Marvel to Revisit Their, "Civil War," Event and Seems Low on Ideas in General

I remember when the Marvel event, "Civil War," was a big deal and selling lots of copies back when it kicked off in 2006. Focused on Superhumans being required to register their identity with the government and how that leads to a rift between Tony Stark (in favor of it) and Captain America (opposed), it was somewhat adapted in a popular Marvel flick years later. When it was coming out years ago, it was a hit. Then it got delayed and took forever to finish, with a ton of fill-in one-shots and mini-series. The event had a lot of stuff that tied in and basically got to the point where there were comics saying, "Hey, what is this D-list hero doing about the Superhman Registration Act?" Well, apparently not all the stories were told because in honor of the 20th anniversary of the series (in real-time, not the floating continuity of the comics) we're getting, "Civil War: Unmasked,"  a five-issue series by Christos Gage, Edgar Salazar, and original Civil War colorist Morry Hollowell. Wait, we didn't even get Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (the original writer and artist) for this cash-grab?

Yes, "The comic will offer a different story in each issue, respectively revealing more of what Tony Stark/Iron Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Bill Foster/Goliath, Greer Nelson/Tigra, and Steve Rogers/Captain America did during the 2006 event." Oh, and this is somehow going to tie in the X-Men event, "Days of Future Past," for...reasons. I'm all for revisiting a fun event, but back when, "Civl War," happened, it just took forever and (I thought) covered everything there was to discuss. The, "Civil War II," event, some years later, was a hot mess as well, so I guess going back to a successful event (and working in an even older one) is the best idea Marvel has right now?

Sorry if that's coming across as overly sarcastic, but outside of the Ultimate Universe (which is ending), Marvel's comics have been struggling to get much hype/attention/etc. I love the current, "Moon Knight," comics (despite constant relaunches), but that's more of a cult character, and I struggle to think of any Marvel books getting the kind of buzz DC has been receiving--especially with their Absolute books. Even Marvel's movies were an unstoppable box office juggernaut, and now lots of people seem cautious about, "Avengers: Doomsday," no matter how many characters/actors are being promoted as coming back for more. Marvel just seems low on ideas, overall, and is throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. We're giving the Scarlet Witch a turn as Sorcerer Supreme, and Norman Osborn is Spider-Man. The house of ideas indeed.

Netflix to Tentatively Buy Warner Brothers Discovery and Therefore DC Comics as Well

Warner Bros. Discovery has been wanting to sell much of itself for a bit now. Skydance/Paramount had expressed a lot of interest and had been repeatedly rebuffed. Others were rumored to be wanting a piece as well. However, it has been declared that WBD wants to sell to Netflix. Yes, "Overnight, Netflix announced it had entered a, 'definitive agreement,' to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television studios, including Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, for $83 billion," with it also mentioned that if the deal falls through, Netflix will still throw five billion Warner Bros. way for their trouble. Another report says 76 billion is the total amount we're dealing with, so the exact number seems to be in flux, but it is a lot of zeroes. Regardless of the full amount, imagine being such a big company that you're cool with tossing away five billion if a deal doesn't work out. I mean, if my chips don't fall out of the vending machine that I put two dollars in, you know I'm not going to just walk away empty-handed for two single bills, never mind five billion.

For those of you into DC comics and their films, this does mean Netflix would now own that film division as well as being in charge of the comic-books, leading multiple sites to ask what happens to DC's movies and especially the comics if this sale goes through? We, obviously, can't know for sure, but based on how the latest DC projects are performing it would seem James Gunn and Peter Safran might be left to their own devices with DC's films/shows. Others and I would wager the comic-books will remain a comparatively inexpensive afterthought out of everything else in the Warner Brothers Discovery catalog that are treated as a source for ideas, but hopefully left mostly alone. I mean, Netflix is after the film/television content and probably shrugged with vague amusement at how a comic-book company comes along with all that, too. Don't get me wrong, ya'll know I love comics, but I also am aware that they are far from the focus of this 83 billion dollar deal.

One comic-book creator who stands to benefit from this deal immensely could be Mark Millar. He has worked closely with Netflix for years and now could very well find himself in a position of power with DC's flicks, shows, and comics. What that would mean for DC, only time could tell. For now, there is a lot of regulatory paperwork to get done, so who knows when this deal will truly be done or if it will get held up by those who (rightfully) see this as the formation of more monopolies/oligopolies. Again, we'll see what the next chunk of months (possibly years) holds. One thing is for sure, however. Theater owners are pissed based upon how Netflix has treated them in the past. That will only get uglier as this possible sale continues. The new Hollywood is buying out the old Hollywood; how could it be anything but messy?

Flashback Friday: "Superman: The City of Tomorrow Volume 1," AKA I Suppose Superman Can Be Entertaining After All!

I made a Facebook post once where I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was along the lines of: Superman as a character generally bores me and I usually only like stories with him that are out-of-continuity and have a great writer ("All-Star Superman," by Grant Morrison) or involve him acting out-of-character ("Red Son," and, "Injustice," come to mind). My statement was how the DC comic Universe Superman generally just doesn't have yarns that interest me. One of my friends, Brian Lan (who also does great work with the Hero Initiative) saw this and didn't so much take offense as he wanted to school me on how, "Superman," can actually give us some good stories. He recommended a number of books to me and I made a request to my library so I could try them out.

One of the books Brian told me to try out was the collection, "Superman: The City of Tomorrow, Volume 1." It featured a number of Superman stories from the early 2000s that he told me didn't require too much knowledge of Supes to follow along with. Having read the collection, I will admit I was entertained. If one goes into stories keeping one big thing in mind, they can work well. the main thing to remember is that Superman is inextricably good and wants to help. If you hold onto that as a focal point you can enjoy many tales of Superman (or sometimes his civilian identity, Clark Kent). 

