Back to Sunnydale

DC's "Manhunter" was originally cancelled after 25 issues, but there was such a huge fan backlash to the annonucement of the title's demise that the DC brass including Dan Didio heard the fans loud and clear and decided to give the book a second chance. That was one of the best news of 2006 for yours truly. I happen to be in love with strong female lead characters, from Peter David's "Supergirl" run from a decade ago to his newest female sensation, "the Fallen Angel" (coincidentally another great book which DC cancelled only to resurface over at IDW) I think that non conventional female superheroes are great fun. Just like David's character Lee on Fallen Angel, the character of Kate Spencer as penned by writer Marc Andreyko is not your prototypical big breasted female heroine. Kate is as human as the people she interacts with in the comics and her status as a D-List hero doesn't preclude her from interacting with some of comicdom's big guns such as the Justice League or her adventure with a certain Amazon princess this month. Yet, like many of the great books I previously mentioned, Manhunter also benefits from an interesting milieu populated by some interesting supporting characters such as Dylan, Kate's hilarious relucnant techno savvy assistant and Cameron Chase.

I proclaimed "Manhunter" the best comic book of a year ago. The book didn't publish nearly as often in 2006 to retain that title, but it did tie with another strong female heroine's book for the mantle of third best comic of 2007. Sharing that honor is Marvel's own "Ms. Marvel" which came into its own with 10 kick ass issues this past year, aptly brought to life by the writer and artist combo of Brian Reed and Roberto De La Torre. The character of Carol Danvers has been around since the 60s. She's been a member of the X-Men and is now on the roster of the New Avengers. She was transformed by the alien Kree Empire's DNA-altering technology into who she is today, and though she has gone by various other monickers including Binary and Warbird, it is this run which may go the farthest in establishing her as a mainstay in the Marvel universe for years to come. I love this character and how Reed and De La Torre are handling her in this latest series. Even though Carol was on the wrong side of Marvel's Civil War series currently entangling most of the Marvel characters, every issue seems to pack the requisite slugfests, action, and intrigue which will keep fans coming back for more. Though Danvers has a richer history than Kate Spencer, her creators expertly use her past to craft new and entertaining stories. A good example is her recent tussle with former X-Men team member Rogue. I love the costume, I love the artwork, I love almost everything about this book. No wonder then, Ms. Marvel and Manhunter tie for the third best comic of 2006.

I remember how I felt when I read my first issue of Brian K. Vaughan's Ex-Machina.  I had been hearing good things about this comic for years from sources such as Wizard, CBBG and others but didn't get a chance to jump on board early on. Luckily, the story was reprinted in TPB form by DC's Wildstorm line and I could not be any happier. The first edition "The First Hundred Days" blew me away. The writing was so well crafted and the artwork was crisp and the facial expressions so well done, while the character of Mayor Mitchell and the political world he inhabited was so engrossing, that I had to go out and snatch the next few volumes at Tower Record's going out of business sale. Soon, I was caught up and now I am hooked on this most excellent comic.

It probably isn't hyperbole to call Vaughan one of the best comic book writers of our generation and this remark is verified by Wizard recently naming him their writer of the year.  He's one prolific force penning not only the aforementioned Ex-Machina but the equally excellent Y-The Last Man. I love the concept of this book. Who would have though that a book (as he puts it) about "a monkey and one-breasted women in motorcycles" could be so great. What makes it great is the writing in which Vaughan expertly unveils the tale of the last surviging male on the planet.

As if that wasn't enough, the writer also penned Marvel's highly successful Runaways series. Though he won't be writing the book for much longer, Vaughan has made it a critical success and a fan favorite. Personally, I have not read a single issue of this series, prefering to follow his more obscure offerings, but they are only obscure to the masses as comic book fans have long followed most of this guy's books with religious fervor. As well they should, they are great reads. I could not make up my mind so I am naming both Ex-Machina and Y-The Last Man as the 4th best comic of 2006. Vaughan is my pick of the best writer of the year as well.

 

 

In lieu of my usual weekly comic book geekiness, just like last year I present for your approval the 5 best things that happened to comics in the past year. I begin with Image's The Walking Dead. Robert Kirkman's zombie book just got better this year if you can believe it.

Wizard's end of the year issue recently voted "the governor" villain of the year. "If villains are a product of society, then it makes sense that a world overrun with flesh eating zombies gave birth to the year's biggest bastard," writes staffer Rickey Purdin

What makes this guy so beguiling and scary is that the governor portrays the worst in humanity and you just know that if we were in the same circumstances and zombies really existed that there would be someone like this guy running around.

That said, this book continues to kick ass, it's hard to phathom how 32 black and white pages can contain such great artwork and solid plotting month after month. Best of all is, unlike big publishers like DC, Image doesn't take months or years to put out the TPB editions, so you can go back and collect all five trades to catch up on the mind bending action thus far.

This is the 5th best comic of the year IMHO.

