LOSING THE X-FACTOR: DROPPING MARVEL NOW

So they've announced the return of X-Factor as part of the All-New Marvel Now books. The Ugly American Report covered the price hike of the new series to $3.99 and the excellent Ryan Lee's feelings on the new series (seriously go read it). His column inspired me to give my feelings on the new book, which come purely from a story point of view, and take a chance to re-evaluate my Marvel pull list as we move towards All-New Marvel Now.

Re: X-Factor

I was a fan of the previous X-Factor volume and writer Peter David and I was unhappy when the series came to an end recently so the idea of a new series naturally peaks my interest. Sadly, it seems the story doesn't. First of all, they have dropped most of the characters that I was invested in from the X-Factor Investigations era:  Layla Miller (she's just a brilliant character), Jamie Maddox (the heart of the previous era) and Monet (who improved greatly as a character under David). They have also gotten rid of gay couple: Shatterstar and Rictor so they have eliminated a storyline aspect that has won the book GLAAD awards and that added to my enjoyment of the book. They still have longtime X-Factor member Polaris and we will see the return of her half-brother and former team member Quicksilver. I find their relationship and Pietro's character intriguing (Peter David has done some good stuff with him before) but I don't think that will be enough to keep me on board.

New team member Gambit can be an interesting character in the correct hands but I've never been all that invested in him. The remainder of the new team members leave me flat: Doug Ramsey, Warlock and Danger. Warlock and Danger are kind of similar characters to me and I didn't like the origin of Danger which added to the "Professor Xavier is a jerk" run of storylines in Marvel Comics. Peter David has a history of changing my mind on characters but this would be an uphill struggle from the start. The corporate sponsored team premise reminds me of an ill-fated favourite of mine Wildcats 3.0 so I think I'd be, rightly or wrongly, subconsciously measuring the series against it. I'd certainly be measuring against the previous series. Honestly, I don't know if I'll even pick up issue one.

Fate of the rest

I dropped 5 books I have started with Marvel Now and Marvel have decided to end 4 so I am down to 3 books. I am only staying on these books for the creative team or for the current storyline so we'll see how long they last:

All-New X-men - DROPPED
Avengers - DROPPED
Avengers Arena - ENDING
Fearless Defenders - ENDING
Indestructible Hulk - KEEPING Until Mark Waid leaves
New Avengers - DROPPED
Thor: God of Thunder - KEEPING for the current creative team
Superior Spider-man - KEEPING until Peter Parker returns
Thunderbolts - DROPPED
Uncanny Avengers - DROPPED
X-men Legacy - ENDING
Young Avengers - ENDING

Of the All-New Marvel Now books announced, apart from maybe trying X-Factor, I will check out the new Daredevil book as he is my favourite superhero. Nothing else appeals to me. That's a lot of books dropped but there plenty of independent books and collections to spend my money on so it is not all bad.

THAT'S ME IN THE CORNER: ENJOYING BATWING

 Anybody that follows me on Twitter knows of my love for all things Palmiotti and Gray. From discovering their work on Jonah Hex to their creator owned books to their Kickstarter projects and most things in between. I've been reading comics for longer than I care to remember so I have become quite jaded and crotchety about a lot of the trappings of comicbooks so their creator owned stuff is often a breath of fresh air. It brings their craziness level to the max and there's always the feeling that anything can happen because there are a couple of madmen behind the wheel (and there's usually an excellent artist in the car with them). So what appeals to me about their (relatively) new DC book Batwing? Well allow me to explain myself.

Event books. Crossovers. Complex continuity. Lack of creative freedom. I could go one. These are the things that bother me about the books of the big two. Batwing is mostly free from all the trappings. Palmiotti and Gray's first issue (Batwing issue 19) was a reboot of sorts, they wrapped up the story of the original Batwing, David Zavimbe, who was the “Batman of Africa” and brought in a character that is more connected to Batman continuity. It is a strange contradiction that they have brought Batwing to Gotham but have managed to make his book stand alone. Sure, Batman is in the book and it is part of the whole Batman Inc. continuity but there is still the sense that this book is doing it's own thing and you don't need to read any of the other Batbooks to get it. The new Batwing, Luke Fox, is the son of Lucius Fox, the designer of a lot of Batman's arsenal. Lucius wants his son to work for Wayne Enterprises but Luke wants to do his own thing. This is one of the most interesting things about the book: the potential for it all to go horribly wrong. If Lucius finds out Luke is Batwing, he will not be happy and Batman will probably lose one of his biggest allies.

That is the trick to the success of the Palmiotti and Gray reboot for me: the book feels more important as Luke has a personal connection to the Batman mythos but is telling its own story. You only have to read Batwing. That being said, you should pick up All-Star Western 21 to catch Batwing's appearance. It is very cool.

WITH POD ON OUR SIDE: WHERE MONSTERS DWELL

 To me, Hell is other people on public transport and being that I commute to work this necessitates me taking matters in hand. Rather than resorting to physical violence, I have resorted to filling my iPod or iPhone with my favourite music and my favourite podcasts. 90% of these podcasts are comicbook related and one that gets priority when posted is Where Monsters Dwell. WMD is a weekly radio show broadcasted from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. I discovered this show quite by chance by becoming friends with co-host “Monster” Mike Campbell on Facebook years ago and have been listening ever since.

The show is a mixture of discussions between hosts Mike Campbell and Remington J. Osborn on a variety of nerd topics be it TV, film, games and a conversation with a comicbook creator. These discussions are very entertaining as, the hosts have said this themselves, it is a couple of friends meeting once a week and chatting about the things they love and they would do it even if they didn't have a radio show. They veer away from the negative and try to focus on the positives. They also give a much appreciated spoiler warning if they think the discussion is heading in that direction.

