After the largely disastrous third season of Star Trek, I wasn't expecting much from the fourth season. In fact, I don't actually recall watching it. But now that it's finally available on DVD, I'm looking forward to it.
Relax. You don't have to report me to Starfleet for emergency psychiatric treatment. I realize there wasn't a fourth season of the Star Trek TV series. It's just that Star Trek Year Four #1 [IDW; $3.99] could have been an episode of that never-happened season. Complete, I think, with the budget cuts NBC and Paramount might have imposed on the series if it had managed to return for a fourth season.
Written by D.C. Fontana, who wrote or worked on some terrific episodes of the original series, and Derek Chester, writer of video games, "The Enterprise Experiment" has an authentic Star Trek feel to it. Everything that comes out of the mouths/speech balloons of Captain Kirk, Spock, and the other characters "sounds" right to me. The Enterprise's mission of testing a cloaking device makes perfect sense. The three-armed Arex, who unfortunately looks as odd as he did in the short-lived animated series, is treated in a serious and heroic manner. Fontana and Chester even leave us with a thrilling cliffhanger, the equivalent of a scene break that would definitely have kept me from changing channels in 1969. While this isn't a great Star Trek comic book, it's a perfectly good Star Trek comic. I'm in for the long haul.
Artist Gordon Purcell nails all the likenesses. Of far more import to me, his storytelling is first-rate. The only thing that bothers me about his art here is the relative lack of backgrounds. Paramount went cheap on the sets in the TV series, but a comic-book artist doesn't have to follow their lead.
Star Trek Year Four #1 earns a respectable three out of five Tonys. It's been a long time since I've looked forward to Star Trek comics. This issue has inspired me to seek out the other ones IDW is publishing.
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MIGHTY AVENGERS
I have been reading various Avengers titles, attempting to catch up as much as possible as the Secret Invasion saga gets going. Today I'm looking at The Mighty Avengers #5-8 [Marvel; $2.99 each].
This title is a tough sell to me because it stars heroes I now consider villains: Iron Man and his crew of authoritarian lackeys. However, I must begrudgingly note that writer Brian Michael Bendis does manage to let some of these character's former heroism shine through. The first two issues wrapped up a story in which Ultron took over Tony Stark's body and turned him into a hot robot chick. The other two issues had most of New York and most of the Avengers being turned into Venom/Carnage symbiotes. The transformation bits were perhaps meant as Secret Invasion foreshadowing.
The Ultron story had terrific art by Frank Cho, a really smart battle plan by Ares (who might be my favorite member of the team), pseudoscience that was kind of sort of fun, inane bickering between Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, too much Sentry (defined by me as "any use of the character"), and Bendis' rather annoying experimentation with thought bubbles. I liked these issues, but neither rated more than three out of five Tonys.
The symbiotes story started with Spider-Woman bringing Stark the dead Elektra-Skrull and Stark acting less like a rhymes-with-trick. It was contagious because Ms. Marvel was also acting less like a rhymes-with-trick. The Avengers teasing Stark about having boobies was fun. Janet Van Dyne showing her new super-hero fashion line was dumb. I'm also enjoying the power struggle between Stark and Ms. Marvel, pushed up a notch by his putting Spider-Woman back on the team. The best part might be the revelation of where these symbiotes came from and what the Avengers plan to do about the guy they believed unleashed them on New York. I liked these two issues better than the previous two issues, so I'm giving them four out of five Tonys.
I'll be looking at New Avengers later this week.
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BLACK LIGHTNING
I still haven't read Black Lightning's most recent appearances in various DC Comics titles and DC still hasn't paid me for the DC Direct action figure of my creation that they shipped last summer. But, while searching through my TOT files, I found a question asked of me by a fellow member of a Yahoo comics group back in 2004...and my answer to his question.
Since you created Black Lightning, how about an "officially unofficial" statement on what his favorite movie is?
First off, you have to understand Jeff Pierce is, in many ways, an idealized version of myself. His tastes and viewpoints coincide with mine to an alarming degree. That's said, the best answer I can give you at this time is...I'm not sure.
After the death of his father when Jeff was just a child, he and his mother were desperately poor. If it hadn't been for their church and Peter Gambi, they would have been living in shelters. I don't think movies and television were of particular interest to Jeff. He had his education and sports to occupy his time. When he was old enough to work, he did.
Movies and television are pervasive in today's society. Look how so many comics writers are more inspired by movies than books or, heaven forbid, the real world. Most readers don't realize that wasn't always the case.
Growing up in Cleveland in the 1950s and 1960s, I had favorite programs. But I wasn't always or often in front of our TV set with its three channels. I found other ways to amuse myself.
Movies? They were a special treat. I saw ten times as many movies at my elementary school (which had Sunday afternoon showings for a dime) and on TV (Ghoulardi's monster movies) than I ever did at movie theaters.
If I had to speculate, Jeff's favorite movies would probably be about individuals overcoming adversity without compromising their morals. That would appeal to his solitary nature and his strict moral code.
