by Matt
Welcome to my first “Shout Out/Scream At!” column! With this column I will be taking a look at what makes me a happy fanboy (Shout Outs!) and what frustrates me (Scream Ats!) within the comic industry. With this column I will be covering being a Negative Nelly, Marvel’s Premiere Hardcover line and recent news involving the ClanDestine and Quasar. 
As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Banshee (which is why I named the column the way I did) and this leads directly into my first Scream At! Generally, I am a happy comic fan, very rarely does something make me so mad that I lash out in a blog or some random message board. But there are some things that I don’t agree with or something that frustrates me. And what does this have to do with Banshee you ask? I love Banshee and I am proud and happy to admit it. What frustrates me, and especially in the ‘Internet’ world is the vast amount of negativity. I understand teasing but I cannot wrap my head around people just being outright jerks because I love Banshee.
Awhile ago, on the old X-Fan boards, there was a thread that asked who our favorite X-Man was and of course I listed Banshee. People poked fun and that was quite alright but there were one or two that called me an idiot for liking that character. I remember being lambasted on the old Joe Quesada boards because I said I liked a storyline running in X-Treme X-Men and the Earth X trilogy. I like those books; does bashing it make me change my mind? A couple of years ago or so, someone joined my Alan Davis message board (shameless plug) JUST so they can ask Alan why does he take assignments on books he reads. Cause now he has to quit X-Men because Alan is on it. I can appreciate that people have different tastes and I don’t mind discussing it but what makes me scream is when people come straight out and tell you that you are a fool for liking something. That is what makes me “me”. When you bag on something I like, you are really bagging on me. I am sure some of you are thinking, “Boy, this idiot sure needs to have a thicker skin.” But why should I be the one that has to change how I feel?
The Internet is a fantastic tool, if it was not for the Internet, I would not have tried a TON of books. I would have missed out on Love Fights, Blankets, X-Force/X-Statix, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing to just name a few. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. I am not saying that we should only be positive, all I am asking is that everyone should be respectful when expressing their thoughts. In fact, I encourage people to celebrate the ‘guilty pleasures’ we all have. Instead of trying to be cool and hip (what I really mean here is fake) we should just be ourselves. You don’t have to dislike and bag on everything that everyone likes to be cool. We can all see through it anyway. Be proud of who you are and take opportunities to say something positive about something you like. I’ll start, I admit that I like Quasar. (Which provides the perfect segway to my ‘Shout Out!’)
Speaking of Quasar, I was in the middle of writing a different Scream At! directed at Marvel and DC for killing characters that I liked. I felt like they were totally picking on me. But then I heard that one of my favorite characters was coming back.
**SPOILERS**
I would like to give Marvel a great Shout Out! for bringing back Quasar! I didn’t collect the Annihilation crossover when it came out and I was saddened to hear that Wendell was killed. I was sad because Wendell felt like a real person to me, he made mistakes and I admit that he was a weenie at times but I liked him. Now I am going to have to start picking up Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova. And while I am on the subject of Guardians of the Galaxy, I would also like to give a small Shout Out! for bringing in StarHawk. I loved Valentino’s run on the first Guardians series and StarHawk was my favorite character so now I HAVE to pick up the new Guardians series, the Nova series and I will probably start picking up the Annihilation trades as well. 
Speaking of trades, Marvel’s recent addition of the Premiere Hardcover line has been a little aggravating at times. Marvel recently solicited the first collection of the new Guardians of the Galaxy but it was in the Premiere line and I doubt that I will now pick it up. If it came out in trade, I would have picked it up immediately. I usually prefer trades to hardcovers anyway so I guess I will have to wait until they put out a softcover of the book. I guess I should be happy, Marvel is collecting a ton of their old stuff but with it going to the Premiere line first, I am missing out on a ton of material because I don’t want to pay extra just to get it in hardcover. I would have bought the Kitty Pryde/Wolverine series, Longshot and the Magik miniseries if they were in softcover trades. I am hoping that Marvel will eventually put out what they do in the Premiere line into trade. They did it with the new Cable book so I am hopeful. I guess I shouldn’t complain, I did get the ClanDestine series in hardcover.
