Holy Terror (comics)

Writer/Artist: Frank Miller
Original Graphic Novel

Is there a single person who actually wanted this book to come out? I think this was the one project everyone came together and agreed should not happen. How or why was irrelevant.

Unfortunately, the book is finished and out in the wild. The world is just a little bit worse for it. It really is as racist and insulting as you expected.

It's a typical night in Empire City. A slow night, even. The Fixer chases Natalie Stack across rooftops, engaging in their usual flirtatious game. Suddenly, explosions. Suicide bombers. It's at this point that The Fixer decides that killing a bunch of terrorists is about as good a response as any. Stack tags along and guts a few dudes herself.

It's no secret that this book was originally meant to star Batman. Halfway through, Miller realized this probably wasn't a story that fits the Dark Knight. The remains of its original intent are still there. Even with the minor changes he made, Batman stand-in The Fixer and Faux-Catwoman are dead ringers for the originals. Fauxwoman even moves like her DC counterpart, with heavy emphasis on catlike poses and movements. So yeah, you can tell, but it's a good thing Miller decided to change it; I can't picture Batman shooting terrorists in the head and I get the impression Miller didn't want to settle for mere broken bones.

The ignorant racism on display here is the thing that sticks out the most. It's not like Miller is subtle with it. At one point late in the story Fauxwoman infiltrates a mosque; the only caption on the entire page is "the night wind blows away seven centuries". Fauxwoman declares that she's sent a man to his "seventy two virgins" in the afterlife. Everything is "infidel" this and "infidel" that. The Faker muses about how likely it is your random terrorist is named Mohammed. How could you miss it?

As expected, there's no flip side of the coin to be found. Anyone identified as a Muslim in this book is a terrorist. Not that I expected a fair and balanced portrayal. At some point in the last ten years Frank Miller morphed into something resembling a flag waving, government worshipping tool that would probably fit in working at Fox News. He's displayed ignorance of Islam in interviews and will look for any excuse to talk about what a major enemy we're at war with here and "wake up pond scum" and all that. He almost comes off like a parody of hardcore neo-Cons.

Which is an astounding turnaround, because this is the guy who wrote Batman inciting revolutions and the sequel to Robocop, the latter being one of the most anti-conservative films to ever hit the silver screen.

All for what? This piece of propaganda is about ten years too late. If this came out about a year or two after 9/11, maybe the anger would be understandable. Maybe the populace, as confused and easily led as we were, would've bought into it. As it is, we're currently a little over a decade removed from that day; in that time, we've fought several wars that destroyed our economy and even caught the head honcho of Al Queda. Said terrorist group was not even the focus for about seven of those years. The irrational hatred is still around - just the same as racism in general never truly dies - but the slow process of moving past it started a while ago.

So the question is, what the hell is this even for? Nowadays terrorism isn't much more than the boogeyman our government uses to take away our rights while claiming it's to keep us safe. What, do we wage war on Islam and all who practice it? Miller seems to think every one of them is a terrorist, so maybe that is indeed what he's suggesting. Regardless, it's stupid, mean-spirited and misguided in every way. Thanks man, the world really needs more fuel on the fire.

The art is... well, it's definitely Millers work. He's still a master, even if ignorance has taken root in his mind. It's far scratchier than I like. But that's me; I also felt the art kind of struggled to hold together in some scenes late in DKR, which is his magnum opus, so grain of salt. Regardless, he's still pushing boundaries. He works with the landscape format again - the one he used for 300 - and it suits his art well. It's a lot of real estate to draw on and Miller is not afraid to use all of it, whether we're talking four panels a page to eight to twenty four.

Such a shame his talent is wasted on such xenophobic garbage.

My Opinion: Burn It

This was a waste of time, space and energy. It's stupid, racist and embarrassingly wrongheaded. On top of that, the story is so basic that there's little worth here outside of the artwork, even if you're a big Miller fan. Scientists have yet to discern whether or not this book is brain crushingly stupid enough to cause a tumor, so play it safe and treat this book like radioactive sludge. Shit like this should not be encouraged.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command (comics)

Writer: Haden Blackman
Artist: Rick Leonardi
Collects: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #1-5

We don't get many stories that focus on Darth Vader himself, do we? Kind of a rare treat. This miniseries does not disappoint.

