Weird Heroes Redux

Nexus: Into the Past and Other Stories: written by Mike Baron and Steve Rude; illustrated by Steve Rude (2012-2014; collected 2015): The latest group of stories that continue Mike Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus universe sends Nexus back in time to the 21st century in pursuit of a serial killer he's already executed twice, Clayborn. Meanwhile, back at home on the planet Ylum, partner Sundra and son Harry deal with all the problems of Ylum's fractious immigrant population. But as baby Harry is one of Clayborn's targets, things at home won't stay home for long.

Slightly impenetrable at times when it comes to just who certain characters are (Clayborn and Zanzibar being the main problems, along with location The Library). Hey, it's been a long time since I read many of the stories being referenced. But the narrative establishes the characters' personalities and agendas pretty well over the course of a 100+ pages. The ending was originally meant to be the ending for the series, but events have already brought the adventures of Nexus into the world of Kickstarter. So... never the end? Recommended.

Attack on Titan Volume 4: written and illustrated by Hajami Isayama and others; translated by Sheldon Drzka (2011/ This translated edition 2013): The present-day events of the narrative book-end a lengthy tour several years into the past of our young, giant-fighting protagonists. Politics and culture are sketched in more fully. And the flashback contextualizes some of the deaths we've seen over the first three volumes. Pretty essential in sequence -- and some much-needed explanation of how those 3-D maneuvering harnesses work. Recommended.

The Twelve: written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston; illustrated by Chris Weston and Gary Erskine (2008, 2012/Collected 2012): Penciller/inker Chris Weston and inker Gary Erskine do terrific work in The Twelve. They give the world of these Golden Age super-heroes dropped unexpectedly into their future (and the Marvel Universe's present) a weight and an emotionality that serves the project well. 

There are certainly many nods to Watchmen here, but the story is more low-key than Watchmen and occasionally trapped in the stereotypes it seeks to explode. Contact with Marvel's current superheroes doesn't really occur in the main story, though the 1945-set "Spearhead," written and illustrated by Weston, puts The Twelve in the thick of things with Marvel's more famous 1940's heroes. 

There are some storytelling problems caused by having The Twelve set in the normal Marvel universe. A couple of the super-heroes have origins that other heroes feel are too odd to be true. But this being the Marvel Universe, and not a more realistic milieu, it's hard to see any one 'fake' origin as being goofier than the 'real' one offered up afterwards. Recommended.

You Won't Believe It's Not Stephen King

Demon Night by J. Michael Straczynski (1988): Babylon 5 creator  and long-time Spider-man writer J. Michael Straczynski has also written three horror novels over the years, with this being the first. It almost seems parodically like a Stephen King novel at points. It's laced with portentous and generally pretentious quotes at the beginning and at each section break, which is very much a King trademark (lest we miss the point,  Straczynski quotes King on the novel's main epigraph page). It's set in small-town Maine, it involves a former resident of that town as a child returning as an adult, and it involves an ancient evil awakening and transforming townspeople into monsters. Yes, it bears more than a passing resemblance to King's Salem's Lot, only with possession-crazy demons rather than vampirism as the culprit. 

The cast of characters who battle the evil includes a struggling writer, a Roman Catholic priest, and a medical doctor. OK, that's also quite a bit like the good guys in Salem's Lot. But wait, the protagonist has a wide array of psychic and telekinetic powers with which to battle the evil. So it's like Salem's Lot mashed up with Firestarter, The Shining, and The Dead Zone. There's also quite a bit of It. And there are Native American tribes mixed in because you can't have an American horror novel without a mysterious location tied into Native American spirituality.

Basically, if you haven't gotten enough Stephen King, Maine-based horror over the years, this novel may be for you. Straczynski offers generally well-drawn, sympathetic characters. The antagonist leaves a bit to be desired -- its speechifying, when it comes, is something of a disappointment. There's also a description of the Thing in its final form that really, really seems to anticipate South Park's ManBearPig. Snakes, cockroaches, and what appear to be malevolent, wall-crawling lobsters (well, it is Maine) show up in such a cursory fashion as obstacles to our heroes at the end that they seem to have accidentally wandered in from an Indiana Jones movie. 

And it's interesting to see a Wild Talent novel collided with a horror novel in this way, at least at the end when a full array of telepathic and telekinetic powers are needed to combat the antagonist. There's maybe a bit too much superhero in the main protagonist, but he's a relatively likable fellow for all that he's a Chosen One in the long tradition of genre Chosen Ones (though the Chosen One tends more to the epic fantasy and science fiction areas of genre).

