POBB May 25, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

May 25, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  For those who came here by accident, my name is Ray Tate.  I review comic books. Maybe you heard of me from the usenet, Silver Bullet Comics or its transformation Comics Bulletin.  Doesn't matter.  I'm now nestled here at my own blog.  

I review everything that piques my interest.  I have a backlog of comic books to read and review.  So if you don't see a title or issue featured, it doesn't necessarily mean I've ignored it.  It may mean I haven't gotten to it yet.  

I'm catching up alphabetically, mostly.  If I can make associations for special POBB posts, I'll do that.  If I can read a comic book that's just come out of the gate, I'll do that as well.

This week it's a pair of brand new science fiction independent subjects: Black Star and Becstar.  If you haven't time for the blog, check me out on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Let me get this out of the way first.  Apart from the name, these books share nothing but the genre in common.  I didn't pair them together to compare and contrast.  I just happened to read them at the same time and noticed the star name.  No other reason.

Black Star published by Abrams is a reasonably priced, perfectly-sized, hardback graphic novel by scribe Eric Anthony Glover and artist Arielle Jovellanos. 

Black Star weighs in at 176 advertisement-free pages.  The slightly textured paper quality enhances the visuals.   Black Star is a little smaller in height than a floppy comic book but identical in width.  It's about seven by nine inches.  Think of an old timey yellow-banded Nancy Drew and add a couple more units here and there.  

Black Star introduces the reader to a starship crew that unite for the purpose of securing a rare flower on an alien world.  However their motives for partaking the mission differ.

These facts we learn in flashback.  The book does not begin that way.  The book begins when everything goes to hell.  

The ship suffers a catastrophic accident.  The gritty graphics set the tone for what appears to be, just appears to be, a battle for survival on a hostile world.

Dr. North escaped the ship-wide disaster.  Her pod lands on target.  She's determined to acquire the plant in order to save all those lives mentioned previously.  At the same time, she must speed to the auxiliary shuttle in order to be rescued.  

Now, if Black Star was just that, it would be a beautiful free-hand rendered, bang-up science fiction pulp novel.  It's more though.  

Writer Glover makes good use of the futuristic elements.  In fact, he creates situations where only science fiction would serve as a setting.  An A.I. for example is Dr. North's constant companion.  Sometimes unwanted.

A device that monitors vital signs becomes a superb plot device for a number of twists, and Glover plays with the reader's expectations.  He knows you've seen this sort of thing before, and he anticipates your predictions.  What's more, as the story unfolds various motives aboard and outside the ship shift organically.  The whole enterprise becomes unpredictable and well worth your time and coin.  

Published by Mad Cave Studios, Becstar introduces the title character at a game of chance on page six.  Writer Joe Corallo also premieres Becstar's First Mate, Sally Soolin.

This is plain and simple the debut issue of a space saga starring Becstar; a scruffy, scrounging archetype of a Captain.  Soolin taking the role of a long-suffering partner in crime.  Very soon, they'll be wanted.

The dagger provides Becstar with luck.  She uses the dagger on numerous occasions in the tale, with differing results.  Luck isn't foolproof.  The dagger is probably magical even if the entirety of the story is more technologically based.

Becstar acts almost like a sequel to something never released.  That's a good thing.  Captain Becstar was the best and most visually striking character and you would actually want more of her and less of the other guys.

Though you get a glimpse of the conniving Turlough.  Possibly named after a conniving Doctor Who companion.  Or an Irish lake.  He hands off the Clairvoyance Rod--it does exactly what it says--to his young associate Paprika.  

He seems the typical wise elder willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, but that's not how Becstar flies.  Turlough and Becstar's former mercenaries are just that.  Despite this being a semi-comical science fiction, Becstar benefits from a scuzzy edge.  These are not the best people in the universe.  They probably never should have acquired these cosmic objects.  They are literally the wrong hands to wield them.

