All Things Fun! Blogs --- Pop Culture Musings

The All Things Fun! Blogs

We've scoured the world...Well, ok Southern New Jersey & Philadelphia, PA to find the best & the brightest minds to enlighten us with their pop-culture tales of woe.

Updated Weekly!

So take a minute to meet our All Things Fun! Bloggers :

Glenn Walker: Pop-Culture, Comic & French Fry Extraordinaire

Allison Eckel: Gen-X Mom, Publishing Maven & Passionate Comic Fan-Girl!

Wes Hitchens: Podcasting Game Guy & Rule Fanatic

The All Things Fun! Blog

Glenn Walker was rescued at birth by his adopted parents when his alien spacecraft crash landed in a remote tomato patch in Southern New Jersey. (New Jersey really is the Garden State.) He quickly found he was not like the other children of Earth as he was blessed with the writing skills and penmanship of ten men! His unearthly writing skills were only matched by his love & encyclopedic knowledge of all things pop-culture, comics & French Fries. Glenn can often be heard on the All Things Fun! Podcast, here on the All Things Fun! Blogs or on his own Blogs; Welcome to Hell, Comic Widows & The French Fry Diary.

7/15/10

The New Original Wonder Woman

If that title sounds familiar, it should, it was used just one of many times somebody in the media tried to make Wonder Woman relevant. "The New Original Wonder Woman" was the tagline and temporary title of the 1970s television series starring Lynda Carter. At least then, the character of Wonder Woman was recognizable.

If you've been paying attention the last week or so to pop culture media you've heard of the newest brew-ha-ha over everyone's favorite Amazon Princess. Not for the first time, DC Comics has decided to mess with Wonder Woman, and writer J.M. Straczynski, notably the man who erased Spider-Man's marriage from existence and more recently grounded Superman, has been named the man for the job.

The dirty deed happens in the iconic landmark issue #600 of Wonder Woman on shelves now. This oversized comic also features an introduction by the aforementioned Lynda Carter, great stories by Gail Simone (the exiting WW writer who has done tremendous work with the character), Amanda Conner and Louise Simonson, amazing art by George Perez, Phil Jimenez, Greg Horn and Ivan Reis, a handful of pin-up pages all that I quite enjoyed - and the offending new version of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman has been changed and/or rebooted several times over the last almost seven decades. The most notable change was in 1968 and lasted almost five years. Wonder Woman was stripped of her powers, arsenal, costume and her supporting cast, including her Amazon sisters. She found a new mentor who trained her in the martial arts and she fought crime using her wits and fighting skills in a white jumpsuit as Diana Prince.

Then, as now, there was a public outcry against this change. Feminist Gloria Steinem in particular railed against this depowering of the strong female role model. While the stories themselves weren't really all that bad, they weren't Wonder Woman. The status quo was returned in 1973 as Wonder Woman found her sisters and her powers again and became weirdly amnesiac of her time in the white jumpsuit pretending to be Emma Peel of the Avengers. No, not those Avengers, but I'm glad you're paying attention.

Wonder Woman, like many of DC Comics' characters, was also rebooted in 1985. Writer/artist George Perez jettisoned the invisible jet, the Diana Prince secret identity, and Steve Trevor as a romantic interest in favor of a father figure role. Perez also upped her power levels, gave her finally the full ability to fly and tied her origins and backstory more tightly to the Olympian gods. This was a good change, and most of all, she was still Wonder Woman - trademark, imagery, continuity and marketing were all intact.

The current change, presented in a ten-page story in Wonder Woman #600, is a serious change, more in line with the 1968 shake-up. Note the similarities. Diana no longer has her Amazonian supporting cast as Themyscira is destroyed. She's wearing a full bodysuit and depending on simply fighting skills. There seems to be a serious depowering going on, as she doesn't fly and is shown fighting human agents in an urban setting.

The new costume is practical, and makes sense, but it's not Wonder Woman. Sorry, I hate to be the crab here, but sometimes tradition and recognition trump practicality and logic. Take Superman. Capes are dumb, but he's not Superman without the cape. Same with Diana. No armored bathing suit, no Wonder Woman.

Her origin has been mucked about, from all indications, by time travel and some diabolical villain. And Diana's mission seems to be to uncover what really happened and ideally reverse it, right? If she does, and she wins, won't everything go back to the way it was? I doubt it. Logic seems to dictate our heroine will lose this fight - another reason for me to dislike this new paradigm.

What is most disturbing to me about the story by JMS and artist Don Kramer, is that the main character, Wonder Woman, if she is even being called that, is completely bland. And the elements that are interesting - the sewer of guardians so similar to the mysterious subway in Captain Marvel's origin and the so obviously Neil Gaiman Oracle, are lifted from other sources. Indeed, the Oracle is far more interesting than the reputed star of the story.

It's a shame that the other three and half stories in this issue outshine the one we're supposed to be the most interested in. I guess we'll have to wait for Wonder Woman #601 to get a better idea of what we really have here. And if not, Wonder Woman has returned to her original and most known form after every other change - let's hope it happens this time as well.

6/20/10

Selling the Blackest Night

Urban legend has it that several years ago, though not too long ago, there was a stockholders meeting at Time Warner and two things were brought up. One was that “Superman” and “Batman” were called properties, not characters, or pop culture icons, or even comic books. The other thing was apparently folks at that meeting also were quoted as saying, “Comic books? Do they still even make those things?”

For the record, Time Warner owns DC Comics, the publishers of both Superman and Batman for seventy-five years, and represents almost half of the comics market. Now whether this tale is apocryphal or not is still up in the air, but it does shed some light on how comics and their characters are viewed in the business world. The two don’t really mix.

