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Crossed 4: Now with more Phallus related Visual Gags

Published by NiteMayr on March 29, 2009
Iff his press is to be believed, this man is known as Horsecock
If his press is to be believed, this man is known as Horsecock

Jacen Burrows and Garth Ennis set things up for us so well, Global Disaster, murderously horny Rednecks and a rag-tag group of people trying (I guess) to get to Alaska ( if they don’t believe that Alaskans wouldn’t gleefully join in on the Crossed-in-Blood rape and killing spree, they haven’t see Levi’s myspace page).  Our survivors have murdered children (as punishment for cannibalism) and apparently killed any number of psycho rednecks.  They have survived fallout from nuclear explosions and let’s face it the exploding poulations of aggrsive, meat hungry carnivores that have no-doubt set to reproducing in Noahesque numbers.

The Crossed appear to be cannibals, so they’re not hunting.

Anyway, at least issue four has our heroes moving in a direction rather than sort of just hanging around shooting kindergartners.

They have come to this:

Fun in a post Cross-ed World
Fun in a post Cross-ed World

The Crossed are using their victims for sport.

They get entertainment from the following, Rape, killing, dismemberment and apparently survivor style closed-room brawls.    The crossed are MMA fans of a particularly cruel stripe it appears.

This issue filled me with two emotions, dread (because it appears that the Crossed have among them the gleeful sadists that appear in all post-apocalyptic ficiton) and dread because this sets up a plot line that feels unnecessary.   The whole world is out to get our heroes (who I remind you will survive as this is being told in past tense) why set up Horsecock like this?

One point, at least the male lead isn’t bedding random women throughout, please applaud Mr. Ennis for skipping this pointless trope of PA fiction!

The Dark Reign begins drowned in Internet Memes

Published by NiteMayr on March 10, 2009
Black Widow Makes Fap
Hey Guys! What do you think of the black latex battlesuit I'm wearing?

While I’m sure that Marvel folks are aware how the sound effect FAP is received on the Internets; I’m thinking they were trying to illustrate the sound of those guns landing.

Or are they?

Is this a subtle message from the Marvel art department?  PREPARE FOR A MASTURBATORY CONTINUITY WANK FEST DURING DARK REIGN?  No?  I wish it was.

The Dark Reign Concept is a good idea; but it would have been better had it started before the whole Skrull invasion; the Skrull invasion was just kind of pointless and directionless.  It set up some nice tension points, but it would have been just as easy to limit it to the major characters who had been replaced; without the need for the whole crossover.

Dark Reign has gotten off to a fairly good start, with Normon Osborne making nice in front of President Obama… yup, he’s there in Thunderbolts 128 talking to Doc Sampson and looking to get to work fixing the economy (after the Skrulls and not the former President or Tony Stary wrecked it)

With Norman Osborne running roughshod over the Marvel Big Titles and making it a crime to be a superhero at all (TAKE THAT PRO-REGISTRATION FORCES!) I’ll be reading all of these titles; but I’m looking forward tothe collected volumes with more anticipation than I did the Skrull Invasion.  This feels like a real follow-up to Civil War and I’m looking forward to Steve Rogers return.

Blasphemy: Clark Kent is not a Costume

Published by NiteMayr on March 4, 2009

“Clark Kent is a persona Superman puts on to hide his real identity”

I’ve seen this in various forms over the years, mostly from “Comic Fans”  that is to say skinny legged hipsters and dudes with soul-patches with no double-chin to hide.  It’s the dissembling of Supermand versus Batman that places them as opposite ends of the Heroic Spectrum; where Superman is the Natural State of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne is the natural State of Batman.

This is so far from correct that it would take a series of GPS Units to Lead you back to almost correct.

While Superman may be naturally super-powered and simply taking advantage of his extraterrestrial birth; he isn’t “Superman” because of his powers.  Superman is Superman because he was Clark Kent first.  That’s why Clark Kent is so convincing to the people around him; that is the natual state of Superman.  He may be the premier superhuman of the DC universe, but Superman relaxes by doing crosswords with Lois Lane in bed, not tossing Meteors at passing Comets (just in case).

Batman, or “The Batman” relaxes by pulling on his cowl and beating up muggers.  An Ideal night for Bruce Wayne, going 12 hours without being called Bruce or Master Wayne once.  Batman is the Natural State of Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is a costume “The Batman” wears when he wants to get things done.  He also moves around disguised as criminals.

Writers come and go for these two Characters; but the fundamentals have been fairly solid since the mid-eighties.  Superman is a powerful homebody named Clark Kent who loves his mommy and goes home to his wife at every opportunity.  Bruce Wayne is the farcical personality that the Batman has adopted to allow his activities to be funded and provide the means for his crusade to continue; The Batman barely tolerates Bruce Wayne and would NEVER go home if he could hack it.

I should keep comics on hand for these rants.  Oh Well.

