POBB: September 11, 2013

Pick of the Brown Bag

September 11, 2013

by

Ray Tate

Only three comic books serve as subjects for this week's Pick of the Brown Bag: Fearless Defenders, King's Watch and Smallville.  So, it's a good time for a movie review, and this week it's Fade to Black.

My favorite type of cheesecake is the pineapple upside down variety from The Cheesecake Factory.  That's what Smallville feels like.  A piece of fresh pineapple upside down cheesecake.

Writer Bryan Q. Miller continues to thumb his nose at Warner Brothers' indecisiveness over Wonder Woman.  He demonstrates quite soundly that not only is Wonder Woman relevant.  She can easily, easily, be reintroduced for modern times.  Warner Brothers' media friendly rationale is pure bullshit.

Rather than go through the fable that her creator imagined, Miller eschews the games that allowed Amazons to compete for the title of Wonder Woman.  This makes sense since it was a forgone conclusion that Diana would win.  H.G. Peters' artwork, the Kangaroos that the Amazons rode, the culture of the Amazons made the fable worth viewing.

Everyone now knows this story, since it was also replicated--minus the Kangaroos--on Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman.  So, Miller comes up with a different way to explain Diana's journey to Man's World.  Miller furthermore integrates the reasons with Steve Trevor's protection as well as an overall look at Amazonian science, something I always appreciated.  

The Amazons were not entirely magical.  They developed advanced technology that allowed them to create a Utopian society.  Miller also includes a dig at destiny.  The Oracles can predict the most likely future, but it does not have to be.

Miller's recreation of Diana is truly distinctive from the versions that came before.  She resembles the Bronze Age interpretation the most, but Miller does something that I never saw any creator do before.  He includes amidst her pantheon of powers the ability of confidence.

  

Diana as you see in the caption identifies it as a super power, and it is here that he sublimely casts her as a role model.  Any woman can have confidence or strive for it but maintaining confidence in a world where assholes run amok is indeed a feat of strength.

In addition to that one word that resonates throughout the book, we see ample moments of Wonder Woman utilizing the gamut of her powers.  Miller opts for the nigh invulnerable Amazon that's level to Supergirl's strength and that makes for an exciting adventure brilliantly illustrated by artists Jorge Jimenez and Carrie Strachan.  

The D.E.O. and the U.S. military want Wonder Woman in chains, but for different reasons.  Miller connects Mr. Bones with a cabal of magicians including the Big Bad Felix Faust.  Faust has bad plans for Wonder Woman and Hippolyta, who gets the fairest shake since John Byrne decided to reconfigure the former Amazon queen as the World War II Wonder Woman; to take a stab at solving one of the problems left behind by The Crisis on Infinite Earths.

By this time, you may think there's no room for Lois and Clark.  Wonder Woman basks in the spotlight of Miller's writing.  Of that there can be no doubt, but the regular cast also enjoy Miller's special care.  

In a perfectly staged scene, the Superman of Smallville is quite willing to trust Diana with his secret identity.  Superman readily teams up with Wonder Woman and uses his powers to help her investigate.  Superman also catalyzes humor and distinguishes himself from his new 52 counterpart.  

Refreshingly, Miller eliminates any hint of jealousy that Lois Lane might feel over Wonder Woman, a common annoyance a lot of writers employed in recent years when the three met.  That included when Superman was married to Lois.  The Smallville Lois dated Steve Trevor.

Lois is so devoted to her eternal fiancee--surely they'll be wed by common law soon--that she defends him in a hilarious instance that draws the echo of Erica Durance into the dialogue.  Smallville earns my highest recommendation.

Guest-stars abound in Fearless Defenders.  Writer Cullen Bunn orchestrates a would-be boyfriend intervention.  This is a throwback to the embarrassing issue of The Avengers in which the image of Valkyrie debuted.  It turns out that the Enchantress was behind that mischief, trying to create strife between the male and female contingent of the team.  The story had a very chauvinistic message that didn't treat the Women's Liberation Movement at all seriously.  Kind of like Hal Jordan cubed.

Bunn inverts that issue.  The women are doing just fine thanks.  He gives ample example by juxtaposing the boyfriend bemoaning with the ladies battling well-known Defenders foes.  

