snap judgments

I highly enjoyed my tome at WonderCon this year, set in drizzly San Fransisco and proving that last year’s joy wasn’t just a one time thing. I got to meet my awesome colleagues in the comic blog-o-business, from Blog@Newsarama to the amazing David Brothers from the 4th Letter. I got to sit in on the wacky panels this time, a strange assortment of opinion and feedback panels that went from the comic retailer side of things (something I’ll be talking about later at great whopping length) to the jewel of the WonderCon Crown.

Sunday Conversation: For the Love of Comics was this crazy weird little panel hosted by Dan Didio about litterally.. the love of comics. Questions were fielded by the audience on what got them into comics collecting, what do they buy out of habit, if they took a break, what got them back, what drove them away, all questions asked by Mr. Didio himself. It was surreal, sitting down with the people who make the books and having them ask you why you’re here. What do you love, dear reader? Tell us, the people with the responsibility.

Dan Didio looks at you when you’re answering a question. I mean, almost disturbingly. He is so intent on YOUR answer that you better be ready because he’s gonna want to know what you think. He’s like that at all the panels really, bouncing about the stage and finding cool costumes in the audience, eager to be there. Honestly, I felt kind of bad because … well, look at me. Died in the wool Marvel Zombie here. But still, it makes you excited for the product and excited to be there.

Like I’ve said before, enthusiasm is contagious and if you’re thrilled to see the lastest issue of Annihilation: Conquest, you can get someone else nearly just as excited by expressing that enthusiasm and man… Dan Didio is a fine example of that. He laughs at the silly things his company does, he delights in those crucial moments that the fans do, he’s just a delight in person. I almost wish I followed more DC titles.

And then I read them and know that the odd book I pick up now and again is okay.

Anyhoo, this brings me to the moment of realization: while I’m sitting in this bizzaro focus group where the fans are actively being asked what they love about comics (and not just DC, there really was no agenda here and I mean that), I asked myself, “Carla? What would Joe Quesada do?” Would he really be here? Could he stand something like this?

I honestly don’t know. Sadly, Marvel’s not really been good for stepping out like that in recent months, almost after Civil War. Some time into 2007, they pulled back and took offense and started to get … well, less Marvel. So when I go to cons like WonderCon, I get a better feeling from DC than I do the publisher I extoll.

In three week’s time (oy!) is WizardWorld LA; I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of deal Marvel has with WizardWorlds, so they should be there.  There should be at least one panel about something up and coming, something on Secret Invasion, just… something?  And all I ask, just the one little teeny thing, is that Marvel’s panel there makes me feel as welcome as the DC panels I was lucky enough to go to this weekend.

I mean…. we belong?

Okay, Iron Man.

It’s the only goddamned Marvel panel at WonderCon this year and by hell or high water, I was going to be there.

Well, after both hell and high water I found myself a little on the late side in a gigantic auditorium with Jon Favreau and about 300 other people. A lot of the questions were movie based (what inspires you, how was it to work with Stan Winston, etc) and for his part, these didn’t seem like technical rote answers. He was just as excited to tell you about going to Skywalker Ranch this weekend to do some mixing as he was to tell you about Rhodey and War Machine in the new movie (probably no War Machine, per se, but the origin of the character will remain true). There was enthusiasm through a second party as Favreau felt that Marvel Studios was very encouraging to get as imaginative and creative as possible with the movie; one, because the more locations, the more armors and the more honest-to-God ‘stuff’ is in the movie, the more they can make of merchandising. Simple fact that in the case of Iron Man happens to work well; man makes a lot of stuff that would be incredibly cool in 6″ plastic.

Two to this is the fact that this is Marvel’s first production out of the thumb of any major studio influence but their own. This gives them a lot of freedom to use source material to its fullest and with as much enthusiasm as possible. I like the sound of that, Marvel Zombie that I am, and it gives me hope that not only are they willing to throw the Armory at us, but in Favreau’s opinion, create a whole universe that’s consistent within their movies (now at least). This level of consistency to both within the movies and to the original stories can lead them t do things like an Avengers movie, which Favreau would like to be a part of. Now, if only we can get that kind of consistency in the comics….

Obviously, there wasn’t a lot that could be said about the movie itself, details, specifics, all the nitty gritty you’re waiting for. Favreau likened it to being a burglar in a house with a pit bull. You can bring a bag of steaks to sate the pit bull while you’re robbing the place, but eventually… you’ll run out of steaks. Preferring to work under the white noise of uncertainty, he declined comments on online rumors and dodged and weaved with the best of them.

