Dr. Paul Wright of S.T.A.R. Labs (Formally with The Baxter Building) leading expert of Metahuman biology and Prof. Timothy Cuff of Arkham Asylum, the world’s premiere mind on vigilante psychology, came together to put together the DEFINITIVE list of the greatest super heroes and super villains in this 2-part symposium. Please enjoy! Listen here or on iTunes:
Back in 2011 DC Comics made a bold decision. They would reboot the ENTIRE DC Universe, the entire line of comics would start from scratch. All new #1s, new creative teams. Much like Marvel’s successful “Ultimate” re-launch of their characters in 2000. This relaunch of DC’S Comics was called The New 52.
The story telling mechanism they used to reboot their universe was a mini-series event comic called Flashpoint. If Flashpoint sounds familiar it’s because it’s been often used when talking about the cinematic DCU. The idea is if things get bad enough and their movies continue to be failures, they’ll make a Flashpoint film and completely start over the DC movies from scratch. The Flash TV series did a VERY different version of Flashpoint on their show.
So the basic set up for Flashpoint Barry wakes up one morning to find himself in a world vastly different from his own. He’s not The Flash, so no powers, there’s no Superman, no Justice League, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are about to start WWIII, etc. But he’s still a CSI and most importantly for him his mother, who’d been murdered when he was a child is now alive and well. I wont go into details because Flashpoint is a good read, but it’s an even better animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. It’s one of the best animated films DC has put out. So Barry gets his powers back and with Batman’s help fixes the timeline. But when changes that massive have been made to the timeline, things aren’t EXACTLY the same. There were a lot of little and HUGE differences from the classic DC Comics people had been following. So, Flashpoint was basically the “IN STORY” explanation for the NEW 52. Almost none of the characters remember the world as it was before Flashpoint.
For the life of me I absolutely cannot understand why some people hated the NEW 52. I don’t interact with a lot of other comic book fans on forums or Reddit, which is where I think much of the NEW 52 hate came from. Sure, not everything worked and some beloved characters didn’t immediately make the transition, but lets run through some of the books the DC published at during The New 52:
• Batman
• Swamp Thing
• The Flash
• Animal Man
• Aquaman
• Green Lantern
• Batman and Robin
• Action Comics
• Wonder Woman
• Batman Inc.
• Justice League
• Forever Evil
• Green Arrow
That’s just to name a few. With excellent creative teams and excellent storylines.For some reason DC felt that they’d fundamentally lost something along the way. They felt like they lost legacy, a sense of family, a sense of optimism that DC had always been known for. I personally don’t agree, I think the stories where great. But one things that did bug me a little, was that several DC characters didn’t make the transition in the NEW 52 and nothing scares hardcore comic books fans more than change. As a response to what they felt was the negative reception the NEW 52 received. They decided to address the problem with a new intuitive called DC REBIRTH. They didn’t reboot the universe, they just began to take their series in a different direction. They just decided that DC line wide would focus on hope, family, optimism.
DC Comics wanted infuse their books with more of that hope and optimism I mentioned. So, DC released a special called DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH. This special planted the seeds of stories that would affect all of the books DC Comics had published. One of the massive revelations of DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH, was the fact that Barry Allen WAS NOT at fault for the timeline being slightly “off” when he fixed the changes from Flashpoint. Certain classic characters no longer existed, people with powerful relationships in the past weren’t together anymore, key figures like Red Robin had their deaths unwillingly faked only to be held captive in a prison outside of time and space. Basically, for whatever reason, certain people were being take off the board. Barry found out that their was a much more powerful Being out there. Someone or something was altering space and time in the DCU. Someone they’ve never encountered before. At the end of DC REBIRTH, they scene cuts to Mars. It’s revealed that the person that has been manipulating the DCU was the God-like DR. Manhattan Of Watchmen.
So it seems that characters from Watchmen, at the very least Dr. Manhattan, will be interacting with DC characters. At this point I think it’s important to say that it’s real easy to be cynical about a project like this. But every little piece we’ve been given from REBIRTH leading up to Doomsday Clock has been handled very well. Most of the talk about this project coming from DC wasn’t about a fight of any kind between the DC and Watchmen characters, but an ideological conflict between the cold, clinical view of the world held be Dr Manhattan and the hope and optimism of Clark Kent… Superman.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON…
CONTIUE AT YOUR OWN PERIL IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS…
LAST CHANCE!….
OK…
The thing that surprised me most about this book was how much of it was a Watchmen book. I figured this story would mostly be set in the DCU with Dr. Manhattan visiting that reality and maybe an appearance from one or two other characters. Instead the majority of the story takes place in the world of Watchmen, years after we last saw these characters. It’s a world on the brink of annihilation once again. The first line of dialogue is from our narrator, who tells us it’s “ December 22 1992… or is it the 23rd?” Geoff John has been quick to point out that from the first line of dialogue we’re dealing an unreliable narrative. It’s also been pointed out multiple times in other places that December 22, 1992 is the day that The Death of Superman came out (obviously this date wasn’t chosen by accident). You see “The Great Lie” has bee exposed. Rorschach’s Journal at the end of Watchmen eventually showed the world that Veidt’s attempt to save humanity from nuclear holocaust, was built on an atrocity. Adrian Veidt AKA Ozymandias is now the most wanted man in the world. Then we’re shown a prison full of men begging to be released. The Soviets and the U.S. are minutes away from launching their nukes and beginning nuclear Armageddon.
The story cut to chaos at a prison, with the inmates screaming to be let free. The news is telling everyone to get to “Safe Zones” , but this seems like bullshit that the government is pushing on people through media and the guards are cutting and running. One of the inmates manages to grab a guard as he runs past his cell and the inmate demands for the guard to unlock the door. Before he can do anything, the guard is knocked out by someone else in the hallway with him. This is the books first huge reveal: the man who knocked out the guard and who’s now stealing the keys to the prison is Rorschach. Suddenly the inmate isn’ t quite so eager to get out of this cell.
From here on out, I’m going to give you the very broad strokes of the issue. The first six pages of this book were released by DC at NYCC and the Rorschach reveal was one of the last scenes in the promotional material. As I expected as soon Rorschach was revealed, later in the story were shown (without revealing his identity) that this is NOT Walter Kovacs, the original Rorschach. Someone else has taken up his “mantle”. Even if it wasn’t explicitly revealed, if you’re an avid Watchmen fan, you would have been able to tell that this isn’t the Rorschach from Watchmen. There are subtle, but noticeable differences.
Basically Veidt sent Rorschach to break one very specific criminals out of prison: Erika Manson AKA The Marionette. Manson won’t leave with her husband Marco Maez AKA The Mime. From what we briefly see of The Mime in prison he seems like a very dangerous psychopath. Rorschach reluctantly takes them both and they head to Nite Owl’s old hideout. Once everyone’s gathered Veidt reveals a key piece of personal information and explains his plan. Adrian has a brain tumor that is killing him and as bad as things are on their world, there’s still one man who can fix everything: Dr. Manhattan. No matter where he is Veidt intends to find Dr. Manhattan in an attempt to save his world (if that is indeed his true motive). It’s unclear how he intends to accomplish this and why he needs these SPECIFIC individuals. The last scene is Clark Kent asleep in bed next to Lois. He has a horrific nightmare of his adopted parents dying in a car crash (I’m honestly not sure if this is the current continuity, so this could be a memory or something else entirely). He wakes up startled and Lois asks him if he’s ok. Clark’s not really sure. It was just a nightmare, but as he says to Lois, he’s never had a nightmare before.
Bottom line, I really liked this story. I get that to some people Doomsday Clock will always be sacrilege, but if you go in with an open mind you’ll realize this is a great book. If the first chapter is an indicator of what’s to come,. this could potentially be something special. The art by Gary Frank is incredible. I already considered Geoff Johns to be an excellent comic book writer, but it seems like he stepped up his game here. If you didn’t know any better, you’d be forgiven to think that this is Alan Moore is Watchmen.It was a great set up to the miniseries and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. Several interesting details stood out to me. We’ve been shown that Batman was told that somehow it’ s an irrefutable fact that there are “three Jokers“. Both The Marionette and The Mime are clown themed villains. At one point, you see The Mime smiling with blood smeared across his face and mouth, which is very evocative of The Joker. Is this a version of Joker and Harley Quinn?
