One Perfect Moment, a little too late

[kusonaga.insanejournal.com]

Okay, so after some time lurking, I finally decided to sign up for this shindig again. Some of you might remember me from my Suicide Squad posts back at the old scans_daily. I was really impressed by the One Perfect Moment week a while back, so I wanted to present a Perfect Moment (tm) for the latest Union Jack, Joey Chapman.

Hot off his guest appearance in Captain America, Union Jack got himself a mini and well, it blew me away. Written by Christos N. Gage and drawn by Michael Perkins, here's an excerpt from the second issue.

Scans not by me.

Comments

[greenmask.insanejournal.com]

I keep meaning to buy this! Thanks for reminding me!

[kali921.insanejournal.com]

Oh, man, I posted so much of this mini on S_D 1.0 - I think I was the only person who posted any of it, in fact. I loved the art in particular, and the cast was such an interesting mix - Sabra! Jack! The Contessa! However, Gage's writing was a little stereotypical in places - I remember a few Brits commenting in the comics blog-o-sphere-o-rama that they felt Gage went overboard with what he apparently thinks is contemporary British slang.

Still very readable, though - and anything with the Contessa in it is worth picking up.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

I guess I can blame you for getting me to buy it.

And by Blame, I mean thank ;)

[oddpuppets.insanejournal.com]

Oh GOD yes Gage over-did the British. It felt forced, rather than natural. And the whole 'working class' background was overblown to unbelievably cringe-worthy levels. I loved what I saw of Union Jack in that Invaders mini a bit back so when I saw this I was stoked. However, I was thoroughly disappointed - a terrible let-down, really.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

Eh, I like over the top. Suits comics well.

[oddpuppets.insanejournal.com]

Okay, try this.

Have a Japanese character, name him the Rising Sun or somesuch. Emphasize his samurai roots, making it all honourable and all lonely-warrior and ignoring the sordid history of the samurai, have the character be typically Western-portrayed Japanese hero (stoic, quiet, probably small, but capable of immense violence without even blinking).

What makes this character ANY different from any other Japanese hero in a superhero comic?

The Union Jack story was stereotype upon stereotype that had a B-movie ethos strung throughout.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

I prefer the Alan Moore rout: "There are no bad characters, just bad writers."

But please realize that I watch shitty sci-fi from across the world for fun, right?

And by shitty sci-fi I mean ranging from things from "The Island of Terror" to "Kamen Rider: The First" to "The Giant Claw" and not cringe in terror/cry at the flatness of the character/crappy direction. Each one has its gems in the rough.(Acting and the tense climax in the first, a romatic/tragic subplot in the second and sheer bizzareness in the third).

Besides, put enough Badass into even the lamest, dumbest and most stereotypical of characters and such things are easily glossed over.

Usually.

There's still that Wasabi guy over at Marvel.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

And Hell, if you want Overblown/sterotyping, try Sabra and the Arabian Knight.

[oddpuppets.insanejournal.com]

That's another reason I pretty much loathe the Union Jack mini

Have you ever read the Kamen Rider: Spirits manga? It's on One Manga. It captures everything you talk about. I adore it, but mostly because I am a fan of the artist. And Kamen Rider. The whole concept is wonderfully bizarre.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

I have and love it--though I do need to finish it. I got up to...crap. After seeing a normal guy tie SHOTGUN SHELLS to his FIST and punch a Kaijin--causing the shells to go off in the Kaijin's chest--I lost track of where I was because that was just so AWESOME!

I think I made it up to V3.

[kusonaga.insanejournal.com]

I had no real troubles with the stereotyping, because while the story was otherwise pretty typical, it gave Union Jack and the others (notably the Contessa) a good chance to just show how awesome they can be. What does it matter if Union Jack says 'crikey' a bit too often?