Fun Fifty of 2008: Part 3 of 5

Thank you, Powerpuff Girls! That's the Powerpuff Girls, everyone, with their musical tribute to sugar, spice, and the other one! We'd like to thank them for appearing on out show, and for filling in for three-fifths of the Spice Girls during the opening number!

We're back lovely audience, live from the Pantages Theater here in beautiful downtown Burbank, for the Third Annual Fun Fifty, celebrating all that's good and right and bright and fun fun in 2008's comics and other pop culture! (So out the back with you, Frank Miller!) As you remember, last time we counted down, we saw all manner of wonderfully fun, fantastic, and flubberlicious items numbered from forty to thirty-one. So let's hop right back in the middle of the fun and pick up the countdown with number thirty, shall we? (Take it away, Eric the Orchestra Leader!)


#30: SIMPSONS COMICS (In 2007: #33) For my money (earned honestly by selling seeds door to door and hoarded carefully in my piggy bank buried in the back yard), nobody crams more fun in every issue of their entire comics line than the good folks at Bongo Comics (the comics where you don't have to be a one-eared rabbit to appreciate 'em!), especially their flagship Simpsons line: Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson, Simpsons Super Spectacular, Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror Special, Simpsons Summer Shindig, Simpsons Winter Wingding, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, Jessica & Ashlee Simpson, O... oh wait, I've gone out of control again. The Simpsons line of comics consistently does the TV series proudwith excellent laugh per page value, suitable for all audiences. Highlights of 2008 featured Lisa discovering (using the Simpson DNA evidence!) that she's not related to the rest of the family, Marge joins a roller derby, a fast-paced series of Hans Christian Andersen parodies, and two, count 'em, two Flash parody covers! Dense with jokes and consistently visually inventive, the Simpsons family of fine comics has just passed their fifteenth anniversary and shows every sign of going strong for many more: long may they provoke giggles.


#29: COMICS FOR THE iPHONE Your little stuffed bull about town is nothing without his snazzy cellular phone, and as you all know I'm a big, big little fan of fine products from Apple computer. So, in addition to not leaving home without my American Express, I always tuck my Apple iPhone into my Hello Kitty backpack. I can stay in touch with all my friends, I can listen to my music, I can watch videos, I can get my email, I can surf the web, and I can read comics. What?!? Have I lost my mind? Comics on your phone?!? Why, shore! One of the most fun things you can do with the iPhone (after having your calls tapped by AT&T!) is downloading applications or "apps" either on your phone or via the iTunes store, and a number of companies are digitizing and selling their comics in iPhone format for reading on the go. These won't replace the floppy comic format any time soon...swipe with your finger to flip through each panel, presented by itself, frequently trimmed or cut in half, but perfectly readable. You can buy, mostly for 99¢ a pop, Bone, Peter David issues of Star Trek (and in perfect fairness, they've corrected the technical problem I complained about here), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Godland, Nancy Drew, and many more by several different companies. But in my (i)book, iVerse Media is doing 'em right: offering free downloadable #1 issues of many of their comics: Oz: The Manga, Ray Harryhausen Presents: Wrath of the Titans #1, Proof, Return of Shadowhawk, Ghost Whisperer...but for my (free) money, I've really enjoyed the iPhone free #1 issues of Atomic Robo (a Hellboy-esque saga of a robot warrior versus Nazis) and Neozoic (high adventure "in a world"...where the dinosaurs didn't get wiped out)...enough to make me buy the further issues. Check out the demo:

There's lots more that could be done with comics on the iPhone: I'd like to see a free or subscription service that downloads each day's comic strips, whose panel format is perfect for a iPhone or iTouch screen, and Marvel and DC could do worse than to format some of their hot or classic comics in this format. But for the beginning of iComics 1.0, it's a lot of fun to have comics in your pocket.


