Frank Miller Week: Green Lantern-Superman: Legend of the Green Flame Cover

Everything that makes Frank Miller’s art iconic is featured on this cover: fat meaty paws in place of hands, awkward chunky anatomy and the over-use of negative space (or possibly a calculated under-use of color would be more accurate). With a style more recognizable than Jack Kirby’s, Miller knows he doesn’t need all the pieces of the puzzle to tell a story, with bare, trace facts he can build his narrative and make us believe whatever story he'd like.

Superman’s “S” logo, curl and cape are the three traits about him always used to identify the character, and that's all Miller needs--literally nothing else but a body frame is drawn. More time was spent detailing the giant bird claw that is piercing both heroes than on the heroes themselves. It’s about the curiosity of what could kill both of these men, not that they are even characters in the story. They're symbols.

As mentioned in Monique’s post, Miller draws the clawed leg coming from the left side of the image, the beast largely unseen, pulling our eyes slowly to the right. While he uses this trick again to direct us along the picture, his intentions are different, it tells a story in itself, forcing us to ask what the beast is, where it came from, and how did Superman and Green Lantern come to be in it's possession?

Less bad-ass than the majority of his work, Miller's ability to instill fear is showcased here: the horror of the blackened, presumed dead Justice Leaguers close to the center of the page, while the actual events are taking place elsewhere. The best and maybe the most affecting aspect of the image though, is Superman's cape ripped to shreds with and the Green Lantern's ring still glowing from the fight. Even in a single-image, Frank Miller can make the action intense and very real and maintain his balance of the mythic and gritty.

The Wednesday Comics Experience Part 4

The Wednesday Comics experience is becoming exhausting. This issue marks the one month anniversary of Wednesday Comics and the one-third completion watermark. This is the first full issue where I've not been excited to pick one up next week. My general strategy/rules for the end of purchasing for an ongoing comic is two strikes in a row and I'm out.

Of course, there are other factors that go into it, but this rule is one of the main reasons I was one of the few that stuck with Final Crisis to the end. One issue would be good, then the next one would be boring. I trusted Morrison enough that he could get things back on track. As it turns out, if the series went on for one more issue I probably would have dropped it. Ultimately though, I'm glad I stuck with it because there were some really good and intense moments on the way. That's about where I'm at with Wednesday Comics right now: Not as exciting as it was, but the highs are still really high. I trust that the six or so stories that keep me buying this thing will bring it back next week, but who knows, they could end up with Darkseid killing Batman. So yeah for right now, here are some comments on the most worthwhile strips.

BATMAN by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
Batman hurt me the most this week. This is probably the most underrated story of the bunch, and after this week it's hard to argue for it. I would argue though that the first three pages were something of a classic in the making. Each page was like a succinct poem with each one standing on its own and dealing with specific themes and building towards something bigger.

The first page showcased Batman and Commissioner Gordon, saying a lot about their relationship to one another, their feelings towards crime, and their position within the city. Page two had a lot to say about the character of Bruce Wayne, his relationship with his parents, and his romantic relationships with women. Without saying a word, page three showed a darker side of Batman, playing the voyeur and showing his anger. By having this subplot underneath the interaction of Luna and Carlton Glass adds different meanings to the story. It becomes more than just a conversation between two people stretched over a cool, well-drawn action story.

This week's page just doesn't fit with the quality or tone of the first three pages. It departs from the wordless panels and the single page storytelling to show a dinner date between Bruce Wayne and Luna Glass. There's nothing here that we didn't already know from previous pages. In this week's page, each line of dialogue is just a double entendre without much going on other than sexual tension. This could be a turn for the worse for the comic. By focusing only on a detective plot it loses all the character and tone that made the first pages great.

KAMANDI by writer Dave Gibbons and artist Ryan Sook
Definitely the best Kamandi yet. It's quick, to the point, and really intense. It plays up the prior knowledge of the story by reusing the final panel of the last page only this time with Kamandi swinging in. Even though a lot of action happens in this page, each event that isn't glossed over and has it's own weight to it. The serious tone of the narration helps a lot. It focuses on the courage of the heroes and even the fear of Kamandi and Prince Tuftan. It makes them more than just heroic characters and this highlights exactly why their heroism is impressive. Kamandi's motive is not just to save a life, like a normal heroic character, but is rooted in a curiosity to find more out about humanity.

