CSBG has a new top 25 up here. This is my submission.
10) Everyone vs Everyone else, including Captain Marvel vs Superman (Kingdom Come)
This fight is on my list because of the scale. It was epic. Love Ross or hate him, Kingdom Come became a classic because of this last battle outside the Gulag, with everything on the line. The panel of Superman there alone amongst the bodies of the fallen is iconic.
9) Batman and Green Arrow vs. Superman (DKR)
It doesn't ever get better. Many times before, many times after, Batman and Superman have fought, but it never stacks up to this one here. Messy, dirty, and decisive.
8) the Justice League vs Doomsday (The Death of Superman)
It's sort of a joke nowadays, but I still quite like this arc. Doomsday wades through the JLA, one of the weakest JLA incarnations. Beetle, Booster and Ice get really hurt, and Guy Gardner, Bloodwynd and Fire don't do to well either. Superman steps up to save the day. Doomsday would never again look as imposing, and Supes would be alive again by the end of the year, but the fight was really cool.
7) The X-Men vs the Hellfire Club, round II (Around Uncanny 200-210) Claremont and JRJR.
Again, no way this makes the top 25, but this fight was superior to their first meeting in the Dark Phoenix Saga in many ways. New members are on the team, and the Hellfire Club is ready to deal with the X-Men. Storm is depowered, and then Colossus and is neutralized quickly. Rogue is manipulated into stealing his powers and has to let him go or risk tearing his arm off as Leland sinks him into the earth. Just as the fight gets really nasty, Nimrod shows up. So awesome.
6) The Ultimates vs. Hulk (The Ultimates vol1, #6)
A newer fight, comparatively, but I read this issue, and then I read it again. It's great action, well choreographed by Millar and Hitch, and again, there is a feeling of tension here, because I didn't know what was going to happen. The first six issues of this book, capped off with this fight, made me a fan of Captain America like I never was before. Plus, the line "Hilk Smash Freddie Prinze jr.!" is solid. Gold.
5) East Coast Avenger Vs West Coast Avengers (2 part series in the annuals)
Eackos vs Whackos starts off as a baseball game between the two (Thor uses his hammer in place of a bat, for serious), but when The Gamesmaster and the Collector become involved, it turns into a one on one elimination fight to the death. A great fight just to see Hawkeye vs. She-Hulk.
4) Cannonball vs Gladiator (X-Men, with Joe Maduiera on pencils)
Cannonball is my favorite character, and seeing him take on The biggest, toughest guy in the universe in Gladiator was just pure eye-candy. This has no hope of making the top 25, sure, but it's a sentimental pick for me, and I reread this issue often enough.
3) Thing vs. The Champion (Marvel 2-in-1 Annual)
Quite possibly the single greatest comic book ever written in the super-hero genre. The Champion comes to earth to fight our greatest heroes in a boxing match. After easily wading through (through skill, or because they were disqualified for being morons) Colossus, Namor, Doc Samson, Hulk, Sasquatch, Wonder Man, and Thor, the Champion is getting bored with human. Then Ben Grimm, the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing steps up, and gives the Champ the fight of his life.
2) Dr. Strange, Wong, and the Night Stalkers vs Dracula (The Montesi Formula)
Dracula is powered up, and he's coming. Doc Strange needs his allies to buy him some time to get ready, and they set up a gauntlet for Dracula. Drake, Blade, Wong, and Hannibal King step up, and then easily get stepped on by Dracula, before Drac falls for Strange's trap and a fight on the Astral plain. I love this fight, and I dream of of seeing it live action one day.
1) The X-Men vs the Imperial Guard ( The Dark Phoenix Saga)
Quite possibly the greatest all time team battle to be depicted in comics. Tense drama without gore or ultra violence. A team of heroes really put in their place. When people like Storm and Wolverine are dropped easily, it set such a tone of hopelessness, that as a young reader, I really felt that their back was against the wall, that Cyke and Jean would be hard pressed to hit that two-on, two-out 9th inning home run. When they didn't I was shocked.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Comics and the Giller
Over in his blog, Bryan Lee O'Malley has a nice letter regarding the nomination of a graphic novel for the Giller prize that I quite agree with.
