Comments on The Weekly Crisis - Comic Book Review Blog: Last Week's Reviews...Today!

Thanks Kirk. I can't believe I missed some of thos...

2009-11-24T14:45:31.429-04:00

Thanks Kirk. I can't believe I missed some of those things such as Jason's monologues. I can definitely agree with you about some subcurrents of Killing Joke appearing throughout the run. Hell the whole first arc had Pyg's lair being the same circus as the Joker. Perhap's Morrison did a better job referencing the 'one bad day" theme with Pyg creating the Dollotron's. The quote about "formless chaos" when he is ranting to Damian even brings to mind Morrison's ideas about the Joker being about to recreate his persona to adapt to the changing conditions of different eras.

I think what angered me most about this arc though was his waste of Flamingo. For one he appears in the future of issue #666 so we can assume his death here is just another meaningless comic book death. Based on Quitley's cover and the build up to his appearance it seemed we were in for another mad, colorful rogue that could fit into the long-term rogue's gallery. Much like Pyg I expected someone who had a wacky, Silver Age flair to him but added blotter sheets full of LSD inspired insanity on top. Instead he just grunted and got pushed off of the ledge. Hopefully a few of the seeds planted in this arc pay off in the next six months, otherwise it will be a complete waste of three issues.

@Dickey - I'm not sure if disprove was the right w...

2009-11-24T11:02:39.840-04:00

@Dickey - I'm not sure if disprove was the right wording, but Morrison seems to want to draw definitive parrallels between his work and Moore's that feels like he's trying one up Moore or show people that there are other stories just as good that aren't grim and gritty. His Final Crisis was one such thing where the ending amounted ot basically saying "grim and gritty is dead, we staked it, now lets tell some good old fashioned fun stories".

With Batman andRobin, this particular issue has a lot of similar imagery as Killing Joke, such as how Jason Todd monologues while holding the bridge of his nose, Damian being crippled, Jason todd being the Red Hood (Joker's original persona if Moore's origin is to be believed), Scarlet is like James Gordon in that Todd is trying to remake her in his image much like Joker tried to break Gordan with 'one bad day'.

There are many similar occurances throughout the issue and Batman and Robin in general that play off Killing Joke, but in which their inclusion and execution lend themselves to Morrison's point of view more so than being there for story purposes.

Kirk, I have a quick question for you regarding B...

2009-11-24T10:42:37.833-04:00

Kirk,

I have a quick question for you regarding B&R. How exactly did you read this arc as trying to counter The Killing Joke. I definitely saw Morrison's red-haired Jason Todd as taking a potshot at Rorschach and the Flamingo as an extreme (and full of wasted potential) version of the Joker. But I'm curious to see how you read the story as trying to disprove, etc. Moore's story. Other than Damian being paralyzed like Barabara Gordon I don't exactly see how he was specifically referencing that story. Flamingo seemed to parallel the murderous Joker in general, just add the "extreme" 90's motif that brought down the art and this arc in general. So I guess I read this round as him commenting more on how the attitude of the 90s, which I guess Moore accidentally spawned, was inferior to his preferred Silver Age.

Kirk Great reviews, I also pleased to hear that y...

2009-11-24T01:05:17.866-04:00

Kirk
Great reviews, I also pleased to hear that you liked R.E.B.E.L.S., and I agree that it is probably the most organic Blackest Night tie-in due to its "cosmic" status.
I would definately recommend the Annual, not just for background on Starro, but also for a great story.

I also I thought Andy Clarke's art knocked it out of the park, especially his "War of Light" rendering.

Your reviews of "Streets of Gotham" and "Batman and Robin" reveal that DC is really blowing potential that had in the wake of R.I.P. Between Morrison's inconsist Silver Age love affair, and Daniel's amateurish writing, the only good stories are coming from Dini and Rucka.

Hm, after rereading my post I think I should clari...

2009-11-24T00:35:25.901-04:00

Hm, after rereading my post I think I should clarify with this - expecting any kind of consistency with anything related to Final Crisis at this point in time is absurd since DC editorial seems not have read the actual comic. Or even the scripts(see Countdown). So, Morrison's Batman resurrection might make since in regards to FC but I doubt anything larger, shared universe stuff will since no else at DC can be bothered to even read a summary of FC.

Kirk - Well, as much as I enjoyed FC, it is still ...

2009-11-24T00:26:21.709-04:00

Kirk - Well, as much as I enjoyed FC, it is still the poster child for editorial f@#$ ups. Personally, I think having Batman show up in any capacity in Blackest Night was a mistake but that's just me.

I think B&R was alot better than people give it cr...

2009-11-23T22:55:39.312-04:00

I think B&R was alot better than people give it credit for. As usual, Morrison's work will probably read much better in a trade format, but I'm still hanging on to it.

Realm of Kings was alot better than I thought. Following Quasar is pretty awesome. I didn't read RoK Inhumans, but I think I should. I'm still curious as to wether Mighty Avengers and Inhumans are tied into eachother, or just coincidental because Quicksilver is a Jerk.

@Eric - The rocket itself is shown in the past wit...

2009-11-23T20:56:16.887-04:00

@Eric - The rocket itself is shown in the past with Bruce, so I assumed he was loaded in with it for some reason. Maybe he just finds it in the past. still, there's definitely problems with how his death is portrayed.

I double checked Final Crisis #7 since I didn't re...

2009-11-23T18:44:54.693-04:00

I double checked Final Crisis #7 since I didn't remember Batman's corpse/body showing up and, in the collected edition, it doesn't. DC could have changed it though like they did with Infinite Crisis. They do launch the Bat-single in the rocket though.

Kirk, I'm in entire agreement about the Realm of K...

2009-11-23T18:21:11.703-04:00

Kirk, I'm in entire agreement about the Realm of Kings comics. While Imperial Guard was rather disappointing last week, these two this week were great. My complaints with them are relatively minor. In Inhumans, we have, AGAIN, a seeming inability for writers to remember WHO IS KARNAK'S BROTHER! I'm a big Inhumans fan; I've read lots of their appearances. Canonically, I think, Karnak is Triton's brother. But, then you get comics like this one or the excellent Paul Jenkins Inhumans series (which I absolutely adore) in which Karnak is suddenly brothers with Gorgon. Talk about frustrating!

As for the regular RoK one-shot, is it just me or is it rather coincidental that a rip in space/time in the middle of Kree/Shi'ar space leads directly to planet Earth? Even if that is explained via the Quasar-antiQuasar connection, it's still coincidental that the main players are all earth-bound Avengers or that the big monster thing wants to replace Earth and not, say, Kree-lar, Hala, or Chandilar. Maybe DnA are tired of being relegated to the fringes of the Marvel Universe and want to get involved on Earth like everyone else.