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.
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