These include the Headmen and the new Enchantress, as well as some goofy mobile monoliths.  The Headmen and the Enchantress operate under the auspices of Caroline LeFay, the Little Bad of the book.  Her mother Morganne would be slapping her head over LeFay's failed machinations, and her alleged Daddy Doctor Doom would have probably disowned her by now.

Numerous gags proliferate the dialogue in an issue funny throughout that's also packed with superhero goodness.  Things to look out for include the delicate balance between Valkyrie and her human host Annabelle Riggs.  

Readers knew their conflicting sexual orientations would be a problem, but Bunn actually treats the idea with a little more maturity and sophistication than past alter-ego problems; such as those in the Marvel Family, outside of their original adventures.  Writers just couldn't help going in the gutter.

In JLA/Avengers Hercules and the post-Crisis Wonder Woman meet on the battlefield, and Wonder Woman doesn't take too kindly to him.  The DC Hercules raped her mother.  Hippolyte is a different kind of woman in the Marvel Universe, and Bunn confirms that the Marvel Hercules and Hippolyte had a consensual if unsatisfying tryst.  

After the Silver Age, Dr. Strange became quite the player.  Bunn and artist Will Sliney nail that characterization and give the put-upon Clea a backbone.  It should be noted that Dr. Strange wasn't really singled out to be this figure.  Magic however was always related to the New Age, with its crystals and Pyramid Power.  The New Age believers were mostly leftovers from the Hippie movement, and Hippies of course promoted free love.  So, it was a natural fit that Dr. Strange would be the Hippie turned Hef of the Marvel Universe.

In addition to the surprise inclusion of one of the most obscure characters in the Marvel Universe, Bunn revisits the still strong relationship between Iron Fist and Misty Knight.  Their affair was a groundbreaking one in the seventies.  One of the only interracial loving in comics.  Not counting aliens.

The Defenders of the Earth return in King's Watch.   Awesome Agents of Atlas writer Jeff Parker does not disappoint with the first Dynamite team-up of The Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon.  Along the way, you can expect Dale Arden and Lothar.  Best of all the Phantom isn't hawking blueberries.  This is the Phantom.  

Skull Ring, check.  Good Symbol Ring, check.  Twin .45 automatics, check.  Hero, check.  Devil, check.  Most important of all purple body-suit, check.  Screw you, streaky, sticky Phantom. 

I'll be completely honest here.  I don't give a rat's behind about the rest.  I'm in this for the Phantom, the accurate portrayal of the Phantom.  Artist Marc Laming delivers.

Billy Zane would have looked incredibly lame squelching around in a speedo.  Isn't that a scene from 50 Shades of Periwinkle?  Besides, Stephen King already beat Dynamite to the Hawaiian Punch.

Although I really only care about the Phantom, I will say that Parker's Mandrake is strong, and this is probably the only time I ever felt remotely interested in Flash Gordon.  Parker takes the most detours with the blonde All-American and his cast.  Some traditionalists may find them a little off-putting.  For example, Professor Zarkov is a surly fellow and apparently has a good or bad liver.

Dale Arden was introduced just as Flash's girlfriend.  In the glam film by Dino De Laurentis, Dale became a reporter.  Parker preserves the movie role and updates the heroine for modern times. 

Lois? No. De Laurentis.  Seriously though Lois and Dale share very little in common.  Laming's Dale Arden bears a unique face and a different hairdo than the brunette firecracker from Metropolis.  Parker gives Dale a harder edge.  Lois is frequently comedic.  Dale Arden is tortured by her dreams and steely.

King's Watch posits a breach in a dimensional gate that allows phantasms to pursue individuals in their sleep and unusual creatures to roam the earth.  As well, the plot creates an opening to relate Flash Gordon's origin story.  You can readily see the three legends combining forces.  Parker wastes no time. 

Lothar encounters the Phantom in a pulpy episode.  Mandrake cannot be too far behind.  As you can see from the examples Marc Laming's artwork continues the illustrious traditions of Alex Raymond, Ray Moore and Phil Davis.  Best of all nobody gets slimed.

