What Are You Reading?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Found a Twitter thread explaining how much Suicide Squad, specifically the Ostrander run, captures what I love about the DC universe. Some of the best DC comics like Swamp Thing, Sandman, Animal Man, Starman are all about taking DC characters who were left behind the cracks by obscurity or previous lack of success, and re-contextualizing them into characters who revel in the corners that A-listers like Batman often ignore. Ostrander's Suicide Squad is nothing but that, taking characters who had no meaning or purpose in their lives thanks to reboots or prematurely cancelled runs, and taping their broken puzzle pieces into one new whole.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Speaking of Starman, it looks like DC is planning a re-release for next year with mega-sized omnibi editions. I usually don't double-dip but I'm really tempted to get this release as it will allow me to physically own the first half of the series (much of which I had to buy digitally thanks to volume 3 being out of print and rare enough to be overpriced). Not to mention that it will contain The Shade mini-series from the 90's that isn't available in print anywhere but in said third volume. That always bothered me because I had to skip them which made parts of the climactic story arc needlessly confusing since it heavily references that story.

That Sucidide Squad run sounds interesting. I've been reading Secret Six on and off, which also uses less popular villain characters, and while it gets off to a slow start it has started picking up a bit. I'd be cool to check out Sucide Squad after finishing this series.

I also tend to really like comic book runs that pair up or examine obscure characters from a given publication's history. Nextwave is probably one of my favorites in that regard, and it's a shame that Marvel doesn't have other miniseries to highlight other obscure characters of their own. I've also really been loving JLI, and while none of those characters are obscure, a good chunk of them are clearly far from A-listers, so it allows writers to take more creative liberty with how they portray them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm currently on volume 3 of JLI and this series is just so much goddamn fun. I also read the crossover story with Ostrander's Suicide Squad that Insomniac was talking about a bit ago, so I'll definitely get back around to that series, eventually.

Anyways, what I think allows the sense of humor in JLI to still stand the test of time is how character-driven it is. The social commentary may be in reference to things going on during the 80's, but they are generalized and integrated into the comic itself well enough to the point of not getting lost in just being referential humor, but actually manages to still pertain to the story at hand. Likewise, while even the more serious characters are uncharacteristically more humorous, I think this run can get away with it largely because they are still playing it straight within the context of the fictional Universe itself. It's also just kind of fun to see the days when cape comics could just have fun and have a set if issues with a villain who wanted to force Earth into a bargain trade agreement, and the top politicians are treating it like a nuisance of the month rather than a global threat.

Also, after having read all of Jack Kirby's original run on Mister Miracle, I'm really happy with how many good moments Scott has gotten in this series up to this point. He's easily my favorite JLI member with Booster Gold as a close second.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I read Batman: Death in the Family yesterday. You know, even though everyone remembers this as the one where Jason Todd dies, that's the least weird moment in the book. The story takes a really odd turn into US-Iran relations, and the last act with the Joker becoming the Iranian ambassador to the UN almost feels like one of those WWII-era wartime comics in regards to its treatment of late 80s global politics. Jason's death is an afterthought compared to all that. The entire comic is tonally all over the place. It switches back and forth from Joker going on wacky schemes with the Iranian military to Batman grimly looking upon mass starvation in Ethiopian villages. I heard Mark Hamill say WB was going to adapt this comic into another one of those animated movies, and I don't know how they possibly could without taking giant liberties on everything except the Jason parts.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I mean, they already did adapt Jason Todd's death in Under The Red Hood, which you even reviewed on our old blog about a decade ago.

I read the story myself two years ago and pretty much got the same vibes. About the only thing in it that actually had any emotional weight to it was Superman showing up and trying to console Batman, as well as prevent him from going over the edge. But, for how dark it's supposed to be, it's kind of absurdly silly. While that could work in other circumstances, as you've said it just feels tonally inconsistent with how serious the story is supposed to be. Being real here, this was clearly just done for a sales push since readers hated Jason Todd anyways and they had people vote on if he died to generate buzz and sell issues. It was never properly set up to have any lasting emotional weight to it.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I mean, they already did adapt Jason Todd's death in Under The Red Hood, which you even reviewed on our old blog about a decade ago.

Which was what confused me at first, because they're apparently doing it again. There are hundreds of Batman stories they could adapt into potentially wonderful animated movies, but they're stuck adapting things they already made movies out of. Though I say "potentially" because a lot of the recent DC animated movies they've done have been either bland like the Hush movie or lame like the Batman and Harley Quinn one. Or those movies that takes place in their own little DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU?). The closest one that stood out to me was that Death/Return of Superman one from last year.

