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Pen-Elayne
For Your Thoughts - Week of March 24-31, 1996
This week's digest: FLASH #113 FLASH #113 Writer: Mark Waid Here's what I thought... Hero worship is a dangerous game, both for the hero and the worshipper. And I should know. I feel eerily qualified to speak on this issue, considering who wrote it. The thing about admiring someone to excess, as Mark shows us by taking this admiration to its most logical extreme in the case of his protagonist and sometimes alter-ego, Wally West, is that it often threatens to stifle one's own creativity. You're so-- okay, I'M so caught up in looking to see what the object of my admiration is up to that I forget the basics of what I'm supposed to be doing (like working on my OWN writing). I can't tell you how easy it is to throw up one's hands and say, "Look, what's the point? I'm never going to have a hundredth of the talent that so-and-so has. I might as well just admit it, put a bullet through my brain, it's hopeless..." It sometimes seems quicker to not bother making the effort - to deny one's own vision, even one's own experiences, in favor of someone who just seems to live (or tell) them better. In wanting to be like someone, we can come awfully close to ceding to that someone our capacity for independent thought. That's what the people in "Wallyworld," as Flash thinks of the 64th- century society created in the wake of his helping them overthrow their former tyrant (in FLASH #68), have been reduced to doing as our story opens. They bow and scrape, they wash his feet, they ask for advice on matters great and small... and Wally is ill-equipped to deal with this. His reactions are precious - he likes the foot bit, even though he feels guilty about it; he jokes around but keeps forgetting they're not going to understand 20th century references; he considers bragging to Linda (even thinking of her momentarily as "what's-her-face") - in short, he really, really likes it, but really, really hates it too. Because he knows it's fundamentally not right, that these people should be getting on with their own lives, governing themselves, not leaving projects half-done in their zeal to be-- To be like him. A non-completist. A zoom-in, zoom-out. I think Wally's being a little hard on himself here - he's accomplished much, he even admits "they've misread my legacy" so he knows he's indeed building one. I dare say it wouldn't have mattered if he'd stayed for tea and a protracted vacation after saving these people. They're acting out Short Attention Span Theatre as much because they'd rather spend their time trusting in The Mythical Wally to take care of them as from a desire to necessarily be like him. Well, okay, a little of both. I mean, they've built this wicked "Tower of Lightning" to help them harness the Speed Force. As Wally observes with not a little resignation, "They already have my personality. If they get my powers, Earth is doomed." So, how to endow these people with their own personalities, their own drive, once more? Well, having a catalyst helps. Fortunately, Wally's 64th century companion Keley has a little more on the ball than the Wally worshippers, and is this society's Master Librarian (yay, librarians!). Wally gives the best advice of the issue by adjuring Keley and others to learn from history - not Wally's history, but that of greater and more qualified thinkers (as Wally jokes, his area of expertise doesn't extend much beyond "how to make balloon animals" - honestly, there are so many great Waid-isms in this issue it's a real pleasure). He leaves them, he hopes, in better hands, destroying the Tower as he uses it to access the Speed Force. Meanwhile in the 20th century plot which I almost overlooked because I was too busy learning the Life Lesson in the main storyline, Linda (boy, can't you just tell when Castrillo draws her and when Jimenez does? I sure can - Jimenez remembers to make her Asian) and John Fox try to get her mind off Wally's absence and concentrate on stopping Chillblaine, who's apparently in the service of the Golden Glider. They go investigate leads, and just miss Max Mercury's phone message that Iris has now gone missing... oh dear... Even worse - when Linda and John check out GG's HQ, she spies the Glider herself out of the corner of her eye, rushes to defend herself... and smashes her to pieces. Apparently Chillblaine got to her first - John observes she was long dead, "frozen and brittle." Very, very nasty. This is not your father's Captain Cold. Next issue, among other things - Wally meets the Tornado Twins!!! I've seen better art, and I can't believe McCraw missed Wally's hair color on a couple page 15 panels - folks must've been a bit rushed this time out. But I give "rushed" a great deal of slack considering the title. :) And Mark put in enough teasers (courtesy of Keley's comments about what history shows re: Wally in other eras, and Wally's forgetfulness in following up on those comments) to keep me on the edge for the rest of this storyline. But enough about me. What did y'all think? Writer/Artist: John Byrne Here's what I thought... At first I thought the title referred to Cassie Sandsmark taking her first flight courtesy of the winged sandals of Hermes loaned her by Diana during a "babysitting" gig. (I like the misdirection that begins this sequence, as we're taken aboard a flight with which Cassie nearly collides on the splash.) The significance of