The gem of characterization is the Roman Catholic priest, however, who takes a beating without ever losing his stubborn dignity. Why do atheists write the best characters of faith? In any case, I enjoyed the novel, though there's nothing that really stands out about it. Lightly recommended.

Before Watchmen!

I've returned from the farflung future of 2014, in which remaindered copies of the trade paperbacks of the various Before Watchmen series are currently being used to build flood levees in Louisiana. Without Before Watchmen, New Orleans would have been destroyed again. Thanks, DC!

But what a tremendous prequel to writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons's 1986-87 12-issue Watchmen limited series humanity got, despite the non-involvement of writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. While Before Watchmen will neither be listed as one of Time magazine's 100 books of the century (as Watchmen was) nor become the best-selling American graphic novel in history (as Watchmen was), it does offer many delightful surprises. Excelsior!

So here's a spoiler-heavy rundown of the awesome delights that await you at your local comic-book shop in the summer of 2012.

Minutemen (6 issues), written and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke: The Minutemen engage in a number of exciting and life-affirming adventures that make absolutely no sense given what we saw of them in Watchmen. In one of them, a 50-year-old Comedian defeats Cassius Clay in a boxing match. Hoo ha, that's attention to historical detail! Their world is almost just like ours!

Rorschach (4 issues), written by Brian Azzarello, illustrated by Lee Bermejo: Rorschach shows how tough he is in various tough corners of New York over the years. Also, his 'The End is Nigh' sign finally gets a proper origin story. Guess what: it's the secret hero of Watchmen! As with most recent Azzarello-penned projects, all four issues combined will take less than 5 minutes to read.

The Comedian (6 issues), written by Brian Azzarello, illustrated by J.G. Jones: The Comedian demonstrates how tough he is in various tough locales over the years, as he turns out to be behind the assassinations of Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Phillie Phanatic. As with most recent Azzarello-penned projects, all six issues combined will take less than 5 minutes to read.

Dr. Manhattan (4 issues), written by J. Michael Straczynski, illustrated by Adam Hughes: In order to reconnect with humanity, Dr. Manhattan starts walking across the United States. However, he quits halfway through and gets someone else to finish the walk.

Nite Owl (4 issues), written by J. Michael Straczynski, illustrated by Andy and Adam Kubert: Nite Owl discovers that his non-existent superpowers derive from The Owl Totem. Much brooding ensues. He loses an eye, but it grows back. At some point, he yells, "Not on my watch!"

Ozymandias (6 issues), written by Len Wein, illustrated by Jae Lee: 6 issues of hardcore, photorealistically rendered gay sex. The big surprise of the Before Watchmen event.

Silk Spectre (4 issues), written by Darwyn Cooke, illustrated by Amanda Conner: Silk Spectre's giant boobs take part in a variety of exciting adventures with life-affirming conclusions.

Curse of the Crimson Corsair (backup), written by Len Wein, illustrated by John Higgins: This is the story that's the comic-book equivalent of having a Beatles reunion with only Ringo Starr and George Martin involved, as original Watchmen editor Len Wein and original Watchmen colourist John Higgins give Watchmen fanatics the pirate story they've been waiting 25 years for, though what they were hoping for involved some combination of Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and the late Joe Orlando.

Before Watchmen: Epilogue (1 issue), various writers and artists: Surprise! The Epilogue to Before Watchmen is a lavishly recoloured Watchmen that slathers the art you loved in layers and layers of quasirealistic full-process colour! Written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons, and coloured by the Computronic Colouring Robot 3000.

Wonder Woman Vs. Short Pants

Wonder Woman: Odyssey, written by J. Michael Straczynski and Phil Hester, illustrated by Don Kramer, Michael Babinski, Eduardo Pansica, Allan Goldman and Jay Leisten (2010-2011): The misshapen twin of equally misshapen Superman-arc "Grounded" also began life written by J. Michael Straczynski before rapidly being handed over to another writer (Phil Hester). And Hester pretty much did a hero's job of making this lengthy Wonder Woman arc interesting.

Some sort of time-travel thingie causes Wonder Woman to be erased as-is from the DC Universe, replaced by a younger, less powerful version of herself without any memories of having fought crime for years or being a member of the Justice League because she never was -- instead she's been kept in hiding by the last survivors of the Amazons, pursued by a mysterious, genocidal enemy.

Oh, and she gets a new costume. With pants!!! When Batman gets a revised costume, it's simply Wednesday. When Wonder Woman gets a new costume, it's an event because a lot of people want poor old Wonder Woman stuck in short pants forever. Can't she have at least one costume with pants, even Capri pants? No, she can't. And it's not like Wonder Woman originally wore short shorts. She started off with a relatively demure skirt. Basically, the costume problem is all Linda Carter's fault.

