Grant Morrison's Batman

I have been following Grant Morrison's run on Batman with interest. He always writes a great story, even if you can't always follow it the first time. Now that we have reached the end of Batman RIP we can look at the run as a whole, and admire the work that Morrison has managed to put into this run. Anyone who can write Batmite into a story is to be commended.

Sure at times Morrison's invention is hard to follow, but as a whole the story is fairly mind blowing. Sure DC were never going to allow Batman to be to changed by the end, but Morrison sure took him on a roller-coaster ride to get there.

I encourage people to read this run and sit back and just enjoy the ride. Morrison will not let you down.

Garfield

Stumbled across this today and it made me laugh.
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/page/1
Used to love Garfield as a kid, but now I find him very unfunny, this site though made me laugh again at a Garfield strip.

Aftermath

Anyone following the Marvel Universe will know that the Hulk's war on certain heroes has finished.
Bruce Banner is under lock and key in a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. location and the Hulk is being tracked in Siberia, and is now using a gun, as the Abonimation finds out.
Doctor Strange is still recovering from having the Hulk break both his hands, and Hercules has taken on the role of bringing down S.H.I.E.L.D. with the help of the seventh smartest person on the planet.
Also Manhatten is totally destroyed and New Jersey is full of refugee camps for the former residents.
Overall this is shaping up as an interesting follow up to what has been some fine storytelling.

Not your dad's Star Wars

Star Wars Legacy: Broken is a great graphic novel with an exciting twist on the Star Wars series. Set 140 years after the Battle of Endor the main character is Cade Skywalker Luke's great grandson. Except Cade doesn't want to be a Jedi and would rather hunt them down for the new Sith empire, while taking massive amounts of drugs so he can't access his powers. Dark, gritty and yet still managing to capture some of the originals spirit this is a great read, and lots of fun.

I may just read my well thumbed edition again.

A Death

I recently re-read The Death of Superman and it reminded me of what a big deal it was. Sure superheros had died before, but here was the first, and greatest, dead.

The story itself is not to bad, Superman sacrifices himself to protect Metropolis from Doomsday, after the JLA are swept aside by this new foe.

News services around the world reported about the death of Superman, and no comic event since has generated this amount of interest. One of the most recognisable icons in the world was dead.

Of course he came back, three days later in fact, highlighting the similarities with the Christ story.

Have a look and see that heroes can die.

Comics, comics and more comics

Douglas Wolk obviously loves comics. He writes about them for various publications in the United States and has recently released a book called Reading Comics. How graphic novels work and what they mean. I have only just finished this book and have rushed to post this review. That's an example of how much I loved this book.

Wolk discusses some critical theory about how comics work, how they are read, different techniques, and then reviews some of his favourite comics. He makes no bones about the fact that this is a personal study, and the choices reflect what he looks for in comics.

I wouldn't agree with every choice, or statement Wolk makes but his passion makes this a fun read.

I too share his passion and it is good to see that others feel the same way about comics that I do.

We come from the land of the ice and snow...

From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.

The hammer of the gods

Will drive our ships to new lands,

To fight the horde, singing and crying:

Valhalla, I am coming!

OK enough Led Zeppelin. What I really wanted to talk about was the return of Thor to the Marvel Universe. One of my favourite characters is back, after a false appearance in the Civil War saga. Thor is also gunning for Iron Man and Mr Fantastic (like the Hulk), for cloning him without his knowledge. The clone was ripped apart by a distraught Hercules, and put into hiding by Mr Fantastic.

Thor's return though heralds more than a can of whoop-ass for Iron Man, it brings back the mythical element that was missing after the destruction of Asgard in the Marvel universe. And the fan boy in my rejoices that a favourite is back. so look to the skies as the god of thunder makes his presence felt in more ways than one.

BPRD

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is a series of graphic novels by Mike Mignola that have spun off from Hellboy. The BPRD is where Hellboy works and this new series highlights the work of Hellboys colleagues. As I said in my post about Hellboy, Mignola is an inventive writer and this is shown to great effect in this series.

If your looking for something that draws on mythology, horror stories and things that go bump in the night then this is something you should look out for.

Shhhhhhhhh!

Batman: Hush saw two giants of the comic industry coming together to create a truely memorable Batman story. Writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee have created a masterpiece that was released in 2003 and went for twelve issues.

