Good news for Superman fans!

...because there hasn't been much good news if you're a fan, right? Not since Grant Morrison's run on All-Star Superman at least.

Possibly the biggest news is that Chris Nolan is confirmed as the producer of the upcoming Superman reboot film. Let's all hope he can work his magic on the Man of Steel in the same way he did for The Dark Knight.

Of course, there's still no word as to who's directing. The press clip mentioned that David Goyer's treatment would be the basis for the story. Personally, I still can't understand why Hollywood hasn't taken any interest in Mark Millar's proposed Superman trilogy. Nearly every time he talks about it he's wagering his credibility that his story would achieve legendary status.

The other great news is that J. Michael Straczynski is scheduled to begin writing SUPERMAN at issue #701. He claims that Superman is the character he's always dreamed of writing, so if his ideas for the old blue and red are anywhere near as grandiose or imaginative as the work he did for THOR, it should end up looking like a pretty stellar run.

"This is not a comic book"

I think everybody remembers Adrian Veidt's famous moment of revelation at the end of Watchmen, when just after he has explained his master plan in the most stereotypically supervillain manner, he gives the most chilling response to the question, "When are you planning to do it?"

"Do it?" Adrian replied.

"Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?"

Adrian Veidt is essentially saying "This is not a comic book." You can't expect the typical tropes and tricks of comic book storytelling to apply to the real world. That kind of self reflexive storytelling was revolutionary...

...back in 1985. Since then, it seems it's been done to DEATH. I can't tell you how many times I've heard something to the extent of "What do you think this is? A comic book?" Yes, as a matter of fact it is a comic book, and the irony of the situation is no longer appreciated after reading the same trope for the 5,634th time. I really wish I could produce a bunch of on-hand examples of this to make this expose a little more convincing, but alas, this happens about as frequently nowadays as a character changing in and out of a costume - it's so utterly common it's completely forgettable.

However, it did happen again in this month's issue of KICK ASS.


I realize the whole book is meant to be self-reflexive, as it's a twisted take on the idea of a superhero existing in the real world, but do we really need another one of these look-at-the-camera-and-wink moments? This seems like a nitpicky criticism, but frankly, I just expect more from Mark Millar, especially when all the other comic book cliche meets real world collisions were so funny and different than the ones I've already seen. And hell, this book only seems to come out twice a year now. With this kind of time inbetween issues, can you blame me for expecting a top notch book?

Why Hasn't DC Hired Mark Millar to Write Superman?

DC is kind of in the dumps right now. While Marvel is enjoying the obvious big success of their major titles like the Avengers books, Spider-Man, and the whole lot of X books, they've also had enormous success in elevating the statuses of their lesser known heroes. IRON FIST, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THOR, DAREDEVIL, and more recently, GHOST RIDER, have all experienced major overhauls in sales and critical appraisals due to shifts in their creative teams.

DC, however, only seems to be kept afloat by their more major properties. Sure, the JUSTICE LEAGUE, JUSTICE SOCIETY, and BATMAN books all sell really well, but what else does? And moreover, now that ALL-STAR SUPERMAN is done and now that Greg Rucka has left CHECKMATE, what is on DC that's really worth your time and money?

What boggles my mind is when there are big name creators that explicitly state that they really want to work on and overhaul certain DC characters or properties, and yet, the creators never get their crack and we don't get to see the books change.

There are a whole bunch of cases of this happening, but for now, I'm going to single out just one. Superstar writer Mark Millar has stated numerous times that his life goal is to be the long-term writer of SUPERMAN or ACTION COMICS. This isn't just a recent proposition - he's been outspoken about this in interviews for pretty much as long as he's been interviewed. Why the hell has he not been put on the book?

Let's go over some facts about the guy to illustrate how absurd this situation is:

• The term "superstar", especially "superstar writer" is kind of a joke. However, in this case I deemed it appropriate for usage because if there's anybody for whom this applies, it's Mark Millar. Nearly everything this guy writes sells like hotcakes. It's extremely rare for any of the books he writes to not break the Top 10 or 20 in sales. He's had blockbusting runs on MARVEL KNIGHTS: SPIDER-MAN, ULTIMATES, WOLVERINE, ULTIMATE X-MEN, and more recently, on the FANTASTIC FOUR.
  
