REVIEWS: Binge Reading Digital Comics

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, my purchase last year of a Kindle Fire HD tablet has re-introduced me to the pleasures of reading comics. While I continued to purchase comics on an occasional basis in support of my longtime local comic-book store, I actually read few of them due to lack of time and general disinterest. However, the novelty, ease and instant gratification of purchasing and reading comics on the Kindle (primarily via Comixology)—along with the benefit of not having to worry about accumulating comics that have to be stored somewhere—has led to my reading and checking out some new comics. And in the same way that “binge-viewing” on Netflix and other websites has become a popular way to watch television series, “binge-reading” comics is also a lot easier if I have missed earlier issues of an ongoing story.

I’ve never been a “DC versus Marvel” kind of comics fan, but having said that, the majority of the comics I’ve read from the Big Two have probably been from DC. As a traditionalist and student of comics history, I’ve always had a special appreciation for the grand-daddies of superheroes, Batman and Superman. But there have also been Marvel titles I’ve followed, most notably the Uncanny X-Men when Paul Smith and Chris Clarement worked on the series in the early ‘80s; John Byrne’s run on the Fantastic Four around the same period; and Frank Miller’s work on Daredevil (also around the same time!) which put the artist on the map. Though story is important, like a lot of people, I won’t look at a title unless I find the art just as compelling.

Well, pendulum has swung back because at the moment I noticed that a lot of the comics I’ve been reading and enjoying are by Marvel. Over the past decade, the Big Two have made it notoriously difficult for casual comics fans to read their main titles because of the level of multi-issue story arcs that can cross multiple series and take up to a year or more to play out. Even after DC’s much lauded “New 52” where they essentially re-booted the series, the storylines have remained convoluted, complex and confusing for many casual readers. In addition, I have found many of DC’s books to be over-rendered in art, story and coloring, making it unappealing and a bit of a muddy mess to look at; in contrast, Marvel doesn’t seem to take itself quite as seriously, meaning there still is a level of inherent fun in their comics that seems missing in many of the DC’s I’ve picked up.

So here are a few Marvel titles that have picked up my fancy recently:

Hawkeye

Hawkeye has never been on my radar and mostly existed as a second-tier character. The character’s appearances in the recent Marvel films, first as a cameo in the first Thor film, followed by a respectably significant role in the Avengers (as played by Jeremy Renner), no doubt raised the character’s profile for both the geek crowd and a general audience, presumably leading to the green light for this relatively new series. Nevertheless, the relatively low profile of the character undoubtedly has provided series writer Matt Fraction a blank slate and the freedom to play in this character's sandbox.

With the current Hawkeye series, Fraction has created a compelling non-superhero superhero series. As a nod to the character’s non-marquee status, the book revels in Hawkeye as the unglamorous third wheel member of the Avengers superhero team. The character lives in a New York City walkup tenement (which he purchases early in the new series series, becoming its landlord) and in between his sporadic high-profile adventures, he spends much of the series dealing with local Eastern European toughs who are terrorizing his tenants, the various women and ex-girlfriends in his life, and life in general. Both the art and color palette in itself shows that this isn’t your typical comic-book series: one issue is told in a series of romance comics covers while a recent story was told from the point of view of a stray dog, using icons to reflect the dog’s point of view.

At once innovative and groundbreaking as well as easily accessible (I can see this book having appeal to casual fans and women), the book has earned well-deserved plaudits. Hawkeye embodies the tone and approach I like to think Avengers’ director Joss Whedon is taking with his upcoming "Agents of SHIELD" television series which will focus on the behind-the-scenes supporting characters rather than the marquees.

All-New X-Men
Aside from the brief period mentioned above in the ‘80s, I haven’t read any X-Men titles for years, though my tracking of comics trends has given me a faint knowledge of the series and main characters. The X-Men has always struck a chord among young people, using the mutants who make up the X-Men as an effective metaphor for ostracization and discrimination, as well as teenaged angst and disconnection. (I should add that X-Men is a franchise title, with multiple series and titles involving the characters and their spin-offs every month, much like DC’s Batman and Superman.)

Based on the art, I picked up a recent issue of this recently re-booted title and, thanks to the ease of instantly ordering back issues of the series, decided to go back to the first issue of this new title.