SUPERMAN by writer John Arcudi and artist Lee Bermejo
Like Batman this episode just treads water thematically. The first page set the tone while the next two pages explored different aspects of Superman's multi-faceted personality. Unlike Batman I think that Superman has just his a slow patch and will pick back up next week with business as usual. The prospect of seeing some Kryptonian technology is a really exciting one.

Despite it's disappointing showing this week, Superman is easily one of the better stories in Wednesday Comics. Some have complained that its lack of action has made it boring . I don't get comics fans sometimes. When anyone ever talks about Superman it's about how his powers make him unbeatable and there is no suspense, but when a comic finally changes it up and focuses on his personality people complain about the lack of supervillains. The story even plays off of that perception on page one with Superman fighting some random meaningless villain. People who are hating on this one are most likely missing the point.

STRANGE ADVENTURES by writer/artist Paul Pope
Like most people predicted, Pope has the most consistent quality comic of the bunch. This week's page is a direct parallel to last week's when Adam is stuck in prison, but it's told from the guard's perspective at first instead of Alanna's, and we're just confronted with two panels of her staring straight out at us. By not giving us her perspective while imprisoned Pope actually helps the reader identify more with Adam Strange. We're not privy to her thoughts, so we're forced to ask ourselves about her personality and have an outsiders take on her the same way Strange would. Even though Pope shows her as a hardened warrior, his spotlight on her shows her being seemingly emotionally vulnerable. The greatness of Pope's story is his art and how it adds subtle aspects of personality and emotion to a generally pretty cliched storyline.


HAWKMAN by writer/artist Kyle Baker
Quickly this went from a Hawkman solo comic to Hawkman featuring the Justice League. The addition of Hawkgirl and Batman completely change aspects of Hawkman's personality. Page one of the story established him as a loner. He came off as a general of an army that would rather be feared than respected with a "My way or the highway" kind of attitude. Now, we see him orchestrating a plan, not as a general, but as a leader and peer. Baker takes advantage of the format with small panels which add an increasing comic book feel to the story and he continues to do a good job of pacing, adding in small bits of plot and character while keeping things exciting with action.

The Wednesday Comics Experience Part 3

We're officially into it. Now that we've got a couple weeks under our belt, I know exactly which ones to read and in which order. Basically, the good ones come first and the not so good are last. Some I skipped altogether and are going to left out for review purposes. Skipping pages is a little weird because of the cost issue, but I still feel like the good ones are good enough to justify the whole thing.

BATMAN by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
This Batman story is blowing me away. A lot of the panels in this strip feel "Powerful Panels" worthy. Especially the panel when the son throws this droplets into his mouth. It's a weird panel because it's completely interpretive of the action. The panel is meant to convey getting the last drop out of your cup but there are slightly too many and it just looks like that's the way he's drinking. It's particularly good because it somehow manages to sum up why this guy is creepy. Like, he's so awkward, even his drink comes out awkwardly. Batman lurking in the background is a nice touch and his fist appearing while the girl is slapped works as a way to show Batman's anger in contrast to the son's. This is another page that could stand on it's own and tell a complete story.

KAMANDI by writer Dave Gibbons and artist Ryan Sook
I skipped this one on my initial run through, not because it's bad, but because it's more dense that most of the others. A mini adventure happens in each of the recent Kamandi. I get excited by the ideas of Kamandi like Apes driving jeeps, airships, and caveboys wielding guns. When it's drawn well and not too dense it works great. The characterizations are done very well. Tuftan, despite being this noble prince, has a warm reunion with Kamandi in the last episode and is reprimanded by Dr. Canus. He's shown looking sullen about it, which is a panel that really adds to the investment in the character. Stuff like this is especially important--these tiny gestures of characterization--when you're only getting a page a week.

