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by Jesse N. Willey
Eighteen months ago, give or take- some idiot set fourth on this planet with
the idea to review every trade he read simply because he needed something to do
and not having a girlfriend made buying a massive number of trades economically
feasible. He only intended to do it for four or five months. Obviously that
didn't happen. It just kept coming and coming and coming. We've had some good
times. You readers have helped me rediscover my love of Chris Claremont and
Osamu Tezuka. You stood right with me as I read X-Men: The Manga and Essential
Killraven. You even put me through my paces for a few months with the 'Don't
Blame Me' challenge. Well- a few months ago I met someone and she's turned out
to be very special to me. We're not really dating yet but that could change.
Then there was my New Year's resolution to read 50 non-trade paperbacks in
2011. I think if I divert time away from trades- even with being a week and a
half behind schedule right now, I could catch up. There are plenty of other
reasons that I won't really go into because truth be told I've spent about two
months coming to this very hard discussion So as comedian Jerry Seinfeld
said: "Always quit while you're still funny." If I followed that advice I never
would have started in the first place, but I digress.
If you want to read more of my reviews- I will be reporting monthly on 'The
52 Challenge' right here in Collector Times. If I win- I'll get something
really cool. If I lose- well probably nothing. In honor of our final month
we go back to basics reading whatever is left in the box. It's a general mix and
match of Ghostbusters, Daredevil, Batman, Astro Boy and one last surprise.
Ghostbusters- Haunted Holidays: These funny and fright filled stories for
holidays year round have one small teensy tiny problem. Multiple personality
disorder. Tainted Love seems almost like it could be the pilot for a live
action TV series starring the films original cast. If it weren't for the fact
that the characters resemble their movie counterparts, I could have sworn the
July Fourth themed 'Convolution' on the other hand- was a lost episode of The
Real Ghostbusters. The same goes for 'Guess What's Coming to Dinner?'. Peter
David's Halloween story hits an almost perfect balance between the two divergent
storytelling mind sets. Eighteen months ago I would have thrown in a 'Banner's
Brain and Hulk's body joke' but let's not and say we did for- just for old times
sake. In Mr. David's story there is an obvious RGB influence- particularly to
the episode Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster. I personally have no problem with The
Real Ghostbusters. I would absolutely love to see IDW get the rights to the
DIC designs and do RGB as a second title. Especially if they bring back my
childhood pal, Slimer. What can I say, I am a child of the 80s. Speaking of
the Real Ghostbusters- The Christmas Story, dealing with 'The Three Ghosts of
Christmas' seems like an attempt to do a dark and motion picture like version of
J. Michael Stracynzski's Real Ghostbusters episode X-Mas Marks the Spot. It
takes itself a little too seriously and makes itself slightly less enjoyable
than the other tales. No Ghostbusters story- even the first movie- ever took
itself so seriously that they couldn't tell jokes. That's part of what made
Ghostbusters the cult phenomenon that it is. At $7.50- Did I get what I paid
for? Yes. Could the Christmas story been a little less heavy handed- yes but
that can be said of most Christmas specials. I blame Charles Dickens and Frank
Capra.
The Real Ghostbusters- A Hard Day's Fright: This collection of shorts,
originally run in the US during 80s and 90s in NOW comics Real Ghostbusters
series are rather odd indeed. They are collected with all their British slang
intact. See- while NOW produced the lead features, another publisher was doing
its own Real Ghostbusters comic in England. In order to save money, the
financial strapped NOW comics bought the rights to these stories and properly
translated the Ghostbusters back into their native American. Many of the
stories themselves are really quite enjoyable. Some of them are by these
really cool guys that I wonder if they've done anything else. Dan Abnett and
Andy Lanning? Ringing any bell? Okay. Guess not. Anyway- there is
something incredibly wrong with Ray and Peter complaining about Slimer eating
their biscuits. I hope they mean cookies- otherwise I'm pretty sure the Comics
Code wouldn't allow them to publish it in a kids book. Though recent events at
DC Comics might make the Code something the guys catch in a trap. There was
always something about the Ghostbusters comics that irked me even back in the
80s and I was finally able to put my finger on it. The reader could understand
everything Slimer said. In Slimer's spin-off series you had to be able to
understand him because you can't have a lead character speaking gibberish but in
the back ups consistency should be shown to the TV series. Then again- the
British can understand Mr. Bean- who apparently speaks the same language. On
the other hand even in the stories themselves, many of Peter and Winston's jokes
revolve around not being able to understand Slimer. So no- it lacks any logic
whatsoever. I'm on the fence on if I got my money's worth but if I did it was
strictly out of nostalgia's sake.
