Art Becko

Over the past few months I’ve developed a profound respect for Fox News’ Glenn Beck. Lately the stream of consciousness-esque meltdowns on his show have been captivating both in their stunning originality and their complete rejection of reality. Like any fun-loving anarchist, I subscribe to the belief that destruction is also a form of creation. This conviction has led to the realization that Beck himself is actually a performance artist; he’s presenting the viewer with an unflinching glimpse into the hyperbolic tsunami of Right-Wing schizophrenia that is Glenn Beck, in what we can only hope will be five acts.

Act I was the launch of “Project 9/12” and Beck’s sudden thick-voiced mancrying jag that dispersed as suddenly as it appeared. Act II was the racist accusation heard ‘round the world. Act III saw Beck (hereafter refered to as “Maestro”) dousing an intern with water from a gas can and threatening to light him ablaze (and also seemingly sending the intern into hypothermic shock). We are now in Act IV of what will surely be remembered in Humanities textbooks for generations to come as “NeoCon: Deconstructed.” Highlights so far include uncovering the secret far-left “OLIGARHY,” and last night’s revelation that Leftist propaganda cleverly disguised as art has been haphazardly strewn about the Rockefeller Center for decades… and we’ve never even noticed it!

This latest topic is fascinating. The only problem is that if you’re not familiar with actual reality and context of the art mentioned in, around, and not even close to Rockefeller Center, you might not fully grasp the genius of this piece. But before we go into that, let me just be clear on my intent here; I am in no way attempting to correct or criticize the Maestro’s stunning piece. I am absolutely not worthy of such a daunting endeavor. My intent here is merely to provide the reader with a “cheat sheet” of sorts, a brief dash of reality and context meant to enhance the beauty of the Maestro’s madness.

First off, here’s a video of the segment in question:



Maestro has established that Rockefeller (although he's not sure which one) was a capitalist, but that the actual center is full of Pinko-Commie-Fascist “artistic” depictions. He began his in-depth analysis with a look at the main entrance to One Rockefeller Plaza, an intaglio carving called “Industry and Agriculture,” created in 1937 by Carl Paul Jennewein.

According to the Rockefeller Center Web site, the carvings represent “the commercial activities of industry and agriculture, depicting universal activities, not individuals. One figure holds a shovel [not a hammer], symbolizing industry, while the other holds a scythe and gestures to shafts of wheat, representing the harvest, or agriculture. It is a straightforward interpretation of workers and their work, a common Art Deco theme. The figures are strong and idealized, signifying the roots of prosperity in America and promoting its work ethic.”

Next up is “Youth Leading Industry,” a 1936 bas-relief created by renown sculptor Antilio Piccirilli. This isn't all Piccirilli’s know for, either; he and his family carved the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Monument.

Maestro’s pretty dead-on with this one. I will say though that it was actually Piccirilli’s nephew, not his son, that was killed in WWII. But other than that, yeah. This is a relief of a fascist ideal, and most scholars agree that Piccirilli depicted Mussolini holding the reins. But is it Progressive, as Maestro says? ‘Fraid not. Here’s what The Daily Kos’ CatM had to say about it: “Mussolini's fascism was anticommunist and antisocialist. Mussolini described socialism ‘as a doctrine that was already dead.’ It fostered nationalist sentiments, opposed democracy, protected the class system, promoted militarization of a nation, and opposed free press and trade unions. The ‘Third Way’ fascists thought of themselves as combating liberal institutions.  Does this sound progressive? Further, it illustrates that you cannot simultaneously be communist and fascist.”

“Swords Into Plowshares,” a gray and gold relief by Lee Lawrie, was third.

