Who's who in the Comics Bulletin Universe - Update 2008
Who is... Michael A. Diaz?
Michael Diaz lives in Michigan, but don't hold that against him.
There he works as a Sys. Admin. while fostering dreams of one day becoming a "real" writer.
Most importantly, Michael is seriously addicted to comics, something that his wonderful wife tolerates with the patience of a saint.
He also writes this weekly column that people occasionally read.
"[O]ne of the most positive
and entertaining columns going."
- Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Villains United)
WLG #171: Cut Short!
I apologize as I had written most of a nice introduction about independent comics this week and then found out that I had to attend a pre-funeral viewing for a family member (my girlfriend's cousin), so unfortunately I am going to have to cut it short tonight.
Please save any of your condolences; they are appreciated, but for me, or my girlfriend, this isn't really a period of grieving, but rather a time for us to be supportive of other family members that are mourning. Any wishes of well-being should be directed to them at this time.
Next week I'll have a much better and less pithy introduction, but for now there's this:
And with that, let's quickly dive in and see What Looks Good...
TALENT #3 $3.99 (Christopher Golden / Tom Sniegoski)This is a bizarre and intriguing book and for some reason I can’t put it down.
A plane crashes into the water, which usually means everyone dies. Certainly after being submerged for more than a couple of minutes one would assume that recovery, and not rescue, would be the name of the game. So when divers were finally able to get to the crash site imagine their shock when suddenly one of the passengers suddenly wakes up, still strapped into their seat.
Such a thing would certainly seem to be a miracle, so there’s not much of a surprise that the Vatican is interested, but their interest seems to have more to do with something that might have caused the event instead of this seeming miracle; in fact, the Vatican is acting more like a spy agency than the Holy See.
The mystery is getting deeper and deeper and I’m digging it.
EX MACHINA #23 $2.99 (Brian K. Vaughan / Tony Harris)Someone is trying to take down Mayor Hundred from the inside. I'm not doing the book any justice this month, I realize, but man, I can't wait to see how this ends.
GREEN ARROW #66 $2.99 (Judd Winick / Scott McDaniel)About five years ago there wasn't all that much I knew about Green Arrow. I had been back to comics for a year or so when it was announced that Kevin Smith was going to bring back Oliver Queen. That was fine with me because all I really knew about the guy was that he was A.) dead and B.) that cool, old, bald guy missing an arm from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Other than that, well, I knew that he wore green and fired off arrows, though that was pretty easy to figure out.
Still, it was a book by Kevin Smith and being that I had missed his run on Dare Devil I wanted to see what the hype was.
It wasn't long that I was hooked on the title. Eventually Smith left the book and I considered dropping it myself. Then Winick showed up and the next thing you know the book was a must-read for me week after week. In a short amount of time Winick had turned a character that I knew almost nothing about and made him one of my favorites. I guess that just proves the point that there are no bad characters, that sometimes the right character just needs the right, well, writer (that's a lot of right/write, I know, right?).
One of the things that I have enjoyed most about Winick's run on the book is how it made the book about family, with Ollie, Speedy, Connor (the other Green Arrow, and also Ollie's son), and Arsenal (the former Speedy, now “all growns up”). I was a little concerned when after “OYL” there was nothing to be seen of either Connor or the new Speedy, but I was patient. Sure enough, the Speedy made her return.
But where was she? Better yet, where was everyone during that year away? Well, after whetting our appetite for a couple of issues now finally we, the readers, get to find out where Ollie had been while he was gone. Obviously he went through some sort of training as he came back able to take on Deathstroke, and with a sword no less. What's up with that? Admittedly, I don't know the character all that well, but seeing him with a sword has to be somewhat new (old schoolers out there, please, feel free to correct me).
In short, Ollie now kicks a lot more tail that he used to, he's the Mayor of a wonderfully messed up town, Speedy is back , and now we get to find out where everyone went after that year.
What more could I want?
PRIDE OF BAGHDAD HC (MR) $19.99 (Brian K. Vaughan / Niko Henrichon)The very fact that this is written by Brian K. Vaughan is enough to interest me. Then, I saw some of the previews online, whereupon I began to salivate as only a good fanboy can. Put simply, Niko Henrichon is an excellent artist, photor-ealistic yet individualized so as to not mimic other photo-realistic artists (i.e. Land or Ross).
Nice!
The story is a somewhat true one, or rather a fictional account with a true beginning and end, with the middle section dramatized. After all, this is a book about talking animals. Disney this won't be, and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with an adult comic about talking animals (I think Morrison and Quitely proved that nicely).
Still, at $19.99 I may just have to drool for a bit longer. Does anyone else plan on picking this up? If so, and you do end up getting it, I would love to hear your impressions of it.
I wish I could buy one this week (pout).
ULTIMATE X-MEN #74 $2.99 (Robert Kirkman / Tom Raney)Finding out who or what this Magician character really is has got my interest piqued. I realize that this title, like all of the Ultimate titles, doesn’t follow the Marvel Universe exactly; in many cases it is just a template, a blueprint. I like that. I like it that the Ultimate version of Mr. Sinister is a tattooed guy that talks to himself but thinks he’s talking to someone named Apocalypse. He’s somewhat similar to the version from the Marvel Universe proper, yet different enough to seem fresh, original.
That said, sometimes when there’s an entirely new creation in the Ultimate Universe, the results aren’t always so much fun (i.e. Geldof from Ultimate Spider-Man. Because of this when I first started reading this arc I was afraid that this “Magician” character could turn into another Geldof; he hasn’t. Instead, the creative team have created an interesting, near-perfect character which belies the fact that he must have some equally impressive flaw. Finding out what the flaw is and what it means for the rest of the team is going to be a real treat.
WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #6 $2.99 (Daniel Way / Steve Dillon)Bravo to Daniel Way and Steve Dillon for making this book another one of my new favorites. I noted before that I initially thought that this was going to be an extraneous book. Yes, Logan has experienced total recall and now has all of his memories again, but I didn't see the need to create a new title exploring this aspect. Why not just cover that story with the pages of Wolverine proper? Well, in a few short issues this creative team has shown me that there is a place for another Wolverine book. Will there always be? Probably not. Remember when X-treme X-Men was all about searching for the books of Destiny? Well, once that premise was removed their wasn’t much need for the title. Likewise, I only think that this title has a place as long as it focuses on Wolverine’s search through his past, kind of like a mutant-themed Kung Fu.
As long as Way and Dillon are leading the way I think we’re in for one heck of a trip.
Again, sorry for the short intro and outro; I'll see you all on the What Looks Good message boards (see link below).
Until then,
Peace!
-Diaz
Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.