Comics

 I am a grown ass man, 40. I have a good job and do have hobbies that get me out of the basement like hockey, walking my dogs and hopefully a lot of golf and fishing this summer. I enjoy gardening, what I am getting at is I dont think I am what a ton of people think of when I say this I LOVE ME SOME COMICS! (Not 100% true my wife did send me a link to Weird Als White and Nerdy recently and said it was me) Well thats not fair with the rise of the MCU I think a million more people are into comics that may not have been 15 - 20 years ago. It really boggles my mind the MCU has been around for over a decade, I do think we all have some super hero hang over but this entry isn't about movies just pointing out the success of movies that I think has helped comics sales overall. Anyways a bit about what I am into these days and a few trends I hate.......

First off I got into comics in the late 80s early 90s. My babysitter had 2 sons, the oldest had a comic collection he didn't like us touching. Which I think makes little kids want them even more. He introduced me to the Uncanny Xmen & another title called Classic Xmen. So I was getting current stories and some of the best X tales. I loved the mutants! To be honest to this day they are still may fav "group" in all comics. Then I hit teenage years and back then it was not cool to like comics and I dropped them for grunge music and a girl. It was a good friend I have called Evil in early blog posts that got me back into comics. He showed me a title called Preacher, that blew my frickin mind!! I didn't realize comics could be like that but it also dawned on me comics are the perfect medium for stories like that. I got back in for a year or two but then took a couple years off not being able to afford them. (Or whiskey seemed more important to buy) I moved in with "Pop Culture" as I called him in earlier blogs but now he goes by Engineer Mike so thats what I will stick with. He got me back into buying early - mid 2000s for a few years. Mostly Bat and X titles. Then late 2000s I stopped buying again. Had a falling out with an employee at my shop and sometimes I do have a temper and hold grudges. It was 2 going on 3 years now I believe that "Evil" and I were talking and he got me back into them. I found a great new store (Or he pointed me towards them) Variant Edition. If you are in Edmonton check them out! My buying now is X, Bats and a lot of other rando titles. So thats my comics history.....

I guess I will start with AWA studios. When I restarted collecting a few years ago I grabbed an AWA book based solely on the cover and to be honest I can't remember which one it was. The fact was I was trying to build a file at that point. I knew I want X titles and Bat titles but was looking for my new "Preacher" type comic. Of course none are, but AWA has come as close as I can say. They have a mix, some supers, some gritty crime shit, some that are a mix of both and I love it. Their shared universe I can be honest I am not really into or have barely dipped my toes in. However the "realistic, gritty" stuff I eat up. If that is the kind of comic you are looking for check out AWA. I was EXTREMELY impressed with the 4th man recently. By the art you can tell what Hollywood actor they had in mind. Except for some of the shared universe titles I believe I have gotten every series they made in the last few years. I guess my big thing is they are a smaller studio but I feel they have a ton of potential and they are moving away from supes. (I would buy stock in them if I could) Which I kind of like. YES I love the over powered Phoenix. I also really enjoy titles like Punisher who has no powers and the stories are often brutal. AWA are masters at this. My biggest beef with them is "volumes" which is kind of my next paragraph so I won't get too much into it but why do volume 1 wait months and do volume 2. Just make a damn ongoing series!!!  Some of my favs have been Bad Mother, Casual Fling, Devils Highway and the super hero E-ratic. A couple non hits for me have been Chariot, Out and Byte Sized. 

So I do take issue with "volumes" or mini series! One thing I loved about Uncanny Xmen and something I love about Detective is the ongoing run (Over 1000 issues for Detective) An ongoing story where MANY plot lines can build, even over years. I am not a fan of the 4 - 6 issue format of AWA. I guess that isn't 100% true, something like casual fling worked perfect for that it had a beginning and an end. Likely won't be revisiting that story so yes in that case it works. I would rather cut the titles down to say 2 or 3 and make them ongoing. If you want a couple for the shared universe sure but then just really build a couple other titles. Don't do a run and then take half a year off and do another. Develop something, iconic characters are built that way.... And it isn't just AWA. If you look at Marvel the X titles have had so many minis. It is annoying!! Like if you want to do a story just plot it in the main title and go from there!! Not only that but crossovers! Maybe I do sound like an old man here but BACK IN MY DAY a crossover was a big event! If it happened you had to buy a couple issues of titles maybe you didnt collect to get the full story. NOW it seems like crossovers are every couple months and on top of that through tons of titles. Like I have a few long boxes that I keep my shit in order but I have to dedicate the front just to random titles I have to buy. I think the comic industry is making enough money off me that maybe we could just have stories in single titles and IF a crossover happens it better be MASSIVE! (Infinity War style)