#28: DOCTOR WHO: THE FORGOTTEN Throughout the history of Doctor Who, we've met (give or take a Richard E. Grant) ten Doctors, and followed their adventures throughout history, the galaxy, and beyond. But how often do we get to see all ten Doctors? Well, for one, in Rich Morris's The Ten Doctors webcomic (#4 on last year's Fun Fifty), still ongoing and as fun as ever. But in 2008 we saw an authorized Ten Doctors of a kind: IDW's Doctor Who: The Forgotten, a five-ish miniseries that traps The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones in a strange museum highlighting the Doctor's past exploits, forcing him to remember an adventure from his previous lives: one from each of his incarnations. Chock full o' your favorites (Jo! K-9! Tegan! Romana! Jamie and Zoe! Rose! Peri! Ace! And Tina Fey!*) and illustrated with verve and energetic authenticity (the First and Second Doctors' stories are in black-and-white), each flashback leads the Doctor closer to discovering the secret of his imprisonment. The series will be collected in trade paperback and available soon (click on the Amazon link above to pre-order it), but one of the great joys of 2008 was the monthly excitement of picking up Doctor Who: The Forgotten and traveling back in time with another Doctor or two.

*Well, a bull can dream.


#27: CROGAN'S VENGEANCE Pirates! Every little bull loves 'em. And so, as James Kirk observed, do you. And pirates in comic books? Why, that's even better. I met Chris Schweizer at SPX this year, and was immediately entranced by his debut graphic novel, Crogan's Vengeance. Flip open the front cover and cast your little buttons eyes on the endpapers: a family tree of the grand Crogan dynasty: adventurers, soldiers, pilots, ninjas, lion-tamers, and yes, a pirate. Each one of sixteen infamous Crogans will be featured in upcoming books in the series, in which a young contemporary boy learns the saga of his family in tales told by his father. You can't go wrong starting a series with pirates, of course, especially "Catfoot" Crogan, illustrated in Schweizer's brilliant, bold and crisp cartoon style: wonderfully distinctive faces and figures, vibrant energetic movement, bright solid blacks and wonderfully detailed seascapes and harbor towns. The art itself wouldn't be half as impressive if a fun and high-adventure story didn't accompany it: when the ship he's serving on is captured by pirates, Crogan finds he makes a better pirate than a crewman—but can he live the life of a buccaneer and keep his honor? The natural comparison is to Bone, of course: a comic series with great kid appeal that adults will enjoy too. I do hope the Crogan series enjoys great success, because I wanna see the other characters teased at in the endpapers. Now's the time to get on board with one of the Great New Things: a wonderful writer and cartoonist's swashbuckling, rousing pirate tale...and if you're not careful, you just might learn something. (See Schweizer's site for a 26-page preview, and then just try to stop yourself from picking up the book!)


#26: JACK OF FABLES (In 2007: #5) Consistently entertaining, saucy, and funny, Jack of Fables seems to have spun its wheels a little in the past year—still fine stuff, but not quite up to my high rating last year. (It's still one of the few comics that makes me laugh out loud, so don't think I've lost interest!) A high-adventure but violent and somber interlude in the Old West was an abrupt interruption to the storyline, and while it did allow Willingham and Sturges to guest-star Bigby Wolf (tirelessly tracking down outlaw Jack), this wild West Jack was even less of a admirable character than usual, dangerously skirting the line from rogue to villain. A three-part flashback history of the Page sisters took Jack out of the story for far too long (although he hiliariously complains in each of the issues' "next time" boxes) and now we're smack-dab in the middle of "The Books of War," with Jack as a self-important military leader while the fable and real worlds fall apart around him. We've just finished with extensive war stories over in Fables and this seems like a lite version of the same: I'm eager to get back to Jack on the road, having picaresque and bawdy adventures. Still, the writing and art are fine as usual, and every issue features a one-page interlude of the Walter Mittiest bovine of them all, the Sensational Character Find of 2006, Babe the Tiny Blue Ox! But, I wanna see the war stories wrap up (looks like we're in for a long haul of them) and Jack and Company head out on the highway again. Or, as Ray Charles mighta sang to our 'hero,' "Hit the road, Jack!"


#25: BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON Let me clarify the inclusion of Bottomless Belly Button on this list, 'coz this is a graphic novel that will probably make you exclaim "Clearly this is some definition of the word 'fun' I'm not familiar with, Bully!" Let me explain. Tho' the subject matter (divorce and failing family dynamics) isn't traditionally what you'd call fun, this groundbreaking GN by Dash Shaw...justly voted as the finest of the year by Publishers Weekly...is a beautifully-realized celebration of the breadth and power of graphic novels. This thick brick of a story would be lauded even if it were written in prose; that's how strong Shaw's writing is. (I think, without intentional hyperbole, that Shaw will eventually be discussed in the same breath and compared with fiction writers like David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen...time will tell.) Despite its strength as a story that would fill a fine novel, this is a story that can't be divorced from its impressionistic visuals any more than Maus or Watchmen could be "novelized" and keep their innovative synthesis of words, symbolsism, and progressive comics art. That's what I find fun about BBB: you'll be weeping at sequences at the same time you smile in wonder at Shaw's subtle skill of making this a true graphic novel. (Want a preview? Here's Shaw's own animated trailer for the book:)



Art comics? Maybe. Amazing comics? Definitely.

