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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Monday, March 10, 2008
I don't get the Midnighter.
An issue of The Midnighter drawn by Brian Stelfreeze was submitted for consideration in the Glyph Awards, which, as you know from previous TOTs, honor the best in comics by black creators and featuring black characters. As a judge, my sole obligation re: Midnight was to read that one issue and decided if the art deserved to be nominated. But I was in an overachiever mood and decided to read issues #1-16 of the ongoing series [WildStorm; $2.99 each] and the Midnighter: Armageddon one-shot [also $2.99]. This is how I decided I don't get the Midnighter.
What I really mean is...I don't get why the Midnighter is such a popular character. I mean, yes, he's the first gay "super-hero" to star in an ongoing series from a major publisher, so I can sort of understand his appeal to some readers on that basis alone. But his powers - he can figure out his opponents' moves from the start of any fight and then kick their asses - make for very predictable fare. The only question is how brutally Midnighter will deal with his enemies with the answers often including punching through their skulls or dismembering them. If I were a gay man, I don't think I would be pointing to the Midnighter with pride, no more than, as an Italian-American man, I point to the Punisher as a sterling example of my nationality. One of these days I'll have to address both of these characters by creating a gay Italian-American super-hero who isn't a killing machine.
Are there interesting things in these Midnighter comic books? Affirmative on that.
Garth Ennis wrote the first six issues, a five-part arc and a done-in-one. The arc has Midnighter captured by a guy who disrupts his ability to out-guess his foes, plants a bomb in his chest, and sends him back in time to kill Hitler. There are fun moments with a squad of time policemen and very nice art by Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Joe Phillips, and Peter Snejbjerg, but the writing is little more than adequate, journeyman, nothing special.
The sixth issue has an alternate world story with a Japanese swordsman and a Chinese warrior - counterparts to the Midnighter and his husband Apollo - and drawn by Glenn Fabry. I guess it was supposed to be some eloquent romantic tragedy, but I found it more grotesque than heart-wrenching.
The Ennis issues were followed by a trio of one-shots. Brian K. Vaughan and Darick Robertson teamed on a violent story showing a battle from Midnighter's viewpoint. Christos Gage and Paul John Leon's more enjoyable - but still violent - tale had the Midnighter trying to get in touch with ordinary people. Writers Justin Grey and Jimmy Palmiotti wrote the Stelfreeze-drawn issue, which didn't rise above the level of readable.
Keith Giffen has been the writer from issue #10 on and I like his take on the Midnighter better than most. Much of the action in these issues centers on the town of Harmony, which, quite frankly, reminds me of "Security City" in one of my 1970s issues of Luke Cage, Power Man, though, Giffen - darn him - is running with it much better than I did. In my defense, I didn't have the current administration and its fearful adherents to inspire me.
Giffen gives Midnighter something of a human personal life in these issues and also gives him a young "sidekick" of sorts. There is still over-the-top violence, but, unlike in the Ennis issues, it isn't a substitute for stories. I don't see The Midnighter as a must-read comic, but Giffen has made it more interesting than Ennis or the other writers.
As for Midnighter Armageddon #1 by writer Christos Gage and artist Simon Coleby, your guess is as good as mine. Some time back, Captain Atom destroyed the WildStorm universe and it was then reborn. Something seems to be amiss with the new universe, so Void - another WildStorm hero - transports Midnighter to some alternate future where things are just plain terrible. I'm not sure if the point of the story was for Midnighter to save this alternate world or to learn the consequences of he and his fellows failing in their world. Where's Wikipedia when I really need it?
Here's the ratings:
The Ennis issues get one Tony each.
The Vaughan and Gage one-shots get three each.
The Grey/Palmiotti one-shot gets two Tonys.
The Giffen issues get three Tonys each.
The "Armageddon" one shot gets one Tony.
