tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76291302024-03-13T10:52:43.268-04:00Comics Ate My BrainObtuse Verbosity On Demand. Please send e-mail to brainallgone at prodigy dot net.Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.comBlogger601125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-15456170396301212892010-01-07T21:22:00.000-05:002010-01-07T22:24:51.182-05:00The first step into a larger world<div align="justify">Howdy all!<br /><br />I've decided to move from Blogger to WordPress!<br /><br />You'll find much of the same content <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.wordpress.com">here</a>, at the new home of Comics Ate My Brain. Join me, won't you? <br /><br />(And please update your bookmarks!)</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-22728775858956180992009-12-19T21:19:00.000-05:002009-12-19T22:19:22.063-05:00Fiddle-dee-dee!<div align="justify">Not sure what's turned my thoughts to fictionalized warfare. Maybe some <em>Avatar</em> osmosis, although I've cooled to James Cameron's directorial charms. Anyway, in trying to get to sleep the other night, I started thinking about a Green Lantern story. (It could easily be a Justice League story, but would center around GL.) <br /><br /><span class="fullpost">Basically, the initial setup was this: Green Lantern -- doesn't matter who, might as well be John -- is patrolling Sector 2814 when his ring detects an approaching starship. It's an advance scout for a massive armada headed, yes, straight for Earth. Naturally, GL alerts the Justice League and also buzzes Oa for backup. The JLA is prepped and ready for action, but the word comes back from Oa: reinforcements denied. In fact, a Guardian gets on the horn to tell John specifically that he is to offer no resistance to the invaders. Instead, he is to observe and advise them. He can protect the Earth's best interests, but the Guardians have determined that the invasion must be a success, because that's the only way Earth can survive.<br /><br />John then contacts the JLA from aboard the invading scoutship and explains the situation. Obviously John is conflicted, but ultimately he has no reason to distrust the Guardians. Besides, he (and presumably any other Green Lantern in the area) will theoretically be able to influence the invaders in Earth's favor. Of course, the JLA and the rest of Earth's super-folk have no such conflict, and while there is some debate over whether to follow John's lead, eventually the choice is made to repel the invaders. <br /><br />Thus, the stage is set: hundreds (if not a thousand) hostile starships bearing countless troops, versus the Justice League, Justice Society, Teen Titans, et al. There are pitched battles in orbit and fierce fights on the ground, but the invaders eventually get past the superheroes. The invaders seem to be looking for something, but they don't know quite where; and they tear the dickens out of several regions in the process. Cairo, Helsinki, Nepal, and Salt Lake City are hit especially hard. Regardless, thanks to John, casualties are amazingly low, including among the superhumans. Indeed, the invaders start ham-fistedly rebuilding the infrastructure of the devastated cities, even advising local leaders on alternative forms of government.<br /><br />Once the invaders believe Earth has been subdued, though, the JLA and its allies strike back using guerrilla tactics. This is quite successful, in part because the invaders are caught off-guard. Before they know it, they've lost half their fleet and most of their infantry has been incapacitated; and they're ready to retreat. After Green Lantern has escorted them out of the solar system, he gets a call from Oa: the Guardians are pleased.<br /><br /><em>Pleased?!?</em> John spits. <em>You could have stopped all this before it even started!</em><br /><br /><em>Yes</em>, muses the Guardian coolly, <em>but the [invaders] needed to be taught defeat.</em> The Guardians knew that bloodying the invaders' collective nose was the only way to get them to leave Earth alone, but calling in the GL Corps would have merely turned the invaders' attention to Oa. It seems the invaders are a particularly thick and brutal race, but one thing they do especially well is fight -- so they would have first found a way to eliminate the GL Corps, and then they'd have come after Earth. <em>And make no mistake, John Stewart</em>, intones the Guardian, <em>[the invaders] would have dedicated their very existence to wiping us out</eM>. Now, however, they see that even if they defeat an enemy one day, it also won't stop until it's driven them off. The Guardian wraps up by saying they regret having to manipulate John and the other Earth GLs as they did, because (irony alert) they normally don't work like that.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br />Now, clearly there are a number of problems with that story. I first thought of it when I was half-asleep, and I fleshed it out on the fly just now. The point, though, is that it is a blatant morality play about the Iraq war, and I'm not sure that something as deadly serious as Iraq (or Afghanistan, or wherever else the U.S. finds itself) should be trivialized, even potentially, by adapting it to a superhero setting. For one thing, it's designed to leave no lasting scars on the Earth or its people. For another, the invaders are pretty one-dimensional -- they're looking for WMDs because they think someone on Earth attacked them, but that's never really made clear.<br /><br />Still, if you declare that some subjects are off-limits to superhero stories, aren't you shortchanging the genre? Joe Kelly wrote a decent Iraq-related issue of <em>JLA</em>, where President Luthor basically lies to the Justice League to get them to invade an inoffensive country; and Greg Rucka put Lois Lane in harm's way in "Umec" during his tenure writing <em>Adventures Of Superman</em>.