Blaxploitation homages can go either way. You can nail it or you can fall flat on your face. Rugg and Maruca nailed it, and the addition of a ’70s Marvel comics stylo propelled it all the way out of the park.
Further thoughts here and here.
When she asks “Why didn’t you try harder?” you’ll realize what the series is really about.
Further thoughts here and here.
Merry Christmas, you filthy animals. Buy King City.
Another reason why King City is so vibrant is that it’s just full to bursting with content. This panel is simple–Joe walks up a stairwell past some goons and into a hideout. It’s the sort of panel where you don’t have to do a lot. Just show some stairs, some goons, and bam, done. Instead, though, Graham loads it with information. Tons of graffiti, characters with real personality and style, the couple making out over in the corner… it’s a panel that your eye should sprint past, but it’s got so much to it that you have to pay attention.
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
created: Oh yes, we’re still going strong with this Digital December ish on CA.
–DC Comics! IDW launching something new! Marvel Comics and their vault! I also contributed #s 7 and 4 to the Best of the Year over there. King City and The Outfit, of course. Who loves you, baby?
-Anyone notice which question almost everyone skipped? Pay attention. There will be a quiz, and after the quiz comes beatings.
-Over at TFO’s Best Music countdown, I chipped in number 14 (Gorillaz, “Stylo”), definitely one of my favorites this year. I’ve got another song coming and I’m really happy with how that review turned out, plus a bigger piece that I’m collabing with somebody on. Yes.
Watching the ships roll in
consumed: I’m about to consume a bunch of burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and steaks, but I gotta cook them first, right? So pardon if these are short. I’ve got 4th of July BBQ for Christmas Eve Eve Eve to get to.
-Warren Ellis’s Supergod: Sucks, manages to combine several of Ellis’s worst tics into one terrible, poorly paced, and clunky story.
-I played some more Persona 4. I’m back burnering it for a couple months, though, since I think I’m close to the end.
–Boardwalk Empire is good!
-Newsarama’s poll probably should’ve been better thought out.
-Paul Cornell and Gail Simone have both done some pretty net-pleasing things lately. Using “mansplaining” like that’s a word people should say out loud, getting revenge for Ryan Choi. Ehhh. I’m not down with all the pandering. Just do good stories, that’ll please us plenty. Those of us that aren’t insane, anyway. Cheap pop is just that, so don’t be that guy.
-I listened to a lot of Dungeon Family apparently.
-New music and books are on pause while I work this Digital December thing, not counting new Rock Band songs for extracurricular activities. Plus, next week, Amazon should have some crazy music deals for me to indulge in, so I don’t need to be buying new stuff anyway.
-With that said, I bought the new Ghostface for five bucks and reread Darwyn Cooke’s The Outfit and Graham’s King City (three or four times on that last one, actually).
-Marty’s review of Gil Scott-Heron’s new album is great.
-Spurgeon has interviewed Matt Seneca and Joe Casey. These are always worth a read.
-Dirk Deppey has been laid off from TCJ, and he was kind enough to mention us in his outgoing post. I really do appreciate that, because when I was first getting into blogging, it was Dirk and Tom and Graeme and Heidi who I learned the most from. Curious to see what he does after taking a couple weeks off.
-These burgers ain’t gonna grill themselves, so let me see what I can do to wrap this up real quick…
-[Generic dismissive thought about Marvel’s upcoming Fear Itself event]
-[Clarification that I love Stuart Immonen and that I hope it makes him eleventy million bucks]
-[But on the real, you’re sick if you think I’m buying a seven part event at four bones a pop]
-[CEOutro]
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
David: Batman, Inc. 2, Hellblazer 274
Esther: Batman/Superman #79, Batman Incorporated #2 Possible: Batman Annual #28, Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special
Gavin: Azrael 15, Batman Incorporated 2, Green Lantern Corps 55, Green Lantern Larfleeze Christmas Special 1, Justice League Generation Lost 16, Chaos War Dead Avengers 2, Deadpool 30, Deadpool Pulp 4, Incredible Hulks 619, Namor First Mutant 5, Punisher In Blood 2, Secret Avengers 8, What If Dark Reign, Incorruptible 13
A story can’t just maintain one tone and expect that to be fulfilling. Switching things up, introducing conflict, telling jokes… good stories are versatile. I like that Graham can drop a quick little punch of sadness into a book like this, which isn’t necessarily a mopey work. It adds to the overall realism of the work, where the characters all have traits that we recognize in ourselves or our friends. Everybody knows what a big dollop of despair dropped into the middle of your day feels like, right?
When you pick up King City, you’re getting a comic that’s been stuffed with content. Every single page features some fresh joke or great action. And the back cover? Same thing.
I have no idea whether it’s true, but a lot of stuff in King City feels like something that was included because it made Brandon Graham or someone he knows laugh. Maybe it’s the strain of puns and dumb jokes that litter the series, or absurdities like this one, but that’s just the feeling I get.
What I like about Joe is that he’s not some super heroic guy out to do what’s right. He’s not Captain America. He’s a regular fella who has a good idea of right and wrong, and works toward that, but he’s also a guy who can’t resist a big butt and a smile, for better or for worse. He gets distracted and thinks about sex in a way a lot of comic characters don’t.
Guys say and do stupid things for girls sometimes, no matter how much we psyche ourselves up or tell ourselves otherwise.
Real life is awkward. I was at the movies the other day and waiting on a friend. He was going to show up late, so I was keeping an eye out. I saw someone who I thought was him walk in, so I waved him over. He waved back and came to sit down. When he got about a seat away, we both realized that we didn’t know each other at all. He sat one seat down from me and we both quietly decided not to acknowledge what happened.
Basically, mere seconds after you do something cool like a cat flip? You’re going to do something perfectly normal and awkward like float down a hallway. You can’t have the awesome without the mundane.