The Saturday Afternoon Movie

Fade to Black is a wonderful surprise.  Character actor Danny Huston, most recently seen as Ben Diamond in Magic City, embodies a young Orson Welles.  The factual actor/director becomes entangled in a murder mystery while filming the infamous Black Magic, where Welles portrayed Cagliostro.  

Welles filmed Black Magic in Italy.  After World War II in 1948, Italy was a chaotic place.  The unrest serves as a constant backdrop to the story, giving viewers a history lesson.

Accompanying Welles on a foray for the truth, Diego Luna acts as Welles bodyguard and savvy Watson.  Paz Vega plays the object of desire, and desirable she is.  Christopher Walken shows up as a displaced American State Department Official.  He is not playing Christopher Walken.  The whole cast offer deft performances.  

Fade to Black shouldn't be missed by anybody that likes a twisted tale.  Fair warning.  Just because this movie casts Orson Welles as a character in a play, the viewer should not expect a locked-room puzzle or a tame piece of fluff.  This is a story about corruption and has the flavor of a hard-boiled private eye case.  

A well-shot period piece that looked to be have a respectable budget, Fade to Black is ably brought out by the Image disc's impeccable widescreen presentation.  The sound is clear, but you may need to raise the volume when important whispers drift across the screen.  Extras consist of previews and a trailer.  The DVD is still in print and available at most online retailers.

POBB: July 10, 2013

Pick of the Brown Bag

July 10, 2013

by 

Ray Tate

"I cannot ethically defend the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's version of DOMA where I believe it to be wholly unconstitutional."--Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.  Not to be confused with...

Though I can see how you might make that mistake.

This week in the Pick of the Brown Bag, I review Justice League, Smallville, World's Finest and Paul Pope's The Invincible Haggard West.

After the false start in Justice League of America with the rumor of Catwoman's demise being greatly exaggerated, The Trinity War properly begins in Justice League.  

The story unfolds with a mysterious woman visiting Madame Xanadu.  Johns takes a moment to display the Madame's credentials to readers unfamiliar with the character.  

Johns also smartly uses Xanadu as a framing device as well as foreshadowing.  He furthermore takes advantage of the vast DC archive to create encounters no reader could have seen coming.

Having tricked Black Adam into exposing his alter-ego and therefore canceling Teth Adam's protection from aging, Captain Marvel (Shazam) decides to return the remains of Black Adam to Kahndaq, where the antagonist was born.  

It's a surprising example of the massive upheaval in the characterization Johns introduced in the Captain's backup serial, characterization I might add everybody agreed was terrible. 

Conflict arises because the United States banned Americans from visiting the terrorist nation, and that includes superhumans.

For once, Batman is wrong.  Billy had already decided to return Black Adam's remains to Kahndaq.  Billy's trip has nothing to do with Superman's and Wonder Woman's incursion.  In fact very little strife arises from Superman and Wonder Woman dating.

The Superman/Wonder Woman relationship has been a massive red herring that no reader fell for or cares about.  No matter how much the Powers at DC wish it otherwise, no matter how many times you beat this dead horse until it rises up again, no matter if you produce a comic book series about the tryst, you cannot convince me or anybody else that Superman will end up with someone other than Lois Lane.

Smallville teased the possibility that Superman would stick with either Lana Lang or Chloe Sullivan for about five seasons.  They even suggested Chloe was actually Lois Lane, but no.

Clark Kent still ultimately became involved with Lois Lane.  This even after the two professed an initial dislike for each other.  So yeah, Wonder Woman and Superman dating.  No big deal.  It's not serious and has nothing to do with the Trinity War.

The Justice League decide to intervene in Kahndaq before Captain Marvel escalates the discord that itchy trigger fingers instigated.  The team probably would have talked down Captain Marvel with no problem, had not Justice League of America arrived.  

The presence of the Waller team facilitates some choice dialogue and interaction, and the battle between these champions makes perfect sense.  What's surprising is the Justice League's unification.  Despite seeing with their own eyes what occurred, they still back Superman.  They know there's an explanation, or they blame Justice League of America for their interference in matters best left to professionals.  Even in Xanadu's apocalyptic vision early in the book, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman really are an unbroken Trinity.

