Review of Sabrina Super Special #1

Didn’t I mention something about comic book magazines?  Well, here you go.  In this case, I happily picked this up on the Barnes & Noble magazine rack over the weekend.  The cover is a bit too dark, but it’s otherwise alluring.  I haven’t seen the new Sabrina TV show, but the actress is a dead-on ringer for the comic book character. (Other than she looks about ten years older than a high school student.  It’s like the later years of the Melissa Joan Hart show.  They desperately wanted to change the no-longer-applicable-name, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but weren’t allowed to.)  Inside, the 120+ pages are unfortunately printed on poor pulp.  The material inside is all reprints and promotional pictures.  It may be a bit overpriced at $10.       

Still, I’m happy with the purchase.  Sabrina is this character everyone likes, but it’s hard to pin down exactly why.  The character is simple in appeal, but that appeal is complicated in actual execution.  Really.  I casually thought I could write up a quick of review of this.  No chance.  Sabrina is a complex character when taken in over the many years of her existence.  

Sabrina started in a straightforward enough manner.  George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo created an attractive teenage witch for a short story in an anthology comic as a submission for a continuing character.  This famous story is, of course, included in the magazine.  Obviously, the glamorous way Sabrina is drawn catches the eye.  She has minor magical powers that cause amusing trouble.  That concept has successfully been used in other places.  Lastly, she’s mischievous, but has a good heart.  It’s so simple, but allows for all sorts of interpretation.

The various iterations of Sabrina have varied greatly.  You can see that just in the pages of the magazine.  It’s almost schizophrenic even.  There are pictures from the current horror TV show.  There’s Sabrina’s origin from the disturbing Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic that inspired it.  There’s the classic version from the 60’s comics and the somewhat languid 70’s and 80’s interpretations. 

There’s Holly G’s fun and likable version that I think came after the 90’s TV show.

Here’s Dan Parent’s version where Sabrina was going to a supernatural high school.  I didn’t even know about this concept.  

Here’s an Adam Hughes’ Sabrina cover.

Lastly, and the main reason I bought this, they reprint the current comic book version of Sabrina.  The Veronica Fish artwork speaks for itself.  The story was good, albeit way too familiar in the use of certain modern high school comic book tropes.  (Was every female comic book writer bullied in high school, along with having a fat ethnic best friend who is probably an author self-insert?)  I’m tempted to pick up the trade of this when it comes out.  In the back, there was also a text excerpt from a YA novel based on the new TV show.  You have to applaud the magazine for covering so much ground. 

The text pieces inside where promotional and fluffy, but actually had a quite a bit of information on the character.  (They did politely sidestep what happened to Harvey in the Chilling comic.)  There are plenty of other versions of Sabrina.  Noted Jughead artist, Harry Lucey did a version of Sabrina (as shown above, these aren't my scans by the way, I don't own the comic).  Comics from the 90’s show and follow up cartoon show aren’t represented here.  I’m a bit surprised, since Melissa Joan Hart’s show has to be the most popular expression of Sabrina.  (Surely Archie owns all the rights to those.)  There’s the 70’s animated shows, where Sabrina interacted with the Archie gang, had a solo show, and the Groovy Ghoulies show (which I saw, but don’t remember).  Her look, and especially her voice, were irresistible. 

Sabrina was also in a horror comic in the 70’s.  Also around that time, there used to be a yearly Sabrina’s Christmas Magic title.  There were supernatural adventure stories in the 80’s.  (I haven’t seen those.)  There was an animated show that I never saw in 2014.  (I think it was computer animated.)  Tania del Rio produced a heartfelt manga version in 2004.  She’s shared a title with Jughead recently, and currently, she’s in a romance with Archie.  (Do those guys mind sharing the same girl?)  Sabrina had a major role in the zombie horror series, Afterlife With Archie.            

I reviewed a small trade version of the manga Sabrina on an Archie comics fan site.    (All of my reviews and pictures I posted there disappeared in a server crash on their end.)  I wish I had all of the full trade paperbacks of this.  Here’s an excerpt. 

