*Obie, through his dabbling in arcane magics mixed with ancient corrupt business practices, has had not just the colors of his fur switched, but a complete overhaul of his work ethic as well…I think I’m kinda okay with the mishap.
***Possible Spoilers Below***
Friday Slice of Heaven
Ascender #6
(Written by Jeff Lemire, illustrated by Dustin Nguyen, lettered and designed by Steve Wands, edited by Will Dennis, published by Image Comics)
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The Immortal Hulk #25
(Written by Al Ewing, illustrated by Germán Garciá and Joe Bennett, inked by Ruy Jose, colored by Paul Mounts, lettered by VC’s Cory Petit, published by Marvel Comics)
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Watchmen
(Streaming on HBO Now/Go)Now, here is something I don’t do often: go into a small amount of detail about something not in the printed format. But, I was so completely blown away by HBO’s new Watchmen series that I felt it necessary to mention it here. I should also mention that I bought the entirety of the 12-issue comic book maxiseries when it first debuted back in ’86 and even though parts of it were a bit beyond me at the time, I knew I was reading something monumental from creator Alan Moore, who had already changed the way I read comics with his work on Swamp Thing, Miracleman, and later V for Vendetta. Between Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (from a little earlier in 1986) and Watchmen, those two series completely altered the shape of an industry by setting a tone and look that—for better or worse—still resonates strongly today. Since then, I greatly regret selling those issues, but I have a well-worn trade, I have the motion comic on DVD (which I have not yet watched), and I have seen in the theater and bought the Blu-ray of the Zack Synder Watchmen (which I actually like…not at all sorry, haters). I will admit that I have not read the supposed mixed bag that is the Before Watchmen books from a while back, not because of any “loyalty” to the source material, but because of time; I’ll get around to those someday. So, yes, I was there from the beginning and I have been a fan ever since.
With HBO’s Watchmen, I loved every moment of this new show that takes place over 30 years after the events of the original series.
In the span of an hour, I was educated about the events of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (and horrified by what I saw) during the opening sequence, and I was put immediately thereafter on pins and needles when the masked officer pulled over the 7th Cavalry piece of trash. From there, meeting the new characters, including the handful of masked heroes who would be looking to take on the racists terrorists that are the 7th Cavalry, I was transfixed. I watched the episode twice within a two-day span and I have been thinking about it ever since. I have no idea of what to make about the rain of squids or the weird servants of Jeremy Irons, who might be Ozymandias in hiding. I am also thoroughly baffled by the ending scene and the old man in the wheelchair, but I imagine the answers will come as the weeks go by. I will be eagerly awaiting each and every new episode of this striking new series, but the thing I am curious about is what people who have never read the comic and possibly have never even seen the movie (which has a HUGE departure from the comic) think of this debut episode. I am deeply familiar with the source material, but can those who have not read what is one of the most important comic series of all time be able to follow along? Will they be pulled in and possibly seek out the original comic to better understand what led to this world where technology has not advanced as much as in our own and where a squid storm is a common occurrence? Time will tell for them, but I am in 100%. Oh, goody, look at the time. Only an hour and a half until the second episode is available to watch. I can’t wait!
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
* Side note: I have seen the efforts of those to rating bomb this phenomenal series, which is both sad and laughable (yes, I know, I say “phenomenal” based off of one episode). If any of these poor rating “reviews” had issues with problematic pacing, cinematography, characterization, poor acting, or the like, then I could possibly understand where they are coming from. But what I am seeing are “reviews” using the same tired refrains saying the series is made for “social justice warriors” or that the creators had to “go and ruin things by making the show political.” Complete and utter bullshit. Did these brainiacs actually read Watchmen? It was one of the most political comic books of the time. The world was on the brink of nuclear war, the heroes were anything but heroes, having given up or turned into monsters themselves. Rorschach was a racist, misogynist, homophobe with a severe mental illness who only read ultra-rightwing propaganda. The thing was that his particular paranoia just happened to lead him to learn of a darker plan to stall the death of the world at a tremendous cost as designed by an ultra-leftwing capitalist. The world of the Watchmen was a scary, fucked up place in the ’80s. Now, in the television series, the threat of nuclear war might be a thing of the past, but the threat of domestic terrorism is very real and both sides—the evil and the good…or at least the not as evil—wear masks; the world is still a scary, fucked up place. Being “political” is about economic policy, government spending, and world diplomacy, but being anti-racist is not political, it is about being a human being.
See you next time, enjoy this week’s Watchmen.