the title didn't hit me until the end of the issue, but I liked that it was such a surprise. Some nice character-building stuff happens before the main "battle," such as it is. Diana actually uses thought balloons, albeit solely in the service of exposition, and we see that she doesn't exactly think of Mike Schiff in the same way he sees her. There's a bit of winking, too, about secret identities, paying homage to the old "Diana Prince" name. Then suddenly, disaster strikes. In the form of a silent scarlet speedster. With =gulp= Barry Allen's costume... Cut to Annoying Subplot Page of the Issue. Cut back. Flash swipes a kiss from Diana. Hubba. Funny panel. Anyway, he's literally all over the place, vibrating through walls, doesn't know if he's coming or going, and Diana's chasing him to stop him. Which she finally does, courtesy of her Lasso of Truth. Which reveals that he's nothing but dust. An illusion. More accurately, a simulation program run by Dr. Lazarus, without his apparent knowledge (it's on "automatic" while he sleeps). Next up, Sinestro. Uh-oh. Clever way to revive the dead, as it were, and I hang my head that I didn't see it coming. Not a great issue, but a serviceable one. I could take or leave it. Nice to see Diana in civilian clothing. Nice to see Cassie doing the proto-Wonder Girl bit. Always nice to see Trish's colors. So, what did y'all think? LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #80 Writer: Tom Peyer Here's what I thought... Damn, this title made me feel giddy. From Alan Davis' wonderful cover onward, with only poor darkest-before-the-dawn Cosmic Boy in there to help sober things down a bit, I was... I dunno, I was gleeful. I was on such an upswing I had to keep slapping myself from being too silly. It hurt, too. I blame you, McCraw. Come make it feel better. :) Everything except little niggly subplots (like the Secret Admirer thing and Ayla's continued recovery) is wrapped up here. I mean, everything. It's way cool. I love this. I love wrapping up plots so that things can start afresh! Nothing feels shoehorned or rushed or anything, it all feels very satisfying. And I've strengthened my resolve to, at best, skim the Legion newsgroup, because y'all just keep guessing right, and I'd rather be surprised. Turns out yes, it was Madame Chu Behind It All (booh, hiss) - and placing Brande in charge of things in her place was pure genius. I mean, almost too syrupy, but I ain't complaining. And yes, none of the Legionnaires bought it last issue. Brainy was stunned, and he gets stunned again this time, 'cause Winema isn't really Winema. (And I was kinda surprised to learn she wasn't involved in Chu's conspiracy, frankly.) Now that was cool - Cham using his powers to mimic Winema's phasing abilities! Very clever. And we learn for certain that Cham pulled himself together from protoplasmic state, and Lyle now has the ability to make himself appear more skeletal than even Lee Moder usually draws him. And we see character development! The interaction of Valor and Andromeda is wonderful. An interesting parallel to the hero worship portrayed in this week's FLASH. I 'bout applauded when Valor realizes Andy stood up to him! And cheese spread jokes! BWAAAAHAHAHA! Hey guys, watch it, Mark Evanier'll sue. :) I'm really starting to get into Jan. Between his pacifism and Gates' revolutionary stance, this is becoming one of the only mainstream comics where I see my politics occasionally reflected... I know I shouldn't laugh, but Andy and the Empress... oh, that was great. Swats her like a fly. Heh. And Cham speaks! Oh man, this is too much. This is really great. And Cos completely under control, despite his own reservations. And having learned about stuff from Aven - great tie-in to previous issues. Short question - how exactly did Lu "stand in for Cham and Vi back at the Ambassador's headquarters?" What'd I miss? Oh well, it's not important. I was bound to miss something. At least I caught KC raising the flag at the end of the issue. And I walked around buoyed as hell for hours after reading it. And heck, that's what a comic like this is supposed to do, after all. Thanks, guys. So what do y'all think? HELLBLAZER #101 Writer: Paul Jenkins Here's what I thought... Reading this is even weirder knowing how many times the writer has maimed himself playing football (or, as we uneducated heathens call it, soccer) within the past year. Of course, Paul's mishaps have, as far as I know, been strictly on the field. What happens in the stands is a wholly different matter. And it's gruesome. And it's perfect fodder for a chilling tale. For a Constantine tale. The more of Paul's stuff I read, the more I get into his cadence. It's very dissimilar to anything else I'm reading - kind of lyrical and coarse at the same time. The way he combines dialogue, narrative and incidental background ribaldry like taunts and songs serves to keep the reader involved in the activities, yet just aloof enough (mostly through Constantine's voice) to maintain a healthy distance as the shit hits the fan - and the fans start beating the shit out of each other. And watching it all is the Demon du Jour, who came prepared. Stupid question, Paul - if the fans' vitriol gave the demon substance in the first place, how is it that we see him put on his face and prepare to leave for the stadium before any of the violence starts? In any case, John calls him out. Does a real nice Eastwood on him. And the demon isn't feeling too lucky; even stutters a bit. Got him. Well, sort of. The demon won't escalate the havoc if John "lets" him have a victim. John's already pissed at some rabble-rousers we see earlier in the issue who, frankly, deserve their comeuppance - but theirs is not for John to judge. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of looking in their direction, which qualifies as an assent to the demon. And two of the shitheads are beaten bloody, and the third stabbed to death by the demon's own hand. Not pretty. And no real lessons learned, not that there would be. No explaining fanaticism, really. It's there, it's horrid, and I've no doubt it'll doom some of its more rabid practitioners to their own personel hell. The art and coloring are ugly, as they're supposed to be. I miss Sean Phillips' precise pencils and Matt Hollingsworth's softer tones, but I can see where they might not do this time around. Positively creepy. Well done, all. Another fine, thoughtful single-issue story. So, what did y'all think? Writer: Neil Gaiman w/ additional material by Willie the Shake, of course
Here's what I thought... I wasn't really thinking, "Wow, this is it, the end of an era" until all of Neil's little notes at the close of the book. Which is how it should be - we oughtn't think too much about meta-issues like this until the story is told. And what a delightful story. Of course, having taken like 2-3 years of Shakespeare in high school and college, I'm like the tailor-made audience for this kind of thing. From what I recall (glory, that was a long time ago), Gaiman seems to have covered all the basics regarding what's known and speculated about Shakespeare's actual life. The back-and-forth between him and that blowhard Jonson was terrific, and, for some reason I can't quite explain, old Ben reminds me a bit of Mike Chary, which I've little doubt will flatter him. :) I loved the Guy Fawkes bit; I still salute him every November 5. The way we're subtly shown Wm. getting his ideas - the same way all writers get their ideas, from observations and from life - and toiling over his last play, in service to an unknown (to all but us) King, was spot on. This is very much a tale for writers as well as for readers. It's about taking up the burdens of promises made, to one's self and others, of exercising and exorcising your fleeting talents, alone save for family (and they usually don't have a clue as to what you're doing, but bless them, they tend to your needs anyway), always your own worst critic, thinking that maybe, just maybe, you will be granted the luck or the skill or the spark to create something that'll last the ages, that'll outlive your miserable husk. It's the most hubristic thing one can do, really - and Gaiman knows this, he pokes fun at his own folly when Dream laments to Shakespeare that he has no story of his own, because indeed someone has written that story, for eight tremendous years - but it's also, at the same time, the most selfless. Because you don't really know where your creativity comes from (although I quite like Gaiman's interpretation that Dream "opened a doorîwithin" Shakespeare that had already existed), and all you can hope to do is give it back to whatever collective aether may have spawned it, to inspire others and let them pass the spark on in turn. The words, the pitiful, inadequate words, are all we have to bind us together through the eons, to express the inexpressable. Never much cared for The Tempest, which I always found a bit dark and depressing for my tastes, even though there are some wondrous bits therein, particularly the interplay between Caliban and Ariel. But I admire the way Gaiman works it as a parallel to Shakespeare's own life, which it of course was in many ways to begin with, and even to this series itself. Fortunately, Neil will write again, but this Folio is now complete. And we're all the richer for this impressive body of work. Thanks, Neil & co. Lovely. So, what did y'all think? Story and Art: Adam Swan This is a very complicated book to get into, made all the more distracting (at least for me) by Swan's choice of how to depict a Mysterious Female Character - mostly as a nude study. Even when she's supposed to be fully clothed. I mean, he has a great eye for anatomy, but it often seems like he's too distracted by it when he's drawing this tattoo-faced woman. Her outfit doesn't make sense - not only are her surroundings way too cold for her to have it unzipped in the front, often down to her waist (the cheesy back cover absolutely nauseated me), but there are no indications that the material even has any bulk or wrinkles or anything to it. I mean, I realize we're talking about a far-future dystopic world here, and perhaps some fabric has been invented that would stick that tightly to one's skin and contours - but it's quite the leap for me. It reminds me a lot of Jim Balent's Catwoman - a nude woman painted purple, to all intents and purposes. But with a B&W comic like this you have to deal with shading, and Swan doesn't make that much of a distinction between the outfit's color and the tattoo'ed woman's skin tone, so it's pretty blatant. Which is a shame. There are lots of very intriguing ideas in this book - so much so that Swan's provided a glossary and extensive back-history for those just coming into it. I still haven't absorbed it all, but it's really fascinating, and I'm inclined to look for the original miniseries just to be able