Aaron's Pick of the Week: I've Liked You for a Thousand Years

For the week of November 14:

Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together

by O'Malley (w and a)

A lot of people think of comic books as a form of escapism. And I guess that makes sense, as the top comic books tend to be about people who can fly, shoot lasers out of their eyes, sling webbing from their wrists, or be blind but not really.

But then again, comic books, like any medium, can't be summed up in just one category (other than "awesome"). Just as movies aren't just about fantastical events but a whole array of subjects, there are some comics out there that focus on the more everyday aspects of life, such as getting a job, paying rent, and maintaining a steady relationship (although, come to think of it, only one of these things apply to me at the moment). Granted, these stories are somewhat hard to find in the mainstream world of comics. Which makes books like the Scott Pilgrim series all the sweeter.

As you can probalby tell from the image of the cover, this is the fourth installment of Brian Lee O'Malley's indie gem. I was first exposed to Scott Pilgrim in my first year of university, and was initially turned off by the "Anime" style of the art (because I was dumb). Still, by the time I got about 20 pages in, I was hooked (you can be too! Check out the free previews here). The art, while maybe too "cutesy" for some, really served the story well rather than complicating things, and was actually fairly intricate, as backgrounds sometimes proved.

This is a series with a lot going for it, from the art, to the storyline (a fairly straightforward coming-of-age story with many unique storytelling approaches), to O'Malley's excellent sense of humor.

For me, though, the number one draw has always been how damn relateable the book is. Scott Pilgrim is a mostly-directionless 23-year-old who's pretty much just starting to figure out how the world works, all the while juggling his social, romantic, and (somewhat) professional life. While there are a multitude of differences between the characters and myself (for example, I am 21, still in university, and can't play a musical instrument to save my life), I still identified with the characters on a level I hadn't with previous works that "spoke to a generation," such as Clerks, Garden State, or, uh, Degrassi High. As I was reading this book I constantly had to stop and note all the similarities between certain characters and existing friends of mine (that's right, existing). It probably helps that the series takes place in Toronto, where I grew up. Many locations, such as Sneaky Dee's and Lee's Palace, are featured in this series, adding to the "oh hey, just like MY life" factor.

This isn't to say that Scott Pilgrim is completely "slice of life." A lot of the storytelling is very over-the-top, completely abandoning concepts like "realism." At the same time, however, these over-the-top moments are told honestly and come from a real place, and therefore don't detract from the relateability. For example, an ongoing plotline throughout the series is that Scott must vanquish his girlfriend Ramona's Seven Evil Exes, and these scenes are usually depicted in a style similar to that of a video game. While this is obviously not a common thing most people have to deal with, anyone who's had a girlfriend (or boyfriend) probably knows that often, past exes can leave a "lingering" effect on new relationships, one that isn't necessarily welcome.

I often recommend comic books to other people, but it's not very often that I push them on non-comic-book fans. The Scott Pilgrim series is one very notable exception. I recommend this series (don't start with volume 4, as great as it is) to anyone who feels as if they're trying to figure out their place in life, or that no one can relate to what they're going through. And that's, what? Everyone?

9.4 out of 10



All interior shots (except for the last one) taken from Brian Lee O'Malley's flickr account.

Aaron's Pick of the Week: Joss Whedon is My Master Now

For the week of November 7:

Astonishing X-men #23

by Whedon (w) and Cassady (a)

As I headed to my local comic book shop last Wednesday, I walked with an unusual bounce in my steps. This week was a particularly heavy week in terms of quality books, with such titles as Y: the Last Man, Criminal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, and Super-Villain Team-up. Each of these books are Pick-of-the-Week-worthy on their own, and the fact that they all came out on the same day means good times for the reader.

Of all the comics I was hoping to pick up, only Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-men #23 was sold out before I got to the store. I didn’t think too much of this at the time, as I had all those other titles to keep my mind occupied.

And keep my mind occupied those other titles did. For the most part, these titles really delivered, and I had decided that my Pick of the Week was to be Criminal #10, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I had written about half of the review in my head, however, before I managed to get my hands on Astonishing X-men while in Toronto. I read it, and knew I had to rewrite my post.

