It will surprise no one who knows me that it was “Doonesbury” that got me into following the worlds of the White House Press Corps and national politics as a teenager. So I enjoyed chuckling over this whole thing.
Category Archives: comics
Mini-Reviews of "The New 52!": "Batwing," No. 1 and "Static Shock," No. 1
Interestingly enough, these two comics read almost exactly the same. Is it because they’re Black characters? Nope. It’s because “The New 52” seems to be following a specific—1990s?—pattern of storytelling for No. 1: start with alotta action, then introduce plot, characters, etc. and end with an action-packed cliffhanger. (Batwing’s ending is, ah, sharp. ;)) I hope someone 12 is hooked. Because I want to support Black superheroes AND because I really like these characters AND because I see really good potential with Batwing, I’ll be following—and collecting—their entire respective runs.
If There's Ever Gonna Be A "Luke Cage" Movie One Day…..
……it should be a little better than this. 😉 But I liked this anyway, particularly the (classic continuity) yellow shirt! Thanks to Malik for sending me this!
Graphic Novel Mini-Reviews: "Cowboys" and "99 Days"
Cowboys.
Script by Gary Philips. Art by Brian Hurtt.
Vertigo/DC Comics.
192 pp. $19.99.
99 Days.
Script by Matteo Casali. Art by Kristian Donaldson.
Vertigo/DC Comics.
184 pp. $19.99.
Both these books, filled with fantastic art that matches and accelerates the stories, attempt to elevate the crime comic genre, which makes it even sadder that they don’t really succeed. “Cowboys” attempts to play with stereotypes; the white, straight-laced looking fed goes undercover in the world of gangsta hip hop/soul working for a Suge Knight wannabe, while the dreadlocked tough cop goes deep as a corporate exec, investigating his white boss. The twists are fine, and the pacing is fast, but the story, which, like “99 Days,” tries to steal from the lines between the headlines, is quite cliche; crime noir from creators who fondly remember “Trading Places.” Meanwhile, “Days” is a not-as-interesting update of “The Tell Tale Heart.” It alternates between individual suffering and crime drama, with an ending that needed another draft. Vertigo did much better with telling this kind of story with its dreary-but-always-compelling, “Bourne Identity”-ish update of the old DC war comic, “Unknown Soldier.” (I bought every issue and every trade.) Buy those volumes—all of them—instead.
"DC Comics: The New 52": Is This Trip Really Necessary?
Okay, so I read a few pages of “Justice League” No. 1, out on Aug. 31. (And boy, DC must be desperate to pull a “Harry Potter”esque midnight release!) It’s great. But at 43, do I really want to see the Justice League form AGAIN?!? Do I want to read (as in, BUY, READ AND COLLECT) Clark Kent falling in love with Lois Lane AGAIN?!? I hope this strategy works, and I hope DC saves comics (and with it, my local comics store). I really do. But I’m only in for the Black books (and, okay, maybe “Superman” and “Action Comics” —but only because I love the work of Grant Morrison and George Perez!—and, well, maybe…… 🙂 )
I (Heart) NPR's Allison Keyes……
Support This!
Check this out, then support it—with your duckets, if you can. Thank you!
Great Ceasar's Ghost!
O-Kay. Well, I guess if a Black man can be Nick Fury, then why not?
A 21st Century Spider-Man (For SOME Of The COMICS ONLY)
I remember a few years back, when Spider-Man was Indian. Then there was that Japanese version from the 1970s.
Stan Lee has often said that kids like Spider-Man because they could imagine themselves behind the mask. Of course, Marvel loses nothing by doing this; Spidey here is the Ultimate Universe version. The “real” Spider-Man—the one that Marvel will still sell everywhere on television and in film, the first one kids will think of—is still young, white, and skinny Peter Parker.
"Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods"
Grant Morrison’s misses in comics are better than most people’s successes. He is a brilliant creator who wrote Possibly The Best Superman Story Ever. His run on Batman, not yet over, is quite good, too! So I was happy to find out that this was on Hulu.
Drums in the Global Village 