This new title’s conceit is that in order to correct a wrong that occurred just prior to the new series, the original X-Men who were the founding members of the group are brought from the past into the present to correct what has gone wrong, coming into contact with their present-day selves. (The set up is very reminiscent of Back to the Future — in fact, when the X-Men’s leader, the young Cyclops, asks what has gone awry with his present-day self, I was reminded of Marty McFly’s line at the end of the first Back to the Future film, when he asks Doc, who has returned from the future for him, “Did I turn into an asshole or something?”)

Though I have little knowledge of the circumstances or events that led to the launch of this new X-title, I have enjoyed the title in the moment and on its own terms, without the need to catch up on past exposition. Enough is given in the new series to understand what is going on.

The writer, Michael Bendis, has become one of Marvel’s most popular writers and I can see why. The X-Men has always been part adventure sci-fi / part soap opera, and Bendis has a gift for small dialogue touches that help define a character or relationship, or inject some humor to an otherwise serious moment when needed, while also spinning a fantastic but engaging yarn. One thing I will say about Marvel is that they’ve always been good at making the characters feel like they’re in the “real” world through setting and showing the social and political impact they would have if they really existed. Altogether, that has made this new title for me a fun, compelling read.

Batman ‘66

And just to show I haven’t completely abandoned DC, a fun new title is Batman ‘66, which is a special digital comic that is exclusive to Comixology in a tablet-friendly format and includes motion graphics. Written by Jeff Parker and drawn by fan-favorite Mike Allred, the series is basically the 1960s Batman television show (starring Adam West) in comic-book format. The series is fun and tongue-in-cheek, with great art that captures the likenesses of the actors and actresses who played the heroes and villains of the original show, as well as the vibe of the go-go ‘60s when the show was produced. I said earlier how a lot of DC’s comics seemed to have lost their sense of fun—this series more than makes up for that.

DIGITAL COMICS REVIEWS: Fury: My War Gone By and Batman

Ugh, sorry for the long delay since the last post. I had resolved to post more in the new year, but boy time sure flies! I assure you it has nothing to do with laziness, it's just that there's only so many hours in the day! Anyway, without anymore further ado...

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After some tentative steps, I’ve now gone all in with digital comics. Although over the years, I continued to purchase comics out of habit, I actually read very few of them. This is primarily due to a lack of time since most of my spare time is spent working on Rob Hanes Adventures, but also because of a general malaise on my part about current mainstream comics. I feel very out of step with most superhero comics, especially since they require a level of commitment — due to story arcs that often cross multiple titles — I just don’t can’t make.

As mentioned in an earlier post, last fall I purchased a Kindle Fire HD. While reading comics on it wasn’t the main purpose for the purchase, the device certainly was an excuse to give digital comics a try.

One of the main attractions for me was that it resulted in less “stuff” accumulating—though I’ve never been a comic-book “collector” per se, the comics I buy generally get thrown into a box and at my age, it’s time for me to stop accumulating and start divesting.

An added bonus is the general look of the work on a digital tablet—with its backlit display, the colors “pop” off the screen relative to a print page. I have also found that I’m more apt to read something I buy on the fly as the impulse strikes, rather than pick it up at a comic-book store and put it aside for later reading.

With that in mind, here are reviews of a couple of recent series I’ve been reading digitally:

Fury: My War Gone By (Max)

Until I stumbled across this series in Comixology, I was totally oblivious to both the series and what appears to be Marvel Comics’ “adult” line of comics, its Max Line.

Though Nick Fury is an integral part of Marvel’s movie “universe” as played by Samuel Jackson in the Avengers and Marvel’s other films, the character was originally the title character of a World War II comic-book that debuted in the 1960s called Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos. Caucasion in the comics, Fury was brought into the modern age in 1965 as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (as he is in the recent Marvel films) to capitalize on popularity of the James Bond and knock off spy flicks of the era.

