Who's who in the Comics Bulletin Universe - Update 2009
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 #251: A Just And Mighty Authority!
Kind of a light week this week for me, so I’m just going to jump right into What Looks Good…
AUTHORITY #8 $2.99 (Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning / Simon Coleby)The Authority is a team that was supposed to have saved the world, even if that meant saving the world from itself. There's just one problem: the world went ahead and ended and the Authority are left to try to pick up what few pieces are left. Ultimately this means that the Authority failed at their job. They weren't there to keep the peace, or to take out individual super-powered threats like StormWatch, nor were they trying to control and save the world via commerce like the Wildcats. No, the only job of the Authority was to make it a better world through any means necessary.
And now the Earth has been almost completely destroyed, or at least civilization as it was known.
So yeah, The Authority did not do its job.
And now, they are trying to help what few people remain, but remnants of civilization exist.
But how does a group continue to function when they know in the back of their heads that they've already failed, that they've already lost?
For me, I am enjoying the examination not only of the WildStorm Universe's post-apocalyptic Earth, but also how the psyches of the various team members are holding up. The dark and dour Midnight seems to be plodding along as always, but then again, he always was the pessimist of the group, but still, he misses and yearns for a husband that must almost perpetually live above the clouds in order to stay alive. The Engineer is left quite literally naked as the technology and the powers that made her who she was continue to fail her.
And Jack Hawksmoor, the man who was tied into the cities of the world, is a shell of his former self.
There are beaten, some more than others, and yet, the team is in some capacity trying to still do right despite the fact that they have failed so spectacularly.
This issue sees what is left of the team try to assist the remaining UK by trying to capture a super-powered threat that escaped during the chaos of the Earth's destruction.
Good stuff.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL TP VOL 01 $17.99 (Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis / Kevin Maguire)I actually believe that I have a version of this somewhere, so I don't think I will actually be picking this up, rather I wanted to mention this title as just seeing it solicited again makes me smile and brings me back that time when I truly started to love comics.
True, I bought the occasional issue of G.I. Joe at the convenience store when I was a kid, but it wasn't until a couple of years later when I started going to the comic book store and picked up issues of Uncanny X-Men and Justice League International when I became a true-blue comic book geek.
This is some classic stuff here, so if you don't own this already in one form or another you really should pick it up.
Awesome.
MIGHTY #2 $2.99 (Peter J. Tomasi & Keith Champagne / Peter Snejbjerg)I have to say that I was not entirely blown away by the first issue, but I liked it more than enough to be really interested in this issue.
Basically take one guy that is caught in some sort of industrial accident, kind of like Spider-Man, but is instead given powers that make him like Superman. Take those two archetypes, and then build an entire governmental agency around this individual. Think SHIELD only tied to a Superman-type character, only much more like the CIA, and also where the Nick Fury character is constantly being killed off or going insane after shouldering the responsibility. So, instead of one Nick Fury, well, you have to keep replacing Nick Fury.
I tend to like the books that mess with the traditional comic book archetypes (The Authority, The Ultimates) and inject this version into a more realistic world setting. So I think I'll be giving this comic a few more issues to grow on me.
What comics did you get geeked out about this week? Just stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share!
See you next week!
Peace!
-Diaz
Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.