This and Zat

First issues of comics series and miniseries are, in my experience, usually pretty easy to review, but unsatisfying, as so much is dependent on what comes later, whether the story comes together. Good writers like Ellis, Bendis, Ennis and the like can usually at least grab you for those first twenty-two pages, even if it's on little more than jokes and attitude and an intriguing revelation. So for the most part, I refrain from spending a lot of time reviewing first issues anymore. However, it's the best chance to grab someone's attention, so from now on, I'll try to offer at least a few lines about a new book as I get them.

Zatanna is the latest miniseries in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers project, this one drawn by Ryan Sook and inked by Mick Gray. Sook has been steadily finding his own, not-so-Mignolaesque style for a while now, and though I haven't been following him regularly on anything, he seems to have moved sufficiently away from it that it's not an issue now. Gray helps a good deal with this, too. Zatanna is, of course, a longtime DC Universe character, a cute sorceress in a tuxedo top and fishnet stockings who says her spells backwards to make them work. Morrison doesn't change as much for her character as he has with Guardian and Shining Knight, but he does make her more interesting than I've seen her in years. Well, ever--I never had any interest in her before now. Morrison is a practicer of magic himself, so he spends a lot of time making Zatanna's magic more serious, showing her and her magician acquaintances traveling through a number of different, sometimes scary, dimensions. Some have complained that Alan Moore's Promethea already covered this turf sufficiently, and maybe so, but when the second-best comics writer is presenting his take on some ideas the best writer has already covered, well, what's the harm? It's still going to be good. Besides, Morrison has a well-established grudge against Moore, and one can see the middle section here as a spoof of the storytelling excesses (brilliant ones, mind you) of Moore's series, if you want to. Hiring the same inker lends some credence to this theory. Also, Morrison seems to perhaps be complimenting himself through Zatanna, as a young fan of hers tells her she admires her ability to discuss magic in a straightforward way, as opposed, one could read, to Moore's take. Anyway, those layers aside, it's a charming, well-drawn book, with some pathos because Zatanna has some long-simmering abandonment issues from her heroic magician father being killed and taken from her--she's seeing a superhero support group because of it! I liked Guardian and Shining Knight better so far, but this is still better than most comics out there.

Also read the first issue of The Popbot Reader. Pleased to see my friend and IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall providing a 30 Days of Night prose backup story here, but I'm a bit confused by the premise of this book. Popbot is not really a hit, is pretty expensive, and publishes sporadically, so I'm not sure who would be looking for a spin-off, and if Ashley Wood's work here causes more delayes in the proper series, I don't see the benefit. It's not a bad book, though $6.99 is too much. What we have are several pages of text and glossy photos of the Popbot statue and how it came to be. Okay. The story, "Funlickers", is drawn by Wood but written this time by Adam Warren, who fits right in with what Wood does on his own. It's a fine story, but short. Then there are numerous pin-ups from good artists, and we're done. I'd rather just have the regular series feature some guest-written backups and pinup art and come out more frequently.

Haven't gotten much writing done, but there will be some time Saturday afternoon and Sunday, before what should be some enjoyable evenings. I at least broke down the nine page middle section of Irregular Joe into what I want to do on each page, so it should be easier to write at a decent clip this weekend. It's getting late but I may go watch a movie, or read some more of Roger Ebert's THE GREAT MOVIES, which I finally got and love. Will probably get the second volume in softcover as well, though.

Without thinking too much about it, I quietly put together enough for a new column, over at www.comicbookgalaxy.com. Many of the books reviewed aren't really new, but there are a couple pretty recent ones, and I thought it all came out okay. Kudos to ADD for not only putting it up, with images, but turning out a handsome new logo within hours of me telling him to call it Breakdowns again. For those who don't know, I did a column by this name at that very site for a couple years, then to Grayhaven for a few months, then at Kevin Smith's Movie Poop Shoot for a year or so as well. I kind of retired it then, doing the occasional column under the heading of "CA Comments", but on the spur of the moment the other day I decided I hated that name and that Breakdowns should return. Especially since, with the intro and long commentary at the end of this one, this really was like a column and not merely the handful of reviews I had been doing. No promises that this will be any more regular, but I'll give it a shot. Also thanks to ADD for suggesting I revise my commentary, as it was way to snarky and hostile initially--to DC but also to some individuals that didn't deserve such treatment. ADD can go off himself at times, but thankfully he had a better perspective than I at the time, and the commentary--wholly rewritten--is much better as a result.