Speaking of ClanDestine, I would like to give Marvel another Shout Out! for giving Alan Davis’s ClanDestine series another try. First they published a short miniseries and recently Alan announced that he will be writing and drawing three of Marvel Comics' 2009 annuals. ClanDestine will be supporting characters in the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Wolverine annuals and Alan's upcoming Thor: Truth of History will "sort of leak" into the stories as well. This will give ClanDestine its first major exposure in hopes of capturing new fans. I highly recommend this series, Alan has created some interesting characters that while they are family, and they certainly do not get along.
That's all for this time. I will be back shortly with a new set of Shout Outs! and Scream Ats!.
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10.11.2008
Shout Outs! and Scream Ats!
9.05.2008
The Return: From Top to Bottom #18: The 90's!
by Matt
Last time, I admitted that I like gimmick covers and that I was one of those fans that helped make it a problem by buying a ton of them. I still stand by saying that some of them were cool and I looked at the Top and Bottom of Gimmick Covers. After reading more of Brandon's great Casualties of the 90's columns I decided it would be fun to look back at the 90's as well. With this special extended 18th edition, I will be looking at my favorite projects that came out in the 90's. While the 90's were not looked at as one of the greatest eras in comics, it was certainly important and is probably my favorite era. 
October 1992. Marc Silvestri is one of my favorite artists and I could not wait until this series came out. Like all early Image books this did have problems with lateness but it was worth waiting. The first miniseries had 5 issues (#0-4) and the second series lasted only 35 issues. What I liked about this series is that Cyberforce's main enemy was destroyed in the 25th issue and then it had to change direction. That new direction introduced a more supernatural edge to it that became Top Cow's main staple.
August 1994. I am a sucker team books and Ultraforce featured all of Malibu's top guns. Another big draw was the return of George Perez to a monthly book. Sadly, this series only lasted 10 issues before Marvel destroyed the line. But the 2nd volume that came out a year later was still pretty entertaining, it featured early work from Warren Ellis. This series and the original Prime title were fantastic.
September 1991. The only Valiant title that I have a full run (except for that pesky #60) of. Those early issues was absolutely terrific. Solar was not an ordinary super hero, and I recognized that quickly when he lost control of his powers and destroyed the whole Earth. The split personalities and alternative universes were more than plot devices, they were clever ways for the reader to learn how god-like and how human Solar really was.
March 1995. I discovered this book a lot later than when it initially came out and I wish I had picked it up then. Back when I first collected comics, I rarely went beyond Marvel and DC and I was more into superhero stuff. This book would have changed my comic buying habits for the better. This book is still going although sadly it is on hiatus. Reading Stray Bullets makes me feel better about the life that I have, there are moments when I read it that I feel sick to my stomach. I feel that way because I feel like I know these characters and the terrible decisions that they make and it is hard to watch what happens. 
March 1995. I couldn't believe it when I heard that Marvel was cancelling all of its X-titles (I heard this in the comic shop, way before the Internet was used) and I couldn't believe what these "new" X-titles looked like. Probably one of the greatest events of the 90's. While I knew that the normal Marvel Universe would return, it was so much fun to see how characters were changed and how they fought. It really felt important and would affect the X-titles for years after. Hey Marvel! This is how you kill off Banshee!
March 1994. I always like Mignola's moody art when it was on Alpha Flight and I remember flipping through this issue at Woodhaven Comics in New York and thinking that this could be something special. This was pure Mignola art, not like I saw when he was on Alpha Flight. It wasn't until Wake the Devil that I knew for sure that this was special. I never imagined that this series would still continue today and that there would have been a few movies as well.
July 1996. When Stormwatch first came out I collected and loved the early issues, Backlash turned out to be a personal favorite of mine and I followed him through the Kindred and then to his own Backlash series. But the reason I listed Stormwatch on this list was when Warren Ellis took over the book and turned it around. Ellis gave me a superhero book that was not just about capes and supervillians. He gave us a book about how those who have abilities can change the world. His work grew more ambitious and led the way to the 2nd volume of Stormwatch and then naturally turned into the Authority. His run changed comics forever. 
July 1991. My first real independent book that I picked up. I heard a ton of good reviews about it and I saw #15 on the shelves and decided to pick it up. At first glance I thought I was picking up a kids book, the Bone characters looked silly. But as I read the issue and laughed out loud, I knew I was wrong. The black and white art really stood out and the pacing seemed a lot slower than other comics (this was before decompression was really used) and it fit. Those first 25 issues of the that series (it was completed with #55) were classic!
