Comics 101

Since there's nothing really going on in my life that's worth mentioning I just thought I'd amuse myself and anyone with the patience to read this to answer some comics related questions before you ask them. Or after. Whatever.

Joker

Here's one I got recently from Darcy.

One thing I don't quite get about Batman Begins is, unless the original Batman was way different than the comics or something, how and why are they working The Joker into the next movie if Jack didn't turn into The Joker until seemingly several years after Batman Begins takes place? And if the answer is "the next movie will take place several years later" then wouldn't that just be the first Batman movie all over again? I'm confused.

Well, Batman Begins itself isn't entirely faithful to Batman's origin story but it makes up for it by being faithful to what the character and origin are about. Batman did not actually meet Ra's Al Ghul until he was Batman and actually spent his entire teen years traveling the world learning every skill imaginable (chemistry, investigation, martial arts, acrobatics and escape artistry, for example) and became a master of all trade.

The Joker's origin was never actually revealed (Joker himself thinks of is memory as "multiple choice"), most fans agree that the origin presented in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's awesome comic The Killing Joke is the official one. Basically the Joker(who is never named) was originally former lab assistance who quit to become a comedian who just couldn't get work. This wouldn't be so bad for him if he wasn't trying to support a wife pregnant with child. He's in such need of money that he agrees to help some crooks rob the chemical plant he used to work with. But as soon as he agrees the police come into the bar and tell him his wife died when a baby-bottle heater she was testing had an electrical short.

Unfortunately for the poor guy, the crooks are forcing him to stick to the job (despite the fact that he lost the very reason to continue) and act as the patsy by dressing up as a guy called the Red Hood and pretending to be the ringleader. Unfortunately, Batman shows up and catches the crooks. Batman is about to get the nameless comedian when the comedian (having a hard time seeing with his red hood on) falls a chemical vat and emerges as the Joker. He's now completely nuts. Before he thought his life was a joke, but now he realizes the world is a big joke, and he wants to show the world.

But his origin isn't all that important. What I like about the Joker is that when he's written well, he's funny and scary at the same time. He's also an egotistical joke artiste. The point of the crimes isn't money or power or even the body count, but each crime is a sort of joke. It means something to the Joker and the only way to predict his actions are to figure out where his "joke" is headed. And that's pretty hard since the best jokes are the one's with the punchlines you don't see coming. And Batman doesn't have much of a sense of humour.

Marvel and DC

I'm just going to clear things up here:

DC Characters:
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern
Flash
Aquaman
Green Arrow
The Teen Titans
Dr. Fate
Captain Marvel

Marvel Characters:
Thor
Spider-Man
Captain America
X-Men
Fantastic Four
Iron Man
Hulk
Daredevil
Dr. Strange
Captain Marvel

That clears things up... Waitaminute.

OK, I'll explain the Captain Marvels real quick. Way back when (the 40's) there was a Captain Marvel published by neither company (Marvel didn't even exist yet). Captain Marvel was a young boy who could become a manly super-hero when he said SHAZAM! DC sued him after a while after he became really popular. DC claimed that Cap was too close to Superman in powers and appearance. They won but since then they have had trouble with so many superman imitators, they decided they couldn't sue every time some there was some super-powered hero in a cape.

Years later, Marvel Comics realized the name Captain Marvel was going untouched so they made their own Captain Marvel: an alien invader turned super-hero. Meanwhile DC bought the rights to Captain Marvel, causing a problem between the two companies. They eventually reached an agreement: they can both have their own Cap Marvels but DC couldn't use the name on their title. Instead DC called their series SHAZAM!, after the famous magic word.

Anyway, Aiden has asked me if there are any differences between DC and Marvel (in terms of aesthetics, I assume) and I thought about it for a while. There is a definite difference in feel but that difference is a bit more intangible. Still, here are some of the most obvious differences:

In the DC Universe, heroes (with a few exceptions like Batman and the Doom Patrol) are trusted by the public, for the most part. People love Superman, the Flash and the rest and see them as bigger than celebrities. They are somewhere between celebrities and gods and while the more stalwart heroes don't bask in their own fame, they accept it, with some heroes even attending public events (Hey, Superman ain't a glory hog, but he still wants the people to trust him).

In the Marvel Universe, the people are polarized on the issue of heroes. Some think of them as just vigilante's and superthugs that can be as bad as any villain and take issue with anonymous character's taking the law into their own hands. Though the Avengers and Fantastic Four are loved by the public (for the most part), mutants, super-human vigilantes and other types aren't quite so popular. The biggest example of this is Spider-Man, whom half of society seems to love (especially kids and teenagers) and the other half seem to hate and/or distrust. Sure, everyone loves Captain America and Iron Man, but they are very public figures and are really just normal humans. Fellows like Thor and the X-Men, on the other hand, are odd and mysterious to regular folk. If there is a reason that superhumans are more popular in DC is that the public's first exposure to superhumans in the thrities where benevolent, but in Marvel the first major super-powers where the Human Torch (a well meaning but scary-looking flaming robot) and the Sub-Mariner, who flooded cities, attacked civilization and generally acted as an amphibious terrorist.

