Showcase Presents: The Brave and The Bold, vol. 1

Okay... this one is going to require a little bit more of a history lesson than my last review.  And you know how much I love history...  No.  Really.  I love this stuff.  If you don't, skip down below the cover image where I will get into the volume proper.  Otherwise settle in.

Remember a couple of posts back when I said I'd get into the reason why DC called their black and white reprint line Showcase Presents?  Well, here's where I make good on that promise.

In 1956 DC Comics launched a title called Showcase which was a 'try out' book.  The title would feature new characters or old characters with a new spin put on them.  DC would then gauge reader reaction to these characters and if they did well enough they were then launched into their own solo titles.  It should be made clear that this wasn't a one-shot deal -- a character often appeared several times in Showcase before DC made a decision on whether they would go on to solo stardom or disappear into the archives.

Showcase was essentially *the* comic that launched the Silver Age.  Most comic book historians (yes, such people exist) date the start of the Silver Age to the first appearance of the revamped Flash in 1956.  And where did the Flash premiere in 1956?  On the pages of Showcase.  So DC choosing to call their black and white Silver Age reprint series Showcase Presents has a significance to both the history of DC and the history of comic books in general.  It's a nice touch that, to be honest, I like a little better than Marvel's comparatively bland Essential title (which is also a little disingenuous now that I think about it.  I mean, "Essential" implies that it's the kind of 'best-of-the-best' or the stuff that's vital to understanding a character and, really, every character out there has some long stretches of stuff that was kind of the comic book equivalent of jogging in place.  And I would hardly call that "Essential"... but I'm getting off track)...  What, I'm an historian I like it when people tip their hats to history!

Now, if you're expecting this series to be like the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon you'll be sadly disappointed... or happy depending on how you felt about that particular cartoon.

That animated series was inspired by this comic book series but the two are really polar opposites... as you will soon see...

The Brave and the Bold as a title originally began in 1955.  At the time of it's launch, however, it was used to tell stories about non-superhero characters.  Over the next decade or so The Brave and the Bold went from stories about knights and Robin Hood to another try-out book for new characters to finally being a 'team-up' book.

For the first few issues of it's team-up days writers basically mashed together any two heroes in the DC stable at that time.  For example, Green Arrow could team up with the Atom or Aquaman could team up with the Flash if the writer had a good story to tell.  That, however, quickly changed as the popularity of Batman, thanks to the 1960's TV series, swept the country.  The Brave and the Bold suddenly and pretty much irrevocably changed to being a "Batman and...." team-up book as each issue Batman teamed up with another DC hero.  So what DC is here calling Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold, vol. 1 is actually only those issues of the series where they started featuring Batman.

So how is it?...... a little weird, and a slice of history.

The writer responsible for most of the content in those days was Bob Haney.  Haney was one of those 'work horse writers' who populated the Silver Age.  Guys like Gardner Fox and Haney churned out story after story.  They were often simplistic, thin on characterization, and started and finished in a single issue, but guys from this era really cranked the stuff out.

Haney created a number of characters but the ones he would probably be most familiar for today were Sgt. Rock and the Teen Titans.  Of course, he didn't create the individual characters who made up the early Titans -- Robin, Speedy (Green Arrow's side-kick), Aqualad (Aquaman's sidekick), Kid Flash (guess who's sidekick), and Wonder Girl (again, guess who's sidekick) -- but it was his idea to put them together in a team-up story and the idea took off to the point where they soon had their own title which Haney was scripting.

But we're here to talk about the stories in this volume.

If nothing else you have to give Haney his due in the difficulty in scripting these stories.  Think about it, you have Batman -- a basically normal guy with no real superpowers and only a beltful of gadgets -- and he's often teaming up with heroes who far outpower him.  For example, Wonder Woman -- who has super strength, super speed, and the ability of flight.  In trying to put these two together in a story you have to come up with a villain and a situation which is powerful enough to cause difficulties for Wonder Woman but yet vulnerable enough that it would be believable for Batman to be helping out instead of just getting swatted out of the way like an ant.  It can be a delicate balancing act and it's one that Haney mostly manages well.

Mostly.

I mentioned that the stories here are "a little weird" and I mean it.  I'm a fan of Silver Age stuff.  The wacky pseudo-science gives me a chuckle and the clunky dialogue and bad attempts at topical stories and teen angst and street slang are hilarious but that stuff here, in these stories, just never quite clicks.  There is a bit too much silly science and bad slang that it just pulls you too far out of the story.  In addition, there are some examples of the casual misogyny of the times that makes me cringe.  One story in particular in which Batman tries to lure the villain Copperhead into stealing a priceless artifact by making Copperhead think he's too distracted by Wonder Woman and Batgirl fighting for his affections to guard the city.  The twist being that while Wonder Woman and Batgirl were at first pretending in order to help Batman flush out Copperhead at the worst possible moment they really fall for him!... And then just as suddenly fall back out of love with him at the end... for no good reason... except that they're women and that's just what women do don't you know.  Ugh!

