Announcement

Since I'm going to be all over the place this week, I'm not going to be posting any new content.

I might get The Weekly Trade done, but normal service will no doubt resume by next week.

Carry on.

The Question: Pipeline (Review)

Writer: Greg Rucka

Artist: Cully Hammer

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Detective Comics #854-865 (back-up material)

Ever since Renee Montoya took over the role of the Question from Vic Sage there's been a general feeling of uneasiness. Was she right for the job? This uneasiness was part of her character, as she constantly questioned her own identity and future, so it played quite nicely.

Renee's involvement in her first two major stories, The Five Books of Blood and Final Crisis: Revelations, continued this theme. Renee was starting to accept herself as the Question, but these mystical tales hardly seemed fitting to such a character.

With Pipeline, any and all uneasiness in both Renee and the reader is eliminated. Like Vic (or Charlie to his friends) before her, Renee has shed her former destructive self and embraced a more productive and positive lifestyle. It is rare that one takes pleasure in seeing a character mature like this, especially in mainstream comics where one is dreading the return to status quo.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Weekly Trade #10

It's been a heckuva week. Did you notice the double content yesterday, like I said? Let's see what I got...

Superman: The Last Stand of New Krypton (hardback)
Written by Sterling Gates and James Robinson; art by various; published by DC Comics.
The exciting New Krypton saga draws closer to its finale.

The Question: Pipeline (softcover)
Written by Greg Rucka; art by Cully Hammer; published by DC Comics.
Rucka's new direction for Rene Montoya is very interesting, and Cully Hammer's art looks great.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto (softcover)
Written by Brett Matthews, et al; art by Sergio Cariello, et al; published by Dynamite Entertainment.
As I've said elsewhere, this is an amazing series, and this little collection of short stories, featuring guest contributors, should be good.

See y'all next week.

Where Do I Start With... Catwoman

Who?

A Batman villain almost as old as the Joker, Selina Kyle first caught the Dark Knight's eye as Catwoman in 1940 (initially known as simply "The Cat"), and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.

Over the years, she eventually evolved into an on-again/off-again love interest and femme fatale type for the Batman, and is now something of an anti-villain, occasionally starring in her own spin-off series.

She remains one of the most famous Bat-villains and has appeared in various media adaptations, played by many different actresses, including: Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Adrienne Barbeau, Halle Berry, Gina Gershon, and (soon) Anne Hathaway.

Okay, so where do I start?

A-Musing: My First Week as a Superhero

I can still remember first hearing the words, "DC Universe Online".

It seems like so long ago, and fresh on the heels of announcements such as Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online and even Pirates of the Caribbean Online, so at first it seemed like just another jump onto an already over-capacity bandwagon.

And initially I was indifferent. No, scratch that. I was actually completely disinterested now that I recall. I was not one for MMORPGs, having briefly flirted with City of Heroes, another superhero game, and found it lacking.

In my (albeit limited) experience, online games are simply addictive, and possess no engaging qualities beyond the joy of character creation. It seemed like all the endless missions I send my character on were mind-numbingly repetitive, and even though his skills were improving, I was just pressing the same sequence of keys over and over again.

Dracula: The Company of Monsters (Review)

Writers: Daryl Gregory (story by Kurt Busiek)

Artists: Scott Godlewski and Damian Couceiro

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Collects: Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1-4

Did you know that Dracula owned shares in the East India Trading Company? 'Cause I didn't.

This and other interesting facts about Prince Vlad III of Wallachia make up part of Dracula: The Company of Monsters as it cleverly weaves together history and myth in a story about a present day corporation that revives the Impaler Prince to serve as their... business consultant.

And if, like me, you're thinking that such an insane concept must be the stuff of comedy, you'd be sadly mistaken. Instead we get a strange mix of horror, corporate thriller and drama both historical and modern.

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America (Classic Review)

Originally released in 2009.

Writer: Jeph Loeb

Artists: Leinil Yu, Ed McGuinness, John Romita Jr., David Finch and John Cassaday

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Collects: Fallen Son: Wolverine; New Avengers; Captain America; Spider-Man; Iron Man

"Where were you when Captain America died?" is the motivating question behind Fallen Son, as it shows the reactions of various Marvel characters in the aftermath of Cap's assassination, even if it does stray from that original concept.

It is quite appropriate for Jeph Loeb to pen this story. Not only is he personally familiar with loss, but his writing always carries a certain weight to it. And the absolute plethora of talented artists here is truly top-form; whether its David Finch's grittiness or Ed McGuinness' solid action or John Cassaday's elegant simplicity, and all of them benefit from Loeb's instant synergy with his artists.

I can think of no tribute more fitting for Cap -- a man who was perceived completely different by everyone who knew him -- than to see his friends and allies all share their image of the Sentinel of Liberty and what he meant to them, and see that maybe he was all these things and more.