The concept with Superman is he faces an obstacle and finds a way to overcome it.  The obstacles can be big or small, but Superman's good heart and caring nature help him find a way. He has no ulterior motive, he just wants to help, and there is a kindness and purity to that which I mistook for boring at points but can see isn't boring so much as a starting point. It is a launchpad for stories about how someone who wants to be the best they can be towards others deals with a World where essentially nobody else thinks that way. Superman isn't cynical. Superman isn't spiteful. He's Superman, and the fellow has everyone's best interest at heart, against all odds.

Superman might try to help a man keep his house from being demolished by greedy building developers or he could end up having an epic fight in space with an interplanetary tyrant. He'll always try his and best and attempt to see the best in others. Garth Ennis, of all people (the man generally seems to hate superheroes and writes them as terrible people) wrote one of the best summaries of how Superman views, "Us," as Earth years ago in a comic that wasn't even about Superman--it was focused on a creation of Ennis named Hitman in a different comic than what I read but it bears sharing. Observe...

So yes, when you get some skilled writers (Joe Kelly plus Jeph Loeb and Mark Millar before those two went downhill in storytelling) and great artists (Doug Mahnke and Ed McGuinness to name a couple) you can create some solid Superman tales if you go into the tales knowing what to expect. I suppose my friend Brian had a good point and I thank him for turning me onto some solid Superman tales. I plan to pick up a book chronicling the recent, "Warworld," stuff as he told me that was excellent as well. I look forward to reading that too now!

"Michael Mouse," is a Twisted Parody With the Madness Cranked Up to Delightful Levels

Mitch Lohmeier started doing a, "Michael Mouse," strip on Instagram in November of 2020. It was a short silly parody of another famous rodent and his friends, but Mitch realized it should keep going, as he says in the forward (where he also asks us not to tell Walt AKA Walt Disney and has a huge disclaimer about how this is a legally protected work of parody). Hence, we get an epic crime story as Donald...ahem, David Duck, is drawn back into a life of crime due to Michael. What follows is an extremely violent and drug-filled yarn that could stand well on its own if it didn't have the parody elements, but they make it oh-so-more tasty. There is a wonderful absurdity to a cocaine deal going down at the, "Magic Kingdom," which happens to be a strip club filled with dancers who resemble famous Disney princesses, after all.

The art is what locks this down. Lohmeier's style looks enough like a classic Disney cartoon for this work that you could almost picture this being a fever dream of a Disney animator, but a layer of grime and darkness seeps into the comic in a manner that creates a beautiful dichotomy between cute animals and the awful things they're doing. Goofy would never beat a convenience store owner to death in a drug-fueled rage, but Goony would. This reminds me in some ways of Mark Millar's comic that even he likes to pretend didn't happen, "The Unfunnies." The idea of that series is an evil force invades a happy cartoon land and makes all the characters behave horribly. The problem with, "The Unfunnies," was that shock value aside (and great art by Anthony Williams) it sucked. It wasn't funny or scary and it definitely wasn't especially clever beyond the initial idea. What Lohmeier does right is he tells an intense and brutal crime story, and then cranks the madness up with all the parody elements. It shouldn't work, but it does.

"Michael Mouse," is a twisted tour de force and Mitch Lohmeier should be equally proud and ashamed of what he's made here. It's a monstrosity and I loved it. You can ask all finer comic shops to order, "Michael Mouse," or order it directly from the publisher, Floating World Comics (they continue to put out great stuff). I'd highly recommend reading this if you'd like to witness a stellar parody.

5 out of 5 stars.

2 Interesting Bits of Comic News From Today: A New, "Nacelleverse," and Millarworld Moves Publishers

Two things in the realm of comics caught my eye today and I thought I'd discuss them in one big combo post. Let's begin...

First, I got a press release from my friend Hanna Bahedry which discussed a new comic universe being launched by Oni/Lion Forge. Called the, "Nacelleverse," it will feature an assortment of series all taking place in the same universe with past characters being brought back in a new form such as Biker Mice From Mars, the Great Galoo, and more. This will tie in with the animated series, "Robo Force," as well which is being worked on by Seven Bucks Production--the company with the rights to all these IPs that has partnered with Oni/Lion Forge. Bleedingcool wrote a bit about this too and with some pretty big names attached in some fashion--Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds--my interest is piqued. The #0 issue reintroducing all the characters drops in early 2024 and will be followed by individual series.

The other interesting comic news I saw today is about Mark Millar and his Millarworld imprint. For quite a while it has been a part of Image comics, but Millar announced today it is moving to Dark Horse. It will remain creator-owned (mainly by him as the big creator) and be an imprint at Dark Horse as well. I honestly haven't liked much of anything Millar's written lately (the last thing he did I genuinely liked was, "Superior,) but adaptations of his works seem to happen a lot and some make serious bank even if others falter. He's had more hits than misses when his work gets optioned, I suppose, so Millarworld moving to Dark Horse is a nice feather in the cap of a company that for a while was unfortunately hemorrhaging many good series to other publishers. I imagine Image is none too pleased, however. That's what was intriguing to me today, I hope you thought it was useful information too!

June 2021 News and Links

 Hot as Summer...but not Quite Summer

It isn't officially Summer in terms of the laws of science until June 21st. That said, it has been as hot as Summer here in Saint Louis after a May that started cool and warmed up with gusto. Now we've got some heat and while you're hopefully kicking back someplace cool you can enjoy these links.

News, Links, You Know the Drill

Penguin Random House is really working at appealing to comic shops as the go-to resource for Marvel publications--and more! They'll be selling comic-book supplies such as bags and boards (with no shipping costs, unlike Diamond). Considering how mediocre a discount Diamond will offer stores on Marvel products who buy wholesale from them it just makes sense to go with PRH in most cases.

This article about how, "Sinead O'Connor Remembers Things Differently," points out how we maybe should've listened to her more in the past as she was right about a lot of stuff--remember when she spoke out against the Catholic church for sexual abuse before that became a big story? Now she's basically living in isolation and just enjoying a quiet life between working on music--although she plans to retire from that soon too--I'm glad she is happy.

NFTs always seemed dumb, and the market has collapsed compared to other months. Is anyone surprised?

