July 11th Comic RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 12:16 AM

Hey, didn't I already write something last week? You know, it's funny, part of the reason I was put on "news alert" for that week was the half-hearted expectation that the Trek cast would be revealed. Didn't work out that way, apparently. Though additional irony points for a bit of casting news actually coming through...

Superman 664

Camelot has been falling, off-and-on, for a while now. It's strange, I remember seeing solicits months ago for the "shocking conclusion" of Camelot Falls. Now I see the same language in solicits for months from now. I'm honestly not sure if the problems with Action are somehow responsible for the sputtering pacing of this story. After all, bits that didn't appear to tie in have slowly been winding their way back. Like the Prankster issue. Not exactly sure why Busiek is attempting to revive the career of a Toyman also-ran, but at least he's contributing to the main arc.

Now that I've pointlessly complained about the story pacing, I'll say this was one of the best installments so far. Kicking off Camelot Falls with the "imaginary future" story was a little shaky. Especially as it casually tossed in a "death of Superman" angle so soon after a major crossover event just finished with the appropriate "happily-ever-afters."

That is the ultimate point of this arc, though. There just aren't any happily-ever-afters in the DCU. Something bigger is always on the horizon, and if you're guy prone to flying around in his underwear, you're going to be in the middle of it. Arion the Sorcerer considers that a problem, and is setting out to cause an unscheduled great disaster to let off a little of that pent-up pan-mulitversal steam which he believes threatens to just blow the whole thing all to heck.

Clark decides the decimation of the human race isn't on the agenda for today and sets about stopping him. Arion, being a magic user, isn't a pushover, and goes pretty quickly for the mental throat. That's really what makes this issue. Busiek deals with the whole "mind control" threat head on, with interesting consequences. Does Clark fight it off? Not really a spoiler to say he does. What happens after is where Busiek's script shines.

Camelot Falls is shaping to be a kind of meta-reflection on Superman and his place in the DCU. The central premise is the theory Clark's constant "day saving" is actually making things worse. We've seen him wonder if that's really the case, and decide he can't accept it. Now Clark is shown how the world is simply ready to flip him from the hero to villain column at a moment's notice. Busiek is doing good work, even if the story has been a bit decompressed over so many issues.

Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen

More non-DC. I know, fascinating.

I lost track of the release date for this, and when I realized it was "the day", I went to the shop praying they'd bothered to order some copies, much less have some left. I believe I walked out with the last one, so the day was saved, as they say. As I haven't done one of those "full disclosure" lines in a while, I'll toss in that I'm a rabid fan of the Colbert Report.

That being said, turning an original recurring joke of Stephen's unpublished manuscript (Stephen Colbert’s Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure) into an animated segment and now into something that actually is published wasn't really surprising. Granted, this is probably the first time in the history of comics that a title is a “spin-off” of a late night Comedy Central pundit parody show. To be honest, the animated Tek Jansen shorts on the show aren't one of my favorites, but they are ripe for comic fodder nonetheless.

I also give the show's writers all due credit for putting a parody reference to Shatner's “other” science fiction epic in the title.

The comic itself is one main story with a back up. For those wondering, the art does not follow the “anime” inspired take seen in the Report's animated segments. They let the artists do their own takes, which is fine with me and allows the material to breathe a little beyond its roots.

The first story, “Invasion of the Optiklons,” follows a fairly standard space epic parody beat. In fact, the portrayal of Tek Jansen in this story reminded me a bit of the Duck Dodgers character from the recent Duck Dodgers toon. (Which had a bit of DCU connection itself.) Tek is a self-possessed bumbler who always knows what's right, even when it is clearly not. It appears this will be the main story arc of the series 6 issue run, which is a little disappointing in its one-note presentation.

The backup story, the self-contained “Horn Like Me”, is more in line with the political parody roots of the Colbert Report from which the comic spawned, though in an agreeably subtle fashion. Here Tek is still the dashing, self-possessed space hero, but he does manage to complete his mission. All too well, as it turns out. His mission of planetary reconciliation turns into one of those “catastrophic successes” we've heard about.

In all, I'd give the debut a solid B. The material isn't as sharp as that of the Report. It's not written by the show's writers, so that's somewhat understandable. Some case of poor timing had the comic arrive on shelves on a week the Report was in reruns. No mention of it on Monday night's show, though I'm sure Stephen will mention it sooner or later.