Another main difference is locale. In DC, most of the cities are fake (though often loosely based on real places). In Marvel, there's really only one city: New York City. Pretty much every hero hangs there.

And finally, DC continuity is a lot trickier than Marvel. First of all there are two eras: Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis. In Pre-Crisis, Superman could push planets around, punch them to dust and could do pretty much do anything the script required him to do. He was more powerful than God (except for his weaknesses to magic and kryptonite).

There were many also many alternate realities with different histories: In one Superman first appeared in the late thirties (like he did in real life) while in another he appeared later (this was to explain why Superman and his cast weren't really old). There were also a different Flash and Green Lantern for the two major universes (Earths I and II), but they were only related by named and power rather than origin or identity (in fact, Flash from Earth I got his name from comic books that depicted the adventures of Flash from Earth II).

As you can guess this tended to get confusing so to clear things up, writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez initiate Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which an amazingly powerful entity was destroying universe after universe to make way for his anti-matter universe. He was defeated but in the end, the surviving three universes where merged into one and history was rewritten. The characters where more or less the same, but with slight differences (Superman is still the most powerful character, but he isn't as ridiculously powerful as he was before). The problem was that since then, there seems to be a few continuity problems left. And sometimes things are retconned for no good reason.

There's also Vertigo comics, DC's mature readers comic line, which mostly consists of creator owned series (in fact their newest coup was getting American Splendor), but began as a line that contained mature reader books within the DC universe (Sandman, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Shade the Changing Man, Hellblazer). The only book left is Hellblazer (and the occasional Sandman spin-off), and though they supposedly take place in the DC universe, they aren't really treated like they are part of the DCU anymore. So, basically they aren't part of the DC Universe in any of the current stories.

Marvel is a lot simpler. Character's age, but they do it very, very slowly. This is referred too as Marvel Time. When Spider-Man began fighting crime he was 16 and in the current comics he's about 24. So about 9 years have past in the Marvel universe and for the most part, that has been pretty consistant.

Will Eisner

He's the man considered to be the most important creator ever to work in the medium. There were comics before him but everything that happened after was because of him.

His comics were revolutionary. The use and interplay of panels did things that were never done before (like guys getting punched so hard, they were hit from one panel to the other). He created splash pages adn would play with images and shadows.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this entry is so short. All that must be said is that he created comics as they are now.

Alan Moore

He's the man generally regarded as the best writer in comics. He's creepy looking, isn't he? Well, he's a creepy guy. But God can he write.

He wrote Watchmen, which is widely regarded the greatest comic of all time, as well as many other lauded work. Unlike other books at the time, Watchmen was sparse, cinematic and contained no thought bubbles, captions and sound effects. It was a very grim 12-issue series about a murder mystery involving retired superheroes. Ironically, this series and The Dark Knight Returns (widely regarded as the runner up best comic ever) triggered the much maligned grim and gritty period of the later eighties and nineties.

His first major American work was a 42-issue run on Swamp Thing, which he established his style and a lot of the ideas as well as a poetic style that was very different than Watchmen. Though it was, in part, a horror series, it focused on elemental mysticism, life on Earth and alien ways of thinking (such as plant philosophy).

He's also a practicing magician and he worships the snake-diety glycon. Sure he's crazy, but it's a fun crazy.

Jack Kirby

Considered to the greatest artist in comics. His style is quite dynamic (he likes drawing characters with on outstretched arm) and angular. And no one can draw crackling energy quite like him. He also pretty much designed half of the Marvel universe. After he stopped working with Stan Lee he worked with both DC and Marvel on his own projects. These series were imiginative and strange but were also quite goofy, so they didn't catch on like his previous work.

That's all I feel like typing for now. I hope you now understand a little more about the most underrated medium of all time.

A Pretty Good Year for Comics...

As a comics fan, I have to say there was a lot more good than bad this last year, and there was actually more stuff I'm on the fence about than stuff I outright hated, so that's a pretty good sign. I just thought this year I'd point out some of the high points and shit points in this year in comics:

Damn Fine Flicks:
This was a great year for comic films. Batman Begins, Sin City and A History of Violence weren't just good flicks, they were great and each had their own unique and interesting style that showed that the creators really got the books.

