Good to be Home Again
August 16th, 2009 by Gavok | Tags: anti-venom, eddie brock, Marvel comics, punisher, zeb wellsSo, back from Orlando. I’ll write up the trip report on that in the next day or so.
As I returned to the land of Jersey, I was introduced to this cover image for Anti-Venom: New Ways to Live #3.
Yes. Many times, yes.
Comic books have been very, very good to me.
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So it’s a comic about a character spun off from a character who was spun off from a comic and it’s named after the title of a storyline in that comic that one time?
Who says comics are incestuous fan-wankery? They’re clearly wrong.
Is it just me or are comics starting to get a bit 90’s again?
@Al Loggins: I’m sorry, but your response to this image makes me believe you are about to lead or attend a lecture on the marvels of Dan Clowes while wearing a tweed blazer. (I don’t think most people would have a problem understanding this unless they were actively trying to make you feel like a nerd)
Obviously Marvel are playing good cop bad cop with this and Red Hulk respectively
sometimes it’s okay for comics to be ridiculous
Needs more belts, buckles and shoulderpads.
Bonus points for non-visible feet/legs.
@Lugh: I have yet to read a single Clowes opus and haven’t even seen the movie version of that thing that had Scarlett Johanson in it, or the other one that didn’t and might not actually have had anything to do with Clowes but I still assume it might have for reasons that escape me.
I’m a superhero reader and have been for years – and I’m still calling the Anti-Venom series as incestuous fan-wankery.
But, y’know – Marvel probably know their audience by this stage, so it doesn’t matter.
Ghost World is one of my favorite comics movies.
And really, at this point, all superhero comics are incestuous fan-wankery. I’m not even saying that as a criticism, either.
@david brothers: Yeah, me too, and Ice Haven is one of my favourite comics.
What I was driving at is that at some point, the grousing becomes irritating. This blog is actually not guilty of this but I’m bone tired of “omg comics are art/not art/only my two favourites are art the rest is toilet paper” and “hello you are a nerd for being deeply passionate about one thing while i’m deeply passionate about another”. It seems to me that the tone of the comic book internet has gone from “BATMAN RULES!” to the opposite extreme, “How DARE you engage in escapism without analyzing why, you plebeian! Bring me the head of Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns!”
I remember when most readable comic book blogs or websites used to be about things like posting funny commentary on the kookiness of House of Mystery covers, or interesting, in-depth articles, like the Quarter Bin. The worthwhile reviews used to be professional, even when they were about things the critic didn’t enjoy, like the Masked Bookwyrm. Granted, of course that was the dark age of comic books on the internet, and the moronic drivel far out numbered the points of light I am purposely focusing on, and I am sure there are plenty of sites like this still out there. In fact, I’d venture to say that 4thletter meets this need while still being modern. That’s probably why I feel comfortable using this site as a soap box for what I’m saying right now.
What annoyed me was that Gavok just posted a simple thing about something he obviously likes and people reacted as if he had just said “Wouldn’t it be cool if another child or woman never picked up a superhero comic again? We will have finally won!” People can read “trash” without becoming trash themselves. Sometimes you just want to unwind with a piece of fluff without worrying about the health of the medium or where genres or going, etc.
Don’t mind me, though. I’m probably just over exaggerating in the process of venting my spleen.
@Lugh: You may have read my comment as “Wouldn’t it be cool if another child or woman never picked up a superhero comic again? We will have finally won!” but that reading derives a measure of specificity you brought to the discussion, not me.
I enjoy comics that seem specifically written with me in mind, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make fun of how silly or self-referential they are. In many cases, that’s actually part of the enjoyment, and shouldn’t automatically be assumed as malicious.
And to recap: I was making fun of the series concept, not the image above – which is utterly rad even viewed in isolation, and is going on one of my decks when I can get a decent scan.
@HooliganTuesday: God I hope so…they’d be better for it!