The Avengers Assemble and How!

Joss Whedon's The Avengers is all that you prayed for, and more. Thankfully the 'more' is more words than action. For such an anticipated superhero tentpole, Whedon keeps it nicely grounded. Almost all of the first half is build-up, and the conclusion has some intelligently woven interactions amidst all the earth(Manhattan) shattering set-pieces. While some sequences moved as I had expected(thank you, Mr. Impatient Trailer-Man!), some were surprisingly well-crafted- the confrontations, the minutely detailed and precise back-arcs, the interconnections, the self-references really make this one a balanced and satisfying blockbuster, quite a rarity.

Whedon makes you sit through long conversations(usual dysfunctional family stuff but with costumes)and lets you relax and work your geek-logic out while the newbies are still trying to figure out who is who. His affinity for few characters(Black Widow, Cap) is pretty visible here and lends an individual voice to the genre which is fresh and not Nolan(what more could a Silver Age fan want?!). Cap definitely leaves an impression, with all his out-of-place-ness, and that's all credit to the writers and Whedon. It is easy to make an Iron Man or Agent Coulson look cool(they are, aren't they?) but fleshing out arcs for a Hawkeye(why should we care about him anyway) or Natasha Romanoff and her 'red ledger'? Interesting stuff. Having said that, the money shots do make you leap from the seat and revel in what may be the only few films to bring the head-rush on screen this year, Spidey and Bats may take a hike in darker realms.

Poster Courtesy: Rhys Cooper

Action Figure-ing

Wonder Woman- Justice League Unlimited Metal Collection
Wonder Woman as she appeared in the Justice League animated series and based on the Wonder Woman character models from the official 2001 Justice League Animated Style Guide.

This figure is die-cast metal from the waist down and plastic from the waist up. Articulation at the waist.





Company: Mattel
Release Date: 2004 - 2007
Dimensions: 2 3/4" H
Points of Articulation: 1


Web Slinging Spider Man from Spider Man 3 Series

This super-articulated figure has a web running through his hands and clings to the included wall-hanging web that attaches to some walls and windows.













Company: Hasbro
Release Date: 2007-2008
Dimensions: 4.5”’
Points of Articulation: Multiple

Supergirl- DC Superheroes Mattel Select Sculpt Series

This rare figure is from DC Superheroes, a collection of action figures originally produced by Mattel in early 2006.



The line began as a successor to Mattel's Batman toyline. Since Mattel only had the license to Batman and Superman characters at the time (with the exception of the Justice League Unlimited line), only Batman and Superman characters were able to appear in the line. Instead of primarily using variations on a single character, the line focused on secondary characters and villains.



At New York City's Toy Fair in 2006, the first five assortments were announced (though the fourth series was postponed). The entire line (with the exception of Robin and Nightwing) was sculpted by the Four Horsemen Studios. The figures have around twenty one points of articulation and initially came with a comic book centering around the character it came with, but in 2007 figures came with cardboard dioramas instead.



On June 28, 2007 Mattel's license was extended to include all of the DC Comics characters, including all movies and TV shows past, present and future. At San Diego Comic-Con International, Mattel announced they would be re-branding the line into DC Universe Classics. The first series was viewable at SDCC 2007 and was released in January 2008.
Company: Mattel
Release Date: 2007-2008
Dimensions: 3 x 2 x 5.5 inches ; 1 pounds
Points of Articulation: Multiple; comes with Diadrama as a colorful backdrop

Iron Man #021 Marvel HeroClix Secret Invasion

Since debuting in 2002, HeroClix has stood out among all the superhero action RPG games thanks to its ever expanding gallery of miniature figures that do double duty as game pieces and as tiny works of art. In the past nine years over three thousand of them have been individually molded, decorated and bound by a common set of rules.

Comic Book Men: Kevin Smith Strikes Again

Kevin Smith inspires extreme reactions to whatever he does. The same goes for this new whatchamakallit part-fabricated-part-reality show on AMC. A bunch of ‘dudes’ go ‘watch their lives pass by’,(in the words of a store un-clerk Bryan), in the comic store and the show switches between their inconsequential musings and a collective elaborate musing session(more like a collective reassurance that this may actually be far from the worst job in the world) back in the apparent radio station where the gang discusses everything they do on the job. Once you get over the obvious distractions (why the fuck are they smiling so much, what’s with all the slo-mo’s and soft-porn nods, what do they know that I don’t, why is Smith the center of this limited universe etc.) you sub-consciously take in the trivia thrown at you and take this gang as another bunch of self-obsessed dudes you have seen hanging around in a neighborhood café and wouldn’t actually care much about them lest they should pick on your indifferent ass.