SUPERMAN by writer John Arcudi and artist Lee Bermejo
I like how this page gives you the two halves of Superman's personality shown through the major locations in his life. The story seems to be just dissecting the personality of Superman. There hasn't been a single villian for the past two pages and it's still going strong. My big worry is that existential Superman could wear thin. I think as long as the art continues to knock socks off it will work. Be sure to pay attention to John Kents' expression in the last panel and that will pretty much tell you why this story is good.

DEADMAN by writers Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck and artist Dave Bullock
I'm really getting into this. I like how the page is carefully constructed to be a page in a newspaper. The idea of this crazy murderer's mind being all messed up is intense. Even the idea of this murderer being possessed by a demon or something, as the last panel implies, makes perfect sense as a metaphor.

GREEN LANTERN by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Joe Quiñones
I'm still not ready to give up here. The black and white panel of the astronaut changing into a alien and the half-Green Lantern half-Hal Jordan panel still got me to cross my fingers. Even the party with Ferris and Jordan has me a little intrigued. I hope next week rules.

METAMORPHO by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Michael Allred
I don't even care about this story. I would continue to be happy with full page Allred Metamorpho spreads though.

STRANGE ADVENTURES by writer/artist Paul Pope
Again, lots of good stuff to harp on. The best part is how Pope explains the silliness of the zeta-beam strike into something meaningful. He comments that nothing like this could have ever happend on Earth. It's almost as if Adam Strange is in on the workings of the story itself which even kind of makes sense because of his super power. Pope's always been one to play with comics form and expectations and he's quietly getting meta here even as he gives you pure Pulp.

METAL MEN by writer Dan DiDio and artists Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan
The reason why this works is because the strength of the villain. The robber in this page behaves realistically in the situation. He grabs onto a last ditch chance at safety and holds onto it. The last panel is a challenge to the "robots" to beat his trigger finger. It's a classic set-up but it still works because it grounded in reality. Guns are the sort of the ultimate power and seeing super heroes outwit them really never gets old.

WONDER WOMAN by writer/artist Ben Caldwell
Let's talk about Little Nemo in Slumberland. The reason why it is great is because of it's simplicity and it's formula. Most pages in Nemo end with him waking up. It's a large and important part of the story because it tell how his dream affects him in the real world. It's also the joke of the strip and the focus. In Wonder Woman there is no focus. What these dreams mean is undefined and they don't matter at all.

SGT. ROCK and EASY CO. by writer Adam Kubert and artist Joe Kubert
These pages have been simple, quick, and enjoyable so far. The page setup is excellent because the climax panel of the interrogation scene where Rock looks defiant is directly under the climax of the tunnel searching flashback where the Easy Co. asserts that they go in together and come out together. Both panels sum up what's special about these men. They have a brotherhood and heart that propels them forward. This contrasts with the two Nazi interrogators just from their body language alone.

FLASH COMICS by writers Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher and artist Karl Kerschl
Remember how last week (Monday) I said it wouldn't be outrageous if Iris just left? Well she did! The thing that is really sad here is that Barry doesn't get the message even by the end of the page. Iris has left and by saying, "I loved you", she's made things pretty final between them. Then, in the Flash's strip he's still trying to make things right the same way he always has by doing superhero type feats. This is exactly what Iris is tired of and it makes the tension between the two strips--and the two characters--even deeper.

HAWKMAN by writer/artist Kyle Baker
The introduction of Aliens turns out to not even be that big a deal. Baker's art and his tone for Hawkman carry it right through the traditional comic book cliches. Aliens are typical comic trope but with lines like, "Suspecting and KNOWING are two different things" and a reaction that isn't exaggerated but a legitimate open-mouth speechlessness make this moment actually meaningful to Hawkman. The panel with Hawkman's red boots and blood on his mace is another Powerful Panels contender. Just sitting here and looking this far into one page of a comic is a pretty good indication that it has something going for it.

