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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 Thursday, March 6, 2008
Gail Simone's The All-New Atom was a fun and ultimately satisfying ride. That's my estimation after reading issues #15-20 [DC; $2.99 each], the last of which seems to conclude Simone's run on the title. She will be missed.
Ryan Choi, the all-new Atom of the title, emerges from these issues as a refreshing amalgam of old and new school super-heroes. He has his doubts. He has his moments of being dumb around women. He makes mistakes. But, in that last Simone issue, when he gives his kind of sort of "life mission statement," it's heartwarming and even inspirational. I like the guy.
"The Hunt For Ray Palmer" impacted this title badly, but, once Choi was released from that boring repetitive storyline, Simone was able to bring the fun back to the series. Issue #15 has Ryan's pal Panda protecting Ivy Town from giant Japanese movie monsters. It's like Gail was writing a love letter to me.
Simone transformed Ivy Town from sleepy college town to nexus of weirdness. Guest writers Roger Stern (#16) and Keith Champagne (#19) ran with this in their fill-in stories. Stern brought back the psychedelic '60s and a super-villain not seen for fifty years, while Champagne gave us an underground Ivy Town populated by albino cannibals. Amazingly, both of these tales contributed to the full-scale subplot resolutions of Gail's final issue.
Wonder Woman guest-starred in issues #17 and #18 and played a pivotal role in moving the overall story towards the wonderfulness that was issue #20. I've been "eh" about Wonder Woman since the Mike Sekowsky issues of the 1960s, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Simone does with the book.
I did have problems with some of Simone's writing over the run of the title. As with many DC writers, she didn't always identify the characters as well as she could; I'm getting tired of checking Wikipedia to find out who's who in comics. But, to her credit, she often did identify characters well. This is the comics equivalent of pro basketball players making foul shots. Those players shoot the same ball the same distance to the same target. They should make that shot...just as comics writers should identify characters and just as their editors should make sure their writers have done that. Along with her frequent use of quotes that sometimes got in the way of stories, put this in the minor quibble box. It bothered me, but it didn't stop me from enjoying these issues.
The All-New Atom #15-20 earn an impressive four out of five Tonys.
******
RED LETTER CHRISTIANS
Tony Campolo is a sociology professor, a founder/participant of various Evangelical groups, and an associate pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. He appeared on The Colbert Report to promote his book and I found him an engaging speaker. As I frequently do after seeing a "guest with a book" on Colbert's show or The Daily Show With John Stewart, I asked my local library to get me Campolo's book.
Red Letter Christians [Regal; $19.99] is subtitled "A Citizen's Guide to Faith & Politics." The title itself refers to bibles which print the words of Jesus Christ in bold red type, the better to reveal His bold message. In his introduction, Campolo is quick to proclaim that Jesus is neither a Republican nor Democrat, and that Christians should consider issues based on what Jesus and Scripture say about them. The author rejects the infallibility of political or religious leaders, pointing out historical occasions when such leaders have been in error and insisting that Christians do the heavy lifting of making these often difficult decisions for themselves. It's an approach I can embrace, though Campolo is much more trusting of The Bible than I am.
Campolo delivers his thoughts well. I find him too forgiving of the current administration and too trusting that they acted with good intentions, but I enjoyed being challenged by his arguments. Indeed, just the notion of Christian voters thinking for themselves must be anathema to Bush and his religious right supporters. That way lies far greater compassion and common sense that can be found in their actions and pronouncements.
Red Letter Christians is a thoughtful and well-written book. It earns four out of four Tonys.
******
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AL MILGROM!
Al Milgrom was one of the first artists I worked with during my early days at Marvel Comics. This was the fall of 1972, so my memory is shaky on the details, but I believe he was working as an assistant for Murphy Anderson and maybe also as a production assistant at DC Comics. To make extra money, which, given what the companies were paying back then was more "essential" than "extra," Al drew puzzle pages for The Mighty World of Marvel and the other weeklies that Sol Brodsky and I packaged for Great Britain. For Magazine Management, Sol used to do the production on crossword puzzle magazine covers and I think Al drew some of those as well. Like I said, my memory is shaky on the details.
In what seemed like no time at all, Al became a master of all comics trades. He was an inker, a penciller, a writer, and even an editor...and he was terrific at all of them. I didn't get to work with him as much as I would have liked, but, hey, neither one of us seems to be ready to give up show business yet, so there's still a chance we will work together again.