(Truth in disclosure department: In my day job I work for W. W. Norton, which distributes Fantagraphics Books, the publisher of Bottomless Belly Belly. I woulda recommended this whoever had published it.)


#24: THE NEAR COMPLETE ESSENTIAL HEMBECK ARCHIVES OMNIBUS Oh, those knees; those marvelous swirly knees! There are many fine humorists in the comics field, but few with such an affection for, connection to, and commentary on the superhero field as Fred Hembeck. This big-ass collection compiles all of those classic Hembeck strip magazines that you've likely got squirreled away in an odd-shaped longbox (or maybe have on your want list), plus plenty of seldom- and never-before seen artwork, cartoons, illustrations and much more: 900 pages, fer cryin' out loud! Cheap paper, mildly shrunken strips and sometimes muddy reproduction are to be complained about, sure, but overall this is a collection you'll cherish, read to pieces, and guffaw at every strip along the way. Now, bring us a follow-up volume featuring Hembeck's strips from Marvel Age and his comics work for Marvel and DC (including the incomparable Petey: The Adventures of Peter Parker Before He Became Spider-Man. If you don't love Hembeck, you don't love comics, bucky!


#23: SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE Eager for a female hero who doesn't show off her belly button? Have I got a book for you, pal! One of the highlights in DC's mixed bag of comics for younger audiences (Tiny Titans and Super Friends are a little too young-oriented for even this six-year-old little stuffed bull), the brand-new Supergirl comic strips the excess baggage from the Kara Zor-El mythos and polishes it to an animated-style brilliance: she's still the cousin of Superman, she's still disguised as Linda Lee in a world that doesn't understand her, and she's struggling with her toughest challenge: fitting in with her school peers. It's a kid's book but charming and entertaining for all ages: dialogue and situations that are actually funny instead of merely silly, expressive and stylized artwork by Eric Jones that makes Supergirl actually look like a young teenage girl. The angst is minor and played for giggles: this is a comic of joy and happiness, bright and enthusiastic, and I love it lots. Supergirl is only a six-issue miniseries, so seriously, folks, buy, enjoy, and support this comic so DC'll give us some more adventures of the most entertaining and enjoyable Supergirl in years.


#22: FABLES (in 2007: #25) Most of the finest Vertigo series seem to have a natural life of about 75 issues; telling their story and ending, or, in a few cases, staying behind a few years more than is probably needed. Seeing the War storyline about to finish in the mid-seventies, I actually did think Fables was wrapping up, and I was ready to greatly miss one of my favorite comics. Surprise! Suddenly Fables is...in a way not unlike the real world...as much about what happens after the grand fury and frenzy of war, as former enemies are reintegrated into society, casualties are mourned, conquered territory is uneasily settled and tender new alliances are tested. I oughta have expected that, because all along Fables has been a comic about what happens to the characters of fairy tales after the fairy tales finish. And, just like real life, not everybody lives happily ever after. And...for the moment but not much longer...Fables features the front cover artwork of James Jean, who produces some of the most beautiful covers in contemporary Big Two comic books. (James Jean fan? Well, you really oughta pick up Fables Covers: The Art of James Jean Vol. 1.)


#21: MINI MARVELS: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS If I had to pick a Marvel Universe to live in, I certainly wouldn't pick Earth-616, a place where "Dark" is an acceptable adjective for a comic book. No, give me Earth-99062 (no kidding! That's the official designation!), home of Chris Giarrusso's joyful, colorful, glorious Mini Marvels: all your favorite Marvel heroes, now pint-sized for your entertainment. This digest-sized collection compiles a hefty selection of the Mini Marvels strips from the back of recent Marvel comics, many of which I'd missed the first time around (I never even realized that "The Iron Avengers" was an ongoing storyline). Giarrusso's work captures the wondrous crazy innocence of kids playing superheroes...except they really do have superpowers. Bright and colorful, this genuinely affectionate tweak of the Marvel Universe is a world where nobody ever really gets hurt. Thanks to Elephant Steve! (And, before I go, a rant at Marvel: Why did you let this wonderful collection go out of print so fast, Marvel? You dumbasses.)