  
• To boot, he's possibly the most successful creator in the industry after Alan Moore. He's really the envy of the creator-owned world, as his books Wanted and Chosen ended up rivalling big name Marvel and DC books in sales. This is incredibly rare. His newest book, KICK ASS, sold 60,000 copies of the first printing of the first issue. Most creator-owned books rarely rarely rarely sell over 25,000 copies.
  
  
• He's not only a big name in comics, but in the film industry as well. The Wanted movie grossed enormous numbers, which is pretty rare for a non-Marvel or DC comic book movie adaptation. A Kick Ass movie is already in development, and there's talk of adapting Chosen and War Heroes.
  
  To further compound the ridiculousness, many of his changes to Marvel status quo have come around to influence the movies. It was his decision to model the Nick Fury of the Ultimate universe after Samuel L. Jackson - a man who now appears to be playing the character in all of the newer Marvel movie adaptations. Nearly all of the talk around around the upcoming Avengers movie is how much it will resemble Millar's run on THE ULTIMATES.
  
  Translation of all of this: This guy can't write something that's not cinematic.
  
  
• While some might still be reserved about the guy for his inexperience in writing for the DC Universe, he actually has already written Superman several times. Millar initially cut his teeth writing the kid friendly SUPERMAN ADVENTURES book, but more importantly, Millar was the author and brains behind the now classic Superman: Red Son book. I've heard accounts from several that they had hated Superman before reading that book and still thought the book was an absolutely incredible read.

- - - - - -

Is it just me, or does after considering all of this make DC seem absolutely insane for not hiring this guy to write one of their Superman books? This one is such an obvious no-brainer: hiring the guy is almost guaranteed to produce big sales and critical acclaim. Anybody that refuses to hire Mark Millar for a project that he's genuinely excited to undertake must just not want to make money or make fans happy. That's honestly the only explanation I can think of.

Kirkman's Cruise to Save Comics

I realize this was a while ago, and most people have already read this, but I wanted to weigh in my opinions on Kirkman's controversial claims about creator-owned work in the industry. Not necessarily because he's wrong, but because his argument is very very scatter-brained and he misses the mark on some issues.

If you haven't seen his editorial, watch it here.

First, being the feisty guy I am, I'm going to pick his argument apart, piece by piece.

"If you give people the option of Spider-Man or your creator-owned book... they'll choose Spider-Man, that's something time-tested versus something new. New has to be the only option."

I'm not really sure about this. Walk into your average comic book store.

And when I say average, I mean AVERAGE. Not the hip trendy store downtown where all the employees are cute girls that like indie rock or the stores with couches and lounges in them and have every Top Shelf book on display.

I mean the ones that have giant statues of Spider-Man and don't even a trade paperback section yet.

In most of these stores, most people don't even follow the creative teams involved. They just buy books with their favorite characters in them. I highly doubt sales of Matt Fraction's CASANOVA would be at all affected by him dropping his Marvel duties on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN or UNCANNY X-MEN. Even if you wrote "From the writer of all your favorite Marvel books!" on the cover.

"If that results in a mass exodus of creators leaving Marvel and DC, don't panic guys, I love their books as much as everyone else -- nobody wants to hurt them in the process. Look at it like an opportunity, that's the time for Marvel and DC to step up the plate and make their comics viable for a whole new generation. Less continuity, more accessible stories -- not made for kids, but appropriate for kids. Books that would appeal to everyone still reading comics, but would also appeal to the average 13 year old too. "

Would this really result in a creative resurgence at Marvel or DC? Let's look at some historical examples.

Let's roll back five years. Ed Brubaker was introducing new readers to Selina Kyle in his reboot of CATWOMAN and at the same time, along with Greg Rucka, was giving us a gritty detective drama very much akin to TV shows like NYPD Blue or Hill Street Blues on GOTHAM CENTRAL.

