Tucker Stone makes a good point about what DC needs:

What DC Comic Needs to Come Back in 2009 and Why:
There’s really no contest here, unless you’re a big Jamie Reyes fan. Then again, if you’re a big Jamie Reyes fan, you’re probably still trying to figure out why the computer won’t turn on. (It’s because you covered it in peanut butter, because you are an infant.) No, the best DC book, the one that they need to bring back, the one that left a gaping hole in the DC line-up when it departed, despite what was the most promising upcoming line-up in the last twenty years of DC/Marvel history?
Solo. The five dollar comic with the white cover, the 48 page, no ad-having, one-creator anthology comic that allowed people like Brendan McCarthy, Paul Pope and Darwyn Cooke (and more) to do whatever they wanted with whomever they wanted. For the length of its too-short 12 issue run, Solo was the most rewarding bang-for-your-buck comic on the stands. Unless you like lost chances and spilling tears, don’t look at the wikipedia entry for the series and see the possible future creators who were in talks to do an issue.
What DC Comic We’ll Give You in Exchange:
Well, it’s a tough one again, but only because DC has been nice enough to go ahead and cancel Blue Beetle, Birds of Prey, Robin, Nightwing, Simon Dark, Supergirl, Teen Titans, and Titans.
Wait, I just heard that they haven’t cancelled Simon Dark, Supergirl, Teen Titans or Titans. Paint me shocked and awed! Cancel all four, and give Solo the extra pages.

I would give up pretty much any DC comic produced in the years since Solo was cancelled to get Solo back. In fact, I’d just keep the two All-Star books and let all the others rot. I’m totally okay with DC just publishing All-Star Batman, All-Star Superman, and then Solo monthly.

I disagree with him on Wildstorm, though– I want Wildcats 3.0 back.

The problem with dead prez is that they’re kind of stupid. If you actually listen to Hell Yeah and watch its terrible video (in concept and execution), you’re going to realize a couple things. One, their scams won’t work. Two, the video is one of the worst-conceived pieces of trash in years. That’s your revolution? Really guys?

Immortal Technique is probably just as extreme, if not more, but he’s actually got some smarts behind his eyes. The 3rd World is a mix of old tracks and new, and is a delightfully coherent taste of rebel rap. It’s still hipster and college student high on new philosphy-friendly, but there’s actual meat to it, too.

One thing Technique has over other rebel rap-types is that you can see his growth as an artist and a thinker as you follow his career. He’s adjusted his views. There’s less misogyny and homophobia than there was seven years ago. His criticisms are more focused and direct. And yes, his skill has gotten better, too.

Immortal Technique is raw rap. It isn’t a record you put on to chill with your friends and play video games. It definitely isn’t one to play when your girlfriend comes over for the weekend. It’s abrasive. It’s not as harsh as Technique’s Dance with the Devil (don’t click that), which I listened to once and then promised to never, ever listen to again, despite its quality. It was too harsh, too real, and too dark.

3rd World is more palatable, though he isn’t afraid to put the boot in. Lick Shots, with Crooked I and Chino XL, is one of those tracks that’s just three dudes going in, Reverse Pimpology is the second coming of Industry Rule 4080 (record company people are shady), and Payback features Diabolic and a much-missed Ras Kass getting back on his political grind.

I’m not even getting into Technique’s in your face rhymes. He’s very quotable, but you really can’t quote him without either getting arrested or funny looks. He just sounds angry, but in a good way. He’s urging revolution and striking back at the system. It’s something like Tupac said. “Only in Cali will we riot, not rally, so live and die.” Talking is easy. He wants to see action. He even takes aim at rappers who jump onto “conscious” songs once every couple of years on Lick Shots:

Niggas love to say “Fuck revolution!”
Until the jury come in and move for the prosecution
And them brothers act like a born-again Huey Newton
Forgot about the bullshit music they was producin

You want to have a computer nearby while listening to Technique’s 3rd World. Sometimes you have to google something he talks about just so you can know more. Tech is well-read, intelligent, and worth listening to. It’s music to get angry, or perhaps be angry, to while you drive or commute.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out Immortal Technique’s Beef & Broccoli, wherein he dismantles those people who think that veganism or vegetarianism is some kind of revolutionary act. Here’s a spoiler: it isn’t.

Yesterday’s installment was all about Thor going into the afterlife to go save Valkyrie. I don’t even know what she’s doing in Valhalla in the first place. She died by drowning. You don’t get into Valhalla for weak garbage like that.

No matter. We continue Thor’s quest and move onto that scene. God help us.

ManiacClown is entirely to blame for the second page. I’ve seen Rocky Horror Picture Show maybe once in my life and that was years ago. That was enough.

Tomorrow we finish the week off with a confrontation between Xavier and Magneto. Surely, it will fail to capture the greatness of their battle from the second Japanese X-Men cartoon intro, where they fight by blasting Xavier’s mind rays against Magneto’s magnetic rays.

Day Seven!

I was going to do a Top 10 or whatever for comics that came out in 2008, but realized that I had no interest in explaining to people why Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s run on All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder is better than Grant Morrison’s run on Batman in almost every way or why certain comics just aren’t enjoyable and are in fact Silver Age navel-gazing at best. Instead, I’m stealing a page from Tucker Stone‘s playbook and doing a music countdown instead. I’m doing only eight for 2008, but if you’re curious, numbers nine and ten were NERD’s Seeing Sounds [Explicit] and Ill Bill’s The Hour Of Reprisal [Explicit], respectively. NERD because I’ve loved their sound for years and Everybody Nose/Everybody Nose Remix, Anti-Matter, Sooner or Later, and Spaz are all genuinely excellent songs. Ill Bill has a few great songs, too, most notably White Nigger and the track about his uncle.

The next five weekdays are going to have two posts from me a piece at noon and midnight. On the next to last day, instead of posting my #1, I’ll post a quick top 5 round-up of some free music and then hit y’all with the #1 pick the next day.
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