<br /><br />I actually do like the story, mostly for the moral dilemma it puts GL in. I suppose you could strip out the more obvious real-world parallels and make a passable 2- or 3-issue arc out of it. It wouldn't have any real-world lessons, but it might be entertaining, and it would definitely explore the relationship between a Green Lantern and his little blue bosses. <br /><br />Still, on balance I'd like my comics to be open to larger moral concerns. I'd just hope they'd be able to get past all the fantastic stuff.</div></span>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-43969717852148717962009-12-16T10:04:00.000-05:002009-12-16T11:04:24.212-05:00Forbidden Trek<div align="justify">No, I am not just now realizing that <em>Star Trek</em> owes a tremendous debt to <em>Forbidden Planet</em>. Every time I watch <em>FP</em> I imagine that it is the greatest unfilmed <em>Star Trek</em> episode ever. I mean, really: Leslie Nielsen is pretty much a Roddenberry captain, he works for the "United Planets," and the four main officers are the commanding officer, first officer, ship's doctor, and chief engineer. The only thing missing is a Spock figure, and I'm not sure that "Doc" wouldn't fill that role pretty well. <br /><br />Probably the weakest aspect of the movie is the romance between Nielsen's J.J. Adams (that name's oddly familiar too, given who directed the latest <em>Trek</em>) and Anne Francis' Altaira, and that's not all bad. I bought it from her point of view, but by the same token Adams knows full well what she's feeling and to my mind takes advantage of it.<br /><br />Still, it's great fun to spot the other elements which would later find their way into <em>Star Trek</em>. The mysterious loner and his female companion figured in "The Man Trap," "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," and "Requiem for Methuselah," the all-knowing computer was a staple of Original Trek, and of course there's the design of the deceleration devices.<br /><br />Oh, and Dr. Morbius reminded me a heckuva lot of Dr. Orpheus from "The Venture Brothers." Now I want to see Dr. Orpheus' daughter in the Anne Francis role....</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-6592719699876161262009-12-14T11:35:00.005-05:002009-12-14T11:38:53.563-05:00Re-posting: At least it wasn't A Wrinkle In Focused Totality<div align="justify">[If you think you've seen this post before, you have. I deleted the original to get rid of spam comments. No non-spam comments were harmed by this procedure.]<br /><br />Yesterday [December 2] I finally did something I'd been meaning to do for years, namely re-read Madeleine L'Engle's classic young-adult fantasy <em>A Wrinkle In Time</em>. I can't remember the last time I read it, but it had probably been close to thirty years ago. It wasn't as mind-blowing as I remember, but I do want to read the rest of the series.<br /><br /><em>AWIT</em> was also a lot shorter than I remember, although it was pretty dense nonetheless. I wasn't expecting all the Christian references, and I definitely wasn't expecting them to be so prominent. It didn't feel like a book written in the early '60s -- more like something from the end of the decade or the early '70s.<br /><br />Perhaps most striking, though, was the Chris Claremont sensibility I got from the whole thing. Yes, I know that if anything, <em>AWIT</em> would have been an influence on Claremont, not the other way around. Still, you have a mousy, nerdy teenage girl unappreciated by her peers, who's part of a family where almost everyone is either hyper-competent, extremely attractive, and/or outright super-powered. They all live in the rural Northeast (close to Westchester County?) where our heroine Meg meets her soulmate Calvin, who almost immediately starts talking about his own special destiny -- maybe not in those terms, but close enough. Meg and Calvin and little telepathic Charles Wallace have a series of well-written intergalactic Christian-flavored adventures against an implacable evil, until everything is solved by the power of love.<br /><br />Now, despite that smart-aleck tone, I did like the book, but darn if it didn't seem like <em>C.S. Lewis' Uncanny X-Men</em>.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-68257937291353957972009-11-15T10:58:00.000-05:002009-11-15T11:58:35.957-05:00Mad or Bat?<div align="justify">In an early episode of "Mad Men," one of Sterling Cooper's proles (I think it was Harry Crane) wonders aloud about his mysterious boss, Don Draper. "Maybe he's Batman," Harry laughs.*<br /><br />Well, in light of last week's third-season finale, maybe Harry was more right than he realized. <br /><br />SPOILERS FOLLOW for that episode (and for the series as a whole)...<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />... but first, I've been waiting a long time to quote <a href="http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/11/mad-men-shut-door-have-seat-were.html">this exchange between TV critic Alan Sepinwall and "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">[AS:] </span>Before they cast Ryan Reynolds to play Green Lantern, I was saying to everybody that I thought you'd be perfect casting at that, but is that the kind of thing you would even be interested in doing?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[JH:] </span>It's interesting. I was in talks with a lot of those people. Now they've tapped Mr. Reynolds to do that. And I think that's a really good choice. My thing with the sort of superhero genre is, it's a tricky balance to create. I think "Dark Knight" did it best, "Watchmen" did it fairly well. But whenever you're a superhero, you're literally a super man. You don't have any vulnerability, and that becomes very difficult to relate to, or almost becomes comically earnest. And I think there needs to be a second level, whether there's a darkness like "Dark Knight" or a sense of humor even. That can propel those things. If it's just guys in tights and capes running around shouting character names to each other and throwing fireballs, it almost becomes unintentionally funny. I would never say never to something like that, but there has to be a different level. And fortunately, there are so many amazing graphic artists out there right now that are writing these stories that have deep layers. Frank Miller obviously is one of them, and Alan Moore, and guys like that, but there's a whole new generation who are writing these new ones that are really deep and dark and cool and funny and superheroes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[AS:] </span>There are probably some people out there who would look at [Don] Draper as a superhero to them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">[JH:] </span>Sure, there's a lot of that. He's kind of Mr. Perfect in a lot of ways, seemingly so.