"Nothing Ever Really Ends"

The phrase originated as a thought-provoking statement. But having looked over DC Comics' Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank it seems to be repurposed into a threat.

I didn't really want to read Doomsday Clock, but as a contributor to The Grand Comics Database I read a little bit of anything - anything which isn't already indexed at the GCD. I noticed they lacked indexing on the three Doomsday Clock trades (one 2 volume hardcover set and one complete softcover collection). I put holds on them at my library and received them immediately - a little odd, considering it's one of the 'hot' comics of 2020 and I'm currently about one month in on my wait for Jonathan Hickman's first X-Men trade.

I had no great expectations for this comic. I'm one of those who think Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' Watchmen was a perfect comic that could only be diminished by revisiting. If DC characters must meet Watchmen characters (and they don't have to, no), then that issue of The Question where the Question tries to imitate Rorschach is about as far as I'd like to see it go.

It's a very slavish attempt to recreate Watchmen's format - 12 issues, told mostly in 9-panel grids, text features in the back. These are creative decisions Johns & Frank would never have made on their own - it's simply parroting what fandom expects from a Watchmen comic. The entire project is a very safe one, a conservative attempt to have the characters' universes brush up against each other. Moore & Gibbons' complex storytelling where words & images were deftly intertwined is not recreated.

And indeed, if you want a conservative DC Comics writer you could look no further than Geoff Johns. 20 years ago he was a mere fanboy-turned-writer. But in these twenty years he's... not changed, really. He was the company's Chief Creative Officer prior to writing this series. But I was struck by how much Doomsday Clock reads like his 20-year old JSA comics. Not because the JSA cast are here (although they are) but because he still writes his conflicts to a point where the solution to the problem (for some reason) is a double-page spread of various super heroes posing.

There might be a great story to be told about how Watchmen influenced the direction of the DC Comics characters even before the company tried to fuse them into a shared universe. But considering the tone the series is going for -- the attempt to be reconciliatory towards the two universes -- it shouldn't have been written by a fan service writer. As Moore's own reaction to Watchmen's popularity was to move from deconstruction to reconstruction, I feel a better story could have been told by a reconstruction writer -- that is, Kurt Busiek, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Tom Peyer or someone of their ilk. Doomsday Clock takes the path of least resistance. It's the sort of comic where, if the Joker should appear, the 9-panel grid has to be abandoned because, wow, the Joker, oh my goodness, who could have imagined seeing the Joker in a DC Comics book, my expectations are shattered.

Ultimately I realize I am not the target audience for Doomsday Clock. To be fair, no one in comics fandom is the target audience. The target audience is the executive board of Warner Bros.

No More Moore?

It seems fitting that Alan Moore announced his retirement from comic books in July; the news came on the heels of DC Comics closing down their Vertigo imprint and the dissolution of Mad Magazine. Moore inspired Vertigo; Mad inspired Moore. They all went out together.

Mind you, this may not be a full retirement for Moore - there's every chance that he may come back for a story here or there; heck, Steve Ditko 'retired' in 2000 but was still self-publishing at the time of his death in 2018.

Moore occupies a very odd position in the comics industry - he's absolutely one of the most-read creators who has ever written, Watchmen alone ensures that. He's one of the most influential creators on super hero comics, yet he's always been an outsider. He's considered both over-hyped and under-appreciated.

I came late to Moore -- being a Marvel Comics reader and his Captain Britain so hard to find -- and when I finally did read his work, I found it held up. I'm afraid I haven't read much of his 21st-century output (I didn't care for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but I've read his Watchmen, Miracleman, From Hell, Captain Britain, Swamp Thing, 1963, Supreme, Youngblood, Superman, Batman: The Killing Joke, Judgement Day, Top Ten and V for Vendetta.

It was just a couple of years ago that I audited a course on graphic novels where, in addition to Watchmen as one of the textbooks, we looked at two Alan Moore stories which I hadn't read before - his 9/11 piece "This Is Information" and one of his Greyshirt stories from Tomorrow Stories. I enjoyed the storytelling on Greyshirt so much that it led me to read all of his Tomorrow Stories, which was quite a bit of fun - he's best known for his grim super hero deconstructions, but his humourous super hero deconstructions are also well worth experiencing.