Well, it wouldn’t be a panel without a teaser and he apologized that the 90 second preview attached to Lost wasn’t actually this week, but next week (check your local listings). He didn’t even have that 90 second preview with him… but he did have the 2 1/2 minute trailer.
Oh man.

A lot of it we’ve already seen, but there’s a lot more of Tony in it, his arrogance, his cocky nature and you’re starting to get a feel for the man more than the suit. There’s a cute test flight at night that crashes through his garage (Tony’s pad being a rather swanky high tech apartment that will delight the nerdy senses), there’s a press conference about how there’s rumors of him building a hero (maybe becoming a superhero, it was hard to hear) and that he wasn’t the ‘hero type’ interspersed with shots of him kicking ass and blowing shit up like an Iron Man should. One line that caught my attention specifically was “I want to protect the people I put in harm’s way” which is a genius motivation and rarely seen in the heroic story of comics. Someone who wants to not put back the genie in the bottle, but survive what came out and help the innocent who never brought this on themselves.

The movie is going to be fantastic; with the enthusiasm from both directions, both corporate and fan, it would take a catastrophe to ruin something this well made. Again…. if we could just get this level of attention on the comics.

So I’ve kind of been waiting for the actual issue to show up because, for any of you who actually got New Avengers #38, you were treated to a fantastic book that nearly lacked the Avengers entirely. But since Funnybook Babylon went at it for me on most points, I can kind of drag myself to the keyboard to find something new to say about this one-act Pinter play.

Let’s get business out of the way here: in this issue, Luke Cage confronts his wife for totally selling out by trying to save a baby from a hooded crazy person and his up-jumped villainous pals.  Jessica Jones tells it like it is (Hey, baby here guy.) while Luke Cage feels betrayed and vulnerable that his moral center was just tossed aside. Jarvis, watching this like some rerun of Young and the Restless on the kitchen TV while dong the dishes, provides the exposition necessary for the Mighty Avengers to amble on outside, throw some weight around and get totally confused by Cage’s Skrull name dropping as he skedaddles.

Oh, the New Avengers are there to give a far longer exposition needed about how they have a new clubhouse now.

THE END.

I’m a little confused about why this isn’t an annual. Or a backup story in an annual. Or a special with a reprint of the first issue of Alias or … something. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important that Jessica jumped ship and it’s important that Luke Cage sort himself out as to how this impact his steely resolve to fight The Man, but… after a few pages, the argument got really repetitive. You could have replaced a lot of word bubbles with “BABY, Moron!” and “MORALS, bitch!” and gotten the same point across. Maybe it’s because I’m a huge comics nerd and a girl with a need for romantic drama, but it’s pretty obvious where these two are coming from. This isn’t some multi-faceted debate, this is human dynamics at its essential. Jessica Jones wants to give her kid something better than Spider-Man stealing her when danger strikes and Luke Cage wants to stand proud in the face of a broken system with his family at his side. Okay. Both have their reasons and without declaring one the winner over the other, we’re just going to get the same standards back and forth with no give or take.

Yes, this is a lot like actual people, it’s REALLY REAL and how arguments go between married couples but… if I wanted to read that, I’d go pick up some black and white indy navel gazer and enjoy a book that has relationship dynamics at its core and fully fleshed out. It’s a little like having your drama cake and eating it too; I don’t think this issue did anything that a couple pages that further the main story couldn’t have gotten across. I’m not saying it was a waste of time or MOAR EXPLOSIONS AND KICKING PLS but especially with Secret Invasion on the horizon, this issue might have been spinning its wheels as Mighty Avengers catches up.

So all you need to know? Jessica’s taking refuge in Stark Tower, Luke Cage hates this, the New Avengers have a new base of operations and the Mighty Avengers look like morons when you let slip mention of Skrulls.

Now, I’ll get to New Avengers in a minute, but one last thing about the New Avengers Annual. And Silent War. And X-Men: Emperor Vulcan. And I’m sure another mini-series or two that I’ve forgotten because it was really easy to when THEY DON’T END.

Silent War ended with Luna goes ot Black Bolt for help, asking him what they’re supposed to do next and … black page. The New Avengers Annual had enough going on but Doctor Strange, an infinitely interesting character has departed for parts unknown to redefine and discover himself and who knows when we’re going to see that journey. X-Men: Emperor Vulcan has the Starjammers defeated, Vulcan triumphant and… the end. Suck it, folks! Pray we return to this storyline some time in the near future so you can get some closure.