The Wednesday Comics Experience Part 2

In reading issue two of Wednesday Comics, the initial excitement has only worn off a little. Usually the honeymoon stage for comics is about one issue and then most comics endure the dreaded sophomore slump. This week's issue carries a lot of momentum with it because it's only ONE WEEK later. The first issue hasn't really had time to settle in. When I went to read this week's issue, I actually remembered the plot of all of the story lines. If this was being released monthly there is no way it would be readable, but since it's still fresh in my brain I'm able to enjoyable juggle sixteen separate stories at once. The price tag is definitely sinking in. When I bought this and Blackest Night (which was good!) and my bill is almost ten dollars...something is wrong.

Sandy over at I Love Rob Liefeld did some number crunching and pointed out that the entire run will cost a grand total of $47.88 . There are too many stories worth reading in here for me to drop it though. Superman, Batman, Strange Adventures, The Flash, and Hawkman are shaping up to be great, while several others are very solid. There are a few clunkers, but really it's only .31 cents a story, and I can't wait for this week's issue.

BATMAN by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
Another really solid page for Batman. The panel work and pacing are excellent. Especially the the recurring statue panel. The ending is a final, period-like ending the page but also, a sort of a twist and a lead in to next week. Mrs Glass is introduced as a one-dimensional gold digger but the last panel shifts her interests from money to darker desires connected to romance and presumably manipulation.
KAMANDI by writer Dave Gibbons and artist Ryan Sook
For whatever reason, this felt like more of an origin story than the last Kamandi page. The plot of the rest of the story is outlined which is kind of a bad sign. The story almost treads into narrative overload territory. I like the tone that the narration is striking, but too many words per panel makes things way too dense. The page works best when the words are kept to a minimum as in the second panel and the final two panels.

SUPERMAN by writer John Arcudi and artist Lee Bermejo
What happened to the art? Maybe there was a problem with the printing but the page looks washed in green. Batman is portrayed as really over the top especially in the art. I understand that they are trying to contrast the two characters here but drawing Batman like an actual demon/gargoyle is a little jarring especially after reading the Batman story first. The writing I thought was well-done again. Batman, although insensitive, is basically right and outlines what, presumably, Superman will discover through the course of the story. Even though he is right, Batman is only reinforcing Superman's problem that humans are sort of violence-loving loud mouths. Quick, smart complex stuff.
DEADMAN by writers Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck and artist Dave Bullock
The biggest surprise of Wednesday comics is Deadman. I really like the art and the page layout. The dark background gives it a Batman: The Animated Series feel. The simple plot, with the focus on Deadman's character works well. The panel with the giant green lady and the last panel are highlights.

GREEN LANTERN by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Joe Quiñones
Another big disappointment. I like the art but the layout and even the angle of the characters in the panels are boring. When it's done well it's great, like the "Holy--!" panel but others are just standard stuff or at awkward angles. I still have my fingers crossed that this ones picks up.

METAMORPHO by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Michael Allred
Ok, so they really switched it up on me here. A huge one page panel with some time lapse stuff going on in there. Gaiman seemed to dominate the last weeks page with a flopped attempt at throwback camp humor, but this week Allred's more genuine gee-whiz-like mentality shines through.

TEEN TITANS by writer Eddie Berganza and artist Sean Galloway
This one is even more bland than the last one, and the art choice really doesn't help. It doesn't give it any excitement which is pretty important for a superhero, action-based story. I still enjoy the art but it's not well suited here.
STRANGE ADVENTURES by writer/artist Paul Pope
I like Pope working in the circles in this one. The best part of this for me, is just going back and looking at the details in the art like the background blue monkey warriors and the striking facial expressions. Just another Flash Gordon-like adventure story but Pope's art elevates it to the next level.

SUPERGIRL by writer Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Amanda Conner
If this took anymore than five seconds to read this would be a waste of time. As it is now, it's entertaining filler especially after reading something intense like Adam Strange.

METAL MEN by writer Dan DiDio and artists Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan
Continues in the same style and similar quality as the last page. Jokes are funny and not ironic. The last panel is where the Metal Men are standing is where the art stands out. Leaderboard for favorite so far: 1. Lead 2. Gold 3. Iron 4. Tin 5. Platinum 6. Mercury.