Part of what impresses me about Moore is the amount of effort he places into his storytelling. After all the years I spent reading scripts from Marvel writers who gave so little thought to what they wanted their artists to communicate and how they wanted it communicated (they were primarily concerned with their dialogue), I admire that Moore cares about storytelling, and it's evident from the books he wrote that he was always seeking to produce a certain effect on every comics page - sometimes through panels packed with dense information, sometimes by delivering information through simple imagery. The man cares about his art and wasn't content just to rush out pages to meet his deadlines. Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Moore.

Cops on the moon, super hero cops and various non-cop-related titles (2017 review, finale)

My connection to the world of comic books has felt a bit off ever since I quit working for Marvel in 2012. Perhaps I miss the shared universe concept, the excitement of seeing different creators and their characters playing off of each other. Maybe. Still, I got into a few titles this last year.

What was the best new comic I read last year? I dunno. Let's say Mooncop or Baking with Kafka by Tom Gauld. The latter book is a collection of cartoons, while the former is a graphic novel about a police officer on the moon - unfortunately, people are steadily leaving the moon so his job seems to be a pointless one. It's funny and heartfelt.

I read a lot of other books from Canada's Drawn & Quarterly including Hostage by Guy Delisle and both of his Bad Parenting books, plus Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Glidden, which I reviewed here.

I followed Deathstroke by Christopher Priest, Joe Bennett, Carlo Pagulayan & others for most of the year until the book shifted from bi-monthly to monthly status and increased its cover price. Priest seemed to be having the time of his life playing on the fringes of the DC Universe while crafting a complex series loaded with conflicted characters. It's very much like his Black Panther, only with an amoral unstoppable protagonist. You can read one of my reviews from the past year here.

I'm also following G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Larry Hama & S. L. Gallant, which spent most of the last year creating a new Snake Eyes for the series (Hama killed off the most popular Joe recently). I'm reading Cerebus in Hell? by Dave Sim which has been published in various different parody title formats (ie, Strange Cerebus) and while it sure ain't Cerebus proper, it makes me chuckle. Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai published a number of issues last year and it's as consistent and strong as ever. I also dipped into the past for Top Ten by Alan Moore & Gene Ha, which I missed back in its heyday; it was as complex as I expected from Moore, but I had difficulty sorting out my feelings about the large cast.

For a time I followed the controversial The Divided States of Hysteria by Howard Chaykin, right up until my comic shop stopped putting it on the shelves! It was easily the second-most reviled book of 2017 (after Marvel's Secret Empire) and isn't that enough reason to check it out? I wrote up my thoughts here.

As I had thoroughly enjoyed the film Edge of Tomorrow I decide to give the earlier manga version a try and read All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka & Takeshi Obata. It has many differences compared to the film and definitely opts for less-optimistic ending. I'm still following Astro City by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson, which had a few noteworthy issues last year, particularly a two-parter about a man who learns to be a hero from the example of his dog.

Some more recent reads of mine include the Charles Dickens adaptation Marley's Ghost by Gideon Kendall, which I reviewed here; Captain Kronos by Dan Abnett & Tom Mandrake, reviewed here; The Sworn Sword by Ben Avery & Mike S. Miller which is set in the world of George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones world but is a shade more optimistic; the M. R. James adaptations found in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Vol.2 by Leah Moore, John Reppion & others, reviewed by me here; and the European book Alter Ego: Camille by Pierre-Paul Renders, Denis Lapiere & Mathieu Reynes, which I hope to review soon as it has elements worth talking about... and people don't seem to be talking about it online.

Happy 2018!

Watchmen Babies Noir

A few months ago I spoke to a professor of film studies about "film noir." As the term has become quite elastic, I wanted to hear how he defined the phrase. He admitted he held a very broad view on what could be considered film noir - in fact, he had taught a class on film noir using the John Ford film The Searchers, a western film renowned for its color photography and widescreen vistas, none of which are elements we commonly associate with noir. However, he argued that because the protagonist was a man returning from the war who finds himself an outsider and thrust into a situation of moral ambiguity, there was a valid basis for considering The Searchers film noir.

There was a time when film noir meant more than black & white photography or the lead being a detective. Film noir as it was originally understood meant Out of the Past, Double Indemnity or Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, but because the term leant prestige to films, fairly soon it was taken over by marketing until today we find "film noir" is a virtually meaningless descriptor.