It’s not a big trend, but it’s a ridiculous one and I, for one, would like to see a date, a title, a sketch, just something when the reader hits a wall. Don’t lead us up with all this plot and then expect us to drop it just because you changed the channel. I want to know what’s going on with the Inhumans! I can’t just pretend they don’t exist, especially now that I was TOTALLY RIGHT and Black Bolt was a Skrull after all.

And the worst thing is, we have no idea if anyone’s going to remember that Scott Summer’s brother and his daughter are in chains somewhere under his megalomaniacal brother he forgot in the Shi’ar Empire. We have no idea if anyone even wants to continue that story. I’m pretty sure David Hine said he wanted to come back to the end of Silent War… someday.

I’m sure there are more out there, more dangling plot-threads and endings that seemed to go nowhere or characters who went off to do something monumental and were never heard from again when that journey would make a kick-ass trade. There should be a law (just like the title of this cartoon!) that when pitching an idea like this, there should be at least an idea of when the freakin’ ending is going to show up. It should not be withheld from the public for fear of ‘spoilers’. A reader should be able to pick up a comic enjoy the stories and know that the end is, if not here, at the very least nigh. This does not pick on series that never finish due to publishing problems, this is only for those stories in which someone thought it would be awesome to leave you hanging with no sense of having accomplished something for having read the story. No matter how entertaining you are, you should have to GO SOMEWHERE, not just excuse someone else’s story.

JJ Abrams’ Star Trek pushed back until 2009.

Hey! Look at this! I’m on a roll.

I do apologize for not having the incredible arc of ‘Oh There’s Symbiotes and Now There’s Not Let’s Go Fight Doom!’ in Mighty Avengers wrapped up, but sadly the store was shorted out allotment and I would never ever go into a customer’s pull to fulfill my blogging needs. Those are your books, proud customer! Treasure them as I wait for my copy, hopefully in with the next batch of reorders.

In lieu of this, let’s take a look at a book I’ve kind of already talked about, New Avengers Annual #2. Mind you, I only got to a bit of Tigra slapping, but trust me! There’s more to that here! In fact, the esteemed Mr. Pedro Tejeda of the equally esteemed Funnybook Babylon came by to note the closure this issue brought, finally peace in our lifetime.

Let’s start at the beginning: first off, we’re treated to another imcompetant moment with our favorite bumbling action force: SHIELD. God, I miss Fury. Anyhow, Maria Hill is getting a briefing on how the Hood busted his buddies out and killed a bunch of guys on the way out; she bemoans magic as if SHIELD simply can’t repel forces of the Hood’s magnitude, when I’m pretty darn sure there’s not only an Agent on tap for this kind of thing, but a division as well. This magic stuff is going to be the end of her, for sure.

Anyhow, the Hood goes to Tigra’s house, strongarms her for info and they all head off to Strange’s hideout. HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT? The Hood can see through Dr. Strange’s magical defenses. Man, he keeps getting better and better… Now, mind you, this might be less of a Mary-Sueing of the Hood and more to show how incredibly weak Dr. Strange has gotten. When the team teleports back (Sorcerer Supreme or Swiss Army Knife of powers? You be the judge!) , even Jessica Jones seems surprised by the fact this rag-tag bunch of losers seemed to ‘win one’ for once. Remember kids: don’t think too hard about whether this came before Mighty Avengers #8 or even the last issue, just enjoy the story.

Everyone gets a little moment while the Sorcerer Supreme seems to be having a little freak out. Well, I would too knowing that THE HOOD IS COMING! Spider-Man looks ot be taking his leave to go mess his life up when he spots the Hood, bursts back into the hideout and makes a grab for the baby! Seriously! In what seems like in an out of nowhere move, Spider-Man yoinks baby Danielle out of her mother’s arms and makes a break for it, all the while telling them that they’ve been found out and to prep for splash page fights. Jessica Jones-Cage follows him out to the rooftop, where Spidey explains there was no time to explain, the baby’s safety comes first.

Now, I know what they’re trying to do here and I just can’t stand for it. So, right now, I declare I’m taking Spider-Man at his word here. He busted in and grabbed a child out of his mother’s arms to make sure the baby got to safety first because it was the right thing to do at the time. Does it make sense? No. But will this save me hours of debate on whether or not this was a ‘Skrully’ act and if Spider-Man and/or Jessica Jones-Cage and/or Baby Danielle is a Skrull? Yes. And I’d just like to enjoy the story right now and not have to stop in the middle of the action to nit-pick over a possibility. I am no fun.

