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Podcast! The Comics, Episode 182plus – Indigenous Representation in Media
Briefly: Future’s End #20-26
And finally, I’m caught up.
It would have been easy to skip out on this series and let it stampede by unattended, but I always get itchy when I don’t know what’s going on in the DC or Marvel universe. It’s a feeling born from the completist in me and exacerbated by the fact that I think you can’t do your best as a retailer without an extensive knowledge of the product. Anyway, I caught up this weekend and it’s… well, it’s a lot better than I thought it would be. The series began in early May with a zero issue that saw much of the DCU turned into weird cyborg murder machines that tended the limbs of anyone who resisted them in a dystopian future. It then took a jump backwards to five years from now where Terry McGuinness (the Batman of the future) has to find a way to prevent a future already in progress.
As the story has gone on, the edges have softened, and the scattershot ensemble have been moving closer and closer together, as the inevitable threatens to arrive. It’s a dark story, but about… I dunno, 8? 9 issues in? The team begins to have a lot of fun with a character named “Fifty Sue” - a young girl who seems to be the most powerful being in the DC Universe at this point in time. As the story goes, Brian Azzarello came up with the name “Fifty Sue” and made the mistake of using it in front of Keith Giffen who ran with it - because of course Azzarello came up with a pun, and of course Giffen would run with that joke. Anyway, she’s the best part of this series, and as it continues, she gets more and more screen time. Honestly, her scenes with Deathstroke and Grifter are what really push me forward in this series, with all the others providing a bit of variety as things progress.
While it’s not a series I’d recommend to folks who weren’t deeply invested in the DC Universe, I think it’s a book with much to be enjoyed, if you can get past the odd issue where someone gets dissected or eviscerated.
Ohhh Archie: Weaponization
Words and Pictures, Hopefully
Humble, right?
Early this morning, I took a picture of the mountain of new product I’ll be trying to get through before next Wednesday. This is pretty much what I deal with every week as I attempt to acquire as much knowledge about what I’m selling as possible. I never get to it all, but I certainly try.
Anyway, more than anything else, this is just a post to see just how some of the new features of the blog work. So. I dunno. Move along? Move along.
What Did Brandon Do Last Weekend
So there was that, which was nice.
Listen Bro
Southern Bastards #4">
Briefly: Southern Bastards #4
First: I’m back from vacation. Hi. Hello.
Second: one of the first things I did when we got back is go to the store and grab comics. As a guy who works in a comic store and writes about comics at night, I’m usually neck deep in the medium, so being away was… different. Not bad, just strange. Anyway, Danica and I went to the store and immediately snapped up quite a few books. After sorting the big pile into several smaller ones (something I might touch on in another post), I went straight into reading Southern Bastards #4.
My god, this comic.
You’ll be hearing more about it on this coming week’s podcast I’m sure. James might even do an article about it in a few days, whereas I think I’m going to save the bulk of my words for shortly after the first trade hits the stands. Which brings us to…
Third: if you’ve yet to check out Southern Bastards, I would do so as soon as humanly possible. All four issues are available now in print in good comic stores, and online as DRM free downloads from Image and ComiXology. The arc ends perfectly, with a hook that leaves the reader clawing desperately for more, something that will give the first collection an extra bit of heat as it sells over the years. In addition, Jasons Aaron and Latour have done a great thing with the story and solicitations for the next couple of issues that really lets things sit and simmer. I won’t mention the specific plot bits, and what is set up for further issues, but suffice to say, everything about issue #4 was pitched perfectly and has me champing at the bit for more.
Right then. Cobwebs off the keyboard. Back to work.
A Shot of Jack // Dig It
So That Just Happened // Alan Moore, Glycon, and The Nature of Gods
I’m not even going to pretend like this is a well thought out piece - this is no more or less than a reaction to what I thought was an interesting bit of comic book work from Alan Moore, comics’ grumpiest old recluse.
Some background: God is Dead is a series about what happens to our word (or a world like it) if all the gods came back. Hilarity and graphic imagery ensue because… well, it’s a books from Avatar Press. Anyway. This issue Alan Moore participated in an anthology series that takes place in this world. The story featured himself and Glycon, a serpent god that he himself believes to be a probably hoax.
The pages delve into the absurdity of comics and fiction and the various gods that permeate existence, such as it is. The centrepiece of the story involves Moore himself standing on a stage in front of Gods and devotees alike, calling reference to the fact that some thought and think Glycon was nothing more than a hand puppet of sorts, and he talks about how fiction becomes real through belief. The notions are sound, and I probably need to read the story a few more times to really pull out all the layers from it. Regardless, this is a story to check out, for all of you people out there who want to gather all the Alan Moore they can before he turns into a burst of radiant energy and spans out towards all corners of the universe or whatever. I can guarantee you’ll get something out of it, whether it’s a bit of personal reflection or discussion or frothing anger.
Receiving Transmission // Continuing Transmet, Experiencing Guardians
- Devin is going to arrive shortly and mind-blast you all with his impeccable pop culture skills, but before we get to there, I need to write… well, something for the site this week.
- Before I started pushing my way through Transmetropolitan, I asked Twitter what the story might read like if it were published today. Say, for example, the conditions were still in place that Ellis had the time and inclination to blast through a 60 issue run instead of the shorter projects he tends to lean into today. Would it be the same book, considering the difference in culture intake? As I near the halfway point, I’m leaning towards “yes”. In a lot of ways, Transmet is eerily prophetic and deeply disturbing. The Future Spider lives in remains a sickening mirror to our society, both in terms of pop culture consumption and the politics of it all. I think maybe the only difference would be the presence of more meme-culture bits, as he pretty much has the decline of proper journalism laid out pretty bare.
- And oh, but the sweet and terrifying stories where Spider laments what could be if we all cared a little. He cares. He cares so much he hates, and he spits and kicks and disrupts your bowels and he wants it all to be better. He uses words as weapons, attempts to aim as well as the medium will allow, and he uses The Truth to build and fix and fight against all the horseshit. He’s a lot like I imagine Warren Ellis to be - a crusty, beaten and frothing exterior with a center filled to the brim with hope and cuddliness. Not that either would care to admit that.
- Running straight into something else entirely: the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. What a wonderful piece of cinema. I could (and I guess will) qualify the movie by saying it’s not perfect, but that’s the most pessimism you’ll get out of me in regards to this film. We don’t like to criticize things too much here at C!TB. Our whole reason for existence is to counter the culture that required thought pieces to hit the internet by midday Friday, pulling on all the strings until the fun movie we all enjoyed falls apart at the seems. I enjoyed it. I saw it twice with Danica and James, once on a preview night, and once on the day of release (which happened to be my birthday). I want to see it again, in the theatre, and we just might do that on our vacation. Because fuck you, squares, we’re going on vacation and we can do what we want.
- Otherwise, it’s been a mad bit of churning to get pieces half ready for three different sites, while getting the shop ready to weather three weeks without me and prepare to attend a couple of weddings. Mark my words: come hell or high-water, content will go out from me daily, somewhere, somehow, even through vacation. I’m preparing now. This is what professionals do, yes? I wish to be a professional. So. Onwards. We’ll talk again soon.