Anyway, Wonder Woman spends 15 issues (which is really a lot!) trying to get back her old history while also trying to stop a villain with nefarious designs on the universe. And then none of it actually matters because the storyline ends with the line-wide DC reboot a week away. Soon there will be a new Wonder Woman, and the promotional materials suggest that she's back in short pants. Hoo ha!

Phil Hester does terrific damage control here, patching up the story outline he's stuck with and keeping Wonder Woman interesting and sympathetic. The work by main artist Don Kramer is solid, as is that of his fill-in artists. This kept me reading Wonder Woman for 15 consecutive issues. That's a long time. And I would have kept reading it after Odyssey concluded. So kudos, Hester and Kramer. Too bad a new creative team takes over in September. Recommended.

Walk Like A Kryptonian

Superman: Grounded, written by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Roberson and G. Willow Wilson; illustrated by Eddy Barrows, John Cassaday, J.P. Mayer, Amilcar Pinna, Jimal Igle, Leandro Oliviera, and others (2010-2011): Much fanfare accompanied J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Spider-man) coming to DC to take over the writing chores on Superman in 2010. That fanfare didn't last, and neither did Straczynski, who soon left the scripting chores to Chris Roberson so as to concentrate on creating original graphic novels for DC.

Feeling that he's lost touch with humanity, Superman decides to walk across America. I guess he didn't feel like riding a motorcycle alongside Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. What precipitates this decision is a woman complaining to Superman that he wasn't there to help when her husband was dying of brain cancer.

Now, this is indeed a shocking development because neither I nor pretty much any other Superman reader was aware that Superman could be held responsible for not operating on a brain tumour with his heat vision. Seriously, WTF? Did Superman cancel his regular shift at the Metropolis cancer clinic or something? He doesn't even have a medical license !!!

So off sad, Epic Cancer Treatment Fail Superman goes to have a series of infuriating adventures in cities other than Metropolis. The low point comes when Superman dares a woman attempting suicide to jump off the building she's attempting suicide from. Seriously, WTF? This is such an awful, stupid, insensitive, ham-handedly written scene that I'm going to pretend that it was a dream sequence.

The narrative stabilizes somewhat when Chris Roberson takes over as scripter, though he's still stuck with this whole asinine 'Superman walking across America' thing. He shakes it up a bit with some flashback stories and some more typical Superman team-ups with Wonder Woman, Flash and The Batman. The Big Bad of the story, who looks weirdly like a mid-1980's Whoopi Goldberg, fizzles out at the end, as does Superman's depression, as the creators rush to finish the story before DC reboots its entire line at the beginning of September 2011.

Roberson comes up with some interesting ideas, and the art by Eddy Barrows and company is generally solid, but writers and artists are still stuck with the inherent crappiness of the story arc's underpinnings. Not recommended.

Thor

Thor Omnibus, written by J. Michael Straczynski, illustrated by Mike Deodato, Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic (2007-2010, collected 2010): This omnibus collects all of J. Michael Straczynski's (JMS) run on Marvel's Thor, including the initial 'return of Thor's hammer Mjolnir' storyline from JMS's run on Fantastic Four. Three years prior to the JMS Thor reboot, Ragnarok/Gotterdammerung had arrived (yet again) for Marvel's version of the Norse gods, and all of them seemingly perished. But as Algis Budrys once said about science fiction ("In science fiction, death is always conditional"), I can say about super-hero comics: no one ever stays dead forever.

JMS's two-year stint on Thor ended fairly abruptly when he moved completely over to DC. This is not necessarily a bad thing. His lengthy stint on Spider-man got progressively more and more loopy the longer he stayed on the book. Here, while he leaves before any 'complete' dramatic resolution, he also leaves the book rebooted in an extremely successful and (hopefully) durable way. All the toys are put back on the table for someone else to play with, and a lot of excess continuity baggage gets thrown out. It's actually almost a model other writers could follow to rejuvenate other superheroes who've worn out their welcome, a model writers used to follow back in the 1960's, 70's and 80's before continuity came to trump all. JMS even managed to give the always-dubious Volstagg a couple of heroic moments, which is not all that easy a thing to do.

The art by Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic is pleasing throughout, though the depiction of Norse fire-demon Surtur here literalizes him as a fairly traditional Western demon/devil, and thus fails compared to Walt Simonson's more stylized Surtur of, oh, about 25 years ago now. Otherwise, though, the art does the job, with a lot of one- and two-page spreads for all the momentous, earth-shattering stuff that's been a hallmark of Marvel's Thor since Stan Lee stopped having the God of Thunder fight Communists and bank robbers back in the mid-1960's. Recommended.