The Roundtable

Archive

NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor is their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.


According to Jeph Loeb, Tom Welling will NOT be playing Superman on the big screen

Jamie Hatton (Writer of Diner Talk & Nexus reviewer): Well there goes that idea. Check him off the list, and that whole Ain’t It Cool/Millar situation tightens just a notch further.

Ben Morse (Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Nexus & writer of The Watchtower): And discerning fans of good acting breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Welling is fine as eye candy on a weekly WB sitcom, but he does not have the range of emotions or basic acting skills to carry a movie as high profile as Superman and it would nothing but bad for the collective profile of the comic book industry and its fans.

Let Welling continue to be overshadowed by Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover, Christopher Reeves and everybody else who steps foot on Smallville, let’s find somebody better for the silver screen.


RUMOR: Acclaim files for bankruptcy, properties such as Shadowman, X-O Manowar and Quantum & Woody up for grabs (credit: All The Rage)

Jamie Hatton: I think that the Roundtable should get together the money to buy these products. It would make Comic Nexus so much cooler to have these guys appearing in their own columns and talking ad nauseum about how the comic world was when they ruled the world with Jim Shooter. We could use them like the Waldorf and Stadler of the Nexus.

So who’s in, I got five bucks”¦that’s gotta at least get me Shadowman.

Ben Morse: Score! Capital idea, Hatton!

I would love to be joined by the likes of Ninjak and Bloodshot on Who’s Who In The DCU or have Rai & The Future Force sitting in on The Roundtable.

Paul Sebert (Nexus deadbeat): Fun Fact: When Acclaim bought out Valiant Comics, they purchased the company for a cool $60 Million, grossly over-estimating the worth of the company’s intellectual property.

I’m not so much surprised that Acclaim went under as that they managed to last so long with such notorious flops as Batman Forever, Cutthroat Island, and BMX XXX under their belt. Throw in some absurd publicity stunt every year (ex. asking people to name their babies Turok.) and well…you really got to wonder who was at the wheels of this company.

And dammit… I still wish there was a Quantum & Woody game.

John Babos (Co-Writer of Near Mint Memories): Someone should pick up the Valiant/Acclaim properties. I’m not sure who owns the rights to Eternal Warrior(s), but that is still one of the gems from the Valiant/Acclaim eras that I think could still work today. Acclaim actually evolved that franchise quite nicely and hopefully the next time we see Gilad it will be after another evolutionary leap and being produced by a publisher who knows what they’ve got and knows what they’re doing.

Ben Nagy (Almost off the DL”¦): I concur. Someone should pick some of those characters up. There are still stories to be told (and finished). That and I wanna know how Unity 2000 ends…sure it’s four years late, but (insert Kevin Smith joke here).


RUMOR: Brian Michael Bendis to write Moon Knight project (credit: Movers & Shakers)

Jamie Hatton: Now, Jesse, before you start up the engine, look”¦Moon Knight is a character that hasn’t seen the (pardon the expression and pun) light of day in years. The worst he can do is make a forgettable book about him.

But this is Bendis, and we know that won’t happen. He’s going to make a KICK ASS Moon Knight book, and everybody will be all like, “Dude! Moon Knight! No way!” and Bendis will all be like, “Totally man. I remember that dude!” and everybody will be all, “What a cool spin on such a dusty character.” and Bendis will be all like, “It’s just what I do, bro!”

And it will be in the Top 10, and it will rock. The end.

Paul Sebert: Bendis was among a few of the creators interviewed in a recent Wizard Magazine article showing some interest in Moon Knight, so I’m not really surprised. The question is, will people who aren’t familiar with the book’s run from the 80s, and consider Moon Knight to be a lame Batman wannabe buy it?

And how soon till Jesse Baker gives us an angry rant?

John Babos: Ehh. So what.

Ben Nagy: Given how unimpressed I’ve been with the Avengers Disassembled arc thus far, Mr. Baker might be getting another member in his cult (Namely me). If Avengers 502 falls flat and the whole “event” ends up being disappointing, then I think two things:
1. Bendis has over-extended himself and Marvel has put all of its eggs in the basket of one writer.
2. I hope Joey Q. likes omelets.
If Avengers 502 is awesome, then Moon Knight can be on the level of Daredevil as far as a gritty street-level realist hero goes, because Bendis has done a good job with DD.


Current Thor creative team to work on Beta Ray Bill mini-series

Paul Sebert: Whether it’s been guest-starring in Michael Avon Oeming’s Thor run or boxing in She-Hulk, this summer has been all about one thing: Beta Ray Bill baby! It’s high time the One True Thor gets his respects as the greatest character to ever wield the hammer. I hope this branches out into an ongoing the same way as Thor: Son of Asgard.