According to the Rockefeller Center’s Web site again, this piece is one of three Lawrie made as an “appeal for world peace.” And while Maestro does indeed mention the name “ISAIH,” he moves on before exploring the significance of “ISAIH II IV.” Specifically, the Biblical significance:

Isaiah 2:4 (New International Version)

He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

Also, the statue Maestro compares “Swords and Plowshares” to didn’t show up until almost forty years later. It was a gift to the United Nations, in hopes that the United Nations would indeed ensure that nation would not take up sword against nation ever again.

And for the coup de grace, Maestro rallied against Diego Rivera’s infamous mural, “Man at the Crossroads.”

It’s true that the mural was commissioned by (Nelson) Rockefeller to be in the lobby of 30 Rock. But when it was first created, it didn’t actually have a lot of the stuff Maestro mentioned. No Rockefeller by the STD. No Leon Trotsky, no Karl Marx. Controversy reportedly arose when Rivera added Lenin and the communists into the mural. When Rockefeller saw this, he flipped out and ordered Rivera to change the mural. Rivera refused and Rockefeller had the mural hidden and eventually destroyed. The extras that Maestro referred to didn’t actually show up until Rivera recreated the mural in Mexico City. The picture of the mural that the Maestro is analyzing was never a part of Rockefeller Center, it was a recreation.

So what’s the one common denominator that irrefutably and invisibly links Rockefeller propaganda to the Leftist/Communist/Socialist/Pinko/Free-Love/Eldercide/Nazi/STD-ridden/Indoctrinating Democratic party? Why, Van Jones, of course. Magic.

Act IV is turning out to be absolutely incredible, folks. Beyond my wildest expectations. Keep tuned in to see history in the making. Because once all the sponsors disappear, Act V is inevitably soon to follow. I’m envisioning a fatal hunger strike in the beginning, and Rupert Murdoch commissioning a 200-foot memorial statue of the Maestro copulating with a Holstein cow placed atop Mount Rushmore to wrap things up. It should be glorious.

Why I love NPR

RNC chair Michael Steele went on NPR last week to discuss the evils of a government-dictated health system. He was promptly made a fool of in less than ten minutes by NPR's Steve Inkeep. Here are a couple of my favorite moments from the interview:

INSKEEP: [Regarding Medicare] It's going to run out of money.

Mr. STEELE: Exactly.

INSKEEP: But you're coming here against reducing the spending on Medicare, restraining Medicare.

Mr. STEELE: No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not coming out against reducing the spending. That is not - I mean, that's a wonderful interpretation by the left, but what I was saying was don't go raiding the program without some sense of what we're taking from the program, the impact it's going to have on the senior citizens out there. You know, raiding a program that's already bankrupt to pay for another program that we can't afford is not good public policy.
INSKEEP: So you would be in favor of certain Medicare cuts?
Mr. STEELE: Absolutely. You want to maximize the efficiencies of the program. I mean, anyone who's in the program would want you to do that, and certainly those who manage it want you to that.
INSKEEP: Here's another thing that I'm trying to figure out: Within a couple of paragraphs of writing we need to protect Medicare, you write that you oppose President Obama's, quote, plan for a government-run health care system.
Mr. STEELE: Mm-hmm.
INSKEEP: Now you're a veteran public policy official. You're aware that Medicare is a government-run health care program.
Mr. STEELE: Yeah, look how it's run. And that's my point. Take Medicare and make it writ large across the country, because here we're now - how many times have we been to the precipice of bankruptcy for a government-run health care program?
INSKEEP: It sounds like you don't like Medicare very much at all...
Mr. STEELE: No, I'm not saying that. No, Medicare...
INSKEEP: ...but you write in this op-ed that you want to protect Medicare because it's politically popular. People like Medicare.
Mr. STEELE: No, no, no, no, no. Please, don't...
INSKEEP: That's why you're writing to protect Medicare.
Mr. STEELE: Well, people may like Medicare, and liking a program and having it run efficiently is sometimes two different things. And the reality of it is simply this: I'm not saying I like or dislike Medicare. It is what it is. It is a program that has been around for over 40 years, and in those 40 years, it has not been run efficiently and well enough to sustain itself. You have Medicare. You have Amtrak. You have the Post Office - all these government-run agencies that try to inject themselves into private markets typically don't do too well. My only point is that, okay, Medicare is what it is. It's not going anywhere. So let's focus on fixing it so that we don't every three, five, 10 years have discussions about bankruptcy and running out of money.
INSKEEP: I'm still having a little trouble with the notion that you're going to write that you're going to protect Medicare, that you're going to preserve this program to make sure that this government-run health care system stays solid in the long term...
Mr. STEELE: Let's get it to run right.
INSKEEP: ...and yet you are opposing, quote, government-run health care.
Mr. STEELE: Exactly. Well, wait a minute. Just because, you know, I want to protect something that's already in place and make it run better and run efficiently for the senior citizens that are in that system does not mean that I want to automatically support, you know, nationalizing or creating a similar system for everybody else in the country who currently isn't on Medicare.



