Comics Books!

[trickybus]

Now that you think of it its the case with Batman. "Where is the joker?!" I get sick of it too if they try shoving the dame fucking villains in every media

This I am 100 percent onboard with. Joker needs to go away and take his shrink with him. Batman has a plethora of underused villains but nah, let's keep up-ing Joker's bullshit to such heinous heights that the stories become parodies of themselves

 

[Octopus]

This I am 100 percent onboard with. Joker needs to go away and take his shrink with him. Batman has a plethora of underused villains but nah, let's keep up-ing Joker's bullshit to such heinous heights that the stories become parodies of themselves

I cannot agree more. It's gotten to the point where if I see the Joker appear in something new, it actually affects my opinion of it. There's so many better villains, The Killing Joke was like 40 years ago, fuck off.

 

[Yousef]

Guys guys guys
There’s too much batman hate here

Clearly, we should throw punches at this loser.

 

[Octopus]

Guys guys guys
There’s too much batman hate here

Clearly, we should throw punches at this loser. View attachment 1131

A man who thought he was an octopus, then thought he was a spider. Sad.

 

[trickybus]

Guys guys guys
There’s too much batman hate here

Clearly, we should throw punches at this loser. View attachment 1131

Hasn't Paul done enough?

 

[RiskyAsh]

Another week, another goofy post about what I read that week - the wheel turns, and the cycle begins anew.

In no particular order this time!

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Absolute Superman (Jason Aaron with guest artists Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ulises Arreola) has gone so much more bloody than you'd expect, while being topical and refreshingly pointed with it's criticisms of the world at large. This current arc has made a real monster out of the new version of Brainiac especially, currently tormenting and attempting to radicalize Kal-El. Here's a picture of Murder Angel Superman, because holy shit.

​

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Uncanny X-Men (Gail Simone with artists Luciano Vecchio and Rachelle Rosenberg) leaves the other X-Men book to be the "Avengers" or quasi-military task force, and focuses instead on the team being a family to new young mutants in trouble. It's sweet, a little sappy, and extremely "set in Louisiana". (Basically an excuse for Gambit to be home and irrepressibly Cajun). It's a consistently good book about an oppressed group taking care of their own in the Deep South, and it's easily the horniest of the X-Books at present. (The more of a horny soap opera the X-Men are, the better, that's just science).

A recent issue had the teen mutants watching a new slasher film with a mutant as the villain, which was an interesting look at how stereotypes get presented and normalized in the media. Being a comic book, the actress playing the killer is *also* a psychic, and currently haunting the dreams of one our heroines as her cinematic alter-ego, Mutina. (Mutant Tina, get it?)

​

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Cheetah & Cheshire Rob The Justice League (Greg Rucka, with art by Nicola Scott and Annette Kwok) is a heist story, if the name didn't give that away! Greg Rucka is so good at grounding comic book characters without taking them out of the genre; yes, they live in a world where people fly, but they're still people. In this case, Cheetah and Cheshire's casual friendship/partnership is charming, a mix of old girlfriends and Clooney and Pitt from Ocean's 11. It's a slow burn so far, we're in the "assemble the crew" stage of the heist, but I'm locked in for the rest.

The "muscle" of the crew, a new (I think) character named Alya, rescuing protestors from riot police.​

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Ultimate X-Men (by Peach Momoko) is essentially a manga with some familiar names and concepts. It skews a bit more horror than action, and it's all gorgeous thanks to Peach Momoko. This week was an exception though, with a rumble in the streets between the newly dubbed X-Men and a cult known as the Children of the Atom. I'll be honest, the pacing is difficult for me at times, at least on a monthly basis. I'll read it all again soon and see if it hangs together better, but I'm frequently a bit lost and unsure what's going on.

(That almost doesn't matter though, when the art looks this fun).

​

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Batman (Matt Fraction, art by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey) is a new #1 for the main Batman series, only the fourth time or so they've done that. The first issue doesn't kick off a bold new status quo or anything - it's still beholden to the current continuity, such as Vandal Savage being the Gotham Police Commissioner while Gordon is busted down to beat cop - and I've no idea where this leaves the other on-going Batman series, as it's still telling the Hush sequel. (It's been some trash though, so I'm not terribly concerned about it).

Like most Fraction comic books, technology plays a huge part, with an emphasis on gadgets and a style choice of consistent word balloons dedicated to whatever device Bruce is using at the time, like it's promoting this stuff on QVC. That said, the actual story bucks the tech-heavy style for an abundance of human empathy, with Batman tracking down a morphing Killer Croc, who's mentally in something of a child-like state. He tracks him down without a fight, choosing to sit down and talk it out till his doctors show up. It's a nice way of showing a modern version of the character isn't too "tacti-cool", distinguishing him from a vigilante with guns and gear.

...it's not terribly original either, and feels like a low stakes version of the final episode of Justice League Unlimited specifically. Hopefully the following issues do more to stand out.

I did laugh at this though, a roving gang of dudes after women's hair shouting "Why don't you smile, baby girl?!" called The Creeps, who Batman simply hits with his car.​

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Alright, that's all I got in me right this second!