Batman is for sure one of my top 5 characters of all time. His arch enemy though is my number 1. I love the Joker, I know it is cliché now to say it but man I loved Heaths portrayal. In my mind that is EXACTLY what Mr. J would be like. I also had faith he would be amazing. I liked all his stuff before that so I wasn't worried for Broke Back Joker)  I think DEEP down most people love him. Not just Heaths portrayal but the fact he has 0 fear and does literally whatever he wants. First off 0 fear, wouldn't that be great in your life? Never worrying about anything? Worry comes from your fears and insecurities, he has none. Being sprayed with fear toxin proved that. Also the freedom to do whatever you want. Just imagine you have that bad day at work, so you tell the customer to eat a dick and our boss to fuck off. Then you carry on your day not worried about it. Wouldn't that be awesome? Deep down you know it would, except he just kinda takes it WAY to far with murder and mayhem. He is so well written, it is like looking deep into our own darkest thoughts. Batman well how can you not like him. His tragic back story is the thing of legends now. Honestly he has the best rogues gallery in history. Since I have come back to reading we have seen the Joker war and Bruce has lost his millions. Which is a great turn. They have introduced Clownhunter and Ghost Maker. Both I started off thinking would be lame and both are amazing lol. The side series Joker also has been amazing. The current arc Shadow War I feel is going to end BIG but maybe I am wrong. (Side note this has taken forever to write but Shadow War is one of my all time fav arcs) Fear State was decent, since I have been reading again overall the titles have been great. Punchline is also a new fav but she seems to be falling into background. I THINK she was meant to replace Harley. Well that's clear actually but to get back to her being crazy. Harley became a fan fav & overtime has grown way past being just a love interest and henchman. Punchline though is perfect for it and so dark! I dunno it just feels like I jumped back in at the perfect time. I do have to say the bat family has gotten way too big. Like it is almost a universe of its own. A lot of them I dont even know which is annoying having sometimes google to find out who these people are. Either way I am glad to be back reading the bat

So I have to mention a few writers that have hooked me. First Donny Cates. He got me with Thor. The fact was I grabbed Thor #1 just cause I like MCU Thor but didn't know how good a writer Donny was. I would think Thor could be a pretty boring character. I don't know because I don't have many issues but that was my fear. However right from issue 1 Donnie nails it. I was hooked even more than the MCU Thor. Then my local shop suggested Crossover. I will admit I dropped it now sadly. Not because it wasn't good but I should have read more backstories to it. The concept though was fresh and awesome. James Tynion IV is another one, wow. Jumping back in while he was doing Batman was a great time. His creations in Clownhunter and Ghost Maker are amazing. The fact is both of them I thought were lame for a few issues (Still on the fence with clownhunter) but they mostly both came around as well written characters. Plus Punchline. Harley was awesome. She out grew Jokers side kick / love interest. Which is fine it happens, Punchline is a better fit anyways. Harley has always been a great character but Punchy is a dark version of her. Letos Joker can have Harley, they are written well together. Ledger I didn't think could have a Harley until Punchline came around. She is on his level. Of course there is Garth Ennis whose recent Punisher was awesome and can't wait to see him on it again. His AWA Temporal Criminal was classic Ennis and I hope I see more from him there. I did scroll through AWA roster to add a couple names BUT the fact was there was so many good writers on so many series I couldn't just pick one!

So I was suggested to read Red Room. My store knows I like dark stuff BUT this was too much. First issues I really thought maybe they were building to something. It seemed to have potential but  it went no where. I can't do gore porn. I can accept some really brutal shit IF it is going to build to something. Pure crap just for the sake of crap I have 0 interest in. The shitty thing is I am not lying I had high hopes for Red Room, like to the point I almost want to steal the idea and work on it myself. I don't really know where I was going with that just there is a lot of crap out there as well. 

Just a small note about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I read the Last Ronin and wow, I was amazed. I knew way back TMNT was actually kind of dark and gritty BUT I grew up with the pizza loving "dudes" Loved the original cartoon and movies. Loved the semi recent reboot with Megan Fox but hadn't honestly dipped my toe into the real TMNT. The Last Ronin actually hit me right in the feels. It was so freaking good! Not my cartoony dudes but just mind blowingly good, no wonder the first printing sold out so fast! 

