Best of Times/Worst of Times: Cinematic Storytelling Part 2!

OK, so...Cloak & Dagger: Spider-Island doesn't really have anything to do with Spider-Island.  You would not get that notion from the "Cloak & Dagger: Spider Island" banner, or the legion of guys in Spider-Man costumes littering the cover.  This is called "button-hooking" the audience, and it does not add value to the package.  In fact, it's a giant dick in a disadvantaged orifice.

Oh, some will look at the trim and claim I'm hyperbolizing.  Yes, there are spider mutates mucking about in the background of the series.  Dagger even fights some for a little bit in issue # 1 before she decides she'd rather be going to her community college course.  That's how important Spider Island is to this series - Dagger actually engages with it and then basically says "This is boring the shit out of me, I'd rather do homework."  So if you dropped your money down looking for events to flesh out what Dan Slott is doing over in Amazing Spider-Man, then Marvel willfully lied to you and stole your money.  Now that's value!

No, the story has nothing whatever to do with Spider Island.  This is about Nick Spencer re-defining Cloak & Dagger, physically and thematically.  The catalyst is one Mr. Negative, who is burdened with a prophecy that Dagger will be the death of him. 

Spoilers ahoy now - he captures her, uses some kind of mysticism to invert her powers and turn her into a darkforce wielder, and then Cloak shows up to save her, and somewhere in the process he turns into a light wielder.  So they make out, their powers flip-flop, and then Mr. Negative just leaves her alone.

Now, that may be all well and good.  Maybe.  It's a very weird anti-climax that Negative just lets her go, although that weirdness is at least acknowledged in the script.  It doesn't necessarily make the story feel more satisfying, though.  It feels like most everything in Marvel feels like these days - narrative check kiting.  "I know you didn't get what you were looking for in this story, kids, but that's because we've got the REAL big thing coming up next!"  And then the next "real big thing" comes along and fails miserably as well, but just wait until that next one, folks, when the SUPER real big stuff happens!  Pfff.  I'm not amused.

Which isn't to say that nothing happened in the series.  Parts of it were quite entertaining.  I enjoyed the new takes on both Ty and Tandy, they felt more like real people than they have in, well, ever.  Switching the powers/roles of the duo is, I suppose, a "big thing" potentially.  Mr. Negative was sort of refreshing in that he's smarter than your average bad guy bear.  I'm not saying I've never seen this before, but often the best guys are truly evil while still maintaining a strict sense of honor and use next-level thinking more than brute violence.  Peter David is the king of writing these villains.  And to be fair, I think the end of the book, where Spencer goes for the slightly more difficult emotional ending carried by tenderness?  I think that worked.  Basically.

But it was all overplayed, there wasn't enough in it, and it took me about four minutes to read.  And this is where the devil's advocates begin to rant "Ah man, it took you four minutes because you're not stopping to appreciate the art and pause to absorb everything and let it sink in!"

To which I reply:  it took me four minutes to read because there twenty pages of content, and by my count nine of those were either splash pages or double splash pages.  That's bullshit.  No story is that big.  If cracked the galaxy in half, you don't need nine splash pages to do that.  A couple of crazy New York kids switching their super-powers definitely don't need nine splash pages.

It's gets to the point where I can't even really guess the purpose any more.  Here's the first splash page of the comic, which is really nothing more than just changing scenery:
 

What is the point of that?  Can you even see anything in that shot?  Yeah, spiders are running around, we get it. What was so important there, that it required 5% of the entire story space?  There is such a thing as the Law of Diminishing Returns.  The splash page, near as I can reckon, is a trick in the artist's tool box to lock in on a key moment in a story or character's progression.  It says "big" by being physically larger, showing more detail, using a greater percentage of the story space to give a dynamic moment a chance to be all that it can be in relation to the rest of the text.  That's what it's supposed to be.

The above panel is....just a change of scenery.  We already know things got dark.  We already know there are giant mutated spiders running around.  Nothing is at stake, and nothing is amplified because none of the figures are large enough to exhibit any detail.  To me, this is inexcusable, even it weren't over used. 

But it is.  A large number of panels for a page in this comic is five.  The scene where Ty moves in to save Tandy from the darkness?  Big scene, sure.  But it takes up six pages, five of which are either splash or double splash pages.  Four of them amount to a pair of "making out" double splashes.  It's too much, man, and it's overdone. 