</blockquote><br /><br />The immediate irony of Hamm's position is that Don shares one major character trait with most superheroes: a secret identity. Born Dick Whitman into hardscrabble circumstances, Dick/Don survived a forgotten Korean War attack with his old life literally blasted away. He returned home under the name of his fallen commanding officer, eventually reconciling himself with the original Draper's widow. In time they became fast friends, although "Don" had to get a divorce in order to marry his current wife, Betty.<br /><br />Naturally, Don's past has intruded upon his present on a few occasions. Dick's brother's visit ended tragically. Scheming account manager Pete Campbell discovered the secret and threatened to expose Don, but SC partner Bert Cooper dismissed the threat. (Bert later used the secret to compel Don to sign an employment contract which Don had been resisting.)<br /><br />These all paled in comparison to the doomsday scenario of Betty finding out the truth, which she did late this season. Don came clean, pretty much, and for a while it seemed like the Drapers would be able to move forward together. Maybe that will prove true in future seasons (I don't see the show abandoning Betty and the kids entirely), but for now, Don has moved out, Betty is on her way to Nevada for a quickie divorce, and the show's focus has apparently shifted in favor of Don's workplace.<br /><br />In the other late-season upheaval, said workplace isn't quite Sterling Cooper anymore. Rather, in a series of behind-the-back passes, Don and his partners have formed Sterling Cooper Draper Price, their bulwark against being absorbed into a bland, faceless Madison Avenue adscape. (As noted <a href="http://madmenfootnotes.com/post/237863912/mccann-erickson-is-best-known-for-this-syrupy">here</a>, the agency which bought the old Sterling Cooper was responsible for Coke's treacly "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" commercial.)<br /><br />To do this, Don must repair his other damaged relationships, not just with Pete, but also to his protege Peggy Olson and his colleague Roger Sterling. This struck me as a very Batman-ish thing to do, especially since the Batman of the late '90s (and forward) had also surrounded himself with a surrogate family. In time-honored fan tradition, therefore, I will try to map Don's relationships to Bruce Wayne's.<br /><br />Betty Draper is superficially similar to any number of Bruce's girlfriends who can't figure out why their date ends whenever the Bat-Signal lights up the sky. Clearly Betty's split from Don goes deeper than that. In Batman terms, she's Silver St. Cloud, who dumps Bruce after she discovers the truth; although Silver was more remorseful than Betty appears to be. Indeed, Betty is upset with Don basically for lying to her since they met. Don tries to rationalize this, asking rhetorically when he was supposed to tell her (first date? proposal? wedding night?), but no dice. Betty's reaction is a dagger through the heart of any secret-identity lifestyle, even despite her own fumbling attempts at infidelity. Still, we're not so much concerned with Betty here. <br /><br />Pete Campbell is the Huntress/Helena Bertinelli, a rival of Don's who nevertheless seems bent on aping his methods and even going a little farther. I would say that Pete is Robin/Jason Todd, but neither Don nor Pete want to be mentor and protege. Besides, Batman admired Huntress enough to sponsor her for Justice League membership, and Pete is sufficiently forward-thinking for Don and Roger to recruit him into the new firm. (Also, Pete has the big clients they'll need.)<br /><br />Roger Sterling worked his way out of Don's good graces over the course of this season, divorcing his wife in order to marry Don's 20-year-old secretary and thereby giving in fully to his midlife crisis. The sale of Sterling Cooper, and the prospect of facing an unbearably boring retirement alongside a vapid trophy wife, is the kick in the pants Roger needs to revive his old competitive spirit. Accordingly, Roger is Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, who gave into his more destructive impulses and had to prove himself to Batman all over again.<br /><br />(Bert Cooper is Alfred, Don's older confidant who knows Don's background but doesn't care. Don doesn't need to mend too much with Bert.)<br /><br />Finally, Peggy Olson is Robin/Nightwing/Dick Grayson, Don's number-one protege and the person who might have been the most wounded by Don's callous appraisals. Peggy started at SC as Don's secretary, but her ideas for a lipstick campaign led to her becoming a respected copywriter. This season, though, she was seduced (literally -- <em>eww</em>) by Don's rival Duck Phillips. Peggy realized she was becoming stuck in Don's shadow, and it was implied pretty heavily that she was thinking about going to Duck's firm. She stayed with SCDP, though, because she and Don both have tragedies in their pasts which shape their views of the world. (Peggy gave up a child for adoption between seasons 1 and 2, and Don helped her through it.) I suspect many "Mad Men" fans would gladly throw Don's marriage under the bus if it meant keeping Don and Peggy's relationship intact.<br /><br />Now, I'm sure Don's personality and attendant relationships have a lot in common with other cold-on-the-outside characters and their ensembles. It's a simple way to humanize those kinds of characters. I stand by that Peggy/Dick comparison, though, even if it means Duck is the Starfire....