Lets get onto the title that started it all for me X-Men. Early 90s X-Men I liked but at the same time I started picking up "Classic X-Men" I maintain those were the best stories and the Claremont run is one of the best runs in any comics ever. Heroes and villains weren't black and white anymore. They had flaws and villains all of a sudden had a reason, they weren't just bad to be bad. Some had back stories and reasons like preventing another holocaust. It took awhile to read a comic. I buy my comics come home and read. It doesn't take me long to blow through most books now. I have been on a kick buying as many Claremont issues as I can it it takes double the time to read. Which I don't mind, I feel I am getting a full story!! 13 X-Men films have been made, including spin offs. At least 8 are from the Claremont run. Having just ranted villains had a point, not all, some were just bad but they were interesting. Mr. Sinister and Apocalypse BOOM my number 2 and 3 behind Magneto. I am so frustrated in 13 films Sinister was hinted at once and we never saw him. Apocalypse was terrible. Sorry Oscar luv ya, Moon Knight was amazing but they did you dirty in the X series. My point is now we get villain like Hordeculture. Gardening grannies is a legit villain group now wtf? So ya I do think the Claremont run that was wrapping up as I was getting into comics is unmatched. Without it I doubt I would be into X-Men. Also I don't think the title would be nearly as popular as it is / was without Claremont. I jumped back in a almost the perfect time, the House of X, Powers of X series. It kind of was perfect actually, it was a reboot of the X-Men. The concept is neat, all mutants living together good and bad as a nation.  It was cool because a MASSIVE catalogue became available to writers. Then probably the best and worst part also happened. Death was solved. Any mutant killed can simply be brought back. So again this is cool any mutant even long gone can now be back to be written with!!! HOWEVER it now begs the question, what's the point? There is no danger anymore, go fight the enemy and if they die whatever back next week. I mean it does set a very game of thrones feel. All these mutants on an island, all with their own schemes. Clearly there is a lot of scheming going on. From he Hellfire Trading Co. to Bar Sinister..... Another thing I am not happy about is having a million titles. This isn't just an Xman thing either BUT mostly an X issue. With the relauch I really wanted to get back into comics and for the first few months was buying each title and any minis or one shots. I couldn't do it. Or if I did I could not afford any other titles. I get its a business but it shouldn't break peoples wallets. Like if I was a teenager working part time or a kid I wouldn't be able to afford to read comics. That's not good. That WAS the bread and butter of the comic industry. Now it is secondary as the Age of the Nerd has come profit on the popularity of comics has overtaken writing for "nerds", X titles are really bad for this. Anyways a few of my fav titles recently have fallen into the X family. Hellions was a very good title. It took mostly B and C level characters and wove a great story. Where people actually started to care about some background villains. WHY they cancelled it I don't know, again my limited run peeve. Marauders is another series that did that stupid limited run but at least they started again right away. Why though why not just keep the title running, why do I have 2 issues 1s in my long box within a few years? Issue 1s used to be a big deal. Also on that who knew over the years Kitty Pryde would grow to be such a badass. 

Last point and I will try not to beat on it but stop reinventing heroes. Superman is a middle American white boy. Batman is a rich tragic white boy. I am using these two as everyone knows their stories. Get mad if you want but we don't need affirmative action changing them to visible minorities. I get everyone wants to see themselves in heroes and I have no issue with that but create a new character! Write some original stories and bring these people into the public view of pop culture! Also that cant be their only defining thing, that they are a minority! Again Claremont did an amazing job in the 80s of showing the world the struggles people faced without being preachy. Try that again! Metaphors and great stories go along way! I am adding a Ms. Marvel reference right here. Watched episode 1 of it last night. Not my cup of tea. It clearly is aimed at people who want to see themselves in heroes, which is totally cool. I am glad the MCU is expanding and bringing more people in. I just personally don't have a ton in common with a Muslim teenage girl. However I find it perfect. They aren't changing someone or rewriting a character they went out and invented a new one to fill a hole! I would rather that than 20 Batpeople!! Also that wasn't a slam at the new Ms Marvel series. I enjoyed the episode, I just hope they keep making blockbusters for a wider audience! I guess I am saying don't make woke programming just to be woke. Make it because it is well written and entertaining!