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Was DC’s 52 Relaunch A Success?

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Is The DC Relaunch A Success? ... Yes and No.

Was the DC Relaunch A Success? Yup, it sure was, at least for the short term. Word on the street is that there’s a drop off in title purchases of the #2 book after #1 came out, which makes sense since more than a handful of the titles appeared contrived with sloppy dialogue and poor writing. Almost as if they were desperate to force CPR on a some of the stories just to get readers to pick them up and hopefully become intrigued enough to get the second and third issue of a series.

According to PanelsOnPages.com “DC had 17 of the top 20 titles compared to 8 the previous month, including 2 issues of Flashpoint. DC claims they “sold 5 million comics in six weeks and that 14 of the new 52 titles have sold over 100,000 copies…What was originally reported as a less than 1% lead in market share is currently looking more like a 5% lead. The previous month, Marvel had a 7% lead. So for now in the immediate short term, it’s easy to call the relaunch a success. Every title sold out at the distributor level; it’s hard to not be impressed by that.”

Now 100-200,000 copies in today’s market is pretty damn high. So, by all rights, DC is kicking butt… for now. But will they (can they) maintain even half of this spike for the next six months?

The guys over at SpeakEasy, at the Wall Street Journal, said, “In one regard, the relaunch has been an undeniable success. According to the publishers, all of its 52 first issues sold out in advance of their publications and are receiving second (and in some examples, third and fourth) reprintings.”

While IGN asks if Marvel needs a relaunch. “While there’s no telling how well this new push will fare over the long-term, sales are clearly up and more readers are walking into comic shops every week. For an industry that continues to see sales and readership drop, this is a very positive sign. Many eyes are now turning to Marvel as the New 52 relaunch pushes into its second month. For the first time in years, Marvel will likely be relegated to a distant second place on the sales charts. What should they do to keep pace with DC? What can they do to mimic DC’s success and even improve upon it? Essentially, does Marvel need a New 52 of its own? ”

Granted, sales are through the roof, but even as we speak, they’re falling faster than a dress on prom night. If DC’s goal was to increase readership by attracting new readers to the paper comic book realm, then I suggest that they could have done a couple of things differently:

Focus more on telling an engaging story more than chasing the almighty green back. Tell a good story, and the rest will fall into place.
Increase the number of pages in the damn book, and stick to it for at least 6 months, to get people hooked then they could drop 2 pages and see what happens (then we can bitch and moan when that happens!) More pages means an increased chance for a better story… assuming that the writers have the ability to tell a good story.
Not have the stories rely exclusively on ridiculous, thug like, physical conflict in order to win a new reader over. Sure conflict is needed to keep people’s attention; conflict between characters, between invading exogenic forces, between a character and his or herself, as in Peter Parker’s endless turmoil around every corner… that poor bastich can never get a break. … though he did marry a supermodel. … no wait, that never happened. .. BAH! See what I mean?
Keep all prices at $2.99. PERIOD. And lock that price down for at least 3-5 more years. Everyone knows that $2.99 and $3.99 are just outrageous prices in today’s economy. The rise in the price has grossly ballooned faster than the pace of inflation and it’s affected sales, but $2.99 is a semi-reasonable compromise.
Better stories. Why don’t people read comics? Price for one reason. Another is that many story lines have just lost their appeal, aren’t easy to relate to and have just another contrived galactic/Infinite/Secret/Crisis/Wars as a backdrop ad nauseum. DC and Marvel could both take a lesson from Kurt Busiek’s Astro City.

Rob Gonsalves, over at Guy.com, said it rightly when he bitched,

“Coming out of week three of the New 52 series, I’m starting to remember why I more or less gave up on superhero comics over two decades ago. Yes, the adolescent power fantasies get dull and samey endlessly repeated. Yes, Superteam A blurs together in my mind with Superteam B. Yes, there’s no real opportunity for drama when anyone who “dies” can easily come back to life. But there’s also a practical reason. Every one of these goddamn things ends with a cliffhanger designed to make you come back for more. Not one of them has a beginning, a middle, and an end.” You have to read his rant on each, like his take on Batman, “CAN A NEWBIE READ IT? There’s a bit at the beginning where Bats deals with a break-out at Arkham Asylum and fights a few of his old enemies, but it’s not a huge part of the story. IS IT ANY DAMN GOOD? I was entertained. Bruce is a suave motherfucker here; I like that. And Batman is shown to have actual deductive abilities, which we too often don’t see from ‘The World’s Greatest Detective.’“

- Amen Brother!

In the end, the Relaunch seems to have did a good job in sales, at least in the immediate short run. But, in the end, it just seems like business as usual for DC. Why bother cleaning house with superheroes when the real problem is the writers, the editors and management? Sure we get a new look, relatively new uniforms for our favorite heroes along with some surprises from old characters such as Jonah Hex, but seriously, do they honestly expect to see a change in readership and interest level if they go back to the status quo? I have complete faith that they will waste yet another great opportunity to do the right thing.

Am I picking up any new comics? Sure am. Surprisingly ALL-STAR WESTERN #1 is one of them. I’d mention all the rest, but it’s getting cold in mom’s basement and it smells like my grill’ cheese is ready, so off I go!

- Ronando El Guapo

Tags: DC Relaunch
Posted in Book Review, Comic Books | 4 Comments »

Superhero Library Graphic Novels: II

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

I made another trip to the library last week and picked up a ton of books that I would have missed out on if I relied solely on my local comic shop. Four books stand out that I thought were worth mentioning. At the top of my list was J. Michael Straczynski’s Supreme Power: Contact, which is kind of surprising given our last rant on the Straczynski. I absolutely loved this book where J. Michael Straczynski (TV’s Babylon 5, The Amazing Spider-Man comic book) and artist Gary Frank (Midnight Nation) come together and tell a familiar story that (we all know by heart) starts off not too different from what Jonathan and Martha Kent experienced when discovered young Kal-El. But the similarities stop there as black ops government spooks fly in on black helicopters to appear on the scene and whisk the young baby away to be raised in a controlled environment.

The young boy crash landed on Earth, a la Kal-El style, in his own private escape pod. The era is some time during the Carter administration, possibly 1980. The alien boy is then given a name and two agents are assigned to be the boy’s parents to, “make the environment non-stressful, idealized and as all-American, Norman Rockwell, Father Knows Best as possible.”

“Does he have a name?”
“The Code name for the child and the project, is Hyperion. It was the name of one of the Greek Titans. R&D thought it was appropriate. His day-to-day name is Mark. Mark Milton. Normally I don’t approve of alliteration but it tested well with all the appropriate focus groups. mark for the Apostle, Milton not for the poet, but because they say it resonates with Middle-town America. Milton. Middle-town, Mill Town.”

I’m not going to give any other key parts away, but you can fill in the blanks: kid gets older, becomes self aware, starts discovering powers, and begins to question authority as well as contemplating if he is the only one that has powers. You find out later, he’s not.