Ben Nagy: A Beta Ray Bill miniseries??!!! Man, I’ve been waiting since 1984 for that one! This must mean he survives the events of Thor 85, huh? As far as nobility, power and genuine coolness goes, Beta Ray is up there on my list of favorite Marvel heroes (see Thor vol. 1 337-339 if ya don’t believe me). Sign me up.


Covers to Identity Crisis #5-7 released

Jamie Hatton: #5 is incredible looking. It’s just a moving cover, and if that were sitting on a shelf of books, I would be intrigued enough by the cover to ask what the story was about.

Ben Morse: Absolutely gorgeous…and primed to fuel speculation.

Yep, that sure does look like Robin on #5…

#6 may be my favorite ID Crisis cover so far. Very powerful Batman image, showing the character in a position we rarely see him: overwhelmed.

#7 is certainly unique for the final issue of such a big series, and appropriate, given that it can actually be released this far in advance and not give anything away.

I dissed Michael Turner for his Teen Titans cover in my column this week, but he’s done great work on ID Crisis.


DC ships free copies of Fallen Angel #1 to retailers

Jamie Hatton: GOOD! Now as long as retailers don’t try and SELL them”¦dumbasses. If DC continues this practice, I will dance a jig. Taking quality sleeper hits and giving them out is a great idea. DC wants people interested in the trades, and they aren’t going to make ANY money on ish #1 again. They don’t give a damn how much the money is making on the resellers market, so eat a little on it and give it away. You WILL sell more trades that way.

Go DC. Keep trying to make people give a shit. I salute you.


J.M. DeMatteis & Mike Ploog attempt to wrest rights to Abadazad from CrossGen

Mike Maillaro (Nexus deadbeat #2): Good for DeMatteis & Ploog! If there is any justice in the world, they will win this!


RUMOR: The art team for Phil Jimenez’ long-rumored Troia mini-series: Jose Garcia-Lopez on pencils and George Perez on inks (credit: All The Rage)

John Babos: Well, I’ve continued to hear rumours about this, but I doubt the creative team will shake out as rumoured. A Jimenez Perez collaboration (minus Garcia-Lopez, although I am fan of his work) would work better considering the comparisons in style, etc.

I’d like to see a Troia book, but I think its too soon after Graduation Day and with the changes to Beast Boy, DC better know “who Donna Troy” is for sure (this time) for their next Troia-centric project or appearance.

Ben Morse: A dream creative team on one of my favorite characters, but I would rather see it be just Jimenez & Perez as each has a far more vested interest in and history with Donna Troy than Garcia-Lopez.

Jesse Baker (Nexus reviewer): If DC can screw up Doom Patrol like they have then there is no excuse to keep Donna Troy dead on the grounds of her being too continuity convoluted for people to understand. That being said, I’d love to see her end up in the pages of JSA or the new Green Lantern series (perhaps as Hal’s love interest?).

Just keep her away from Judd Winick and from the current incarnation of the Teen Titans (which can not die fast enough).

Tim Stevens (Writer of DC News & Views & Nexus reviewer): “Perhaps as Hal’s love interest”¦”that’s kind of creepy…like your dad dating your ex-girlfriend creepy.

Morse: Teen Titans at the moment is one of the gems of the industry, but I’m not going to bother outlining why as A) I just did in my column this week and B) I’m assuming Jesse has no basis for his own argument aside from “Johns is a hack.”

Tim Sheridan (Nexus reviewer & auxiliary Tim making his Roundtable debut!): I agree. I’m digging Titans right now too. I’ve never been a big fan of the team, but Johns really has infused the book with a lot of fun. Great character and action writing; It’s proud of its many years of continuity, but isn’t shackled by it; overall, a great book.

As for Donna, come on, did anyone really think she was dead for good?

Baker: For the most part I like John’s work but Teen Titans is pure shit and a classic example of when corporate meddling and DC’s general incompetence in terms of
making simple logic-based decisions and instead opting to make mistake after god-awful “You’ve got to be shitting me?” decisions towards preparing the book for launch, to such an extent that they had to pay Geoff a shitload of money (notice that he took the book immediately after quitting Marvel for his big money DC Exclusive Contract) to associate his name with the book and PRAY that people buy the book JUST because Geoff is involved and do not pay attention to the shit story and God-Awful writing on Geoff’s part.

