Comixtime: Gives Me FEELINGS Special Edition
So, this is happening. And Alan Moore isn’t happy about it.
Basically, Moore is in the right here. I don’t know how anyone can say otherwise, unless they straight out say “screw Alan Moore, I want more Rorschach beating up criminals”. That would at least be honest.
American superhero comics is a medium based on taking others’ ideas and running with them. And there have been many instances of creators not getting the credit they deserve; see Siegel and Shuster and Jack Kirby. So why is this different? Well, it isn’t - which is precisely why it’s so depressing. Why are the rights of creators still in such a shitty state? The 2011 Kirby lawsuit judgement has gone down as a breaking point for a number of people. It’s confirmation that these companies that have made millions off other people’s ideas can’t make even a token acknowledgement of that fact.
And while Superman and Batman in their original incarnations were meant as serial stories - you have the set-up (super-strong alien or wealthy vigilante) to apply to any new plot - Watchmen was ALWAYS intended to be a single self-contained story. From the first to the final image, there’s not a single panel that needs to be added to explain or clarify anything. DC’s intellectual bankruptcy to the extent that they need a 6-month sales bump off a 26-year-old limited series is … depressing. And I find the insistence of the creators that they’ve in fact found things that must be added to the story specious at best, and insulting at worst.
And it’s been stated enough times that Moore and Gibbons’ contracts stated that Watchmen would revert back to them once the story had been out of print for a year:
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, meanwhile, created Watchmen under the impression that the rights would be returned them eventually. Within a year after it was concluded, in fact. That’s not my opinion. That’s a fact. It’s public knowledge. Due to the nature of the deal that had been agreed upon by Moore, Gibbons and DC Comics, it was widely discussed. It was a genuine victory for creators’ rights.
But then the book was kept in print forever, and the rights to Watchmen never reverted back to Moore and Gibbons.
And people wonder why Alan Moore felt betrayed.
A company having the legal right to exploit someone’s work does not translate to a moral right. It doesn’t translate to the certainty (or even the possibility) of good art. I enjoy Darwyn Cooke and Brian Azzarello’s work, but I wouldn’t put them on par with Moore. And this is before you get into the company-man bullshit-shovelling and passive-aggressive denigration of the guy who actually created the work that this brains trust is going to play around with.
There is a curious phenomenon at work here; creators who feel a need to attack Alan Moore, even though he’s never addressed them himself. The team behind Watchmen 2: The Legend Of Nixon’s Gold may be perfectly at ease with profiting off Moore’s characters and story, but there’s something odd with the way the interviews contain a pre-emptive lashing out.
I don’t begrudge anyone buying or enjoying the Watchmen prequel comics. I’d much rather not have to worry about the moral consequences of my tastes in my entertainment. But Marvel could have acknowledged the debt they owe to Kirby within his lifetime, and compensated him accordingly. They could have admitted to his family that they made a mistake, and awarded them something by way of recompense. DC could have done the same for Siegel and Shuster, and they could have left Watchmen alone as a stand-alone work and reliable bestseller.
Instead, we’re seeing the worst aspects of modern comics culture. And it’s the fact that they work towards the corporate-led status quo that makes stuff like this possible. If you have fans that side with corporations over creators, and creators working for these corporations that will throw their predecessors under the bus for a chance to play with the toys, the whole thing will play out just as before, right down to Visionary Director(tm) Zak Snyder bringing Watchmen Babies to the big screen, and Rorschach action figures all the way down…
…And I don’t want any part of it.
2012: the year DC put Rob Liefeld on 3 books and announced a prequel to a 25-year-old series
Pretty sure a thousand people have beat me to this already, but here you go
Comixtime Double-Size Feature! “I miss ninjas.”
A few currently ongoing series that I’m reading, as well as two more #1s from DC’s New 52. I eyed up Paul Cornell’s Demon Knights, but wasn’t convinced to buy it – it looked very pretty, but plot-thin. But I know I can always come back to it later, thanks to DC’s simultaneous digital release policy. Digital still isn’t the ideal format for me, and charging the same as a physical issue for a month after release date is ridiculous, but it’s still a stop-gap between buying a comic the week of its release and waiting for the trade collection.