What Straczynski did was pretty much reinvent the JLA under Marvel’s title, and it was sheer genius and was done in a very believable way. He gives us a Marvel Batman (Nighthawk), who’s parent’s were murdered before his eyes, who I absolutely love. Nighthawk is everything that Batman should be and is even more convincing since he’s not tied to tradition nor a cape. See, Straczynski appears to have taken Batman and thought out all the problems; Batman needs a cape, not because it’s a good item but because we demand it of him. Batman has pointy ears and a symbol, for the same damn reason; tradition. Nighthawk doesn’t. Batman beats people up and doesn’t stab criminals. Nighthawk is as vicious as Logan and Frank combined and isn’t afraid of stabbing a criminal in the face or simultaneously head-butting a bad guy while ripping his ears off. Yes, he really did that and my opinion of Straczynski shot up 10 points on that one page. Not because I like violence, but because that’s exactly what I would do if I were black, having seen my parents gunned down by white racist hillbilly crackers. See, Nighthawk seems to focus on protecting the black population who is preyed upon by whites. I’m sorry, but Bruce Wayne’s anger pales in comparison to Titus Richmond.

Filling out the JLA roster, Straczynski also provides us with a Marvel version of the Flash, a southern mama’s boy from Atlanta who wants to be a hero. There is also an Aquaman type person, half-fish/half-woman born of a human woman abandoned to the ocean because her parents thought her a monster. Ther’s also a Green Lanteresk type of guy who’s a cool-under-fire soldier but instead of a ring he is embued with a crystal from Hyperion’s spacecraft. This was one fantastic read, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.

Next is Spider-Man: BLUE created by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale with an introduction by John Romita Sr. Peter is making a (tape) recorded journal, reminiscing of Gwen Stacy, beginning with when they first met. The story opens with Spidey delivering a rose at the top of the bridge where Gwen met her death, then the story goes back in time to Spidey, unmasked and tied up, ready to be killed by the Green Goblin. Peter runs up agains the Rhino, The Lizard and The Vulture …. all creatures of the animal kingdom, all orchestrated by one person who is intent on studying Spider-Man in action in order to hunt him down.

Each fight scene is threaded with the story of how Peter’s relationship develops with Gwen and MJ, and even Flash and Harry. This was a fantastic “retro-tale” that had me tearing up in the end. Loeb did a great job in conveying Peter’s pain in a heartwarming, realistic fashion without getting soap opera-sappy. I wonderful read.

The third book on my list was also done by Straczynski: Team-Ups of the Brave and the Bold. This was a compilation of several, unrelated stories. The first story focused on Batman, Robert Reed, the kid who posesses the Dial H for Hero Dial that turns him into a hero and a down on his luck second-rate street criminal. A great story where the hero turns coward and the criminal makes the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good. I loved it.

The second story in Team-Ups was with the Flash, Barry Allen, who gets transported back in time to World War II and is put in the ultimate hard choice predicament, “does a superhero kill, when facing the ultimate evil?” The Flash is attacked by Nazis and then finds himself teamed up with the Blackhawks. After making acquaintances, they are then overrun by more Nazis. Instead of using the .45 that was given to him, to help fight off the attacking Germans, Flash instead hurls a ton (literally) of bricks at the Nazis, knocking them all out. The leader of the Blackhawks makes a very articulate, and convincing argument against Barry’s statement that he doesn’t kill,

“Killing isn’t what I do. It’s not..”
“Then it damn well better get to be what you do, and fast. Because you’re an American in the middle of a war. And if you don’t pick up a gun and fight, you’re a coward and an impediment to the war effort.. and I’ll shoot you myself.”
“I can’t do it. When I put on this uniform, I made a vow not to kill.”
“Too bad. When we put on ours, we made a vow to kill as many as we had to, to end the war.”

What puts Flash in this predicament is that he has a broken leg. The key part here is that Straczynski touches on a very astute argument; Superheroes don’t HAVE to kill because they have alternatives; they have super powers (or skills/resources in Batman’s case). Whereas, us mere, flawed mortals are forced to make these hard decisions. We are put in a position where, without super powers to “Save The Day!” our only option is to kill in order to stop a wave of evil from crashing down on us. Barry’s broken leg has, in a way, made him mortal so he is then forced to face the fact that in order to stop Nazis, without superpowers, one must kill. If you don’t stop to question about Flash’s powers as he recovers, you’ll find it to be a good read. And, I have to say, I got choked up on the last panel… Goddamnit!! Damnit for the unecessary deaths of our soldiers.

The other great story in this book was with Aquaman and The Demon. To be honest, I know nothing of The Demon, but I have to say, I got way tired of his rhyming dialogue. But, this was a great story and I loved seeing Aquaman in action in a well written story. Just goes to prove that even perceivably lame superheroes are only that way because of the writing. … and the damn Super Friends show sure as hell didn’t help our opinion of Arthur.I still think they should have had the Wonder Twins making out at the end of each episode.

The fourth book was a complete surprise. It’s an English translation of I.R.$.: Taxing Trails – The Hagen Strategy. It is a Franco-Belgian comics series written by Stephen Desberg and illustrated by Bernard Vrancken originally published in France. The two part story follows Larry B. Max, “a rare specialist from a little-known branch of the I.R.S.” … yes, the IRS. I sh!t you not, Larry Max brings the James Bond to one of the most boring jobs in the U.S. and I loved reading it. You can tell that the story is non-American by the thick, realistic depth of the story; deep without involving contrived, galactic, “Ultimate” story arcs. It’s a damn good story and I can’t wait to pick up the other IR$ stories.

The other books I picked up were:

WANTED: Which I only read parts of before, and wanted to get the full story this time.
DMZ: MIA and The Hidden War. Still haven’t read them yet, but you can read our DMZ review from a while ago the last time we read it.
HALO: Bloodline. To be honest, I’ve never played HALO, but have always been intrigued by it. I picked it up and it did NOT disappoint. I love the internal conflict often created by writers where enemies are forced to work together.
Star Wars Knights of the Republic: Demon. I love reading Star Wars stories. Hated this one. Rarely do I just skim over stuff out of disgust. This was one of those times.
Marvel Universe: THE END. This is a complex opinion here:
- A) I love reading about Thanos.
- B) Overall, I couldn’t help but “like” the story, but ONLY after I turned off my brain.
- C) I am SOOOO tired of these ridiculous, super-galactic, Ultimate, Supreme, GARGANTUAN Power stories that have even bigger than the biggest god like powers. Ridiculous. All the uber god like powers quake in their boots at the new power on the block that’s been around for longer than ever.
- D) … it has Thanos, Doc Strange, Surfer so that makes it all ok.
- E) It wasn’t Star Wars Knights of the Republic: Demon
And of course, Batman Year One by Frank Miller. I saw it there and just had to reread it again, simply because I don’t want to go through the trouble of digging through my damn comic book boxes to find it. It’s always good to get back to retcon basics. Though I can’t stand what Miller has become, I do like his older stuff.

Be sure to visit your library and check out what they got. And remember, this weekend is also, “Buy A Comic Day.” So, plenty of reading is available.

- Ronando

Tags: Library
Posted in Book Review, Library Reads | 1 Comment »

Superhero Library Graphic Novels

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Last week I made a trip to the local library and checked out a butt load of books. I thought I’d share what I read, in the hopes that you’ll be inspired to do the same and maybe even help out your local librarian in getting more graphic novels on the shelves.

The first three books I read were JLA Lightning Saga, Green Lantern Wanted : Hal Jordan and Deadpool Invasion.

Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga

Writers: Brad Meltzer, Geoff Johns
Artists: Shane Davis, Fernando Pasarin, Ed Benes.
It was a good read but pushed me to edge of my DC knowledge since I haven’t read all of the Ultimate Infinite Final Crisis Infinite Legacy Crisis Earth Crisis Crisis books. But the artwork was good. Rather than just re-inventing the Legion from scratch the writers tie this story to the original “Lightning Saga” in Adventure Comics #312. It’s an introduction to Superman’s new history post-Infinite Crisis. The Legion of Super-Heroes befriended Superman as a boy and shared adventures with him, though he hasn’t seen them since Crisis on Infinite Earths. Karate Kid and Starman are in the present, Karate Kid having had a throw down with Batman… and lost, and are both known to have come from the future. Two teams are formed, the JSA and JLA as they search for the other lost Legion members and figure out just what the heck is going on here, since Superman is completely useless here in helping unravel the mystery.

Not for the casual reader of DC comics or those who aren’t up on the whole DC Crisis on Infinite Earths/Infinite Crisis/and the Final Crisis and Flash legacy story lines. It was a good read, but I have to mention that there’s a contrived effort to give Power Girl a little more depth as she and Batman discuss rare books, though it’s totally transparent.
Batman: “heard you found a first edition Vauban.”
Power Girl: “You should see it, Bruce. All twenty-nine engraved plates… barely any foxing… tight binding – - apparently, it’s the personal copy he prepared for Louis XIV right before he became his miltary engineer.”
B: “The one on siege warfare?”
PG: “Not for sale, Bruce. Don’t bother.”

Green Lantern: Wanted – Hal Jordan

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Ivan Reis
Geoff Johns wrote this one as well as the previous JLA book. Johns is basically re-creating the foundation of the Green Lantern Corps mythos. Hal is on a rescue mission, after being shot down over Chechnya while on an Air Force mission with two other pilots. Though I enjoyed the story and loved the artwork, one major part bugged the hell out of me. For some reason, it’s not enough that Hal has one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe. No, he needs to prove to himself that he can even do one better than himself. How? By pretending that he doesn’t need his power ring, “what that silly thing? Pffft.” He goes on an Air Force mission leaving his, uncharged, power ring home, so that he can’t call it for help. I know this is Johns’ way of saying something like, “Hal is egotistical and is a wildman… Wildman I tell you, he left his ring home… see how crazy he is… that’s wild, he’s wild I tell you!” No, Hal’s just written to look like an idiot.

Apparently Johns’ never read Spider-Man and never learned the axiom, “With great responsibility.. blah blah blah.” Look, when you’re given, “GIVEN,” a super powerful Green Lantern ring, you’re also given a responsibility to help others. You are specifically put in a position to do the right thing with a tool that nobody else in the universe has, except all the GL Corps and all the other color Corps members, and the last thing you’re supposed to do is leave the gorramn thing in your locker, uncharged. What happens if some Skrulls or Klingons attack? What happens if tsunami hits Japan and their nuclear power plants melt down? What happens if some wackos from Saudi Arabia decide to attack our country?!!

“Green Lantern we NEED YOU NOW!”

“Sorry fellas, I’m too busy measuring the length of my phallus while I jump out of this plane without a parachute, so I left my power ring at home.”

“Well, just call it to you! We’re having a nuclear meltdown and aliens are attacking, thousands of people will needlessly die!”

“No-can-do fellas. I left that puppy completely drained. It’s a boat anchor. I can’t help you until I hitch a ride home and recharge it back up. Can you hold off a week or so? I’m almost done here anyway.”

Aside from this one ridiculous and artificial construct of the story, it was overall a great read with some really good art. The second story, “Mystery of the Star Sapphire,” was a decent read as well with Johns offering an alternate explanation for the Star Sapphires existance that makes sense.

Deadpool: Secret Invasion

Writer: Daniel Way
Illustrator(s): Paco Medina, Carlo Barberi (pencils), Juan Vlasco, Sandu Florea (inks), Marte Gracia, Raul Treviño (colours)

The Skrulls are invading Earth and and Deadpool is on the front line killing as many as he can while applying for a job. The dialogue between the two (or was it three) voices in Deadpool’s head is pretty funny and added to the story. Especially when they were whispering to each other and the reader can’t see what they’re saying; hilarious!!

Here are the other graphic novels I checked out from the library:

Swampthing: Talk about an acid trip. This book was nuts. Lex Luthor is actually screwing his employees!! Can you believe it? All the free love, plant sex…. ick… just too much, so I only read it twice.
Walking Dead Vol 11: An excellent read. Really good story with death and sickening concepts. Robert Kirkman really knows how to tap into the forbidden horror. I can’t wait to read more.
Superman Last Son: When ever you have Zod you know it’s going to be entertaining. What made it really cool is seeing Mon-El. The whole 3D glasses thing isn’t really worth it though.
Grendel: Archives was some horrible writing and art, but it was good learning the history of Hunter Rose. Devil Quest had an overdose of some of the ultra (and teeth grinding) violence. Love to see Grendel Prime in action, but you gotta ask, at what point does someone like Wagner rely on shock value to carry a story instead of a good story to carry a story? I’m still interested in reading more Grendel though
Star Wars: Who can’t get enough Stormtroopers, Imperial Knights, viscous, backstabbing Sith and scantily clad female Jedi? Me! That’s who. God I love reading Star Wars. I can’t help it. When the hell are they going to make some more Star Wars offshoot movies? .. .without Lucas!
And, finally, Shakespeare’s Macbeth Manga. I just had to see what this was about. I finally learned the story of Macbeth in less than 20 minutes.

Be sure to check with your local library to see what they have to check out. It’ll expose you to some great story lines that you would have otherwise missed out on. If they are lacking, be sure to let them know how they can get more on hand. If they go through Diamond they’ll have to commit to buying $500 a month, but they might be able to work something out with Diamond. Or, you can lead them to a discounter like CheapGraphicNovels.com, DeepDiscount.com, or DCBS.com. Be sure to let them know what your top graphic novels are as well.

- Ronando

Tags: Deadpool, Grendel, Justice League, Justice League of America, Library Graphic Novels, Star Wars, Swampthing, Walking Dead
Posted in Book Review, Library Reads | No Comments »

Indie Spotlight – Titanium Rain

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Titanium Rain Book Review

While in Chicago, at the C2E2 Comic Con, I had the fortune of stumbling across Indie publisher Archaia Comics. They are the publishers of top sellers such as The Devil’s Panties, Okko Vol. 1: The Cycle of Water, Robotika, Mouse Guard (read our Mouse Guard Review), and Secret History Volume 1. One of several books I grabbed while there was Titanium Rain. It did not disappoint.

Writer, Josh Finney, does an amazing job of simultaneously weaving an entire history of the China/Sino conflict around a single, short lived aerial dog fight between U.S. Phoenix Squadron’s pilot, Lieutenant Alec Killian and opposing Chinese, Jade Revolutionist forces. Finney also splices into the story that which makes the members of Phoenix Squadron unique; their cybernetic enhancements which are part of the Prometheus Initiative.

The pilots have electromechanical/chemical alterations, including prosthetic eyes, internal wireless Man-Machine interface, cardiac and bronchial upgrades and enhanced reflexes. Accompanying the enhancements are the moral and practical questions that would inevitably arise regarding not only war but the thought of messing with “god’s design” via man-made alterations.

But, I’m really not doing the book justice here since it is successful on so many levels. Other than just saying, “Look, just read the damn book and you’ll see!” I’ll try to break it down as to why writer (and artist) Josh Finney and artist Kat Rocha did a splendid job with this book.

