The Shipping Forecast: August 3 '05

If I had money I'd be buying Gotham Central, just because I love Michael Lark (is he still on board?)

I overlooked that Imaginary Stories TP!!!! I'm drooling...

I saw it at the comic store a couple of weeks ago, said to myself, "hey, that's cool, maybe I'll buy it next week," and then a week later found that not only was it sold but that it's out of print.

Wow, thanks! I grossly neglect our public library system.

Flash - okayyy. the two reverse flashes tie Wally to a magic treadmill and make him listen to Cher's "If I could Turn Back Time!" FOREVER. Then Bazza Allen shows up. Gasp!

Birds of Prey - pretty good. Babs try to reason with her alien brainiac cancer and Canary recruits all her super friends to help beat up some super kung fu fighters who are on their way to gotham. Fite! Fite! Batman is not a dick, for once!

I'm really curious how Johns & Morrisson shepherding the DC Universe is going to go, as they're matter and anti-matter when it comes to the stories they write (but NOT when it comes to knowledge of history) (BUT definitely in how they respect the history).

In recent times, tho, it seems like he's wielding his collection of Who's Who like a bludgeon every time I turn a page. And (I know I bitched about this before) his arc / story resolutions kinda suck and can get REALLY hokey, which is funny for a guy that likes to "keep it real" - see one Rebirth, where the geeky kewl factor gets overwhelmed by some cockamamie motivational-speaker nonsense about overcoming fear and not crying over spilt milk.

Grant Morrison, on the other hand, is BURSTING with novel and exciting ideas all over the place, and metes that w/ an uncanny insight into the franchises and characters he's monkeying with. Crappy house analogy: if Johns is the sort to build an addition to an existing house, Morrison is the sort that'll tear out the guts of the house and rebuild from the inside out. Unfettered (as on various Vertigo projects) (and on some of the Seven Soldiers stuff), he kinda loses me @ times - this might be where that dopey Newsarama meme about GM being Elton John comes into play; "great melodies, but what the hell is he saying?" - but working within an existing framework seems to focus his madness and keep him in line just enough.

So, yeah, I think these two might serve as nice checks-and-balances for each other, w/ Johns grounding GM, and GM keeping Johns from going too far into the archives and forgetting to bring the casual reader along.

Donna Troy: Talky-talky-talky. Snore. Pretty pictures. OMG, a Sun-Eater Factory! Could this be what Hal Jordan and Donna Troy are going to be talking about in JSA next month? Looks like I've just saved myself 3 bucks.

Gotham Central: It's been so long since we've seen most of Brubaker's shift that I've forgotten who's who. But I guess that's my problem, not his.

Detective Comics: I want my, I want my, I want my City of Crime back. Oooh, the return of the Joker! Who gives a steaming crap!?!

Justice: SNORE! You don't fucking start a balls-out, epic Justice League adventure by focusing on Aquaman's domestic life.

Stupid Comics #3: Saving it for later.

Do Brubaker and Rucka have their own sets of characters on GC? If so, that's pretty cool.

Or in other words, Dave, I agree with your summary, but don't really see how it suggests Johns is a necessary counterweight to Morrison. The job position that Morrison's in should provide sufficient restraint.

It had to happen!

To me, he's not even a dud. He doesn't have that much personality; he's just a hack. He's a distinguished hack because of his knowledge of continuity and all that. The thing is he's a continuity savvy Chuck Dixon, but a chuck dixon nonetheless. His lack of ideas is alarming, and I've always felt he tries too hard to give some heart to his stories, and he's just not talented enough to make it work.

He writes one of the worst first-person narratives out there, and his take on grim n gritty is even more immature than most of the stuff that came out from the late eighties. I really don't know what's Grant Morrison waiting for to make "Doom Force II" (pencilled by Frank Quitely mimicking Rags Morales!)

The only things that I really enjoy from Johns is his JSA, and that's because in the middle of all that dark and broody mess there's a Stargirl, his only consistently well written character, and that's probably because it's inspired by his late sister and all that stuff. Other than that, he's good at making enjoyable cliffhangers and plot twists, but he's not a interesting writer.

I have to admit that I'm intigued about this whole crisis nonsense Johns is doing and where is this going to end up. I'm reading the specials, the minis, and some of the tie-ins. But I wouldn't pay for any of them, and my overall feeling towards the current state of mainstream superheroes (and DC in particular) is that for the first time in years I've read comics that not only made me feel bored, but also embarassed. It's not that I've left superheroes behind (though I have to admit the thought crossed my mind), it's more the fact that those in charge of my favorite characters are writing stuff that's far, far away from what I want to read. These days, the only superhero comics I truly enjoy are those written by Waid, Morrison or Giffen.

Genius.