It’s interesting how Smith underplays some of his more recently exhibited outrageous behavior mostly media paranoia, and brings out miles of trivia in a little less pretentious manner to this bunch. However, you do realize he can’t stay sober for long, sadly and eventually. For a ex-character called Silent Bob he surely goes too far! Walt Flanagan is quite a reveal. I like it that he plays his businessman handle well above his comic book artist one and comfortably leads this pack of losers, if you will. Bryan offers some great dramatic moments, his wit borders on a Ricky Gervais-type sarcasm, deriving fun from other people’s misery. Schadenfraude, it’s called I believe. And he doesn’t let you go until you acknowledge you have been victimized. Nice and edgy angle to this mutual admiration sausage fest I would say.
Having seen 4 episodes, I have reached a certain comfort level with the cast. The show fills the spot of a nerdier, more approachable Big Bang Theory. The bargains may be doctored, but the stuff they haggle on is real. Same goes for the racism and offensive humor. It’s really in good taste, if good taste for you means unjustified oppression and uncontrolled gasps of paranoid behavior, may be a couple peculiar cases of repetitive narcissistic acts too. I kinda like the show.

DC New 52: Part II

I am getting to enjoy the new 52 now, more or less. Some surprises, and some sureshot hits(thanks to all the reviews). I guess few patterns will be emerging soon in terms of a Top 5 or a Top 10 around the characters and arcs I like but for now, second list of the titles from the first release..

Batman & Robin #1

Good, pumped up tone. Robin looks like he’s just read some Frank Miller!

Green Lantern #1

Now I have always enjoyed the world of Green Lanterns, Guardians, sectors, Ferris Corp., Sinestro, and this comic only reassures me and reaffirms my faith in the oath.

Grifter #1

Nice little surprise, this one. Airplane heist, back and forth narrative, con games…quite a nice adventurous ride. Pretty action packed. I liked it.

Mr. Terrific #1

Packs in way too much than it can handle(sci-fi concepts, gazettes and gizmos), certainly not a Green Lantern this.

Red Lanterns #1

“How can my rage be less pure, when there is still so much pain in the universe..”

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Brutal, graphic, but electrifying pace and some great lines and art.

Resurrection Man #1

Great fun! Has a cool Deadman vibe set in a noire-ish plane ride.

Captain Atom #1(J.T. Krull, Freddy Williams II)

Quite a nice little comic, some great art and concepts, gets a little too sci-f- verbose, and the character does look like an offshoot of Doc. Manhattan but what the hell, bring it on!

DC Universe presents #1: Deadman(Paul Jenkins)

Great writing, not really easy reading but some great depth, Jenkins makes Deadman a cold, distant cousin, always elusive.

Wonder Woman #1

Azzarello(100 Bullets)’s Wonder Woman is fierce, dark, violent, but too unsatisfactory for a small issue.

All Star Western #1

Gotham of late 19th century, Jonah Hex, Amadeus Arkham, a ‘From Hell’like panic struck dark city, and some classic touches makes this one, well, an instant classic. Bring some more!

Aquaman #1(Geoff Johns)

Pretty short to trigger any excitement or response, but I do like the self-reference ‘less popular superhero’digs.

Batman The Dark Knight #1

Feels too early nineties for a reboot. Certainly pales in comparison to the other titles in the line, by a long shadow.

The Flash #1

Not a big fan of The Flash, this comic doesn’t help either. Some good art and innovative paneling, though.

Superman #1(George Perez)

A reboot? This issue feels like a replay of a Superman comic you wished you’d never read!

DC New 52: Part I

So time to do some DC New 52 countdowns/readups. It’s a mixed bag really.

Detective Comics #1
Great aggressive comic, no B.S., plain old Batman with strong grip on the detective aspect, constant deduction and action. A great Batman comic after long, retains the lucid storytelling, something almost a rare commodity lately.

Action Comics #1
With Morrison behind it, there is hope, but must say, not that impressed.

Animal Man #1
Good story and art, liked the direct tone and ‘Walking Dead’ vibe.

Batgirl#1(Gail Simone)
I kinda liked it, more like a more confident and upgraded Robin, failing and learning on the job, inner conflicts et al.

