Yesterday’s exploits involved the weak revelation of who Black Panther is, Juggernaut got busted up and some shadowy figure woke up Valkyrie. Let’s see more of what Valkyrie’s up to.

Ultimate Clor’s font has nothing to do with Ultimates 3 at all, to tell the truth. It’s just that ManiacClown and I agreed that being an evil robot thunder god with long hair, a beard and an axe-hammer is one of the most metal things possible and deserved to speak in “Die Nasty” text (aka the KISS font).

Tomorrow we get… ah, damn it. Tomorrow we get that scene.

Day Five!
Day Six!
Day Seven!

I was pleased to see Kevin Smith returning to the DCU, with Batman: Cacaphony. Smith’s style is wordy, distinct, and irreverent, and I look forward to seeing him injecting a little humor into the Batverse. I’m also happy to see that Onomatopoeia, the Green Arrow villain, will be returning. Onomatopoeia has the right set of characteristics for a comics villain; a superhuman set of skills, a recognizable goal, and a quirky gimmick.

The only thing that bothers me about Onomatopoeia is that he fits too well with the villains we see these days; he’s deadly, he’s more out to get the superheroes than to commit crimes that might benefit him personally, and he’s the best, baddest villain ever. Poison Ivy moved from thief and environmental terrorist to random sadist and mass murderer with the powers of Swamp Thing. Two-Face now knows how to spar and goes on random killing sprees. Even Croc manages to do a lot of damage. Damian kills off villains and beats up Robin. Talia manages a national web of terrorists. And Hush – don’t even get me started on Hush.

There seems to be an unfortunate rate of inflation going on in comics. No more talented bank robbers or minor thugs. Everyone has to be the biggest, baddest, darkest, most formidable opponent Batman has ever encountered. It’s not that I don’t understand that it looks a little silly to have Batman go from a life-altering confrontation with the Black Glove one month to chasing down a safe-cracker the next, but it would be nice to see some variation.

Yesterday saw more scheming from Ultron/Yellowjacket, who has more holes in his plan than Bonnie and Clyde. Then Magneto went on a magnetic rampage until a bunch of robots fell out of the sky.

Now it’s time to discover the secret of WHO IS BLACK PANTHER?!

If you’re wondering, the real answer for why he’s dressed as Black Panther is “We’ll discuss it later, Jan. Magneto is the real priority.” I hate you, Ultimates 3.

Join us again tomorrow as we’ll get more hot Valkyrie action.

Day Four!
Day Five!
Day Six!
Day Seven!

In yesterday’s crackerjack installment, Ultron just kept talking about his backstory. He was in love with Scarlet Witch, so he killed her. As Kyle Gass would put it, Ultron is total love-knife material.

Let’s continue, shall we?

I should note that prior to this issue’s release, ManiacClown forced me to watch Maximum Overdrive. Hence, he insists that we shove in as many references to it as possible. Just a warning.

More tomorrow, but you already know that.

Day Three!
Day Four!
Day Five!
Day Six!
Day Seven!

It’s that time again. The final week of Ultimate Edit is upon is. Ten months to come out with five issues that had a two-year head start. Impressive. Unfortunately, this doesn’t beat Loeb’s other recent five-issue travesty Onslaught Reborn, illustrated by Rob Liefeld, which took well over a year for all five issues to come out.

You know, the delay of that comic hides the fact that it starts off with the end of House of M, but by the final issue, which was about a day or so later, it’s post-Civil War. What’s up with that?

Quick recap!

Issue one had Scarlet Witch get shot. Donald Blake showed up and it’s never touched on again.

Issue two had a big Ultimates vs. Brotherhood fight.

Issue three was Wolverine talking about how he used to wear an onion on his belt, as that was the style.

Issue four is about a battle in the Savage Land followed by a robot cliffhanger.

Let’s get this show on the road.

What can I say? I’m from New Jersey. I have to work in a Jovyism whenever I can.

And, as always, thanks to my collaborator (in the Vichy French sense) ManiacClown, who is indeed talking to you.

Check back in tomorrow. Especially check back on Day Seven for a special extra surprise.

Day Two!
Day Three!
Day Four!
Day Five!
Day Six!
Day Seven!

One of my favorite examples of Oliver Queen, clueless grandstanding dolt, is in the Grell run. It’s a two issue story (#17-#18) about the murder of a stripper. There are mobsters, drugs, biker gangs, and of course multiple strip clubs, the last of which probably provides the reason for the ‘Suggested For Mature Readers’ warning label on the first issue of the run. (Although it could also be for the violence of the murder.)