I've always enjoyed our local Chesterfield Mall, but it has been struggling and is going to be heavily retooled in the near future, as this article discusses. This story could apply to many malls in America.

In other Saint Louis regional news, native of the area Ellie Kemper didn't win a KKK beauty pageant at age 19 before entering acting, but she did win a contest our city holds for only wealthy elites (most of whom are white) that I never even knew existed as I'm not a wealthy elite. It's called the, "Veiled Prophet Ball," and it sounds bonkers.

Wait, Netflix spent 200 million on that, "Jupiter's Legacy," show that everyone said was awful and looked cheap? I mean, the main draw of the first series for me was Frank Quitely's artwork and as live action show obviously lacks that. Mark Millar just often doesn't write very good stuff but his adaptations tend to better than his actual comics. That didn't happen this time, but maybe with the next Netflix endeavor based on his work, "Supercrooks." Maybe.

Record Store Day this year is actually two days--June 12th and July 17th. As someone who has an affection for music in a physical format (love me some vinyl, cassettes, and CDs) I would encourage you to support your local record store on these days--or any day, really!

"Cancel culture!" is often a cry hollered by those mad about being held accountable for their actions/statements. Comedian Katt Williams is a man known for being outrageous and confrontational in his humor and he especially for loves to get a rise out of others. He was asked for his thoughts on the subject of, "Cancel Culture," and before you worry he said something tone-deaf he gave an extremely thoughtful and reasonable response. It shows how you can be edgy or controversial without being a jerk.

Finally, I must admit that the, "Cruella," movie did not utterly bomb as I thought it might. It did decently in theaters and as a Disney+ extra-cost rental. That said, it took a great villain who didn't need a complex origin or to be redeemed and still tried to do so for reasons that seem more like a cash-grab than anything else.

Enjoy Summer Once it Officially Starts!

Soon it will truly be Summer and I hope we all have a good one!

"Rex Royd," Flirts with Genius, but Marries Unrealized Potential

Back when I was wrapping up my senior year of college in 2010 and Mark Millar's work still had some promise and wasn't just empty pitches for movies and television shows, Millar created a comic-magazine titled, "CLiNT," which by the title alone with its cheeky usage of a lower-case letter, "i," so as to kinda-sorta look like the swear-word, "Cunt," tells you basically everything you ever need to know about Mark Millar's sense of humor. The magazine had an assortment of Millar's works as well as contributions from other creators, and one strip that caught my eye due to being just plain weird and interesting was, "Rex Royd." Written by controversial Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle (whose comedy work I'm unfamiliar with but from what I've read about him tends to be a mixture of political, raunchy, and offensive) and illustrated by then-newbie Mike Dowling, I found, "Rex Royd," strangely fascinating.

"Rex Royd," in a purposely-disjointed manner chronicled its titular super-villain as he fought against super-heroes, God, secret organizations, and basically was a bad-guy who inadvertently would sometimes do good, but still was quite a bastard. "CLiNT," collected it occasionally and the magazine ended-up cancelled due to dwindling readership and a failed re-launch before the strip could conclude. Thankfully though, the original publisher of, "CLiNT," Titan, has collected the previous chapters as well as two final ones illustrated by artist Budi Setiawan (whose style is a bit like Dowling but also enjoyable on its own). The full collection of, "Rex Royd," is quite the read, occasionally flirting with genius, but not quite reaching it. It is funny how in the introduction Boyle says he was inspired by Grant Morrison's amazing work, "The Filth," as this is probably the closet comic in comparison to that masterpiece when it comes to the odd way the story unfolds. Much as, "The Filth," has a wide array of ideas, tangents, and an otherworldly feel, "Rex Royd," does too. The thing is, "The Filth," eventually comes together with all its off-the-wall ideas and, "Rex Royd," is just far too messy to pull that off.

One genuinely sweet and sad moment I liked,
Royd dreams himself into another, happier dimension.

Boyle's idea with, "Rex Royd," is to make it seem like we are seeing bits and pieces of a sprawling epic, trying to make sense of the small excerpts we witness. It's a clever idea that works in its concept at first, but as more and more ideas are thrown-out and the book gets increasingly meta with Boyle himself appearing within the comic towards the end (more shades of Grant Morrison and what he did in, "Animal Man,"), it just gets confusing. You also really feel the style of Millar at times, with the book making some quite tasteless jokes--repeatedly--that it doesn't really need to do (clearly Boyle and Millar like to get tacky). Perhaps this comes from Boyle being a comedian known for his offensive humor, but repeated pointless jokes about HIV/AIDS  as well as, "spazzes/spastics (a relatively mild insult in America but a nasty slur for people with Cerebal Palsy among Europeans)," just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth at times.

The thing about it that makes some sense is that Rex Royd is in fact the bad guy, he would make these jokes. After all, he blows up a city with a nuclear bomb hoping to kill one person he believes is hiding there, he travels back in time and kills God because he wants to recruit the biblical Eve to work for him as an employee, and he enjoys murdering do-gooders--Royd is a terrible person who sometimes happens to do what's right, but he's still a monster. Boyle makes this clear, and it is the one thing that is clear, as the rest of the comic is a surreal mixture of concepts, jokes, and some really clever ideas that impressed me, but as I keep saying, fail to reach their full potential.

By the time Boyle appears as himself in the comic, things have gotten really confusing.

"The Filth," is one of my favorite stories ever--comic, prose, any form of literature. "Rex Royd," is by no means as amazing as, "The Filth," but clearly draws inspiration from it and achieves a lot of impressive moments even if the final product falls just short of genius. It still is a fascinating yarn to finally read in one complete form however, and even if Boyle shot for the moon and missed, he still landed amongst the stars, if I may use an old cliche saying. Putting aside when it is shocking-just-to-be-shocking or how at times it struggles under the sheer volume of ideas, it still is a damn fine read, and magnificently weird. It ain't perfect, but I'll still rate it a very complimentary...
4 out of 5 stars.

