Comic Talk - The real Bruce Campbell, + All Star Comix!

So Bruce Campbell is now a comic book writer. This is cool, the man seems to have a real sense of humour, judging from his various interviews. And yes, BMW Film's The Hire - Precious Cargo was written by him, and not some other bloke with the same name. He's writing a 6-issue comic, adapted from the script of Man with the Screaming Brain, his latest movie. It tells the story of "a wealthy American businessman determined to exploit the crippled economy of a former Soviet state now torn between communist roots and capitalist greed. Campbell’s character hits on the wrong gypsy girl and lands in the grip of a mad scientist determined to get rich off a twisted brain-transplant scheme". Very, very interesting.

On the other hand, the two All Star comics haven't done much for me. Frank Miller will be writing All-Star Batman & Robin, with art by Jim Lee. All-Star Superman will be written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. Huh. Two Franks. Heh. Umm, yeah, nevermind that..

Neither of the two artists excite me. Jim Lee draws human beings that are waaay too perfect, and Quitely makes they seem, well, for want of a better word, pudgy (he atleast does some great backgrounds and environments, and now, animals too). But the art as a whole isn't a major factor, as I've always been more heavily influenced in my decisions by the writer. Which is why I'm surprised that Morrison chose Superman. Back in his JLA days, he pretty much whipped Big Blue around, and elevated Batman into some kind of Man-God. Under his pen, that was a lot of fun, and gave the impression that he really favoured Batman a lot more than Supes. I'm not sure if Superman is an ideal title for him, and heck, given his taste in stories, Green Lantern was one, huge empty canvas for him. Nevertheless, I'm curious as hell to find out what he's planned for Big Blue. Nuggets like "Well, we deal with the entire origin sequence using four panels on page one of our first issue" and "I've created Krull, an evolved dinosaur dictator who rules a monstrous civilization at the center of the earth" give me some hope. You should really read the entire interview here.

As for the Dark Knight, I can't remember the last time I was even remotely interested in what's been happening in his world. And sadly, I've always been a BatFan, never a Superman lover...

On a side note, when I did a word check on this post, Blogger suggested replacing "batfan" with "bedpan".. Strangely ironic, eh?

Rich Johnston on Waid and Kitson's Legion #2

I just read Rich Johnston's new column at HeroRealm, where he will review one comic a week. He starts with Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's Legion of Superheroes #2.

Somewhere in between, while talking about the Legion's motives, Johnston comes up with an interesting point. He says that civilization, where comfort is taken for granted, produces brats. While that is entirely possible, he further argues that civilization produces --only-- brats, and nothing else. And since in the Legion's time, it's been a thousand years of peace, "these kids should be the vilest snotrags in the galaxy".

In an otherwise well written critique, that was one point I didn't agree with, because I'm not quite sure whether war and peace have anything to do with producing brats. The chances of meeting a savage ruffian during times of war are just as much as meeting one when the white flag is flying. I would rather say the case for juvenile delinquency begins closer to home. Snobbish and arrogant parents will inevitably produce bratty kids, just as parents who are pushovers will probably have either very meek, or very rebellious angry-at-the-world kids. It's pretty close to type-slotting, but I choose to believe that the influence of an upbringing on the psyche of a child is more powerful than that of a society that is engulfed in war or blanketed by blissful peace.

Nevertheless, I am glad to have another column that I can look forward to reading every week. I's have been happier if it wasn't restricted to just one comic per week, but you know what they say, better one than none...