Top 5 Villains I Identify With
Inspired by facebook’s Living Social which I am unabashedly addicted to. What is it about lists and making lists and having pictures to go along with those lists and being able to comment on lists that just brings out the best/worst in people. I’m always amazed at the instant camaraderie when someone agrees with your list or the instant irritation when they don’t. Case in point, a list revealed that a friend of mine doesn’t like pancakes. THE HELL? Who doesn’t like pancakes! So of course, being a good facebook user I gave her a public flogging.
Anyway, here’s my list of Top 5 Villains I Identify With:
I chose villains because the best villains have motivations that we all can get behind. How they carry out those motivations, usually involving carnage, we don’t agree with but we can totally get why they would want to. My favorite villains are the ones who do it because they are trying to set things right, just like the hero. Ultimately, it is both the hero’s and the villain’s burden to make the decision to act, to suffer the consequences.
Villain #1 – Poison Ivy I don’t really love plants. I mean, they are nice and all but they bring bees, require “tending” and usually mean a trip to Lowe’s which… *barf* However, I do have a child (ren – well almost!). So I know the feeling of wanting to protect him at all costs. Of believing that this world needs to treat him kindly.
Villain #2 – Magneto Say what you will about his choice of headwear but this mutant understands something that X has yet to figure out. “Peaceful assimilation”? Yeah, that’s an oxymoron.
Villain #3 – Ramona Flowers’ Exes (sorry couldn’t find any decent pictures of the exes) Technically this is a crop of villains but I relate to them all. I think at one point we’ve all wanted to bust the head of the ex-girlfriend/boyfriend’s new flame.
Villain #4 – Alex Wilder I love my mom and dad.
Villain #5 – The Joker Yes, he’s bat**** crazy. He 
treats his decision to commit homicide as lightly as picking out ice cream flavors but come on. Who hasn’t wanted to skip raging against the machine and just work on making the machine pay?
Batman R.I.P. – review
You’ll have to forgive me. I have a bad cold and I’m attempting to review Batman R.I.P. so there’s a very good chance that none of this post will make sense.
What is it about Batman that makes me so sad? The whole Dark Knight, troubled soul, citizens of Gotham – just brings me down. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, a lot of beautiful writing comes out of sadness. Elie Wiesel’s Night comes to mind and of course there’s England’s version of the Bat, Hamlet. But the level of sadness in Batman has really been cranked up hasn’t it?
Batman faces the Black Glove. He’s on the Glove’s trail when his “love” Jezebel Jet betrays him, whispering the code word that shatters his psyche. Luckily, he’s got a backup personality – I promise it’s much cooler than it sounds. Together with Robin and Nightwing (who aren’t much help but what can you do) the new Zur en Arrh Batman continues his efforts to destroy the Black Glove even at the cost of what’s left of Bruce Wayne’s life.
Batman R.I.P. isn’t so much about Bruce Wayne’s physical death or even his psychological death (that happened a while back) but his emotional end. I can’t decide if I think this is brilliant or cheap. I’ve heard people argue that Bruce Wayne had it coming. In fact, the book itself makes the point, in clue flashbacks from The Butler Did It, that Bruce Wayne has had numerous chances to take his pain and actually learn from it and doesn’t. But to break him with a rumor? Though it’s a pretty good one and I love the idea that maybe the Wayne’s aren’t the saints we thought – still…
There’s no beating Morrison’s feel for plot or timing. I loved the second personality even if it came with some kind of freaky little batkid. Actually, I became sort of attached to that Life with Louie looking sidekick. There’s also the sad truth that no one understands Batman except his worst enemy, who happens to be insane. That’s when you know it’s all gone horribly wrong, when the Joker speaks reasonably about what the rational thing to do is and of course everyone ignores him. It suggests that maybe the Joker is a twisted Cassandra, telling the sad fate of Gotham to power hungry villians and heroes.
I do have a few gripes though. First, Arkham Asylum – when is this place going to get some better security? I mean, really. It’s just irritating. Second, the artwork is too over the top. I’m sure Morrison and Daniel were intending it to be this way. A friend of mine told me the back story of the whole Zur en Arrh, explaining that Morrison is heavily influenced by past, campy Batman stories. So the artwork reflects that but I don’t know if it needs to. Joker looks too much like a monster, like Pennywise the Clown and the faces of Gotham citizens sit flat. Finally, I always find myself wondering stupid things like where the Joker finds purple pinstripes on such short notice? Does he have a special store that he stops by? Do they let him keep some in Arkham?
That may just be the cough syrup talking….
Jack of Fables – Turning Pages review
If you’ve been reading the wonderful Fables but haven’t picked up the Jack of Fables spinoff, you’re missing out. Jack of Fables is the story of Jack (that egotistical but irresistible hero) after he leaves Fabletown to seek his fortune. What follows is a series of hilarious mishaps, seductions and new Fables. It doesn’t have the weight and worry that the Fables series has and that’s a good thing. Jack narrates, that’s also a good thing. He’s just as narcissistic as ever, often getting upset when one character gets a little more “screen time”.
Turning Pages is volume 5 and is a good jumping in point. The first story is sort of unnecessary. Way back in they day (before the events in Fables) Jack is the leader of an Old West gang, killing lawmen and stealing horses, the whole bit. Sheriff Bigby (the Big Bad Wolf) gets wind of this criminal behavior and sets out to bring Jack back. While it’s a fun story, it’s mainly filler. Though it is interesting to see Bigby before Snow White manages to calm him down.
After that brief interlude, comes the stories of the three Page sisters. They are Literals and librarians working at the Golden Boughs Retirement Community (it’s not nearly as nice as it sounds). Their background stories lead into what appears to be a very sticky situation for Jack.
This isn’t the strongest volume in the series but it’s nice to have a break from the building action. Willingham and Sturges make sure to keep the laughs up, even as the stakes get high. One of the best things about this series is the use of American Fables like Paul Bunyan and his strange blue ox Babe. Like the original series, this one is packed with imagination.
If you’re looking for a delightful prose read that’s a lot like these series, pick up the Thursday Next mysteries by Jasper Fforde.
Elliot Stabler is the Green Lantern!
The New Green Initiative | Graphic Novel Reporter - New Green Lantern cartoon movie coming to DVD!
The above article includes an interview with Chris Meloni, or as I like to call him angry Elliot Stabler. You may also recognize his name from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle - yes, that was him!!
He sounds all excited about the prospect of voicing a superhero, “You become a kid again. I’m doing what my five-year-old son does in his bedroom. Only I get paid for it. That makes it even more fun.”
I think Meloni is a great choice. He’s got a strong voice but it isn’t too deep (think Batman) or too unsure (think Superman) or too high (think Spiderman).
Green Lantern is certainly getting a lot of attention. I read the beautifully illustrated and mythos heavy Sinestro Corps War. I was confused, it’s true, but enjoyed it none the less.
