#1s Ep.2

Two more #1s from the last stash. One's a high-profile but lukewarm flash with a wobbly shelf life to which I pledge another issue,maybe two. The other's a misfit but epic hard-on to which I pledge my undying devotion, at least until its six-issue run ends.

JLA #1 (DC)
Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes

The odor on this one’s iffy. Benes draws every panel like a splash page on steroids and everyone like bulky collosi, all engorged physiques and grim facades. Fits the way Meltzer writes them like clenched fists talking through gritted teeth, all pent-up and quivering. Fits the anachronism. Fits the needless gravity. Meltzer seems hooked on a "grim and gritty" retro that gets little sympathy from me ,having seen the tendency weather fast and turn rank, back when it was the new black. His heart's in the right place but Identity Crisis was so not a fun read. Supervillain lobotomy , dead wives and soiled panties - - - no depressing bullcrap for me today, thank you. I really do prefer my JLA to be Bruckheimeran and operatic and occasionally with a laugh track - - -Morrison, Waid, even Kelly. To be fair, this is set-up. But it scans just as dour. And prone to being just as unfun. That's the part that smells a little iffy .This keeps up, and the need for Plastic Man to jump in the pool is bound to be dire. This keeps up, and the enterprise dooms itself in my eyes. Not just that, Geoff Johns already did a bang-up job writing the adversarial dynamic between Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman with pulse and brio in that Infinity Crisis juggernaut this spins off from. Here, the three bigwigs are just going through the dull motions of their cliches. Not the side players, though. Not Red Tornado, particularly. It's that business with his armor that's keeping this on my radar for the time being. The pull-off of that arc will be a wish made flesh. If not, I'll be spending my hard-earneds on Grant's WildCATs and Authority revamps instead. * *


Phonogram: Rue Brittania #1 (Image)
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

My first Hellblazer I bought blind. Crap title ,like some superhero castoff. Inside, though - - -a dank, dark London amok with street mystics, punk demons and an amoral, narcissistic lout centering it. Top. My first Oasis single I also bought blind. Crap name ,like a wedding band. Inside,though - - -the birth pangs of Britpop, a generational imperative, one of my bands to this day with an amoral, narcissistic lout fronting it. Top. Phonogram I bought blind,too. But Phonogram is actually a snazzy name to call your comic. And inside- - -Hellblazer meets Britpop . . . sort of. With the amoral, narcissistic lout David Kohl - - - “A monster with a tumor hanging between it’s thighs.” - - as its centrifugal force. Pop magic - - - or more like pop is magic , a truism Gillen and McKelvie wear like principles of faith ,as any record geek should. Street mystics and punk demonettes . . .well, not yet. The first issue does have a Scout Niblett cameo and a creepy encounter in the men's room, not to mention some wonderfully convoluted prose - - my kind of prose,obviously. But from all indications, anything could go from here on, and everything just might. A rabid jackal of a comic, prickly and drooling. I have no idea where this is heading, which is why I am so on it, it's scary. Reread it twice already, the second time with my old Buzzcocks and Kenickie records providing the necessary atmosphere. Oh, and dig that Elastica cover rip. Top. Bring on #2.
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