I’m watching Rocko’s Modern Life right now for the first time in years and seeing my memories of it completely validated.  It reminds me of what Art Speigelman got out of MAD Magazine: ”The message MAD had in general is ‘The media is lying to you, and we are part of the media.’”

The message of Rocko’s Modern Life is “Life is complicated and hard, even if you don’t understand it now, it’s not going to get better.”

I’m heading off to get inline for Iron Man 2 shortly and I’m excited about it…as my recent slate of posts probably indicates.  But I’m surprised at how high my anticipation is.  I’ve always liked Iron Man of course, but I’ve never felt an urge to follow his solo adventures.  I think that’s because he works best when surrounded by vastly different characters. Tony Stark is highly enjoyable as the backbone of the Avengers or guest starring in Captain America or Hulk comics because he stands out.

For the most part though the Iron Man solo comics surround him with Evil Iron Men or Evil Tony Starks or armed goons.  I do think it’s important to have a hero’s villains reflect an aspect of the hero, too much can be too much.  Batman for instance fights characters who are similarly driven or focused or driven insane through a catastrophic event.  Iron Man fights other people in suits of high tech armor.  Though in his defense, while Iron Man has fought roughly a dozen Crimson Dynamos (seriously) he does also fight The Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom.

Of course the movie made him fresh and vibrant and unique.  He stood out had a personality.  It was the best Tony Stark and Iron Man ever produced and that’s why he’s a household name now.  And that’s why I’m excited about this movie but sadly it still hasn’t made me want to read any comics that have “Iron Man” across the top (as good as I hear they may be now).  I will admit I have a very strong desire to dig out my Secret Wars Iron Man figure (in his Mark III armor!) and play with it though.

Though I can hardly believe it, 2009 is practically over.  Which means it’s time for me to once again look over the books I read and see what’s on The Dropping Block.

Before I look at the titles themselves, my overall impression is to note that there are fewer comics listed here than previously.  Also my general feeling for the comics below is less enthusiasm than I’ve had in the past.  And I’m not alone in this line of thinking.  There are many books that I actively look forward too, but many that I slog through and hope things improve.  I’m also looking for some new book to come up and demand my readership, but there isn’t a whole lot out there that inspires those feelings.
continue reading "Dropping Block – December 2009"

After reading through the just released second volume of Alan Moore’s “The Saga of Swamp Thing” I naturally felt inclined to reread some of Walt Kelly’s Pogo.  I have one tattered barely held together copy of a Simon & Schuster reprint book from the 70s that my dad gave me, The Impollutable Pogo.  I enjoyed it as I knew I would and it got me looking into the upcoming Complete editions that Fantagraphics are working on.  But I hope they don’t reprint all the strips and call that good.  In the old reprint books, Walt Kelly added extra panels that were often just an additional gag continuing a joke past the space he had available in the newspaper strip.  It would be a shame if The Complete Pogo missed out on all this additional great work!

Right now there is a lot of discussion about the X-Men brand and franchise, what made them great in the past and what lead to their decline.  But there has been very little said about their potential to return to greatness and sales domination.

The general concusses about what made them great throughout the 1970s-80s was a steady creative team that built up its characters through incremental change in an expanding world of melodrama.  However in 1991 the first problem occurred, the focus was lost among a glut of new titles and characters barely resembled themselves and lost all forward momentum.  In 2001 brought on the second problem for the franchise, new creators brought clear focus and definite change that redefined the characters, but Marvel immediately regressed and has struggled to find a direction they can support since then.

I believe the fix to these issues could be found in the best aspects of two current comics: Amazing Spider-Man and Adventure Comics.

In 2008 Marvel turned the three monthly Spider-Man titles (“Amazing”, “Sensational,” and “Friendly Neighborhood”) into one comic that came out three times a month.  To kick this off, Marvel put out a controversial story that changed his status quo.  But what people have responded to most positively is not Peter Parker’s marital status, but the frequency and quality of the stories put out.  A team of writers known as the Spider-Man Brain Trust was formed who together create long term storylines for the comic and take turns writing issues.  The result is a steady dependable comic with consistent quality and character development.

This could easily be done with the X-Men.  Right now there is a glut of X-Men team comics (Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force and New Mutants) and solo books (X-Men Legacy, three Wolverine titles, three Deadpool titles, Cable, and several one-shots) all competing in the market place.  It is simply too many books with too similar purposes.  Everything should be canceled except: Uncanny X-Men (the original and flagship title), X-Factor (the only radically distinct book), Wolverine and Deadpool.  Uncanny X-Men should then come out three times a month thanks to rotating writer and artist teams.  Wolverine and Deadpool could each come out twice a month since the demand is apparently there.  X-Factor should be allowed space and time to develop as it needs.

