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Khris' Kulture #1 - ALL CAPS
No overarching theme (well, this happens to be all about Captain America, but no promises on next time) or concept here beyond that nagging bug to occasionally "review" stuff I've been into lately, like:
Captain America Omnibus Vol. 1 - I know, it's not like this is new material--looks like Ed Brubaker and Co have almost enough issues under their beltsl now for a second Omnibus. Having read about a third of this not long after it came out, I was itching to get back into the story, and it didn't disappoint. The second reading of the beginnings of this huge story involving maybe the best Red Skull scheme ever, plus the honest-to-goodness return of Cap's WWII sidekick Bucky Barnes, as well as rekindled romance with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter and Marvel's Civil War fallout, this book represents what may very well be the best Cap run of all time. In fact, with the WWII flashbacks, gritty art from Steve Epting and Mike Perkins, and the more mature characterization and plotting suitable to the solider who's seen it all, aside from the old school fun of the Kirby runs and the attempts at relevance from Steve Englehart, there's not much other Cap you need. This volume includes Captain America #1-25 plus the 65th Anniversary Special and the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills one-shot, the former a decent WWII story with some Kirbyesque art and the latter a terrific showcase for the legacy and current relevance of Buck Barnes. There's also some good Marvel Spotlight interview material with Brubaker, an Epting interview, and the Issue #25 "Director's Cut" Brubaker script and commentary. There's very little Brubaker work I haven't enjoyed, but whereas on paper one might have questioned whether he could invest himself as fully to the Red, White and Blue Avenger as he has to his creator-owned work, he shows from the first issue that he has a grand plan, and deep affection, for the characters, which nonetheless doesn't deter him from bringing them into this century. I don't have a tremendous amount of free time but was compelled to read this big book in a couple days. $74.99 USD. Marvel Comics.
Captain America and The Falcon: Nomad TPB - Despite what I wrote above, I spied this paperback in a stack of unread books in my office and started reading it in breaks between day-job stuff today. I still haven't read the heart of Steve Englehart's run on the book, but this trade, collecting ten issues starting just after Captain America hung up his shield, held some curiosity as it covers his brief time as costumed adventurer Nomad, a choice he makes after first alienating his then-partner Falcon and others. Steve Rogers actually takes to a normal life for a while, dating Sharon Carter with regularity, before a disguised Hawkeye (as fake villain The Golden Archer) convinces him he really can't give up the superhero life and that the antidote is to just start up a new identity. Thus, Nomad is born, in a '70s open chested outfit that borders on ridiculous, while at the same time being pretty pedestrian. Hey, it's hard to beat the Captain America attire, or by 1975, to even come close. Englehart's strength, or at least what set him apart in this era, was in a somewhat more realistic approach to the characters and the world around them. Cap gives up being Cap due to an evil conspiracy stemming from The President down, a simplistic metaphor for the malaise the people were in during the Watergate scandal. More realistically, Cap, like the Englehart-written Batman of the late '70s, actually seems to get laid, for all the '40s values with which other writers would saddle him. Englehart's plotting is nothing special, and indeed there are some really questionable coincidences, such as The Falcon being in the perfect place to find Lucifer busting Aries out of prison, seeing Gabe Jones squiring Peggy Carter around town, etc. More questionable are his choices to have Cap try to track down the missing Falcon by looking for Luke Cage, just because Cage is also black, and to have Falcon's girlfriend rip into Cap and then call Falcon an Uncle Tom. I give him credit for introducing Gabe and Peggy as one of the first interracial couples in the Marvel Universe, and suspect it was editorial fiat to not quote show them kiss on the lips. Whether having Falcon fail in his solo outings and gladly fall back into his role as Cap's partner, or to have Falcon--one of the few black superheroes--be revealed as a pawn of the Red Skull, are lamentable choices are up for debate. For that matter, the portrayals of both Peggy and Sharon Carter are perhaps too emotional and it's all too easy to forget these are secret agents who have seen lots of death and should know how to compartmentalize those emotions. All in all, I guess we give Englehart props for at least introducing some issues in these comics, if not quite having the skill and subtlety to deal with them properly. The collection editor, Mark D. Beazley, wisely chooses a couple choice Gil Kane covers for the front and back covers, and with the digital recoloring they add a moodiness and gravity the interior art can't hope to convey. Sal Buscema is never less than competent, but rarely more, Herb Trimpe even more generic, and Frank Robbins anything but, but also a very mixed bag--always dynamic but stylistically off-putting. A mildly diverting, ultimately rather dated series of adventures. In spite of (or perhaps because of), their lack of any attempt at depth or relevance, the collections of Jack Kirby issues (Madbomb, Bicentennial Battles, The Swine) following the Englehart run are much more fun.
