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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Friday, January 11, 2008
We commence today's TOT with another "Tony's Back Page" blast from my checkered past. This one originally appeared in Comics Buyer's Guide #1638:
Circus Squad!
It was 1978 when I pitched this idea for a series starring reformed villains to Marvel. I can't remember which editor I sent my pitch to, only that he quickly concluded it was a monumentally bad idea. In all fairness, that might have been a reaction to the villains I'd chosen to headline this series: the Ringmaster and his circus of crime.
I'd just read an issue of Howard the Duck in which that magnificent mallard defeated the circus-oriented criminals. The Ringmaster and his crew had been beaten by just about every super-hero in the Marvel Universe and now they'd been foiled by a fowl, a three-foot-tall hunk of poultry with a bad attitude and a cigar. Short of Marvel bringing back Millie the Model, I didn't see how the fortunes of these larcenous losers could sink any lower. There was no place to go but up.
In my pitch, the Ringmaster's company of performers, under the watchful eye of a handsome and progressive warden, were part of an odd rehabilitation program in which they traveled to other prisons to entertain other convicts. They played to rough audiences, but it was better than making license plates. Save for the Ringmaster himself, who was always scheming to escape, the performers thought this a fine way to repay their debts to society. They even liked and respected their warden. Especially Princess Python.
When a riot breaks out at one of their prison venues, putting the warden at risk, the Princess and the others help the guards rescue the warden and restore order. This earns them entry into a work-release program wherein, still under the watchful eye of their warden, they would perform at charitable events.
It hadn't escaped the notice of the Circus that the first time they used their skills for good had also been the first time they didn't get their asses kicked. They were determined to turn their lives around. Except, of course, for their larcenous leader, who would forever be trying to lure them back into crime. If this were a movie, I'd have cast Jonathan Harris as the Ringmaster.
I thought Circus Squad! had potential. Oddball heroes readers could root for. That maddening dash of unrequited romance between Python and the warden. A premise which allowed for action, comedy, human interest, a trifecta of storytelling possibilities. It was a comic book I would have loved to write.
Would the readers have loved it as much as I did? Tragically, that's something we'll likely never know.
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ADDENDUM
My favorite Ringmaster tale - if I may be so immodest - is "If Wishes Were Horses," the prose story Bob Ingersoll and I wrote for The Ultimate Super-Villains, the long-out-of-print anthology published by Berkley in 1996. I've always wished this story could be reprinted, but as the book was packaged by a middleman company who went bankrupt, there are problems in that area. The same holds true for Captain America: Liberty's Torch, the novel Bob and I wrote for the same middleman. I believe TOT readers would enjoy the novel and the anthology, but the volumes are only available on the secondary market. Sigh.
I also wrote the Ringmaster and his crew in two comic books of the 1970s: Luke Cage, Power Man #25 [April, 1975] and #26 [May, 1975]. The second of the issues was scripted by Bill Mantlo from my panel-by-panel plot.
******
THE IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN
Published in a manga-format paperback, IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN VOL. 2: SMALL-MINDED [Marvel; $9.99] reprints the final issues of the recently-canceled title. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Cory Walker, Phil Hester, and Ande Parks, the series starred a truly repugnant protagonist name of Eric O'Grady, a slacker SHIELD agent who stole a new Ant-Man suit and, while fleeing from his ex-employers, used it to commit crime, spy on women in their showers, and bed as many women as he could.
When I reviewed the early issues for my "Tony's Other Online Tips" column at the CBGXtra forums, I wrote:
I can and do enjoy comic books, novels, movies, and TV shows about characters who are not paragons of virtue, who act in ways I don't find socially unacceptable. I've liked a good many Punisher comics over the years. DEXTER, the HBO series about a serial killer who works for an unsuspecting police department, is one of my favorite shows. I'm developing a project about a retired contract killer. But Eric O'Grady? He's just a nasty little creep with no redeeming qualities, who offers the readers not even the slightest reason to sympathize with him. I don't like him.
The Irredeemable Ant-Man earns three out of five Tonys because the writing and art are good. Eric O'Grady has earned an ass-kicking. Now *that* might be entertaining.
