Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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I enjoyed the pre- and post-Crisis differing bits at first, but King played it out long enough that I tired of it. Also, I didn't remember many of the post-Crisis bits, so I had to take his word for it. I know "pre-Crisis doesn't count," but I've read those stories so many times, and they've been reprinted so many times, that they're imbedded in my memory. Post-Crisis re-writes simply don't have that staying power.
Wonder Girl is doing the Batusi. Because Allred is as old as I am. I don't know if I have that issue. I was buying all of Solo and tired of it, and dropped it at some point. It was hit or miss, and some of the misses fell into the "this book has no reason to exist" category.
I've got both Superman: Space Age and Batman: Dark Age, but haven't read them. I got them because of recommendations here, but they're several books deep into the the Wall of Shame. Currently the reprint I'm plowing through is Moon Girl, which Jeff warned me wasn't very good, and he's right. I've been averaging about half an issue on the nights when I can read in bed. (During basketball season I tend to get off work after lights out in the bedroom.) After Moon Girl, I will treat myself to The Bat-Man: First Knight.
I'm also re-reading America vs. the Justice Society, among other JSA-related material, and it strikes me how hard it is to read Batman's cursive script in his diary. I mean, it's really slow going. And when I read it in 1984, it wasn't hard at all -- just as easy to read as any other type. This is disspiriting.
The All-Nighter (first TPB) by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo, a contained superhero universe in its early stages, based on the notion that myths, if influential enough, become reality. They do a lot of interesting things with the concept, with the focus grounded in some vampires-turned-superheroes who own an All-Night diner. Other characters we encounter include a bridge trolls, a minotaur, an evil clown-turned-supervillain, Frankenstein's Monster, and an organization that keeps knowledge of supernatural creatures under wraps. Most of these ideas have appeared elsewhere and often, but Zdarsky and Loo try to do something original with them.
I enjoyed the pre- and post-Crisis differing bits at first, but King played it out long enough that I tired of it.
#50 is the only issue of Tom King's Batman that I have, so...
Wonder Girl is doing the Batusi.
...and Mr. Miracle is doing it inside the front cover. the "Batman -A-Go-Go" story is kind of like "What if the 'Batman '66' universe went grim 'n' gritty?' but don't worry... it's excellent.
I've got both Superman: Space Age and Batman: Dark Age, but haven't read them.
Next to get you and Richard Willis to read the comics you already have. (that's something I've been hitting hard lately: reading all my unread comics.)
NEW COMICS I HAVE READ TODAY THIS MONTH:
COMIC STRIPS: I have pretty much abandoned reprint collections at this point in favor of backissues of The Menomonee Falls Gazette. (I do plan to finish the volumes of Pogo, Flash Gordon and Tarzan I am currently in the middle of, however, before reshelving them.)
AROC OF ZENITH: I've slowed considerably reading this one as well, currently up to episode #232.
DETECTIVE COMICS #561 & THE FILM FREAK:
The cover of Detective Comics #561 is my favorite piece of Gene Colan Batman art of the '80s. But the story itself is difficult to read. I approve of the plot (about middle school drug use) and aI love the art (also by Colan). The problem is the cringy "teenage" dialogue... far worse than any such "hip talk" written by the likes of Stan Lee or Gardner Fox. Perhaps what makes this example worse (for me) is that I read 'Tec #561 in the '80s, when it took place; I didn't read most '60s comics until the '70s.
Immediately following 'Tec #561 is the three-part "Film Freak" story from Batman #395-396 and Detective #562. I have memories of this being a pretty good story, yet I read it only once, and that was nearly 40 years ago. Unfortunately, the story itself doesn't live up to my memories of it. The art, by Tom Mandrake and Gene Colan (both of whom I appreciate far more today than I did in 1986), is wonderful, but the story falls flat. I think I liked it back then because I considered myself a "movie buff" at the time, and the story itself was steeped in movie lore. But what it reminds me most of today is a Golden Age "gimmick" story (of which I have been reading many lately), stretched from 12 pages to fill three issues. I can appreciate it on that level (plus the art), but I can now safely clear it out of my memory of "favorite Batman stories" to make space for something else.
Batman has one of the most, if not the most, memorable rogues galleries in comics, yet attempts to add to that gallery have largely fallen flat. Something else occurred to me as I was reading this story, however, namely, to make Batman villains like Dick Tracy villains, largely "one-and-done." I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the Film Freak since. But there have been a lot of "Batman" comics I haven't read over the course of the last four decades. Next up is the four-part "Two Face" story from Detective #563-564 and Batman #397-398. I likewise have very fond memories of that storyline, but again I haven't read it since it first came out. Will it hold up? Stay tuned...
