29. Wildstorm (Or This is why DC can't have nice things)

To preface: This is all immensely self-indulgent and almost belongs in fanfic territory. Forgive me, it's just stuff I've been thinking about.

A few weeks back, I got the bug to re-read Warren Ellis's Stormwatch, which I think is stronger than his Authority, taken as a whole. Then I re-read James Robinson's Wildcats, and pretty soon I think I'll be re-visiting the Wildcats work of Alan Moore and Joe Casey, and probably the Gen 13 work of Adam Warren.

And what I realized was something I kind of already knew: I like the Wildstorm universe. Sure, it started out as basically a carbon copy of Jim Lee's '90s version of the X-Men, but it slowly grew and expanded and became something else. Lee and Brandon Choi (and others I'm sure I'm forgetting) created Gen 13 and Team 7 and this whole world where there weren't superheroes, but covert ops with super-powers. It was a distinction that didn't really show up in the solid-but-unspectacular early work, but it laid an important foundation for better writers who came later.

Specifically, it laid a foundation for Alan Moore, James Robinson and Warren Ellis, three British writers who brought the usual mixture of nostalgic fondness and absolute loathing for superheroes that drove a lot of the '80s reinvention of DC and Marvel staples (usually for the worse, occasionally for the better, but almost always interesting reading) and Joe Casey, whose particular willingness to tackle the notion of super powers actually changing the real world, was a perfect X-factor in the mix.

And so you got things like Stormwatch dealing with the United States as foreign policy bully, or a superteam so powerful that the only things that threatened them were invasions from other dimensions that would turn whole nations into rape camps or space gods come to reclaim the Earth, or a centuries-long alien war that had long since been over, but nobody remembered to tell the people still fighting it on a backwater planet. Or a superteam deciding to incorporate and use their advanced technology to fix the world, and how much that would scare the established order.

These are all really interesting notions, and the characters that were developed became really interesting. Sure, Warren Ellis had many of them turned into his own British Mary Sue, and sure, we got like four versions of a thinly-veiled corrupt Justice League, but there was a lot of originality in there too.

And then, when DC decided to relaunch the New 52, they decided to incorporate Wildstorm into the DC Universe. In all honesty, I would have done the same thing. It seemed like a good idea. An undercurrent of covert ops and darker heroes made sense, and having Voodoo and Grifter fighting their secret war against the Daemonites, while other heroes like the Justice League had never even heard of them? Interesting. Martian Manhunter being the head of a secret super-powerful team that had been fighting off world-breaking threats long before the Justice League existed? Interesting.

Unfortunately, it failed. And in hindsight, it's easy to see why. In the DC Universe, you have real superheroes, so having covert superheroes just doesn't really work. It makes the real superheroes look impotent if they don't know about them, and the covert superheroes seem superfluous and under-powered compared to the real work being done by Superman, Batman, et. al.

However... looking at what's been done with Earth-2 so far, and it's modern-day reinvention of the Justice League, I wonder if DC couldn't try again and make an Earth-3 where the Wildstorm heroes are essentially the main heroes. Just like Earth-2, you have an event happen where the "real" heroes are wiped out, leaving a vacuum for new heroes to exist. The obvious thing to do is have the Daemonites as a secret invasion force and conspiracy, controlling things since they landed here in prehistoric times, just wiping out the heroes before they could exist. Blasting Kal-El's rocket out of orbit, making sure Bruce Wayne is murdered during his training, wiping out Paradise Island, etc. Anytime a hero popped his head up or even started to have an origin, he or she was coldly and brutally dealt with by the Daemonites, who had agents everywhere.

Until you get John Lynch, and maybe some DC mainstays like King Faraday and Amanda Waller, who realize that to fight a dirty, covert foe you need dirty, covert heroes. So they create Team 7, and create superheroes with power enough to fight the Daemonites and enough training and smarts not to get killed doing it. Instead of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, you've got Grifter, Deathblow and Zealot as your "big three." And as Team 7 begins to spin out of control, factions develop. So that in the '90s (or basically five or ten years before whenever you start your "heroic age") it's a team of 7 people who will eventually go on to basically form seven different factions. Just as a thought experiment, and here I'm also stealing a little from what little I know of Justin Jordan's upcoming Team 7 New 52 book, which I'm very excited to read:

Team 7 - Not actually seven field operatives, but a codename for the seven people who know everything there is to know about the Daemonite conspiracy (The Cabal, I think it was called in early Wildstorm lore, and could be again). Amanda Waller, King Faraday, John Lynch, Henry Bendix, Kaizen Gamorra, T.A.O. and Saul Baxter (secretly Lord Emp, a Kherubim). Each with their own agenda, and with their own agents that they would run.

