Justice is done.

This is another beautiful graphic novel pencilled and painted (watercolor) by Alex Ross.  This is an epic story where Lex Luthor and Brainiac team up to defeat the JLA.  They almost do.  There are moments where the heroes talk about having to lose sometime.  But no one dies, well except millions of human.  I guess they don't count.  No one of import in the comic world dies.  Luthor goes to prison, Brainiac flies off into deep space, and Aquaman grows his brain back.  That's right, Aquaman can regrow the portion of brain that Brainiac cut out.  I guess we can add that power to his already accomplished resume.  The story was engaging enough, but I bought it to see Ross' beautiful artwork.  If only Ross would work with some of the industry's best writers that would be something really beautiful.

Alex Ross portfolio

The main reason to buy a comic with Alex Ross involved is because of the amazing art work involved.  The plot can be terrible, but the artwork never will be.  Thankfully this comic had a decent plot, but it is Ross that makes this book really work.  Ross works from still photos of his friends and family and paints them in beautiful watercolors for each panel.  he captures emotion better than any comic book artist I have seen.  The characters of Superman and Batman achieve a new level of depth under the brush of Ross.  We can truly see a disingenuous Bruce Wayne smile that betrays the words coming from his mouth.  Or a wearied and humbled Superman.  Ross brings a level of artistry and understanding to his characters that goes beyond the words given him.  He is one of the few artists I will read a comic for, the rest of the time I am reading writers.

Supergods

I am on a Morrison kick right now.  Having read the majority of his graphic novels I gave his history of comics a chance.  And expecting a dry account of what comics are about, this book is an autobiography disguised as history.  In a way it kind of felt like the history teacher from Waterland giving an autobiography as history.  This is more accurately a history of Morrison's relation to the varying stages of comics.  He might start a chapter on Frank Miller and end the chapter talking about his father.  I would estimate that nearly half of the stuff in this book is about Morrison, or Morrison's comics.  I liked it, but the title is misleading if you are expecting a history with an absent author.  Morrison is all over the place here, popping up wherever his stream of conscious leads him.  I like his style of writing and his amazing understanding of the medium he works in.  he is one of the top writers in the industry for the simple reason that he knows his comics and literary theory.  And at 425 pages, there is a lot of history here.

#86 Teaching Writing

I guess this is my first official theory book assigned in school to make my blog.  All the other ones we only read sections and I doubt I will finish any of them on my own.  This book basically goes through the process of teaching a college freshman composition class in America.  Extremely helpful, and also seems like it would have been helpful when I was in Korea.  Some good ideas here, I wish I had taught my classes in Korea as though my students were more mature.  Maybe emphasize collaborative projects at the beginning and portfolios as well.  I'll just have to keep this in mind for my next time round in Korea, which I find I miss deeply (Probably won't happen until I am finished with school here).

Allstar Shut-Up-Man and the Boy Brat (Snot)

All Star Batman and the Boy Wonder

Oh Frank Miller, how have you fallen.  It is a bad sign when your graphic novel's most famous line is ridiculed and mocked.  "Are you retarded?  I'm the goddamn Batman."  I understand what Miller was trying to accomplish by making Batman a psychopath.  This is an extreme interpretation of Bruce Wayne and his imbalances.  But what doesn't jive is that Miller still retained Wayne as an amazing detective and extremely intelligent, but he talks like a street thug.  I lost count of how many times he tells people to shut up.  His inner monologues are simplistic in diction, and veering towards the crazy most of he time.  I love re-imaginings of characters, it keeps the medium alive, but this was a misfire.  The characters do not work as psychos, street thugs, geniuses, compassionate, vigilante, and wise.  This cannot be contained in one character!  You can't have it all Miller.  It doesn't help that the story arc was left unfinished, probably because Miller realized his own misdirection here.  Maybe if it was completed the appearance of Black Canary, the Joker, and Batgirl would be better explained rather than as name dropping.  Well, in the case of Black Canary, it seems her only purpose was to look sexy all over the place.  This is one of those depressingly bad books that make you sad because of the lost potential.  having said this, a failure by Frank Miller is far more interesting than a success by a lesser writer.  All that is wrong with this book, and there is a lot wrong, leaves the reader wondering at the miscues.  This wondering forces the reader to deconstruct the idea of Batman and the character of Bruce Wayne.  Lemonade here folks.

#84 JLA

Haven't been able to finish a book lately.  Mostly reading selections of theory and essays.  Got to say I am really not enjoying Derrida.  What is the deal with that guy?

The latest book I have been able to complete in my spare time, which is sparse these days, is the complete JLA run by Grant Morrison.  He came in and reinvigorated the Justice League of America with his frenetic impending disaster narrative style.  The book was exhausting with each page bringing in another element of armageddon and it wouldn't relent.  I have rarely read such a sustained effort to overwhelm a reader than this book.  These were not simple capers, but evil designed and placed throughout time and dimensional universes which sometimes threatened spacetime itself.  Few books set out at such a fast pace and maintain that speed for 41 issues.  There was never time between world saving exploits for friendly banter or rest.  Right on the heels came another global threat.  I must say the experience was something that I am glad to have gone  through, but I could not sustain myself on comics like these, I think I like a slower pace these days.

Morrison's JLA: Earth 2 is the slower pace I enjoy.  Here the characters are more important and dialogue is not occurring amidst a galactic battle.  The drawings are by Frank Quitely, and absolutely beautiful.  This is the storytelling I can love, and a pace that doesn't overwhelm.  These are characters that deserve sympathy because they emote a sense of the real.  I wonder if Morrison wrote this as a contrast.  If his JLA was a statement of what he felt comics have become by exaggerating it in a sort of parody.  The pace is unlike anything he has done before, perhaps he was making a point.

Getting busy

This is more of a list than anything.  Finding time to make entries is getting difficult these days between teaching class, going to class, reading for class, making presentations, and writing papers.  I thought this was going to be a vacation...well not really.

81- Understanding Comics by Scott Macloud.  Great theoretical graphic novel trying to show how the reader interprets the images and words on the comic page.  Some really abstract information in here.  Was really pleased with what I was able to take away from this.

82- Wild Life by Molly Gloss.  A Northwest writer writing a feminist novel about a woman at the turn of the 20th century in Washington.  This is one of those books that crosses many genres.

83- Elements of Style by Strunk and White.  I should have read this tiny volume years ago, it definitely is a great little book despite being 80 years old.  I will be teaching from this next semester.