ahead butt kicking, this is the man to call. I hope he gets to unleash it as part of Infinite Crisis. But there is another editorial gaffe here in my opinion. In Rann-Thanagar War, Hawkman is off there fighting in the war. It is a shame things couldn't be tightly enough planned to have his books cross over with that book, but not require it to be enjoyed. But I'll try not to complain too much given the quality of the book overall.

Day of Vengeance has ended and I feel... unimpressed. I thought the end was anti-climactic. I guess that isn't surprising - it really was just one of four preludes to Infinite Crisis, which is iminent, but I hope that Villains United has a more satisfying conclusion. It has been one of the better series I have read in a long time - I am rapidly becoming a Gail Simone fan - and I would hate to have that overshadowed by an ending that leaves me unsatisfied. I'd be surprised if Gail Simone would do that, though.

On the final note, I have a feeling that Nightwing will not come through Infinite Crisis well. That he may not even come through it at all. I hope I am wrong, but with him leaving the Outsiders, and turning his back on the Titans, and with a kind of "limbo" story arc going on in his own book leading up to his involvement with Deathstroke and daughter, I can't help but wonder if they are preparing him for something terrible. If it happens, remember you heard it here first. And if I'm wrong, well, we can add that to the list of predictions I have made that have gone awry and I will be happy to do so.

Inifinite Crisis is shaping up to be a BIG DEAL. And I am looking forward to it. Hopefully, it won't be too long before my next post.

The Darkening of DC

Dan DiDio is committed to darkening the DC Universe. To many, that is good news. I know a lot of people who like Marvel’s approach to super heroing – that they still need to deal with day-to-day problems and the pressures of normal life and moral conundrums. Hell, I like to read them sometimes. I like both Sin City and Powers, both of which are pretty dark.

It’s just not the way I like my Superman. I had issues with Identity Crisis. There were a few issues – not the least of which is that Barry Allen, the Flash, voted for “the wrong thing” (and continued from there) and he is dead, looks to be staying that way, and therefore won’t get a chance to redeem himself. Here’s a character that was almost always portrayed as being a truly good guy. Then we find out that he spent time screwing with all sorts or people’s minds. It alters all of his stories retroactively, and unlike the other participants, who are still around, Barry cannot atone for what he did.

It also seems now that Superman and Batman have known about it for a while, and it is just coming to a head at this time, years later. Again. Superman carrying the knowledge that his allies changed a man’s personality without doing anything about it? That’s not the Supes I know.

Not that all of the darkening is bad. Deadshot is coming off of a limited series in which he is an anti-hero, but it was still an effective and enjoyable series. My concern is that this desire to make things darker is going to make us change the characters we know and love, and have for many years. I would love to see a take on the Justice League including Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, Geo-Force, and some other characters who, while not looking to go around on murderous rampages accept killing as an occasional necessity. I think DC already has some dark characters, and if you want to tell dark stories, use them.

It even seems that the current Superman cross over, “Sacrifice” might lead to Superman making a decision to kill. There are steps being taken to alienate Batman from the Justice League in the wake of Identity Crisis as well as, it seems, Superman in this current story line. DC seems to want to break up the Trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman). While I am all for a new and interesting look at a character, and I am not the type to threaten to stop collecting comics over the choices being made, I do have to question them. One of the things that have always set DC apart from Marvel is the iconic nature of their characters. Superman once said that in this world, “There is right and wrong, and it isn’t hard to tell the difference.” I’ve always liked that he lived in a world where, unlike the real world, that was true. I think it hurts these characters to place them in a world where that is no longer true, and where they are in the “feared and hated” zone that Marvel’s characters are designed to fit into so well.

It’s reported that the late, great (and great isn’t quite a strong enough word for the man) Julius Schwartz told Dan DiDio that “every ten years you have to give the comics an enema.” It’s hard, if not impossible to argue with wisdom from Schwartz, who in many ways is single-handedly responsible for the Silver Age of comics starting. The only thing I would caution Mr. DiDio about is to remember that in an enema, you are supposed to discard, rather than use, what comes out.

Fantastic Four, from movie to comic to theories thereon.

