I love Multiple Men! Er.... I mean Multiple Man

So, as those of you who've been paying attention know (that would be all zero of you), I've had this blogspot up for some time, but haven't done much with it. This is mostly due to the fact that I already have a blog, linked in the sidebar for your clicking pleasure.

The idea of two blogs is kinda sorta redundant, if you think about it. I mean, either you're just reposting the same thing twice for whatever reason, or you're merely updating individual sites half as frequently, in which case no one's the winner. And there NEEDS to be at least one winner, am I right?

The only point to having two blogs, I figured, was if they both were so drastically different as to serve two distinct purposes. Like, say, having one act as a sort of political soapbox and the other a day-by-day account of getting Derek to ask you to prom.

Anyways, that's just the sort of thing I'm going to do with this blogspot. Not the Derek thing. I don't know a Derek (oh wait I do... awkwaaard). No, I mean the do-something-different thing. My myspace page is pretty much devoted to random shpeals (shpiels? Shpeels?) of my everyday life. Which is actually pretty broadly defined, now that I think about it. But yeah, for the past little while I've been wanting to do comics reviews, though, and felt that it would really turn all my current myspace subscribers off. And hey, since no one's looking at this site, why not?

This is my first official review, so I'm still working out the details, but here's how it goes: Due to budget constraints, I am limited to only being able to buy 5 comics a week. I figure that each week I'll review each of the five I buy (maybe less on a slow week, more on a week where I've come accross some extra dough). Because I don't really have a critical eye for this stuff, reviews might come off as being sort of... unsophisticated. They may consist of such insightful comments as "I liked it when the funny man fell down" or "Car go boom! Yay!" but I'll try to keep this entertaining AND insightful. Though let's face it: if you're my intended audience (a comic book reader, that is) then you're probably only reading this so that you can compare my opinions to your own and feel better about yourself if they match up. Or superior if they don't. That is, IF you're reading this at all.

Okay. This week (oh boy isn't this exciting?):

FABLES #44

Oh yeah: I'm doing this in alphabetical order.

Issue 44 of Fables is written by Bill Willingham (Day of Vengeance) and drawn by Mark Buckingham (Sandman). I've greatly anticipated this issue, part 3 of the Arabian Nights (and Days) arc, all month. This is due to the cliffhanger of last issue, which was an uncharacteristic "Oh Sh*t!" ending- one that, and this doesn't happen often, actually left me screaming "oh my god. Y'all are FUCKED!" like a little school girl.

... actually, I don't know why a little girl would be saying that. Hopefully I'll never find out.

...also, I don't know why I put an asterix for "Sh*t" yet kept the word "Fuck" as is. Hopefully I'll never find out.

Anyways, yeah. Terrible peril. Impossible to escape. Bad news bears, it would seem. Then I pick up this comic, and what do you know? There WAS a solution after all, and that solution was magic. Whoopee-poo.

One thing I don't like about magic in stories is the sheer sloppiness that authors can get away with. I mean, there can always be a better spell that comes in handy at just the right moment. Think about it. Main character about to be eaten by crocodiles? He casts a "kill crocodiles" spell. Ooh, convenient. Main character got killed two episodes ago by an atomic bomb? Someone casts an "Undo death by atomic bomb" spell. Huzzah. Sure, it sounds goofy, but I find it happening all the time in stories, though less overtly. For example, I saw Narnia on tuesday, and while I enjoyed it, there was one part that really bugged me (SPOILERS I GUESS): A character is killed on this altar, but comes back. When he does, people are all like "huh wha?" and he's just like "oh yeah, there was this spell on the altar that said if anyone's killed in juuuuust the same way I was, they get to be revived." I call shenanigans.

To Willingham's credit, he's a bit more clever than that, and while the spell used to fix everything is a bit situation-specific, it's plausible that the spell-caster in question would have kept such a spell around. So I'll let him off the trivial hook. Besides, the rest of the story is solid stuff, with the exception of one part where Boy Blue is chastising Prince Charming, though he may as well be looking at the audience and saying "for those of you at home, Prince Charming is a FLAWED PROTAGONIST," to which Prince Charming would reply by turning to the audience and saying "That's right. I'm a FISH OUT OF WATER who BIT OFF MORE THAN I CAN CHEW." The whole exchange came off as character exposition, which is rare for this series, where the characters are usually so colourful that their actions speak for themselves.

One of the weaker issues of the series.

I cast my "Give this comic seven out ten" spell.

GHOST RIDER #4 (of 6)

Ghost Rider, when I was younger and lamer, used to be my favourite super-hero. Sure, the first half of this decade has not been kind on him (or unkind, or even neutral for that matter), but back then? His head was a skull! And it was on fire! Yay!

Beyond that? I got nothing.

In the latest attempt to revitalize the character, Garth Ennis has took an interesting approach: include as little Ghost Rider as possible. In issue one, he was featured on 4 pages. Issue two, 9 pages. Issue three, 12. This issue, we're back to 9 pages, one of which is him crushed underneath a Greyhound bus and therefore not actually IN the page. But I'm counting it anyways, for the sake of it.

Ennis has placed emphasis instead on the various antagonists of the series. In order for Ghost Rider (the series, not the skeleton dude) to work, these antagonists need to be able to carry the story. Which they sort of do, though the focus on characters in this issue takes away from the plot, which pretty much acts as a set-up for what I can only imagine will be the two issue long climax. Kazaan is made all the more vile after his backstory is given (tie anyone to the Nazis, and they're evil motherfuckers no question) in this issue. Father Adam's conversation with the Religious-wingnut-America-Fuck-Yeah old lady shows that maybe there are worse things to be than a priest who blew up a chapel. I have mixed feelings about Ruth's shift from unsettlingly unfazed archangel to the gun-totin psycho biker that the nineties forgot. Unfortunately, Mr. Gustav, in my opinion the most entertaining villain of the series, has been reduced to little more than "the generic servant" in this issue, though hopefully we'll see more of that Gustav spark before he's inevitably torn from flaccid limb to limb.

