Stories about Stories
This blog post written by James Hunt on Jul.23, 2010.
The other day, Tom Brevoort made the (entirely valid) point about Batman #701 that if Batman: RIP and Final Crisis had been written and marketed clearly the first time around, there wouldn’t be any need for a story which plugs the gaps in between. He also used his Formspring page to make a point about Marvel playing a little faster and looser with continuity because they don’t want to end up telling “stories about stories” – the kind of self-referencing, inward-looking arcs that exist to create logical narratives between tales that were never intended to tie into one another. By implication, the kind of stories DC *does* like to tell.
Now, without wanting to actually use the words “pot”, “kettle” and “black”, I can only ask what, exactly, Brevoort thinks is going on in Amazing Spider-Man over the last few months.
For those who haven’t read the first issue of the current storyline, OMIT, it flashes back to the original wedding of Peter and MJ (complete with reprint sections and narrative inserts) to explain exactly what happened to prevent them from becoming man and wife under the revised “Brand New Day” continuity, as well as finally revealing what MJ said to Mephisto in One More Day. It is, by any stretch of the imagination, little more than a story about a story.
Which is fine, but we just got the last instalment of The Grim Hunt, and if you read the subtext of that issue correctly, it appears to be all about how Kraven’s Last Hunt was a really good ending and that it’ll be very difficult to create a sequel worth telling with the character. Which is, again, a story about a story.
And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a big chunk of story missing between The Grim Hunt and Young Allies. The latter suggested that the former would explain why Arana lost her powers and became Spider-Girl – only, it didn’t. She just got a new costume for no particular reason. Because one story hasn’t done what the other thought it was going to, there’s a small chunk of Arana’s redefinition that doesn’t make any sense – and I have a horrible feeling it’s going to require a story about a story to make right again.
So, I said I wasn’t going to use the words “pot”, “kettle” and “black”, but that was a foolish restriction to place on myself because it’s clearly the most appropriate metaphor here. I love a little continuity like any comics fan, but Tom, if by some chance you’re reading this, you should probably be aware that DC don’t exactly have the monopoly on it.
Holy Batbook conundrum!
This blog post written by Seb Patrick on Jul.22, 2010.
Okay, so it’s probably daft to write any sort of post speculating about future comics when SDCC has just begun in earnest – there’s probably an announcement about Grant Morrison’s future on the Batman titles just waiting around the corner to make this look stupid and redundant the moment I hit “publish”. Nevertheless, with a number of announcements already made by DC… I’m starting to get a bit worried.
Here, then, is a list of the various titles and their writers so far announced as starting – or continuing – in November, after Morrison finishes his current arc on Batman and Robin and the Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries, and the various Bruce Wayne: The Road Home one-shots (only one of which, Batman: The Return, is being written by The Bald One) have hit in October:
- Batman (Tony Daniel)
- Batman & Robin (Peter J. Tomasi)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (David Finch)
- Batman: Streets of Gotham (Paul Dini)
- Detective Comics (Scott Snyder)
- Batman Confidential (rotating creative teams)
So… whither Morrison? Not counting Confidential (which is out-of-current-continuity), that’s five books that will star Batman as the lead character, and Morrison isn’t writing any of them. Is there really going to be a sixth ongoing for Morrison to write? Or is he – shock horror – leaving after bringing back Bruce Wayne? If so, is it his decision to finish – leaving with his story wrapped up – or is he for some inexplicable reason being pushed? Why on earth is Batman and Robin, a book solely created for the purpose of Morrison telling stories about Dick ‘n’ Damian with an array of superstar artists (and, uh, Philip Tan), being allowed to continue without him?
One thing’s for sure – that lineup hardly inspires much in the way of confidence (David Finch? Writing? A “grim and gritty” Batbook? Please.) It’s clear that the reason the Batbooks are by far the best thing DC has to offer at the moment is for one major reason – Grant Morrison’s overarching story and overall vision and aesthetic for the series and character (and, alright, to a lesser extent the work Greg Rucka’s done with Batwoman). Take him away, and there’s basically nothing worth reading there. I don’t even trust anyone else to write Damian properly.
Is this how it all ends, then? Come on, SDCC. Bring us good news.
Superman #701
This review written by Seb Patrick on Jul.20, 2010.
=== EXTRACT FROM THE SECRET NOTEBOOK OF J.MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI ===
“Plan 36a: Write A Superman Book Specifically Targeted At People Who Hate Superman”
1. Obviously, people who like Superman want to see him flying around fighting outlandishly powerful supervillains. They also like stories set in Metropolis with the character’s popular and varied supporting cast. So let’s instead have him walking across America meeting a bunch of random people. That should put off a lot of the fans immediately.
2. If you really hate Superman, then what you’ll want more than anything is a story that makes him out to be the smug, sanctimonious do-gooder that you’ve always suspected. Having him interact with ordinary folk he can talk down to and generally patronise will be a great start. The readers will especially love the way his only reaction to someone who dares question his motives in walking across the country is to manhandle them and fly them up ten thousand feet in the sky with scant regard for what the sudden change in air pressure might do to their heads. With any luck, we can get the scan on superdickery.com by next Thursday.