Another interesting point was when Rorschach was asked to prove that he is not in fact Walter Kovacs the original Rorschach, he takes off his glove and his skin is brown. We all know the original Rorschach was white. This is a complete wild guess here, but could this be the psychiatrist that Rorschach seemingly warped so deeply in the original miniseries? (However, I’m pretty sure that character died in the original Watchmen, so I don’t now)
I also found that it spoke volumes that Ozymandias seemed to be genuinely frightened of this new Rorschach. He explains to The Mime and The Marionette that Rorschach is not a man to be pushed. Veidt explains he doesn’t have limits like the original Rorschach did. Which is scary because it didn’t seem like the original Rorschach had many limits beyond his black-and-white code of justice. Especially considering that Adrian so easily physically overpowered Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, and the original Rorschach in Watchmen, this guy must be a pretty big bad ass for Ozymandias to be genuinely afraid of him.
Anyway those are my initial thoughts and impressions. My biggest questions are: How many of the Watchmen characters are we going to ultimately see in this story? How does Adrian intend to actually breach through the multi-verse to find Dr Manhattan ? Why is all this causing nightmares for Superman? and how does the rest of the DCU fit in? I definitely recommend reading it twice. Even though it seems slow at times, there’s a lot more going on than you may think after initially reading it. Personally I can’t wait for #2.
P.S. Below are the covers for some of the upcoming issues!
As always thanks for reading!
-Paul
Hey, guys
By now a lot of you have probably seen Thor: Ragnarok. I saw it and thought it was a blast, if you’ve haven’t had the chance yet, check out our podcast, “The World’s Best Podcast with Paul & Tim”, where we discuss and review (with spoilers) Thor: Ragnarok. It’s one of our best Episodes and we had a lot of fun making it.
I’m always looking for an opportunity to talk about comics. This seemed like a great opportunity to recommend some Comic Books/Graphic Novels to read AFTER you’ve seen Thor: Ragnarok. This film was filled with references and Easter Eggs to some classic Marvel stories. Much of the plot and story elements of Thor: Ragnarok are heavily influenced by 2 or 3 Marvel Graphic Novels, which I’ll list below. I’m also including a few books that are great places to start if you’re looking to read some great Thor or Hulk stories, but aren’t sure where to start.
I’m a big advocate for the medium. Anytime I write an article about great graphic novels, I usually include an Amazon link for the comic book I’m recommending so our readers can easily find the book if they decide they want to check it out. This wasn’t part of any promotion we’d arranged with Amazon, I just wanted to point people in the right direction. But World’s Best Media has grown way beyond the blog I started. We want to continue to give you all of our great podcasts, articles, reviews, videos and more of the best content possible. So, now if you decide you want to purchase one of the graphic novels, movies, or any other stuff we recommend, by going through the Amazon links we provide (like the ones below), a small percentage of the money goes back to us at World’s Best Media to help keep us up and running. So if any of you want buy any of the things we recommend, going through our Amazon Affiliate link would be a huge help and massively appreciated. We don’t ask that you go out of your way, but if you’re going to buy something on Amazon anyway, It’d be great if you went through our links. Thank you so much for all of your support.
Now, here are the best Comic Book/Graphich Novels to read after you’ve seen Thor: Ragnarok…
Planet HulkWritten by Greg Pak/Art by Carlo Pagulayan & Aaron Lopresti
Planet Hulk is sensually Gladiator in space starring The Hulk instead of Russell Crowe. That’s one hell of a hook. In the Marvel comics there’s a group called The Illuminati, they consist of key, powerful individuals from each corner of the Marvel Universe, all of Marvel’s different groups like The Avengers, X-Men, FF, etc. are represented in some form form or another. They include Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier and more. They’re kind of a bunch of pricks actually
Fearing that he will eventually become too dangerous and get out of control, The Illuminati (the pricks that they are) form a plan to trick Banner and send him (Long with the Hulk off Earth permanently ). They pick an uninhabited, ideallic, peaceful planet with everything he needs supplied on the ship to live out his natural life in comfort. In the eyes of Illuminati they are protecting the planet Earth and giving their friend Bruce Banner what he’s always wanted: some peace, to be left alone (Sure, justify it all you want you fucks). Being geniuses and all, you’d think that once Banner was on the space ship and a tape plays explaining what his so called “friends” had done to him, that The Illuminati could have predicted The Hulk would go apeshit and fuck up the space ship. Which, of course, he does. This knocks the ship off course and instead of landing on paradise planet he ends up on Sakaar , or as The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy called it, “The Gaping Asshole Of The Galaxy: 2016”. Ruled by a tyrannical King, one of the biggest parts of Sakaar’s culture is their Gladiator matches. The upper class of Sakaar watch various alien beings fight to the death. Using a device that allows the King of Sakaar and his minions to control Hulk, he reluctantly becomes a gladiator in the Gladiator Arena. Needless to say it’s fucking awesome. I’m sure you can imagine The Hulk would be pretty fucking good as a gladiator , even on an alien plane. The device keeping him a slave only keeps him from escaping, otherwise when he’s in the arena The Hulk cuts loose big time. It doesn’t take long for Hulk to becomes their star gladiator and eventually after making some a few friends and even falling in love, he leads a revolution to free all the slaves. I’ll stop hear because that’s the basic set up and it wouldn’t want say anymore to ruin the story. One of the unique and touching things about this comic is that out in space, The Hulk doesn’t look like a monster (he’s still scary to the other aliens when he wants to be) and all of admiration, acceptance and love that he was denied on Earth, he found here on this far away planet. It’s a great story with a gut punch of an ending which I won’t spoil here. The vast majority of The Hulk stuff in Thor: Ragnarok is from the Planet Hulk story. But not just that there are places and characters that are important in the comic that pop up in the new film. Including Korg the rock man and Meek his little friend he carries around, they’re key characters in Planet Hulk. Don’t think that just because you’ve seen Thor: Ragnarok that the Planet Hulk storyline is spoiled, it goes in some very different directions. It’s a modern classic Hulk story and any Hulk or Marvel fan needs to give this one a shot.
Thor: Dissassembled Wrtten by Mike Avon Oeming/Art by Andrea Di Vito
In the early aughts, a legendary comic book writer named Brian Michael Bendas began his run on what would become a classic run on the Avengers franchise. Before the main event you series began, he wrote a miniseries that set up the events of his upcoming Avengers run called Avengers Disassembled. Avengers Disassembled had a massive impact on the Avengers comics that are still being felt today, over 15 years later. The Avengers would never be the same. Along with this massive status quo change, many of the flagship Marvel characters got the similar clean slate treatment where big cataclysmic events happened in their lives. So there was Iron Man Disassembled, Captain America Disassembled, and most relevant here Thor Disassembled. Thor Disassembled is the biggest influence on for Thor: Ragnarok besides Planet Hulk. In the story, Ragnarok the Apocalypse for the Norse gods has begun. Loki, Hela, Surtur The Fire Demon, and Fenris Wolf all play a huge part. Ragnarok was an event that had been prophesies for centuries, so the Asgardians knew that one day this day would come. Much like the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Thor, Odin , Loki, and all the other gods were destroyed along with Asgard. However in Norse mythology death and rebirth is cyclical. Much like the revolving door of life and death in Comics. After Ragnarok it was destined for the gods to be reborn and starting with Thor, the new all father, Odin’s time having past. Though beloved by some, this is not a fantastic graphic novels by today’s standards. There are other Thor books that a excellent reads (a few I’ll list below). While Thor Disassembled isn’t great when compared to Marvel’s storytelling out put over the last 15 – 18 years. It’s not going to be one of your favorite comic books of all time., but it has some great moments especially if you’re interested after seeing Thor: Ragnarok. Asgard and everyone in it are completely take off the board in the Marvel Universe for several years after this story. However, that is far from the end of Thor Odinson and The Asgardians in the Marvel Universe.