At any rate, Team 7 would not be an actual book, but the basis for a line of seven Wildstorm books. There could be plenty of flashbacks in the books themselves to a covert war that had been taking place between not just the Daemonites and Team 7, but the various operations run by each of the Team 7 heads. My seven books?

Wildcats - Lord Emp's faction, made up of half-Kherubim and half-Daemonite. Focusing heavily on the Halo Corporation, which is trying to undo the damage done by corporate and political evils being done by that branch of the Cabal. Supporting the overt corporate and political maneuvering would be covert ops done by the "covert action team." Heavy blend of Joe Casey's smart anti-corporate Wildcats 3.0 with plenty of action from the Wildcats 2.0 era. The lead would split between Saul Baxter and his team of corporate and political operatives and the action team, which would be Spartan, Voodoo, Warblade, Maul, Zealot and Void, possibly bringing in fan-favorites Ladytron, Savant and Condition Red later. Maybe after you kill off one of the founding members. Why isn't Grifter here? Because you want the "big three" on three different factions.

International Operations - Originally John Lynch's faction, taken over and now run by King Faraday. This is the spy book, and Grifter is the lead operative. Think SHIELD, but dirtier and more realistic. These guys have actual U.S. government ties, and nobody much likes them, because they want everybody else to play by the rules, but they don't have to. Probably would look something like James Robinson's run on Wildcats in general if you're looking for a point of comparison, with a heavy dose of Brubaker's noir take on the Wildstorm universe thrown in for good measure.

Suicide Squad - OK, this is *really* self-indulgent, but go with me on this. What if you took some of DC's characters and put them through the Wildstorm filter? What does a covert version of Wally West look like, for one example? Re-imagine some fan-favorite characters, take a good B-lister or two and make them Amanda Waller's "Dirty Dozen" to take on the Daemonites. This is also where I'd put Zealot, just to have a strong female field leader who could butt heads with a strong female commander in Waller.

Gen 13 - After getting ousted from I.O., John Lynch starts the Gen 13 project to create new superhumans, using DNA from other superhumans once run by or known to Team 7. So you've got either children of or clones of operatives from Wildcats, Suicide Squad, Stormwatch, etc. And you can do DV8 and Ivana Baiul and a darker, sinister undercurrent within Gen 13, suggesting that Lynch is in danger of being ousted again. You are also messing around with teenagers here, and can suggest what it's like to be the youngest generation in a war you never asked for. You go classic here: Fairchild, Grunge (new name/powers/look probably), Freefall, Rainmaker, Burnout and of course Anna the android. And you introduce the DV8 team as new members, slowly subverting and trying to take over so that at some point it's Lynch's proteges vs. Baiul's, and the end result is probably a mix of the two teams. If you want to get real ambitious, you can also have Lynch running side operations with Grifter, Holden Carver and other Brubaker-ish spy stuff, but that's a different thing, and might not belong in this book.

The Authority - Henry Bendix's space-based, U.N.-backed team. The public face of superheroics in this world, so they deal with both Daemonite and non-Daemonite problems, and they look like the public heroes of this world. A little bit of The Authority, but with the undercurrent of Ellis's Stormwatch Black, which was subtler and more interesting. These guys would probably butt heads pretty frequently with the Wildcats. And again, I'd go pretty classic here: Battalion, Winter, Fuji, Hellstrike from Stormwatch and Midnighter, Apollo and Jack Hawksmoor from The Authority. Probably this would be a big team with room for casualties, so you could bring in Flint, Diva, etc. etc. as well. This would be a fun place to bring in Wildstorm "flavored" DC super-villains, too. What does Ultra-Humanite look like in this universe? And doesn't Deathstroke seem like a perfect fit for Wildstorm? You could also have a lot of fun with Superman and Flash Rogues trying to be super-villains in a world where it's OK for the heroes to punch your head off on camera.