October 1994. By now I am sure everyone knows that I a MAJOR Alan Davis fan. I loved his run on Excalibur and was intrigued by this new mysterious series that featured all new characters. What I loved about this book were the relationships between the characters, they felt like a family to me. They argued like a family does, they treat each other like family members do, good or bad. During this time, comics were more grim and gritty. It seemed like every team book had a guy with claws and a guy with large guns. This book hearkened back to the older days, where characters had code names like Crimson Crusader and they wore a cape. This was a refreshing look back at the classic feel of the old days. Sadly, Alan left the book with the 8th issue and returned for a 2 issue miniseries with the X-Men and it would take almost 15 years for them to return.
July 1992. At first I really disliked Erik Larsen and now I love the guy. His book has never failed to entertain me. This book literally has everything. I never know what to expect when I read it, it is full of shocks, twists, violence, sex and a whole lot more! The best part is that Erik Larsen will always be on the book until he dies and I will be along for the ride the whole time. How can you go wrong with a character like BrainApe? Yes, he is a huge gorilla with the brain of Adolf Hitler. Erik is not afraid to change anything, NOTHING is sacred, even the Dragon himself!
See? I love the 90's! I could have easily added Preacher, Starman, Alan Moore's Supreme to this list! Now there are books that came out that were not so great either. I will not bore you with a huge list of what was ridiculous but I will give you my Bottom 3 projects of the 90's.
September 1993. This crossover featured 2 of the hottest comic companies in Image and Valiant and this series was one of the things that caused the downfall of comics in the 90's. Image was extremely late in the project, so late that retailers could not return any unsold comics back to the publisher. There was thousands of Deathmate Red and Black left unsold in comic shops. The project was hastily put together and it should be noted that Todd McFarland and Erik Larsen wanted nothing to do with the project. Its only bright spot was that it did introduce Gen13 to comic fans.
November 1996. You'd think that with Liefeld and Jim Lee returning to Marvel would be the greatest thing but it wasn't. None of the creators could even stay on the books the whole time, which was extremely disappointing. The only good thing about it was it gave more exposure to the Avengers and Fantastic Four titles and made them just as important as the X and Spider-titles. 
October 1994. I never thought it would come to a time when I didn't collect a Spider-Man book. It has only happened twice, with Brand New Day and back in the 90's with the Clone Saga. Comic book companies in the 90's found a formula of success by overhauling characters completely, they killed Superman, broke Batman's back, made Hal Jordan go crazy, kill Daredevil off and replace him with an 'armor' version, make Colossus go bad, suck the metal out of Wolverine, kill off Green Arrow... ...geez, the list is endless. The biggest disaster was the Clone Saga. The Spider-Man we all knew was just a clone! The Clone Saga was only supposed to last a year or so but it sold well (like all the comics in the 90's) and so Marvel extended it and it went on and on and on. Now there are some good stories within that craptacular event, Amazing Spider-Man #400 being the best, we ended up with a new Spider-Man. The costume was cool, but Ben Reily was not. Thankfully they ended it by killing Ben, who was revealed to be the actual clone but it also brought back Norman Osborn. Ugh.
Sure the 90's had some terrible moments but there were some great gems that came out of the same era!
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5.19.2008
General Reviews 5/15: X-Men, Britain and Melting Brains
by The General
Y'know, I can be a bad comic collector sometimes. I mean, I know that at this point in my life, I should be reading and supporting more independent publishers. Heck, I live right down the street from Fantagraphics new outlet store*, so really I have no excuse. Still, given my druthers, I drift away from the leafy green vegetables of the independent world, and gravitate towards the sugary goodness of Marvel's line of X-titles.
But, at the same time, I'm not even a good X-Men collector. I'm not a completist, nor do I possess an encyclopedic knowledge of all things X-Men. Heck, I generally can't remember what happened in the previous issue, and have to rely on Marvel's recap pages to even keep things straight in my head. And this is after about 20 years of collecting. I'm hopeless.
Still, I do enjoy a good batch of comics. And, with the the continuity-laden X-Men Legacy, a new Captain Britain title, the retro-popcorn of Clandestine and the out of control Casanova, it was a good week of comic reading for yours truly. Let's take a look at them, shall we...