Mr. STEELE:  My point is, you know, if the government's going to do, it's going to do it 10 times worse and it's going to be more pronounced than the private insurers. And I don't - I think that's a feature we can fix right now. And sure, there are issues in the insurance market that we can regulate a little bit better and that we can control better to maximize the benefits to the consumers. That's something that, yeah, we can rightly reform and fix. If the...
INSKEEP: Wait a minute, wait, wait. You would trust the government to look into that?
Mr. STEELE: No. I'm talking about the - I'm talking about private - I'm talking about...
INSKEEP: Who is...
Mr. STEELE: ...citizens. I'm talking about...
INSKEEP: You said that's something that should be looked into. Who is it that should look into that?
Mr. STEELE: I'm talking about those who - well, who regulates the insurance markets?
INSKEEP: That would be the government, I believe.
Mr. STEELE: Well, and so it - wait a minute, hold up. You know, you're doing a wonderful little dance here and you're trying to be cute, but the reality of this is very simple. I'm not saying the government doesn't have a role to play. I've never said that. The government does have a role to play. The government has a very limited role to play.
INSKEEP: Mr. Chairman, I respect that you feel that I'm doing a dance here. I just want you to know that as a citizen, I'm a little confused by the positions you take because you're giving me a very nice nuanced position here.


The full transcript of the conversation, as well as the audio version, can be found here.  This is a perfect example of what happens when you get a Republican talking about health care reform and they stray outside the prescribed soundbytes and misnomers.  They fall apart and become contradictory.  This is why there's precious little acutal debate coming from the Right.  Instead they make shit up about death panels, death books, secret nazi schemes and whatever else sounds shocking and threatening to the unenlightened masses.

"Advanced Common Sense" Episode Four

So, yeah.  I worked a ten-hour shift today.  That's a lot of flowers.  I don't really feel like writing anything at all, but nonetheless, I am committed.  So here's the latest episode of "Advanced Common Sense," hosted by comic book guru Tucker Stone.  It's better than the last episode, but still not quite as good as episode two.

Ehh, whaddayagon'do.  Enjoy.



By the way, the video doesn't seem to be centered within the box. You may have to click the video again and watch it on youtube to see it with the right side in its proper place. Sorry about that, I'm still trying to figure out some of the bells and whistles.

30 posts in 30 days

What's the best way to get off your lazy ass and write?

Beats me.  But I'm gonna try setting really high goals this month and then attempt to guilt myself into following up.  So, here's the deal:

One post per day, for thirty days.  I won't bother choking this  commitment down with rules and whatnot.  No manditory length, content or multimedia filler.  If I feel like writing two thousand words about Sally Kern or Batman, great.  If I just want to post a picture I took and maybe type a line or two afterwards, that's fine too.  Just as long as something shows up on the blog for thirty consecutive days.

Piece of cake, right?

Oh, and this entry doesn't even count for today.  Yeah.  That's how badass I am today.

Make Mine Mar--err... Disney?