WONDER WOMAN by writer/artist Ben Caldwell
Ok, this one lost me. I was a big fan of the previous page, but if this is going to be Finding Nemo every week count me out. There's too much work reading the thing to have such a thin storyline. It needed to go into a real storyline about young Wonder Woman hanging out on Themyscira or even sneaking off to the real world.

SGT. ROCK and EASY CO. by writer Adam Kubert and artist Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert's art is really intense when it's large. The first two panels are affecting by giving off a feeling of dread that even the panels of Sgt. Rock getting beat up don't give. Special Bonus: Easy Company portrait at the bottom!

FLASH COMICS by writers Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher and artist Karl Kerschl
The dual strip really adds a tension to the comic. Iris is seperate and has her own strip, giving her equal footing with a superhero. It wouldn't be that outrageous if they broke up and she was going on dates as the Flash was going around saving people. Time travel is introduced and, despite my normal dislike, it was done well. It's always best where no weird paradoxs are discussed and it's more like a normal thing that's just happening.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN by writer Walter Simonson and artist Brian Stelfreeze
Still setting up the story. Is this just going to be Catwoman vs. The Demon? I have no idea how this is going to be interesting for sixteen pages especially when they are losing me at number two.

HAWKMAN by writer/artist Kyle Baker
The art and the writing are definitely in a nice harmony. Baker interjects some humor, and it works well, but the story's real strength is Hawkman as a warrior/general. His smiling thumbs-up gives a great contrast to the complete confidence he exudes in the last panel. The tiny details in the art helps make the silhouetted panels of Hawkman breaking into the plane and bodies flying out even more compelling.

Inevitable Alliance

You Tube is a mecca for a director's dreams, but because of the instant exposure their films can potentially receive, they jump at the chance to make something without much editing or self critique. The actors they end up casting are completely uninterested in what they are doing and are always just a buff guy or some kung fu dude they got off Craigslist. Without the large budget for Super Hero realism that they may want to achieve, the movies end up just being sad internet jokes. Made up of over 3000 pictures, Inevitable Alliance lasts a fast nine minutes, and has no words. It feels like a twenty two page comic that consists of two page spreads and huge sound effects. Even with an open ending, it feels complete but still gives you a need for more, just like the best single issues in a series. Hopefully there's more to come.

Where My Money Went - Oct. 15th

Every Wednesday I push the limits of my budget for my comic addiction. This is where my money went this week:


The Young X-Men is a hard sell to people I know because everyone feels like The X-Men have betrayed them. Continuity has killed the series and even between story arcs new readers are completely lost. Young X-Men should be called New X-Men (but the name was taken by the Morrison and Quietly run) because it's just that, a brand new take on the team. Charles Xavier is gone and the school is in pieces. Cyclops collects some of Xavier's School for Gifted Children's top students and is secretly training them for missions the X-Men would have never gone on. The new mutant's powers aren't rehashes of things we've seen, they all feel new, except for Santo, the living mountain, but even he has a slight twist with the ability to shoot off his arms. The promise of new villains is something I can't stop thinking about, since X-Men villains have always gone into other series, and are always just as sad as the X-Men themselves.


Superman and Batman VS. Vampires and Werewolves feels like a comic in the wrong time period. The art and writing feel much more like an old Legend of the Dark Knight mini series from the mid nineties than a comic I bought new off of the shelf. The first issue takes place in Gotham and despite his name Superman is no where to be seen in this issue. We do however have a Wonder Woman appearance, who fights a vampire (who looks very much like "Vermin" from Spider-Man) and appears on six pages, almost as many as Batman's seven, never even appearing on the same page. It's gory a way DC Comics only ever allows on the pages of their Vertigo line, and written in a style that you only find in white boxes.