Anyway, as I was saying, not only are the stories a little too silly but they also tend to have plot holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through... sideways.  Take, for example, a story featuring Batman teaming up with WW II soldier Sgt. Rock.  The story mostly takes place during WW II where Bruce Wayne is acting as a secret agent on a mission to find and destroy a mysterious Nazi secret weapon.  The problem is that Bruce is recounting the story in the then present day of the 1960's -- where even if he had been in his early 20's during WWII it would now put him over 40 -- and he is drawn in the comic as not looking a day over 35.  Not only that but Bruce has never been allowed to age over about 37 except in the case of the version of him on the parallel world of Earth-2 but this story never says it's and Earth-2 story so....  I'm confused!....

And you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.  Suffice it to say the timelines just don't work here.

So, you might be asking after I've rambled on this long, is there anything GOOD about these stories?  Well, yes... and here's where the 'slice of history' thing comes in.

After the Silver Age came what most comics historians call the Bronze Age.  There are some arguments over where it officially starts and ends but it's roughly the 1970's through the mid-1980's.  As the 1970's saw a lot of social changes and a lot of pop culture changes as well comic books followed suit.

For example, the 1970's saw a rise in a new breed of horror movies.  There was a fascination with the occult in pop culture and we see those influences start to creep in amongst these stories.  And here Haney managed the change rather well.  We see him begin the volume with bright, very Silver Age stories with silly, gimmick-y villains and we see him finish with more weighty stories about evil and family and villains who blend in with everyday life -- as well as some who wear the mask of upstanding citizens. 

We also see reflected the changes wrought in characters -- Early on we see the more Golden Age version of Green Arrow but towards the end of the volume we meet a new, more modern GA with a new look, a new costume, and a new attitude which includes questions and doubts about his superhero career.  Likewise, we have that rather stereotypical story with Wonder Woman acting a bit like a 'silly female' but later we run into the 'new Wonder Woman'...  I guess I have to explain again...  At one point The Powers That Be felt that Wonder Woman should be depowered in order to relate more to 'ordinary women'.  It was a move that, reportedly, editorial thought would go over well with the women's movement in the country at that time.  It didn't.  Still, it lasted for quite a few years.  During this period Wonder Woman renounced her Amazon heritage and with it all her powers -- no more super-strength, speed, flight, nor even bullet-deflecting bracelets.  Instead Wonder Woman learned martial arts from a blind mentor named.... (I can't believe I'm writing this)... I Ching.  I wish I was kidding.  Wonder Woman was even given a new, white, 'action costume' that had more than a nod to Emma Peel of the British Avengers fame.  Anyway, we see that change in the character reflected in the stories in this volume.

In short, with The Brave and the Bold, vol. 1 you can actually see the Silver Age turning into the Bronze Age of comics and I, for one, find the changes and they way they happen here, to be fascinating.

The other thing to mention is some of the artwork.  There are some big names here like Ramona Fradon and Gil Kane and Mike Sekowsky but the biggest deal is the swath of stories toward the end of the volume featuring the art of Neal Adams.  Moody, heavily shaded, dynamic, at times creepy and at times psychedelic, Adams' work heralded a new art style which would soon sweep the comic book world and kind of reflect the Bronze Age as well.  This is some of Adams' first work for DC but he would go on to become regular artist for Batman for quite some time and is still considered one of the premiere Batman artists.  His style has become classic and almost remarkably you can see here that, despite only just getting started at DC, his style is already almost fully formed.  Even with the color stripped out his stuff is gorgeous to look at.  Heck, with the color stripped out it looks in some ways even better as it emphasizes the noir touches to his work.

So, enough is enough and it's time for a roundup...  The first time I read this volume I loved it.  I loved all the strangeness and the wildness of seeing Batman team up with characters who were not necessarily a natural fit for him -- like Plastic Man or the Metal Men.  On a recent re-reading though the flaws hit me and I found myself all-too-willing to put the volume down and not come back to it for a few days.  It didn't drag me in and compel me to read the stories.  The silliness and the plot holes were just too front-and-center and they disturbed my reading enjoyment too much.

The Brave and the Bold, vol. 1 is probably worth a purchase if you're an amateur comic book historian like me.  It is still worth a look though so if you can pick it up at a discount or better yet at your local library go ahead and then skim through it hitting the better stories and the Neal Adams art.

Compound Geekery Film Fest! "Justice League: New Frontier"

Time to get animated with Justice League: New Frontier

This one is going to be a little hard on non-comic book fans because this direct-to-video animated film is *very* closely tied to writer and artist Darwyn Cooke's 2003-2004 six-issue prestige format comic book mini-series.

But let's see if I can give a simple summary here.....

Ah....

No.

Okay, buckle up.

Comic books tend to be divided into eras which are then referred to as "ages". The Golden Age is the first big era of comic books -- roughly from the creation of Superman in 1938 to the rebirth around 1956. The Silver Age lasts from around 1956 until roughly 1973. The Bronze Age lasts from 1973 until about 1985 or 1986. Everything from 1986 onward is considered the Modern Age -- although some argue we are in the Post-Modern Age. Actually, comic book fans argue about ALL of these eras and their designations but this is pretty much how things stand today.