In the tiny subculture of pop culture that is the comics world, one of the biggest events of the last year has been DC Comics’ Blackest Night. This Green Lantern mini-series and storyline crossed over into many of DC’s other titles and featured not only multiple colored versions of the Green Lantern Corps, but also the dead coming back to take the living. Don’t worry, the good guys won, and the series was quickly followed by the current bi-weekly series Brightest Day.

Blackest Night was successful for a number of reasons – just darned good writing and visual storytelling, accessibility to new readers, and of course, the marketing. With each new color of Lantern that was introduced, DC decided to release a corresponding ring. Some were free, and some came with the purchase of certain comics, and now, they are available for separate purchase.

The Power Ring props – in green, yellow, violet, red, orange, blue, indigo, and finally black and white – were a driving force in both marketing and promotion. And as a promotion, it worked quite well. It brought folks into comic shops that didn’t usually come to such places. They might not have been reading the comics, but everybody wanted their own Power Ring.

The marketing didn’t stop there. DC Comics has its own merchandising arm, DC Direct, which specializes in such things as statues, action figures and other props. It’s a smart move, as sometimes the collector market is bigger than the comics market. DC Direct has produced wave after wave of action figures based on the characters of Blackest Night. Man, it’s a good time to be a kid, um, ahem, a collector.

And if playing make-believe with your action figures on the carpet (or glass collectors cabinet) isn’t your style of play, there are even Blackest Night paraphernalia for the gamers out there. HeroClix, the tabletop collectible miniatures game, has just released a special set to commemorate the series featuring the various colored Lanterns. Now you can bring the events of Blackest Night and Brightest Day into play with your HeroClix.

Maybe they should change Green Lantern’s oath to “In brightest day, in blackest night, no merchandising shall escape our sight…” Proof positive that the fun of comics and the business world can mix, sometimes.

But it’s all good, nothing’s wrong with toys. Toys rock. And if any of these toys or other accessories –or the comics they are based on- get you interested or excited, be sure to check out All Things Fun!

6/3/2010

Re-Introducing the Green Hornet

Okay, hand count, who out there really knows who the Green Hornet is?

That’s what I thought. The Green Hornet seems to be a generational thing, popping up every now and then to sting pop culture then fading away again, but few know what it’s all about. And those of you who did raise your hands, you think it’s a new Kevin Smith comic that Dynamite Entertainment has overloaded the comic shop shelves with, right?

Not quite. The Green Hornet is actually an adventure character that goes all the way back to the 1930s, predating both Superman and Batman, and even the concept of the superhero as we know it. The Green Hornet was created for the era of radio dramas, before television, before even comic books. The Lone Ranger – masked rider, silver bullets, Native American companion, “William Tell Overture” theme song – was riding high in that medium and his creators wanted to cash in again, this time with a spin-off, a contemporary version of the hero – and the Green Hornet was born.

Crusading newspaper publisher Britt Reid, inspired by the legend of his great uncle the Lone Ranger, puts on a mask to become the Green Hornet and fight the enemies of truth and justice. It’s an updating. Instead of the white horse Silver, it’s a car, a rolling arsenal called the Black Beauty. The Hornet uses a different type of gun, a gas gun and also a shocking weapon, the Hornet’s Sting. Instead of the “William Tell Overture,” the Hornet’s theme is “Flight of the Bumblebee.” And instead of Tonto, the Hornet’s partner is martial artist Kato, his Japanese valet. Everything the Lone Ranger was, the Green Hornet was for the present day – the powers that be had hit radio gold.

The Green Hornet did have some subtle differences however. Just as the Ranger worked outside the law, the Hornet’s cover was that of a criminal who hunted other criminals. The police were always on his tail, a theme shared by many early superheroes who eventually became good guys, but for the Hornet, it stuck.

The radio show lasted into the 1950s and the Green Hornet also jumped into other media. There were a couple movie serials, and several comic book series. The characters were so popular that when the producers of the 1960s "Batman" TV series were looking for other properties to adapt for television, the Green Hornet came immediately to mind. This is when the Green Hornet and Kato really took off, as the young Bruce Lee took on the role of the television Kato and gained his first exposure for western audiences. Notably Lee used his real martial arts skills as Kato, and specifically had to slow down for the cameras or he could not be seen. Man, that’s fast!

While “The Green Hornet” on ABC only lasted twenty-five episodes, it left an indelible mark on pop culture. The Black Beauty (a modified 1966 Chrysler Crown Imperial sedan) became nearly as famous as TV’s Batmobile with its infra-green headlights, rocket launchers, machine guns and silent running. It truly was the rolling arsenal we heard about on the radio. Bruce Lee went on to legendary status and the two-part episode of “Batman” where the two duos fought is a favorite of many.

The show established the dynamic between the Green Hornet and Kato. While it appeared that Kato was the sidekick or even manservant, that just wasn’t true – they were equals. While it seemed the Hornet depended on his weapons like the gas gun and the Sting, he was also a formidable fighter - and while Kato appeared to be just a lethal martial artist he was also just as dangerous behind the wheel of the Black Beauty or with nunchuku or ninja stars. And they used these perceptions and misperceptions to their enemies’ regret frequently.

The Green Hornet and Kato resurfaced briefly in the late 1980s and early 90s with several series from Now Comics. Now established a legacy of Green Hornets, one during the 1930s, his son during the 1960s and a new one, again a son in the 1980s. Kato in turn was also a legacy, the most recent being female.

