NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor are their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.
Ed Brubaker signs exclusive deal with Marvel [Credit: Newsarama]
MATT “STARMAN” MORRISON: I’ll miss him on BATMAN, but if he’s taking over DAREDEVIL (as I heard he might be), then I can live with the loss.
PAUL “THAT IS THE QUESTION” SEBERT: Okay GOTHAM CENTRAL fans… all together with me…
“NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
That said, his CAPTAIN AMERICA run kicks serious ass, and I’d love to see the guy with a run on WOLVERINE.
“RABBLING” JAMIE HATTON: Well that seals that deal, doesn’t it? Well, good for Marvel for taking on a guy who will be able to hold up the quality of DAREDEVIL (assuming that’s where he goes *wink, wink*). The last batch of years with DAREDEVIL has been great – and the lull of a few months ago seems to be finally over with the Golden Age arc.
Now, what other books do you want to see Brubaker attack besides The Man Without Fear? It’s obvious he would do a good job if he was put on DAREDEVIL, or even DISTRICT X – albeit it would be a completely different vibe than Hine’s.
IAIN “THE HOST” BURNSIDE: The only Marvel title I would really like to see Brubaker’s take on has already been cancelled, namely MYSTIQUE.
Other than that, I wouldn’t mind seeing a Marvel ICON run of SLEEPER, but I doubt that they would be able to clear that one with the barely legal department.
NICK “TOTALLY BUFF” PIERS: I gotta go with everyone else and say I hope this doesn’t affect SLEEPER. GOTHAM CENTRAL still has Greg Rucka, so I’m quite happy. But Brubaker on Cap and possibly DAREDEVIL? Gotta love it.
WILL “PITT THE YOUNGER” COOLING: See, what Iain meant to write was “Brubaker decided to stop pissing around writing great comics that sell to less than 20,000 people and instead is going to write best selling comics for more money over at Marvel.”
Which is great naturally, it must be soul destroying to put your all
into a series and then see it struggle in the sales whilst X-MEN VS. THE FIERCE, PROUD BAD RABBITS glides into the Top 20. I’d be more upset if I’d stopped buying GOTHAM CENTRAL due to falling behind over a load of issues… Plus I don’t think there’s any real difference in quality between the two writers.
Now if Marvel can give us Brubaker/Phillips DD then I swear I’ll actually buy a Marvel comic… No honestly I will… Well in trades
naturally.
RUMOUR: Due to legal issues, Marvel’s WHA HUH? parody comic will not be released [Credit: Lying in the Gutters]
MATT MORRISON: Much as I love a good parody book, every thing I heard about this title sounded like a raised-middle finger at DC.
PAUL SEBERT: Another victim of the “Death of Irony” act signed by Congress in 2002. Rassafrackin’ Bush Administration…
JAMIE HATTON: Oh wah, wah, wah… DC and Marvel just need to get over themselves. I know Marvel likes to throw the dirty-dirt, but seriously – in the name of playful mocking, do we really need to hold up what is obviously a comedy book?
IAIN BURNSIDE: Maybe Marvel should also release a book called CITY OF HEROES…
NICK PIERS: Well golly gee, that’s too bad. (This comment brought to you by an avid player of City of Heroes!)
Still, is it just me or does it seem like Marvel has always been the WCW to DC’s WWF/WWE? The entire creation of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers came about thanks to the sprawling success of the JLA. And they’re always taking shots at DC while the DCU boys just keep chugging along with high quality stuff.
I say that even as a fan of some Marvel titles, but there are times that I’ve still questioned some of Marvel’s moves. See also: Disc, Identity.
WILL COOLING: DC are being petty and childish in stopping Marvel putting it out… which is ironic because Marvel was being petty and childish with the offending portions. I think this is more important than what people think; not due to the detail but because it just confirms that the Big Two comics companies take themselves way too seriously and its this that stops comics being mass consumed, pop culture.
Actually Nick (nice to see you again btw), I’d say that Marvel is the
WWF to DC’s NWA-the glitzy, moddish newcomer going up against the traditional and more intelligent established company. The WCW/WWF analogy doesn’t work as Marvel has consistently been the more successful company for some time now, which was never really true for WCW (two years isn’t a long time dammit)… Plus, have you seen WWE recently? Not exactly high quality stuff (although when you look at the 98/99 PPVs you realise they’re pretty shit as well).