Now, I know what you're saying: how can there possibly be comics more fun than those?!? Surely you're going to spend the next two installments of these awards ceremonies shuffling nervously from hoof to hoof on stage, Bully! And that's where you'd be wrong. Why not check in again next time to pop your eyeballs out at the unexpected return of one of my favorite superheroes of all time, a costumed crimefighter whose foreign escapades don't require a passport but probably shoulda had a byline, and a series that restored my faith in what I thought was a dead franchise! Be there or be octangular, Bully-fans!

Fun Fifty of 2007: Part 5 of 5

Look! Fabulous stars and celebrities are arriving in their stretch limousines and stepping onto the plush red carpet to stroll into the amphitheater as we prepare for the Big Awards Night: The Top Ten of the Fun Fifty of 2007. Quick! Sidestep Joan Rivers before she makes fun of your outfit and avoid Isaac Mizrahi's wandering hands, duck away from Amy Winehouse before she collapses on you, and find your way to your seat. You may have to whack Jack Nicholson on the head if he's bobbing around in front of you, but look!: the lights are going down and the curtain is coming up, and here comes Billy Crystal soaring into the theater on a jet pack...oh my gosh look out Mister Crystal...oh, no! Oh no! He landed right on Miss Jolie! (Boing!) And Michael Douglas's hairpiece has burst into flames! Oh the humanity! Oh the humanity!

Um, so, while they're all sorting that out, let's duck quick to the café around the corner for a cup of tea and some hot buttered toast and do the rest of the Fun Fifty here, shall we? It's been a long a winding road that's brought us to this point in four parts (One • Two • Three • Four), but the end is near. In fact it's here:


#10: ALL STAR SUPERMAN Only four issues of the finest and funnest Superman comic came out this year, but I'll gladly trade four of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's comics for a truckload of most other creators'. All Star Superman (don't acronymize it!) has a modern spirit infused with the nanotechnology and quantum theory thinking that's a trademark of Morrison's works, while, like his work on Batman, at the same time it homages and salutes the joy and goofiness of the 1950s Superman stories without making them seem silly or outdated. It's like the Reeses Peanut Cup of comics: delicious, creamy nostalgia surrounded by a sweet savory twenty-first century shell. 2007's stories advanced the general meta-saga—the slow death of Superman—at the same time individual stories took front stage: the Bizarro World, new Kryptonians...but the stand-out of a fine year was #6's "Funeral in Smallville," bringing the concept of mortality home to Clark in a very personal way.


#9: THE SPIRIT Darwyn Cooke's year-long tenure on The Spirit is over, but I'm gonna look back on this run with extreme fondness. Cooke, J. Bone, and Dave Stewart clearly had a lot of love for Will Eisner's blue-masked mystery man and his extensive supporting cast (including the gorgeously re-realized Central City). With a great mix of humor and drama, the new Spirit has been brought up to modern times (including a street-wise but no-longer politically-incorrect Ebony). But there's still plenty of room to acknowledge the great stories of The Spirit's past, as Cooke has in a couple beautifully drawn and touchingly scripted Sand Sarif stories. Even #7 and #13's triple-storied anthology issues were a delight, which just goes to prove that The Spirit isn't simply a Cooke-only franchise. That said, while I'm very much looking forward to Aragonés, Evanier, and Ploog on the title, these first twelve issues will remain near and dear to my little satin heart for keeping the spirit of Eisner's great hero alive.


#8: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD I try not to have a sense of fan entitlement (it's not becoming in a little stuffed bull), but the revived Brave and the Bold was one comic I was definitely being a back-seat driver: it wouldn't work unless Batman was co-starring in every issue; it needed done-in-one stories rather than a continued saga; you can't mix Legion of Super-Heroes mythology with the Batman mythos. And boy, was I wrong! There's been dozens of team-up titles over the years and I have a weakness for 'em, but Brave and the Bold may just outfun 'em all in my book. (Yes, even Marvel Two-in-One!) The initial extended "Luck Lords" storyline brought in everyone from Batman to Green Lantern to Supergirl and the Legion, and the inclusion of these diverse heroes seemed organic and logical rather than haphazard and coincidental. Bonus points for introducing the merged Batman/Tharok (Batrok?), minus a couple points for the slightly skeevy attraction of Green Lantern towards the teenage Supergirl. If the second story arc is half as fun as the first, however, then this series might have a shot at outlasting the original B&B. Heck, they can even bring back Bat-Hulk if they do it right.