Oh hey, look! It’s my blog!

Sorry for the hiatus of late, I just haven’t had the willpower to write more than the occasional facebook comment or maybe a topic or two on the new Ada forum, freshly arisen from the ashes of the AEN’s former Hey Martha community message board. I’ve been meaning to jump back on but just haven’t found the right motivating factor. If only something really big could happen, I thought. Some crazy occurrence that catches everyone off guard, like a giant robot being elected prime minister in Japan, a certain beleaguered GOP governor admitting to another extramarital affair with certain notorious lady moose hunter, or the acquisition of the largest comic book publisher in the U.S. by one of the biggest corporate behemoths in the world.

Cue inspiration. This morning Disney announced that it would be purchasing Marvel Entertainment in its entirety for a whopping $4 billion.

Jumpin’ Jeebus. This is huge. It’s easily the biggest news in the comics industry over the past decade. The House of Mouse will soon own the House of Ideas, the Bullpen, the film studios, and everything else even remotely associated with the Mighy Marvel brand.

Reaction to this news has been understandably mixed. Speculation popped up almost immediately, questioning how Disney’s ownership would affect Marvel’s creative process, if Disney characters would suddenly find themselves a part of the Marvel Universe (my favorite quote about the Disney/Marvel crosspollination came from my friend Sam: “If Donald Duck shows up in an issue of X-Men, I quit life.”), what would become of Marvel’s wildly successful film endeavors, and so on.

CBR has an updated version of the story now which covered a conference call made between Disney and its investors shortly after the Marvel news was announced. They have a bulleted list of some of the discussed issues, many of which were of particular interest to Marvel fans. Here are a handful of talking points directly from the article which I found particularly interesting:

-- Existing licensing and distribution deals should remain where they are.

-- Disney executives went to great lengths during the call to make the point that they don’t pretend to be more expert than Marvel is in handling their characters, citing the hands-off relationship Disney has had with Pixar since the acquisition of that studio. Disney said Marvel manages the properties from a business perspective very intelligently and trusts them to make the right decisions for these products for a long time to come.

-- Again, referencing the Pixar deal, Disney finds working as one company with Marvel removes friction and creates value that’s very compelling. Licensing offers very attractive opportunities, but nothing is better than being one. International expansion of Marvel properties through Disney was cited as a potential growth area.

--Cable channel Disney XD is currently running about 20 hours a week of Marvel content and Disney has been looking to license more Marvel content and this deal gives them that opportunity as well as the opportunity to expose these characters internationally.

--With regards to video game publishing, Disney praised Marvel’s licensing agreements with some of the best video game producers and publishers in the business and said moving forward they will consider what’s best for each individual property as each licensing deal comes up for renewal and that there would likely be a blend of licensed and self-produced/self-distributed titles.

--With respect to Paramount’s distribution deal with Marvel and the Iron Man franchise, Disney has every intention to respect the deal that’s in place, but noted that it’s in their best interest, overtime, to become the sole distributor of Marvel films.

--When asked if there was potential for cross-pollination between Marvel and Pixar, Disney said that Pixar’s John Lasseter has met with key Marvel creative executives recently and the group got “pretty excited, very fast.” Disney will look at all opportunities and thinks there are some exciting product that could come from this sort of partnership.

--Disney said this deal is expected to benefit Marvel’s retail efforts, being able to leverage Disney’s shelf space and relationships with major chains and distributors.

(There are a lot of other really interesting points mentioned in the article, I recommend it.)

At first glance, this looks to be a great deal for Marvel. If Disney does what it says, it’ll pretty much be a silent owner of Marvel like it is with Pixar, allowing the company to do its thing while giving it access to much more retail exposure. Existing film licensing deals will also be honored, so it looks like Marvel will retain their in-house production philosophy for the foreseeable future. And Marvel characters/property could even find its way onto the Happiest Place on Earth.

