Interesting Tidbits
Language in Comics? - A reader on the Geoff Johns board talks about dropping the Green Lantern Corps mini series. Not because he isn’t enjoying the story or art, but because one of the characters said “God Damned,” which goes against his personal beliefs.
It actually made me pause and think for a few minutes on how I thought about it. For him personally this was a line crossed, and I can appreciate that, as it is good to have a standard that you’ll stick with.
I’m usually not much for extreme language either, and times certainly has changed to the point where something like this didn’t even come to my mind when reading it in the comic.
Yet I think for me, it depends on whether what is said or done is true to the character. In this case it was Green Lantern Guy Garnder, one of the most politically incorrect and obnoxious characters created in the past few decades.
So him saying something like that, is completely different than say Superman saying the same. Just as while Wolverine can kill someone in a comic, if Spider-Man did the same it would be very inappropriate.
Elsewhere, Johanna Draper Carlson discusses the plusses and minuses of publishers and creators sending PDF preview copies of their work to retailers and reviewers.
She seems to cover all of the bases quite well. I personally have a hard time getting into comics on the computer screen, though as time goes on and I read more that way that is changing. Yet know how much easier and cost effective it has to be for it to be done this way.
Plus for reviews and retailers who already have a big stack of stuff to keep up with, a PDF is far easier to keep up with than a comic would be.
Recent Comics Capsules
Infinite Crisis #3 – I really want to like this series, as I really like DC’s stable of characters. With this being the foundation of years worth of future stories, I want that foundation to be strong enough to make what comes after fun.
Yet it just isn’t working out, as I feel like this mini has been a collection of scenes from other stories I’m no following. I don’t feel like I’m getting a story out of this unless I go out and follow all of these other books as well.
Green Lantern #6 - Don’t let the cover or blurb on the DC
website fool you, this issue’s art isn’t by Ethan Van Sciver, but by someone named Simone Bianchi.
This issue has some of the worst artistic storytelling I’ve seen in a comic in a long time. It seemed like someone did paintings on a bunch of vans and then tried to say they were a story.
The panels and pages could have been put in any order and made as much logistical sense as they were here.
Which is a shame, as I thought a story with outer-space gremlins could be a blast, and a fun nod to a more innocent time.
X-Factor #1 – As a fan of the Peter David written Madrox miniseries from last year I had high hopes for this series starring the same cast, just expanded.
Those hopes were met and then some, as while the issue mainly focuses on Jamie (the lead of the Madrox mini) the brief glimpses at the other members has me intrigued as well.
Most importantly is that unlike many other new team books, this first storyline isn’t about getting the team together. The team’s already there, though they are possibly expanding, which is a refreshing change.
Legion of Super-Heroes #12 – It’s a shame
that Mark Waid isn’t more involved in the Identity Crisis miniseries.
He’s doing exactly what that series should be doing here, by juggling a huge cast that are each on their own missions. Giving them all equal time and importance, while leading to something bigger and more dangerous on the horizon.
He even has the knack of bringing in past favorite characters and story elements, only from new directions. Like the introduction of one of my favorite past Legionnaires Shrinking Violet, known as Atom Girl here.
Though it may take me a bit of time to get used to her being a kick butt, take no prisoners hard-ass. Rather than the quiet, reserved young woman with a hidden strength that even she doesn’t realize at times.
Yet that’s something that makes this series a favorite of mine, familiar elements of the past done in new exciting ways.
Nana Vol. 1
Ai Yazawa’s Nana follows two very different young women who seem to have little in common at first except that they share the first name of Nana. Yet as their stories progress we see they share similar paths, though the way they reach it is from different perspectives.
Nana Komatsu is a young woman who continuously finds herself in adult romantic tangles that she isn’t ready for. While her body might be that of an adult, her emotional sense is still very childlike. She only sees men as potential love interests, which to her mind means sex.
When an older married man she had been sleeping with tells her he’s moving to Tokyo so their relationship is over, it devastates her.
She turns to her friend Junko, a strong, confident art student, for help. Yet Junko has a secret of her own, she’s enrolling in an art school in Tokyo that will mean leaving Nana alone as well.
Nana Komatsu’s story is one many have to go through, as friends leave to pursue their dreams. Nana at first wants to cling to them, and follow their paths that aren’t for her, at least as she is now.
She must eventually learn to stand on her two feet, and find a strength and direction of her own, not lean and depend on others.
Nana Osaki’s is a completely different character though. While Komatsu leans on others and is unsure of what she wants. Osaki is strong and knows exactly what she wants, to be a rock star.
Yet she too must learn the hard lesson of losing those close to her, as they seek paths of their own. Her love Ren is the lead guitar of the band she’s in, but has been offered the opportunity of a lifetime to join another band that has just signed a major record deal.
Osaki’s path is different though, as she can easily go with Ren to Tokyo, marry and have his kids. Yet it would mean giving up her dream of being a singer herself.
Despite how much she and Ren love each other, that path just isn’t for her. She can’t give up her dreams, even for love, because that would be a betrayal of who she is at heart.
The theme of love not being enough was very emotionally moving, because it was handled so well. There is no right or wrong here, there is just the circumstance that they find themselves in.
It is an impressive first volume, future volumes will have the two Nanas meeting each other, and I’m curious to see how they react given how different they are. Yet with their similar paths they should find some common ground.
Green Lantern Corps Recharge #3
Despite having one of the ugliest covers in some time, the contents inside are often quite fun.
Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are going against protocols by entering a restricted area of space to rescue a captured colleague.
I was a bit worried when I heard the GL Corps was returning that the GLs would lose their individual personalities. Often military stories focus on the big picture, ignoring the small, and making everony a generic character.
Yet at least in this mini that has not been the case, as Guy is still the irrelevant loud mouth, whose bark is worse than his bite. While Kyle still questions his role, and is willing to work outside of the box if pressed to while trying to do what is right.
Unfortunately, while the human characters are still interesting. The alien characters still lack that level of connection for me. Two alien GLs from warring races are just too generic so far to make their bickering matter. They come off more as the odd couple rather than two bitter enemies out for one another’s blood as their story should be.
The female alien, Natu, who comes from the same race as GL’s arch foe Sinestro and whose entire race has a burning hatred for anything Green Lantern related after what Sinestro did to them during his time as one. She has the most potential, as she sees her first duty to be as a doctor, not a part of the hated GL Corps.
This should be been fodder for many stories, yet in just two issues that conflict seems resolved because she gets captured and then gets an empowering speech from Kyle. That just seems like too quick a resolution, especially considering that if the ring hadn’t
picked her she would never have been captured in the first place.
Art wise, artist Patrick Gleason’s work is very uneven. At times his figure work and scene layouts are quite intuitive. While at other times it seems like everything is mashed together, making heads look squashed. I’m not sure if this is the artist’s frailty, the fault of having two different inkers, or perhaps a production problem that for some reason doesn’t resize the art correctly.
Whatever it is, it can be quite jarring to see, especially in regards to other scenes where the problem isn’t evident at all.
Still Kyle and Guy’s “buddy movie” style interaction make the book work. The two characters play off each other well, with Kyle being a calming influence for Guy, that doesn’t come off as preachy since Kyle isn’t as stodgy as others. While Guy brings out Kyle’s independent nature, as he is someone Kyle can relate to but not be in awe of as some of the other legendary GLs are.