Carrying this wrestling-comics analogical thingy on you could argue that Image is exactly comics version of WCW – hit it big for a brief time in the nineties so overturning a long established market status quo on the back of a couple of big titles/names. However, the boom was killed due to egos and politics leaving the company a shell of its former self as it alternates between trying to relive the past (SPAWN, SAVAGE DRAGON, etc.) and highly rated, intelligent work that’s none the less sells poorly (WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, BRIT). 2000AD is ECW – a cult company whose style was eventually copied by the main companies and whose talent is consistently raided by same companies except a handful of mainstays who after poor experiences in the mainstream are no longer willing/able to work for them. Indie comics are like Japanese comics – some excellent stuff in there but dismissed out of hand by most because it’s too alien and different when compared to what the average fan normally gets.
Fu** know what Dark Horse is (I would say NWA-TNA but I fear that such an insult would lead to their lawyers having a word with me).
IAIN BURNSIDE: Actually, the reason why DC is WCW is pretty straightforward and it’s all down to the big bucks of AOL-Time Warner. Marvel, like WWE, is the independent alternative that wound up as a mainstream commodity answerable to shareholders. The 2000AD-as-ECW analogy is pretty much spot on and in fact lends to further comparisons to be made between Mark Millar and Mick Foley, presumably with Grant Morrison playing Terry Funk. Image would probably be NWA-TNA in the sense that they both have clear roots to the soul-destroying, money-is-the-root-of-all-evil basis of the early to mid ’90s but are both quite capable of breaking through that barrier and producing some truly original and high-quality product – though paradoxically this scuppers their chances of reaching a wider audience. Dark Horse? That’s easy. ROH. Top quality output that is full of integrity, with just a little bit of pandering to the masses thrown in thanks to the likes of STAR WARS or special guest stars like the Midnight Express, Jeff Hardy, Mick Foley, etc.
WILL COOLING: I never get the big bucks’ argument with DC… I mean there’s no really evidence that Time Warner is pumping any serious money into DC – I mean every title has to break even, etc and it’s not like there’s a massive ad campaign being launched by them. Plus as Nick said, DC was first and has that contented arrogance that comes with it.
Btw Iain, God knows where the Foley/Millar angle came from – Millar was hated by 2000AD fans, you’ll be hard pressed to find a 2000AD fan of the period that viewed his contribution as a net positive one with his ROBO-HUNTER in particular being infamous (Alan Grant talked about writers he’d help make and how it included great writers like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Gordon Rennie, etc., then said something like “but I also helped Mark Millar, so my taste isn’t always good”). The period when he, Ennis and Morrison were the primary writers on it (due to Wagner, Mills and Grant all falling out with 2000AD editorial) is universally regarded as its low point. Morrison/Funk don’t sound right either as again Morrison was not a major commercial success in Britain although his work (save what he did on Dredd) is more fondly remembered than Millar’s even with all the lawsuits. [*]
Now Dark Horse as ROH makes sense although does that make Hellboy Samoa Joe or C.M. Punk? Maybe even Low Ki.
[*] It’s funny but Morrison had been trying for years to get into 2000AD to no avail and it was only an intervention by Alan Grant that got his foot in the door.
IAIN BURNSIDE: The big bucks argument is quite simple. Both companies are/were funded by the same corporation. Really, what more of an argument needs to be made than that? WCW could do whatever the hell they wanted and get away with it despite making a loss. DC can publish several Vertigo and Wildstorm books that sell about 10,000 copies a month and get away with it, whereas Marvel cuts books that fall below 25,000.
Foley = Millar because they are both capable of producing the goods but sadly seem to have fallen into the trap of taking themselves far too seriously. Funk = Morrison because they were mentors of a sort. That’s all. It’s not a great analogy or anything, but then I really don’t care.
Hellboy’s gotta be Joe. Abe Sapien is Punk. Straight Edge, muthatickla.
WILL COOLING: Yeah but they’re expected to make a return with trades, etc., so they’re not allowed to make a loss overall. Plus WCW was the for the most part a soulless piece of shit whereas DC rules!!!!
Yeah, or do you care about the analogies and you’re just trying to hide the fact that I’ve blown them out the muthafecking water!!!!!!!!!!! I RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IAIN BURNSIDE: No, I really just don’t care!
And if we want to get extremely pedantic, those WCW shows will make their money back when WWE peddles them on DVD collections and WWE 24/7. Next?
WILL COOLING: OH SPAM DARLING!!!!!!!!!
IAIN BURNSIDE: Actually, I envy you.
Brian Michael Bendis updates on NEW AVENGERS #7-9 and HOUSE OF M [Update: Pulse]
MATT MORRISON: Ah. Another bloated X-Men related crossover. See me not caring?
