Bits & Pieces
April 26th, 2007 by david brothers | Tags: alan moore, all-star batman, all-star superman, batgirl, Batman, countdown, DC comics, frank miller, garth ennis, ign, jim lee, linkblogging, robin, skeets, spoiler, storm, superman, wildstormLinkblogging again today! I’m off tomorrow so I can put some work in then.
– I am flying out to San Francisco on Sunday and staying until Wednesday! I’m apartment hunting for my move there in May. It’s fun trying to guess at your take-home pay without knowing how much the gov’t is going to ream you for taxes!
– I finally got the out of print Mr Majestic TPB. I now own each TPB of his two solo series, which is kind of a weird feeling. It took me a while to realize how much of a big Wildstorm fan I am. Anyway, the book collects issues 1-6 and the Wildstorm Spotlight by Alan Moore and Carlos D’Anda. I think that the series went on for eight issues total, but what we’ve got here are six done-in-ones plus a special. From the back cover copy: “Mr. Majestic rearrangest he solar system, repairs a temporal anomaly, gains a son, halts an intergalactic prison break, and meets the Ultravixens.”
Also from the back cover copy: “Remember when superheroes could move planets?”
The first Maj series is kind of a precursor to All-Star Superman in theme, if not in quality. Both stories take these wild silver age tropes and, rather than looking at them ironically (“Ha ha why do you need an invisible plane”) they just take them at face value. Majestic can move planets. Why? Because. It’s a pretty light and warm book from what I remember, and the team of Joe Kelly, Brian Holguin, and Ed McGuinness is the perfect fit for it.
Another choice line: “What the @#$# is wrong with you?! I’m a freakin’ nun!”
Ah, Ladytron.
– I love Jim Lee’s new Batgirl design for All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder. (For color reference, see here.) It’s just all around awesome. The freckles visible under the bat-mask, the bats on the boots, and the big yellow bat-symbol work really, really well. I also love costume designs made up of just two colors for some reason, so that’s icing on the cake. I’m also really, really fond of Frank Miller’s dangly and busy way of drawing earrings. It’s funky and different. Also, is it me or is that a Daemonite head that Batgirl (who I’m assuming is Barb Gordon, if only because of the freckles and hair?) is standing on?
– 52 this week (#51, to be exact) was pretty good and paid off in all the expected ways. Buddy returning was a nice capstone to his story arc, though he now may be the most powerful thing in the DCU. I can’t imagine DC dropping the ball on that, so expect him to show up in Countdown. Also, I totally called the Mr. Mind in Skeets thing, just like 51% of the rest of the internet, but the payoff was so much better than I expected!
– Is anyone else reading and enjoying Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov’s Barracuda as much as I am? It is trashy and ugly and excellent. Barracuda has turned out to be a lot smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for and the series has been quite a ride so far. Be interesting to see where it goes!
– What’s it say about me when the most striking part of the first Outsiders trade is John Workman’s lettering? I love that man’s work. He’s got style and he’s unique.
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Mr. Majestic = *thumbs up*
At least the stuff you’re talking about, anyway. I’m not as fond of the more recent stuff. I scooped up that Ed Mac issues and the rest of the series, some years back, then got the trade when it came out, too.
New classic, imho.
I like that Batgirl design, too – at least in Lee’s hands.
Okay, dude, I hate to be a nag, but if you don’t pimp Mighty Skullboy Army soon, I am going to have to come down there and have words with you. And you don’t want a soon-to-be-35-year-old kinda flabby half Asian dude up in your grill, trust me. Will not be pretty at all.
Nine issues of Mr. Majestic were published, the final three being drawn by Eric Canete (w/Toby Cypress) that was meant to be a big six issue arc but sales killed it halfway through, so it ends too quickly.
Expect it tonight or tomorrow, k2. I feel like crap that it’s taken so long!
She’s wearing dangly earrings into COMBAT? Good god. First time a villain grabs hold of ’em or they get snagged on something, her lobes are going to be SHREDDED. Ow.
Oh, it’s absolutely terrible from a combat sense, but I think it’s kind of cool in a design sense. Kind of like a cape, which are the leading cause of broken necks in the DCU.
I dunno. I have goofy taste. I’m also a big fan of the sleeves on Supergirl’s current costume, and the gold trim, but not much else.
She’s *not* chesticaboobical. Wow.