And then you've got three pages of post spit-swapping pillow talk, followed by a fourth splash page:

It's pure self indulgence.  It's writers thinking that every one of their scenes is a shining pearl in the annals of the medium, and nothing less than a full panoramic view will suffice for the legendary shit they're putting down.  It's artists who are more in love with their secondary market re-sale value than the story their telling.  The pin-ups look good.  Mostly.  But you get to the end of the comic, and most of what happened:

A) Had nothing to do with Spider-Island, in direct opposition to all promises and marketing
B) Didn't particularly make sense given the motivations of the villain as portrayed in the series
C) Seems built entirely to erase all drama within the series in order to point to the next series
D) Takes a few scant minutes to plow through

Just to reiterate, I don't think Cloak & Dagger: Spider Island is a bad story.  I think what's there is enjoyable.  But it feels light, and inefficient, and self-indulgent.  A thing can be good and still be over-priced, and that's exactly what Cloak & Dagger is.  Unfortunately, that's what a lot of comics in 2001 are.

- Ryan

Chronic Summit Meeting!

Mike and I got together on Monday night for a Chronic Insomnia Summit Meeting.  It was time to check in and see where our energy levels were at and how we felt about the show.  We discussed the things we've been doing well, things that could be done better, things we might like to try in the future.

I can't speak for my podcast partner, but I think it went very well.

I will not get into specifics on changes to format and content, and we're not ready to set a target date for our inevitable return.  I can tell you that after Monday's Summit, Chronic Insomnia will be coming back in a form that will be recognizable to those who have been listening.  We've got some prep work to do, and some more self-indulgent lazing about to accomplish first.  But it's coming.  Soon.  For better or for worse.

And in the meantime.....comics!

Detective Comics # 881
DC Comics
Script:     Scott Snyder
Pencils:   Francesco Francavilla


I've gone on record multiple times saying that I think it's a bit of a shame and a tactical error to reboot this franchise.  But if you're going to go out...what a way to go out.

Scott Snyder's run on Detective Comics is the finest work done on the character since Dark Knight Returns.  It hasn't been flawlessly executed, but the feel of it is so satisfying.  Dick is his own man, Detective tells actual Detective stories, the plot lines are suitably dark and sophisticated, and the character work is superb.

James Gordon, Jr. is now one of the great Bat-Villains, and this issue clinched it.  All of Snyder's main threads are sewn up by the end of the issue, emotionally and mechanically.  The payoff is an absolute jackpot, because the double size issue gives the drama a chance to breathe.  In the hands of a different writer, I think this issue would read a little clunky and little too expository.  Because Snyder has such a chillingly good grasp on the sociopathic mind, though, you spend every panel gritting your teeth and hanging on every word.

So yeah, not only is this a very fitting end to the arc and this era of Detective, but it also plants the seeds for what should be some outstanding fruit further down the road.  I'm not going to spoil it.  I'm just going to tell you for the thousandth time - if you haven't been reading Scott Snyder's Detective...shame on you.

Spider-Island:  Cloak & Dagger # 1 (of 3)
Marvel Comics
Script:     Nick Spencer
Pencils:    Emma Rios


There are so many things not to like about this.  Let's see - it's yet another retread, for starters.  It's getting kind of embarrassing at the House of Ideas, frankly.  They don't have one success story in the last five years to point to, (and I'm being conservative and generous with that five year mark) yet they still keep trotting out these "golden oldies" and further dilute the power of an already spent tactic.  Just off the top of my head: Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Alpha Flight, and Heroes for Hire.  Every book is somebody's favorite, but none of these are economically viable.

We don't actually need a Cloak & Dagger book, and if we did, now is probably the worst time in the world to test it out.  We need to contract, pull back, tighten up, and put out the best of the best in this market, not throw another fish at the wall and see if it sticks.

Then there's the "Spider-Island" factor, or more appropriately, the lack of a Spider-Island factor.  I'm not reading Amazing Spider-Man right now, (it's $3.99 and it's usually pencilled by Humberto Ramos, so that's a double no-go for me) but I don't have to be reading it to tell you that this Cloak & Dagger installment adds NOTHING to it.  Absolutely nothing.

This comic mentions that Spider-Island is happening, and even spends a few pages mindlessly mixing it up with the victims.  But that element is so muted, dull, and non-integral that Dagger literally stops fighting mid-swing to go to her community college class.  You think I'm kidding.  I'm not. 

And this is the sort of thing that I really love about Nick Spencer, but I gotta tell you - if I bought this book specifically to get more on Spider Island?  I'm PISSED.

Lots to loathe about this comic.  And yet, I do have a soft spot in my heart for these characters, I am mildly interested in what Spencer is doing with them, and Osborn taught me to adore the pencils of Emma Rios.  It looks like Spencer is interested in exploring Cloak & Dagger as a loving relationship, not a romantic one, and I think that's probably a good idea.  I think it's infinitely more interesting to let those feelings stay subtle, tense and dramatic.  ( a la the best of Moonlighting and Castle, as an example)

Spencer's take on the pair dynamic is to make them polar and dichotomous, which is obvious... but also makes sense.  Dagger wants a sense of normalcy and the mundane, Cloak seems to yearn for excellence and the extraordinary.  That's an odd couple theme that can work.