After the brilliant "The Bat and The Cat" (issues #17-21) Batman Confidential is continuing great original story telling with issue #22 "Do You Understand These Rights?", a retelling of the first time Batman took Joker to jail. Scott McDaniel draws a new, somewhat original Batman while still keeping it classic, no yellow around the logo on the chest, simple small ears. There are three points of view: Detective Shancoe, a returning police who hasn't gotten used to the masked crime in his city, The Joker who isn't the famous serial killer we know quite yet, and of course the mysterious vigilante, The Batman. There aren't many Joker origins or retellings outside of the few (specifically Alan Moore's The Killing Joke which sucks) and often they take The Joker too seriously, which obviously he isn't. Not understanding costume crime yet, the detectives think they can get through to the clown, but after he kills everyone else in his holding cell, they realize things in Gotham are only going to get worse. This is before Arkham Asylum of course, so what are they going to do with the crazy?


After delays, Madman Atomic Comics finally seems like it's back on track. The series started off as a very straight forward super hero story that escalated into all out Mormon mythology and existential insanity. The backgrounds are dirty blurred crayon style drawings and the characters are extremely clean cut, almost CGI, look like they are animated thanks to Mike Allred's excellent flow of drawn story telling. Each issue I have more questions and am more drawn in. Bonus pinups by Scott Morse, who worked on Wall-E!!


I've never read anything by Garth Ennis, but the wrap around of Crossed drew my attention. What I assumed was a zombie comic turned out to be this fucked up survival story that's sorta original. Less Romero and more 28 Days Later, the "crossed" are filled with anger and chase you down to rape and kill you, but they have all of their memories. Your mom screams about fucking your best friend and tries to jerk you off, your brother talks about how your father touched you for a reason, and your girlfriend stabs you while telling you how small your dick is. The small group of survivors who are introduced all look like losers we all know, and more importantly, are not heroes, not survivors, not "winners" in any sense. The crossed are only distinguishable by the lesions on their faces, and the anger in their voices. Characters I thought were going to have long runs in the story are already gone after the first issue, I can't wait for the second one.

White Box Hero: Siegel & Shuster: Dateline 1930s

Everybody here at "Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader?" is the type of comics nerd to spend two hours flipping through a quarter box of comics with the hope that there will be at least something sorta cool in there. Every once in a while, the nerdity pays off and you end up with something greater than you could've ever expected...a white box hero!

Dateline 1930s is an Eclipse Comics compilation of a bunch of pre-Superman work by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the dudes who created Superman and got screwed out of a lot of money, and then kinda sorta got paid back for it. This comic was published in 1984, only a handful of years after the 1975 20k and health benefits hand-out by Warner Brothers.

While it features a pretty interesting interview with Siegel and Shuster and is really, the only way you'd ever get to see these comics, the subtitle "previously unpublished work from the creators of Superman" is a little misleading. The strips in the book are all intro stories--basically "pitches"--made by the young team in hopes of getting syndication and pretty much everything in this issue was part of a portfolio made to pitch a comics magazine they wanted to call Popular Comics. It's unpublished but it's also unestablished work, done by guys who were trying to get-on, and none of these strips have a follow-up or anything.


But that's part of what makes this compilation book so fascinating. There's a tendency now to separate commerce from art or downplay the money-making aspect of artistic talent even though it's as pervasive as ever. Even in comics, so many high-selling, main-line writers and artists speak of their "vision" and all that good stuff. What so many of these old guys have is a brutal honesty about the market--in part because the market was way more brutal then--and also, an artisan-like modesty about their work. For example, in describing the actually fairly out-there and still never-been-done "Futurities" panel, Siegel modestly says:

"I figured that a one panel "prophetic" feature which offered Nostradamus like previews of the marvels of the distant future would fascinate readers and could become syndicated to newspaper."

See, these guys were any less "artists" than your current favorite comics artiste, but they're a whole lot less douchey about it.

As a comics fan too, what makes this kind of work interesting or engaging too, is a little more hidden and covert and that's really fun. Pretty much every strip in this book is a play off of or a straight rip on some famous strip or character or movie or something that came out way before it. Tons of cute rascal characters ("The Waif", "Spuds", "Inko"), a Red Grange-like football hero ("Speedy"), a few that clearly stem from 1930s Hollywood glamour ("Flossie" and "Gloria Glamour"), and everything either ends on a cliffhanger if it's an action story and a probably-not-even-funny-in-the-1930s one-liner joke type thing if it's a more light-hearted strip.

