So a few columns ago I mentioned some changes going down in news and here is the first one. Only a single helping of me a week for DC News and Views. Sad, perhaps, for us (come on, there must be at least one of you who is disappointed…please?), but overall it is better for the column. Often, I was faced with only 2 or 3 stories for an entire column and that just is not enough to really make it worth the writing or the reading unless a particular article happens to hit me. I like the freedom to be as longwinded or as brief as possible and with one column a week, I’ll have that chance. Plus, I can be better about writing my own column Complaint of the Week (www.brendanloy.com/complaint) which works different writing muscles and brings me much joy. So, there you go. Once a week. Trust me though; there will be plenty of goodness to fill the void, as difficult as that may be to believe right now. Anyway, enjoy the first go round of our newly crowned weekly column
A Sales Juggernaut
The debut issue of the new series THE MONOLITH (DEC030283) has sold out at DC Comics. The issue, written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray with art and cover by Phil Winslade, arrived in stores on February 4.
Surrender to the golem’s retail might at Newsarama
Well, there you go. Bonfide sales proof that I am the trendsetter the industry follows. Yup, I’m feeling pretty good about myself, let me tell you.
They Can Win for Losing… and Do
“Entertainment Weekly” loves it. Every writer or artist in the comic industry who lists their favorite comics usually loves it. Every online reviewer can’t stop praising it. Hell, even fans don’t seem to be complaining.
Don’t know what we’re is talking about?
Then you must not be one of “The Losers”… specifically a fan of the book.
Come on now, join the bandwagon and peek the article at at Comic Book Resources
You know how there are just certain books that no matter how much good stuff you hear about them, you just can’t seem to bring yourself to embrace the title. My friend Tim (yes, another Tim, no I am not insane) is this way about JSA. I am this way about The Losers. The issues I have flipped through look good, the comparison to the A-Team, while overly simplistic and misleading as I think the book is more than an 80’s TV show reimagined, certainly does not hurt my interest. I have friends (Tim included) who sing its praises, and yet…I cannot do it. It is silly, but every time I see it, I pick it up, flip through, think, “This does look interesting,†and then just put it back down. Yeah, yeah, I know, who cares. I just wanted to explain to you why I just do not have much to say about it. Because it is a great title that for whatever reason, be it financial or otherwise, I just cannot seem to commit it. So please, all of you, feel free to write me and tell me what an idiot I am.
Maybe if they tried a foil cover…
Birthright=Right
To celebrate the “reload” of DC Comics’ Superman franchise, CBR News will be running interviews with numerous Superman creators through March, from writer Jeph Loeb to Editor Eddie Berganza, in preparation for April’s exciting Superman events. That isn’t to say the current happenings in the Super-books haven’t been interesting and CBR thought it would be appropriate to start from the beginning, after a fashion and under the name of “Superman: Birthright.”
“Imagine Superman comics were beginning today and you could get in from the very beginning, reading the first adventures of a Man of Steel reinvented from top to bottom to reflect today’s world and today’s sensibilities,” says Waid of the basics of the high-profile “Superman: Birthright” maxi series. “To be relevant to your experience and your life. To really face up to and address the questions of how hard it is to be a ‘hero’ in the 21st century–and why anyone would make the sacrifices it entails. That’s ”Birthright”. It’s a twelve-issue series from DC Comics by myself, artists Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan and colorist Dave McCaig, and it’s The Story of Superman–from Krypton to Smallville to Metropolis and beyond.”
Watch history be redefined before your very eyes at at Comic Book Resources
Ladies and Gentlemen, commence your teeth gnashing and wails of sadness…now.
This is, of course, a move that many have been predicting on message boards since Birthright began, but it is nice that DC finally got around to acknowledging it themselves. I got the reasons why they waited to, and they seem fairly reasonable to me, but I wonder if they just could have held Birthright back until such a time that all the “flux†issues were resolved so everyone knew right from the start that this was the “Man of Steel†of today. At the very least, it would have squelched many a fanboy’s speculation leaving us free to ponder other questions.
So, is this good or bad? For my money, it is eh (to be said with a shrug of one’s shoulders). I very much like the Man of Steel relaunch all those years ago after Crisis and am sure I am not alone on that score. Similarly, I am sure a great many older fans resented it and wished that their version of Supes’ origins, with the Superboy, girl, dog, horse, etc., could have just been left unsullied by Mr. Byrne’s take. And yes, generally speaking, any influence a TV show has on redefining the source material usually is a bad thing (Lois and Clark Wedding fiasco, anyone?). So I get the fears and complaints. Change can often be bad.
