Make Mine Marvel! (it's amazing but it's true :)

This was such a fun week for superhero comics that I couldn't resist writing up a few words about them. Let's go over the Marvel batch first.

The weakest of that bunch would be Young Avengers/Runaways #3. I buy the regular series of both teams so I was hoping for something nice here, despite the idiocy that is Civil War, but I have to admit I'm feeling kind of suckered. The art by Caselli is not bad per se but decidedly strange-looking for either the Young Avengers or the Runaways, and the plot has me rolling my eyes, as it's yet another nail in the coffin of Tony Stark (without him even appearing in the issue, but if he doesn't know there's an insane-o warden torturing superheroes in his prison, then how off the mark is he exactly?) The less said of the mauling of Morrison's Marvel Boy, the better. I'm counting my blessings this is only 4 issues and not 6. As it is, I'm going to get the final issue, but if this had been a midway point, I would've dropped it like a hot potato. Yes, there have been a couple of cute moments here and there in these past 3 issues, but overall it's been a big dud.

Next up is X-Men #191, which is part 4 of Mike Carey's "Supernovas" arc. The titular Supernovas appear to be a better thought out version of Claremont's Neo from several years ago, but there's a shakiness to the concept which is making me less enthused about the concluding two parts. This might be in part due to the art, as Clayton Henry, the apparent fill-in artist of choice for the X-Office currently, does a serviceable job, but never reaches the stylish etherealness of Bachalo at his best. I then have to wonder whether it would've been better if the book had been late, waiting for Bachalo and his inkers to finish the chapter. It's going to look odd in the collected edition, that's for sure. It remains one of the better X-stories I've read in a long time though, and for that, I am grateful.

Now we're getting to the really good stuff. Over in She-Hulk #12, Dan Slott and Rick Burchett dress up Jen all purty because apparently the Living Tribunal enjoys it when his representatives look hot in an ancient Greek kind of way ;) The various subplots at the lawyer firm are ticking along nicely and there's a big reveal at the end which shows remarkable insight in the characters of both Starfox and Thanos. It's so cleverly obvious that you have to wonder why someone never thought of it before. Highly recommended, making me yearn for the arrival of the first two trade paperbacks when my lady love returns this winter. Something worth mentioning is that this issue had printing problems similar to last week's issue of 52, where several of the pages appear to have been "double-pressed" or something, because the lines and words were a lot thicker. Did I just get a bad print both times or do printers no longer proof their books first?

Saving the best for last, two books sticking out head and shoulders above anything else Marvel (or DC) had to offer this week, both written by the scribe supreme, Ed Brubaker: Captain America #22 and Daredevil #89. Brubaker manages the impossible not once, but twice: his CW tie-in makes me enjoy the plot about a million times more than its main architects (JMS and Mark Millar) have been able to do, and he makes the Matador look like a kick-ass villain. Let me repeat that: the Matador kicks ass! Yes, I'm as surprised as you are :p

Ed Brubaker is truly a lucky man, getting to work with artists like Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano and Mike Perkins (and Steve Epting, usually, but he's taking a break again for 3 issues, I believe). Lark's storytelling flows so beautifully, I can flip through the pages of Daredevil over and over again, adoring the way he lays out his pages, the way his characters move, it's fantastic. He is ably assisted by Gaudiano, pencils and inks meshing into a rich, fulfilling storyboard, particularly during the scene involving the Matador. Even colorist Matt Hollingsworth deserves a stand-out credit, adding to the superhero-noir feel Brubaker is aiming for. Daredevil has rarely been better.

Captain America, meanwhile, features a story of love and devotion, evil and corruption. Brubaker fleshes out the relationship between Sharon Carter and Cap some more, leading us to believe she would actually betray him, keeping the audience on its toes. Moreover, he presents the entire debate concerning the Superhero Registration Act in an impassioned but reasonable manner, without making either side look like stubborn fools. I was dreading this tie-in arc to the lamest crossover event Marvel's come up with since Onslaught, but between the writing and the purty (if more posed than Lark's) art, not to mention the excellent cliffhanger revelation, I am hooked for the next issue.

DC's offerings were no less enjoyable, but there were less Marvels, so they got to go first ;)

The Sequoia-Files

I promised Sequoia I'd pimp her X-Files reviews once I finally wrote a little something myself again. So it was high time that I did write something because these few reviews of old classic the X-Files are pure dynamite so far!

You can find them at http://www.sevensparrows.net/x-files/thexfiles.html and I hope there will be many more, especially because she writes circles around me with the greatest of ease ;) Her passion for the show seems unequaled, so if you've ever been a fan of the X-Files, as she and I have been from the start until they ruined it all, give her reviews a look and bask in the glories of old!

I cannot believe it's been 13 years since the series first started. That's almost half my lifetime ago! Talk about tempus fidgeting!

Office Rules

The Office is back (and I with it, from a highly enjoyable vacation period), after a lovely cliffhanger moment last season, which has changed everything while keeping many if not most things the same.

After almost 30 episodes of hilarity, the Office has one certain rule:

"Be as awkward as possible."

And with a manager like Michael, it seems like there's no limit to the over-the-top awkwardness he can bring to the table. It seems physically impossible to explode with laughter from the gut while cringing so hard that it feels you're trying to hide in your own intestines, but the writing and acting (and directing!) crew of this fantastic series seem to manage it over and over again. You have to see it for yourself to believe it.

I do have to wonder if the series can be as funny for newcomers as it is for those who've been watching since the beginning though. Thanks to the antics that have gone before, a certain rapport with and fondness for the various office employees has been created which enables the loyal viewer to appreciate the revelations and reveilles in this season opener more than someone who's tuning in for the first time. Nonetheless, even when taken as an entity completely on its own, there are bound to be several guffaws expelled by even the most self-controlling members of the audience.

What strikes me as interesting is that the (bleaker and meaner) British series which spawned this American offshoot only lasted a very short (yet widely hailed as classic) 2 seasons, around 13 episodes total, while this version is getting a lot more mileage out og the potential the characters are blessed with. I am sure we have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to "background" characters (compared to the way Michael, Jim, Pam and Dwight are in the foreground, at least) like Stanley, Kelly, Meredith, Phillys, Creed, and so on. Through every laughter-filled moment, these characters become real people far more than one-note gags and jokes.

I would never have thought, for instance, that I could come to care about Angela as much as I do. She is not at all the type of person I'd enjoy spending my time with, but it's little things like her apology to Kevin for being mean (because she doesn't mean to be) in the excellent webisodes on the Office website that make her an interesting and multi-faceted character. Of course her office fling with Dwight has propelled her into the spotlights, but she is defined by far more than that. Every single member of the cast is part of a greater whole, and together they are able to be more than the sum of their individual parts.

I am greatly impressed that the show isn't running out of steam yet and hope to see much more mayhem to come! The storyline involving Jim and Pam, for instance, is about as perfectly construed as can be for prolonged viewer "torture": make the audience want them to be together as much as they themselves want it, but keep yanking our collective chains. Will interest remain if these two ever wind up together? I personally am hooked on far more than just the two of them, but I do think a large percentage of the audience is intrigued by the soap opera aspect of the show involving them. For me Dwight and Angela are the couple to watch though: two misfits who have a genuinely sweet vibe going on between them. Acting at its best.

If you haven't watched the Office before, I implore you to give it a go. Alongside Arrested Development, it is one of the finest comedy series to ever appear on American (or European, but we don't get it yet, so long live the internet!) television. And I like a LOT of comedy series ;)

There, I finally wrote something again, I hope my honey is happy :p

(I know I am!)