Comic books had been a pretty solid industry from their introduction up until the 1950's. In the post-war years, though, things began to change. Public tastes ran to cowboys and Indians and movies about giant monsters mutated by atomic radiation or invaders from another planet. Superhero comics were on the way out. Companies like EC caught the bandwagon with new kinds of comics -- hard boiled crime stories and horror comics like the famous/infamous Tales from the Crypt. Other companies, like DC and Marvel sent many of their superheroes into mothballs and focused on making Western comics or romance comics to appeal to girls or comedy comics trying to tap into the popularity of early TV sitcoms or comics about giant, mutated monsters.

In the mid-1960's, though, DC Comics' Editor Julius Schwartz figured that it was time to revive the superhero but if people wanted space-age stuff then DC should create a new round of heroes with a more sci-fi twist. For the most part trading on names DC had already trademarked the company launched all-new versions of Golden Age characters.

So, for example, Green Lantern in the Golden Age had been radio announcer Alan Scott who found a magic lantern and ring which allowed him to create objects out of light. In 1959 the new Green Lantern became hot-shot test pilot Hal Jordan who was given a lantern and a ring created by alien science which allowed him to create objects out of light. More to the point, this new 'space cop' now traveled to other planets and met alien beings and fought them.

In the Golden Age Hawkman had been archaeologist Carter Hall who had discovered that he was the reincarnation of a murdered, ancient Egyptian prince. Using a magic metal from that era Carter Hall was able to fly as Hawkman. In 1961 the new version of Hawkman was an alien police officer named Katar Hol who came to Earth with his partner and wife in pursuit of an alien criminal who had escaped custody. Hawkman now flew because of an alien metal and the wings were actually his alien culture's version of a police uniform - paying tribute to a hawk-like bird on his own, home planet.

And it went on....

In 2003 writer/artist Darwyn Cooke began a mini-series to explore this transitional time in superhero comics. Only for his series he chose to place the heroes within their context -- mixing what had been happening in the real world with what happened in this superhero world. So the series covers such issues as the Red Scare, the Cold War, lynching in the South, the rise of television and the like. The series, called New Frontier was critically acclaimed, industry award winning, and beloved in the fan community.



So when, DC Comics decided to branch out and start doing direct-to-DVD animated features one of the first things they decided was that they would adapt some of the most well-regarded and best-selling mini-series, story arcs, and graphic novels from the past few years... and one of those was Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier.



In order to increase name recognition, though, DC chose to alter the title to Justice League: New Frontier

So let's (finally) dive into the plot!

The Plot: It is the end of the Korean War but pilot Hal Jordan, who has a streak against killing, is shot down and forced to kill a North Korean soldier at close range in order to save his own life. The experience give Jordan time in the psych unit of a VA hospital, leaving him considered "damaged goods" and seemingly ending his dream of becoming a government test pilot for the space program.

Elsewhere, a scientist accidentally manages to teleport a native of Mars to Earth. The scientist suffers a fatal heart attack from the shock and the Martian, now trapped here, begins to learn about Earth culture.

Superheroes have been mostly forced underground or into non-existence due to government suspicion. Only two operate above ground -- Superman and Wonder Woman -- and Wonder Woman increasingly sees a disconnect between what the American government says their aims are and their actions.

Time passes. Hal Jordan gets a job with a shadow government space program being run out of Ferris Aircraft Company... and in Gotham City the Martian has become police detective John Jones because he wants to be a good guy and help people. And in Central City a super speedster is trying to clean up the streets but finds himself targeted by the government...

Throughout it all is the spectre of The Centre... A being as old as the planet, powerful, telepathic, and malevolent. The Centre has decided that humanity is a threat to it's existence and it intends to wipe the planet clean of them. The only hope for defeating the Centre is if suspicions and prejudices can be overcome and ordinary mortals can work with super-beings; men in masks can trust those without them and vice-versa. It will either be the dawning of a new day or the final end of an old one.

My Take: The title of this movie is a little deceptive. Sure, a lot of the traditional members of the Justice League are in here but they aren't the Justice League... not yet. They are a collection of individual heroes who are struggling along doing what they can when and where they can.

Also, let's make this clear here right from the start -- this movie, despite being animated, is not for little kids. It has a PG-13 rating and there is blood and violence and some mild swearing. The comic book mini-series is also not for little kids as there is also some blood, violence, swearing and, even more than in the movie, some serious, serious topics discussed. Like lynching in the South and the entrenched bigotry of that era.

As for the film itself... Well, it's lovely. The animation echoes Darwyn Cooke's distinctive art style (which, admittedly, may not be to everyone's tastes but I find it great stuff) and the film boasts a stellar voice cast. David Boreanaz (Angel and Bones) voices Hal Jordan with a perfect cocky assurance. Lucy Lawless of Xena: Warrior Princess fame finally fulfills a lot of fans' dreams and gets to play Wonder Woman. Neil Patrick Harris does a great job as the earnest Flash and Miguel Ferrer turns in a measured performance as John Jones (A.K.A. the Martian Manhunter), and that's just the tip of the ice berg here.

I have to say, though, that I don't think Kyle McLachlan was the right choice to voice Superman and Jeremy Sisto just doesn't make a very forceful Batman for me -- he's not got enough darkness in his voice.

