Delusions of Grandeur

Fantasy sports are just fun. If you like sports, it is only natural to think that you have some sort of extra level of perception when it comes to what makes good teams good, or bad teams bad. Fantasy allows you to put your money where your mouth is, and often times people who feel pretty smart turn out to not know jack shit.

Luckily, whether you are good or bad, you can still enjoy the process of owning a "team." Look at Mark Cuban, Daniel Snyder, Jerry Jones and of course, Al Davis. Winning is not half as important to any of those guys as the "I'm the most important guy in this room," swagger they are afforded by being the breadwinner for a shitload of athletes.

Well, in my fantasy league, I think I can be as self-important as I feel. When I made a franchise-overhauling move this week for my football squad, "Manny's Revenge," I took the opportunity to break the story with the same urgency and style the Associated Press might.





PRESS RELEASE/ BREAKING NEWS!!


The bottom-dwelling Vengaza de Manny has agreed to trade golden boy Adrian "ADP" Peterson, the most electrifying back in modern football, to Koko's Monkeys for WR Randy Moss and RB Darren "Dmac" McFadden. The exchange is unprecedented in the ten years of The Concord Crew league, with this year's number one overall pick being exchanged for last year's number one.

Vengaza owner Brendan McGuirk had this to say, "While we regret our own inability to build a winner around ADP, we are more than pleased to welcome Randy and Dmac to our organization."

He went on, "Last year, there was a lot of controversy regarding our selection of Adrian over other valued rookie backs, such as the much-lauded Marshawn Lynch. We have been nothing but pleased with the selection, and wonder, if we had been as savvy with our other picks in both that year's and this year's draft, we would be forced to make such drastic measures to assure the competitiveness of our franchise in years to come.

Darren has looked great at times, and we sincerely hope that he fulfills his potential as a dynamic NFL running back, despite the handicap of playing for Al Davis."

McFadden had this to say, "Yeah, there's definitely some pressure on me now, 'cause those are some big shoes I've gotta fill. Hopefully I get this turf toe straightened up, and we can finish out this season on a winning note."

No small part of the deal was the inclusion of the enigmatic Randy Moss, who declined to be interviewed. With Vengaza fans forced to say goodbye to their fan favorite back, the franchise front office types sincerely hope that the crowds can find some solace in cheering on the "real 81," when ADP inevitably has his next 250 yard, 3 TD game. Owner Brendan McGuirk is apparently optimistic, as he has already bought the wideout's jersey.


In addition to the players included in the deal, Koko's Monkey's owner Samuel J. Gould has also agreed to exchange next year's 6th round pick for the 8th round pick of La Vengaza.

A team spokesperson summed it up with this, "It's such a competitive league. You think you have a solid draft, you take some risks, and they don't pan out, Boom, you're 1-6. It isn't easy to let a player go when you know how dominant he will be in the future, but sometimes you have to roll the dice. We wish him the best, and hope he finds a winning environment. And a new Offensive Coordinator."


The trade is pending league approval.

The Final Debate

Or; Don't Blame me, I voted for Kodos


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So I recently picked up the new Nas album. It is a profoundly political album, even for an outspoken guy like Nas. He digs his heels in the sand, and really takes a stand against what he sees as the rampant injustice we have come to accept as the American way.

For me, he really hit the nail on the head with “Black President.” It is a song that is both personal and inclusive, and my immediate reaction to it made me realize what a personal crisis the prospects of this election have become. I've gone all in. I like to think I did the research, but the fact is my vote was cast long before this race even started. So when this song combined Barack Obama, John Legend, and a Tupac hook, I was pretty much floored. For better or worse Tupac is the preeminent messianic figure in hip-hop, and his inability to be tarnished is one of those things that will stay with hip hop forever. It also explains why there will always be new Tupac tracks. I was a late-comer to the magic of Tupac, too late, in fact, to fully appreciate the rapper while he was still alive. But, hey, cut me some slack; I was eleven.

It was the postmortem song “Changes,” that eventually brought me into the Machiavellian fold. In particular, it was the line “Though it seems heaven-sent, we ain't ready to have a black president.” I learned later that this line was actually lifted from the track “I wonder if heaven got a ghetto,” but the starkness of the lyric was nothing less than revolutionary to my young brain. The world I knew was rife with injustice, and one of the greatest injustices, to me, was not only that we were yet to see anyone but wealthy white male presidents, but that the prospect of anyone other than that taking the big seat in the Oval Office seemed less likely that a Tupac resurrection.