Keep that in mind: Astonishing X-men #23 was so good that I was willing to completely abandon my original Pick of the Week just so I could talk about it.

Usually, when people ask me what I think of the X-men at the moment, I screw up my face and say something like “blech.” And that’s because, for the most part, X-men have been terrible for quite some time (note: when I refer to X-men I am referring to the “X-titles,” which include Uncanny X-men, X-men, New X-men, X-factor, Excalibur, and the up-and-coming X-force, not to mention various mini-series and one shots). One exception to this rule is X-factor, which is actually incredibly good.

Oh, and then there’s Astonishing X-men.

Joss Whedon’s been responsible for some of my favorite television shows (Buffy and Firefly), and I’ve always had a soft spot for his snappy dialog, so when in 2004 I heard he would be writing his own X-men book I was somewhat intrigued. At the same time, though, I was aware of the fact that a good writer of one medium is not always going to translate well into a different one. An example of this is Orson Scott Card who, despite his wonderful work on the fan-favorite Ender novels, went on to write the lackluster Ultimate Iron-man.

But Joss Whedon proved early on in his series that he wasn’t just a good television writer. He was a good writer period. From what I’ve witnessed from his comic book career, not only in Astonishing but in titles like Runaways and Buffy, Whedon has shown that he’s done his research and understands what makes the graphic novel medium unique. He is able to manipulate dialog in ways that an auditory medium (like TV, where you don’t see, but rather hear the dialog) would not be able to capture. By using techniques like removing punctuation in parts or otherwise playing with the appearance of the words, he makes the dialog more effective than it could be in any other medium.

That’s just one of the many techniques Whedon has used in the past – techniques that I had never seen before reading his comics, and ones that have left a lasting impression on me. In Astonishing X-men #23, Whedon uses another technique that I have never seen before, and frankly left me stunned. I don’t want to give too much away, but this issue contains a very interesting plot twist that, once again, would not nearly be as effectively conveyed were it not written for the medium of comics. It involves a page from issue #22 replayed panel-by-panel, only thought balloons replace word balloons and… ah, you have to see it for the full effect.

Even if you’re not a huge nerd like me, and don’t give a crap about “techniques” that Whedon employs, this issue still delivers in terms of action and especially characters. One of my other favorite things about this run is that Whedon took Cyclops, a character who has been considered “lame” for quite some time (but not by me!), and made him really, really, cool. The final action sequence of this book depicts probably the most impressive Cyclops moments since… ever. The final page sent shivers down my spine, although I’ll admit it could have been one thought balloon shorter for maximum effect.

None of this could be possible, however, without John Cassady’s beautiful artwork, which hopefully you are experiencing through the images I included (all taken from Comic Book Resources). He’s one of those rare comic book artists who is a perfect blend of dynamic artwork and crisp storytelling (you’d think it would be a given, but it’s actually something you come to appreciate in the world of comics). It makes the fact that this book only comes out once every 2-3 months almost worthwhile.

That’s pretty much my biggest complaint with this book. It doesn’t come out often enough, and I don’t just say that because I’m impatient. The book’s slow schedule means that it takes 2 years for a storyline to conclude. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to keep me excited for such an extended period of time. But then again, all it takes is an issue like this to make me a gushing fanboy again.

Oh, and I’m going to start having a ratings system from now on, out of ten (with decimals), because why not?

RATING: 9.7

Trailer Trash

Last week I was lounging around on campus with a friend while she was on the computer. She was reading the celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton and as I glanced at her computer, a post about Angelina Jolie caught my eye.

Me: What's that?

Her: Oh, just a post about Angelina Jolie.

Me: What about her?

Her: Nothing really, just that there's a new trailer for her upcoming movie.

Me: Oh. Beowulf?

Her: No... (looks at post again) something called Wanted.

Me: (pause) What did you say?

Her: Some movie called Wanted.

Me: ...and the trailer's out?

Her: Apparently.

Me: Let me use your computer.