We start about a month removed from Revenge of the Sith and Vader has since begun his campaign to wipe out the remaining Jedi. But before long the Emperor has a fetch mission for him. Seems the son of the future Moff Tarkin has up and went missing on a mission to a backwater part of the galaxy. Naturally, Vader's got to clean the mess up. He's even given a shadow because the Emperor's an idiot; why he was shocked Vader tossed him over a railing to his death in Return of the Jedi I'll never quite get.

What we have is a rounded portrayal of the iconic Sith lord. Haunted by visions of what could have been, we catch the occasional glimpse of that spark of humanity his son would one day revive. The rest of what we get is a Vader that is as deadly as we've ever seen. It isn't long at all before we see just how ruthless, cunning and vicious he could be. While the Vader of the films was fine with getting his hands dirty when necessary, it was never to the extent we get here. He actively participates in a brutal, efficient takedown of a city, orders survivors drowned, tosses civilians into hot tar pits to get information from a hostage and has no qualms about sinking an entire city.

Dude doesn't play games.

The story is engaging and moves at a brisk pace. It's helped along by a Darth Vader that feels authentic*, if younger and a bit more brash than we saw in his later years. Even his fleeting moments of sorrow over his lost wife work; the few scenes we get are more believable than the entire half of Episode II dedicated to building that "love story". Even if you give pause at the slightest bit of self loathing or regret, know that Blackmans got you covered; by the stories end, Vader proves himself every bit the evil prick we've always thought he was. Maybe even worse.

I don't have a lot to say about the art other than it's pretty decent. Leonardi uses another style to differentiate the visions of what could have been from reality. It works pretty well. That he can draw a mean Darth Vader certainly helps.

The Score: 8 out of 10

Even if you're not a fan of the prequels, this is well worth the money. It bridges who Vader was and who he has become better than the films ever thought about. We also get a hell of a reminder of just why Darth Vader is one of the best villains to ever hit the silver screen. If you need some of your faith restored, this should do the trick.

*The dialogue passes my general litmus test for this kind of thing. Meaning I could imagine Darth Vaders voice reading his lines.

30 Days of Night Omnibus (comics)

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Collects: 30 Days of Night, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow

Some comics have such great ideas; some of those ideas you end up kicking yourself for having never thought of. The high concept of this book relies on the fact that during the winter, Alaska has a solid thirty days straight of night; some vampires get wind of it, think "holy shit, I need to get some of that action" and it's off to the races. The town is quickly turned into an all-you-can-eat buffet for all participating vampires.

This omnibus edition collects the first three miniseries of this franchise. The initial story is the original tale of Barrow, Alaska and its thirty days of hell. The second is a direct sequel, showing the spiral of the heroine of last volume as she desperately tries to prove to the outside world that vampires are totally a real thing. The final brings us back to Barrow, where the remaining residents have learned to fight; see, the vampires aren't very happy about the fact that there are survivors that know of their existence, so during those thirty days they wage war on the now fortified Barrow.

There are further stories past this, but if you wanted to stop here with this omnibus edition, you could. The three stories collected generally wrap up the core stories of Barrow and our protagonists from the first story by the end of the third. We're left in a pretty good place to stop, but should we choose to continue partaking in this world there is the option.

Writer Steve Niles does a fine job of making vampires the horrific creatures we know they can be. A lot of people blame the Twilight novels for de-fanging the vampire concept, but while those asstastic novels didn't do the vampire any favors as a concept, the sterilization had started way before that. I love the suave, manipulative, charming take on the vampire as much as anyone, but somewhere along the way we lost a counterpart. Being a vampire was essentially shown to be cool and rarely terrible; much of the bite or terror of the concept was lost as a result of years of this dilution.

Niles gives us two sides of the coin. On the one hand, they are very much the monsters of your nightmares in this world. Once turned, most of them lose their humanity and get right to the whole feasting thing. Hell, once a group catches wind of Barrow and its lengthy night, they roll in like a bulldozer and lay waste to the entire town. In contrast, there are also the vampires who are more sophisticated; they're still very monstrous - the main case in the first story, even if he's pissed about the whole situation, orders any survivors to be killed and the town to be burnt to the ground so not a hint of their existence is left - but they're far from idiots.

What we're left with is a series that strikes a fine balance, bringing some semblance of terror to a monster that hasn't been all that scary for a while.