The Real Ghostbusters- Who Ya Gonna Call?: This book is pretty similar to A
Hard Days Fright. More backup strips. More oddly placed British slang. I
Actually had to use go online and find a translator this time. When I first
heard about Peter's wallpaper paste and treacle sandwich what I imagined
something much more disgusting- and probably not comics code approved. Compared
to my imagining, wallpaper paste and molasses turned out to be quite harmless.
Maybe that comes from reading Ghostbusters comics during the commercial breaks
of Family Guy. They also had to go to a fancy dress party rather than a costume
party. Another problem I had with this book was consistency not only with
the show but with other stories in the same book. On The Real Ghostbusters
cartoon- of which the comic is based- Egon became obsessed with the paranormal
because The Boogeyman was in his room as a child. This book claims his
obsession started when his uncle let him watch The Wolfman when he was two years
old. It also claims he didn't come into contact with any knowledge about the
supernatural until he was seven. It's almost like the writers of the comic not
only didn't pay attention to their source material but to add insult to injury
didn't bother reading each other's work. One of the few things that were an
improvement was Slimer. He was properly incoherent at least half of the time.
This one was not worth my $7.50.
X-Men vs. Avengers: In one corner you have the Uncanny X-Men- trying to protect
a reformed Magneto so he could recover and destroy his weapons caches on
Asteroid M. In another corner you have The Soviet Super Agents who are trying
to capture Magneto for his attacks against Russia interests. In the third
corner you have The Avengers charged with capturing Magneto by the United
Nations who want to finish Magneto's trial in front of the world court. And
it's a brawl. Actually- it's a lot more complicated than that. Members of
different sides sympathizing with members of the other side, a mutant street
gang in Thailand getting involved with corrupt world court judges. There is
more ambiguity than you can throw at a vibranum alloy shield at. Unfortunately
there is an almost deus ex machina ending glued on by an entirely new creative
team for chapter four. On the other hand- the enforced ending allowed
obviously uninvolved X-Men super scribe Chris Claremont to ignore the whole
thing and go along with Magneto the hero for at least another year and a half.
Still the story itself is a fun and wild ride. It's not the typical good guys
fight good guys for no apparent reason story. There is some meat on it. It
was worth $10 for a hardcover. It might have been more worth it if I hadn't
bought Essential X-Men Classic Volume 1 since this volume also includes X-Men Volume
1. #9.
Daredevil Visionaries- Frank Miller Volume 3: I can't believe I didn't make this
joke the last two times I had the chance but does anyone find it odd that
Daredevil is in the - cough cough- Visionairies line? Or is that a case of the
deaf insulting the blind? Anyway- say what you will about Frank Miller the
man. Frank Miller the writer/artist did some pretty awesome Daredevil
stories. While his energy and enthusiasm for the project is clearly waning by
the end- the stories included don't really suffer too much. It starts with an
almost perfect Daredevil vs. The Punisher story. The story only improves when
it leaves the fight sequences behind and becomes a court room drama. Then it
also includes the sadly still topically story called Chuckie. This is probably
the best Daredevil story ever told for a variety of reasons. Then there is the
ambiguous and somewhat controversial mystic ninja war. The story doesn't feel
long at eight issues long. By today's standards it is. However this is from
the Eighties where Marvel had been known for 20 part epics. Here the action
sequences are smooth and fast paced. It is easy to tell what's actually going
on and where people are in relation to each other. They just don't draw them
like that anymore. After that the book goes into some weird territory.