The Weekly Trade #9

Apologies for no content yesterday, I was distracted playing DCU Online. Might do two articles next Wednesday to compensate. Don't hold your breath or anything though.

Alright, let's get this over with so I can get back to gaming. What I have I gone and bought this week?

Dracula: The Company of Monsters (paperback)
Written by Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory; art by Scott Godlewski and Damian Couceiro; published by BOOM! Studios.
The idea behind this story -- Dracula working for a modern-day corporation and finding himself surronded by worse people than him -- sounded too good not to read.

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America (paperback)
Written by Jeph Loeb; art by various; published by Marvel Comics.
Various characters react to Cap's death in a great series of stories by Jeph Loeb with several brilliant artists.

Secret Six: Cats in the Cradle (paperback)
Written by Gail Simone and John Ostrander; art by J. Calafiore, R.B. Silva and Alexandre Palamaro; published by DC Comics.
This series is just always great. That is all.

The Sixth Gun: Cold Dead Fingers (paperback)
Written by Cullen Bunn; art by Brian Hurtt; published by Oni Press.
What is it with indie books and interesting stories? This one is about magic guns or something.

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier (hardback)
Written by Ed Brubaker; art by Dale Eaglesham; published by Marvel Comics.
I can't wait to see what's next for Steve in this story from two great creators.

Now if you'll excuse me; duty calls!

Villains United (Classic Review)

Originally released in 2005.

Writer: Gail Simone

Artists: Dale Eaglesham and Val Semeiks

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Villains United #1-6

Back during DC's Event story Infinite Crisis they released four tie-ins that added extra backstory or angles to the overall plot. Villains United explored the formation of Lex Luthor's "Secret Society" and their "scrappy underdog" counterparts (and adversaries), the Secret Six.

The anti-villain characters of Scandal, Deadshot, Catman, Ragdoll, Cheshire and Parademon would prove to be so popular a team dynamic that, with a few minor changes to the ever-fluctuating roster, they eventually got their own ongoing series out of it.

But Villains United is where it all started. With the Secret Society recruiting pretty much every supervillain in the DC Universe into its ranks, the Six were formed by the mysterious Mockingbird to uncover the Society's true purpose. Six villains who were either too insignificant or too proud to join the Society, but were swiftly transformed into some of the most intriguing characters in the DC pantheon.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Doom Patrol: Brotherhood (Review)

Writer: Keith Giffen

Artists: Matthew Clark, Ron Randall and Cliff Richards

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Doom Patrol #7-13

Every superhero fan has that one character or team that they possess an inexplicable love for. Their books might not sell as well as others and they might not get talked about as often, but there's a small, almost cultish appeal that they have.

For me, it's the Doom Patrol. I know they're not household names and their stories are hardly genre-defining, but that, in a way, is what makes them great. They're like those kids at school who don't fit into any of the usual social groups, and are therefore in a group of their own.

But as much as I love the Patrol, I went into Keith Giffen's latest run (starting with We Who Are About to Die) with low expectations. The current and much discussed climate in the world of comics publishing is not friendly to a "middle of the road" type book for a start. On a more personal level, I honestly did not think that Giffen could possibly capture the classic spirit of Arnold Drake's original Silver Age stories, nor the pure imagination of Grant Morrison's 1989-1993 run.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Weekly Trade #8

I'm still doing these on Thursdays, no matter what day new comics come out. I'm set in my ways. Here's what I got this week...

Doom Patrol: Brotherhood (paperback)
Written by Keith Giffen; art by Matthew Clark with Ron Randall and Cliff Richards; published by DC Comics.
The Doom Patrol is a cult favourite of mine, and this latest run from Giffen and Clark has hit all the right buttons so far.

Batman: Joker's Asylum 2 (paperback)
By various writers and artists; published by DC Comics.
The first series was ace, and I actually bought the whole second run in issues, but it was good enough to buy in trade.

Thor: Age of Thunder (paperback)
Written by Matt Fraction; art by various; published by Marvel Comics.
With Fraction on the current series, I thought I'd check out this collection of stories he did a while back.

That's it for this week. DC Universe Online comes out this week, so... y'know... lower your expectations for a while, that's all I'm saying.

A-Musing: Parallel Universes, Grant Morrison, and Why Superman is Real

Stay with me here. This one is gonna get weird.

In these days of comic book multiverses, where Heaven forbid we should just read a story without worrying about where it "fits", things can get a little complicated. But I'm not going to debate the minutiae of Earths 0 through 616, at least not here anyway. I'm going to examine something a lot more boring: Terminology.

Again, stay with me. You have no idea where this is going, trust me.