Gamorra - This would be a fun one. Instead of trying to fight the Daemonites within the system, crazy old Kaizen Gamorra just creates his own island nation and eradicates the Daemonite influence. He'd be trying to take over the world for its own good, using terrorist tactics against Daemonite threats in the name of expanding Gamorra into a Daemonite-free nation ruling the entire Earth. You'd need some sympathetic people doing the wrong things for the right reasons as his super team, and this would require a lot of new characters and world-building, but I think it'd be a fun perspective. It might be fun if Deathblow were his lead operative, a conflicted killer with ties to Zealot and Grifter.

Stormwatch - And this would be my other "villain" book (although you can argue for Lynch, Emp, Waller, even Faraday being ruthless enough to quality as villains in many cases), as Stormwatch is the covert organization run by T.A.O. Tao, like Gamorra, doesn't want to win the war for any altruistic reasons. However, he also doesn't really have any designs on world domination. To him, it's all just a big game, a distraction for his massive intellect and ego. This is where you'd use more obscure (but popular in the '90s) Wildstorm guys like Backlash, Majestic, Union and The Kindred. Weird genetic monsters, uber-powerful alien super-soldiers, these are the pieces Tao brings to the fight. And he'd have his own public corporation and political arm to deal with Saul Baxter's Halo Corporation, his own underground crime network to deal with Gen 13 and I.O., his own public superheroes (that's where Majestic and Union come in) to duke it out, PR-wise, with The Authority.

These are rough, tossed-off thoughts, and I'm sure you could get much more ambitious with them. But if I were magically put in charge of revitalizing what I think is a potentially commercially and critically successful franchise that DC is currently wasting, this is probably where I'd start.

8. Top 10 DC Relaunch Books

We're almost six months into the DC relaunch now, so that we've seen the finale of most of the first story arcs (and more on that in a minute), and I feel like I've seen enough to fairly rank my favorites.

I should say that we're only in week two of month six, but one issue more or less isn't really going to move my opinion on any of the books I'm reading. I should also say that by month six, I feel like every book should be at least finished with its first story arc, and several of my favorites are actually already into their second. Some of the best books had a four issue or even shorter first arc, and I think that's part of the reason for their success.

1. Suicide Squad
So many ways this could have gone wrong. Untested creative team, some really ugly costume designs on the cover of #1, the weight of expectations from one of my all-time favorite series... and instead, it is my favorite book of the relaunch by a wide margin, and the only one I'm 100% certain I'll be picking up in collected editions.

It's got great dark humor, terrific new characters, a great use of existing characters and really nice art. I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying their take on Harley Quinn, equally surprised by how well Deadshot works as leader of the Squad instead of free-floating headcase, and I love King Shark, who is violent and unpredictable and often very, very funny. Of course I hate skinny Waller and miss the pre-relaunch Wall, but that's a minor tweak, all things considered, and this is great book.

2. Resurrection Man
This one is pretty much exactly what it was before the relaunch. Abnett & Lanning know how to create a character and a setting (just look at what they've done with Marvel's space adventure stuff or Heroes for Hire), the art is really strong and I like the various mysteries running throughout the thing. And while in some ways the first story arc is still going, in other ways they're doing a more old school approach, with stories that finish in each issue (or in two or three issues) and a larger over-arcing series of subplots. In fact, issue #6, taking place in Gotham, is basically a standalone.

3. Wonder Woman
This is still one of those that could go off the rails, and I suspect, as with almost all of Azzarello's work, that it will read better in trade. But it really is a completely new, and much more interesting, take on Wonder Woman, dark and violent and grounded in mythology in a very different way than what Perez did when he reinvigorated the character in the '80s. And Cliff Chiang's art is phenomenal, some of the best of the relaunch. Even more impressive, when they brought in guest artist Tony Akins, he rose to the occasion and did the best work of his career, so that the occasional guest spot won't ruin the vibe that Azzarello and Chiang have going.

I'm not certain I'll pick up collected editions of the run, I need to see how it does in the long run, but it's a strong possibility.

4. Aquaman

Given that Johns hasn't written much that I've enjoyed in the past few years (ever since Countdown to Infinite Crisis, actually), I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying this book. A relatively short four issue intro arc, some strong art from Ivan Reis, and of course a more badass Aquaman have a lot to do with it. But I also really like his use of Mera (a character I previously could not possibly care less about).

5. Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
Lots of fun, picking up on elements of what Morrison did with the character, and just throwing in tons of little DC Universe elements while essentially being an action-adventure monster book. There have been bumps in the road, like a crossover with OMAC, and I'm deeply disappointed that Lemire is leaving the book, even if Matt Kindt is a decent replacement, but I've been enjoying it in general.


6. Catwoman
Sexy, fun, with spectacular art by Guillem March and some of the strongest writing Winick has done in a while. Sure, it can't compare to the Brubaker run, but what possibly could? It's a popcorn book for me, but I have to admit that every issue I enjoy, and it feels like these guys get this character.

7. Batman and Robin
Loses a few points for still being on its first story arc, even six issues in, loses more points for not naming the new dog Ace, but the dynamic between Bruce Wayne and Damian is fantastic, the art by Patrick Gleason really strong and the bad guy, a callback to Wayne's past and a temptation for Damian's dark side, is a perfect choice. Easily the best of the new Batman books.

8. Swamp Thing
I have to be honest, I'm losing interest in the overlong first arc, but this is a creepy horror take on a character who works better as creepy horror than superheroes, and Yanick Paquette is doing a great job on the art.

9. Animal Man
This one also had a big swing and a miss with the inexplicable decision to do the Buddy Baker movie issue with #6, but it's been creepy and haunting and really, really good up to that point.

10. Batwoman
I have to admit, beautiful as JH Williams' art is, there are times when I can't really tell what's supposed to be going on. And to some extent, Amy Reeder Hadley taking over on art is an improvement. And Williams is maybe a bit too ambitious as a new writer, playing around with structure when he should really be trying to tell a more straightforward story. But... there's so much to like about this book and it's deliberate weirdness, and he gets major bonus points for using Chase and the DEO.

A few notes on other books in the relaunch:

Action Comics - Great first two issues, than rapid nosedive into WTF-ville. I think this, like much of Morrison's work, will benefit from seeing a big chunk (like twelve issues) at a time to see what he's doing, but my initial love of the book has cooled considerably, and it's almost in not reading territory for me now.

Batman - Lots of folks seem to love this, but I can't get past Capullo's artwork. That motorcycle vs. helicopter chase in #3? Borderline unreadable, and it's not the only sequence like that. Snyder is one of my favorite Batman writers after Black Mirror, so I'll probably give this one a chance when it's collected, but I think the choice of artist just killed this book for me.

Batgirl - I can't get over what a morose, disappointing read this book has been.

Green Lantern - Love the use of Sinestro as Green Lantern, and still enjoy the read, but the Mike Choi guest art on #6 didn't do it any favors.

Justice League - Still enjoying this as an action book, but nobody feels particularly in character, Darkseid is a big disappointment (and don't redesign Kirby unless you can improve on it) and it's definitely a "read and forget" book for me. I understand why it's the flagship, and I don't dislike it, but neither is it anywhere near my top 10.

Flash - Love Manapul's art, and I feel like he took a step up as the writer and designer of the panels, but... the writing is soooo boring. With a better writing collaborator, I feel like this book could be much stronger.

Demon Knights - Overlong first story arc, too many characters... I really wanted to like this, but I'm quickly losing track of the story.

3. The Dans of DC

This one's kind of a whim post, I admit it. But recently, I picked up the new Chase trade paperback, and was reminded that for a time in the '90s, at least three of my favorite people at DC were named Dan. To specify:

1. Dan Curtis Johnson was the writer and co-creator of Chase. He had a great grip on the DCU, clearly had a plan in mind for Chase to run for many more issues, and it's a shame we never got to see the full extent of his vision. He even used the Starman-esque trick of "Times Past" type stories to show us tales of Chase as a P.I. in San Francisco, he was clearly building up to something with the DEO's "orphanages" where they trained young metahumans they captured, etc.

Unfortunately, while D. Curtis Johnson was one of the most talented writers working at DC in the '90s, his commercial profile never quite caught up to his creative skills and potential, and while I don't know where he is these days, I'd venture a guess that he's making a lot more money and getting a lot more respect in his other field of computer programming. Pity, as I'd love to see him writing for DC again.