<br /></span></div><br /><br />* [Considering that Harry said this in 1960, well before any of the major Batmania periods, I wonder if Superman, more popular at the time, might have been a better comparison.]Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-75663311375473150442009-10-26T20:16:00.000-04:002009-10-26T21:16:38.187-04:00Podcast thoughts<div align="justify">As you might have guessed, real life has intruded on my attempts to do weekly-roundup podcasts, just as it did on the written versions. I don't mind doing them; but there are logistical difficulties, most of which concern a certain 14 1/2-month-old and her various bodily needs. In other words, it's been hard finding an hour (at least) to record and edit the things.<br /><br />Therefore, because I can't quite tell how many of you actually listen to and/or like the podcasts, I'm asking now. Sound quality notwithstanding, would you like me to keep doing them, or would you prefer I go back to weekly posts on this site? My feelings won't be hurt either way, and I may even do a little of both.<br /><br />Thanks!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-90932759560206880402009-10-05T16:34:00.000-04:002009-10-05T17:35:18.470-04:00New comics 9/30/09<div align="justify">A light week means a shorter podcast, and at the risk of being immodest, this week I think I am finally starting to put all the pieces together. Comics discussed include the <em>Astro City: Astra Special</em> #1, <em>Blackest Night: Titans</em> #2, <em>Gotham City Sirens</em> #4, <em>Green Lantern</em> #46, <em>Justice League of America 80-Page Giant</em> #1, <em>Superman</em> #692, <em>Unknown Soldier</em> #12, and <em>Wonder Woman</em> #36. Olivia helps as well, and as always the music is by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-10-05T14_38_18-07_00.mp3">here</a>, stream it via the player at right, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/entry/2009-10-05T14_38_18-07_00">here</a>. Happy listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-84135441345098403052009-09-28T17:54:00.001-04:002009-09-28T18:54:31.040-04:00Where are the Marvel nerd pages?<div align="justify">Writing annotations for <em>Trinity</em> was a whole lot easier thanks to the wealth of DC nerd-sites on the Internets. The <a href="http://www.dcutimeline.com/">Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe</a> is an excellent, well-reasoned, and fairly comprehensive timeline of post-<em>Crisis</eM> DC. The <a href="http://www.dcuguide.com">DCU Guide</a> indexes most characters' appearances, both currently and in the Golden and Silver Ages. <a href="http://www.dcindexes.com">Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics</a> focuses on the company's publishing history.<br /><br />However, for a company which made Eliot R. Brown a legend among nerds, I haven't been able to find comparable resources for the Marvel Universe. If I want to know how Dr. Strange's <em>Defenders</eM> appearances dovetailed with his various solo series, where do I go? Last week I was curious to see whether the <em>Essential Spider-Woman</em> books covered all of the character's major appearances, but I'm unaware of a Marvel counterpart to the DCU Guide. I'd love to see month-by-month charts of Marvel's output over the past seventy years, but again, no luck.<br /><br />So what about it, True Believers? And don't tell me it's because you actually have lives....</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-24705920566749645262009-09-28T17:42:00.001-04:002009-09-28T18:42:38.457-04:00New comics 9/23/09<div align="justify">Good grief, it's another huge week for the podcast, although this one comes in at just under 40 minutes. The lineup includes <em>Beasts Of Burden</em> #1, <em>Blackest Night: Superman</em> #2, <em>Detective Comics</em> #857, <em>Fantastic Four</em> #571, <em>Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance</em> #5, <em>Galactica 1980</em> #1, <em>Justice League of America</em> #37, <em>Madame Xanadu</em> #15, <em>The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror</em> #15, <em>Supergirl</em> #45, <em>Superman: Secret Origin</em> #1, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #12. Music, as always, is by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-09-28T15_46_25-07_00.mp3">here</a>, stream it via the player on this page, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>. Happy listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-14714350424054004862009-09-21T18:05:00.000-04:002009-09-21T19:05:57.587-04:00New comics 9/16/09<div align="justify">Big agenda this week not just because a whole lot of comics came out, but also because we're catching up from last week. That means forty-odd minutes of laconic drawlin' 'bout <em>Action Comics</em> #881, <em>Agents Of Atlas</em> #11, <em>Batman And Robin</em> #4, <em>Batman: Streets Of Gotham</em> #4, <em>Blackest Night</em> #3, <em>The Brave and the Bold</em> #27, <em>Captain America Reborn</em> #3, <em>Green Arrow & Black Canary</em> #24, <em>JSA Vs. Kobra</em> #4, <em>Marvels Project</em> #2, <em>Warlord</em> #6, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #s 10 and 11.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-09-21T14_11_30-07_00.mp3">here</a>, listen to it via the player at right, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/entry/2009-09-21T14_11_30-07_00">here</a>. Music, of course, is by R.E.M.