Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 213
Before we start, I’m gonna break the rules for just a second and share pages from a book without asking the publisher. It’s well-past the final order cutoff for this issue one, so with this preview I’m asking you to hit stores and pick up any copy that may be on shelves. Or ask your retailer to order more.
This is LEADED GASOLINE, a horror (I can defend this position!) series from Lorenzo Re and I. With sterling letters from Jim Campbell. Published by Black Mask Studios.
I am defensive about the horror tag because the Hollywood scum informs me this would be a thriller. But I maintain that a serial killer is a horror concept. You know what? Whatever you decide is fine. Give the book a read and lemme know which you file it under. Here’s the first five pages to check out.
Hit your local comic shop to pick this one up in glorious newsprint (actually ‘manga paper’ according to the printer, but it’s the best we could find after going through three companies)!
Oh and let’s not forget STRINGER which hits stores on Weds. This is really a special book. I would call it bespoke because of how tailored it is to the team’s sensibilities. Nothing compromised here. Salute to Image Comics for the freedom to do a thick hardcover crime story for both weirdos and normies. I expect anyone who picks this up at their shop to inspect it will end up giving it a shot. So if you own a shop- hand sell this bad boy.
Just a thought that’s arrived at the edge of my brain: Were the 80s for nothing?
Much is made about how the 90s were a necessary sea change. And parallel to that is the suggestion that the 90s weren’t wholly unique, rather just a return to comics’ dominating the youth zeitgeist.
But, the 80s, with its tilt towards the mature and literary- was all that just some bullshit? We see some remnants, but it’s closer to dinosaur bones than standing policy. I’d argue the second Image revolution channeled a similar energy and I was very much onboard. But the Big Two never quite went home again. There’s efforts, certainly -and maybe we could blame the failures on trends in talent- but they just don’t manage to hit those high notes in adult reading anymore.
And from that, I have a concern. Is it possible, maybe, that creators have become solely character designers?
I guess this is my long way of saying, the Spiderverse sucks. The multiverse sucks. Multiple Flashes, Supermans, Spider-Mans, Doctor Stranges, or Batmans, just suck. And I know this has me at odds with Grant Morrison as much as Hollywood. But I think everyone can share the blame here.
Across social media I’ve begun tripping over a specific type of horror. The amateur or aspiring artist who will never grow past character design or background-free character commissions. This person recoils in fear at the suggestion of ‘sequential art.’ And they are really talented. It’s a loss for us.
They love everything about the new Spider-Man movie… but when I say everything, I mean colors and movement and design. I don’t know what the movie is about because I haven’t seen anyone talk about that.
Talented adult fans of these characters are sharing their ‘spidersonas’ online. Drawings of characters that go nowhere and have no agency or LIFE within a real story. It feels like there’s no connection whatsoever to the narrative that (presumably) undergirds the game of dress-up that these ‘something-verse’ endeavors ultimately are.
Possibly to my point, is this real?
I have to ask. Is it real? Apparently it’s real that the Nicolas Cage Superman does appear in The Flash movie. Google tells me so. But is this image from the actual film?
Jesus.
Ok, let’s get back on track.
Multiverse variations on characters are meant for very brief visions of possible futures or alternate dimensions. They aren’t actual characters. And by trying to MAKE them actual characters, we’ve effectively proven they are not. I doubt very much the Nic Cage Superman cameo attempts to be a real character, but the Spiderverse movies definitely attempt it with the equally ‘easter egg level’ Spiderpeople found throughout.
And this applies equally to comics and films now. It’s just a cultural obsession at the moment that there’s this other world that isn’t just possible- it’s already there. We don’t have to work for it. If I was a smarter man, I’d have a more fleshed out critique here. But, again, as unoriginal a thought as this is, it’s just hitting me now.
Quick followup on the #comicsbrokeme thing from last week. I watched a dude’s ‘career’ (in quotation because it’s very early) in comics get ‘destroyed’ (in quotation because while it was brought low, I imagine he’ll be fine in the end) for Tweeting almost the exact thing I very casually said here.
I think there’s a lesson in that. That man’s audience, intentional or otherwise, is the type of person who devotes an afternoon to cancelling you. And while I’m sure there’s the occasional weirdo who forwards this newsletter to friends in the hope of sparking something, I’ve largely curated a non-nutball reader.
I know loons seem unavoidable. I know it feels like you can’t not trip over strange malicious people if you’re putting things out in the world. And to a degree, of course, that’s true. But you can help yourself a bit by establishing a baseline of “keep me outta your bullshit.” These little groups in comics, with their “denounce this” or “promote that”… just keep it all away. Don’t count yourself part of anything but your creative team. And the best way to keep false advocates or allies at bay is to be a well-rounded person. If you express idiosyncratic views that reveal an inner life and sense of self, people will peel off. You didn’t live up to their unfair expectations. But that’s good. They’ll learn early that the box they’ve put you in constructed of party lines and slogans won’t hold. And then you’re free. Some loon will always attack you, because of course. But you can’t be destroyed by strangers with the type of flippant “here’s how I’ll spend my Sunday morning” attacks the creator in question was hobbled by.
