This unique Vertigo mini-series has reunited the team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who had recently teamed up for the New X-Men series, that is, when Quitely was around to draw it. The story contains Grant's usually flair of imaginative storytelling and subtle humor with Quitely's clear, detailed art.
The story focuses on these animal "biorgs" created by the government, but when the goverment wants to mass produce the biorgs, they want to "retire" the three original living weapons: Bandit the dog, Tinker the cat, and Pirate the rabbit. Their "creator" Roseanne Berry doesn't agree with this and sets them free. Now, the biorgs are on the run, looking for "Home."
I was very surprised on how much Grant relied on images instead of dialogue. The first ten pages have no sound at all, giving the story a cinematic feel with Quitely's realistic art. But the dialogue that is present is standard Grantism, like "What kind of lunatic would teach a killing machine to talk?" Also, the biorgs' kitschy dialogue is very fresh: "I. M. Gud. R. U. Gud 2?" It's worth it just to see the security camera sequence. This original mini-series is a nice change from Grant's less "user-friendly" series, The Filth, and it will not disappoint.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Death and the American Comic Book
Death is nothing but a joke in comic books. Well, there are moments when there is a poignant death scene as a supporting character dies to inspire the hero, but for the most point, villains go back and forth through the revolving door of death faster than you can say, "Super-hero Stereotypes!" Of course, it's hard to keep a good superhero down as well, especially if you're an mutant. Magneto'll be back somehow, even after New X-Scribe, Grant Morrison had Wolverine beheaded ol' Magers, just after the fiend had killed resident resurrectionist, Phoenix. (Of course, Phoenix's coming back to life in a new mini-series coming out in a couple months.) I suppose it's ironic that I use that as my example, since that the whole message of that story was about bring people back to life. Grant had killed Magers off in his second issue. Magneto reappears in the one of his last "story-arcs" as he sheds his Xorn disguise. As the X-Men defeated him physically, Professor X informs Maggie that he has already lost, since he was more effective dead, as a martyr. Which I assume was a message Grant was trying to tell the comic industry. Or I could be reading into it too much; it is just a comic book.
Anyway, death is now used as hype, a selling point. Both Marvel's 500th issue of The Avengers and DC's Identity Crisis advertised that a member of the team will die. (Which one? Buy the issue to find out!) Skimming the issues and the Internet, it seems that Ant-Man of the Avengers, though Vision wasn't looking too hot either, and a wife of one of more obscure Justice Leaguers are on the death count. The two companies must figure that if they kill off less significant characters, then they'll get their cheap "ratings" ploy and have a smaller chance that someone will bring the character back.
Part of it is that the companies seem to never stick up for their choices. Take example the infamous Hal Jordan debacle. Becoming middle-aged in the middle 90s, Hal's sales as Green Lantern were dropping, so they replace him with a hip, young Kyle Rayner, who's about average in every sort of way, with no real vices or virtues. Hal, meanwhile, was written crazy and became a villain, in which all the Jordan fans in the world cried "Foul Play!" So, they gave him an honorable death, rekindling the DC's sun, only to be revived years later as the Spectre. And after the highly intellectual and spiritual series got canceled, and I had started liking Hal as the Spectre, DC is now bring back Hal as Green Lantern, in a mini-series that will no doubt lead to a new GL series.
So, what is all this ranting really mean? I think that if a company wants to kill a character, big or small, they should keep them dead. Bringing them back only lesses whatever impact their death has to the reader. Grant was right when saying sometimes it's better to leave a character dead no matter how popular they were. Death just shouldn't be some PR stunt to increase sales either. That's something they'd do for a television show, and comic books are much better than that. Usually. So, stick to your guns when you next make a decision, Marvel and DC, and if you have to kill someone off, making it meaningful. Oh, and stay away from my favorite characters.
Anyway, death is now used as hype, a selling point. Both Marvel's 500th issue of The Avengers and DC's Identity Crisis advertised that a member of the team will die. (Which one? Buy the issue to find out!) Skimming the issues and the Internet, it seems that Ant-Man of the Avengers, though Vision wasn't looking too hot either, and a wife of one of more obscure Justice Leaguers are on the death count. The two companies must figure that if they kill off less significant characters, then they'll get their cheap "ratings" ploy and have a smaller chance that someone will bring the character back.
Part of it is that the companies seem to never stick up for their choices. Take example the infamous Hal Jordan debacle. Becoming middle-aged in the middle 90s, Hal's sales as Green Lantern were dropping, so they replace him with a hip, young Kyle Rayner, who's about average in every sort of way, with no real vices or virtues. Hal, meanwhile, was written crazy and became a villain, in which all the Jordan fans in the world cried "Foul Play!" So, they gave him an honorable death, rekindling the DC's sun, only to be revived years later as the Spectre. And after the highly intellectual and spiritual series got canceled, and I had started liking Hal as the Spectre, DC is now bring back Hal as Green Lantern, in a mini-series that will no doubt lead to a new GL series.