This seemed to jumpstart some possible Hollywood interest in the characters. Since that time there have been many attempts and rumors regarding a Green Hornet movie, most notably one possibly starring George Clooney and Jet Li in the starring roles, and one scripted by genre fave Kevin Smith. It is the Kevin Smith concept that brings us back to the present.

Last year, Dynamite Entertainment obtained the rights to the Green Hornet, and has utilized the Kevin Smith script as the first arc of their first Green Hornet title. Other titles have spotlighted the various Hornets and Katos in their respective eras. These are some amazing comics, breathing new life into the franchise, and recommended. You can find them at, where else, All Things Fun!.

And just as this is a good re-introduction to the characters, the comics can also prove to be the same for the upcoming film, starring, believe it or not, Seth Rogan. But that is a whole ‘nother blog entry entirely…

5/20/2010

Avengers 101

And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born — to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then — for now, the Avengers Assemble!”

That’s the rap, but what is it really, and who are the Avengers anyway? Marvel designated May 19th as Avengers Day, marking the new release of their Avengers franchise and ringing in “The Heroic Age.” If you’ve seen Iron Man 2 you’ve seen the seeds planted to preface the Avengers movie coming in 2012. But who are these Avengers?

For those of you not in the know, the Avengers are Marvel Comics’ version of the Justice League – Marvel’s big guns. While nearly a hundred characters have laid claim to being an Avenger in the nearly fifty years they’ve been around, there are really only a handful of characters that you think of when you think Avengers.

Captain America, Thor and Iron Man are always first. Hulk was there in the beginning but left quickly – anger management problem, I think. Also there at the start were the size and name-changing hero Dr. Henry Pym and his partner the Wasp. Over the years, others joined who would become legendary Avengers – the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and She-Hulk, and more recently big guns Wolverine and Spider-Man. Whoever was assembled they were the Marvel Universe’s last best defense against evil – Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Several years ago, writer Brian Michael Bendis took over the Avengers and turned it into one of Marvel’s biggest franchises. By adding fan faves like Wolverine and Spidey, and his personal faves like Spider-Woman and Luke Cage, he created a team very different from what previous incarnations had been, and several different Avengers titles. More street savvy and magic oriented than occupied with cosmic threats to the earth, Bendis steered the team through several major comics events like Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and recently Siege.

With the beginning of the newest ‘event,’ The Heroic Age, Bendis brings the Avengers back to their big guns Earth’s Mightiest heroes roots. With a new number one issue, the new membership consists of Thor, Iron Man, the new Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman. Their first opponent is the time traveling menace Kang – the team is back in the big leagues.

But the adjective-less Avengers title isn’t the only Avengers title restarting and filling comic shelves this month. There are additionally New Avengers also by Bendis, Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker and Avengers Academy by Christos Gage – the first two featuring two more teams of heroes with different agendas and the third telling tales of young hero trainees. If young heroes are your thing, look for Young Allies and Young Avengers coming later in the year. Also on the edges of A-territory are new series for Atlas and Thunderbolts both by Jeff Parker. Each of these Avengers-related titles will have its own flavor and different types of stories.

If you still have any questions about Marvel Comics’ Avengers, there’s always Google, or Avengers Forever, the web’s most exhaustive resource for everything Avengers. Or you could ask at All Things Fun!, or just to make things interesting – you could always ask me in the ATF! Forums. Consider it a challenge; I’m somewhat of an Avengers expert. Try me.

5/5/2010

The Lottery

When a new HeroClix set comes out, it’s just like the lottery. Like the baseball cards of decades ago, you never know what you’re going to get. As you open each booster pack, there’s that sense of surprise as you pull each new HeroClix figure out. And as most times all the figures are not listed online when the new series come out, like the lottery, it’s often a pleasant surprise.

The newest series for DC Comics HeroClix, The Brave and the Bold, simultaneously cashing in on the TV show from Cartoon Network and perhaps one of DC’s best comics right now, was recently released. As an occasional HeroClix player I purchased two booster packs. I should be honest. It’s been some time since I actually played, although I did quite a lot for some time. My interest recently in the ‘Clix has been more for the collecting angle and also to use as figures in a superhero role-playing game I run. Either way, it was a good purchase.

Lotteries are gambling, and the gambling comes in the idea that I bought a total of ten pieces today, in two boxes, with no idea what I might get. My haul for my first shot at this set was interesting: a Clark Kent and a Bruce Wayne, Harley and Ivy together, the Holiday Killer and the new and annoying Damien Wayne Robin squatting down. I also got Gizmo, Brainiac, a Parademon and an Amazon, among others. It was a nice gamble.

Looking online for what is available in the full Brave and the Bold set, I see that there is much incentive to try the lottery again. Many of the figures this time out are double-based duos featuring some famous team-ups from the comics, including: Green Lantern and Green Arrow, Hawkman and the Atom, Fire and Ice, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, as well as less likely teams like Captain Marvel and Black Adam. The addition of secret identities for DC’s big three is a nice bit as are some of the amusing figures like the Martian Manhunter surrounded by Oreos. There are even surprises, like Cave Carson and Kid Zoom (!).

The added bonus in this set is the presence of some characters from Blackest Night including Nekron, Black Hand and Black Lantern versions of the Golden Age Superman and the Martian Manhunter. And don’t forget the special buy-it-by-the-brick figure featuring Batman with Catwoman lounging on the Bat-Signal.

The makers of the game have caught on to something not thought about in earlier versions. It’s not just about the game anymore. The sculpts are important as well, and the selection. These adjustments show that they know there’s also a collector’s market out there beyond the game.