to grasp the concepts a little more. Very briefly, Eden is the last surviving city of some unspecified apocalypse, there are nasty police forces all around, people still suffer from oft-spontaneous mutations, and there's dirty gene work aplenty going on. Also stuff about mysterious pyramids, a so-called immortal girl who remembers the way things were Before, a wanted man torn about killing a friend who might betray him, and lots more. A very rich creation, albeit a bit text-heavy at times. Worth looking into if you can ignore the way the tattoo'ed woman is presented. Oh, and Legacy is having a talent search. E-mail them for details. Writer: Brett Lewis Once again, nobody at Motown Machineworks takes credit for specifically editing this puppy, and with good reason, one might suppose - this issue is even more disjointed than #1. As I mentioned in my review of that, this is somewhat expected in a story about time travelers, and I was willing to give it another issue to straighten itself out. But there are just too many problems here. Lots of action without explained motivation, and you really can't tell the players even with a scorecard. If you can follow it, you're doing better than I am. Shame, because the art is nice, the premise (a benign dictator of sorts and his hardy hand-picked band try to prevent greater evils by committing lesser ones) is still intriguing, and I even like a couple of the characters... I think. I keep hearing rumors that Machineworks is undergoing a retooling anyway, so perhaps this book is a moot point after all. All I know is, they need a much stronger editorial hand on it than they have. This one's dropped. DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by David Yurkovich David's a friend of one of my co-workers, who gave me a free signed copy of this. It's very dense, and delights in the very static 9-panels-a-page layout, which can be exhausting to read. But there isn't much story behind the premise, which involves taking the title to its most literal and bizarre conclusion. Through a bizarre accident, a man becomes composed of mostly chocolate and endowed with strange powers. He wreaks havoc, kills a lot of badguys, winds up on a desert island, is rescued, poked and prodded, someone breaks off his finger to use in an unauthorized experiment to re-create an army of mindless chocolate soldiers, the first test subject goes bonkers, the original chocolate man teams up with a scientist (yep, you got it - He's a Man of Chocolate! She's a Scientist! Together, They're Detectives!) to find the test subject... Lots of stuff going on here - very crowded - and it probably should have been drawn out over 2-3 issues. It's way too dense story-wise and art-wise. And despite all the novel touches it is, in essence, a rather cliched story. But it's an interesting experiment, and I don't think you'd be wasting your $2.50 US to check it out. David informs his readers, BTW, that "the full thrust of my creative energy is now being spent on launching THRESHOLD...a superhero team book... If you are at all put off by superhero team books, as I am, then I think you'll really enjoy THRESHOLD." Wow [sarcasm mode on] - a book about something the author hates reading about, I know I'll be first in line [sarcasm mode off]. Honestly, you don't like superhero team books (and there are some lousy ones out there, but not all of them are bad), why don't you just write and draw something else? I mean, duh. AKIKO #1 by Mark Crilley YAY!!!!!!! Akiko's back! I make no pretense at all about my love for this book - Mark Crilley's one of the swellest guys it's ever been my pleasure to meet, I was able to give this title a great plug at the end of the Motor City Con "Writing About Comics" panel, and I can't tell you the number of people I directed to the Sirius booth to pick up this book during the con. This is one of the best books out there for young girls, and just about anyone else. Akiko (emphasis on the first syllable, by the way - and it is established early on that she's Japanese) happens upon some old friends (King Froptoppit, Bip and Bop) aboard an ice cream truck that's actually a spacefaring vehicle (way cool!). They want her to visit again, 'cause the prince misses her. Hey, would you refuse? I didn't think so. "So îthere I was off to Smoo again, with Bip and Bop at the wheel, and all the ice cream I could eat." And, of course, her robot duplicate back at Earth (great line about this alluding to the premiere issue a few months back). Well, they get to Smoo and, wouldn't you know it, Stuff Has Gone Wrong. This time it's no test - it's real. A diabolical fiend named Alia Rellapor is up to no good, and Akiko and her friends must rescue the prince from her clutches. (Ten to one Alia turns out to be the prince's mother and King Froptoppit's estranged love...) All the characters from the premiere are back, and the first stumbling block they come across is - space pirates!!! YAY!!! This is SO WAY COOL! Fun art, great blurry effects, lots of humor, and a wonderful sense of adventure and wonder and discovery. Buy it, please. So, what did y'all think? [These reviews are copyright 1996 Elayne Wechsler-Chaput, who apologizes for their lateness due to, among other things: an inability to log into her Internet account from her home; the need to finish her Motor City Con report; and the machinations of the ever-present Hormone Monster...] |
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