Defying Expectations

Hello happy few,
How are you all? Good I hope. I've had a great week with summer winding down. Can you believe it? Time flies man. Last week I met a legend. Comics writer Chris Claremont came & did a presentation in my library. For those who don't know, Claremont was the writer on X-Men for 20 years. He wrote the famous Japan run with Frank Miller, Days of Future Past, etc. etc. He's a pioneer of comics. Now I'm usually one of those people who are nervous about meeting people I admire. What if they are jerks? What if I say something stupid? Who am I to them? But lately I've been trying to get over these neurosies and just go for it. So I went to talk to Mr. Claremont & he turned out to be a nice guy. We talked for about 10-15 minutes. He went on a rant about Marvel editorial. It was great. So the takeaway lesson kids: Don't be afraid to talk to people you admire. They might actually be cool.

Anyway Onward we go!

Reviews
Back to Brooklyn
From the team of Ennis & Palmiotti, Back to Brooklyn is a violent crazy crime story. It starts off with gangster Bob willing to rat out his brother, and the entire Saetta crime family, in exchange for getting his family out of Brooklyn. The feds let him go for 3 days allowing Bob to kill his way to safety. This is not for the weak as their is no holding back. It's grandiose violence reminds me of a Scorsese movie. These writers & artist Mihailo Vukelic take us on a roller coaster ride. Some of the twists and turns are a bit contrived but I was so pulled in that I didn't care. Vukelic's art is a mix of graphic and drawn art that I thought was great. Highly enjoyable.

Other Reviews
fictions | ifanboy

Weapon X (Wolverine)
This is the original series where Wolverine's experience with the shady government Weapon X experiment is explored. As I read this I was shocked to discover that the story is more about the scientists than Wolverine! Wolverine is basically a background character until the final chapter. I actually liked that aspect. The art is amazing especially for 90s comics. The panels are arranged with amazing puzzle visual style. The mini-series is really a metaphysical exploration of who/what Wolverine is as a mutant and a human being. Each scientist has their own reservations about the dehumanization of Wolverine, however it doesn't stop them. I wasn't expecting that at all. I ended up really enjoying it.

(BTW if they had used this book for the movie Wolverine this summer, it would have been great. I still don't understand why when they are writing these comic book movies they just don't use the original stories. There's only 30 years of comics to pull from.)

Bio Info: Weapon X

The Reading List
Books
Hellboy Vol. 1
Gun, With Occasional Music

Comics
Green Arrow & Black Canary

Magazines
Four Four Two

Check Out Count: Somewhat Coveted

Comics Pull List: Amazing Spider-Man #603, Batgirl #1, Batman Streets Of Gotham #3, Daredevil #500, Outsiders #21, Stand American Nightmares #5, Wednesday Comics #7

Have a great week! Book Slave.

X-Men and Relevancy

Hello multi-verse,
Apologies for the late post. Sometimes the internet is not on your side. This weekend has been full of holiday/Comic con goodness. So let's get on with it eh?

Reviews
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
I had heard that this is considered one of the definitive X-Men stories from the Comic Book Queers. In fact this story was so big at the time that Marvel put it out as an individual graphic novel rather than as part of the regular book. This is common now but back in the early 80s it was unheard of. It's been a little difficult for me to track down but I'm so glad I got to read it in this beautiful hard cover edition. The art is great and there are some striking images. This story involves a group led by Rev. Stryker called the Purifiers. Using christian fundamentalism, the Purifiers are hunting down and killing Mutants in cold blood, meanwhile using the media to push their anti-mutant agenda. I was ready to be impressed but the first few pages took my breath away. Claremont does an amazing job of bringing home how Stryker twists religion to suit his own prejudices. The key themes of the X-Men book plays out in this story and I loved it. Anyone who argues that superhero comics are just for kids needs to read this.

Downsize This!
I picked this up back in 2002 when Moore-mania was just gearing up. Shockingly its been sitting on the TBR pile for about 6 years now. It's actually very interesting to read this with 10 years of hindsight. In this book Moore discusses the concerns of a pre-911 world: OJ Simpson, corporate downsizing, and immigration. Reading this book I constantly struggled to find relevancy. This book did not age well. I also think that it is clear that Moore is not a writer of any subtlety or complexity. In this current world I think he is more suited to be a blog/column writer and taken in small bites.

Shoutout
I don't usually do this here but I felt compelled to share this excellent writeup. It changed my perspective on the importance of the romance genre. Check it out here.

What's In My Bag
Graphic Novels
Starman Omnibus Vol. 1
Animal Man Vol. 1

Comic
The Goon

Magazine
Vanity Fair

Comic Pull List:Dynamo 5 #15, Green Lantern #33, Jokers Asylum Two Face #1, Trinity #9, Wolverine #67.

Check Out Count: A lot of coveted books.

Have a great week! Book Slave