Normally, Marvel's What If? was considered to a be a lesser title. The current
creative team on a title rarely worked on the 'What If?' version. Frank Miller
lends his hand as co-plotter and artist on 'What if Matt Murdock had been an
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?' a somewhat slow paced but extremely altered look at the
world of Daredevil. More surprising his handling of 'What if Bull's Eye had
not Killed Electra?' where he gives a ninja epic something you'd never expect: a
happy ending. Really the only bad story in the bunch was an issue of Bizarre
Adventures- which is a title Marvel has gone out of its way to try to pretend
was never published. So go figure. Overall- it was a $10 treat so I got what
I paid for.
Batman: Going Sane: The lights dim and the room fills with the cackling voice of
Mark Hamill followed in a very quickly by Kevin Conroy. The odd thing? The
television was not on. I was just that caught up in my reading. Many writers
have speculated that Batman would still find a reason to exist if all the super
villains in Gotham mysteriously vanished. This story asks what would Joker do
if there was no Batman? The surprising thing is- the shock was too much for
him to handle. His mind just broke. He got treatment for his skin condition.
Then he settled down in a friendly part of Gotham, found a nice woman and over
the course of several months got engaged. He lived a normal life. Without
Batman present, none of the other Arkham inmates tried anything. Batman dealt
with his own parallel story as he washed up outside of Gotham and was nursed
back to health. Whereas Joker seemed to really want to embrace the normal
life, going through agony as his memory returned, Batman worked as hard as he
could to heal physically so he could pursue Joker. He rejected the normal
life. This makes me wonder which one of them is supposed to be crazy. As for
the ending, I'm sure most fans are familiar with Superdickery. Well, Batman
does something that tops anything Silver Age Superman ever did. He takes a
schizophrenic who is at least trying to seek some form of stability and
completely shatters him. The ultimate question: does that make Batman
responsible for everything the Joker does from that point on is never quite
addressed. Maybe it's best for Batman if he doesn't ask himself that question
because knowing the type of person he is, he might not like his answer. The
story itself is a great character study of the dynamic between Batman and
Joker. Where the reader's sympathy is drawn is surprising for a mainstream
comic. This trade also includes the story: Gotham Emergency where Joker
plants a series of bombs only he is injured and taken to the hospital before
they are all diffused. The story is told from the point of view of Doctor on
her first day in the ER. It's a nice ticking clock piece where the audience
probably figures things out just a head of Batman. The book was a nice grab at
$5.
Pluto Volume 3: Taken as its own work, this is probably the most engrossing,
mysterious thought provoking humanistic noir story the series has produced to
date. There is a lot of intrigue. A new character is introduced that you
shouldn't like but whose life you get caught up in. The tragic side of Pluto
is introduced. The joyous Uran seems almost out of place but somehow she
works beautifully. I loved a lot of the references to not only the original
Astro Boy but the Kimba the White Lion joke. When viewed as a reinterpretation
of Tezuka's universe however- I'm a little disturbed. One of the major plot
points revolves around a robot hating version of the Klu Klux Klan. While
there was 'The Anti Robot Party' in at least one Astro Boy story, it was almost a
comedic parody of hatred. Here is it is sinister and grisly. The story
also contained vague and somewhat depressing references to the Iraq war, a nod
to the fact that the story is indeed set in or around 2003. The real world and
Astro Boy should not mix. They are anathema to each other. Their inclusion
here is actually quite interesting in and of themselves but doesn't fit into Osamu
Tezuka's world view for Astro Boy at all. Tezuka's work is about peace and
harmony between man and his technology. Overall- the book wins me over-
striking that golden mean of reverence towards the works of Tezuka and a
willingness to experiment. To break molds and try a new direction. That in
and of itself is the greatest sign of respect one can give to a man who did that
and reinvented manga. Definitely worth the half a gift card I spent on it.