Read the rest of this entry �

I really dig Geoff’s blog. It’s one of my must reads for a variety of reasons. We have similar tastes, except when they are almost polar opposites, he’s a great writer, and he’s smarter than I am. Below is an excerpt from his post about ASBAR #10, which is an overall great read. Scott, one of his co-bloggers (is there a word for that?), absolutely nails a lot of what I like about ASBAR #10. Also, Miller/Lee Barb Gordon rules, from the Miller-style dangly earrings (scope the logos) to the entire demeanor. She’s a teenager.

Now I just need to get back to posting in Geoff’s comments and conversating about all this. I’ve been too busy to do so lately. I’m done with a big project, though, so I can come back with a bang.

Remarkable: Comics Out September 24, 2008 (All Star Batman)

First of all, Miller is acknowledging his own part in what would become the “Grim and Gritty” era of comics while simultaneously ridiculing it by having Gordon dismiss it by calling Batman a ‘Jerk.’ It’s also important to note that Gordon’s assessment of Batman as a ‘Jerk’ is important for how Miller views Batman; he has always felt that Batman should NOT be your buddy. He’s supposed to be scary, he’s not your friend but he’s the first guy you’d want to have your back in a dark alley. This informs so much of the way that Miller has portrayed the character, particularly in this series.

Miller gives us an interesting bit of background on Batman and Catwoman: they knew each other and were romantically involved in their adolescence. Hmmm, two people who share a young romance and grow up to be on opposite sides of the law? Sound familiar to anyone?

Batgirl is back in this issue and I get the feeling that Miller likes her a lot more than Robin and is using her as a sort of Carrie Kelly stand in. I also love that she is the ‘Fucking Batgirl’. I love the contrast of this with ‘The Goddamned Batman”. “Goddamned” is a very adult swear; it is a blasphemy and, as such, it carries weight. “Fucking” is a child’s curse word; it is shocking for the sake of shock and exactly the kind of thing that a rebellious youth would say to rail against the world.

I also like how, later in the issue, Gordon decides not to come down hard on his daughter because, as far as he’s concerned, she’s being hard enough on herself but, just a few issues earlier, you’ll remember that she was boasting about how great she was at bullshitting her dad. She’s playing him like a violin.

SkottieYoung.com: Business Isn’t the Same

I hate to admit that in some ways, I’ve become the guy who talks about the music of his youth is so much better than what the “kids” today listen to. But dammit, I’m right!!!!

I can remember running home after school to try and catch the 1 hour of hip hop they would play on tv. I loved it. It was so new and different that everything else and I craved it before I knew what a craving was. I’m not going to pretend that I know why it spoke to me so much or say I was ahead of the curve on anything. I just loved it. KRS-One, Public Enemy, Nice & Smooth, Special Ed, Eric B & Rakim, 3rd Bass, Big Daddy Kane… I could keep listing names all day. It just felt fun, and energizing. One of my favorites of those days was Eric and Parish…EPMD. Get the BoZack. You got to Chill, Crossover, Headbanger, on and on and on and on. I remember being heart broken when they broke up but got my smile back in ’97 when they brought it back. They really frame the sound that I remember as a kid growing up.

Skottie Young is one of my favorite artists. That New Warriors miniseries he did with Zeb Wells was definitive, and Marvel really needs to give him an Amazing Spidey arc. Click through to check out his blog.

Gangstarr Girl: Blaxploitation Friday #21 (The Horror Edition)
Blaxploitation Friday #21 (The Horror Edition)

If you’ve been following this series then you realize that despite the overall cheesiness of blaxploitation movies, the basic theme is movies geared toward the African-American community–something that we can call our own. Yes, the characters are very stereotypical and the movies tend to follow the same plots like sticking it to the man, a big score (involving money), pimps, the bad chick on a rampage of vengeance, etc. but you didn’t think there could be blaxploitation movies without factoring in the horror genre did you? If so, you are sadly mistaken.
Kicking off the blaxploitation Friday horror edition is JD’s Revenge.

I’ve been following GG for a minute now, in part because of these posts about blaxploitation. Go check it out, it’s always interesting.

Complex Blog » Percy Carey Talks Comics With GZA

Percy Carey: Any final thoughts about comics and the importance they hold?

GZA: Growing up, I read comics all the time. They’re great inspiration; they can show you the world is full of possibilities. Now, my son reads comics, and it’s something that we can share. It’s really a good feeling being able to share something like that with him, and now working on doing my own, it’s really cool to give back to that world.

Weekly column by MF Grimm!