Mark Millar made a Superman fan out of me (and many others) in SUPERMAN: RED SON.

Brubaker, Millar, AND Warren Ellis were all doing incredibly provocative work at DC's child, Wildstorm.

Then they all left to do work at Marvel. And what happened to the DC Universe?

INFINITE CRISIS, COUNTDOWN, DEATH OF THE NEW GODS, and now FINAL CRISIS. Heavily continuity-driven books that were very unfriendly to new readers.

Let's go back even further, to the entrance into the 90's. Nearly every major name creator, from Jim Lee to Alan Moore, had all left the big two to do work at Image, Dark Horse, or other independent companies.

What happened to the books at the Big Two?

The Death of Superman happened, along with a billion other superhero deaths. And crossovers.

I think Kirkman is way wrong on this point. I think most of history has shown us the opposite - that when the good creators leave, quality and accessibility of the books goes way down.

In some ways he's correct, in that some of the books that really appealed to all ages were ones in which DC or Marvel were taking big chances on new talent. Bendis was a no-name indie guy when he was given ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, and now, everybody in the last 6 years swears it's what got them reading comics again.

But there's two points that need to be considered with that: 1) That all-ages accessibility is really a prerogative of the editors more than anything. DC editors don't seem to care much for that at the moment. 2) It usually takes several years for the company to get desperate enough to take chances with no-name talent.

"A comic industry where there are more original comics, so there's more new ideas, more creator-owned books by totally awesome guys that are selling a ton of books. Those books are mature and complex and appeal to our aging audience that I count myself among who are keeping this business alive. And we also have a revitalized Marvel and DC who are selling comics to a much wider audience than ever before. And that audience, as they age, may get turned on to some awesome creator-owned work eventually. So everyone is happy."

Kirkman envisions a kind of creative renaissance in comics due to an exodus. I think what's more likely to happen is that many of the creators would flop like fish out of water. Most comic readers don't take chances on buying new creator-owned books until at least a trade is put out, so many of them would suffer financially almost immediately. Most of them would just go back to working at the Big Two right away. Marvel and DC can hold their breath much longer than the creators can, and it would take a long time to erode the market to the point where buyers HAVE to buy creator-owned work in order to read something good.

--

It seems like I'm being really negative about creators in this. I really don't want to appear that way at all. I love creator-owned work and actually prefer reading it much more to the usual monthly titles on Marvel or DC.

I will even agree on the point that most writers at Marvel and DC should be doing much more creator-owned work. I would love to see awesome writers like Matt Fraction, Grant Morrison, Jason Aaron, Brian Bendis, and Peter David have AT LEAST as much creator-owned work being published as corporate work.

And Kirkman pointed out one thing that's really critical and misrepresented - while most creator-owned work isn't profitable, it has the potential to be INCREDIBLY profitable, more lucrative than any high paying job at Marvel.

The biggest selling blockbuster comic at Marvel is usually a crossover issue, and that usually hits about 250,000 copies. The average #1 during a non-summer crossover month is around 110,000 copies. And even if you had a big seller like this, most of the profit goes to Marvel, the real owner of all of the characters.

But did you know that there are still comics that sell in the MILLIONS? They're not making it on the Diamond lists, but that doesn't mean they don't fly off of bookstore shelves. Comics like Jeff Smith's BONE, Chris Ware's JIMMY CORRIGAN, Marjane Satrapi's PERSEPOLIS, and Craig Thompson's BLANKETS are all huge worldwide sellers, with some of these selling multiple million copies.

So it's possible to sell ten times the copies of a hit Marvel comic, while at the same time, getting a much bigger profit share. Ever since launching the Millarworld comics, Mark Millar has probably been driving Ferraris.

Do the math. All the wealthiest in the industry own their own creations. So while Kirkman may be wrong about EVERY creator, he's right in that there are a few more that would be able to launch a book that critics adore and at the same time puts a Ferrari in the garage.