Finally, a few words on the new Marvel Universe line of 3.75" action figures from Hasbro. I'm a fan of action figures but as much as I like to look at them, I rarely buy any of the bigger lines. I just can't justify $15 or more on the things, unless it's a special one for my son. The only line I've got a lot of are the 3.75" Justice League Unlimited figures, and even with those I've resisted the big bucks on the hard-to-find ones. But at Target the other day, my kids and I spotted this new Marvel Universe line and I had to get some. Only $7.99 and good designs, along with a little S.H.I.E.L.D. file that contains a facsimile memo about the superpowered character in question and a code to enter online for more information (although much of these files don't appear to be ready to be "declassified" by Nick Fury yet). I think there are seventeen, with Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Stealth Ops Iron Man (blue armor), Hulk, Gray Hulk (almost the same except for different hands, I think), Daredevil, Iron Fist (somewhat unusual choice for a first wave, but looks cool), Black Panther, Punisher, Ronin, Human Torch, Human Torch (Johnny Storm with just his hand aflame), Silver Surfer, Bullseye, Green Goblin and Wolverine (in a gray/black suit, with both a samurai sword and machine gun, for some reason). They're going pretty quickly. The plus side is they all look good for their size and other than a couple quirks like the Wolverine costume and choice of weapons/attachments, there's nothing that will make you say, "that's not how the character looks at all!" The choice for two versions of Iron Man, Hulk and Torch, and the use of more obscure characters like Ronin or Iron Fist instead of seeming front-runners like The Thing, Doctor Doom or Thor suggests Hasbro has big plans for the line, and given the economy, it probably makes sense to go big on the lower-priced figures. My complaint would be that range of movement is pretty limited, moreso than on same-sized lines like Star Wars or G.I. Joe. For instance, Silver Surfer can stand on his board, but he can't squat or sit or do much else. Also, most characters have ineffectual hands; that is, already closed into fists or open enough between thumb and forefinger that they couldn't hold anything if they wanted to. Uh, if YOU wanted them to, I mean. But characters with weapons seem to be okay. The other complaint would be the lack of villain characters so far, but that's a pretty common complaint for a new superhero line. Again, on the plus side, the design is good enough that in looking at the thumbnails online you might mistake some, like the Surfer or Cap, for their larger counterparts. Cap also has a nice shield that not only snaps to his forearm but has elastic straps so it can be worn on his back.
Captain America Omnibus Vol. 1 - I know, it's not like this is new material--looks like Ed Brubaker and Co have almost enough issues under their beltsl now for a second Omnibus. Having read about a third of this not long after it came out, I was itching to get back into the story, and it didn't disappoint. The second reading of the beginnings of this huge story involving maybe the best Red Skull scheme ever, plus the honest-to-goodness return of Cap's WWII sidekick Bucky Barnes, as well as rekindled romance with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter and Marvel's Civil War fallout, this book represents what may very well be the best Cap run of all time. In fact, with the WWII flashbacks, gritty art from Steve Epting and Mike Perkins, and the more mature characterization and plotting suitable to the solider who's seen it all, aside from the old school fun of the Kirby runs and the attempts at relevance from Steve Englehart, there's not much other Cap you need. This volume includes Captain America #1-25 plus the 65th Anniversary Special and the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills one-shot, the former a decent WWII story with some Kirbyesque art and the latter a terrific showcase for the legacy and current relevance of Buck Barnes. There's also some good Marvel Spotlight interview material with Brubaker, an Epting interview, and the Issue #25 "Director's Cut" Brubaker script and commentary. There's very little Brubaker work I haven't enjoyed, but whereas on paper one might have questioned whether he could invest himself as fully to the Red, White and Blue Avenger as he has to his creator-owned work, he shows from the first issue that he has a grand plan, and deep affection, for the characters, which nonetheless doesn't deter him from bringing them into this century. I don't have a tremendous amount of free time but was compelled to read this big book in a couple days. $74.99 USD. Marvel Comics.