The only thing that I’m concerned with is what (if any) control Disney will have regarding Marvel’s content. Will the family-friendly corporate giant allow Marvel to continue publishing its adult-only MAX line? Will they look the other way when writer Peter David has two more well-established male superheroes locking lips? Will the House of Mouse strong-arm Marvel into establishing a more child-friendly worldview, alienating longtime readers? Will this mean a return of the dreaded Comics Code, or some other form of ridiculous censorship? Will there be tween musicals featuring Miley Cyrus as Kitty Pryde? These are the questions that will keep us fanboys gravely attentive as the situation progresses.

New "Advanced Common Sense!"

Today is a good day. The latest installment of Advanced Common Sense is up. Rejoice!

Comics I've read over the past two weeks (but not counting this week)

[Insert excuse about why it seems to take so long to get these damned things written here.]

Here's a look at the titles I've read which came out on June 24th and July 1st:

Secret Warriors #5
For a book that’s so different from “Agents of Atlas,” this one actually has quite a bit in common with it. Both books were launched in the wake of the less-than-stellar conclusion of Bendis’ “Secret Invasion.” Both are team books, featuring characters that, while new to the reader, are actually well-woven into the fabric of Marvel Universe continuity. And both are built around or feature large corporate entities in the MU.
But While the Agents of Atlas are high-profile characters masquerading as bad guys, Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors (AKA the new Howling Commandos, a much better team name in my opinion) stick to the shadows. This is a young, powerful, wholly inexperienced team of “caterpillars” spurred on by a grumpy old bastard with an eye-patch, attempting to take on one of (if not THE) biggest criminal syndicates in Marveldom. And where Jimmy Woo’s agents are essentially old pros running an elaborate con for the greater good, Fury’s Secret Warriors are a military unit, fighting battles that will never make it into the pages of the Daily Bugle. This is definitely an appealing aspect to this title. While the characters are interesting and compelling, they’re also much more expendable than, say, the Avengers or the Mighty Avengers. Like Kyle and Yost’s New X-Men or Wein and later Claremont’s X-Men of the 70s and 80s, any one of the characters within “Secret Warriors” could get their ticket punched at any minute. That element of suspense just isn’t possible to a certain extent with the big-name books. Wolverine’s always gonna be the best he is at blah blah blah. Spider-Man’s always gonna just barely manage to get out of a tricky situation. The powers that be won’t kill off a major character without a serious golden parachute (a la Cap or Hawkeye). But these guys, these new kids in the Marvel U, are all fair game.
And it doesn’t hurt that this book is co-written by Bendis and Hickman, two of the better comic book writers at any company.

Avengers: The Initiative # 25
Not a lot of good stuff to say about this issue, but not a lot of bad stuff either. This issue continues the ongoing theme that “Initiative” has found itself immersed in lately; that of mediocrity.
Not that there weren’t some fun bits. The revelation that Tigra’s apparently got a bun in the oven thanks to an over-enthusiastic Skrull agent impersonating Hank Pym a few months back was fun. And the dozen or so former members of the Initiative who put the “Original” New Warriors band back together decided to change their name to the Avengers Resistance in response to Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R.’s hostile takeover of the Initiative program. Oh, and Taskmaster’s back to being a supervillian again, which is awesome.
But I really don’t care about fucking MVP and the Spider-Clones. Or Gauntlet. Let’s just sweep all that shit under the rug and move on.

