Desaad

March 6, 2012 12:16 pm I've been loving this series, with a couple of exceptions. The first three issues were great, 4 was a drop off, but then 5 and 6 were some of the best single comics I've read since...well, since Batman Leviathan finished up, unsurprisingly. Loving this series.

March 6, 2012 12:15 pm What an incredible book this has been. Made even better that it took me completely by surprise - Lemire's mainstream work had been okay to mediocre previous to this (Superboy, the Atom). This is so much more in his wheelhouse, it's scarey. Hugely excited for more, though I'm gutted Foreman had to go. I understand his reasons, and respect them, I just thought he was perfect for this book. Pugh will be spectacular as well, I'm sure, but that horror design Foreman injected into the book was flawless. Looking forward to this, Swamp Thing, Lemire's JL Dark in a couple of issues, and Kindt taking over Frankenstein for Lemire!

March 6, 2012 12:09 pm I should mention -- cream of the creator owned crop. Morrison is still the most impressive comic book writer writing books in the mainstream, period. And I expect he'll be doing the best creator owned stuff once his Vertigo and Image series' come out. Cannot WAIT for more Seaguy!

March 6, 2012 12:03 pm Definitely excited for the return of Ann Nocenti. Cannot wait for that. Hickman's Manhattan Projects looks promising. I hope he does something resembling character work and constructs something that looks like a plot here, rather than the phoned in shock value 'writing' he demonstrated on SHIELD. The guy is capable of incredible stuff when he's on - Fantastic Four - but he's still got some fundamental weaknesses that need shoring up. Still more excited for his creator owned stuff, and the potential I see, than all but a handful of guys (Snyder, Lemire, Gillen, Aaron, Azzarello and Hickman are the cream of the crop right now)

February 2, 2012 3:41 am That was the Queen piece from chess that they were forming.

October 6, 2011 6:04 pm Rob3E - if you're struggling to remember what it reminded of you, you're looking for the lead up of American gothic, specially in the agents sent by the Brujeria http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/beatzosan/comics/st48/invunche1.gif http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/beatzosan/comics/st48/invunche2.gif http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Invunche_%28New_Earth%29