Meanwhile, the Hood and the Gang bust in and start blowing up the joint, totally blowing the master of the Mystic Art’s cover and disrupting his defenses while he continues to have some sort of medical problem on a nearby bed, Night Nurse and Wong attending. They don’t stop the Hood from running up to the door and blasting bullets into Strange’s chest, but Wong does fight him off until the Hood disappears and Night Nurse declares Strange isn’t breathing. So no help for you guys there.

Just as the Hood is about to put a bullet into Iron Fist’s skull, TIGRA SHOWS UP! Yes, that’s right! Two major issues of brutality and humiliation have come down to this, folks! Here she is, bustin’ through the window in the nick of time to … get a good swipe or two at the Hood before getting blasted by who I’m assuming to be the Living Lazer or some such. Later on, she’s taking on some big red guy with blonde hair and getting choked out by someone who looks a lot like Juggernaut. It’s hard to tell, being in the background while cooler people fight. There it is, folks. Retribution. I will say it does being getting the crap kicked out of you in your own home.

Anyway, fight fight fight; SHIELD, who’s been monitoring Strange’s old place (and/or tailing the Hood and the Gang) can’t help but notice this type of epic brawl and decides to call in for backup. Meanwhile, things look bleak and then bleaker when Doctor Strange, bulked up like his World War Hulk days, gets filled with a bright pink light that summarily fills everyone else in the house and ends the fight. Why? Who knows. How? Why bother? Wong goes around and heals our heroes and says that it has to do with the Zom Strange drank back in World War Hulk. Strange, humbled and humiliated, tells everyone he’s no use to them now and packs off for parts unknown.

Now, I know this is just fandignance but man. Can we just get to the mini-series where Strange regains his mantle back and goes back to being a bad ass?

As everyone stands around, SHIELD shows up and takes away the offending criminals. OH HEY THE HOOD’S NOT THERE. They also try and take away the New Avengers too, but Ms. Marvel gets sweet-talked into not turning them in. Clint Barton notes that this is the Carol Danvers he used to crush on, which is probably the nicest way he could have put that at that moment. The Hood talks to the demon that possessed him and Jessica Jones-Cage does the smart thing and heads right for Stark Tower to get her out of this crazy mess. I mean, COME ON! There’s a baby involved now, she’s no longer fighting the good fight on the frontlines, why not get to safety before Spider-Man comes back and steals your kid for good this time?

Was it a good issue? Well, a lot of things certainly did happen. No stone was left unturned and you have to admit that there’s a lot here to talk about. Aside from my own fandignance, I can’t say there was anything wrong with the issue; even Doctor Strange’s sudden and abrupt departure is more disappointing than angering. Who wants to bet that the Hood’s demon powers originate from someone with a grudge against the Sorcerer Supreme? So it all ties in to a greater story we’ll all enjoy a lot more when it’s part of the trade.

Right now, all you need to know is that Doctor Strange is out, Tigra’s in and Jessica took the baby and went home to mother Tony Stark. Also, Secret Invasion.

Steve Gerber passed away this week, a fact I’m sure you all know even if you’ve been living under a rock (good WiFi reception under rocks!). You know this because everyone has wanted to note this passing, celebrate the author or chip in at least two-cents about a man who left quite a legacy behind him. It’s remarkable how many blogs and articles have cropped up on my news feed about Mr. Gerber, what he wrought upon our comic shelves and how much his work meant to a lot of people. From casual fan to hardened hero, everyone’s had something to say and the fact that everyone steps up when times are tough and takes note when a beloved creator leaves us is pretty much why I enjoy comic fandom as much as I do. For all the bickering and pain and agony these books bring, they also introduced us to some pretty awesome people, both on the page and off.

Everything I could have said or wanted to say was already covered excellently by Mike Sterling, so I’ll let his words stand. Thanks Mr. Gerber.

At least one of you has been wondering where the next Mighty Avengers review as we got a couple issues in lovingly drawn by the Mighty Magic Machine, Mark Bagley. I’ve been wondering when I was going to get around to the start of the next arc of Bendis’ more ‘traditional’ Avengers rock’em-sock’em comic.

Funny how the books that say the least I have the most to talk about…

So, where is it? Well… it’s over here, in New Avengers #36. Remember that time-bending issue where the events of Mighty Avengers were quickly described in the pages of New Avengers by Luke Cage in bed, causing some to wonder if there was an issue in between they missed. Well, here’s the start of the issues you missed! So yeah. Symbiote invasion on New York City, innocents need saving, heroes pull together, yadda yadda. I think I’d be a lot more interested in this storyline because I will admit that the start of it has a great horror movie start with a baby’s infection and screaming and panic… it certainly feels like something New York City is threatened by (again). And it’s not that we didn’t know the heroes were going to win, I mean come on! But… its a bad taste in my mouth that I’ve been waiting to see this go down, that the end result has been explained, that another comic is now what… three issues ahead of time itself?

