However, I have been keeping up with a couple of titles from FP in Glasgow during my last couple of visits. A fortnight ago, I got the 100-page Flash Spectacular- obviously, a tie-in with the Flashpoint summer event (which looks like a lot of Geoff Johns characters standing about talking).There are five vintage Flash tales from the early Silver Age. Four of them are about time travel and one is the "Who Doomed the Flash?" Rogues story that featured in the Wanted DC Special I got from ebay recently. I particularly enjoyed the first appearance of the Reverse-Flash, Professor Zoom. Both stories feature the elegant, Modernist cityscapes of Carmine Infantino.
Brave and Bold featured a team-up with the Golden Age Green Lantern (my favourite iteration) and played upon the Emerald Crusader's role as the first protector of Gotham City. It even featured a cameo of Alan Scott's "loving enemy", the Harlequin, one of my favourite Golden Age characters. Cleverly, the light and dark spects of both heroes were contrasted and the story borrowed from the legendary Superman 2000 pitch from Millar and Morrison- making the JSA the trainers of their successors- tweaked here for Batman.
I have very mixed feelings about Grant Morrison's Batman but I expect it will survive into the Nu DC. Batman Incorporated began with one of Morrison's violent and sadistic death scenes and this tone continued in the El Gaucho sequence. The glimpse of the Victory V's ( I came up with that name in the early 90s!) is typical of the lack of restraint and manic pace in Morrison's work . Would it kill him to spend a few more panels to familiarise us with Fadar or the Jerry Cornelius-style Captain Carnation? His weakness for metatexts, alluson and satire leads to elusive and frustrating comics.
However, Morrison's ambitions to weave together any and all Batman material are very enjoyable- from the tv series style commentary at the end of issues 1-4 to the juxtaposition of the vampiric Batwoman with her predecessor Kathy Kane (and Kathy's startling biography, where she becomes an avant-garde filmmaker like Maya Deren, whom I discovered through Doom Patrol). The appearance of Kate Kane helped me decide that she should definitely be a member of some incarnation of the Justice League.
It would have been helpful if the slightly satirical Hood (George Cross? Matron? T.H.E.Y.?) had been referenced with a footnote so that we knew he'd appeared in the Shadow of the Bat in the early 90s. Yes, I found it out thanks to the Internet but I shouldn't have to. The complex and obscure mystery of Dr. Dedalus, Leviathan and the Tango of Death was slowed somewhat for a World Tour but on the plus side, we saw new villains (and crime franchise) Joe Average and the Average Joes; the Aborigine Batman, the new Dark Ranger; the parkour hero Nightrunner ( I thought of that as Robin's origin in 2007); Cassandra Cain as Blackbat (a reference to "Come into the garden, Maude"?) and Looker!
Speaking of Hoods, in The Avengers, The Hood/Infinity Gauntlet storyline took at least two issues too many to tell but that's the Compressed Age of Marvel all over. Although it was on a suitably cosmic scale, I would have preferred fewer guest-stars from the Marvel U. Also, there are still at least two surplus characters in the Avengers so the addition of the Red Hulk seemed excessive unless Protector and Wolverine are actually going to do anything. The 12.0 issue indicated Moon Knight was being added to the roster also; but since the Ultron storyline isn't going anywhere until Fear Itself is over, what was the point of this book? Ultron is in danger of joining the dangling Wonder Man plotline. As for the crossover issue itself, I liked the relationship between Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman and I love the idea of Volstagg hoping to join. I particularly enjoyed the connection with the Oral History, which continues to be the best thing about both books.
Bendis's line-up for the New Avengers has really grown on me- although I would prefer more Black Panther and less Wolverine. Bringing back Mockingbird in Secret Invasion to kill her off now, however, makes no sense to me. The focus on bloody Sabretooth in the Fifties storyline struck me as a misstep when nothing was done with Dominic Fortune or Bloodstone but Bendis sold me on Namora, which surprised me.