World War Hulk Written by /Art by John Romitta Jr,
After years of living a happy life and ruling the planet Sakaar with a wife and child on the way Hulk was finally at peace. Until the ship that brought him to the planet Sakaar in the first place (built by The Illuminati, these fucking guys again) suddenly explodes in a devastating wave killing Hulk’s pregnant wife, unborn child, dear friends, and more. Hulk has anger issues in the best of times, so after this, well… woe unto those who stand his way. As far as the Hulk Is concerned, The Illuminati are responsible for this death and destruction. Hulk gathers his greatest and most trusted warriors (including Korg the rock alien from Thor: Ragnarok) and comes to Earth in a Sakaaran Warship, seeking vengeance with brutal and unstoppable wrath. These fuckers finally pushed The Hulk too far. Thus World War Hulk begins. The Hulk has one main target, those pricks in The Illuminati: Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Namor, and unbeknownst to Hulk (the deceased, at the moment anyway) Charles Xavier. He means to make them pay for the lives they took and the mistakes that they made. Many classic comic book questions like who would win in a fight between The Hulk and (X) are answered here. This is balls to the walls action, but there are some great character moments throughout. Including some surprising revelations about exactly who are Hulk’s friends and who are his enemies. It’s a great book and a great sequel to Planet Hulk.
Thor: God of Thunder Vol.1 Written by Jason Aaron /Art by Esad Ribic
Thor: God of Thunder was started by Jason Aaron during Marvel’s, Marvel Now ! Initiative. It was by far one of the best books that came out at that time. Even though there’s been all kinds of crazy Marvel events and Thor books under new names, Jason Aaron’s Thor epic is still going strong, just under the new name, The Mighty Thor.
Thor: God of Thunder follows Thor through the eons and focuses on Thor at three very different points in his life. The past, present, and the distant future. The past, when he was a young irresponsible drunk, hanging out with the Vikings on Midgard, slaying any monster he could find, sleeping with any women he could find, and spending the entire time drinking copious amounts of ale. His dream is to one day weird the mighty Mijonir. This is not the Thor we know today, this is the Thor who is not yet worthy to wield the mighty Mijonir. He loves Earth and the humans who occupy it, but he doesn’t have the same humility and respect for humanity that we tend to see in Thor, but the hero is in there.
In the present, we see the Thor we know and love, the god that has become worthy to wield the mighty hammer. Thor: The Avenger. Hen he may be god, but he’s the type of guy you’d like to hang out and have a beer with. He’s gained some depth and humility since his younger days and learned the value of responsibility.
Finally we see millennia into the future where Old King Thor is one of the final gods in existence. Midgard has burned. Thor is The All-Father to a ruined and desolate Asgard. His only company is the wave after wave sent to him by Gor The God Biutcher. He is in a constant state of exhaustion to keep the army of his vicious and me at bay. Thor looks a lot like Odin here, he’s missing an eye like we see in the movie, and he seems to be missing his left arm. I’m not sure what the arm is made of, but it look similar to the material The Destroyer is built from. Any, even though I’m sure he‘d like his flesh and blood arm back, the one that’s forged for him functions exactly like a “normal” arm. We find out later in the story that after Thor lost his arm, the dwarves, the best smiths and makers in all of the nine realms forged him an arm prosthetic that makes him as good as new.
The common thread throughout the story, as we see Thor in these three very different points in his life is Gorr The God butcher. He’s basically a serial killer for god‘s. An absolute sadist and one of the dangerous most dangerous foes Thor has ever encountered. Why he is doing this and how he became so powerful is revealed throughout the story, so I won’t spoil it here. But it’s a fascinating and thought provoking story. Future All-Father Thor is keeping Gorr’s minions at bay, but Gorr’s real weapon is the Necrosword. This is rather cool Easter egg from Thor: Ragnarok. For reasons unknown, Hela wielded The Necrosword in the film. All that crazy black shit she could use to attack people and the fact that she was seemingly unstoppable, a lot of that came from the Necrosword, a incredibly powerful weapon. Don’t get me wrong, Hela is monumentally formidable on her own, but with the Necrosword she’s nearly impossible to beat. And to be honest I do not think she died in the destruction of Asgard. (Also, the inclusion of The Necrosword make hopeful we may see Gorr make an appearance in a Marvel film down the line)
That “God Butcher” storyline is probably one of the best Thor comics that has been written in years and it kicked off a run that continues to be one of my favorite books to come out month after month. When all said and done it will be hard to choose which story from this epic Thor run that is my favorite. Jason Aaron will be remembered as one of the greatest Thor writers we’ve ever had. If you like Thor at all this is an absolute must.
Indestructible Hulk Written by Mark WaId/Art by Various
Indestructible Hulk is a great series from long time comic book writer Marc WaId. Basically, Banner has come to terms with fact that he and The Hulk are one being, he’s made his peace with the monster inside him. But he wants to be remembered for more than just the destruction caused by The Hulk. People often forget that Banner is in the same intellectual league as men like Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym. With the possible exception of Pym, because he created fucking Ultron, these men will be remembered for their incredible scientific achievements. While Banner will be remembered for being a monster. So, Banner approaches Maria Hill who is the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time. He proposes that she sets him up with a lab, resources and staff to build wonders: new, clean renewable energy, cures to cancer, solutions to the negative impact of climate change, etc. In return, she gets The Hulk. Even though he’s gone to extraordinary lengths to greatly reduce the risk of turning into The Hulk, Banner has realized that Hulk episodes are inevitable. When that happens, it’s Hills job to step in and aim The Hulk wherever the smashing needs to be done. Because there’s no shortage of bad guys, terrorist groups, and super villains up to no good on, a daily basis, all around the world in the Marvel Universe. It’s really fun book with great art that does something different with The Hulk: Bruce Banner Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. There are a lot of great guest stars from throughout the Marvel universe including Tony Stark, Thor, Beast and many more. Waid’s entire run on the series is collected in one easy to read volume. Highly recommended.
Honorable Mention:
Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk Written by Damon Lindelof/Art by Leinil Francis YU
Wolverine and The Hulk are long time rivals. Even though this story technically takes place in the Ultimate Universe (Before it merger with Marvel Earth-616 or Marvel Earth Prime as it’s now known. Wow. What a nerdy sentence. I’m proud of myself) it’s a great story with some very minor, superficial things that carried over into Thor: Ragnarok. The fact that the story has beautiful art and was written by the creator of LOST is a big draw too. Great book to check out.
Avengers Disassembled Written by Brian Michael Bendis/Art by David Finch
This was the main story that Thor Disassembled tied into. This is NOT required reading if you’re just looking for cool Hulk and Thor stories to read after you’ve seen Thor: Ragnarok. However, it is the beginning of Bendis’ modern classic Avengers run, which ran for close to a decade. Fantastic Avengers stories. Start with Avengers vol.1 Breakout and keep going from there if you’re hooked.
Thanks for reading!
-Paul
//
Hey, guys
Today was the New York Comic Con and one of their biggest panels was a discussion with one of DC’s greatest writers, Geoff Johns about his epic new series Doomsday Clock which features characters from the classic graphic novel Watchmen, crossing over into the DC Universe. Some of you may be immediately turned off by that sentence, but give me a chance to make a case why I think this is going to be really cool. I have some great stuff here to get you excited for Doomsday Clock!
