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----------------------------------------------------------------- [7] The Nitpicker's Column Martin A. Perez magnus@montevideo.com.uy http://perdidoseneleter.tripod.com [Martin A. Perez (AKA MaGnUs) writes short stories, articles, comics and radio plays. One of his stories is about to be published for the first time, and his articles have appeared in online or print magazines like Inforol, Ururol, Kryptonian Cybernet and Strange Days. He co-produces and co-hosts a radio show about comics and related subjects, Perdidos en el Eter. An active part of Uruguay's fan scene, he's one of the creators of Montevideo Comics, the first local convention (since 2002), and one of the founders of Caballeros de Montevideo, which promotes RPGs through charity events. MaGnUs works at a tech-support callcenter, and is happily married to his wife Cindy, with whom he has a one year old son, Gabriel, who already chooses Spider- Man over Mickey Mouse, and laughs at his father's Darth Vader impersonations.] <<WARNING! THIS COLUMN MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!>> Hey faithful readers of this e-mag, I'm baaaaaaack! To anyone who might have missed this column, rejoice, to all who despise it, na-na-na-na! Err... enough childish behaviour, please forgive me, but I'm glad to be back behind the keyboard reporting all the nits I find. I'm also very happy because I started out this new year on very good foot. Among other things, I got myself a new job, better paying, and better in every sense than my previous one. So, I'm no longer an agent of the law, and if any of you lives in Australia and works in the travel industry, you might get to talk to me on the phone in the near future. Alright, so most of you don't care about my new job, but I thought I'd share my happiness with our readers. Let's talk about comics now, this is the Comic Book Net Electronic Magazine and not my blog (not that I have one). Before moving onto this week's column, I'd like to mention something that's not a nit, but a solution, perhaps, to past nits. Remember a few columns ago, when I complained about the inconsistencies in the number of mutants left in the Marvel Universe after Decimation? Well, Marvel has published the first issue of a miniseries called X-Men: The 198, which sets the number of mutants at 2 millions before M-Day, and at a current number of 198. This doesn't actually fix the nits, but be sure I will hold Marvel to this figure. Now, onto this week's nits: <---------------------------------------------------------------> "PIRATE FOR A PANEL" TITLE: Knights Of The Dinner Table. ISSUE: 06 (actually, in Bundle Of Trouble Vol. 2, a compilation tome, don't know if this happens in the original issue, but it probably does). CULPRIT: Jolly R. Blackburn (writer/artist) NIT-TO-PICK: Well, as anybody who's read KODT knows, Jolly Blackburn, its creator, has limited artistic skills, at least when it comes to art. Still, his art style fits the comic strips, and when he tried to get someone else to draw it his fans said "No way!" That said, his art still consists of mostly reused panels, since his is a "talking heads" comic, where characters are, 99.9% of the time sitting around a table gaming. Sometimes, depending on the particular RPG the Knights are playing, they might use some props or costumes; like for example when they play a western game, they wear cowboy hats, etc. In this particular issue, in the strip called "The Great Intervention", it's not said what game they're going to play; they address one of the player's problems before playing. It's safe to assume they're not going to play any game to which they normally wear costumes, since they're all in their normal clothing. No reference to the game to be played is made, but all of a sudden, in the last panel of page 83 (of the Bundle Of Trouble tome), three of the characters (Bob, Dave and Brian), are wearing their pirate hats!!! Dave even has an eye patch, and Bob has his aunt's parrot, which he's borrowed in the past when playing pirate games. NIT-O-METER: Just a small error, which should have been easily noticed, but it's not big deal. I'll give it 3 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "LET'S NOT GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY, SHALL WE?" TITLE: Infinite Crisis (and other DC titles). ISSUE: 4 of 7. CULPRIT: Uncredited NIT-TO-PICK: At the end of this issue, and other DC titles of that month, in the IN DEMAND section, there's a sub-section called "THE HOTLIST-THIS WEEK"; were key titles on sale that week. The usual, right? Well, the blurb for the current Infinite Crisis issue (which I read immediately before reading said blurb) says at least two things that don't actually happen in the book. First "(...) Witness a shocking confrontation between Batman and Nightwing (...)" Uh... there's no confrontation between those characters, in fact, there's a very heart-warming moment between them. And lastly: "(...) a startling change to the recently deceased!" I didn't see that, did you? I mean, I know they don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read the issue yet, but saying things that don't actually happen, that's too much. What if you're someone who wants to see a "shocking confrontation between Batman and Nightwing" and you buy Infinite Crisis just because of that? Shea right, like there's anybody reading other DCU books that doesn't want to read Infinite Crisis! NIT-O-METER: Just 1 Bazzar, it's nothing. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "STATE OF THE ART HEALTH CARE FACILITIES..." TITLE: Generation M. ISSUE: 3 of 5. CULPRIT: Paul Jenkins (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: I know I've been picking nits out of this book since it started, but that doesn't mean it's not good, in fact, it's pretty well written. Still, Paul Jenkins keeps making mistake after mistake. In this issue, main character Sally Floyd (reporter for The Alternative), visits the Ravencroft Asylum for the Criminally Insane (a blatant rip-off of DC's Arkham and Ravenscar). There, she finds that due to the effects of M-Day (mutants losing their powers, etc) the pecking order of the inmate population has changed. The doctor she speaks to tells her about several of the patients, and in particular, in page 22's last panel, points out a man whose mental illness was caused by his mutation, and when he lost his X-gene, he became sane. The Asylum's staff has been trying to persuade the state to give the man a hearing, but they haven't been successful, so he has to "stay here and fend for himself". We see the man huddled in a corner, with all the other inmates around here, who probably frighten him as a sane person would get frightened if he was surrounded by dangerous mental patients. My question is: why the hell doesn't the Asylum's staff isolate him, house him with the staff that has to stay overnight in the facility for watches, etc? I mean, if they can't legally discharge him, but they are confident that he is sane, why keep him with the other loons? They should isolate him from the other patients, to ensure his mental and physical safety. If he stays with the other inmates, he'll be physically harmed, and most likely will go mad again! NIT-O-METER: Jenkins is making us care for those mutants who aren't X-characters; he's writing a good "human interest" comic book; but he sometimes resorts to plot points that are weak, such as this one. It would have been more touching, more unsettling, if after losing his mutation, the now sane guy would have been killed by the other inmates or something like that, before they could take the decision to isolate him. This gets 6 Bazzars, since it's sloppy writing, and you know I hate sloppy writing. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "SUMMERS-GREY GENETICS MAKE MY HEAD HURT." TITLE: Uncanny X-Men. ISSUE: 468. CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: Here's someone who is a firm candidate for one of The Nitpicker Awards (see at the end of the column). You all know I'm a big fan of Claremont's works from years past, but that lately, he's been slipping. Still, New Excalibur and the latest issues of Uncanny X-Men are readable, acceptable. That, however, doesn't keep me from finding nits in them. In page 21's first panel Rachel Summers (aka Marvel Girl) says that Cable is "genetically my half-brother...kinda". Not only does the letterer (VC's Joe Caramagna) forgets to put a space between the three dots and the word "kinda" (but I'll let it pass), but Claremont once again shows his contempt for X-Men stories that other people have written. This time, he blatantly ignores the fact that, genetically speaking, in the strictest sense, Cable is Rachel's FULL brother. Rachel is the daughter of an alternate future's Scott "Cyclops" Summers and Jean "Marvel Girl/Phoenix" Grey, while Cable is the son of present day Scott Summers and a Jean Grey clone, Madeline Pryor. Now, if Cable was the son of Pryor and some other man than Summers; she'd share half of Rachel's genetic material, but he wouldn't be the son of Jean Grey per se, which would make him a genetical half-brother of Rachel. Being Summers son, he's related to Rachel, as some sort of trans-temporal half-brother; since his father is the Summer of the present, and Rachel's is one from an alternate future. But since he's, genetically speaking, the son of both Grey (through her clone, Pryor) and Summers, he's (again, genetically speaking), her full brother, not half-brother. I rest my case. NIT-O-METER: This deserves 7 Bazzars, since Claremont is doing this again, and again. This might be an honest mistake, but it's a mistake that comes from not paying attention to what other X- writers have done, as I've shown in past columns. It suggests that Claremont thinks himself so above other writers that he doesn't bother to catch up with the stuff that was written in books not helmed by him. Chris, you're past your prime, accept it, and at least try to make your stories mesh with what has been written before, even if you didn't write it. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "WE HAD TO PUT TWO TOMBSTONES, TO MAKE EVERYBODY HAPPY." TITLE: Uncanny X-Men. ISSUE: 468. CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer) and/or Chris Bachalo (penciller). NIT-TO-PICK: In the third to last panel of page 21, when members of the Grey family are being buried in the St. Stephen's chapel, at Bard College (where John Grey, Jean's father taught), we can see a tombstone marked "JEAN GREY". Why is this a problem? Well, it might not be exactly a nit, but the last time Jeannie died, she was buried in the grounds of the Xavier Estate, behind the school. We've seen the grave in X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Phoenix Endsong. Now, this could be on purpose, I'd accept that the Grey's might have claimed Jean's body to bury with the rest of the family, or that two tombstones could have been erected so everybody could "pay Jean a visit"; but something like that should have been mentioned. NIT-O-METER: Not too big a deal, I give it 3 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "I THINK I A WORD." TITLE: Teen Titans V3. ISSUE: 31. CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer) or uncredited Comicraft staff member (letterer). NIT-TO-PICK: In page 18, third to last panel, Kid Eternity (aka Christopher Freeman, who I recently learned is the brother of Freddy Freeman, aka Captain Marvel Jr.) says "I just to be left alone." From the rest Kid Eternity's dialogue in that issue, it can be surmissed that this should read "I just want to be left alone." NIT-O-METER: Minor nit, but easy to spot at a first glance, so it deserves 5 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "MISTRESS OF DISGUISE!" TITLE: X-Men V2. ISSUE: 179. CULPRIT: Peter Milligan (writer) and/or Salvador Larroca (artist). NIT-TO-PICK: In pages 15 and 16, we see Mystique and her current partner in crime, Pulse, breaking into some unnamed facility for some good old-fashioned burglary. They're both wearing the mandatory black suits with ninja masks, of course... but Mystique is wearing her suit over her "standard" form, the blue-skinned, yellow-eyed and red-haired image she normally adopts. Her hair is loose and coming out of the sides of the mask, and the mask lacks goggles or other kind of lenses to cover her distinctive eyes, plus we can clearly see the blue skin around them. Why the hell is Mystique wearing her recognizable form to a burglary? Why isn't she disguised as some random person, even a man? I can't buy that she's more comfortable in that form, that she's more agile or what not in that, since she was agile enough in her Foxx identity and shape in a recent storyline by Milligan. This just doesn't make sense, she's not the type of criminal who'd want to be obvious, to let people know it was her. NIT-O-METER: This gets 6 Bazzars, it's not important, but it's annoying. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "HELP! I'M CONSTANTLY MUTATING!" TITLE: X-Men V2. ISSUE: 180. CULPRIT: Roger Cruz (penciller). NIT-TO-PICK: In page 4, last panel, Henry McCoy (aka Beast) can be seen in the background, and his body looks just like before his secondary mutation (back in the first issues of X-Treme X- Men), when he turned into more feline than simian. In particular, his feet took the shape of a cat's, but here, in this issue, his feet are just as they were before the secondary mutation, and so is his overall body shape. Only the shape of the heads looks VAGUELY as it should. This disregard for Beast's looks has been happening all over the X-books... BE COHERENT PEOPLE!!! NIT-O-METER: This totally deserves 8 Bazzars, since it's a gross mistake. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "ALL MY OTHER UNIFORMS WERE AT THE DRY CLEANER!" TITLE: Day Of Vengeance Special. ISSUE: One-shot. CULPRIT: Chris Chuckry (colorist). NIT-TO-PICK: From page 10 onward, every time she appears, Mary Marvel's costume is mostly red, when for almost the last nine years (since Power Of Shazam #28, July 1997)) she's used a white costume, as to stand apart from Captain Marvel, like Captain Marvel Jr. wears a blue costume. Her classic costume from the 40s is exactly like Captain Marvel's, tailored to her female body, but as I mentioned, she's wore the white costume since 1997. Now, it is conceivable that for some reason she's wearing her old suit, but, it's not very believable. Chris Chuckry made a mistake. NIT-O-METER: Big goof, but could be fixed, so it gets 7 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "PROFESSOR, IZZAT YOU?" TITLE: New Excalibur. ISSUE: 03. CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: Okay, Chris, you're still at it. The characters have been under attack from an evil Professor Xavier (who walks and wears a kinky black leather costume) and five original X-Men (Beast, Angel, Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Iceman), which are CLEARLY from an alternate reality. However, since 616 Professor X has been missing for a while, the characters in this book wonder if it's actually him, gone bad. But in page 21, in the second to last panel, he's fighting Juggernaut and says "(...) just like I did to my reality's Juggernaut." which makes it pretty clear that he's not "our" Charles Xavier. Now, under Xavier's attack, Juggernaut's mind could probably be confused or whatnot, and he might have not heard him, but moments later Pete Wisdom stabs him from behind, so HE had to be listening. Still, being a government agent secret type kind of guy, Wisdom might not share that info with the other characters. Okay, it still stinks, any way you want to rationalize. NIT-O-METER: Just 4 Bazzars, not a big deal. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "WITH AN IRON FIST." TITLE: New X-Men V2. ISSUE: 21. CULPRIT: Mark Brooks (penciller) and/or Brian Reber (colorist). NIT-TO-PICK: This issue Forge makes a comeback, improving Surge's control gauntlets over the original one designed by Beast. Makes sense, since Forge's much more adept at that sort of thing, that's his mutant power... glad to see he didn't loose it. But... and there's always a but in this column (okay, that came out the wrong way), Forge, who has a cybernetic right leg and hand, is wearing jeans, cut-off at his right leg, which is not covered in synthetic skin or anything, it's obviously artificial, as his prosthetics have always been portrayed... but his right hand is normal, as if it was natural. It is possible that he chose to coat his hand with synthetic skin, either to make it less unsettling for other people (then why walk around in a one leg cut-off?) or to give it more sensitivity or finesse for delicate manual labor, who knows? This still reeks of nit. NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, they could retcon it easily. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "WHO SAID THAT?" TITLE: Outsiders V3. ISSUE: 32. CULPRIT: Mathew Clark & Dietrich Smith (pencillers) and/or Travis Lanham (letterer). NIT-TO-PICK: On page 19, there's the following dialogue: <<TRANSCRIPT MODE ON>> PANEL 1 JADE: Get to the hull breach! SHIFT: I don't think we can get past the shields! PANEL 2 SHIFT (only character shown): I'll take care of the shields-- just be ready!" PANEL 3 JADE (only character shown): Now, Shift! Go! I'll be right behind you." <<TRANSCRIPT MODE OFF>> The action, which is pretty confusing, suggests that it's Jade calling the shots and taking care of the shields, but the dialogue is even more so confusing, since it looks like the line Shift says in Panel 2 should be Jade's NIT-O-METER: This is confusing, it gets 7 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "VERSATILE POWERS, HUH?" TITLE: X-Men: Deadly Genesis. ISSUE: 2 of 6. CULPRIT: Ed Brubaker (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: On page 6, Emma Frost said she sent thought waves to a O*N*E Sentinel pilot through the laser beams of the robot's scanners. PUH-LEE-ZE!!! That's just too far-fetched, no matter how powerful she is, this looks like something from the 60s when Magneto could read minds and astral project. NIT-O-METER: This is just too stupid, too lazy, I can't give it less than 8 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> "I'M AM NOT FORGETTING ING WORDS THIS TIME NOW!" TITLE: X-Men: Deadly Genesis. ISSUE: 2 of 6. CULPRIT: Artmonkey's Dave Lanphear (letterer). NIT-TO-PICK: In the backup story "Darwin", on page 29, Darwin's mother says "Get your filthy mutie hands off of me!", when it should be "(...) hands off me!". NIT-O-METER: Minor nit, but easy to spot at a first glance, so it deserves 5 Bazzars. <---------------------------------------------------------------> OK, I'm running late for an appointment, so let's get this column over (amazing, it's 6:50 PM and not AM!). This week's average is 5.5 Bazzars; for the life of me I can't remember the average of my last column, and I don't have my own computer with me. It could have been more, since we had a couple of 8s and 7s, but we had a 1 and some 3s that lowered the average. Yesterday, on another matter, I had an idea, and I thought I'd mention it. When the column turns one year, towards this year's end, I can hand out The Nitpicker Awards. That is, the top three creators with more nits, the top three companies with more nits, titles, characters, etc. You readers could even write in to vote for your favorite nit of the year. How does it sound? That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more nits, because (almost) nothing escapes... THE NITPICKER! _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [8] Suspended Animation Michael Vance & Mark Allen MiklVance2@worldnet.att.net http://www.starland.com/sus [Michael Vance, a professional writer since 1977 and has been published in dozens of magazines including Starlog and Jack and Jill, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, Forbidden Adventure: The History of the American Comics Group, has been called a "benchmark in comics history". He ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, and his wrote own strip, Holiday Out, that was reprinted as a comic book. Vance also wrote the comic books Straw Men, Angel of Death, The Adventures of Captain Nemo, and Bloodtide. He is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars. His short stories have appeared in dozens of magazines and recorded by actor William (Murder She Wrote) Windom. Suspended Animation, has been published for more than sixteen years, and Vance worked in newspapers for 22 years as an editor, writer and advertising manager. Mark Allen lives in Western Oklahoma with his wife and daughter. He has been a Baptist minister for over 15 years, and has also written for the Oklahoma news industry. Having indulged in comics for nearly 30 years, Mark now enjoys using the written word to share with others what he believes is a true, and extremely under-acknowledged, art form.] Great American Comic Books, published by Publications International, Ltd., 344 pages, prices vary. Ron Goulart is the author of an incredibly informative and fun (that's right, FUN) history book published in 2001 called Great American Comic Books. What, you never considered the world of comics having a history? You'd be shocked, my friend, at what an interesting, and colorful (pun intended) history it is. You see, Goulart doesn't just cover the progression of the genre, from collections of comic strip reprints, to the first comics containing original stories containing pulp heroes, the emergence of super heroes, the age of crime comics, horror comics, etc., etc. He also includes details of many creators, themselves - people such as Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicholson, a retired cavalry officer who founded the company today known as D.C. Comics. Stories such as his prove the point that reality is sometimes as interesting as fiction. Goulart also sheds light on important events in the history of comics, such as the flames of the "anti-comic hysteria" of the '50's, which were fanned by injurious articles in magazines such as Collier's, Saturday Review, Newsweek and Time, as well as blunt criticism from psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, in his book Seduction of The Innocent. Not to mention the Senate hearings to which it all eventually led. Perhaps even more entertaining, however, are the hundreds of color illustrations of strips, panels and covers Goulart includes in his book. A fan can easily get caught up in them, alone. This is far more, however, than reference material. It is to be read and enjoyed, that one may, hopefully, better appreciate the progression of comics themselves. Great American Comic Books is recommended for anyone interested, not just in the history of the genre, but the genre in general. I can sum it up no better than a blurb from the description on the dust jacket: "It's as much fun as comic books themselves!" Now out of print, shop bookstores and online retailers and auctions for the best deals. Mark Allen For information on the exciting Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection and Toy and Action Figure Museum go to www.fourcolorcommentary.blogspot.com/ _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- COMICS OBSCURA Mike Curtis shandafa@cyberback.com [COMICS OBSCURA are facts Mike Curtis has dug out during his 30 years of collecting Superman and writing about comics. His website for his comic imprint is www.shandafantasyarts.net ] CHANG APANA IS THE HONORABLE REAL DEAL Most people do not know that Charlie Chan is based on a real Honolulu detective. While vacationing in the islands in 1919, author Earl Derr Biggers heard about a courageous and tough Chinese detective operating there. Left out of the books is that CHANG APANA was a man of action. He never carried firearms, and once brought in an entire gang of criminals, using his weapon of choice, a bullwhip. _________________________________________________________________ Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. Send Email comments to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Material for inclusion in the Emag - press releases, solicitations, column submissions, Letters to the Editor, guesses for the trivia contest should be sent to ComicBkNet@aol.com The EDITOR, not the submitter, has final approval and edit rights on ALL material. Printed comic books and advanced copies for review in the Emag should be sent via US Mail or UPS to David L. LeBlanc 84 Heather Circle Jefferson, MA 01522-1419 TO Subscribe send a message FROM the intended address to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com TO Unsubscribe send a message FROM the address to be dropped to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com You may also unsubscribe from the Egroups Web page at the short cut below. Shortcut URL to the Egroup page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag All contents COPYRIGHT 2006 The Comic Book Network. 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