Talking about Hawkeye, because it's fun...

Pizza is my business.

I've been reading some articles and commentaries online about Hawkeye vol. 4 #11, the Pizza Dog story.  Now, I'd see a lot of good things in that comic - obviously - people are bringing up points I overlooked.

Maybe that's the thing about the really good comics: different readers see different points and bring new insights too them.  Comics are extraordinary enough as solitary entertainment, but shared among fans: they can be amazing.

Looking at a few sites:

Rachel Ededin at Comics Alliance - she says "Hawkeye vol. 4 #11-- which could be the best single issue of comics you’ve ever read."

 She tries to trace the influences on the Fraction/Aja Hawkeye and concludes: "There’s some flavor recognizably borrowed off Chris Ware... and a little Jason Lutes and a taste of Howard Chaykin and maybe a tiny touch of Starman-era James Robinson, but for the most part, Hawkguy is Hawkguy, and Hawkeye is Hawkeye, and you should pause a moment before the next paragraph and think about how rare that kind of incomparability is in a big-two superhero book...

"Hawkeye #11 is from Pizza Dog's point of view, and it's pretty damn close to perfect. ...Man, you will never care this hard about another story. And while you're caring, it'll sneak up on you that Matt Fraction and David Aja are doing things with comics that you didn't know could be done.

"At some point you realize that, without noticing, you've started to think like Pizza Dog."

Maybe because we haven't seen it done before; or, more accurately, haven't seen it so successfully done.  Or so ambitiously, but I don't think Fraction and Aja are trying to be ambitious. They're trying to make the comic as good as they can, and their success is spectacular.

There's another interesting review from The A.V. Club, where Oliver Sava asks: "Is Hawkeye's Pizza Dog issue the future of superhero comics?"  Which I think is an absurd - though eye-catching - and then he annoys me even more with the initial statement: "Superhero comics are predictable and repetitive."  I can't say it is entirely untrue; but I've heard it too often to take it seriously.   Yes, most superhero comics are formulaic. Television, novels, and all mass-market entertainment are by their nature predictable and repetitive, but in every medium and in every genre, the quality material manages to become unpredicable and original. Superhero comics are not, by nature, inferior any more than "war comics" or "romance comics" are inferior. This sounds to me like the snobbery of the critics who extol mainstream novels and scorn genre fiction. When the comics creators succeed in producing outstanding originality, it is not because they are transcending the genre, but because they have fresh ideas and high creativity.

Oliver Sava looses me entirely by listing the current Captain America as a 'must-read' book, while I think it is as close to unreadable, and by far the worst work I have ever seen from John Romita, Jr.

But Sava has an interesting take on the Pizza Dog story: "The story doesn't break from the detective mold too heavily --  Lucky meets a beautiful bitch that leads him to a case, he tries to solve it, sleeps with the female, then discovers and fights the perpetrators -- but the execution is incredibly imaginative and visually striking."  And he calls the use of icons "a wonderfully immersive reading experience" - which it is.  He speculates that the vagrant in the alley might be Clint's brother Barney.

"It takes a while for a new issue of Hawkeye to hit the stands," says Sava, "but the wait is always worth it."  There, we agree.  And I applaud his statement that "any character can be a captivating lead with the right creative team."  Lucky Kate: She has two sets of creators at present, the Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie team on Young Avengers, and Fraction and Aja on Hawkeye.  The best of the best.

I note that many reviewers have used this comic as incentive to talk about their own dogs.

I liked the one-sentence review of fourteenacross on tumblr:  "What is this devil magic that fuels the brains of Fraction and Aja and where can I get some?"
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'The Anatomy Lesson' and Alan Moore...

As you may have noticed, I'm talking about Marvel Comics here.  I may from time to time comment on non-Marvel comics when I find something significant to say, but most of my comics reading and focus in on Marvel.  Why?  Because I prefer Marvel comics to others.  Although many DC comics are beautiful creations in terms of art style and writing, I find them largely shallow, and I resent the company's policy of rebooting every decade or more.  And I hold a grudge for their eradication of Stephanie Brown (who should be Robin) and of Renee Montoya.

As for Image: they are a company created by and for artists, and by men for men, with a consistent flavour that reflects that.  There are exceptions - some amazing exceptions, like Saga.