The art – It’s fantastic. Very exact and precise. Much akin to Alex Ross. But it’s not just the exacting nature of the art. No, Finney and Rocha manage to create unique characters complete with their own look, to the point that you can tell which person you’re looking at even while suited up with full pilot gear; visored helmet, and oxygen mask included. Unlike the cloned look we are used to seeing in comics, where the only difference is hair length and color and color of outfit, the art in Titanium Rain depicts each person looking completely different from one another; just like in real life.The expressions are perfect. Everything from how one really looks when they roll their eyes at another person’s idiotic statement or how they might look when they are giving you the finger is drawn out in exquisite detail. The precision is phenomenal. One can’t help but be impressed at the correct depiction of the military gear, clothing and faces in this book. Even the Air Force standard issue knife that Lieutenant Killian carries towards the end of the story is precise. From what I gather, the knife is an Ontario SP19 TaskForce. Finney got the rendering down exact, even the positioning of the rivets in the scabbard are correct. He wanted not just detail; he wanted to make the story authentic!
The dog/fire fight - Even though the actual fight lasted a brief amount of time, Finney, again, does a spectacular job of depicting a fire fight on the ground with a small platoon of Marines, their air support “Sky Eye,” who is the liaison between ground troops and the fighter pilots, as well as what goes on up in the air, at the same time while weaving in the history of the war and the pilots.It was done to such an extent, that I believed there was no way in hell the writer could have told this story without being ex-military. … Well he aint. Finney just did his due diligence and must have researched the hell out of everything from the workings of a sophisticated military cockpit to the gear that soldiers wear in combat, even extrapolated a plausible depiction of what the gear might look like in another 20 years.
The Prometheus Initiative- The pilots are washed out of flight school and are offered an extra chance to serve their country. Arthur Bramford, the Bill Gates of the future but instead of operating systems Bramford deals with AI and Biotech that he has brought to the military in the form of Prometheus. “It’s a combination of advanced man-machine interfaces and physical bio-modifications applied directly to the pilot. Along with a few traditional prosthetics… such as eyes and heart. The edge Prometheus offers is a symbiotic colony of nanobots that reside inside the pilot. These microscopic machines maintain an improved circulatory system, boost reflexes and install a suite of tactical wetware.”This is some cool stuff Finney has here in his story.Yeah, sure it’s been done a thousand times before. We read about Cyborg in DC comics and we’ve seen the movies Universal Soldier and even Kurt Russell’s Soldier where there are electromechanically enhanced people, and sure everyone over 35 and their dog have seen the Six Million Dollar Man, but Finney takes this redone concept, dusts it off, tweaks it, enhances it, wraps and delivers it to us in a goddamn well written story that can’t help but impress the hell out of the reader… especially a vet.
The Backdrop – Too extensive to list here. Read about it below.
Support Of The Backdrop – Ok, not only does Titanium Rain have the story about the entire Sino war and how it came to be and what the other nations are doing in response, but he also takes it a step further and creates CIA documents (which most of us never read anyway, but I did this time) of the Jade propaganda posters along with the transcript of between one of our CIA operatives (spy) and her superiors as she reports on the happenings in deep China. Quite compelling, complete with coffee stains. Also included is a post conflict interview with Arthur Bramford as well as a run down on the hardware used on both sides of the Sino conflict; armor, firearms and aircraft included. There is also a run down on the Prometheus enhancements as well as a journalist’s story titled “Embedded,” which I still have to read.

This is no mere graphic novel or compilation of two dimensional pictures of big breasted women in undies or even a story of grunts shooting commies yelling “Boo-Yah!” … well… ok, so maybe there was one “Boo-Yah!” but it was during a poker game, which is acceptable, and maybe there was a huge rack on the main/only babe as well, but it wasn’t gratuitous and the story didn’t solely ride on it as we see Marvel and DC doing, ad nauseum. No, this is one big, thick, dense, multi-layered cake that runs the spectrum of flavors.

The reader can’t help but acknowledge that the story doesn’t just “get by on the pretty pictures,” as we so often see comics and graphic novels do, but actually succeeds on so many levels of support that you just want to keep reading about the characters as well as the supporting stories. I still have to read Vol. 2 but I’d also enjoy reading more about Lieutenant Alec Killian as well as the Marines on the ground and Sky Eye, the prop plane ground/air liaison and the Chinese civil war and even the story about Agent Redfox who went deep undercover. There are many different directions Finney could take this story as well as create complimentary storylines as well. Titanium Rain Vol. 2 is currently available.

The Backdrop

‘Something is wrong! Something is terribly wrong! Shots have been fired! OH MY GOD! Oh my God! Chairman P’Eng has been shot!’

Born in the Philippines. Trained in Iran. His name was Than Myaing. Just one of the millions of Muslims worldwide furious at China for its role in the Islamic Purge that had swept across Southeast Asia. China’s supreme military leader had been killed. And Iran had put the gun in the assassin’s hand. Collectively, the world held its breath and waited. China’s reaction was expected to be swift. Brutal. Completely unforgiving. It was.

This is the backdrop to Titanium Rain, civil war in China that started with a single bullet. A .45 slug from an assassin’s gun. As the Chinese government grinds to a deadlock in deciding who will replace Chairman P’eng, civil war breaks out and one of China’s top Generals, Hsu Kao-Shen, accuses the government of being criminal and unfit to lead, as well as being “Lapdogs of foreign business interests who wish only to make China as morally repugnant as the west… such shame can only be cleansed with blood.”

Large portions of the military flock to support General Kao-Shen as he becomes the voice of the poor and unskilled rural heartland who lost their homes to Western industrialization as China became a Superpower. Eventually Kao-Shen declares himself the “First Emperor” as he leads the Jade Revolution. Then the sh!t hits the fan! India goes on full, double red alert and mobilizes their military for god-only-knows-what. The UN is pissed, calling for Kao-Shen to step down while all across China foreign nationals were being executed as part of the Jade regime’s “Seven Days of Purity” campaign; an ethnic purge to wash away, “The stink of Western and Japanese corruption.”

The U.S., with a suffering economy after years of war in the Middle East, was sick of dealing with complicated foreign policies as well as foreigners of all types. Waffling and debates run their course, regarding what the U.S.’s role is in place of the upheaval in China; until a Chinese nuclear submarine sinks several ships in Tokyo Bay, Japan. The decision was then made, the U.S. is now at war. Which brings us to Lieutenant Alec Killian and the Prometheus Initiative in Titanium Rain.

Titanium Rain; the first 8 pages plus 2 more

You can purchase Titanium Rain at the following locations:

Archaia Comics
Amazon – Titanium Rain Vol. 2
Ask for it at your local comic book store.

TITANIUM RAIN Volume One Collected Edition Hardcover
Retail Price: $19.95 U.S.
Page Count: 152 pages
Format: hardcover with dustjacket, 6.625” x 10.25”, full color

Writer: Josh Finney
Artists: Josh Finney and Kat Rocha
Cover: Josh Finney and Kat Rocha

Mature Readers (contains Graphic Violence and Adult Content)

Collects the first four chapters of the Titanium Rain series!

Be sure to keep an eye out for our Indie Spotlight every Tuesday.