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TONY POLLS
Here's a quick reminder than this is your last day to vote on last week's Tony Polls question:
Two weeks ago, the election for President of the US in the wild and wacky world of the Tony Polls ended in a tie. Of the two remaining candidates, who do you want to lead us in this time of civil war, final crisis, secret invasion, and stories that just go on and on and on?
Your choices: Barbara Gordon from the DC Comics Party and Joe Robertson from the Marvel Party.
The voting will remains open until sometime after midnight, at which time the question will be taken down and replaced with new questions.
You can cast your vote by going to:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
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TONY'S MAILBOX
Here we are into March and I've been lax about sharing your e-mails with your fellow TOT readers. Let's see if I can catch up a bit, commencing with this note from my pal George Nelson, a frequent contributor to Comics Buyer's Guide:
I thought you would get a kick out of this from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's February 6 "State of the State" address:
"...Third, we need to identify the great strengths of our schools. There are features in our education system that the rest of the world seeks to emulate, and we must build on these triumphs.
"We excel internationally in our ability to foster creativity and innovation. These skills fuel a lifetime of success, especially in an evolving global economy.
"Ohio schools produced the minds that created Superman, with his fictional X-Ray vision, and the mind that invented the MRI, giving doctors the very real ability to painlessly view inside the human body. Ohioans are visionaries, but practical as well. It wasn't long after a pair of Ohioans invented the airplane that another Ohioan invented the parachute.
"Our schools must teach students to think past the limits of what's been done, and imagine what could be done..."
It nice to see Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster - the creators of Superman - get some love from their home state. Now if only Time-Warner's lawyers would stop trying to deny their heirs a fair share of the Man of Steel's success.
I tried something different for the February 11th edition of TOT. I called it "Terrible Tony's Fire and Brimstone!" It was the pilot for a column I was considering doing for another website and, in it, I discussed Marvel's Spider-Man: One More Day story. Here are some of the responses I received, starting with this short note from everyone's pal Hoy Murphy:
Evil Tony sounds a lot like Regular Tony, at least on this one subject.
From Lee "Budgie" Barnett:
I've thought for some time that 'writing angry' is a good thing...sometimes. Though to be fair, I've never forgot the advice from a former boss: "If you make a speech in anger, you'll make the BEST speech that you'll ever live to regret."
I'm not saying I'd like to read "evil Tony" all the time, but occasionally would be a good thing.
From Mark Dooley:
Everything your "evil twin" had to say about "One More Day" was spot on. In fact, I don't think he went far enough in taking apart that utter pile of $#!* that insulted my and every Spider-Man fan's intelligence.
That said, I did like the first issues of the newly revamped Spidey, which almost...but not quite...took the rancid taste of OMD out of my mouth. Dan Slott does an admirable job in injecting some great fun that had the Stan Lee cool factor. If it just wasn't the result of the worst editorial decision ever made in the history of Marvel Comics...
From Don Markstein:
I'm a little behind in my reading, so I just got to Evil Tony's diatribe about "One More Day." I had a couple of paragraphs to say about that on my site's new message board. The thread can be viewed at:
www.toonopedia.com/wiping_out-98-4-f-46.htm
This is shameless promotion. The message boards haven't gotten off the ground yet, so I'm pushing them. Just part of my plan to get hundreds of thousands of people to register, so I can sell the site a couple of years down the road, and retire with millions. Maybe I should create an Evil Don persona, and make a bunch of ridiculously controversial posts. The blog entries at...
www.toonopedia.com/blog.htm
...don't seem to have done the trick.
Anytime I can help Don promote Toonopedia, one of the best darn comics sites on the Internet, I'm happy to do so. I'm a daily visitor there and you should be, too.
Keep watching TOT for more reader remarks.
Tony's Online Tips is a reader-sponsored feature, made possible through your "Tip The Tipster" donations. Today's column was brought to you by James and David...and I thank them for their generous support. If you'd like to contribute, just click on the "Tip The Tipster" link elsewhere on this page.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/07/2008 | 03/10/2008 | 03/11/2008 >>
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
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