Some brilliant independents and graphic novels, too, especially in the genre of autobiography.

But Marvel... that's where my interest lies.  This blog is, at least in part, to explore the reasons.

That being said, there was an interesting item posted yesterday on Bleeding Cool about "The Anatomy Lesson", a  Swamp Thing story from DC in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, back in February 1984, by the amazing Alan Moore.  When I think that comics have improved over the years - and in some ways they have - I remember some of the amazing comics of the 1980s and realize that their standards are still seldom met.

Well... in some ways. I'm not sure if anything Alan Moore ever wrote passed the Bechdel test - except The Lost Girls, which is something different entirely. It isn't that the Bechdel test is a measure of quality: some absolute drek passes the test, while masterpieces fail to.  It's a point about my sense of reality, and what I want to be reading, and what I want to see.

Alan Moore was one of several amazing writers who were transforming comics in the 1980s, and I intend to write about them.  I might add that I don't always like Alan Moore's work, either, and as with many of those 1980s creators, their early work looks to be their best.

- - -

Looking at Gambit again...

Back on June 27 I posted the first item on my Dream List: Gambit as he should be.  I came across a picture today that really made this clear to me: a sketch of Gambit by Mike Deodato Jr., who happens to be one of the gods of my pantheon. It was probably drawn some years ago. He draws Gambit as I think he should be: controlled stance, wild hair. Balanced, muscular, athletic body.  Powerful but casual stance. Look of intelligence, menace, and interest, mixed.

Here he is by Clay Mann, in a recent issue of the current comic:

Nice sence of movement, nice pink glow, but the essential character just isn't the same.

Not to my eyes.
- - -

Comic of the week: Avengers A.I. #1

Every week there is a comic that stands out above the rest -- and that's only counting the ones I buy.  Some weeks, when Young Avengers and Hawkeye both come out, it can be close to a tie, though Hawkeye usually wins.

This week - admittedly a week of fewer comics in my subscription box than usual - the outstanding one was a surprise. One I almost didn't buy.  Avengers A.I. is new this week, and it was the author's name that moved me to buy it: Sam Humphries, whom I know from his current work on Uncanny X-Force vol. 2 - which I have enjoyed very much, and in subtle ways.

So: Sam Humphries, the Vision on the cover, and a new female character I didn't recognize. Given how Marvel has been featuring female heroes of late, highlighting them in interesting ways, the advent of a new one was not to be missed.

First good thing about this comic: Monica Chang.  She's a crossover from the Ultimate Universe, and not one I'm familiar with.  She's Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Black Site - great name - and hits just the right balance between a character one can identify with as a thoughtful, intelligent protagonist - and a tough, authoritative S.H.I.E.L.D. badass.

Monica Chang is in the fine tradition of Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, and Daisy Johnson; both protagonist and antagonist, and in this case, a fine and witty straight man for irreverent Hank Pym.

Second good thing about this comic: The return of Victor Mancha, who was the Vision of the Young Avengers - and who has been sorely missed from that series. At least by me.

Third good thing about this comic: the art by Portuguese artist André Lima Araujo.  Its clean lines remind me of some of the better French and Belgian artists, and the colours by Frank d'Armata enhance it beautifully.

I had expected more of the Terminator-like "man fights robot" theme of Age of Ulton, but no.  Our A.I.'s are the heroes, and though clearly not human, they are a nice mix of personalities: logical Vision, playful Vic,  and the misanthropic Doombot, whose Doomlike intonations make me think of Marvin the Paranoid Android - not that the Doombot is gloomy, but that he talks in a consistent tone: "By the dark gods -- cease your prattling! Saving innocent likes is beneath me!"

.

I am delighted with the Vision's return to square yellow balloons and formal talk, a good balance of the human and the artificial.  I love the way he stands casually in the middle of furniture, and walks - or flies - through walls.  It's a return to basics for the Vision, and I am happy to see it - I thought the character took a wrong turn when he fell in love with Wanda and became humanized.  He's much more fun when his android character is emphasized.

That being said, what is an android?  When I first encountered the character, I imagined him as made of plastic - a notion supported when the some of the Avengers took a trip inside his body, in the style of Fantastic Voyage.  Here, we see the Vision with clawlike, possibly metallic appendages, making use of his "Ultron imperative" programming.  It's a safe bet we haven't heard the end of this.