I will sum this volume up in three words: labor of love.  Tania del Rio clearly has love and respect for the Sabrina character and has married it with her enthusiasm for the manga style of art and storytelling. There are plenty of teen girl witches in Japanese comics, so it's really a natural fit.  [I wonder if the entire magical girl genre in Japanese manga was actually inspired by Sabrina.  It’s not improbable.  The whole manga industry was inspired by American comics after WWII.]           

I also reviewed some of Sabrina appearances in The Best of Archie Comics #3. 

2000’s

Fernando Ruiz could not resist himself transferring the Archie gang from Archie’s Weird Mysteries into a Scooby Doo-like mystery, A Familiar Haunt.  It wasn’t quite a straight-on parody or homage though, since Weird Mysteries seemed to mostly take its cues from the X-files or Kolcheck the Night Stalker.  Frankly, I thought the mystery-supernatural angle worked reasonably well as a setting for the gang.  An even better fit was Sabrina as a manga magical girl.  I was pleased to see Tania Del Rio’s version represented here in the heartfelt, Spell It Out.   

2010’s

The reason I bought this book was because I’d missed getting Jughead #200 when it came out.  Something Ventured, Something Gained was indeed suitably grand for this anniversary, a bit preachy, but awesome.  Jughead is magically tempted out of his prodigious metabolism and his friends start losing their best traits trying to get it back.  Rex Lindsey’s art was excellent.  I was also eager to read The Great Switcheroo, where the gang is gender-flopped.  I’m a big fan of Gisele’s artwork and it doesn’t disappoint here.  I’m not sure I got whatever the point was supposed to be of Tania’s story, but it was fun anyway.

The Jughead #200 story is important in that this is where he found out that Sabrina is a witch.  This became a running issue in following stories.  It led to what happened in the Afterlife series.  The Switcheroo story was caused by Salem, Sabrina’s cat.  The cat might have been the most popular character in the 90’s TV show, so he’s become much more prominent.

I’ve liked some versions of Sabrina and disliked others.  I’m sure other people have different opinions.  A lot of the comics, especially from the 70’s and 80’s were not good.  I don’t like the horror stuff at all.  The 90’s show was more Melissa than Sabrina in terms of likability.  (The cat was also great).  Manga Sabrina was probably the best written and conceptualized version, but, while the artwork was wonderfully expressive, it didn’t look like the classic Sabrina everyone likes. 

Putting a bow on this is going to be difficult.  There are few fictional characters that have undergone this many permutations and still remained popular (Batman namely).  None of these versions are actually that far off from that original story from the 60’s.  They just vary widely in tone.  Considering also the varying quality of the comics and shows, you have to conclude that Sabrina’s concept is greater than the sum of its parts.  I have a hard time actually pointing to Sabrina material that I really like and yet I love the character.  I suspect I’m not the only one.  

NM State Aggies vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners Soccer 10-18-19

Eli Gonzalez

Probably doesn't like being called "Cute," but she is.

Ah, a Friday noon game time start for today’s soccer match.  What great scheduling for me given I go to work in the late afternoon.  This meant I could go to this game without taking time off.  They should do this all the time. 

“Hey, double-digit fans today,” said the concessions lady as a couple of fans walked by, while I bought a Gatorade.  Oh, that’s why they don’t do this all the time.  The tailgate tents weren’t even up outside.  Actually, considering the time and day, it developed into a decent crowd.  In fact, we could have done with a few less.  I’ll get into that later.  I couldn’t help but notice that the hot dogs sitting on the rolling grill weren’t moving.  In other words, I think the dogs were sitting on a cold grill.  Appetizing. 

Grace Laporte

At the courtesy table was a pleasant surprise.  It was my favorite Aggie Swim & Dive girl/Sports Marketing intern, Grace Laporte.  She was so sweet and pretty.  There was a giveaway for Men’s and Women’s Basketball opening night tickets.  While I would have liked the Men’s tickets, I’d have to take the night off and Ron probably wouldn’t want to go.  Of course, I already had the Aggie Country Pass for the Women’s game.  I felt kind of dumb explaining some of this to Grace as she offered me an entry to the drawings.  

