Wesley: Perhaps the whole point of this experiment is hair. Gunn: I vote he's not in charge.

'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'


Other Media 2: It's Astounishing!

Discussion of comics, graphic novels, and more. Except for capes. No capes!

Please use spoiler font for new releases until after the weekend following release.


Tom Scola - Nov 20, 2009 11:00:16 am PST #2587 of 5059
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

I agree with Matt. Evil billionaire Lex Luthor is the best retcon ever.


Polter-Cow - Nov 20, 2009 12:43:56 pm PST #2588 of 5059
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

Lacking the SERIOUSLY MADE OF AWESOME CRACKTASTICNESS of the original, though.

It seems like they wanted to use the High Evolutionary for EVERYTHING, huh.

Evil billionaire Lex Luthor is the best retcon ever.

He wasn't always like that?


Tom Scola - Nov 20, 2009 12:48:40 pm PST #2589 of 5059
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

Pre-crisis LL was a lame stereotypical evil mad scientist.


Matt the Bruins fan - Nov 20, 2009 1:14:22 pm PST #2590 of 5059
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

Who became evil because he blamed Superboy for making him loose his hair.


§ ita § - Nov 20, 2009 1:15:11 pm PST #2591 of 5059
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Have they done any print retconning to align themselves with Smallville, or has it been kept pretty AU separate?


Matt the Bruins fan - Nov 20, 2009 1:21:26 pm PST #2592 of 5059
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

I'm not sure... I'm 3 years out of reading my last DC comic that Neil Gaiman didn't write, and never paid much attention to Smallville in the first place. The comics were definitely influenced by the big reveal/wedding in Lois & Clark back in the 90s.


Tom Scola - Nov 24, 2009 4:01:00 am PST #2593 of 5059
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

The Onion, which has been putting up a bunch of best of the decade lists, put up their best comics list. I don't have much to quibble with, except that putting reprints on the list is cheating, and the lack of Scott Pilgrim.

As far as indy comics are concerned, I think the 00s were pretty boring, compared to the anarchic experimentation of the 80s and the newfound maturity of the 90s. (Mirroring the trends in music, I guess).

I can't shake the feeling, though, that the best comics of the decade are off on some obscure web site that I haven't discovered yet.


Strega - Nov 24, 2009 5:10:32 am PST #2594 of 5059

Yay for Criminal, at least.

And trying to load page 2 consistently crashed IE so, fuck it. Can someone tell me what the last few things on the list are? I got as far as Tales Designed to Thrizzle. Which I picked up a while back based on the hubbub about it. I have no idea why it’s a big deal. It’s not that it’s terrible. It’s amusing. But if anyone wants a copy, I’d sell it cheap.

I dunno. I felt the same way about Jimmy Corrigan. “Well. That was... fine, I guess. Time to plan a trip to the used bookstore.”


Tom Scola - Nov 24, 2009 5:21:52 am PST #2595 of 5059
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

    • Achewood, Chris Onstad
    • The Acme Novelty Library, Chris Ware
    • All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
    • American Elf, James Kochalka
    • Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
    • Black Hole
    • Blankets, Craig Thompson
    • Box Office Poison, Alex Robinson
    • Criminal, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
    • Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev
    • DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke
    • Eightball #23 (“The Death Ray”), Daniel Clowes
    • Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Alison Bechde
    • George Sprott, 1894-1975, Seth
    • The Golem’s Mighty Swing, James Sturm
    • The Goon, Eric Powell
    • Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Chester Brown
    • The Mystery Of Mary Rogers, Rick Geary
    • One Hundred Demons, Lynda Barry
    • Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
    • Promethea, Alan Moore & J.H. Williams III
    • Pyongyang: A Journey In North Korea, Guy Delisle
    • Tales Designed To Thrizzle, Michael Kupperman
    • Why Are You Doing This?, Jason
    • Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan

The Archives:

    • Bone one-volume edition, Jeff Smith
    • The Complete Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz
    • The EC Archives, various
    • Krazy & Ignatz, George Herriman
    • Sundays With Walt & Skeezix, Frank King

Yeah, I thought that Thrizzle wore thin pretty quickly, and I'm ambiguous at best about Clowes and Burns. Ware I can only appreciate on a visual level.


DavidS - Nov 24, 2009 5:59:02 am PST #2596 of 5059
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I don't see how you can leave the Locas reprint off the archival list. And both Hernandez Bros. have done work this decade worthy of inclusion.

Still, while reading that list I was appreciating how much in-depth and thoughtful coverage The Onion gives to comics. It has to be the broadest platform for comics coverage in the country.