I think it’s a little like those awesome Countdown posters DC gave to the fans that showed them a bunch of clues to what’s ahead for certain characters and it took the actual comics AGES to get to the points everyone figured out in the clues. Okay, Mary Marvel goes ‘evil’ thanks to Eclipso, we got it, why did it feel like they took forever to hook up? Are we as fans impatient? Is there a way to tell us the end of the story and still keep us interested?

Probably. There are no bad stories, just bad writers, so anything is possible. How many people figured the all new, all different Bucky Barnes was going to be handed the Captain America mantle and how incredbly natural and exciting does it feel to see him take on the legend? We knew it was going to happen and yet what comes next sounds just as good as what I was anticipating. So it is good writing, time taken, build up generated that’s just as good as they hype itself.

I give the man credit where credit is due: Bendis has some of the most snappy dialogue out there. His characters talk with a sense of time and natural ease that makes two people sitting in a room just as exciting as slugfests. But then…

Yeah. Just…. take that in. Breathe it like a fine wine and wonder… did you pick up the wrong book? Is that really what all that business in the first part of Mighty Avengers was about?

Of course not! This is more of that snappy Bendis dialogue! He writes the way people speak! It’s a natural flow to people’s words that brings you into the comics and empathize with our heroes and villains. Or so I hear. But I can tell you, the moment I hit that word balloon, I doubted myself. I doubted I could possibly go on with the rest of this book. I doubted God in his infinite wisdom. I cried out to the heavens, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?” and I was answered:

No.

Now, I’m not saying the Avengers can’t have a wacky adventure or two. I’m not saying you can’t make fun of Tony Stark for having his gender rewritten on a genetic level by a malevolent robot bent on the destruction of mankind but… where do we go from here, folks?

I thought a lot about this and then I remembered that I don’t have to think a lot about this. There’s being fair and being honest and this? This is a bad book. I’m sorry to those of you who had to read through it. I’m sorry Bendis felt that this was the way to go to making an Avengers book high octane and fun again.

All you need to know?  Spider-Woman was allowed on to the Mighty Avengers.  Make of this what you will

But I promise it was after hours on my own time.

You see, back a couple years ago, I was getting in trouble for reading too many comic blogs on work time. I’ll admit it, I was an idiot (but this did lead me to shout gleefully at the esteemed Graeme McMillan at my first WonderCon, “HEY YOUR BLOG ALMOST GOT ME FIRED!”, which explains why I don’t do any interviews), but at that time, I had a deep desire to know. What were people taking about? What was ‘good’? What was ‘bad’? Any scoops or special insider info that could make me a more competent comic clerk? And not just know, but be heard too; as a chick working at a comic shop, it was easy to get shut out of geekly discussions and have to fume at the counter by myself. My poor husband has heard many fueled rants and glowing praise for people he’d never even heard of, let alone care to. Reading the infamous Fanboy Rampage not only gave me a way to seeing venting clear on the screen and know that I was not alone, but … Goddamn, woman! Don’t take yourself so seriously! Look at these yahoos!

Fanboy Rampage, Dave’s Long Box, Beaucoup Kevin and Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin gave me the start, the foundation of what an online community could look like, the good and the bad.  So, after getting chewed out at the workplace, I got back to business, saved up a little cash, and stuck out on my own.

Because we are not alone. No one agrees on anything. We are all a beautiful multitude of fans each with our own little part to play in how comics are received in the modern age. Over time, my links grew, I laughed, I cried, I got Peter David angry at me.. but I can’t say I rampaged.

Well, until now.

It’s so silly, but I want to frame this article (despite my name being spelled wrong; Hewlett is a lovely name!). Instead, I pass quietly into my third year of comic blogging, not so often, not so loud, but apparently passionately.

Which is what this is all about for me. There’s not a day that goes by, no matter what the situation at the store, be it Pokémon tournament, break-in, boss on the warpath or slow sales that I do not turn that key in the door to open the store with some amount of pride. Just some little glee that, “HA HA I’M IN A COMIC SHOP ALL BY MYSELF I WANT TO RUN THROUGH THE AISLES!!” I really do love my job (I should considering how much I get paid) and I really do love my site.

Thanks.