Detective Comics #854
This one looks like the sleeper hit in this week’s pile o’ comics. I bought this title rather reluctantly, not expecting anything good to come of it. “Detective” is, after all, no longer featuring stories about Batman. Instead the title’s been handed over to the “new” Batwoman, a character I’ve been less than enthused about since her reconned return in “52” a few years ago. I was expecting bad things from this title.
Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong. “Detective” #854 is definitely one of those times. The art in this issue is AMAZING. I would wholeheartedly recommend this issue to anyone just on the basis of the art. J.H. Williams has outdone himself. Every page layout, every picture was uniquely tailored to fit the tone writer Greg Rucka wanted to set. The story’s solid as well, doing as much as introductory issues can. Rucka gives us a first real look at Batwoman’s alter ego Kate Kane, as well as her supporting cast.
It’s also worth mentioning that the new Batwoman is a lesbian. This is a big step for DC, and Batwoman is their first big character I can think of (beyond her ex, Renne Montoya, the new Question) to come out of the closet. They’re a little bit late on this, but I applaud the gesture.
Ironically, I just read a bit ago that the character of Katherine Kane was originally created in the 1950s to act as Batman’s love interest, after the comic book witch-hunt called Seduction of the Innocent claimed that Batman was a gay pedophile. They brought Kathy Kane in so that there’d be no doubt that Batman was all man. Go figure.

Green Lantern #42
This was an interesting, albeit abrupt, ending to “Agent Orange.” Hal kind of accidentally figures out how to use the Blue Lantern (hope) ring he’d been saddled with for the past few issues, and the Guardians manage to strike up another uneasy truce with Larfleeze, the comical wielder of the Orange Lantern (avarice).
Everything’s pretty well wrapped up here, with a sudden conclusion that didn’t really seem to fit the overall pace and build-up of the “Agent Orange” storyline. But on the other hand, this issue showed just how devious and shady the Guardians can actually be, as evidenced by their secret negotiations with Larfleeze and subsequent betrayal of one of their own.
Next month, no more excuses. No more build-up. “Darkest Night” will finally be here. For better or worse.

New Avengers #54
Well, it’s official. There’s a new Sorcerer Supreme in town. I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I’m really sorry to see Stephen Strange step out of the spotlight. He’s a great character, one of the most undervalued ones in Marvel’s lineup. Stripping him of the Sorcerer Supreme title seems a little like the end of a really cool era. It’s like saying Gambit doesn’t get to wear a trench coat and throw cards around any more.
On the other hand, the show must go on. I’m a big fan of generational continuity, which is something Marvel’s only lately taken a real stab at. To paraphrase Bill Watterson, if nothing ever ended, how would we ever know if anything was good? I’m really enthused about Bendis’ choice for the new Sorcerer Supreme (I won’t say who yet, just in case there’s anyone who hasn’t read the past couple of issues), hopefully this character will find a permanent position on the team. Also, this issue finally dealt with the Hood’s Spawn-like problem of eventually burning out as he got too powerful. He’s got a new power source now, complete with interesting new strings attached. Nicely done.

Thor #602
The Asgardians get comfortable in their new homeland (Doom’s Latveria), Thor uses what’s left of the Odin Force to rebuild his hammer, and Sif is finally found in the nick of time. Meanwhile Baulder struggles with the idea of being guests of a despot, and the mortal William and goddess Kelda push back against those who think Bill’s not a worth suitor.
Oh, and Loki’s a guy again. This kind of took me by surprise, but it makes sense now that I think about it. With Sif successfully called back into the Midgard world, Loki got booted out of her shell. One thing I don’t really get though is that the rest of the Asgardians don’t even blink an eye when they see the male Loki again. He’s been visible to them only as a woman since Thor accidentally called him back. Why aren’t the Asgardians weirded out by his sudden remasculization? And now that Sif’s back, how much does she know about Loki’s machinations? God I love this title.
So imagine my dismay to learn that writer J. Michael Straczynski will be leaving the title he’s successfully literally lifted out of the ashes of Ragnarok as of September. This really, really sucks. JMS’s run on Thor has been consistently the best Thor run I’ve ever read. Hopefully it’ll be a great ending. I don’t envy the writer who’ll be taking over on the title after JMS leaves, either. He’s gonna have some big leather war boots to fill.

