All Hail Megatron #1

Well... hot damn. Now IDW's Transformers line is going to have a summer event, too. Although, to be fair, it isn't much like a normal Marvel or DC event, repeated ad nauseum and still not gotten right. For one, there isn't 20 other books to run spin-offs and tie-ins of the event. And that probably makes it stronger.

IDW's Transformers line initially launched as a proposed series of three six-issue minis, each with a theme based on the general way a conflicted planet goes in the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. First, we have low-key Infiltration. Then, Escalation. The shit starts to hit the fan with Phase 3: Devastation. Throughout these minis, we had a smattering of one-shots called Spotlights, each aiming the spotlight on a certain character within the mythology - not just throw-aways, as the Spotlight issues generally further the story, whether immediately or at a later point.

Now, it's changed. At the end of Devastation, after an all-out battle between the Autobots and Sixshot, and the Decepticons and whatever the badass-bots that were introduced in Sixshot's Spotlight were named, the Autobots left Earth. Something else (events in Arcee's Spotlight) more important than Earth happened, and Optimus was forced to pull his forces off the planet they were losing anyway. On this note, it's a really nice piece inserted to update Transformers for a more modern audience - the Autobots, and Optimus Prime, are still the good guys, still the optimists, but they're fighting a war, and sometimes acceptable losses have to be allowed and hard choices have to be made. The battle for Earth, at the moment, is over. Now, Furman continues to further the story through Spotlights.

The first issue of All Hail Megatron jumps everything forward a year. Who knows what made the Decepticons spend a year before finally making a move - although, there's a bit to suggest that there's more than meets the eye behind what's currently happening - but they're making their move. It's an all-out attack on humankind. We're treated to Guido Guidi's fantastic artwork, complete with a very, very nice coloring job. The Constructicons make their debut, no doubt reinforcements brought in after the few casualties taken in the battle the Decepticons had at the end of Devastation. Starscream and Megatron look to be at odds again, but really, given Starcream's "resurrection" in the pages of Devastation, this shouldn't be too surprising. It might be more surprising as to how Megatron did keep leadership, despite his bots thinking he'd gone insane.

It's a damn good beginning to the story. The last page shows the ruins of Cybertron, where the Autobots are hiding out (for reasons currently unknown). And Prime is a bit under the weather.

If this is where Furman will be leading through the Spotlights and whatever else should start up, and this is where McCarthy (writer of All Hail Megatron) is going to be writing from, well, strap me in for the ride. I want to see how we get there, and I want to see where it goes. The one year jump is not a problem at all, and definitely whets the appetite. It does leave a few questions, though. For instance, there's an Insecticon in the Decepticon line-up. Just a random reinforcement like the Constructicons? Soundwave is present in the Decepticon line-up, and the last time we saw him, wasn't he held by the Machination? And was that Sunstreaker with the Autobots, when at the end of Devastation he had become a Headmaster-bot? The latter could just be me mistaking another bot, surely.

Either way, it'll be neat to see where McCarthy takes this, and who pops up. After all, Sunstreaker/Hunter, Hot Rod, Ironhide, and Grimlock are all operational Autobots currently active on Earth, following the events of Devastation. Whether that applies after the one year gap is possibly something entirely different, though.

Current State of Affairs of Marvel's X-Franchise

Marvel's X-Franchise (that is, the X-Men and related titles) saw a revitalization within the last year with the Messiah Complex crossover (which is to say, Marvel's X-people finally figured out what to do with the ramifications that came from House of M, some years later). Despite not being as high-profile as some X-fans hoped for, the crossover story was nonetheless sound, involved the majority of X-characters in varying capacity, and succeeded in taking the X-franchise in a new direction. Some characters left, other characters found a new direction, some books were canceled, and some new titles were started. Good, good. It's nice to see something actually happen, isn't it?

This week saw the release of the latest issue (#4) of Young X-Men, one of the aforementioned new titles. Although the first arc is not yet completed, I happen to be caught up on all X-issues, and so this makes for a good time to take a look at the titles and where the X-Men line, at the moment, is. Yes, there are spoilers.