This is not how Batman Died
This is not how Batman Died


Review: The Mighty (From DC, not the Awesome Movie)

Published by NiteMayr on February 23, 2009
Okay, I get it. Alpha is the Killer
Okay, I get it. Alpha is the Killer

Sorry to throw that spoiler up front, but why bother?  Unless there is some kind of amazing twist, the superhero as killer story is kind of stupid (and already being played out in another Mainstream Continuity that I still hold is being used as some king of editoral reset button to be used when the stink of pointless crossovers get too out of control and run on sentences rule the world dontchaknow?)  So why bother?  The Art is good. Really good.  It’s going to be (at least) entertaining to read this (pile of) shit.

Somwhere in DC, an assistant editor is saying “Aw C’mon, not every reader is over 12.  There must be a bunch of under-twelves who can fall for this crap”  I have news for you; my 11 year old daughter saw JUST THIS PANEL and figured it out.  One Page of images gave it away.

Too Bad.

Crossed 3: All that baking for nothing

Published by NiteMayr on February 21, 2009
It just needed doing.
It just needed doing.

Crossed 3 came out a while ago; it is kind of like a breather after the last two issues sort of dropped us into Wiry Meth-Head Rapist Armageddon.  Mr. Ennis gives us a (somewhat cliche) “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” story with issue 3; which is hardly the issue to lose the momentum that was set up in Issues 1 and 2.  One would have imagined that the story would reach a lull by issue 10, but this early break in the headlong run from the Crossed is kind of a letdown.

I’m not committed to the Characters yet, seeing them instead as a vehicle for us to ride on rather than actual “people in the story” if you understand.  They don’t really exist as people yet, you see.  They are brethless story ponys that we are riding with for now.

This is kind of where Crossed really drifts from what made “The Walking Dead” so good initially and so unsettling now;  I cared about Rick and his family right away.  I don’t care about any of the people in Crossed yet.  That lack of empathy for the characters puts Crossed at Risk of being just a one-off Violent comic instead of a promising story about survival (or death) in the face of Skinny Redneck Violence Rapists.

Just Saying.

All that was left was a Torn Cowl

Published by NiteMayr on November 26, 2008

RIPPED COWL
All that was left was a Torn Cowl and a sad Sidekick or Two

So Batman: R.I.P. comes to an end.  It was a long, turgid, throbbing, uh.. cock fest.
[spoiler]

I’m beginning to think that Grant Morrison only likes a female character if he has it written down somewhere that she has a penis or will eventually turn out to be the reason the Hero is dead or crazy.  Even Ragged Robin was nothing but trouble for King Mob.  So it shouldn’t be a surprise to me that  the woman Bruce Wayne took into his confidence was pivotal to his downfall, it’s just the way Grant Morrison writes, Talia Al Ghul was just a plot point to get Damien into the picture and so on.  So when the Calvary shows up to save Batman, it’s not staffed with the local Bird of Prey or any of the Outsiders, it’s the XY brigade to the rescue (or at least, the Distraction)

Please forgive me for spoiling the story for you, but Batman has gone underground now to deal with the Black Glove and will resurface in a reasonable amount of time, because, as we all know, The Batman is always one step ahead.

Best moment of the Issue and the real saving grace of Grant’s writing, it’s well written, engaging and entertaining, especially the Joker, who is portrayed in his essential lunacy and casual violence, especially in his accidental disposal by Damien.

I strongly recommend this for Batman fans interested in seeing “the end” of the RIP series and recommend as a read for Joker fans either way.
[/spoiler]

The Return of Joe Fixit

Published by NiteMayr on October 26, 2008

In “New” Hulk #7, the Wendigo who are looking for the Red Hulk end up in Vegas where Bruce Banner unleashes the beast all over them, this beast:

Joe Fixit Returns

Issue Seven is split between the “Banner” Hulk and the Red Hulk backup story.  The Backup story revolves around She-Hulk getting together a All Girl Hulkbusters group to take on the Red Hulk.  It reads like an old “funny” She Hulk story, which is okay, but really, “She Hulk” is funny enough without being constant comic relief.

Review: Crossed #1

Published by NiteMayr on October 12, 2008

Crossed Issue One Preview, originally uploaded by Kevin Wardrop.

I’ve read a number of “Horror” comics, and more than my share of Zombie Comics in my day. I don’t think that I’ve ever really turned a page and then immediately wanted to skip what I’m seeing so quickly until I saw the Climax of this Comic.

It’s a real achievement for a Writer and Artist to come together and create something that shocks as effectively as the best horror movie. Better still if one can be equally repulsed at the same time. This Comic is truly horrifying and frightening.

Frightening like crowds of flesh hungry Peckerwoods with permanent viagra hard-ons and shrieking harridan meth-head women.

Frightening like the total breakdown of society into Paunchy Nerds and Wiry Speed freaks with Knives and dangerous libidos.

Not to mention the fact that a Nuclear Bomb has gone off in the Geographical Neighborhood.

Not To Mention that society has broken down.

You can Check out Crossed at your local Comic Store and if they don’t have it, check out Avatar Press

Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Jacen Burrows

You can check out more of my photographs at: Flickr