Tales From The Dollar Bin: Secret Empire #1

There are comics which are worth incredible sums of money, but so many of the most interesting, tragic, or just downright weird can be found for a simple dollar or less in a  store's "dollar bin". There, comics that never gained much popularity can be found alongside those that sold so much as for a copy to be worthless. "Tales From the Dollar Bin" aims to explore these comics, be they a single issue or an entire run of a series. From the great to the miserable, some of the best treasures and worst nightmares can be found in those infamous boxes. Let's have a "tale" now...

Secret Empire #1 AKA One Huge Disaster of an Event

Oh God, this was even more of a mess than I had heard and imagined. You see, I didn't read, "Secret Empire," because when it was revealed that Captain America was somehow a Nazi/member of Hyrda all along thanks to some fiddling with the Cosmic Cube I thought that was absurd. Then, when I heard he was going to somehow be taking over America and putting it under Hydra's reign that just sounded stupid for something supposedly in the normal Marvel Continuity. Maybe as an alternate-world tale, but a fascist dictator taking over our nation via apparently tricking all the other heroes, then rounding-up anyone else with powers, and shutting-down any dissent in the Marvel Universe which is supposed to be like the world out our window? That's just idiotic--and don't make jokes about how its like Trump being in power, he's a terrible President but as far as I know he isn't a Nazi. Also, he surely isn't able to keep us under a strict and violent rule, he can't even keep news about him boinking porn stars out of the media.

I didn't read any of the lead-up so I was extra confused as, "Secret Empire #1," reads like the second or third chapter of a story, with Hydra-Cap in power and being all cliche and evil. I suppose part of the reason for that is there apparently was a #0 issue and other lead-in stories. God help me though, I can't imagine reading anything else related to this steaming pile of crap. I mean, even if the whole concept is wretched if writer Nick Spencer had at least told the story in an interesting way I could muddle through this. Instead its just a bland mish-mash of, "Some heroes are rebelling, Captain America is doing evil stuff, here are some quick references to other characters getting their own tie-in comics!"

Captain America is sad he has to kill his friend he betrayed.
Poor guy?

The most notable thing in this issue besides the general idiocy of a Nazi Captain America running our nation is that Las Vegas is apparently destroyed at the end by Hydra-Cap because the city has been known for aiding some of the rebels...so because a few hundreds of residents help rebels he kills millions mainly so the comic can make it clear--"This Captain America is so bad y'all!" Also, he murders longtime sidekick and friend Rick Jones but looks sad about it so we should apparently pity him even though he's become a Nazi/Hydra evil dictator--as if the comic can't fully commit to making Captain America completely laughable evil and tries to act like he still has a bit of humanity. He revealed he was a Nazi and has taken over America by force, I'm not going to go, "Awww, he's all sullen and wonders if maybe he's doing the wrong thing, poor Cap!"

I mean, it really just says something that such a recent event was in a dollar bin along with all the other issues that I passed on picking-up as I knew reading the first issue would be more than enough for me. The first issue of an event like, "Civil War," sells for above cover-price, and even if that Millar-scribed series had flaws, at least it was entertaining. This is just atrocious and I feel bad for anyone who picked, "Secret Empire," for full price as at a dollar I still feel like I threw away my money. It is such a waste of time I wish I could get the 15 minutes it took me to read it refunded so I can spend those moments on a better comic.

Fluoride and Chemtrails are seriously discussed as plots to keep people mind-controlled.
Also, note the quick mention of mutants as if it's saying, "Read their book for this event too!"

Marvel has since moved on from this and appear eager to bury any memory of, "Secret Empire," with the big news now being popular writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is going to be taking over writing a non-brainwashed Captain America  from Mark Waid (who had the thankless job of trying to rehab the character a bit after Nick Spencer ruined Cap) for what will most likely be a very-promoted run. That is something I would actually like to read, unlike this miserable...tale from the dollar bin!

Tales from the Dollar Bin: The Unfunnies #1 & #2

There are comics which are worth incredible sums of money, but so many of the most interesting, tragic, or just downright weird can be found for a simple dollar or less in a store's "dollar bin". There, comics that never gained much popularity can be found alongside those that sold so much as for a copy to be worthless. "Tales From the Dollar Bin" aims to explore these comics, be they a single issue or an entire run of a series. From the great to the miserable, some of the best treasures and worst nightmares can be found in those infamous boxes. Let's have a "tale" now...

The One Thing Mark Millar is Embarrassed He Made

Mark Millar has written many comics that have made him a lot of money thanks to big sales, movie adaptations, and the like. He has released books in the past which overlook all his work and he seems to be proud of every single thing he's written, regardless of if it was good or horrible. He's just as pleased with the clever, "The Ultimates," as he is with trash like, "Nemesis," which featured a super-villain booby-trapping a woman's uterus so that she couldn't get an abortion--you see the fetus was from her brother's sperm she had been impregnated with when knocked-out against her will. Yeah. That said, there is one book Millar seems to refuse to acknowledge he ever made. What could be so twisted, so heinous, so terrible that even Mark Millar doesn't want to own-up to it? "The Unfunnies," of course!

"The Unfunnies," was published by Avatar Press from 2004-2007, but don't let all those years fool you, it was simply a four-issue series that was plagued with delays due to Millar taking his time turning in scripts. As with many things written by him there is actually a really good idea buried within but his practice of trying to build a story around it can struggle a lot. Basically we have a happy-go-lucky cartoon world of cute comic adventures where the characters talk to the reader about the assorted adorable shenanigans they get up to. The thing is though, something seems to have begun corrupting this world in a disgusting fashion. Characters are getting foul mouths, violence and sex-crimes suddenly are happening everywhere, and nobody knows what the deal is. Plus, while all this happens the adorable cartoon imagery by illustrator Anthony Williams gives it all a weird happy-go-lucky vibe whilst characters discuss murdering their children or a housewife whose husband has gone to jail for child molestation turns to sex-work so that she and her kids aren't kicked-out of their housing. Oh, and this whole comic with all its despicable elements is played for laughs.