And Hank Pym?  A goofball.  A clever goofball, cited by Captain America as being "one of the top ten minds on the planet". "Top five," corrects Pym. Who, I wonder, are the other nine Cap is thinking of?  At a guess: Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank McCoy, Amadeus Cho, Victor Von Doom, Doctor Nemesis, Valeria Richards, Dr. Kavita Rao, and... who else?  I'd like to be able to put another woman on the list, but I don't know who.  Some, like Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde, are extremely intelligent, but not groundbreakers.  

Hank Pym's flippancy gives him an off-the-wall quality; he's enjoying himself to much.  Unstable?  Unpredictable?

I hope so.

- - -

Coffee and chatter...

I have a friend, Lyn, who every year gives me the same Christmas present: a subscription to Daredevil.  Every month, she gets two copies of the comic, and gives one to me.  A Christmas present that extends itself through every month.

I think it's a wonderful thing.

I met her for coffee today at Bridgehead, and we talked comics, among other things.  We're not reading quite the same things.  I told her about Avengers AU #1 and she told me about what she's reading.

And I thought how wonderful it is to have friends who will talk to me about comics.  I have others, all valued, all quite wonderful. each with strong and different opinions on what we read.

I hope they know how much I appreciate them.

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Betty Ross: Red She-Hulk...

Of the many female heroes at Marvel whom I have loved, followed, and enjoyed, Betty Ross was never one of them.  There was no reason she should be.  I didn't generally read The Incredible Hulk, though I kept up with the storyline well enough to know what was going on.  Most of the time.

Betty, typical of many female characters in comics through the 1960s and 1970s, seemed to only have an existence in relation to the Hulk, and to only appear in stories in which she was kidnapped, used, brainwashed, manipulated, and otherwise not the master of her own fate.

I wasn't very interested.

Then at some point when I was not paying attention to Hulk continuity, she became a gamma-radiated rage monster.  Without the rage.  The first time I saw her, she made if clear she liked being superstrong, red, and able to do whatever she wants. I could get behind this.  As my friend Cat said on her Writ Medium blog: "With Bruce, becoming the Hulk was about losing control.  With Betty, it was about gaining control."  As Red She-Hulk, Betty is empowered, independent, assertive and intelligent.  As Hulk, Bruce has characteristically been confused and angry.  While Bruce tends to rage as the Hulk, and to be a danger to those around him, Betty is powerfully protective of others. When Bruce turns into the Hulk, he becomes grotesquely large, ill-proportioned, and monstrous - by his own estimation and that of others.  Transforming into Red She-Hulk makes Betty vivid, dramatic, well-proportioned, and beautiful. In December 2012, the comic book series Hulk turned into Red She-Hulk, part of Marvel's new trend of giving female heroes their own comics.  Written by Jeff Parker, drawn with aplomb by Carlo Pagulayan, we got a story that revived and refurbished Machine Man as a friend and comic foil for Betty Ross.  The characters were fun.  The story was rather incoherent.  I think it needed more simplification, rather than more explanation. Perhaps it would have lapsed into coherency, but the title was cancelled. Today the very last issue came out, hastily finishing up a story that started out unclear and gathered further unclarity as it continued. The least coherent moment of the book was Betty's assertion of independence: "I make my own destiny, if that hasn't been made clear today. I fight for me."   At the end of the story, she entered the Ancient Order of the Sheild, from which she can presumably emerge whenever she is need as back-up character in another comic. I wonder what her current feelings are for Bruce Banner.  Or his for her. Am I sorry the comic has ended?  In an abstract way, yes: it was a mix of old comic book clichés and witty banter, falling somewhere between silly and pointless.  The art was lovely,and I hope to see more by Carlo Pagulayan soon.  Really, there was a lot of potential there, wasted in the story being told. If and when Betty Ross comes back, I'll be waiting. The thing I liked about Betty - besides her mellow personality and her wit - was her hair.  Black with dramatic red streaks.  Very cool.  I should take her picture with me when I go to the hairdresser. 

Art by Carlo Pagulayan

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Canada Day...

Happy Canada Day

There aren't many Canadian superheroes at Marvel, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality.

Wolverine, the best there is at what he does, proving both the truth and lie of the Canadian stereotype.

Northstar: fast, famous, gay and proud. And married.

