Some thoughts on some recent comics

[laughing_tree]

Champions #8, by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos. I think I've come up a with a general rule for modern Waid books: The more he focuses on characterization and the less he focuses on the villain plot, the better the comic will be. By which I mean his skill with the former far exceeds his ability for the latter. Which is weird because when I was first getting into comics, Waid stood out as someone who was really good at creative sci-fantasy plotting (the Julian September story in JLA and Heaven's Ladder are two examples that spring to mind). I don't know whether he's lost that touch or simply choosing not to flex that muscle or what, but I haven't seen it for a good, long while. Anyone else feel this way?

This issue, heavily focused around character interaction as it was -- not even so much as a cameo from any villain -- was a strong one.



Deathstroke #18, by Christopher Priest and Joe Bennett. I'm happy this title was nominated for an Eisner but... also really surprised? With all the hidden agendas on top of hidden agendas, plus the wheels-within-wheels plot mechanics, the book is rewarding in the long term, but I'm not sure how much of that quality is apparent in the shorter? The crazy thing's not even really divided into story arcs (even if it nominally is), just telling one continuous saga that just keeps building and building, without let up. It's a complex, intricate saga about the trouble with violence as a solution and the trouble with families, but it ask for a lot of trust and time investment from the reader. For all the same reasons, I think the book's chances of actually winning the Eisner are really low.

Comments

[q99]

Lesse, Waid's Daredevil was good, when focusing on villain plots or characters

[locuatico]

I think the thing about Waid is that he seems to be of the "Villains as obstacles for the heroes to surpass" school of writing rather than the "villains are the heroes of their own stories" school of writing.

[reveen]

Yeah, to me that's pretty blatant. Especially from how he writes the Freelancers. Which is a pretty big disconnect for me because I see the villains as just as valid and valuable characters capable of carrying stories as the heroes and I don't think we need any more one dimensional cartoon characters than we already have.

[thehood]

But villains are just valid as antagonists though.

[laughing_tree]

That's true, and Waid's on the record as being one of the few writers who finds the heroes more fun to write than the villains. But it's not what I'm talking about. The issue isn't the villain's personalities, it's their schemes. (I actually thought the Freelancers were pretty well characterized, in that despite being monsters they also came off as individuals.)

Actually, 'villain plot' might be a misnomer. I mean the entire action plot. The 'superhero stuff,' so to speak. A lot of it just feels uninspired.

[leoboiko]

Wait, you didn't say "these are not reviews". There's only one possible conclusion… it must mean that, from now on, these are, in fact, reviews?

[laughing_tree]

God, no. It just means I'm getting lazier. :)

[shadowpsykie]

is there a way for these not to be thumbnails?

[laughing_tree]

The thumbs link straight to the images, not to abload's pop-up ad heavy website. Is it especially cumbersome?