#7: BIFF-BAM-POW! What this world needs: more comics by Evan Dorkin. Biff-Bam-Pow! (don't forget the exclamation point!) is an anthology title by Dorkin and wife Sarah Dyer with more action, humor, and pure punching power per page than all other comics released in 2007 had in their entire run combined! (Note: hyperbole about level of punching power is for entertainment purposes only and not a legally-binding contract). It an all-ages comic that's perfectly appropriate for kids, but manly, yes, adults liked it too! Meet One Punch Goldberg, the fightin'-est girl around: she can lay out a brigade of monkeys with a single fist! (And I'm not using monkeys metaphorically...they really are monkeys!) If that's not enough, the ever-thrilling Kid Blastoff, plus a couple comedy-action reprint comics (that I hadn't seen before) round out BBP!, and the only disappointment is that the comic comes to an end and there was only one issue in 2007. More, Mister Dorkin, please!


#6: RATATOUILLE Not merely the finest animated movie of 2007—Ratatouille is quite simply one of the best movies, period, of the year. You may not like rats...you may certainly not like rats in your kitchen...but rats in a kitchen in a movie is cinema gold, and for the folks at Pixar, a way to chalk up another acclaimed success. But look beyond the million computer-generated hairs on the plump little body of Rémy the rat or the gorgeously-realized cityscape of Paris's alleys and rooftops and you'll find a story of love...love of food, love of your work, and love for a beautiful and spunky French chef (the quirky Collette, aptly voiced by Janeane Garofolo). In fact, it's the mix of human and animal characters that make Ratatouille more than just another Disney animal fable—to the little button eyes of this stuffed bull living among human, it's one of the first and one of the finest cartoons that have mixed the animal and human worlds without giving either species' story time short shrift. It may be that the CGI technology has finally reached the point where the human characters—charicactured tho' they may be—look as realistic within their world as the animal figures, but I think it's also because the script gives both its two- and four-legged heroes room to shine. Also, it taught me how to pronounce and spell the word "ratatouille," so it was educational as well.


#5: JACK OF FABLES Rogues and con men are always fun to read about (long as it's not your pocket they're pickin'...hey, hands off my Hello Kitty change purse!), which is why Jack of Fables overtook regular-flavored Fables on my fun list of 2007. After he was banished from Fabletown, I wondered exactly what sort of adventures Jack could possibly have. The short answer is: he's taking his act on the road, from that most famous of American destinations (Las Vegas) to his current extended road trip around mythological America, all in search of fame, fortune, gold, and a pretty girl. As the makers of The Han Solo Show will tell you, however, a rogue's nothing without his extended supporting cast, and Jack's got some of the finest: Gary the Pathetic Fallacy, sexy librarian (aren't they all?) Hillary, and certainly my role model when it comes to comic book heroes: Babe, the Tiny Blue Ox with a very rich fantasy life. While Fables itself seems to be heading towards an ending, Jack's still got plenty of road to travel, and I'm happy to tag along with him.


#4: DOCTOR WHO: THE TEN DOCTORS Nope, you didn't miss picking up this Doctor Who comic at your local Android's Dungeon: this is a fan-made webcomic that you'll find online here (click on the arrows in the upper right to progress through the pages) and you'll be transported into the dream of every Doctor Who fan: an extended, time-spanning adventure featuring not just one or three or five but all ten Doctors...their entire cast of companions (including several time-versions of some companions)...a rogue's gallery of the Doctor's Doctors' greatest villains from Cybermen to Daleks...and K-9, of course! Sure, this is fan fiction, but it's done with sincere love and knowledge of the characters and stories throughout Who-story. (If you're not sure who's who, so to speak, check out the comments below each page to get a gist of the characters). Rich Morris's expressive and fluid artwork deftly captures the Doctors' energy and idiosyncrasies, and it's fun to see Four teaming up with Seven, Eight taking control, and One and Ten, the first and the latest Doctor, have a conversation:



I'd love to see Morris's work fully inked and colored and lettered professionally (a few but not many finished pages are displayed on the site), but for the moment this story—eighty pages and growing—will bring even delight to even the most cynical Doctor Who fans. Rich Morris's ComixBlog Site.


