JLI in Hardcover: Bwah-ha-ha…oh, wait, you're SERIOUS?!
Oct 16Big news in the latest DC solicits: Justice League International is finally returning to print…sorta. Or something.
First, there were the comics, and a generation of fanboys grew up on them; the series hit its stride just as a flood of tweenagers were flocking to comic shops on a high from the Michael Keaton Batman film. For someone of that age, like me, it was an ideal book–unexpected laffs, superhero action, a fairly tight grip on the era’s continuity. Great stuff, and for my money, it still is.
There were trades, two of them, but they went out of print, except the first one, which I think returned to print. Then there were two “sequel” miniseries, both of which made it to trade as well.
Now we get this:
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL HC
Written by Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Cover by Maguire & Austin
Art by Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin and Al Gordon
A new hardcover collecting the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6 and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #7 from the late 1980s! Can an unlikely new Justice League line-up work as a unit to stop terrorists at the U.N., a brigade of Rocket Reds, the Royal Flush Gang, and other threats — or will they succumb to in-fighting and bad jokes?
Advance-solicited; in stores March 12 • FC, 192 pg, $24.99 US
First of all, they’re NOT BAD JOKES, ASSHOLES. They were, and some still ARE, quite funny. Corny? Sure. But still funny. And eons beyond any of the “clever” crap you churn out on a weekly basis, where corpses have to pile up to amp the “drama” and it ain’t a good cover unless it’s got tits hanging out all over it.
But more importantly, there’s the issue of format. I simply do not understand the JLI hardcover. There’s no indication in the solicits that there’s gonna be more hardcovers, or softcovers, or anything; it’s just like, “Here, fanboys, chew on this while we focus on more important things, like getting TIME MASTERS into trade.”
Of all the formats available for publishing the material, this one honestly makes the least sense. The material doesn’t even deserve it; it’s great and funny and holds up, to me at least, but a slender hardcover almost seems too…swank? High-falutin’?
This feels like some kind of Giffen contractual obligation or something. I hope it leads to more–I may buy it, just to support the reprints–but it don’t seem right somehow.
England's most famous Star Wars fan to be in Star Trek
Oct 12Well, the word on the street (and by street, I mean, Internet) is that Simon Pegg has been tapped to star in the new Star Trek movie. I didn’t give a crap about this movie until this very moment. The question is, who will he be playing? We have Spock, we have villain. As rah rah as I am for his career, he’s no Kirk – plus, they’d be yelling it all over the place if he were. “We’ve found our Kirk! We’ve found our Kirk!”
Scotty? Accent. Light comedic relief, but some gumption when it’s time to act all mean, ‘n shit.
That’s my bet. Any takers?
Why aren't you watching Jekyll?
Oct 10
I know the new season of shows has arrived, but as ever, I’m becoming less of a broadcast man and more of a when-I-can man. Which is good, because it tends to allow me an opportunity to check out shows we might not get here.
One, which I’m hoping will show here soon (if it hasn’t already) is Jekyll. As you’ll guess from the title, it’s a new take on Jekyll and Hyde, which sounds boring, but thanks to some clever BBC writing and some awesome acting, isn’t.
I’m not going to say a thing about the show, except that it has the Bionic Woman (for those of you that need prompting like that) and the titular star, James Nesbitt is fucking incredible. A different hair-style, brown contacts, and the rest is him acting his ass off – the result is that you actually have a tough time seeing the two characters as being played by one actor.
Hoorah for the BBC!
Vacating My Link-Packed Bowels
Oct 10I keep saving up crap, and thinking I’ll post on it, but then it just rots there, and so I’m clearing the decks.
Via Blake Bell, an interesting audio clip pitting Gary Groth against Todd McFarlane. I haven’t listened yet but it’s supposedly quite a ride.
The Dark Lord of the Shit has found a new calling: Band management.
Honestly? These spoilers on the story for the upcoming Justice League movie don’t sound half-bad.
And bringing the defecation metaphor around full circle, I’m proud to have done my part to bring the critical “Does Superman poo?” conversation to a wider audience, via Mike Sterling’s exceptional site.
Among the issues of the day, this one is perhaps closest to my heart.
We're Going the Wrong Waaaaaaaay!
Oct 09There are a lot of shows that I like on TV right now, but not many that I love. I miss feeling that passion, that full body obsession that I had for shows like Buffy and Alias and Veronica Mars.
Thankfully, PopWatch just reminded me that Battlestar Galactica is finally, finally coming back.