Batwoman #1
J.H. Williams III (Co-Writer & Artist), W. Haden Blackman (Co-Writer), Dave Stewart (Colours), Todd Klein (Letters)
Publisher: DC
Following on from the Greg Rucka/JH Williams III arc featuring Batwoman in Detective Comics, Gotham City’s newest Bat-character gets her own (long-delayed) ongoing series. Williams (aided by Blackman) takes over writing duties, and the joints show a little in this mainly set-up issue. The script doesn’t have the furious pacing of Rucka’s issues, and lots of panel time is spent recapping the “Elegy” storyline for new readers.
The art, however, is as spectacular as you would expect. Williams is one of the best artists in comics right now, and his expertly-designed double-page spreads, whether showing an action sequence or a simple conversation, are packed with incident and detail. Dave Stewart’s colours add to the atmosphere, making the protagonist stand out from her surroundings, whether in her civilian identity as Kate Kane or in fill-on superhero mode as Batwoman.
At the moment, I’m on board with this more for the art than the story. But that could all change if the plotting lives up to the themes. The child-kidnapping new villain of this arc touches on Kate’s origin in childhood trauma and adds to the creepy, fairytale atmosphere surrounding the character. It’s a gorgeous-looking book, and I want to see if the storytelling lives up to the promise of the art.
Daredevil #3
Mark Waid (Writer), Paolo Rivera (Pencils), Joe Rivera (Inks), Javier Rodriguez (Colours)
Publisher: Marvel
Daredevil #4
Mark Waid (Writer), Marcos Martin (Artist), Muntsa Vicente (Colours)
Publisher: Marvel
Mark Waid’s recent relaunch of Daredevil was clearly meant as an attempt to take the character away from the grimness and grit that has been a feature since Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s defining run. And it succeeds triumphantly. Matt Murdoch is now a wisecracking, confident hero in a light-hearted, well-told and beautiful-looking comic.
Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin alternate art duties on the title, and both have a wonderful clean-line style that perfectly marries clarity and fast-paced action. Both artists are at the top of their game here, giving Daredevil’s acrobatics a precise and graceful quality, and representing the world as experienced through his heightened senses in panels made up of vibrating lines.
Waid plots the stories excellently, sketching in threats in the background that will come to the fore in later issues, as well as juggling the courtroom shenanigans of Murdock’s day job with his superheroics. And he’s good enough to make it seem effortless. This is one of the best superhero comics out right now.
The Red Wing #3
Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Nick Pitarra (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colours)
Publisher: Image
Hickman is very much a Warren Ellis-influenced writer; he has much of Ellis’ penchant for Big Ideas and crazy sci-fi conceits that take precedence before characterisation. This four-issue space-opera miniseries about fighter pilots battling an implacable time-travelling enemy intrigued me at first, but three-quarters of the way in we’re no closer to getting any answers. The paper-thin characters don’t help either.
Nick Pitarra’s art is still enjoyable; he has a Frank Quitely-esque focus on detail, and draws the battle scenes with an engaging dynamism. I’m hoping Hickman’s able to draw the plot threads together at the series’ end, but at this point The Red Wing engages me on an artistic/intellectual level more than a storytelling one.
Wonder Woman #1
Brain Azzarello (Writer), Cliff Chiang (Artist), Matthew Wilson (Colours)
Publisher: DC
Wonder Woman is a character who has suffered from confused and conflicting interpretations over the years. But with the DC relaunch, there’s yet another chance for a do-over. Fortunately, the writer-artist team of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are talented (and left-field) enough to take a few risks.
Azzarello kicks off the story by plunging us into a dense mythology-heavy story, involving Diana in protecting a young woman caught up in a war between gods. There’s a strand of narration in the back half of the issue that at first seemed bizarre and unwieldy, but made perfect sense by the end of the issue.
Chiang’s art is vibrantly cartoony, and along with Matthew Wilson’s muted colours, he portrays the moments of horror and gore in the story in creepily effective fashion. Chiang’s also gifted at drawing sexy women without coming across as skeevy, which is a refreshing change in the wake of DC’s embarrassing recent moves. Diana is rendered as truly large-than-life, whether showing regal confidence in the dialogue scenes or furiously battling some gruesome monsters.
It’s a rare setup issue that whets the appetite by withholding information, and it has enough promise to keep me coming back.
Comixtime! “That Ain’t Superman”: the first of the New 52
This month DC Comics has rolled the dice and restarted its entire line with 52 books beginning from Issue #1, as well as moving to releasing all its comics digitally on the same day. Aside from a few certainties, I wasn’t sure which ones I would pick up, but this Wednesday I ended up with three first issues. Here’s what I thought of them.