2. Dan Raspler was an editor who I first noticed when he was working with John Ostrander on Suicide Squad. He then went on to edit some of my favorite series, including The Spectre and Hitman, and created and wrote Young Heroes in Love, a short-lived series in the '90s that I really loved. I met him on the shuttle bus at the first Chicago Comicon I ever went to (or possibly the second, my memory's a little shaky on that one) and even pitched him a story at one point when I was trying (thankfully, unsuccessfully) to break in as a comics writer.

3. Dan Thorsland was also an editor, and he was notably in charge of DC's horror mini-line in the '90s, including a really fun book about monsters on the run called Scare Tactics. He also edited some of the issues of Chase, and a few other notable books I really liked.

In all three cases, I don't really know where these guys are now. But I do know that if I could trade one of them for DC's current Dan (Didio) I probably would.

Dan Jurgens is the fourth Dan, and while he's hit and miss for me, he's done so much work that I've liked that I will always give his stuff a chance. So while I'm finding his Justice League International really boring, I still look back on his underrated runs on Thor, Aquaman, Captain America and of course the character he created, Booster Gold, and he'll always get a look for me. Unlike the aforementioned three Dans, however, Jurgens is very active in the comics community at present.

2. DVD Overview: Justice League Unlimited Season Two

After what I think of as the perfect culmination of Batman, Superman and Justice League cartoons in the first season of Justice League Unlimited Season One, I remember being somewhat disappointed in season two. Having now re-watched it, I maintain my opinion that it's considerably weaker than the first season, but I've realized it's still pretty great.

I think one of the big things that hurt season two was the half episode order. Thirteen episodes feels really tight given the amount of story they're trying to pack in here, and it becomes especially notable at the end. The Hawkgirl-Hawkman-Vixen-Green Lantern love quadrangle never quite gets a full resolution, the Martian Manhunter goes down among humanity starts abruptly and doesn't quite have enough time to make his return at the end have quite as much resonance as it could, Grodd's secret society is a great idea but feels like it's over before it really gets started, etc.

However... all of these stories are great ideas, and despite being compressed, they're still really good. In particular, I loved seeing the future Green Lantern/Hawkgirl offspring being addressed. And the plot structure at the outset, where Grodd is going after various artifacts from DC's history, allowing the writers to use the Viking Prince, Deadman and the Warlord, is terrific. In addition, the writers continue to expand across the DCU, so we get a Legion episode, an episode that feels like a lost Flash TV show and a follow-up to Cadmus with Wade Eiling adopting the General identity he took on in Morrison's JLA.

They also made time for some fun one-offs, notably Flash and Lex Luthor getting their minds swapped, and some follow-up from season one with Roulette and her new Metabrawl.

The show did not lack ambition, nor expertise, it just lacked in time to really explore all of the ideas in full.

Still... Darkseid invading Earth, and Lex and Superman teaming up, alongside their respective teams, to defend it? That's a hell of a final episode.

The DVDs have two notable extras, one where the writers, producers and directors discuss their favorite episodes and another where Mark Hamill and series creative personnel discuss the Cadmus arc, although I haven't actually watched either one quite yet.

Goodreads Review: Green Lantern Origins HC

Green Lantern, Book 6: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to admit, I didn't really think Hal Jordan's origin, and his relationships with Abin Sur, Carol Ferris and Sinestro needed revisiting again. Especially with all the momentum Geoff Johns has been building towards "In Blackest Night."

But I was wrong. While re-tracing a few steps of Hal's rise from test pilot to Green Lantern, Johns introduces backstory elements that reinforce his take on Hector Hammond, Sinestro, Black Hand and indeed the Green Lantern mythos as a whole. By going back to Hal's roots, he can plant seeds that will come to fruition in "In Blackest Night," thus looking like it's the culmination of a decades-long plan rather than an invention in the last few years.

Is this "ret-conning?" Well, yes. But it's done fairly artfully, and given that DC's continuity is so open to re-interpretation and even outright erasure, it doesn't particularly bother me. Johns puts some deeper levels of characterization in here, building on what we've known about the characters but tweaking it so that it all feels like one big mythos, rather than what it is, which is the result of dozens if not hundreds of writers introducing their ideas, sometimes clunkily, to form a big tapestry of Green Lantern's mythos.