Andrea Ridgely

Out on the field, I noticed Kaitlyn May from the last game and the good-looking blonde from the autograph session.  They were easy to spot being attractive and not suited up to play.  I think the blonde is Andrea Ridgley.  Maybe.  If you’re not in uniform with a number it’s hard to tell.  Honestly, I’m only bringing this up because I got confused in mentioning them earlier.  Sorry.

It was warm and sunny out.  However, there was a good breeze going, so I left the umbrella at home.  I could hear some music and “plink” noises nearby.  The Aggie Baseball team may have been out practicing.  Danny was there in the stands.  I was glad to have someone to chat with.  Tom was not there.  Even the Aggie super-fan was put off by the odd start time. 

Whoa!  I was suddenly tripping out during the player introductions.  The CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunner goalie, Andrea Neves, was in pink with powder blue stripes, including pink socks.  I’m guessing the player had no input on the uniform.  Danny said their goalie was injured in practice.  Maybe Neves was a backup or the injured one was the backup.  By coincidence, the Aggies’ own Maddie Franklin was from Bakersfield, as her hometown was mentioned during her introduction.  CSUB huddled up during the Anthem.  Everybody has their own tradition.                  

The PA sounded enthusiastic today.  She’d sounded so down after the last match loss.  A couple of nice-looking members of the Women’s Tennis team were acting as ballgirls.  I keep waiting for them to draft me for the position.  Certainly, they’ve gone through everybody else.  Grace and another intern tossed out t-shirts right before the start.  Danny and I were sitting on the wrong side of the stands to get one though. 

First Half

I admit I’m tempted to skip the recap and cut right to the ending.  This is mostly because what happened up to that point could be described as a “defensive struggle.”  Or perhaps, more accurately, an offensive struggle.  This might be the match where I finally stopped enjoying watching the girls playing rough. 

42’ minutes left in the half, Hannah Leitner charged into the CSUB box.  The goalie made a catch on a weak shot.  41’ Aggie goalie Dmitri Fong fell on a shot at the Aggie end, but I think the play had been whistled dead before that.  Oh, poor Dmitri.  The Aggies’ last two games on the road hadn’t gone well.  Against Utah Valley, Dmitri made 14 saves, but they lost 1-0.  Next, they lost 5-0 to Seattle U, who have a really good program.  Dmitri had been pulled before the end of the game.  I felt like giving her a hug.    

39’ Jess McDow tried to get the ball downfield while fighting off two much smaller players.  There were some clouds above.  It almost looked like rain over at the mountains.  When I make notes like that, I think you can guess how interesting events were on the field.  35’ Katie Martinez caught Neves way out of the CSUB box, but the ball was kicked away.  The Roadrunners came right back and took a header shot that went way off.

Hannah was really working it.  Unfortunately, her attacks were mostly by herself.  26’ she was blatantly knocked down in the opposing box.  There was no call, when there should have been a penalty kick.  25’ Aggie Shea O’Connor and Roadrunner Sophie Freeman came together for our first head injuries of the game.  They were both shaken up.  CSUB took a shot that was knocked out.  Shea was not doing well on the field.  There was a stoppage as she came out and a sub came in. 

Play resumed with a Roadrunner corner, but there was no shot on goal taken.  Some more Aggie fans came in after the match started and sat down behind us.  I think they were NMSU teaching staff.  Embarrassingly, they seemed to know less about soccer than I do.  They also talked about their lifestories and other uninteresting personal information.  There was a loud CSUB fan there with them.  I think one of the staff was also rooting for Bakersfield as well.  It was a little unpleasant. 

Both goalies were shouting at their players to attack.  One of the players shouted back, “Hey, shut up goalie!  You’re just a spectator in uniform here!”  I’m just kidding.  By this point, I’d kind figured out that these two teams were way too alike: all defense, no offense.  I was telling Danny I was worried about a double overtime, nil-nil final. 