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-22422652110872881972009-09-15T20:09:00.000-04:002009-09-15T21:09:40.338-04:00New comics 9/10/09<div>Another light week this week, in part because I got to the shop too late for new issues of <eM>Wednesday Comics</eM> and <em>Warlord</em>. It still leaves <em>Blackest Night: Batman</em> #2, <em>Booster Gold</em> #24, <em>Doom Patrol</eM> #2, <em>Green Lantern Corps</em> #40, <em>Secret Six</em> #13, <em>Superman: World Of New Krypton</em> #7, <em>Titans</em> #17, and <em>The Unwritten</em> #5. <br /><br />Tune in as I use the word "gratuitous" in a way that may seem, well, gratuitous; marvel as a "pal" gets the boot; admire the squickiness of <em>Secret Six</em>, and observe the unfortunate juxtaposition of a thong and hot dog. Olivia contributes comments in the background. Music, as always, is by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-09-15T18_13_27-07_00.mp3">here</a>, listen to it via the player at right, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>. <br /><br />Happy listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-42603050612882763522009-09-04T21:10:00.001-04:002009-09-04T22:11:26.045-04:00New comics 9/2/09<div>Not a big week this week, thank goodness -- just <em>Agents Of Atlas</em> #10, <em>Batman</em> #690, <em>Justice League: Cry For Justice</em> #3, <em>Strange Tales</em> #1, <em>Supergirl Annual</em> #1, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #9. As it happens, I'll be out of pocket next week, so check back in about ten days. Music, as always, by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-09-04T19_11_41-07_00.mp3">here</a>, listen to it via the player at right, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/entry/2009-09-04T19_11_41-07_00">here</a>. Happy listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-50008715557161566082009-08-28T12:01:00.000-04:002009-08-28T13:01:40.704-04:00New comics 8/26/09<div align="justify">My throat's still a little sore, but the new comics <em>just keep coming</em>--!<br /><br />Therefore, get ready for 32 minutes' worth of <em>Batman And Robin</em> #3, <em>Blackest Night: Titans</em> #1, <em>Detective Comics</em> #856, <em>Fantastic Four</em> #570, <em>Flash: Rebirth</em> #4, <em>Gotham City Sirens</em> #3, <em>Green Lantern</em> #45, <em>Madame Xanadu</em> #14, <em>Superman</em> #691, <em>Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Special</em> #2, <em>Unknown Soldier</em> #11, <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #8, and <em>Wonder Woman</em> #35. Can you handle it?<br /><br />Music, of course, is by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it directly <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-28T09_57_39-07_00.mp3">here</a>, stream it directly from the player on this here site, or go to the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>. Happy listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-86597158096432783562009-08-24T19:36:00.001-04:002009-08-25T09:32:13.703-04:00New comics 8/19/09<div align="justify">As promised, here's the podcast for last week's comics. Specifically, they're <em>Batman: Streets Of Gotham</em> #3, <em>Blackest Night: Superman</em> #1, <em>The Brave and the Bold</em> #26, <em>Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance</em> #4, <em>Justice League of America</em> #36, <em>Supergirl</em> #44, <em>Superman Annual</em> #14, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #7. The embarrassing reference this time out is to Ally McBeal. Music, of course, is by R.E.M.<br /><br />Download it directly <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-24T17_33_58-07_00.mp3">here</a>, stream it directly from the player on this here site, or go to the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-42838042813371218732009-08-23T19:58:00.000-04:002009-08-23T20:59:19.283-04:00I got knocked out, and that turned out OK<div align="justify">The short version of this post is, the podcast is late because I have been sick. It'll be done tomorrow, I hope.<br /><br />The long version is, I ate something Thursday night which disagreed rather persuasively with me, so much so that I spent pretty much all of Friday on my back. <br /><br />On the plus side, Thursday night I did get to see an "Incredible Hulk" I'd never seen before, where Hulk must land jetliner. Hulk evidently had lasagna. <br /><br />Accordingly, yesterday and today were filled with postponed chores. It also meant I was in no shape to participate in Tom Spurgeon's <a href="http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fff_results_post_177_sing/">Five For Friday</a>, which this week was all about matching songs with the comics pros who we'd want adapting them.<br /><br />Anyway, it's a good thing I didn't get to submit my list, because I had gotten stuck on "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" adapted by George Perez -- you know, for the quintessential Perez "let there be light" gradually-expanding layouts -- and clearly I was too sick to blog because I didn't take <a href="http://awesomelybadlyrics.blogspot.com/2009/08/bonnie-tyler-total-eclipse-of-heart.html">this vivisection of the song</a> into consideration.<br /><br />So now I'm feeling much better, thanks; and I might as well share a list, right? How about:<br /><br />1. "Boys Of Summer," Don Henley -- Alex Toth<br />2. "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," Billy Joel -- Rozakis/DeStefano<br />3. "Paradise By The Dashboard Light," Meat Loaf -- O'Neil/Adams<br />4. "Annie's Song," John Denver -- Wolfman/Perez<br />5. "Dancing In The Streets," Martha Reeves and the Vandellas -- Simone/Scott<br /><br />(Aaah, probably still sick....)</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-58865013256596091952009-08-16T12:43:00.005-04:002009-08-16T16:27:50.819-04:00New comics 8/12/09<div align="justify">For this week's 40 minutes of heck, I try to balance a rant about Dr. Mid-Nite and some Blair Butler bewilderment with some memories of the classic <em>New Teen Titans</em> and nice words about <em>Wednesday Comics'</em> "Wonder Woman." <br /><br />Specifically, it's <em>Action Comics</em> #880, <em>Adventure Comics</eM> #1, <em>Batman</em> #689, <em>Blackest Night</em> #2, <em>Blackest Night: Batman</em> #1, <eM>Booster Gold</em> #23, <em>Green Arrow/Black Canary</em> #23, <em>Green Lantern Corps</em> #39, <em>JSA Vs. Kobra</em> #3, <em>Titans</em> #16, <em>The Unwritten</em> #4, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #6. Plus, Olivia gets another cameo! <br /><br />Download it directly <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-16T09_47_09-07_00.mp3">here</a>, visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>, or cast your eyes to the player at right.