So get out there and get your booster packs for HeroClix: The Brave and the Bold, available where else – All Things Fun! Maybe you’ll win the lottery…

4/21/2010

Aquaman Returns

Friend Rob Kelly is a guy with a lot of passion. Whether it’s his work or his hobbies, he puts everything he has into it. Case in point – his brainchild the Aquaman Shrine. His love and respect for the Aquaman character knows no bounds and his passion to see Aquaman get the props he deserves is phenomenal.

When the sea king, in his most classic and recognizable form, was set to return in the pages of The Brave and the Bold, Rob set up a campaign to make sure as many folks as possible were both aware of and ordered the issue. Even here at Welcome to Hell I supported the effort.

A few weeks back, Brave and the Bold #32 came out, featuring the classic Aquaman and Jack Kirby’s The Demon, and here’s my review...

Writer J. Michael Straczynski has been rolling throughout time and space in the DC Universe with his tales in Brave and the Bold, and this issue marks the subtitle on the cover ”Lost Stories of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” to further ensure he wouldn’t be hindered by continuity. Sometimes the complicated soap opera mythology of comics gets in the way of telling stories. If you want to read good stories and worry about that tangled mess – JMS’ Brave and the Bold is for you.

This issue, illustrated by frequent collaborator Jesus Saiz, is no different. This done-in-one story brings the classic Aquaman together with The Demon to stop a decidedly Lovecraftian elder entity from entering our dimension. An excellent short story, “Night Gods” tells the tale of Whitford Crane who is trying to find out if he’s insane or not by digging up his friend’s grave. When captured he relates the story from his point of view. The first two pages have the feel of the old 1970s DC horror comics. I could almost see the Phantom Stranger appearing next, but instead it’s the rather odd pairing of Aquaman and the Demon.

The unlikely duo get together once a year to stop this invasion of an elder god into our world, and poor Whitford is stuck in the middle. While Lovecraft is more in the Demon’s field, the focus is actually more on Aquaman. As a man of the sea himself, Crane has a healthy respect for Aquaman, and his narration lovingly paints him as the dynamic hero he is. The sea king’s underwater fighting prowess and especially his telepathic powers are displayed breathtakingly.

I agree with Rob wholeheartedly that this is the Aquaman we want, and hopefully sales on this issue should tell DC Comics how much we feel this. And even if you’re not an Aquaman fan, or even a comics fan, Brave and the Bold demonstrates what good storytelling is all about. Definitely check it out. Highly recommended.

Later it was revealed in the pages of Blackest Night #8 that Aquaman was among those heroes coming back to life for good, and would be featured in the upcoming mini-series Brightest Day. In fact, his reunion with Mera in that issue was one of the most emotional I’ve read in comics in some time. I think with Blackest Night writer Geoff Johns steering the Aqua-ship for the immediate future, that we have nothing but good things to look forward to. Brightest Day will of course be available from All Things Fun!

* the above previously appeared in slightly different form at my blog, Welcome to Hell.

'Seid Bar

Allison Eckel was fashioned from Amazonian Clay on Paradise Island and traveled to this man's world to teach us all a "thing or two." When she isn't wearing her tiara and flying in her invisible jet, Allison has been known to write about her love of comics, movies and all things kid-lit. Allison is the proud owner of an ever growing geek-centric tasteless t-shirt collection and that makes her an expert in our book! (We should mention she's also a suburbanite, Gen-X, chic-geek mom & wife, when she's not working for truth, justice and the American way.) Allison can also be heard on the All Things Fun! Podcast

7/15/10

Fave Character of the Moment: Tim Drake Wayne

Some fans are all about one character (check out Rob Kelly’s Aquaman Shrine). I try to follow the whole DCU as though it were my soap opera. Well, it is my soap opera. And with all of the storylines and all of the characters, I am bound to have a favorite once in a while.

In the past, such faves have included Kyle Raynor as Earth’s newest Green Lantern (from Ron Marz’s creation of Kyle in 1994 to 2002, after which I lost interest), and Wally West fully realizing his potential as the Flash (Geoff John’s run on the book from 2000 to 2005). DC’s onslaught of crises since has kept me from attaching to anyone in particular.

Until now. The character I am most interested in at the moment is Tim (Drake) Wayne, currently appearing in his own title Red Robin.

Each Robin has balanced Batman in a different way, providing the salve for whatever character ills the Batman writers had gotten themselves into at the moment. Following the death of Robin #2 Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker, rumor has it that DC was unsure whether to have a third Robin at all. But then-editor Denny O’Neil wisely decided to shine a little light into the Bat Cave, and young Tim Drake was created. His Wikipedia character bio page is quite good, so if you don’t know how Tim worked his way into the Bat-Family, head over here (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Drake).

In the past year, Dick has become more comfortable in Batman’s cowl and Damian is coming into his own as Robin #4. Batman and Robin continue and all is right with Gotham. But in Red Robin #12, we see that there is a greater plan. There was more to Batman’s work than nightly patrols around the city. Social maneuverings in Gotham through Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation, Dr. Thompkins’ clinic, agreements with different gangs, etc., are all part of what Bruce did daily. That’s complicated stuff. Dick is a great guy, a great team leader, and a great warrior. But he’s not bookish. That’s where Tim comes in. Tim is so bookish that he figured out Batman’s true identity at the age of nine. While Dick may be Batman’s heir in the cowl, Tim is his heir as the Detective. He proves that in Red Robin #12.