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Indie Spotlight – Mouse Guard

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

While in Chicago, at the C2E2 Comic Con, I had the fortune of stumbling upon David Petersen’s booth in Artist Alley. I kept hearing such wonderful things of the little mice with swords that defended their villages from weasels and snakes and such, that I just had to grab both hard covers. They did not disappoint. The story is intriguing, engaging with fleshed out characters and a rich history as a backdrop, and the artwork is fantastic. Note that both story and art are done by David.

I read both books on the flight back to Portland and I can’t wait to get my hands on the third book, ‘Legends of the Guard’ an anthology (a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler) where, “A group of mice gathered in a tavern are given a challenge. Whomever can produce the finest story will be freed from his bar tab, while the rest will be required to pay within one week. With that, the stories start flowing and the various creators dive into their tales.” – IGN.

Mouse Guard is about mice struggling “to live safely and prosper among all of the world’s harsh conditions and predators. … they are not simply soldiers that fight off intruders; rather, they are guides for common mice looking to journey without confrontation from one hidden mouse village to another. The Guard patrol borders, finds safeways and paths through dangerous territories and treacherous terrain, watch weather patterns , and keep the mouse territories free of predators. ”

The story starts off with three Guard, dispatched to find a grain mouse “peddling grain” between cities, that never arrived at his destination. The three Guard mice are:

Kenzie; an older, “calm, levelheaded mouse who has led patrols for over twenty seasons,” he is cloaked in purple and carries a staff.
Saxon; “One of the greatest swordsmice the Guard has ever known. … his red cloak offers him little camouflage. but Saxon would rather not hide in the leaves. But instead strike his opponent down.
And Lieam; having recently joined the guard, “a young mouse… enthusiastic about his role with the Guard. His green cloak is a symbol of he himself being ‘green’ in years and experience.

The search for the lost grain mouse causes the three mice to inadvertently stumble upon a secret plot that threatens to destroy the entire Guard from within. They battle weather, intrigue, betrayal and dangerous animals that want nothing more than to stuff a fat, unwary mouse into their mouths for dinner. If you have ever had the fortune to read Watership Down, a wonderful story of rabbits looking for a new home, then I highly suggest you pick up Mouse Guard as you will fall in love with a very cool universe.

Mouse Guard; the first 11 pages

David has been so kind as to let us scan the first 11 pages of the first book, Fall, just so you can experience his wold. Note: the flaws in the pictures are due to our lame attempts at scanning a hard cover book, they are not flaws in the original artwork.

E-Mail Interview w/David Petersen

When explaining to friends about Mouse Guard, I use Watership Down as a reference point, “but with mice, and they are guards for the mouse community in a world where there are no humans.” Would you say this is a decent explanation?

That’s pretty good! I shorten it to “mice with swords” most of the time.

You are the illustrator and writer, but what would you say might be the inspiration of your ideas?

I have always loved animal stories, things like Aesop’s Fables and Wind in the Willows. I also played a lot of Roleplaying games as a kid, so Mouse Guard is a mix of high fantasy adventures and talking animals. I draw inspiration from firends, the natural world, and other artists & storytellers I admire.

Are you going to do a prequel of the Weasel War of 1149?

Yes, that is the plan. I am working on Black Axe now, after that we will do another Legends series, then I’m back to ‘regular’ Mouse Guard with that prequel.

I haven’t read Legends of the Guard yet, but I know it’s a storytelling contest that the mice have at the June Alley Inn as a backdrop; can you give us a little background on how this came about?

When some of the pinup artists turned in their work fror Fall, I thought “It would be great to offer them a Mouse Guard story to do someday.” I build the storytelling anthology framework up around them so that I could get artists to fit a Mouse Guard story into their busy schedules, while still allowing me to do some work on the series to give readers confidence that this was not a throwaway/passing-the-buck project.

When will Legends of the Guard Vol.2 come out, and is there anything different from Volume 1?

It’s looking like the end of this year or the beginning of next will see the start of Legends Volume 2. The setup will be the same, but we have a totally new crew of contributors doing stories.

As we saw in both Mouse Guard Fall and Winter, you’re not afraid of killing off non background characters. I can’t help but respect writers with the balls to do this, who force me to experience several feelings of shock, sadness and disbelief at the same time (George R. R. Martin’s “Song of Ice & Fire” series comes to mind) dare I ask… how far will you take the axing of characters?

I kill characters when their deaths have meaning. Even if a death seems senseless, it’s weight of senselessness can weigh on another character in a poignant way, So I never want to be afraid of killing them off, but only so long as I have a reason beyond “just because” or “to shock the audience”. If I carry the stories far enough ahead in time, we can assume all the main characters will die either due to Guard duties or ripe old age.

You have gotten a lot of support from the podcast community, how much do you think that helped to increase readership of your book?

There is no clear way of telling, but I know it was an effective help. With so many offerings every week and month, comic fans look to podcasters to give them that tip of what was cool, or what may be a next big thing. So, I know that podcasters putting the bug in their fans’ ears saying that Mouse Guard is something worth trying increased my sales.

What are you reading currently?

I just finished a re-read of Blacksad. I also just picked up and quickly digested Order of Tales: The City of Shells by Evan Dham. And I always keep up with Hellboy.

What do you think of the digital trend in comics?

I think that weekly comics in print are getting to be pointless. They are too expensive to produce, they are too expensive for the average consumer to try out, they need too many sales to justify the title continuing. I’m not saying print is dead, but for the serialized bits of story floppy comics offer, print is cost-ineffective. Digital is the key there. It will widen the audience. People will try new titles. Titles that couldn’t survive before can get a chance at finding an audience. Print will live on in the form of collections. We still like to own and display things. We like to prove how much of a fan we are by supporting the creator and/or publisher that made a title we like. The more of an art object collections become, the more secure their place will be in the expanding digital world.

Where the best place people can go to get the books?

Amazon,
Things From Another World,
Graphic.ly,
Your local comic book store.

You can meet David and maybe even get him to autograph your books at one of the following conventions for 2011. You can visit the official Mouse Guard site here.

Phoenix Comic Con: May 26-29
Cherry Capital Con: June 12-13
San Diego Comic Con: July 20-24
Baltimore Comic Con: Aug. 20-21
Detroit Fan Fare: Sept. 24-25
New York Comic Con: Oct. 14-16

Be sure to keep an eye out for our Indie Spotlight every Tuesday.

Tags: Mouse Guard
Posted in Book Review, Indie Spotlight | No Comments »

Should Joe Quesada be Fired For What He’s Done to Spider-Man?

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

I Just Want To Forget...

Even though I don’t remember the exact day, I remember that the month was August and the year was 2000. Why do I remember this month and year so well? Because this was the month and year that comic book artist Joe Quesada was hired as the new Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. I remember discussing with fellow geeks at my local comic book store about how excited we were about this brave new move.

Mephisto Joe Quesada

For Marvel fans everywhere, the feeling we felt might be compared to the same feeling Democrats across the country felt when Obama was elected President in 2008. This was because we felt Joe Quesada was finally bringing a ray of light during a very dark period in Marvel Comics history. See, when the 1990s hit, the comic industry started taken a dive, and in 1996 Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It wasn’t until August of 2000 when Marvel started recovering from the scare.

If that weren’t enough, the 1990’s also saw a “Clone Saga” in the Spider-Man books, a teenage Tony Stark running around as Iron Man in the Avengers books, and other controversial storylines that polarized fans and led to decreases in sales on many of Marvel’s flagship books. So, like many fans at the time, I felt that Joe Quesada’s charisma and creativity that he displayed in the books that he was drawing and editing at the time (Daredevil, Black Panther, etc.) was exactly what Marvel needed to come out of this hole that they had dug themselves in to. And, for at least a little while, Joe Quesada did actually manage to dig Marvel back up and out of that abysmal hole.

