WTF? Friday...6/3/2016

I don't know what to write about today Joe.

Nah. Still haven't seen it. 

Which makes it hard for me because I want to watch reviews, but I don't to watch reviews. You know?

Well, yeah. It's coming out in Japan today, so I'll look at the numbers Monday.

I've already talked about that. EVERYONE knows about that. But that makes me think of something:

There are a lot of channels out there that review movies and comics, and all the ones I've seen recap the plot before going into their review.

A direct result of the Siskel & Ebert television show...the grandfather of all review shows.

I get why someone who reviews movies would follow that pattern. It helps the viewer decide whether or not to see a recently released film. Spoiler warnings abound, as needed, and the reviewer gives their opinion on what they saw without giving away too much.

People reviewing recently released comics follow the same pattern...for the same reasons. Which makes sense.

Then there are reviewers of...let's call them "classic" comics.

It's one thing for a magazine whose regular reader might not be in the know, like Time or People, to explain who Batman is, where Superman comes from or what Steve Rogers looked like before the experiment. But when a reviewer reviews a comic...on a channel about comics...and does the same thing, it drives me crazy.

If I'm on your comic book based channel watching you review an old Spider-Man story, like The Clone Saga or Kraven's Last Hunt, I don't need you to tell me who Spidey is, which issue his first appearance was in or what publishing company he's from. I already know this. 

If I didn't, there's Wikipedia. 

I'm watching your review because I'm interested in your opinion about The Clone Saga or Kraven's Last Hunt. 

While this is a recent issue, the spoiler's gone viral. And everyone has an opinion about it...even Chris Evans...but the reason why this has gotten so big is because now there are fans of the film (at least some of whom have never even touched a comic) as upset as longtime fans of the comic. 

But either way, reviewers still insist on the recap. 

W...T...F...?

Don't waste time explaining Steve's history as Captain America. Just explain why you think this is bulls#!t. I mean, I know it's bulls#!t, but I'd like to hear your reasons why.

Check out Belated Media...It's good...Really...

If I had the technical skills, I'd be doing movie reviews like this. He's rviewed many films on his YouTube channel and is both knowledgeable and funny. I like to think of him as the film equivalent to my comic books on the dorkiness scale, which is interesting since in his review of The Avengers he makes it clear that he's not a comic reader.

Tell you what dude - you help me learn to Vlog, and I'll send you a list of what comics to read.

Of course, at that point we'd sort of cancel each other out.

On second thought...never mind.

My Take On...

...Identity Crisis #1

This is the second issue I have read by writer Brad Meltzer. The first being The Justice League of America #0 given out on Free Comic Book Day a couple of years ago. Having read that, I recognized Meltzer's trick of time jumping within the story. I would expect at least a few readers to get confused by it their first time through.

I also read this after reading 52, so I knew some plot points there connected to this.

I love Meltzer's use of narration, and how letterer Ken Lopez and colorist Alex Sinclair use their tricks to let readers know who's narrating what.

My biggest drawback to this story was that I only knew about half the characters. Bolt? Looks like a Punisher wannabe to me. The bit about him facing either Firehawk or Flamebird went totally over my head. And what the heck's an Amazo?

All of the characters are written realistically, like they could be walking down the street. A refreshing view that has actually been done before (ahem*Marvel*ahem). The connections and references to previous stories was another nice touch (*ahem*).

The best panel is, of course, where Ralph finds Sue. The whole page actually. It doesn't matter if you've never read a DC comic, or any comic before for that matter - if that doesn't move you, you're a cold dead fish. Bringing the extra kick to the gut back again on the next page drives the whole feel of the book further home. Literally.

My only WTF moments are when Bolt gets shot. He's a teleporter, right? So why didn't he just 'port away from the bullets? WTF?

Also - when he does go down, there are lots of holes in the crate behind him, but none in the back of his coat. WTF?

And what would make Benjamin call for an ambulance? He was the one whose brother worked for the Penguin, and was the one more likely to be packing in the first place, right? WTF?

I really enjoyed this issue, and highly recommend it.