The appealing art by Lorenzo Colangeli as you can see offers a stylized cartoon with characters that can morph from semi-realistic to Muppet-like given the mood.  Backgrounds are rich in detail and deserve a second look.  Altogether a very nice display.

POBB May 17, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

May 17, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the latest edition of the Pick of the Brown Bag.  It's another title focused posting this week, as I try to catch up on all the comics I've read but not yet reviewed.

I mentioned Tom King's Batman and Catwoman in passing, but I decided to give it an in depth look now that DC published four issues.  

Let me once again state.  I am not a fan of the Black Label DC Brand.  The insulting Batman: Damned scorched any enthusiasm I can muster for a new Black Label title.  In fact, when I see another of those things on the racks, I kind of cringe.  

If not for Jimmy Palmiotti's and Amanda Conner's Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, I may have just ignored Batman and Catwoman.  And I'm a Tom King fan.  So, King owes them a debt.

On a scale of one to ten where Harley Quinn is a ten and Batman: Damned is negative thirty.  Batman and Catwoman so far rates a positive seven.  

At first I believed King extended the continuity he wrote for Batman into the Black Label title, but Batman and Catwoman is too screwy to be associated with continuity.  It takes a bit of this and a bit of that and meshes this-that into something that's entertaining in places, head-scratching in others.

After the backlash over Batman's penumbra of a penis, the Powers That Be appear to have rethought the whole for mature audience Black Label directive.  Batman and Catwoman for example presents no nudity, nor even proper swearing.

So it looks like DC is reinventing the Black Label title.  Perhaps they now define the subjects thusly: 

DC titles that are sometimes risqué but always off-tangent from the DC Universe proper.  These books do not necessarily relate the time Victorian Batman fought Jack the Ripper or when Superman stopped the Confederacy cold.  So don't you dare go looking for that.  We don't do those anymore.  These books also will not, repeat not under any circumstances feature Batman's offending member.  Don't panic.

The root of Batman and Catwoman can be found in Tom King's Batman run.  In Batman forty-nine, the Joker takes a wedding hostage.  Batman and Catwoman investigate.  Joker blows up Batman into unconsciousness.  Catwoman and the Joker mortally wound each other, and they're the only ones left talking, if not standing.  

Catwoman will not kill.  At least that's her reputation.  She is a thief not a killer, nor even a purveyor of brutal violence.  This serves the character from the Golden Age to the Bronze Age.  

The New 52 and Rebirth reinforced the consistency.

However, King's Catwoman though not a heartless murderer, isn't above killing.  She's a harder, more realistic figure that incorporates nearly all of the character's history from comics.  Including Batman Year One.  

Frank Miller implied that Catwoman and her cohort Holly were man-hating prostitutes.  DC ran with that--Catwoman Year One--until then new Catwoman writer Jo Duffy elegantly dismissed the suggestion.  She explained this misogynist concept to be a ruse setup to roll Johns, which is far more in keeping with Catwoman's status as arch-thief.

Anyway.  In Batman forty-nine, Catwoman is willing to kill the Joker.  She's willing to do what Batman will not do.  Not out of malice or even blood lust.  Rather as a public service.  

That's the Continuity Proper answer, but King took a second look at his creation.  I suspect he looked at the scene askew.  Batman and Catwoman is the consequence.

Batman and Catwoman takes place in three different time frames.  Two where Batman is alive, and another when Batman is dead.

King provides an answer to what kills Batman in Detective Comics #1027.  He also portrayed Batman's last day and set up his Batman and Catwoman future in a speculation presented during his Batman run.  That speculation will also be crucial to Batman and Catwoman.

When Batman is alive, he's with Catwoman.  He lives, she lives in stately Wayne Manor.  Alfred is alive except in the near present.  Alfred died in King's Batman run.

The story begins when one of Batman's former lovers comes looking for her child, who ran away to Gotham City.  Batman and Catwoman go on the hunt.

Apart from the identity of the mother, events begin rather normally, and Batman and Catwoman seems to be just that extension of Batman I identified.