Above: "Film Noir" Barbie clothes

On that note, here's a recent solicitation from DC Comics:

WATCHMEN NOIR HC

Written by ALAN MOORE Art and cover by DAVE GIBBONS

Now presented in stark black and white, highlighting Dave Gibbons dark, moody artwork, experience the greatest graphic novel of all time as never before! WATCHMEN begins as a murder mystery, but soon unfolds into a planet-altering conspiracy. As the resolution comes to a head, the unlikely group of reunited heroes—Rorschach, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, and Ozymandias—test the limits of their convictions and ask themselves where the true line is between good and evil. Collects the original 12-issue WATCHMEN series in black and white for the first time! On sale NOVEMBER 23 • 416 pg, B&W, 7.5” x 11.5”, $39.99 US

"Watchmen Noir." Not simply "Watchmen in Black & White" but "noir." The term is used as a buzzword; it's printed in black and white? By Gar, it must be noir!

What is the purpose of reading Watchmen in black and white? The only idea I can conceive is that one might find a new way of appreciating Dave Gibbons' artwork without the colouring of John HIggins. Certainly, when I bought the black & white Essential Spider-Man back in 1997 I found a new love for Steve Ditko's art. Mind you, I also loved the book's $20 price tag - if I could have had the same content in colour for the same price then I would have switched to colour.

Watchmen Noir is like the reverse of Ted Turner's flamboyantly garish colorized films. But, here's the thing, Watchmen was not in colour by mistake. Gibbons didn't accidentally load his pages in the washer with his colours and go, "Whoops! I guess this has to be a colour comic now!" Part of why Watchmen continues to elicit such strong reactions from its audience - and is a mainstay of college comics studies - is that the creators had such fine control over their storytelling, that virtually every line, word and - yes- colour on the page was there intentionally and held a meaning. Black & white is a very worthy medium in comics, one I've enjoyed seeing creators such as Milt Caniff, Stan Sakai, Jeff Smith and Dave Sim labour within. But on the occasions they worked in black & white, that informed their artistic decisions.

But aye, as Will Smith once said, "there is the rub." Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' creative control over Watchmen has long since become a joke, a mocking sneer from the publisher they trusted, an unwilling parent to generation after generation of Watchmen Babies. And yet, despite these repeated attempts to mine Watchmen's success, the work continues to stand, still considered a great achievement in comics storytelling. Moore and Gibbons may have had to bargain with a monkey's paw in order to see their work published, but they can rest secure on its continued reputation - which is more than you can say for the Watchmen Babies.

Curiously Familiar #10: Captain Marvel and Marvelman

If you haven't been reading "Curiously Familiar" then you've arrived just in time for the finale! This is a series of posts where I examine various comic book characters who were published by at least two different companies, but wore a different name at each one. This is not the same as characters who were created in homage - in this instances, the two characters were actually intended to be the same entities. Let's go out with some style!

Young reporter Billy Batson learns that by saying the word "Shazam" he can transform into Captain Marvel, a super-powerful figure who fights for justice alongside his Marvel Family.

Young reporter Micky Moran learns that by saying the word "Kimota" he can transform into Marvelman, a super-powerful figure who fights for justice alongside his Marvelman Family.

The Story Behind the Story: When Fawcett decided to get out of the serial comic book business it left one of their UK packagers in a bit of sticky wicket, wot? Captain Marvel had been immensely popular around the world, including the environs of the insatiable Brits; the solution was to simply dye the hero's hair, give him a new costume and otherwise keep calm and carry on internet memes. Marvelman did eventually fold up, only to fall into the lap of one Alan Moore in 1982; Moore used the character as a starting point for a deconstruction of the super hero genre and saw his work repurposed in the USA under the title Miracleman, owing to the tender sensibilities of Marvel Comics.

Thankfully, that was the last time there were any complications in the publishing history of Fawcett's Captain Marvel franchise.

Thank you for following "Curiously Familiar!" There were many other characters whom I might have featured, but these were the ten I found most interesting.

Alan Moore predicts 2005

From the Tomorrow Syndicate (1993):

If only Moore could harness his power to predict DC crossovers for good...