The Giller was already awarded, but it's still worth noting the argument made here.
The Giller was already awarded, but it's still worth noting the argument made here.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 3
Sophie and I both were pretty beat up by day one of the convention, from walking around and lugging pounds of loot with us. She had blisters, and I pulled something in my hip/ass area, (sure it may sound embarrassing, but I did, and I'll admit to it.) so we just about dropped dead when we got home. Keith had just driven in from Pembroke and was anxious to go out and party, and we were quick to squash those hopes and settled in for a night of sitting around, watching wrestling and playing Soul Calibur 2.
Up early-ish the next morning, the three of us got some breakfast and went beck down to the convention center, generally enthused because a) the con is awesome and b) Keith has a car, so we're not taking the subway there. Sophie becomes less enthused as the soundtrack for the trip downtown consists entirely of a hip-hop mix I had made the week before, and her decidedly metal tastes were left unsated.
We hit the floor of the con again, and quickly discovered that Saturday was much more crowded than Friday had been, and that the distinct tastes of three people made it difficult to keep together on the floor. Keith had purchased a VIP delux pass that would enable him to meet Wes Craven, shake his hand, hug, and so on. Unsure of what merch he would like to autograph, he consistently shot down my suggestion of a VHS copy of "Shocker". I still feel that this would have been a good idea, and according to Keith, someone at the VIP meet and greet had the same idea. I still think he missed out on a great opportunity there.
We scanned the program until coming upon one labeled "Alex Maleev Tells it Like it Is". Time to sit down for a bit.
I'd read Maleev's work with Brian Michael Bendis when they were on Daredevil, and I particularly liked his art during the mob war between the Kinpin and Mr. Silke, and this was enough to sit in for me. Sophie, well, she had blisters, and any reason to sit was good for her. Alex Maleev was a good speaker, despite his hesitation to admit it to himself. He was dryly witty, very frank with his opinions ( I paraphrase him when he said; Copying manga is not art, you have to learn to draw. Go to school.) and oddly, seemingly uninterested in the rest of the comics world.
It was his blunt manner that made the talk awesome. More so than other comic artists I've met, he was not shy about his ego, and while that might put some people off, I thought it at least showed some confidence in his work. A good parallel I think would be to compare him to hockey player Alex Kovalev, who doesn't play at modesty when talking about his skill. Maleev was very sure of himself, and that too, even if it rubs you the wrong way, makes for an interesting speaker. Keith is a longstanding fan and occasional practitioner of cockiness, so he was 100% won over.
Maleev spoke about growing up and studying in Bulgaria, getting his degree in Fine Art, and coming to the United States and sort of unwillingly getting into comics. He also told the crowd he was a certified ski instructor, and if anyone had any skiing questions, he could probably answer them better than comic-related ones.
When asked what character he would like to redesign if he could, he said "Spider-Woman" as if he'd been thinking about it for a while. He told us he'd put her in a black costume, with a big white spider on the chest. A couple of days later, I stopped by his table with a couple of issues of West Coast Avengers that had Spider-Woman II on the cover, to show him that there already was a Spider-Woman in a Venom-esque outfit, and in a dry and non-plussed fashion, he only said "See, I was right. It does look better." Awesome.
We also managed to catch a screening of "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails", which was a cool, short prequel to the movie that had a lot of the introduction from the original comic which was left out of the Hartnett film. Gory, but fun eye candy. After this, we had to run off to get food and catch a Roller Derby match.
More to come.
Up early-ish the next morning, the three of us got some breakfast and went beck down to the convention center, generally enthused because a) the con is awesome and b) Keith has a car, so we're not taking the subway there. Sophie becomes less enthused as the soundtrack for the trip downtown consists entirely of a hip-hop mix I had made the week before, and her decidedly metal tastes were left unsated.