Her: Uh, what fo-

Me: LET ME USE YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER!

um... Perhaps some context is needed. Wanted was a 6-issue comic miniseries written by Mark Millar that ran from 2003-2004. The London Sunday Times allegedly dubbed it "the Watchmen for super-villains" and while I wouldn't necessarily go that far, I can certainly agree that it was one of my favorite books at the time. It was about a young loser who is pulled out of his mundane life of obscurity and obedience when he finds out that his father was the greatest super-villain of all time.

The story was clever, tense, humorous, and had amazing art by J.G. Jones. What's more, Wanted was unique, with interesting characters - each a rift on archetypal super-villains (like Catwoman and The Joker), only approached in new and colorful ways. It was through these characters that the book truly shined.

Which only made me more confused when I saw this garbage trailer:



"Where are the costumes?" I asked my friend, who was beginning to get a little scared. "Where are the colorful characters? The witty dialog? Hell, where's anything that would have me believe this isn't just a generic shoot-em-up piece of crap?"

They certainly aren't in this trailer, I told myself. I nodded.

A few days later I went and saw American Gangster with my comic-loving friend Michael and this trailer started playing. I turned to him and asked him if he knew what the trailer was for. He replied that it looked like the sequel to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which was, let's face it, a generic piece of crap to begin with.

As much as I want to see Mr. Tumnus running around shooting people (not at all), I don't think I will be catching this one in theaters. I know the term "Hollywood-ized" gets thrown around a lot (at least, I think it does), but this is perfect example of Hollywoodization. It's like if they made a Batman movie, only he didn't wear a costume and instead went around shooting bad guys, and every time he shot someone he'd say some cheesy one-liner, like "Paper or Plastic?"

Wait, that's an awesome idea.

-A

Next up: Enough about comic book movies. Aaron's Pick of the Week.

Edit: In a rare turn of events, myspace appears to have actually done something cool. Thanks to them you can now download the entire first issue of Wanted here. How about that?

Get a WIFF of this (if you Cannes)....

People who visit this site will probably know that I've blogged about comic book movies a few times in the past, rarely with anything particularly good to say about them as a whole. However, as I've also mentioned, the poor quality of your typical adaptation never stops me from getting excited about the upcoming movies anyway. This time, though, I'm pretty sure I'm not just gearing up for another suckfest.

This weekend, Windsor will be having its 3rd annual International Film Festival (lovingly referred to as WIFF). Of all the films being shown this year, the one I am most eager to see is Persepolis, an animated feature based on Marjane Satrapi's critically-acclaimed graphic novels.


The movie has played at several film festivals, including Cannes, where it won the Jury Prize (I don't know what that means, but I bet it's a good thing). Like many foreign movies, it hasn't seen widespread release. You can probably imagine my excitement, then, when I heard it was playing in my town.

You can probably also imagine my frustration when I heard I would be out of said town when the movie plays.

Don't make the same mistake I did. For those of you living in Windsor who aren't busy this Saturday, take my advice: go see this movie. Let me live vicariously through you. Please?

Persepolis is playing this Saturday, November 10, at 5:00pm at the Windsor Armouries. Tickets are 10 dollars. For more info on the WIFF, you can read Erica W's post or check out the official site.

image taken from Sony's official Persepolis site (linked in text).

P.S. I know I keep coming back to the topic of comic book movies, but I thought it important to talk about Persepolis for this post, both because of its impending screening as well as what its doing for comic book movies (ie, allowing the public to see them as Art-with-a-capital-A). If the next few comic book movies are as mature as this one appears to be, and are received with as high acclaim, I can see only good things for the genre.

Next up: I look at the piece of shit trailer for Wanted.

5 Quick Questions with Jeff Lemire

This weekend I attended Windsor's annual Bookfest, which is essentially a festival celebrating literature of all sorts. Over the weekend, I saw a few different talks and readings, but the one panel that was a must-see for me was Getting Graphic, which not only examined the graphic novel but also gave some insights into life as an independent comic creator. The panel speakers were Michèle Laframboise, George Rizok, and Jeff Lemire. Having read Tales from the Farm a few days ago, I was only familiar with Jeff Lemire's work, of the three speakers (although now I definitely want to check out the other two). I really really enjoyed his book (one of the only comics out there that actually moved me to tears... but shh), so Lemire was a huge draw for me.