13’ Shea came back in.  That was good to see.  She was now sporting a Band-Aid on her brow.  CSUB took a shot over the Aggie goal.  Ooops, there was some confusion on Shea coming back in.  They had to redo the subs on the next stoppage.  10’ Hannah got banged on the head and run into the ground.  She was shaken up, but stayed in. 

9’ Jody Hernandez took a long shot on a free kick that was caught.  Coming back, Hannah argued with the line judge on possession after a ball went out.  A couple of students started brutally heckling the judge on the call.  That’s what happens when you play too close to the stands.  4’ the Aggies got a shot off by Jody Hernandez.  Neves pushed it out and then the ball was kicked away.  3’ Katie was tripped.  That was the last notable action of the half.  0-0 after 45 minutes.

Halftime

Both teams had the same stats for the half: 0 goals, 1 shot on goal, 1 corner.  It was 45 minutes of futility.  A couple of students participated in wearing horse-riding costumes and kicking balls.  A couple of Aggie player parents won the basketball tickets. 

Second Half

42’ Roadrunner Sophie took a shot to the face with the ball.  She had to sit down on the field after that.  There was another stoppage.  Sophie stayed in.  41’ Shea knocked down a defender at midfield.  This led to a Bakersfield free kick.  The ball took a high bounce and hung right in front of the net.  The ball got behind Dmitri, but she very calmly grabbed it for the save.  Keep this play in mind for later.

38’ two players collided on the CSUB end.  I couldn’t identify them, but it was a hard hit.  36’ Roadrunner Giselle Michel (pronounced “Michelle” and it rhymes) made a determined attack into the Aggie box.  She took a close shot that Dmitri caught.  Dmitri started screaming at her team after that to play up.  35’ Shea and a Roadrunner player tackled each other to the ground.  33’ another Roadrunner made some emphatic grabbing at Shea.  31’ Katie was on her knees by the CSUB goal after taking a hit.  Neves called over to the Ref, until he saw Katie and stopped play.  Good sportsmanship there.

30’ Hannah took a shot to the nose and bent over in pain.  I didn’t see any blood.  This account is getting brutal.  At some point, I actually stopped noting all the players going down.  So it was actually worse than what I’m writing here.  28’ CSUB corner.  Lece Aviles rode an attacking player out into a bad shot that Dmitri caught.  26’ CSUB made a crossing shot in front of the Aggie goal.  The shot was kicked over the goal.  Shea and Sophie head-butted again.  Sophie got the worst of it this time.  The trainer had to come out for her.

After the break, there was an argument over whose ball it was.  The ref gave it to Bakersfield, who immediately kicked it away at the Aggie goal.  It was a quick turnover.  21’ the Aggies got a corner, but it was mis-kicked and also resulted in a turnover.  Maddie received a yellow card breaking up the play.  Coach Baarts was screaming loud enough at the ref to be heard across the field, “Start protecting our players!”  The ref went over to him, said something, and left. 

20’ a Roadrunner player went face down into the grass.  18’ an Aggie and a Roadrunner both went down.  17’ Eli Gonzalez made a charge into the CSUB box.  She got the ball to Sarah Trent, who took a close shot that was saved.  I don’t know what happened to set off what happened next, but the ref carded the Bakersfield coach.  Officially, the card was given to the whole team.  You could also hear the coach clearly across the field, “You disrespected me!” 

15’ Eli brought it downfield again.  Shea got off a shot outside the CSUB box.  13’ back to the other end, the Roadrunners had a good attempt that missed out.  Near catastrophe then struck.  My pen ran out of ink.  It was new at the beginning of this semester.  I’ve just about used up the little notebook it came with too.  Thankfully, I came prepared with a backup pencil.  11’ Roadrunner Darian Tatum charged into the Aggie box.  Maddie was all over her.  Dmitri caught the shot.