Shuster's art especially, has speed to it, with a whole lot of details in some places, and a brilliant dash of line or two in others, that's deceptively simple to look at. You grasp what's going on fairly quickly but if you want to spend some time looking into the panels, there's some really cool or weird stuff to think about. This wide-shot of an elaborate stage, complete with heavy-duty crew lurking in the corners from "Gloria Glamour" is particularly great. There's a really cool tension between the curved shapes and lines of the equipment and the dashed-off ink jobs on the people.


It also conflicts a little bit with the "Peanuts" ruined comics argument put up by certain kinds of comics fans, critics, and artists, as a lot of Shuster's work works within the same basic but expressive line work. Maybe more a testament to my reading comics backwards knowledge, but this work's fairly easy to take on its own because when I think of Superman, the Christopher Reeve movies or like John Byrne's art comes to mind. We simply don't encounter the earliest Superman comics unless we really go out there and look for them. And it seems the only artists who really shows the influence of Shuster is someone like Chris Ware, who's pretty much drawing like that to be ironic.

The "Gloria Glamour" image also highlights another reason this comic's a white box hero. It's sort of terrible in this painfully sincere and hilarious way. If you think for like more than five seconds at this image and you read the caption, you'll realize it doesn't make any sense? This is clearly an elaborate Hollywood movie set, but Siegel's writing ("the orchestra rises to a climax...") and Ms. Glamour's exit and confrontation with a reporter implies she's leaving a play performance. At the same time though, the art's pretty awesome and the story set-up in the next bunch of panels (for some reason, Gloria Glamour accepts a through-the-mail offer of marriage) could've gotten really cool and interesting.

The gag strips especially are pretty much half-assed and although still fascinating, are being phoned-in for some syndication cash pretty obviously. It makes sense these dudes would hit it big--or not so big...--with Superman. Siegel's writing and Shuster's art come alive in the sci-fi and action strips in this book, and not so much in stuff like "Speedy" or "Flossie".


The aforementioned "Speedy" is a football comic wherein the opposing team (for some reason called "the enemy") are ordered by their coach to "get Speedy" and so, they tackle the titular running back, when in reality Coach was telling them to "run faster".


In "Flossie", I'm not even sure what the joke is. There's a "Prettiest Girl" contest with the reward being "a free permanent weave". The winner (or "winnah" as Siegel writes, the only line of dialogue in the strip that goes colloquial) is Flossie who thanks the judge but informs him that she's got "naturally wavy hair" and the judge responds: "Do you think I didn't figure that when I selected you?"

A bunch of these strips are great because of their accidentally-deadpan or anti-joke jokes. One called "The Pinkbaums" has a family eating and the son commenting that his soup's too hot to which the father says "Blow on it dummy". The son blows on it and soup flies all over the face of the dad. Rather than ending it with a simple gag-panel of the dad with soup on his face, the silent for the whole strip mother is heard off-frame yelling "Meyer! Meyer! Remember your high-blood pressure!". One called "The Kooks" features three guys sitting around a table that are "going to have a lesson in self-restraint". The stakes: "The first one who makes a sound gets popped on the head". Two panels of silence is followed by a panel of the guy who set the rules sneezing and a final panel in which he angrily smacks himself in the head with a big-ass mallet.

Better Than List Pt. 2 Batman: Year 100 > Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

When Batman: The Dark Knight Returns came out, it was an instant success. It changed the way people look at the Batman character and comics in general. It solidified Batman as a dark character closer to his 1930s incarnation, and helped usher in the era of "dark and gritty" super heroes. Other than it’s importance to the history of comics though, Dark Knight just really isn't that good. The story telling is blunt and Miller focuses too much on needless narration. Batman: Year 100 has many of the same themes but complicates them further.

