For British Eyes Only

Many people don’t pay attention to a series after the first issue. The marketing departments of big companies hype the launching of the first book, but never really follow up. What I mean is that each issue deserves attention, and while a series looses its popularity as it goes on, comic readers should follow the entirety of a series, not just the first issue.

So how is Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI-13 doing since it’s first issue?

This is the British book and practical in terms of the Marvel Universe. We needed this book to address what the British super heroes are doing during the Skrull invasion. The Marvel universe is a universe of implications, where one thing from one comic can affect the course of another. The excuse for this series is to explore Bendis’ Secret Invasion implications, but also slightly addresses issues presented in Cornell’s Wisdom, the newer Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos miniseries and in my mind, the end of Marc Guggenheim’s Blade run. Read the rest of this entry »

They Decide 2008

The purpose behind this series is to ride the 2008 Election bandwagon and identify the political affiliation of every major DC character.

I know, right?

The series is being written by the best DC has to offer - Bill Willingham of Fables (the Right) and Judd Winnick of Green Arrow/Black Canary (the Left). I love these writers (sans Winnick’s butchery of Captain Marvel), and the story will no doubt be fantastic, but the idea behind this series is just dumb.

Let’s go back to Marvel’s Civil War. This was an overly political fare asking “Whose side are you on?” But this was alright because the characters where dealing with the hypothetical political debate over superhuman registration. While Iron Man clearly was Bush and Captain America a liberal, the issues dealt with were imaginary and real world political allegiances were not directly revealed. Dare I say Marvel handled this more artistically than DC will? Read the rest of this entry »

courtesy DC

The Literati of the internet and comic fandom have spoken - Final Crisis is too confusing! They don’t know what is going on, or what writer Grant Morrison is trying to prove with dozens of storylines that have yet to converge. People are angry and vocal about how “bad” this crossover is, and I can see the logical assertions they are making.

To wait seven months to read one story is problematic, and the random characters to follow, some of them brand new, is annoying. Grant Morrison doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel. But at the same time, comic fans are complaining just to complain.

Yes, the story doesn’t make a lot of sense, but with this recent third issue, some of the random elements are beginning to merge and make sense. The payoff for waiting to see this book come together in the end will be far greater than demanding a traditional, linear and boring story’s momentary payoff. On its own, Final Crisis may seem like a mess, but most comic fans read a lot of comics a week - so if Final Crisis is nontraditional, chances are they are reading ten to fifteen titles that are traditional.

Trust Grant Morrison - you’ll save yourself a lot of time angrily blogging if you do. Ahem…

I Am A Thousand Of Them

I’ve always been a fan of the Magic: The Gathering worlds - even when I stopped playing the game I continued to read the novels based on each expansion. The Magic worlds are influenced by mythology and modern concepts, and the stories that take place in them are always good reads.

Magic.com has posted the first of three webcomics focusing on the planeswalker Garruk Wildspeaker. Written by Flavor Text Editor and recent Eventide development head Doug Beyer, this is a great short story that helps to expand the Magic mythology.