The clouds started moving in more densely.  The sun went in and out.  The breeze picked up and became colder.  It still wasn’t bad out.  9’ Jody got knocked down on the CSUB end.  The Aggie bench cheered, as this lead to a free kick near the box.  Alexa Barerra took the shot.  Neves caught the grounder.  4’ Dmitri stopped a bouncing shot from outside the box.  3’ Kelly Burton came in.  I was wondering where she was.  1’ Shea took a header that heartbreakingly just went out.  Shea then leveled a defender.  The CSUB fans were unhappy with that one.  With under a minute left, Dmitri collected a roller and we finished regulation still scoreless.

Overtime

During the break, I could see the Aggies huddled around Coach Baarts.  He was being very demonstrative in talking to the team.  They let out a big cheer before taking the field.  Sophie came back in for the Roadrunners.  It’s good that she was okay.  8’ Bakersfield took a shot from the wing that went way out.  5’ the Aggies had a free kick well outside the CSUB box.  Analise Pacheco took the shot.  Like that shot earlier, the ball bounced high right in front of the net.  Neves had trouble handling it.  Corey Kizer charged in and headed the ball into the goal.  1-0 Aggies win!

I was jumping up and down and cheering before I even knew what I was doing.  The Aggie team dogpiled in front of the goal.  I was sure the ref would wave off the goal for some reason, but it stood.  Neves threw down her pads in anger afterward.  I don’t know if she was mad at herself or over not getting a call.  Tempers did flare though, but not from the players, the coaches!  They started yelling at each other as their teams went to shake hands.  I thought there was about to be a fight for a second.

The girls came over to give the fans a happy, jaunty wave.  The crowd gave them a hearty round of applause.  I felt good.  I was happy to have finally seen a win this season.  I’m not sure how the teams felt.  I counted five head injuries, not to mention all the other hard hits.  Unlike the last match, where it got personal, this time it seemed more like two hard-nosed teams playing in the same style.  Neither team was shocked by the roughhousing.  The coaches may have been angry over the ref not calling more fouls and then with each other for encouraging this kind of play.  Maybe they were yelling at each other to diffuse the players from doing it. 

Stat-wise, it was very close.  I think both teams had an equal number of shots on goal, 3.  It was a light workout for Dmitri compared to most other games.  In the interview afterward, Coach Baarts was asked about their next match against Chicago State.  As bad as the Aggies’ record is, 2-11-2, the Cougars are still likely worse.  He said they needed to treat it seriously.  He was sure Bakersfield came in here looking at the Aggies’ record and were expecting a win.

It was still a couple of hours until I needed to get to work.  I got a haircut from a very nice young woman with green hair.  I had a tasty, but somewhat unsatisfying meal at Wendy’s next door.  From there, it was a long night at work.  Aggie Soccer has one more home game left.  I hope they’ve learned how to put it together for another win next time.

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Volleyball 10-17-19

"Explosive" Savannah Davison

Once again the Aggies were playing the #2 team in the conference, but this time it was the Roos.  This might be the Aggies last trip to Kansas City with the Roos leaving the conference next season.  The Roo announcer was a lady coach, who was, as you’d expect, well-informed on the sport.  She was expecting a close game and giving out some pretty technical playing information.  Their PA would do some embellishments on the Roo’s kills, which was okay, but their music was terrible.

The first set started with Natalie Mickels serving it out.  I didn’t want to see that.  Nor did I want to see Savannah Davison also doing that along with a couple other players.  UMKC’s setter had a great dump shot for a couple of kills.  The score stayed close to the first media timeout, 15-14 Aggies.  The Aggies continued with a slim lead.  The Roos got dinged for being out-of-rotation.  (I wouldn’t have minded more explanation on that call.)  “Who wins volleyball games is who makes the least errors,” the announcer said.  The Aggies took Set 1, 25-21.

Julianna Salanoa came up with an ace early in Set 2!  Yes!  That was a good way to start.  The Roos went to the well one too many times with the dump shot.  It was dug out and Sav got a kill.  The announcer really liked her, as Sav was hitting .500 through Set 2.  She was amazed that someone that relatively short could be an outside hitter.  She referred to Sav as “explosive” and other adjectives.  Analyssa Acosta also put in an ace. 

