Well, I bought a bunch of comic books recently. Never a good sign for me personally--when I find myself reaching for the cranial comfort food, it usually means I'm under stress. Be that as it may, I have some thoughts.
I bought the first three issues of Moon Knight, mostly because I heard Charlie Huston was writing it and I loved his novel Already Dead. I have to say my reaction was mixed. Value-for-money wise, there's basically one issue's worth of story in the first three issues, and while the art looks great, I found it kind of confusing. There's a lot of flashing back and forward and panels put in weird orders and a couple of bad guys who look nearly identical, so I had to keep switching back and forth going, "Wait, is that the same guy that got his face ripped off before?" It's a comic book. I shouldn't have to work that hard. I guess it might be easier to follow if you read Moon Knight back in the day, but back in the day I had precious little allowance money to spend on comics, and I figured if I wanted Batman I'd just buy Batman.
Man Bat! What else do I have to say, except Man Bat, Man Bat, Man Bat!
Conan: Book of Thoth. No Conan, strangely, and hence the entire series was light on the beheadings. But, overall, a very involving tale of personal and political corruption.
Did I mention Man Bat?
Rock: The Prophecy. Oh, Sgt. Rock goes against everything I believe in as a good liberal pacifist, but how can I resist when Rock yells "Flatten, Easy!" and those combat-happy joes from Easy Company hit the deck, machine guns screaming "Budda-budda!"
Wonder Woman. Despite the formative role the tv series had in my life, I never really read the comic book. I do remember the Ms. Magazine cover with Wonder Woman on it hanging around my house in the early '70's. Apparently Gloria Steinem convinced a generation of feminists that a woman spilling out of her top wearing star spangled hotpants and weilding golden dominatrix gear was some kind of feminist icon. Which is probably why I was allowed to watch the tv show as a lad. God bless you, Gloria Steinem! Anyway, I found this one strangely poignant. It's all about feeling like an imposter, feeling unworthy, feeling incompetent, feeling like you can't measure up to those who came before you. I mean sure, it was still a superhero comic, but it was all about feelings that seemed pretty real. Thumbs up.
And, of course, Man Bat, who, as super villlains go, is no Gorilla Grodd, super-intelligent evil gorilla from space, but still nothing to sneeze at.
