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----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker-Column 09 (03/06) <--------------------------------> "OH YEAH, ABOUT THAT... THE YETI COULDN'T MAKE IT, SO HE ASKED ME TO COVER FOR HIM... I'M THE WENDIGO, PLEASED TO 'MEAT' YOU!" COMMENT: Artists should research before drawing something they're not familiar with. TITLE: Book Of Doom. ISSUE: 04 of 06. CULPRIT: Pablo Raimondi (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: I'm enjoying this miniseries, but I'll go straight to the point: on page 7, while in the Himalayas, Victor Von Doom runs into the Yeti, you know, the Asian version of Sasquatch... problem is, Raimondi decided to draw the mythical beast as resembling a werewolf, or more exactly, like native American legend and Marvel character the Wendingo... WTF?!??! The Yeti or Abominable Snowman (TM) is supposed to have anthropomorphic features.... not canine. NIT-O-METER: This is what I call a lazy-ass artist not wanting to do the slightest research for an issue... 8 Bazzars. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker-Column 10 (03/06) <--------------------------------> "LET'S GO POWER MAN, TO THE BATCAVE!" COMMENT: In my mind, DC comic superheroes don't exist in the Marvel Universe and vice versa. TITLE: The Pulse. ISSUE: 14. CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: Yes Brian, I know you have to be cool and make at least five pop culture references per issue or you explode, but there was no need to, on page 14, have a cop ask a superhero if she's taking someone "(to) the bat cave." Batman and the Batcave DO NOT EXIST IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!! This is the same kind of unnecessary BS they pulled in Spiderman's first movie; when Aunt May tells Peter he's not "Superman"... NIT-O-METER: Alright, alright... can't give this more than 6 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> "PLEASE! QUIT IT! I DON'T WANT TO MUTATE BACK AND FORTH! MAKE IT STOP!!!" COMMENT: ... TITLE: Uncanny X-Men. ISSUE: 470. CULPRIT: Billy Tan (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: On the cover, Beast (who I'm not even sure appears inside the issue), is shown with his pre-secondary mutation form, no doubts about it, no transitional form, straight up regular blue anthropoid Beast. NIT-O-METER: This is not story altering, so it should get 9 Bazzars... BUT NO! I'm giving it 10 Bazzars, YES, TEN BAZZARS, because I'm SICK TIRED of most Marvel artists NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO HOW A CHARACTER CURRENTLY LOOKS!!!! Come on, I'm not a fan of Beast's post secondary mutation look, but it happened, so until his secondary mutation is somehow reversed EXPLICITLY, draw him like he's supposed to look! <--------------------------------> "BETA-TESTING THE LOCKHEED ACTION FIGURE." COMMENT: This is the grossest character mistake I've ever seen, art-wise, it's worse than the Beast nits... TITLE: X-Men: The 198. ISSUE: 03 of 05. CULPRIT: Jim Muniz (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: On page 5, first panel, Shadowcat has Lockheed the dragon on her shoulder... and he's shown as barely big as her head; when he's as large as her torso at least. To quote Dennis Leary: WTF?!! Oh, BTW, Nightcrawler's chest X is there, and Beast looks sort of like he's supposed to. But then, on page 7, panel two, Lockheed again, three times smaller than he should be and not very well drawn either... NIT-O-METER: I'm burning to give this 10 Bazzars.... you know what? I'M GOING FOR IT! 10 BAZZARS!!! This is like drawing Cyclops midget sized; I know Lockheed is not a main character, but he's been for more than two decades, what was Muniz doing these past twenty years, reading Archie? ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker's Column #11 (03/31) <--------------------------------> "MY ANTI-MATTER POWERS ALLOW ME TO CHANGE IT AT WILL!" COMMENT: If you're going to have different artists in the same story, have them agree as to how they're going to portray each character. TITLE: Infinite Crisis Secret Files & Origins 2006. ISSUE: One-shot. CULPRIT: Dan Jurgens (art layouts), Jerry Ordway (art finishes for Chapter One), Cam Smith & Art Thibert (art finishes for Chapter Two), and Nelson (art finishes for Chapter Three). NIT-TO-PICK: Throughout the issue, in chapters of the same story (occurring simultaneously), Alexander Luthor's hairstyle and length changes from chapter to chapter, one moment is cut short, the next the 80s perm runs rampant, then short again, etc... NIT-O-METER: This is just lousy art coordination, it gets 5 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> "PLEASE! MAKE UP YOUR MIND ABOUT MY SHAPE!" COMMENT: ... TITLE: X-Men V2. ISSUE: 184. CULPRIT: Salvador Larroca (artist). NIT-TO-PICK: On page 18, first panel, Beast's feet are shaped like they were before his secondary mutation. I'm so tired of this error being made over and over again.... NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, it's not going down as long as it keeps being repeated. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker's Column #12 (04/06) <--------------------------------> "UNITED SOCIALIST SOVIET KINGDOMS." COMMENT: This is the worst historical-related plot nit I've found. TITLE: Books Of Doom. ISSUE: 05 of 06. CULPRIT: Ed Brubaker (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: From page 10, I quote Gustav the gipsy "The King has the backing of the Russians now." WTF????!?!?!??! Since this "Russians" they speak of are the USSR (we know it's so, because they refer to them as the Soviets on page 23), and the Soviets would have NEVER, EVER, backed a monarch, this is so hare-brained a plot device I can't even begin to think what the hell Brubaker is aiming at. NIT-O-METER: This gets 10 Bazzars, it's as stupid as saying that there's a KKK chapter formed by black people... <--------------------------------> "LOOK AT MY MAGIC GLOVES! WEEEEE!" COMMENT: This is just fun. TITLE: The New Avengers: Illuminati. ISSUE: One-shot. CULPRIT: Dave Stewart (colorist). NIT-TO-PICK: Oooook, this should be fun. During the aforementioned first meeting of the Illuminati, in Wakanda, something weird is going on with Dr. Strange. Let's start with page 2, where in the last panel we can see Dr. Strange is wearing gloves, as he is in page 3 (other mistakes you'll see later non- withstanding), as well as on page 6. Then, in page six's fifth panel, he's clearly NOT wearing his gloves, and he's not wearing them in page seven's first panel. But he's wearing them in the second-to-last panel of that same page! He's not wearing them either in page eight's first panel, but by the time they vote with a show of hands, he's wearing them again!!!! As is seen in see fourth panel of page eight's bottom row, Dr. Strange's left hand, gloved in the blue gloves he wears in this comic (I've never seen him wear blue gloves before, the yellow ones with leopard print must have been in the laundry) is raised. But when you see the overall scene of the show of hands in the first panel of page 9, Dr. Strange's right hand is gloved, and his left one is bare. Then, for the last panel of that page, and for page 10, last page of that scene, Dr. Strange's left hand is cleverly concealed... hmmm.... And now that I notice, in page 3 his left hand is also concealed from us readers....and then in pages five and six he's hiding his right hand under the table, doing Agamotto knows what! He keeps at it on page seven, with his left hand under the table and his now ungloved right hand still reaching under the table... Then in the second to last panel of that page he looks like he's just been caught doing something wrong!!! If that was just the end of it, I'd give it a rest (yeah, sure), but it happens again. In the Hydrobase scene, in the pages 14-15 spread, Dr. Strange is again wearing gloves on BOTH hands, and his gloved hand comes up in page 16 in the mandatory show of hands thingy. He's still wearing his gloves by page 18, but he apparently had to take them off for page 21's spell casting. They're still off in page 22's second panel, but are apparently back on for the rest of the issue. NIT-O-METER: I'm sorry but this has to get 10 Bazzars, since it's too much of a mess, and it also makes it sort of confusing with all the show of hands panels... <--------------------------------> "EYEPATCH.... BAD ATTITUDE.... NICK FURY?" COMMENT: This shows how the fans (yes, it's done by fans) that put together the new Marvel Handbooks need some more practice. TITLE: All-New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A To Z. ISSUE: 02 of 12. CULPRIT: Meghan Kerns (book designer). NIT-TO-PICK: On page 36, in Callisto's profile, we have an inset picture that supposedly shows how she looked before Masque changed her arms into tentacles... only that's not Callisto in the inset, it's Erg. The image comes from page 19 of X-Men: The 198 #1, and not only it's not the same person, Callisto is female and Erg male!!! I must admit, when I first saw Erg in the aforementioned issue, I had never had any contact with the character, and assumed it was Callisto. I was going to rant about it in this column, since if that was Callisto, and she had lost her powers and reverted to human form, then she