That being said, if you want to pimp a book why not pimp Teen Titans GO!? It’s the superior Titans book and one that needs pimping MUCH MUCH more than that Geoff’s
TT book…

“Starman” Matt Morrison (Writer of Looking To The Stars): What if she comes back from the dead just in time for Kyle to die at the end of Green Lantern: Rebirth? And then we can do a whole issue with her standing over Kyle’s grave, vowing to do whatever it takes to save her and then going into the Greek Underworld to reclaim Kyle ala Orpheus? But she gets killed in the process and Kyle returns to the land of the living with an even greater guilt complex than he has already and steals the last Yellow Qwardian ring from Guy Gardner in order to go through reality to save her again…

You laugh as if this were totally impossible…

Baker: Nice idea but I have a small twist to that: She goes to the Underworld to save Kyle ala Orpheus but succeeds only to find that the newly resurrected Kyle is all evil and stuff, setting up his transformation as the new GL big bad. It would give Donna a new purpose, to stop the evil Kyle out of guilt and give her a reason to be a supporting cast member in GL as she ends up side-kicking with Hal in his various fights with evil Kyle.

Morse: I really hate to play this card, but it’s no secret that I know Geoff, that I am fortunate to speak to him on a regular basis, and believe me when I tell you that he is NOT on this book for the money, he is on it because he wants to be and because he loves these characters and what he is doing. You talk to him on the phone or in person and I defy you not to hear the love for what he is doing. Don’t believe me, ask Tim Stevens, because he heard it too.

As for the book itself…I don’t know what book you’re reading, dude, but this is quality, this is not a book that needs to be described with an expletive. I don’t need a long drawn out argument because I have the numbers on my side: Teen Titans is a well-selling book that rarely receives poor reviews if ever. Hell, my girlfriend, who never read comics in her life, is now becoming a fan because of Teen Titans.

The antiquated idea after over a year’s worth of issues that Teen Titans is a corporate book designed to tie in with the cartoon is absurd. If that’s the case, why have Starfire, Cyborg, Raven & Beast Boy all behaved as logical progressions of their previous characterizations within comics lore as opposed to being carbon copies of their characters on the TV show? Why is Wonder Girl in the book? Why is Superboy? Kid Flash? This is a book steeped in tradition that is true to the beautiful characters it is populated with and their histories. Teen Titans GO! is for the kids that watch the show. If some kid opens Teen Titans, they’re not going to find their favorite characters from the cartoon show, they’ll just find a damn good book.

Mike Maillaro: Personally, I think Geoff Johns is just about the more overrated writer in comics. He’s basically just a one trick pony: shock endings that rarely have a real pay off. I used to enjoy Johns, but over the last year, I have dropped everything by him I have read. Let me run down the list:

In general, Johns writes just about the worst dialogue in comics. All his characters sound the same, which isn’t so bad on a book like JSA, but in Teen Titans or Stars and STRIPE it just makes no sense.

Flash: Blitz was incredible, awesome ending which should change the status quo of Flash. But, then Johns started to hedge his bets. Now all the heroes know who Wally is, but no one else does.

JSA: JSA goes great story arc, bad story arc (or single issues, which are terrible. Johns is really a arc writer), with the bad issues just severely outweighing the good.

Teen Titans: I’ve commented on this endlessly. This is not the natural development for these characters based on anything we’ve seen before. They never wanted to be the Titans, they wanted their own identity. Impulse never wanted to be Kid Flash, he wanted to be himself. Superboy is actually half the clone of a villain? Guess what! He always was. So what? How anyone can say that this book isn’t written purely to cash in off nostalgia and the cartoon is beyond me.

Do you really think that lineup is a pure coincidence, Ben? All the Teen Titans from the cartoons, plus some Young Justice? Uh-huh. And John Stewart was in JLA because he is the most popular Green Lantern, not because he was in the Justice League cartoon. Let me ask this (and I don’t know the answer to this, because I haven’t read the book in ten issues): has this book caught us up with Arrowette, Empress, or Red Tornado? Has any Young Justice plotline been picked up on in Teen Titans?

Sheridan: They mention Ben in JSA, so that automatically makes it a quality book.

I also think there was a Tim Stevens reference back in the day in Darkhawk #12, but I can’t be certain.

Morrison: Actually, Arrowette DID make an appearance in an early Teen Titans issue. As I recall, Cassie was having problems getting into a ritzy private school because of her identity. Cissie stormed the office of the headmistress and said that if Cassie wasn’t going to be let in for being a superhero, than the school was going to loose their medal-winning archery prodigy.

Haven’t seen her yet though, which is a real shame. I’m dying for a story about her and Ollie Queen finally meeting.

Maillaro: Cool beans, Arrowette was my favorite YJer. Nice that at least some
part of YJ was remembered!

Stevens: Isn’t it funny how every month and a half to 2 months we end up in some argument about Geoff Johns and Titans? Well, funny to me anyway.

First, Ben’s right about Johns’ attitude. The man is no corporate schill and the man certainly isn’t in it for the money. In interviews, on panels, in person, he was always 100 percent genuine about his excitement for working in the world of comics. We wanna go after his books and criticize them? Cool, fine, fair is fair. But let’s not claim to know why he signed his contract or why he writes the titles he does, that isn’t all that cool at all.