I am looking forward to reading how Tim will balance all of his own machinations – CEO of Wayne Enterprises, brokering deals with Gotham gangs, romantic tension with both Batgirl and Tam Fox, searching for Bruce – all while still being 16. Right now, he is focused and committed, but even he has seen that too much focus on this job can lead him down Bruce’s path to a sour and humorless life. This is a complicated and deep character worth following.

Artwork for the cover of Red Robin 6 (Jan 2010 DC Comics). Art by Marcus To.

6/29/2010

DC Digital Announcement is Old News

I was all set to discuss the Brightest Day tie-in story Justice League: Generation Lost (issue #4 is on sale now) and the 20-year old storylines tied into it when DC Comics hit me with a barrage of “forward-looking” integrated media news. I put “forward looking” in quotation marks because the term was attributed to Jim Lee, DC’s co-publisher, in the company’s exciting press release …. Are you ready? Are you excited?

“DC Comics, publisher of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Fables, is partnering with comiXology and PlayStation®Network for two separate digital comics distribution deals launching today, Wednesday, June 23. In addition, a DC Comics App for the iPhone®, iPad® and iPod® Touch is available allowing consumers an easy way to access DC Comics’ content. The announcement was made jointly by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.”

Wow, didn’t that just rock your world? No, it didn’t rock mine either. DC is a little late to this party. Boom! Studios made this announcement June 15 and Marvel has offered an iPad App since April. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am salivating over the iPad pretty badly. Entertainment Weekly magazine’s “Must List” App almost got me to buy one all on its own, it’s that cool. If you are not familiar with the “Must List,” it is simply 10 entries in current pop culture that the magazine editors are really into that week. Well, the App takes those books, movies, CDs, TV shows, comics, whatever, and hyperlinks to more info, trailers, excerpts, theater listings, buying options, etc. The App provides an integrated user experience.

When digital comics provide an integrated user experience, then my world will be rocked. Imagine reading the Generation Lost storyline about Maxwell Lord’s return from the dead and subsequent manipulation of his former Justice League International team, then touching some symbol to access Justice League International #12 (April 1988) to read the story of the first time he died (and the first time he murdered) together with the first time he manipulated that team. In my current analog reality, just completing that sentence cost me two hours of research in my comics storage closet.

One implication of such integrated content might be an end of the casual comics collector. Those of us who love the stories and hold onto them so we can revisit them as needed might begin to rethink ink and paper when the details are a few back-lit touches away. This imagined reality would mean the end to the comics retailer because we would not need to buy even back issues. We would still read, still buy, still consume; we just would not keep and store physical books.

Another aspect to the digital trend is that digital comics are supposedly less expensive to consumers, who first need to buy a reader (is a $500 iPad worth saving two bucks an issue?). Also, fans who do not have a comics retailer nearby are able to return to their favorite characters via download. But so far, reading a digital version of the comics is all we’re getting from publishers. Still missing is the true promise of digital: the integrated user experience. That is the game-changer. That would rock my world.

6/10/2010

The Wizarding World of Mickey Mouse

Given that Disney Pixar’s Toy Story 3 is everywhere at the moment, I thought I would focus my column this week on the all-ages comics rack, where the characters from Disney and Pixar rule the sandbox.

Publisher Boom!Kids has been producing comics based on Pixar characters since the debut of their Incredibles series in July, 2008. Since then the number of series has ballooned to encompass nearly the entire Pixar line-up, including: Toy Story, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc., and Cars. Pixar is beloved for not relying on simple jokes and sight gags, yet appealing to the adult viewers on a separate level from their kid fans. Boom!Kids creators – led by Editor Mark Waid, former writer of Flash and Spider-Man – are obviously respecting that. The art styles of the comics are edgier than seen in a competitor book such as DC Super Friends, and the storylines will be exciting for kids yet better understood by parents.

On the classic Disney side, Boom!Kids released two ongoing series in January that are far from your traditional Mickey Mouse comic. Disney’s Hero Squad takes the usual Mickey characters and puts them in an Avengers-esque hero team, complete with brightly colored spandex costumes. Super Goof, The Duck Avenger, Eega Beeva, The Red Bat, and more are ready to stomp out the bad guys wherever they may lurk. I expected really simple storytelling with a “golly gee-wiz” tone. But this comic has a surprisingly complicated context and content.

Which brings me to the other title released in January: Wizards of Mickey. I really don’t like the title. It makes me think of the Disney Channel tween show “Wizards of Waverly Place,” which is a silly sitcom my kids are too young to watch. It also makes me think of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” a rival theme park. Neither association does the Mickey comic any favors. The one element they all have in common is magic. Wizards of Mickey centers on Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, who is now on a quest to locate all of the parts needed to assemble a magic crown. Joining him as always are Goofy and Donald; oh and Donald’s pet dragon.

With both of these series, I enjoy the novel juxtaposition of putting these wholesome Disney characters in new, dangerous situations. With Disney’s Hero Squad, the gambit works on a Duck Dodgers level. It’s obviously not trying to appeal to pre-schoolers and is letting the characters be a little more mature. However, with Wizards of Mickey, I’m left a little confused. I’m just not sure what it’s trying to be. It has a lot of back story and set-up: a lot of places with new names; a lot of teams of sorcerers; a lot of kooky-sounding spells. But the action itself is fairly simple and not much plot really progresses in each issue. It reminds me a little of the “Prince Valiant” comic strip. The publisher bills this series as appealing to fans of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. That’s a huge and overused comparison. I think it is appealing to kids who like magic and adults who love Mickey so much they need to see him in everything.