Don’t think you can use community to advance your career. The sociopaths that are truly capable of that are in another league. You’re either born with the weasel gene or you’re not. Get yourself a house in the desert, a newsletter if you really must communicate, and work on your work.
Onto things I’ve read in the van: GOTHAM ACADEMY (omnibus, I think, I dunno, it’s 18 issues of content and pretty thick). This is Cloonan and Fletcher writing with Karl Kerschl on art duties. And, respectfully, Kerschl is doing all the work.
The writing is whiplash-inducing. It’s difficult to tell where the formula went wrong, but it feels like the goal was ‘for children’ and the result is ‘for children with attention deficit disorder.’ I was particularly alarmed by the scene transitions, which feel mandated for visual variety rather than story progression. And I know children learn by repetition, but what age are we putting the readers at? Because the ‘mystery’ in this series is hammered on so often that it feels like every few pages should just have “don’t forget, we haven’t told you everything” occupying a full panel.
It’s possible this one will find its footing before I reach the end, and certainly art fans have a lot to enjoy from jump. But I’m finding this a painful read. And it would be a deflection to say, “it’s not for you.” No shit. But that card doesn’t work against writers. Pull that one out on angry Tweeters, not me. I’m judging the construction of the thing rather than the style.
All that said, the proof is in the pudding and if kids did love this- I’m happy to be wrong. Good to have them reading comics. But I do sometimes worry that when we say something is a ‘hit’ with demographic A, B, or C, we fail to consider the narrow offerings and how something may become a hit. For example, if you live in a broke neighborhood with the only food source being bodegas, you may conclude that Big Texas cinnamon buns are a ‘hit.’ But that’s because it was that ‘food’ item versus an even less-appealing ‘food’ item in the same category.
If you’ve got access to this one from a public library, give it a shot. I’d be curious if I’m being too harsh in your view. And I will finish the series in the hope it grabs me.
On a hand-me-down iPad full of stolen digital comics, I found Batman. Or really, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT. And I’ve read 75 issues so far.
And, man, what an era.
Essentially an anthology series with every short arc helmed by different creative teams, I don’t know if there’s a current analogue. It feels very much the product of a moment where both periodical comics and Batman were cooking.
I wonder how much editorial guidance there may have been on these. The editors changed across the 75 issues I’ve read and some of them are very old-school, but the stories feel relatively pure products of the creators. Perhaps that’s because many are name brands. Many hot at the time and others well-established favorites.
It kicks off with a relatively conventional thriller from O’Neil/Hannigan/Beatty. This feels very much in line with material like THE LONGBOW HUNTERS. Genre fiction for readers who have been superhero readers for years and are now maturing alongside their interest.
I’m not sure there was a real mandate for the stories in this series, but allegedly it was to expand in whatever way on the general vibe of BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Basically, stuff that could or could not exist in the type of ‘quality canon’ DC was zeroing in on. So what you get is “here’s how Batman REALLY (maybe) learned to x or started to wear y or met z (er, maybe, we don’t know until we know how people respond).” The format allows creators all the latitude they could hope for, but that doesn’t ensure it pays off.
Some people worship at the altar of O’Neil. I can’t say I feel that intensely, but I will say he’s of a general seriousness that I am immediately drawn to. And this arc is just that. Sober and invested. The type of thing that does NOT thrill children, but wouldn’t lose a single adult enjoyer of genre fiction.
In whatever small way this reminded me of the film SHOOT TO KILL or, really, a dozen other survival thrillers. Though this one also has a lotta urban conspiracy stuff happening as well. Actually, come to think of it, this is sloppily stacked cake. But like most cake, pretty good.
In this week’s effort to break Midjourney AI’s completely idiotic content governors, we’ve got:
actresses from the 1993 film desert passion, jell-o wrestling, shot with Nikon D850 and Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens, natural light, style of National Geographic
Desert Passion is a skinflick that would come play endlessly during Cinemax’s free trial months in the 1990s. Viewed through an adult lens, it’s a strange captivity fantasy wherein women are kidnapped and made to service high-end clients. Sorta like Hostel, but sex. At 14-years-old, I wasn’t picking up on the troubling themes. I chose this movie for the prompt because I believed Midjourney could scrape reference images (almost all of which are provocative) from the internet but it wouldn’t be so obvious a title as to trigger the protective measures. And it caught me and shut down ‘wet t-shirt contest’ this time, so I had to pivot to ‘jell-o wrestling.’
I could criticize the arms that go nowhere or are seemingly shared by both figures. I could point out that Jell-O colored dresses are not actually the same thing as Jell-O. But I don’t care so much about that. I remain upset that this computer brain somehow channels a puritan preacher.
Sigh. Midjourney wins this round.
Alright, that’s it for me. I’m in Austin today. 104º and I’m playing outside. Challenge accepted, I guess. Have a good one. Do for self.