The panel was pretty informative, and really allowed the audience to understand what the life of a comic creator was like, covering topics such as the underground scene, fan interaction, artistic collaborations, and those late nights at Kinko's (bottom line: don't become a comic creator for the money).

After the panel I quickly went and purchased Lemire's follow-up comic, Ghost Stories, from the gift shop. As he signed my copy, I asked him if I could quickly interview him for the blog, to which he kindly agreed.


Blogs of Future Past: What was it that drew you to comics?

Jeff Lemire: I don’t know what it was. I guess it was just the drawings. I remember being really young and going in to get groceries with my mom and just being captivated by the magazine rack and the comics. As soon as I was able to recognize them, I was always drawn to them. I can’t say what it is. (laughs)

BoFP: What inspired you to write “Tales from the farm?”

JL: I think I really wanted to try to tell a little bit more personal stories. So many comics are set in urban centers and cities and stuff. I thought, there’s not enough stories set in rural areas. Especially since I came from here, I thought I’d have an interesting perspective on it and I could draw from some of the details. So I wanted to set a story in a rural setting, and it just seemed natural to create a character who was sort of like I was as a kid, and I’d fictionalize everything else.

BoFP: Are there any comics that you’re reading right now?

JL: My favourite comics right now are The Walking Dead, anything Ed Brubaker’s doing – Captain America, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Criminal – All Star Superman’s amazing, and Scalped by Jason Aaron. He’s my favourite writer right now. I think that guy’s going to be a star. Scalped and The Other Side [also by Aaron] are just brilliant.

BoFP: If you could take over a comic book character, would you? If so, which character would it be?

JL: Yes! I’d love to get a crack at a bunch of characters but my favourite guys are always the DC Silver Age characters. I’ve always had a really strong connection to Adam Strange for some reason. I love Adam Strange and also the Unknown Soldier. I have so many stories I could do with that guy.

BoFP: Finally, what advice do you have for any up and coming comic creators?

JL: I think the biggest thing is that if you’re a writer and not an artist, you know, team up with someone so you can do a book. Just do it, and print it yourself and get it out there. The easiest way to get people in the comic book industry to notice you is not to tell them about what a great writer you are or artist you are, but to show them a book that they can see. You have to start somewhere, so just self-publish and start doing it.



You can check out Jeff Lemire's personal blog here.

Aaron's Pick of the Week: Putting the "War" in "Warped"

For the week of October 31:

Special Forces #1 (of 6)

by Baker (w and a)

Picking up a new title is no small feat for a comic book collector, especially one on a student's budget (ie me). Of course, someone who never picks up new titles runs the risk of missing out on some truly wonderful books (not to mention the chance to buy a series' Issue 1 before its price skyrockets).

For me, I only venture to try new titles out if A) they center around a character I am familiar with and like, B) they come highly recommended from a friend, or C) they're created by someone Scottish.

Now, Special Forces is none of these. I mean, I immensely enjoyed Kyle Baker's run on Plastic Man. But other than that, I haven't really known him from too much. I've seen his short cartoons about family life (The Bakers), which are pretty sweet and adorable, but not particularly indicative that this guy could write, you know, a good war comic.

But hey, it doesn't cost anything to flip through the comic (at least, not in any decent comic store), and so, as I was picking up my "reliable" titles at Rogue's Gallery, I opened up a copy of Special Forces to page 1.

And what a page 1 it was (warning: graphic, albeit a bit cartoony, violence). For me, it had just the right amount of shock, vulgarity, and violence, balanced out by self-awareness and irony, to make me want to pick up the book right away (note: in the final version of this page, the caption reads "the black guy dies first" as opposed to "the black guy died first").

I'm glad I did pick up this book, because it turned out to be a lot more than just explosions and dark humour. In Special Forces, Baker is making a statement on the Iraq war, on violence, but most of all on exploitation (he's against it).