Spencer also seems able to address racial issues with a scalpel instead of the 4 pound maul everyone else is interested in wielding in 2011.  When the Avengers come calling for assistance with the rioting Spider-Folks, Cloak wonders why they always feel the need to address Dagger.  When he gets a real conversation, he gets it from Luke Cage.  Now that felt real to me.  That felt like a real thing, and I didn't feel preached at.  Maybe it's just because I'm hopelessly white, and so is Nick Spencer.  God help me, I'm actually curious to know what Hannibal Tabu's thoughts on this issue will be.

series

- Ryan

Chronic Reviews: An Assload

I have a whole pile of books I've collected over the past few weeks just itching to get talked about. I can't go in depth with the whole lot, it would take too long. I'm not Ethan Van Sciver here, folks. I can't pull out four whole pages of material in a week. Sorry.

Instead I present you with a veritable assload of teeny tiny reviews which shall serve no purpose other than to give me an excuse to say mean things about people who are simply trying to entertain me. So let's do it....hut! hut! hut!

Cloak & Dagger (one shot)
Marvel Comics
(W)Stuart Moore/(P)Mark Brooks

These characters continue to languish in re-boot hell. They've tried mini-series, multiple ongoings, and there seems to be something that behaves like an engram with these two, because now matter how much the books SUCK, they continue to tantalize.

There is nothing in this one-shot that begs for the story to continue, that's for sure. This is baseline "woe is me, I'm different" nonsense with a trace of "jungle fever" thrown in for good measure.

Here's what needs to happen. These characters are more than 20 years old now - they can grow up a little bit. Give them a province or a mission, and make them viable adults proficient at what they do. Forget the muddied origin story. (which they backtracked on again in this issue) Make them strong people with something interesting to do.

My take? Cloak at his best dips into the darkforce dimension and just knows shit that other people don't. Give them an invasion force that only Cloak can detect, kind of like "They Live". Hickman just brought the Dire Wraiths back in FF # 577, why not them? Now Cloak & Dagger can be fugitive heroes running around whacking important people in the community who are actually wraiths in disguise.

It's perfect! I just made you $300,000 between the kick-ass ongoing series and the hit Cloak & Dagger movie it would spawn. You're welcome, Marvel. All I ask in return is that you only charge me $2.99 per issue, and you get Paul Jenkins to write it. Next!

Blackest Night # 8
DC Comics
(W)Geoff Johns/(P) Ivan Reiss

I've been back and forth on this whole thing way too many times. At first I was very much in love, sometimes I think the whole spectrum thing got too complex and too silly, then we'd get some really nice character moments in the midst of the chaos and I was back in.

A few notes on this issue. Like every "event" book these days, so many of the beats are just boiler-plate, obligatory, and BORING. Did I sort of enjoy the little Hawkman/Shiera moment that you could see coming from Tucson? Yeah, I guess I did.

Did I feel anything for the Martian Manhunter or Aquaman coming back? Nah. Did I feel inspired by the mandatory super splash pages of DCs biggest hitters in white costumes fightin' together for truth, justice, and LIFE ITSELF?? (Dun! Dun! DUUNNNN!) No, not really.

Maybe I'm just jaded at this point. Maybe there's some kid out there who hasn't read every event book since they began with Secret Wars (sorry Contest of Champions, you don't count) and thinks this is the feline's sleepwear. I aint that kid, and this sort of wrap-up with all these neat moments reads dangerously close to fan fiction. When I got done with this, it didn't even feel like the completion of a story. It felt like the launch of 13 new spin-offs and ongoings. I want a story, not a marketing ploy.

I don't want to give you the impression that I hated the book or the series, because I did not. I'm sticking with the regular Green Lantern title, which frankly had better moments than Blackest Night proper. But something felt a little empty inside the kaboom on this finale.

Hack/Slash # 30
Devil's Due Comics (for now)
(W)Tim Seeley/(P) Daniel Leister

One of the things I like about this book now is that it has enough history to reference itself and develop things and add depth. It would be off base to say that Hack/Slash takes itself seriously, because it treats nothing reverently, which is a good thing. What I'm saying is that this is not just a series of one-offs poking fun at the next beloved B-Movie on the list. Seeley has enough plot points in the bank where Cassie and Vlad live in their own created universe, and that's kinda neat, actually.

