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Scott Shaw! describes issue #2 of The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril in the most recent installment of his Oddball Comics column. I just recently picked up issue #3 of this series, and it’s just as peculiar as he describes.

There have been a couple announcements from DC Comics lately that have got some fans a little agitated – that Superman: Birthright is now the official origin of Superman, and that John Byrne’s Doom Patrol represents the first in-continuity appearance of the team (despite the previous series, including one that just ended a few months ago).

And you know what? Despite having been a Superman fan for about three decades, despite owning the all the original My Greatest Adventures and 60s Doom Patrols, not to mention the brilliant Grant Morrison issues…

…I have absolutely no problem with this “meddling” with comics continuity. With regards to Superman, even Byrne (who was responsible for the last major revamping of the character) had stated on his message board that we were about due for another revamping of Superman anyway, since it seems to happen about every 15 to 20 years or so. Besides, how many people out there are really all that put off by this? There can’t be that many people who have been reading the Super-titles nonstop since Byrne’s mid-80s reboot, are there? I mean, I have, but then there’s something wrong with me.

I have to admit, the Doom Patrol business made me laugh out loud…I admire the sheer gall of rendering previous Doom Patrol appearances null and void. I mean, Beast Boy/Changeling alone is completely screwed by it! Again, I have no real problem with it…aside from supplying Beast Boy for the New Teen Titans, it’s not like the Doom Patrol were central to the DC Universe or anything. It does mess with Swamp Thing continuity, though, gosh darn it!

Really, if it bothers anyone that much…just chalk it up to Hypertime!

ADDITIONAL LINKAGE:

The Mark Waid interview, linked above, mentions the influence of one of my favorite Supeman writers, Elliot S! Maggin. Here’s a page devoted to the man’s Super-work – I very highly recommend his two Superman novels.

1. I have one of those feed-type things, finally…it’s located here. If you’re on LiveJournal, you can pick up the feed here. No images will load, unfortunately, but feel free to pop back in here for a looksee if you want.

2. One of the signs of the apocalypse, Howard the Duck on DVD, was apparently discussed by George Lucas recently, and he mentioned something about a CG-Howard! Aiiiee! Take a look here for the sound file from the actual interview. (Not a permalink…it’s under 3/11/04.)

2a. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but you know all those Howard the Duck DVDs on eBay? Bootlegs ahoy, my friends.

2b. Two things would make me buy a Howard the Duck DVD…the original trailer (done like an Entertainment Tonight behind-the-scenes show, with the actors and crew talking about working with that Howard guy), and commentary by Howard’s creator, Steve Gerber.

3. Apparently a comics publisher complained about the quality of comics weblogs on his…um, on his comics weblog, actually. Well, most of the comics weblogs I frequent (take a look to the right, there) are pretty good, I think. Maybe this publisher is actually thinking of Newsarama forums.

4. Yes, it’s the official novelization of Garfield: The Movie. I’m sure you’ve all seen it this by now, as I was inundated by links to it on darn near every weblog I’ve come across. However, my favorite comment was this one from Metafilter: “Experience the pending awfulness first hand, then the relief of knowing you didn’t have to write it.”

4a. “I’d like to thank the A-cat-emy.” Oh dear Lord.

4b. How long before Garfield: The Movie is the top Google search for “worst movie of 2004?” Most references to this film usually include “worst movie of 2004” nearby somewhere (you know, like this post).

4c. I know you shouldn’t judge a film before it’s out, but honestly.

5. Just so that this entry isn’t all complaining and cattiness, here’s someone’s in-depth look at Tomahawk’s greatest nemesis – Frontier Frankenstein! (The main page links to some other comics articles…including a look at Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein!)

Okay, it’s time for the first JLA by Claremont and Byrne update, as per this post of mine:

1. No “friends of yours, Bats” crack was made, and…

2. No heroine turned evil and suddenly started wearing lingerie.

Yet.

However, “Bats” did show up in dialogue.

Okay, that said…I did enjoy the first issue of this storyline. It sure looks nice (the Byrne/Ordway combo is a winner), and the writing is…well, it sure looks nice. Ah, that’s not fair…it’s standard superhero adventure-type writing, which does its job. At least you feel like stuff is happening and a plot is moving forward, which is more than a lot of superhero comics nowadays.

Also, I did pick up Street Angel from Slave Labor…mostly because several other comics webloggers, starting with Alan David Doane, kept going on about it, and I was curious. No chance to read it yet (I’m typing this instead, you lucky people), but it looks like a lot of fun. I’m reminded of My Monkey’s Name Is Jennifer for no good reason. It sorta has a similar feel at first glance. Heck, there’s no justifying that comparison. Just get your own copy and read it yourself.

Oh, and JSA was good, too. God bless Geoff Johns for bringing back Per Degaton.

Re: Cerebus #300 – well, I’m not entirely sure that resolved anything.

Also, I noticed that Veronica #150 from Archie Comics came out today…I wonder if she’ll die in issue #300?

I first began to suspect something was up here on the back cover of Bugs Bunny Trick or Treat Halloween Fun Giant #4 (Dell Comics 1955):

Now, I was willing to give Cicero Pig, the nephew of Porky Pig, the benefit of a doubt. That hot dog he’s cooking isn’t necessarily made from pork products…it could very well be a turkey dog, or even some kind of soy dog.

