John Byrne on the AudioShocker

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Culturology 056 - Talking About Comics that You've Probably Already Read and Don't Really Want to Read About

Published

on February 12, 2010

. 7 Comments

Well, Await Your Reply was probably a better book than Generosity: An Enhancement. Not that I even really want to make that comparison. There you go. Shows what I know. Not that anyone reads books anymore, but if you're going to take any book recommendation from me, I'd go ahead and say take the You Don't Suck runner-up. There's totally internets in it.

But now that I'm done for the moment reading novels (okay, that's not really true (I'm still in the middle of reading a (less contemporary) novel); you can take the nerd out of the library, but you can't take the library out of the nerd), I can get back to the other things that I like to read, namely, shampoo bottles comics that most people that read comics have already read. For instance, I finally just read Casanova, just in time for internet rumors that Fraction is finally working on the next arc. But, damn, that's a brilliant comic. I never really read comics as a kid, or even as a college student (got into it a little bit in college, reading stuff like Akira and other sundry technical university required readings), aside from a single issue at the barber shop where I used to get my haircut, in which Superman raced The Flash. The race was refereed by some kind of floating leprechaun guy. I forget who won, but I think it made the floating leprechaun guy unhappy. It's been a long time since I've been to the barber (though, full disclosure, I went to a Supercuts in December). So I've had a lot of catching up to do, since now that I like and read comics, I have decades and decades of catching up to do. Luckily, part of being in graduate school is having just about as much time as you'd like to have to dedicate to reading. Without getting into too much of a discussion about Casanova (because, again, I imagine that most of these conversations in the real world took place, like, a couple of years ago), I think what most impressed me about it was how it managed to feel both very unique and personal but also have a kind of broad appeal at the same time, which is a real queue (especially to a person like me, who has spent a fair amount of time here in Culturology talking about audience)). And, it probably goes without saying, but many thanks for Nick for plugging me in to just about every comic book that I've read.

Also just read Brubaker/Philips' Sleeper, which, coming after Casanova, seemed much more rooted in genre, and really kind of lacking on the sci-fi side of things. Liked the atmosphere and main character, and the global black ops kind of plot, but the superpowers seemed really pretty dull. But given the genre-related sense, I'm pretty stoked to start reading Criminal, the first five issues of which are now waiting on my table as the next thing I start reading, 'cause it seems like it pretty much has to be better than Sleeper was.

And speaking of Fraction and Brubaker, I also just read the first arc of the Last Iron Fist thingy that they co-wrote, which is pretty rad. And I'm looking forward to the next sequence, since it's apparently going to take place at a tournament, and I've just finished watching just about every tournament movie made in the last 40 years (look forward to some Tournament Movie March Madness here at Audioshocker, courtesy of Nick and myself).

And speaking of shit that's out of date, John Byrne is, like, a total asshole, right? Or am I incorrectly picking up that vibe from is early '90s Next Men effort?

Other comcis that I'm about to start reading, finally: Umbrella Academy, and Promethea.

I've also had the opportunity to read most of this stuff in single issues, rather than in their trade collections, which I think is also a massive bonus (especially with Casanova, since the book really works so well because of its back-matter). And maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I think it's really important that comics don't get sucked in to be entirely digital. Mostly because even the flimsy paper of physical comics will last longer than most digital storage mediums. And I want to be able to read comics in the case of a massive solar storm wiping out North America's power grid!

The X-Men Reborn...

Published

nick marino

on June 18, 2009

in Comics

. 0 Comments

X-Men Forever #1 YES! YES, BABY, YES! This is what I've been missing!!!

I grew up on Chris Claremont's writing. I've always loved his technique (honestly, I think the drama and the dense prose of his work is part of what makes it so much fun). He's distilled his infamous Uncanny X-Men style down to its most engaging elements in X-Men Forever #1. If you've loved Claremont's work in the past, there's an excellent chance that you'll love this first issue.

Some out there have been heavily hating on Claremont for the past decade. Personally, I've loved some of his most recent writing. Though New Exiles wasn't my bag, I thought his latest run on Uncanny X-Men was just starting to pop with brilliance when he was shuffled off of the title (also, I think he suffered a heart attack around that time). While I found his collaboration with Alan Davis and Oliver Coipel to be decent, I found his work with Chris Bachalo and Billy Tan to be wonderful. Grey's End was a chilling few issues that used a fascinating interpretation of the passage of time to tell a riveting tale. As for other recent work, I was also moved by CC's issue of Excalibur that explored Nocturne's frustration with her paralysis.