Inspired by real events, Special Forces is about a group of soldiers who find themselves in the middle of Iraq. However, the reader quickly realizes that they are unlike just about any other company depicted in war stories (I assume). Due to rising pressure amongst army recruiters to meet a certain quota of applicants, this group of soldiers happens to be comprised of, among others, felons, the obese, and a young autistic man called Zone. Needless to say, once thrown into battle, they don't do that well.

The book is funny, true. However, rather than laughing out loud while reading this book, odds are you'll be doing that pissed off laugh you sometimes do (often followed with an "I can't fucking believe you just did that") after a friend does something stupid.

Baker wants you to laugh, but he also wants you to get mad.

A prime example of this is when the company's inept sergeant (who is also their recruiter) accidentally instructs air support to attack their own position as opposed to the enemy's, resulting in multiple casualties. This is not the only instance where the higher ups are responsible for the death of others (hell, that's what the whole comic is essentially about). The incredible loss of life in this opening issue is unexpected and only made more tragic by the fact that none of these soldiers should be fighting in the first place.

Despite the fact that this book fulfills none of my previously mentioned criteria for picking up new titles, I'm really glad I bought this book. You guys should do the same, especially now that it fulfills criteria B) it comes highly recommended from a friend.

Because if you took the time to read this far, you have now become my friend.

-A

P.S: It wasn't until I started writing this review that I realized the title of this comic is a pun.

Ironing out the Problem

So, the Iron Man teaser has been around for a while, but for those of you who have yet to see it, here it is:



Now, I know that, according to what I said in an earlier post, I should be responding to this trailer with "Mass excitement." And I probably would be in most circumstances. I mean, the non-Home-Improvement costume looks awesome. But for some reason that I couldn't put my finger on, something about that trailer didn't sit right with me.

Then it hit me.

Here is a trailer from Ghost Rider, a movie that I and most of the surface world thoroughly didn't enjoy.



I hope the similarities between the two trailers speak for themselves (the one main difference being that the Iron Man trailer is only a "teaser" and therefore doesn't show as much). There was another Ghost Rider trailer where protagonist Johnny Blaze is told, like with Iron Man's Tony Stark, "You should [be dead]," as well as a similar ending (a prolonged CGI shot of the hero speeding in a particular direction), but I thought the similarities were more palpable in this one.

The fact that Iron Man's trailer is even remotely comparable to Ghost Rider's is, frankly, not good. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to line up at midnight to see it on opening night, dressed appropriately, but I won't be happy about it.

...no high five?

Aaron's Pick of the Week: One Bad Mother- Shut Your Mouth!

For the week of October 10:

Punisher #51

by Ennis (w) and Parlov (a)

A lot of times, when I try to explain my love of comic books to other people, a question that I am often met with is "Comic books... aren't they just violent stories about two people beating the shit out of each other?" to which I reply that comics have been misleadingly portrayed in the mass media and that actually, comic books deal with a plethora of genres, many of which are nuanced works of profound introspection, working with an array of subtleties.

Punisher #51 is about two guys who beat the shit out of each other. And it's totally awesome.

I should start by saying that, until recently, I've never much liked Frank Castle (aka the Punisher). He always struck me as embodying the worst of your shlocky action movies, from the hypocritical moral stance to the cheesy one-liners. I never saw much entertainment in suspending my disbelief enough to accept that a single person armed with just one revolver could take out a hundred armed goons. But then I heard that Garth (Preacher) Ennis, a writer who I enjoy immensely, was on the book, so I figured "what the hell."

And what can I say? Ennis made a believer out of me. I think this is probably because of Ennis' talent to (among countless other things) breathe "cool" into anything he writes. He could write a 22 page story about an old lady crossing the street and it'd be more kick-ass than 90% of the other comics out there. Now, when the Punisher takes out hundreds of armed goons, I don't think, "oh, come on!" Instead, I think, "Fuck Yeah!"

However, this issue is unique because, rather than take on a hundred armed goons, here he goes one-on-one with the inordinately bad-ass Barracuda.