But then I saw this:

Cicero’s innocent expression seems to imply that he was merely trying to scale a hill like his uncle but misaimed his pick, but look closely…there’s no rock face anywhere near where Cicero plunged his weapon. If that pick was jammed into Porky’s pack, it could only have been put there on purpose. Look at Porky’s expression…even he looks worried that Cicero has designs on his life.

Now, granted, Cicero is nowhere to be found at this next crime scene:

However, I don’t care how heavy Porky supposedly is…it’s something of a coincidence that both ropes were to split at more or less the same position at the same time. Almost as if they were…cut.

Darn you, Cicero Pig! Darn you and your murderous ways!

(Alternate title: “Pa Kent is as dumb as a load of bricks.”)

from Adventure Comics #311 (August 1963) by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and George Klein

Okay, so Pa Kent looks up at the flying baby, the one that looks pretty much like baby Clark, wearing the same blue and red clothes that Superbaby is always wearing, the very same clothes made out of the Kryptonian cloth that Ma Kent had to get baby Clark to use his heat vision to cut, and he’s not 100% sure that the flying baby is really his son or not…presumably because of the green cake frosting. Because, you know, the sky above Smallville was so filled with flying babies that you never knew whose kid was whose.

On the other hand, Pa Kent not being able to recognize his son through the frosting does establish the precedent that people in the Superman universe are easily bamboozled by really stupid disguises – like, oh, say, a pair of glasses or something.

While we’re sorta on the subject, now that the Smallville TV series has established in its most recent episode that time travel is theoretically possible in its particular milieu, we are now one step closer to getting this on a future show:

from Adventure Comics #321 (June 1964) by Edmond Hamilton, John Forte, and Sheldon Moldoff

I never want to type the words “Batman” or “Joker” ever again.

Comic Book Heaven is ending with issue #10!

I was recently sent copies of the first two volumes of a new children’s book series that might be of interest to comic book fans…the series is called Sidekicks (published by Little, Brown), and it’s written by Marvel and Malibu writers/editors Dan Danko and Tom Mason. Yes, the same Tom Mason that brought us the naughty fun of Dinosaurs for Hire.

The first volume (of a projected six), called simply Sidekicks, introduces us to 13-year-old Speedy (the world’s fastest kid) and his fellow sidekicks to the Justice League-a-like League of Big Justice. His private life, like all good superheroes (and sidekicks) in this post-Marvel era, is rife with personal problems, as he is competing with fellow sidekick and schoolmate Charisma Kid for the attentions of the beautiful Prudence Cane. The plot details an attack by several supervillains upon the League of Big Justice’s headquarters, and it’s up to Speedy to save the day. Along the way several funny potshots are taken at the cliches that make up superhero adventures (including the sidekicks voting on what their battlecry should be, and a wise warning against pushing Big Red Buttons). It’s very silly and good fun, and even if the kids reading the books are only familiar with superheroes in the context of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans and Justice League shows, there’s enough context given for all the jokes to keep up. You don’t have to be a comics fan to enjoy the books…but if you are a comics fan, you’ll find plenty of self-aware comics humor to keep you entertained.

As you might be able to infer from the name “Charisma Kid,” the superheroes are all played pretty much for laughs, with super-abilities and costumed identities included more their ability to generate gags than for any kind of practicality. There’s the sidekick “Boy-in-the-Plastic-Bubble-Boy,” who’s stuck inside a giant hamster ball. Speedy’s own patron, Pumpkin Pete, appears to have the super-abilities of having a pumpkin for a head, and…well, that’s pretty much it, aside from licensing and running away at the first sign of danger. But, you know, that’s fine…this isn’t intended as a Watchmen-esque deconstruction of the modern superhero. It’s a spoof, a farce…it’s designed to make kids laugh, and on that level it certainly succeeds.

The second book – Operation Squish! – pits Speedy against the menace of Dr. Robot (called by everyone else “Dada Robah” since they all misheard his name)…and adds a little more depth to Speedy with his own growing disillusionment with the League of Big Justice’s apparent focus on merchandising and self-aggrandizement. There’s a nice moment of self-referential humor when a chapter in this book appears only to establish subplots for a future book…and the title of that chapter essentially says as such. We also begin to get the impression that Speedy may be the one member of the League of Big Justice and associated sidekicks that takes his job seriously.

Other nice moments from these books:

• quite possibly the greatest superhero/sidekick name I’ve ever heard, almost painfully obvious once you see it: Spelling Beatrice.
  

• the moments of surprisingly adult humor that pop up now and again (the appearance of Latchkey Kid, for example, or that Speedy was able to join the elite team of sidekicks not due to ability, but due to his parents’ check clearing).
  

• the charming illustrations by Barry Gott that head each chapter.
  

• each book includes perforated full-color trading cards inserted inside the front cover…Speedy and, probably the one true superhero to appear in the books, King Justice are in the first volume, Pumpkin Pete and Spelling Beatrice are in the second.
  

I’ve said in the past that the best children’s entertainment can be equally enjoyed by adults…Looney Tunes cartoons, for instance, or Carl Barks’ Disney duck comics. I’m three times the age of the recommended age group for these novels (and you have no idea how much it hurt to type that), but I got a kick out them, and I would recommend them to young comic fans, adult comic fans, and adult comic fans’ children, nephews, and nieces.