<br /><br />Music, as always, by R.E.M.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-27435893918455199972009-08-06T21:47:00.000-04:002009-08-06T22:47:09.485-04:00New comics 8/5/09<div align="justify">This week it's <em>Unknown Soldier</em> #10 (making up for its omission last time), plus <em>Agents Of Atlas</em> #9, <em>Astro City: The Dark Age Book 3</em> #4, <em>Captain America Reborn</em> #2, <em>Doom Patrol</em> #1, <em>House of Mystery</em> #16, <em>Justice League: Cry For Justice</em> #2, <em>Marvels Project</em> #1, <em>Secret Six</em> #12, <em>Spirit</em> #32, <em>Superman: World Of New Krypton</em> #6, <em>Warlord</em> #5, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #5. Sorry about the lingering sound-quality issues -- I used to know how to work a microphone.<br /><br />By the way, it seems like I might have gotten a copy of <em>The Marvels Project</em> #1 a week early -- but there it was, and who am I to argue?<br /><br />And just for the record, I was pretty mystified, and more than a little creeped out, about Green Lantern and Green Arrow's "threesome" conversation.<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-06T19_35_51-07_00.mp3">here</a>, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />(Music by R.E.M.)</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-69180561212201196522009-08-01T12:23:00.002-04:002009-08-01T22:12:22.551-04:00New comics 7/29/09<div align="justify">This week I go off on a little rant about Mark Millar's <em>Fantastic Four</em>, and there are references to <eM>Fargo</em> and <eM>Stripes</em>, as well as a thoroughly-unsurprising Monty Python reference. Otherwise, it's <eM>Batman: The Brave and the Bold</em> #7, <eM>Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps</em> #3, <eM>Detective Comics</em> #855, <eM>Fantastic Four</em> #569, <eM>Justice League of America</em> #35, <eM>Madame Xanadu</em> #13, <eM>Superman</em> #690, <eM>Wednesday Comics</em> #4, and <eM>Wonder Woman</em> #34. Music, as always, is by R.E.M. <br /><br />[EDIT: Sorry, folks, the <em>Unknown Soldier</em> stuff somehow got lost in the editing process. I'll try to work it in next week!]<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-01T10_20_04-07_00.mp3">here</a>, or go directly to the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-65242222557115916432009-07-30T21:54:00.000-04:002009-07-30T22:58:23.684-04:00I thought this was easy, but my answers are probably wrong<div align="justify"><a href="http://busiek.com/site/2009/07/comicon_trivia.php">Kurt Busiek asks:</a><br /><br /><blockquote>How many Legionnaires can you name who had letters on their costume?<br /><br />Naturally, the 'L' on the flight ring doesn't count.<br /><br />I got five — or eight, depending on how technical you want to get.<br /><br />Mark Waid got the same five, but agreed that those other three shouldn't count.<br /><br />Paul Levitz got four, with the same caveat.<br /><br />James Robinson got five.<br /><br />Tom Galloway came up with a sixth, but then, as I understand it, he was at the Challenge last year, so he's had much more time to think about it. And I spurn his sixth name as a technicality anyway, while Mark grumbled that yeah, it's a technicality but he should have gotten it anyway.</blockquote><br /><br />I can think of five, plus the "three who shouldn't count" -- but again, I am not really a Legion scholar, so I'm probably missing something:<br /><br />1. Superboy<br />2. Supergirl<br />3. Phantom Girl<br />4. Element Lad<br />5. Ferro Lad<br /><br />... and the "honorable mentions" would be Cosmic Boy, Lightning Boy, and Saturn Girl, whose codenames were written out on their costumes in their very first appearance.<br /><br />Now off to Busiek.com's forum to check my work!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-63473262766630587142009-07-23T21:21:00.001-04:002009-07-23T22:21:45.763-04:00New comics 7/22/09<div align="justify">This week's podcast features <em>Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps</em> #2, <em>Final Crisis: Legion Of Three Worlds</em> #5, <em>Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance</em> #3, <em>Gotham City Sirens</em> #2, <em>Green Lantern</em> #44, <em>Madame Xanadu</em> #s 11-12, <em>The Spirit</em> #31, <em>Power Girl</em> #3, <em>Supergirl</em> #43, and <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #3. <br /><br />Sorry in advance about some lingering sound-quality issues. This is also the second week in a row in which I use the phrase "boy band." <br /><br />Once again, Olivia contributes from the peanut gallery, and R.E.M. supplies the music. Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-07-23T19_20_14-07_00.mp3">here</a>, or visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>.</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-88862047792866053602009-07-21T20:47:00.000-04:002009-07-21T21:47:20.202-04:00So, does he grow up to be an architect?<div align="justify">I'm not that far into <em>Essential Nova</em> Vol. 1, but ... it's like it's <em>trying</em> to be bad. <br /><br />Naturally I remember <em>Nova</eM> from its original run. I bought the issue with Spider-Man on the cover -- probably because it had Spider-Man on the cover -- and I remember being haunted by the Nova-in-deathtrap cliffhanger which closed out the issue. [Caution: memories may not be accurate to particular issues.] Other than that, though, it didn't leave much of an impression. I sure didn't remember Marv Wolfman writing it.