The new series, Fury: My War Gone By, covers the character’s career trajectory in the post World War II era as a CIA special operative. In contrast to the portrayal of the character in his other incarnations as a high-level super spy, this series is a much grittier, “real-world” series that puts the character in the middle of major touchstone historical events that involved the CIA, beginning with postwar Indochina where the U.S. early on helped the French combat the rise of the communists; the Bay of Pigs debacle in Cuba; and, in the most current issue, the Vietnam War.

The series is written by Garth Ennis, who obviously has an affinity for this kind of material since, in addition to his mainstream work, he has developed quite a sideline writing gritty war comics. Though I was a big fan of the genre in the 1970s, I have been often ambivalent about Ennis’s work because his stories sometimes have a satiric, irreverent edge that no doubt is intended to highlight the absurdity of war but which I have found to be sometimes off-putting and too graphically violent. I have no objection to such material per se, but until now I generally did not find his work to my liking, though Ennis has also proved himself to be capable of emotional and moving work, like his haunting Battlefields: Dear Billy (which I strongly recommend).

While Ennis obviously is no doubt thrilled by the opportunity to play in Marvel’s sandbox, Fury: My War Gone By gives the writer a chance to explore a subject that clearly interests him greatly—namely, the CIA’s more questionable activities during the Cold War—and meld them with strong characters. In the series, Fury is a mercenary war junkie as well as war-weary; though clearly a patriot, he is also cynical about the politics, ambition and self-interest that drives the policies that he’s advancing through his work. A through-line in the series is his relationship with an ambitious senator; the senator’s wife who is also his mistress; and his handler, TK, who unlike Fury is able to retain his humanity and moral compass that Fury seems to have lost.

Given the subject matter and the intersection with real events, I see the series as a modern-day counterpoint to Milton Caniff’s classic adventure strip series Steve Canyon, which ran from 1945 to 1980. Canyon in early years covered many of the same territory with a hero who was less conflicted about his mission and his identity, but given Caniff’s close identification with the U.S. military and the country’s policies (which were, to be fair, a reflection of his time), Fury comes at the material from a complete different point of view.

Though I do not mention the series’ artist, Goran Parlov, I cannot say enough about his artistic and storytelling abilities. Simple in the tradition of Roy Crane and reminiscent of the cartoony-yet-illustrative style of Jean Girard in his Blueberry series, I doubt the work would have made such an impression on me without his collaboration and outstanding contributions.

Batman (New 52)

Though it appears the bloom is now off the rose a bit, in 2011, DC Comics re-booted 52 of their titles with great fanfare and success, dubbing the event the New 52.

One of these titles was Batman, one of multiple titles featuring the popular character. While several of the titles briefly re-piqued my interest, Batman was one I have stuck with due to the team of Scott Snyder (script) and Greg Capullo (art).

The first 12 issues introduced a new criminal enterprise to the series, the Court of Owls, a sort of underground “star chamber” in Batman’s hometown of Gotham City that has existed for more than a century. Though its history is tightly intertwined with Bruce Wayne’s family history (a device that, frankly, is at risk of being overused), it’s nevertheless a good mystery that is boosted by Capullo’s art. And, of course, the conclusion is open-ended enough that the enterprise will return again in the future.

After that, the series brought back the writing and drawing team’s fresh take on the Joker. Given the level of evil villainy rather commonplace in films and even television, it’s clear there was a need to up the anté. Though I did not read the crossover stories that led to the Joker’s appearance in Batman, the Joker here is, if possible, even more unpredictable and chilling than previous incarnations. There is a real body count here, though ultimately I felt the concluding chapter was a bit of a letdown and a bit of a cop out—involving another near-reveal that will leave readers hanging until the Joker returns again.

Entertainment Roundup for 2012

Below is my annual overview of movies, books, concerts, and other entertainment consumed in 2012.

DIGITAL AND STREAMING MEDIA
The year saw a significant shift for me to streamed and digital media. I've used Netflix streaming for several years now, but I discovered that Amazon Instant Video and DirecTV were also great for streamed content, complementing what was available on Netflix. (All were viewed on my widescreen TV via a laptop connected together with an HDMI cable.)

Along the same lines, as mentioned in my last post, I recently purchased a Kindle HD, which has allowed me to read not only books, but magazines and comics (via Comixology) as well. (Regarding Comixology, I want to support my local comic-book retailer but at the same time, it’s nice not to be accumulating as many physical comic-books anymore.) In fact, the Kindle also allows me to stream Netflix, which I often connect to the TV in my studio via a micro-HDMI cable.

