Relaunch!

I figured that in the wake of the DC relaunch, there's no time like the present to resume. I will admit that over the summer i found myself, shall we say, less than excited with mainstream comics. Future Foundation has been nothing but delightful, and Spider-man is always amazing, but the massive crossover events left me a bit wanting. Fear itself and Flashpoint both had me waiting for their conclusion, rather than wanting to see the drama of the story or whatever.

So, the old DC continuity is gone in a Flash (see what I did there?) and this new mass has surfaced to reveal what it's all about. I guess that's cool and all, but I'm fairly confused as to what this accomplished other than allowing me to say I own Action Comics #1.

And, this is not me complaining about what I'm reading. I think that Grant Morrison has provided a fresh take on Superman (I would expect nothing less) and that Geoff John's Justice League is actually quite good. I do have some problems with Batgirl, but more on that later.

Good writing aside, I am actually really confused. I thought this was a relaunch. I thought everything had been wiped and was new and different, but it's actually not. It's still very similar. Sure, Superman no longer wears red underwear and Barbara Gordon walked off her paralysis, but I really don't feel a tangible difference. Things are still rooted in continuity as much as they ever were, it's just a different one that has not made itself clear yet.

It's still this weird miasma of what is and what isn't that needs to get sorted out before it's fully accessible, which seems counter-productive to what the whole thing was supposed to do. I'm really unsure about all the Green Lantern stuff, especially with the "New Guardians" line. That seems like a lot of backstory that new readers might not want to get into quite yet. The canon is there. It looms over the universe(s), waiting to poke through and remind us that what was once is now lost. I'm still really uneasy, and as exciting as some things are, some ideas are unsettling. What happened to Jason Todd? What about all the Blackest Night and Crisis stuff? All these things happened! I have proof in the boxes I keep in my room! Do all these stories still exist somewhere? Do they still apply to the world, or are we sweeping them under the rug.

All of this stuff is what makes me nervous in comics. I don't want comics to fall by the wayside. But this, and DC no longer "holding the line at 2.99" when I have a poster promising they would, is quite disconcerting. I hope things get better, I do, but it's hard to not be uncomfortable right now.

Everything was back to normal

So... I know it's been a while, but tonight's South Park really got me thinking. I know I rarely talk about TV or anything, but I would wager the connection between comics and cartoons is pretty strong, or at the very least strong enough so I can do this.

Anyway, the episode tonight had what could easily be called an incredibly depressing ending. It was pretty sad, to say the least. I did some research (read: Wikipedia) and found out that this is actually the mid-season finale, so there isn't a conclusion. If this is a cliffhanger, it's going to be a while before any resolution is achieved. I suggest you check out the episode to see exactly what I mean.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the cartoon cliche that everything is always back to normal at the end. It's an old one, which had been mocked on a lot of shows. Family Guy comes to mind fairly often.

In cartoons, and comics, we all know things are going to be ok at the end. We suspend our notion that they aren't to develop the tension. Sure, our heroes may triumph, but at what cost? When they don't triumph at all, then we're really thrown off.

Consider All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison's masterpiece. It doesn't end happily. Superman dies. It moves us to the extreme, but often to tears (I cried, don't judge me). Its the same when a TV show ends on a note contrary to it's genre. Venture Brothers has done this a few times. I' sure the Simpsons has once in it's 9,000,000 seasons. However, at the vast majority of all episodes end, and then things are back to normal. For instance, I remember Ralph Wiggum being elected president.

So when tonight's South Park essentially destroyed the show and then abruptly ended, I was a bit shocked. It was unnerving and depressing. I don't exactly know where it's going, but I'm hooked. I would just like to see it get better.

A year in review

It's been a year since I began this blog. Coming in at 53 posts, one per week fairly regularly. This is pretty cool, in my humble opinion.

But, that doesn't matter. The big news is that Bin Laden is dead. The way I sort of think about it, in comic book terms at least, is that he's kind of our nations supervillain. He was the head of a group that murders innocents in grandiose ways to make points. In short, he's like a fundie Joker or something.

But the there's a couple of things about this event that make me think. The first, of course, is the justification for killing him. The second is what happens after.

I mean, the guy did deserve to die. He was the dickiest dick to dick our generation, but does it make us right to kill him? Does it matter that we kill a killer? I mean, I'm glad the guy's dead but I wish we had captured him or something, but at the same time I mean that would have just been such a process, and it's not really like we need a trial when the guy's already confessed and we've proven the case. It'd be a sham, and not at all a truly fair trial, and it would just corrupt the event by dragging it out. This is cultural closure, and it's okay to be happy. I just find myself thinking about what Superman would do.

I know it's stupid, but 9/11 was such a huge thing, so super-villainy that you just wanted Superhero to fly in and save the day. But that didn't happen, of course. It didn't stop us from wanting it though. And now that we've gotten him, I keep wondering about Superman again. What would he do?

He never kills, despite who he's staring down. He would have grabbed Osama and drop in on the Senate floor or in a cell in the Hague. I don't know. But then again, Superman isn't real, and so Black Ops did the job they do best.

So what happens now? Supervillains have a tendency to come back. Osama won't get resurrected, but there will be someone to take his place. But, we'll handle it. Its what we have to do.