Comics I Read This Week 3: 9/17/08

I totally skipped last week.

Yeah, I'm totally lazy.

Coming in a couple of days will be the first ever "Comics I Read Last Week". Hopefully that will make amends to you viewers. All two of you.

I bought several things this week, though I wasn't totally pleased with the results. Here's what we got. I'm listening to Torche's Meanderthal as I write this, so expect my sentences to punctuate in concordance with their totally awesome heavy metal rhythms.

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1. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #12
   Writer: Grant Morrison
   Artist: Frank Quitely
   
   The final issue of the Morrison/Quitely run of the series!
   
   Was I excited! Hell yes! However, I must add that that excitement was mixed with sort of a melancholic longing for the book to continue on. Even though it's been, what, 4 years for these 12 issues to come out, the three or months between the sharply written and drawn, mostly done-in-one stories is part of what made seeing it on the stands such a thrill.
   
   Unfortunately, as much as I was looking forward to this one, this closer was kind of a letdown.
   
   Maybe my expectations were just absurdly high. Maybe I thought it would close with a Quitely-stylized Superman bursting from the pages into my living room, telling me all the things deceased friends had wanted to tell me while they were alive, and smiling as he departed into the sunlit sky.
   
   You know what, I take it back. I don't feel that bad about expecting that. Morrison is (or at least he alleges he is) a chaos magician after all, in addition to being a wonderful writer, so why can't he combine his magic with his wit and imagination and make something like this happen? If he can't, then what's the point of the whole magic business in the first place? It's certainly not making him grow any hair.
   
   Anyhoo - this issue had some smart moments and some surprises. Superman using a gravity gun isn't just "Wouldn't it be cool if Superman used a gun? LOL" fangasming, but actually has a purpose (I expect nothing less from Morrison). The dialogue was smart, the end of Lex Luthor's plan was actually satisfying (unlike most Superman stories in which his overconfidence provides a gaping weakness), but I still felt like it could have been so much more.
   
   Take the ending to issue #10 for example, in which the world that Superman created eventually came to mirror our own world more than the one contained within the pages and closed with Siegel and Shuster's creation of the character. Can't you imagine Morrison ending the book with Superman dying, but his existence as a fictional character in the world he created ending up saving more lifes and providing more inspiration than his own life ever could have?
   
   Wouldn't that have been neat? Or would that have been too obvious, too wannabe Animal Man?
   
   In an interview at the NY Comic Con in the spring of '08, Morrison mentioned he loved writing this book so much that he wouldn't mind continuing with another artist. I can't wait for that.
   
   
2. THE WALKING DEAD #52
   Writer: Robert Kirkman
   Aritst: Charlie Adlard
   
   This is a stark contrast to All-Star Superman. Why? Because here's a book in which I can't stand how long it often takes to come out. It's so addictive, that I want it weekly, dammit. It can't be that hard to pull off. Kirkman could make it his full time job and hire a few extra artists.
   
   This book is pure comic book heroin. And like heroin, usage doesn't so much make you feel good or satisfied as it merely temporarily lulls your addiction. Actually, I've never used heroin before, but that's my best guess as to what it's like.
   
   My take on this book is constantly changing. One month, I'm saying it's the best comic out right now that's coming out in issues, with each issue having a solid kick to the gut punchline. Another month I'll be saying that nothing happens in the comic, wondering why I read it in the first place, and threatening to cancel my subscription if it goes on like this for another few issues.
   
   This month's issue fell more into the latter. Not much advanced the story, not much that was terribly original happened that you can't already guess from the cover. To boot, the thing took less than 5 minutes to read. Kirkman's down to using an average of like 2 panels per page now, perhaps under the mistaken impression that most people that read comics need reading glasses and can't make out the small panels of a 6 to 9 panel grid.
   
   Give me my three bucks worth.
   