<br /><br />Actually, I'm not sure Marv would have wanted people remembering he wrote <em>Nova</em>. The character might be described as "what if Peter Parker were Green Lantern?" but that's not really fair to Peter Parker. Richard Rider, the 17-year-old who gets zapped with the powers of the Nova Prime Centurion, is a paragon of mediocrity. He makes average grades, he has a genius younger brother, his nerd friends are each funnier than he is, and -- and this is clearly meant to be Marv's crowning achievement in the field of characterization -- the school bully who picks on him is not only the head jock, he's better off academically too. After a few issues we learn that the bully picks on Richard as an outlet for the pressures of high expectations, so right there our hero's chief antagonist becomes more interesting, if not more sympathetic. This is not the same Marv Wolfman who wrote <em>Tomb of Dracula</em>, <em>Fantastic Four</em>, or even those goofy late-'60s <em>Teen Titans</eM>. He's trying so hard to craft the ultimate teen superhero -- right in Spider-Man's back yard, mind you -- that Richard comes across like George Costanza's intern.<br /><br />To be fair, the "Marvel manner" of superheroics centered around characters who were outcasts of one sort or another, and/or whose powers got in the way of their having regular lives. Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Thing, and even more traditionally-positioned heroes like Captain America and Doctor Strange were each alienated from society to a certain degree. Also, when Richard is zipping around as Nova, he's much easier to take (although his dialogue still makes Marv's Beast Boy/Changeling sound like Noel Coward). Still, there is an air of frustrated greatness around each of Marvel's classic characters, like their superheroic careers are making up for ... well, probably for the accidents which facilitated their superheroic careers. I'm waiting for the issue which explains in detail why Richard, and not one of his friends or enemies, was zapped with the Nova bolt. As it stands now, Marv seems to be equating "completely average" with "relatable," and I'm just not seeing it.<br /><br />Oh well. At least Marv is starting to spell "cannot" as one word. When I was reading <em>Tomb of Dracula</em>, that particular habit got real old real fast....</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-10762351141510756182009-07-19T21:08:00.001-04:002009-07-19T22:09:04.767-04:00However, if she starts rollerskating, we may have a problem<div align="justify">Well, that was easy: the <em>Madame Xanadu</em> paperback (written by Matt Wagner, pencilled by Amy Reeder Hadley, inked by Hadley and Richard Friend) sold me on the regular series. I found it to be an energetic, engaging story and a fun travelogue through the magical history of the DC universe. <br /><br />However, it makes me wonder why this book is assigned to Vertigo and not the main DC superhero line. It guest-stars the Phantom Stranger, who by the way is orders of magnitude more interesting here than he's ever been. It features tons of references to, and guest-shots by, DC superhero characters like Morgaine le Fay, the Demon, Doctor Fate, the Spectre, the Zatara family, and even Green Lantern. To be honest, it is the kind of appeal to the main-line DC fan which I haven't seen since the early issues of <em>Sandman</em>. (And that reminds me -- that series is referenced pretty heavily here too.) <br /><br />Maybe that's the answer. The wonky "border restrictions" between DCU and Vertigo probably would have prohibited the Endless from appearing in a main-line DC book, but that may only go one way, such that DC superheroes can appear in Vertigo comics.<br /><br />Now I have to decide if <em>House of Mystery</em> would be better-read in paperback form....</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-41588653206018671332009-07-16T15:32:00.000-04:002009-07-16T16:32:24.123-04:00New comics 7/15/09<div align="justify">In this week's podcast: <em>Action Comics</em> #879, <em>Agents Of Atlas</em> #8, <em>Batman: Streets Of Gotham</em> #2, <em>Blackest Night</em> #1, <em>Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps</em> #1, <em>Brave and the Bold</em> #25, <em>Captain America</em> #601, <em>JSA Vs. Kobra</em> #2, <em>Rasl</em> #5, <em>Titans </em>#15, <em>Wednesday Comics</em> #2, and <em>Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-38</em>.<br /><br />I hope I have fixed some of the lingering technical issues (which I further hope no one minded in the last episode), and of course I am still working on my elocution. Early on, Olivia even offered her own comments in the background. (The music, once again, is by R.E.M.)<br /><br />Download it <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-07-16T13_18_29-07_00.mp3">here</a>, or visit the podcast homepage <a href "http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/entry/2009-07-14T06_25_50-07_00">here</a>. Thanks for listening!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-83676616782315429042009-07-14T08:28:00.002-04:002009-07-14T09:52:12.798-04:00It's my 5-year blogoversary -- in stereo!<div align="justify">Can you believe that it's been <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.blogspot.com/2004/07/last-weeks-comics.html">five years</a> since this humble blog was launched? Heck, it seems like five years since the last post....<br /><br />Accordingly, as a way to get back into the weekly new-comics grind, I am trying the exciting world of podcasts! Yes, give me thirty minutes and I'll give you somnolent commentary on the usual batch of new purchases! This week it's <Em>Wednesday Comics</em> #1, <em>The Unwritten</em> #3, <em>House Of Mystery</em> #15, <em>Superman: World Of New Krypton</em> #5, <em>Green Lantern</em> #43, <em>Batman</em> #688, <em>Green Arrow/Black Canary</em> #22, <em>Booster Gold</em> #22, and <em>The Warlord</em> #4. (Music is by R.E.M.)<br /><br />Right-click <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-07-14T06_25_50-07_00.mp3">here</a> to download the episode. You can also visit the podcast homepage <a href="http://comicsatemybrain.podomatic.com/">here</a>. <br /><br />Anyway, I'm hoping to have new installments up on weekends (or Fridays if I'm lucky), so keep an eye out!</div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629130.post-6670869789925273052009-06-26T10:24:00.003-04:002009-06-26T11:31:14.182-04:00What's the matter with Kansas?, part 2: Superman Inc.