Jonathon Miller » Comics

$1,000,000 Man

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:43:40 +0000

Apparently the Man of Steel is still breaking boundaries. An unassuming comic published back in 1938 for a mere 10 cents just set a record. This is one of the highest rated, an 8 out of 10, that has every come up for auction. A geek’s fantasy that most of us will never achieve. Check out the full article here.

So It’s Comic Book Day

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:19:48 +0000

All my fellow geeks out there know that Wednesday is the day new comics come out. I finally broke down and gave my comic book guy a pull list. Funny thing happened, I began spending less on comics books. Since I no longer need to browse for the titles I read, I don’t get the, “Oh, I have to have this”, effect. I come in, my guys pulls my books from the stacks, we do our little bull session for the week, I pay my tab and move one. No more unintentional browsing of the store. The siren’s call can hardly reach me if I go no farther than the front counter.

I usually don’t get a chance to pick mine up until Friday, so any reviews won’t appear until Saturday. Sorry, I know you’re broken hearted. It may just have to stay that way until Marvel, DC, and Image see their way to give me advanced copies. I’d hold my breathe, but I can’t read or write while unconscious.

This week I’m looking forward to Joe the Barbarian and X-Men. What are you reading this week?

My apologies to DMZ and Brian Wood

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:16:26 +0000

Now that DMZ #50 is out (pause for a moment to appreciate the accomplishment) I feel that I miss judged the direction that Wood was taking the book. After reading the piece on him and DMZ in Comic Shop News, I can see that this is part of Wood’s masterful character development. Since Matty has been living as a resident of the DMZ for so long now, I can see how it is impossible to not choose sides. In the interview, Wood alludes to the idea that Matty is doing what he can to help the DMZ and it’s residents. I finally Made it through all five books in the “Hearts and Minds” arc and it has renewed my faith. I can’t wait to see where this book goes next.

What Happened to Matty

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:47 +0000

I admit it, I read comic books. I have for years. It is a source of infinite embarrassment for my wife and equivalent enjoyment for me. See I’m full of surprises. Not only do I read comic books, but I’m married as well.

There are plenty of comic books out there are good for little more than light reading. Featherweight reading. Maybe even just for killing time. Some, however, are so much more. DMZ, for instance, is an amazing book. Writer Brian Wood mined the feelings and attitudes of post 9-11 New Yorkers to create a world where America is embroiled in her second civil war. Manhattan is caught between the united States and the Free States, and Matty Roth is the only embedded journalist. In the four years DMZ has been published Wood has shown impressive character development. Matty Roth has gone from the punk with a bad attitude whose daddy secured his internship, to a mature journalist who cares about showing the wider world the truth about what is really going on in the DMZ. Wood draws from the then, and still, current condition of the world and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for material and brings it home. The setting makes the story more accessible and Wood’s storytelling makes war a tangible thing to those who no personal experience with it.

I have been a huge fan of Wood and DMZ, until now. In the recent series, “Hearts and Minds”, which I will admit I have not read all five issues of, Matty’s development and the comic itself take a darker turn. It wasn’t exactly cheer before. Matty has shed his responsibilities as a journalist and has gotten involved with the politics. He is no longer concerned with telling the true story and has taken to aiding Parco, self-installed political leader of the DMZ, in his quest to establish the DMZ’s sovereignty. As a half-assed journalist myself, this hurts, but only because I am so invested in the character. I really wanted him to do some good as a journalist, but that’s just opinion. The development is realistic, just heart breaking. I don’t know what this move will mean for the over all story, I really need to finish that series, but it does show considerably development in Matty’s character.

I will continue to drink the Kool-Aid on this one. I like Matty’s character far to much to give up on him now. Besides, Wood has a habit of delivering in all of his endeavors (check his DEMO stories, a new series launches this week), so I will hang in for the long haul. If you haven’t done DMZ before, now would be a good time to start.