 

[trickybus]

A recent issue had the teen mutants watching a new slasher film with a mutant as the villain, which was an interesting look at how stereotypes get presented and normalized in the media. Being a comic book, the actress playing the killer is *also* a psychic, and currently haunting the dreams of one our heroines as her cinematic alter-ego, Mutina. (Mutant Tina, get it?)

Okay, but that Mutina panel is dope!

It's interesting that the writer went with the slasher genre as, in my experience, it tends to be a lightning rod for feminist issues and debate about violence as an entertainment medium more than the dissemination of harmful stereotypes. I know that stereotypes do exist in slasher films but they aren't usually the target of criticism. I'm open to correction on the topic.

I did laugh at this though, a roving gang of dudes after women's hair shouting "Why don't you smile, baby girl?!" called The Creeps, who Batman simply hits with his car.

The main dude straight up looks like a Trickster clone, so the attempted vehicular homicide is justified. Batman W

 

[RiskyAsh]

Okay, but that Mutina panel is dope!

It's interesting that the writer went with the slasher genre as, in my experience, it tends to be a lightning rod for feminist issues and debate about violence as a entertainment medium more than the dissemination of harmful stereotypes. I know that stereotypes do exist in slasher films but they aren't usually the target of criticism. I'm open to correction on the topic.

Well, in their mainstream heyday they definitely reinforced a lot of conservative values. It's a bit like GTA V, where all this transgressive looking material is still working on the moral axis of a ranting preacher, condemning sex, drinking, and teenagers having anything resembling fun.

In terms of racial stereotypes.....well, I can't think of much anything in a modern slasher, but arguably Birth of a Nation portrayed a black man stalking a white woman in much the same way as a killer in most movies today; the author may have been more concerned with cinematic depictions of minorities as a whole, with slashers being more a style decision than anything.

The main dude straight up looks like a Trickster clone, so the attempted vehicular homicide is justified. Batman W

Need a "Hit that bitch with a Batmobile" perk in DBD already.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Another week, another goofy post about what I read that week - the wheel turns, and the cycle begins anew.

In no particular order this time!

---

Absolute Superman(Jason Aaron with guest artists Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ulises Arreola) has gone so much more bloody than you'd expect, while being topical and refreshingly pointed with it's criticisms of the world at large. This current arc has made a real monster out of the new version of Brainiac especially, currently tormenting and attempting to radicalize Kal-El. Here's a picture of Murder Angel Superman, because holy shit.

View attachment 1125​

---

Uncanny X-Men (Gail Simone with artists Luciano Vecchio and Rachelle Rosenberg) leaves the other X-Men book to be the "Avengers" or quasi-military task force, and focuses instead on the team being a family to new young mutants in trouble. It's sweet, a little sappy, and extremely "set in Louisiana". (Basically an excuse for Gambit to be home and irrepressibly Cajun). It's a consistently good book about an oppressed group taking care of their own in the Deep South, and it's easily the horniest of the X-Books at present. (The more of a horny soap opera the X-Men are, the better, that's just science).

A recent issue had the teen mutants watching a new slasher film with a mutant as the villain, which was an interesting look at how stereotypes get presented and normalized in the media. Being a comic book, the actress playing the killer is *also* a psychic, and currently haunting the dreams of one our heroines as her cinematic alter-ego, Mutina. (Mutant Tina, get it?)

View attachment 1135​

OH NO! Mutina is going to steal Becca's glow in the dark dinosaur!

 

[RiskyAsh]

OH NO! Mutina is going to steal Becca's glow in the dark dinosaur!

Ughhhhh, it's all kinda sad and sweet too - she's giving her nightmares that she sleepwalks through, and Rogue, Gambit and the others look after her at night.

​

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Ughhhhh, it's all kinda sad and sweet too - she's giving her nightmares that she sleepwalks through, and Rogue, Gambit and the others look after her at night.

View attachment 1156View attachment 1157View attachment 1158View attachment 1159​

T^T
Poor Becca. She needs a hug!

 

[RiskyAsh]

Hasn't Paul done enough?

View attachment 1134

Oh, hell, I forgot to mention....

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Oh, hell, I forgot to mention....

View attachment 1160

Paul looks like my older brother if he worked out!?

 

[RiskyAsh]

Paul looks like my older brother if he worked out!?

I don't think he's any worse than Peter "I missed all your birthdays cause crime" Parker!

 

[Octopus]

Batman

I was hoping you'd do a little write up on this, it's something I've actually been a little excited for; I really like Fraction's stuff, and Jimenez is an amazing artist. Also, a modernized blue-and-grey is something I'm all for and I'm surprised hasn't happened too many times already. I'll probably read through the first issue today if I have time.

Uncanny X-Men

The other thing I've been a little curious about, as I'm also of the camp where the X-Men should be horny soap opera as too many adaptations play up the paramilitary angle to varying degrees I find. I've heard a little buzz about it before but I've been avoiding as much details as I can of it. I'm not the biggest Simone fan, but I don't dislike her, and I may need to pretend like Gambit isn't in it, but it's also going on my list that I'll get in 10 years.