This is not the greatest issue of the series. I like Samhain, and I like the Black Lamp conspiracy, but this is not super juicy to me. One page made this more than worthwhile for me. The book shines in the quiet moments when Vlad and Cassie get to actually share their friendship. This issue featured Vlad sharing an anthropological experiment he's conducting, and a little window artwork. That was worth the $3.50 right there, and there are always laugh out loud moments in this book.

X-Factor # 203
Marvel Comics
(W)Peter David/(P)Valentine De Landro

Before I get to the story, let me bitch about the art very quickly. I'm not going to complain about Valentine De Landro, I like him just fine, and he's the closest thing we've had to a regular penciller. But that's just it - there never has been a regular penciller on X-Factor, and I don't get it. Does nobody want to work with Peter David? Doesn't sound right. Are people unwilling to draw X-Books? That really doesn't sound right. The closest thing we've had to a "name brand" was Ryan Sook as well. What's up with that? But I digest.

We used to rant and hoot and holler about X-Factor once a week on Chronic, and don't talk about it much any more. Don't be fooled for a moment into thinking the book is any less good, though. Right now I have three ongoings that I eagerly anticipate and can't wait to get home and crack: Hickman's Fantastic Four, Simone's Secret Six, and yes, David's X-Factor.

The results are in and Peter David has "failed". Sales did not double, this is not a top 10 selling title. The fault does not lie at the feet of Mr. David, however. He kicked seven shades of ass and we're so buried in glop that nobody notices quality any more. This is another reason why we need to engage in "winnowing", so that we have less noise to distract from the quality that does abound if you're diligent or lucky enough to stumble upon it. But I digest. Again.

This is sort of a Guido issue, and I'm fine with that, because the guy is hilarious. Always. It also features Monet in a more vulnerable spot than we're used to. Plus, it looks like we may get to see Guido and Monet together in ways that we're not used to. Ways that should be really goddamn entertaining to watch, which is pretty much how X-Factor works. If you're missing this title, you're missing a lot. Truth in advertising? You will need the backstory in order to be in on everything. Go back to the beginning of this iteration and you'll be fine, trust me.

American Vampire # 1
DC/Vertigo Comics
(W)Scott Snyder & Stephen King/(P) Rafael Albuquerque

I was anticipating this one quite a bit, mostly for the original King material. You can hardly go wrong with Vertigo, though, which is a testament to the very much underrated Karen Berger.

This is an anthology series; Snyder gets the first half and focuses on a couple of would-be starlets who are visited by a mysterious stranger and may be biting off more than they can chew with their potential big break. King gets the second half and relates the tale of a dangerous criminal being transported by Pinkertons. Yes, there are vampires involved in both stories; both are interested in making you guess about who might be fangified or not.

These are both cute little vignettes, and in fact the thing that surprised me the most is that I might like Snyder's better. Nothing wrong with either end of the book, but neither am I super inspired to continue with it, either. Certainly not if they continue with the $3.99 price point. Stephen King fans and vampire fans, come on board! Unless you really can't stand period pieces, since both stories take place in the 1920s. (and seem like they might even dovetail together down the line)

Siege # 3
Marvel Comics
(W)Brian Bendis/(P) Olivier Coipel

I've been very public and very vocal about how much I despise Siege, and I was pretty much done with it after the second issue. But then I got to talking with Remy over at Where Monsters Dwell about this third issue, and he basically lost his ever-lovin' mind over the damn thing.

And then when I went to go find it at two of my local comic shops, there were no copies available. Hmmmm. Now I simply HAD to have it. So I ordered it from Lone Star and went for a third dose of Event Cancer.

Look, I'm not going to say I really like Siege. I just don't. It still has all the symptoms of Eventitis, in which it reads not as a story, per se, but as a very transparent marketing ploy that says all the same things we've been hearing in every other event book that has been pounded into us incessantly for the past...what...four years now? Big doings. Never the same. Everything changes here. BOOOOOOOM!

I'll say two nice things about Siege. 1) It isn't just marking time. This is an efficient title. Four issues, not seven or eight. There is a point, and Bendis is getting to it. Bravo.

2) You are definitely getting your fill of "big moments". If for some reason you are stupid enough to actually believe that any of this matters now, or that any of it will have ripples we'll feel even six months from now, than by all means enjoy your Epic Happenings, because they abound in Siege. Norman Osborne is gettin' his. He's wigging out. The Sentry is flexing his 1,000 sun explodey-type muscles. Entire kingdoms are looking like they're headed for the scratch-n-dent clearance bin.

