Detective: Comics

My life begins in a flash.

I am not of the water but I am of a lake.

Twice, I was there for the beginning.

I usually dispense pain and yet, I am the one to cry.

Captured and hunter, I am the same.

WHO AM I?

Beautiful Endings

So last week was a landmark in geekdom: the end of 'Battlestar Galactica'. Personally, I wasn't pissed off by the ending. Far from it, but I've heard a wide spectrum of emotion on the subject. I won't go on about my thoughts, but I think the ending, though personally satisfying for me, was imperfect.

That's not intended as a harsh criticism. A great ending is tough to come by. From 'Watchmen' to 'Harry Potter', great stories often have endings that leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes, it sours the whole experience (see also: 'Identity Crisis').

But every so often, along comes that beautiful ending. The one that gives you that complex feeling... you know, the one where all you want is one more minute, one more panel, one more page... but at the same time you know that the story has taken you as far as it can. I call it the beautiful ending... the one that makes you want more but makes you understand why you can't have it. It's a rare thing, the beautiful ending.

How do you craft a beautiful ending? It's partly about not hanging on too long. But also about hanging on long enough... letting characters unfold themselves enough for you to care. Hell, there's no formula. You just know it when you see it. One of my favorite beautiful endings is 'Y: The Last Man'. It's funny because I thought during the penultimate arc, when they reveal the truth about what killed the men, that it was jumping the shark a bit. And then the last few issues, and the last issue in particular, were a masterpiece of wonder and heartbreak. As much as it literally brought tears to my eyes, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

So, Second Printers... I want recommendations... what are YOUR favorite beautiful endings? Try not to spoil too much in case I want to enjoy them myself :)

Second Printing's Weekly(ish) Question (#5 in a series)

Not necessarily the best, but who's your favorite all-time writer and artist (or writer/artist). Sub-question: what's your favorite work they've done?
(feel free to contribute your answers in the comments)

Ben
Matt Wagner hands down. He alone is responsible for me staying in comics. In the late '90s I wasn't reading either of the Big Two and was only picking up a handful of indies. Then Mage: Hero Defined came out and the whole series blew me away. I went back and picked up the first series and it was sort of everything I needed: magic based in reality, angst, a glowing baseball bat. For a while it was the only book I collected. While there have been a great number writers and artists that I respect and whose work I love, Matt Wagner will always be my answer to this question.

Big Mike
Favorite writer... I guess it has to be Grant Morrison. His run on New X-Men is why I started reading comics again... but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a hardcore soft spot for Denny O'Neil... yes, I realize that's not a very cool thing to say.

Favorite artist is Mike Mignola. He's a guy that draws for the story. If more artists drew for the story instead of trying to make sure we can see the outline of Batman's asscrack, super-hero comics would be a hell of a lot more readable.

Devon
All time favorite writer?

Mind you, this is more out of gratitude than anything.

Larry Hama, the man was a true universe builder. Never mind the fact that he pretty much single-handedly created the G.I. Joe mythology but once a year, due to the rollout of new figures and toys, he had to introduce new characters and storylines while wrapping up existing ones.

He wasn't the greatest storyteller but the man was a giant when it came to world-creating.

As far as my favorite work of his? Has to be G.I. Joe #34, "Shakedown." I learned what honor amongst men truly meant in that
issue.

As far as my fave FAVORITE writer goes? Grant Morrison because even when he misses he does it spectacularly.

My favorite Morrison? JLA #6 & 7. The JLA vs. an invasion from heaven. It's just so "Grant!" Superman moves the moon using his newfound powers while the current Flash and former Teen Titan, Wally West acts as us, the reader, channeling the astonishment of seeing the heroes he grew up with going all-out. Great comics!