Batwing#1
It is pretty sad that a nice plot gets sacrificed by bad storytelling and poor characterization. Batwing is presented as a ‘Batman for Africa’ but doesn’t really get its act together, really doesn’t stand on its feet. The comic presents some nice ideas but loses them somewhere. Beautiful panels, but it mostly comes off as hollow towards the end.


Green Arrow #1(George Perez)
Quite nice and exciting for 20 pages. Lot of lines, depth(“meat”), a well-balanced book. Just goes to show the potential in this series to explore diverse storylines, even the ones on the periphery of the archetype of dual identity superheroes.

Justice League Int’l #1
Again, not very impressive, given all the set up, feels more like a jaded X-Men arc.

Men of War #1
Not a big fan of the genre, but giving credit where its due, it is well written to say the least.

O.M.A.C. #1
Great action, cool entry of Brother Eye, nice reveals and comic touches. Geeky to the core.



Swamp Thing #1
Lives up to the hype.

Static Shock #1
Feels tiring and long, even though its just 20 pages! Can this one!



Demon Knights & Stormwatch
These are some great titles by Paul Cornell, the first ones I read in this series and would love to revisit them, away from the noise.

Batman: The Widening Gyre (DC, 2009)

The Widening Gyre(TWG) is Kevin Smith’s oft-struggling Batman story. Having read Cacophony, I had no mood to approach TWG. Cacophony was outright bad comic book writing, uninspired, exploitative, repetitive, unoriginal. I could go on. TWG however is better fortunately(anything would be!) in a sense that it does spend some time on things comic books usually don’t (things like Batman introspecting on overdrive, Batman going soft-porn/trashy soap opera(almost), a new sidekick who is mostly a bag of nerves when he is around Batman etc.). It has Smith’s characteristic tone throughout, in the way characters are very now(whatwith Twitter, which is a scary thing IMO) and streetsmart and all that. If these facts don’t offend you enough, there is the so bold it’s disturbing elements, which for some reason Smith mistakes for an adult graphic novel, present throughout here. I would just suggest some Grant Morrison doubled up with some Alan Moore as a quick remedy to start with.

A comic does not get adult by show of blood or amputated limbs or frequent tough-guy-speak. The boldness, if you will, comes through the voice of narrative and characters, the panic in the town(comic universe) pervades your thoughts and takes your reception to a different level, as opposed to build on a provocation , much what Smith does here and few of his other initiatives(films, blogs etc.)

Reading TWG is almost like someone took a C grade pulp novel and spliced in Batman characters, while consciously leaving out a possibility of unintentional fun.

A good thing in this book? The Covers.

Superman: Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?(DC, 1986)

By now almost a cult book, this Alan Moore-Curt Swan- Julius Schwartz-George Perez team up is more of a reverential Superman tale than a shocking what-if arc. When I turned the last page(or screen page!)I wrote it off thinking of it as immature and not quite there. But in retrospect it does come out as a comic arc I would like to revisit, it is certainly important from Superman essentials point of view, and a must read for all Alan Moore fans(Moore offers his signature thought-provoking and existential crisis of superheores elements here, albeit a little underplayed). I think of the book as an ode to Silver Age and ever-geeky innocent charm one associates with the character and his universe(DCU).



10 Superman essentials



A great companion read for this would be For the man who has everything (DC, 1985) by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons. While I was a little underwhelmed by Whatever happened, For the man truly satisfied me with its complex and evolved storytelling and in-depth treatment of the characters. The arc is essentially about Mongul attacking Superman with a mystery plant (catching him unawares on his birthday), Black Mercy that makes its victim go in a state of inertia/pleasant dream. It is only Moore perhaps who can handle so many themes in a mere 50 pages single issue – Superman’s dream of life at the El’s, his differences with father Jor-El, Krypton’s political upturns, Batman’s pleasant dream (a different version)of the event that changed his life and the dynamics between the holy trinity, this is some achievement.



It is a delight how the book captures both significant events and minor character dynamics with equal ease. There are the indulgent riffs at Robin(Moore hates Robin!), the sexual air of Wonder Woman, suitably placed humor, a unique look at Superman’s little road trip to Kandor crater with his son, Van-El, and the usual strong political world view in describing the events at Krypton(involving a rebel movement against Phantom Zone). Though at time Moore does get beyond the reader (typical of him) in his rendering of Mongul’s dream and encounter with Superman, but it stays a dilemma any fan loves to solve. Great, great classic tale, must say one of the best Superman tales that I have read.