It's all happening. Sort of. It's just, the other crap is too fresh in my mind. Remember Spider-Man: The Other? Yeah. Ever see anything that would lead you to believe that ever happened? Nah, me either. How about Civil War? Ever see folks hunting down fugitive heroes, or training to become certified, or putting people in the Negative Zone? You neither? Huh. That's weird.

Listen, if you're enjoying this, God bless you, ya little buggers. I'm glad you aren't jaded like the former Manatee. None of these explosions mean anything to me. The reader's investment is entirely predicated on their investment in the shared cohesive universe and the ramifications of mucking with that. There will be none. If you're stupid enough to believe there will be, you deserve your fate.

There will be a new "event" when this one dies that will not care one whit about Siege, and when sales on the ongoing books inevitably matriculate down a notch - guess what? It's reboot time!!!! Get ready to forget everything you ever knew about (insert name here) because now it's changing forever! And this time we mean it! Yawn.

Supergod # 3
Avatar Comics
(W)Warren Ellis/(P)Garrie Gastonny

Maybe I just don't have my thumb on the pulse...but my sense is that Warren's star has fallen a little bit. I remember when Mike & I first started recording Chronic in the summer of 2007, it was quite literally "The Summer of Ellis". He was everywhere, scowling, demanding attention. He had a novel come out, he was as big a name as comics had, and he was bigger than comics.

And that seems not to be the case any more. Nobody talks about that novel. Black Summer came and went, and I can't remember the last time we saw an issue of Doktor Sleepless. The Thunderbolts thing had some initial buzz, but that's over with. "Do Anything" is not a must-read column, I don't think.

The thing of it is, Warren is still Warren. Is that maybe the problem? Is his style and voice so distinctive at this point that we've already read all we need to? I sometimes wonder if the last vestige of us die-hard comic fans feel that way.

We're probably wrong about that, by the way, and the proof is in Supergod. Listen folks, Warren is still here, one half wide-eyed wondering child, one half sneering but wicked smart bastard.

Supergod is packed with wild epic ideas about real power, how governments feel about power, and of course there's some theology involved as well. Our narrator gets lectured by fungus god Morrigan Lugus in an absolute must-read bit. Is it soap box pontificating? Of course it is. This is what we pay (way too much) for when we buy a Warren Ellis comic book.

He's thought out the politics, the technology, and the social ramifications of a Supergod arms race. It's fun, it's intriguing, and you just can't get this anywhere else. Yes, our narrator sounds an awful lot like every other Warren Ellis character you've ever read in your life. Fuck that, who cares? It's a really good character, isn't it? The guy has a conversation with a Supergod twenty years in the past! You have to read it like three times to figure out what the hell is going on, because the idea is so fresh (at least it was to me) that you can't process it at first.

I do wish the goddamn thing didn't cost $3.99, but if I'm going to spend it...I'm spending it on stuff like this. "Morrigan Lugus was quite pleased, too. I should have been more worried about that." Are you kidding me? Long live Warren!

Brave & The Bold # 32
DC Comics
(W) JM Straczynski/(P)Jesus Saiz

JMS claims he's going to turn the world upside down and make it a top 10 book later in the year, and until then I'm just going to enjoy this book while it's good. Ideally books like this and Marvel's "What If" should be the height of entertainment. They're not bound particularly by continuity, you can mix-and-match anything you want, the sky is the limit! Of course ordinarily these things are yawners of the highest order, or hit-and-miss at best. JMS seems to be bringing it every month.

This month the pairing is Aquaman and The Demon, very odd to be sure. It fits with the premise though, which is very Lovecraftian and epic. If there's a weakness in the story, it's the constant transparent reminders about what a bad ass Aquaman is. OK, OK, we get it. We don't appreciate the guy enough! Jeez.

Outside of that, this is pretty entertaining. When you get done with this issue, you feel like you've been let in on a secret, something behind-the-scenes, and that's an element that a book like B&B should be using. Hey, go crazy, man!

I'm almost afraid now to get to the end of the year and have this little party ruined by the "bid doings". I'm so tired of that I could spew. Why can't we be satisfied with things that are actually interesting? I guess the answer is that 100,000 people will read whatever nonsense is thrown out there with an event banner on the cover, and only me and 14 other people read this issue.

Is it DCs fault? The retailers? I know DC doesn't really promote the title, even though they have a heavy hitter at the reins. I don't know about you, but I've never been directed to quality books at my LCS, other than little cards with so-and-sos "pick of the week". Of course not knowing how many times so-and-so has been in rehab or dropped as a child, it's difficult to know how much stock to put in such recommendations.

Bottom line, this is a really good title that nobody will ever know about until JMS starts throwing it into heavy continuity and probably ruins it. Awesome!