The Fantastic Four

First, let me start off by saying that I am fairly forgiving of changes made to comic book stories to help them work better as movies. You want Spider-Man to shoot webs from his body rather than from devices he created? Okay. You want Superman’s fortress of solitude to pop up from a crystal? Sure. You want the Joker to have been the guy who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents? Okay, I guess.

So, I was prepared for Victor Von Doom going on the flight with the Storms, Richards and Grimm. This meant, I was okay with him having powers. Or at least I thought I would be.

The fact is, Doctor Doom may be the greatest villain in the history of comicdom. Ever. And every super hero movie relies heavily on its villain. This interpretation of Doom just didn’t come close for me to the Doom I have loved for years in the comics. I don’t necessarily blame Julian McMahon – the guy has done some really good work elsewhere – but there is no question that the imperialness of Von Doom was not sufficiently showcased in this film.

So, the movie had a strike against it right there. But I enjoyed it anyway. Let me go over some of the reasons why:

Casting – some of the characters were perfect. Chris Evans played a Human Torch so convincing that I would love to see him show up in Spider-Man 3 to strike up that legendary friendship. (The fact that they are made by different production companies means this will not happen, sadly.) Chicklis made me believe him as Ben Grimm, and Ioan Gruffud was okay as Reed. Jessica Alba didn’t have much to work with here, which I am not surprised by, for reasons that I will get in to later, but she did well with what she had. Julian McMahon was appropriately sinister as Doctor Victor Von Doom, if not grandiose enough.

There are a few things that make the Fantastic Four so interesting. One of them is the family dynamic. Ben and Reed might as well be brothers, while Sue and Johnny are brother and sister. With the eventual marriage of Sue and Reed, this makes for some complex dynamics – no one can irritate you like family can. To this end, the movie featured some of the de rigeur back-and-forth between the Thing and the Human Torch. Including a disagreement in which emotions run so high they unleash their powers on each other in public. That was some spot-on characterization.

The other thing that I have always thought was so well-done about the FF is their archetypal elemental natures. They represent the four classic elements, not only in powers, but also in character.

Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic is water – his form is pliable, and much like erosion, you give him time to work on any problem, and eventually, he will overcome it. He might encounter setbacks, but in the fullness of time, he will succeed in working his way past, over, through or around whatever obstacles are in front of him, and in a very real way, has the potential to be the most destructive of the group. There was less tech talk from him in this movie than I would have expected, but that might have been for the benefit of the audience.

Ben Grimm, The Thing is obviously earth. He is the most down to earth member of the team, which is funny since he is also their pilot. He is often the voice of common sense, and he is the man you know you can rely on. Need someone to hold back an entire planet’s army while Reed works on the solution? Call on Ben. He doesn’t know how to give up, and while he is normally so like bedrock in disposition, when he loses his temper, it comes with all the fury of an earthquake. In this movie this remains true. Throughout, Doom baits him. He remains stoic. Only Johnny can really get a reaction out him (there’s that family dynamic again) until those he loves are threatened.

Johnny Storm, The Human Torch is a stereotype among stereotypes – he is a “hothead.” Impulsive, he will take any risk for a greater thrill. But he was well portrayed in the film. His faster, higher, more extreme personality came out very well, and again, he was a strong player in the well-executed family dynamic in the film, in scenes with both sister Sue and Ben. Johnny has also typically not had a lot of luck with long-term girlfriends. He tends to use them up, consumed as fuel for his high lifestyle.

Sue Storm, The Invisible Girl (Woman for several years now in the comics) – how does one write “air?” Flighty? That would seem to be another stereotype, and hard to see Reed falling for, no matter how attractive she is, both in the comic world and as portrayed by the undeniably lovely Jessica Alba. So instead, she comes off as mercurial – her powers are tied to her emotions and those emotions are very changeable. Like a breeze, she can be calm and restrained one minute, full of anger the next, and immediately back to calm. This is a little harder to write well. But I think in this movie, Miss Alba pulls if off with what she is given. As a side note, it is interesting that the only man besides Reed to really hold Sue’s interest in the comics is Namor, the prince of Atlantis, and a representation of the tidal wave/crashing wave/whirlpool side of water. Obviously, there is something in this woman that is drawn to the water types.