The art, then, is rather unfortunate. I'm of two minds on Ben Templesmiths art. On the one hand, it conveys the twisted, horrific nature of the story fairly well and he does improve as time goes on. But on the other, sometimes the art is unclear and confusing. The art style also has its merits but I don't care for it much. Hit or miss, overall; I think the art brings down what's otherwise a great trilogy of horror comics.

The Score: 7.5 out of 10

I dock some points for the art, but otherwise this is a very strong comic series. It could probably have been a classic. Hard to tell. As it is it's very good, but the art drags it down a few notches. Hopefully there will be a second omnibus; I'll likely pick it up, as I'm down for more of this world, as long as it continues to be a sharp read.

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (comics)

Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Curt Swan, Dave Gibbons
Collects: Superman #423, Action Comics #583, Superman Annual #11, DC Comics Presents #84

Alan Moore is a guy I don't like to talk about much. Part of that stems from the fact that much of his body of work is filled with what are widely recognized as classics. They've been thoroughly dissected over the years. There's nothing more to say.

The other part comes from the fact that I don't think highly of him anymore. He very much reminds me of John Byrne; bitter, angry and holier than thou. At some point, it's so bad you don't even want to think about them anymore.

But occasionally, you read one of those "classics" and start to feel like everyone is seeing something you're not.

The lead feature of the book is Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow. This is considered downright legendary. I've seen nothing but praise for it over the years. Yet, now having read it, it kind of pisses me off.

Essentially written from the start to be the last story of the Silver Age Superman - you know, the guy who regularly engaged in Superdickery - Moore takes that premise to a deadly extreme. As always, this is well written, because Moore is just one of those guys who could write in his sleep. But well written and well thought out aren't always mutually exclusive. For a capstone of the Silver Age version of Superman, it feels so utterly out of step with those sensibilities. It's so utterly dark in every way.

One look at Silver Age Superman tells a pretty simple story. It's the time period where Superman would randomly get a new power. One that shot rainbow beams that make a miniature Man of Steel. Or when he'd play cruel pranks on his friends. Or the occasions he'd back in time with Batman only to accuse him of being a witch and nearly get the guy killed because that's just what best friends do.

This story? It's like a pall has been cast over it. Everything in Supermans life has come full circle, almost as if to say goodbye. This is about the point where everyone starts dying.

Yeah, Alan Moore pretty much slaughters Supermans entire supporting cast in this, which is one reason it's almost baffling no one ever raised an eyebrow. There's the admittedly heartbreaking scene where Krypto dies defending his master from the Kryptonite Man. Lana Lang snaps Lex Luthors neck right around the time she learns Superman could never love her. Lana and Jimmy Olsen both die because why the hell not? Even Mr. Mxyplkt gets all up in the murderin' business. The goddamn interdimensional imp.

This all, of course, meant to close the book on a guy for whom a regular adventure consisted of trying to trick Jimmy Olsen into thinking no one knew him.

By the end, all the doom and gloom that seems to signal that Superman is going to bite the big one is for nothing, really. Superman gets his happy ending. Which he absolutely should; there's no other way the book should end. But why the hell did everyone tangentially connected to Superman need to become so much worm food to do it? Why does a story soaked in the blood of beloved characters feel it can get away with a cutesy wink and nod?

Short version is that it feels inauthentic. Like an endgame suited better to some cynical, 90's take on the character. Not the guy who wiped out crime and ended up with so much free time he basically had fun pranking people half the time. The craft is there, of course, but I'm not sure I see what everyone else does. Maybe it was just a sign of the times; looking back, a fair number of the most popular work from this time period seem awash in cynicism.

All that said, damn if Curt Swan doesn't draw the hell out of it. He's considered one of the definitive - if not THE definitive - Superman artists for a reason. This was, I believe, his last major project on Superman and he goes out with a bang.

Much like the Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader collection, this edition collects the writers other stories on the character. This includes a story depicting Swamp Things first real meeting with Superman. The other is another Moore story everyone considers a classic, "For the Man Who Has Everything".

Despite essentially being extras, these were the stories that made the slog worth it. While I don't feel WHTTMOT is all it was cracked up to be, For the Man Who Has Everthing was every bit as great as I expected. I recall the Justice League animated series did an adaption of this one, sans Robin. Turns out it was pretty faithful. The Swamp Thing story is very good as well, though not quite as remarkable.