Below, I have all of the covers that have been released for the 12 issue series so far. Plus, a special sneak peek at the first six pages of issue number one which comes out in November. The art by Gary Frank is fantastic. One of the best in the business. I’m also using this opportunity to premiere a new mini podcast I’ll be doing from time to time where I talk exclusively about comics. I was so excited about Doomsday Clock,I figured this would be as good a time as any to finally start with a great topic to discuss. So, this first episode will be me talking about Doomsday Clock and why I think it’ll be pretty cool. It runs a little longer then these mini episodes will normally be, but that’s just because I had to plug some other things we’re working on. Now please enjoy your first look at Doomsday Clock and the first episode of “Paul Talks Comics” or I’ll come up with some other fucking title, who knows… You know what? Actually “Paul Talks Comics” blows as a title. I’ll figure something out, so stay tuned!
The Covers:
The First 6 Pages Of Doomsday Clock #1:
Note: I have a strong feeling that is not Walter Kovacs under that mask
The First Episode Of “Paul Talks Comics” ….it’s a working title:
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/12978818
As always thanks for reading and listening!
-Paul
I’ve always said that one of my goals when I started this website was to increase awareness of comic books to the general pubic. Comics aren’t a genre, they’re a storytelling medium, like film or books. In recent years comics have begun to receive more respect, but I still try to do my part to fight the good fight on behalf of comic books.
This week Marvel Comics released Marvel Legacy #1, it was an extra long special issue to set up important characters and storylines in upcoming Marvel books. Lately, if you were to pick up a comic featuring one of Marvel’s most famous characters, the person you’re expecting to see probably isn’t the star of the book. For example, Captain America was Sam Wilson A.K.A. The Falcon, Thor is Jane Foster, Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Spider-Man is Miles Morales, and that’s just naming a few. Iron Man and The Hulk also feature different characters than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. In my opinion, almost all of these are excellent books and have been richer reading experiences by not having the “classic” version of the hero as the star of any of these given books. Don’t get me wrong Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker and all the rest are still banging around the Marvel Universe in some for or another. But it’s been a period of “passing the torch” to another generation while the traditional Marvel heroes take a step back or take on other roles.
Now it seems that Marvel is bringing the “classic” versions of these heroes back to the forefront in a big way, with Marvel Legacy #1 leading the charge. Now, it’s definitely not the best book for someone whose never picked up a comic books before. It’s a little crazy and all over the place, but I say dive in head first and get lost in the crazy-ass Marvel Universe. If you’re a little confused, just go with. Over the next few weeks and months Marvel’s going to be relaunching a whole bunch of new books featuring both the “classic” versions of Marvel’s heroes and the new characters we’ve come to love (or in the case of someone like Sam Wilson, a classic character returning to his traditional role, The Falcon). Those books are likely to be much more accessible to new fans. They’re fresh start books, a place for new readers to catch up. For those of us, (like myself) who love the new characters who’ve taken up the mantle of iconic heroes, I’m happy to report that they’re not being pushed away or forgotten about. Marvel is just bring back some of our old favorites back to join in on the fun.
There are some great moments in Marvel Legacy #1 including this teaser of what’s inside, because who doesn’t want to see the very FIRST Avengers team? The AVENGERS OF 1,000,000 B.C.!
(Team roster, from left to right: The First Iron Fist, Starbrand: Earth’s built in defense system, The Phoenix, a young Odin holding the mighty hammer Mjolnir, The First Black Panther, Agamotto: Earth’s First Sorcerer Supreme, The Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance riding a fucking Mastodon)
If you’re not that familiar with comics, but maybe have seen some of the movies or TV shows, pick a couple of characters that you like most and pick up their new books spinning out of Marvel Legacy #1. That’s what’s great about going to your local comic book store, sure you can download books on your tablet through apps like ComiXology, but at your local comics store, the people who work their can help you find the perfect book for you. They can be your guide on this great adventure and believe me reading comics feels like an adventure in the best way.
So either go to your local comic book store or download it on ComiXology, but read Marvel Legacy #1 for all it’s craziness and then go read the new book featuring your favorite heroes.Because there are some great books coming down the pipe. Here’s a look at some of the books Marvel is putting out after Marvel Legacy#1 as well as the full list of new and relaunched books coming up this fall (Note: Don’t be intimidated by the issue numbers on the covers of these books, they might as well be #1, they’re fresh starts, but Marvel wanted to honor the legacy of these books by bringing them back to their original numbering. Trust me, it’s not as confusing as it sounds)
Here’s the full list of the new Marvel books and stories debuting in the coming weeks and months:
As always, thanks for reading
-Paul
There are few aspects of the superheroes story that are as vital and sometimes overused as the origin story. With so many superhero films coming out these days, many of them end up being origin stories. When it comes to Marvel films in particular, the main stream public may not have even heard of the characters starring in the films. Which is larger reason why we have so many superhero origin films. Once you get past Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man, there may not be as much brand familiarity with the public. Even though many people, myself included, are somewhat sick of the superhero origin story, over the last few years there have been a few excellent modern retelling’s of the origins of some of DC’s most famous characters. Even though some of these characters already have origin stories that some people would consider to be definitive, I thought it was worth listing some of these excellent stories. Forget for a moment that they are origins because they’re all simply great stories. All of these books are well worth your time.
One important point is that, what some of these stories have in common is they use the term “Year One” in their title. For those of you who don’t already know, the reason for this is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller is considered to be one of the greatest Batman stories ever told. Published in 1987, it was a modern retelling of Batman’s origin. The story is so famous and revered that the term “Year One” has been adopted as a synonym for a modern retelling of a superhero’s origin story. I’m not at all discounting other excellent origin stories like Batman:Year One, I’m just offering some fun, recent alternatives. Enjoy!
Batman:
Batman: Zero Year
Writer: Scott Snyder/Artist: Greg Capullo
(Collected in Batman vol.4 Zero Year- Secret City/ Batman vol.5 Zero Year-Dark City)
Smack in the middle of their instant classic run on Batman, Snyder and Capullo made the bold choice to retell the beginning of Bruce Wayne’s career as Batman. This was a risky storytelling choice for a few reasons. First, of all whether it’s on tv, film, or comics, it seems like we’ve seen Batman’s origin told a hundred times. Second, many people consider that the definitive Batman origin story had already been told in Frank Miller’s groundbreaking 80’s classic, Batman: Year One. Snyder and Capullo were all too aware that Batman: Year One was sacrosanct to many, but they felt confidence in the story they were telling.
Ultimately they were proven right, Zero Year is a unique, exciting, vibrant Batman story. Though the framework may have seemed like something we’ve seen many times, the contents of the story felt unexpected and new. First of all, they don’t choose to make this any kind of period piece. Even though it may not make chronological sense, since this takes place in the “present”. I think they wanted to feel like this was a cutting-edge Batman. As he’s shown time and time again, Greg Capullo’s art is absolutely vital to the story and it seems like every arc he works on with Snyder he gets better and better. Like their entire Batman run, the character work is what really draws you in. This is a slightly different Bruce Wayne than we are used to seeing. He’s a little bit more raw, a little bit more cocky. But he still the same broken, damaged person that we’ve all come to know over the years. His relationship with Alfred is a highlight of the story. Alfred views Bruce as his son and he hates the idea of Bruce embarking on a life of pain, danger, and misery. There are a few interesting scenes where they come into pretty heated conflict over Bruce’s decisions. There is an absolutely heartbreaking scene towards the end of the story where Alfred reflects on what might’ve been had Bruce been able to let go of his grief and move on with his life.
Updating old Batman ideas is another strong point of this story arc, for example the one thing we know about The Joker is that, early in his career Batman fought a man dressed as The Red Hood at Ace Chemicals and in the fight that man fell into a vat of chemicals. We have no idea who he was before, all we know is that the man who came out of that is out of chemicals was The Joker. This story has a brilliant update on the whole concept of The Red Hood and who and what The Joker may have been like before his fateful encounter with Batman at Ace Chemicals.
The Riddler is a presence in the story from the beginning, but in the back half he becomes the main antagonist. I wrote The Riddler off as a lamer version of The Joker a long time ago, but in recent years, certain writers have done a lot to make the character much more interesting and a legitimately dangerous and formidable foe for Batman. The Riddler’s grand plan for the city is really different and cool and I won’t spoil it here.