The inclusion of this lyric as the chorus had my attention. Further, using Barack's own voice brought an urgent immediacy. There are only two short clips of his voice used; a forceful cry of “Change the world!” and “They said..” There is no reason to ask who “they”, are, because we all instinctively know. Even my eleven year old brain understood that “they” were the ones who would never allow for any significant changes in my lifetime. “They,” are the voice of pessimism that damn our expectations before we can even form them.

Nas' song shows us that we've come farther, faster, than we had any right to expect. But with that progress comes the anticipation that builds with hope.

Soon, this race will end one way or the other. Depending on November 4th's outcome, my memory of this song will forever be either eternally inspiring or equally damning. Personally, this election has become the most significant time in the American narrative since September 11th, 2001. A generation's entire faith in the competency of the system hangs in the balance. So Election Day 2008 will either be one of my proudest, or most disappointed days as an American. There is no middle ground. There is no "Wait until next year." We are either going forwards or going backwards. There is no in between.

Nas' creative sampling and alluring snare brought out a lot of things I want to believe in. But it was actually not this particular song that I felt presented the most convincing argument in settling this matter. All in all, a song called Black President is nothing if not biased.

No, it was actually a song called "We're Not Alone." It is mostly about togetherness and stuff, but it also is kind of about aliens. All the sudden, I stumbled upon the greatest debate topic yet to be raised in this election:

Who would you trust more, if you knew we were going to-

meet aliens?

C'mon! This is a completely valid issue! Why it is a valid subject? We can almost definitely assert what the reactions of both candidates would be!

I promise I'll stop using so many exclamation points, I'm just loud. But lets just postulate how the situation would go down with either of the tickets sitting in the winner's circle.

It's 2012. In the midst of a huge democratic surge, John McCain is facing a second term loss, and Sarah Palin, the national darling of the New York Post and Rupert Murdoch affiliated media, has a 23% better approval rating than Mac. He's old, but not ready to retire.

And all of the sudden reports start flooding in from across the world. South Africa confirm reports of non-humans. North Korea begins insinuating that they have a strategic alliance with the maybe-off-worlders. It all begins to look and feel like the real thing.

And McCain is like What the FUCK?

Because John McCain would be absolutely fucking ripshit if this kind of thing went down and he wasn't ahead of the game on it. Heads would roll. He would be his edgy, ornery self, and finally, we would have to make contact. Assumedly, whether these aliens were malicious or charitable, they would surely be able to organize and try and minimize struggle, and be 'taken to our leader.'

Eventually, someone would have to have a sit down with the leader of the Free World.

McCain would be forced to go in totally blind, all pissed to hell, and not sure if there's a war to fight or if we're about to say hello to our spankin' new energy plan.

And don't forget, it is an election year, and Palin still has that approval rating... and the polls aren't looking good...

So one way or the other, we're going to war. Because A) they might be stronger than us, which would mean we would feel threatened and not know how to cope if we felt rivaled, or, dare we say, dominated B) imagine; there would have to be some sort of magic level super science power source for these aliens to get here. The greed? The need to secure that stuff for ourselves, and horde it just in case something bad happened to it? Like if someone took it without will of the law? Like we do?

There would have to be a war. Because everyone would know that Sarah Palin could be a fine hawkish president. There would be rumblings of how this was just like caribou hunting, leaving out that we could very well be the caribou in that situation. Even a seventy-six year old McCain is way too much of a solo maverick to be thrown out, forcibly retired, for the sake of his party, that he forever regretted placating to garner support in the first place? No way.

So yeah. We'd go to war with the aliens. Maybe we'd round up a coalition of the willing, but probably not. Anyways, I'm pretty sure we'd all be dead. And if Palin were president I think I'd want to be.

Anyway I don't mean to overstate it, but it just seems to me that McCain's temper, and history as a lifelong fighter, would force him to react aggressively, if only out of insecurity. It assuredly would be an insecure situation, and to all of the sudden not have the biggest guns would be extremely traumatizing.

Regardless, the McCain/ Palin White House is not one that fills me with confidence. Especially given the fact that their party has displayed nothing but incompetence during an eight year reign. Besides, McCain would have a heart attack as soon as they beamed him up.