Puck, short, feisty and clever.

And Deadpool... the wild card in the mix.

- - -

I was amused by this article on i09 by Meredith Woerner: 'What would the newsstands look like if the Avengers were real'?

I love Hawkeye's casual sprawl on the New Yorker, compared to Tony's businesslike pose:

Friends have quibbled: how do we imagine a world in which S.H.I.E.L.D.  exists, and is publicly known?  In which it isn't just the Avengers and Nick Fury who know Bruce Banner is the Hulk?

Well, hey, it's just another alternate reality, with another set of challenges and concerns. I have no problem with that.

Thor should be there, too, with his red cape and big smile. Or his helmeted scowl and hammer.

My favourite: the In Touch cover that has Hawkeye and Black Widow dating.  Does that mean I'm a Natasha/Clint shipper?  Naw, of course not.  Not really.  Hardly.  Well, only a little.  Or... maybe.  Frankly, I wish Black Widow and Daredevil still wanted each other.  But I can cope.

These days, I can't help being more of a Clint/Kate shipper. Fraction and Aja, what have you done to me?

- - -

The best of the best...

Every once in a while there is a comic so good that I find myself thinking about it in the weeks after it comes out, anticipating the next issue.  Rereading it.  Speculating about the story.

These series, or runs, or stories are rare.  They don't happen every year.  They usually don't last as long as I'd wish - which would be forever.

The best comic of the year is Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja. It's the story of what Clint Barton, the archer Hawkeye in The Avengers, does when he's not doing things with the Avengers. It's about his friendship with Kate Bishop (the other Hawkeye) and his interactions his neighbours.  Because David Aja is the best of the best and genius can't keep to a tight monthly schedule, some issues are drawn by other artists - intrinsically inferior, because they aren't David Aja, but chosen for their abilities to do work comparable to his, and not dissimilar.

And it's about Hawkeye's dog.  Lucky is the dog's name, but everyone thinks of him as Pizza Dog. In similar manner, we think of Clint Barton as Hawkguy, to distinguish him for Kate as Hawkeye; a name given to him by Matt Fraction's four year old.  Who says families don't collaborate?

This month's issue, vol. 4 #11, was called "Pizza Dog in Pizza Is My Business".  It was written from the point of view of Pizza Dog, who became part of Clint's life back in issue #1, when he saved Clint's life - and Clint saved his.  Pizza Dog had belonged to some unsavory types who wanted rid of Hawkeye.

Sounds silly, no?  Like the old stories of the 1960s in which Krypto would save Superboy from Kryptonite, and the Legion of Super-Pets would have word balloons full of words.  And wear capes.

Pizza Dog does not wear a cape, though he has a collar.  He thinks, as dogs would, in terms of images and smells and sounds.  He's very responsible: when Clint tells him to keep an eye on the place while he's out. Pizza Dog does.

Seeing the world through Pizza Dog's eyes, we get insight into what is going on, including things which relate to Pizza Dog's unsavory past, and details of Clint's neighbours' lives.  Besides the charm and intelligence of the story itself, there's the viewpoint that isn't from a dog who thinks like a human, or has human concerns: he's a dog.  A dog ready to do what a dog's gotta do.

I can't claim Pizza Dog isn't cute, with his missing eye and his floppy ears.  But he's more than cute: he's a personality.

But, more... This issue makes clear that things in the previous ten issues which seemed unrelated to each other were all part of a bigger picture.  The story coalesces.  We don't have all the details, but this issue - though happily complete on its own - gives us a few "ahah!" moments.

Loved the scene of the cops coming to ask Clint questions about a murder:

The intelligence and artistry that goes into this comic has me in awe.  If it doesn't win the comics awards this year, it should.  Despite some stiff competition.

How many days till the next issue?

- - -

Rich Johnson posted a good review of this same comic on Bleeding Cool.

- - -

Vin Diesel...

I came across this item on i09: Could Vin Diesel Be Headed to the Marvel Universe?. Seems Marvel asked for a meeting with Vin Diesel, and the fans are speculating which character they might want him to play - epecially in one of the movies known to be in the works.

I'd like to see him as Dormammu.
- - -

Let's start with a dream list...

Comics are an ongoing delight: full of surprises, suspense, drama and frustrations.  There are a great many things going on in comics these days that I would never have anticipated, ranging from the ridiculous to the wonderful.