We hit the floor of the con again, and quickly discovered that Saturday was much more crowded than Friday had been, and that the distinct tastes of three people made it difficult to keep together on the floor. Keith had purchased a VIP delux pass that would enable him to meet Wes Craven, shake his hand, hug, and so on. Unsure of what merch he would like to autograph, he consistently shot down my suggestion of a VHS copy of "Shocker". I still feel that this would have been a good idea, and according to Keith, someone at the VIP meet and greet had the same idea. I still think he missed out on a great opportunity there.
We scanned the program until coming upon one labeled "Alex Maleev Tells it Like it Is". Time to sit down for a bit.
I'd read Maleev's work with Brian Michael Bendis when they were on Daredevil, and I particularly liked his art during the mob war between the Kinpin and Mr. Silke, and this was enough to sit in for me. Sophie, well, she had blisters, and any reason to sit was good for her. Alex Maleev was a good speaker, despite his hesitation to admit it to himself. He was dryly witty, very frank with his opinions ( I paraphrase him when he said; Copying manga is not art, you have to learn to draw. Go to school.) and oddly, seemingly uninterested in the rest of the comics world.
It was his blunt manner that made the talk awesome. More so than other comic artists I've met, he was not shy about his ego, and while that might put some people off, I thought it at least showed some confidence in his work. A good parallel I think would be to compare him to hockey player Alex Kovalev, who doesn't play at modesty when talking about his skill. Maleev was very sure of himself, and that too, even if it rubs you the wrong way, makes for an interesting speaker. Keith is a longstanding fan and occasional practitioner of cockiness, so he was 100% won over.
Maleev spoke about growing up and studying in Bulgaria, getting his degree in Fine Art, and coming to the United States and sort of unwillingly getting into comics. He also told the crowd he was a certified ski instructor, and if anyone had any skiing questions, he could probably answer them better than comic-related ones.
When asked what character he would like to redesign if he could, he said "Spider-Woman" as if he'd been thinking about it for a while. He told us he'd put her in a black costume, with a big white spider on the chest. A couple of days later, I stopped by his table with a couple of issues of West Coast Avengers that had Spider-Woman II on the cover, to show him that there already was a Spider-Woman in a Venom-esque outfit, and in a dry and non-plussed fashion, he only said "See, I was right. It does look better." Awesome.
We also managed to catch a screening of "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails", which was a cool, short prequel to the movie that had a lot of the introduction from the original comic which was left out of the Hartnett film. Gory, but fun eye candy. After this, we had to run off to get food and catch a Roller Derby match.
More to come.
Monday, September 8, 2008
"Wanted"
I went to see "Wanted" last night with my friend Ali. She wanted to see Wall-E, but couldn't make it in time, so "Wanted" got the nod in it's place.
I confess, I haven't read the Mark Millar/JG Jones comic book yet. I will eventually, I'm sure, but I cannot compare the movie to it's source material yet, and will have to give my opinion of the film based solely on it's merits.
It has few merits.
This movie was a mix of "Shoot Em Up" (Gun fights!), Alias (Assassin training montages!), and a Gatorade commercial (What have you done today?!?). Also, the whole movie, I just couldn't get the voice-over from "Counter-Strike" out of my mind, just shouting out "Head-shot!" at every turn. Angelina Jolie was bland, and the main character, whom the audience was supposed to empathize with just turns into a jerk by the end, and his last line makes you feel as if you've wasted your time and effort in caring about his plight.
It was a cool concept that was poorly executed, and had too many brain-splattering gun murders. Though there was one saving grace, and that was hearing Morgan Freeman say "Kill this motherfucker!" Solid gold. I want it as my ring tone.
All in all, this was the least enjoyable summer comic movie adaptation. I'd have rather watched The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk or Hellboy II a second time than this. Skip it.