Incredible Hercules #130
Kind of a slow issue here. Amadeus Cho breaks off from the underworld trial of Zeus to go look for his dead parents, but finds one of the only Marvel characters that died and actually stayed dead instead (knock on wood). Herc tries to explain that his dad’s really not so bad in the grand scheme of things, but kind of only makes things worse. And Zeus tries to pull a Nixon in his defense. Seriously, he literally says “Because you won’t have God to kick around any more!” Which makes sense. Zeus is written as a douche here, acting much like I assume Tricky Dick would have, had he only been the omnipotent ruler of Olympus. Oh, and apparently Herc has an undead doppelganger in Hades (or something). A fun issue overall, but not quite as much fun as this title normally is.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1
The X-Men are a lot like the mafia; just when you think you’re done reading them, they pull you back in. I dropped almost all of my X-related titles (the exception being “Wolverine”) when Kristen and I moved to Bellingham. My favorite part about the X-Men books was discussing and reminiscing about them with my friend and former coworker Sam; after moving halfway across the country, I didn’t really have the heart to keep picking up X-titles that weren’t really doing anything for me. In all fairness, Mike Carey’s “X-Men: Legacy” was a decent book, but there’s only so much I can read about Professor Xavier without going bald myself.
I picked up “Utopia” more out of a reluctant sense of duty than for any other reason. After all, this was a Dark Avengers crossover, so if I wanted the next two issues of “Dark Avengers” to make any sense, I kind of have to pick up the rest of the “Utopia” storyline. Also, I confess I’m interested to see what kind of team the so-called “Dark X-Men” will look like. And Silvestri did the art for this opening issue, so I figured what the hell, I’ll pick it up.
In hindsight, that may have been a mistake. Anti-mutant fundamentalists. An accidental mutant/human riot. Beast getting the shit kicked out of him. White Queen trying on a new outfit. Xavier apparently kidnapped and forced to do something he doesn’t want to. This is just a sampling of the overused clichés and predictable twists this issue is literally stuffed with. So basically, the opening issue of “Utopia” sucked. I’ll probably still pick up the rest of the series, just to see how this trainwreck ends. And I’m still morbidly curious to see what the Dark X-Men team will look like (Namor’s technically a mutant…). But damn. This issue sucked.

X-Factor #45
AAIGHHH!! What the hell, man!?!? Ugh! I don’t care about the gay stuff, but I grew up reading these guys!! Are you TRYING to put me into counseling here, Peter David?!? Enough. Time for a shower, Crying Game style. Gah! Moving on!







Dark Avengers #6
It always bugs me when an image on a comic book’s cover has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on inside the pages. I’m talking about the cover of this issue, specifically, which depicts a showdown of sorts between Venom and a fleeing Marvel Boy. Marvel Boy didn’t even show up once in this issue. Venom had only the briefest of cameos. Fail.
Aside from what didn’t happen, though, a lot did go on in this issue. Atlantean terror cells, Cabal meetings, missing alien teammates, you name it. But the underlying focus on this issue seemed to be how Norman Osborn’s only barely managing to keep his shit together. He’s the Director of National Security within the U.S. He’s in charge of H.A.M.M.E.R., his own personal international Gestapo. He’s the chairman of an international cabal of notorious shady characters. He’s the Iron Patriot, the leader of the (Dark) Avengers.
But he’s also a heavily-medicated, mentally unbalanced guy trying to suppress a whole big chunk of green, pumpkin-bomb-throwing, glider-riding, Spider-Man-hating, craziness. And he’s stretched WAY too thin to do it effectively. Good stuff.

Greek Street #1
Well, at least it was only a buck. And, as Neil the comic book shop guy pointed out, there are boobs on the first page, so that makes it automatically worth a dollar.
This issue was literally all over the place. Everyone has a name vaguely similar to a figure from ancient Greek myth. Some of the myth motifs are showing up. The concept of this issue, a modern-day retelling of Greek myths and whatnot, is interesting. But writer Peter Milligan seems hell-bent on telling them all at the exact same time. I have absolutely no idea of what I read, everything was just shmooshed together haphazardly. I’ll probably stick with this title a little while just in case it manages to untangle itself, but thus far, “Greek Street” has been a disappointment. Too bad, I had high hopes for this book.