Clearly, this four issue series of which I was able to buy two issues from the dollar bin is incredibly weird with its mixture of the horrible and humorous. The idea of an outside influence from reality manifesting within a comic-book world is a concept we've seen mined before (Grant Morrison is famous for doing it with, "Animal Man,") but this book raises the query of what would happen if something dark and evil came into an otherwise pleasant comic-world. It's revealed early-on how a dead man named simply, "Troy," was summoned into this place through some help from the gullible residents and Troy was a murderer, rapist, and otherwise not someone you want in a Universe where the worst crimes were generally snatching pies from windowsills. It's a clever concept--pure evil invading a world of pure good, but then as I already said Millar is great with the ideas and not so much with the execution.

"The Unfunnies," reads pretty haphazardly. It clearly is trying to be a book that offends and grosses-out readers but in doing so ends-up being not so much offensive as tacky. There is a difference between shocking and just making us shake our head when you're nasty. If you just do disgusting stuff to be able to say, "Look how horrible I am, aren't you mad?" without actually wanting to make a statement it comes off as hollow. Millar isn't making an especially pointed statement when he has his cartoon characters talk about child pornography or yell insults at one another, he's just being dirty in the hopes we'll clutch our pearls and say, "Why I never!" The problem is that when Lenny Bruce swore and told raunchy jokes he was doing it to prove a point and fighting against people telling him to be quiet, Millar doesn't have anyone trying to stop him or have anything to say besides, "I'm being naughty!" It's a shame, because as I said, there are some smart ideas buried in his attempts to enrage people with cute animals spouting scatological insults.

Mark Millar to this day seems to refuse to acknowledge he ever made, "The Unfunnies." He doesn't list it on his websites as something he did whilst having anything else he's ever written shown with gusto. To my knowledge he didn't do any other work with Anthony Williams and there could be a variety of reasons for that--however, as I understand it this book got horribly delayed due to Williams having to wait forever to receive scripts, so perhaps a better way of putting this is Williams never worked with Millar again, possibly for personal reasons (and it seems Williams doesn't list having ever done the book either on his bio). Why both creators refuse to discuss this comic is open to interpretation. Are they embarrassed by the content--e.g. Millar actually thinks there was one time he went too far? Did a bad working relationship make them want to forget ever doing the book? Is it something else? I don't know, and we may never know, but at least in looking at the first two issues of this series we got another...tale from the dollar bin!

Flashback Friday: Warren Ellis' Successful Take on, "The Authority," and the Charming Misfire of Grant Morrison's Attempt

Analogues All Around!

The Wildstorm comic-book imprint and its characters have had a fascinating history, going from an Image-based studio to its founder, Jim Lee, selling it to to DC (ironically enough putting it back into control of a work-for-hire company, the very thing he had initially rebelled against with his earlier defection from Marvel to Image). A lot of the Wildstorm-type books featured heroic characters that were analogues of other well-known powered individuals found at the big 2. The great thing about being like another property but not being that property is that it frees you up to get really crazy with stuff.

Warren Ellis had been writing for a good chunk of time the title, "Stormwatch," and eventually utterly destroyed the team in a cool cross-over with Dark Horse comics where the literal Aliens from, "Alien," killed a bunch of the team (also the last inter-company cross-over I can think of that is in-continuity with the, "Regular," universe of a comic). From the ashes of, "Stormwatch," Ellis gave us, "The Authority," and it was amazing.

A Big Budget Superhero Movie Before Those Existed

Nowadays when people talk about, "Widescreen comics," that, "Look like movies," a lot of folk discuss Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's, "Ultimates," which arguably inspired much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that continues to dominate the box-office. However, before that we actually had Warren Ellis and Hitch giving us the over-the-top action of, "The Authority." These comics with The Authority are basically the big budget super-hero movies we love today before such a thing even existed. They are a team of immense power that destroys a terrorist nation, obliterates half of an other dimensions' planet, and at the end of Ellis' short-ish run basically kills God. 

The whole thing is bombastically illustrated and comes-off like zany fun but carries a dark undercurrent of asking if maybe these heroes are just a little too gun-ho to do all the things they are doing--a motif that quit being subtext and just became straight-up text when the writer on the book after Ellis--the aforementioned Mark Millar (basically prepping himself for the later, "Ultimates, "stuff) made it clear The Authority were arguably dangerous and then other folk had them literally overthrow the planet and take over Earth for a bit...before the Wildstorm Universe literally (I like that word a lot) was blown-up and then cancelled; things got weird toward the end.

Wide-screen styled action for sure.

"The Authority," under Ellis and his 12 issue-run was essentially super-hero stories at their purest (big action, exciting characters) with an additional postmodern wink about the characters and their actions. Speaking of postmodern, after the universe had started becoming a little less of a big-seller but before DC exploded its planet they decided to make a big deal out of Grant Morrison writing the title...and boy did it go horribly wrong.

Well, That Derailed Quickly

To much fanfare Morrison's take on, "The Authority," had its first issue released December 2006. In it, the Authority seem to have accidentally ended up in what might be the real world AKA the reality we currently are living in (Morrison does love breaking the fourth wall). The next issue was supposed to come out in two months. It took five. It continued the plot about the team's transport ship (The Carrier) dumping them in the wrong reality and how they needed to find a way home. Then, nothing.

Information seems spotty about just what exactly went wrong, but that was it for Grant Morrison's version of, "The Authority." It wasn't until a good deal of time later--2008--DC announced that writer Keith Giffen would be coming in to finish the story based on Morrison's script-drafts and his own ideas. In January of 2010 we finally kinda-sorta got the third issue, with the new title, "The Authority: The Lost Year," as the rest of the Wildstorm comics had moved-on with The Authority in those books so it had to basically be explained/retconned that this was a lost year they left reality and were missing. The comic went for a total of twelve issues (counting Morrison's first two) and while it is easy to forget with all the drama that surrounded the series, it is pretty good.