Captain America and The Falcon: Nomad TPB - Despite what I wrote above, I spied this paperback in a stack of unread books in my office and started reading it in breaks between day-job stuff today. I still haven't read the heart of Steve Englehart's run on the book, but this trade, collecting ten issues starting just after Captain America hung up his shield, held some curiosity as it covers his brief time as costumed adventurer Nomad, a choice he makes after first alienating his then-partner Falcon and others. Steve Rogers actually takes to a normal life for a while, dating Sharon Carter with regularity, before a disguised Hawkeye (as fake villain The Golden Archer) convinces him he really can't give up the superhero life and that the antidote is to just start up a new identity. Thus, Nomad is born, in a '70s open chested outfit that borders on ridiculous, while at the same time being pretty pedestrian. Hey, it's hard to beat the Captain America attire, or by 1975, to even come close. Englehart's strength, or at least what set him apart in this era, was in a somewhat more realistic approach to the characters and the world around them. Cap gives up being Cap due to an evil conspiracy stemming from The President down, a simplistic metaphor for the malaise the people were in during the Watergate scandal. More realistically, Cap, like the Englehart-written Batman of the late '70s, actually seems to get laid, for all the '40s values with which other writers would saddle him. Englehart's plotting is nothing special, and indeed there are some really questionable coincidences, such as The Falcon being in the perfect place to find Lucifer busting Aries out of prison, seeing Gabe Jones squiring Peggy Carter around town, etc. More questionable are his choices to have Cap try to track down the missing Falcon by looking for Luke Cage, just because Cage is also black, and to have Falcon's girlfriend rip into Cap and then call Falcon an Uncle Tom. I give him credit for introducing Gabe and Peggy as one of the first interracial couples in the Marvel Universe, and suspect it was editorial fiat to not quote show them kiss on the lips. Whether having Falcon fail in his solo outings and gladly fall back into his role as Cap's partner, or to have Falcon--one of the few black superheroes--be revealed as a pawn of the Red Skull, are lamentable choices are up for debate. For that matter, the portrayals of both Peggy and Sharon Carter are perhaps too emotional and it's all too easy to forget these are secret agents who have seen lots of death and should know how to compartmentalize those emotions. All in all, I guess we give Englehart props for at least introducing some issues in these comics, if not quite having the skill and subtlety to deal with them properly. The collection editor, Mark D. Beazley, wisely chooses a couple choice Gil Kane covers for the front and back covers, and with the digital recoloring they add a moodiness and gravity the interior art can't hope to convey. Sal Buscema is never less than competent, but rarely more, Herb Trimpe even more generic, and Frank Robbins anything but, but also a very mixed bag--always dynamic but stylistically off-putting. A mildly diverting, ultimately rather dated series of adventures. In spite of (or perhaps because of), their lack of any attempt at depth or relevance, the collections of Jack Kirby issues (Madbomb, Bicentennial Battles, The Swine) following the Englehart run are much more fun.
Finally, a few words on the new Marvel Universe line of 3.75" action figures from Hasbro. I'm a fan of action figures but as much as I like to look at them, I rarely buy any of the bigger lines. I just can't justify $15 or more on the things, unless it's a special one for my son. The only line I've got a lot of are the 3.75" Justice League Unlimited figures, and even with those I've resisted the big bucks on the hard-to-find ones. But at Target the other day, my kids and I spotted this new Marvel Universe line and I had to get some. Only $7.99 and good designs, along with a little S.H.I.E.L.D. file that contains a facsimile memo about the superpowered character in question and a code to enter online for more information (although much of these files don't appear to be ready to be "declassified" by Nick Fury yet). I think there are seventeen, with Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Stealth Ops Iron Man (blue armor), Hulk, Gray Hulk (almost the same except for different hands, I think), Daredevil, Iron Fist (somewhat unusual choice for a first wave, but looks cool), Black Panther, Punisher, Ronin, Human Torch, Human Torch (Johnny Storm with just his hand aflame), Silver Surfer, Bullseye, Green Goblin and Wolverine (in a gray/black suit, with both a samurai sword and machine gun, for some reason). They're going pretty quickly. The plus side is they all look good for their size and other than a couple quirks like the Wolverine costume and choice of weapons/attachments, there's nothing that will make you say, "that's not how the character looks at all!" The choice for two versions of Iron Man, Hulk and Torch, and the use of more obscure characters like Ronin or Iron Fist instead of seeming front-runners like The Thing, Doctor Doom or Thor suggests Hasbro has big plans for the line, and given the economy, it probably makes sense to go big on the lower-priced figures. My complaint would be that range of movement is pretty limited, moreso than on same-sized lines like Star Wars or G.I. Joe. For instance, Silver Surfer can stand on his board, but he can't squat or sit or do much else. Also, most characters have ineffectual hands; that is, already closed into fists or open enough between thumb and forefinger that they couldn't hold anything if they wanted to. Uh, if YOU wanted them to, I mean. But characters with weapons seem to be okay. The other complaint would be the lack of villain characters so far, but that's a pretty common complaint for a new superhero line. Again, on the plus side, the design is good enough that in looking at the thumbnails online you might mistake some, like the Surfer or Cap, for their larger counterparts. Cap also has a nice shield that not only snaps to his forearm but has elastic straps so it can be worn on his back.
Labels: action figures, Captain America, Ed Brubaker, Falcon, Frank Robbins, Herb Trimpe, Marvel, Marvel Universe, Mike Perkins, Nomad, Red Skull, Sal Buscema, Steve Englehart, Steve Epting
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