X-Men: Legacy - Mike Carey (writer) and Scot Eaton (pencils): This title is one of the strongest X-titles on the stands, if not the strongest. Originally, it was the title usually referred to as Adjectiveless X-Men, started once upon a time ago to showcase Jim Lee's art. It took the name change coming out of the end of Messiah Complex, to make Uncanny once again the flagship of the series (whereas, leading into Messiah Complex, Carey was pushing the train full steam ahead in these pages), and allowing Carey to pursue his newest endeavor: an ongoing following a broken Xavier, trying to pick up the pieces in a world where he's no longer the leader of the X-Men. The premise might not excite a lot of people - and, in fact, it hasn't - but nonetheless, the premise is strong and sound, as are the pages and the writing. Eaton's artwork is fine - quasi-realistic, which fits the X-Men well enough, and given that this title is darker and more serious it fits even better - and his panel work is equally fine. What Carey's doing here, essentially, is no different than what Grant Morrison has been doing with his recent and ongoing run on Batman. Carey is putting Xavier moving forwards, but haunted by his past, and is dragging up bits and pieces of past stories, essentially cherrypicking what he wants to use versus what he wants to disregard. He is also, with the most recent issues, picking up what happened to Mr. Sinister in Messiah Complex, and putting Sinister and (presumably) Gambit back at their A-games. Carey is also responsible, even as far back as the "Endangered Species" one-shot issue, for bringing Sebastian Shaw back into the picture, and is using him in the pages of Legacy. Carey is clearly (and self-reportedly) a fan of the X-Men, and a fan of the X-mythos, and it shows. The pages of Legacy honor the mythology and, even better, add to it.


Cable - Duane Swierczynski (writer) and Ariel Olivetti (artist): If there's an X-title currently published that competes with Legacy at the top of the franchise, it's Cable. Cable has had his own ongoing before, and comes to this new ongoing from his time in the spotlight in the relatively shortlived (only 50 issues) but mostly-phenomenal Cable & Deadpool. Like Legacy, this title makes use of artwork that isn't the norm for X-Men. Yes, the X-Men comics are generally used to a more cartoony and less heavy-realism style, and to inject a piece of opinion here, it's how I generally like to see them. But Eaton's artwork, above, works. And here, the realism in Olivetti's art works, and makes for a lovely synergy with Swierczynski's dark story. The backstory goes to and before Messiah Complex - in the crossover's "prologue," Carey's "Blinded by the Light" arc, Cable appears to die (reflected in an issue of Cable & Deadpool). Of course, he's not dead, and returns in Messiah Complex thanks to a clue he received from a supposedly-enemy Gambit. (I called that, for the record, way back when.) He snags the mutant baby in Messiah Complex and, at the end of Messiah Complex, takes off into the future with her. That's where the ongoing begins. The future, by the way, is not very flattering - a rather destitute place, looking almost like what one would expect to see in a good ol' fashioned western. Swierczynski himself is a novelist, and joins an increasing number of novelists who are moving into writing for the comics medium. He makes the transition well enough, and makes for a more successful storytelling direction in conjunction with Olivetti than if he were paired with someone else. A huge part of Cable is Cable's arch-enemy, thus far, of the ongoing - and that is the previous X-Man, Bishop. Bishop's turn has been a sore spot among fans, apparently, and a large part of that is caused by the fact that it was barely covered within Messiah Complex. We know why he wants the baby dead, but it's a very sudden revelation. It's fine, but could have been done nicer, done better. Yes, Bishop wants the baby that Cable is protecting dead - yes, Bishop is willing to kill the baby. But, then, Bishop has always been a character, like Cable, who has always been willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Swierczynski doesn't take the easy way out, though. The ongoing is not all about Cable. Swierczynski uses Bishop's perspective as well from time to time, though not anywhere near as much as he writes from Cable's perspective. Additionally, Swierczynski has a wonderful grasp on Cable's character. Yes, Cable is a diverse character. Yes, Cable can be used as a messiah the way Fabian Nicieza did in the wonderful "The Burnt Offering" arc of Cable & Deadpool. But, at his core, Cable is a soldier used to fighting a war. And as any larger-than-life character, he leaves a trail behind him, and it's usually not a trail of roses and other pretty-smelling flowers. He leaves a trail of destruction and devastation behind him, and it changes the people he touches. There's a wonderful, poignant moment in which Swierczynski/Olivetti show this in the latest, fifth issue of Cable. (Oh, and also in the latest issue, the baby is shown to have the outline of a phoenix in her eyes - another red herring, or is it actually Jean reborn?)