Okay, so what is our other option?

It is 2015 and President Obama has just finished delivering an impassioned speech in front of the new United Nations building on the fucking moon. This is a special occasion, as it is the largest moon gathering yet, the first Lunar summit. Barack Obama has begged the world to invest in itself, and make this station viable population support to our bloated world. Dow is up 3000 points in a day, because investors are so confident that this will be the next sure thing.

But as he is finishing his speech, the room shakes, and all the sudden; mother fucking aliens.

I curse because, frankly, aliens are worse than monsters we make up. Monsters are mostly things that are human-ish. They play up some aspect of our own character. Aliens are the freakiest because they wouldn't necessarily have anything in common with us, we could only hope that they did. Anyways, getting back to it-

Aliens say blah blah blah, we're here on the moon because we knew there would be a shit-ton of your world's leadership. They either go "We're here to fuck shit up," or "Hey, we're cool, do this and we won't fuck shit up." Pretty much, it's one or the other.

How cool about this would Obama be? How many Independence Day jokes would he make?

The UN elects Obama to represent humanity in the negotiations. There are meetings, further summits, shows of strength, goodwill tactics.

We work with them. We assess their strengths, see what they have to offer, and determine their threat level, as well as our defensive options. Do we have the capacity to prevent them from doing anything? Do we have anything they want or need? Do we have a bargaining chip? Because I bet to shit they have some awesome power supply.

And all the sudden we're in business.

Like in every sprawling alien blockbuster, we would be united as humans, either against a common cause or greeting a new ally.

And I think we all know that Barack Obama would make a better leader in that situation.

The reason Hollywood types are against the McPalin abomination ticket, and for the ObamaNation nomination is that they know which movie you'd put each pair in. One would be about human incompetence and incontinence. The other would be about our potential, and maybe, the Audacity of Hope.

Look, I harbor no delusions that the scenarios I described were either fair or balanced. They where, however, culled via the narratives each campaign have presented. At the very core of their theses, the candidates put out two sentiments. McCain harps on the negative; on the dangers of inexperience, the threat of over-taxation, the prospects of imminent doom.

Obama takes a different stance. He paints a portrait of the world as it should be, of hope, of prosperity, of progress. All John McCain can do is point out the failings of man, while Barack reminds us of or potential.

This is not meant as a disrespect. McCain is merely a 20th century leader, and thus has only 20th century solutions. Aliens, globalization and world-flattening, and new energy are 21st century problems. We need an internet-savvy intellect with a grasp on what has caused the problems have plagued our past. We need a 21^st century leader, who has shown the ability to mobilize, communicate with, and lead this generation. There is no need to fear the problems of yesterday- we need to fear the problems of tomorrow.

That is the heart of the matter. Ultimately, this is a question about the future. It isn't so much about the problems we know how to face, it is about those unknowable problems we must steel ourselves for as we stare down the barrel of the 21st century, and how we determine America's role in it.

John McCain might have the previously established credentials to be President of the United States. But that is no longer good enough. You have to be President of the World. And that is a job that Barack Obama has prepared himself for.

Reflections in a (dead)pool

As with some other recent posts, the following is an interview I did with former Cable/ Deadpool artist Reilly Brown after NY Comiccon '08. I was a really big fan of his run on the book, especially when the Cable character left the book, leaving Deadpool unencumbered to be insane. Unfortunatly, the book was not a commercial giant, and was canceled with issue #50.

But as so often happens in comics, it was when the cancellation was pending that the creators were allowed to take the greatest risks. Writer Fabian Nicieza teamed with Brown, who actually took plotting duties the last two issues, made sure the book went down swinging. The last storyline interwove Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four, the New Avengers, Wolverine, T-Ray, Ka-Zar, and even symbiote-addled dinosaurs in a blaze of broo-ha ha in the classic Marvel style.

Anyways, the last story was probably the best of that entire run, and I had to talk to Reilly Brown about it. It wasn't published at the time, as intended, but given the new cache the character is enjoying via his Secret Invasion- assisted reboot, it is worth revisiting.




Brendan: So Reilly, you came onto Cable/Deadpool with issue #38 I think? What led to you landing that gig? Were you just the first guy who raised his hand?

Reilly Brown: Actually my first issue was #28, then I came back on after the Civil War tie-ins and stuck with it till the end with the help of Ron Lim and Staz Johnson filling in on a couple of issues.

