Well, since pal Dorian
outed me as a Star Trek fan, I thought I'd say a word or two about the demise of
Enterprise, and the possible demise of
Trek in its entirety. (With no mention of comic books...sorry about that!)
Now, do I think
Trek is gone for good? No, of course not. Paramount has made a lot of money on the franchise over the years, but with diminishing returns and an inability to attract any kind of sizable new audience, I'm not going to hold my breath for any more TV series or movies for the foreseeable future. We'll probably see the book lines continue, and I'm sure we'll still see other merchandise, but it will all be bought by the same folks who've always bought
Trek stuff. (Warren Ellis said it best, in an essay I can't seem to find online anymore, but
Neilalien thankfully quoted from.)
Dorian once said about a particular musician (I'm not going to say who...I don't need to start
that here) that you can tell the end is near for his career, as instead of producing new material, all that's been happening is that his older material is being continually repackaged in more and more gimmicky fashions. This isn't designed to grab new fans, it's simply there to get more money out of the old fans this musician has left. I'm talking about things like "collectors box sets" of CD-singles, designed to look like 45s, complete with individual sleeves. It's material the fans already have, but they don't have it in this format, so they gotta get it!
The
Trek books are kind of like that. The books are either part of a series (
Worlds of Deep Space Nine Part 3,
Starfleet Corps of Engineers) or they're "written" by William Shatner. The books can't stand on their own...they need to be shored up by some kind of gimmick.
Enterprise, too, is playing solely to the fans, giving backstories to various elements of the
Trek universe. The series was at its best when it left behind all the continuity-laden baggage and entered a year-long storyline away from familiar space for its third season (though Mr. Ellis again has
thoughts worth considering on this very turn of events). However, with the end of that story, we're back with stories about Vulcan civil wars, or Eugenics Wars, or
Next Generation's Data's grandpappy, or (forthcoming) an explanation of why "modern" Klingons have head-ridges and why "classic" Klingons didn't...it's all about why things are the way they are in other
Trek stories. Using past continuity as a springboard for stories is one thing...
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is probably the best example...but devoting your stories to minutiae that only your hardcore fans care about gives the appearance of insularity. It repels new viewers.
I'm not saying I haven't enjoyed
Enterprise. I'm a lifelong
Trek fan, so the series is very clearly aimed at
me, and I think the series has shown a marked improvement over the last couple years, even despite my criticisms. (I'm probably also the one person on the planet who didn't completely hate the theme song.) But, I believe, it's about time to give it a rest. Like Ellis has said, and like Dorian has also noted, there just isn't enough fan support for a
Trek show any more. I would rather see Paramount pull the plug for the time being, rather than just put less and less money into a TV show they're only keeping on the air for the few fans left who are watching it.
I'm sure we'll see it back in live action sooner or later, hopefully with different people in charge so we can get a fresh take instead of yet another variation on the original '60s series. A take that, hopefully, can grab new viewers instead of just catering to those of us who have watched
Star Trek for so long. I like
Trek...I
want it to continue, but I realize that it won't be able to without reaching out to people who otherwise wouldn't watch the show.
(As an aside...please
don't protest the series' cancellation at anybody's offices...that's just embarrassing.)
I hate these "meme" things, I really do. You know, those
quizzes ("
Which Teen Titans Character Are You?")* or endless lists of "favorites/least favorites" that you see on every weblog ever. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I swear to God, I've seen more than a few weblogs that are
just quiz results.
At any rate, that guy
Beaucoup Kevin totally called me out on this whole music questionnaire thingie. Because I like Kevin, and enjoy his weblog, I will,
this once, go ahead and answer these questions. But I refuse to enjoy it, so there.
1. Total amount of music files on your computer:
20 gigabytes. Every single one
legally acquired, thank you. (A lot of those are archived radio shows in high quality MP3 format, thus inflating the size a little.)
2. The last CD you bought was:
Second & Eighteen by
Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives. Buy a copy today...tell 'em Mike sent you.
3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
"Vertigogo" by Combustible Edison (from the
Four Rooms soundtrack).
4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
"How Much About Last Night Do You Remember" by the Young Fresh Fellows
"Johnny Q" by the Crazy 8s
"All of The Cool Girls" by Honest Bob
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by Negativland
"Better Luck Next Time" by Oingo Boingo
5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
No one at all.
Stop the madness!
* And that is all the comic book related content in this post. Sorry, folks. Oh, and I'm "Raven," by the way.
Yeah, it's this again. SPOILERS ahead:
Superman: Strength (2nd issue out yesterday) is turning into quite the interesting series. I know some people are turned off by the art, but like I said last time, it really does grow on you, and the series' theme of a young Clark Kent learning to deal with moral ambiguity is compelling.
On the other hand,
Superman #213 is one of those comics that I'm buying just to keep the run complete, I think. I know, I know, that's the worst reason in the world to buy a comic. However, I've been a consistent reader of Superman comics longer than
this guy's been alive, and I'm loathe to have a hole in my collection. Sad, isn't it? Oh well, I've enjoyed 99% of my Superman comics, I can tough out the occasional rough spot.
