September ended and nobody woke me up?

Hey superfriends! Elias here. So It's mid-October and the first issues of the "new 52" have come and gone. I know, I know, where was the Starfire controversy post!? Where was the Catwoman post? What happened to the post on "cheesecake" in comics? What happened was I had a lot planned to write about the first month of issues (trends, controversy, analysis) but wow does time move fast! I had mid-terms at my University so I was thrown into a state of "keeping my head above water" so to speak. But hey, all is not lost, those posts will be filed away for later, now instead of me weighing in on all the past controversy (there is a tide), I'll just cough up some nice breath-defying opinions on the first month of me as a weekly comic reader!

Favorite Book of the Month goes to...

Batgirl

Not only was this issue packed with throwbacks to “The Killing Joke” (a favorite) which for obvious reasons was a HUGE character point for Barbara Gordon, this issue does something that I have seen very few comics do. Move. The art literally jumps off the page. I can just feel Barbara leaping off a roof and vaulting through a window, I'm experiencing the inertia with her as she goes from static to dynamic. As I was reading my eyes moved constantly from the text to the art to the text to the art, I felt Barbara's movements mirroring my eyes. I witnessed her unadulterated joy just from the simple act of moving, and it made me feel that joy.

It's something I have absolutely no doubt that was intentional, because, although I am a new reader I had known of Barbara in her Oracle days, and juxtaposed with that it seems clear that we're supposed to feel her sense of liberation, communicated to us from her free range of motion. It puts on an aesthetic of movement; it's genuinely fun to watch Barbara move around. Now, as I write that it immediately sounds kind of skeezy and creepy, but honestly, in much of the same way a Greek statue communicates motion, it's a beautiful thing to see. 

Amount to the same thing.

These two things...

Least Favorite Book of the Month...

Green Arrow

Ugh. Now this one hurts. I've been told that Green Arrow for a long stretch was a joke, he was a left-wing wise cracking billionaire who made jokes about liberalism while shooting his boxing glove arrows. This isn't the Green Arrow I got to know however. When being introduced to the character I was given Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Quiver, a ten issue run by Kevin Smith. What I found in these titles wasn't a left leaning Robin Hood, but more of a less stressed Batman. What I mean is, Ollie wants to be happy, and being Green Arrow and cleaning up crime makes him happy. Ollie wants to have some fun and kick it with Black Canary. Ollie wants to be on the Justice League and save the world.  

But mostly Ollie wants to flaunt his "Daddy's home" eyes

I don't know exactly what was wrong with this new version of Ollie, but it just didn't sit right with me. Maybe it was the bland action, the vanilla villains (a female Goro who "terrorized Milan during fashion week"?), the flat one liners ("Multi-tasking is my specialty"?), or the fact that his five o'clock shadow was a pale comparison of what used to be. It just didn't excite me. Issue one summarized it best,

I got no time for losers

Biggest Surprise of the Month...

Supergirl

Here is an example of doing it right. What is it? Hell if I know, but it's doing it. I've never read a Supergirl comic before this so from context clues of earlier Superman comics, facts my friends told me, and a movie called Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, I have a cursory knowledge of details related to Supergirl. I'm told she's Superman's cousin, has some daddy issues, and for a time had to grapple with her powers. -But- Knowing next to nothing about Supergirl prior to this, if I know one thing after reading, it's that She. Is. A. Badass. There is a scene in which Supergirl is overwhelmed by her super hearing and is bombarded by a variety of dialogue from other DC titles happening concurrently. It was a simple, flavorful, and elegant way to tie together this universe DC is selling. Perhaps my favorite scene of the month showed up in this book, it's a snowy realization of waking up on a different planet separated from your loved ones and anything you ever found familiar. It's simple, it's powerful, it's heart-wrenching, and I really felt the loneliness inherent in being alien. When Superman comes in with the compassionate "Stop", I felt like a blanket had been laid over me, like my Dad had just told me "everything's gonna be alright". It was an incredible feeling I was not looking for when I started this, but here we are.
Wow, and I'm catching myself rambling, so until next time...