The child unfortunately runs into the Joker, and things take a turn for the worse.  It's that misery that catalyzes everything that occurs in Batman and Catwoman.  

That's about all I can safely say about Batman and Catwoman without giving away the plot, the identities of the characters, everything.  

I can tell you, if you do not wish to go on, that Clay Mann's artwork is smooth as silk.  King's story is full of quirks and eye-brow raising surprises; none of which make sense except outside of the context of Continuity Proper.  As a result, Batman and Catwoman reads like a stream of writer's consciousness.  Though it's a controlled body.    

I can also recommend the book to Catwoman fans.  Batman does not really get a point of view in the story, for obvious reasons.  A lot of events go behind his back, when he's not dead.  

Batman isn't aware of what's happening.  He doesn't have a clue until Catwoman spells it out for him.  One can argue that love blinds.  One can argue this was the whole original point of the liaison.  In the end though, Batman unaware of what's going on is a little too difficult to grasp.  He's supposed to be ten steps ahead of everybody.  That closing gap is the flaw in the series.

For Catwoman fans, however, Tom King writes Selina Kyle like no other.  He really has a taste for her and knows how she prowls.  Despite the events having little basis in comic book history or Continuity Proper, Catwoman behaves as you expect her to given the situation.  If you accept the premise of King's story, you're in for a good ride.  If you can't accept it even as a glimmer of quantum possibility, then maybe you should stick to King's Batman run.

This review will be filled with spoilers as soon as the graphic warning manifests and continue that way.  I just didn't see any other means around it.

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Three time periods all unfolding during Christmas comprise Batman and Catwoman.  In one, Batman is dead.  In a second, recent past, Batman and Catwoman hunt for Andrea Beaumont's son.  In the third, distant past, Catwoman and Joker subsist in symbiosis to undermine Batman's strengths.  

Though many scenes speak for themselves.  The time-hopping can be confusing if there's no frame of reference.  Clay Mann provides that frame through fashion.  Catwoman in Black is the distant past.  Catwoman gray is the recent past, and older Selina is obvious.

In issue one, Selina visits an old man in Florida.  This catalyzes the reflections of the more recent past where King incorporates Batman Animated Series continuity into the decidedly un-cartoony artwork of Clay Mann.

Andrea Beaumont for those unfamiliar with the character appeared as Batman's first love in The Mask of Phantasm.  The best of the Batman films after Batman Returns. 

The theater select original animated feature offered the audience not just a tweaked Batman origin but also drew in Mike Barr's and Al Davis' Reaper stories from Batman Year Two.

During the course of Batman's and Catwoman's investigation of Andy's disappearance, more Animated Series recreations arrive on scene.  You may begin to think that Batman and Catwoman is in fact an extrapolation of The Animated Series.

Yet.  Batman and Catwoman isn't quite the animated continuity either.  King's Joker in this story appears as different incarnations, none of which would fit in the The Animated Series, save for this one.  There's a sense that the Joker alters his appearance to placate Batman.  The purple-garbed murderous clown better suits Batman's world rather than the straight up gangster who appears before Catwoman.

Batman and Catwoman also reintroduces Helena Wayne.  Though she's not Helena from earth-two.  Neither from the Bronze Age nor the New 52.  This is Batman's and Catwoman's daughter, briefly seen in King's speculation about Batman's last day.

Different costume as well, and here's where the Black Label becomes a little more racy.

I mean, there's really no reason for that bit of fan service other than it's a Black Label book and they can get a way with it.  

I suppose you can make the argument that the social mores of the near future lean toward permissiveness, but come now.  This is gratuitous.  

One good look at Helena's rear and you're likely to forget everything else that happened in the series.  Fortunately, I take notes.

Batwoman, Helena's not Huntress, in King's future not only investigates the murder of an old man in Florida.  She's looking into the Batman's rogues.  The case in Helena's present appears to link to the the deaths of the Joker's former henchmen.  