Giffen comes on the book, gets them out of a world that looks like our reality but actually features Cthulhu-esque monsters sucking everyone's energy on the planet, and the team proceeds to jump to other realities that are alternatively disturbing, funny, or illustrate the possible logical conclusion of their actions in their home reality (e.g. they become horrible dictators). Giffen has always been a solid writer and I don't envy him having to follow-up with the mess Morrison left him, but he makes it work--even as the art on the series varies between quite-pretty-to-absolutely-amateurish-and-ugly.

Barely Remembered

You won't be able to find this issue in a collection.

"The Authority: The Lost Year," is mostly a forgotten footnote at this point, with more people remembering the hubbub of Morrison starting and quitting the book as opposed to it eventually being finished. In fact, I was able to read the first volume thanks to my library but couldn't find the 2nd collection on sale anywhere. It had been officially solicited a long time ago and even had a barcode number, yet nobody had it in stock and the Saint Louis County and City libraries said it was impossible to order for some reason. I did a lot of digging and discovered that DC never actually printed it. 

You read that right, they were going to release the second volume but orders were so low they just said, "Screw it, " and never did, which sounds crazy but happens with some of the comics out there. I was able to get the later issues thanks to eBay however and as I said earlier, they are pretty good fun. Still, how tragic is it to think a comic that was a huge deal--"Grant Morrison is writing, 'The Authority,' and everyone is so excited!"--ended-up as such a poorly-selling fiasco that DC didn't even care to collect the whole damn thing when it finished under Keith Giffen? Again, I give Giffen immense props for making Lemonade out of what wasn't lemons so much as shards of broken glass with some lemon chunks attached, but it is still sad.

Success Can Be Defined in Many Ways, Right?

Warren Ellis gave us a juggernaut of a hit with his creation of, "The Authority," and Grant Morrison gave us a mess that I still feel is a bit of a charming misfire that thankfully was reasonably salvaged thanks to Keith Giffen. Interestingly enough, Ellis has actually kinda-sorta returned to these characters, with the recent launch of, "The Wild Storm," featuring new versions of many of these characters in a whole different reality, but with Ellis' signature skill and genius on display. I know success can be defined in many ways, and having someone who wrote a version of these characters coming back to them is clearly one example (I strongly doubt Morrison will ever return to this team), and what we got with Morrison (and later Giffen) arguably tried as hard as it could, but despite being a good read in the end honestly failed hard in the general scheme of things.

Riffing on the book's idea of alternate realities, I wonder if there is one just like ours but with the singular difference that Grant Morrison kept writing, "The Authority," and it was actually a really good book. I wouldn't mind visiting a universe a like this sometime, and afterwards checking out the one where doughnuts are somehow good for you. I've gotta have my priorities, after all.

June 2016 Links to Absorb

June Ends

Considering how it is just June, it has been absurdly hot where I live. How about we stay indoors at peak daylight and and I share some interesting pieces from across, "The interweb," with you? Kids call it that, right?

Stuff of Interest

The music of Kanye West--specifically, "Power," plays an interesting role during a mission in, "Saints Row: The Third," which is a really solid game too. This article discusses that a bit.

"The Authority," under the pen of Warren Ellis and Mark Millar with the art of Bryan Hitch basically was a wide-screen super-hero movie before they really took off to the degree they have now (and yes, I'm aware, "The Ultimates," formed the basis of much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but those films didn't start till 2008).

So, "Brexit." What a mess, eh? Seriously though, to think the UK's voters would just say, "Screw you guys," to the EU is shocking and the fallout the country may face is a good warning of what the U.S. could be due for if that moron Donald Trump is elected President.

While we're on the subject of politics, I wrote an article long ago about two conservatives I may often disagree with but at least listen to. George Will is one of them, and he actually officially left the Republican Party due to his disgust with Donald Trump. Damn, that's intense.

The 1990's were a time when our comic-book heroes had big guns and even bigger shoulder-pads. Funny to think a style that was reviled for quite some time afterward now gives us a tinge of nostalgia.

My post about the, "Eve of E3," went up before the official trailer for, "Detroit: Become Human," was unveiled a few hours later. By the makers of the superb, "Heavy Rain," I am indeed very interested.

I loved the movie, "Doctor Strangelove," so you can bet I'm eager to watch this free short-ish (46 minutes-long) documentary about its creation.

I haven't played all the games listed, but based on the ones that I have I would say this list of games you can play on your iPhone without using data or needing Wi-Fi is pretty handy

Lastly, I attended Pride Saint Louis 2016 to both assist with an event for work, and then to browse around and see all the cool stuff on display. It was another great year.

Entering July

That's my links for the end of June. Now we approach July in all its hot, rainy, and firework-filled glory (the 4th of July always gets noisy here in the States).

Some Comic Debuts of Interest Part 1--Rant Reviews!

Some Fresh Comics
I just recently had a post discussing how I don't just talk about the brand-new comics. That said, let's talk about some series that have debuted, because I am nothing if not inconsistent (try and figure out that triple negative)!

The New Stuff
Black Panther #1
This comic has been hyped so much by Marvel it is hard to separate the excitement and expectations people may have from the comic itself. As for the actual comic? It is a perfectly good first issue by Ta-Nehisi Coates, someone new to writing comics but not at all new to writing in general. Brian Stelfreeze is of course a tremendous artist so the book isn't slacking in the department of gorgeous visuals. Still, Coates is clearly setting a lot of ground-work in this issue for a story about people plotting to otherthrow the Black Panther's rule of his kingdom, and as the story proceeds I bet a lot of the story-seeds being planted will bloom wonderfully. As it is now though, this is just--as I said--a perfectly good first issue story-wise that is amazing art-wise. I'll be eagerly following this to see where it goes.
3 out of 5 stars.