I confess, I haven't read the Mark Millar/JG Jones comic book yet. I will eventually, I'm sure, but I cannot compare the movie to it's source material yet, and will have to give my opinion of the film based solely on it's merits.
It has few merits.
This movie was a mix of "Shoot Em Up" (Gun fights!), Alias (Assassin training montages!), and a Gatorade commercial (What have you done today?!?). Also, the whole movie, I just couldn't get the voice-over from "Counter-Strike" out of my mind, just shouting out "Head-shot!" at every turn. Angelina Jolie was bland, and the main character, whom the audience was supposed to empathize with just turns into a jerk by the end, and his last line makes you feel as if you've wasted your time and effort in caring about his plight.
It was a cool concept that was poorly executed, and had too many brain-splattering gun murders. Though there was one saving grace, and that was hearing Morgan Freeman say "Kill this motherfucker!" Solid gold. I want it as my ring tone.
All in all, this was the least enjoyable summer comic movie adaptation. I'd have rather watched The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk or Hellboy II a second time than this. Skip it.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 2
I swear, just sitting down to write something around here is a magnet for other work to arise. Either there is some technological advance that detects when I'm blogging, or this page is just plain old cursed. In either case, I expect today's entry to conjure up all kinds of distractions so that my writing it will take place over the next several hours, rather that the fifteen minutes I would normally take.
Aside from that, I was talking about Fan Expo. This was my second convention experience, the first being in my hometown of Montreal when Fan Expo came up here, about six or seven years ago. That con was a lot of fun for me, and I had a great time chatting with Darrick Robertson about Wolverine and art and such, but the con on a whole was a failure and Fan Expo will never come back here.
Sophie had been to San Diego before, but she didn't really get to enjoy the full experience, and was dragged around by her travel companions.
So we both had high hopes for Fan Expo 2008.
After DC Nation, we decided that sitting in on a panel was far superior to wandering the con floor lugging around the heavy loot we had picked up earlier (which included a page of original art by Jason Armstrong from "Lobster Johnson: the Iron Prometheus"), and we made sure to line some up for the next day before giving up and going of in hunt of food.
More to come, and maybe some photos, next time.
Aside from that, I was talking about Fan Expo. This was my second convention experience, the first being in my hometown of Montreal when Fan Expo came up here, about six or seven years ago. That con was a lot of fun for me, and I had a great time chatting with Darrick Robertson about Wolverine and art and such, but the con on a whole was a failure and Fan Expo will never come back here.
Sophie had been to San Diego before, but she didn't really get to enjoy the full experience, and was dragged around by her travel companions.
So we both had high hopes for Fan Expo 2008.
After DC Nation, we decided that sitting in on a panel was far superior to wandering the con floor lugging around the heavy loot we had picked up earlier (which included a page of original art by Jason Armstrong from "Lobster Johnson: the Iron Prometheus"), and we made sure to line some up for the next day before giving up and going of in hunt of food.
More to come, and maybe some photos, next time.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 1
I had meant to get around to writing about this right away, but life gets in the way.
I went to Fan Expo 2008 in Toronto this year with my friends Sophie and Keith. It was a great con, and I had a great time. I'll try to put down as much as I can remember here.
Sophie and I went to two panels on day one; The DC Nation panel with Dan Didio, Ethan Van Sciver and Keith Giffen. Dan was on his game for the panel, which was nice as some interviews I had heard him in, he was pretty grating, but this time, he was playful and having a good time with the crowd. Ethan was defensive when I asked about the need to bring Barry Allen back, but when we mixed it up a little more over on the CBR forums, I think I got a clearer picture of why he wants Barry back, even if I don't agree. He said:
"[Fans] miss him. Barry Allen ushered in the Silver Age with Showcase #4. He's a neat character, with his ironic twist of always being late in his personal life as Barry, but having the superspeed secret ID of Flash. He raised Wally. He's a different personality, has some slightly different ideas about crimefighting than Wally West, though."
Dan spotted A guy dressed as Namor in the crowd and pulled him on stage to sit next to a thoroughly weirded-out Keith Giffen.