Take Care,
-Elias

Thoughts, Opinions, & Ruminations - Belated DC Relaunch Post

[Thoughts, Opinions, & Ruminations is what we here at the Nerd Goggles Bloggle use to denote a post of sort of often long-winded rambly thinking on a topic. I mean, yes, it sort of explains itself, doesn't it? There will always be a standing & moderate SPOILER WARNING for anyone unfamiliar or not up-to-date on said topic. But if you are, please, Read On!]

First, since I'm still finding my sea legs on the big ol' scooner that is bloggin', I am going to go ahead & quickly throw out my thoughts on the DC Relauch altogether & Justice League #1, which came out LAST Wednesday. This will help to balance my lack of book-having.

Let us commence!

ONE: FEAR & ACCEPTANCE
So this was it, right? A few months ago, I was moving into my new apartment & checked my email, & I found out that while I was busy packing & unpacking boxes that day, the DC Universe had decided to go away. I freaked out, like most of the internet did, out of what can now be called panic, or fear.
As details arose, my panic soothed & my excitement grew. Since about Day 3 I decided I was going to be as optimistic as I possibly could be. So things were changing. They'd changed before. Once I found out that I was going to (mostly) have all the same characters I've loved & enjoyed for so many years running around, & that they'd be getting makeovers & fresh talent & so on, I buoyed. I listened to every rationalization from the creators, every pitch & spiel,  & I thought: Why Not?

TWO: EXCITEMENT
The bog change for me--when I stopped Trying to be excited & actually Became excited--was San Diego Comic Con. No, I wasn't there in person, but I listened to the podcast recordings of the panels. & to be honest, aside from the hot-button & important issue of women in comics, which could have been handled better (note: after the fact, it was?) I was very happy. Listen, I've been to a lot of comic book conventions & sat in on a lot of panels. I've been sold to, I've been lied to, I've been misled & surprised, never in a malicious way, but these are PR gigs at the end of the day. & what I heard from some of the writers on the New 52 DC panels was something different. What I heard coming from the mouths of writers like Scott Snyder, Paul Cornell, Josh Filakov & others could be described as nothing other than passion. These were guys who weren't part of a marketing team, aren't partial to some of the usual hype machine bidness that tends to go down at cons. They were just damn excited to be talking about books that, frankly, they sounded damn excited to be writing. & that grabbed be hard. I mean, I don't think I would have given I, Vampire much of a glance, but after hearing Filakov discuss it? Man, I'm in. I started reading every drop of news I could about the relaunch, & could not wait.

THREE: MALAISE
& then, I was waiting. July & August for DC comics felt...eh, I don't know. I'm sure I had the wrong reaction. I mean, I wasn't like some, who sneered at all of the books that were coming out between then & the relaunch were useless & not worth reading, but for whatever reason, I was having a hard time being excited for them. I mean, in theory, it was an end of an era, & the perfect time to just go all-out "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" style grand & finish out the books. But DC said they didn't want to go that route, likely as to not confuse newer readers, who would be off put by a book having an "ending" & then restarting the next month. & yes, some of the stories did wrap up nicely, but I missed a lot of them. The truth is, I'd fallen behind on my DC reading a while before that. In some part because of my Real World shenanigans & responsibility, but also because I wasn't feelin' the proverbial heat. Aside from some choice titles, DC books weren't often at the top of my reading pile any more. Actually last January I was remarking to people that for the first time in many, MANY years, I was more excited for Marvel & various Indie books than I was DC. I was buying some of them out of habit, & cancelling others. Some titles, I'm sure I'll go back & read the last few months in one sitting, some, I might not. All in all, I was so excited by the New 52 & so bleh about many DC books that it just wasn't happening. (On the bright side, this did give me a chance to try out some other books I might not have, & also get caught up on Marvel's Fear Itself story. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Scott Snyder's run on Detective was, despite all of the things listed above, both an amazing DC title & one of the best Batman runs I've ever read. If not THE.)