3. Don’t forget to make him look silly, outdated and “square” when taking on a stereotypical, borderline racist gang of drug dealers. Have him say the word “stash”, because it sounds funny coming from him. And why not burn down a few people’s houses with his heat vision? Because you can’t go wrong on the arsehole front when it involves pushing “taking the law into his own hands” into downright destructive vigilantism. And don’t forget to suggest a narrow-minded outlook on his part, suggesting that the best way to solve a problem is to move it somewhere else for other people to deal with. Because nothing screams “Superman” like NIMBYism!
4. People who like Superman like All-Star Superman, obviously. People who hate Superman probably won’t have read it, though, so let’s steal its best and most famous scene. Instead of exquisitely and concisely showing Superman’s ability to reassure and comfort a suicidal woman in the space of a single beautiful page, the best thing would be to draw it out over six or seven horrendously overwritten ones. That way, we can fit in even more in the way of self-satisfied, sanctimonious drivel. Win!
5. Challenge people’s perception of Superman as having the ultimate in unbreakable “no killing” oaths, arrived at after the agonising decision to execute three Kryptonian criminals from a parallel world led to a period of mental instability and doubt in his right to fulfil his role as a superhero, by having him wish Fidel Castro were dead. Because Superman loves all of humanity, unless they’re the stinking Commie enemies of the USA!
6. Show how Superman is only concerned with the bigger picture, not with the little folks, by having him casually walk on having pointed out to a guy that he’s probably about to have a heart attack. No need to help him to a hospital or anything! Just walk away, there’s a good fellow.
7. Definitely make sure he basically chews someone out for not being a superhero.
Put all of this together, and we should have the perfect book that every Superman-hating comics reader can use as evidence for their dislike of him. He’s an asshole! And finally we can demonstrate exactly why, and take him down a peg or two. Big tick, top marks, well done, Joe. Now, where did I put my Wonder Woman notes?
=== EXTRACT ENDS ===
Three entirely spoiler-free reactions to a first reading of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour
This blog post written by Seb Patrick on Jul.20, 2010.
1. I can’t quite believe it’s over, and I’m more than a little sad at the realisation that these characters’ stories are finished.
2. As good as I think the movie’s going to be, I don’t think it can possibly live up to the book.
3. Bryan Lee O’Malley has confirmed that he now deserves recognition as one of the greatest comics creators of the last two or three decades.
World War Hulks: Spider-Man vs Thor #1
This review written by Seb Patrick on Jul.19, 2010.
Dammit, Gillen, you did it again.
At the risk of turning this site into a place that does little other than eulogise about comics created by the Phonogram team (and there were some other pretty ace books out this week, as it happens, which I’ll hopefully get to covering shortly), I can’t help but want to draw attention yet again to another excellent bit of work from Mr Gillen, K. When I first heard about this project, it hardly sounded like the most appealing or worthwhile use of his talents – Hulk stories aren’t generally my cup of tea at the best of times, and I’d hardly class “the best of times” as being a crossover, as part of the current Jeph Loeb run on the Hulk books, in which various heroes become “hulked-out” versions of themselves. So while I’ll always pay attention to anything Gillen puts out at the moment, this didn’t look as if it was going to be that good.
It is, though. In fact, it’s kind of great. The same lightness of touch that Gillen has expertly brought to his Marvel work so far – most notably on S.W.O.R.D., and any Thor scenes involving Volstagg – makes him perfectly suited to exploring what would happen if Peter Parker turned into the Hulk. The surprising answer is: instead of going and smashing things, he’d go and try to read about dinosaurs in the natural history museum. I mean, obviously. Oh, and he’d still crack jokes – just, not particularly subtle or witty ones (”Thor is the bluest one there is”). Meanwhile, ThorHulk – being far more of a proponent of the “smashy smashy” approach – doesn’t particularly want to waste time trying to pronounce “TEE-RANN-O-SAAAAURUS”, and wastes no time in making his feelings clear to Spider-Hulk. You can probably imagine what ensues.
But what really makes this work is that instead of simply presenting us with this diametric conflict, Gillen shows us why these characters behave like this when reduced to extremely simplified brain functions. Charming flashback scenes (very nicely rendered by Jorge Molina, who also does a great job in the “present” by having a mass of hulking muscle in a Spider-Man costume still somehow inherently feel like the real Spider-Man) show just why Peter has such a connection to the museum – and, perhaps more impressively (since the nerd is always the easy one for us comics readers to identify with), give a compelling reason for why the idea of stopping and reading, instead of fighting the imminent threat, irks Thor so much (you probably don’t need telling that it has something to do with Loki).
In other words, you tell Gillen to do a story where Thor and Spider-Man both turn into the Hulk and pound the stuffing out of one-another… and he gives you a mildly thought-provoking, and often very funny, character piece. I can only wonder what he would have done if asked to turn in a mildly thought-provoking and often very funny character piece, but in the meantime, it’s yet further evidence of just how on form he is with this stuff at the moment. Cracking.
Ryan Reynolds is the Green… Something
This blog post written by Seb Patrick on Jul.15, 2010.
Although I’m not the world’s biggest Green Lantern fanboy, I like the concept and iconography enough that a really cracking movie is an exciting prospect (even though I’ll still maintain it should be a TV series – cop show in space, plz).
Unfortunately, it looks like the forthcoming film may not be that cracking movie – at least, if you’re willing judge a film by its costumes (and not by the fact that it’s directed by the bloke what did Casino Royale, and has a relatively strong cast in the likes of Reynolds, Strong, Sarsgaard and Robbins) :
Oh. Dear.