Snyder and Capullo’s entire Batman run is a must read for any comic book fan. Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One will always be a classic, but if you get sick of reading it for the 50th time, Zero Year is a fantastic alternative.
Pick it up here:
Superman
Superman: American Alien – writer: Max Landis/artists:Various
Superman is arguably one of the most famous characters in the history of fiction. There are dozens of excellent Superman stories from writers like Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Mark Millar (I have some big problems with Millar’s writing, but he’s written at least one classic Superman tale). A lot of the stories are takes on Superman’s origin. Superman has such a powerful and primal origin story that it’s not surprising so many great writers have taken a crack at it. I have no doubt that if humanity is still around hundreds of years from now, we’ll still be telling tales of the last son of a dying world, sent to Earth in a cosmic ark by his desperate parents, raised by a kindly human couple to become Earth’s greatest protector. Superman: American Alien is not only one of my favorite Superman stories, it maybe one of the best comic books I’ve ever read.
Written by Max Landis, with each of the issues drawn by a different incredible artist, including Jock, Francis Manapul, and Jai Lee to name a few. Each issue chronicles a key part of Clark Kents life, beginning with his time in Smallville as a boy, just learning about his powers and ending with his earliest days as Superman. Each issue shows Clark learning a valuable lesson not only about life, but about himself and his origins, the power he holds, and what if any responsibility he has to the rest of the world. I’ve never read Superman story quite like this. It’s really about a young man trying to figure out what his place in the world is. I’m under selling it, this book is masterfully written. This is exactly how I believe Superman should be portrayed. He isn’t a god, he has limits. Some of the best parts of the story revolves around him finding out exactly what those limits are. But perhaps most importantly, Superman: American Alien shows that Clark Kent isn’t this absurd, nerdy facade he creates to blend in with the rest of mankind, nor is he some perfect Christ-like hero. Clark Kent is the kid who grew up in Smallville, in the middle of America. He’s the son of farmers, Jonathan and Martha Kent. He may be an alien, but he’s one of the most human heroes of all. I feel like a lot of writers forget that, which is a shame. I think the people who are making the DC Extended Universe films would do well to read this mini-series. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how absolutely fucking stunning the art in this book is. As I said before each issue has a different artist and they each bring a wonderfully unique style to the story that they’re telling. The art is a huge draw for this book. One other great thing about this book is that we get a lot of wonderful and surprising cameos from characters throughout the DC universe (I won’t spoil who pops up, but they’re all really fun). This is one hell of a book and a must read for not only Superman fans but fans of superhero stories in general.
Pick it up here:
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman: Year One – writer: Greg Rucks/artists:Niccola Scott
(Collected in Wonder Woman vol.2 Year One)
Wonder Woman is having a moment. After finally getting her own film, her star has never been higher. Luckily one of the best writers to ever work on Wonder Woman is currently writing the main Wonder Woman series. They just finished up an excellent modern update on her origin in Wonder Woman: Year One. If you’ve seen the film, this story hits some of the same beats, but in it’s own totally unique way. In fact I would say that the only part of the story that is relatively similar to the film, is Steve Trevor crashing his plane on Themiscyra. From there the story really goes in it’s own direction. She leaves her home with Steve Trevor as an ambassador to “Man’s World”. Steve is a military man, so that’s where he takes Diana because he’s still not quite sure what to make of her. While she isn’t exactly a prisoner, the military wants to make sure they keep tabs on this strange woman with extraordinary abilities. My favorite part of the story is the culture clash that occurs between Wonder Woman and her “handlers” in the American military.
All of Wonder Woman’s classic supporting cast is present like Etta Candy and Dr. Barbara Minerva, the woman who will eventually become one of Wonder Woman’s most formidable rivals, Cheetah. Of course, Steve Trevor is a huge part of the story. Trevor feels a profound connection to this woman that immediately draws him to her. Ultimately, this is about Wonder Woman’s first encounter with the modern world and how she and the rest of the world react to her arrival. This is a wonderful jumping on point for fans of the Wonder Woman film.
Pick it up here:
Green Lantern
Green Lantern: Secret Origin – writer: Geoff Johns/artists:Ivan Reis
Like so many other people of my generation, Green Lantern was always John Stewart to me. John Stewart was the Green Lantern I saw fighting along side the Justice League every week as a founding member of the team on the classic Justice League animated series created by Bruce Timm. This is the team that brought us Batman The Animated Series and Superman The Animated Series. We had grown up with John Stewart as Green Lantern. He was our Green Lantern. In an industry where comic book heroes are predominately white males, it’s always great to see an African-American hero as cool as John Stewart in such a prominent role. He wasn’t defined by the color of his skin, he was a bad ass field commander who was always cool under pressure. In many ways he was the team leader on missions (no easy feat with Batman and Superman standing alongside you). However, if you pick up a Green Lantern book right now the focus is usually on Hal Jordan. John Stewart is still a big part of the Green Lantern books and comic mythology, but Hal Jordan tends to be in the spotlight theses days. Now, many of you may be asking who the HELL is Hal Jordan?
Well, Jon Stewart was not the first human to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps. That honor goes to Hal Jordan. Actually around 10 or 15 years ago, one of the greatest writers to ever work for DC Comics, Geoff Johns, wrote what many consider to be his magnum opus, his epic run on the Green Lantern comic book series. His story began with resurrecting the long dead Hal Jordan. You see, Hal Jordan had been dead for years, killed in a major comic book event years before. It wasn’t until Jordan’s absence that other Earth men became members of the Green Lantern Corps and stars in their own right, men like John Stewart. So when telling the definitive origin of the first human to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps, the story of course has to be about Hal Jordan. What’s great about this story is that it not only gives you a great origin for this character and his world, but it also introduces key characters and important events that come into play in very significant ways later in Geoff John’s epic Green Lantern story. So, if you want to pick up the rest of John’s Green Lantern comic book run (you should) after you read Green Lantern: Secret Origin, you’re already familiar with the characters and ideas that are key to enjoying the story. It’s a great story that shows how a young and cocky test pilot can become the greatest Green Lantern the universe has ever seen. While also introducing you to classic DC characters like Sinestro, Abin Sur, Black Hand, Atrocitus, Hector Hammond, and many more. Of course, Ivan Reis’ art is gorgeous and enhances the story. If you ever saw the Green Lantern movie and thought “Man, this really sucks.” Green Lantern: Secret Origin is the movie they should have made.
Pick it up here:
Green Arrow
Green Arrow: Year One
Writer- Andy Diggle/Artist- Jock
Oliver Queen, billionaire dickhead. His gigantic yacht sinks and he winds up on an island in the middle of the fucking sea. He should’ve died pretty quickly, but he was able to find something inside himself he didn’t know was there. After surviving brutal trial after brutal trial on this horrific island, just wanting to get home, the boy who washed up on the shore of the island is eventually transformed into a man, into a hero. Obviously, he eventually gets off the island and becomes the vigilante/superhero Green Arrow.
That’s the basic set up and obviously there’s a lot more to the story. But this is a relatively quick read and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in this case. This is an ideal graphic novel to start with if you’re a fan of the “Arrow” TV Series and are looking to check out the comics. It’s a stand alone graphic novel, so you don’t have to worry about reading any other stories to understand it. You could have never read a comic book before and you would understand this story perfectly fine. One of the biggest strengths is how the story takes a man like Oliver Queen, who at the beginning of the story is really kind of a piece of shit, and through his experiences on the island grows into a much better person. When it comes to the art, Jock has a beautiful, distinctive style that complements the relatively gritty nature of the story. After you’ve read this book, there are many excellent Green Arrow stories to dive into, but this is the best place to start. It’s the definitive modern origin of the character.
Pick it up here:
Honorable Mention:
When DC comics began their massive New 52 initiative to attract new readers, one of their flagship titles was Justice League, written by Geoff Johns with the legendary Jim Lee on art. The first story arc, Justice League: Origin, is the modern story of how the team was formed. The art is gorgeous, but the story is just OK. Johns would go on to write some spectacular Justice League stories before his run on the book ended. This would also be a great place to start for anyone looking forward to the “Justice League” movie coming out in November.