So, what is all this ranting really mean? I think that if a company wants to kill a character, big or small, they should keep them dead. Bringing them back only lesses whatever impact their death has to the reader. Grant was right when saying sometimes it's better to leave a character dead no matter how popular they were. Death just shouldn't be some PR stunt to increase sales either. That's something they'd do for a television show, and comic books are much better than that. Usually. So, stick to your guns when you next make a decision, Marvel and DC, and if you have to kill someone off, making it meaningful. Oh, and stay away from my favorite characters.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Character Profile: Agent Kenji Kawasawa
Agent Kawasawa was born in Asia's capital-island of Japan in the Twenty Sixth Century. [Specific date unknown] He was recuited at the age of seven to be trained for the army's "special units." He served as a multi-tasking assassin until the age of sixteen, when the United States seduced him to defect with dreams of legalized drugs and pop-tart music. [Note: This United States is in no way connected to the USA of Twentieth Century lore. The present US inhabits the upper region of the American continent where Canada was once located. Both the region of 'North America' and most of Africa are radiated waste deserts, uninhabitable except for the deranged wildlife.]
He still wears the citizenship mark of Japan on the back of his neck. A woman, with a fetish for bizarre tattoos, asked to see it, and Kawasawa calmly pulled out his gun and shot his soon-to-be fiancee in the head, before paying the check and leaving the restaurant.
Despite Kawasawa's sloppy appearance, he has one of the most analytical minds in the United States' black ops division, commanded by Bert Falconer. Falconer was the one who noticed Kawasawa's potential and devised he plan to smuggle Kawasawa to the United States. It is said that all of Kawasawa's free time is spent writing complex reports on everything from the mental stability of other agents to the current budget. These reports are the only way Kawasawa can keep sane and not over-analyize everything.
It was Kawasawa's throughness that brought Sara to Falconer's attention. Kawasawa would routinely go to mental asylums to look for new candidates to work as assassins in the black ops. There, he found Sara, brought in for claiming she was an alien from another universe. After a single blood test, he found out that she really was an alien, and discussed with his boss what they should do. There had been recent outbreaks in extraterrestrial activities on Earth, and with an alien working for them, Falconer thought that he could easily get his hands on some alien technology while defending the United States.
So, Kawasawa used the threat of leaving her in the asylum as a lever against Sara to join the black ops group. She relucantly accepted, seeing this as her only way to even temporary freedom, and in three short days, found out how badly her personal beliefs clashed with the brutal black ops' m.o. In roughly a year, she would eventual get the true freedom she wanted, escaping to the stars.
While Sara had been working with the black ops, Kawasawa had continously filed reports on nothing but Sara. It had seemed that Kawasawa had become obsessed with her, or at least analyizing her. Some agents thought he was infatuated with her. But make no mistakes about it, deep in his heart, Kenji Kawasawa has nothing but contempt and hate for the peaceful Sara.
He still wears the citizenship mark of Japan on the back of his neck. A woman, with a fetish for bizarre tattoos, asked to see it, and Kawasawa calmly pulled out his gun and shot his soon-to-be fiancee in the head, before paying the check and leaving the restaurant.
Despite Kawasawa's sloppy appearance, he has one of the most analytical minds in the United States' black ops division, commanded by Bert Falconer. Falconer was the one who noticed Kawasawa's potential and devised he plan to smuggle Kawasawa to the United States. It is said that all of Kawasawa's free time is spent writing complex reports on everything from the mental stability of other agents to the current budget. These reports are the only way Kawasawa can keep sane and not over-analyize everything.
It was Kawasawa's throughness that brought Sara to Falconer's attention. Kawasawa would routinely go to mental asylums to look for new candidates to work as assassins in the black ops. There, he found Sara, brought in for claiming she was an alien from another universe. After a single blood test, he found out that she really was an alien, and discussed with his boss what they should do. There had been recent outbreaks in extraterrestrial activities on Earth, and with an alien working for them, Falconer thought that he could easily get his hands on some alien technology while defending the United States.
So, Kawasawa used the threat of leaving her in the asylum as a lever against Sara to join the black ops group. She relucantly accepted, seeing this as her only way to even temporary freedom, and in three short days, found out how badly her personal beliefs clashed with the brutal black ops' m.o. In roughly a year, she would eventual get the true freedom she wanted, escaping to the stars.
While Sara had been working with the black ops, Kawasawa had continously filed reports on nothing but Sara. It had seemed that Kawasawa had become obsessed with her, or at least analyizing her. Some agents thought he was infatuated with her. But make no mistakes about it, deep in his heart, Kenji Kawasawa has nothing but contempt and hate for the peaceful Sara.
Monday, August 23, 2004
My Novel
What kind of writer would I be if I had no novel-in-progress? Future posts should be examining its development, as well as character profiles from it and other short stories. So far I have finished roughly a quarter of the novel, about 60 pages. It follows the (mis)adventures of Sara the extraterrestrial and Zoey Walker, the girl who can talk to machines.