X-Men Legacy #211 (Carey, Eaton and Peterson) - This title is trying to prove that I'm a hypocrite. My number one complaint about the DC universe stems from the fact that it's geared toward the hardcore fanboys, and is pretty much impenetrable to new and casual fans. Meanwhile, the exact same complaints can be leveraged against this title... and I lurve it. It literally drips with X-Men continuity, but I also find it massively compelling.
To prove how dependant this title is on X-history, even I don't know who the character is that Xavier meets with in this issue. Has he appeared in an X-title before? I'm pretty sure he must have, but I don't recognize him. Maybe he was introduced while I was in college and killing braincells faster than I could fill them with X-lore. Still, there's a lot of cool stuff in this issue: Juggernaut, the Hellfire Club, Xavier using his powers in an unconventional way, and the final page appearance of a favorite X-character that will probably have certain sectors of fanguys and gals squealing. A brainy B+ the whole way. 
Captain Britain and the MI13 #1 (Cornell and Kirk) - We have a couple of British contributors to this blog, and I'll be interested to hear what they think about this title. If only because it appears to be two things the last two versions of Excalibur should have been but weren't: Good and British. I mean, what was the point of using the name Excalibur if the title was going to be about Xavier and Magneto goofing around in the ruins of Genosha? And, what was the point of having a British superteam if you were going to fill it with Americans? Injury or insult, you make the call!
Well, the Brits can breathe easy because Marvel has finally graced us with a British superteam which is actually *gasp* British. Well, not counting the Skrull. A lot of noise was made about the Wisdom mini-series last year, which isn't surprising since I didn't pick it up and I pretty much only pick up the bad X-mini-series. So, I'm glad to finally get check out Cornell's writing. The verdict: Um, good, I guess. Honestly, I wasn't blown away by it, but like Kirk's art, I thought it was solid and entertaining. Much like Young X-Men and X-Force, I'm not smitten with this new title, but I'll definitely be happy to tag along for the ride. It's been a while since I've seen either Captain Britain or Pete Wisdom written right, so that's enough for me... for now. A British B. 
ClanDestine #4 (Davis and Farmer) - Speaking of Britain, it's ClanDestine! Actually, as near as I can tell, ClanDestine takes place in an alternate reality version of England. One that was frozen in time and space shortly after the release of Davis and Claremont's original Excalibur run. If fact, despite the appearance of the original Excalibur in the last couple of titles, this title seems to exist in its own little pocket world that doesn't have any relationship to anything else in the greater Marvel universe. Still, that's not entirely a bad thing, since it allows Alan Davis do what he does best: Be Alan Davis.
If this was an ongoing title, I think I'd start to be a little worried about its direction, or lack thereof. There's a lot going on here, but most of it comes off like a wild billiards shot: characters and plot elements bouncing off each other at random. And, unless all those elements end up in neat and tidy little pockets, it's going to wind up being an unsatisfying read. (Awkward metaphor much?) But, at this point, I'm going to just hold my breath and hope that Davis has everything figured out. Fingers crossed! A ClanDestine C+. 
Casanova #14 (Fraction and Moon) - Wait, what?! Seriously, just when I think I've got a handle on this title, it does a 360 on me. Actually it's more than a 360, it's like a 482 or something. Reading this book is like watching Matt Fraction slowly lose his mind in the most entertaining fashion. I mean, let's set aside the actual plot of this issue for a second and just look at the creative gimmick that he hinges this issue on: The book is broken up into 14 chapters. Each chapter is named after and inspired by a song. Each song is, in turn, tied to something that happened to Matt during the writing of each of the 14 issues of Casanova. So, effectively, this issue is a miniature version of the last 14 issues. Did your brain just melt and slide out your ears? Mine did. But, that's OK, because I think it's lying in a pool on the floor with Faction's brain.
Artistically, I still haven't gelled with Moon's art in the same way I did with his brother, Gabriel Ba's, art. I think that part of my problem lies with the blue secondary color though, since I think that the illustrations have a neat brushy, Paul Pope quality to them. Also, I'm still not entirely sure whether the twist in this issue is clever or just a cop out. But really, I don't care too much, because even a lesser issue of Casanova ranks higher than the majority of what I read. A big, bad B+.
I should read more comics like this.
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