In many ways Year 100 is almost a direct response to Dark Knight. Year 100’s title is a reference to Batman: Year One, another Batman work by Miller. The cover of the trade paperbacks are also strikingly similar. There are visual cues mimicking Dark Knight like panels of lightning strikes and Batman hanging from wires and ropes. Pope probably meant these to be an homage to Miller but the book's themes and style are closer to a critique than a homage.

The critique begins with how the two books deal with Batman and Bruce Wayne. Dark Knight has Bruce Wayne as a man who is deeply disturbed to the point of insanity. It’s an easy route to take with the character. Of course, someone who suffered such trauma as a child and dresses up like a bat must be insane. Realistically, Miller is probably right, but he plays it for a gimmick and handles it poorly. He shows Wayne constantly having bat-related flashbacks and has him talk about exactly what he is feeling through internal narration.


Miller tears down the myth of Batman by making Bruce Wayne's psychology the central focus of the story and by pinning his psychological problems all onto the pains of the past. Wayne's response to a flood of emotional pain is to become Batman again, and as Batman, Wayne goes looking for physical pain to dull the emotional. Miller ignores Batman’s roots as a detective and has him only focused on the next fight or stewing about his personal demons. Pope uses Batman the detective as an integral part of the story and celebrates his intelligence.

Instead of focusing on the psychological aspect of Batman, Pope looks at the meaning of the Batman mythos in our culture. Pope takes Bruce Wayne mostly out of the equation. In every panel where Batman isn’t wearing his mask, Pope obscures his face. He makes it obvious that it's an intentional choice by going almost to Austin Powers-like lengths to do so. He makes Batman look thirty-something and perform outrageous physical feats but at the same time, he implies that he’s over a hundred years old. It doesn't matter who is behind the mask. What matters is Batman the icon. He's someone that can never get old and remains entirely a mystery in a future world where everyone's life history is stored in a database.

Pope doesn’t focus on it, but the psychology of the character shines through. He makes it clear that Batman doesn’t feel comfortable without his costume on and takes a joy out of putting in fake teeth and looking grotesque. The big difference between their psychologies is that Miller’s Bruce Wayne is focused on himself while Pope’s is focused outwardly. When Pope’s Batman makes demands of Robin and his support team, it’s always on what he needs to get the job done and not because of the trauma of his past. Batman even meditates in a scene in Year 100 and when he does, it's not to calm his spirit but to recall events of the crime scene that he's witnessed.


Miller seems concerned with taking-on and destroying all aspects of the Batman continuity. He shows us all the minor Bat characters and how they’ve become old, cynical, or dead. Even Superman makes an appearance as a poster boy for the United States government. Each comic deals with the character of Superman in a different way. In many ways, the treatment of Superman symbolizes the thematic core of each book even better than Batman. Dark Knight takes the stance that one might argue in middle or high school: "Superman is lame because he can never be hurt and Batman is cool because he’s a real guy like you and me!". It takes a kind of smug, fanboy glee in seeing Superman defeated and outmatched at the hands of Batman.

Although he doesn’t have a large role, Year 100 shows Superman as an icon of hope. A child hands Batman a toy of Superman seemingly passing that hope along as Batman is left speechless by the gesture. Having Superman appear as a child’s toy still subtly hints that maybe the character is a little childish and that Batman makes a more interesting character, but this is a secondary point to Pope's point that Superman is a symbol of hope unlike Miller whose interest is cynically tearing-down Superman.

The books are opposites when it comes to layout and design. Dark Knight tends to read more like a book than a comic and is a mess of words and panels floating in space. It’s layout and verbosity makes it difficult to read, something non-comics readers tend to confuse with depth. It uses language to pretend to be intellectual and confuses a dark tone with complexity. Its pretensions to intellectualism are a big reason why it’s popular with critics and fans that were desperate for more complicated super hero comics. Pope knows how to use the page layout to his advantage and doesn’t use excessive text to slow down his stories. The first line of dialogue isn’t spoken until page seven. He uses a cinematic style that shows the reader just as much as pages of dialogue could. Miller's layout calls attention to itself being needlessly dense and heavy handed much like his writing. Pope makes his layout focused on the art and simply shows you the images and lets you decide where to stand.