ABOUT THE LIST
As in past years, the usual caveats regarding the lists below apply: being the parent of two young children tends to limit the number of films I see in theaters and the kinds of films I see. Fortunately, with the kids getting older (the eldest being a tween), we’ve finally graduated beyond just family fare. While the quality of modern animated films from studios like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks are usually topnotch, I’m glad we’ve begun expanding our horizons. So it was a treat to see the Avengers as a family and I considered it a milestone that both kids consented to seeing the Hobbit, which they initially feared would be too intense in a theater, and enjoyed it immensely. (As we did for Captain America, we watched the Hobbit in advance to ensure it would not be too scary for our 7-year-old.) This is why you’ll also find oldies-but-goodies like the Back to the Future trilogy, Home Alone 1 and 2, and Galaxy Quest on the list, which my wife and I introduced to the kids this year.

Having said that, I must admit that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less interested in films that are high octane or overly violent -- films on the list like Django Unchained notwithstanding, I’m more interested in being entertained than I am watching anything too harrowing or violent.

Which is why Downton Abbey, season 2, stayed tops with me again in 2012 (with season 3 about to start as I write this), continuing my interest in entertainment from Across the Pond that began the previous year, with British films and shows like the Inbetweeners film, season 2 of the Sherlock PBS series, and Salmon Fishing in Yemen being among my faves this past year.  Other faves include Lincoln, Django Unchained, Avengers (a perfect, entertaining popcorn film), Margin Call (actually released in 2011), the Hobbit, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Pitch Perfect!

And now without any further ado....

BOOKS:
Steve Jobs (1/16/12)
The World of Downton Abbey (2/27/12)
Backing into Forward by Jules Feiffer (3/9/12)
Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage by Douglas Waller
Truman by David McCullough (7/2/12)
Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Christopher Matthews (9/2/12)
Downton Abbey: The Untold History of Television by Kathleen Olmstead (Kindle) (10/28/12)
Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe (Kindle) (11/16/12)
Rose: My Life in Service by Rosina Harrison (Kindle) (12/1/12)
A Christmas Carol - Kindle (12/26/12)

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT:
Spamalot (7/1/12)
Mid Summer’s Night Dream (8/11/12) - Cal Tech
Tempest (Actor’s Gang adaptation) (08/12/12)
Hollywood Babble-On (8/18/12)
Sgt. Pepper (Beatles Tribute Band) (8/25/12)
The Book of Mormon (10/13/12)