Al is currently inking Joe Staton on a four-part story running in Jughead's Double Digest #139-142. It's a different look for a Jughead and, courtesy of writer Melanie Morgan, a different tone. Look for it in comics shops in early April.
Happy birthday, Al. Here's wishing you happiness and success in the coming year...and the hope that I'll actually get to see you face-to-face one of these years. It's been too long!
******
BLOGGY BITS
If this column posts late, it's my fault. The blood pressure medications I take to keep me from exploding into red mist have an annoying side effect. At least once a week, they make me feel like exploding into red mist might not be such a bad thing. Sometimes this lasts for an entire day and sometimes just for a couple hours. Most times, I figure it's a decent trade-off for my not exploding into red mist. It seems incongruous to say this after stating the above, but I am in pretty good health these days. However, there will be the occasional bumps in the road.
Whenever TOT is delayed, either for reasons like the above or because Justin the Web-Wizard is at a convention, the columns will still post on this site...eventually. For example, Justin will be at Wizard World L.A. from Thursday, March 13 through Monday, March 17. If I can get my Thursday, Friday, and Monday columns to him before he leaves for the convention and if the network doesn't eat the columns after he sets them up, those columns will appear on schedule. If I don't get them to him before he leaves or if they get eaten, they will post when he returns.
Such are the perils of a two-man operation.
******
TONY POLLS
Every week, we post new Tony Polls questions for your voting entertainment. Here are the results from the two questions we asked you last week...
It's comics awards season. How likely are you to buy/read a comic because it was nominated for an award?
Extremely likely.....0%
Very likely.....2.65%
Likely.....28.32%
Not very likely.....51.33%
Not remotely likely.....17.70%
Hmm...it appears well over half of you are unlikely to check out a comic book or graphic novel because it was nominated for an award. I'm very likely to do this; I'm always delighted to discover some great new comic or comics creator to thrill me anew. I wonder what the results would be like if I changed a word in this question from "nominated" to "won"? You and I might find that out in the neat future.
Tony is either exploring options or unemployed, depending on how he's spinning it today. Which of these potential projects of his would you be most interested in reading? [C = comics, NF = non-fiction, PF = prose fiction]
Adventure heroine in the 1940s/1950s (C)...17.95%
Adventurer/scientist super-hero series (C)...13.68%
African-American super-heroine series (C)...10.26%
Marvel 1966 issue-by-issue (NF)...10.26%
Unusual comics convention graphic novel (C)...9.40%
Collection of columns and cartoons (NF)...5.13%
All-ages horror series (C)...4.27%
Down-on-his-luck detective novel (PF)...4.27%
Street-level super-hero series (C)...4.27%
Web comic strip (C)...4.27%
Retired hitman novel (PF)...3.42%
Avenging heroine in 8-page stories (C)...2.56%
Mature readers horror series (C)...2.56%
Magical girls manga (C)...1.71%
Newspaper comics strip (C)...1.71%
Patriotic super-hero series (C)...1.71%
Teen humor comic book (C)...1.71%
One-shot horror story (PF or C)...0.85%
Human interest/romance manga series (C)...0%
Human interest/supernatural manga series (C)...0%
For obvious reasons, I didn't vote on this question, but I was surprised by the results. Some of these projects are further along than others, but the first one to see publication will probably be the first in a series of books collecting some of my best columns, cartoons, and other writings.
For one of the higher choices, I only had a really cool title. I guess I should flesh that out now. I didn't even have a title for a newspaper or web comic strip when I posted this question, but a title and a concept came to me earlier this week. Regardless of which projects see the light of day, I do appreciate your voting on this question. From time to time, with your kind indulgence, I'll probably repeat it in one form or another.
This week's question...
Two weeks ago, the election for President of the US in the wild and wacky world of the Tony Polls ended in a tie. Of the two remaining candidates, who do you want to lead us in this time of civil war, final crisis, secret invasion, and stories that just go on and on and on?
Your choices: Barbara Gordon from the DC Comics Party and Joe Robertson from the Marvel Party.
The voting remains open until sometime after midnight Tuesday morning, March 11, at which time the question will be removed and replaced with new questions.
You can cast your vote by going to:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
Today's reader-sponsored column was made possible by a "Tip The Tipster" donation from John. I thank John for his support and I thank you for spending a part of your day with me.
I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/05/2008 | 03/06/2008 | 03/07/2008 >>
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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:
Tony's Online Tips
840 Damon Drive
Medina, OH 44256
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