That aside... I have to be honest... I just CAN'T fairly evaluate this film. In many places it is an almost exact adaptation of scenes from Darwyn Cooke's mini-series BUT the movie clocking in at 1 hour and 15 minutes leaves a lot of Cooke's original story out. And I mean a LOT. I love New Frontier and when watching the film I find myself automatically filling in the parts of the story from the comic books which aren't in the film. So I really just can't say whether the film actually hangs together and makes sense or not. I can say that, while I understand the need to cut the original story down to fit it into the animated film I wish they had not done it.

In the end Justice League: The New Frontier is great as a COMPANION PIECE to the original work by Darwyn Cooke but I just don't think the film stands up well on it's own.

Let me urge you, however, if you have not yet read New Frontier find a copy at your local library and check it out (and if your local library doesn't have a copy of it then pester them to buy one because they SHOULD have a copy of this!). You don't need to be a big DC Comics fan to follow the story nor do you have to be a historian to get it. The series has been collected now a couple of times into handy, single edition books so you don't even have to worry about reading it in installments. The story is sweeping and epic and yet personal at the same time and Cooke really brings home the humanity of all these characters.

Then, once you've read the graphic novel go and rent this movie.

The Flash Reviews: Captain Cold

*Sigh*

The more of these things I watch the more I realize that time has NOT been kind to this series.

Let's just jump right in, shall we?

The Plot: There is a mob war in Central City's criminal community and one of the mobsters ups the ante when he arranges for a killer for hire code-named Captain Cold to take out his rivals. The good Captain has a unique method of dispatching his victims -- flash freezing them!

Now, there's only one thing that stands between the lone mob boss and total domination of the city... the hero known as the Flash. And the super-speedster presents an intriguing challenge for Captain Cold.

The Flash has never a met a villain like this before and Captain Cold just may prove to be the one to put the Flash on ice!

My Take: Well, seventeen episodes in and we FINALLY get another one of the comic book's traditional Flash villains. Yay! Unfortunately he bears no likeness to the comic book villain. Boo. Also, the show continues to shy away from giving the villains more traditional costumes. Crap.

In the comic books Captain Cold is Leonard Snart -- a thief who actually tends to shy away from killing. Yeah, okay, the name is kinda not very intimidating and the original costume -- a guy in a parka -- would probably also look a little silly in live action but there should be SOME kind of happy medium because the Captain Cold we get here is... really uninteresting.

For one thing, the live-action Captain Cold is a killer-for-hire. That, I suppose, might be interesting enough but it seems a bit... overkill (heh)... to make him a killer who freezes his victims. Why not just shoot them? Or poison them? Or blow them up? The killing-by-freezing thing seems needlessly elaborate besides which is going to draw attention to himself and his later pursuit of the reporter character makes it seem as though he DOESN'T want to draw attention. So it makes even less sense. Whereas the original Captain Cold's freezing gimmick actually works from a bank robber point of view. He could freeze the guards, freeze the vault door until it becomes brittle, and then freeze any cops who arrive on the scene so he can make his getaway.

The original Captain Cold was also more of a thinking man's villain. Sure, in the Silver Age stories things get goofy but at least you see Cold really trying to think of ways to use his cold-based weaponry to defeat the Flash. He doesn't just spray the room and hope for the best.

For another thing, the live-action Captain Cold we get here is an albino. Why? Because he's a cold-based villain and we all know that cold-based villains have to have pale skin... or blue skin... because... COLD! And since the series was striving for some measure of reality the character must have a reason for the pale skin and hair so... albino! Yeah. Right.

Still, the actor does a pretty good job with the role until about half-way through... when he decides to start hamming it up. It just kind of all slides downhill from there.

The episode also suffers from yet another example of 'Poor Female Character' syndrome. In this case we get a female newspaper reporter working for a National Enquirer-like rag. She lies and tricks her way through the story in an attempt to expose the real identity of the Flash in hopes of breaking into the "big time" of a serious and respected newspaper. Because, you know, the New York Times hires people from the National Enquirer all the time. And, of course, her stunts nearly get the Flash killed -- and then nearly get her killed too as Captain Cold tries to eliminate her as a witness to his (presumed) killing of the Flash. And, of course, all this also happens because she doesn't go to the police right away so that she can publish her "scoop" (despite the fact that telling the police would do NOTHING to prevent her from still having the scoop). As is usual for this series, she learns her lesson when the Flash/Barry shows her the error of her ways... and she decides to go work as a writer for a greeting card company.... WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! Ugh.

Okay, it's bad enough that we have yet another "career driven female character" who is portrayed as having her priorities out of whack because she is too determined to succeed at her career. It's bad enough that yet again the male character has to "teach" said female character the "error" of her ways. But then we get to add insult onto injury by having said character seemingly give up her dream of journalism in favor of a much "nicer" job writing copy for the inside of cards. It's flat-out patronizing. And I'm sure a degree in journalism makes one infinitely suitable for writing 'Hallmark Moments'. You can't see me but I am currently rolling my eyes so hard I'm liable to roll them out of my head. Why not have said female character get a job working for a little, suburban newspaper to learn the ropes of good reporting better? Why not have said female character decide to take a refresher course in journalism? And speaking of journalism school -- I'd love to know what kind of journalism program she graduated from that encouraged lying, sneaking, conning, and bad reporting all around. Yeesh.

