Friday, June 18, 2004
A few idle comic-related comments, based on what I've been reading this afternoon.
Seaguy #2 of 3: The Wasps of Atlantis
Does Grant Morrison even need to pitch any more? I assume he just phones Vertigo and says "Hi, it's Grant, I have a comic script here" and they say "have some cash". Seaguy isn't bad, it's even fun, but I don't believe that it would have been accepted if it hadn't come from a name.
Seaguy and his water-phobic aquatic pal embark on their mission to return the strange creature Xoo to it's people. Then their mission is to get chocolate from the South Pole. Then it's to retun Xoo to it's people again. Then it's to find Atlantis. Then...
We're two thirds of the way through this series and I still don't really understand why it exists. It seems to be meaningless throwaway fun in the mold of Kill Your Boyfriend or Sebastian O but really should have been a one-shot like the former than a 3-parter like the latter. Annoyingly Morrison throws lots of ideas into his scripts which seem to confuse people into thinking there's more depth than there is (look at the discussion thread for the first issue on Barbelith for an example of us reading tons of meaning into something where it seems there is no meaning), mind control through food stuffs, pacification of the populace, dark chocolate at the South Pole. I think Seaguy's going to wake up next issue as this all has the strange non-logic of a dream.
Artwork is by Cameron Stewart. It's about time he got his shot at the big time after doing some emergency repair work for the final Invisibles trade and some work in Catwoman. His style certainly seems ideal to illustrate Morrison's crazy work. This guy needs more work now!
Y, The Last Man #23: Widow's Pass Part Three
This title does seem to have gone off the boil in the last few months. Possibly as the story is a one or two issue piece inflated to give writer Brian Vaughan a chance to do lots of character work. But somehow, despite the fact we now know what Doctor Mann was doing if not exactly why, and that she fancies Agent 355, and that Yorick shot the militia girl but lies about it to the pair of them, this title doesn't have the zing of a year ago. Despite Vaughan's efforts the female militia group that have been our heroes problem for the last three issues never seemed any more than half a dozen idiots with guns, hopefully things will improve again when they get back on the road.
We have our astronaut pals having success having a male baby, despite there being a plague which has killed off every other male except Yorick, Y's bonkers sister Hero on his trail and the Setauket Ring, about whom we know even less than the Culper Ring, which wasn't much to start with. With issue 25 around the corner there's surely time to get these storylines moving.
Seaguy #2 of 3: The Wasps of Atlantis
Does Grant Morrison even need to pitch any more? I assume he just phones Vertigo and says "Hi, it's Grant, I have a comic script here" and they say "have some cash". Seaguy isn't bad, it's even fun, but I don't believe that it would have been accepted if it hadn't come from a name.
Seaguy and his water-phobic aquatic pal embark on their mission to return the strange creature Xoo to it's people. Then their mission is to get chocolate from the South Pole. Then it's to retun Xoo to it's people again. Then it's to find Atlantis. Then...
We're two thirds of the way through this series and I still don't really understand why it exists. It seems to be meaningless throwaway fun in the mold of Kill Your Boyfriend or Sebastian O but really should have been a one-shot like the former than a 3-parter like the latter. Annoyingly Morrison throws lots of ideas into his scripts which seem to confuse people into thinking there's more depth than there is (look at the discussion thread for the first issue on Barbelith for an example of us reading tons of meaning into something where it seems there is no meaning), mind control through food stuffs, pacification of the populace, dark chocolate at the South Pole. I think Seaguy's going to wake up next issue as this all has the strange non-logic of a dream.
Artwork is by Cameron Stewart. It's about time he got his shot at the big time after doing some emergency repair work for the final Invisibles trade and some work in Catwoman. His style certainly seems ideal to illustrate Morrison's crazy work. This guy needs more work now!
Y, The Last Man #23: Widow's Pass Part Three
This title does seem to have gone off the boil in the last few months. Possibly as the story is a one or two issue piece inflated to give writer Brian Vaughan a chance to do lots of character work. But somehow, despite the fact we now know what Doctor Mann was doing if not exactly why, and that she fancies Agent 355, and that Yorick shot the militia girl but lies about it to the pair of them, this title doesn't have the zing of a year ago. Despite Vaughan's efforts the female militia group that have been our heroes problem for the last three issues never seemed any more than half a dozen idiots with guns, hopefully things will improve again when they get back on the road.
We have our astronaut pals having success having a male baby, despite there being a plague which has killed off every other male except Yorick, Y's bonkers sister Hero on his trail and the Setauket Ring, about whom we know even less than the Culper Ring, which wasn't much to start with. With issue 25 around the corner there's surely time to get these storylines moving.
