In his blog Greg Rucka writes,
Pet peeve time: for the contingent out there who sneer at heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman and Captain America, those icons who still, at their core, represent selfless sacrifice for the greater good, and who justify their contempt by saying, oh, it’s so unrealistic, no one would ever be so noble… grow up. Seriously. Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters.
One of the most memorable episodes in Seaguy volume 2 is his short stint as El Macho, the greatest bull dresser in the world.
I think about Seaguy often and don’t need much of a reason to make a post about him. But I was reminded of this by Bruce Wayne’s visit to Argentina in Batman Inc. 3 and his dance of the TANGO OF DEATH with the villainous SCORPIANA.
It’s strange that of all of Morrison’s mainstream stuff, his work on Batman has been the most reminiscent of his work on Seaguy.
I still read the occasional Warren Ellis book because even if I sometimes find him distasteful or a little lazy in his writing, he usually is still dealing with the kernel of a good idea. I don’t think I can say the same of Mark Millar, and I don’t know why I sometimes still read his work. Millar has called The Unfunnies the “most uncompromising thing” he’s ever written and says he’s “immensely proud” of it; I think it’s repulsive and wholly representative of him as a writer. When I discuss it below, I’m going to spoil it, to the extent that it can be spoiled. You should never read it.
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I’m pretty sure Warren Ellis doesn’t like superheroes very much, though he’s certainly still managed to write more than a few bang-up superhero comics. But I haven’t read any from him lately.
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It’s not so flashy; but it’s funny and informative. Here, Bruce trolls the internet, spreading information and disinformation
The funny thing is it’s all true. . .
While Superman was recently courting controversy by relinquishing his American citizenship, Batman went international too. He never really represented America in the manner Superman did to begin with.
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I’ve been doing a horrid job with this blog lately, I know, but I simply haven’t gotten to read many comics lately. Most recently, on a tip from a friend, I checked out Nick Spencer and RB Silva’s Jimmy Olsen. I never would have picked it up in a million years without his recommendation; every Jimmy Olsen I’ve seen over the last couple decades has fallen short, with the notable exception of Morrison’s. Like Morrison, Spencer understands the character: he’s not stupid, boring, or a perpetual squire in distress. He’s cool, and Superman is his pal for good reason. This panel, though, is of Lois, who is pledging to help him find a new girlfriend (it turns out she was lying). She looks strange, even deranged; actually, her look here very much reminds me of something from Young Liars. She’s a character that has rarely been done well either, I guess.
Someday soon, I’ll get back to posting regularly, starting with a post on Gruenwald’s Squadron Supreme. In the mean time, here’s some Marvel Cats.
My favorite is Lar Desonza’s cat Thor.
I’ve been sick lately and have pretty much been out of commission, but I hope to be back in the saddle soon. In the mean time, I’ve been reading 52, or at least some of it. I can’t stand some of the plots and characters – anything involving Steel in particular gets on my nerves. I hated him even back when he first debuted in 1993 when I was a feckless boy.
Some parts are really good though. I’m not always sure which of the five authors wrote what, but I’m certain that Morrison is responsible for the adventures of Animal Man, Dr. Strange, and Starfire in space. Early on, they meet Lobo, who has become the archbishop in the church of a Triple Fish God and sworn an oath of nonviolence. He’s accompanied by a floating, talking space dolphin. In the panel above from 52 #37, Lobo and the Dolphin speak some words over Animal Man’s corpse (don’t worry, he gets up on the next page).
Remind anyone of another partnership?
The talking space dolphin doesn’t talk nearly as much trash as Chubby, though he does have a pivotal scene where he convinces Lobo to give up his vow of non-violence by convincing him that a client is calling him a coward. That actually ends pretty well for everyone.
Maybe I chose this panel because I still have dinosaurs on the mind, but, oh lord, there’s so much to like about Seaguy. In this panel from Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye, Professor Silvan Niltoid, a supergenius and ex-supervillain, shows Seaguy artifacts from the past he has reconstructed. The remains were dug out of the deepest, hardest gum layers. The creature on the left was a cyclosaurus. The one on the right was an autoraptor; it was a fierce dweller in the chewy deserts of the plasticine until the oil it ate to survive ran out. This reconstruction is part of a general trend in both Seaguy volumes of reimagining the past as rather more wondrous and strange than it actually was.
While I’m at it, as is my wont, I’ll throw in another few panels from issue 3. There’s probably ten panels I could have chosen, but I’ll leave it at this. Doc Hero has been infantilized and abused throughout Seaguy volumes 1 and 2. In fact, his abuse at the end of Seaguy volume 1 was one of the saddest parts of the book. In volume 2, his famed helmet – the helmet of Agamemnon, in fact – was earlier taken from him, and he’s become a sad joke. But here, at the end of volume 2, a bunch of average folks have taken shelter in some rides at the Mickey Eye Park before an explosion. When average folks are in danger and counting on him, when some of them are even doubting him, their last chance at survival, he pulls through and saves them. He picks up the rides themselves, looks up, and finally, for the first time since being brainwashed by Mickey Eye, takes to the sky. . .
Death knows he’s lost here. And, even if he no longer has the helmet of Agamemnon, Doc Hero is a hero.