During the first six years in his tenure as E.I.C., Quesada oversaw controversial yet insanely popular storylines such as Civil War, House of M, and others. Sales were up, fans were happy, and Marvel Comics was enjoying a renaissance period after the Dark Ages of the 1990’s. That is, until the autumn of 2007 rolled around.

One More day

This was the time where Joe Quesada decided to put his own personal interests in front of the interests of the fans who butter his bread; hence the reason “One More Day” dawned on us. For those who may not know, “One More Day” was a storyline that ran through the Spider-Man books in 2007 where Peter Parker made the conscious decision to sell his marriage to Mephisto (who is the Marvel Universe’s version of the Devil) in exchange for the life of his Aunt May, who was dying at the time from injuries inflicted by a shotgun.

“After his Aunt May has been shot, Spider-Man seeks help to save her life. He encounters the demon Mephisto, who offers to save her life if Spider-Man gives him his marriage. Spider-Man and his wife Mary Jane Watson agree, and this part of their history is erased so that, effectively, they have never been married. The storyline set the stage for a restructuring of the Spider-Man titles, resulting in the cancellation of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and The Sensational Spider-Man, with Amazing Spider-Man revamped as a thrice-monthly publication.

The decision to abruptly end Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage and the events of “One More Day” were heavily criticized upon the series’ conclusion, although the artwork received praise.“ wikipedia

: Amazing Spider-Man 545

This was all done due to Joe Quesada’s eerily extreme hatred for Peter’s marriage. You can read his rant about how much he hates the marriage here at CBR.com. At that moment Quesada imposed his own personal vision of how the Spider-Man universe “should” be onto the loyal fans who’ve followed Peter and MJ over the years, without presumably thinking, for one moment, about the desires of those same fans who were the ones responsible for Marvel’s recovery as well as making Joe Quesada financially well off.

“One More Day” was the shotgun blow to the stomach. What happened next was nothing short of an evisceration as Peter continued on with his life after his agreement with Mephisto, as if his 20 years of marriage (1987-2007) to Mary Jane never even existed. But Joe didn’t stop there! No, 0n top of that, Peter had no job, no house (he lived upstairs in his Aunt May’s home, again). He had nothing! It was like all the character development that had been made with Peter in the last 20-30 years up until 2007 was now obliterated, wiped clean, as if we the reader had made the same exact agreement Mephisto MADE WITH Peter.

From then on out, the Spidey-books were back to the status quo of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This “new” era of Spider-Man continuity is dubbed “Brand New Day”, in reference to the fact that it’s a brand new continuity. To make things even more bizarre, a new love interest is introduced in Peter’s life named “Carlie Cooper”, who is also rumored to share the same name with Joe Quesada’s daughter. Think Joe Q. might be getting just a little bit too personal with Marvel’s flagship character now?

Carlie Cooper

Fast-forward three years later to the autumn of 2010. Spidey book sales are the lowest they have been in years, which you can read about here. Apparently, fans are still resentful about the fact that the marriage was “magically” erased with thirty years of character development flushed down the toilet.

Joe Quesada then makes an announcement that “Brand New Day” is ending in Amazing Spider-Man #647, which can be read here. The clouds suddenly parted and the rays of heaven had shown as many fans, including myself, took this to mean that Peter and Mary Jane were getting back together, and that Peter was getting his old life back . This horrible continuity, hatched by the evil Mephisto and his twin goblin brother, Joe Quesada, was finally coming to an end with a wooden stake in it’s heart!

I Want Your Love

… And like all horror movies the bad guys, and bad stories, JUST DON’T DIE! After reading Amazing Spider-Man #647 last week, pretty much nothing’s changed; Mary Jane is still out of the picture, Carlie Cooper is still Peter’s love interest, and Peter is still unemployed. So how is Joe Quesada able to tell us “Brand New Day” is ending, when pretty much the entire status quo of BND is still intact? How come we’re still giving Marvel our money for this mundane mediocrity? How come fans aren’t asking for Joe Quesada’s head!? Or at least his job?

I don’t know about you but for me, as a consumer of Marvel Comics, I feel like someone has pissed on my leg and then tried to tell me that my leg is wet because it’s raining. Well you know what? It ain’t raining Joe, and I want my $3.99, times a hundred, back! Peter and Mary Jane were the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of Marvel. They had the kind of strong and almost magical chemistry that few couples in the history of comic books, and even real life, have ever had.

For twenty years, Mary Jane was Peter’s rock, and I felt they complimented each other in a way that no couple in the history of comic books, not even Clark and Lois, have ever been able to do. So, for all that to be taken away in one panel and for me to spend my emotional and financial investment over the last three years, waiting for this whole mess to be retconned only to be misled by Joe Quesada is a giant kick in my face while my wallet is emptied. I’m now convinced that Brand New Day will NEVER end as long as Joe Quesada remains Chief Creative Officer.

So, how about it, fellow comic geeks? Do you feel like I do, that Peter Parker’s character has taken a step backwards since One More Day? Is Joe Quesada acting in the interest of the fans, or even in Marvel’s best interest, or is he really just interjecting his own personal agenda, his own twisted vision of Spider-Man without thinking about what the fans want? Most importantly, Should Joe Quesada be set free from his responsibilities at Marvel’s helm or maybe even step down from his post as Chief Creative Officer based on what he’s done to Spider-Man’s character? What do YOU think?

One More Day: MJ & Spidey

Written by Douglas Appich

Tags: Brand New Day, Joe Quesada, Mephisto, One More Day, Spider-Man, spiderman
Posted in Book Review, Random Musings, Superheroes, Video of the Day | 9 Comments »

Memorable Moments In Comics – Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali 1978

This 72-page oversize comic book, published in 1978 features Superman teaming up with the heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali to defeat an alien invasion of Earth. The original story was by Dennis O’Neil and was adapted, and penciled, by Neal Adams.

People in the crowd

Rumor has it that, Ali only agreed to participate in the comic if his character was allowed to discover Superman’s secret identity. The book took more than a year to finish before being published in the fall of 1978. Unfortunately, by that time, Leon Spinks had dethroned Ali as the World Heavyweight Champion. But Ali came back to win his title in September 1978.

The comic become a collectors’ item however, the story featured cameos of real-life personalities and celebrities resulting in the comic book not being able to be reprinted. Changes in intellectual property law have prohibited the use of celebrity faces in media or artwork they do not personally endorse.

The Story (minus some pages)

Clark, Lois and Jimmy Olsen are looking to get an impromptu interview with Muhammad Ali, based on a tip from one of Jimmy’s sources. The are searching through the “inner-city ghetto” of Metropolis when they finally spot Ali playing hoops with some young kids. They ask for an interview but are suddenly interrupted by an alien named Rat’Lar, who I can say simply looks like a green Ra’s Al Ghul.

Rat’Lar, the maniacal leader of a species of aliens called the Scrubb, demands that Earth’s greatest champion fight the greatest fighter of their Scrubb world. If Earth refuses, the Scrubb and their huge armada of spaceships will destroy it. As a demonstration of their power, and as punishment for laying Ali punching him in the chest, Rat’Lar has one of his ships fire 2 missiles at a random city, that Superman has to save.