As for what happens to all the extra characters when the titles slim down into one X-Men team book, look to Adventure Comics.  This legendary title just returned with Superboy as the main attraction with back up features “starring The Legion of Super Heroes.”  But the team of the Legion is not the star of these 8 pages, instead each back up has featured a different team member in satisfying a satisfying story that hints at future stories.

This is how the many mutants don’t get lost in the shuffle.  Give the three-times-a-month Uncanny X-Men a back up (or possibly even make it a flip backup, and call the back cover “X-Men: Legacy” to preserve that numbering) that spotlights one or two additional characters in a standalone adventure, or a recurring feature throughout the months or issues that serve as teasers for future stories.

The end result would be a fast moving title that covered the scope of the entire X-Men landscape and provided opportunities for individuals to be recognized.

As soon as I discovered the website Not Blog X it became a favorite destination.  G. Kendall has taken on the unenviable task of reading through the X-men comics of the 1990s to see how they match up with our memories of them.  It took just under two years, but he just wrapped up.  Of course, I’m still working my way through.  I’ve made it to the fall of 1994, just after the Phalanx Covenant, so I still have a lot to read.

Part of the enjoyment comes from remembering some comics I only read once or twice as a kid and many times didn’t think about after that.  I particularly enjoy learning who made these comics of my youth, before I was thinking even thinking about the fact that people made them.

It also plays into my recent thoughts about how I bought comics in the past and how I do now.  I started getting into the X-men in June 1991 (or at least cover dated then) with just a few comics, but that started expanding in 1992 as I grabbed whatever I could from the gas station and Safeway spinner racks.  In 1993 my habit became more selective and consistent as I bought fewer titles but more continuous issues.  By 1994 I was hitting my stride and 1995′s Age of Apocalypse owned me.  But that was the peak, 1996 slipped in a big way and by 1998 the X-Men were out of my system, except for the lone title “Mutant X” which was completely divorced from the rest of the comics, but it faded and I was done.

2001 brought it all back and I was hooked on Milligan & Allred’s X-Force and saw that all the way through to the bitter end.  I tested Joe Casey’s Uncanny X-Men and of course had to read Origin.  And for whatever reason I dropped Grant Morrison’s New X-Men after the first 7 issues and returned for the final 10.  I can’t recall what made me do that, but I did.  And since then I’ve only picked up an odd issue of Wolverine for the creators.

And now while it looks like Matt Fraction is putting together some quality stories of the X-Men, I just don’t have the time, money or emotion to invest in the X-Men.  I hope they continue to do great things while I continue to try and catch up with G. Kendall’s opus.  In the meantime, he’s about to go forward with a new direction.  One I will definitely follow from day one.

San Diego Comic Con was last week and I missed it.  I was here at home enjoying birthday celebrations for some great friends of ours.  Of course, my thoughts did drift down there pretty regularly.  It sounded really crowded but that for the most part people had fun.  That’s how I remember it when I went down there before…2006?  Wow.  Anyway, plans are being made to go down there again next year.  Colleen will come too and I’ll have to protect her from the Twi-hate.  Of course maybe by then idiots will have a new grudge.

The bit of news that has intrigued me the most is Marvel buying the Marvelman rights.  Of course, like many people have pointed out, Marvel has only announced half of what interest people.  This is a character with decades of history on and off the page.  But is really only remembered for 28 actual comics (Miracleman 1-24, Miracleman 3D 1, Miracleman Apocrypha 1-3).  So not being able to announce plans to reprint those comics makes this half a news story.  Of course, the fact that they are drawing him and selling t-shirts with the original logo and not the modified one used in the memorable comics is very telling…

Of course, at least you can say that Marvel has people talking.  And while I’d love to see a great hardcover collection and best case senario of Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham completing it.  I’m now torn, because I actually had a lead on some issues of Miracleman which I had always dismissed as being un ownable…but after seeing some issues in a box I’m tempted, but if there is a fancy hardcover in the not to distant future?  Hm, what to do?

The best news about real comic books that people can really and truly buy at some point are the new Bone books!  Those sound wonderful.

And sneaking in some sports news, NFL training camps are open.  And I’m very happy to see Shawne Merriman is back in action.  And with some enthusiastic hair!

In the latest issue of Green Lantern, Hal comments that the Orange Lantern Larfleeze “Looks like a boar corssed with one of The Muppets.  The furry one who hangs out with chickens.”  This is a reference to Gonzo.  But he doesn’t look anything like Gonzo.  He looks exactly like Uncle Deadly.  If you’re going to rip off a Muppet, know which one it is.

At the end of last year I took a look at what I had been reading and what I thought I would be reading.  And now we’re roughly halfway into the year I think I can safely make some changes to my reading habits based on what’s happened and what’s coming…

continue reading "Dropping Block – Summer 2009"