Daisy Kutter: The Last Train is out in convenient paperback form, which is good since I gave up my copy of the first issue to a customer and I was never able to get any reorders in. Plus, the book is about four bucks cheaper than buying the series, and there are lots of extra sketches and pin-ups inside, so it's quite a bargain.
I was going to say that the new issue of
Concrete: The Human Dilemma (#2) takes the Concrete saga in an unexpectedly adult direction...and by "adult," I mean "sexual," but upon reconsideration,
Concrete has always been an adult series, in every sense of the term. It takes the comics cliche of a man trapped in a monstrous body and applies a real sense of loss, alienation, melancholy, and plain ol' sexual frustration that's only crudely approached by the prime example of this character type, the Fantastic Four's Thing. Even the Concrete series' one concession to fantasy (aside from Concrete himself, of course), the origin story involving the aliens, is layered with such dread and feelings of violation that it could be read as an allegory for sexual assault (something explicitly stated at least once in the text of those stories, as I recall). Anyway, the more explicitly sexual content of this issue isn't completely out of left field, as it does appear to be playing into this mini-series' larger themes regarding overpopulation.
Hellblazer Special: Papa Midnite #1 - I know they're just doing this to tie into the movie (had it been Marvel, the series would have been finished and out in paperback by now), but it's still weird to see a character in his own series that 1) hasn't been in
Hellblazer in quite a while and 2) pretty definitively dead, I believe. Still well done, as we get a look at Midnite's formative years.
Grimjack: Killer Instinct #1 - argh, that $3.99 price point! That's okay, though, as it's a pleasure and a half to finally get Grimjack back on the stands again. While I'm anxious to see the story pick up from where it left off at the end of the First Comics' run all those years ago, I realize that's probably not the best place to start up a new GJ series. However, this "prequel" series is a lot of fun, and beautifully drawn by Tim Truman.
Bizarro World hardcover - I enjoyed the first volume of this series, seemingly produced only to have some kind of "appropriate" outlet for the Kyle Baker's "Letitia Lerner - Superman's Babysitter" story that DC had to be shamed into printing. There was a lot of good work in that volume, though too many pages were devoted to that Bizarro vs. Mxyzptlk framing sequence that I think I
still haven't finished reading. Thankfully, there's no such albatross in this book, leaving more space for offbeat renditions of classic and not-so-classic DC heroes. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but what I have read has been a hoot. Rick Altergott drawing the Legion of Super-Heroes? The Peter Bagge/Gilbert Hernandez Red Bee story?
Snake 'n' Bacon's Michael Kupperman drawing the Justice League? That fabulous Jaime Hernandez cover? Oh my.
Other new releases:
There's an ad for the
Constantine movie on the back of
Super Manga Blast #49. I don't know why that amuses me.
The first volume reprinting Evan Dorkin's
Bill 'n' Ted's Most Excellent Adventures is out, including a fairly frank and amusing intro by Dorkin about his initial hesitance toward the project. This was a very enjoyable series, and I'm glad it's available again...though I'm glad I have it in the original color comics, since the greytones don't really do it justice. Still looks good, though, don't get me wrong.
Shanna the She-Devil #1 - I know others have commented on it before, but it's still amusing to look through the book and see all the different ways Shanna's nudity has been covered up for final publication. Bubbles here, blankets there....
Daredevil Redemption #1 - why do we have yet another Daredevil mini-series when there are at least two other unfinished DD mini-series still not being published?
BMW Films: The Hire #2 - for all you people who didn't buy the first issue, here's another chance to not buy another one! Well, I guess quarter box comics have to come from somewhere....
Legend of Grimjack Vol. 1 - we already sold out of it.
Battle of the Planets: Princess #4 - also sold out.
We also received a ton of manga books that apparently comic shops in other parts of the country already received...at least, the comic shops that bothered to order them did, anyway.
And yes, there's a new issue of
Swamp Thing, but I cheated and read the preview copy we received last week. The Arcane story is wrapped up, for now, with the final piece of explanation we're likely to get regarding his fall from "forgiven" status at the end of the Millar run.
In other news:
Scott Saavedra reveals what the old comic ads meant when they promised "life sized monsters" and "monster masks," complete with shocking photos!
Someone's
Green Lantern computer case.
You know, for a moment there I thought I saw someone who had made his own
"Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad" action figure, but surely I must have been mistaken.
Seriously, though, this guy has a boatload of customized action figures -- all listed on the
main page. I particularly like
the Red Bee, and
Wild Dog, and wow, who'd ever thought you'd see a figure of
Merry, Girl of A 1000 Gimmicks? Or
Degaton? This
'Mazing Man figure seems a little overly-muscled, but God bless this fella for even trying. This whole page is a lot of fun, and makes you wish DC would get around to doing
official versions of some of these characters (my Justice Society collection will not be complete until I can get my hands on a
Ma Hunkle Red Tornado figure).