Finally, Alpha Flight returned for its fourth series. It remains to be seen, since Marvel's only committed to eight issues, whether John Byrne's creations can recreate their early-80s success. Certainly the book was one of my favourites in its day; the quirky heroes and the often-devilish twists in the storyline hooked me immediately, despite the bland, militaristic name.
When Byrne left to launch Man of Steel at DC, Alpha Flight continued for several years, never quite regaining the flair and sheer variety of its early run. A second series in the late 90s was in the conspiracy thriller vein and replaced the team with a number of pretty but forgettable mutants. Next, in 2004, Scott Lobdell launched a cartoony, light-hearted version of the team with some goofy new members; it lasted for twelve issues. Finally, after the original team were seemingly killed off by Bendis in New Avengers, a new Omega Flight debuted with Beta Ray Bill, the second Spider-Woman and USAgent. None of whom were Canadian.
Now, the iconic team is back and their first real villain is late-80s hanger-on, the Purple Girl. Ben Oliver's photorealism had a clean modern look and the book had an witty tone-something that was lacking in Byrne's day ( his work tends to be humourless). I hope it's successful.
I've mentioned the byzantine plotting of Moffat's Doctor Who before and how I've found it as irritating as Grant Morrison's obscure scripts. After The Rebel Flesh, my growing dissatisfaction with this season was assuaged somewhat. The baffling, frustrating Lost-style storyline had been put to one side and there was a fascinating debate about identity at the heart of the episode. Best of all, unlikeable nutter Amy Pond didn't save the day. But The Almost People turned out to be a let-down right from the off with another cutesy continuity reference (Tom Baker's voice) and confusing, manipulative behaviour for the Doctor.
Given the saccharine, secondary story about redemption and parenthood (and this week's bloody title), I thought the theme of this two-parter story was that the Flesh duplicates were just as entitled to life as the originals. So why should the Flesh-Amy end up as so much mayonnaise on the Tardis floor? At the very least, shouldn't the Doctor have interrogated her about the whereabouts of the original? Why did he instruct her to push only to melt her? It was bollocks, basically; Graham's story was sacrificed for shock tactics. I don't think that Cronenberg-style body horror about pregnancy is remotely appropriate for Doctor Who or its audience. Again, "Thinking" Fans, you are welcome to Moffat and his convoluted, steampunk vision of Who. And I would really, really like to be able to hear the dialogue if it's going to be so crucial to the plot. I turned to the first part of Big Finish's latest trilogy for the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe in the hope it would be slightly more rewarding.
I'm not convinced a pensioner with a bad heart is a great idea for a regular companion for the Doctor and we've already heard Evelyn's ultimate fate, a fact that kills any suspense immediately. However, her relationship with Sixie/Colin is so friendly and charming, I can overlook any niggling. Another audio companion has been brought in to shake up the dynamic:Victorian ne'er-do-well Thomas Brewster. BF's habit of Photoshopping the real voice artist's features into cover artwork might lead you to believe Brewster was mid-thirties at least but actor John Pickard is presumably playing a much younger character. In any case, the larcenous Brewster is an effective contrast to the more mature duo. The play also reintroduces sardonic policewoman Patricia Menzies, who really should become a Companion. Unfortunately, there's a tedious strand of "timey-wimey" (hate that phrase) bobbins in the narrative- this adventure predates the Doctor and Charley's previous meetings with Menzies.
David Troughton plays an Eastenders-style gangster who strikes a deal with alien -robot- insect antagonists but then the story shifts to the comic-booky planet of Symbios where it begins to tread water for the second half. With alien insects and a stranded Earth vehicle, I was also reminded very strongly of Planet of the Dead. Three out of four Talmars for character interaction but only two out of four Talmars for a flabby story that lost its way trying to accomodate three competing guest characters. Next up is The Feast of Axos. I do wish BF would concentrate on developing their own creations rather than repeatedly revisiting Nick Briggs's copy of the Doctor Who Monster Book.
So, I posted on FB earlier today that a Melody might become a River. For a while, I was beginning to wonder if the Doctor, like Gaiman's Corsair, might have a female incarnation at last! More on that next time, Secret Origins and Jonah Hex.
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