JAMIE HATTON: I am just completely apathetic to HOUSE OF M. Now, I am all for big wide crossovers. I’m one of the few, I recognize that. I didn’t mind the concept of ONSLAUGHT, for example. Fine, HEROES REBORN sucked, but hey… The good with the bad. When the details start coming out… the real details, then I’ll start swinging my opinion on it. We all know Bendis fails when it comes to the big team, and is much better with the individual character… but Whedon has had his grubby little paw in this project too, so I have more faith than I did.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Was that last sentence a Freudian slip? Mmm… Faith…
NICK PIERS: This gets a big “meh” from the shrug department. Moving on…
IDW to release ANGEL: THE CURSE mini-series, which follows on from events in season 5 of the TV show [Press Release: Released]
NICK PIERS: As a big fan of the Angel series (seasons 3&4 were like one big über-season), I’m totally reeking of can’t-waitness.
More Superman Returns casting news, including Famke Janssen & Daniel-Day Lewis as Lora & Jor-El, Jude Law as General Zod and Kevin Bacon as John Corbin [Credit: AICN]
NICK PIERS: Jean Grey is Superman’s mamma. Handlebar Moustache Guy is his father. Sky Captain is his worst enemy. And the guy that takes down giant sandworms is going to be a metallic mercenary.
Seriously though, the more I hear about these great castings, the more I’m crossing my fingers and whispering “Please don’t screw this up! Please don’t screw this up! Please don’t screw this up!”
And Jude Law as Zod is bloody brilliant. Come to me, Son of Jor-El! Kneel before Law!
Frank Miller discusses ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN [Discussion: Newsarama]
NICK PIERS: Not enough to spark my interest yet. Morrison has got me waiting on pins and needles for his Superman, though! That’s despite Quitely’s art.
Mike Carey & Jae Lee to follow Mark Millar & Greg Land on ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR [More: Millarworld]
MATT MORRISON: After the combined efforts of Millar and Ellis, I doubt even Carey can make that title readable. I hope he can prove me wrong.
New ASTERIX book to be released on 14th October [Details: Here]
MATT MORRISON: I’m not a fan, but I know lots who are. I’ll be glad to have this to point them to rather than several out-of-print American collections.
Fantastic Four movie pushed back to avoid War of the Worlds [More: The Beat]
MATT MORRISON: This does not bode well. Apparently they are not confident in the flicks ability to beat yet another Tom Cruise vehicle….
IAIN BURNSIDE: To be fair, War of the Worlds is a bit more than just another Cruise vehicle. For starters, it’s a Spielberg film. Secondly, it’s based on one of the most well-known science fiction stories of all time. Thirdly, by all accounts, it’s really pretty good. I’d say it was an even split between that and King Kong for the highest grossing film of 2005, with Batman a chance outsider… As for the FF flick itself, well, let’s just say that it is the one Marvel film that I have absolutely no faith in whatsoever. And that includes Man-Thing.
PAUL SEBERT: I’m really looking forward to this movie despite some god-awful music used in the first teaser trailer. And I’m a little sad to see it pushed back but… really you just don’t compete with Spielberg.
New Batman Begins trailer [Download: Here]
MATT MORRISON: Not as good as the first trailer. Though we do see a lot more of Batman, I liked the earlier one because it didn’t seem like it was talking about Batman at first. Conversely, this one is more focused on Batman and yet looks more like a generic action movie than before.
IAIN BURNSIDE: True. It does seem to indicate that they’ve finally given Bruce Wayne a sense of humour though. Hell, in those Schumacher films Wayne was the brooding one and Batman was the quipper… Plus, that Batmobile does indeed look cool as all hell.
PAUL SEBERT: I saw it at the Superbowl and I really enjoyed it, particularly the little peek at the Scarecrow which actually looked pretty legitimately scary.
Not too crazy about the Bat-Hummer.
Harry Potter & The Comic That Should Not Be [Details: Newsarama]
MATT MORRISON: Oh lord… what’s next? Suing MAD Magazine for Harry Potter and The Search For More Money?
IAIN BURNSIDE: The makers of the Barry Trotter books must be shaking in their shoes…
Money Well Spent
The Nexus crew discuss their weekly purchases…
IAIN BURNSIDE: JLA #111 – They’ve finally got around to some action, but I still have no sodding clue about the Qward aspects of the story. Then again, I did make the mistake of trying to read this last night/this morning after a lot of drink. I wound up falling asleep by page 2 and kinda smeared my bagel all over it and scrunched up the cover by the time I woke up.
Iain’s Bagel – Pastrami, mature cheddar, tomato, lemon & coriander humus. Nice.
JSA #70 – What was the point of that Stargirl bit last issue then? I mean, really?
DOC FRANKENTSTEIN #2 – Coincidentally, I was reading this whilst in a pub called Frankenstein’s. I had a spicy veggie burger and a beer. It was most choice. Much like this comic, which is shaping up to be a consistent mindfu** with an actual story, as opposed to SHAOLIN COWBOY, which is just a consistent mindful**. The V FOR VENDETTA poster at the back of the issue also gave me chills. Remember, remember, the source material… please….