I guess if you really like Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, you should definitely get it in this format. You won't find better. Me? Yech. I know most people feel differently, but, well, I call the scoring section "My Opinion" now for a reason.

My Opinion: Skip It

Captain America: No Escape (comics)

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Butch Guice, Mitch Breitweiser
Collects: Captain America #606-610

Baron Zemo is back, only now he knows the new Captain America is none other than Bucky, the death of whom was Baron Zemo Sr's claim to fame. So Zemo is just a wee bit pissed, but as it turns out, not necessarily for the reasons you might think. Zemo then proceeds to pull Buckys life out from under him.

We've dropped the heavy political undercurrent from last volume; this time, we're back in the thick of Buckys ongoing story, which has been as central to Brus run thus far as anything involving Steve Rogers. The hook is admittedly pretty smart on its own, but Bru takes it in a direction you might not expect. The result plays off of Zemos own history as well as putting Bucky in the meat grinder over his time as the Winter Soldier.

Spoiler alert for the following paragraph or so, so skip to the end of you don't want spoilers.

Turns out, Zemo's not upset over his fathers one accomplishment being deep sixed. No, he's a bit more pissed off about the fact that Bucky's gained something of a free ride towards redemption. While Bucky has gone through quite a few trials and tribulations, the world at large is unaware that he's still alive, not to mention his past as the Winter Soldier. So Zemo throws Buckys life in a blender, leaks EVERYTHING to the press, smacks Bucky around a bit and says "here, now earn your redemption".

Not only does it make for good drama - you just know there's going to be a reckoning now that the world at large knows his past - but it's the sort of action I can picture for Zemo. Unlike his old man, who was an unrepenant Nazi, Zemo's toed a fine line over his history, with his time in the Thunderbolts softening him into a more heroic figure, if not exactly a full white hat. He has had a lot to make up for and redemption doesn't come easy; hell, he never really was fully redeemed or trusted. Meanwhile, his fathers greatest nemesis has a past as an assassin for the Ruskies and manages to just sweep it under the rug. You can sort of see why he might be a bit pissed.

It's a bit stronger a volume than Two Americas was. We're coming full circle with Brubakers run up to this point; we started with the revelation of the Winter Soldier and now we're dealing with it once more, only this time Bucky will have to face the public as well. I'm looking forward to it.

The Score: 8 out of 10

We're closing in on the endgame of Buckys time as Captain America. Next volume will be the last. Another good volume in Brubakers extended run. Hopefully the conclusion of this stage of Bucky's life will be as strong.

Captain America: Two Americas (comics)

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Luke Ross, Butch Guice
Collects: Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield, Captain America #602-605

And so, with Bru's big Captain America epic out of the way - and one of those re-numberings that Marvel loves so damn much - it's time to move on to other stories, with Bucky still holding the shield for the time being.

Now, I just love those comics where the backstory is almost as interesting as what's within the pages. The main arc here caused some minor bitching from Neo-Con pundits - who of course only care about comics when an American icon goes against their shitty ideals - for showing what was essentially a Tea Party rally - complete with "Tea Bag the Dems" signs - and having Falcon remark that he - a black man - wouldn't feel comfortable among a bunch of angry white people. Why would he feel that way? It's not like there's any underlying racism at one of those gatherings, right? Marvel caved and changed the signs, sadly.

That's interesting, of course, but what makes the whole thing hilarious is that the minor alteration really didn't change a thing; while the sign was changed, that was never as big a deal as the story in question.

See, this story picked up on a prior plot thread during the Brubaker run. Anyone with a passing familiarity with Captain America knows that he was frozen in suspended animation for decades, but during the time he was gone the US decided to train replacements to keep the icon in play. The 50's Cap went crazy from the Super Soldier Serum and Bucky fought him once in recent times. Now he's back, only this time he's joined with a radical movement and trying to find the "real America".

Crazy Caps inner monologues essentially amount to a big "in my day" spiel. He's lost and confused, wondering what happened to the great America of his youth. He wants to reclaim that fleeting memory, through force if necessary. In a way, he's almost pitiable; it's not hard to relate to a feeling of your country circling the drain, having lost itself along the way. I feel that way at times, especially when I hear about the latest bill that will torpedo American rights for the interests of Big Business. But - and this should sound familiar - he's misguided, failing to realize his methods and solutions will only make matters worse. Only Crazy 50's Cap has the excuse of being insane.