The Aggies went up 11-5, prompting a Roo timeout.  They took another three points later as the Aggies were completely blocking them.  It was a good talk as the Roos went on a six-point run, including 3 aces and the Aggies being called for out-of-rotation.  A block finally broke up the run.  Sav got a kill when the Roos got within 3.  Beautiful Megan Hart got it to set point with a couple of blocks and a kill.  Another block won the set, 25-18.

During the half, there was a fan serving contest on court.  The PA enjoyed it.  The UMKC fight song played, “Go Kangaroos! . . .”  It was really catchy.  I liked it.  The Roos got the first point on a dump shot.  They didn’t look back after that.  The Aggies were again called for being out-of-rotation.  “Coach Jordan is not happy,” said the announcer in what was surely an understatement.  The Roos fired another ace.  There was some theater as the coach sent a player to talk to the up official to dispute a call.  I missed that point and, thanks to technical difficulties, I missed the rest of the set.  So did the Aggies, as they dropped it, 25-13 to the Roos.  (I’m not being selective in reporting.  I really did have an issue watching on my iPad.)    

I rejoined the game in progress in the fourth set.  The Aggies came back from a couple of points down to tie it at 10.  That long rally was exhausting to watch.  Nat went on a good serving run.  There were more incredible rallies as neither team was giving an inch.  After a Roo timeout, the Megan started getting the ball and made the most of it with 3 straight kills.  21-18, Jules came up with a big kill that probably finally broke them.  Nat aced to get the Aggies to match point.  They converted on it to win Set 4, 25-18, and the match, 3-1  

Savannah Davison led with 16 kills.  Cat Kelly followed with 14 and Megan Hart with 11.  Ashley Anselmo and Julianna Salanoa led in blocks with 5 each.  The Aggies were up 50-41 in kills.  They were only 9-4 in blocks, but those blocks were demoralizing.  There were 10 service errors again, but 7 aces.  Coach Jordan might be okay with that.  He won’t be as happy with the Roo’s 13 aces.  This felt like a good, gritty win.  I know I’m biased, but Megan again came up big in this match.  She just crushes the opponent’s will with her shots.  Aggie blocking is also a demoralizer.  As long as the team stays strong, they can win the psychological war.  The announcer did say this game was very mental.    

Reviews of 100-Page Giant Batman and Villains and a Pitch for Comic Magazines

I think I decided I was done with so-called “facsimile” comics, but I was still open getting more comics.  These two 100-page Giant comics for $5 each got my attention in the solicitations for the week.  At Wal-Mart a couple of years ago, DC offered a large square-bound comic for $10.  I didn’t pick it up because the stories inside were all random recent reprints and most seemed to be continued.  In other words, it was just a tease. 

These new Giants featured half new material and half recent reprints.  I had, long ago, advocated for something sort of like this.  I posted this position on my MySpace blog ten years ago.  (Yes really, and I wasn’t the only person blogging there.)    

From 2-1-09

I propose for Marvel and DC the publication of their monthlies in a standard

magazine format.  Specifically four titles each, coming out about one every

week.  The price point should be about $5 to $6 and it has to be sold on the

newsstands.

Marvel: Spiderman, X-Men, Avengers, Universe (Featuring Ironman, Hulk,

Captain America, etc. on a rotating basis)

DC: Superman, Batman, JLA, Universe (Featuring Wonder Woman, Flash, Green

Lantern, etc. on a rotating basis)

Each issue contains three full-length stories per issue: a standalone story, a team

up story, and a chapter of a limited series story.

The Standalones: Experimental, new talent, alternate takes, low-key character

development or interaction, or just a good short story.

The Team-ups: In the solo books, this is pretty obvious.  In the team books,

feature a story with just two or three characters. These stories should probably

not run for more than two or three issues.

The Limited series: The centerpiece of each issue, a chapter of a multi-part

storyline.  These stories should not probably not extend more than six issues, if

for no other reason than, if the story is bad, it least it hopefully won't cost you

regular readers.  If it's good, it leaves you room for a sequel.

