So... that contest, with Nerdyshirts?
I've had one winner, but also one entrant. None o' youse guys want a shirt? Whatsamatta, our free shirts not good enough for you?
Anyway, I'm extending the contest, only now I'm making it even easier to enter. All you have to do is enter, via comments or email. I'll give it a week and pick someone randomly.
What has the Internet come to?
Because I got completely sidetracked and didn't write anything, here are last week’s comics, the highlights:
Bullet to the Head No. 1 – It’s hard to go wrong with a comic that kind of looks like a Seventies movie, featuring a pair of likeable cops trying to solve a crime committed by a pair of likeable hitmen. We saw the crime take place at the top of this issue, now it’s time for some Colombo-style trying to figure out how/if they’ll solve it.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne No. 3 – Time Travel Batman plus pirates equals megafun. That a series that started with Caveman Batman could keep getting better like this is a real achievement.
Power Girl No. 13 – You know what? For a regular issue of a series that commits the cardinal sin of spending a quarter of its pages reiterating what happened in another comic, this wasn’t bad. Of course, it looks like Winick’s next move is going to be the classic “completely explode everything that has been developed in the run up until now so that I can tell my own story” manoeuvre, but I won’t condemn him before he actually does it. In short: not as bad as everyone feared… yet.
Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark No 1 – I have a firm belief that some of the best and funniest ideas in the world start their lives as stupid jokes in friend-style conversations, so my affection for this comic started out a notch above where it might have been. “Bear in ocean, shark in woods – they got mixed up!” is just about all the background detail you need for a one-issue humourous comic. Add on the ridiculous background story and you’re done!
Superman No. 700
Batman No. 700 took some flak for not being the best anniversary comic ever, but never fear: like the best bat-pal that he is, Superman will distract everyone with one that is downright terrible!
Not that the quality of the art or writing is that bad – here’s a rundown of the contents:
1. Story in which Lois and Clark reconnect and go on dates and stuff, wrapping up the last Superman event.
2. Story about Dick Grayson as Robin teaming up with Superman.
3. Story setting up next Superman event.
So, the two ends of the ongoing story arcs and an adorable story that was mostly about Robin and which, honestly, is just like a dozen other stories from the last five or six years. Terrific.
This Week:
Joker’s Asylum II: Clayface
I keep starting to type something about how it’s a shame that this is the final entry in this series, because it’s the weakest, but then I hesitate. I certainly enjoy Kelley Jones’ rendition of Batman, and there’s nothing wrong with the exploration of Basil Karlo’s motivation. Heck, I even like the ending better than I did the first time I read it.
I think that it’s the Joker’s role in the story, in that he has none. All of the previous issues of this series have featured him as an incredibly unreliable storyteller, someone who sets things up, puts his own spin on the issue, etc. This time, it might as well be the Cryptkeeper, except he doesn’t even get to deploy terrible puns. Bah, I say.
Werewolves of Montpellier
Odds are pretty good that you either love Jason or have no idea who he is. If you fall into the latter camp… Remember in Strange Tales, the one where Spider-Man wants to get into a bar fight, and also everyone is dogs and birds and dogs? Yeah, that guy. Everything he does is so… melancholy, but with moments of hilarity. And also, everyone is dogs and birds. He’s one of the most unique creators in comics today and I can’t believe that it took me so long to start picking up his books.
Werewolves of Montpellier is about a thief who dresses up like a werewolf, his unrequited love for his gay friend/neighbour and the real werewolves who object to the high profile that he’s bringing to their kind. It’s melancholy and hilarious and everybody is birds and dogs. Honestly, if you're not convinced already i don't know what to say.
Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain No. 1 – I just read Charles Stross’ The Jennifer Morgue again, so I’m already all skeezy about the very things that this comic is about: death and danger at an unhealthy oceanic depth. The Peter Stejbjerg/Dave Stewart visuals here are only serving to freak me out further. Good job!
Atomic Robo and the Revenge of the Vampire Dimension No 4 – I declare this series a resounding success! Heck, even if it hadn’t been a complete joy to read and set up half a dozen sure-to-be-entertaining plot hooks, the Dr Dinosaur issue alone would have justified a series 5 to 7 times the size of this one.
Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island No. 2 – Why is it that I can be so excited by electricity in a comic book while simultaneously being completely surrounded by it at home? Maybe I need more visible blue arcs in my life.