Pick it up here:
On a sidenote, even though I’ve given links to buy all of these graphic novels on Amazon, I highly encourage you to check out your local comic book store and take a look at these books for yourselves. You may find something in there that you’ll enjoy much more than anything I could recommend. If you’re interested in comics, it’s a great place to meet other people with similar interests and there are always cool events and it’s just a great place to go to get into something that you may love.
As always, thanks for reading!
-Paul
This is the second article in my series spotlighting lesser known, but excellent comic books. This week I’m going to tell you guys about some fantastic superhero comics that may not be as well known as the JLA or The Avengers, but they’re wonderful Comics nonetheless. So, let’s get started…
Somewhere between the late 1990’s and the beginning of the 21st-century, the superhero genre as a whole begin to exhibit a dramatic stylistic change. The superhero movie explosion had yet to occur. Publishing giants like Marvel we’re on the verge of bankruptcy. (It’s crazy to think in a time when Superheroes and comic books permeate our pop culture, Marvel almost went belly up). The 90’s was a cynical decade, the decade of conspiracies and The X-Files. That cynicism coupled with the approaching Y2K paranoia produced a landmark era of comic storytelling. Some of the books published at the time were the best deconstructions of our most famous superhero archetypes since Watchmen. All of the books and stories below feature characters that are very deliberate analogues for our most famous superheroes. Specifically the DC superheroes, like the Justice League.
This is not a coincidence. I often say that, unlike Marvel, the heroes of DC Comics are MYTHIC, larger than life, they are the modern day gods. They’re our Zeus, Apollo, Mercury, Hera, and Hades.
However, from all of our superheroes there is one that rises above the rest. The first and arguably the greatest superhero. Every single book on this list either centers on an analog of this character or features one prominently. I am of course talking about the Last Son of Krytpton, The Man of Steel… SUPERMAN. Every comic book writer wants to play with Superman at least once, and they all have an idea that wouldn’t quite fit in a traditional Superman comic.
After all, Superman has rules. He upholds truth, justice, and the American way. He works at The Daily Planet newspaper with the love of his life, Lois Lane. He always does the right thing and, with a few notable exceptions, he doesn’t kill.
The stories below are fantastic because you have some of the greatest writers and artists in the industry taking characters that are very much like our most beloved heroes and doing things with them that they could never do in 1 million years in a normal comic book. These stories prove that sometimes when you take risks with old ideas, you get some damn fine storytelling as a result.
Now you’ve got to understand, some of the stories are almost 20 years old, so when you read them they may not seem as new or exciting because a lot of the tropes present in the stories were revolutionary at the time. They reinvented the genre, so of course everyone copied what they were doing. A lot of theses ideas have been adopted into mainstream comic book storytelling as the culture has changed. Regardless, it’s important to understand that at the time these tales were revolutionary and mind blowing. They were risky, they made you uncomfortable, and they made you look at your favorite heroes in the whole new light. Some of the stories are better than others but they’re all great reads and essential for any comic book reader new or old.
The Authority writer– Warren Ellis & Mark Millar/artist – Bryan Hitch/Frank Quietly/Some Shitty Fill-Ins
This book popularized the concept of “Wide Screen Action” in comics. “Wide Screen Action” basically refers to superhero action on a scale and scope that hadn’t been seen up to that point. They were trying to devise action set pieces like something out of the coolest 90s blockbusters. The book was first launched by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch in the late 90s. The Authority, led by chain smoking British bad ass Jenny Sparks and her mega powerful team consisted of Apollo, Midnighter, Swift, Jack Hawksmoore, The Engineer, and The Doctor. Between Ellis’ unique vision and Hitch’s incredible artwork the book was a sight to behold. The book also tapped into the late 90’s fear and mistrust of the government I wrote about earlier. Because of shows like The X-Files, conspiracy theories were big. The book was groundbreaking at the time for another reason, in that it featured a gay couple prominently on the team, Midnighter and Apollo, who were analogs for Batman and Superman, were lovers. Smartly, this never defines the characters. The books didn’t exploit the characters sexuality and they made it clear that these two were very much in love with each other. They were two of the most bad ass superheroes on the planet, their sexuality didn’t matter one damn bit.
During Ellis’ tenure on the book, the idea that Superheroes could be quasi-fascist popped up from time to time. The Authority were the most powerful superheroes on the planet, when the world was at stake, they felt like they didn’t have a time for democracy, committees, due process, or international borders. In fact, they viewed these things with contempt. With beings this powerful who’s to stop them? These are themes that would be ratcheted way up when Mark Millar took over after Warren Ellis departed after the second story arc. Along with Millar came genius artist Frank Quietly. Though Ellis and Millar are quite different writers, there was a pretty smooth transition. In my opinion this was Millar’s best work. Similar to some of Ellis ideas, Millar attempted to answer the question that we’ve all asked: If Superman and the Justice League were real why wouldn’t they topple dictators and evicirate terrorists? Shouldn’t they be solving the problems that really matter instead of engaging in silly fights with supervilains? What’s to stop them from drastically changing the world? Of course, when you start messing with the establishment at that level, the establishment begins to push back.
The Authority: Book One (Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch) and The Authority: Book Two (Mark Millar & Frank Quietly) are available at your local comic book store and online on ComiXology.
Rising Stars writer– J. Michael Straczynski/artist-Various
On paper a lot of these stories sound very similar as they’re all basically deconstructions of superhero stories. However, if you read them, you’ll see that they all have their own unique feel. Rising Stars perfectly exemplifies this. Rising Stars was really the first comic book I read that showed me superhero stories can be more than traditional conflicts of good vs evil. They can be complex and adult. As you can imagine Rising Stars was a revelation to me. Created by J. Michael Strazcynski, also the creator of the groundbreaking sci-fi TV series Babylon 5, who was famous for his intricate story planning. He new the beginning, middle, and, end of Rising Stars before he sat down to script the first issue. The story is all the stronger for it. Here’s the basic set up without going into spoilers: It all began with The Penderson Flash, 10 years before our story begins a strange ball of energy that was dubbed The Penderson Flash dissipated over the small town of Penderson in the heart of America. When the Flash hit Penderson, 113 children were in utero at the time. Of course this being an extremely bizarre incident, the United States government decided to keep their eye on the town of Penderson and its residents. For years there was no apparent effect. No one was any closer to figuring out what the Flash was or what it did to the populace. Until one day, one of those 113 children in utero at the time of the Flash, now around nine years old, saved hundreds of people at his school when the roof of the gymnasium collapsed, dropping hundreds of tons of concrete and rubble. The boy was able to hold the debris over his head like it weighed nothing, so everyone could escape. One by one, each of the 113 Penderson children began to exhibit various abilities, some very dramatic, some relatively benign. One or two of them seemed not to develop an ability at all. But each time one of the kids discovered they had a power, it was a brought about by a trigger event of some kind. So perhaps the kids who didn’t have abilities, simply hadn’t experienced their specific trigger moment? Fast forward more than a decade later, the children have grown up and been dubbed the “Specials” by the public. A few of them chose service and protection like traditional superheroes. But most of them went on to do a variety of different things. The main character of the story is Poet, a private, introverted Special who’s also a struggling writer. One day, seemingly out of the blue, the 113 Penderson Specials begin to be murdered one by one. For reasons I won’t go into here, Poet believes it’s his responsibility to catch the killer.
That’s the basic set up and I’ve only scratched the surface of the story. It becomes so much more than a superhero murder mystery. These children were given these abilities for a reason. They were meant to change the world. The question is, is the world ready? At the time, the only thing that had ever been done with superheroes that was even vaguely similar to this was Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Of course, Rising Stars is no Watchmen, what could be? However, despite that unfair comparison, Rising Stars an is excellent read. The story asks, and not in a dark or cynical way, what would you do if you truly had the power to change the world for the better? It’s a real gem if you’ve never read it before. Though it does it enjoy a cult following, Rising Stars deserves a higher status in our pop consciousness.