For the audience it's no mystery.  The usually tight-lipped Tom King divulges the secret.

Andrea is once again Phantasm.  The death of her son destroys her peace of mind, and she even goes so far as kidnapping Selina.

Once the first issue of Batman and Catwoman ran through its course, I questioned whether or not I'd be interested in the entire series.  King isn't after all creating a fair play mystery.  We know practically everything.  I don't believe Catwoman would ever willingly partner with the Joker, but I can tenuously accept the premise for this series.  Still, it's not something I'd choose out of all the comic books in the world to read.

Then King and Mann introduced Batwoman.  She's the most exciting and visually striking character in Batman and Catwoman.  I want her series.

Certainly, my subjective love for Helena Wayne lends bias, but I can also prove the argument objectively.

Batwoman bases her outfit on Batgirl as much as Batman.  She must be a fan.  Dick Grayson, now Commissioner of Gotham City, trusts her.  So she is entrenched in the Batman Family.  The rogues recognize her as Batman's successor and heir.  Imbuing greater resonance.

Helena seems determined to bring her mother to justice for the original murder in issue one.  She behaves a lot like her father.  Looks like him too when striking a pose.

Unlike Batman, the dynamic between she and her mother is different, and her pursuit generates the friction.  

Furthermore, the LGBT community lose none of their representation.  Batwoman is gay.  Helena Wayne is gay.  With the addition of Helena Wayne, Batman and Catwoman becomes a must read, rather than a pleasant enough time waster for those with a surplus of funds.

POBB May 1, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

May 1, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Bon Jour and Bon Soir.  Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, your go to blog for comic book reviews.  I'm Ray Tate, the meilleure banane. Should my in depth look at comic book history and critique be too much too soon, I can also be found on Twitter for briefer judgements: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Batman teams up with his old chums Freddie, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo for a new series christened The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries.

According to wikipedia, Batman and Robin first appeared in the Scooby Universe on the second episode of The New Scooby-Doo Mystery Movies.  

Mind you.  I remember them debuting on the first series Scooby-Doo Where Are You! 

I have a distinct recollection of watching the opening to Scooby-Doo followed by a skeleton caper with Scooby and the Gang, Batman and Robin.  I believed the Dynamic Duo to be canonical to the original series.

John Nathan Turner the producer of Doctor Who in the eighties coined a profound saying: "The memory cheats."  

The thing is I swear I never saw Scooby-Doo Mysteries until syndicated.  I only saw on VHF Scooby-Doo Where Are You!  I remember sitting in front of the TV, wearing my Phantom jammies and eating...

Okay.  I'm done.  

Whenever Batman and Robin guest in a Scooby-Doo related project, the creative teams go above and beyond.   Ivan Cohen, Dario Brizuela and Franco Riesco carry forth this honorable tradition of quality.  

Brizuela of course is the master illustrator behind the previous comic book series Scooby-Doo Team-Up.  He backed up writer Sholly Fisch, who unfortunately isn't involved in Batman Scooby-Doo.  That's all right.  Cohen proves himself to be an ace Batman and Scooby-Doo writer.

Batman Scooby-Doo begins with Batman asking his friends and colleagues Mystery Inc. to investigate the disappearance of his original purple gloves.  

For those not in the know, Batman's more familiar gauntlets didn't manifest until September 1940.  DC also now apparently recolors the purple gloves blue in every reprinting of Batman's Golden Age adventures.  A bizarre practice, since they returned in Scott Snyder's modern run of Batman to recapitulate the Dark Knight's historical origins.

The enigma of the purple gloves grows more complicated.  Nobody could have switched the gloves.  Since they were always in the Batcave.  Batman furthermore doesn't remember what happened to the gloves.

Unlike Batgirl, Batman does not possess a photographic memory.  It's near photographic, but this kind of personal lapse would worry any detective worth his salt.  As would an infiltration of Batman's headquarters.  

