Pile Management
By LJ DoresseauMar 14, 2005 - 10:13
Welcome to Mr. Charlie #46. With this column begins a change of sorts. No longer will Charlie be strictly about interviews of comic book industry types. Sometimes, we’ll squeeze in reviews and commentary. With that in mind, I’m resurrecting my old comics review column “Why I Love Saturn?” from my movie review website, negromancer.com, as a Mr. Charlie guest-star, Why I Love Saturn? V.2. So here is Episode 1:Marvel Comics has relaunched Black Panther again, this time under the guiding forces of writer Reginald Hudlin and the art team of John Romita, Jr. & Klaus Janson, with Dean White on colors. Issue #1 apparently sold out from the publisher, but I don’t know if that means great things for the new Black Panther’s future because I don’t know if a whole lot of people who don’t read comics, but might, are going to start hunting for comic shops just to find this new Panther. And by new people, I mean African-Americans, black folk, Negroes, whatever. I don’t know if Marvel thinks it can get new readers of hue with this title, and if it believes so, does it think readers of color will go to comic shops to buy this comic. I don’t see the character as something black folks who might read comics, but aren’t currently reading them now, will want, but there is a very high probability that I’m flat wrong.
But for us homies who have been reading for a long time, we’ve got to be happy. This is the first time that I’ve read a comic book featuring a black superhero in which I felt and thought that the lead could hold his own against the major and most famous superheroes of non-color. This book exudes an aura of confidence, and that totally comes from the writing of Hudlin, a longtime filmmaker who first broke out by creating the film, House Party with his brother Warren. I simply like the fact that the Panther and his people are so bold that they wouldn’t blink against foes that historically beat up black people in the real world. These people weren’t slaves and don’t automatically think of white men as superior. It’s as if Hudlin doesn’t care what people wrote before him or that there are already comic book creator gods ahead of him in comics. His writing is confident, as if he already wants to start off at the top.
Early in issue one, Hudlin’s use of anachronistic speech (19th-century white men talking about getting booty) threw me, but the tone gives this book an odd flavor that makes the new Black Panther stand out from the rest of the pack. Of course, John Romita, Jr. blesses Hudlin with his presence. Romita has a gift for giving his characters a huge range of expression just by the way he cartoons the human eye. There is a grace to the way his characters move, and each time he draws a face, Romita creates a character that moves the narrative. I’m looking forward to the second issue sometime in early March.
I have been very, very disappointed with John Byrne’s relaunch/revamp of Doom Patrol, and it wasn’t because he was ignoring decades of continuity. Sometime in the future, some other creator will ignore Byrne’s take on the characters the way he ignores the work of other DP writers, say, Grant Morrison. Besides, if Morrison wrote it and Byrne drew it, DP sales would at least double, but to the issue at hand – Byrne’s version of the concept. It boils down to something quite simple: when the Doom Patrol is on a mission, the book is quite entertaining; when the team is at its headquarters, the narrative literally withers on the vine.
Issues 7 and 8 are a two-part tale that finds the Doom Patrol in Oregon investigating and later fighting unusual creatures: dinosaurs, apes, giant animals, etc. The whole tale is a sweet little mystery and puzzle in which Byrne’s narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time. He still has his knack for leaving one scene at the perfect cliffhanger moment and moving onto another. That only makes you turn the pages all that much faster to get back to the next good part. The tale’s ending also leaves us with a few questions, threads for future stories. Still, it was a nice ride, and 7 and 8 are the best issues yet. The reason is because the heroes are out having weird adventures. As the series progresses, there’s less time for DP to just sit around a base, which, while it might let us get to know the characters, is not as fun as getting to know them in the heat of conflict. John has hit his stride, but is it too late?
Byrne announced some time back that DC guaranteed the series up to issue 18. I’ve stuck with it, and I’m glad I did. So I’m encouraging people who avoided it, but like the Doom Patrol to get on now. A year from now they won’t regret it… but they will if the book dies at 18.