This is a story that could have had class. Captain Cold is one of the Flash's oldest and most storied villains. He could have posed a real threat and been poised to be a recurring foe but instead we're treated to a one-off appearance by a character who bears no resemblence to the the comic book villain and who is instead a rather bog-standard hired gun type... it's just that the gun in question is a little unusual.

Whether you're a comic book fan or not, there's just nothing here that makes any sense.

Summer Movie Round-Up: Green Lantern

Okay, I'm a comic book fangirl and more significantly I'm a Hal Jordan Green Lantern fangirl.

It' probably best for the uniformed to understand that there have been a number of Green Lanterns from Earth -- John Stewart (who featured in the Justice League animated series as well as the follow up series Justice League Unlimited, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner. But for me, Hal's my favorite.

The other thing you should probably know is that Hal was created in the 1960's and at the time he was introduced he was pretty much like a lot of DC heroes of that era -- square-jawed, stand-up, establishment authority figure. Over the years Hal's backstory has been tweaked to give him a few more flaws -- recklessness, irresponsibility, and a wandering eye when it came to the ladies.... Alright, so he's a himbo.

Anyway, it's the more modern Hal we meet in this movie.

As far as sticking to the comic book origins... well, as I've said, he's had tweaks to his over the years and this story pulls a bit from several of them but it isn't a page-to-screen direct translation... but then again, I can't remember the last comic book movie I watched that was.

The plot is pretty simple: Hal Jordan is a reckless test pilot who, as a child, watched his own test pilot father die in a plane crash. In the wider universe a war against evil is being waged with the alien Green Lantern Corps acting as a police force for the universe. A dark and terrible force was once imprisoned but has now escaped and it targets the Green Lantern Corps member that imprisoned it -- Abin Sur. Wounded and dying, Abin crash lands on Earth and orders his ring to find a successor for him. The ring chooses Hal Jordan.

Now Hal is thrust into a world he never dreamed of and one he feels ill prepared for. There is no time for him to find his way slowly -- he must either rise to the task of being a hero or else die along with all the Earth.

So what did I think?

Well, the film has some flaws. A lot of the humor is rather sophomoric and really not that funny. Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond chews more scenery than an army of termites and his villain set-up is poor and lacking. And speaking of villains -- the movie suffers from having one too many and not developing either quite well enough.

The CGI costumes all the Lanterns wear took some heat from fans and non-fans alike but overall they didn't bother me for the most part. The only place where they really didn't work was the necklines (really noticeable in close-up shots) and with the masks.

The story also follows the pretty standard "hero's journey" trope -- so no surprises there -- but I found Ryan Reynolds' Hal Jordan to be rather charming and genuine in the scenes where Hal lets his guard down. Which is another thing the film does well -- show how much of what we see of Hal is bravado and bluster hiding a vulnerable core.

Most of all, though, what I walked away from this film with was a 'cosmic' feeling. It really hadn't occurred to me how many superhero movies lately have followed this trend of being "grounded". It's like filmmakers feel as if the movies won't be taken seriously enough unless they keep at least one foot firmly planted in the dirt. It's also why I've been skeptical of talk of an Avengers movie or a Justice League movie. If you're bringing together a team of heavy hitters then they can't just be battling some villainous corporate raider or some big city mob boss. The heavy hitters need Earth shaking, nay universe shaking threats. The heavy hitters need something that is worthy of a team of some of the most powerful beings. Green Lantern finally delivered at least a little peek at that kind of scope. I also enjoyed that the filmmakers fully embraced the idea of the Corps instead of shying away from it. One of the franchise's strongest elements has always been this idea of other beings from other planets who do this job as well.

Here in the film we meet Sinestro, Kilowog,and Tomar-Re, and in the background of scenes are others Lanterns recognizable to comic book fans like Stel and Bodikka. Back in the day the comics would occasionally swerve off and do an entire story about one of these alien Lanterns. Eventually there was entire spin-off book that focused on nothing BUT these alien Lanterns. We got Mogo -- who is a living planet (Yeah, seriously, a living planet... and it's coool!), Rot-Lop-Fan -- an alien from a planet that exists in perpetual darkness and so his people are all born without eyes. He is completely blind and has no concept of the color green therefore. They get around this creatively by translating the color into a musical tone -- F# -- and so Rot-Lop-Fan considers himself not a Green Lantern but rather a bearer of "the F# Bell". Trust me, it's not as weird as it sounds... Okay, it IS as weird as it sounds but it's weird in a GOOD way.

So, yeah, I really enjoyed the fact that the filmmakers went full-bore and didn't just divorce Hal from the Corps for this first film.


Final summation -- the film has problems, it could use a tighter focus, but it was a lot of fun and it brought back some of the epic scope I've found missing in superhero films lately. And I think that, given a chance for a sequel, the filmmakers could build and improve upon this and tell and even bigger and better story. In the meantime -- go see this, don't bother springing for the 3-D, get a bucket of popcorn and turn your brain off for two hours. There are worse things you could do... And judging from the trailers there are worse films coming...