So, far, Batman Scooby-Doo has a reason to exist.  The mystery demands Scooby and the Gang's involvement.  The puzzle is solid.  It's solution twisty and textured.  

There's a lot more than just Scooby-Diving in this story.  Suffice to say, any more intel would be spoiling a quite splendid time spender.  Some things I can reveal.  Alfred makes a critical appearance.  Robin is Dick Grayson, and a flashback encounter with Scooby and the Gang early in Batman's career impacts his demeanor and his life in the present.  For these reasons, the premiere of The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries is a lot deeper and meta than what one may expect. 

Scooby-Doo and the Gang are archetypes.  Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys predate them, yet Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. touched the hearts of children and influenced pop culture far more.  Everybody continues to redo Scooby-Doo Where Are You! or offer their versions of the sleuths.  The latest of these attempts include Proctor Valley Road and Specter Inspectors.

Proctor Valley Road  hails from Grant Morrison, Alex Child and artists Naomi Franquiz and Tamra Bonvillain.  Specter Inspectors springs from the minds of Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto.  Both fall under the Boom aegis.  So, they're not so much in competition.  Rather, they're in the same book section.

Set in the seventies, Proctor Valley Road, explores some of that periodicity.  For instance, the Selective Service and Vietnam looms in the dialogue.  The story however centers on the cover quartet: August, Rylee, Jennie and Cora.

The female protagonists aren't really attempting to unravel enigmas.  Their goals are much more in tune with the times.

By hook or by crook, they seek to raise money for Janis Joplin tickets.  This goal ultimately leads them to the mystery.

Please note the VW van.  When you see a bunch of kids in a van heading into the unknown, you're halfway to Scooby Country.  

However, the girls are not detectives.  More like grifters, completely sold on the money-making aspect and lacking curiosity about the strange happening that occurs in the prologue of Proctor Valley Road. 

Word of the happening spreads quickly and becomes an urban legend.  That's why all the girls know about it and why August is keen to exploit it.  

Objectively, Proctor Valley Road is fine, though to date a little light reading for the typical layered writing of Grant Morrison.  That said.  Some genuinely good comedy can be found from the diverse cast of female protagonists. 

The art is welcoming, and there's something to be said for making the youths ethically challenged but innocent none the less.

These girls are rule-breakers, frequently in trouble with authority figures and even petty thieves, but they're not racists.  They're not terrorists.  They're not villains.  They're not Republican.

By the end of Proctor Valley Road, you'll see what's behind the prologue.  This is the only time Morrison appears to be making an allusion.  A cinematic one from the classics of horror.

Noa, Astrid, Ko and Gus comprise the Specter Inspectors, their official name  The Inspectors are Youtube ghost-hunters.  

The story begins with the Inspectors traveling to Cape Grace to investigate a haunted house.

All seems well, and the Scooby-Doo vibe is strong in these young ones.  The darker skinned Noa, a true believer, leads the team.  What's more she thinks she's psychic.

I hate psychics.  Psychics are charlatans.  When I see one in a straight up detective story, my suspension of disbelief snaps.  However, I'm willing to accept psychics in a fiction where the supernatural exists or science fiction aspects play out.  

Until the films, Scooby-Doo only went the skeptic route.  Mystery Inc. uncovered countless real estate scams by crooks in chilling costumes.  Specter Inspectors is at first as vague when noting Noa's psychic ability.  So, at this point, the book could go in either direction.

It's funny how psychics never seem to be able to focus on a clear picture of the future.  Noa learns some hard truths about her girlfriend Astrid.  She's not above chicanery.

Astrid's willingness to succumb to corruption is the surprising catalyst in Specter Inspectors and it comes to a head in the bell tower where Astrid confesses something to Noa.

I won't give anything else away.  I will say that unusual things develop and in inventive ways.  The artwork enhances the entire project and the dialogue, creatively lettered, at times creates an outré ambiance.  Best of all Specter Inspectors breaks from Scooby-Doo to convey a feeling of originality.