His friend Gomez prefers trains.
Top Notch Comics #2
MLJ Magazines (January, 1940)
While checking to see what I thought about the previous issues prior to reading #3 I found out I didn’t read #2. The first issue was curious, with a lot of my issues blamed on introducing various characters. So this may be where I decide if I even bother with the third issue. Not much else to say, so let’s get to it.
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Let’s be fair. the first Dreamwave miniseries tried too hard to be “adult”, though oddly the same writer did a good job with the Transformers Armada comics. (Do a search for my reviews on both.) Even Furman told good stories in the Dreamwave run, though I’m not a fan of what he did with Optimus Prime’s origin, or that it’s taken over the better G1 cartoon backstory. He also had to shove Galvatron in there, but it was pretty good. Also, one correction: sparks came from the Beast Wars cartoon and has been accepted as canon for decades. I’m okay with it, as you see in my own homemade Transformers lore. The 13 Primes? That was Furman, first in the convention comics conceptually and then starting to fill them out in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. Sadly we’re stuck with those and the Unicron/Primus being gods thing I had to keep in my own lore as multiversal continuity. Hopefully I’ve made it more palatable to myself and you guys liked what I did. It’s in the BW Prose section if you’re curious.
Overall I’m in near full agreement with him. Especially Furman’s other runs, the Bay movie garbage, and humanizing Transformers.
The Joker. The Clown Prince Of Crime. That playing card that seems to get little attention outside of building a game show around it, but the villain styled on it gets all the attention. Some would even say too much, but we’ll get into that. The Joker is arguably Batman’s most popular arch enemy, though the Ridder is still my favorite. He’s really popular with the writers and the higher-ups at DC Comics. So you wouldn’t think they’d screw up such an important character.
You really don’t understand the corporate mindset.
They never look to see WHY a character is popular. They just see that he is and want to capitalize on him. That makes the Joker more exciting to writers, who see doing a Joker story as some kind of right of passage even if they aren’t doing a Batman story. Superman’s dealt with him solo. So has Wonder Woman, the Flash, Spider-Man even though he’s not IN the DC universe, and I’m pretty sure that this point Sugar and Spike have run into him, though I could be wrong on that point. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Gemworld or some Sonic Disruptors story. I didn’t have to look that last one up. I saw the ad so often I’m surprised I never read it.
The problem is that the main DC Comics have so screwed up the idea of the Joker that fans are calling for him to die…or at least for Batman to do so, because heaven forbid a judge, a cop in the paddy wagon willing to deal with punishment, someone at Arkham, or an army of Gothamites don’t try to do it. Nope, has to be Batman, or at least have Batman allow Red Hood to finish him off. In truth, fans would hate that because at some point want a Joker story. It’s the idea that Batman hasn’t killed the Joker yet to save Gotham, thus violating Batman’s “no kill” policy like he needs to be the Punisher now (though the DC universe has at least two would-be Punishers in Vigilante and Wild Dog), that has actually damaged Batman as a character in some of these fans’ perspective.
However, let’s focus on how the Joker has been depicted in recent years, how DC comic writers (and some movie writers) have damaged the character, and how DC editorial let it happen if not called for it with trade writing and Eventitis.
I know my collection is spotty, but when did Aspen get the Witchblade?
Michael Turner’s Fathom: Blue Descent #0
(Does Turner even write his own comic anymore?)
Aspen Comics (digital copy: September, 2012)
CREATORS: Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald (the latter creating the lore of the Black and Turner the Blue and the franchise)
WRITER: David Schwartz
PENCILER: Scott Clark (no inker listed)
COLORIST: Jeff Chang
LETTERER/EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Josh Reed
EDITOR: Vince Hernandez
DESIGN/PRODUCTION: Mark Roslan & Peter Steigerwald
NOTE: Bad language incoming…Gary’s a potty mouth!
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I’m trying to hold on to a filler posting for more than a few days. The point of having a buffer is to actually buffer. Trying to get my schedule on track without taking a week off (which hasn’t worked as I’ll get sick or otherwise distracted) has not been successful. So let’s see how long this one, typed up on Feb 4, lasts. I’m betting you’re seeing this on Feb 5 given my luck. (Nope. Made it to February 11.) I hope I at least got to work on something.
So…Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The first story in the Disney era of Star Wars is not exactly looked back upon as favorably as when it first came out. From JJ Abrams rehashing the same story beats in an attempt to prove they were moving away from the political climate of the prequels to questions without answers (aka Abrams’ beloved “mystery box”), there were a lot of problems with the movie. My own initial review was fairly positive, but that’s before the problems of the two sequels and all of the live-action and animated shows pointed out more of the flaws that we didn’t think about at the time. Like with The Phantom Menace we were just happy to see Star Wars back with new official stories, as the canon of the novels, comics, and games were up for debate.
We would soon realize that the people involve really weren’t interested in the saga. They liked the Brand, because it was popular and they assumed they could remake it in their image and still make tons of money, ego trumping the desires of the fans. Subverting expectations is fine if done right, but subverting fan desire for the long-awaited return of the franchise will hurt you every time.
For the anniversary of The Force Awakens, Gary Buchler of Nerdrotic finally did a review of a movie he wasn’t able to when it came out. Turns out I’ve been doing this longer than he has. In the following video he goes over why the movie actually should have been a prediction of what was to come. Then I’ll have a few thoughts of my own.
Sadly this seems to be how Sonic gets along with most of his friends.
Sonic The Hedgehog #204
Archie Comic Publications (November, 2009)
WRITER: Ian Flynn
INKER: Terry Austin
COLORIST: Matt Herms
COVER ART: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante
LETTERER: John Workman
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Paul Kaminski
EDITOR: Mike Pellerito
“Heavy Is The Head” part 2: “Iron Khan”
PENCILER: Steven Butler
“A Friend In Need” Part 2
PENCILER: Jamal Peppers Continue reading
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
BW Media Spotlight 