One of the main themes I wanted to focus on was the existence of the ordinary and the extraordinary in not only the universe(s) but in Sara and Zoey as well. Sara, for being a being of immense power and conviction, is also one of the most vulnerable and emotional charcters in the book, while Zoey is just a regular teenager, she also is blessed/cursed with this ability she got after an experiment on Mars.
But do not be misled. This novel is also a very straight foward good vs evil, with James Bond villains: self-absorbed never-do-wells lusting over the mysterious urn that supposedly contains a creature that feeds off of pain and hate, and it just so happens that Sara's the only one who knows where it is. I hope to combine personal philosophy with cheap suspense to create a beautiful piece of writing.
Ugh, that sounded too pretenious, too "clever-clever." But if I'm satisfied with the final work, if there ever be a final work, then that'll be good enough. Though getting it published would be nice, too.
One of the main themes I wanted to focus on was the existence of the ordinary and the extraordinary in not only the universe(s) but in Sara and Zoey as well. Sara, for being a being of immense power and conviction, is also one of the most vulnerable and emotional charcters in the book, while Zoey is just a regular teenager, she also is blessed/cursed with this ability she got after an experiment on Mars.
But do not be misled. This novel is also a very straight foward good vs evil, with James Bond villains: self-absorbed never-do-wells lusting over the mysterious urn that supposedly contains a creature that feeds off of pain and hate, and it just so happens that Sara's the only one who knows where it is. I hope to combine personal philosophy with cheap suspense to create a beautiful piece of writing.
Ugh, that sounded too pretenious, too "clever-clever." But if I'm satisfied with the final work, if there ever be a final work, then that'll be good enough. Though getting it published would be nice, too.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Music Review: The Spine
This album contains 16 songs from everyone's favorite duo of John and John, better known as They Might Be Giants. It starts off with the catchy "Experimental Film," already performed on Conan O'Brien and probably college radio stations across the country. I also like "Wearing a Raincoat" containing some classic TMBG lyrics: "Wearing a raincoat is flying around/in a plane made of a raincoat/But when you think of that you hurt your mind/and you'll need a friend to talk you down." Also, there's this one part in "Raincoat" that sounds like "She's an Angel." Coincidence or premediated? Who knows?
"Prevenge" and "I Can't Hide from my Mind" are also clever (or strange) titles common among TMBG albums. "Thunderbird" has that pop-like sound that makes you think it belongs on their Factory Showroom album. "It's Kickin' In," and "Damn Good Times" are guaranteed to get your feet moving and your head banging. "Au Contraire" and "Memo to Human Resources" are both from the delightful single, "Indestructible Object," which was released earlier this year. Though "Memo" seems to be exactly the same version, the album version of "Au Contraire" has a slightly different instrumental arrangement than the one on the single. Which one is better? You decide!
Overall, The Spine offers a lot of fun and light listening BUT TMBG is really not covering any real new ground with this album. Their last album, Mink Car, had combined TMBG's classic lyrics with new, cool sounds, and while The Spine flows better, it does not have Mink Car's ingenuity. There's only about 36 minutes of music on the Spine, so I wonder how much effort they put into it. "Stalk of Wheat" is a song about being out of ideas, but they already wrote a better song about being out of ideas a long time ago. So, John and John, let me say this: while fans of other bands like hearing the same music over and over with new album covers, we TMBG fans expect you to do diverse and crazy things for all of your albums. Make the next one even better, okay? B-
"Prevenge" and "I Can't Hide from my Mind" are also clever (or strange) titles common among TMBG albums. "Thunderbird" has that pop-like sound that makes you think it belongs on their Factory Showroom album. "It's Kickin' In," and "Damn Good Times" are guaranteed to get your feet moving and your head banging. "Au Contraire" and "Memo to Human Resources" are both from the delightful single, "Indestructible Object," which was released earlier this year. Though "Memo" seems to be exactly the same version, the album version of "Au Contraire" has a slightly different instrumental arrangement than the one on the single. Which one is better? You decide!
Overall, The Spine offers a lot of fun and light listening BUT TMBG is really not covering any real new ground with this album. Their last album, Mink Car, had combined TMBG's classic lyrics with new, cool sounds, and while The Spine flows better, it does not have Mink Car's ingenuity. There's only about 36 minutes of music on the Spine, so I wonder how much effort they put into it. "Stalk of Wheat" is a song about being out of ideas, but they already wrote a better song about being out of ideas a long time ago. So, John and John, let me say this: while fans of other bands like hearing the same music over and over with new album covers, we TMBG fans expect you to do diverse and crazy things for all of your albums. Make the next one even better, okay? B-
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Welcome Everyone!
This is truly a Brave New World as yet another blog has entered the scene! Here at Criticism and Creativity, you'll be enjoying my wit and intellect as I discuss the philosophy of the social world: books, comic books, music, and movies of all sorts and genres. And since I'm a writer, I'll also be talking about the creative process, the hows and whys of writing. There'll be postings on things like character profiles and story updates from projects I'm working on. Is it finished yet? Did it get published? All of these urgent questions will be answered and more. All you have to do is tune in.
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