X-Factor - Peter David (writer) and different pencilers: X-Factor continues to be, after Messiah Complex, the same strong, fringe X-book it was before Messiah Complex. Showing the strength of David's writing, the title continues to change and evolve. Initially, the title began as an homage to crime noir, and X-Factor was a detective organization run by Madrox. Initially-initially, David's X-Factor, in its original ongoing, was a government-run mutant team. And now, as of the latest issue, X-Factor might again become a government-run mutant team. But, we shall see. Primarily, the book is all about the character moments. Stories happen, and stories make change, and characters have to respond and react accordingly. This means tons and tons of character development. David's cast of characters hasn't really changed, with the exception of Wolfsbane leaving. However, the characters themselves have certainly changed over the time the book has been in publication. And, of course, we have witty and funny dialogue. X-Factor is definitely a big X-title, despite not being a full-on X-title.


X-Force - Craig Kyle & Chris Yost (writers) and Clayton Crain (artist): Crain's artwork is really neat, and makes for a great gritty and dark style for a gritty and dark title. Kyle and Yost come from their work on New X-Men, where they decided to take a really no-holds-barred position and kill some characters (which has forever earned them the enmity of no few number of fans). But they write a fine book that isn't about much else than action - the book could really use another name, though. The title stays true to the new evolution of Cyclops's character, as someone willing to push the buttons, in the name of mutant security, that Xavier never would. Kyle and Yost continue writing their character, X-23, who now threatens to revert to the road she was made for - killing. They write Warpath as returning to his vengeful and killing roots. Some fans might have a problem with this, since Warpath left those roots behind - and, truthfully, the death of Caliban isn't a thrilling or genius reason for him to revert - but the characterization is nice, because Warpath has to continually war with it. He knows he's reverting, and it isn't what he wants, but he also wants the Purifiers to pay (not only for Caliban, I think, but for all the mutants and former mutants they've murdered), and knows that he's one of the few mutants willing and able to do it. And they write a thrilling Wolverine, who isn't blabbing all about how "he's the best at what he does," which gets to be such a tired tagline after you hear it the 90th time. Instead of going the stereotypical route, they write Wolverine as caring and concerned. He knows he's a murderer and, despite being a good guy, a monster. He knows he should be doing the wetworks, and doesn't want X-23 and Warpath doing it with them. But Wolverine also isn't the compassionate father figure - when they insist, well, there's a job that needs doing, and here's how to do it. It's an interesting take and dichotomy on the character. Despite initial looks being not very promising, X-Force has turned out to be an above-average title.


Uncanny X-Men - Ed Brubaker (writer) and Mike Choi (pencils): As of next issue, #500, the creative team will be different. Matt Fraction joins Brubaker on writing, and Choi gets replaced by the alternating art duties of Terry Dodson and Greg Land. Regardless, the flagship of the franchise rates right about here, well under Legacy and Cable. Brubaker is a great writer, and though his writing on Uncanny has not been and is not horrible, it's not anything to write home about. His initial arc, the twelve-issue "Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire" suffered from pacing and, in the end, 12 issues was not enough to legitimately tell and finish the story. His follow-up arc, "The Extremists," was just fine - it showed his strengths, writing at the street level (see Captain America and Daredevil) - but lacked the oomph of what the story was about, and what it accomplished. Yes, it brought in the powerless Magneto, but nothing happened with Magneto until Carey brought him into the initial Legacy arc. There was nothing, by the story's end, that happened, for the characters to respond to. And now, following Messiah Complex, that the book is returned to its flagship status, it falls on the figurative shoulders of Uncanny to set the status quo for the rest of the franchise. This, it does - the X-Men set up shop in San Fran. But the arc in which this happens suffers the same fate of "The Extremists." What happens? Scott and Emma thwart another Mastermind who made San Fran into a hippy-ville. It's nice to see some downtime. It's nice to see a new status quo set. But a story ultimately has to be about defining moments for characters, too - and Brubaker has to know this, considering his work elsewhere - and we're missing that, outright. Even after a fight with Cyclops in the final issue, there's just an apology to Proudstar/Warpath for shooting him with an optic blast. In Russia, Wolverine/Colossus beat on Omega Red until Nightcrawler decides to teleport him way up into the sky (which rocked, by the way), the only aftermath is "Well, yeah, I guess we should call SHIELD in to cart his ass away." There doesn't need to be melodramatic moments, but it would be nice to see some dramatic moments, or some aftermath that concerns the characters, how they feel, and that would allow them to develop and/or grow. Among other things. But Choi's artwork is gorgeous, and his Colossus is awesome. Too bad he's leaving the title. It'll be interesting to see if Fraction co-writing improves the title at all.


