ROGER’S COMIC RAMBLINGS: I’VE BEEN thinking

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Roger Ash

by Roger Ash

I’ve been thinking about a number of things recently. thinking often gets me in trouble, but I can’t help myself. That’s just the way I am. What have I been thinking about? I’m thankful you asked.

Comic Books

Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning: complete Collection Vol. 1

Yep. Comic books. seems like a pretty evident topic considering that I work at Westfield and I’ve been reading comics regularly considering that I was around 12. What I’ve been thinking about specifically is comic books and film and TV. Is it just me, or are film and TV versions of comics becoming a lot more talked about than the comics they’re based on, even on comic sites? I’ve seen a ton about The Flash and Arrow recently, but little about the comics. Gotham and Batman may be the exception as I’ve seen lots about both of them.  Please don’t think I don’t like film and TV versions of comics – I do. Not all of them, but there are lots of I enjoy. Captain America: The wintertime Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, are both very satisfying films. I also read the comics that inspired Guardians, the Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning written run on the book (and I’ve been told I need to read Ed Brubaker’s run on Cap), and they are excellent. Honestly, they are some of my favorite superhero comics published in recent years. Yet they haven’t been discussed much.  marvel is re-releasing them in a new series of collections that I highly suggest reading. They’re lots of fun, full of adventure, and you get to learn a lot more about the characters than you do in the film. Also, along with their work on Nova, they told a cohesive long adventures story. It’s unusual in this day of crossovers and events happening all the time that they were able to do that.

Avengers vs. Thanos

There was some talk about Jim Starlin’s work, after all he created Thanos, prior to the film’s release and that was cool. I’m thankful the film did so well, but I wish a lot more was being said about the comics. I’m hearing next to nothing about the current Guardians series that’s written by Brian Michael Bendis. the most press I’ve seen for any Guardians-related book recently was for Skottie Young’s Rocket Raccoon (which is a lot of fun). If the comics didn’t exist, neither would the movies. Let’s give the comics some love, too.

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Usagi Yojimbo

Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2

Again, not unusual as I’ve considered it my favorite comic for years. However, recently I’ve been wondering why. What is there about Usagi that makes it stick out for me; Stan Sakai’s writing, his art, a combination of the two? While those are all exceptional reasons to take pleasure in the book, I think it goes beyond that for me. I think a big part of it is Sakai’s clarity of vision for Usagi. even when he’s stretching the boundaries of the type of story he can tell as he’s doing now with Senso, it still feels like Usagi. It feels right.

When I think back on my favorite comics over the years, they all had that, too – Jeff Smith’s Bone, Jim Starlin’s Warlock, Walter Simonson’s Thor, Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot, and others. even the comic that got me into collecting had that with Steve Gerber’s Howard the Duck. I think that gene Colan’s art was hugely crucial as it grounded the series and made it seem plausible.. just because a lot of of the comics I’ve pointed out so far are generally the work of a singular creator, that doesn’t indicate a creative team can’t do the same thing. Steve Englehart & Frank Brunner’s doctor Strange, Chris Claremont & John Byrne’s X-Men, Marv Wolfman & George Perez’ new teen Titans, Englehart & Marshall Rogers on Detective Comics; these all fit in that category for me. They are a creative team that seemed, from this reader’s perspective, as having a strong creative vision. Heck, I’d even put Abnett & Lanning’s work that I pointed out above in this category.

Usagi Yojimbo Saga

Granted, not everything that fits this description is something I take pleasure in – personal taste and all that – but I do like comics with a clear vision. I get really frustrated if a book just seems to be treading water and not going anywhere, no matter how much I may like other comics the designer has worked on. You can have the hero facing villains all you want or have all sorts of existential angst, but if every issue starts feeling the same as the one before it, I lose interest. give me a comic any day from a creator, or creators, who have a plan for where the character is going. and the person doing that the best ideal now, in my opinion, is Stan Sakai with Usagi Yojimbo.

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So that’s what I’ve been thinking about. Do you agree? Disagree? What have you been thinking about?

Now, go read a comic!