The writing and art are still good in these last six issues of the title. I especially enjoy the ant-presented "what has gone before" information at the start of each issue. Amazingly, O'Grady manages to do good turns for a few people. He joins Damage Control under an alias and even saves some lives. He shows actual feelings for a co-worker he's dating, if only to the point where she reveals that she's a single mom. He fights the Hulk during World War Hulk and almost dies from his injuries. But he's still doing crimes and he's still lying and he's still pretty much a dirt-bag, though not as complete a dirt-bag as he was.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
With the end of the series near, the stories take whatever odd and out-of-character turns they need to take to keep O'Grady active in the Marvel Universe. Captured by SHIELD after his battle with the Hulk, Eric is subsequently tortured Mitch Carson, the agent who was in charge of hunting him down. In one of the most convenient plot-twists I've ever seen, Carson turns out to be a psychopath and a murderer, a creep even worse than O'Grady. Eric manages to pin all his crimes on Carson, gets reinstated as a SHIELD agent, gets chosen to wear the Ant-Man suit, joins the Initiative, makes nice with his Damage Control girlfriend, and says he wants to become a better person. There is a welcome last page nod to O'Grady's self-serving nature, but it's not entirely convincing.
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
I still don't like Eric O'Grady. However, since he did get a couple of the ass-kickings I thought he earned, I'm now willing to cut him a little slack and wait to see what happens in Avengers: The Initiative. I have to admit the stories in the second half of his run were far more entertaining than the first.
Irredeemable Ant-Man Vol. 2: Small-Minded surprises me by earning an impressive four out of five Tonys.
******
TONY POLLS
Every Tuesday, I post new Tony Polls questions for your balloting entertainment. Here are the results of the questions you were asked last week:
Generally speaking, do crossover events like DC's Infinite Crisis or Marvel's Civil War get you to buy more, less, or the same number of the companies' comics?
More.....24.59%
Less.....34.43%
The Same.....40.98%
I answered more, but it's a heavily-qualified "more." I don't read many comics beyond what I borrow from a friend or what publishers send me for review. However, since the friend I borrow from doesn't get every crossover title, I sometimes pick up a book here or there for the purposes of my reviews.
Such crossover events very often lead to major changes and retcons in characters. Generally speaking, has this been good or bad for DC characters?
Good.....21.37%
Bad.....78.63%
I voted bad on this one. Several perfectly good heroes and villains have been pretty much ruined by some frankly idiotic editorial decrees...and I'd be awfully hard-pressed to name any who have benefitted from these crossovers.
Has this been good or bad for Marvel characters?
Good.....14.53%
Bad.....85.47%
My initial response was good because I honestly found many of the changes exciting and intriguing. However, the follow-through hasn't been there. No way Tony Stark can ever be thought of as a hero. No way Sue, Ben, or Johnny stay with Reed Richards. No way the opponents of the Super-Hero Registration Act stay pals with Doctor Strange after what he did to the Hulk. And no damn way do I approve of arrogant "deal with the devil" resets to void the consequences of what happens in the crossovers.
Would you like a break from such crossover events?
God, yes!.....94.83%
No! Keep them coming!.....5.17%
I voted God, yes! Marvel and especially DC are raising a crop of writers and editors who are incapable of telling stories with beginning, middles, and ends. Everything feeds on these huge crossovers. It's akin to a pyramid scam and, sooner or later, it will come tumbling down around them. If you're an editor or writer who can't tell complete stories and tell them well enough to keep your readers coming back issue after issue, then, to be very blunt, you're not good enough to do your job.
Which of these is *MOST* likely a Skrull bent on doing irreparable damage to DC and Marvel characters?
Dan DiDio.....38.14%
Joe Quesada.....61.86%
I voted for Dan DiDio, though, admittedly, it was for personal reasons. The voting on this question was neck-and-neck until Marvel published the last issue of the "One More Day" story in Amazing Spider-Man. It remains to be see if that wrong-headed storyline will eclipse all the good things editor-in-chief Quesada has done for Marvel.
Coincidentally enough, "One More Day" is the subject of most of our current Tony Polls questions, which can be found and voted on here:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
The questions will remain open for voting until sometime after midnight, Tuesday, January 15. Get thee to the ballot box and let us know where you stand.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back on Monday with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 01/10/2008 | 01/11/2008 | 01/14/2008 >>
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
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