The only Marvel project I'd done before this was the 2005 Holiday Special, and I think they chose me for C&D for the same reason the chose me for that, and that's my ability to draw both action scenes, and more light-hearted scenes. Some people's styles lend more to one type of story over the other, but I can move between both pretty seamlessly, and that was obviously pretty important when your stories switch from political espionage to binge drinking and Maude marathons every other page.

Brendan: Was there any particular challenge in taking on a two-star buddy book? Did Cable and Deadpool need separate trailers?

Reilly: They had separate trailers just to keep up appearances, but I swear they only used one. Usually Cable's because Nate couldn't stand Wade's taste in drapes. He can be a real bitch sometimes.

Heh, but no, other than that there wasn't really any challenge to it.

Brendan: Did you chose any particular artists takes as influences for your vision of each character? Each one's original design is so strongly connected to 90's sensibilities, I feel like they have both been reinterpreted an inordinate amount of times, was there much room for interpretation?

Reilly: Cable's had the most reinterpretation over the years. I think mostly because some artists were sick of drawing all his crazy sci-fi weapons, which are at the same time an unavoidable part of his character, so he's been through several character designs. I think my biggest influence for drawing him was John Romita Jr., because he gave him this larger-than-life, solid, blocky look that I think works really well for the character.

Deadpool's costume has barely changed at all over the years, with the possible exception of a green mini-skirt. The only things that changed about him were his weapons and belts and things, which he'd change depending on the situation he was in. For Deadpool my main goal was to give him smooth movements and and more animated attitude so that he'd be a good foil to the solid, grim Cable.

Brendan: Would you agree there is more Eastern influence in your work than other superhero artists? It seems like there is something about your economy of line that resonates that way.

Reilly: I definitely draw influence from comics from all over the world, not just America. Ever since Japanese comics became popular over here in the 90's we've been seeing more and more artists influenced by them, and honestly I don't think it's even a unique thing anymore. A lot of artists who've become popular in the past few years, such as Mark Brooks, who launched Cable and Deadpool, or Paco Medina, or Jim Cheung all have very strong Japanese influence in their work. As an artist, when you read something like Ghost in the Shell, or Bleach, or Air Gear it's difficult not to be influenced by it. You'll see more and more of this in the future as younger kids who are just learning to draw are reading things like Naruto.

So, to answer your question, I'd say I have more Easter influence than older superhero artists, but not not necessarily more than the newer guys.

Brendan: We talked a little about this, but I really just like that you kept the stocking look on 'Pool's hood consistent. It's just funnier when it looks like that!!

Reilly: Thanks! That's just the way he looked when I got him, and I liked it because it made him look a little more unique.

Brendan: Did you enjoy the move to a solo Deadpool book? It was pretty irregular to have the titular character on the book, y'know, lacking in the book, "X"ed out or not.

Reilly: Hah, yeah, honestly I kind of did! Deadpool was just a lot more fun to draw than Cable was, and I liked having the opportunity to flesh out his supporting cast a bit, since so much time had been spent on Cable's.

Brendan: So how did you come to write the last two issues of the series?

Reilly: Fabian was busy with a lot of projects and had to drop something, and since this series was ending anyway it just made the most sense to drop this one. So, since I knew that Nicole would be looking for a last-minute new writer, and since I knew more about the series than almost anyone, I figured I'd put a pitch together.

They seemed to like it, so we went from there! Fabian stuck around and did most of the dialog, which was good because it kept the characters sounding consistent.

Brendan: Judging just from the story, it seems like you enjoyed the pitching process. Seems pretty hard to not have fun in the Savage Land. Are you looking to do more writing?

Reilly: I am, but I'm not interested in writing a story that I don't draw. I'm not interested in being solely a writer.

I've pitched a couple of mini-series, which haven't really gotten very far. It's tough to fit new series' into the publishing schedule, and I expect that it'll be a while before I get the chance to write my own stories again, but we'll see what happens.

Brendan: Tell me a little about you story in Hulk vs Hercules: When Titans Clash?

Reilly: Well, it's all one story. There's just a bunch of different artists in it. The whole story is a flashback issue as Athena tells Amadeus Cho (is he still called Mastermind XLO?) about a meeting between Hulk and Hercules. As the story changes location, the artists change, so the visual differences aren't distractingly abrupt. My part of the story is the part that takes place in Olympus, which is about 20 pages or so, so it's the longest scene.