The OTHER Problem with the New, New, New (We Really mean it This Time), New DC Comics

So yesterday I ranted a bit about the reboot of the DC Universe although, for the most part, I'm so jaded by events and reboots and being told by comic book companies that "Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again!!!" only for everything to go back the way it was a year or two later that I could really care less about this latest reboot. All that being said (and yeah, that's a bit of a run on sentance there isn't it? Sorry) I still feel some things need to be said from a practical point of view. And, from that practical point of view, I think the reboot is just going to end up boomeranging and coming back and biting DC in the backside in a few years. I could be wrong but honestly, I don't think so.

But there's something else DC is doing with this reboot that I think is also pretty wrong-headed and that's keeping a lot of this under wraps.

Now I understand the value of surprise and shock announcements. I understand the usefulness of keeping people waiting on the edge of their seats to learn more but in this case it's just not really a good idea.

Here's why.... Pull Lists.

For the non-comics initiated... most comic book fans get their comic books from comic book shops... or online comic book retailers. Back in the old days you got your comic books off of spinner racks or magazine racks at the local convienience store or grocery store or the like but as the comic book market became both incresingly specialized in focusing on comic books and yet more diverse with small press publishers and mature readers titles comics left the convenience store and went to the comic book shop.

Most comic book shops offer to their regular customers a "pull list", also called a "reserve list" or a "subscription list" among various other names. By whatever name you want to call it, it amounts to the same thing -- You tell the owner/manager/guy behind the counter at your local comic book shop what titles you want then, every Wednesday when the new comic books come out, the owner/manager/worker will pull out one copy of each of the titles you requested from the shipment and set it aside for you. Then, when you go in to your comic book shop all you have to do is pick up your stack.

This service has several benefits -- for one thing it saves you time since all you have to do is go in, grab your stash, and pay for it. For another you don't have to scour the shelves looking for the latest issues of whatever titles you're interested in. It also means that you don't accidentally forget a title you meant to pick up. For another thing it insures that you get a title that you want if it's something that your comic book shop doesn't regularly carry they will usually special order it for you. And finally, if a title ends up being hugely popular and sells out before you can get to your comic book shop it guarantees that you still get a copy of the sold out title.

The thing is that most comic book shops also have to place their orders for which titles they want and how many copies of those titles three months in advance. A lot of comic book shops pass this deadline on to their customers -- meaning if you want a new title you have to have it added to your pull list three months before the new #1 launches.

So this entire DC reboot will be taking place in September -- about three months from now -- and what is DC doing? They're doling out information in drips and drabs. For the most part we're being informed of the titles and the people writing and drawing those titles but aside from that we're getting nothing.

Back in the 1990's and to a certain extent still today for some people just hearing that a writer or an artist was going to be working on a comic would be enough to make some readers rush right out and put it on their pull list sight unseen. And I suppose there's nothing wrong with that... but I and many like me have been burned before; a good writer or a good artist who is just not a good fit for the character they're writing or drawing. I don't read comic books *just* because of who is writing or drawing them. I read for the characters and the stories.

And so, we get to the heart of the problem of DC's trying to drum up excitement by telling us nothing... those who are like me have no idea if we want to put ANY of these comics on our pull lists because we don't know what they're about! I need to be making these decisions now for my pull list in September and yet I don't have all the data I need to make those decisions. It isn't enough to tell me that Voodoo #1 will be written by Ron Marz with art by Sami Basri -- I need to know what it's going to be ABOUT. What is the premise? Who is the title character? What does he/she do?

I've been burned by bad comics before and at the prices now being charged for single issues I'm not about to put something on my pull list without a better idea of what it's going to be about. And I'm not alone out there. So DC Comics again gets a failing grade on not understanding that it's all well and good to try to drum up excitement by withholding information but that all comes with a downside as well.

The New, New, New, New (We Really Mean it This Time), New DC Comics

*Sigh*.

Okay, I guess, as a geek girl, I should address this. It's been in the news lately. DC Comics is apparently "rebooting" their universe.... Again. Although also apparently DC doesn't want to CALL it a reboot. Screw that noise, it's a reboot.

This isn't the first time DC has done this. It won't be the last time they do it either I'm willing to bet. And don't think DC is alone in this -- Marvel has had it's share of reboots as well -- it's just now it's DC's turn.

The non-comics initiated among you might be asking "What's a 'reboot' and what's the big deal?" Well, as many comic book writers and fans have said over the years, comic books have the thing that most any ongoing series has -- "history" and "continuity".

"History" is just what it sounds like -- the history of the title. "History" tells us that Batman was created in 1939 and has been published under one title or another pretty much continuously since then. "History" also tells us that Bruce Wayne became Batman when his parents were killed right in front of him as they were walking home from the movies one night. "History" tells us that Batman has a sidekick named Robin and that Robin has had a number of different kids under the mask over the years -- Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and now Damian Wayne.