And while those comics were near and dear to my inner Claremont fan, they weren't nearly as indulgent as X-Men Forever #1. When I say indulgent, I don't mean it in a bad way. I mean indulgent like rich ice cream or expensive chocolate - indulgent like a delicious desert. Working with Tom Grummet, who's been attached to Claremont for a couple of years now, seems to only deepen the indulgence. I've long been a fan of Grummet's work and this issue may be some of his most enjoyable pencils to date.

All in all, this feels like a rebirth of the X-Men to me. Maybe I'm just too old school to properly move on from the glory days of John Byrne, Paul Smith, and John Romita, Jr. But I don't care. X-Men Forever just feels right to me. Though I've vowed to shy away from as many $3.99 single issues as possible, I can't deny myself Forever (get it?). I await issue #2 with bated breath.

Armor Wars II Was...

Published

nick marino

on June 11, 2009

in Comics

. 0 Comments

... an AMAZING read, if only for John Romita, Jr.'s artwork. He's really in top form from Iron Man #258-266.

But to give JRjr all the credit would be unfair to the other great artists on the book. Bob Wiack inked everything, and from what I can tell, he's the best inker JRjr ever paired with. Well, that's my opinion, at least.

And John Byrne was great, too. The guy wrote the damn thing and it's a terrific story. Did Byrne write this story arc in Marvel-style or full script? Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with the behind-the-scenes stuff that went on with Armor Wars II, so I have no idea what the answer is to that question.

The reason why I think this may have been a Marvel-style piece is because JRjr's name is listed as the first credit in the book throughout the story arc. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other serialized superhero book where that's been done... unless the penciler was also the co-plotter. And with Marvel-style, the penciler becomes the de facto co-plotter.

(Speaking of "de facto," that makes me think of Tom DeFalco. See this blog post for more.)

BUT back to Armor Wars II and on with my praise of the artists involved. Paul Becton's colors were gorgeous. They had a slightly sloppy look here and there, which was actually an wonderful touch on top of JRjr's occasionally sketchy work. Panels sans backgrounds became especially vibrant when Becton used a solid splash of bright color to fill up the blank space.

Last but not least is letterer Michael Heisler. Now I'm about 85% sure that Chris Eliopoulos did the final issue of Armor Wars II, but Heisler did the rest. Oddly, the issue with the strongest letters is missing a letterer credit (is it #264 or #265... maybe #263?). The letters in Armor Wars II are a bit more compact than most comics. This isn't an overly wordy story, but the dialogue does get involved at times. Heisler did an expert job at making the letters interesting but never intrusive.

If you could read only one issue of Armor Wars II, read Iron Man #261. That comic book absolutely blew my mind. It's told as two separated stories that complement each other. The stories never intersect, yet nearly every page is split right down the middle, with Iron Man up top and the Mandarin below. I would bet big money that this particular issue was a huge inspiration on a young Chris Bachalo.

It's important to mention that the Armor Wars II label is a bit of a misnomer. There isn't too much in the way of armored hijinks until the final two issues. Not that Tony's armor isn't important throughout the whole story - it's just not the focal point necessarily.

In the first Armor Wars, you'll notice that the story arc is actually called "Stark Wars" in the original issues. My understanding is that it was later changed to "Armor Wars" in collected editions and other reprints. Oddly enough, Stark Wars or even Stark Wars II would have been a far more accurate name for Armor Wars II.

But all in all, I can't complain. Armor Wars II is wonderfully paced and extremely satisfying from cover to cover. Just know that the end is a bit anticlimactic. Still, despite the rapid escalation and deflation of the action in the final few pages, I think the ending is interesting and very natural. It just needs a "FIN" or "END" caption in the last panel.

P.S. Oh, and JRjr definitely draws the best Rhodey ever. Armor Wars II just confirmed my feelings I had after seeing his version of James Rhodes in Iron Man #256.

The Top 9 Greatest X-Men Pencilers of All Time

Published

nick marino

on January 9, 2009

in The Top 9

. 8 Comments

9. Rick Leonardi

8. Chris Bachalo

7. John Romita, Jr.

Continue reading 'The Top 9 Greatest X-Men Pencilers of All Time'

AudioShocker Podcast #56 - Beer Goggles Are Dangerous

Published

nick marino

on November 18, 2008

in Podcast Episodes

. 0 Comments

AudioShocker #56 [ 34:24 ] Play Now | Download

Quantum of Solace would be better on valium, James Bond seriously needs some gadgets, the Bond girls are boring, All I Want is pathetic but it has typewriters, even T-Pain's top hat can't ruin the Ludacris video "One More Drink," the new Star Trek trailer makes Neal excited, and he wraps up his half with a review of a WSJ review of Slumdog Millionaire.

Then Nick takes over to discuss Uncanny X-Men #165-#175, the "From the Ashes" run by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith. Nick dissects their work, identifying the artistic nuances that make Smith's pencils so incredible while noting how Claremont introduced so many classic X-Men elements in such a short space of time.

