LIFESPAN: COMICS
07.16.04
 
Week Three... back into the swing after a wonderful long weekend with the family in the natural beauty of the Adirondacks. Dinner with the Doanes was a wonderful addition to the trip (I’ve met several online friends face-to-face and each has turned out to be exceptionally swell in real life. I’ve got a streak going!). Thanks again, Mr. Doane.
 
The stack is out of control this week, as you’ll see below. At this stage, reading becomes a real fucking chore, and with a trip to San Diego looming next week, I don’t anticipate working through the 2 and 1/2 feet of comics and books anytime soon. Also, there will be no Lifespan next week. Blame Comic-Con, not me…
 
Anyway, here's the stack as it stands today:
 
Captain America and the Falcon: Madbomb TPB (Kirby): Wasn’t gonna bother, but it’s become kind of a buzzbook around the ‘net and how can you really pass up manic, ‘70s Kirby? You can’t apparently.
 
2020 Visions Hardcover (Delano/Quitely/Pleece/Romberger/Pugh): I don’t recall reading the Vertigo iteration of this series, so it’s new to me! I like this format for the book, but we’ll see if it’s all worth the 30 bucks they’re asking.
 
The Comics Journal #261 (various): New Managing Editor Deppey is bringing more balance to the reviews, but I’d like to see some balance in the interviews as well.
 
Random Comics: -- I’ll break these out after reading -- Plastic Man #7; Gotham Central #’s20 and 21; Tom Strong #27; Swamp Thing #5; Challengers of the Unknown #2; DC Comics Presents: Batman and Mystery in Space; She-Hulk #5; District X #3; Justice League Elite #1; Losers #13; Hellblazer #197; The Authority: More Kev #2; Batman: Harley and Ivy #3; Doom Patrol #1; HERO #18; and Books of Magic: Life During Wartime #1.
 
The Ballad of Halo Jones Books One, Two and Three (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement, which surprises me, but as you see from what popped on and off (below), I put Eightball and Cole ahead of the existing stack. You would do the same, admit it.
 
The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Volume 2 (Morrow): No movement.
 
Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): Kee-rist! This is becoming a lost cause, although there’s always the 6 hour plane ride next week to slog through it. I think I’ll give this away to a lucky reader when I finally finish rather than Half’ing it like I was going to. Exciting!
 
Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.
 
The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement – well, actually, I did read almost all of #1, but I want to finish it, start #2 and comment on them both (and I need to find #3 as well).
 
Found (Rothbart): No movement.
 
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1,2,3,4 (Miyazaki): No movement, and now both 5 and 6 are out! The first couple will probably travel with me for reading on the flight out West.
 
Chronicles of Conan 2, 3,4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): No movement. Approaching lost cause status. Another contest? More Excitement!
 
The Moth #2,3 (Rude/Martin): No movement.
 
Here's what's leaving the stack this week, and where it's going:
 
Planetary Volume Three Hardcover (Ellis/Cassaday): A great read, re-remembered and re-visited thanks to this new collection, which will find a home on the shelf next to HC’s 1 and 2.
 
Loki #1 (Rodi/Ribic): Beautiful, but I don’t see that keeping my interest for however long this series may run.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Fused: Canned Heat (Niles/Lee/Rader/Templesmith): This really suffers from wildly inconsistent art (Out of the 3 artists over the 4 issues this trade collects, Templesmith is the most out-of-place with this material) and spotty writing. I like the high-concept though…
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Human Target #11 (Milligan/Chiang): I’m back on track as this was a great issue on all counts, with a wonderful retro vide to Chiang’s layout.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Here’s what popped on the list, then jumped right off due to being quickly read (I love stuff that fits this category):
 
Raisin Pie #3 (Bordeaux/Altergott): I love the Altergott stuff and am coming around to the Bordeaux material, but her story suffers from the infrequent publication of this series, as it’s an unfolding and continuing piece.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
The Classic Pin-Up Art of Jack Cole (Cole): A wonderful collection of beautifully illustrated pin-up work by Jack Cole. I’ll be seeking out those Playboy collections of his art. But, why isn’t this sized as a companion to the ward book FBI released last year, though? Why do I care?
 