Astro Boy Volume 8: If you've read this column at all you know how I feel
about Tezuka's work on Astro Boy. No matter how corny, hackneyed or just
downright silly his work gets, I can't help but love it. This volume of Astro
Boy has plenty of moments like that. I was occasionally left confused. Part of
that might be because I've been buying the volumes in the order I find them
cheaply. As this and previous volumes contain stories not from various Manga
but the Astro Boy newspaper strip the missing pieces matter. Continuity in the
newspaper strip is a little more strict than in the rest of the Astro Boy
universe. A lot more elements from one story carry over to the next. Not only
that- but it in Volume 8 we get a re-origin of Astro Boy and his family.
The stories are still as wacky, fun and delightful as can be expected from
Tezuka. There is little else I can say about Astro Boy that I haven't said
many many times before. If I keep getting trades after this month- this will
be one of the few series I keep going for. At $5 I got what I paid
for: wild, silly, inspiring entertainment.
What will be the final read? Over the past few months as I've been winding
down- wondering if it was time to pull the plug on the column or not- there was
something in the box that for some reason or another remained there. It is
almost makes me believe in fate. From its genesis this column has been an
almost unending font of wiseass comments, biting riffs, snide remarks, toilet
humor and the occasional bout of profanity. That may be how this column came
into the world but that's not how I wanted it to go out. Its exit should be
filled with class, style, intellectualism and a certain degree of
sophistication. So I chose to end 'Did I Get What I Paid For?' with what is
quite possibly the best use of five dollars that has ever graced these pages. I
present to you now -
The Plot - The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: by Will
Eisner: Eisner's work as whole was about challenging one's world view. Even in
his works of fiction, he sought deeper emotional truth about the human
psyche. In this book Eisner looks at some of the darkest aspects of human
nature and asks one simple question: 'Why?' Why does hatred exist? If the
source of hatred is proven to be false, why does it continue to fester? By
looking at the history of The Protocols, you see a story of forgery, plagiarism
and international intrigue. You see the origins of a tool used by individuals
and governments to rationalize things that are too sickening to contemplate. It
is easy to see why this graphic novel would take even a mind like Eisner's 20
years to write. For those measures alone it is worth reading. The final work
of the undisputed grandmaster of graphic literature. Mr. Eisner's stated goal
for writing The Plot was that this might one day play a part in being the final
nail in the coffin of The Protocols. It'd be wonderful thing but the problem is
that hatred needs no logic. It is self-perpetuating beyond the point of reason.
The type of person who would believe in Protocols of the Elders of Zion would
see a Jewish sounding name as Eisner on the cover as proof that the idea
of the forgery of The Protocols was the real hoax. To get to the ending of the
book and see those doubts echoed by Eisner's words and pictures is somewhat
disconcerting. His work, even at its darkest, usually has a hint of optimism.
The lone candle in a dark field is not an easy route to travel but it might be
our only way out.
So long. It's been a great run. I'd like to thank Sheryl for convincing me
to continue doing this every month for as long as I have. Jason Bourgeois for
introducing me to Sheryl in the first place. The blame for anything you didn't
like in the course of these columns falls completely on them. Every writer who
has contributed something I've enjoyed reading for this series has my heartfelt
appreciation for making this ride as easy as it was and so hard to let go. I
won't thank those who wrote stuff I didn't like even though they were the bigger
readers grab. Finally, last but not least, I'd like to thank all five and a half of
my readers. There were days when coming up with new and interesting ways to
make you laugh was the only thing that kept me sane. I should hate you folks
for that but for some reason I don't. Thank you all and I hope to see you in
The 52 Challenge. Good whatever time you read this and see you soon.
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