I Have A Message From Another Time
As I write these words to you, it is a touch after 7PM Paris time, on Wednesday, March 17th, a day which now and forever shall be known as “Snyder Cut’s Eve”. It’s a quiet day, punctuating a quiet week in comic news. There isn’t much material to write about, or to use as a launchpad for a poorly-conceived bit of comedy-adjacent material hinging on the repetition of a funny-sounding combination of curse words like “a non-fungible pair of these nuts”, “ass danger”, or “Dan Slott”.
But since this is the last missive I’m writing from a world that was, I’m gonna use the occasion for an all-too sincere check-in, a final document from the times before. I knew we had won when that Fandome teaser dropped, but the feeling never really set in, until yesterday, when at last I clicked the “pre-order” button on iTunes. That’s when the finality of it all finally struck me. I know that, a couple of weeks back, I predicted that it would be just another chapter in a beef neverending, but as the day draws closer, and as I watch more and more people engaging sincerely with the material of Snyder’s films and getting it, I’m beginning to realize that this might be it.
Yes, some people will insist on being wrong about this: the AVClub review laments the removal of Whedon’s contributions, begging to see more of Henry Cavill’s uncanny valley digital smile. Elsewhere, the smears about the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign have continued unabated. But more and more I am convinced that these people are not worth responding to anymore. Their way of thinking is dying out, and their lies will have nowhere to stand once the final and most important piece of evidence is out in the open.
They’ve lost, and we won, and by this time tomorrow our great ascent will have begun. We shall take our residence into the Sun, and bring forth a new age of heroes to the world. AND FROM THE SKIES, WE SHALL WATCH THEM AS INSECTS, BEASTS STRUGGLING TO WHISTAND OUR LIGHT, THEIR SCURRYING INTO SHADOWS TURNING TO ENDLESS WANDERING AS THEY REALIZE OUR LIGHT IS OMNIPRESENT. IN TIME THEY WILL ASK FOR PENANCE, BUT KNOW THIS: NO MERCY WILL BE GRANTED TO THOSE WHO ARE FOUND WANTING. WE ARE YOUR NEW GODS OF THE DISCOURSE NOW AND OUR FURY STRIKES BACK ONE HUNDRED FOLD. WE ARE YOUR GOLDEN GODS AND WE DEMAND YOUR APOLOGY BE PAID IN WORSHIP.
REJOICE, FOR WE HAVE SPOKEN!
HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE COMICS: AND YOU SHALL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF OUR ZACKTIVATED
I’m gonna come clean on this: I wanted Nightwing #78 to be a bad comic. Everything about Bruno Redondo and Tom Taylor’s latest feels as if designed by committee, a goodwill-generating Frankenstein assembled from the parts of other well-liked comics for maximum populist appeal. I was going to be the one that was going to be too smart to be fooled. I was going to make the obvious call-outs: there’s a lot of David Aja’s work on Hawkeye in there, a fair bit of the Samnee and Waid Daredevil run, all of it sticking very close to 2016 Tumblr’s best practices for storytelling. (The central action setpiece of the issue is literally about saving a cute little animal!)
It should be too perfect for its own good. It should show at least one little trace of cynicism that could be used against it. Instead, it draws from a seemingly endless pool of generosity to deliver the most lavish comic that you will see in stores this week, in all likelihood this month, and, possibly, this year. It’s filled to the brim with quotable panels, including a joke at the expense of recent Nightwing continuity that got me howling with laughter, and it’s paced to perfection to give Redondo and colorist Adriano Lucas the space to show off, its action beats alternating between fast and stylish acrobatics and lush compositions of urban noir, both in the sunset and in the glow of lamplights.
Yes, it is a comic about a down on his luck hero saving a dog, acquiring a building, that also sets up a conflict against an overwhelming physical threat with a taste for well-tailored white suits. But it is in fact the best comic currently doing these exact things, and this team has the track record to keep that excellence up all the way. It is too good for its own good. It’s like a gentle, well-meaning Xenomorph. I admire its perfection.
Your turn to be honest now: you wanted Justice League #59 to be a bad comic. You think that Brian Michael Bendis has lost it, that is, if he even had it in the first place. You think that you’ve seen all of his tricks, and so you’re not gonna be impressed anymore. Well first things first: if you’ve missed out on Naomi? It’s on you to correct that, since that was the most revelatory one of his books had been since that original run of Alias. Second of all you’re wrong, because Justice League is as Bendis as Bendis comics get, and it’s a total blast.
Of course it’s not just a Bendis comic. It reunites him with Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man co-conspirator David Marquez. That collaboration was set in a universe operating under action movie realism rules, and it was kept grounded for the most part through the late great Justin Ponsor’s transcendent naturalist colors. But now, the rules have changed: this is the DC Universe, where alien gods roam the Earth, and everything is bathed in Tamra Bonvillain’s radiant colors.
You know the tricks: it’s the sometimes-too-cute-for-its-own-good ping-pong dialogue, it’s those beautiful two-page spreads, masterfully laid out by Marquez, that would feel self-indulgent if the issue wasn’t so perfectly paced. But here, it’s unshackled from the rules of the Ultimate Universe. It’s bigger, it’s louder, it’s the kind of high impact team-up action you should expect from a Justice League book. Aquaman drops a bunch of sharks on a dude and you cannot tell me you don’t enjoy that. Look at the adjective: this is where the big boys play.
And if you need more bang for your buck, if you need your comics loaded with dark forebodings, ancient histories, and strange mysteries, your palate cleanser is Ram V and Xermanico’s Justice League Dark! It’s a tight little 8-pager, it introduces one cool idea, plays with it, and bails, because that’s all you need! It’s a very balanced comic, $4.99 gets you all those comic foodgroups you crave. Get it in your diet before you regret it!
We’ve talked before about the effect Infinite Frontier has had on the books that are continuing with the same creative team as before, but with Catwoman #29 now in our hands, I think that’s been made a whole lot clearer. Before the Future State break, the book was a lot more focused on done-in-one heists, with some serialization, but nothing that couldn’t be finished at a moment’s notice. Now however? Things are a little different. Ram V was already playing around with a slower pace of storytelling in Future State, and this is the next logical step.
We’re taking things a bit slower now, we’re luxuriating in the little world Catwoman made for herself in Gotham’s Alleytown, taking in the sights, and even taking some time to relax by the pool. It still delivers on the action thrills, there’s a chase sequence under the neon lights of Little Tokyo, an unexpected team-up, and villains galore, but the vibe is a lot more confident. It’s harder, bolder, and at times even sexier, because fuck yeah this is a Catwoman comic. So what had been a good run so far? Now it’s going to be one for the ages. Gotta love it.
And that’s that for a shorter than usual HYBC! I began AND finished this one on Wednesday night that’s how short it was! When next we meet, it will be on the other side! In the mean time, please do the usual, like, comment, subscribe, tell your friends about it, tell your enemies about it, do whatever it takes, get the word out, because sooner or later, you’ll all have to HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE COMICS!