Fun Fifty of 2007: Part 3 of 5

You'd hardly think that one single year could contain so much freakin' fun as to fill up fifty slots, would you now? Well, think again, buster, 'coz the Fun Fifty of 2007 continues unabated—or, at least, only slightly bated—with another ten frankly frantic and ferociously fun funnies of fwo fhous...I mean two thousand and seven. Yesterday, you saw things get gradually funner one by one as we counted down from 40 to 31. Can your brain stand the intense excitement and mind-blowing sensation as we return to the countdown with numbers 30 through 21? Huh? Can it? Can it?


#30: RIFFTRAX 2007 was the year Mystery Science Theater 3000 came back in many different forms: Flash cartoons by Jim Mallon, Joel Hodgson and company's Cinematic Titanic, and DVDs by The Film Crew. But if you ever watched and howled at an episode of MST3K and wished they could do the same for a big-budget cinematic stinker, then zip on over to the Rifftrax website, by golly, where you can buy (usually for three or four bucks) and download MP3 files of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett and many special celebrity guest stars riffing MST-style on the movie, to play at the same time you watch your DVD of Star Trek V, Fantastic Four, or, in this case, that fine, fine piece of cinema, Batman and Robin:



#29: THE LAUGH-OUT-LOUD CATS In 2007, cats took the internet by storm. People showed off their bad cats, put stuff on their cats, and displayed photos of cats who looked like Hitler. (Paging Art Spiegelman!) The blog I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? brings us several daily captioned "LOLCat" photos until they were all overdone (by yours truly among others) and we were all heartily sick of the concept. But leave it to Adam "Apelad" Koford to turn the LOLcat concept into delightful and wondrous works of art in his hundreds and hundreds of Laugh-Out-Loud Cats cartoons (viewable on his Flickr page and on his blog). This sublime collection of panel comic strips (purportedly by Kuford's great-grandfather, but featuring strangely reminiscent references to the internet lingo of today) follow the adventures of Kitteh and Pip, two wandering Depression-era feline hoboes with a taste for the good life and a quiet contentment at finding a good meal, a dry boxcar, and the joys of Caturday. There's well over 700 cartoons posted and more every day, and Adam's deft pen and keen design sense make the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats a whimsical delight—beautifully drawn as well as charmingly funny.


#28: 52 The sales and critical success of DC's weekly comics experiment continues into 2008 with the sequel Countdown, but 52 lasted well into 2007 (wrapping up, appropriately, on 5/2), spinning together the yarns of the missing year of the DC Universe. The dénouement was less impressive than the set-up: I'd expected more of the individual stories to end more elegantly than abruptly, and the unnecessary four-issue World War III miniseries was left to sweep up some of the pieces that didn't get addressed in 52 proper. Nevertheless, there were some dandy high-adventure moments right up to the end, culminating in the universe-a-bornin' Week 52, which set up not only the new multiverse but also the concept of the new Booster Gold series. Seeing how DC is already blowing up some of their 52 Earths in Countdown spinoffs, maybe they shoulda started with more, but for me, 52 is and was worlds enough.


#27: I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS I don't care how many oddball or wacky comics you think you've read: until you've dived into the works of Fletcher Hanks, you ain't seen nothing yet, bubbo! Hanks's earnest but over-the-top superhero and jungle adventure comics are grisly, crude, primal and powerful, with wildly deformed villains and earnest heroes meting out punishments so cruel and unusual you'll cackle with glee. The weed of crime bears bitter fruit, especially when you have a giant golden octopus shoved down your throat or are marooned on a high-gravity planet of gold and jewels. This is a gorgeous package all over, from the stunning minimalist cover designed by Jacob Covey, to the colorful, bright, and brilliant reproduction of the stories. Editor Paul Karasik's somber but compelling autobiographical strip on finding Hanks's heir rounds out the book, and the only sad part is that there's only a handful more Hanks stories that aren't collection, so a sequel is unlikely. Want a taste? Stroll on over to Karasik's Fletcher Hanks website—there's plenty of panel reproductions plus a bonus "Fantomah, Mystery Queen of the Jungle" story and links to other Hanks work not in the book. Truth in disclosure: This book is published by Fantagraphics, which is distributed to the book trade by W. W. Norton, where John (my best pal, the big guy I live with who helps me out with this blog because typing can be difficult with hooves) works. But I'm still reviewing it. So there.