Oh, but wait.  There's more to this.

These stories won't build on each other, like a serial, but would be independent of one

another, both within the titles and between them.  I know this is counterintuitive

to how the comics industry runs now.  Realistically, stories are just fodder for the

trades anyway.  The goal is to produce more good stories, not shoveling out

more monthly filler in-between the epic-mega crossovers, which have made

superhero comics distasteful and impenetrable to anyone not collecting regularly.
 

If you want a major event, do it in the Avengers or the JLA book with a bunch of

guest stars.  Resist crossover epics between magazines and overbearing

continuity between stories in the magazines.  That's how the current audience

for comics was bred, and how everyone else with any interest in superheroes

was shut out.

There needs to be a core continuity of characters, teams, and major events. 

These guidelines should be loose, sketchy, and brief.  They should establish a

character's personality and how they got that way, so that there can be some

consistency between different writers and artists.  Writers can place stories

whenever they wish in a character's life, as long as it doesn't change that core

continuity (barring a few Elseworlds or What If sort of tales). 

Won't this keep the characters from really ever changing?  As opposed to how

things work now?  How lasting is any change in a comic book?  I hate to make

this comparison, but why not look at Archie Comics?  The gang is always in high

school.  The love triangle between Archie, Betty, and Veronica is never resolved. 

The characters never really change.  Hardly anybody ever complains, and there are actual Archie fans that quibble over continuity.  (I'd be tempted to pitch a change to the digest format for Marvel and DC, but the effect on the artwork would way too detrimental.) 

The point being, if Marvel and DC's superheroes are meant to on-going

characters that don't age or die, then anal retentive continuity needs to go. 

Freed from the tyranny of having to match up with decades of old, outdated

baggage, the characters can always be written within current society or even

placed in a retro or future setting.  As long as there is a core origin and some

reference is made to the time frame, anything goes, as long as it's a good story.  

Where does this leave the friendly, neighborhood comic shop?  Nowhere.  There

are some big stores that will stay in business selling comics and those that have

diversified into other fields, but as for the rest, I can't think of a graceful way

exiting the business.

Would this idea really sell?  Well, at least I'd try out more comics in this format,

which is more than I can say for the current one.

Back to 2019, things have changed.  The MCU movie series has made superheroes more popular than ever.  Unfortunately at the same time, “floppies” have gotten more expensive than ever.  All their stories are completely intertwined and, let’s face it, are unreadable because of the real world agendas of the writers and publishers.  It’s the best of times and the worst of times. 

I also posted a version of this on an Archie Comics fan website.  (The website crashed and wiped out everything I’d ever posted there.  So much for, “The Internet is forever.”)  I’d pitched for a couple of magazines, one for Archie and Jughead and one for Betty and Veronica.  There’d be rotating features for other characters.  They did actually do it, after a fashion, with their Married Life With Archie series.  However, it only focused on adult Archie.  They only “rebooted” their continuity with their floppies instead.  Archie did publish Marvel reprint digests for about a year.  It was an interesting experiment.  It was kind of uneven, but had potential.

These two Giant comics are, I think, a better idea than a standard-size magazine.  Mostly, it has to do with the format of the original comics and the size of the pages that the artists work with.  They’ll still fit on a magazine rack.  Certainly, the price point is great, but I’m sure it was just done for promotional purposes.  (By the way, back in the day, DC did do regular 100-page comics, so this is a throwback to that.)  If it was all new material, it’d be more expensive.  I still like my idea of doing four titles a month with a mix of ongoing and standalone material.  So, I liked everything about these books, except the content.     

Batman 100-Page Giant #1

First up, the new Batman versus Clayface story was the best in the issue.  It was a good story and well-drawn.  But, it was deeply ambiguous about Batman’s heroic nature.  Clayface seemed to be the one administering vigilante justice.  Just a question, does the current Batman not know how to shave?  Bat-stubble looks strange. 