The Punisher is unique in the Marvel Universe in two ways. For starters, he doesn't have superpowers, which means he defeats his villains using a combination of cunning, his war-hardened combat skills, and a shitload of guns (I don't think Spider-man's ever even held a gun before in his life).

Second of all, the Punisher is unique because, when he defeats a villain, he doesn't send them to Ryker's Prison or The Raft. He kills them. There's no way around it; if you do something bad, the Punisher will kill you.

This presents a problem in terms of establishing arch enemies, as the average Punisher villain has a lifespan of about six issues. Still, Ennis has managed to come as close to a nemesis as possible in Barracuda, a "bad-ass motherfucker" in the truest (well, not literally) sense of the word who, in the hands of a less talented writer, would come across as a racist stereotype, inflated to a monstrous degree (well, he still sort of does, but Ennis makes it work). Barracuda managed to survive his first run-in with the Punisher (issues #31-36) by the sole virtue of being incredibly difficult to kill. He returns in this arc, shy several fingers and an eye, to make Castle's life a (short-lived) living hell.

Issue #51 makes this part two of the "Long Cold Dark" arc. Structurally, Ennis' stories have generally followed the same six-issue format, making this the part where the Punisher "barely escapes alive, realizing that he may be in for the fight of his life." Still, despite the almost formulaic plot of the comic, its delivery is anything but. Watching Barracuda torment the Punisher in the opening of this issue, I was surprised at how palpable Castle's helplessness felt.

Unlike the typical superhero brawl, the fight scene itself didn't consist of a single super-power - no eye-lasers or plasma beams. And the fight was all the more brutal for it. Instead of adamantium claws, the characters used fists, teeth, a knife, a chair, and an open window. Watching the aftermath was truly cringe-worthy.

Perhaps my favourite thing about this comic as a whole is Ennis' ability, time and time again, to give the reader a real sense of how high the stakes are. Reading this comic not only left me quite caught up in the moment, but dreading the events that will no doubt unfold in the issues to follow.

Punisher #51 is highly recommended to people who want a balls-to-the-walls action story, and think that super-heroes are too "kiddy." It is NOT recommended to people who, say, find Hot Stuff a little racy.


Not recommended:

Ghost Rider #16: Uninteresting, hard to follow, and bland. Makes me think back to the Ghost Rider movie as "the good ol' days."

Coming now, to a links list to the right of this text...

The Comic Book Syndicate was a video podcast that focused on the various aspects of comic book geekery, from reviews to debates to guides on collecting. It was funny, interesting, and, perhaps most importantly, clearly came from the purest of fanboy hearts. What's more, it was put out, according to their site, by "4 of Windsor's leading costumed champions" (this is especially true if you frequent Rogue's Gallery, as I do).

Here's an excerpt from one of their shows, where they discuss bringing characters back from the dead (NOTE: many references might go over the heads of nonthusiasts, but even if this is the case for you, there is still a lot to enjoy):




You may have noticed I used the past tense when describing the Comic Book Syndicate. That's because they're not strictly a podcast anymore.

They're now a television show.

From what I understand, they've been picked up by A-Channel Cogeco Cable 11 and will premiere on said channel TOMORROW, Friday the 5th of October, at 11pm. If you're like me and usually spend Friday nights sitting on your mattress, rocking back and forth, I suggest checking the Comic Book Syndicate out.

-A

P.S. If the link I provided gives you trouble with loading the videos, you can access shittier versions (pixelation-wise) of the show on youtube.

Set Your Watches

Every time I hear that a comic book is to be adapted into a motion picture, I go through the same routine:

1: Vague interest upon the initial announcement
2: Mass excitement after seeing the first trailer
3: Total hysteria while waiting in line hours before the movie's release
4: Slight confusion during opening credits
5: Second-hand embarrassment halfway through the movie, (often exacerbated in the event of a Stan Lee cameo)
6: Post-traumatic stress disorder when leaving the theater

With a few exceptions (Sin City, Batman Begins, and Hellboy come to mind), any widely-released adaptation of a comic book turns out to be at best, mediocre, and at worst, Daredevil. And then, when a new comic book movie is announced, I foolishly think to myself that maybe this time will be different, that maybe the director will get it right. Of course, I'm always wrong.

