Josue
Name: Joe Cannon
Bio: Long time comics reader - "The Death of Phoenix" (with Scott & Jean on the cover) was the 1st issue of X-Men I ever read. Loved X-Men & Spider-Man as a kid, along with Micronauts, ROM (hey, I was young) and G.I. Joe (for the 1st twenty issues or so). "Dark Knight" came out when I was in high school & I've been a Batman fan ever since. "Born Again" was the 1st Daredevil series I read & I followed that for years. I stuck with comics all through college & the dreaded 90s, checked out through most of grad school & most of my early professional career but came back with a vengance about two years ago. I'm somewhat of a closeted fan (none of my friends read comics anymore) but my wife is cool with it, so that helps. Reading this site & listening to the podcast is a great outlet because (outside of comic store visits, which are quick) this is the only way I get to talk about my semi-secret hobby. I-Fanboy turned me onto Y The Last Man & Green Lantern - two comics that couldn't be more different, but I couldn't enjoy more.
Really enjoyed the show. Very thoughtful and interesting.
As a teenager, I really liked Wolverine - particularly reading the Miller miniseries. I always liked that despite all his strength & powers, the one thing he can't seem to master is ... himself. I loved that take on him - the slightly tortured guy who wants to be more than he is. Plus, he had major anger management issues and most teenage guys can relate to that.
I also loved Daredevil because he turned his greatest liability into his greatest strength - what could be more heroic than that? Also, he hooked up with all the best superhero chicks and most teenage guys would like to be able to relate to that.
Lastly - Batman - for all the reasons Connor said - "If I work out REAAAALLLLY hard everyday, maybe I could be that tough" - until you discover girls, junk food and beer and lose focus ;-)
This was a so-so issue for me. The idea of the battle & the fake out was cool, but space battles are rarely very visually exciting in comics as they are in movies. They just don't translate well without seeing actual movement - it sucks the energy out of it. Still, Gar Stazi is a good character & I hope he turns up again. Back to the Cade & Co storyline next issue, I hope.
OK... I'll say it. I didn't enjoy this at all. Alan Moore's a genius and everything, I loved Watchmen, V for Vendetta, the 1st vol of League of EG ... but this just felt ...indulgent. Kind of like some of David Lynch's last few movies i.e. I'm glad the writer/artist is fascinated with their topic but I'm kinda bored. I'm very impressed with Moore's knowledge of literature but playing literary "Where's Waldo?" just didn't make for a good read this time out, particularly with some of the more obscure references. Artistically, mixing all the formats was an interesting experiment & my hat's off to him for that but at the end of the day, I just wasn't entertained.
And not to knock on Josh's review but I think describing all the sex in this book as "acknowledging the characters are human" is REALLY stretching it - kind of like when people say RAMBO is a deep reflection on war and human nature. Sometimes an action movie is just an action movie and a sex scene is just a sex scene. I thought all the sex in this story and the last volume was just kind of stupid. It didn't really advance the story and felt more like, "let's show the characters having sex because we can." I realize that Moore seems a little fixated on this topic as of late, but in the context of this story, it feels more like a lame peep show than story advancement. Just because Moore wrote it doesn't really give it any more gravitas, IMO, obviously. Also, side note, what's the deal with characters constantly being raped or almost raped in much of his work?
I realize I'll probably be burned at the stake for this review, but just one humble reader's opinion. Still love Moore, hope the next one's better.