Ivan Reis's artwork is spectacularly good, reminiscent of Carlos Pacheco and JG Jones, and he does particularly exceptional work on all the spaceships, airplanes, alien landscapes and human hangars that dot the story.

This book also introduces the backstory of Atrocitus, my vote for most on-the-nose-yet-awesomely-named bad guy ever, and it's a nice tie-in to the Guardians' folly with the Manhunters, as well as to Alan Moore's famous Green Lantern story about the planet of demons who wound up putting Abin Sur in a spaceship.

If all retcons were like this, the word wouldn't have such a bad rep.

View all my reviews.

DC: Ouch

Y'know, I'm no fan of Dan Didio's version of the DC Universe, but I've often felt that he gets unnecessarily personal attacks from a segment of fandom. "Dan Didio Must Die" was, and is still, an over-reaction to not liking the dude's work in comics, even if it is meant to be a riff on the stupid "Jimmy Olsen Must Die" promos that Didio's DC cooked up.

However, as a fan and a retailer who would: A) Like to enjoy more DC Comics and B) Like to sell more DC Comics, I think it's pretty clear that Didio's guidance is driving DC into the ground. I mean, if you just look at this:

Chuck Dixon gives Didio both barrels

Well, that's one thing. But when, on the same day, you get this:

May Sales Charts

Which show that Final Crisis #1 was outsold by a pretty large margin by Secret Invasion *#2*, not to mention Marvel continuing to absolutely *dominate* DC in terms of dollar share (43% to 28%, rounding generously) and unit share (47% to 30%, again rounding generously in DC's favor), well...

I'm just saying if I were Didio, I'd be more than a little bit nervous about how much more rope they're going to let me have before they use it to hang me.

From a link by Heidi on The Beat, we've got this rundown of possible replacements, along with the news (well, it was news to me) that Didio's contract expires in a year.

None of these candidates look particularly great to me as a replacement (except Schreck, who is a, no pun intended, dark horse candidate. I'd actually *love* to see what Schreck would do in the big chair.) And a lot of the speculation is pure crazytalk, even in the insane industry that is comics. Other than Schreck, not one of the "in" comics crowd looks even remotely realistic, as they either wouldn't want the job or aren't likely to be offered it for political reasons, and the rundown of past talent seems to ignore how much comics companies *never* give their older talent a leg back up. Shooter? Even if he hadn't just left/been ousted from Legion, does anyone think he's someone the suits are going to pick to run the company? Len Wein? Marv Wolfman? Gerry Conway? These guys, however talented and probably suited for the job given their experience, are the old guard, and the last thing DC wants to do is continue to promote the image of "old man DC" in contrast to "hip young Marvel."

Heidi notes that one of the names she's heard isn't on the list. I'm very curious what name that is.

Is Karen Berger an impossibility? Vertigo may not be a sales juggernaut these days, but Berger is a proven talent magnet and a smart editor. What about John Rogers, as another dark horse candidate? True, his comics experience is limited (but Didio's comics experience when he got the job was co-writing a Superboy book with Palmiotti), but he's a TV guy and a newly crowned showrunner... which might put him in the "would be a pay cut" position. But the thought of Rogers bringing the planning and storytelling magic that he brought to Blue Beetle to the larger world of the DC Universe... ah, now that's a dream casting.

Going to be some interesting gossip at San Diego this year.

Have Marvel and DC Both Lost Their Minds?

Look, dealing with employees, especially creative talent, can be tricky. We all know this. But two news stories emerging today in the world of comics and comics-to-film are just mind-boggling.

First, and probably more notable to a wide audience, is that Marvel reportedly thinks Iron Man 2 will be just as good with or without Jon Favreau, and they don't want to pay him more to do the job.

To any studio nimrod holding this point of view, I say this: Favreau delivered on your biggest gamble *ever* and served you up a foundation for Marvel movies going forward in the next few years. Pay the man. He knows what he's doing. He combined comic fan passion with movie-making skill, he knows everyone already involved in the movie, knows the characters, knows the story.

It is possible, although highly unlikely, that you could get someone just as good as Favreau. It is impossible that you will get someone better. It is very likely you will get someone worse and tank your suddenly brand new, shiny A-list money-making licensable property.