Smallville shares much with Justice League.  The story is about a war.  Superman plays an integral part.  Classic characters from DC's history take sides, and there's a superhero throw-down.

The war in Smallville occurs between the humans of earth and the new Kryptonians, descendants of Zod's army given a new lease on life by Kal-El.  This war is less of a boxing match and more of a strategic initiative.

The cover to Smallville indicates the reintroduction of Doomsday, a lousy ends to a means, only given depth in the television series.  

Doomsday was designed in the nineties to kill Superman.  The concept, for the creature was scarcely a character, was even shallower than Bane.  Even Bruce Timm couldn't wrench anything out of this craggy cipher.

Miller doesn't give Doomsday any added layers here.  He doesn't even try to make Doomsday anything but an weapon aimed at Superman.  However, he exploits Doomsday's very utilitarian nature as a plot device well.

First, Miller uses Doomsday to define the dirty trickery of human zealot Minister Neidrigh.    

Second, Doomsday gives Superman the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership skills, and the people of Argo respond.  

Third, Doomsday allows Superman yet another moment to express his selflessness.  Truly, this is Superman at his finest.

The Kryptonians at the same time launch a gravity bomb at the earth. Miller is clearly showing that both sides are completely wrong for waging war and that both lines suffer their base instincts.  Miller consolidates the debate in a brief, exciting and humorous skirmish between Supergirl and Superman.

Above all this racial turmoil, the very symbol of universal harmony, the Legion of Super-Heroes organizes and saves lives.  Not only do they act like heroes.  They as well put aside their personal differences.  

Cosmic Boy indicated that he and Lightning Lad have been fighting over Imra, Saturn Girl, but Lightning Lad is amongst the Legion, and he obeys Cosmic Boy's orders.  

Furthermore, the Legion preserve history in a standout moment that would have been spectacular on the screen but still fairly impressive and eventful within the pages of a comic book.  

Kudos to all involved.  Bryan Q. Miller and artist Daniel Hadr balances an enormous cast and multiple plots and subplots with seeming ease.

As to the rest of the DC stable, meh.  Only World's Finest really rocked the week, and I'll get to that title in a second.

Superman Unchained demonstrates how the Man of Steel would have mitigated the tragedy of September Eleventh, but this is mostly Scott Snyder talking at the reader, not allowing her to engage in the comic book. 

Superman visits Batman at the Cave.  So there's more DCU integration but the book is chatty and the art is boring.  Besides we've seen this sort of thing before.  

When Superman drops in on General Lane, we discover the Pentagon developed all sorts of technological marvels  like black hole bullets to stop Superman.  

That sound you hear is my suspension of disbelief snapping in two.  Let's suppose you could produce a black hole bullet.  Still, the amount of money needed to construct a single munition would without a doubt bankrupt the entire nation. So, Scott Snyder, pull the other one.

Snyder's Batman is a little better with the first encounter between a Batman yet named and the Penguin, the continuation of the Red Hood/Batman war and the introduction of Vicki Vale to the new 52, but it just feels a little bloated and gassy.  It should be exciting with its dirigible setting, but Bruce Wayne is decidedly dense in this book, despite impressing the neophyte Riddler. 

It's great to see Batgirl dancing again.  Don't get me wrong.  This book is light years ahead of Michael J. Straczynski's abomination The Brave and the Bold #33 where Wonder Woman and Zatanna take Babs dancing one last time before they position her to receive the Joker's bullet.  Gail Simone however tries too hard to make me like Ricky, the felon Babs rescued from the vigilante Knightfall. 

Overeagerness is really one of the most enviable things you can do.  I admire Simone's ambition, but her execution is a little too sunshine and lollipops for me to accept.  

Ricky isn't bad.  He's just drawn that way.  He's got this lovely family, and although his brother is a low-tiered criminal, he still loves his little b.  That car jacking incident? Purely a misunderstanding, and boy Ricky can show a girl a good time.  Ricky.  Love him.

The thing is had Simone showed him to be a bit nastier and slowly rehabilitated him, rather than make him suddenly care about people and having him feed the homeless, I would feel better about the character.  