The new Batwoman story also questioned Batman’s/Bruce Wayne’s method of justice.  (Shooting an immortal villain into orbit seems a bit ridiculous as a means of incarceration.)  Batwoman promised to be an advocate for criminal’s right, while punching the guy into wet concrete to immobilize him.  This story is here to promote the new CW Batwoman TV show.  The character looks cool in costume, but just doesn’t have Batman’s backstory to make her a worthwhile character.  She’s just a gender biased dilution of the concept, much like what Marvel has done to Spider-Man.

Two other stories involved reprints of the Court of Owls storyline.  The Batman story seemed absurd with the amount of tech he’s using.  It makes you question why he doesn’t have jet-boots and replusor beams in his hands.  (Seriously, why doesn’t he have a flying suit like Ironman?)  The Nightwing story again questioned Batman’s actions and teachings.  These stories were okay, but were just a teasing slices of larger stories. 

There are Harley Quin stories in both comics.  She’s got a new movie coming out with the Suicide Squad.  She might be DC’s most popular female character.  (Wonder Woman is just better known.)  Strangely, in the Batman book, Harley is a straight-up evil psychotic in this origin story.  Here, she targets children for mass murder.  I’m not sure this is how I’d want my valuable IP being portrayed were I a DC executive.  This story left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Villains 100-Page Giant #1

The first new story was again good with a somewhat ingenious Joker plot to cause chaos.  Just like in the real world, the Joker has a Twitter (-ish) account, like actual terrorists and various racist organizations.  (Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos are still banned.)  However, there it was again.  There was this deep-gray questioning Batman’s existence and methods.  The current writers seem to question why there’s a Batman.  I’m not entirely sure if the writer was doing an elaborate satire on government welfare with this story or was bemoaning a lack of it.  Take your pick.   

Next up was a new Deathstroke story.  He has a contract on Jimmy Olsen.  It’s still the real Jimmy here, not the fake Jim Olsen from the Supergirl TV show.  Supergirl shows up to save him, but Deathstroke does accomplish his mission.

Then there’s another new Harley story.  This time she’s getting assistance from the Huntress in hunting down a villain.  The captions even acknowledge that sometimes she’s good and sometimes she’s bad.  She looks more attractive here and does take out a bad guy.  He was mean to her in high school and had to die.  This was feminist revenge porn, not terrible, but it is what it is.  The other story was reprint, so this more heroic version might be the more current take on Harley in the comics.

Strangely enticing was this ad for a Harley Young Adult graphic novel.  I looked it up.  It features Harley in high school with Poison Ivy and the Joker as a bunch of teen anarchists. 

I think the writer should be sued by this guy from a few years ago who pitched a Gotham High animated show.  Over the weekend, I was at Barnes & Noble and ran into a Raven YA graphic novel out in the aisles.  I guess there’s a whole YA superhero franchise in the works.  She’s a teen girl in high school with magic powers and a demonic father.  I thought I saw the rest of the Teen Titans as regular students playing D&D with her in one scene.  (That’s probably a misunderstanding on my part.)  The artwork was good, but not fully colored.  Interesting.  I’ll think about it, but only if I don’t have to go into the Kid’s section to pick it up.

The reprints were origin stories for Darkseid, Reverse-Flash, and Poison Ivy.  The Darkseid one skipped over a bunch of stuff and seemed to show him triumphant over Superman in the end (unlikely, I should say).  The Reverse-Flash origin was really good, but again incomplete in showing how he actually became a villain.  Lastly, Poison Ivy’s origin was beautifully illustrated, but here again, she’s a villain because she was wronged by the men in her life and wants revenge on them.  She’s basically portrayed as an eco-hero, who kills bad people (just men). 

These two books were disappointing overall.  In some places, it’s the disturbing content.  In others, it’s the incompleteness of the stories presented.  They look good, but don’t “taste” good.  I do like this format.  DC could do more and better with this sort of presentation.  Editorially, they need to not undermine their heroes.  They should draw a line to show who the superheroes are, how they are different from the villains, and what their role is in society.  It’s okay to question things, but you have to provide some sort of answer.