<div align="justify">I got the idea to blog about this 1999 Elseworlds while in the middle of reading <em>Red Son</em>, and the reason should be pretty obvious: here, the focus isn't on communism, but unapologetic capitalism. <br /><br /><em>Superman Inc.</em> was written by Steve Vance, pencilled by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and inked by Mark Farmer. It's an unusual Elseworlds in that it's not about superheroics. Instead, Dale "Superman" Suderman (the erstwhile Kal-El of Krypton) is the greatest athlete the Earth has ever known -- a star in the NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball, a multiple-medal-winning Olympian, and an unstoppable marketing force. His chief rival is still Lex Luthor (now a team owner), but this time Dale/Supes earns Luthor's wrath by screwing Luthor out of a new stadium. <br /><br /><span class="fullpost">See, Dale isn't exactly a paragon of virtue, which the book demonstrates in a pointed parody of the regular Superman's boy-scout reputation. After Dale's grinned and glad-handed his way through a lobby full of adoring kids ("Have this [jacket] fumigated," he later tells his assistant), he tears into his staff for their concept-art failures. "Can't you morons get anything right? How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm Superman! I'm everybody's friend! I don't grimace -- I smile!" This last sentence accompanies the scary picture of an intensely beady-eyed Superman poking the ends of his mouth upwards in a look that would give the Joker chills.<br /><br />What brought Dale to this state was a succession of foster homes and juvenile facilities, necessitated by the death of Dale's foster mother. Dale's powers contributed to her death, because his flying startled her into falling down the stairs and breaking her neck. This caused Dale to draw into himself (and also repress the use of his flashier powers), until years later when a chance involvement in pickup basketball awakened his "athletic abilities." It's certainly not an unrealistic alternative to Superman's origin, and it gives Dale's story a poignancy that a straight-up "Clark chose football over virtue" choice might have lacked. (Dale isn't without some scruples, though, thanks to his mentor, ex-NBAer Marcus Clark.)<br /><br />Nevertheless, Dale can't quite let go of his powers, and as another marketing tool creates a "Superman" cartoon which uses the familiar costume and abilities. Thus, in this reality superstar athlete Dale Suderman invented the super-hero, which seems a little precious but pretty much works in context. Meanwhile, though, Luthor and his investigators (including reporter Lois Lane, naturally) have pieced together Dale's extraterrestrial origins, and use their findings to "out" Dale. Being a nigh-omnipotent alien is apparently worse than using human growth hormone, so Dale's career threatens to start circling the drain. <br /><br />An enraged Dale makes matters worse when he storms Luthor's penthouse offices, is defenestrated thanks in part to a shard of Kryptonite, and flies back up to administer beatings in front of many witnesses. Furthermore, during an attempt at talk-show rehabilitation, Dale gets shot with a Kryptonite bullet and winds up in the hospital. Shortly thereafter, Lois shows up, having quit Luthor's employ once she figured out he was behind the shooting. She's withdrawing herself: "I may do some teaching," she says as she leaves.<br /><br />At this point <em>Superman Inc.</em> starts to steer Dale in a more traditional direction, with a visit from a familiar generically-named police detective. Yes, J'Onn J'Onzz tells Dale that there are many aliens living on Earth who could benefit from a more positive role model, so why doesn't he shape up? Thus, Dale heads back to where it all began, in Kansas, to clear his head and figure out what to do with his life. Along the way, he's knocked out by a lightning strike. No points for guessing which kindly couple takes him in!<br /><br />Actually, that too is handled pretty smoothly. The Kents don't know Dale Suderman from Adam, so he's able to hide out with them without much effort. On the farm he learns the value of hard work, etc., and eventually tells the world (via taped message) he's headed into space to find the remains of his home planet. However, on the last page of the book, it's "Clark Kent" who registers for Lois' Journalism 101 class....<br /><br /><em>Superman Inc.</em> looks like a pretty slight story, but I think it has a lot going on beneath the surface. The "I don't grimace" scene is actually a nice encapsulation of the book's message about image management. Dale's mother dies because she thinks her flying child is a demon, and Dale turns this into introversion and self-loathing. Once Dale has started playing basketball, though, that gets completely inverted, and his face becomes ubiquitous. (The "S" symbol shows up too, but as the logo for Dale's new basketball franchise, the Metropolis Spartans.) In this way "Superman" allows Dale to use his powers, after a fashion.<br /><br />However, as in <em>Red Son</em>, Dale has no "secret identity" which might offer another perspective. Therefore, this book's "Superman goes nuts" scene also forces him into hiding as a bespectacled nobody. In <em>Red Son</eM> Superman's disguise is just that; but here, it's implied pretty strongly that "Clark" is the real deal -- a kinder, gentler iteration of the boy who grew up to be an oversaturating sensation. The traditional Superman was Clark before he was famous, so Dale needed to learn how "Clark" could help him cope. <br /><br />There is a hint, too, that Dale could re-emerge as Superman the superhero, fighting evil and injustice in the mode of his animated alter ego. After all, if Dale can't use his powers for sports anymore, he'll need some other outlet. The logistical gymnastics that would require seem well-suited for a sequel. Too bad DC has gotten out of the Elseworlds business....<br /></span></div>Tom Bonduranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07209820912557263080noreply@blogger.com0