#3: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS The best X-Men title being published today? Well, your mileage may vary. But don't let the complaints of anal fanboys that these stories "don't matter" because they "aren't in canon" keep you from picking up the most fun mutant-stuffed comic on the market. It's got the original X-Men of the Lee/Kirby issues, the light humor of the early Claremont/Cockrum run, and the "teen heroes" riff of the first few dozen New Mutants. There's a wonderful emphasis on learning experience for Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Marvel Girl in every issue: the discovery, so important to the theme of mutant comics, that hideous or monstrous does not equal villainous. At the same time the heroes are having a heck of a lot of fun (almost as much as we are): road trips, extra-curricular excursions, clever and inventive text page introductions and some of the natural teen dialogue without being over laden with quickly-outdated slang. The icing on this X-cake? Colleen Coover's occasional Marvel Girl backups are funny, charming, beautifully drawn and inventive. I don't care if canon tells us Jean and Wanda never hung out together—by golly, reading about them doing so seems right. And more important, fun.


#2: THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST P'raps the fact that it's been mostly divorced from the widespread super-upheavals of the past couple years (Civil, Hulk, and Skrull wars all cascading into one another) gives The Immortal Iron Fist its appeal and charm—stripped of the need for massive tight continuity with every other book in the line, Iron Fist is free to be an inventive globe-trotting adventure. Maybe it's just that deep down, Danny Rand was a heck of a character whose past has always been acknowledged but never deeply examined. Or it might be that this book features a high level of kicks to the face in every issue. Whatever! At the recommendation of Chris Sims, a man who knows kick-ass when he sees it, I picked up IIF in mid-story-stream but not only was I not lost, I rushed back to the store to grab as many of the back issues I could find. It has the same vibe I felt when I first read James Robinson's Starman: a legacy hero done right, even including periodic flashback tales that dovetail into the main narrative, but it's got its own vibe and energy, especially in the current storyline featuring an extreme fighting tournament against a cast of skilled warriors from competing mystic cities, while on the outside Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing fight the Hydra hordes. It's that rarest of superhero comics: thoughtful and subtle, reverent of its past, but with amazing fight sequences. Kickassery. It does a comic good.


#1: BOOSTER GOLD 52's MVP makes the big leap to his second solo series. Like the first, it's got a gimmick, but this time it's custom-made for those of us who love comics: Booster is now the appointed guardian of the history timeline in the DC Universe. Like Doctor Sam Beckett, he travels back in time, putting right what once went wrong, hoping that his next leap will be the leap...to save his dearest friend. As a gimmick, it's dandy. What's even better is the execution: in the first six issues alone Booster zips from Green Lantern history to the Cosmic Treadmill-era Flash, from the old west of Jonah Hex to the hard-learned lessons of history and temporal causality when he tries to save Barbara Gordon from Alan Moore The Joker. And, a chance to undo one of the most misbegotten stories of recent years and reunite the Blue and the Gold? I'm with Booster all the way. Like the new Brave and the Bold, this series is a reward for those of us up on our iconic DCU history (but isn't inaccessible if you're not). In lesser hands, this might devolve into fan fiction, but the team of Geoff (Johns) and Jeff (Katz) clearly have a great love of the DCU, its varied characters and history highlights, and more important, a deft comic skill to give Booster some great quips without reducing him to a joke himself (a very thin line some writers trip over). There's a great joy in reading such a fun superhero comic—there's an even bigger joy when it's inventive and unique. I'm not certain how long the situation at the end of issue #6 will last, but for the moment, the return of a disappeared character made me grin and laugh with glee and excitement. That's the best kind of comic, I think—one that if it were a movie, you'd stand up and shout out "YEAH!" So..."YEAH, Booster Gold! YEAH!"


So! There ya go: fifty things that I found fun in 2007. That's five times better than most people's top ten lists. And if I didn't mention your favorite? Well, that's all well and good. There's plenty of fun things out there for everyone, and that's what makes it America, pal. Little pink houses for you and me. That's the most vital lesson I've learned from comics and other entertainment: all that's important is that you enjoy it. If you do, it's all well and good.

Unless you enjoyed World War III. Hoo boy, that was a stinker.

See ya next year, Fun Fifty!