My opinion aside, the series offered by Boom!Kids center on reliable, family-friendly brands. If you know a kid who wants to read comics, you can’t go wrong with any of these titles. An additional bonus is that reading about their favorite characters in the pages of biodegradable comics is much better than buying the latest plastic toys.

5/12/2010

Crisis Recovery

The Blackest Night is over so we must return to our monthlies to read about our heroes picking up the pieces after defeating their worst nightmares made flesh. After such a crisis, I expect to slog through a few months of everyone bemoaning the psycho-drama, revisiting their loss, their struggle, their burden of continuing. Instead, the editors at DC Comics have learned lessons from the recovery from 52, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, et al. They have given us Brightest Day, which so far seems to be a framework for the recovery; a focus for the characters to avoid the endless whining.

The title Brightest Day sounds like it will be a big-smile, broad-chested, hands-on-hips, cape flapping in the wind way to look at life. What we actually get with Brightest Day is so much more complicated. Now, it’s not Grant Morrison complicated, thank goodness. But it is seeking to accomplish many things all at once, and so far doing it smoothly. Brightest Day is bringing back 12 departed characters and reinserting them into the universe (at least for now). The characters include some headliners like Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter, together with Deadman, Hawk, Captain Boomerang, Black Adam’s adopted son Osiris, Jade, and Maxwell Lord. Since Barry Allen’s Flash returned from his “death” in the speed force just before Blackest Night, he doesn’t count here. So, why is Flash one of the Brightest Day titles? The twelfth returned character is Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash.

And already, this list is so much more interesting than it first appears. Aquaman is alive and reunited with Mera, but his power to summon sea life seems limited to dead creatures. Hawkgirl is once again Shiera, not the more recent Kendra. Firestorm has always combined two people into one hero, only now it combines old and new versions with Ronnie Raymond with Jason Rush -- and neither is happy about it. Captain Boomerang and the Reverse Flash are both incarcerated at the start, but early glimpses indicate they won’t be for long. Osiris had once linked up with the Teen Titans, but he has now joined Deathstroke as a mercenary in Slade Wilson’s twisted one shot Titans: Villains for Hire. Maxwell Lord has a grand plan, as always, and it begins by making nearly everyone on Earth forget him. Everyone except former Justice League International members Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire, and Ice. Hank Hall has returned to be Hawk to Dawn Granger’s Dove, but more than an avatar of war, he sees himself as a soldier of God. Maybe the Birds of Prey will calm him down. Finally, Deadman, at long last alive but not yet with free will, is compelled by a mysterious force to visit each of the twelve; and he’s not sure why he’s wearing a white lantern ring.

The separate reintegration stories all have legs to carry them, seemingly without Brightest Day: Who is blackmailing the Birds of Prey? Can Barry Allen balance all aspects of his life? Will the mercenary Titans continue to kill heroes or will they implode from internal strife (spoiler alert: we no longer have two Atoms)? Will the JLI find Maxwell Lord before he carries out his big plan?

In the case of Flash, Brightest Day is the opportunity for a headliner to reboot an existing title. Flash Reborn had me worried. I’m a big Wally West fan, so when the esteemed Barry Allen returned angry and without hope, I considered giving up on the speedsters. But so far, the regular Flash series has me really excited for more. Brightest Day tie-in aside, this first issue laid some solid foundations for a long-running series. The Fastest Man Alive is the slowest member of his police forensics department because he is one of the few government workers who still care about a quality outcome. He is also married to a fast-paced newspaper reporter, which brings conflict into his home life. On top of that, he is the Flash. All of this we know already. This is a return to life as Barry knew it before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The freshness for readers is in the art by Francis Manapul, and in the way Johns is willing to step back and let the art tell much of the story.

Here’s a fun experiment. I went into one of my storage boxes and pulled out an issue of Flash at random. Out came #226, written by Stuart Immonen and Kathryn Kuder. Here is what Wally has to say to us on page 1:

“Check it, don’t these jerks ever learn? There must be at least two synaptic nanoseconds between this joker’s mouth and his trigger finger. Enough time to realize this is a totally useless endeavor. And they’ll have enough time to mull over what went wrong… in jail! I don’t get much time for quiet contemplation. After all, I am the Flash – the Fastest Man Alive!”

I don’t mean to criticize the writing. After all, it is difficult for me to comprehend Wally’s level of speed and descriptions about “synaptic nanoseconds” help. But, to compare, turn to the new Flash #1. Pour over the first 11 pages. The words are mostly removed and replaced with an exploding car, a steering wheel headed straight for a kid, and a scarlet speedster crackling with energy holding the steering wheel and inch from the kid’s nose – he caught it, and I can breathe again. I am so excited to read Flash again.

After Blackest Night, I should be cross-over-weary. I should be ready to return to the regular slog of monthly titles. I was ready to look cynically on Brightest Day as just another hook to get me to spend more money. But so far, it has far surpassed my expectations. I am very excited for more.

Great online resource: Resurrection Checklist http://dccomics.com/media/special/Brightest_Day_Resurrection_Checklist.pdf

This online document provides the issue numbers for the deaths of each of the 12 resurrected characters for Brightest Day. I would have liked to see digital pages linked through this, but at least I know what to shop for if my collection has a hole.

Flash and Birds of Prey aren’t the only titles staring afresh this month. Here is a cavalcade of First Issues, including:

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Grant Morrison picks up where he left off in the final pages of Final Crisis #7)

DC Universe Legacies #1 (A 10-part history of the DCU, because after every major crisis, they have to re-write their own history)

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (by Paul Levitz, former DC corporate honcho now returning to his creative roots)

Zatanna #1 (from the preview looks a lot like a sexier “Harry Dresden.”)