"Continuity" refers to internal consistency within the comic book. For example, going back to Batman, originally we were told Bruce's parents were both shot. Later, readers were told that his father was shot and his mother suffered a fatal heart attack in shock. Later still it went back to both of them being shot. That's a lack of internal consistency. If we are told Bruce Wayne is an orphan then we expect him to remain an orphan and not have his parents suddenly pop back up out of nowhere. If we are told a certain character has a law degree then we do not expect to suddenly be told that they actually dropped out of law school before they finished their degree.

Some continuity problems are caused by new writers coming in and not being completely familiar with the continuity of a character. Other times continuity changes are required as a result of changing times. For example, in Iron Man's original origin story Tony Stark was injured and captured by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War and built his first suit of armor to escape and keep his damaged heart operating. Obviously if this origin still stood Stark would no longer be the young playboy of the comic books but rather pushing retirement age. So the basic broad strokes of the origin are kept but the wars being fought and the armies who captured him have changed over the years.

But then there are deliberate continuity changes designed to alter a story or change a character in hopes of bringing in more and new readers. These are known as "Retcons" -- short for Retroactive Continuity. For example, let's go back to our lawyer character above. For years Our Hero (tm) may have been a crusading lawyer by day and a costumed superhero by night. And then, suddenly we learn that he actually never finished law school and that for all this time he's actually been practicing law illegally.



Shock! Surprise! Our Hero's (tm) life is thrown into disaray! He loses his law practice, he is disgraced! What happens next?! Well, that's the hook, isn't it?

I won't completely bash retcons -- some have worked and actually worked pretty well and told very interesting stories in the process. The vast majority of them, however, were what you would expect -- ham fisted, forced, illogical, attempts to change a character that didn't really need changing to begin with.

So what does all this have to do with a reboot?

Well, the thinking from On High -- A.K.A. the publishers, CEO's and Executive Editors -- tends to be that one can have too much history and continuity which in turn make it difficult for new readers to jump on board.

Over the last decade or two it has been a demonstratable fact that mainstream (i.e. not Japanese Manga) comic book readership has been shrinking. Fewer and fewer people buy and read comic books and those who still do are an aging population. Whereas one the average age of a comic book reader was in their teens and then their twenties now the average age is in their thirties. Comic book companies want to hook younger readers to augment this... and also so that maybe those readers who are fourteen now will still be reading comic books when they hit thirty-four.

So the solution to luring new readers on is to basically reset the universe. Most of the time this has been done in the past it hasn't been a complete reset but rather a partial one... although a complete reset HAS been done in the past. This time, however, it looks like DC is going for the complete (or nearly so) reset of their universe. Older characters get de-aged to a younger point in their lives, their pasts -- histories and continuities erased -- it's all a blank slate for writers to basically start all over again and try to lure in new readers.

It's just there's a problem with this. In trying to lure in new readers with promised stories starting out on the "ground floor" they run the risk of alienating their current reader base who have been following these characters for years and enjoying the character developments and have little interest in seeing old plot tropes rehashed.

For example, a personal favorite of mine -- Booster Gold. Booster was a character who was born and lived in the 25th century. When he disgraced himself and ruined his life he hatched a scheme to steal items from a superhero museum, travel back in time to when no one knew him, become a superhero and then parlay that into wealth and fame. Over the years, however, personal problems, tragedies, and friendships have instead led Booster down a different path. He's grown, matured, changed, and given up on wealth and fame in order to do the right thing. He's also found a new calling, not as a traditional superhero but rather as a time traveler who protects the past and the future from those who would change events to suit their own desires. And now potentially all that growth and character development could be wiped out resetting him to the money-hungry bumbler he started out as. Needless to say I am not necessarily pleased at this prospect.

The other problem with the line of thinking the higher-ups are operating from is the idea that history and continuity are stumbling blocks. They aren't. As comic book reviewer Linkara once recently said -- the best way to jump into comic books is simply to find a title or story that sounds interesting and read it. Most of the time nowadays new writers come into titles every year or so and each new writer seems to start fresh with their own ideas many of which are NOT linked to a lot of history or continuity. And if something comes up in a comic which is not clearly explained then there are plenty of places on the internet where one can find the answers without a lot of difficulty. There are also always new #1's being launched with wholly new characters where new readers can jump on and there are stand-alone mini and maxi-series always being published as well. And, thanks to more and more libraries carrying trade collections new readers can often try out a title without any danger to their bank account! Just go to your local library, find a trade that looks interesting and check it out. If you like it you can seek out more or maybe start picking up an ongoing series at your local comic shop if you don't like it you simply return it to your library -- no harm, no foul.

The problems with rebooting entire universes like this is that, in the end, new readers don't necessarily know what's going on anymore (A Superman comic where Clark DOESN'T love Lois Lane?!) and long-time readers find that all of their beloved character development has been thrown out the window (A Superman comics where Lois and Clark aren't married?!). This sort of thing leaves no one happy in the long run.

Go!

After a slight delay, it's time to begin my series of reviews....