On the other hand, Jeff has always yearned for a family, which is why he's always built families around himself wherever he goes. Movies about people coming together might be among his favorites. It's something for me to think about for when - one way or another - I am reunited with my creation.
More Black Lightning stuff to come.
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BLOGGY BITS
Since I don't have a FAQ, I'm answer some of those questions here. Today, I'm talking/bragging about my beautiful Sainted Wife Barbara, my bride of almost 24 years.
First off, though I understand "sainted" usually refers to a person who is singing in the heavenly choir, my standard retort to those who challenge my using the term to identify Barb is: She's married to me. If that's not paradise, what is?
Barb is a pharmacist. She's the manager of the home infusion department for a major health-care provider in the Cleveland area. This department provides IV drugs for patients who would otherwise have to be recuperating in hospitals instead of their own homes and for patients who just aren't going to be recuperating. In the sad case of the latter, it allows them to finish their run on Earth in surroundings more pleasant than a hospital.
Doing this job as well as Barb does it takes a person filled with compassion and strength - her team doesn't like to lose their patients anymore than doctors do - and who also has the ability to manage and work with medications, pharmacists, technicians, nurses, doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical outfits, and delivery services. As the head of her department, she's on call 24/7. Even if I had her knowledge and skills, I'd last half a day in her job. That's how amazing she is!
Barb is also a co-coach of my daughter's CYO volleyball team. She would be the first to tell you she doesn't know much about the sport, but, when the team needed someone - and when my daughter, as teenage girls will sometimes do, decided my being her coach would be the worst thing in the history of sports - Barb stepped forward to make sure there would be a team.
She collects Precious Moments figurines. She likes listening to Michael Buble. She watches way too many home improvement shows on TV. She got sucked into watching Women of Ninja Warrior with the rest of us. We also watch the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Browns and any game from the Ohio State University that gets on TV.
She's a great wife and a great mom.
I love her the mostest times infinity to the infinite.
I'm also not going to tell her about this. Sooner or later, a co-worker or family member will see it and tell her about it. She'll pretend to be embarrassed or upset because she can't take a compliment. I've been working on that flaw of hers for 24 years. I'll keep at it as long as it takes.
One more note. A bit of comics trivia.
Under her maiden name of Barbara Kepke, she appeared in one of the issues of Daredevil I wrote back in the 1970s. If you see Barb at a convention with me and you happen to have that issue with you, you should ask her to sign it.
Because that would be cool.
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COMICS IN THE COMICS
From Wikipedia:
Cleats is a comic strip by Bill Hinds. Cleats features a group of young kids, coaches, and their parents as they deal with the day-to-day trials and tribulations of being on a soccer team, although there are stories that have the kids doing other physical sports besides soccer.
Last week, Hinds did a trio of strips wherein the soccer kids fantasized about playing the game as super-heroes. Here are those strips from April 1-3:
For more Comics in the Comics, keep reading this column and my message board:
I have dozens upon dozens of strip in my file, so I've started running the older ones there. As always, if you see a Comics in the Comics that you think I might've missed, feel free to send it to me at:
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TONY POLLS
Today is your last day to participate in our week of April 1 Tony Polls questions in which we asked that you choose the "greatest" Spider-Man adventure, the next new member of the Justice League, Buffy Summers' next sleepover cuddle pal, and the all-time worst comic-book movie.
Back in March, I asked Tony Polls voters to vote on the projects they'd most like me to pursue. My pal Hoy Murphy followed up his vote with a note:
I voted for "Adventurer/scientist super-hero series" because I still hope for an Isabella-written Giant-Man and The Wasp series someday.
At the time, I responded thus:
"Unless the Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne who sided with Tony Stark in Civil War turn out to have been Skrulls, I don't think I could write such a series. Well, actually, I could write such a series, but I doubt it would be as light-hearted as you and I would prefer."
I have since been told that at least one of them did turn out to be a Skrull, though, since I haven't yet read the comic, I don't know when the person was replaced. That opens up some possibility that I could write the kind of Giant-Man and the Wasp series I'd like to write. Let's see a) how it plays out, and b) if I can get any Marvel editor to consider such a project.
From your review of Red Letter Christians, it sounds like you might be interested in this: The Scandalous Gospel Of Jesus: What's So Good About The Good News? by Peter J. Gomes. He's the pastor at Harvard's Memorial Church. He's a Republican, but seems to be a thinking man and analyses the actual teachings of the Gospel with regard to how they are misinterpreted - "largely ignored" - by the religious right.
For purposes of disclosure, I didn't actually read the book, just an interesting essay about it in the NY Review of Books and thought I'd mention it to you.
Thanks for the recommendation, Andy. I've ordered this book from my local library.
The e-mail box is always open to TOT readers, so feel free to let me know what's on your mind.
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 readers Steve and John and I thank them for their 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.
I review The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks #1: Secret Identity Crisis, Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America and The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us.
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.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
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