The plot is dressed up with some superhero conventions, of course - talking heads debating politics would be one boring comic - but, even with the overt references removed, it boils down to kicking Tea Party/Neo-Con politics in the nuts. Maybe not to the degree of a Bioshock - which took a heaping dump on Ayn Rands entire philosophy - but it's plain as day. Remove the bombs, the spandex and the tech and you've got a fairly accurate portrayal; after all, how many times have we heard several of them talk of revolution or overthrowing the government? Hell, a fairly well known author once said as much because the government was slowly legalizing gay marriage and apparently that means that the government is corrupt. Gay Marriage: Totally destroying our country more than Wall Street, am I right?

The cherry on top is the minor theme of racism, which even ties into that whole revolution thing; after all, I'm pretty sure we fought a civil war over similarly wrongheaded ideals like, oh, I dunno, the persecution of blacks.

So it provokes thought and says something. Even with all that, though, it's not one of Bru's best Cap stories. Granted, that still places it well above most of the competition, so that's not exactly me condemning it. It's another volume of Brubakers Captain America run; that's not a bad thing. Its problem may just be a combination of being more of a straight up adventure than Bru has done in a while and the fact that the story is coming right after the end of Bru's Captain America epic, after which most things would seem unremarkable.

Oh, there's also this one shot special about whether Steve is going to take the shield back or if Bucky will keep it a while longer. It's kind of pointless. I really don't get why we had to have a special to answer that question instead of a regular issue of the Captain America comic. Anyways, it gives us our answer with minimum thrills - not Bru's fault, since I can't picture an exciting comic about who will wear a set of clothing any more than I can about talking heads discussing politics - and sets Steve Rogers up for what he'll be doing while Bucky stays in the outfit for a while.

I think at one point one issue specials were supposed to be, you know, special. Seems almost quaint now. I guess tough decisions on who will wear the flag on their spandex is the new special.

The Score: 7.5 out of 10

Another good volume of Ed Brubakers extended Captain America run. It feels a bit like a breather arc between big stories, just with bombs, fake Caps and some political underpinnings. Next volume is supposed to be pretty heavy for Bucky, so it's fitting.

Batman: Noel (comics)

Writer/Artist: Lee Bermejo
Original Graphic Novel

This book just kind of snuck up on me; I didn't even know it existed until a week or two before its release late, late last year.

Batman going through his own version of A Christmas Carol is something I'm a bit shocked hasn't happened before. Doesn't it seem like everything goes through the "A Christmas Carol" homage? Maybe it's just my memories playing tricks on me.

Here, it works better than a lot of other attempts. The narration overlays a telling of A Christmas Carol over Batmans "humbug" of a Christmas. Batman is, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge, with all that entails.

I don't hate the super gritty, dark, dickish version of Batman - in small doses, at least - but only when it adds to the story, which rarely happened in most of the stories from the 90's up to about seven years ago. Here, it makes sense. The Batstard incarnation - or the Dick Knight, if you prefer - meshes the character with the tale of Scrooge. After all, a Batman with a better balance won't have much to learn from such an ordeal, which is the entire point of the tale. The end result works better than I expected.

Lee Bermejo isn't exactly known for his writing, so I tried not to expect much. Artists trying their hand at writing tends not to work out that well. Plus, I wasn't sure what to expect without Azzarello, who typically teams with Bermejo. Pleasant surprise here; Bermejo can actually hold his own in this department. He easily nails the premise, the narration and the characters; this certainly won't be the best written GN I read this year, but when you consider artists going for writing is always an unknown, it certainly deserves mention and praise.

Bermejo's art is as great as always. I have to believe that there's a group of people out there who don't like his art. I mention this because I could understand why; I'm not always looking to read a comic with art of this variety. But the difference between a style that doesn't work for you and bad art is the craft; Bermejo knows what hes doing, from panel flow to layouts and so on.

Overall, this is a nice package. I imagine it would have been nicer for me if I'd read it during the Christmas season as intended instead of after, but it's enjoyable out of the season as well.

The Score: 8 out of 10

An enjoyable Christmas tale. I imagine it would be great to have once the holidays start to creep up again this year. It's not going to blow any doors down but it doesn't need to. I give it a recommendation.