There was a lot of talk about Aquaman, his constant reboots, and how everyone has a great idea to relaunch him. DiDio basically agreed that Arthur works best in a team setting.
Lastly, the crowd sort of turned on Marvel, and began pandering to DC, starting questions off with lines like "Marvel sucks, but why does DC..." Dan got control of the crowd and kept the focus on DC. In a very candid moment, DiDio explained what he throught DC could do better to help out the fans, and that was to stop rebooting the characters as often as they do, saying that he thought it created a distance between fans and the characters when every few years, the heroes are reinvented.
All in all, it was a great panel, and Dan DiDio stood out as funny and sharp.
More to come.
I went to Fan Expo 2008 in Toronto this year with my friends Sophie and Keith. It was a great con, and I had a great time. I'll try to put down as much as I can remember here.
Sophie and I went to two panels on day one; The DC Nation panel with Dan Didio, Ethan Van Sciver and Keith Giffen. Dan was on his game for the panel, which was nice as some interviews I had heard him in, he was pretty grating, but this time, he was playful and having a good time with the crowd. Ethan was defensive when I asked about the need to bring Barry Allen back, but when we mixed it up a little more over on the CBR forums, I think I got a clearer picture of why he wants Barry back, even if I don't agree. He said:
"[Fans] miss him. Barry Allen ushered in the Silver Age with Showcase #4. He's a neat character, with his ironic twist of always being late in his personal life as Barry, but having the superspeed secret ID of Flash. He raised Wally. He's a different personality, has some slightly different ideas about crimefighting than Wally West, though."
Dan spotted A guy dressed as Namor in the crowd and pulled him on stage to sit next to a thoroughly weirded-out Keith Giffen.
There was a lot of talk about Aquaman, his constant reboots, and how everyone has a great idea to relaunch him. DiDio basically agreed that Arthur works best in a team setting.
Lastly, the crowd sort of turned on Marvel, and began pandering to DC, starting questions off with lines like "Marvel sucks, but why does DC..." Dan got control of the crowd and kept the focus on DC. In a very candid moment, DiDio explained what he throught DC could do better to help out the fans, and that was to stop rebooting the characters as often as they do, saying that he thought it created a distance between fans and the characters when every few years, the heroes are reinvented.
All in all, it was a great panel, and Dan DiDio stood out as funny and sharp.
More to come.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Who should be a New Avenger
This post is spoiler-rific if you're not up to date on the New Avengers.
I came back to the Avengers just as the new Captain Britain joined, only to have the team disassembled.
I understood the team's dynamic until after Civil War.
As a writer, this is not the team that I'd like to write. From the outside looking in, there are reasons I can see for wanting certain members on the team, and then there are members there that I'm not sure I'd want.
That's what I'm talking about. The writer is their god in this case, so why have this particular group here?
Doc Strange: He adds credibility to the team, gives them a big gun. Also, he ties very nicely to the Illuminati, which let the team get involved in WWH. As a plot device, he works by giving the team anonymity and transportation.
Spider-Man: He's a fan favorite, and he adds a certain skepticism to the team by questioning their path. He is also a corner of the MU in and to himself. His skills are unique.
Luke Cage: I never read much Power Man before this run, so my experience with him was basically that Punisher story where Frank was turned black and they teamed up. As a story device though, he's the driver. He pushes the team in a certain direction, and keeps the story going.
These three, I get. They're the New Avengers that make the book what it is. They're tools in the hands of the writers.
Wolverine, I've decided should be on the team because he gives the writer one unique aspect to use. He knows that they are on the wrong side of the law and all that it implies. Luke Cage acts as if he's still a super hero, and that's fine, but Logan gives him contrast. Sure he's got claws and a healing factor, But that's not why he should be on the team. He's there because someone needs to be asking "How many laws should we break to fight the good fight?" That makes for good storytelling.