A
Swamp Thing diorama! Found on
this page, with lots of other DC character models (both commercial and homemade).
Marvel Magic the Gathering cards. Yes, even
Man-Thing. For
Neilalien:
Dr. Strange,
Clea and the
Eye of Agamotto. And for everyone:
M.O.D.O.K.!
Wolverine and Kitty Pryde "relationshippers" fansite. Oh dear heavens.
You know what I miss? DC Digests...I had occassion to dig them out of the vast Mikester Comic Archives recently, and seeing them again reminded me of what a huge loss it is to not have inexpensive, widely-available reprints of this sort anymore. (Please excuse the condition of some of the digests presented here...I took absolutely no care of them whatsoever...heck, I was 10 or so years old at the time, and I was more concerned with reading them than preserving them for future resale value...which is only right, of course. As someone who now sells funnybooks for living, though, I can't help but wince a bit when I see them!)
Before we had trade paperbacks collecting every six issues of a comic's run, whether they needed compiling or not, we had the digests.
Best of DC Digest #9 (February 1981) reprints the "Batman - Murderer" storyline by Len Wein and Jim Aparo, predating the interminable "Bruce Wayne - Fugitive" (or whatever) storyline by about three decades. This was a story that ran through several issues, sort of a rarity at the time, so it was nice to get the whole series under one cover. Also, new to this digest: a floorplan and legend to the Wayne Foundation Building (featuring all the secret passageways and hidden Bat-rooms).
The only frustrating thing about the digest format is something that's come up now that I have a website...it's a lot harder to scan choice panels out of them! For example, the
Best of DC Digest #16 (September 1981) reprints "The Trial of Superman," in which the Man of Steel is on trial for the murder of Clark Kent. Attention is paid to the trouble in finding an impartial jury...but once the trial starts, a scene takes place in the jury room in which one of the jurors reveals why her decision is so difficult: apparently Superman once saved her baby from certain death.
This is the impartial jury?
DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #13 (September 1981) reprints, among the various sci-fi/fantasy oriented Strange Sports Stories (some '60s classics and some newer '70s adventures) the "classic" superheroes versus supervillains baseball game story "The Great Super-Star Game!" If there's a stranger splash page than Superman pitching a baseball, with the Joker up to bat, I'm not sure I've seen it. A welcome addition to the digest is an essay by Bob Rozakis on how he wrote the story (by creating the twists and turns of the game in the story by playing a baseball-themed playing card game).
Best of DC Digest #14 (July 1981) showcases five of Batman's most famous villains, in a series of stories reprinted from the 1970s. New to the digest were one page origins of each villain...and, if memory serves, the origin page for the Penquin featured information heretofore unknown. (I think I remember reading that this was the case...correct me if I'm wrong!) There's also a new two-page spread featuring 24 Batman villains drawn by Denys Cowan and Dick Giordano..."Can you identify them," asks the caption, and, sadly, I can.
This is exactly the kind of thing I wish I had at the store to sell to kids...an inexpensive book featuring Batman's bad guys. I could sell
tons of these now.
Best of DC Digest #8 (Dec 1980) was the very first DC Digest I ever bought, featuring Superman in alternate identities (such as a genie, or a butler, or a hobo). The lead story is "The Day Superman Became the Flash," retitled for reprinting as "The Five Other Identities of Superman" (probably because there's another story in the digest where Superman
also becomes the Flash, and this first story is more about Superman taking on identities duplicating some of his fellow Justice League members).
For some reason, the back cover has, among pictures of Supes' various guises, this image:
...an identity that appears nowhere in the digest, unfortunately.
DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #10 (June 1981) just makes me wish DC would get around to releasing manga-formatted reprints of Mike Grell's
Warlord series. You'd think with
Conan doing so well at the moment in the comics market, DC would want to try to exploit it. Plus, these early
Warlords still hold up after all these years. Lots of fun!
DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #14 (October 1981) has a great Joe Kubert cover, on top of collection of DC's '60s sci-fi comics that, alas, are rarely seen nowadays. It's not completely superhero-free, as an Adam Strange story is thrown into the mix, but who's going to complain about Adam Strange, you know?
Ah, the Year's Best Comics Stories digest (this one being
Best of DC #52 (Sept 1984)) - in which the editors of DC got together and voted for what they believed were the top comics the company released over the previous year. This was a good way to expose readers to comics they may have overlooked...along with the New Teen Titans and Batman stories were "The Death of Blackhawk Island" by Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle, and the first Amethyst story "Birthright" by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Ernie Colon. Also included was "Stopover in A Place of Secret Truths," Marty Pasko's Swamp Thing story that introduced Steve Bissette and John Totleben as Swampy's regular art team.
Favorite part of the digest...this detail from the back cover drawn by Paris Cullins and Dick Giordano:
Sunday, January 30, 2005