Green Lantern Corps #38
Hopefully somebody kept the receipt for the giant green lantern shell thingy, it must have set the Guardians back some serious dough. Well, the riots are over. And the Guardians, in another act that makes me question their moral compass (see the latest “Green Lantern” for the prior shady act), take a pretty extreme step in ensuring that more riots won’t happen. Meanwhile, the Daxamites utilize their newfound badassery to expel the invading Yellow Lanterns from Daxam. I gotta say, the idea was cool but the action didn’t actually ever happen. In the prior issue, the remaining Green Lantern was talking about going underground to train a resistance. Suddenly, in this issue, the Yellow Lanterns are routed. What the hell?

The Sword #18
The last of the three element-controlling bastard children of (a) God has confronted Darah, but in a way I really didn’t see coming. Instead of trying to beat Darah and her sword with the power of wind (she controls the Air element), she’s decided to use public opinion. It’s a great idea; Darah could probably take her out no problem, but now she’s fighting not only the last of the Godlings, but the entire planet (which now thinks she’s some kind of unstoppable, invading evil). This issue also finally wrapped up the several-issue-long throw-down between Darah and the guy who could control the ground. I’m really eager to see how this series wraps up.

Batman and Robin #2
Damien is a little bastard, and I love it. It’s fun to see the tough, hard-ass, no mercy character portrayed as a ten-year-old boy. Also, Alfred’s approach to Dick being Batman now was really interesting. I like the concept of Dick looking at the Batman persona as a role, instead of as a hidden part of himself the way Bruce did it. Once again, Frank Quitely’s art was gorgeous. That’s nothing new, though. It plays well with the slight absurdity of the series; this is, it seems, a Gotham more closely related to the Adam West TV show than to the Frank Miller dystopian “Dark Knight Returns.” And that’s great, I think. This is the kind of setting where Dick will thrive as Batman.
Bat Quad! Sweet!

Captain America: Reborn #1
Sooo… Cap’s maybe not dead, but stuck in time somewhere? Because he was shot by a… time pistol? And even though that’s really him that died from being shot several times, he’s actually floating around in history like a certain Kurt Vonnegut character?
Jesus. This almost makes me want to see Mephisto pop in and play another round of “Let’s Make a Deal.” The premise is painfully bad here, especially if it’s just to bring Steve Rogers back so damn soon. I get the feeling that maybe Brubaker’s gonna try and pull a fast one on us, along the same lines as the bone-claw/adamantium Wolverine switcheroo from several years ago. At least I hope that’s what he’s doing.

Agents of Atlas #7
Last issue, shit got weird when cousins Namor and Namora made out. The situation was made only slightly less weird when it was revealed that they weren’t actually blood relatives, and could therefore procreate to their heart’s content without worrying about having a baby that was born with a third eye or a fifth ankle wing. Although I’m not sure the two knew about the non-relatives thing before they started sucking face. This issue, the wedding gets postponed indefinitely when it’s learned that the feelings Namor and Namora share may have possibly been engineered by Atlantean geneticists hoping to cash in on another god-like human-Atlantean mutant hybrid. Yeah, that’ll put a kink in the pipes. Oh, and there’s a side-story involving dragons fighting genies. Seriously. If you’re not reading this title, you’re really missing out.

Best comic of the past two weeks: Tied between Agents of Atlas #7 and Batman and Robin #2.

Worst comic of the past two weeks: X-Factor #45, because it just destroyed all the pleasant childhood memories I had from reading X-Force. What the HELL, man?!

What did you guys think? Any gems I’m missing out on? I heard “Irredeemable” is really good, anyone else reading it?