Circuit Breaker #1
Speaking of comics that boast people with amazing drawing-talent, "Circuit Breaker," has the awesome Kyle Baker providing some incredible artwork. Sadly, the plot of the comic itself is an utter mess that isn't sure if it is going for funny, serious, thoughtful, or really any semblance of logic. Kevin McCarthy has an amazing collaborator in the form of Baker and its a shame the awesome robots that get drawn don't have a better story to compliment them. If you pick this up, don't bother reading the word balloons, just ogle the impressive illustrations.
1.5 out of 5 stars--Plot and Story
5 out of 5 stars--Artwork

Empress #1
Well, besides the fantastic art by Stuart Immomen this is a wholly unremarkable comic. Much like the just-reviewed, "Circuit-Breaker," this comic has writer Mark Millar giving us a relatively straightforward take on a Queen escaping from her drunk-with-power husband. The whole issue is her and the kids escaping, along with a brief look at the past when she first fell in love. It feels really decompressed, like if this were a two-hour movie we would have just seen maybe the first five minutes. Millar has a lot of hits and misses, and whether the comic shows more depth or just sucks as the issues proceed it'll probably bring him some more millions of dollar once it gets optioned for a movie regardless of its quality. This was a book that could be easily passed-over by a reader looking for something better though.
2 out of 5 stars.

The Fix #1
Damn, do Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber make a great team or what? "The Superior Foes of Spider-Man," was excellent and now we've got a new series from them featuring two guys always looking for a way to score some cash whilst balancing their criminal activities with a day job of (spoiler alert)  being police officers. The solicitations for the comic actually hid quite well the twist that these guys are supposedly upstanding officers who scam and cheat the system, but reading that twist just made me guffaw loudly while walking on the treadmill at the gym (yes, I read my comics while exercising, and my balance has so far been fine). From just its first issue I can already tell this book is a winner, and should you like some, "Funny," in your funnybooks you've got to pick this up too.
5 out of 5 stars.

More in a Little Bit
There are some rant-reviews on new titles, I'll be back shortly with a few more.

Some of my Favorite Comic-Creation Teams Part 1

Working Together
I was thinking the other day about how there are comic writers, artist, colorists, and letterers (and those who combine some of those skills). There are some really stellar teams that makes comics though, and I felt like discussing some of them, as so often we talk about individual creators, but sometimes the best work comes from a duo (or trio). Thanks to The Comics Reporter for giving me the idea to do this post with my own list of stellar teams!

Team-Up Time!

Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips
These guys have been just making stellar piece after stellar piece. Whether it is super-powered folk in, "Sleeper," and, "Incognito," noir with a flair in, "Criminal," horror in, "Fatale," or examining the seedy underbelly of 1940's Hollywood in, "The Fade Out," these guys just make hits. I may not have loved, "Fatale," as much as some people, but for every one of their works someone may not care for there are still plenty that are an absolute delight.

Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
Mark Millar is a writer who can really grate on my nerves. His plotting can leave much to be desired and his writing just is so, so, so melodramatic sometimes. That said however, his work with Hitch during their run on, "The Ultimates," and a few other times they've teamed-up has generally helped to bring out the best in Millar and Hitch. Yes, "The Ultimates," was delayed to a hilarious degree toward the end, but when all collected together it reads quite amazingly with its mixture of satire, action, and the clever way it is almost mocking super-hero comics whilst at the same time serving as a love-letter to them. Millar went on to do much more cynical stuff that lacked the heart of, "The Ultimates," and Hitch has done some decent stuff since then too, but boy were they quite a team back some years ago.

Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, and Gary Erskine
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is the obvious choice, and while they are a stellar pairing who have made some incredible stuff, if I could pick anyone to make a comic with Morrison, I actually would try and reunite the team behind my favorite comic ever, "The Filth." Consisting of Morrison on writing, Weston on art, and Erskine on colorist duty, "The Filth," is just an amazing piece of fiction. With its mixture of meta-fiction, dark commentary on society, and being what one could argue is the post-modern comic of all post-modern comics, "The Filth," is what happens when someone throws every idea at the wall in an effort to see what sticks, and somehow against all odds everything, "Sticks," and a disgustingly beautiful creation is made. Yeah, I would love to see this trio work together again.

Jim Balent and Holly Golightly
Jim Balent is a writer-artist who is derided by some but also loved by many. His long-running comic, "Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose," he has done with his wife, colorist and letterer Holly Golightly, has earned a multitude of fans thanks to the mixture of story-genres, incorporation of wicca, and gorgeous artwork that is made even better thanks to the lush color-work and carefully-placed word baloons. I would say this collaboration became even closer when Balent's "Tarot," comic crossed-over with Golightly's project she writes and illustrates, "School Bites," with issue #90. This issue was an expert blend of both creator's illustrative styles and shows that Balent and Golightly not only picked great spouses in each other, but superb collaborators too.

We Will Be Right Back!
I've shown you some of my favorite comic-creation teams, but I need to take a little break now. I'll be back a little later with the rest of my favorites.

Tales From the Dollar Bin--Lightning Round of Four comics!

There are comics which are worth incredible sums of money, but so many of the most interesting, tragic, or just downright weird can be found for a simple dollar or less in a  store's "dollar bin". There, comics that never gained much popularity can be found alongside those that sold so much as for a copy to be worthless. "Tales From the Dollar Bin" aims to explore these comics, be they a single issue or an entire run of a series. From the great to the miserable, some of the best treasures and worst nightmares can be found in those infamous boxes. Let's have a "tale" now...

Shorter Tales
Usually I'll just have one tale in a post for you, my beloved readers. However, today I find myself with some dollar-bin items that perhaps don't warrant an entire post, but should still be discussed. Therefore, think of these tales as if they were, "short stories," I suppose. Although, I should mention there is a bit of an over-arching theme to all of these selections that I'll discuss at the end.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #4

A bit after Mark Millar finished his mostly-liked run on "Ultimates," and the long-delayed, "Ultimates 2", Marvel still wanted to make some money from him writing comics relating to those characters in the Ultimate Universe. Therefore, they had him do an ongoing series that was strangely split into some mini-series under the name, "Ultimate Avengers," with this issue of course reflecting the 2nd mini/arc. Whereas the initial "Ultimates" comics he did with Bryan Hitch had the best and worst of Millar's tendencies, this was just the latter AKA it was awful.