 

Finally, finally, finally there are news regarding Joss Whedon's 8th season of Buffy on comic book form from Dark Horse. The book comes out in March of next year and will be penned by Joss with help from one of my favorite current writers Brian V. Vaughan of Y The Last Man and Ex Machina fame.

If you haven't read or are familiar with the above mentioned series then I feel for you, as they are absolutely amazing to read! Do yourselves a favor and pick of copies of either (both are on TPB form in bookstores) and be prepapered for some amazing stuff. I'm not the only one who thinks so.

But I digress, back to the Buffy comic, not sure how Vaughan with his other projects next year will have time for it since he recently announced in his Myspace page that he has also been hired as an Executive Story Editor by the fantastic television show LOST. For that matter, Joss is supposed to be busy himself in 2007 scripting the Wonder Woman feature screenplay following his run on Astonishing X-Men.

More power to them I guess, it will be interesting to see how our favorite denizens from Sunnydale will fare in the 8th season, but with Joss at the helm of this project, at least we know that there are a few surprises ahead for the readers.

 

 Is anyone even reading this blog anymore?? Well, it's 43 degrees Farenheit and raining in the southland. We are getting the tail end of the storm which previously pelted the North East, though the incliment weather is expected to clear out by tomorrow (Sunday.)

Personally, I don't mind it so much. Sometimes on Saturdays I get the urge to go out, but on days like these, all I want to do is crawl under my comfortable covers, especially if I have something interesting to read.

I am still plugging along with my copy of Watchmen. I am not going to ilucidate on the merits of this graphic novel which have already been documented in various internet sites. It is widespreadly accepted as the best graphic novel ever made along with Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, but some of you already know that so instead I provide you with movie info from last xmas season. Apparently the movie version is still in limbo, but will keep an eye out for it in 2007.

Though I first encountered it 20 years ago in 1986 when it first came out, I was too young and unsophisticated to truly appreciate it then and am glad that now as an adult I can Marvel at its complex narrative and excellent artwork.  Also, I was glad to get my used (but excellent copy) at half price at the collectible show I fruequent instead of the gouching prices at Barnes and Noble or Waldenbooks 

All my X-Mas shopping is done, all that is left to do is to get a tree to stick all the presents under. Let the fatman fly!!!

Updates have been few and far between of late in this blog. So much is happening, I sometimes feel I can hardly keep up. The xmas season is in full swing and I have yet to start my shopping, most likely I will get it all done this weekend in one fell swoop in a mad flurry of visiting stores. I truly hate shopping you see.

The San Diego Chargers are on track to compete for a Super Bowl title after capturing the AFC west division on Sunday. I could not be more excited. All the so called experts were singing Indy's praises earlier in the season when they were undefeated. Now that the Colts have lost three straight and it is apparent their run defense can't stop anyone, they have all jumped on San Diego's bandwagon, especially after L.T. shattered the single season TD record.

Only true Chargers fans like me can acknowledge how long we've waited for a championship and how much we've endured. A loss in the second round of the playoffs to Miami following the 92 season. A heartbreaking loss to the 49ers in the 1994 super bowl. A wild card round defeat to the Colts the following season. Then, 8 painful seasons without a playoff appearance, the worst one in 2000 when we suffered an abyssmal 1-15 season.

Following L.T.'s rookine season in 2001, things started to turn good again. Now, a second division championship in three years and a possible Super Bowl title.

 Hell yea I'm excited!

 

On a totally unrelated note, I want to go see happy feet this week.

 

 

From reading the posts on various internet forums on television you would think that the answer to this question is yes. There are some die hard fans who think the show about the loquacious but lovable mother and daughter combo has jumped and is past its prime since creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is no longer overseeing the show's writing duties.

I think nothing could be further from the truth, the show still has an odd mix of eccentric characters and funny banter. I think the negative comments are mostly directed at the direction Lorelai 's romantic life has turned, with fans who were fund of the Luke-Lorelai relationship upset over their break up and her subsequent engagement and eloping to Christopher, even though a majority of readers at gilmoregirlsnews.com think she belongs with Christopher and not Luke.

Last night's final episode before the X-Mas hiatus was a good example. Aptly named "Merry Fisticuffs" it had plenty of action and advanced a number of interesting subplots:

1. Luke and Chris have a fight which is mostly prompted by Chris' jealousness over Luke and Lorelai's previous engagement
2. Luke decides to start a legal fight for custody of April
3. Logan and Rory fight about Marty which leads to a rift between Rory and her new school friends
4. Chris and Lorelai fight about their marriage, Chris masking a resentment over things not moving fast enough and over Lorelai's reaction to his proposal to have kids.

I like Rory's new college friends, even though they are different and a little more shallow than the crowd we are usually used to seeing her with, this happens often in a young person's life, she gets new friends and explores relationships with all kinds of people and I think this is a realistic aspect to the show rather than a flaw. Chris and Lorelai's current marital problems are also handled well, considering the former is trying to make up for what he perceives to be lost time and the latter doesn't seem to be quite sure what she wants at this point, other than staying put in Stars Hollow. I hate the fact that we will probably have to wait until early January to see how all of this gets resolved.