September 15, 2011 11:15 am Captain Marvel has been notoriously difficult for DC to get a hold of, in regards to putting out something of real relevance and power. But the possibilities of the character are really quite endless, I think, demonstrated not just by the franchise's popularity in the 50s, or by Alan Moore's successful play and reinvention of the concept in Marvel/Miracle Man, but also by the success of something like Harry Potter. Whatever one might say about median age or sophistication comic fans, the majority of the comic book reading public is still in it for the power fantasy and escapism. And Marvel satisfies that like few other characters. Why DC has been unable to really do something vital with this character has been the subject of debate for a while now -- and more informed men and minds than I have certainly hashed it out for a while -- but I suspect it has a lot to do with our habit to look backwards rather than forwards (and by 'we', I suppose I mean humanity, but most especially that small, spectacle-wearing, mushroom-fleshed segment of humanity that call ourselves comic book fans). Marvel has never been modernized, never been made complex, never really been made a character. So without further ado, I present... Story direction for Captain Marvel – Just as Captain Marvel is one big metaphor for growing up, the run follows a sort of lifecycle. First arc, birth– nod to miracle man, Dr. Sivana has trapped Captain Marvel in a universe he constructs, designed specifically to keep him pacified. Has an ideal life, with living parents, friends, family. He has dreams, more real than anything waking, stripped-wire phantasms crackling with a vitality missing from his day to day life, but filled with horror and tragedy as well. Outside, the lack of the earthly plane of existances’ chief magical protector causes all sorts of otherworldly magic to pop through. Billy has to ‘birth’ himself, leave the womb of his comfortable universe into the harsh reality of the real world. He’s not angry at Sivana, though. Grateful, even, maybe, for that brief time of happiness, that respite. He’s a child, still, and so he still knows how to enjoy what he has rather than dwell on what he’s lost. Second arc, learning to walk – Exploring the extent of his powers, his physical abilities in the new magical universe, what he’s capable of and what he isn’t. Add some new ones, take away some old ones. Put him up against some new physical threat. In his mortal life he struggles with establishing a life for himself, learning to ‘walk’ in the real world. Third arc, learning to talk – faces some magical/mystic threat – Mordru, Wotan, Warlock of Yz etc - has to learn about the magical aspect of his abilities, spells and perceptions and the rules of magic. Defeats the foe through exploitation of the rules of magic and some minor, minor spellcasting. In his personal life, he struggles to find a ‘voice’ for himself as a kid blogger. Fourth arc, family – in his personal life he deals with his own lack of family, the sense of lonliness and alienation that comes with that. As Captain Marvel, deals with a magical war of gods, finds that the conflicting sides are family. Family isn't flesh and bone, but what you make of it. You never get to choose your family - not even if you're an orphan - and none of them are perfect. fifth arc, struggling with love – in his Captain Marvel life, faces some sort of mystical god or demon of lust. In his personal life, begins to develop a relationship, his first girlfriend. The two 'stories' overlap in that he begins to see the difference between lust - what he feels for this girl when they are alone - and love - an emotion that comes with time and knowledge and real intimacy. He got into the relationship for lust, but in time it has developed into more. Armed with this distinction, he confronts this creature of Lust - a being who truly believes herself to be a Goddess of Love - and shows her her true nature, her true face - that she is nothing of the kind, that she had deluded herself, that she isn't making people fall in love, she's just unleashing their basic urges. Horrified, confronted by the truth of her emptiness, she kills herself, controlled by her PASSIONS to the bitter end. 6th arc, struggling to maintain his identity – In his superhero life, faces some new version of Mr. Mind, the thought parasite that spreads, invades, via sound.The idea of one giant being shattered, a fractal mind, a consciousness big enough to fill a multiverse, and he’s slowly trying to reclaim it, trying to rebuild his sentience. Each person contains one infinismal fraction of the grand whole. In his personal life, previously, he’s struggling to fight censorship, to stand up for the integrity of his work in the face of pragmatic pressures from people in authority, etc. 7th arc, learning to manipulate society rather than be manipulated by society – faces the internet God, the idea that it’s become the most powerful god of all, a patchwork god with unbelievable knowledge and unimaginable depravity. Has to somehow quell it. Fed by billions masturbating, eating, learning, etc in it's name. In his personal life, defeats the forces arrayed against him and the freedom of his expression in the last arc. A subplot, I guess you'd call it, with the last arc ending on his work being shut down, and this one ending with him having successfully out maneuvered them. 8th arc, Odyssey – an other dimensional tour around the various realms of magic. At least 5 or 6 issues, making up an Odyssey, sort of like “Prime Elements” in Hickman’s Fantastic Four. Realm of fiction (like in Cornell’s FF True Story), realm of faerie, etc etc. Allegory for the new sociologically recognized stage of development, Odyssey, where one travels to different countries and cultures and experiences new ideas. If I have time later I'll elucidate upon some of the worlds -- I've got a lot of fun ideas for this one. 9th arc, bringing it all together – Return of Dr. Sivana, another reference to Miracle Man where the rest of the run is ‘revealed’ to be another illusion, that he had never really escaped from the pocket universe at all, asking did he think it was coincidence that each challenge was such obvious allegory for growing up, etc. Captain Marvel might have fallen for it at one point, but his trials have taught him who he really is, have allowed him to see the world for what it really is, and he’s no longer to be fooled by corporate-generated illusions designed to prey upon his fears and desires.He knows that everything that happened has been real, is absolutely true. He defeats Sivana (who is armed with all manner of super science weapons and henchmen). And that is what I would do with Captain Marvel.

July 13, 2011 5:33 pm Super computer = Supreme Intelligence of the Kree, a composite/amalgam of all the greatest minds of the Kree race, traditional ruler of the Empire. The slaughter explains why there are only a few INhuman races rather than hundreds or thousands, not that it ever needed to be explained.

I thought it was crystal clear and done well enough, but it's not at all compelling, and nothing actually happens. NO characters exist here. Typical Hickman book - some creative concept, obviously the work of a razor sharp intellect, but devoid almost totally of characters and of plot.

July 13, 2011 5:33 pm Super computer = Supreme Intelligence of the Kree, a composite/amalgam of all the greatest minds of the Kree race, traditional ruler of the Empire. The slaughter explains why there are only a few INhuman races rather than hundreds or thousands, not that it ever needed to be explained.

I thought it was crystal clear and done well enough, but it's not at all compelling, and nothing actually happens. NO characters exist here. Typical Hickman book - some creative concept, obviously the work of a razor sharp intellect, but devoid almost totally of characters and of plot.

June 30, 2011 2:58 pm @glennism - I think what people are saying is that the 90s focus on gimmickry over quality drove fans away. A large portion of the buying public at that point wasn't reading the book, just buying them as an investment. The companies geared their practices towards that group, but it was an unsustainable base. When they realized their investments were useless and worthless, they left. But the people that had been reading the books themselves, they were disaffected by the downturn in quality of a lot of them, the focus on marketability rather than storytelling. And so they left to.

Not to say everything of the era was bad, but I think people are generally speaking to this when they say it drove fans away. No one was afraid of all the gimmicks, it's just that the gimmicks took precedence over story quality.