THE HIRE #2 – Picked this up only because my Comic Book Guy told me it was written by The Chin himself. Nice enough read but not enough to get me to stick around for any more issues.
EXCALIBUR #9 – Why did I buy this? Morbid curiousity? Masochistic
tendencies? Hell, I hadn’t even been drinking by this point. Such a bad series that farts all over everything that has been going right in the X-books for the past five years. And there wasn’t a lot of that to begin with. Does not bode well for HOUSE OF M at all.
VIMANARAMA! #1 – my pick for book of the week, hands down. The AICN reviewer basically summed it up neatly when he said it neatly combines the two different versions of Morrison stories – the OTT sugar rush as seen in the likes of JLA CLASSIFIED and the more cerebral, mythological titles like SEAGUY. It’s also pretty damn funny too. And the art? Pitch-perfect. How Morrison can give us something as good as this after something as equally good as WE3 is beyond me, but he’s at the top of his game right now. Can’t wait for SEVEN SOLDIERS!!
WILL COOLING: Got SHIMURA and ROBO-HUNTER from Amazon on Wednesday – both are excellent quality although SHIMURA does get ropey with some of the later stories. However, it has what must be Frank Quitely’s best art (not black and white like I mistakenly typed last week) as his gorgeous paints add some much texture to his line work; especially with the slightly techno-punk anima influence he adopts. Honestly, if you want to know why he is one of the top 5 artists in recent comic history then you have to check out his earlier work that he painted himself (most of which is contained in MISSIONARY MAN and SHIMURA trades).
I’ve also ordered two trades of TRANSMETROPOLITAN (5&6), so continuing my collection; may push out next month and complete the whole set. I’ve also ordered FAKE VOL. 1 and GRAVITATION VOL. 1, both of which are gay-lit manga comics… all of which sounds great! Not as great as the awe-inspiring sci-fi, multiverse hopping, mind bending excellence that was the three LUTHER ARKWRIGHT trades (two of which I had to read in the bus station whilst I waited for two friends to get ready for a night on the town [*]). Some excellent stuff there, especially the Cromwellian Britain.
I also have sitting in my standing order VIMANARAMA #1 and yep, Iain’s right, Morrison is the muthafu**ing man at the moment with both of his past two minis being sheer genius. Phillip Bond is a great artist as well whose anarchic, poppy style is just perfectly suited to Morrison’s style… I think I may explode when SEVEN SOLDIERS starts.
I’ve also got CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA #1 & 2 sitting waiting for me on the recommendation of Iain… so if they’re sh** that’s another
drink he owes me when we get to Bristol.
Naturally I got 2000AD and JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE; 2000AD was okay – SECOND CITY BLUES and a sub-standard NIKOLAIR DANTE strip are dragging it down a bit sadly, although having Disraeli on a Wagner
Dredd is quality (gotta love Disraeli). The Meg was great; good close
to the Dredd and Young Middenface stories whilst the continuing Anderson and Shimura stories are great reads. Very good stuff.
[*] Had finished in town at about 5.30 after having my haircut and
getting my friends birthday card and a spicy chicken pasty (mmmm) and we due to meet up at the latest 8:00 but probably 7.30. Now I live an hour away from Leicester so there was no point me going home just to come back so I waited at the bus station… only for my friends to delay coming out until 9 o’ clock… D’oh!!!!
JAMIE HATTON: It seems BILL & TED was the book to buy this past week as I got mine to fulfil my Dorkin purchase this year. One of the most under-spoken indy writers out there. I also grabbed the RUNAWAYS digest, as they are great shelf fodder and I’ll probably reread them all again. Dani always grabs the ULTIMATE X-MEN trades (she is a daughter of the TPB age) – we also grabbed PVP VOL. 2
IAIN BURNSIDE: For the record, Andy was right last week – I did love that BILL & TED book. Anytime Death gets drunk, surly and a little bit horny it’s always good for a laugh (see: Family Guy, Discworld, etc.)
NICK PIERS: JSA #70 – The set up was fascinating for the last issue but now we’re three issues into this story arc and not a whole lot has happened. I’m still loving it and curious about who the new Injustice Gang is and whether they fit into this arc or something for later. Still, JSA is still and has been for awhile, one of the best monthly titles out there. Those that are not picking up should be ashamed to call themselves a comic book fan.
MAXIMUM CARNAGE TPB – *Shrug* I have fond memories of this back when it first came out. Sure, it’s all a big ass fight, but it’s good for what it is.
