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 #211: Astonishingly Authoritative!
A yes, a new column this week, and another introduction to write. Honestly, there's not a whole lot that I really need to get off of my chest this week, so I'll keep it simple.
Cloverfield: slick.
DC: Kicking my butt right now; honestly, I didn't think that I would be this impressed with what is coming from them right now. From Dini and Nguyen on Detective Comics to all the creative teams working on the various Green Lantern books, I simply couldn't be happier with DC right now. Last year when I heard about Final Crisis I didn't care too much. Now? Heck yeah, bring it on!
Marvel: The X-line appears as if it might be on the upswing, but it might take me some more time before I stick to that conclusion. But Secret Invasion? Meh. I'm not that impressed.
Ditto for Amazing Spider-Man. I LOVE McNiven's art, but I just can't get the bad taste out of my mouth after the first issue of “Brand New Day.”
Blech.
Lastly: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has taken over my life. Just ask my fiancée. Yeah, she really loves that game.
(She really doesn't).
Honestly, I bought an Xbox 360 just so that I could play that game. I have a couple of other games, but they are all bastard children when it comes to CoD4
I'm surprised I wrote this column when I could be shooting people in the face. I need to rank up people!
Now this:
AUTHORITY PRIME #4 (OF 6) $2.99 (Christos Gage / Darrick Robertson)Here's the deal: I love the Authority. Ellis created them, sure enough, but when Mark Millar showed up on the scene, well, my obsession with the Authority began.
Of course, before the Authority was StormWatch. True, enough, I have a complete run of every incarnation of StormWatch but for me the series didn't REALLY start until Warren Ellis took over the book. Thing is, every incarnation thereafter I have loved as well, just as much as each of the others, but for different reasons.
Then there's Christos Gage. Here is a writer that I have been watching intently ever since the second Deadshot series (the first one came out in the '80s, kids).
Now one of my favorite writings is taking on two of my favorite teams, and though I know it is cliched (this is, after all, a comic book) I LOVE the fact that these two teams are beating the snot out of each other.
Now, a few years back another one of my favorite writers, namely Joe Casey, wrote an annual for The Authority. Again, in a moment of fanboy love he showed us the undead versions of heroes that initially worked alongside Midnighter and Apollo; it was a great reference to Warren Ellis's run, and something only a longtime fanboy would have appreciated. I read the story and mentally thanked Joe for bringing those characters back, but I figured that was REALLY the last time that I would see them.
I did mention that I love Gage's writing, correct? Well, those undead heroes appear to be back yet again, as well as a certain evil bad guy.
Pure fanboy lust, this series, and I am enjoying every single moment of it.
ASTONISHING X-MEN #24 $2.99 (Joss Whedon / John Cassaday)Thus ends Whedon and Cassaday's EXCELLENT run on their X-title. I have to say this, Whedon took the story in a direction that I never anticipated. Also, though I was (and still am, to a degree) against the return of Colossus, if it HAD to be done, well, this was one HECK of a way to do it. I remember so vividly the stunned look on Kitty Pryde's face as Peter Rasputin reappeared.
Like I said, I wasn't for his return as I thought his self-sacrificing death was one of the better deaths in comics, I do have to admit that Whedon really has a way with the character, as well as the relationship between him and Ms. Pryde.
Excellent stuff here guys; I tip my hat off to the creative team. They've done a fantastic job.
Whedon is certainly “the shizz”; now if only we could get a sequel to Serenity.
I know, I know, fanboy dreaming....
X-MEN #207 $2.99 (Mike Carey / Chris Bachalo)Though I was slow on the uptake I have been catching up on the various parts of this X-over (yeah, I'm punny) and I have to say that it is heading somewhere unknown. I have to admit that one of the things that I have liked about this interlinked story was seeing the teams work together as well as against each other, as well as a demonstration that there is a need for other aspects of the various X-teams (I'm thinking of X-Force, specifically).
I'm sure that the purpose of this series was to bring excitement back to the X-franchise, much as had been done with the Avengers titles in the last couple of years. Like I said, I know it took me a while to get to this point, but I'm actually quite eager to see exactly how everything is going to end.
Yeah, I'm dorking out for X-books again. I'll hold my “thank yous” to Marvel until they've maintained this momentum, but as of this particular moment I am having LOTS of fun with this book again.
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #1 (OF 6) $2.99 (Ed Brubaker / Paco Medina)I really enjoyed the Young Avengers book and would really like to see some more of this team, sooner rather than later.
Until the I have just this mini-series to tide me over, but come on, it's written by Ed Brubaker. Brubaker's work has always been solid, so no, maybe I don't have an ongoing YA book right now, and no, I don't get to see Jim Cheung drawing the team, but as holdovers go, yeah, I'm geeked.
Also, Paco Medina is NO slouch when it comes to art chores.
Michael wants MORE.
Anything that looked good to you this week? Your thoughts on anything else to do with comics? Share them! Just check out theWhat Looks Good message boards (see link below) and spread the love, my friend, spread the love.
Until then,
Peace!
-Diaz
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