The thing with the DCU, especially when we are talking Superman, is that origins have always had a somewhat fluid nature. Look at what we have seen done to Man of Steel before we even got to Birthright. There was the 2 Return to Krypton stories the raised questions about whether Krypton was the cold, sterile post-Crisis world or the warm, Pre-Crisis one, the multiple attempts to create a Supergirl, Superboy’s creation (as a clone), the return of the Clark Kent Superboy character over in Legion, etc. Birthright may be the largest wholesale shift of origin, but Man of Steel has been being chipped away at or gotten around for years.
Therefore, for me, it comes down to this: is the story well told, does it stay true to the core of Superman, and does it avoid being excessively anything, (silly, mean spirited, unemotional) in the process? I think it passes all three tests. Now we just have to see how these changes filter through into the current take on Superman. Try and tell me you aren’t even a little bit curious.
Oh, and in one of those oh-so-obvious cuts to my editor, what do you think Daron?
Well…I can’t honestly say that I have a problem with Birthright itself, but I really wonder why? Why does Supes need a revamp to his origin…again? That’s the real question. Have they completely run out of stories to tell and now have to “redo†everything? And why is it always Supes? Has any other character had as many origin revamps as the Man of Steel? It seems like every couple of years they either change or redo something about his origin. That’s what I really don’t understand. I could care less if his origin is the Birthright one, the Man of Steel one, the I can push planets aside one or which ever, just pick one and move on. I’m more interested in seeing GOOD Superman stories rather than constant retreads of his origin…but that could just be me. – The Overlord
Rucka Dishes to Fanboy
Greg Rucka was fanboyradio.com’s special guest on Sunday. He revealed some details about Sasha Bordeaux, Queen & Country, and the Whiteout film.
Read all the lurid (hopefully) details at at The Pulse
YEAH!!! for the return of Sasha. I thought that was a great premise that was done away with far too quickly. I even liked her role as being a quasi-masked hero, which is a move some did not. She kind of got shuffled around by the post-Murderer/Fugitive fallout, which was a disappointment so perhaps Rucka will salve some of that with this new book.
Dzialowski Finds “Lost Cargoâ€
One of the newest artists drawing his way through the Batman universe is Jean-Jacques Dzialowski. It’s a big name, but the man’s art lives up to it! Dzialowski got his start with the French imprint Semic, did some work for Marvel Comics, a few fill-in DC issues and is now working on an two-part arc for Legends of the Dark Knight called “Lost Cargo” written by Devin Grayson.
See if Dzialowski can live up to the legend at at The Pulse
Every time I see Legends in my comic book store, there is always some part of me that is surprised. I would swear to you that more than a year ago I read a report on the title being cancelled. I have never seen or heard of it again and clearly Legends lives on, but I am so sure that I read that that I keep waiting for it to happen. At first I figured that it was burning off some storylines that were already completed, but now, now I am pretty sure that that cannot possibly be true. So perhaps I imagined Legends demise. Don’t really know why I’d do that, but it seems as reasonable as any other explanation. Well, except for the vast conspiracy one, but I’ll play that one close to the vest. You know, so they never see me coming.
Screw Angels in the Outfield, This is the Real Deal
As if editing over a half dozen comics in the DCU didn’t take up enough of Peter Tomasi’s time, the man is also busy writing a four-issue creator-owned prestige limited DCU series called The Light Brigade. Featuring art by Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen, this series is unlike any war comic out there!
See if they reference the Christopher Lloyd movie too at at The Pulse
Gather round everyone, people large and small, and gaze upon the most abrupt opening question thus far this year, “Why do or don’t you believe there are angels among us?†Wow. No “Tell us about the book,†no “How did you get the job,†just, in essence, “Explain to me your theological beliefs…now. Seriously, right now.†Alright, maybe not that pushy, but I just imagine Mr. Tomasi reaching out his hand to shake the interviewer’s hand while introducing himself and her responding with, “Why do or don’t you believe there are angels among us?†Sure, they probably weren’t ever even in the same room together, but that idea makes me laugh so I am sticking to it.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Tomasi, to his credit, has a really great, touching response. Actually, in general, he really has his stuff together in this interview. I love that his idea germinated from a single image of GIs uncovering the dead of WWI while in a WWII firefight. Not only is that a singularly evocative image, but it is cool to see how far he was able to go from there.
Now, there, there is a column for you: A brand new Superman origin, one creator’s theological beliefs, and a confession of my own stubbornness all in one dose for your reading consumption. You like that, don’t you? Well then, tell us. The Forum is back up and running, (Our many thanks Widro on a job well done) and you can always e-mail me at parallax2@juno.com
He is the Alpha and the Omega, He is the Un Gajje.