wouldn't be in the camp surrounding the X- Mansion... good thing I kept quiet, waiting for the story to unfold, and found out that it was a completely different character. NIT-O-METER: Now, you may call me trigger happy, but I'm giving this 10 Bazzars, this is a big mistake. It's like having a profile of Wolverine with an image of him in civilian clothes, and insetting a headshot of D-Man, just because his mask looks like Wolvie's.... <--------------------------------> "THIS WRITER IS QUITE ADEPT AT STATING THE OBVIOUS." COMMENT: Ditto to the previous one. TITLE: Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe: X-Men 2005. ISSUE: One-shot. CULPRIT: Ronald Byrd, Marc-Oliver Frisch, or Stuart Vandal (writers). NIT-TO-PICK: Two nits in one single page! Nothing new with that, but anyway... In the same page as the previous entry, under the "ABILITIES" section, it says "Northstar also speaks fluent French." Uh... he's FRENCH-Canadian; he's from Quebec, OF COURSE HE SPEAKS FLUENT FRENCH! What's next, "Captain America speaks fluent English."??!?!?!!? The "ABILITIES" section of a profile is for listing unusual or relevant abilities the character has, not obvious information that is natural to a character given his nationality or species. I can see it now "Spider-Man is also quite adept at breathing air." NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> "I'M NOT MAGICAL... UH-OH... IS THIS A SETUP? AM I GOING TO BE KIL-AAAAAAAAAAH!" COMMENTS: Geoff Johns was really stretching himself those days. TITLE: Infinite Crisis. ISSUE: 06 of 07. CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: Beginning on page 9, a gathering of mystical characters takes place, including Star Sapphire (number IV, I believe, Deborah Camille Darnell)... whose power is not mystical in origin. The gem that gives her her powers and name comes from Zamaron technology, not magic.... is she just there to be killed by the Spectre? NIT-O-METER: I really refuse to believe Geoff Johns made this mistake, but if he did, then this gets 10 Bazzars... I'll ask around, and if I get evidence that the gem is indeed magical, then I'll retract. And yes, the last part in this nit's title is a Wilhelm scream (see most movies with Ben Burt in the sound team, like Star Wars, Episode V ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker's Column #13 <--------------------------------> "HELP! I'M SHRINKING!" COMMENTS: I stand corrected, this Lockheed nit is even worse than the previous one. TITLE: X-Men: The 198. ISSUE: 04 of 05. CULPRIT: Jim Muniz (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: Page 20. Panel 3. Shadowcat's shoulder. Lockheed. Muniz, get this straight: LOCKHEED IS NOT THE SIZE OF A HUMAN HEAD, MUCH LESS THE SIZE OF A HUMAN FIST AS YOU DREW HIM HERE!!!! Not only you're repeating the mistake you did last issue, you're worsening it! Here's a tip: before using a character in a book you're drawing, look at the references, at least read a single comic where that character has appeared, or check the character's Handbook entry. NIT-O-METER: God, this only gets 10 Bazzars because I can't give it an 11... I'm so tempted to make an exemption.... <--------------------------------> "NO, THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE; THIS NIT DOES HAPPEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN..." COMMENTS: ... TITLE: X-Men: Deadly Genesis. ISSUE: 05 of 06. CULPRIT: Trevor Hairsine (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: Why did I re-read this issue? Funny story. I was waiting for issue number 5 to come out, and I stumbled upon this issue at a friend's, among new issues from other titles, and didn't realize it was #1. I went "Great, issue #5 is out!" and sat down to read it. With each page that I read, I thought that this was all a recap from the past four issues, why would they use issue #5 of a 6 issue mini-series to recap the previous four issues?!!?!? Then I got to the short story at the end, the one about Petra, and smacked myself in the forehead. I hadn't felt that stupid in a long, long time. As I said before, this was a good thing, since I paid more attention and found more nits included in the issue. Let's start with a classic....on page 2, Beast is drawn almost exactly as he was before his secondary mutation. That mutation was never reversed, yet artist keep drawing him the way they please; Marvel needs to enforce adherence to character designs. And this happens again in page 8, and page 12.... NIT-O-METER: I'm not giving this a 10 because.... you know what? Sprock it, I am. 10 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> TITLE: X-Men: Deadly Genesis. COMMENTS: ... ISSUE: 05 of 06. CULPRIT: Trevor Hairsine (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: *Yawn* Page 21, once more, Beast. Although this time, we can't see his whole body, so the only thing I can point out it's his face, which looks funky, like halfway between the pre-secondary mutation look and the post-secondary mutation look. NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars, let's give poor Trevor a rest. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker's Column #14 <--------------------------------> "WE'RE PART OF THE TIGER RELOCATION PROGRAM!" COMMENTS: Claremont shows his uncanny geographical knowledge. TITLE: Uncanny X-Men. ISSUE: 472. CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: I missed this one last time, thanks to David LeBlanc (editor of the CBEM) for pointing it out: Storm is traveling through Africa with two wild TIGERS... uh... Chris... there are no tigers in Africa, except maybe in zoos. NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, I know this could b explained by saying the tigers escaped from a zoo or circus, but it's obvious this is just plain old ignorance. <--------------------------------> "FROM CATHOLIC TO PAGAN IN ONE WORD." COMMENTS: David knows this character, so he shouldn't have done something as inconsistent as this. TITLE: X-Factor V3 (all my past references to this series should have said V3, not V2, since X-Factor V2 was a miniseries in 2001). ISSUE: 06. CULPRIT: Peter David (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: In page 18, last panel, Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair, a devout Catholic says "Gods..." something completely inconsistent with her character. She would have said "Lord..." or "God almighty..." she wouldn't use a plural. NIT-O-METER: This is quite important, seems small, but it's not... 8 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> "MI NO HABLA ESPANIOLO!" COMMENTS: I do have a pet peeve for writers who have characters speak in languages that they, the writers, don't speak, and they don't bother to look it up. TITLE: Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special. ISSUE: One-shot. CULPRIT: Gail Simone (writer). NIT-TO-PICK: Gail, I hate to have you here in the column, it's your very first time... but when using dialogue in a language you don't speak, you need to consult with someone who does. In page 24, two criminals in Honduras check out the unconscious form of some unknown female, and discuss if she's dead or not... the dialogue is awfully written, without even making sense if you ignore the gross grammar and spelling mistakes. Also, I'll assume that "plega" is Honduran slang for "woman". Here's the English version of the dialogue, how it would look if it was done in English by somebody who doesn't speak the language: CRIMINAL A: Hir me, tink this broad dead? CRIMINAL B: Hey. You think that broad is dead? I think she is. CRIMINAL B: I here for eight years. I don't care if she's dead. Gail, I appreciate you trying to show other locations in the DC Universe, portraying different cultures (even if it's criminals saying they don't mind if a chick's dead cuz they've been in the slammer for 8 years...), but, please, find one of the millions of Hispanic people living in the US and ask for help with the Spanish language. NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, I'm tired of writers trying to look cool by using languages they don't speak. <--------------------------------> The Nitpicker's Column #15 <--------------------------------> "SMALL DRAGON. NOT DRAGONFLY." COMMENTS: Muniz repeats himself. TITLE: X-Men: The 198. ISSUE: 5 of 5. CULPRIT: Jim Muniz (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: *Sigh* Page 3, 5 and 7.... GET IT RIGHT MUNIZ!!!! LOCKHEED IS NOT THE SIZE OF A HUMAN HEAD!!! HE'S LARGER!!!! God, I thank you for the end of this series, and asketh of you that Jim Muniz NEVER gets another job where he has to draw Lockheed. NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, because 12 is not an option. <--------------------------------> "I... I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE!" COMMENTS: ... TITLE: X-Men: Deadly Genesis. ISSUE: 06 of 06. CULPRIT: Trevor Hairsine (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: This was a good book, a good retcon... but Hairsine, along with most Marvel artists needs to remember that BEAST HAD A SECONDARY MUTATION!!! REMEMBER??!??!?!?!!? You want pages? Pages 2 and 10, and apart from the difference in body structure, his face looks like Tom's. What Tom? The cat always chasing after Jerry. NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, because we can't have a 13. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nitpicker's Column #16 <--------------------------------> "THE TIES THAT BIND." COMMENTS: This is the grossest continuity error I've found. TITLE: The Question V1. ISSUE: 17 and 18. CULPRIT: Denny O'Neil (writer) and/or Denys Cowan (penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: I don't know if I've mentioned this, but The Question is one of my favorite characters, and the late 1980s series by O'Neil and Cowan is what made me such a big fan of the character. I was re-reading my collection (I own all the run except for the annuals and two issues, which is no mean feat where I live) and I noticed this huge nit, which I hadn't noticed in the... I don't know, ten other times I'd read this book? Of course, I wasn't in the Nitpicker's mindset, because I wasn't doing the column yet. Still, it's strange, that I didn't notice it, because it happens during one of my favorite moments in the book, that is, Question's first encounter with Green Arrow I (aka Oliver Queen). At the end of issue 17, Question has been captured by two criminals, who're driving out to an isolated area to kill him, but he's not restrained in any way, just woozy after taking a good beating from the crooks. But then, at the beginning of issue 18, when the crooks are going to shoot him, Question's hands are tied up behind his back. Huh? Then Green Arrow shows up, shoots arrows through the crooks' gun hands, and, with the help of a still restrained Question, kicks their behinds. Then, a wonderful exchange between the two heroes happens; in which Green Arrow refuses to untie the Question, since he doesn't know if he's a good guy or not... and the Question tells him that, sure, upstanding citizens carry bows and wear masks... and then Green Arrow says his mask keeps his beard company, and then... I'm getting carried away, ain't I? NIT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars, this whole scene point revolves around changing something that happened in the previous issue. <--------------------------------> "JOIN THE CORPS, SEE THE UNIVERSE!" COMMENTS: Again, people, find out who is the character you are working with. TITLE: Checkmate V2. ISSUE: 03. CULPRIT: Cliff Richards (guest penciler). NIT-TO-PICK: Now, I'm not too keen on Richards' art, but hey, it's a guest penciler, let's grit our teeth and wait for regular penciler Jesus Saiz to come back (although I'd prefer somebody like Phil Jimenez on the book)... but this nit, which it's actually a two-in-one, is really big. On page 13, panel 1, Alan Scott stops his would-be assassin sent by Kobra, by using his Green Lantern ring... but he's wearing a Green Lantern Corps ring, and making a Corps symbol as well... What the hell? His ring design is drastically different from the Corps', and so is his symbol. NIT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars, since it's not story-affecting. <--------------------------------> "GREEN LANTERN GLOVES, THEY COME AND GO..." COMMENTS: Our favorite colorist does it again. TITLE: Ion. ISSUE: 2 of 12 CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox (colorist). NIT-TO-PICK: Ah, Jeromy... welcome back you old devil! You hadn't been here since column number eleven, when you forgot Earth 1 Supergirl's headband. Then there was also column number seven; when you colored Beast Boy's hand in a normal skin color. And who can forget the classic "THE INCREDIBLE COLOR-CHANGING CAPE", in the first column? And here you are once more, with the following nit: On page 2, panel 3, you can see Kilowog's left hand, and he's wearing his usual white gloves (at least in that hand), but then on page 5, panels 2 and 4, he's wearing gloves... gotta hand it to you, Jeromy, you don't stop by The Nitpicker's often, but when you do, it's because you REALLY screwed up! NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars. <--------------------------------> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/bGIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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. 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 All contents COPYRIGHT 2006 The Comic Book Network. This message may be reproduced only in its original form, and in its entirety, for non-commercial purposes. Contact the original author(s) or the Editor for permission to use individual items. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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July08, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 581.16 >> |
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