It should be noted that the art, which at the time of issue one made me feel I had to inject ecstasy into my eyeballs just to get what was going on, has grown on me. Either Clayton Crain has slightly lessened his dose of caffeine, or it's just something you get used to. I still don't even know how to begin looking at Kazaan, though.

On the whole, this series has read more like a "Preacher... only with Ghost Rider in it sometimes!" However, considering my undying love for that series, I'm fine with this.

6.5 lame flaming skeleton heads out of 10

GLX-MAS SPECIAL

This seemed like an odd choice comic for Marvel to release. The Great Lakes Avengers Christmas Special wouldn't really appeal to anyone who isn't a fan of the GLA, and I from what I know the GLA: Missassembled series didn't really sell well. Still, GLA was maybe my favourite miniseries of last summer, so I'm happy to see this comic.

All your favourite super-heroes are here: Flatman, Doorman, Mr. Immortal, Squirrel Girl, Big Bertha.... okay none of your favourite super-heroes are here. Still, there's something endearing about watching the worst (and apparently in one case, the best) super-heroes try to do what they do. But only if you've read GLA: Missassembled. If you haven't, the jokes will come off as being incredibly lame/not-gettable. Although now that I think about it, even if you have read GLA:M, a lot of the jokes will be pretty lame. But it works, because it keeps with the overall feel of the characters. It knows it's lame, which makes the book as endearing as the GLA themselves.

What's more, Dan Slott delivers some truly funny moments: the Grasshopper gag was a Spinal-Taplike treat for anyone who knows the character's history, and the real surprise for me was seeing the Tippy Toe storyline drawn by Mike Kazaleh, who I haven't seen since I was like six, drawing Ren & Stimpy. What a treat.

If you enjoyed GLA:M, this one will be right up your alley. Heck, if you enjoy Slott's work on She-Hulk, you'll probably appreciate a lot of the humour in this book. I for one hope to see the Great Lakes Avengers return sometime in the future, but given their marketability, I'm willing to accept the fact that it may be a while.

7.5 out of 10

SECRET WAR #5 (of 5)

Marvel's had some bad cases of releasing comics horrendously late. NYX took what? 3 years to be released? Spider-Man/Black Cat #4 came out like 2 years after #3. Which is really annoying, but in the looooong run, it shouldn't affect the quality of the run itself. Secret War is a different story, in that it was supposed to herald a major change in the Marvel Universe. But, see, it got delayed, so the change just sort of went ahead without it. So, when the BIG MOMENT happens in this episode, rather than going "Holy Moly! I'd like to see how this plays out!" you go "Oh, so that's what the hell's been going on for the last year."

Marvel dropped the ball. Seriously, when issue 1 and 2 came out (on time), people couldn't shut up about it. This was an IMPORTANT SERIES.

Then, nothing. It's been like two years, and issue five is finally coming out. And I gotta tell you: nothing kills hype like a good two years. I remember when this and friggin' Identity Crisis (!) were supposed to be the two most important events of 2004. DC:1, Marvel: 0.

As for the comic itself: its biggest problem is the "who cares?" factor. The heroes got mindwiped? Whoops, Identity Crisis beat them to it. S.H.I.E.L.D. launched a pre-emptive strike against another country? Whoops, Ultimates 2 beat them to it. Nick Fury goes into hiding? Whoops, we already know that because New Avengers came out on time.

The art's pretty good, though I think it's fair enough to say it's not worth waiting 2 years for. In that time, I could have friggin taught myself to paint that well.

Feh.

4 out of 10

X-FACTOR #1

Aw, sweet.

Up until now, Marvel's House of M and subsequent Decimation events haven't really intrigued me. I picked up the "Day After" one-shot just to get a hold on what was going on, and I'm not really impressed. Less mutants? It'll be undone within a year (it seems they might have already begun, after what happened in the last X-men issue). That being said, I really had to pick up this Decimation tie-in, not because I have any love for the event, but because Multiple Man is my favourite non X-Statix mutant. Actually, in the hands of Peter David, he just may be my favourite super-hero period. This issue does not disappoint.

Having been too young to read David's original X-Factor run (though I plan to go back and try to collect it) in the 90's, it wasn't until I read the Madrox mini-series last year that I started to really gain an appreciation for David's innovation. That innovation carries on into this current series, most notably in the very last two pages, which delivers a twist that, while probably will be quickly remedied by the beginning of issue two, is still quite a shocker, and says a lot about Madrox's character.

Also, the Decimation element of this issue is relatively sparse, and what's used is done so to good effect. I'm suprised that, considering how 90% or so of all mutants have lost their power, the only X-Factor member to do so is Rictor. However, while this does make the effect of House of M seem even more arbitrary and ambiguous, I'm pretty happy about this. It would be a shame if Decimation got in the way of my enjoyment of this series.

Lastly but not leastly, we have the artistic talent of Ryan Sook (Seven Soldiers: Zatanna). And when I say talent, I think I'm using an understatement. The art is gorgeous, yet at the same time toned down enough to capture the darker film-noir feel of the story. Perhaps Sook's strongest area is the face, where he can clearly depict subtle emotions, while only using minimal detail.

Buy this book. If only because I'd really hate to see it cancelled. Honestly, that would really piss me off.

9 out of 10


Okay, that seems to be all of them. Wasn't that fun? I don't know if I'll post a review next week (it being the holidays and all) but otherwise I'm going to keep this as a weekly thing.

Peace