FOUR: ACTUALIZATION
So it rolls around, & I'm somewhere between crazy excited & cautiously guarded. August 31st does, I mean. I walked to a midnight opening near my house, & while it wasn't the party I was hoping for (& that some people had, in spades) it was fun enough. It was basically like any busy Wednesday in a shop, except it was dark outside & everyone was tired. I got my books, walked home in the rain with a Vitamin Water (the lemonade flavor, for you detail groupies) & quietly sat down to read. Flashpoint #5, I mean, come on. I don't really have to say much. Was it a decent written & well-drawn story? Yes. Did it have exciting moments? Sure. Was it confusing & sparse? Yep. Did it feel a little forced & shoehorned? Of course. Look, it was a means to an end, & everybody knows it. & when it came down to it, I didn't care. It was interesting enough, & it got us where we were going. The last several pages, were Barry speaks to a new (& much more in touch with his Bat-feelings) Bruce, I was in. I was. When Barry handed him the note, & the tears ran, I held my breath. This was different. It was familiar, too, & that's what counted. There may have been extra lines on the suits & whatever, but this was the Bat Cave. This was Bruce addressing Barry by his first name. These were friends. & THAT is what I was looking for, that was my anchor. The emotion therein had me prepared to go forward into this new era, & so I did.

No one will ever, ever convince me that Hal's phallic...er...'minigun' was an accident.

FIVE: FUN
& so I read one of the most anticipated books in a WHILE. Here were my thoughts:
FAST: I was surprised by how quick it went by. I think Johns' bouncy pacing & Lee's big pages, for better or worse, had the story moving at a very zippy pace. Relatively speaking, of course. In the old days, wayyy before me, one issue of a comic told an entire adventure that would likely take between 3 & 6 nowadays. This story only covered about 10 minutes or so of time, but it never really paused to breathe, save for maybe the lil mini Cyborg interlude. Overall I think it worked.
BLACK & GREEN: But the hopping along didn't mean we didn't get characterization. We did. Well, for Hal & Bruce. We learned very fast that Batman enjoys employing fear & is a cynical, untrusting rooftop runner & that Green Lantern is an almost cartoonishly overconfident dude-lar who is really enjoying his newfound power & being a superhero. Some people have been saying that Hal's arrogance was much too heavy in this issue, but I think it works well. We're supposed to roll our eyes. He's a rookie who thinks he's too big for his britches. I have a feeling that once the story leaps forward 5 years, we'll see a different, more leveled Hal Jordan. From a business standpoint I understand why these two were front & center. It's no mystery. These are the big book movers & this was a try for grabbing new readers & keeping the recent additions. So the headliners are front & center. Okay. Not my favorite choice, but it went all right. We obviously get Supes next ish, & hopefully Diana & Arthur after that. I have a feeling that Vic/Cyborg is going to be the audience-avatar character who gets brought into the world along with us. ...once he gets blown to s**t of course. (Spoilers?)
FUN: Yes. This is the watchword. Geoff Johns stated at SDCC that he was going to try & make his books more fun, & more than that, Funny, & he succeeded. I laughed out loud at this comic, which I did not expect. It was a little silly, & Hal's jokes were a bit on the nose, but it worked. I could get used to this.

SIX: FUTURE
I tried my very best to read this as a newcomer first, not as a longtime reader. Early on Batman said something & I thought "Well I don't know that Bats would say that..." & I stopped myself. Yes, he would. I was learning what Bats would & wouldn't say Right Then, on the page. Things were different, & I think they were for the better. I have showed Justice League to a few "non-comic" readers, or really, non-superhero readers, & their reactions have been positive. The book as a fun, winking intro works very well. This, for me, makes up for the lack of "meat" inside. I am fully aware that this is a launch, & it needs to feel like one. I get that, & I'm happy to be excited & get to rediscover a shiny new-ish version of this world. More than anything, really, I want it to WORK. I mean, I know comics can't go on like this for tooooo much longer. Printed, I mean. I see the changes on the horizon. What's important to me is that the characters & the stories survive in some way. If this relaunch is the first step toward that, then I am all for it. If the new readers coming on now are going to be more willing to follow comics onto screens & beyond, then please, bring the buggers in. Let's do this.

Right?

Viva Fabulae!

- Goggles