Rising stars is spread out over three graphic novel trade paperback’s that include the entire series:
Rising Stars vol.1 Born in Fire
Rising Stars vol.2 Power
Rising Stars vol.3 Fire & Ash
Buyer bewear! Rising Stars also put out two compendium editions that collect the whole story across two massive volumes. I can’t stress enough to not waste your money on the compendiums. The binding is flimsy and hard to keep open and the pages and binding come apart almost instantly after you start reading it. So, grab Rising Stars vol. 1-3 at your local comic book store or on your device at comiXology
Supreme Power writer– J. Michael Straczynski/artist– Gary Frank
This one may be my personal favorite on this list. J. Michael Straczynski is such a gifted writer it should come as no surprise he appears on this list twice. This is the story that’s most directly parallels Superman and The Justice League. This is a brilliant execution of the question: “What would happen in the real world if superhumans began to appear?” It begins with a familiar setup. A young couple driving their pickup down a back country road. Something streaks across the sky and crashes into the field down the way. They investigate and find a small baby in the wreckage of what appears to be an alien ship. They bring the baby home, but instead of being raised by the kindly couple, black helicopters and blacks ops soldiers are taking the baby and hushing up the couple. The child is then taken to a government research facility. Even as a baby, when the government scientists first test him, they see his strength and durability are off the charts. There’s no telling how powerful he could become. After deciding not to just kill the child out right before that becomes impossible, the U.S. government decides to raise this boy to be the quitenssential American Hero. They hire government agents to play his parents. They use focus groups to pick the perfect dog he should have as he grows up (it goes bad). They’re very careful about what they show him of the outside world. Above all the instill him with a deep love of America, or at least they try to. The boy is named Mark Milton (another name chosen by focus group to sound the most “American”) and he will become the superhero known as Hyperion.
But when Mark’s ship crashed on earth, it released something into that the atmosphere, something that affected other people, giving them extraordinary abilities like Mark. There’s The Blur who can move with superspeed, Doctor Spectrum, a former special forces officer with a Crystal from Mark’s ship fused to his hand that will act as a weapon that responds to his mind. You can see where this is going. Slowly but surely were introduced into an entire real world Justice League analog, including versions of Batman (Nighthawk), Wonder Woman (Zarda), and Aquaman (A girl named Kingsley who eventually gets the lame code name Amphibian). What makes this story so compelling is that it has a real ripped from the headlines kind of feel, in the sense that this is what it really would be like if beings like Superman came into our world. Everything from the abilities of the characters to how their potential destructive power is measured is presented in a really cool way you haven’t seen before in most Comics. There’s a dread that hangs over this entire book that permeates the story with tension. Especially when it comes to the character of Mark. This is a man whose entire life has been a lie. He’s been raised to believe he’s this perfect American weapon, never told his true origin. But what happens when he finds out the truth? How does somebody with truly no limits look at the world and its problems? And then of course is the old classic: does absolute power corrupt absolutely? These are the ideas that lie at the heart of Supreme Power. I’m not even coming close to doing this story justice, but I can’t recommend it enough. Unfortunately for reasons I’m not certain of, JMS never finished his superhero epic. I heard it came down to disagreements with Marvel. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see JMS complete one of the all time great superhero stories.
The series did eventually continue, picking up months after where Straczynski’s cliffhanger book departure left off. I haven’t read the follow up series myself. I’m sure I eventually will out of curiosity. I’ve heard it’s…fine. But YOU dear reader! YOU only read the Supreme Power stories written by J. Michael Straczynski. For some reason, the trade paperbacks for Supreme Power are a little more difficult to find than some other books. They can be easily found on Amazon or ComiXology. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to call your local comic book store to see if they have any copies (local comic shops can be a treasure trove of hidden gems). Regardless, here is the reading order:
Supreme Power Reading Order
– Supreme Power vol.1 Contact
– Supreme Power vol.2 Powers and Principalities
– Supreme Power vol.3 High Command
– Supreme Power: Hyperion
– Squadron Supreme: The Pre-War Years
If you like these books here are a few more that you may want to check out:
Invincible writer– Robert Kirkman/artist– Ryan Ottley
The Ultimates writer- Mark Millar/artist- Bryan Hitch
Anyway, as usual thanks for reading guys. I hope you enjoyed it.
– Paul
Hey everybody, when I started this blog, promoting comic books as a medium was one of my primary goals. Comics have had a massive surge in popularity over the last 10 years due to the explosion of superhero properties on the big screen and on TV. Of course, while there are a variety of excellent superhero comic books to read, superhero stories only scratch the surface of what the comic book medium is capable of. So this week in my “Comic Book of the Week” article, instead of picking the best comic book that came out, I’m going to list some of the best comic book series that aren’t necessarily superhero stories.
Right off the bat, for new readers, I want to explain how comic books are published. Comic book storytelling is best described as a mix between a novel and a television show. Comic book publishers put out hundreds of books every month, so to new readers, the whole thing can be a bit intimidating.
Take for example “The Walking Dead”, the comic book created by Robert Kirkman that is the basis for the mega-popular hit AMC show. Like all comics, The Walking Dead began with its first issue, The Walking Dead #1 published in October 2003. Since then a new issue has come out every month (just like a magazine comes out once a month). Most comic books break up into “story arcs”, one overarching story taking place over 6-12 issues, with each individual issue acting as chapters in the story. Like episodes of a TV show or chapters in a novel. Once a story arc is completed, the publisher will put collected editions that contain the entire story in one book. These are the “graphic novels” that you see in bookstores like Barnes & Noble. This continues on for however long a comic exists. Some like Batman have been around for over 75 years.
So there you have it Comic Books 101… Below are some of the best comics ever written and the best place to start reading them. This is a list specifically for people who may have read some comics in the past or have seen the movies, but aren’t sure what’s for them or where to start.
This is going to be the first in a series of articles about the best and coolest comic books out there. Below each of my picks I’ve included an Amazon link for the best editions of each of these series for those of you who want to jump right in and purchase a copy for yourself! (And I highly recommend that you do!)
The Sandman writer- Neil Gaiman/ Artist – Various
Considering that this is easily one of the finest pieces of comic book literature every published, I’m often surprised how few comic book readers I know have actually read this series. This isn’t just great storytelling, it’s art. Neil Gaiman’s magnum opus holds the important distinction of being one of the first comics to have a largely female readership. The Sandman defies description, but at its center is Morpheus of The Endless, Lord of The Dreaming (the land we all go to when we dream). The series involves everything from William Shakespeare to Ancient Rome, Lucifer, Pagan Gods, a serial killer convention, Batman and million other wonderful things in between. But most simply put, The Sandman is a story about stories.
The entire series is available in trade paperback. The first volume is The Sandman vol.1 Preludes and Nocturnes, but the series CAN be read out of order so I would recommend starting with The Sandman vol.4 Season of Mists.
Preacher writer- Garth Ennis/ Artist- Steve Dillon
Preacher is an American classic. If I had to call Preacher anything, it’d be a Western. It’s the story of a man named Jesse Custer and his quest to find God…literally. Along with his great love Tulip and his best friend Cassidy, the trio embark on a batshit crazy road trip across the country to find “The Good Lord”. Really though this story is a love letter to America as only an immigrant can tell it. Writer Garth Ennis is from Ireland and the America of Preacher isn’t the America we all really know. It’s the America of hope, dreams, darkness, optimism, danger, and beauty. Ennis’ outsider viewpoint may show an America seen through rose colored glasses, but this story of duty, love, friendship, honor, and faith is probably my favorite work of fiction PERIOD. Ride into the sunset with Jesse Custer and his motley crew of characters, you’ll be glad you did.
Pick up the first trade paperback in this series, Preacher vol.1 Gone to Texas. By the way, though it’s by no means a terrible adaptation, stay away from AMC’s Preacher tv series. Just read the comics which concludes with Preacher vol.9 Alamo. Also, if you’re really religious, stay the FUCK away from this series.