I can see her side of the argument though.  Surviving that one bad night changed his life, but his life just didn't seem so bad to begin with.  He's not fighting for anything.  He's just being handed chocolate covered cherries.  His mother makes delicious tamales for crying out loud.

That said.  The worst of the book is totally dependent on the fallacy of James Jr.'s death.

Commissioner Gordon goes flying off the deep end.  The top cop joins Peter Tomasi's version of Batman in the rubber room.  

The irony here is that Simone writes Batman perfectly sane and in fact as a smart, fully engaged character who would probably ask Babs why she took off her symbol and work with her to address her guilt.  

Incidentally, I find it difficult to believe that Batman knows of Amanda Waller but doesn't know that James Jr. is alive.  So once again, Simone is hamstrung by events outside of her book.  Damn fine Batman and Batgirl writing though.

Nightwing is a real pill to take.  So, during Nightwing's hunt for Tony Zucco, including a visit to the Chicago Mayor, Nightwing dawdles with his new bud's subletting roommate.  Then the Prankster blows up a train.  Yeah, who cares?

In Ghosted some rich collector of the occult orchestrates the release of the brains behind a series of heists to steal him a ghost.  Um...no.

Though beautifully illustrated by Goran Sudzuka, this story unfortunately only has enough material in it for a trailer.  All the comic book made me want to do is watch this again...

That film is still seven kinds of awesome.

Now we get to Paul Pope's The Invincible Haggard West, cheekily numbered 101.  

I think there are about a hundred words in this story, and the rest short hands the essence of any comic book adventure series into a heart pounding frenzy of action.

First Pope introduces the threat, and his singular style of artwork makes that threat mighty strange.

Second, Pope rockets the hero into action.  He designs the character with archetypes in mind, and smooshes them all together into a delicious sandwich: an artistic graham cracker s'more if you will.

Third, he actually spares a few seconds for an aside to focus on another character in the mythos of Haggard West.

This is basically like a Hanna-Barbera cartoon with a mature audience in mind, and somehow Pope makes this whole buried cosmology in the figure of Haggard West so inviting that you're actually surprised when the story title lives up to the promise.

Very close to the feeling of Haggard West.  World's Finest.  This is DC's perfect comic book.  It could not have happened without the new 52 reintroducing Helena Wayne as the Huntress and Power Girl from Earth 2.  It banks on their long lasting friendship, and their mutual want to seriously kick ass wherever they are.  Writer Paul Levitz has been given a second chance to use the characters that he created, and he's not wasting an iota.  This chapter opens up with Helena escaping a fire.

Levitz adds a nuance of character dynamics.

He then has Apokoliptan evil Desaad calling out the duo by attacking another Starr Technology Facility.  

All of this awesomeness is illustrated by Robinson Rocha, a major find.  He brings an experienced freneticism that belies his relative freshness to the field, and he perfectly blends pulchritude with attitude.

The Saturday Matinee

I think everybody knew that Johnny Depp would be as impessive as Tonto.  Depp is such a natural chameleon.  For me, what would make or brake The Lone Ranger was Armie Hammer.  I'm pleased to say, we have a second Lone Ranger.

Hammer does not send up Clayton Moore's performance as the quintessential masked rider of the plains.  Instead, Hammer offers the viewer a sincere portrayal of a bona fide shiny hero placed in the antithetical spaghetti western.  The fun in this gorgeously shot picture is watching the Ranger adapt but not abandon his ethics.  I was thoroughly entertained.

The Pick of the Brown Bag was setback a day, which is why this review is so late, but on the bright side, it affords another short critique.  This time.  Pacific Rim.

Pacific Rim is an outstanding tribute to the Godzilla/Gamera films of yore.  Guillermo del Toro and his team did some wonderful things to bring the CGI to a Harryhausen standard of visual character, and they maintained the illusion that these things could be men in suits.

From a dramatic point of view, the plot is an engrossing, smart exploration of science fiction, and the cast flesh out roles that could have been cardboard, but here as well Pacific Rim exceeds in expectations.  It's what the writers don't do that's important, and almost all of Pacific Rim eschews cliche, apart from the first few moments of character introduction.  Still, this is sauce for the goose.  The bird in question is realized battles between mobile, giant suits of armor and deadly monsters.  This movie delivers.