Young X-Men - Marc Guggenheim (writer) and Yanick Paquette (pencils): Essentially, this title replaced New X-Men, previously written (as mentioned above) by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost. This title even uses a couple - Rockslide and Dust. Then we have Blindfold and Wolf Cub. And then we have a couple new characters. And a weird premise. The supposedly-Cyclops assembles a questionable team of kids to kill the former New Mutants who are supposedly now the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. As of #4, Cyclops has been revealed to be Donald Pierce. Originally, people were claiming the Cyclops to be a Skrull, which didn't make much sense. It's actually not incredibly fair to try and rate this title, considering the first arc hasn't ended yet. There are still questions, and hopefully some answers will be forthcoming. Paquette's artwork might not be the prettiest to look at, but there's nothing wrong with the storytelling properties of his panel work. It's not a particularly incredible book, though. It could possibly become something great (the team of kids operating out of the Hellfire Club at the behest of the previous New Mutants, for instance - Sunspot and Cannonball and Moonstar and Magma taking the teacher and leadership roles on the east coast while the mainstream X-Men operate on the west could make for some very interesting stories), but at the moment it's simply a slow-moving beast that doesn't show much promise.


Astonishing X-Men - Warren Ellis (writer) and Simone Bianchi (pencils): Don't confuse this with the Whedon-Cassaday Astonishing X-Men. Hopefully, this creative team won't face six month delays that really hurt the book. Whether the title will still operate in its own little bubble or actually have some relevance within the rest of the franchise, I'm not sure. Ellis does have the team operating out of San Francisco, though, so the title at least works out of the mold set by the current status quo. Beyond that, though, the title only has one issue under the new creative team's belt. What's there to really say? Ellis perhaps overdoes Emma's dialogue and attitude a few times. He brings in Storm, whether as a guest-star or permanent member of the team remains to be seen. His Cyclops continually refers to Beast as "Henry," rather than "Hank," which is and feels odd. But even with those little problems, Ellis isn't reinventing the wheel or going outside his comfort zone - he's incorporating the weird scientific realm he excels at writing within, and when he starts having Beast explain scientific stuff, it flows and feels incredibly natural. The first issue shows a neat premise. Whether it delivers, well, that remains to be seen, too.

Burn Notice, Season Two

Burn Notice debuted last summer, an example of brilliant television programming, on the level of House and The Shield. It resembles House most, in that the show possesses heaps of witty dialogue, but like both shows, it pushes at the boundaries of its format and what, as a show, it is "supposed" to be. It pushes, and it breaks through, and shines as a result.

Somehow, everything Burn Notice does works. It's more than just a show. House has... well, House, and Wilson, and those two are the best parts of House (or Cuddy's boobs, as House would point out). The Shield has its violence and no-holds-barred storyline and character interaction. Burn Notice has its style. We're talking freeze-frame (not Matrix-like slow-mo), usually in which the main character, Michael Westen, narrates via voice over in a way that any fan of comics should be familiar with. It's always expository elaboration. It's usually humorless. It's never dull, it's never draining, and it's never tedious.

And from all looks of the first episode, which just aired tonight, the second season should capitalize on all the first season did right, and continue accordingly. Instead of investigating and trying to get to the bottom of who burned him (the spy term for "fired"), however, it looks like Mike will be playing the game of getting to contact the woman he's in touch with - who, for the record, I don't think did burn him. She's part of it, sure, but is probably working for someone. If anything, the story of the burn notice has always been about levels - Mike being a "part of something bigger," as he was told, I think, in the final episode of the first season.