Then there is Doom. In the comics, he is a combination of all of the above – implacable, fiery in temper, bound by his honour to be dependable, and quickly moved to emotion. However this is one case where the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts – he keeps losing to the FF. But one of the interesting things about Doom in the comics is same thing that is interesting about Lex Luthor on the DC side of things – he is “merely” human, yet struggles against those who are so much more. And Doom has had success over the years. But the outsider aspect of Doom compared to the Four was compromised by having him go up into space with them. Having them close enough that Ben calls him “Vic” through most of the movie was an interesting dynamic, but for this viewer, didn’t work as well as the “4 against 1” dynamic that has been maintained in the comics. He also wasn’t as arrogant as I would have liked him to be, at least pre-powers. When a bank tried to tell him he had a week to do something, I would have liked to have seen him say something more along the lines of, “You dare to dictate terms to me?”

Overall, it was a fun movie. It’s certainly not the worst of the Super Hero pictures that are out there. It’s not 100% true to the comic, but that’s okay. A little more work on the villain, and they might really have something here.

DC These Days

DC is finally unveiling their answer to Marvel's Ultimates line (a line which in my opinion has been pretty good overall, or at least was - some of the titles are starting to lose their blush for me) with All Stars. The first book to come out is Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder this Wednesday, the 13th.

The book is a Robin book, with Bats as a huge supporting character. It is starting from when Dick Grayson is 12 and has been taken in by Batman after Dick's parents have been killed. It is written by Frank Miller, and there is an excellent interview about it here at newsarama.

Given that the createive team (Jim Lee is the artist behind it) are given pretty free reign, this could make for a particularly interesting read. Miller wrote what some consider to be the seminal Batman work, The Dark Knight Returns. He has had great runs on several other books as well, including his own unique creation, Sin City. Of course, he also wrote the sequal to The Dark Knight Returns which was, at least in my opinion, not a great series. Nonetheless, I think this is definitely worth looking in to.

Also, DC is currently building up to a huge even (or so they promise) called Infinite Crisis. There are four limited series building to it, Villains United, which for my money is one of the best books on the stands right now, The Omac Project which is a fairly solid book, although between the Tower of Babel storyline in JLA, the War Games story line that spanned all the Bat titles and this story, I'm getting a little tired of people using Bats' own plans against him, Day of Vengeance, which looks to be DC doing a little house cleaning on the mystical side of things, with the now-hostless (thanks to the return of Hal Jordon to being Green Lantern) Spectre being influenced by Eclipso to destroy all magic, and lastly, though not leastly, The Rann-Thanagar War, which features those two planets splitting the DC Universe down the middle to ally themselves with one of the two sides. This spawned directly from the excellent Adam Strange series, and unfortunately, in my opinion does not hit as strong a note as its predecessor did.

Nonetheless, they are all at least enjoyable, and some have moments of sheer brilliance. The story most talked about now is that after Infinite Crisis, a story so big that there will be a fair amount of time just dealing with the emotional consequences, they are going to jump the DC universe 1 year ahead to show us the long-range impact of the story, rather than have all of their books telling stories about the characters picking up the pieces. If this story is as significant as it promises to be, this should be a pretty exciting time to be reading funnybooks.

If any of this has caught your interest, I encourage you to go down to your local comic shop and look in to it. They even have a kind of "primer" book out now called Prelude to Infinite Crisis. Also, recognizing how huge this event is, DC has created a section of their site called Crisis Counseling which is a weekly roadmap to the events leading up to the Infinite Crisis. They obviously know how big and hard to keep track of this whole thing is, and so are trying to help the reader enjoy the ride.

I know I will.

Welcome!

Welcome to Infinite Opinions, my place to post my thoughts on all things Comic Book related - Super Hero movies, RPGs, Video Games, and Comic Books themselves. This will be updated as I have a chance. Although, this tends to be a topic I am pretty fond of, so hopefully it will be happening with some regularity.

These days, I seem to be reading more DC than anything - that seems to be where the best stories are. I have been a pretty much lifelong fan of the Justice Society of America, and am an avid collector of theirs still. Don't be surprised if many of these entries go off on strange Golden-Age related tangents.

Also, as a warning, I don't play a ton of super hero video games - I have found many of them to be disappointing years ago, and have never really recovered from taht enough to try many of the newer ones.

Anyhow, as I said, welcome. I hope you find this site at least somewhat entertaining, and look forward to your comments.