Superman, Interrupted (and other comics I read this week)

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #11: This comic is sorta fun. Ah, so that's what happened to that storyline. The Darwyn Cooke/Tim Sale "Kryptonite" saga from Superman Confidential #1-5 pops up many months laters, more than a year after it started, and in the main book rather than (as in Wonder Woman) an annual. Is this the first time a story has ever been interrupted by so many regular issues? But then, while this raises serious questions about the effectiveness of modern Big Two comic book scheduling, it's irrelevant aside from pointing out that the momentum and energy of this story has been mostly lost during the interruption, and a story I loved has slipped to merely being interesting and okay. Tim Sale's artwork, which I normally praise, seems sketchy, rushed, and rough in this conclusion, especially (perhaps intentionally) in Kal's hallucination sequences. That said, it'll probably read better in one sitting or as a trade, and there's still some lovely, personal moments here between Clark/Supes and Lois, most notably the final page. Six months off didn't help this story, but there's still gems to be found in it.


FUTURAMA COMICS #35: This comic is fun. Speaking of flashing back to previous stories, Futurama is a callback to the animated series episode "Less Than Hero", which you might remember better as "The One With The New Justice Team." Like Simpsons Super-Spectacular, it's chock-full of classic comic book references: Zoidberg gets turned down for membership in a scene parodying the cover of Adventure Comics #247; the Legion of Doom's secret headquarters pops up next to the Planet Express building ("It creeps me out having that place in the neighborhood." "Yes, yes, but it helps keep the rent down!"). To deflect fanboy criticism of the type "Yes, but at the end of Episode 4ACV04, The New Justice Team disbands owing to the depletion their tube of Miracle Cream," these new adventures are flashbacks thanks to Bender's new memory chip, and while a few jokes fall flat, there's enough of them in here to populate a decent-sized chuckle-fest, and better yet, the density of dialogue and quips means it'll definitely take you more than five minutes to read this comic. Plus, it features The Best Line[s] of the Week: "I think the heat's giving you an irrational hatred of 1980s bands, Professor." "From hell's heart I stab at thee, Duran Duran!"


BATMAN #673: This comic is sorta fun. I love you, Grant Morrison. But golly, I really haven't the slightest of what's going on in this book. A dream doesn't make a story, and this seems to be mostly an extended hallucinatory sequence in Bruce's brain following his heart attack (I'm not buying that health twist in Batman, but hey, whatever). Nice vibrant and energetic art by Tony Daniel isn't a great help in following a non-linear, head-trip story, which has something to do with Joe Chill and Bat-Mite. Maybe it'll read better in the trade surrounded by other chapters, and I like the dialogue and art, but for the moment I still feel like I'm not smart enough to be reading Batman.


THE SPIRIT #13: This comic is fun. The post-Darwyn Cooke era begin for The Spirit (or, as I keep thinking the cover logo says, "The Spirito"). Hey, wait a minute, there's actually a Darwyn Cooke cover on this issue, but it's an anthology special with three separate stories by different creators. It's billed as a "Holiday Special," which seems odd to come out a month after Christmas, but it actually contains a Halloween story (crooks dress up as The Spirit) plus one that takes place in the rain and another in the snow. That last, by Gail Simone with Phil Hester and Ande Parks on art, is by far my favorite of the three: dialogue is told almost exclusively in pictograms inside word balloons (only the final panel has a true word it in), and it's both funny (a freezing-cold Spirit in his underwear is chased through a snooty restaurant) and touching (Dolan laments the apparent second death of Denny Colt). Inventive and clever, without being cloying, in a style I bet Will Eisner would have approved of. Although I'm looking forward to Evanier, Aragones, and Ploog as the regular team starting next issue, I'd like to see Gail and Company sink their teeth into a full-length, fully-dialogued Spirit comic.


JACK OF FABLES #19: This comic is fun. "Americana" continues and Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges squeeze in months of adventure, half-a-dozen destinations and a million and one shady plans by Jack as he, Hillary, Gary, Paul Bunyan, Babe the Little Blue Ox, and a giant cracked egg zip around and about the mythical United States. It doesn't exactly further the storyline tremendously, but it's fun, and that's the most important part, isn't it? In fact, I'll go so far as to name JACK OF FABLES #19 the most fun comic of the week, from its ubiquitous saucy reading line above the cover title to the usual boastful "next issue" plug. Jack's not the only comic book featuring a tiny blue ox with a rich internal fantasy life*, but it's certainly the best.