FILMS:
Page One - Netflix streaming (1/2/12)
Tailor Tinker Soldier Spy (1/7/12)
White Collar (Season One) - Netflix Streaming (1/14/12)
Margin Call - DVD (1/21/12)
White Collar/Season 2 - Netflix streaming (1/28/12)
Fortysomething (6 episodes) - Netflix streaming (1/30/12)
Sherlock (season 1/episode 3) - Netflix streaming (2/2/12)
The Descendents (2/13/12)
Brass’d Off  - Netflix streaming (2/18/12)
The Secret World of Arriety (2/19/12)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (2/20/12)
Jackboots on Whitehall - Netflix streaming (2/24/12)
The Lorax (3/4/12)
Accidental Tourist - Cable
Beginners (3/10/12)
Iron Man 2 - Netflix streaming (4/15/12)
The Highest Pass (4/23/12)
The Pirates: Band of Misfits! (4/29/12)
The Avengers (5/6/12)
The Avengers (5/27/12)
The People vs. George Lucas (5/28/12)
Recalculating (6/2/12)
Witness for the Prosecution (6/2/12)
Madagascar 3 (6/16/12)
Brave (6/23/12)
Sherlock (season 2) - PBS/DVR (6/23/12)
Anything Can Happen - TCM (6/28/12)
Come Live With Me - TCM (6/28/12)
Back to the Future - DVD (7/5/12)
Katy Perry: Part of Me (7/6/12)
Back to the Future II - DVD (7/7/12)
Back to the Future III - Amazon streaming (7/18/12)
Galaxy Quest - Amazon streaming (7/21/12)
Grand Prix (7/23/12)
The Dark Knight Rises (7/27/12)
Nicholas Nickleby - Encore (7/27/12)
Mirror Mirror (8/4/12)
49th Parallel - TCM (8/10/12)
The Lost Battalion - Reelz (8/19/12)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (8/18/12)
Paranorman (8/26/12)
Somebody Up There Likes Me - TCM (9/9/12)
Inbetweeners (9/15/12)
What Rats Won’t Do - Netflix (9/24/12)
Company Men - DVD (9/29/12)
Holes - DVD (10/6/12)
The Decoy Bride - Netflix Streaming (10/5/12)
Another Country - Netflix streaming (10/12/12)
The Rum Diaries - Netflix streaming (10/13/12)
Art School Confidential - Netflix streaming (10/17/12)
Mister Foe - Netflix streaming (10/18/12)
You Only Live Twice - Amazon (10/19/12)
Hotel Transylvania (10/20/12)
Wreck It Ralph (11/4/12)
Skyfall (11/11/12)
Lincoln (11/17/12)
Rise of the Guardians (11/22/12)
Sixty Six - Netflix (12/8/12)
The Hobbit (3D HFR) (12/15/12)
The Hobbit (3D HFR) (12/22/12)
Salmon Fishing in Yemen - DirecTV streaming (12/23/12)
Django Unchained (12/27/12)
Amazing Spider-Man (12/28/12)
Pitch Perfect - DVD (12/29/12)
Home Alone - Amazon streaming (12/30/12)
Double Indemnity - DVD (12/30/12)
Home Alone 2 - Amazon streaming (12/31/12)

Review: Kindle Fire HD

Between owning an iPhone and a laptop (as well as a desktop iMac), I have felt little need for a tablet. In recent months, however, my interest in having an ebook reader that would also allow me to read digital comics piqued my interest. Since I purchased a Kindle for my wife last Christmas, who was very happy with it, I thought I’d get a color Kindle Fire HD. As I was just about to make my purchase, however, news about the iPad Mini broke, which put my plans for the Kindle Fire on pause -- I decided to wait to see what Apple would have to offer....

Like most other people, however, the Mini turned out to have too high a price point at $325, compared to the Kindle Fire HD’s $199. I also realized that since I already own an iPhone, a traditional tablet like the iPad Mini was redundant. I felt it preferable to get something that complemented my iPhone rather than essentially duplicated it by getting a more dedicated e-reader. At the last minute, I also did comparisons with the Nook and the Google Nexus since they were priced the same. I ruled out the Nook since Barnes & Noble’s future seems uncertain and the Nexus because it was primarily a tablet and, secondarily, an e-book reader. So, in the end, I settled on the Kindle Fire HD.

Having had the Kindle a couple of weeks now, I must say I’m happy and impressed. With its built-in wifi, it turns out the device is robust and has more of the features and capabilities of a traditional tablet than I anticipated: I connected to my email, calendar and contact list accounts with no problems; it has a web browser; I downloaded many of my existing personal finance apps on it like Mint and ClearCheckBook; it can stream Netflix, YouTube and other videos—I can even stream them to my TV using a mini-HDMI connector; and, apparently, it can even run Skype for videoconference calls!

I've already downloaded several books and magazines, as well as several digital comics, which look great on the high-def color screen. With its 7-inch screen size, the Kindle is light, portable and easy to carry around.

Having said that, it’s important to note that the while the iPad Mini and the Kindle Fire HD certainly overlap and compete in many areas, they also fill very distinct niches. As I said earlier, I primarily wanted an e-book reader, with apps (and especially gaming, which is where other traditional tablets excel) a low priority. The reviews are right on: you really need to make a decision based on your needs. As I said, since I already have an iPhone, an iPad would have been a bit superfluous, so I'm glad I got what is primarily a dedicated e-reader that also performs nicely as a traditional tablet on the fly. The Kindle, of course, is also closely tied to Amazon's content and the user’s Amazon account, but that wasn't an issue for me since I already purchase regularly on Amazon.

While it may not fit everyone’s needs, the Kindle Fire HD is a great product.