Episode 1: "Pilot"

Plot:
Central City is terrorized by a motorcycle gang and even the police department seems helpless against the wave of crime. A pair of brothers step into the fight -- Jay Allen, head of Central City's elite motorcylce police unit and Barry Allen, chief scientist of the Central City police department's forensics unit. A freak accident involving a bolt of lightning and a deluge of chemicals bestows on Barry the ability to move at super speed. Will even these newfound powers be enough, though, for Barry to save the city? Or will tragedy dog the Allen family's path?

My Take: A two-hour pilot gave the writers plenty of time to develop the characters and story. Too bad the majority of those characters were two-dimensional and the story was nothing really inventive. Most of the acting here is solid if a bit on the melodramatic side. It does, occasionally, veer off into true "ham" and "cheese" acting in a couple of places. The script itself isn't that subtle either; which adds to the problems. The whole idea of a criminal motorcycle gang just seems a bit silly and they never come across as that viable of a threat.

The villain of the piece is such a stock character that it's hard to actually take him seriously. There is no depth here and only the thinnest of motivations which makes the character worse than bad... it makes him boring.

John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen does bring some charm to the role and he was certainly pretty 'easy on the eyes' but there are times in the script when he tries to sell some of lighter moments a bit too much and he never quite brings across the grief or righteous indignation the script calls for. The supporting cast is also pretty strong and it was a nice idea from the producers to provide the series with such a deep supporting cast for the series -- it's an idea that fell away for a time in TV and has only really been making a comeback in recent years.

Surprisingly, the special effects still do look pretty good after all these years. There are a few obvious instances of green screen work but, for the most part, the money spent to produce the effects was money well spent.

As a comic book fan though.... This story has some real problems.

From the start viewers can see the influence the Tim Burton Batman movies had on the series. In the comic books Central City was a light, fairly bright, Midwestern city. Probably the best real-world analogue city would be Chicago or St. Louis. It was never the kind of dark, broken place that Gotham City was in Burton's vision and yet that is what viewers get -- complete with the same art deco touches of Burton's Gotham.

Another big problem is the fact that the writers felt compelled to give Barry a "tragic origin" and a family conflict which was never present in the comic books. Unlike a lot of heroes, comic book Barry became a costumed crimefighter because he felt it was the right thing to do and because he had grown up reading stories about comic book superheroes (that's right, Barry was a comic book geek. Gotta love it). Here, the TV writers introduced a brother (comic book Barry was an only child) for the express purpose of killing him off so that Barry would become a hero in order to seek "justice".

The TV writers also introduced a sub-conflict with Barry's father not respecting his second son's career choice and looking down at forensics as "not real police work." This is in marked contrast to comic book Barry whose parents lived in a small, folksy, Midwestern town for his father had been the town doctor before retiring. Both this conflict and the "tragic origin" sit badly on the character; even the ending has lines that were stolen almost verbatim from Burton's Batman and the Flash was never meant to be a Batman-like hero.

There is also the strange transformation of Iris West from being a reporter in the comic books to being an artist here. Why? Don't know. Despite attempts to shoehorn her career as an artist into the plot to add some conflict to her relationship with Barry it just never comes off right.

I also had a big problem with the costume. It just looks bad in nearly every possible way. In dark lighting it isn't too egregious but in bright daylight all of it's flaws can clearly be seen... The sculpted muscles are, again, too much of a throwback to Burton's Batman; plus, they make the Flash look bulky. Up until some parts of the modern era the Flash was depicted with a leanly muscular runner's physique. The costume here makes him look more like a bodybuilder. The shading and shadowing used to emphasize the muscles also looks very obvious and fake in direct light and, in perhaps the costume's greatest flaw, it looks flocked. The Flash's costume should be sleek... not fuzzy!

So, from a comic book standpoint, was there anything good here?.... A little. The scene where Barry ends up running 30 miles in a matter of seconds while trying to catch a bus because he's late for a date with Iris is a little tribute to the comic book origin where Barry first discovered his powers when he ended up outrunning a cab he was trying to catch because he was late for a date with Iris. The writers also threw in a few other touches which showed they were at least tipping their hats to the show's comic book roots (See the "Flash Facts" below).

The bottom line? For those who have never heard of the comic book Flash before this would have probably been a pretty good introduction for a character who at least had some things in common with the comic book character. The special effects have withstood the test of time which means that for their original time period of the early 1990's they probably blew away most of what people saw on TV. For comic book fans, though, there was probably a lot of confusion and questioning of why the TV writers felt compelled to change so much about the character.

Flash Facts:

The brief appearance of reporter Linda Park is a tribute to the comic book character of the same name. The comic book version of reporter Linda Park, however, was much younger and would become romantically involved with the third version of the Flash -- Wally West.

STAR Labs (Scientific and Technological Advanced Research) was and still is a staple of DC Comics. The labs have branches throughout the DC universe and are often responsible for either saving the day by providing some advanced weapon or special chemical concoction or for starting trouble in the first place when one of their experiements goes awry and produces some monster or superpowered criminal. They have featured most heavily in Superman stories over the years.

STAR Labs is located on Garrick avenue. This is certainly a tribute to the first Flash character (who debuted in 1939) whose secret identity was Jay Garrick -- a research chemist. Likewise, Barry's brother, Jay is probably also a tribute to the Garrick character.