*Oh wait. Yes it is.

Because I promised you I'd do some comics reviews in 2007.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #7: This comic is fun. Not only that, it's been consistently one of my favorite fun comics of the year, and this issue (the second part of the "Catalyst" storyline) is no exception. The original X-Teens have lost their powers, and they're facing off against a squadron of 99 Sentinels (count 'em; they're all in a scary and impressive splash page). Jeff Parker's script is as always witty and well-dialogued, and the Roger Cruz artwork is vibrant and energetic in action and quiet scenes. It's got a great action-pacing with a real sense of urgency against the clock as they rush to save Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. First Class continues to tickle my little stuffed stuff fancy, even when there's no Colleen Coover back-up (but there is a funny one-page Chris Giarrusso "Mighty Marvels" strip with a delightful Professor X as Jean-Luc Picard design. Speaking of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I've praised this book before for its frequent themes that a supposed antagonist is not always a true enemy, and the Catalyst is no exception. That said, I do wish sometimes there would be more straight-out black-and-white villainy—bring on Magneto!—rather than a misunderstood villain in almost every issue. Just once in a while.


BATMAN #672: This comic is sorta fun. Grant Morrison's Batman is another perpetual favorite of mine. How favorite? I bought and read, and more important, really enjoyed Morrison's two "Hey, I'm Ra's al Ghul and I'm Back, Baby!" crossover issues of Batman without picking up the other comics in the series. I think the "Club of Heroes" trilogy is one of the most entertaining Batman stories in several years (and one of my favorite stories of 2007). So why doesn't this issue get top marks? I guess it's simply because I really just don't get what's going on. I know it's related to events earlier in Morrison's run but I need to get those issues out again to reacquaint myself with the Three Batmen situation. Or maybe I just need to wait for the trade instead and read 'em all in one swell foop so I can slap my little fuzzy forehead and go "Oh, so that's who that is!" In the meantime, tho', I just don't feel smart enough for Batman. Then again, is that Bat-Mite on the final page? Cool.


SPECIAL FORCES #2: This comic is fun. Okay, this is a more adult comic with story, dialogue, art and themes that really isn't appropriate for a six-year-old stuffed bull, but my pal John (who helps me pick out and buy comics) really, really is enjoying this. Up above I mentioned a great breakneck pace to X-Men...well, compared to this, X-Men is a turtle crawl. Kyle Baker is always an amazing, colorful, dramatic artist, one of my favorites in anything he does, and this over-the-top comic with a social and political point. You can probably make the argument that this is simply the same sort of dark comedy, outrageous violence and sexual suggestion (Felony's fatigues get shredded more and more) that Miller and Lee are doing in All Star Batman, but perhaps because of the original story and characters or Baker's unparalleled design sense I'm enjoying this a heck of a lot more than the gosh-darn Batman. Beautifully-produced and no ads!—heck of a bargain.


JACK OF FABLES #18: This comic is fun. Like Special Forces, Jack of Fables is definitely for mature readers, but John lets me read this (and big sister publication Fables) and both have delighted me. My good friend the well-read Miss Jenn raved about these series so much while we were at San Diego Comic-Con this past year that I actually bought a stack of Fables trades and Jack comics in San Diego to read on the plane home, and I've been hooked ever since. Jack continues to be a great romp and one of the few genuinely funny comic books out there: witty, sarcastic, and, despite a tearful moment in here, unsentimental. At first I thought Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges might have written themselves into a corner when they first told us Jack would never return to Fabletown, but this series has been a dandy way to explore the other mythological aspects of the world outside the Fable community. Plus, sexy librarians, the cracked Humpty Dumpty, very genteel zombies, and yet another page-long fantasy adventure of the Sensational Character Find of 2006, Babe the Tiny Blue Ox! (Really, how can I not love the only comic on the market with a small bull in it?) Plus, Jack #18 features The Best Line of the Week: "They are throwing the book at us! It is ironic!" Say, remember when DC Direct did Sandman action figures? Well, I want a Jack action figure, and a Gary the Pathetic Fallacy figure, and a Hillary figure with removable ska-check glasses, and especially Paul Bunyan with miniature Babe the Tiny Blue Ox figures. Until then, I'm content to name JACK OF FABLES #18 the most fun comic of the week!