It's another mystery - a twist on the first mystery. Mike will continue to work with his spy background, and we'll continue to see wonderfully fun and inventive ways of him doing what he does. Oh, and this first episode of season two started with a literal blast - Mike was popping off rounds of a big honkin' shotgun. Awesome.

If you haven't watched it, watch it. Better yet, start watching the second season, and in the meanwhile watch the first season to learn how Mike got there. It has Bruce Campbell. (This is not to downplay the awesomeness that is Jeffrey Donovan.)

UFC 86

The Ultimate Fighting Championship wanted to hit the late-spring/early-summer running hard and fast, and finish strong in the late summer before slowing things down. Hey, that's kind of like a fight in and of itself.

April started things off. The first week of April saw a free live Fight Night on SpikeTV that was pretty damn good. The third week of April saw the much-anticipated rematch between Matt Serra and Georges St-Pierre (any relation? egads!) for the welterweight (170-pound) championship, which GSP reclaimed. Sure, we had to wait a month until the end of May to see 84, in which BJ Penn out-jabbed Sean Sherk before finishing him with a badass knee and barrage of punches to retain his lightweight (155-pound) title, and Wanderlei Silva showed he was still all about the hard KO, but then we got 85 two weeks later - a somewhat weak card, through no fault of its own, as Chuck Liddell took a hamstring injury that knocked him out, but hey, Mike Bisping fought, only a month and a couple weeks after his 185-pound debut at April's event, and that was awesome. Two weeks after that, The Ultimate Finale for season seven of The Ultimate Fighter, then another two weeks and UFC 85 this past Saturday. Two weeks from now? Another live Fight Night, with Anderson Silva's move up to the 205-pound division. Two weeks after that, the first week of August, comes GSP's first title defense against Jon Fitch, with a really, really strong card.

Despite looking like a weak card, UFC 86 really delivered. There weren't many fights on there I wanted to watch, but it was all worth it for the main event alone, even if the other fights had sucked. Forrest Griffin, the original Ultimate Fighter, versus the light-heavyweight (205-pound) champion, Rampage Jackson. Yes please? This is one of those fights. I mean, look back - in April, GSP vs. Serra, I doubt there were many people really expecting Serra to come out on top there (and if they were, they're fucking delusional). In May, the likelihood of Sean Sherk beating BJ Penn was mostly on Penn showing up in shit shape. Or, also in May, Tito Ortiz would have had to bring his A+ game to beat Lyoto Machida, and he hasn't had an A+ game in some time. But Griffin vs. Rampage, wow. We have Rampage, undoubtedly at the top of his game, even given his impressive career, and we have Griffin, also at the top of his game, a guy who started as nothing more but a crazy brawler akin to a Norse Berserker, but has diversified and improved, regardless of win or loss.

So, yeah, it was one of those fights: one of those fights where both guys are so damn good, it's incredibly hard to follow or gauge or rate the fight. How was it? It was incredible. Fuck the Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell fight from December, which gets great hype despite sucking hard. Griffin-Rampage was hyped up as sure to be a great fight, not hyped up as a powerhouse-brawl sure to end in a knockout (which, for the record, Silva-Liddell did not end in). Griffin-Rampage didn't even need hype - anyone who was a fan of either, and I'm sure most viewers were and are fans of both, knew exactly what to expect.

The fight went five rounds. Rampage blasted Forrest with an uppercut late in the first round, but couldn't end it. Forrest blasted Rampage with leg kicks throughout the first round, and hard in the beginning of the second, straight to his leading left knee, and dropped the champion, and even though Forrest eventually had a full mount on him, he couldn't finish it. Rampage is tough, and hey, I don't think Forrest trains too hard in the full mount - I could be wrong, totally, but he probably doesn't expect to get there too often. He also probably trained primarily stand-up against Rampage, because he probably didn't want to be on the ground with Rampage anyway. I sure as hell wouldn't be - he outwrestled Dan Henderson in their titlefight.

The fight went five rounds, all action, no lulls, not a single fucking clinch-hug against the cage like in the Tim Sylvia-Brandon Vera fight, and no takedowns followed by gentle rubbing like most Rashad Evans fights tend to go. It went a hard, full, five rounds, a close fight that, honestly, probably could have gone either way at any moment. And those fights are the best.

