Always one to pursue useless knowledge wherever he can find it in a seemingly never-ending quest to achieve the improbable and downright unlikely status of modern-day Renaissance man, Mark Bittmann has indulged his desire to never be lost in any conversation, by developing an arcane understanding of things of little consequence or import while maintaining his alleged status as a small fish in a small pond.
As long as his self-indulgent whim is catered to, he manages to sustain the facade of someone under the misperception that others care about what he thinks. With a ubiquity normally reserved for greenhouse gasses, he chases his random and inconsequential thoughts with all the tenacity of a banana peel. This is his life, his curse, and his twisted and maniacal way of impressing the ladies.
For your reading pleasure (or displeasure), part II of which titles I liked and didn't like of the Marvel comic book offerings of 2002. Let's get ready to rumble…
Does J. Michael Straczynski have a clue or what? I haven't been this entertained by Amazing Spider-Man since I returned to reading and collecting comics a dozen years ago. After years of bad decision-making fostered by former Marvel EIC's Tom DeFalco and Bob Harras and perpetuated in the Spider-Man line of comics by such editorial luminaries Bob Budiansky, the world of Peter Parker has finally begun to emerge from its creative slump with a vengeance. In my unhumble opinion, this title hasn't been this good since the 1970s. The mastermind behind television's Babylon 5 and Image Comics' Rising Stars (published under Straczynski's own Joe's Comics banner) has proven to be a talent to be reckoned with even when handling characters he did not create. My initial skepticism regarding his revelation of a deeper character mythos behind Spidey's origin in the form of villains based on the natural enemies of spiders as dictated by his totemic life-force has since been tossed away like an empty web-fluid cartridge. As written by JMS, the monthly has gone about cleaning the detritus off the edges of the Spidey universe of characters and streamlined the baggage of everyone concerned so that motivations are more easily discernible and less subject to convoluted backstory and the dangling plotlines of old. Most of the extraneous crap weighing down the progress of the Webslinger has been discarded and except for the ongoing separation of Peter and Mary Jane, the world of Spider-Man is beginning to feel as solid as it did in comic books of old, without seeming old-fashioned. Thankfully JMS has been fortunate enough to have been teamed with just about the finest storyteller currently laying pencil to Bristol Board in the name of creating funnybooks: John Romita Jr. Together they have forged a storytelling team of world-class talent. I now wait anxiously for each and every issue since JMS came on board and sucked me in by having Spidey get the snot beat out of him for the first several issues of his run by Morlun, his first foe of totemic origins. As a first story by a new writer, it was riveting, edge-of-your-seat stuff. These two are spinning tales that beg for readers' attention and if sales are any indication, the readers are snapping up this book in droves.
Well, it's about damn time! Someone finally gets the fact that the Fantastic Four are adventurers who dabble in superheroing as a sideline gig. As a lifelong fan of the FF, I hadn't read a decent issue of the book in many a moon. I have to go all the way back to just before I dropped comics at age 16 to chase girls in order to find an issue of the World's Greatest Comics Magazine that featured the team in scenarios befitting the family used to be the touchstone of the goings on of the Marvel universe. Stating up front that his goal was to return the FF to the forefront of the happenings of the world that Stan and Jack built, Mark Waid's words as envisioned by Mike Weiringo have taken all of a handful of issues to re-establish the fun and feel of adventure to Marvel's oldest monthly publication. The FF once again has a feeling that anything can happen within its pages: For possibly the first time in his history, Franklin isn't merely a burden to be dropped off with Agatha Harkness whenever the need for a babysitter arises. Johnny has the slightest inkling of a sense of responsibility, Reed's characterization borders on the three dimensional and Ben has been returned to his tragic status quo, reversing the ill-advised ability to switch back and forth between human and Thing form implemented by Carlos Pacheco. Meanwhile, Sue has been imbued with all of the pluck and take-charge assuredness of a soccer mom on Red Bull. The woman more or less lost a hand in a battle and didn't bat an eye. She is not one to mess with. Waid claims he has big plans for the Fantastic Four, including the long-awaited return of arch-nemesis and all-around meanie Doctor Doom to its pages after too long a hiatus, promising the "unthinkable" to occur in his return. The kid gloves are allegedly off and we are promised quite an appearance from the ruler of Latveria. I, for one, cannot wait.
Now that I've sung the praises of the titles I look forward to every month, howzabout a look at some titles I have become disillusioned with for one reason or another.
Could Peter Parker: Spider-Man suck any more? I doubt it. It isn't bad enough that we've been stuck with a marginal artist and a writer who just does not get the character (P.P. a stand-up comedian?!? Open Mike Night or not, I DO NOT even remotely think so) and then were subsequently subjected to Humberto Ramos' (the most overrated artist in comics next to Michael Turner) stomach-churning stint as guest artist (his Aunt May looks like the Green Goblin…only white and with a wig), now it's been announced that Ramos will be penciler in residence but in the meantime we're expected to endure the artistic stylings of Francisco Herrera…and it looks Godawful, with anatomic proportion and accuracy thrown out the window and every muscle drawn to a lazy point. I have dumped this title and wish they would just give up the ghost, admit that Jenkins (writer of Marvel's nigh brilliant Sentry series) has about as much of a clue as to what to do with Spidey as George Lucas does with "his" creations, and just cancel this book. It is a lost cause. The man who brought us the forgettable scourge of Typeface and expects me to believe science-geek/nerd young Peter sentimentalizes over childhood memories of baseball (yeah, right) probably hasn't imagined many other aspects of the character to waste our time misinterpreting, so why not just cancel this title and stop the madness? The new title Straczynski will be helming is a sure thing, so all is well in the Spideyverse considering that eventually Kevin Smith will begin his soon to be overrated run on Spider-Man. Aside from SOME of his Guardian Devil story being quite entertaining, he really doesn't impress me as a writer of comic books and I believe him to be without a doubt the single most overrated talent in the comic book industry. Just because some guy that read comics growing up makes movies with comic book references does not automatically make him worthy of every toady/fanboy bowing at his feet like he's the second coming of Alan Moore. Let's wait until he expands his resume before the nomination for canonization, shall we?
Enough with Garth Ennis' writing of superheroes already! I, for one, am tired of being subjected to his expressions of disdain for the genre so I'm tuning out. So far we have seen Spider-Man, Daredevil and Wolverine humiliated for apparently no other reason than to have his name in the writers credit box. If he doesn't like superheroes (and he has repeatedly said as much), then he shouldn't be permitted to write them unless he's going to treat the characters with respect. His first run on Punisher was classic, the second remotely entertaining and all of Mr. Ennis' subsequent gigs as a writer for Marvel comics have sucked. His opening arc for Tangled Web mucked with a relatively key element of Spidey's origin and was nothing more than an exercise in "Garth Hates Heroes 101", as were his shots at scribing Daredevil and the Punisher's encounter with Wolverine. In short, bring something positive or at least insightful to add to the mythos, or stay the hell away from it.
By the way, I made good on my promise not to waste my time reading the story accompanying the amateurish scrawlings that were passed off as being a legitimate sequel to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. So, in light the many negative opinions of trusted friends who will never get the time they wasted reading it (thanks guys) and reliable sources and the multitude of returned copies of the third installment rumored to number in the tens of thousands, I feel perfectly justified in issuing the following comment regarding DK2: …toldja. Maybe now DC comics and Frank Miller will think twice about defacing a work of art like DK1 for all the wrong reasons.