Honestly, I've been disappointed with Clint thus far as Ronin. As an old school Avenger, I'd really like to see some righteous indignation on his part towards the Mighty Avengers. He's the one who would lip off at Captain America when he thought Cap was wrong, and really, I'd expect more of that for Tony Stark and the Mighty team. I'd like to see him go past that too, and get irrationally angry now and again. I think that there's something there worth exploring, and if Bobbi turns out to be a skrull, maybe that's the kick in the pants he'll need to get pissed off again.
That leaves Echo and Danny. I like Iron Fist. He's got his own book, and I don't think he's got enough to do around here except be Luke's confidant. Echo, I think, is a Bendis vanity project, and I've never been able to get what she's doing here, other than because the writer thinks she's cool.
So yeah, I think that Strange, Luke, Spidey, Wolverine and an angry Clint have a place on the team, because they contribute to the book being readable. I don't think Eco and Iron Fist are adding anything to the book right now other than as bodies. I said on the CBR message boards that I think that the real Hank Pym would be an interesting addition to the team, and let us find out what happened to him while he was being replaced by a skrull. I would also like to know more about what happened to Tigra, after the Hood and Jigsaw beat the fur off her. Maybe even Firestar or *gasp* The Scarlet Witch.
In any case, I'm interested to see where this is going.
I came back to the Avengers just as the new Captain Britain joined, only to have the team disassembled.
I understood the team's dynamic until after Civil War.
As a writer, this is not the team that I'd like to write. From the outside looking in, there are reasons I can see for wanting certain members on the team, and then there are members there that I'm not sure I'd want.
That's what I'm talking about. The writer is their god in this case, so why have this particular group here?
Doc Strange: He adds credibility to the team, gives them a big gun. Also, he ties very nicely to the Illuminati, which let the team get involved in WWH. As a plot device, he works by giving the team anonymity and transportation.
Spider-Man: He's a fan favorite, and he adds a certain skepticism to the team by questioning their path. He is also a corner of the MU in and to himself. His skills are unique.
Luke Cage: I never read much Power Man before this run, so my experience with him was basically that Punisher story where Frank was turned black and they teamed up. As a story device though, he's the driver. He pushes the team in a certain direction, and keeps the story going.
These three, I get. They're the New Avengers that make the book what it is. They're tools in the hands of the writers.
Wolverine, I've decided should be on the team because he gives the writer one unique aspect to use. He knows that they are on the wrong side of the law and all that it implies. Luke Cage acts as if he's still a super hero, and that's fine, but Logan gives him contrast. Sure he's got claws and a healing factor, But that's not why he should be on the team. He's there because someone needs to be asking "How many laws should we break to fight the good fight?" That makes for good storytelling.
Honestly, I've been disappointed with Clint thus far as Ronin. As an old school Avenger, I'd really like to see some righteous indignation on his part towards the Mighty Avengers. He's the one who would lip off at Captain America when he thought Cap was wrong, and really, I'd expect more of that for Tony Stark and the Mighty team. I'd like to see him go past that too, and get irrationally angry now and again. I think that there's something there worth exploring, and if Bobbi turns out to be a skrull, maybe that's the kick in the pants he'll need to get pissed off again.
That leaves Echo and Danny. I like Iron Fist. He's got his own book, and I don't think he's got enough to do around here except be Luke's confidant. Echo, I think, is a Bendis vanity project, and I've never been able to get what she's doing here, other than because the writer thinks she's cool.
So yeah, I think that Strange, Luke, Spidey, Wolverine and an angry Clint have a place on the team, because they contribute to the book being readable. I don't think Eco and Iron Fist are adding anything to the book right now other than as bodies. I said on the CBR message boards that I think that the real Hank Pym would be an interesting addition to the team, and let us find out what happened to him while he was being replaced by a skrull. I would also like to know more about what happened to Tigra, after the Hood and Jigsaw beat the fur off her. Maybe even Firestar or *gasp* The Scarlet Witch.
In any case, I'm interested to see where this is going.
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