The Driving Forces Behind Three of the Biggest Media Franchises of the Past 25 Years

Published

nick marino

on July 10, 2008

in Comics

. 0 Comments

I was reading about how Larry Hama is joining up with IDW to reboot the G.I. Joe franchise in time for the new movie, and I had a realization -- three of the biggest entertainment and merchandising franchises of the past 25 years have have each had a single person with creative vision that acted as a driving force behind the mythology of the brand.

That's not to say that these three individuals are the sole contributors. Countless editors, producers, writers, artists, and others have made invaluable contributions to the X-Men, Transformers, and G.I. Joe over the years. But none can take a massive amount of credit quite like these three gentlemen can.

Chris Claremont - The X-Men

For the vast majority of comic book readers this is a no brainer. CC has been shepherding the X-Men in one way or another for the past 30 years (and then some, really). He didn't create all of the core X-Men icons from scratch, but he imbued the personalities and character traits that have made Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, and the rest of the crew famous.

The X-Men franchise was ready to die over at Marvel Comics in the mid-70s when it was relaunched with a new international cast. Chris wasn't part of the infamous Giant-Size X-Men #1, but he took over shortly thereafter and stayed until the early 1990s (from Uncanny X-Men #94-279). That includes the legendary Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past with John Byrne. He also wrote X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, a short graphic novel that inspired Bryan Singer's x2.

He's launched new X-titles and helped to expand the role of mutants in the Marvel Universe far beyond Salem Center, New York. He's also revisited the main series for a couple short runs. In this decade, Chris has dedicated most (but not all) of his creative efforts to pushing the X-Men franchise into the future with X-Men: The End and GeNext (GeNext #3 hits comic book stores today).

Larry Hama - G.I. Joe

Larry does it all when it comes to comic books. I primarily know him as an editor, starting at DC Comics in the late 70s and moving over to Marvel in 80s. But he began as an artist, penciling a bunch of different series in the 70s before making the move to editorial. However, the Larry Hama we're going to talk about here is a writer.

Specifically, he's the writer of the file cards on the back of the G.I. Joe action figures, the influence of which cannot be overstated. Larry also wrote the 155 issue G.I. Joe comic book series from Marvel Comics, which (as is the case with Transformers as well) was really just a birthplace for ideas that would inform the TV series and the overall mythology of the Joe Universe.

Larry's been a huge part of comics for the better part of 30 years now, including notable work on Wolverine and Bucky O'Hare. Let me say for the record that Bucky O'Hare -- an okay comic, a decent cartoon, and an even better line of action figures -- has impacted my life immensely thru the Bucky O'Hare NES video game. Beating that ludicrously difficult game took my cousins and I a good ten years.

Simon Furman - Transformers

I don't know nearly as much about Simon Furman as I do about Claremont and Hama. I've been reading X-Men comics since before I could actually read the words, and I caught G.I. Joe fever as an 11-year-old (when the series was in heavy repeats on the USA Network). But the only Transformers I ever latched onto were the characters in Beast Machines, a sacrilegious cartoon for most TF fans.

But despite practically avoiding Transformers all my life, I couldn't avoid the impact of Simon Furman. He's been writing TF comics since the mid-80s, and his contributions to the Transformers Universe are legendary. I don't know which characters Furman created, but I know that his origin for the Transformers is generally preferred by hardcore fans.

Last I checked, Furman is still writing TF stories with IDW, the same publisher that's bringing back Larry Hama for their newly acquired G.I. Joe publishing license. He's also the creator of Death's Head, a character that was conceived for the Transformers Universe (but officially owned by Marvel Comics). Death's Head was most recently revamped in the Amazing Fantasy redux series and carried over (sorta) into Planet Hulk.

ComicShocker - Bendis, Next Men, and Hair

Published

nick marino

on June 4, 2008

in Comics

. 6 Comments

So my friend and comic book mentor Wayne Wise recommended I try Next Men a couple months back. This 1990s John Byrne series from Dark Horse Comics is solid. I bought the first 12 issues at my LCD for a few dollars (seriously, something like $8.00).

The stories are great, but often the letters pages are better. In Next Men #8, I discovered this classic letter written by none other than comic book mega-writer Brian Michael Bendis:

Way to rip on Bendis, John Bryne

All I have to say is: ZING! Damn, Bendis. John Byrne was ripping on your hair way back before you even lost it!

Nice Chester Cheetah shirt, BMB

I wonder: have these two creators ever met? They must have by this point. I hope they talked about this letter. Seriously.

P.S. If you haven't already noticed, I changed the way I'm naming this column. The whole "Week whatever 2008" system was just ineffective. How is anyone ever going to know what the post is about like that?