Action Comics #1
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Rags Morales (Pencils), Rick Bryant (Inks), Brad Anderson (Colours)
This was one of my certainties. And I’m happy to say it more than delivered on every front. This revival of one of DC’s flagship titles was billed as Grant Morrison taking Superman back to the blue-collar crusader roots of his late-1930s debut. Morrison gives us a young, cocky rabble-rousing Man of Steel, unafraid to terrify a crooked property developer or foot-race the police as they empty clips at him.
The story moves along at a furious pace, delivering the necessary information without feeling undercooked (as some of Morrison’s ultracompressed work can at times). We’re given the briefest sketches of Superman’s traditional supporting cast; Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Lex Luthor, and Morrison has as a deft a touch with them as he did in All-Star Superman.
Rags Morales does a decent job on art, cartoony but not overly so. He differentiates the über-confident Superman and the schlubby Clark Kent without drawing them as different people. Metropolis is a great fusion of past, present and future; cellphones, heavies wearing trenchoats and fedoras, and sleek sci-fi bullet trains jostle up against each other.
This is a first issue that packs in an entertaining amount of story and sets up an intriguing new dynamic for a superhero comic. It’s pretty much everything DC could want for attracting the new or lapsed readers they’re looking for, and every comic produced by them should aspire to this level of quality.
Static Shock #1
Writers: Scott McDaniel and John Rozum
Artists: Scott McDaniel (Pencils), Scott McDaniel and LeBeau Underwood (Inks), Guy Major (Colours)
This was a draw for me (after flipping through a few pages) simply because it was fun. The new DC, with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee in full effect, leans hard towards dark’n’gritty imagery. Thank God, then, for a more lighthearted superhero, courtesy of writer John Rozum (of the brilliant if short-lived series Xombi from this year) and artist Scott McDaniel.
The action is fast and furious, as Rozum and McDaniel pit the teenager Static against an out-of-control “plasma protection suit” tearing through New York. The witty script alternates one-liners with little bits of science trivia to do with electromagnetism, which lends the book a nice sci-fi-ish tone.
I have a few reservations; McDaniel’s art sometimes gets sloppy and confusing, especially in such a fast-paced, information-heavy story. And Static seems a little too much like Spider-Man (a wisecracking teenage hero operating in a New York full of people who are pretty pissed off at him. But there is potentially room to differentiate him, via his home life (he has a loving family) and the rich benefactor who supplies him with technology.
Aside from the weirdly misjudged final splash page (which may or may not be a commentary/satire on the Geoff Johns school of comics writing), this is a refreshingly upbeat and youthful comic which should by rights find a committed audience. (Just like Xombi … on second thoughts, better not mention that.)
Swamp Thing #1
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Yanick Paquette (Pencils/Inks), Nathan Fairbairn (Colours)
Every Swamp Thing story from the late 80s onwards has had to reckon with Alan Moore’s defining run on the book, and this reboot is no different. But the deliberate tributes still leave room for a different take on the concept. Snyder’s run on Detective Comics, as well as his creator-owned titles American Vampire and Severed, show his talent for horror. And this revamped Swamp Thing is no different.
The story mostly follows the reincarnated scientist Alec Holland as he tries to forget his memories of his time as a monster, while elsewhere an unknown threat faces the natural world. Snyder and Paquette can’t resist a few tributes to the Moore run, whether in little asides (the Totleben Motel) or in explicitly referencing the jagged, diagonal, red-tinged panel layouts of the most terrifying moments in Moore’s issues. But around the edges, there are signs they’re working to make this book their own.
Paquette’s art is astounding – he forgoes the thicker lines of his Batman Inc. work earlier this year to do some really delicate work with body language and details of the plant life that features so heavily in this comic. He’s able to sell both the small moments of daily life and the creeping horror at the edges of the story.
This first issue is a slow-burner, and much of the story depends on knowledge of the previous Swamp Thing stories. But there’s every indication that Snyder and Paquette can do something excellent with it.
I recommend DC Fifty-Too...It's like staring into the heaven that could be comics.
As with the debate about female creators being under-represented in Big Two comics, it basically comes down to this: the people making great art/comics right now are so good that no one in their right mind would want them to knuckle under to the dictates of DC/Marvel editorial.
Source: nowaintthatgoodnews