The laid back style really works when it comes to the interviews as the vast majority of guests are put at ease when they realise that the WMD crew just want to talk about what they want to talk about and won't push them where they don't want to go. (This doesn't stop Remy from trying to extract information about top secret projects on occasion but that is more of a running gag than serious pressure). Mike does a great job on the discussion of art process as he is genuinely interested in knowing how artists do things (he's a bit of an artist himself). If they aren't asking the questions you want, you can ask a question by posting on their Facebook wall (or call in if you're listening live) and producer Chuck will ask the question. The guests have included the legendary Joe Kubert, Gail Simone, Mark Waid and Irishman Declan Shalvey. They have a nice mixture of independent creators and the well known names and they have many repeat guests as interviewees seem enjoy the chats as much they do.

After appearing on the show, and being very entertaining (as he usually is) and presumably having a good time, Jimmy Palmiotti began doing a spin-off show called Listen to Jimmy where Mike chats with Jimmy about his work (which Jimmy skips over as something that people don't want to hear about) and what has happened in the week (not restricted to comicbooks) and he answers Twitter and e-mail questions. I think that is the part of the WMD show (and the Jimmy show) that I enjoy the most. I really feel part of both shows. They have asked questions for me and every week it feels like I am listening to a couple of friends chatting about the things I love. That and when they discuss future plans on air. “Maybe we should discuss this off air.”

*****

Follow Mike Campbell and Remington J. Osborn

Website: http://wheremonstersdwell.ca/

SUBTERRANEAN CITY (ROBERT CURLEY) DUES (Or How I Came To Love Irish Comics)

 As a kid my exposure to comics mainly involved being scared by copies of Dan Dare Annuals belonging to my uncles and copies of 2000 AD that I picked up at a fair in my home town. I didn't discover that American comics were being sold in Ireland until my best friend discovered comic shops in Dublin around 1999. One of these shops was Sub City Comics which is owned by Rob Curley who, I didn't know this at the time, was a comic book creator. Sub City became my weekly comic shop and I would spend many a weekday, and the odd Saturday, browsing the racks and getting caught on what I had been missing all my life. On one of these days, I spotted an issue of a comic called Freak Show. (I remember it was issue three as it had the villain called the Director on it). I decided to pick up the other issues and give it a go.

The book was set in the 1950s and centred around detective Jack Nixon, actress Susan White, Elizabeth Grange and blue blood Miles Weishaupt. In the first issue, Jack investigates the murder of a famous film director. Suspicion is cast on Susan as there are photographs of someone who looks like her with him. Susan and Jack have a history and she is none too pleased to have him back in her life especially since she's under investigation. The killer is eventually revealed to be a lover of Jack's who is obsessed with Susan. They manage to stop him but Jack being outed leads to his leaving the police. The next story introduces us to Elizabeth and Miles. Miles gives Elizabeth a lift to an acting audition where she ends up getting used in the machinations of the villain known as the Director. He attacks the Oscars using her image which causes them to cross paths with Jack and Susan, who have decided to investigate the events after they read about them in the newspaper. Together they foil his plans and end up as a sort of Supernatural Detective Agency. Each issue they run into a strange villain in a series that is a mixture of Ed Wood and LA Confidential. I followed the adventures of Jack, Susan and co for the rest of the books run. Reading the first few issues, I noticed the name Robert Curley on the credits. I finally knew someone who actually creates these things! Along the way, I was also introduced to artists who would go on to make names for themselves in the US: Stephen Thompson, Stephen Mooney, Declan Shalvey and Will Sliney (on another Atomic Diner title called Atomic Rocket Group) and discovered that more Irish people were making comics. This led me to discover books by people like Bob Byrne (Mister Amperduke), Alan Nolan (Sancho) and Gerry Hunt (In Dublin City), who had been making them for many years.

After ending his run on Freak Show, and taking a break from producing books, Rob came back with a vengeance. Something had changed though. The new books had moved to an Irish focus. He started by introducing an Irish super-team called The League of Volunteers. Set in the 1940s, the group includes journalist The Glimmerman, ex soldier The Archer, vampire hunter Blood Rose and, from Ireland's ancient past, The Druid. The group comes together to foil a Nazi resurrection of an ancient evil called Bocanah. The series introduces dozens of characters including Fianna members, secret agents, scientists and hints of past leagues that included prominent figures from Irish history. The series has also spun a variety of mini-series and one shots including The Black Scorpion, The Crimson Blade (a member of The 1795 League) and the upcoming Glimmerman. He has also added some non-super hero titles (although I think a lot of the League books don't strictly fall into the super hero genre). First, he brought us an Irish demon hunter from 1899 called Róisín Dubh. He then added a personal favourite called Jennifer Wilde. It is an intriguing story about a girl name Jennifer who is trying to find out about her father's past while being accompanied by the ghost of Oscar Wilde. Recently, he added Noe: The Savage Boy which is about a village in Cork in 1631 that gets kidnapped by pirates.

As with Freak Show and his other earlier books, Rob has introduced us to some terrific artists including Barry Keegan, Stephen Byrne and Stephen Downey. One thing has changed this time though, Rob has taken on other writers to work on these series. Maura McHugh co-plots and scripts Jennifer Wilde and writes Róisín Dubh and Alan Nolan is doing some upcoming issues of the League and there are hints of more to come. I'm enjoying watching this universe as it seems to be a metaphor for Irish comics as it has grown in leaps and bounds over the past couple of years.

*****

Follow Rob Curley

Website: http://www.atomicdiner.com/