Remember X3? Learn those lessons well.

Edited to add: David Maisel. Remember that name. That is the name of the guy who might well tank Marvel Studios' promising start at the theaters.

Secondly, more important to guys like me who have been digging Robin and Batman and the Outsiders and the general resurgence of Dixon at DC, comes the terse announcement on Dixon's message board that he is no longer employed by DC.

As his work was one of the very few glimmers of hope that I could enjoy DC superheroes right now, this was a pretty crushing disappointment. I hold out hope that it's over some crazy right-wing political thing so that I can at least have some modicum of respect for DC, but I'm guessing that it's some stupid ass editorial thing, since they seem to have a remarkable capacity for those these days.

Market share's not getting any bigger, DC. Might be time to start thinking about turning that ship around before all the creators jump off.

Graphic Novel A Day: Extreme Cheater Edition

I've been a little busy, but I have been reading graphic novels on a mostly daily basis. I just haven't had time to do write-ups. So rather than go through and back-date a bunch of posts, find images, etc., which I'll probably just keep procrastinating on, here's a list of what I've read and quick thoughts:

Star Wars Visionaries TP (Dark Horse) - Stories and art from concept artists who worked on Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. Most of the stories are pretty weak, save a decent offering about a soldier on Hoth by Alex Jaeger and M. Zachary Sherman and an interesting and beautifully painted story about the origin of General Grievous by Warren Fu. But the art throughout is really nice, and the concept art showcased really cool. I would have preferred this to be a gallery piece, mostly showing off unused concept art, but it's an interesting idea for a Star Wars book at any rate.

Mutation Vol. 1 TP (Markosia) - Really nice Bruce Timm-esque art, some solid superhero slugfests, but the stories just don't make any sense. It's clear what writer George Singley is aiming for, a basic no-calorie superhero action book, but he needs a little bit more of a hook to make it anything but pretty fights by Ethan Beavers.

Captain Gravity and the Power of the Vril TP (Penny-Farthing) - A somewhat overwrought and melodramatic take on the pulps, Dysart's script should have dialed back a little on the angst and aimed for a more fun, pulp spirit, but despite that, it's a pretty solidly entertaining yarn that is more or less true to the nature of pulp superheroes. Also, terrific art by Sal Velluto (with some inks by his Black Panther compadre Bob Almond), nice colors by Mike Garcia and solid production values from Penny-Farthing. Never rises to great, but a solid B offering.

B.P.R.D. Vol. 6: Universal Machine TP (Dark Horse Comics) - Another fantastic offering from the regular BPRD creative team, revealing some of the secret history of zombie captain Ben Daimio and really allowing non-powered agent Kate Corrigan time to shine as she bargains with a sadistic demon for the return of Roger the Homunculus. Plus, as always, Guy Davis and Dave Stewart just bring the house down with the art.

Ex Machina Vol. 5: Smoke Smoke TP (DC/Wildstorm) - The best Ex Machina trade since the first one, including flashbacks to Hundred's days as a hero, intrigue within his cabinet, great supporting cast (love the two gay firefighters more than most of Mitchell's actual support staff) and a fantastic single issues shedding light on the past of his bodyguard Bradbury. Terrific art by Harris, Feister and Mettler as well. This might be my favorite Brian Vaughan book at the moment.

Para TP (Penny Farthing) - Stuart Moore's tale of a supercollider accident, a grieving daughter and an investigation into what happened starts off intriguing and creepy and then quickly goes off into bizarre, borderline superhero/sci-fi territory where it doesn't belong. Too much over-the-top technology like killer robots and other-dimensional ghosts, and the spooky, X-Files-ish vibe of the early issues is lost. Good mystery setup, extremely dissatisfying resolution.

One Page Filler Man (Image) - Jim Mahfood just cuts loose and makes it up as he goes along. The results are mixed, but the art is strong and there are great, fun bits throughout.

