Random Musings

-- I didn't do a Comics Countdown post last week because my pull list was enormous (I think I bought something like 23 singles), and I didn't have time to finish all the books until Wednesday, when we were treated to another round of new stuff - and another pretty big week at that. Sometime in the near future, probably Sunday or Monday, I plan to do a double-size countdown that encompasses the past two weeks, and features a Top 10, not the usual Top 5.

-- I never really did think of a list of interrupted runs I'd like to see hypothetically continued, a la X-Men Forever. I think maybe, rather than that, it would be fun if Marvel just picked a top-shelf creator, like Grant Morrison or Paul Pope, and just said "write a single, ongoing comic that is your take on the entire Marvel universe." Kind of like the Multiversity thing Grant is currently working on for DC, but on a more expansive scale.

-- I guess it must help sales, or they wouldn't do it, but I kind of think Marvel might be shooting itself in the foot a little by lumping all their recent mini-series under the Dark Reign banner. It makes it really easy for anyone who isn't digging Dark Reign to dismiss all of them out of hand, even the really good one. I am particularly loving Paul Cornell's Young Avengers mini right now. Its surprisingly compelling stuff, with lots of grey areas about what it really means to be a superhero, and about the nature of art in a world populated by super-beings. Yet I recently overheard someone who I think would probably like this series say that "all those Dark Reign minis are shit," or something to that effect. DC's Final Crisis Aftermath minis face a similar problem, with people who didn't like Final Crisis refusing to give them a look just because they are under the "Final Crisis" banner.

-- Detective Comics # 854 is probably the best looking mainstream comic I have seen in a very long time.

-- Under the category of simple joys, watching Batman: Brave and the Bold with my four-year-old daughter is a beautiful thing. As is reading that almost-destroyed-from-use issue of DC Superfriends with the Super Pets to her for the 57th time.

-- The trailer for Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" is simply amazing. I cannot wait to see that film.

-- "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change." R.I.P., Michael.