So: in a continuing ongoing countdown, this is my letter to Santa Claus.  This is what I want to see in my comics: the top ten things I am not getting now, starting with #10.

10. Gambit

Gambit.  Sure, we have a Gambit comic, soon to be cancelled, I hear.  And not before time.  It was disappointing. It wasn't what I was looking for.  In old comics, Gambit catches my eye even when he's in the background:  as acrobatic as Spider-Man, as wily as Loki, a tease and a torment but a reliable friend in need. Fearless in a fight. Elusive in personality.  Perpetually dynamic.

I know many women who say Gambit is their favourite X-Men character.  The sexiest, the smartest.  But we've had years now of Gambit being less sexy, less smart, and taking a minor role.  Remember how comic used to have adult superheroes with teen side-kicks?  With Gambit, they reversed the pattern: the adult superhero become the companion, advisor, and sidekick to a teen whose story we were following: Jubilee and then X-23.  He went from being the bad boy of the X-Men to being a benign, favourite uncle.

Not that I have any problem with that: I just wish he'd kept his edge.  He should have a good heart and a dangerous manner, but smooth, smooth as satin.  A glib chameleon as much at home in dark underworld alleys as he is in exclusive hotels.

A man always in motion, always making himself one step ahead of the game - and there's always a game.

And Rogue?  I'd rather she came nowhere near him.  I adore her, but her role in Gambit's life has done him no good.  Let him take his loss with a broken heart and an eye to flirtation.

- - -

Where it all began...

I'm here to talk about comics.  I have been reading comics, loving comics, for a very long time - since before the Marvel Age of the early 1960s.  I loved the medium.  I read whatever I could get my hands on, with hoarded allowance, at the local corner store.  It wasn't much, but it was precious to me.

Then one day I picked up, on spec, a new comic that caught my eye - well, new to me.  Something I'd never heard of.  Fantastic Four #18, it was called - "Return of the Super-Skrull", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.


I was mesmerized.  The characters, the situation, the dialogue all seemed so interesting after the pale and superficial stories I'd been reading in comics before.

I'd loved the medium already. Now I was in love with a genre.

I haunted that corner store in search of more Marvel titles.  Spider-Man #4 was the next one I found.  Then Journey into Mystery, with Thor, God of Thunder - suddenly I had a fascination with Norse gods. First issues of more comics started to appear, like Daredevil and X-Men.  I was particularly fond of Sgt. Fury and his Howlin' Commandos, subtitled The war comic for people who hate war comics.  Yup: that was me.  I read it out loud to my dolls, trying to imitate Nick Fury's gruff voice.

None of my friends liked comics, which is maybe why I still feel the need to talk about comics in a blog today.  My parents waited patiently for me to outgrow my fascination: if they were still alive, they'd be still waiting today.  Smart kids didn't read comics.  Girls didn't read comics, except for Millie the Model and sometimes Archie.    So I occasionally read Millie the Model for the sake of gender solidarity, and then went back to reading and rereading and loving the superhero stories.

When I went to England as a student in the mid-1970s, I thought I could go without comics for a year.  Perhaps I could have, but I didn't even try: I found a street-cart selling American comics on Charing Cross Road, and was able to buy Master of Kung Fu and Conan the Barbarian and Spider-Man on a regular basis.

I wrote letters to comics, my first one published in Fantastic Four #32.  I wrote more letters to comics,  and do it still. I married (and later divorced) a man I met through comics.  I found friends who read comics in SF fandom, and then - with the invention of the Internet - online.  I found fanfic and meta writers and reviewers and costumers.

In the early 1980s, Frank Miller told me he thought the comic book industry would be gone in another five years. I am so glad he was wrong. The publication of comics - in the U.S. and elsewhere - just goes on and on.  With new delights, disappointments, and developments all the time.  Manga!  Blockbuster Hollywood movies.  TV shows based on comics.  Novelizations, graphic novels, books teaching how to write or draw comics, how to read them.  Books about their history.  Magazines, reviews, webcomics, and blogs like this one.

I have opinions on all of it.

Who am I?  Writer, editor, virtual assistant, tarot reader, office manager.  Canadian, female, bisexual.  Humanist.  Historian.

And always happy to talk about comics.