It features Mark Millar--a man who  I feel isn't racist but has some troubling issues with writing people of color--giving us a genius black scientist who gains hulk-like strength and uses it to become....a super-powered drug-dealer. A drug-dealer that only works with the U.S. Government so his family he abandoned doesn't learn he is still alive. His name? Tyrone Cash. Also, this issue involves a previous-issue reveal of how the Vice-President of the Ultimate Universe (whom I thought was the same as in the real world, but I guess not) is part of a satanic group that we then witness gives him ghost-rider styled powers.

Cash is kind of like Luke Cage if he were a bad guy and the epitome of every black stereotype.

Whereas with the earlier "Ultimates" comics Millar was maybe giving us some cheeky commentary about U.S. exceptionalism, here he just goes all-in on the absurdity. "Let's have a racially offensive character be a part of a team that fights a demonic Vice-President," is an idea you think would only appear in a parody comic. Yet this was all too real...and all too stupid.

Tempest #1

Big City Comics is a publisher that as near as I can tell is basically dead. The website lists "future" convention stops that are outdated by years. There hasn't been a new title from them since a comic provocatively called "Whore" about a man who does questionable jobs for money. Although, on their Facebook page, every month or so they post something as if to give that slight hint of life, with claims of things being worked on. It's sad this publisher burned out so horribly, as when they first began some kind of interesting monthly titles were coming out from them that then suddenly ended--never to be completed. They had a revival of the "Ant" character that later was mired in controversy due to its creator's actions, an  Avengers-like team called, "Omega One," and some other decent stuff, like this "Tempest" comic.

Basically Tempest was about a prosecutor-by-day (shades of the lawyer-hero Daredevil here) who was also a vampire and had to feed at least once a month to stay alive, so he only would kill people he thought were guilty. It was a mostly unremarkable comic besides in one issue where the hero (Gabriel Tempest) meets a vampire Ben Franklin, that was funny. Perhaps the fact that "Tempest" was just another okay book with passable art is one reason Big City Comics ended up failing. If you just put out, "Meh," comics you probably aren't going to last that long.

The Authority: Worlds End #1

Ah yes, this is one of the comics from the last-ditch attempt by DC to make their Wildstorm Universe relevant and interesting by going and blowing everything up. Seriously, they ended the world in a mini-series titled "Mark of the Beast" that was actually pretty fun and led-up to by other comics. After that, everything got relaunched and when DC could tell this new effort just wasn't working they folded Wildstorm into the main DC Universe after "Flashpoint" created the New 52 Universe.

Still, it is interesting to think back to when Wildstorm was that little imprint-that-could created by Jim Lee for Image, then bought by DC and treated as its own unique Universe that created some admittedly stellar comics. Before long of course it then petered out, ending a weak shadow of what it once had been. So, it sounds like a sports metaphor for that athlete who is amazing in college (the first publisher, Image), signs a contract with a pro-team, and then despite once being impressive can't deliver despite various attempts at different teams (e.g. big events such as this last one that destroyed the world). Yup, Wildstorm basically is a slightly more successful Tim Tebow.

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #2

Despite it not really being an event-comic so much as a general "event" that many comics tied into, I kind of liked when "Dark Reign" happened. At the end of the otherwise dull "Secret Invasion" Norman Osborn becomes a hero and then proceeds to persecute super-heroes and otherwise be a huge jerk. It eventually culminated in the truly awful "Siege" event, but before that we got some good stories in a variety of ongoing comics, and via some mini-series, of which "Lethal Legion" was one.

Basically a team of baddies were able to abduct Norman Osborn, but got caught, and now are in prison at "The Raft", which is a facility for super-powered offenders. It is thought someone betrayed the team, and at the end of the first issue we see one member of this group was surprisingly enough Wonder Man himself, Simon Williams. In this issue it is explained how when he spoke out against Norman Osborn people mocked him, making it so that when his long-time evil brother came over one night with an idea, it sounded appealing.

Thinking himself like Captain America when would recruit current and former villains (after all, even Hawkeye used to be a criminal), Simon and his brother (villain name, "Grim Reaper,") get some villains, and kidnap Norman Osborn, as we see in some recollections of what happened. Of course, as they are now all in prison something clearly went wrong. The next and final issue reveals Reaper himself--the one who had the idea for the team--was actually behind it all, but I enjoy this issue because we see Wonder Man in a way he normally isn't seen, angry and doubtful.

A bit later once "Dark Reign" ended Williams would be written as a raving lunatic who hates the Avengers but actually makes some valid points about why they are bad in two "Annuals," before then taking some time off and coming back eager to be an Avenger again, apparently. Still, this mini-series--and this issue in particular--showed me one reason I enjoy reading about Wonder Man. Namely, despite all his power he is deep down only human, and prone to trusting those he shouldn't (his brother) or overestimating how much good he is capable of doing.

The recent "Uncanny Avengers" run that had Simon Williams on the team touched on this just a little bit, but this barely-remembered mini-series from an event a majority of folk disliked actually showed me the side of Wonder Man I find most fascinating. Funny how that works out.

The Point of All This
I told you that despite all being very different comics I did have an overall theme I was thinking of with each title I've discussed here today. I'll now tell you how I was thinking that all of these titles grew out of other much bigger things and did not achieve as much success as what came before or was the main event, but were at least interesting (with some even being good too)! "Ultimate Avengers" and the "World's End" comics failed to do the big bucks the titles before them did, and "Lethal Legion" was a barely-read mini-series in a large event, but still quite good.

Oh, and "Tempest?" That is an example of a comic from a publisher that grew out of the optimism in the mid-2000's that having a comic book was just the first step to millions of dollars of success (remember when everyone thought making your movie idea a comic-book first was a good business strategy?). Of course, the economy tanked in 2008 and it became clear that just because something came from a comic book that didn't mean it was going to succeed (Unless it was from Marvel, which interestingly enough began making absurd money thanks to "Iron Man" and its 2008 release).

My point then, is that for every big thing, little things can grow out of it, some succeeding more than others, but in this case all being lesser-known...tales from the dollar bin!