5/12/2010

Iron Man 2

Critics have said that Iron Man 2 has lost the lilt, irreverent attitude of its predecessor; that it relies too much on grand, CG-laden battle scenes. To that, I say, Well, duh! It’s a Hero Sequel. Of course it has lost its irreverent attitude. When we get to Part 2, it’s time to get serious, to understand the power one wields and the corresponding weight of that responsibility.

Speaking of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man … The Hero Sequel also contains a more insidious bad guy. Meeting Otto Octavious was, at first, a dream come true for Peter Parker. The Joker was better left for the Dark Knight. Clark was getting too comfortable with Lois until Zod and his cronies gave him a serious challenge. In Iron Man 2, we have a dark-mirror counterpart to Tony Stark in Ivan, the brilliant son to a dead, brilliant inventor. One was raised with success and privilege; the other, in exile and squalor, resenting the first. When they meet, Tony as Iron Man has brought peace to the world because no nation on Earth can contend with the battle suit. Ivan proves that Iron Man is touchable, and destruction reigns.

Two elements of the typical Hero Sequel are not upheld in Iron Man 2, and I like the result. First is the illusion that the Hero has a choice whether to continue in the Good Fight or hang up the tights. In Spider-Man 2, a doctor tells Peter, “Maybe you’re not supposed to be Spider-Man climbing those walls. You always have a choice, Peter.” Peter foolishly believes him and puts the suit in the garbage. He thought that when his powers left him he could go back to a “normal” life. But comics readers know that the Hero really does not have a choice.

Iron Man 2 never wastes time with this. Tony tells a Senator Garry Shandling that there is no weapon suit, that the Iron Man suit is him and cannot be separate. Tony understands that there is no choice, there is only the consequences. When something begins to go wrong with his mini-arc reactor, his choice is not whether to stop the hero gig but whether to eke out a few extra weeks of life or die in a fantastically fun fireball of glory.

Which brings us to the second element of the Hero Sequel not maintained in Iron Man 2: the love interest. Pepper’s back, given a new role at Stark Industries, yet she seems completely inconsequential. I bet they could have saved Paltrow’s fee, left her out of the movie, and the only difference would be the running time. I am actually glad about this. The typical Hero Sequel uses the love interest to propel the emotional elements of the Hero’s journey. Peter Parker spends a lot of time pining over Mary Jane. Superman 2 is unwatchable according to my kids because it is all about Lois. Bruce can’t be the committed Batman we all want because he has to rescue What’s-her-name. But not Tony. Iron Man 2 makes references to a relationship between Tony and Pepper (and yes, there is a brief kissing scene), but it keeps this on the side and does not let it get in the way. Tony is still Tony, with or without Pepper.

There is a third element of the Hero Sequel that usually serves to undermine the movie rather than improve it: increased character roster. With Iron Man, we were content to meet Tony and his little gang: his girl Pepper, his buddy Rhodey, and occasional cut-up Happy. The bad business man was the bad guy, so that was a tight package. The sequel, we are told time and again, has to add characters, right? So a new bad businessman works with an evil bad guy while a new tough lady in a cat suit makes eyes at our hero and displays questionable loyalties. Wait, is this Iron Man 2 or Batman Returns?

Actually, the elongated cast of characters in Iron Man 2 does have the potential of spiraling out of control, especially since we also meet Nick Fury and see further into his clandestine organization S.H.I.E.L.D. These bits provide a convenient way through a plot point while also laying the ground work for the next three Marvel Studios releases: Thor (May 2011), Captain America (July 2011) and The Avengers (May 2012). At the end of this stream, we may get a third Iron Man movie.

That is a lot of plot to fit into a neat package, all tied together with explosions and battles. The critics are a little divided as to whether it works. I wrote previously that Iron Man saved the Hero Movie genre. I won’t say that Iron Man 2 is at all ground breaking for the Hero Sequel. However, I will say that I enjoyed it and it gave my eight-year-old and me a lot to discuss in the car ride home, which to me is worth the price of admission.

For parents:

Iron Man 2 does not have the level of personal brutality witnessed in the beginning of Iron Man. Nor does it have a bedroom scene. It does have a brief view of a lady in her underwear, which made my 8-year-old boy snicker. If you would like to introduce your kids to the Marvel heroes of Iron Man and upcoming films Thor (2011), Captain America (2011), and The Avengers (2012), visit the all ages comics rack at All Things Fun! for the Super Hero Squad (also a cartoon, Cartoon Network, 8pm). Also a fun offering from Marvel Kids is Power Pack.

4/28/2010

Some Things I Can't Shake

I was five when my parents bought me my first comics and I have been a faithful reader of the form ever since – and of the same characters, too. Although the characters have been tweaked here and there, I have certainly changed more than they have. So, my take on a series is heavily colored by age, experiences, and insights of the moment.

For example, in the third grade I discovered DC’s Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. It’s a story we’ve read in many forms: An alien world’s long-lost princess is really 13-year-old Amy Winston, a very normal little girl from the U.S. If I discovered it tomorrow for the first time, I would likely find it “cute, but terribly derivative.” But at the time, it spoke to me on many levels and I still haven’t shaken it.

Today, when I read comics I bring to the story a complicated bag of technical knowledge, motherhood, cynicism, and other things far removed from innocent wonder. If Blackest Night had been just about the rings and the emotional spectrum, I would have enjoyed it but probably forgotten most of it quickly. Like 52 and Infinite Crisis: I can’t for the life of me remember what either was about. But Blackest Night carried a deeper emotional hook that caught me at just the right time.