Superman manages to divert the missiles into the ocean but inadvertently causes a huge tidal wave that must be dealt with. As further proof, the green Ra’s Al Ghul look-alike, has another set of missiles destroy and sink a lone island. At this point Superman realizes there is no negotiating with these terrorists.

After saving of the city and witnessing the sinking of an island, Superman and Muhammad Ali each come forward to volunteer as Earth’s champion. However, Ali argues that Superman is not really of Earth, and has an unfair advantage in his many superpowers. In typical Ali-style verbiage, he puts himself forward as the obvious choice.

Intrigued, Rat’Lar decides that Superman and Ali should fight one another to see who really is Earth’s champion. To make the fight fair, he decrees that the match should take place on his home planet, Bodace, which is orbited by a red sun (which temporarily robs Superman of his powers).

The winner would simply be the best boxer. The two would-be champions decide that since Superman will be without his powers, in the presence of a red sun Ali will have to train Superman how to fight without his powers, as well as the finer points of boxing.

They journey to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to have his powers temporarily deactivated.

To make the most of the battle, the match will be broadcast on intergalactic television to thousands of other worlds (with Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen acting as broadcaster).

When the match between Ali and Superman begins, it soon becomes apparent that Ali is the superior fighter, since their strength is now pretty much on par with each other. Superman takes a serious beating, but somehow refuses to drop; he stays on his feet all through the pummeling that Ali delivers. Finally, Ali stops the fight, urging the referee to call for a technical knockout. Superman then falls face-first on the canvas, making the knockout a legitimate knockout.

Ali is then decided as Earth’s representative and is then set to face the Scrubb’s champion, the behemoth known as Hun’Ya. The alien leader then asks Ali to predict at what round the fight will end. After some chiding, Ali predicts that he’ll knock the alien out in the eighth round. Once the match begins, however, Ali quickly starts to suffer from fighting the super-powered Hun’Ya.

Meanwhile, Superman’s great recuperative powers have enabled him to make a speedy recovery. Disguising himself as Ali cornerman Bundini Brown, he steals into the Scrubb command ship and sabotages their space armada. In his brave showdown with the armada, however, Superman is again badly hurt, and is left drifting in space.

Miraculously, Ali gets a second wind. In the predicted eighth round, he not only knocks the alien champion out, but out of the ring as well. Yet after witnessing Superman’s decimation of his invading forces, the Scrubb leader cries foul and decides to invade the now helpless Earth anyway. Just as Rat’Lar is about to give the go-ahead to his backup forces, his own champion Hun’Ya becomes enraged at Rat’Lar’s dishonorable tactics and deposes him. There will be no invasion. Earth is saved.

Superman is rescued and once again revived. Hun-ya, the new Scrubb leader, makes peace with Ali, Superman, and all of Earth. The very end of the book shows Ali and Superman in a private moment. Ali reveals that he discovered Superman’s secret identity as Clark Kent, but implicitly vows to keep it secret. The book ends with the two champions embracing and Ali proclaiming, “Superman, WE are the greatest!”

superman-vs-muhammad-ali-99d Superman vs. Muhammad Ali’s wraparound cover shows a host of late 1970s celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Tony Orlando, Johnny Carson, Ron Palillo, the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, and The Jackson 5; sharing close-up seating with Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, and other DC superheroes; as well as Warner and DC employees.

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali’s wraparound cover shows a host of late 1970s celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Tony Orlando, Johnny Carson, Ron Palillo, the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, and The Jackson 5; sharing close-up seating with Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, and other DC superheroes; as well as Warner and DC employees.

Joe Kubert was originally asked to draw the cover, and his version (a black-and-white sketch of which still survives) didn’t feature any celebrities, but just a “normal” raucous crowd of boxing fans. DC didn’t approve of Kubert’s likeness of Ali, however, nor the overall grim feeling of the piece, and asked Adams to draw the book instead. Adams’ original cover illustration (modeled very closely on Kubert’s layout), included Mick Jagger in the front cover’s lower left corner; he was replaced in the final version by fight promoter Don King.

In 2000, Adams did a riff on this cover — featuring Ali fighting basketball star Michael Jordan — for a special issue of ESPN The Magazine.

===
People in the crowd (selected)

“Show-biz personalities”

* The Beatles (with Yoko and Linda)
* Kirk Alyn
* Lucille Ball
* Sonny Bono
* Johnny Carson
* Cher
* Ron Howard
* Jack Larson
* Noel Neill
* Tony Orlando
* Donny Osmond
* Marie Osmond
* Christopher Reeve (in glasses)
* Wayne Rogers
* Frank Sinatra
* Raquel Welch
* Wolfman Jack
* The Jackson 5
* Jerry Garcia
* Phyllis Diller
* Dick Clark

Political figures

* Jimmy Carter
* Rosalynn Carter
* Betty Ford
* Gerald Ford

Sports figures

* Pelé
* Don King
* Joe Namath

Literature and the arts

* Kurt Vonnegut
* David Keim

DC staffers and other comic book creators

* Neal Adams
* Terry Austin
* Cary Bates
* William Gaines
* Jenette Kahn
* Gil Kane
* Dennis O’Neil
* Joe Orlando
* Julius Schwartz
* Joe Shuster
* Jerry Siegel
* Bob Wiacek

DC (and Mad magazine) characters

* Barry Allen (Flash)
* Batman
* Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)
* Lois Lane
* Lex Luthor
* Alfred E. Neuman
* Jimmy Olsen
* Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)
* Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)
* Ray Palmer (Atom)
===
This book too so long to produce that by the time it came out, Ali was no longer the champ, instead it was Leon Spinks! Marvel took a swipe at DC via Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #186,
====
Interview with Neal Adams

http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/spali.html

content borrowed from wikipedia.

Tags: Dennis O'Neil, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali Vs Superman, Neal Adams, superman
Posted in Book Review, Comic Books, Memorable Superhero Moments | No Comments »

Memorable Moments In Comics – Infinity Gauntlet; The Silver Surfer Misses. DOH!

Monday, September 20th, 2010

The Infinity Gauntlet - Surfer Misses!

The Infinity Gauntlet was a six-issue, limited series, comic book that was published from July to December in 1991.

Thanos mounts the six Infinity Gems, (collected in the The Thanos Quest limited series), on his left glove to form the dreaded Infinity Gauntlet. Each Gem grants its bearer complete mastery over one aspect of the universe: Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Reality, and Power. Now all-powerful and desperate to win the affections of Death, Thanos decides to offer the entity a gift of love by completing a task she had given him, erasing half the sentient life in the universe, quite literally with a snap of his fingers.

The surviving heroes on Earth band together — guided by the newly-resurrected Adam Warlock — to battle Thanos. In a bid to impress Death, Thanos allows the heroes a slight chance of winning, but easily defeats and kills almost all of them.

It’s issue #4, of the 6 part limited series, and the heroes are currently out in space on Death’s floating alter. Thanos is wearing the gauntlet, haughtily challenging the heroes with his insipid smirk. The opening sequence is of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, Firelord, Namor and Iron Man all flying towards Thanos, ready to rip his head off.

With a snap of his fingers, Thanos “Freezes Earth’s defenders in time, Mjolnir, Iron Man’s and Firelord’s blasts mere inches from Thanos’ grinning face. It’s at this time that Mephisto whispers some of his wonderfully, deceitful words into Thanos’ ear.