Batman Begins: Probably the most flawed film on the list, but still damned good. Basically, the film chronicles Bruce Wayne's training as well as his first year as Batman. Thankfully the film didn't try to simply remake the classic Batman story Year One (though there are a couple of references) and really focuses on showing how and why Batman operates the way he does and the building of the legend. Christian Bale is a great Batman (and he can move his friggin neck), Michael Caine even better as Alfred, the bad guys are actually worthy threats (unlike the last three flicks) and the film has an interesting original story. I hope the Superman flick is as good as this (fingers crossed). Still, the romantic subplot is pretty tacked on (like all the Batman films except the awful Batman Returns) and Batman doesn't really do any of the brilliant detective work I love the character doing.

Still, despite some misgivings, it's easily the best Batman film of all.

Well, maybe Mask of the Phantasm. Mark Hamill is the best Joker ever.

Oh, also the Adam West flick. "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb." Classic.

Sin City: My favourite comic book movie flick of the year. Actually, probably of all time. Style to spare, a warped sense of humour and a shockingly faithful adaptation to one of the most expressionistic comics of all time. The casting is all perfect, but Mickey Rourke as Marv proves to be one of those characters who is the epitome of testosterone-filled bad-assery. The other stories were good, but "The Hard Goodbye" has always been my favourite for it's simplicity and the extreme likability of Murphy. Sure, he's a nasty, cruel and seemingly unkillable legbreaker, but he has an admirable sense of loyalty and chivalry.

Sin City has some of the best art direction I've ever seen in a film and Robert Rodriguez proves again that he's a one man movie machine: composer, director, editor, producer, sound mixer, cinematographer and even visual effects. I mean, I've never seen anyone whose put so much of himself into his own movies, especially not for the big budget films that he's making these days (though he always finds neat ways to cut costs. Almost all of his DVDs have 1 minute (or was it 10 minute) segments on cheap movie making. Frankly, I'm proud of Mr. Rodriguez for leaving the director's guild to let Frank Miller get some co-director credit for the film. I really don't trust guilds on the whole, and though it may make his career a might tougher (living without whatever the guild provides... or does. What do they do?), I think he made the right choice.

A History of Violence: I was iffy on the movie for the first few 10 minutes (despite a great opening) mostly because of the cheesy "everyone-living-happily-in-a-quiet-community-where-everyone-knows-everyone-until-a-dark-secret-is-revealed" vibe but the film more than redeemed itself and proved to be one of the best films of the year. I like the fact that the violence of the film actually tends to start as "cool" film violence but then lingers on the fallen and injured and we see how disgusting and unpleasant violence can really be.

I also like the fact that it isn't just a "violence is bad" flick. What it is saying about violence is that generally unpleasant part of life but it does serve a purpose. It gives no definite answers but it forces the viewers to ask when is violence justified and just how we are supposed to live with it.

I like Cronenburg's "new flesh" films well enough, but I like the fact that he's getting away from that for a while with films like History of Violence and Spider. I'm really looking forward to what's he'll do next.

Fantastic Four & Elektra: I didn't see either but both looked really bad. I'm going to trust my gut on this one and avoid them. Shame, Fantastic Four was a favourite of mine and they have the best villain in comics, who was completely more or less ruined for the film.

Best Comics of the Year:

Seven Soldiers of Victory: It's one great series within seven great series. Basically, it's 7 mini-series that can be read as separate mini-series but also forms a greater whole as one epic mini-series. Taking some of DC comics more forgettable characters, writer Grant Morrison (master of the bizarre and brilliant) crafts a tale with 7 radically different heroes. Though they never meet, they end up unintentionally helping each other battle the evil Sheeda: aristocratic gods (that is to say that they are to gods what aristocrats are to commoner's) who are plotting to hunt down Earth's heroes... for leisure. The books are as follows:
frankincense: He's fighting evil... one body part at a time. Frankenstein must fight the evil Sheeda all while constantly loosing body parts but gaining new ones from fallen foes. IU nice odd super-hero horror comic.
Zatanna: She's a backwards-talking sorceress in SA: Spellaholics Anonymous. But now she's got to fall off the wagon again to save the world.
Mister Miracle: He's a flashy David Blaine-esque escape artist who discovers that he might just be an avatar to one of the New Gods. But unfortunately, the it looks like his psychologist might be an evil demon.
Bulleteer: She thought that her super-powers were the result of an accident in her husband's laboratory. Turns out her husband turned her into a super-powered metallic beauty because he's a superherophile whose into superior porn. Creepy.
Klarion: It's like Salem in the 1600's... only in reverse. A clan of witches living underground are worried about a boy's obsession with the surface world. That boy is the sinister hero Klarion, who must protect their evil brood from their own conservative world views... and an evil entity named Melmoth.
Shining Knight: One of the lesser-known knights of Camelot, Sir Justin came close to defeating a Sheeda in the form of an evil queen, who sends him far away. When he wakes up, he discovers himself in world of tainted Earth and air, strange men speaking a strange language taking pushing him into a steel carriage and who use a strange weapon to blow his horses head open. Surely, thinks Justin, a world this mad must be the work of the Sheeda. Can an Olde English-speaking knight survive New York City?
The Manhattan Guardian: He's a one-man masthead for a newspaper that doesn't just report crime... it fights it. All thanks to their new mascot/resident superhero. Can he and the ever-helpful Newsboy Legion stop a war between subway pirates?
All of these series are great and have sweet art by a host of different pencillers. I can't wait to see how the finished product is.

