Flash Gordon

Comic Reviews from late March

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These comic reviews are about a week later than I wanted, but my comics came about a week late. Still, there was plenty of good stuff in this half of last months releases.

  • All-Star Western 7: Palmiotti and Gray get Hex out of Gotham for a while, and it mostly works. Nighthawk and Cinnamon are fun characters and the new villains, the August 7, have potential. The only problem is that the back-up story is nowhere near as good as the previous one. A-
  • Aquaman 7: This books is back on track after a somewhat too heavy handed previous issue. Reis’ art is some of the best superhero work around, and Johns is on his game with his Other League he is starting. Its too bad he has to fall back on having his villain kill one just to prove how dangerous he is. Still, a solid issue. B+
  • Batman 7: This is something of a comedown from the rest of rest of this series so far. Not that this is a bad issue, but it is certainly lower key than most that have come before it. There are finally some explanations, but at the expense of not having that much actually occur in this issue. B+
  • Captain Atom 7: This continues to be one of the most underrated books DC is putting out. This take on Cap. Atom has drawn comparisons to Dr Manhattan, which is accurate, but Nate Adam is neither as intelligent as he was nor as distant. Here we get his origin, as well as a little more inside Nate’s head. Another solid issue in what has been a solid series. B
  • Flash 7: This continues to be one of the best looking books out of DC, and is also one of the least dark. While Captain Cold’s powers have changed, his character really hasn’t. There is also an effective superhero love triangle, or maybe more of a pentagon, at work here. This is just a really good traditional superhero book. A
  • Flash Gordon Zeitgeist 4: Maybe it is just because I am still new to being a Flash Gordon fan, but this series has been really entertaining so far. While it is using all the same parts as the classic 1980 film, the only version I am familiar with, it still feels remarkable fresh. I would be outright gushing about it, except that near the end there is a page with the wrong speech bubbles on it. It really breaks the reading experience. C
  • Green Lantern Corps 7: While I have largely been a fan of Tomasi on this title, even since the relaunch, but this is an issue that didn’t need to happen. It is almost entirely John Stewart returning the body of the lantern he killed to save to corps home, and being really heavy handed laying on the guilt. Plus, the art is nowhere near as good as it usually is. C-
  • John Carter: The Gods of Mars 1: The previous Marvel Barsoom mini was very good, and this one starts out on the same level. This biggest change is in the art. Perez’s art is a big change from Andrade’s and while they are both excellent, I thing Perez is a better fit. This is just an all around great issue. B+
  • Justice League 7: I have to say that I like Gene Ha’s work much more than Jim Lee’s. Otherwise, this is more of a slice of life issue than the rushed adventure of the first six issues. Johns is building tensions between the League, the government and the populace, as well as doing more interesting with Steve Trevor than anyone in at least 25 years. The best issue yet. B
  • My Greatest Adventure 6 of 6: This anthology title sadly comes to its end. I think I am only of the only people reading this, but it is really good. The Robotman story is poignant, and Garbage Man is a not quite as good take on the same story. Tanga’s story is completely different, but not especially original. Still, there were some good weird stories with really good art. B
  • Supergirl 7: This is one of the best issues that is mostly a fight scene I’ve seen in a while. Kara is out numbered and trapped, but she fights smart. Asrar’s art is still really good. The world killers are some interesting new villains, they feel like a match for someone of Supergirl’s power and are connect to her, not Superman. B+
  • Superman 7: Giffen and Jurgens get Superman. There is plenty in this issue about boring Wildstorm villain Helspont, but the parts about Clark and Superman are really good. If The writing team can maintain that tone when they get to tell their stories, then this title should move up to be among DC’s best. B-
  • Wonder Woman 7: This has been one of my favorite titles since DC relaunch, but this issue is just a miss. It is a well written, well drawn miss, but a miss nonetheless. This issue answers a question that no one ever asked because it doesn’t make any sense to ask. Where do immortal warrior women get their children? It has been long established that they don’t have children, so there was no question to ask. I hope they quickly put this frankly stupid misstep behind them and get back to the great story they were telling. C-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s so funny?

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Lately I’ve been spending entirely too much time reading newspaper comic strips. As far as vices go it is among the worst, I know. As a warning to other who might be tempted the follow this road, I am going the explain how my predicament came to be, a roadmap of my dissolution.

It started innocently enough. All I was doing was reading Chris Sims’ FunkyWatch on ComicAlliance. Every month he catalogues his experiences gazing into the abyss that is Funky Winkerbean, and its related title Crankshaft. The comic is the bleakest of bleak outlooks that only manages to be funny when being deconstructed by someone else.

That led to me reading Comics Curmudgeon, a blog by Josh Fruhlinger that takes Sims Funky based approach and applies to all the comics in the paper. Of course, the relationship is the other way around, as the Comics Curmudgeon has been around years longer than FunkyWatch and Sims admits to being inspired by the blog in his column. Fruhlinger will comment on almost any strip, but his primary focus is on the soap strips. I don’t care about those, but his insights are amusing at the very least. Plus, you’ll never look at Marmaduke the same way after being forced to realize that he is a human devouring hell beast that has enslaved that poor family. Unfortunately, Fruhlinger also introduced me to these two Luann songs, so I can never forgive him.

This inevitably lead to me buying a Kansas City Star most days and reading the “funnies” as they are sometimes called. It is addicting, like thirty or so thirty second sitcoms everyday. I like Dustin, as I’m easily able to see myself in the underemployed main character, and Cul de Sac, which is just freakily amusing. I also have a soft spot for Blondie, despite the fact that it is rarely funny. I like the weird juxtaposition of some of the archaic elements of the strip with modern technology.

I also get too much enjoyment out of Seanbaby’s occasional eviscerating of Family Circus. Of course, I’m sure he would admit that Family Circus is an easy target, but that doesn’t make his rewrites not funny.

I’ve also bought a collection of wonderful Calvin and Hobbes stuff. It is the essential Calvin and Hobbes and the only problem I have with it is that it is not the complete Calvin and Hobbes. Seriously, Calvin and Hobbes is the best.

Lastly, since I had the revelation that is Flash Gordon, I’ve found a website that has archived tons of old comic strips, including the old Flash Gordon stuff. The site is far from comprehensive and they charge a miniscule fee for copies of the strips, but it is a relatively easy way to read some old-fashioned comic goodness. The Flash Gordon strips are wonderful. Exactly like the movie in a terribly awesome way.

King of the Impossible!

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I sit here typing this review in stunned amazement. At 25 years old, I would say my tastes are pretty well developed at this point. Sure, I’m up for trying something new, but I know what I like and I know how to where to get it. Which is why I am so amazed to find something like Flash Gordon. I stumbled unawares upon Flash Gordon, no foreknowledge, no familiarity at all. That should not be possible. I am a greedy devourer of 70’s and 80’s science fiction and fantasy movies. I love old comics. I love cheesy, goofy, campy films from any era. If you know of a movie with a cult following, I am likely a member of that cult. Flash Gordon is not only all of those things; it is the epitome of them. Somehow, I had no awareness its existence despite it practically being the nexus around which my tastes revolve. I love science fiction and fantasy movies from the 70’s and 80’s. No matter how much work was put into making it look real, they all look cheesy. No matter how they are dressed up, all of these old fantasies (which even the science fiction movies are) still look like childish imaginings. Flash Gordon, though, never attempts to seem real, it fully embraces the unreality of its world and is all the better for it. A haphazard mix of fantasy and science fiction, an origin in the pulps and comic strips, a gleeful disregard for anything even resembling sanity, Flash Gordon has nearly everything I could want in a movie. Continue reading →