Get Me My Toga
Jay and Silent Bob’s Kevin Smith is a passionate film-maker, and from seeing movies like Chasing Amy and Mallrats, it is apparent that Smith is also a passionate comic enthusiast. Smith has even written comics, and not just View Askew related. Smith headed the relaunch of Marvel’s Daredevil and DC’s Green Arrow a few years back, giving a fresh take and new look to series that would have died, and still influence writers of the current series today.
courtesy DC
At San Diego Comic Con Smith announced his three issue Batman miniseries, Batman: Cacophony, illustrated by View Askew cult favorite Walt Flanagan (see Walt Flanagan’s dog). And unlike some of Smith’s comic projects in the past, where publishing schedules were delayed by late scripts, this short mini was almost completely written before it was released, assuaging the fears of all us nerds in the crowd.
So now that the first issue has hit stands, does it live up to the hype? Smith does a good job subverting our expectations - Batman’s role, while prominent, is downplayed. The focus of this issue is on Joker, Maxie Zeus (see Batman: the Animated Series) and the Smith created villain of Green Arrow fame, Onomatopoeia, who says the sounds the environment make instead of speaking. This comic was a darker version of Batman, which included several (crying) children held hostage at knife point, the Joker depantsing in eager anticipation of sex and a pair of bloodied corpses (the parents of said crying children).
The comic was well written, set up a compelling plot, yada yada yada. I hate that this good writing had to be shrouded in juvenile “dark” and “mature” gimmicks like death and trauma that were without purpose or reason. There is a legitimate point going to be made with the violence against children and parents, paralleled against Batman’s past, especially knowing Onomatopoeia tries to kill the kids of super heroes.. probably… I hope. For that, I can excuse Smith’s choice of the graphic, for now at least, but knowing there’s these so far unnecessary “realistic” elements present, you can decide for yourself if you want to read this book.
Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
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Matt Knicl
My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.