Heart of Dorkness

I bought some comics this week.

Astonishing X-Men - We are still very much in the second act of this story line. The villains sneak up on our heroes and attack. There are some interesting set pieces here: like Colossus, I forgot what Sebastian Shaw's powers were; and the way Wolverine is, er, "neutralized" is very entertaining. I have only a vague idea what powers the "goth punk" wields, though. We get a glimpse of the villain from the last storyline but I am not very interested. The White Queen made a pretty tough decision a few issues ago, and followed through with it, but this issue hints that she is playing another game entirely.

There are glimpses of Joss Whedon's characterization, especially with the young women featured in the book (this should come as no surprise, what with the Buffy and all). Although Mr. Whedon clearly favors Kitty Pryde, I am far more interested in the White Queen. She has far greater potential for interesting conflict. This conflict builds from her history as well as her own character, which is all too rare in fiction these days. I am also a big fan of the Beast but I am not as confident that Mr. Whedon will develop the conflicts inherent in that character. After all, he may be blue and hairy but he is still a male.

And, as usual, Mr. Cassaday's art is amazing.

Ultimates - Everyone in this comic is still an asshole. This morning, I wrestled with the question: why do I still read this thing? For one, Mr. Hitch's art is pretty darn good. He has problems with complicated fight scenes but in this issue he does a good job with some tough stuff. I particularly liked Captain America's fight with the villain who makes copies of himself. I also enjoy the character design for Iron Man.

But the real reason I keep picking up this comic is that I am pretty dumb. Marvel releases issues so infrequently that I forget how much I hated the previous issue. I buy the current one when I see the pretty pictures. And yet as soon as I get home, and experience the agony that is Mr. Millar's writing, I slap myself on the forehead and say, "Oops! I did it again!" Stupid, stupid art.

All-Star Superman - This issue featured Jimmy Olson and the best gypsy curse since the Spleen ("You smelled it, you dealt it!"). The plot is pretty standard Superman stuff (where he is the victim of his own power) but I enjoyed the characterization very much. Everybody and everything is interesting in this issue. And, like previous issues of this title, the "golly gee whiz" factor is cranked up to eleven. A much needed balm after reading Ultimates.

I gave my wife a copy of the new Wonder Woman comic. I wanted to see if she would like it and to see if she would have any trouble with the character's rather convoluted backstory. I also did not tell her that the Mr. Heinberg also wrote several episodes of "Sex in the City" and "Gilmore Girls." She liked it. She liked the idea that Diana's sister is now Wonder Woman and she had no problem with following the story or the characters. Her sentiment echoes mine too. When I told her about the writer's television experience, she said "oh!", and I think that was a good thing. I may continue to buy the comic.

Two of the comics I looked at this week are written by television writers and a third, Ultimate Wolverine vs. the Hulk, is written by one of Lost's show runners. I think this makes perfect sense. Many people making a living writing today were big comics fans as kids. I also think that the skills it takes to create episodic, ongoing stories translate well from television to comics (and vice versa). Those writers who come to comics from television, by and large, succeed in the printed medium and (perhaps) attract readers who would not have picked up a comic otherwise.

But.

There is a problem. A big problem. I planned to go on a long rant about this, but Paul O'Brien beat me to it. As he is more capable of making the point more eloquently than I, I am happy to link to his thoughts on the matter and let him do the talking.