Comic Books Comic Book • Page 403

Strange Adventures excites me because it’s drawn by Mitch Gerads, who’s maybe the biggest reason Mister Miracle worked, & Doc Shaner, who’s in the top, like, 2 or 3 artists currently doing regular DC work. Bat/Cat having that stiff Clay Mann art worries me; maybe Jorge Fornes should be drawing that instead of the Rorschach series I’m definitely not gonna read.

 

Mister Miracle #6 is one that I go back and read a lot. I feel like that’s Tom at his best and yeah Mitch’s art is just stellar.

 

On the note of Grant Morrison, I’m 8 issues into Invisibles. My first time reading their 90s Vertigo classic. It’s... definitely full on, unadulterated Morrison. Which, I expected as much, lol. If I were coming at this at a different time in my life, I’d probably find its psychedelic, anarchic wankery obnoxious, but right now it’s a pretty compelling read. Very into the character Lord Fanny, want a lot more of her.

 

I think part of what makes Mitch perfect for Tom is that he’s great at both quiet emotion & playful cartooning. Both of which were on full display in Mister Miracle. The vibrancy of Mitch’s cartooning & illustration/design really do a lot to counter Tom’s worst writing ticks.

 

Somehow got lucky and scored the secret variant of King in Black #1 in my pull!

 

Finished reading The Magic Fish, the graphic novel by Trung Le Nguyen (aka “Trungles”). And, yeah, it’s definitely my favorite comic of 2020.

Gorgeously drawn comic, with a story that deals with both coming out & immigration (& the intersection of the two) through lens of fairy tales. Very touching. Highly recommended.

 

Galactic?

 

Yessir!

 

So glad to have Bat/Cat. Nothing better in the world than King’s Batman. Guess I should probably watch Mask of the Phantasm...

 

Read The Elektra Saga today. 4-issue miniseries from the mid 80s, extracting the Elektra content from Frank Miller & Klaus Janson’s then-recent Daredevil run & representing it as a standalone miniseries.

Frank Miller the writer is historically significant but honestly a bit rough at times, & Frank Miller the person is a reactionary jackass (which bleeds into Frank Miller the writer). FM art, though, is *chef’s kiss*. And, this condensed format, printed on this old paper, is the best way to appreciate it (& the right length, before his more unpleasant qualities wear out their welcome).

Elektra sure is a cool character, both because of & in spite of Frank, lol. This was on my to read list before I heard about Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil #25 yesterday, but I’m definitely intrigued by whatever he’s got planned for the character going forward.

 

With Bendis’ absurd track record of Big 2 creations making it to film, television, etc., it’s wild to me that Jinxworld isn’t in line to be the next Millarworld. Imagine what’d happen if he took Jinxworld to Image after his current DC contract ended & fully embraced creator-owned.

Though, I dunno. With the royalties he’s gotta be making from some of these successes, plus getting a ton of regular work & having Jinxworld on the side, maybe going fully creator-owned isn’t that attractive to him?

 

I am so desperate to be free of CW comic shows but they keep announcing series I’m very interested in

 

I'm equally 100% this and 100% give me all of them.

I'm pretty close to just watching everything CW releases

 

I really thought I’d be able to whittle it down to just Legends and Batwoman now that Supergirl is ending. There was some stuff floating around about the Superman & Lois writers room that sucked out all my anticipation for that. But then they announce this and the Wonder Girl series and now I’m stuck all over again

 

Is Todd McFarlane well regarded? I feel like I only hear a bunch of bro-dude stuff about his personality but nothing much other than that.

 

I wasn't much interested in Superman & Lois from the beginning but it being on CW and comic/superhero-y brought me in. I honestly haven't seen a trailer or know anything about it. I want to try and binge the entirety of Riverdale before it comes back, still need to watch Stargirl too

 

Oh hell yea this will be great

 

I mean, he’s in some ways in the same ballpark as Rob Liefeld, personality-wise. More of a businessman, more Canadian, less wide-eyed & boyish. A different flavor of intensity. Similarly says & does things occasionally that make me go, “why?” but not quite as cringey as often as Liefeld.

He was also probably the biggest driving force in getting Image off the ground, so he does have that in his favor. Also got that super successful McFarlane Toys company. The little kid me who had a bunch of his Spidey comics just wishes he’d draw some more comics pages.

 

I barely made it through the first episode of Stargirl. I liked the lead and Luke Wilson but it was mostly unwatchable to me. I know two things about Superman & Lois: Stacey Farber from Degrassi is in the cast, which would normally make it an instant watch for me but then I saw this and don’t feel good about watching it anymore
Superman & Lois Writer Calls Out Arrowverse Series After Being Let Go

 

Yeah that's real shitty

 

I’m only a few issues into finally giving Ann Nocenti’s Daredevil run a proper read, & I already love it.

 

Some news in recent days about the DC Comics line starting in March:

- Mariko Tamaki & Dan Mora taking over Detective Comics
- James Tynion IV & Jorge Jimenez staying on Batman
- Gene Luen Yang & Ivan Reis taking over Batman/Superman
- Stephanie Philips & Riley Rossmo relaunching Harley Quinn
- Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, & Travis Moore taking over Wonder Woman
- Robbie Thompson & Eduardo Pansica relaunching Suicide Squad
- Ram V & Mike Perkins relaunching Swamp Thing
- Ram V & Xermanico on Justice League Dark
- Geoffrey Thorne & Tom Raney relaunching Green Lantern
- Tim Sheridan & Rafa Sandoval launching Teen Titans Academy

All these writers (except returning Tynion) are also the writers of these titles/characters’ Future State stories, as are some of the artists.

I don’t read anything DC monthly, & none of these are gonna change my mind. But, those teams for Harley Quinn, Detective Comics, & Batman/Superman are really strong. I imagine Josh Williamson is gonna get Justice League; wonder if the Mark Waid Superman rumors end up being true, & who gets Flash.

 

I know nothing about the Swamp Thing team, but I’ll be interested to see how that turns out.

 

I’ve never read any of Ram V’s work, but he’s apparently very popular amongst some segments of comic fandom right now. Mike Perkins is a pretty solid Marvel & DC artist who did a good job on Gerry Conway’s Carnage series back in 2015.

The two of ‘em are doing the Swamp Thing Future State miniseries, & also did the framing story in the recent Swamp Thing Halloween special, so they’ve been warming up for this for a minute.