Green lantern No. 55 – We all know that the best new character in DC Comics over the lat few years has been Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern. I think that the heart-warming/rending origin in this here comic cements Red Lantern Dex-Star as number two.
Turf No. 2 – Is it going to surprise anyone if I describe a comic that features gangsters and aliens versus vampires as completely awesome? No? Probably for the best.
It's going to be a hoot! Take it away, Captain Canuck!
Everyone get your submarine and helicopter ready, because it's gonna get PATRIOTIC in here.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get myself a beer.
Everyone thinks that they know a lot about dinosaurs, but recent spot checks of citizens’ dino-knowledge has revealed a shocking lack of basic information. More troubling still is the prevalence of dino-untruths. That’s why Task Force X, the government’s Top Secret last line of defence and general-purpose four-person suicide squad, want to educate you, today.
Here’s a commonly-held belief:
Makes sense, doesn’t it? Well, too bad, because it’s totally wrong.
Thanks to recently-unearthed spaceships, we now know that dinosaurs [love] robots. When given its choice of toy, a dinosaur will choose a robot over a brightly-coloured ball or piece of string eight times out of ten.
Another bit of dino-folk-wisdom that rings false when exposed to the cold hard light of fact is that any dinosaur introduced into our world would be without natural predators and thus be unstoppable. The pterodactyl, below, has gone mad with power and is preparing to devour a whale:
In reality, the grand old dame that is Mother Nature would quickly provide a foil to the dinosaurs’ hubris – new species would soon step forward to keep the thunder lizard population in check. In the case of the pterodactyl, scientific projections have determined that their natural predator would be:
…the stately and majestic jet plane.
Still other problems can be caused by too-dogged adherence to seemingly established dino-theories. Such theories are far too numerous to refute individually, but can include:
The belief that dinosaurs died out and did not at all move underground and evolve into nigh-invulnerable giant snakes.
That some dinosaurs were not in fact capable of interstellar flight.
That no dinosaur actually resembled a larger version of a contemporary lizard, despite the claims of B movie directors.
That dinosaurs do not want our women.
Finally, Task Force X wants to let everyone know that there is a simple and effective way to combat dinosaurs.
Grenades, grenades, grenades! When it comes to dinosaurs, grenade first, ask questions later.
Next time: Task Force X teaches you about Workplace Gender Relations!
Wedding bells are ringing! Oh, not for me, but I do have to go watch someone tie the knot, so reviewing and posting are going to have to happen later.
In conclusion: more later! Hope there's an open bar!
Yes, it’s time for a contest! The good folks at Nerdyshirts have ponied up some sweet sweet apparel and if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that people who read comic books also wear tshirts.
As for the actual contest part of the contest: below you will find a list of the books that I bought this week. Take one or more of those as your inspiration and either
a) Write, draw, sculpt, paint, mosaic, program or otherwise create something based on it
or if you are less creatively inclined,
b) Find a piece of writing, art, etc. that you can point to as being especially relevant in relation to it
We’ve got two shirts to give away, so one will go to an a) style submission and one to a b). In either case, entries will be judged on an entirely subjective basis by me, with another LBWer or maybe my girlfriend called in to break any subjective stalemates.
You can link entries in the comments section, email them to me (contact info in the JOHNATHAN page, linked above) or, uh, send them in the mail if you want to and can convince me to give you my address. You have until Friday, July 2 to get ‘em in, and I’ll announce the winners on Saturday July 3. I will certainly post your submissions to the site, so watch out.
Here’s the list:
7 Psychopaths No. 2 (BOOM!)
American Vampire No. 4 (Vertigo)
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne No. 3 (DC)
Bullet to the Head No. 1 (Dynamite)
Garrison No. 3 (Wildstorm)
Green Lantern Corps No. 49 (DC)
Joe the Barbarian No. 6 (Vertigo)
Joker’s Asylum II: Killer Croc (DC)
Justice League: Generation Lost No. 4 (DC)
The Killer: Modus Vivendi No. 3 (Archaia)
King City No. 9 (Image)
Legion of Super-Heroes No. 2 (DC)
The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century TP (Dark Horse)
Power Girl No. 13 (DC)
Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark No 1 (Image)
Superman No. 700 (DC)
The Tick New Series No. 4 (New England Comics)
Zatanna No. 2 (DC)
I suppose that if you mostly read Marvel Comics you can do something about how I don’t ever buy any and am consequently a jerk.
Living Between Wednesdays is a place for people who love comic books and superheroes.
