Editor's Note: A few weeks ago, the staff here at 'Sophisticated
Fun' was murdering some time on an odd Tuesday afternoon (ugh, Tuesdays, amiright?)
when and we kicked around the idea of starting a column. Something where we could
write in the first-person, you know, make 'I' statements instead of always trying
to create this illusion of journalistic integrity, but a column, seriously? Columns are the last refuge of the reporter,
the designated hitter position of the newsroom, a valuable (and valued) member
of the team, but someone who's been repressing her opinions and biases for so
long that they now she has to take prescribed meds. (or so she says) for her
condition. The other side of the same coin reads that a columnist is the Swiss
Army Knife of journalists: the perspicacity of a hard-bitten, worn-at-the-soles
scribbler, but with the wit and acumen of a luncheon companion at the Algonquin
-- you know what we're talking about, a guy who spends too much of his time
looking up fancy words at thesaurus.com and making references that were
relevant in the 1920's to try and sound smart and occasionly drops a 'amiright'
like he's some twenty-three-year-old instead of, dunno, thirty-eight or
something. Yeessh. We don't have the
budget for 'that guy,' so we assigned it to Keith. Wait! I've haven't even said
what our new column is about … screw it, we'll make Keith write that too. Excelsior! -- The Editorial Staff
of IiSF?
Author's Note: Hey!
The folks over in editorial said they were going to write up a short
introduction to our new column, ''… We've
established That,'' but they're behind on deadline (as usual) so they’ve
asked me (again) to fill in the details. I’m sure they'll add something later
(as is their prerogative … amiright?). Whatever. So, what we've got here at IiSF? is a column looking at landmark
comic book series that occurred from roughly 1986 until early August of 2011.
Say you were someone … well, me, and you (for the most part) stopped reading
comic books about the time you turned twelve or thirteen and all of a sudden
you’re reading comics again, writing a blog about comics and so on and so on.
You read other comic book bloggers (incessantly), listen to podcasts (mostly
from Canada) and they’re always going on about Y: The Last Man this and Identity
Crises that and making off-hand references to Age of Apocalypse, House of M
and Infinity Gauntlet (which sounds
like a sex toy you might find in the dungeons of the House of M). ANYWAY! The
gang over at Thirteen Minutes wrote to me to ask if I had ever read Joss Whedon
and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men.
I had not. Which brings us to … 'We've
Established That,' a (rather) regular feature that tells you faithful
reader that the stories that you already know
are great … are … great? So … we've established that, huh? Huh? See what I did
there? -- KPS
I don't have the ''Joss
Whedon gene.'' Sorry. Oh, sure, I've seen some syndicated Buffy bits and I
really, really, really tried to like Serenity,
but it didn't take (oh, poor Nathan Fillon, always a bridesmaid …). I guess there
is no accounting for taste. So, when it was suggested to me that I read Astonishing X-Men, I dismissed it because
of the Whedon-factor. Or, I suppose, you could say, that my ability to
appreciate the particular talents of Mr. Whedon had not yet manifested itself.
Whedon or no, I am, however, fluent in X-Men, having learned the language from
the masters, Claremont, Cockrum and Byrne. When talking about pop-culture --
especially pop-culture blind spots -- I often invoke the phrase (appropriated
from the King), 50,000,000 Elvis Fans
Can't Be Wrong, in other words, ''it's not you, it's me.'' Using either one
of these loopholes allows one to solve a pop-culture Kobayashi Maru (if you will) and fall on the sword, unless, of
course, one wants to be a total contrarian, which is shorthand for ''completely
unreliable asshole.'' Adding X-Men can (I’ve found) cut the sweet with the
bitter. So, l figured, 
If I had $3.99 for
every time I've read X or Y or friggin' Z is 'a great jumping on point' I would
be able to afford a lot more Marvel comic books[3].
Zing! I had no idea where X-continuity was prior to Whedon and Cassaday's
mandate to astonish. I had no idea about the backstory to the big (steely) reveal
in this series and it still (there's no better word for it) astonished. O.K.,
full disclosure, it was weird that Professor X was wallowing in the middle of a
no man's land which is/was Genosha(?) or something and, yes, it did take me out
of the story for a moment, but what I gleaned from the context filled in most
of the details. Something blew up, a lot of mutants died, and that's why (I
guess) the White Queen a.k.a Emma Frost is now a co-leader (and cohabitating
with ol' one-eye (get it!) himself, Cyclops) of the team. For the new comic
book reader or for a relapsed one like yours truly, prior continuity is the
ultimate turd in the punchbowl. I get it. It's important. Nobody likes to piss
on canon, especially long-established continuity that has been carefully
cultivated by creators, conglomerates and fans alike, but give us newbies and
degenerate a break and the benefit of the frickin' doubt to fill in the details
for ourselves or not, it's a big tent after all, plenty of room inside. Rant
over.
My research
(Wikipedia) tells me that John Cassaday commenced his career in 1995, so way
outside my ken. I'm told by Wikipedia (again) and my other fellow 'knights of
the keyboard' that Planetary is also one
to add to my list of must-reads, not only for Cassaday, but also for another
nineteen-nineties powerhouse, Warren Ellis. Yep, don't know no Ellis neither.
What struck me about Cassaday's work was how it possesses a photo-realistic-quality;
it's not, of course, maybe cartoon-real or comic-real is a better description.
Illustrative is the best way I can described his pencils -- like these
characters are (pardon the cliché) drawn from real-life. Buildings and vehicles
are rendered like architectural blueprints. I went wild (as I can presuppose
everyone else did) for how Cassaday cants the moment the gang's all back
together when Cyclopes says: ''We have to astonish them.'' Yes! It's moments
like that that, for better or for worse, mint fanboys. Cassaday and Whedon know
that simple fact in their adamantium infused bones. Wolverine (see what I did
there, huh?) is resplendent in his yellow on blue costume as is Beast (the three-quarter
unitard is perhaps unfortunate, but better than boxers), who provides the team
with its emotional intelligence -- something I had forgotten about from those
Claremont Cockrum collaborations of yesteryear. Who can say better than that?
Not me, bub. So, like freedom, cold beer on a hot day and getting a RT for
one's efforts, Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 1) is … uncannily and ultimately,
astonishing … so, yes, we've established that.
[1]
Not really, but I'm telling a story here. I did
buy it, but it wasn't my 'first' X-Men comic book -- (first one I bought off
the walls of New England Comics encased in mylar, sure) -- it was the '80's, rap was hitting the
mainstream, everyone was sampling from everywhere.
[2]
He was my guitar teacher and he loved jazz and
blues, but he wasn't much older than I am now, but (again) … Hello! Story!
[3]
That's for you Owen Craig!
I read these books as they were coming out and found plenty to enjoy, but hated the boring aliens and the offhand way Colossus was brought back from the dead.
ReplyDeleteAnd Keith, tell your introduction writer that a column's not the last refuge of anyone - a good column is tough to sustain. It needs someone with a sharp writing style, enough opinions to sustain a regular spot,and pithiness. Any hack who tries to hide away by writing a column will be eaten alive by the readers, if he's not sacked first, Good luck, my friend!