Funnybook Babylon

As a follow-up to our theoretically award-eligible podcast Three Number Ones, Funnybook Babylon planned to look at Four Number Ones, the Billboard #1 singles on our respective birthdays!

Sadly, due to a quirk of fate, our birthdays are paired closely together, so we only have two number ones:

“MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer (Chris & Jamaal)
“Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes (Joseph & Pedro)

So we had to go with our backup plan: reviewing comics. I think we can all agree those are a couple of wretched songs; will the comics be any better?
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:23 — 38.0MB)

This is going to be a very busy week for me in the real world, so this’ll be a light one. I hope that these links and random commentary will tide you over until next time. This week: Farel Dalrymple, the Roots, comics art, The Things We Should Be Discussing, links, and Tomorrow’s Pull List Today!

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This week we briefly step back into the world of mainstream superhero comics with reviews of Dark Avengers and Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne. I also take a quick look at the recent Glyph Awards, and lay some links on you. Spoilers below.

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For those of you who missed it, I already annotated Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 over at Comics Alliance. You’ll continue to find those annotations there, while Batman and Robin will remain here.

It’s been a while and there’ s a lot to talk about, so let’s get into it.
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The Funnybook Babylon Podcast is back at full power and looking at a trio of books written by a trio of homophonic dudes!

Yes, This is Being Published: Brightest Day #1 (DC) by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi and a Big Bag of Artists

Underground (Image Comics) by Jeff Parker & Steve Lieber (collected edition out this week)

Sweet Tooth Volume 1: Out of the Woods (DC/Vertigo) by Jeff Lemire (collected edition also out this week)

This was a happy accident, the Trio of [Geo/J]effs, and one we may follow up on in the future. What show would you guys like to see? The Briancast? The Petercast? The Sarahcast? The Bongcast? Let us know!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:00 — 35.7MB)

Fight to grow old
Fight to be humble
Fight to stay bold
And then one day, fighting doesn’t make sense
Spending time together’s just another expense
I just want to love, but I ain’t been right
How can I do us and can’t keep on the lights?
This is my plight
I don’t have a plan
Tomorrow is far, I’m talking distant lands
But that’s not true, I do what I can
I work so hard that my face stays tan
Beg you to meet me, work ’till you know me
Sleep with the world, and still feel lonely
I just want to love, and be loved back
You just love to dance, I can’t touch that

-Allure (Must Have Been Love), T.Shirt X Darvin Silva, Tan-Face Children EP.

I love debut works by new comics creators in the same way that I love first albums, or a director’s first film. It’s thrilling to watch an artist discover their voice and articulate ideas that have been percolating for a lifetime. I’m often so caught up in the creator’s exploration of the form that I tend to forgive flaws far more than I would for an established creator. It’s hard not to suspend judgment for these kind of books - every page feels like it’s bursting with enthusiasm and creativity. The final product tends to be something fearless, unburdened by convention. Sometimes there’s nothing better than consuming art without any preconceived expectations. No track record, no established characters, no legacy to live up to. Just the creator and the page.
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In an effort to present more unsolicited opinions on comics, Funnybook Babylon proudly presents THE SLIMCAST: shorter shows featuring our regular panel and guests briefly discussing the issues of the day. The stars have not been aligning for our traditional full-crew sprawling podcasts in recent weeks, but rest assured they will return soon.
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:27 — 16.8MB)

In this trife life, there ain’t nobody you can trust
Plus, there’s no justice, it’s just us
In fact, watching your back, it be a must
And each and every day around the way gats bust
And jealous so-called friends will try to set you up, it’s called betrayal

-Keith Elam, a/k/a/ GURU, Betrayal

Loki shall have battle with Heimdallr, and each be the slayer of the other. Then straightway shall Surtr cast fire over the earth and burn all the world; so is said in Völuspá.

-Glyfaginning (English translation) , a depiction of Ragnarok.