This is headed to the bookshelf, to sit awkwardly next to the Ward book.
 
Eightball #23 (Clowes): I have never been a big Clowes fan, but this was a must-have and a must-read. It’s been analyzed to death by better pundits than I, but special thanks to Mr. Doane for opening my eyes as to one of the reasons for the over-sized format.
 
I don’t know where I’m putting this, but it’s a keeper.
 
Identity Crisis #2 (Metzer/Morales): Lots of talk about this one, huh, but I just find it mostly boring.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
The Pulse #4 (Bendis/Bagley): I liked Alias a lot more than I like this.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
The Punisher #9 (Ennis/Fernandez): Skimmed, enough with the IRA.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Spider-Man #4 (Millar/Dodson): Skimmed…
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Marvel Knights: 4 #7 (Sacasa/McNiven): Wonderful art; Unnecessary, but innocuous, title.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Ultimate X-Men #49 (Vaughan/Peterson): Skimmed; Peterson looks to be rushing the art and this version of Sinister/Apocalypse is as inane as the original – dumb characters all around.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Captain America #29 (Kirkman/Eaton): Kirkman’s back to basics debut; We’ll see.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Y: The Last Man #24 (Vaughan/Guerra): Part one of a shorter arc that reads like all the other longer arcs… Get somewhere, please?
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Catwoman #32 (Brubaker/Phillips/Gaudiano): A breather issue with a much-needed art fill-in… I’ve grown bored with this title, so we’ll see where the next arc heads.
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Wildcats #23 (Casey/Rouleau): They’ve lost me with this Coda bullshit; bring back the boardroom!
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Fables #27 (Willingham/Buckingham): I love everything about this comic. Looking forward to the start of a new arc next issue…
 
This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.
 
Here's what needs to go on the stack, but then the stack would be perilously tall:
 
Lone Wolf and Cub (Koike/Kojima): Still committed; still haven’t started. I’m going to take a bunch of these with me for the plane to get this ball rolling.
 
Palomar (Hernandez): Ditto. I’d love to take this with me as well, but it’s too damn big!
 
Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own. 
  
  
  
  
 

SIDEKICKS BOOK 3: ATTACK OF THE MOLE MASTER
Published by Little, Brown

A couple of months ago in this very blog, I reviewed books one and two of this charming series of young adult novels aimed at the superhero crowd. The first two outings showed a nice flair for sly humor and an unusually clever intelligence in the dialogue and deconstruction of the genre, all while being a very straight forward coming of age story for young hero in training Speedy. I am pleased to report that book three is more of the same, and even better than the first two.

Authors Dan Danko and Tom Mason have a gift for planting their tongues firmly in their cheeks and going for broke when it comes to mapping out these adventures. Speedy, a/k/a Guy Martin, is still hung up on Prudence Cane, the prettiest girl in school, and she still only has eyes for Speedy's fellow sidekick, the slightly sleazy Charisma Kid. But the Mole Master attacks and kidnaps Prudence to be his Queen of Dirt, so it looks like Guy might have the chance to save her and finally get to make some time with her.

Of course, things never quite work out that way.

Other obstacles for Speedy include his cowardly and asinine superhero mentor Pumpkin Pete (who has all the powers of a pumpkin) and his fellow sidekicks, who hate his superhero name ("why not Speedy Lad?") and the way he verifies that he is actually at a meeting ("yeah" versus "here").

These novels have a spirit and sense of fun that can be sorely lacking in YA literature these days, not to mention lacking in comic books. SIDEKICKS is scheduled to run for six books, and there is a subtle meta-plot running through the books so far, though it isn't anything that would be too distracting to a first time reader. I'm looking forward to reading the rest and passing them on to my step kids. Grade: A-

review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, p.o. box 26732, Tempe, AZ, 85285