As far as the team selected for Titans, there very well have been corporate pressure to use some of the characters he does. I wouldn’t know one way or another (although I would point out that it is made up of the most recognizable teen characters in the DCU and three of the most well liked and remembered from Wolfman’s era so, corporate or not, these might have been the choices). The introduction of the JLA thing only serves to muddy the waters and Johns has no role in that book at all. The long and short of it is this: yes, DC is corporate. Yes, they often make decisions to maximize their profits, like synergy between TV and comics. Sometimes they don’t (Catwoman anyway). In the end, if the story works, who really cares? And if doesn’t, doesn’t that have more to do with the writing, art, etc than whether or not Warner Brothers said, “Use that there Cyborg in the comics. He has pretty metal skin,” or whatever.

Maillaro: I don’t blame Johns for the way the team is made up. I just think
it’s naive to claim that it is just a coincidence. I wouldn’t say I know why he writes certain titles, but I don’t for a second think that this lineup wasn’t a directive from DC, to cash in on the cartoon and the nostalgia from the 80’s Titans.

On the other hand, I do blame Johns for making the book a pale successor to Young Justice. YJ was one of the most unique books in the market. TT is just YAWN-inspiring. Wake me up when Peter David, Waid, Busiek, hell even Austen, takes over the book.

Sheridan: Oh, I’m sure it was somewhat of a corporate mandate. The cartoon was about to start, along with the fact that 80s nostalgia was taking place, but I think Johns made it work.

As for Young Justice, the fact that it was unique is why it was cancelled. It wasn’t selling. People love the familiar and safe, so it was turned into just that, with the Titans.
That said, I’d love to see Mark Waid on this book. He doing much else besides FF right now? I’m blanking.

Maillaro: Re: Titans: Exactly! That is why I dropped the book so easy. I hate
safe and familiar. I’d rather read books like Fallen Angel, Young Justice, X-Statix, Orion, Starman, Preacher, Astro City, Sleeper, on and on, that actually try something unique. I personally think books like TT suck the energy out of the industry.

Re: Waid. He will be working on Legion of Super-Heroes. I think he has been taking good drugs, as he predicts it to be one of the top sellers of next year. Personally, I don’t think us Legion fans want all you newbies stomping about.

Sheridan: I like Outsiders a little bit more because it’s sort of a different take
on Titans, and while it’s not changing the way team comics are done, I still dig it.

Oh yeah, forgot about Waid and Legion. I have not read it before, so I will be a newbie, but I’m still gonna check it out, if you’ll let me.

Maillaro: I have been enjoying Outsiders, too. Winick has a good touch with
superhero books.

As for Legion, don’t get me wrong! We’ll welcome you with open arms, but we know we’ll be answering decades worth of questions. I have been a Legion fan for just over three years, and I did the same thing. But Legion fans are the best. When I got started, someone actually sent me a copy of Legion Lost 1 free of charge because I couldn’t find
it.

Morse: Mike, I’m just going to have to say to each their own and agree to disagree. You know that I loved Young Justice like no other and was sad to see it go, but I hardly blame Teen Titans for it’s loss and really do think it’s a great book in its own right. I personally love “traditional” books and if they’re good, I don’t see how they “suck the energy out of the industry.” The two Tims have both already stated the case I would have made anyhow (and with panache!)

Also, Secret appeared in issue #7 along with Arrowette.

Maillaro: See, now I have to go and pick up issue #7. Why didn’t anyone tell me?


Marv Wolfman working on Crisis On Infinite Earths novelization for the project’s 20th anniversary

John Babos: I’ve read about this too. I was on the John Byrne
forums a while back and I recall some folks, could have been Byrne as well (I don’t have total recall on that), chatting that without Perez on art Crisis would have been a lesser project. They view a novelization as the thing that will allow folks to judge the story on its story merits (which they think is not “all that” – as the kids say).

Personally, I can see their point considering the strength of Crisis was the art – all those gorgeous pages and tons of characters. I’m not sure if I’ll pick this up the way I did the Kingdom Come prose work, but we’ll see as I’m a Wolfman fan from his New Teen Titans and Deathstroke days.

Ben Morse: I have to strongly disagree about the art being all there was to Crisis. It was a huge draw, an amazing showcase for George Perez, but it was an incredibly epic story, the likes of which has never been matched, that gave all those characters something to do. Wolfman showed an (excuse the pun) infinite capacity for imagination and creativity. Both fitting that many characters and plots into twelve issues and then finding ways to resolve everything in the same span of time takes tremendous talent. Crisis was an extraordinary collaborative effort between the greatest writer/artist team this side of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby; I’m looking forward to see how Wolfman puts it into prose form.