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Reader, my two most recent posts have been spiteful missives directed at funnybooks. Most of the other things I’ve been working on are critical of comics as well. I do not wish to simply curse the darkness, so when I looked at yesterday’s DC Solicitations, I struggled mightily not to focus on the negative. So here are some nice things DC will be doing in July, assuming they do not change things and make these books returnable:

Batman #701 (Grant Morrison & Tony Daniel)
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4
(Grant Morrison & Cameron Stewart)
Batman & Robin #14 (Grant Morrison & Frazier Irving)
Joe the Barbarian #7 (Grant Morrison & Sean Murphy) - Who could imagine, I’m excited for a GMo QUAD-LASER in July! And he’s collaborating with two of his Seven Soldiers running buddies! And Sean Murphy, who is killing it on Joe! And Tony Daniel, who is… uh… providing a narrative consistency with “Batman R.I.P.”! I feel pity for David’s annotatin’ arm come July, but am otherwise unabashedly excited for the barrage of Morrison Batmanalia coming this summer.

Sparta: USA #5 (David Lapham & Johnny Timmons) - Like The Beast Must Die over on Mindless Ones, I’m distracted by Johnny Timmons’s overly photo-referenced art in Sparta. But like TMBD, I’m powering through it to follow Lapham. It’s getting to the point that stiff photoreferenced work is just this era’s Thing You Must Endure, like muddy proto-Vertigo coloring and the awkward introduction of computer coloring and lettering. How many otherwise enjoyable comics were marred by grotesque lensflares, ridiculous character-specific fonts, and panel upon panel awash with different concentrations of brown and purple? Many! And yet comics soldiered on. One day, this too shall pass.
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There’s already been plenty of coverage elsewhere of Mark Millar’s hissyfit about getting his idea of Vampires vs. Superheroes “swiped” by the X-Offices. I think Mark’s onto something: just as he introduced the concepts of gay superheroes and “a superhero comic set in the real world”, I see no reason to think he didn’t also create the concept of superheroes fighting vampires. After all, wasn’t he the guy who introduced us to Marvel Zombies? So just how far does this swiping of Millar go? Look below and be horrified!

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This week - Cooke shows us how it’s done, Hickman and Weaver keep us guessing, and MoCCA is predictably awesome. Note - Spoilers Below!

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There are many reasons not to like Identity Crisis, Brad Meltzer’s best-selling murder mystery book for DC Comics. I’ve railed against it before, including in an embarasingly sloppy proto-FBB post you can read here. But even if you don’t mind its push towards “Superhero Decadence” or a dozen other charges against the book, it’s important to remember that it was an absolutely wretched murder mystery. To illustrate this, earlier today I wrote up a summary of the story from the culprit’s — SPOILER ALERT — perspective. Originally this was just a message board post, but I decided to remind everyone of this important Identity Crisisfact.

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Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in an ideological battle, a corrections officer of any kind. Never, never try to put the author “in his place,” making him a pawn in a contest with other reviewers. Review the book, not the reputation. Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast. Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.

-John Updike

Hello. The quotation above is reflective of what I’d like to do with this column. It’s an idealized view of criticism that I plan to strive for in this this column. I expect to fail on a pretty regular basis, but it’s always important to have a goal. The plan? A weekly review and potpourri/linkblogging with commentary column. Warning: Spoilers below.

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Funnybook Babylon has notice a trend: first issues from Vertigo are often given lukewarm or negative reviews, but once the series develops, we change our tune. It happened with Air, it happened with Young Liars (at least for some of us), and as we’ve previously panned the first issues of Greek Street (Episode 107) and Unwritten (Episode 99), we decided to give each series a second chance to impress. So reviewed today:

Unwritten v1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Greek Street v1: Blood Calls for Blood v1 by Peter Milligan and Davide Gianfelice

Did either book turn things around? Will second volumes of either book be added to the Funnybook Babylon Library? Listen to find out!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (26.7MB)

Batman and Robin #8

Batman and Robin #9

After the extensive infodump of last issue, these two issues are FAR more streamlined as we ramp up to “Batman vs. Batman” and the return of Bruce Wayne. In this installment: The Bug Black Voice of Gotham City! The Bible of Crime! And… Batwoman! Come back soon for Batman and Robin #10, and a look into the Wayne family’s lineage, but until then let’s see what further clues we can divine from “Blackest Knight.”

Additionally, I’d like to give a shout-out to the superb amypoodle at the always-sublime Mindless Ones, who put together an insanely compelling counter-theory to mine about Simon Hurt. It’s great stuff, and you should really check it out, as I’ll certainly be keeping it in mind in the months ahead.
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