Mephisto points out that “All female hearts, even one as cold as Death’s, are warmed by the sight of raw courage. Courage such as is exhibited in Battle. But such bravery only exists when one faces the prospect of defeat. Meeting that standard would require balancing the terms of battle so these fools stood a chance of victory. … Something not beyond your ability to arrange.” Such subtle, whispered words of deceit! As if plucked from one of Shakespeare’s plays itself.

Thanos agrees, cutting himself off from all of the Glove’s “sensory input from Time, Space, Reality, Thought and the Soul.” He monologues for a moment, “I would rein LIMITLESS POWER, yet not know my enemies’ next move.” This change gives the heroes a, “.05% chance for victory.”

And with another snap of his fingers, the battle begins. Namor, Mjolnir and Iron Man and Firelord were the first to attack. Released from being frozen in time, their bolts wreck destruction upon a portion of Death’s very alter. It is then that Drax the Destroyer and the Incredible Hulk jump Thanos from behind and proceed to pound him in a true street fight fashion.

Or so it would seem. Drax is blasted away while Hulk is the first to be dispatched, shrunken in size and immediately forgotten. Vision hits him from behind with a power blast while Namor and She-Hulk start pounding away.

The Silver Surfer and Adam Warlok watch from a far distance, the Surfer itching to get into the fight while Adam holds him at bay, stating, “.. you have a major role to play in this little game… All in due time Surfer,” knowing that if the Surfer knew what Adam’s plan was, Thanos might detect and counter it. So the Surfer fumes and waits for his moment.

Namor and She-Hulk are next to succumb, having been turned into something akin to foot fungus on steroids. Thor delivers a terrific blow with Mjolnir, knocking Thanos down, only to have Doom get in the way greedily trying to make a grab for the Infinity Gauntlet, interfering with Thor’s follow up blow. Doom is back handed in a fiery heap, still alive and still coveting the gauntlet.

Thor tries again with his Mjolnir, only to have Thanos dismisses the magical hammer to some unknown location through a conjured teleportation portal. Thor realizes, that without his hammer, he only has 60 seconds before he turns into Eric Masterson, so he resorts to a fist fight with the titan and begins to t0 brawl with Thanos unlike anything ever seen. “So Savage is the Thunder God’s attack that even mighty Thanos is momentarily taken aback!”

But Thor, the “highest card” in the game, is grabbed by his cape by Thanos and is flung off of Death’s monument, within seconds he will change into Masterson and lose all of Thor’s powers. Firelord attacks yet again, but he’s backhanded by Thanos into a stone wall with such force to render him unconscious.

It’s now Wolverine’s turn. He springs into action and delivers what would normally be a perfect killing blow with all 6 Adamantium claws, piercing Thanos’ chest. But, Thanos retaliates, “Adamantium bone transforms into spongy rubber, and the most vicious of Earth’s defenders flops to the ground, helpless.”

Surfer and Adam Warlok continue to watch on. Next in attack sequence is Cyclops and the Scarlet Witch, hitting Thanos from opposite sides. “Thanos turns his attentions first to lovely Wanda. Her mutant Hex Power easily fall before his will. I avert my eyes. I’ve no wish to remember such horror.”

… the Scarlet Witch is vaporized before Thanos turns to target Cyclops, but Iron Man blind-sides Thanos, momentarily distracting him.

In steps Terraxia who tackles Iron Man, removing him from Thanos’ vicinity. The heroes don’t have much time now. Cyclops opens fire with his optic blasts again, though he should have never let up in the first place, but with a mere thought Thanos seals his doom. “A clear block of force envelops the mutant’s head… cutting off his force beam in mid stream… and cutting off oxygen to the warrior.

Cap runs to Cyclops’ aid while Vision tries another rear assault, but Thanos is ready for him this time and simply reaches into Vision’s chest, ripping out his wiry guts. Vision is dead. Meanwhile, Thor, having lost his hammer, is now transformed into Eric Masterson and is unable to breath, “For the mystic spell Dr. Strange cast so the Thunder God could breath in the depth of dark space… apparently does not extend to this mortal Eric Masterson!” He realizes that he will die soon unless a miracle happens.

Cap, now standing over Cyclops’ dead body, yells at Thanos, distracting him. Giving enough time for Cloak to envelop Thanos with his his mystical cloak. … To no avail. Thanos blows Cloak into oblivion, atomizing him and again starts monologing. Firelord, yet a third time, attacks Thanos but with a more grittier, brutal approach by attempting to apply a rear choke on Thanos with his fiery staff while Drax blasts him in front with energy bolts. Thanos just laughs, teleporting both of them to Earth’s prehistoric past.

Terraxia appears… with Iron Man’s helmet, complete with Tony Stark’s decapitated head. While they gloat, Spidey, in his infinite charm, does the superhero equivalent of a hot foot and webs Thanos’ eyes, distracting him for just enough time to let Thor resume his pummeling, now that Masterson is changed back into Thor with refound Mjolnir in hand.

But Terraxia, after killing Iron Man, jumps Spidey and proceeds to bash his head in with a rock, he is ultimately killed. Just as Thor is about to land a killing blow, Thanos turns him into glass and then turns the attacking Nova into little cubes, crushing and shattering both heroes. They are dead.

Earth's Heroes, All Dead

Quasar, like an idiot, is too busy talking when he should be blasting, and “challenges” Thanos, “Turn and Face me Thanos.” Some “heroes” simply don’t know when it’s time to fight dirty. Thanos turns and simply explodes the Quantum Bands that Quasar is wearing, severing Quasar’s wrists before being vaporized by Thanos’ eye beams. They’re all dead. Only Cap is left standing.

Adam Warlock prepares the Silver Surfer. Norrin Radd is anxious to get into the battle, having seen his friends killed. Cap, ever the true hero, only a mortal man with no god-like powers, confidently strides towards Thanos…

Cap's Last Walk

They exchanges a few words. Thanos takes a swing at Cap. Cap ducks Thanos’ right cross (Thanos, the most powerful being in the omniverse, with the ability to destroy entire galaxies, in classic comic book fashion, resorts to a traditional bar fight inspired right cross). Cap is then shocked to see that the ground under his feet has come to life , grasping his ankles. He’s fixed in place, going nowhere, primed and for the beating he knows is coming his way.

With a back handed swipe, Cap’s Vibranium shield is destroyed and prepares to follow with a left punch to the face. Cap isn’t scared. He doesn’t even blink. Thanos raises his guantleted fist … Adam Warlock unleashes the Silver Surfer, “NOW!” he yells, with fixed gaze on Thanos’ left raised hand … the one with the Infinity Gauntlet. Surfer bolts like a bat out of hell, possibly the fastest he’s ever flown.

Surfer Unleashed

Thano’s fist descends, as if in slow motion, towards Steve Rogers’ face. Cap doesn’t flinch.

Surfer reaches out to grasp the gauntlet and save humanity. … and friggin’ misses! He “misses his mark and Thanos reatains his Godhood. The echoes of failed plans and good intentions wasted in futile acts. Nothing remains of hope. Nothing remains but sweet oblivion and an end to this nightmare.”

With an unguided back hand, delivered almost as casually as an afterthought, Thanos kills Captain America and comes to his senses. He suddenly realizes he’s almost lost his godhood and prepares for the real battle to come.

The Infinity Gauntlet was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by George Pérez and Ron Lim.

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