#26: FUTURAMA: BENDER'S BIG SCORE Return with us now to the thrilling days of tomorrowyear, where Bender the robot declares "I'm back, baby!" at the beginning of this made-for-DVD movie. In fact, they're all back: Fry, Leela, Zoidberg, the Professor, Amy, Hermes, and even Hypnotoad in a plot that has something to do with stealing the treasures of history, naked aliens, Charles DeGaulle's head, multiple Benders, and the secret to time travel tattooed on Fry's ass. "Well, it had to be somewhere," Fry shrugs. The entire original cast (and mucho guest stars) are back for the first of four direct-to-DVD movies (later to be shown on Comedy Central), and if you're a Futurama fan like me, it's not a moment too soon. Like the best of the original series, there's laughs-a-plenty as well as a touching subplot of Fry's undying love for Leela which'll tug at the strings of your heart as surely as Bender's tugging at your wallet.


#25: FABLES I'm a Bully-come-lately to Fables (and its companion book, Jack of Fables), but thanks to rave reviews by pal Miss Jenn and the purchase of a stack of trade paperbacks to get me up to speed, I'm a Fableholic, which is a little like an alcoholic, except with comic books and fewer twelve-step meetings. Most of 2007 has been taken up with ongoing chapters of "The Good Prince," which shows the hero Flycatcher has become as he takes the war against the Adversary back to the enemy, and Willingham is deft at creating mild but compelling cliffhangers at the end of every continuing comic that keeps the pace moving swiftly and this little stuffed reader eager for the next issue. A highlight of the year, however, was issue #64's peek at the marriage of Bigby and Snow and the birthday party of their children, crossing over with Jack of Fables in a most unexpected way.


#24: BLUE BEETLE I'll bet you dollars to donuts (mmm, donuts) that despite their affection for the late Ted Kord Blue Beetle, most fans couldn't point to a truly great (and fun) Blue Beetle series. Now we've got one. The new series has wisely tread its own path (while not ignoring the legacy of the past) and teenage Jaime Reyes is one of the most appealing new superheroes introduced in the 21st century, with believable dialogue and funny, exciting adventures. Blue Beetle is by no means high superhero art, but it passes the test of what we all liked Ted Kord for anyway: it's darn fun.


#23: DOCTOR WHO SERIES 3 Exit Rose, enter Martha as the Doctor takes off on a third season of time-and-space traveling adventure. Freema Agyeman is wonderful as the competent and level-headed Martha Jones—pity only that she's shoehorned into what seems to be leftover Rose-infatuated-with-the-Doctor plots. Yes, yes, Russell Davies: we do know David Tennant is dreamy. But every hitchhiker on the TARDIS (Jack Harkness included) doesn't have to have a crush on Number Ten. That said, a solid season highlighted by a visit to Shakespeare, a sublime two-parter in which the Doctor gives up his Time Lord mantle to become human, and quite simply one of the finest hours of Who ever, the scary and beautiful "Blink." Heck, I even loved the over-the-top Master and the clichéd but effective way Martha brings him down and rescues the Doctor. And so farewell, Martha, and hello (again) Donna, as we look forward to Series Four. Less of the doe-eyes this time around, I think. And hope.


#22: I KILLED ADOLF HITLER Ask any head of programming at the History Channel and he'll agree: "You can't go wrong with a story about Hitler." The newest graphic novel by Norwegian cartoonist Jason features Hitler as a prominent character, but it's not really about Hitler escaping from his time to ours any more than it's solely about time machines that take fifty years to recharge. As with most of Jason's work, even the humorous scenes are leveled with a sense of quiet melancholy and ennui, and his characteristic anthropomorphic animal characters are as real as the people on the street. Take a good look at that guy you passed on the corner—coulda been Hitler, don't you think? Truth in disclosure: This book is published by Fantagraphics, so see the entry for I Shall Destroy above for my personal disclaimer.


#21: BATMAN Grant Morrison's metavention of the Dark Knight continued with some hit and miss stories in 2007: there's been a few too many "The Three Batmen" stories for my comfort (I keep thinking they'll read better in the trade) and although they were entertaining, his contributions to the "Resurrection of R'as al Ghul" crossover event seemed to derail the momentum of a fine book going through a new renaissance. But the tent pole that holds up one of DC's flagship titles was Morrison's "Club of Heroes" trilogy, resurrecting a plot and characters from the goofy but fondly-remembered 1950s era of swashbuckling, globetrotting, planet-hopping Batman, in a murder mystery with charm and bite, not to mention a few starring moments for Robin, which is a wonderful sight in these days of "Batman is no longer a dick." I can but live in hope that Morrison will bring back the Zebra Batman. Maybe in 2008.


What, more? Yes. Tomorrow. Numbers 16, 13, 11, 19, 14, and 20, as well as some other extra bonus numbers, not necessarily in that order. Be there or be unaware, mon frère!