Graig
Writer: Keith Giffen - The most resonant comic book experience I've ever had was with the "Giffen-era" Justice League. While it was far from a solo effort on Giffen's part, with some spectacular artistic talents in Maguire, Templeton, Hughes and Sears, and two incredibly talented (and funny) writers in J.M. DeMatteis and Gerard Jones, the common link was Giffen. That era of the JL presented something that every team book strives for, but rarely ever achieves: family. Just as deconstructive of the superhero genre as Watchmen, just differently so - we see the team in their off-time, all their interpersonal quibbles, and the way their battles with "the bad guys" (in various shades of gray) affect them, and not just the fighting. That other Giffen-influenced series from Annihilation to Common Foe to Hero Squared have all have been to some degree or another damn awesome, I'm almost always ready to follow Giffen to whatever title he finds himself plugging away on. Few other writers have been able to so consistently entertain me with their ideas and their execution thereof.

Artist: Mike Parobeck - I don't know of another single artist who could produce such simplistic-looking artwork, so precisely and so effortlessly. Dozens upon dozens of other artists have come along working their hand at the "Animated" style of comic-booking, attempting to emulate the design work of Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's Batman/Superman cartoon series, but it was Parobeck who nailed it, did so not in their style, but his own. If you look at his work on the Impact series "The Fly" or "El Diablo", you can see the work of an artist who had complete control over every single image he drew, and in its simplicity was utter beauty. Parobeck died from diabetes related complications in 1996 at the age of 31. Like other phenomenal talents Seth Fisher and Mike Weiringo, he left us far too soon, before he created his masterwork, but then everything he laid pencil to is worth a read. While his Batman: The Animated Series will no doubt stand highest as his greatest contribution, his vibrant but short-lived Justice Society of America is my favourite.

To Avenge or To Defend: U Decide!

Is it me or does The Avengers rosters feel more like a Defenders roster lately?

Avengers: Assembled!

Remember The Avengers of old? How about The Avengers of right now? You know, The Avengers with Wolverine and Spider-Man on the team.

Blasphemy?

Depends on who you ask. Right now and in the future, some writer's Avengers team is always gonna be somebody's favorite Avengers team. There will be a character someone else believes shouldn't be an Avenger, that character will be someone's favorite Avenger.

The point is, there's no true Avengers team or Avenger... or is there?

Using the old criteria of The Avengers "seven-members-to-the-roster" rule, Second Printers, name your seven member Avengers roster. It doesn't have to be the mightiest or the newest or the darkest, just yours.

Keep it to Marvel characters and you know what? I'll even throw in Jarvis, free of charge.

Here's mine:

Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Thor
Iron Man
The Wasp
She-Hulk
Namor, The Sub-Mariner
Niko (if I had my way, formerly of The Runaways)

Detective: Comics

I take to the air yet not under my own power.

When that wasn't enough, I took to the stars.

I play with fire yet it does not burn.

I have wrestled with demons and been shown a new way by an angel.

I have been lost to infinity yet I always know the time.

WHO AM I?

A Few Brief Thoughts Followed By An Earnest Solicitation of Reader Opinion

It made me happy to see an Alan Moore work faithfully translated to another medium. Sure, a few things had to be switched around, but all in all, I'd say they did a good job. Besides, what's Jason Todd doing at the Fortress of Solitude anyway?

Oh, my bad... did you think I was talking about 'Watchmen'? I was actually talking about the 'For the Man Who Has Everything' episode of JLU... but I guess Watchmen is more topical at the moment...

I'll provide a few quick notes on the film, and then, Second Printers, I urge you to chime in with your thoughts... no self-respecting geek who is not actively serving in Iraq or Afghanistan has any excuse for not having seen 'Watchmen', so I won't bother with a SPOILER ALERT...

1. Rorschach = Awesome. Jackie Earle Haley was good in 'Little Children' and great in 'Watchmen'. Plus, he didn't have to chop his junk off this time.

2. If you'd asked me a week ago if I was mature enough to stare at an incandescent blue penis for 3 hours without giggling, I would have said 'of course!' I would've been wrong.

3. I didn't know super-hero sex could be that... awkward...

4. If Zach Snyder could direct interpersonal action as well as he directs fights, he'd win every film-making award in the biz. This, however, is not the case.

Anywho, by now lots of us have made up our mind about the movie... I want to know YOUR thoughts, Second Printers. Tell me your praises, grunts, gripes, and groans about 'Watchmen'... because for me, it was all about the blue dong.