But maybe this time will be different.

I am referring to the upcoming adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' groundbreaking maxi-series The Watchmen. Often considered one of the best, if not the best, graphic novels of all time, The Watchmen has had a long history of bad breakups with the film industry (a 1989 version of the adapted screenplay can be found here). Only now, it's finally happening.

The movie has been announced for quite a while now, but I am writing about it now because a few days ago, according to my Wizard magazine, the first poster has been unveiled, drawn by original Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons.



I'm not sure how I feel about it in terms of it working as a movie poster, but what I do get from it is this: director Zack Snyder is telling the world that he's not fucking around. He's not making just another shitty comic book adaptation. He's making the Watchmen (this is especially evident if you are familiar with how the covers to the individual comics looked. Essentially, this poster looks like it could be a hypothetical issue 0).

For more information on the poster, read the Wizard article online here.


Also, whenever I look at the release date I think of the lyrics to "Three is a Magic Number." Whether this is intentional or not is anybody's guess.

Aaron's Pick of the Week

Pretty much every comic shop I've ever been to has a little feature known as a "pick of the week," where each employee offers their opinion on which books are not to be missed. I figure it would only be appropriate for me to do likewise.

Here's what I loved for the week of September 19:

Captain America #30

by Brubaker (w), Epting (a), and Perkins (a)


Why is it that, despite the fact that I never much cared for Captain America, despite the fact that I never much found the Red Skull to be a terrifying villain by any means, and despite the fact that the lead character's been dead since March... why is it that this book is so good?

Well, there are various reasons, not least of all the beautiful artwork, engaging dialogue, as well as surprising plot twists (at least two of which can be found in this issue). However, none of these elements, noteworthy though they may be, impress me as much as Brubaker's characters.

Where Brubaker really impresses me is in his ability to treat even the most ridiculous characters with dignity. And this applies to everyone, whether it's Captain America's best friends, formerly goofball villains such as Doctor Faustus and Armin Zola, or even (and perhaps most appreciatively on my part) Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), who since Civil War has been portrayed as the Idiot King of the marvel universe. In this issue, we see why he's Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Though I touched on this earlier, it would be a crime for me not to mention the art at least once more. While Brubaker can, as I said, make any character engaging through dialogue and actions, it would all be for naught without Epting and Perkins breathing cool into their designs. I mean, they even made this guy look cool.

In this particular issue, I was struck by Brubaker, Epting, and Perkins' ability to completely shift tones on a page-by-page basis. In the blink of an eye, the comic would quickly go from intense to sombre, from pensive to terrifying, from awesome to... well, it never stopped being awesome.

Knowing the trend in comic books, to state that Captain America's return is definite, even as soon as within the year, would be no great claim. One argument for his imminent return is the fact that there is still a Captain America series. "You can't have a Captain America series without Captain America," they'd logically argue. However, as this title proves, these people are dead wrong.


Also recommended

Groo 25th Anniversary Special: Hilarious. The only reason this one isn't my pick of the week is because it actually came out on the 12th.

World War Hulk #4 (of 5): Seriously, pick up this book. Not a fan of the Hulk? That's no excuse. Not a fan of super heroes at all? Again, not good enough. You aren't able to read? Okay, that's an adequate excuse.


Not recommended

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus #1 (of 5): The name aside, I found this to be surprisingly lackluster, especially considering how much I love Mignola's other works (Hellboy, sure, but especially B.P.R.D.). I'm not sure exactly where the book lost me. Oh wait, it was with this line: "Germans? Jeez! I don't know much, but I read the papers. That Hitler looks like trouble, and I bet he'd love to get a hold of this suit." Hopefully the book will pick up. I, however, will not be sticking around to find out.

Shipping list for Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The following is a list of comic books slated to be released this Wednesday. It should be noted that these are the titles that were specifically ordered by Paradise Comics, so while this is an extensive list, it does not necessarily cover all titles. Bold indicates that I plan to purchase the title, while the inclusion of an asterisk(*) indicates that I recommend you do the same.