A Contract with God

To say the term "Jewish Comic Author" is often fairly redundant. Most of the earliest comics creators are incredibly Jewish, but the most Jewish of all is Will Eisner.

I just finished his "A Contract with God", which is a collection of 4 short stories centered around life in the Bronx tenement of Dropsie Avenue. It is wonderful. The characters are lively yet heartbreaking. Each story is brilliantly written and illustrated in Eisner's signature style. I can't help but think of Walt Disney work whenever I see it.

His writing just feels very Jewish. I love it, to say the least. The idea of "A contract with God" is so incredibly Hebraic I can't even begin to gush about it. He knows what he is doing. He is a man who knows how to tell a story and then to draw it perfectly.

This is literally a graphic novel, which is what makes it so revolutionary. This man, Will Eisner... Oy, what a mensch.

Superheroes in Court- what's the ruling

So this is a thought I had a bit back: is evidence obtained by a superhero admissible in court?

Superheroes have appeared in official proceedings in costumes, like when the Flash was on trial for murder or when Spiderman was in a Senate hearing (his testimony stricken from the record because of his mask, however). Often times, however, it's harder to see them in an official prosecution role because they are not officers of the law. Regardless of what any superhero does and whatever authority they may have, the vast majority are not officially part of any government organization that would allow them to act in the capacity of, say, a police officer.

Also, consider the fact that in most canon, Batman and many heroes are considered to be "dangerous vigilantes" and their actions are technically illegal. Batman is an excellent example. He does a lot of illegal things. Most of his evidence would be questionable because he would be constantly taking the fifth since most of his actions are incredibly illegal, such as dragging a man down the streets of Gotham with his face inches from the asphalt in order to get information. He is a private citizen and not bound by police rules, but at the same time his inherent vigilante nature does really cloud anything he could provide because of the questionable legality of how it was obtained.

It's a weird sort of thing, since yeah, cops do end up arresting Luthor and Doc Ock and then going into the dual process, but can Spiderman be called to the court as a witness? He seems like a hard guy to Subpeona, and wearing a mask to court is usually against the rules.

More later, this is something that demands research.

Hey now, you're an All-Star (Superman)

God bless you, Grant Morrision. Er, pan-dimensional hyper-being grant you favor, Grant. All-Star Superman is beautiful. That's it. That is all there is to say. I'm not going to lie. I came cross to crying. The way Superman faces the unavoidable reality of his death while still managing to be the epitome of heroism is the truest representation of Superman's character and what makes him THE Superhero.

I am moved by this work. I really am. It is a wonderful, meaningful idea that communicates the brilliant character of Superman. There are so, so many things to talk about, but at the end of the day the most important is going to be Superman. He is just so damn Super. Over the course of the run he manages to do more than I have ever seen him do, and that is why Grant Morrison does such an incredible job whenever he writes the character. He reminds us time and time again just what kind of person Superman is.

And there in lies the brilliant irony of Superman. He has all the best traits of humanity. He is brave, caring, selfless, inventive, and compassionate. He is of an entirely pure heart, despite being the most powerful being on the planet (at least in Grant's universe). He is the best of earth despite his Kryptonian heritage. There is an incredibly moving scene where Clark speaks at his fathers funeral and we can see just how he was molded by a loving family.

People always razzle Supes because of his indestructibility and lack of humanity. Superman is at his most powerful in this story yet despite this he is at his most vulnerable. He reveals his secret ID to Lois Lane, (who never believes him) and really shows his softer side despite having bulletproof skin. He isn't even hurt by Kryptonite anymore. He is like a Super-Superman.

I want to rant more but I think I'll save that for later. It's just so, so, so good. Grant Morrison, you may be insane, but you do damn good work.

I think this story carried a lot of weight for me personally because of the recent death of my Grandmother. She as so brave and so bold facing her cancer. It reminded me a lot of her.

Future Family

I have only dabbled in Fantastic Four. I am well aware of their stories and villains and importance to the genre, but I just never got too into it. I've read enough to understand them and everything, it's just that I never had the time or money.

To sum up, the Fantastic Four are a nuclear family. There is the workaholic dad, the loving mother, and two bickering brothers. Though the roster has shifter around and members have been added, that core four has always been a big deal. Mr. Fantastic, the Everlovin' Blue-eyed Thing, the Invisible woman, and the human torch have been constants in the FF's run.

Cut to now, where the Human Torch fallen in action. This is kind of a big deal. Not to say whether or not it's a publicity stunt and he is going to come back within the year, the Fantastic Four is sort of a four-thing. The Thing and Invisible Woman have lost a brother, and Reed has essentially lost a son. Again, this is a big deal.

However, due to Torch's request, they bring Spider-man onto the team. There's a great moment when he swing onto the roof of the Baxter Building and the Invisible Woman welcomes him inside. It echoes the first issue of Amazing Spider-man where he tries to join the FF and is locked out and gets into a fight with them. Now he's welcomed inside.

Of course, it's still super-awkward. Ben is not a fan of Peter being there, and when they gather round for the Fantastic Family dinner, he's the only one with a mask on. He knows he still doesn't belong here. Though he had a rocky history with the Torch, he and Johnny were friends. The whole dinner set-up is powerful and reminds us of the family idea of the Fantastic Four.

I'm very interested in where this is going to go. I just may be a Fantastic Four Fan yet.