Miscellaneous Musings, the Ultimate Edition!
December 11th, 2009 |Item: I’m really looking forward to seeing “Kick Ass” when it comes out. I’m also looking forward to the trade paperback of the same. I’ve made no secret that the art of John Romita Jr. gives me great joy, and…
Item: Mark Millar is all right. When “Civil War” ended, I was upset with what I perceived as a mishandling of Captain America. Later, when I reread the trade, I still felt uncomfortable about Captain America, but I was quite moved by the whole piece. I must also say that I really enjoyed the “Ultimates” vol. 1 and 2. That was eye-opening stuff! And…
Item: today I picked up “Wanted.” I have never seen the movie, and I am unlikely to, but the story looked diverting, so now I’ll read it.
Item: Today I turned 45, and I’m cool with that. 45 seems like a good, solid sounding year. I’ve still got my health and my wits and most of my hair, so I’ve got big publishing plans for this year of my life. I’ve enjoyed my 40’s more than any time in my life, but then almost anything would be better than my 30’s!
Item: Today, as it was my birthday, Benita and I went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, a world-class museum, and visited the “Sacred Spain” exhibit. To be honest, I didn’t expect to find it as moving as I did: some of those paintings and sculptures incited deep stirrings within, and many of these 17th century pieces held powerful energies.
Item: I also picked up “Batman: Battle For The Cowl” today, written and drawn by Tony Daniels. The first chapter read well, and I look forward to reading it several times. In my experience, most graphic novels require multiple readings to really get the full scope. Sure, some graphic novels are terribly disappointing, and don’t warrant revisiting, but many do. Over the years, I’ve read “Watchmen,” “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” “Authority,” “The Invisibles,” and others, again and again. I once read “The Invisibles” and marked everything that I had questions on with post-it notes for further study. This is what really introduced me to the work of Grant Morrison, and my life has been much richer for it.
Item: “The Mindscape of Alan Moore.” My admiration for this man is unbounded.
Item: And, let us not forget my other favorite British writer/magician, Grant Morrison. This is going to rock!
You just had to bring up the hair issue!
Um, well, oops!
Happy Birthday, man!!
"wanted" wasn't my thing. Not the comic OR the movie… "Batman: Battle for the Cowl" is pretty good.
You should check out the new series: New Wave. There's a special "Batman Doc Savage Special" that is REALLY cool. There's some nice things going on at DC.
Thanks, Scott! I do intend to check out the New Wave when it comes out in trade. It's a shame they couldn't get the shadow in there, too.
Happy Birthday, Scott!!
I am just now taking an interest in Kick-ass although I've known about it for a while. John Romita Jr. has been one of my favorite artists since the late 80's. Strangely, I couldn't dig his work on Amazing Spider-man. It was no less stellar, but his style just doesn't look right with Spidey. I loved his work on Daredevil, he is my Daredevil artist and has in some way influenced me as an artist. That being said, while I am looking forward to the movie, I would certainly not want to skip out on the GN simply because I would miss out on his work. ALTHOUGH… I just read today that there will be a small animated part of the movie based in his style. How cool is that?
We're pretty much on the same page, Joel, about JrJr. I've always dug his work, and his Daredevil run was incredibly awesome! On Spider-Man, though, he drew Spidey skinnier and skinnier as issues went on, and his feet bigger and bigger, and I was never comfortable with that. I could appreciate that Spider-Man would be an endomorph, ie bony with lean muscle, but this exaggeration seemed a bit much.
I've seen some Spider-Man covers where the artist draws him to like childlike and juvenile, like he was 15 again, and that seems odd to me too.