Author: Matthew Peterson

Or – “Cancellation Notice? What Cancellation Notice?” So, did you have a happy New Year? Mine was just a big bag of crazy, thanks for asking. Ten pounds of psycho in a four and a half pound bag, but boy did I eat well! And while I don’t make resolutions, per se, (because I don’t need anything to make me feel like I’m already a failure in a brand new year) I’m going to try and do three or four things differently in 2007, including give you more Spoilers bang for your mostly imaginary buck. Speaking of fresh starts, I’m…

Or – “They Were Doing SO Well…” There’s an interesting thing about the way comic books are written… a time paradox that allows a character who was 8 years old in 1941 to turn 20 in 1984, then to spend another 20 years at college age before finally having the standard-issue 22-year-old’s “Who Am I And Why Am I Here?” identity crisis at the chronological age of 73. The only other occupation that has as slow a growth curve as DC superhero is probably “vampire,” and both by coincidence come with roughly the same wardrobe. Nightwing’s back with another issue…

Or – “This Is The Story Of Doctor Jekyll & Mister Pym…” What’s that, you say? TWO issues? Can we BE so lucky? Is it a Christmas miracle? Well, yeah, for some values of miracle, anyway. Specifically, the miracle that is Marvel’s bi-weekly schedule, combined with my own foolishness in not checking said schedule, combined with the natural delays of the holiday season, all conspiring to give us a hearty double dose of classic Avengers in a white wine sauce with a fried egg on top and spam. Never let it be said that the Major Spoilers reviewing staff don’t…

Or – “It’s Ron Mysterio All Over Again…” Ahh, the annual! Used to be, every summer, we’d be inundated with these things, most of which were either out of continuity or written by people so divorced from the core book that they might as well have been writing different characters. Why, back in the day, you could count on a big issue, with one story that kinda mattered but wasn’t very good, filled out with reprints you neither wanted nor cared about, as well as pinups probably drawn in half an hour to fill the page count. Meeeeemorieeeeees… Then came…

Or – “What Exactly IS A Human Robot, Anyway?” It’s a fine time to be a comics fan. Characters as wildly diverse as Detective Chimp, Spider-Woman, Machine Man, Nightmaster, and Animal Man are all back in the spotlight, and it seems like nobody’s favorite obscure character is going to stay obscure for long. Marvel and DC alike are delighting in revamping, reviving, and revitalizing guys that most people figured were long gone. Most impressively, they’re doing it in a way that manages to breathe new life without negating that which has gone before. Most of the cast of this comic…

Or – “You’ll Never Have This Much Fun With A Liefeld Character Again…” One of the great things about the Marvel Universe is that everybody has a story. Even someone who’s appeared as seldom as the Texas Twister or Stingray has backstory, family, friends and continuity. The cast of this book, f’rinstance, has ties to The X-Men, X-Force, The Avengers, The Defenders, Spider-Man, the awesome but completely forgotten “Lost Generation” miniseries, and, if this issue is to be taken literally, The frickin’ Micronauts. Last issue, the nextwave five were faced with no fewer than three different evil superteams bent on…

Or – “20 Years In Any Other Medium Might Actually CHANGE Things.” When I was young, a Limited Series was a 4-issue affair. Jack of Hearts, Vision and The Scarlet Witch, Hercules, even the whole frickin’ World of Krypton fit into that 4-issue format without feeling cramped. Not so in the age of Decompression… Naaah, these days, a limited series is 6, or 8, or 12 issues, if not 52 of ’em. Stories take longer now, though roughly the same amount of action ends up taking place. Mostly that’s a good thing, in that conversations and character bits that would…

Or – “Go-Kart Mozart Was Checkin’ Out The Weather Chart Seein’ If It’s Safe Outside…” I tried recently to explain to one of my customers (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Topeka, Kansas. Come buy stuff!) why I enjoy Judd Winick’s work on The Outsiders. As I did, I found myself in that weird position where I had to explain away my PROBLEMS with the current status of the book before I could tell him what was good about it. I’m sure the Germans have a word for the need to justify your enjoyment of something (maybe it’s Hurneyvurneyfarfarghnughen?), but it’s a weird position…

Or – “All The Justice You Love, Now With 47% More Alex Ross!” I find that I annoy people in the comics world when I state some of my beliefs and preferences. I don’t care for Wolverine. I think Batman is as valid as a smiling-squared-jawed-father-figure driving a bubble-topped land yacht as he is a grim avenger of the night. I don’t have any idea what is so compelling about the gang-wars and separatist agendas of the X-Men titles. And I just have no use for Alex Ross any more. Oh, sure, there was a day when I fell slack-jawed…

Or – “How Much Does A Life-Sized Painting Of A Woman COST?” Generally speaking, real people don’t ever worry about something as nebulous as “diversity.” As I travel through the universe, trying to get to the bank on time, working a 55 hour week, balance parenting with acting like a child, and occasionally let loose my million monkeys to type these here reviews, I seldom worry about whether, statistically speaking, women are sufficiently represented in the boardroom. DC has recently made great strides in populating their titles with more than just squared-jawed, dark-haired men in their early thirties, but I…

Or – “Kurt Busiek Rocks, But That Title Is A Mouthful And A Half…” My friend Bruce has been lamenting on the Major Spoilers forums that the comics industry is targeting him, seeking him out, drawing him to their flames like a slightly-drunken moth.  Like Michael Corleone, just when he t’inks he’s out, dey pull him back in!  First Nexus, then Madman, and today I got a (somewhat delayed) new issue of Astro City.  They know you’re out there, Bruce.  And they’re looking…  for your disposable income!  It has, indeed, been a long time since April of 1995, but the awesome splendor…

Or – “Sasha Bordeaux Looks Just Like My Old Boss…” There are some comic books you read because they amaze you… Astonishing X-Men, Invincible, Agents of Atlas, 52 and others fall in this category for me. Some books you read because you want to be impressed the way you had been before… My 20 year involvement with Hellblazer has been like that, up and down, but I always open a Constantine issue with a sense of “Wow, I hope this is as good as before!” Then, some books you just kind of… read. You’ll notice a cool plot point, or…

Or – “Forty Years Ago… Or Perhaps Some Time Last Week, Whichever…” So, foolishly, I didn’t realize when I covered issue 1 that this series is shipping bi-weekly, meaning two issues per month to cover rather than the usual one (or, if you’re reviewing Wonder Woman, the usual apologies and adjusted shipping date…) My enthusiasm for last issue was pretty much unbridled, both in terms of seeing a cool new series and seeing a classic Avengers lineup interacting in today’s more adult terms. There’s more of the same this issue, and the comparison to today’s Avengers makes for an interesting…

Or – “Some Life Experiences Shouldn’t Be Plot Points…” I suppose when I reviewed the last issue of OMAC, (the review, which may have been overly harsh, can be found over here…) I should have been more specific. When I lamented the story and wished that the plot would GO somewhere, I sort of meant somewhere GOOD. Granted, it’s an interesting issue, and it’s not without it’s subtle charms, but, frankly, it feels a little bit like Banky Edwards or Brodie Bruce wrote this issue, without even getting the fun Kevin Smith cursewords. What do I mean by that?