It was a really fun story to work on, Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente know how to write a fun, exciting story, that's for damn sure. And man, the script was brilliant! They referenced everything from classic Marvel character designs for the Olympians, to Ancient Greek weaponry, to YouTube videos of fighting moves-- I swear they spoiled me!

Brendan: Between that and Deadpool's world tour, you're drawing every character in the Marvel stable. You got anything coming up you want to talk about?

Reilly: Hah! Yeah, I think Ghost Rider's the only character I haven't drawn yet. Actually, I'd love to draw Dr. Doom or Magneto. Just a hint in case any editors are reading this.
Currently I'm working on New Warriors #13, which is a lot of fun. It's got a lot of big robots in it, which are always great. And I also have a short story in the Takes of the Starlight Drive-In OGN coming out from Image in June. We'll see where I'm off to after that.

An Untimely Mystery in Space part 2

NOTE: A few months back, (okay, a lot of months back), I got the chance to catch up with cosmic guru Jim Starlin about his foray into the intergalactic, Mystery in Space. Through a not dis-series of flubs, that article was never published as intended either. Still, it'd be a damn shame to waste a conversation about comics, though, so here it is; represented for the first time.


Jim Starlin has been telling grand cosmic stories for over thirty years. He has told Weird stories, stories that reach into Infinity, and even killed a Robin. It was no surprise when he lent his hand to tell a Mystery in Space. The project was originally slated to be an Adam Strange story, but when the character became unavailable due to usage in 52, Starlin adjusted. He dusted off the forgotten Captain Comet, and set out to revitalize the character. He dropped the “Captain,” (because hey, that character never truly earned his standing as a captain), and started the story in the most unlikely way by killing the main character. Death was just the beginning.

With the release of the Mystery in Space collection, we took the opportunity to catch up with Jim, and get his thoughts on the series.

Brendan: What is it about the grand cosmic scale that attracts you? You have such an open tapestry, does that few degrees of normalcy you remove the audience from make it more difficult to tell a human story?

Jim Starlin: Sometimes it's better to write around an idea, rather than hit it on the head with a hammer.

Brendan: You got a chance to revisit Hardcore Station, as well as the Weird. What was it like to return to characters you created? Was there a different voice you had to adopt, given your distance from the characters?

Jim: Hardcore Station was a locale just crying out to be utilized. As you know, Mystery in Space was originally intended to be an Adam Strange vehicle. In the end, I believe, it played out better this way. Hardcore worked well as a substitute for Rann. Max and Eye were just frosting on the cake.

The Weird was another matter entirely. I'd been lobbying to bring him back and had a fairly good idea where I wanted him to go. His rather tenuous relationship with life and death gives him a half-a-bubble-off-plum quality I was looking forward to writing.

Brendan: What were your thoughts on Shane Davis, and his work on the series? How did you feel Ron Lim did as a "closer" for the series?

Jim: Shane gave the Comet series a wonderfully dark attitude and set the tone for Tyrone marvelously. When we started off, the contrast between his art and my own set a nice space between the lead feature and the back up. They were linked, but both series stood clearly apart. Though it was never planned, Ron Lim's entrance into the project couldn't have worked out better. As the story reached its climax and merged into one tale, Ron's emulating Shane's style bought the Comet series closer to the Weird's visual path. The final issue may not have worked out as well as it did without Ron at the art helm.

Brendan: This book offered the rare opportunity to dovetail backup stories into your lead. How did you approach that structurally, and do you feel like it worked out?

Jim: I'm very proud of Mystery In Space's story structure. It gave me the chance to travel the same path in two very different fashions. Comet was straight-up storytelling. The Weird was experimental freedom. I think the two styles dovetailed into each other quite well. I've an up-coming project which involves both Comet and the Weird, plus Adam Strange. I'm greatly looking forward to playing with the storytelling on it also.

Brendan: The backups also afforded you the opportunity to draw your own part of the book. Eventually when these stories intertwined, you even collaborated on some pages. Did you enjoy that opportunity to jam with other artists?