Archie writer- Mark Waid/ Artist- Fiona Staples
Archie is a perfect example of the versatility of comic books. Fantasy and Sci-Fi not for you? How about a charming, delightful high school comedy? Archie has been a very lame comic book staple for decades. The stories center on lovable high school student Archie Andrews and his perpetual love triangle with girl next door, Betty and cosmopolitan, rich girl Veronica. Along with Archie’s loyal best buddy Jughead, the students of Riverdale High have been engaging in lame, 1950s-esque hijinks for years. Until, a few years ago when someone had the genius yet obvious idea to update Archie for the 21st-century. The basic concept is the same, the characters and their basic archetypes are the same. But they got one of the best writer/artist teams in the industry to craft what is essentially an incredibly entertaining coming of age comedy. This is not a gritty reboot at all, but the best example I can give is, Archie used to be Batman & Robin and they made it Batman Begins. Writer Mark Waid is the guy who gave us modern masterpieces like Kingdom Come and artist Fiona Staples is drawing Saga, which is currently one of Image’s hottest titles. I had zero interest in this book, but I kept hearing how good it was and it lived up to the hype. This book is an absolute blast. Just a really fun comedy about high school. This is the perfect book to give to your wife or girlfriend who is reluctant to read a comic book.
Archie vol.1 & 2 are both available in trade paperback now.
Bone Writer/Artist- Jeff Smith
Bone is the rare comic book that can be genuinely, equally enjoyed by both a 10 year old and a 60 year old. Many comics or films try to make that claim but it’s very rarely true. Bone is the exception. Imagine if you crossed Lord of the Rings with classic Walt Disney and you’d get something very much like Bone. I first read Bone when I was around 10 years old and my mind was blown. It was the first time that I realized how cool comic books could be. As an adult, I’ve revisited Bone many times. Most recently, a year or two ago, I re-read the whole series and I enjoyed it even more than I did when I was a kid. The story and characters are so rich that I picked up on subtleties and nuances I missed as a child. There’s magic in revisiting a story you think you know and seeing it in a whole new light. Bone is a funny, thrilling, heartfelt fantasy epic with wonderful characters and an engrossing story. Give the first volume, Bone vol.1 Out From Boneville, to the 10-year old in your life and it won’t be long until they’re begging you for vol.2. The entire series is collected in very affordable softcover volume, Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic, which is a great way to read this fantastic series. As I said above, the whole series is also available in trade paperback starting with Bone vol.1 Out From Boneville.
Here are a few other great series you may want to look into if you like any of my above recommendations:
Fables
American Vampire
The Walking Dead
Enjoy guys!
– Paul
First all, sorry for not putting up the “Comic Book of the Week” column earlier. (It should really be Comic Book of LAST Week). I got distracted by a trailer for a small indie film that’s coming out, “Star” Something…
But enough about that, let’s get into some MOTHER FUCKIN’ COMICS!!! Even though there were some high profile books released this week, including the end of Brian Michael Bendis’ epic Guardians of the Galaxy run “The Comic Book of the Week” goes to Injustice 2 #1. In case you don’t know, Injustice Gods among Us was an enormously popular, Mortal Combat-style, fighting video game, featuring all your favorite DC Comics heroes and villains beating the ever-loving fuck out of each other.
As a rule, comic book tie-ins designed to promote film, TV, or video game properties are massive piles of dogshit. However, the comic book tie-in to the 1st game, Injustice: Gods Among US, chronicled Superman’s slow decent into madness and fascism after the destruction of Metropolis and the deaths of his wife and unborn child at the hands of The Joker. Believe it or not, this was one of the best Justice League stories of the last few years. Injustice: Gods Among Us Years 1-5 are all available in trade paperback collected editions. I highly recommend you check them out.
It’s another compelling physical and ideological clash between Superman and The Dark Knight. (Of course Batman wants nothing to do with what he sees as Superman’s fascist regime). One of the interesting aspects of the story is seeing who sides with who, and why. In this universe, Superman and Lex Luthor are best friends and it’s cool to Lex struggle with being loyal to his friend, but realizing that Superman has completely lost it. It’s a great flip to their usual relationship.
The biggest difference between Marvel and DC is that the heroes of the DC Universe are MYTHIC. They’re more than human, they’re modern day gods. Which is why (despite what some people say) it’s so interesting to see these characters shown in a new light. Some of the best DC stories ever told are deconstructions of these archetypes and that’s why Injustice: Gods Among Us works so well.
Next month Injustice 2, the sequel to the hit video game comes out. In anticipation of the games release, Injustice 2 #1 hit shelves this week and it covers the events from the end of the last game to just before the beginning of Injustice 2. Considering how strong the first series was, Injustice 2 #1 is a must read.
I’ve read the first issue and one of the more intriguing aspects of the story is how can Batman pick up the pieces of a devastated world after finally toppling Superman’s regime? Absolute power corrupts absolutely and with that much power, will Batman fall victim to the same temptations that turned the Man of Steel into a monster? You’ll have to pick up the book to find out! I will say this; the series is off to a strong start.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about all the different ways comics are available to potential readers. If you’ve ever thought about picking up a comic book, there’s been no better time in the history if the medium. Comics have never been better. I’m a big believer in supporting your local comic book store. They’re the backbone of the industry and comics need as much readers as they can get. But, if you don’t have the time or there isn’t a comic book store located near you, I highly recommend the Comixology app. Each week, you can get all your favorite comics downloaded to your tablet or smartphone, as well as a massive library of previously published comics. Once you buy them, they’re yours, you own the comic. Just like if you bought a digital copy of a movie on ITunes. One really cool feature is while reading a comic on Comixology, you have the option of having each panel fill up your screen and read panel to panel instead of page to page. It’s my favorite way to read comics because you appreciate the art and storytelling so much more. Of course, trade paperbacks and collected editions are available at any Barnes & Noble. Considering that most comic book issues are written like chapters in a book, waiting for the entire story arc to be collected in one book is a great way to read.
Anyway, we’ve got a whole new batch of comic coming out this Wednesday and hopefully I’ll have my “Comic Book of the Week” column up a lot sooner than this weeks.
Thanks,
-Paul
Since DC’s Rebirth launch last summer, the Batman books across the board have been consistently great. James Tynion’s Detective Comics, Scott Snyder’s All-Star Batman, and Tom King’s Batman with artist David Finch are fantastic books. I tend to go back and forth from month-to-month on All-Star Batman or Tom King’s Batman being my favorite Bat book, but this week “The Comic of the Week” has to be Tom King’s Batman #20.
This is the final chapter in the excellent “I Am Bane” story arc and though it wasn’t necessarily the strongest chapter in the series, it was still a satisfying and powerful ending to the arc. I’ve never been a huge fan of David Finch’s art but he’s really winning me over on this book. His work here was phenomenal, especially when it came to the brutal final fight between Batman and Bane. His line work on both of these imposing figures really stood out as well.
It also didn’t hurt to have a reminder what complete and utter badass Batman is. As illustrated in the pages below:
C’MON! How fucking sick is that?!
King also took some time to emphasize a part of Batman’s psychology that isn’t focused on enough. I think I first noticed this during Grant Morrison’s classic JLA run, where he put forth the idea that Batman only wants people to think he’s driven by vengeance and rage, but it’s a facade. In reality, he does what he does because he doesn’t want to see what happened to him happen to anyone else, ever again. He knows that’s an impossible mission, but he’ll still try to help in anyway he can. That’s what makes him a hero. It’s empathy not anger that drives Batman and Tom King emphasize this really well in his script.
I think there is going to be an epilogue chapter in this story, which is definitely needed to wrap up some of the loose ends of this arc, but I’m really looking forward to the next storyline “The War of Jokes and Riddles”. Which is apparently an epic story taking place shortly after Zero Year where Batman has to contend with a war between The Joker and The Riddler. If King’s work on this book is anything to go by, this should be something to look forward to.
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