In a lot of crazy sci-fi stories, the terms "parallel universe" and "alternate reality" are thrown around quite a lot and used interchangeably to describe these concepts. Being the obsessive nerd that I am, I stubbornly preferred the latter term, believing that "parallel universe" was an incorrect label; that it was somehow inaccurate.

Then I had a life-changing epiphany...

Marvel vs. DC (Classic Review)

Originally released in 1996.

Writers: Ron Marz, Peter David

Artists: Dan Jurgens, Claudio Castellini, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Publisher: DC Comics/Marvel Comics
Collects: DC vs. Marvel #1-4; Dr. Strangefate #1

Come with me on a journey back 15 years, to a time when Superman had a mullet, Spider-Man was a clone, and every other word had the letter X awkwardly forced into it.

It is a time where mainstream superhero stories have fallen somewhat by the wayside. The art was difficult to look at, the characters zero-dimensional, and the plots reduced to mindless stunts. Seeking to regain their former glory, DC Comics and Marvel Comics put their heads together and came up with a solution.

They were going to pull off the biggest, most mindless stunt possible by having their characters fight each other until only one remained! One reader, that is.

One Month to Live (Review)

Writers: Rick Remender, Rob Williams, Stuart Moore, John Ostrander

Artists: Andrea Mutti, Koi Turnbull, Shawn Moll, Shane White, Graham Nolan, Jamie McKelvie

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Collects: 1 Month 2 Live #1-5

Stand-up comedian Dylan Moran once said that all Irish people look as if they are being told really good news in one ear while being told really bad news in the other.

That is essentially what happens to the character of Dennis Sykes in this creator-jam story from Marvel, presumably sent to remind us of how "real" their stories always are. Dennis -- who seems to be some kind of... accountant? Bank employee? I dunno; whatever he is, he seems to wreck people's dreams for a living and is ashamed for it -- discovers he has matter-altering superpowers at the same time he discovers he has cancer, with one month on the clock.

Resolved to use both his powers and dwindling time to make a positive difference in the lives of others and his family, Dennis soon finds himself entering the wider world of the Marvel Universe with consequences both personal and far-reaching

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Weekly Trade #7

Apparently, the UK has now caught up with the US, in that new comics will be out on Wednesday. I don't know what to make of this; still struggling with it...

Here's what I bought this week anyway...

One Month to Live (hardcover)
Various writers and artists; published by Marvel Comics.
The tale of an ordinary man in the Marvel Universe who gets superpowers, but discovers that he only has a month to live. Reminds me of a Dylan Moran stand-up routine...

Daredevil: Yellow (hardcover)
Written by Jeph Loeb; art by Tim Sale; published by Marvel Comics.
I mentioned in my last "Where Do I Start..." post that, despite my love for the character and creative team, I hadn't read this origin story, so here I am.

The Dark Knight Strikes Back (softcover)
Written by Frank Miller; art by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley; published by DC Comics.
Blah blah blah, sequel to the groundbreaking The Dark Knight Returns, blah blah blah, must-read, blah blah blah, no Batfan's collection complete without it, blah blah blah, Frank Miller.

Seriously, Wednesday?! What am I gonna do on Thursdays now?

A-Musing: Things to Look Forward to in 2011

Since I've done one of those nostalgic looks back at the trades of 2010, I thought I might as well do a hopeful look at what's to come in 2011, comics-wise.

This list doesn't just apply to comic books though. Just this once, I'm breaking my usual format to let you know what I'm most excited about in all fields; comics, TV, film, etc. Because this is the Internet, where everyone is equally important. I think that's how it works anyway...

I take absolutely no blame if any of these things turn out to be terrible, by the way. Let none of us forget the disproportionate amount of expectation vs. actual quality regarding the Jonah Hex movie. Also, all of these dates are subject to change. That's not my fault either.

So, what am I looking forward to in 2011?

The Starman Omnibus, Volume One (Classic Review)

Originally released in 2008.

Writer: James Robinson

Artist: Tony Harris (et al)
Publisher: DC Comics
Collects: Starman #0-16

What kind of music does Batman like to listen to? What's Wonder Woman's favourite food? What hobbies does Superman have?

I bet, even with over seventy years of stories, nobody can answer any of those questions. Yet, in just 17 issues, I feel like Jack Knight (Starman) is a lifelong friend.

Nineties superhero comics are often dismissed too quickly. People assume it was all clones and armour without any depth or gravitas, and a lot of it was. But occasionally you find a bright shining star in an otherwise dark sky, and like some ancient explorer, you are lured towards it.

While reading James Robinson's Starman series, I could not help comparing him to Grant Morrison. Both UK writers are huge just now, but both started out with obscure titles (such as Morrison's runs on Animal Man and Doom Patrol) which they could have done poorly and DC would not have suffered. Instead, they proved their worth, excelling in their small corners of the DC Universe, and standing out amongst the noisy and hyperactive 90's mainstream.