- Annihilation Conquest Quasar #3 (of 4)

- Aquaman Sword Of Atlantis #56

- Army @ Love #7

- Avengers Classic #4

- Batman Lobo Deadly Serious #2 (of 2)

- Birds Of Prey #110

- Captain America #30 CWI*

- Catwoman #71*

- Checkmate #18

- Countdown 32

- Countdown To Mystery #1 (of 8)

- Criminal Macabre My Demon Baby #1 (of 4)

- Cyblade Pilot Season #1

- Ex Machina #30*

- Flash #232

- Green Arrow Black Canary Wedding Special #1

- Hellblazer #236

- Highwaymen #4 (of 5)

- Irredeemable Ant-man #12

- JLA Hitman #1 (of 2)

- Jungle Girl Px #0

- Legion Of Super Heroes In The 31st Century #6

- Mad Magazine #482

- Madman Atomic Comics #4*

- Marvel Adventures Avengers #16

- Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #28

- Marvel Comics Presents #1

- Marvel Illustrated Treasure Island #4 (of 6)

- New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #1 Blank Cvr

- New X-men #42

- Penance Relentless #1 (of 5)

- Programme #3 (of 12)

- Red Sonja #25 Blank Cvr

- Robin #166

- Scooby Doo #124

- Shadowpact #17

- Sheena #3 (of 5)

- Simpsons Comics #134

- Spawn #171

- Spider-man Red Sonja #2 (of 5)

- Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #20

- Streets Of Glory #1 (of 6)

- Superman Batman #40

- Tales Of The Sinestro Corps Parallax #1

- Terror Inc #2 (of 5)

- Testament #20

- Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #1 (of 6)

- Wasteland #12

- Wolverine Origins #17

- World War Hulk #4 (of 5) WWH*

- World War Hulk Front Line #4 (of 6)

- World War Hulk Gamma Corps #3 (of 4) WWH



actually, from the looks of things, this week will be fairly shitty.

notes: "CWI" means the title ties into Marvel's Civil War: Initiative lineup, while "WWH" indicates that the title ties into Marvel's World War Hulk series

Catwoman image from dccomics.com.
Madman image from imagecomics.com.

Ut! First post!

Welcome to my blog, concerning all things comic booky in nature. I suppose it would be apt at this point to introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Aaron F and I love comic books.

This is an introduction I have used many times in my life, although sadly it has yet to yield the desired result: to make friends. Usually it is met with a pursed-lipped nod, an awkwardly-retracted handshake, or in some cases an "oh... how... quaint."

Comic books have always been a love of my life, at least as far back as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is of me, around 2 or 3 years old, sitting on my grandmother's lap watching Batman in theatres and being traumatized by watching the Joker's mangled body on the streets of Gotham, his laughter still echoing in the distance.

Oh wait, that memory sucked.

It wasn't until I was older - old enough to know better - that my love affair with comic books became something of an obsession. Perhaps it was the completist in me, but I had to read everything. I tell you, during this period of my life (most of highschool, that is), I read a ton of crap. But I also read a ton of masterpieces.

Unfortunately, at this point my goal to become the Ultimate Comicbook Master had led me down a very solitary path. Try as I might, I was unable to effectively convey the transcendent joy comic books gave me ("I swear, comics are awesome! You should totally read this issue, it's my fav-DON'T FUCKING TOUCH IT!"). Even at the comic book store where I worked, the owner's interest in comics was no longer aesthetic (having admittedly not read one in several years).

Since moving to Windsor, however, I have found a few fellow enthusiasts. Also, I know that there are still more of you out there on the internet (for some reason the internet and geekdom go hand in hand). So hopefully the path I've been treading will reveal itself to be hardly as lonely as it originally appeared.

Oh, and for those wondering: the exclamation of "Ut!" in the title of this post is a reference to ONE of my favourite super-heroes, the Flaming Carrot (image from the official site). For those of you who enjoy surrealist humour, I can't recommend this title highly enough (The Mystery Men? Yeah, they debuted here). The fact that he never got his own cartoon series (to my knowledge) is criminal. Let's call it my pick of the week.

Anyway, enough about me. Who the hell are you?