When heroes confronted Black Lanterns, they were not just fighting the reanimated corpses of their loved ones. Neckron made sure that the dead spoke and with their words made the heroes confront their biggest failures. Because for a hero, what is worse than your loved ones dying on your watch? Is there any one of these confrontations that stays with you more than the rest? Kyle and Alex? Guy Gardner and Tora? Beast Boy and Terra?

For me, it was Donna Troy and her baby in writer J.T. Krull’s “Blackest Night: Titans.” Now, if I had read this in my youth, I probably would have said, “That’s gross. How could she care for that creepy little monster?” Maybe many of you thought something similar. Now that I can add the lens of motherhood to my perceptions, my reading of this issue if very different. And I just can’t shake it.

I also can’t shake the end of the limited series Cry for Justice. At first, I avoided this series, which includes an odd grouping of characters, most of whom I didn’t care about. But by the second issue, I was hooked. Writer James Robinson leads us on a chase that reveals a hoodwink that becomes a standoff. The consequences are tragic, of course, but masterfully planned. Loss of a hero is no longer good enough. No, the tragedy, post-Blackest Night, has to be bigger, deeper, younger and more fragile. This is another one I can’t shake.

Thanks to Krull again, I get to re-live it over and over in the pages of Justice League: The Rise and Fall of Arsenal. Poor Roy; I was really rooting for him as the former bad-boy turned single father to an adorable little girl. I sense a pattern here: Maybe Titans are meant to be childless. I guess I should be worried for Wally’s kids next…

In the meantime, we have the launch of Brightest Day. I hope the strong writing and emotional component that earned Blackest Night an Eisner Award nomination continues and that DC serves up more than a forgettable comics event. With winter over and spring in full bloom, I am ready to shake the gut-wrenching tragedy for awhile and look for some renewal.

Look for more of James Robinson’s writing in the pages of “War of the Supermen” #0 this Saturday at Free Comic Book Day.

4/14/2010

Kid-Lit Crush

My mother-in-law is a voracious reader who will read just about anything she can get her hands on. The existence of a plot or well-defined characters is not actually needed. I’m a little different in my reading preferences. As the mother of two small children, my time to read books that are about more than the alphabet is seriously limited, so the books need to be well-chosen. The Harry Potter series gave me a great bang for my buck, so to speak, because they instantly transported me and filled my imagination, even for the snippets of time I could give them.

In a post-Harry literary marketplace, I find myself continuing to look at books billed as Kid Lit. I don’t have the patience for “adult fiction.” The characters are often too whiny or shallow and their plot lines too obvious. I am much more attracted to that classic archetype of Ordinary Kid Discovers Extraordinary Origins. The parent/guardian knows the truth but keeps it from the kid until that one fateful day when all is revealed and life changes. And of course, the world hangs in the balance. You all know countless examples of this story. Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty didn’t know she was an ill-fated princess. Clark Kent knows he is a little different but has to discover his true abilities and alien beginnings. The Cheerleader on NBC’s “Heroes” discovers her amazing healing abilities. My childhood favorite is Amy Winston from DC Comic’s “Amythyst, Princess of Gemworld,” who is a normal 13-year old who discovers she is actually the long-lost, magical, princess of a beautiful alien world. Lyra from the His Dark Materials trilogy has not a care in the world until she becomes the only child who can read the Golden Compass and uncovers many mysteries around her parents. And of course, we all know about Harry Potter.

There is something about these stories that I find completely entertaining. By focusing on children they can see new magic in the world and have it be believable. Also, authors are able to use the powerful nature of puberty as roadmap for their young heroes’ journey. Kids reading these stories can perhaps find something to identify with, or a way to dream about their own inevitable awkwardness. Adults can simply enjoy the ride.

My latest Kid Lit crush is for Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (published by Hyperion). A junior-high-aged kid with ADHD and dyslexia, Percy has a knack for getting into trouble. Turns out he’s the son of a Greek god, making him a demigod, and therefore a target for all of the monsters in mythology. Of course, rather than stay safe, Percy and his demigod friends must complete a quest to save the world. The plot moves quickly and Percy’s narration is snarky, as though he lived it and he still can’t believe it’s all true.

Books 1 (The Lightning Thief) and 2 (The Sea of Monsters) have won many impressive awards, and it’s easy to see why. Riordan understands his target audience of junior-high school kids because he was an English teacher for many years and created Percy Jackson as a bedtime story for his own son.

Now, for a writer to understand his audience is easy. For a writer to show respect for that audience is challenging. JK Rowling achieved this in her Potter series. She respected the reader, regardless of age, to keep up with her vision and so did not have to get bogged down with too many explanations. Riordan achieves this as well. It must be tempting for a former teacher to indulge in lengthy explanations of the ancient Greeks to show us how much he knows. But he keeps a tight hold on that impulse and instead gives us secret places where the ancient Greeks thrive in modern life. Riordan’s universe works in much the same way as Rowling’s: the magical Greeks live among the normal mortals, but still apart from them and in secret. He uses descriptions of these places to showcase what life might have been like when sacrificing the best part of your dinner to the gods was normal. We come away believing that there’s a valley on Long Island that only immortals can enter, or that prominent figures in our history were demigods too (including George Washington and Houdini).

If Riordan puts as much care and craft into his adult fiction – he writes the Tres Navvare mystery series – I may have to try them. Then, I may actually be able to discuss books with my mother-in-law.

More soon!