The Norm In Color (The Norm.com) - This is a gorgeously produced book. Michael Jantze is an extremely talented cartoonist, and his work in color is jaw-dropping, comparable to some of the greats like Berke Breathed or Bill Watterson. Seriously, there's a visual imagination at work here that takes aspects of pop culture and cartoon culture, breaks them down and incorporates them, and it's stunning. Unfortunately, the subject matter of too many of the strips and the gags resulting are often overly familiar riffs on guys and girls and relationships, without much new to offer. That's not to say there aren't laughs to be found, or genuinely touching moments, or that The Norm is bad. Indeed, it's very entertaining most of the time, in the same way that a good, solid sitcom can be entertaining. It's just that visually, the book is breaking boundaries, but its story and characters are of a more standard variety, and art this great deserves stories just as great.

Avengers/JLA (Marvel/DC) - Finally broke down and bought this deluxe hardcover, and I still really like the story. It's a kind of old school team-up we'll not see again, given that the fans seem to want a much different kind of darker, more "realistic" superhero universe from both Marvel and DC. Makes for a last great hurrah for these types of stories, though, with amazing art by George Perez and a real love-letter to the characters by Kurt Busiek that still manages to be an exciting, classic style superhero story at the same time. The companion volume, with all the background on the Marvel/DC crossovers in general (and JLA/Avengers specifically), is also a nice treat.

Degrassi The Next Generation Vol. 1: Extra Credit (Pocket Books) - Planning to write a review of this J. Torres-penned graphic novel at Comic Pants at some point. In short, it's a lot like Breaking Up (with art by Christine Norrie) - good craftsmanship, and though I'm not really the target audience, I can tell that it does what it sets out to do very well.

King City Vol. 1 (Tokyopop) - This one I did review at Comic Pants. Loved it. My favorite graphic novel read of the month thus far.

Giant Robot Warriors (AIT/Planet Lar) - Reviewed this one at Comic Pants as well.

Essex County Vol 1 Tales From The Farm TP (Top Shelf) - An emotionally charged look at a sad little boy and the uncle who tries desperately to connect with him, and a has-been hockey player who finds a friend in the boy. Lovely art, and a poignant, effective portrayal of complicated relationships.

Graphic Novel A Day: Fallen Angel Vol. 2: Down to Earth

Writer: Peter David
Artists: David Lopez & Fernando Blanco
Company: DC Comics
Price: $14.95 ($10.19 at Amazon)

I've sort of fallen off Fallen Angel after it moved to IDW, because the 20 years later story and the artwork just didn't appeal the way the original series did. But reading this second trade of the DC series makes me want to go give the IDW series another try, as this book really reads stronger in trades, where you can see the throughlines of the stories, the mysteries and the character development so much stronger. David's moral dilemmas for the lead character can be a little heavy-handed, but it sort of works in the uber-noir genre he's created for Fallen Angel, and there's some great mystery and character bits in this trade, which features the origin of Black Mariah (the Fallen Angel's nemesis - sorta), Angel's first meeting with Dr. Juris, her sometimes lover and sometimes enemy and fallout from events in the first trade. I hope DC reprints the whole run in trades.

Graphic Novel A Day: Manhunter Vols. 1-2

Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artists: Jesus Saiz, Javier Pina, Jimmy Palmiotti, Brad Walker, Diego Olmos, Fernando Blanco & Bob Petreccia
Company: DC Comics
Price: $12.99 & $17.99 ($12.23 at Amazon)

Last night I read the first 14 issues of the new Manhunter series. Or reread, I should say, since I've actually kept up on the book in single issue format. I have my issues with the book, as in some ways it represents the dark and gritty over-reality of DC, and the tie-in to Identity Crisis didn't help. And at first, I found Kate Spencer too abrasive, not just real and flawed like Andreyko intended but actually unpleasant and borderline unlikable. But I've come around to really enjoy the book as a densely-packed story that incorporates some of the lesser-known aspects of the DC Universe and a modern crime drama tone. It's got more than a little in common with the late, lamented Chase, including having Cameron Chase as one of the supporting cast as of the second part of trade number two, and the artwork is terrific. The book is weirdly paced. On one hand, they have a hard time finding good chop points for the trade because the plotting is sort of old school, with plenty of ongoing subplots and foreshadowing of upcoming stories. On the other, it's really kind of hard to keep up with everything in single issue format, so it reads better in trades. Ideally, this is the kind of book I'd like to see published manga style, in $10 trades every few months, but I know just exactly how realistic that is. Still, I hope that the second trade does well and that we get the rest of the series, whether it concludes with #30 or goes on after a successful "last" arc, in trade paperback form as well.