Jim: It's wasn't quite the collaboration you'd think it would have been. By the time Shane started drawing the first issue of the Comet story I was in the middle of writing and drawing the fourth or fifth installment of The Weird. Right from the start, poor Shane had me bugging him for character designs on characters that were to first appear in his storyline. It all got rather confusing at times. Plus, when Ron finally got to drawing his part of the last issue I was already deep into The Death of the New Gods. Had to pull myself out of that head space and come back to a project I'd finished with months earlier. But in the end it all worked out quite well. Guess the Force was with us.

An Untimely Mystery in Space part 1

NOTE: A few months back, (okay, a lot of months back), I got the chance to catch up with upcoming Rage of the Red Lanterns artist Shane Davis about his last foray into the intergalactic, Mystery in Space. Through a series of flubs, the article was never published as intended. It'd be a damn shame to waste a conversation about comics, though, so here it is; represented for the first time.

Mystery in Space took the relatively low-profile character of Captain Comet out of the pages of the wildly successful 52 series and put him in a solo adventure full of intrigue, corruption, self examination, telekinetic future mutants, and talking dogs. The Jim Starlin collaboration also gave fans their first monthly opportunity to check out the work of artist Shane Davis. Refining a jagged style perfect for moody action stories, Davis proved up to the task of handling monthly chores, and was only taken off the book in order to work on the high profile Lightning Saga crossover in the pages of Justice League of America. With the release of the Mystery in Space trade paperback, as well as the solicitation for Shane’s upcoming Superman/ Batman story arc with writer Michael Green, we took the opportunity to get some final thoughts from Davis on the science fiction escapade.

Brendan: Your story was ultimately about building a better Comet; how did you set out to achieve that? Besides a younger, more action ready body, how is the character different that the previous iterations?

Shane Davis: Captain Comet's back story was that the character left Earth because he was so advanced he didn't fit in. Going into this project, I felt he should have an almost alien feel. He also has the ability to teleport. Tackling that, I wanted to give him an organic teleportation effect. For example, I love Nightcrawler and that "bamf" effect. So I went with lightening, which is also related to the characters telekinetic comet field. The discs on his outfit were added there for this reason. As well as, the addition of the strip down his spine to visually link it to his nervous system.
Brendan: This book was clearly more of a sci-fi book than a superhero one. When last we spoke, you talked a little about how you tried to emphasize that aesthetically, but specifically, what sort of visual tricks and cues make one genre different from other?
Shane: I went in saying it had to look sci-fi and not just like superheroes in space. Looking at a lot of sci-fi movies and games, I noticed scale played a big part in creating that feel. I tried to incorporate that scale into the project, and still find myself using that process in my current project. For example, with the space station I had the idea to have a star/sun in its center. This was to show that this civilization was advanced enough to harvest a sun and use it as a weapon. Major praise goes to Bob Schreck and Brandon Montclare for allowing me to do this!

Brendan: This series marked your first opportunity on a regular assignment. Not only that, but it was a launch of a new title. What sort of challenges did that pose, and what do you feel you got out of it?
Shane: I was thrilled at first to have an almost clean slate. I ended up putting a lot of heart into it; possibly too much at times. The biggest challenge it posed was to need to see things in a different perspective. Not only were the characters being updated, the whole environment needed to feel sci-fi, yet still believable to the audience. The majority of this updated transition sat mainly on Comet's design. What audiences may accept or would want to see today. Imagination was key!

Brendan: Working with Jim Starlin, did you notice anything different in working with someone who is both a writer and artist? Did it make his script any more or less specific?

Shane: Jim is a great storyteller, in my opinion. There was nothing visually confusing about any of his scripts.
This made storytelling more fluid. You can really tell that he had the visual in mind while he was writing it.

Brendan: With Mystery in Space, you were sequestered to your own corner of the universe. Your upcoming work will be on Superman/ Batman, two of comics' most recognizable icons. What freedoms are you afforded in the relative obscurity that the spotlight doesn't allow?
Shane: I have had to do variations on their costumes for story moments, so I've had a few chances to play with
their costumes. Superman and Batman are icons, and altering the basic design is just wrong. You really
can't design them better, so I went in knowing that. I don't expect people to love me for the variations, but
hopefully they’ll say that I did them well with what I had to do. In their normal gear, your liberties lay in interpreting the basics. The attitudes and contrast in their capes. The fact one wears a mask while the other takes off glasses is priceless. It's all contrast when you get these two together. It is for me, at least, especially when dealing with postures and shadows. I definitely have been leaning towards the creepy Batman. However, even though drawing these two icons is fun on its own, Comet offered a liberty of interpretation that is not all too well accepted when messing around with Batman or Superman.