Batman finds himself being targeted by an unknown foe who has studied his movements and tactics and is using this knowledge to foil him. Not only that but other adversaries of Batman are being given this knowledge and are attacking Batman. Bats is also distracted by the fact that he and Catwomen have begun a relationship. Soon Batman realises that he is being set up but he doesn't know by who, and this leads to a violent showdown that leaves Batman searching for answers. To say more would be to give the game away.

Loeb is a great writer and his version of Batman hits all the right notes, menacing, intelligent, and tormented by inner demons. Lee needs no introduction, one of the greats since he broke onto the scene in the early nineties, anything drawn by this man is going to be good. With Chris Claremont he still holds the record for the best selling comic book of all time X-Men #1 which sold 8 million copies. (Yes I own a copy as well) Lee is famous for not meeting deadlines, his current project with Frank Miller called All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder has had a gap of a year between issues.

Do yourself a favour and get a hold of Batman: Hush and enjoy this well told tale, I know I did.

1602

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert is a re-imagining of classic 1960s marvel characters as if they existed in the year 1602. Caught up in the intrigue of the times Gaiman does a good job of placing the characters in context and making them fit.

The story went for eight issues and led to various spin-offs which explored other areas of the world of 1602 that includes Marvel's superheroes.

I don't think this is Gaiman's best work, Sandman will always hold that place for me, but Marvel 1602 is interesting, though a little too talky at times. Gaiman likes long scripts and this is reflected in this piece. Kubert like his brother Adam (and father Joe) is an amazing artist and has been drawing Marvel heroes for a long time so the art work is outstanding. (Both Kubert brothers now work for DC)

A fun read but you need to know the Marvel Universe to get the most out of it.

Hulk Smash!

The Hulk is back and he wants answers.

A group of powerful heroes (the Illuminati) decided that for the good of Earth the Hulk should be sent to a far away planet were he would be unable to hurt people. Unfortunately the ship travels through a wormhole and the Hulk finds himself on Sakaar. Here the Hulk is venerable to weapons and is made a slave, and then a gladiator. He eventually leads a revolution and is made Emperor of Sakaar, marries and is the happiest he has ever been.

Of course this cannot last as the ship he travelled in was designed to explode so the Hulk could not get back to earth. The wormhole damaged this bomb and the shuttle now explodes killing the Hulk's wife and his unborn child and millions of his followers. The Hulk now wants revenge.

Gathering together his closet companions and getting a ship they travel back to earth.

The angrier the Hulk gets the stronger he gets and he has never been this angry before.

The Hulk is after everyone who decided he should be sent of the planet and starts with Black Bolt who is quickly defeated, and the Hulk moves on to Manhattan demanding that Iron Man meet him. Iron Man is also defeated as is the Fantastic Four and various X-teams. The Hulk is unstoppable and it looks like the last hope of ending his rampage is Dr Strange.

The story is currently being played out in various Marvel comics, and I must say I'm loving it. I am an old fan of the Hulk and am enjoying this return to form for a character who has had lots of ups and downs in his life.

The Hulk is out for revenge and nothing is standing in his way.

Love, life and the world

I have been rereading a great series called Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore and enjoying this engrossing story all over again. Beautiful black and white artwork combined with a compelling and funny script let the reader see into the lives of the main characters.

Strangers in Paradise is the story of best friends Francine and Katchoo. Francine is the shy, kind hearted one, while Katchoo was always the wild girl at school who got into trouble but didn't care. (In the picture Francine has dark hair, Katchoo is the blonde.)

Now Francine and Katchoo are sharing a house and we start the story with Francine in love with a guy who treats her like rubbish. Katchoo is in love with Francine and has been since high school, and while Katchoo is at the gallery she meets David who falls in love with her.

The story sounds like an average romantic comedy, but Moore develops it into a moving look at life and love, and this being a comic there is room for adventure and suspense. Especially when Katchoo's shady and violent past starts to catch up with her. This series won many awards and praise but I'll let comic legend Neil Gaiman have the final word, "what most people don't know about love, sex, and relations with other human beings would fill a book. Strangers in Paradise is that book." Couldn't have put it better myself.

Up Up and Away...

I thought I would talk about the wonders of the superhero comic. Not all of them are male power fantasies. In fact some of them are quite intelligent and are powerful comments on society. I mentioned Watchmen in my last post, but this is just one example. Writers like Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, J. Michal Straczynski, Brian Vaughan and others try to explore real world issues in the context of a world where superheroes exist.
Explore the world of superhero comics, visit a public library and browse, you never know what you might find.