Brandon Thomas columnist for the website, Silver Bullet Comic Books is now writing comics for Marvel. He launches the new series, Marvel Age Fantastic Four Tales, which is, of course, part of The House of Ideas “Marvel Age” line, an imprint in which writers and artists simply re-imagine old Marvel comic book stories for a new generation of young readers, basically an update of the settings and characters. Can’t have Sue Storm baking cookies and worrying about her appointment at the hairdresser when she could be popping caps. Still, there’s not much imagination in this re-imagining.Issue one finds the Fantastic Four battle and later join forces with the Black Panther. The story is pedestrian, and the art is functional – part manga and part penciller-is-still-young. The combination of the art and colors resembles like those old cheap-looking Marvel comics printed using plastic presses back in the mid-80’s. I think it was called “the mando format.” The script isn’t as fun as the comics I read when I was a kid, or at least that’s what my memory tells me. I think anyone between the ages of 6 and 12 would be better served by just buying the latest issues of Shonen Jump if they want kids comics, or go read real book.
Issues of his web personality aside, Brandon is a good writer. I think he and his co-creators would be better off if Marvel allowed them to create new comic stories involving their best know comic characters. That would give them a fighting chance against DC’s “Cartoon Network” based comics, which are a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much (you get the point) better choice than this Marvel Age schlock, which is basically just dumb-downed comics. BTW, a storeowner told me he heard that the line was cancelled, but Marvel is reportedly really relaunching the line.
Scott Morse did a fill-in issue of Plastic Man(#7) for series regular Kyle Baker. “Driving the Goils Woozy” is simply funny. I wasn’t sure if Morse’s illustrative style that seems more appropriate for children’s books would work for Plastic Man. However, Morse expertly adapts his work to fit the spirit of both Jack Cole, Plastic Man’s creator, and Baker. There is a sense of movement and manic energy from the very first pages to the end. Looking at this, I think Morse could do a nice series of Plastic Man children’s books.I’d been putting off reading Warren Ellis’ Ultimate Fantastic Four. I recently read issues six and seven, Ellis’ first for the series, and they were a waste of my money, but more so of my time. It’s a dull comic, and it was obvious to me that Ellis was going to stretch this story past the breaking point by the time I read page two of #6. Let’s make a nice six-issue arc out of something barely worth one issue. The Fantastic Four team members are boring and dull. Reed Richards is a smart, but dull-witted boy. Susan Storm is a combination of several current girl/young women types: ball-buster, ho, coy cock tease, superwoman, smart chick, etc. In the end, she’s nothing more than boobs for the cover.
Poor Victor von Damme (whatever)! Before he was Dr. Doom, he was a victim of a mean daddy who constantly filled his young head with stories about how great his family line and ethnic group were. They can also trace their “bloodline” back to Vlad Dracula. Ultimate Dr. Doom even has cloven hooves and legs like a goat. I’m not even bothering with this shit anymore.
I’m comin’ up on the rough side of the mountain! Hallelujah, Chris Claremont is back on Uncanny X-Men (and has been for several months). He and Alan Davis started a new five-part tale entitled “World’s End,” in Uncanny X-Men #455. For the first time in almost 20 years, the X-Men are the team of costumed adventurers who were like a family that I remember. That was the X of which I wanted to be a part. Davis and inker Mark Farmer’s art has a fluidity too it that sends my eyes darting across each page, eagerly drinking up the story. Nerd-o-rama, I’m home again.
Leah Hayes’ new book, Holy Moly [FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS, $4.95, 40 pp., B&W] is a sketchbook designed to look like one of those marble composition tablets that someone used as a sketchpad and a place in which to doodle. She obviously lets her imagination run, but most of the drawings, as is the case with many sketchbook drawings, are too personal, too oblique, or too vague to communicate anything to the reader. It’s a curiosity piece meant to pique your interest, and it did mine, but I wish there were more. There does seem to be more to this than just a collection of drawings, but it’s like Ms. Hayes and Fantagraphics cut us off before we could really crawl into this.Have something to say? Are you a creator who wants to talk? Hit the clickable name link to contact me. Also, stop by negromancer.com. Holla!
Last Updated: Jan 7, 2012 - 7:41
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