   
3. WAR HEROES #2
   Writer: Mark Millar
   Art: Tony Harris
   
   It's picking up. The last issue was pretty dull, mostly giving kind of a retrospective look at the last few years in a world in which the military decided to start giving superpowers to ordinary soldiers in order to increase enlistment and give an edge to the soldiers on the ground in Iraq. There was only a slight introduction to the main characters and what would be the main story, and so now we're getting to see more of it.
   
   However, while it is picking up, it's still not completely there yet. There were a lot of fangasm splash page moments of soldiers doing ridiculous things like lifting up tanks or shooting fire and ice, in addition to there being a Mark Millar shock value moment, but aside from that, I still don't feel like the meat of the story has really been hit yet.
   
   It's funny - in an interview for Fresh Ink, Millar mentioned that if the U.S. Governemnt really did give out superpowers, he would happily enlist and fight in some Middle Eastern country. He is in fact, totally horny for soldiers lifting up tanks and using super speed, and seemed to imply that he sincerely intended this book to be more of a "Wouldn't it be awesome?" idea than a hypothetical, what-Big-Government-will-do-to-win-a-war book. Which in my opinion, is kind of a breath of fresh air, because the latter take is very heavy handed and obvious.
   
   
4. UNCANNY X-MEN #502
   Writer: Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker
   Artist: Greg Land
   
   Uncanny X-Men has turned out to be a pretty solid book ever since the end of Messiah Complex, way back in issue #495. Basically, all of the characters from Astonishing X-Men got bored of only seeing the light every four months, so they invaded the pages of Uncanny and kicked out a lot of the characters that weren't as popular. Star power always wins out, and the mutant world is no exception. Though I don't really feel all that bad for that douchebag Havok.
   
   The X-Men have been living in San Francisco, taking it easy, and now are fighting a reincarnation of the Hellfire Club. The last issue was pretty cool, though this issue felt a little more standard to me. There's a brawl, there's Cyclops acting tough and decisive, and an enemy telepath. Mostly, it felt like a transitionary issue.
   
   As much as I have a crush on Matt Fraction's writing, I'm a little disappointed with his wit in this book. He kept mentioning in interviews that he was really excited about writing Cyclops, and my response was "Yeah! We'll get to see him exhibit at least two dimensions... possibly three!" But so far, it seems like we've mostly just seen the tough decisions, hard-ass leader Cyclops, and less of the conflicted and emotionally isolated side of him that makes him interesting.
   
   Fuck - talking about how Cyclops can be interesting just makes me really really want to read Joss Whedon's run of Astonishing X-Men again. Then again, maybe my standards are unfair - I certainly wasn't that impressed three issues into his run.
   
   
5. ACTION COMICS #869
   Writer: Geoff Johns
   Artist: Gary Frank
   
   I've actually been digging Geoff Johns' run on the big blue guy. You'd think I'd be an artsy fartsy snob and say that nobody but Grant Morrison should write the character, but nuh-uh. I've been picking up the book since Escape From Bizarro World debuted, and honestly, I thought at the time that storyline came out, the book was better than All-Star.
   
   In retrospect, it's clear that Escape has really been the strongest part of the run. The combination of the storytelling talents of Eric Powell and Richard Donner obviously aided the book tremendously... but even the aesthetic of that story was really strong. It was a mostly standalone story; a graphic novel that just happened to be released in three issues in one of the main Superman books. You didn't have to do know what was going on in the book, and it certainly wasn't contrived to lead into anything else. What made it so strong, in addition to the wonderful storytelling, was a sentimentalism that most Superman writers lack when they write the character. It wasn't just referencing Superman's small-town Americana upbringing, it was retelling it and feeding it to you in a way that made you understand why his small-town perceptions of the people and the big world surrounding really defined his charity.
   
   Since then, the stories have been more typical of DCU books - they're big big stories with lots of characters and big sci-fi elements. This Brainiac story that has been going has been okay. The main twist to it is that all the Brainiac robots we've seen in the past weren't Brainiac himself, but merely drones sent out from the original Brainiac. We finally see the original Brainiac - a big green alien guy. Lots of continuity buffs are really bummed about this revelation. Not having read any in-continuity Superman stories, I don't really care too much and kind of appreciate the twist. Gary Frank's artwork is also seriously awesome. When I look at his depiction of Superman, I literally see Christopher Reeve.
   
