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PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #79
06 December 1998
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
First of all, I invite all of you who aren't reading this on the
web site, to go there and click on the special commentary which came
out mid-week last week regarding the whole CRISIS screw-up DC
managed in time for the Christmas shopping season. That's not the
cast of Riverdance you hear at DC's headquarters -- that's the sound
of DC shooting itself in the collective foot. (Of course, one toe
was missing, but that will be tipped-in later.) There is a link to
the special edition off the main page.
THE JLA OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
I picked up the JLA: AMERICAN DREAMS TPB this past week. It's a
nice read, although I think I prefer the first TPB to this one. For
starters, the first story is self-contained. I didn't realize that
and kept waiting for the continuation of it to happen in the next
story somewhere. That left me a bit uneasy. The first TPB was one
large story, as is the rest of this volume.
This tome has one HUGE advantage over the first one: Howard Porter
doesn't uglify EVERY page in this book. The gorgeous art of Oscar
Jimenez is utilized in the last two chapters. The contrast is
startling and makes you realize what this book lacks to keep it from
becoming an instant classic: a good artist. Alas, DC signed
Howard Porter to an exclusive contract, so we are probably stuck
with him for a while. Do like I do: Grin and bear it. It's the
story that counts, right?
THE JLA OF CHRISTMAS PAST
I've also been reading the JLA books of another time: The
Giffen/DeMatteis era. I've gotten through the first two years'
worth of stories and am awed by them more than just about anything
else I've ever read in comics. It's an amazing package. Giffen and
DeMatteis show off a wicked sense of humor, put together with
lovable oafs, laughable clowns, ludicrous situations, and an overall
sense of fun. Along the way, you get the likes of Ty Templeton,
Kevin Maguire, and Terry Austin on art. Who could ask for anything
more? Issue #24 knocked me out cold. The second half of the story
contains the single funniest sequence of storytelling I may have
ever read in a comic. For those of you who are familiar with it: Go
to the bit which starts with the Khunds bursting out of the kitchen.
It took me five minutes to read the next couple of relatively
dialogueless pages. I had to put the book down to laugh out loud.
BWAH-HA-HA!
A few issues earlier, there's a similarly hilarious moment in which
Batman tries to talk Hawkman into joining the League. The last two
panels of that page left me gasping for air, too.
These books are relatively easy to grab if you have any conventions
happening around you. I've picked up just about the entire run from
fifty cent bins. I think I'm a half-dozen books away from having a
complete run of JLA/JLE/JLI/JLQuarterly from that era. And it only
took three years. =) Patience, butterfly.
THE JLA OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE
YOUNG JUSTICE #5 has its funny moments, but it's the ending which
brings you to a stop. It's powerful. It's harsh. It's something
I've wanted to see in a comic in a long time. Let's hope PAD
follows up on this. It's not often the moral dilemma discussed
therein reaches that particular conclusion. Sorry for being so
vague, but I don't want to ruin it for you.
The book also gets bonus points for printing one of my letters.
Yes, I can be bought! =)
This issue is short, yes, but it's done so in the interests of
editorial clarity. The editor of PCR has determined that it is
better to end here than to expand this column by bringing in books
which don't fit the topic of this week's column: The JLA. Besides,
I already wrote 5k on the whole CRISIS thing. Go read that instead,
OK? Have a good week,
-Augie
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