'We're gonna need a bigger (inter)Net'

After a time of tumult and incongruity, I've managed to stabilize as a writer, and get some good work done. Here are some links to my more recent work.

I talked to versatile writer G. Willow Wilson about her new Vertigo series, AIR. She seems to have a really unique world perspective that makes her a valuable voice in the sometimes homogeneous realm of comics.

Another year, another San Diego Comiccon Exclusive announcement. This time, it was my buddy Frank Marrafino's new Vertigo mini-series, Haunted Tank, with art by Henry Flint, (whose Elephantmen work has been a real favorite of mine). Like any Vertigo series worth it's salt, this revival looks to be as provocative as it is timely.

It was a season of revisiting, so, with the release of their new fantasy book Madame Xanadu, I caught up with writer/ artist Matt Wagner and artist/ writer Amy Reeder Hadley about progress on their new title. They were both great, gracious subjects, and after having seen that book develop over the course of a few years, I was amazed at just how well executed it all was.

It was also time to close the book on the modern masterpiece that was All Star Superman, so I talked to artist Frank Quietly about his experience on the high profile success. After getting my journalist career kick-started with the great Scot, it was very rewarding to be able to reconnect.

Did some reviewing in the last few months. Here's a quick wrap-up;

A major issue for me, both as a critic and as a member of the comic-reading community, is the blind distaste for anything that could be labeled an "event." All an "event" comic is is a marketing tool, a brand, that publishers with a large output can use to really throw their weight behind a particular series. They are not inherently good, or inherently bad; like anything, they come down to execution. Brian Bendis' Secret Invasion maxi-series is no different. except that he has his own books to use as support for this ambitious story.

Sometimes, as a reader, you get lucky. And lucky is exactly how I felt when it was announced that writer Matt Fraction, (who I have often accused of stealing my 'look,' particularly when I was Ritchie Tennenbaum for Halloween), would be supplementing the ongoing Thor series. A favorite writer tackling a favorite character is a joy unique to comics, and when Fraction tapped Beta Ray Bill to be the bridge character for the Secret Invasion: Thor miniseries, I couldn't stop talking about it.

It was Fraction and Ed Brubaker's departure from the Iron Fist title that demanded I check in on how it was handled by the subsequent team of Duance Swierczynski, Travel Foreman, and Russ Heath. It is never quite fair to compare one or two issues to a sum total of a successful creative run, but I think I gave a fair benefit of the doubt.

Phil Hester is immensely talented, and it was on his reputation alone I gave the El Diablo mini a shot. I wasn't disappointed, and writer Jai Nitz has had the kind of career that makes one hopeful that paying one's dues pays off. I don't think this series will be the book that makes him a viable option "big-time" writer in comics, but it is exactly the kind of book that can prove to an audience that you have the talent to hang in the industry.

As a writer, I can think of no more daunting task then following Alan Moore on a project. That's like having George Carlin be your warm up the audience guy. But that was the task for Zander (and, though I dropped the ball on it, also Kevin) Cannon, who did plot, script, and layouts on the new Top Ten: Season 2 series, with artist Gene Ha! Again, this is no small task, but they do a very commendable job.

I was a huge fan of the Oni OGN Labor Days, by Philip Gelatt and Rick Lacy. There were some serious philosophical questions it laid out, which really surprised me. It reminded me of I Heart Huckabees in that way, which I dug.

I was really excited to do this solo feature on Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #3, by the slick Flash team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. To be perfectly honest, I was more satisfied with the way this review came out than almost anything I've written. Things that I had wanted to say about Johns for a long time just sort of coalesced when I wrote this piece. But, that said, it is a lot easier to write a good review when you have a great subject.

Most recent was this review of Jeff Smith's Bone follow-up, RASL. I don't know what it is about the medium, but parallel worlds are an awful prevalent subject in comics. Smith really knocks this one out of the park, and I'm sure that when the project is complete it will be a new classic.



So that's the wrap for the last few months. I'm looking forward to trying out some new critiques on this space; from book reviews, to movies, video games, and really whatever comes up, it should be a good exercise in talking about what's good and bad.

I'm nothing if not a person who loves to talk about what he loves.