As for Death in the Family, it did seem like DC was hot off the success of Dark Knight Returns and wanted to do something similar with the main continuity. Touching on political hot buttons at the time, Batman losing Jason, Superman working for the government and trying to stop Batman's vigilantism from going too far, the Joker going on absurdly silly violence (going to a talk show and going on a murderous rampage in TDKR's case, something I definitely noticed the recent Joker movie cribbing from). It's all there, but nowhere nearly as well-executed. And I don't even like Dark Knight Returns all that much.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like TDKR myself, as I feel that Miller did a good job of establishing that alternate Universe and distinguishing that version of Batman as a different character from the main continuity (Year One proves that he knew how to write a more traditional Batman). Of course, this was pre-mental breakdown Frank Miller. Now ASSBAR, that's where shit got really fucked up.

As for the current animated movies....yeah, they're pretty garbage. Gotham By Gaslight at least had a decent animation style and competent people to work on it, even if it was average at best, and the TMNT crossover at least felt like something I would have genuinely enjoyed as a kid. Everything else since Flashpoint has been so dull and lifeless, though, and I genuinely can't stand the stilted animation style that literally every animated DC movie uses at this point. These all come off as lackluster adaptations of popular story-lines. And I didn't even bother checking out the Justice League movie that was supposedly part of JLU's continuity. While they mimicked the animation style, I'm sure the story and characters would have felt just as stock and recycled as anything else that DC animated has done recently.

The thing is, I'm not so blinded by nostalgia to think that the old DCAU stuff was perfect. I can see a lot of the flaws in the older stuff as well. However, re-watching random BTAS, STAS, BB, and JL/U episodes, they still almost always manage to entertain me because there was a clear sense of passion in creating those and that translates into the final product. These most recent movies have felt like they are almost only being done out of obligation and nobody really enjoys working on them.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I definitely respect TDKR and find some things to like about it like Carrie or the focus on Batman's aging psyche, but I couldn't get over the endless talking head news anchor exposition that happens throughout the comic. And because the average panels per page is 16 instead of 6 or 9 like regular comics, it means a lot of talking that grinds any momentum to a halt.

As for the Justice League movie, yeah. I watched it and it amounted to a bland JLU episode stretched to seventysomething minutes. I'll admit it was a little fun seeing this incarnation of the League again, and I didn't dislike the new characters introduced, but it's hard to say anything else about it other than it exists.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It just seems baffling to me why they would even bother with a new movie set in that Universe unless they could reunite the original seven. I mean, I suppose it could get the movie a few more sales from desperately nostalgic fans, but I doubt that would really amount to much more than usual. It just feels kind of pointless if it's only the trinity being involved with new characters, in which case it could have just as well been set in a different Universe.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I don't get it either. Making another DCAU thing sounds like something that would require a bigger occasion than some League members fighting a bunch of Legion of Superheroes villains. I don't think they even advertised it any more than the other movies either. It was just "Hey, have a JLU movie. Whatever." If they ever do make a movie with all of the original seven back, they better come up with something interesting for them to do instead of fight a forgettable C-list villain or defend Earth against another alien invasion. It fucking sucks Dwayne McDuffie isn't around anymore to steer these films or DC cartoons in general in a better direction. The years since his death have been rough on the brand.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I found this thread regarding Tom King's Batman. After how good his opening Batman stories were, I've been on the fence for the later half of King's run. I appreciate him going for a more reflective, philosophical Batman, but it doesn't work when he has to tie it to big events like Bane conquering Gotham again, and all the issues with Flashpoint Thomas are polarizing. And I still have a bad aftertaste from the way he handled the wedding.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I was really liking King's run up through The War of Jokes and Riddles and some of the smaller one-off stories after that. However, it has been kind of a slog to read through ever since that point.

On another note, I recently just read the first issue of Superman Destroys the Klan, which is a remake/re-interpretation of the old radio drama from the 40's. It's written by Gene Luen Yang who also did New Superman (I only read the first two volumes of that, but they were entertaining). It's really charming and fun, especially with a Superman new to his powers and who has to be witty since he's not even sure how to fly yet. This reminds me a lot of Jeff Smith's remake of the classic Shazam! story "The Monster Society of Evil," as well as something like Roger Langridge's "Thor: The Mighty Avenger." It's both fun and campy in a very self-aware way like those other two works, and it's the perfect kind of comic to introduce children to superheroes with.

It's definitely shaping up to be a fun little miniseries.

[Mustang]

Hajime no Ippo - I hate you, Morikawa. Playing with my emotions. Just put Ippo back in the ring already or rename the series to Hajime no Sendo. Seeing Ippo as a teacher/coach don't suit him at all, but the build up of everything revolving around him is so good.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Morrison gets mad at the DC Universe.

[Avaitor]

I love my local comic book shop. They had the second omnibus of Starman for only $10. It's so cheap because it's a little bent, which I'm totally fine with. Now to find the first one, although apparently it's out of print. Or at least the paperback editions are.

Either way, I wouldn't get to it for a while. My queue is just ever growing.