TSBMR/0004 :: GREEN LANTERN, No. 26 (Johns / McKone, 2008)

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Each week, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 32 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-)read it, talk about it, and, on (or about) Wednesday, post whatever emerges; you can subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast delivery system. This week: internal affairs(!) / cleveland(!) / peter weller(!)

TSBMR/0002 :: JSA, No. 26 (Johns / Morales, 2001)

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Each week, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 32 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-)read it, talk about it, and, on (or about) Wednesday, post whatever emerges; you can subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast delivery system. This week: my shitty memory / creeper Hawkman / shoeboxes:

hawkman and the jsa look at you

SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE (Russell / Allred(s); DC, 2022-23)

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(*****+ / *****) Thought I'd spend the next couple of days with SPACE AGE and ended up binging the thing this afternoon: easily in my top three Superman stories of all time (WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW and ALL STAR being in first and (now) third place, respectively), this is one of the most beautiful and profound superhero series to come out in (at least) the last 20 years. Love the retelling and reimagining of the first Crisis; the formation of the Justice League (bored Flash is brilliant); the first (and last) confrontation between a version of Batman and The Joker that I wanted to see so much more of (almost a mixture of Pattinson's THE BATMAN and Robert Downey Jr.'s IRON MAN); a spot-on portrayal of Superman that deftly mixes the outsider with the beacon of light (that I hope James Gunn has paid attention to); and a pitch-perfect version of the greatest love story in comics. Everything comics could be and then some; a triumph.

CHECKMATE, Vol. 3, No. 5 (Bendis / Maleev; DC, 2021)

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Every Wednesday morning, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 20 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-)read it, write about it, and publish whatever emerges. Earlier installments live here.

(Box06): "It's stress banter... let it happen": has there ever been a more self-aware line in Bendis's career?

On paper and in theory this pairing should work: Bendis and Maleev doing spy stuff in the DC Universe (so far my only exposure to Bendis's tenure in this particular sandbox) with a fantastic cast of characters, including three of my favorites (The Question, Damien Wayne, and Kate Spencer).

And the series as a whole does, indeed. work.

But.

CHECKMATE works only once Bendis gets out of his own way and moves the thing along; so much of this issue was spent tripping over himself to extend something out to six issues that should've been done in four that I can't see the footprints.

Not like that that's nothing new for Bendis: it's been a common complaint over the entirety of his career. Decompression, etc etc etc...

But I've two more that irk me more than I'd like: One, everyone sounds the same, as though I'm reading Bendis having fun with action figures (that, thanks to Alex Maleev, look really fucking good) and doing the voices in a really cool setting. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Banter has its place – ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, anyone? – but not as the defining rhythm of indistinguishably clever people.

Which brings me to my second problem: it's been the same thing for the last 20-some years. No surprises, nothing new, nothing interesting – replace one set of characters with another and do the Bendis banter-clever people / Mamet thing (I hold a similar ire for much of Joss Whedon's work), ad infinitum. What once was exciting and fresh is now, as per the usual cycle, dreadfully common.

The times that I've truly loved Bendis – ALIAS, DAREDEVIL, and TORSO, in particular – are the times that he was in a more grounded format with real(ish) people up against seemingly insurmountable odds, most of them brought upon themselves. I'd love for him to go back there, try something new by mining the past; hell, use a silent protagonist.

I've little faith that that will actually happen but hey, if Maleev is along, it will, at least, look really REALLY good.