ohtani's jacket

I took the plunge and began reading Grant Morrison's X-Men. It was a bit jarring at first as I couldn't relate to how the characters looked or spoke. There's no real explanation as to why this group are the current incarnation of the team, and the art is off-putting, especially the way Quitely draws Cyclops. By the third issue there were enough hooks to keep me interested. I followed Michael Golden from Micronauts to The 'Nam. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but Golden's cartoony style surprised me. Sometimes it looks like a daily strip about 'Nam. I guess in my mind I associate Vietnam with stark realism. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just different from what I expected. I also followed Barry Windsor-Smith onto Weapon X. I'm thinking that might have been a mistake. Fantastic art, but there's nothing in the story that rises above the early 90s comics milieu. Not yet, anyway.

Meh, he's played as many games as Durant.

How is Butler not an All-Star? Don't people remember what he did in the Finals last year? And while I'm at it, how can Sabonis average 20/10/5 and not be an All-Star?

I've been spending the past week listening to 1997 hip hop and we're up to '99 already?! For the record, I thought Uptown Saturday Night by Camp Lo, Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow, and the first Jedi Mind Tricks album were the best things I listened to. Favorite track was this:

Buscema is starting to get into his stride on Conan, although I sometimes feel like his Conan looks too old. I felt the same way about Buscema's Wolverine, who looked ancient when he drew him in Marvel Comics Present and the solo title. I wasn't aware of the backlash over Buscema taking over from Smith. For a guy who is largely accepted as the definitive Conan penciller, he wasn't well received in the beginning. Roy Thomas even addressed it the letters page, giving a lengthy response to a fan who complained bitterly about the change. Micronauts kind of fell off a cliff. Apparently, there was some type of conflict between Shooter, Mantlo and Golden over whether Micronauts should be set in the Marvel Universe. Golden lost interest in the book when Shooter and Mantlo got their wish and had Marvel characters appear. The book lost some of its intrigue after that, though I didn't mind the Man-Thing appearance, and Man-Thing is a title I have been struggling to get through. It's really hard to get into a book where the main character can't think or feel. Gerber's satire does nothing for me at this point, and I honestly wish the book was a creepy gothic horror like the Man Thing story in Savage Tales. I guess I wish it was Swamp Thing. Speaking of Gerber, am I a philistine or is Howard the Duck not very funny?

I finished up the Dark Ages storyline in Astro City. The Silver Agent special was really moving. Not ashamed to say I got a bit teary-eyed at the end. The next series was really jarring, though. That Broken Man character and the manga chibi character that I can't say I really appreciated (felt like a stereotypical representation of manga/anime to me, though I'm sure it wasn't meant as a swipe at the culture.) For all the talk of Dark Ages being difficult to get through, the new series is the one that has caught me off guard. Still going strong with Starman. It drifts from time to time with crossovers and flashbacks, but when it focuses on the core relationships between the characters and doesn't try to be too hip, it's as solid a superhero title as I've read in a mighty long time. It's interesting because I'm still not sure if I like the lead character or not, but I love the world around him. Jonah Hex has been enjoyable. When Michael Fleisher came on board, he fleshed out Hex's backstory a bit, but the title is still largely episodic. I can accept that, though it does become repetitious if you binge read it. I try not to read too much of it at a time. I began reading All-Star Squadron again, sort of inspired by the use of Golden Age characters in Starman. I know it's a loving tribute to Golden Age characters, but I can only read a little bit at a time because of the tone. I guess I cut my teeth on grim superheroes and have never really warmed to more wholesome stuff. I've been slowly making my way through Mark Waid's run on Flash. So far I've really enjoyed the arc where Barry Allen returned and I also liked the storyline where Wally had a meltdown over not being able to save that woman from horrific injuries, but aside from that I don't really see what's so special about Waid's run. I enjoyed the Baron and William Messner-Loebs' runs far more. That is partly due to nostalgia as I used to hunt for those runs in secondhand bookstores when I was a kid (my primary means of tracking down back issues before I discovered that comic book stores existed, which incidentally was a glorious day in my life.) Waid's run feels generic in comparison and the art has become really cartoony. Aside from that, I have been re-reading 60s Doom Patrol, which is one of my favorite titles from the Silver Age, and I am making my way through the 5 Year Later run of Legion of Super-Heroes, though I still don't understand what's going on. That book used to intrigue me whenever I'd go to the comic book store and pick up that free Direct Currents newsletter. It was a book I also wanted to get into, but it was one of the expensive titles. I cannot understand what is going on from one issue to the next. The last time I read it, it was after going through the famous Legion runs, and I don't remember being this confused.

I forgot my favorite song from '97.

'96 and '97 saw the rise of neo-soul thanks to artists like D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. I prefer classic soul, but compared to the landscape of the previous decade, it was a breath of fresh air. My favorite thing about it is the Gill Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson influence. 1997 is where I check out on hip hop. I need to listen to more post '96 stuff. Still, everyone was waiting for this to drop:

1997 This was my senior year of high school. I think the book gives a pretty fair reflection of what was going on in music at the time, at least the kind of stuff you saw from the major labels. To me, 1997 will always be remembered as the year OK Computer came out. Like I said before, it was our Sgt. Pepper's, and pretty much redefined music for my generation. But other artists were making good music too. I think the only omission in terms of stuff that was big was The Verve. Bjork was still writing beautiful songs like these: Ween had an interesting concept album that year as well: The usual indie stuff -- Belle & Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, a couple of Japanese acts (Cornelius & Fishmans), etc. I always liked Blink-182. Fun band. This was a favorite too: 1997 also had this monster: I was quite taken with Robert Wyatt's album from this year: And I'm still pushing for some Misfits to make the list:

Bad choice for a Cardigans song. What edition of the book are you using? Earlier editions had Kelly Watch the Stars by Air and You Get What You Give by New Radicals sandwiched in between Lauryn Hill and Stardust. The book has gone pretty mainstream with its late 90s picks, but Goo Goo Dolls? I was gonna say something nasty, but I guess we're reaching the point where the songs are more nostalgic for my sister's generation than mine.

I finished Red Nails, which is considered by many to be Barry Smith's best work on Conan. What interested me is that Roy Thomas wrote an editorial where he said it might be the final issue of Savage Tales. It seems Marvel had a difficult time publishing their black and white magazines, which is a shame because they are a clear precursor to the rise of independent comics, graphic novels, and comics for mature readers. If that trend had begun earlier we would have seen some amazing creator driven stuff in the 70s.

I finished up the Squadron Supreme mini-series today. Lots of interesting ideas about superhero comics in keeping with what a lot of the British writers were doing in the 80s. I can see the parallels with Watchmen except that the writing and artwork is obviously superior in Watchmen. The thing that kept bugging me is that even though I enjoyed the way Thomas used the Squadron Supreme in the Avengers, what's the point in introducing these DC copies into the Marvel Universe? If the DC characters are so iconic, and you want to work with them so desperately, then why not jump ship and work for the opposition? I get that Gruenwald used the characters, and their alternate universe, to tell the kind of story he couldn't with the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, but the entire concept of the Squadron Supreme is strange to me. And I say that as someone who loves Astro City and all of the homages/tributes in that series.