   I'm still kind of confused as to what is going on. Apparently Brainiac can physically overpower Big Blue and his similarly overpowered cousin with ease, and I'm not really sure as to why. Also, the cover is incredibly misleading. Nowhere in the issue is Superman taking it easy with Pa Kent in Smallville, and nowhere is there a Brainiac moon that looks like a level from Starfox.
   

Comics I Read This Week 1: 8/28/2008

First post!

I finally became presumptuous enough to think people care about my opinions about comic books. While the world has plenty of comic book blogs, I checked today, and there was a need for *one* more. So here we go.

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Comics I Read This Week:

1. NEW AVENGERS #44 - Secret Invasion Tie-In
   
   I should start by saying that I'm not even reading the main Secret Invasion storyline or reading any of the other-tie ins. Lately, I've decided to actually boycott big cross-overs altogether. The problem with the last three big cross-overs at Marvel, namely House of M, Civil War, and World War Hulk, is that there were many moments that they would forego with the story altogether in order to introduce some big status-quo shaking moments in the Marvel Universe. House of M said no more mutants from now on (a poor decision in retrospect), Civil War said everything is government controlled, and World War Hulk, well, introduced the Red Hulk and did some strange things to Bruce Banner that I can't even remember.
   
   I figured the same thing would happen with Secret Invasion. My prediction was there would be some major punch to the early issues, there would be a lot of suspense for the last few, and then the whole last issue would be a big trailer for 1o or 15 different Marvel books. Whoopee.
   
   So, why did I buy this issue? Simply becuase it pertains to The Illuminati. And ever since they've been introduced by Bendis, they've been pretty damn awesome. Their dialogue in the Sentry storyline was pretty much the only cool thing in that whole story, the pre-Civil War Illuminati discussions really hit on the "tough questions and tough solutions" angle that the whole main series should have been about, and the 5 issue Illuminati mini-series had awesome, well-written stories featured during the Kree-Skrull War or the Infinity Gauntlet eras of the Marvel U.
   
   The kicker? The Illuminati are cool in nearly every scenario, no matter how dull the main story is. This issue was no exception, doing a done-in-one story discussing a major unexplained facet of the Skrull invasion up to this point. Full of twists and turns, this issue was really Bendis on his game in the way he hasn't always been while writing New Avengers.
   
   Worth buying, even if you're not reading Secret Invasion.
   
   
2. RUNAWAYS #1
   
   Only bad people don't like The Runaways.
   
   Seriously. I don't understand how anybody could read Brian K. Vaughan's 40 issue run, in which he single handedly created an original action/adventure/sci-fi/romance/teen drama that is possibly Marvel's most accessible title. I'll go as far as to say that Runaways is my favorite Brian K Vaughan comic, easily going to toe-to-toe with Brian K. Vaughan's other should-be-mainstream hit drama Y: The Last Man. The comic created a cast that was a whole-new cast of teenagers turned superheroes after their discovery that their parents are supervillains bent on taking over the world. One's a mutant, one's a superpowered alien, one's a magician, one has a pet dinosaur, one uses a set of high-tech gloves... The assortment on the team is a smorgasboard sampling of all the corners of the Marvel universe, while the story simultaneously never hinged on convulted character histories or continuity.
   
   If you haven't read it, read Vaughan's 7 volume run on the story. It would rank easily in Marvel's Top 5 books of the last 10 years (a list I should make at some point). And with each trade ringing up at only 8 bucks a pop, I'll be insulted if you don't read it.
   