Legion of Super-Heroes: Great series, but I don't think it's getting the attention it deserves. Basically it's about a future where there is peace across the galaxy and there's no more conflict. What do the Legion of Super-Heroes say to that? "Fuck You." They know that just because people say they aren't necessary doesn't make it true and this legion of alien teenagers want to make the world a better place, defending the people from threats that the people deny exist. As a fun twist (like the original series it was based off of) only a few of these 30th century heroes actually have "powers", but since the team consists of different species from different worlds, a lot of them have their own strange innate abilities.
Each member is given a code name based on their power and gender (ie, Sun Boy, Lightning Lad, Karate Kid) and is allowed to enter "the Clubhouse" a giant base which the team resides.
Some of the more interesting members are Dream Girl (whose race has precognitive powers and is extremely carefree about her adventures since she usually knows how they'll turn out), and Collossal Boy (who comes from a race of giants and would rather be called Micro Boy because of his abilities to shrink and have adventures with the "little people"). With a cast of hundreds, one would think the group would be far to unweildy to write about and make them all interesting, but writer Mark Waid definately makes it work. Bravo.

All-Star Superman: Only one issue came out and its already on of my new favourite series. Now this is how Superman is meant to be: infinitely strong yet gentle, sympathetic yet stoic. No worrying about continuity or all that crap. No Superman brooding about the nature of his being or trying to be relevant. This is about Superman tackling real problems like alien invaders and Super-intelligent dinosaurs.

Promethea: Finally the apocalypse that's been promised through the series arrives and ipes out the Earth. Funny how that's a happy ending, huh?

Ultimates: Finally the traitor is revealed, heroes are sent to jail and we learn the truth about Thor... then we learn the truth about Thor. I was iffy when it came to the alien invasion story arc last year, but this year there's a much stronger thiller involving a super-hero arms race, heroes turning morally ambigious and the fall of America: both the Captain and the country. And It was sooo worth it.

Series that remain good but there's nothing special to sa about them this year: Walking Dead, 100 Bullets, Y - The Last Man, Fables, and Ultimate Spider-Man.

Stuff I'm on the fence about:
Infinite Crisis: I pretty much saw the big revelation at the end of issue three coming, but still there's a lot to like in the story. Unfortunately there's way to many extra stuff a reder needs to buy to help complete the tapestry of the story and while it looks like it's all tying together really well, I'm not sure it was worth about every DC book getting involved with the story. Bleh.

House of M: This crossover (from Marvel) as a lot more fun, but unfortunately the cool after math has spawned too many aftermath related mini-series and it sounds like the next crossover is still being set up while the readers and books are still dealing with the aftermath of the last one. Slow it down Marvel. Still, I like seeing what every Marvel heroes' fondest dream lives would be and how it all turns to shit (especially for Spider-Man). It was fun, but too much is being made of it.

Shitty Stuff:

Anything written by Chris Claremont: You're the man who made the X-Men popular. you have a lot to be proud of. But you suck now Chris. You have to accept it. Maybe it's time you rest on your laurels... before they're all gone. Wait, is that mixing metaphors. Come to think of it, I've never even seen anyone resting on laurels before. What's the deal?

All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder: Wow, Frank Miller wrote some great Batman stories but... this is awful. Unbelievably awful.
Here's some actual sample dialogue:
(After seeming to murder cops with the afterburners on his Batwing and kidnapping/rescuing Dick Grayson and telling him that he's no his "soldier")
Dick Grayson: Wh-who are you?
Batman: Who am I? What are you, retarded? I'm the GODDAMN BATMAN!

Wow, really? Cause you sure don't sound like him. Don't get me wrong, every writer has their own interpretation of Batman (take Adam West for instance) but while I've accepted a range of Batmen, this feels really unBatman. It's really more like some psychotic abusive asshole Dad. Maybe played by R. Lee Ermey, the delightfully sadistic and much spoofed drill sarge of Full Metal Jacket fame.

Superman is supposed to show up in issue four. I imagine he's going to use his heat vision to burn out the eyes of orphans and then use a bazooka to blow up an orphanage while saying "I'm from Krypton, cockfuck!"


While there are probably a lot I'm over-looking, these are the only things that spring immediately to mind.