TWO FACE: 1986:
The Two Face story holds up better than the Film Freak one (IMO). As with the Film Freak story, this one reminds me (now, not 39 years ago) of a Golden Age "series" of crimes, but with each one given the better part of an issue to develop rather than several crammed into twelve pages (plus sub-plots, characterization, etc.) Come to think of it, this may have been the first Two Face story I experienced in "real time" (i.e., not a reprint, not a backissue). I'll likely have more to say about about it when I get to it in the "Two Face" discussion, but what I found interesting (than as well as now) about the premise is that Two Face is using twin binary computers which, somehow, have become analogues of the bicameral human mind. (As with movies in the Film Freak story, the differences between the "right brain" and the "left brain" was somethin I was very much interested in at the time.)
As the computers' inventor explains: "Both [operate] on the standard binary system, both with identical components and chips -- but while both will give the same answers at the same speed to strictly mathmatical problems -- they will give differing 'answers' to problems involving a certain amount of speculation or decision-making -- even when fed precisely the same raw data. At times my twin computers have given 'answers' which could be said to be 'opposite'... It's almost as if one or both of the computers operate not only on identical sysytems of logic, but also from contrasting attitudes of... of philosophy... or even morality." It is these computers which Two Face uses to plan his crimes.
This was the first Two Face story I experienced in 1971 at the tender age of 23. Batman #234 was a 52-page book for 25 cents when the 32-pagers were about to go from 15 to 20 cents. It was (I believe) the first Code-approved Two Face story and gave me a good handle on the character. The flip of his coin forces him to save Batman from drowning in the end. I think that never having the “good side” turn up hurts a Two Face story. Also, his less-horrific face in this story looks survivable.
TALES OF PARANOIA:
This was a pretty intense read. Crumb prersents himself as a paranoid, conspiracy-minded anti-vaxxer, yet he presents the opposite view so clearly and concisely I at first wondered if he was, perhaps, putting me on. But I knew someone who was clinically paranoid. When he was on on his meds he was fine, rational, intelligent. But when he was off them he was like a different person. We once spoke long into the the night about his condition, and how he felt on his meds and off them. I know that paranoia is a very real and serious medical condition.
Just to put my thoughts into perspective, I didn't first become interested in Crumb until the MOVIE. Since then I've thrown myself into his work, especially the trading cards and his interpretation of the The Book of Genesis. Beyond that, I'm not generally draw to the work of "underground" cartoonists. I really enjoyed the work Ed Piskor did for Marvel a while back, so I decided to check out his Red Room, also published by Fantagraphics. I was so put off I couldn't even finish it.
Robert Crumb's main point seems to be that "those who want to censor and silence dissent bludgeon us relentlessly with [the term 'conspiracy theory'], along with 'misinformation' and 'disinformation,' to create a mental block against questioning authority." Some of the time our worldviews overlap, his and mine, but they do so only by accident. We sometimes draw the same conclusions, but we get their by different paths and for very different reasons.
It's a fascinating read, though. Fascinating. It really helps one to get inside and understand the paranoid mind.
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #100:
Gearing up to read Batman & Robin: Year One start to finish, I thought I might like to read a more recent version of Robin's origin story, this one by Denny O'Neil and Dave Taylor. (Funny to this this "recent" version is two years shy of 30 years old!) B:LotDK #100 also has a story of the Jason Todd Robin (by James Robinson and Lee weeks), which I recently refreshed in my memory. There are also ten pin-up, the most interesting penciler/inker match-up being Curt Swan and Klaus Janson.
ROBIN: YEAR ONE:
Still gearing up to read Batman and Robin: Year One, I read 2000's Robin: Year One (of course, I don't see how "Robin: Year One" can be all that different from "Batman and Robin: Year One"). I will say this, though: it goes a long way toward addressing the "child endangerment" issue. I won't go into plot specifics, though, because I have learned that whereas there are many on this board who can speak authoritatively about comics from 50 years ago, there are very few left who are familiar with those of the last 25. Even I myself, who bought this four-issue mini-series new a quarter of a century ago had never read it... until today. Rather than being embarrassed about that fact, I am actually quite pleased with myself that I got around to reading it "someday." It was at this point I planned to move on to Batman and Robin: Year One, but I think I have one more to squeeze in first.
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