   This issue marks the introduction of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos to the book, which is the second creative team to take over since Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. The first being Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan who did a fairly disappointing 6 issue run that didn't really hit on all storytelling cylinders the way Vaughan did with his writing. Freshly returned to present day Los Angeles after their sojourn to 1907's New York, the team is in their chronological and geographical home. Not much happened in the way of plot in this issue, and the pace was rather slow, but the dialogue was spot-on. Moore clearly has these characters down and could probably have some of them rally a conversation for 5 issues straight and still have it be engaging to read. I'm hoping the plot picks up in the next couple of issues. Terry Moore could still be one of those talents like Robert Kirkman who is just unable to adapt to writing the Marvel characters.
   
   Who knows? Buy it only if you've already everything up to this point, otherwise it won't make a lick of sense.
   
   
3. THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #18
   
   I started picking this one up in issues because the Fraction/Brubaker/Aja run of the book introduced a whole new appreciation of the character. Seriously - before those guys came in and revamped the book, character, and mythos, nobody really gave a shit about the character. He was some kind of lame, kung-fu superhero. Oooo! He can turn his fists to a fiery gold by focusing his chi! Who cares? Well, Matt Fraction made me care.
   
   This marks the second issue since the disheartening departure of the original team at issue 16. While the writing exemplified a lot of the qualities that made the Fraction run great, like peppy dialogue, fast pace, cool action - the new artist just can't make a lot of the action and motion cool. Couldn't David Aja at least have stuck around to draw the book? His action sequences were so good, they made me want to go out and kick some ass myself. That doesn't happen too often in action in American comics, where most fight sequences are represented by big splash pages showing every character locking horns with someone, but not really telling any story or revealing the pace of the battle. A lot of nothing going on, really. See the Bendi'ss Avengers books for examples.
   
   I'm buying it because I really want it to pick up and be really good. Maybe it will? It's continuing a cool storyline at least, investigating the mysterious deaths of all of the Iron Fists at the age of 33, after what event but Danny Rand's 33rd birthday! Heh. Picked a hell of a time to do that.
   
   
4. KICK-ASS #4
   
   Fuck yeah. Waited what, 2 or 3 months to get this?
   
   I can't talk about it without seriously spoiling what's going on. The third issue had such a big kick-in-the-face ending that the 3 month waiting period to the next issue was pretty gruesome and lonely.
   
   This issue was just as satisfying and violent as all of the ones up to this point in the continuing saga of this sick and twisted take on a superhero existing in a real world. Sure, jaw-dropping violence is easy to fill a comic with, but to do it within the context of a fast-paced, twist-laden, big emotional drama is icing on the cake.
   
   Notice how the katana girl's cape is held together by a padlock? What an awesome design. Frankly, seeing this cover should make you buy the issue. This is amounting to my favorite Mark Millar comic yet.
   
   
5. SUPERMAN #679
   
   Yeah, I probabably shouldn't buying this.
   
   It's just that something needs to tie me over until the next issue of All-Star Superman comes out. And what an issue that will be! Can't wait to read it (and review it)! Reading this issue made me really wonder why it couldn't be more like All-Star Superman. This 4 issue storyline about Atlas that this is 3 parts of the way through probably could have been told in less than one issue if Grant Morrison was writing it.
   
   James Robinson is the current writer of Superman. While I haven't read anything by him, I've heard nothing about pretty damn close to orgasming praise for his run of Starman, which I'm really anxious to read. I'm not sure if my boredom at his Superman writing is more due to his writing ability or due to DC's editorial decisions - I'm guessing it's more the latter.
   
   So yeah, Atlas is still beating up Superman. Somehow he's pretty helpless, and that hasn't really been explained. Supergirl apparently can't do anything either. Who comes to save him? Not the Green Lantern (who was around earlier in the story), not Batman, not the JLA, but KRYPTO, the WONDER DOG!
   
   Yep. The next issue is going to be about Krypto saving the day. Stay tuned and I'll review it. And yes, this is the only issue for which I revealed significant details about the story. That's because the story was so dull I figured most readers wouldn't mind it being revealed to them.
   

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I'm going to try to do this every week. If you're curious about how (badly) I spend my money, stay tuned!