Who won? Forrest did. The original Ultimate Fighter who really did help to solidify the resurgence of the UFC, he won the light-heavyweight championship. Talk about homegrown talent. Talk about legitimacy. And talk about deserving. The fight was close, but in the end, it was Forrest pushing the pace, and for whatever reason, it was Forrest keeping Rampage on the rebound for the most part, controlling the octagon, and scoring the most hits.

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus is about a crimefighter and his little dog - kind of, if we took the little dog and turned it into the so-called Iron Prometheus, aka a guy in a really big, iron suit somewhat resembling the original Iron Man costume. In a way, the title isn't really a title, but merely who the book is about - Lobster Johnson, and The Iron Prometheus, equally. Essentially, we have two stories going on throughout the mini, one for each character. They start together, oh yes, but deviate.

It's a wonderfully-written and -fun first solo for a character first introduced and featured in a single story, and later meeting his fate within Hellboy: Conqueror Worm. The Lobster is right up there with old school noirish superheroes (and, c'mon, he is so the Mignola-verse version of a 1930s Batman, an original Batman, complete with pistol and detective-work, a Lobstercave and a helper who looks like a butler, and even using fear and a form of superstition as a weapon, sorta-kinda - this relation almost sullies Lobster Johnson as unoriginal, and that's not intended, because what's going on here with this character is so much more) - and the writing is right there with the pulps. I could see Robert E. Howard, let's say, writing a Lobster Johnson story, or at least the Conan equivalent or Solomon Kane equivalent of this one. And this isn't bad. Mignola isn't going for some prestigious writing award here, or trying to produce some orgasmic level of American literature. He is homaging the past, much as Hellboy always has. He is telling an action-adventure story meant to thrill, and he delivers.

In fact, I'd call Lobster Johnson a gold mine of a character. He's fun to read, and I'm sure he's fun to write. How can anyone hate a vigilante who shoots gangsters and Nazi agents and then burns a lobster's claw into their faces/foreheads to leave his mark? - And even if we know his fate and where his end is, it doesn't make the road there any less exciting. I hope to see more Lobster Johnson solo minis in the future.

The art is beautiful and what you'd expect from a Hellboy story, right in line with other Hellboy work. It's instantly readable. Panel breakdowns show an obvious and intelligent understanding of the way the medium works.

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus is definitely worth reading on the graphic novel's merits alone - BUT, also because we get to see Mignola adding another chapter to his creation, and a non-Hellboy chapter at that. Brubaker can leave his mark on Captain America, Bendis can leave his mark on the Avengers, Carey or Whedon can leave their mark on X-Men, Morrison on Batman, but those marks can become forgetful and, even if not, are ultimately at the mercy of whoever comes next. They are, after all, only the latest playmates in someone else's sandbox. But this is Mignola's sandbox and, much like Simon Furman on IDW's Transformers license, he's free to create and build as much as he wants without necessarily having to worry about or ever face someone coming along and ruining with shitty plots or characterization what he's done.

And that, to use a phrase, is worth its weight in gold (or, at the very least, the weight of this graphic novel opened in your hands).

Have you read it? If not, read it.

Hellboy Day

Apparently today was "Hellboy Day" with comics retailers who chose to participate in the little event - a week early for the movie, but it coincides with the release of issue 1 of "The Crooked Man." What "Hellboy Day" means is buyers of Hellboy TPBs (at least James played it this way) got free stuff - a poster, a comic with three very short story-like tales, and a bookmark. I like the bookmark. I actually got my free stuff last week when I bought the trade of "Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus," but wanted to get another bookmark or two this week. Crap. I forgot. I also forgot to get my two comics longboxes, dammit.

BUT, I did buy the following trades of B.P.R.D.:
Plague of Frogs
The Dead
The Black Flame
The Universal Machine
Garden of Souls
Killing Ground

James has yet to get his reorders for the first and second trades, so I'll be getting those as and when they come in. These are in addition to the aforementioned Lobster Johnson solo trade, and the luxuriously wonderful library edition hardcover of Hellboy, collecting Seed of Destruction (yes, for which this blog is named) and Wake the Devil.

RIP, Mr. Turner

Not to curse this blog with a bad news first post, but then, not that I even believe in that hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo, and not that this is even about me.

I'm out of the loop, apparently. I haven't been visiting my favorite comics forum ever, the SuperheroHype forums, lately. So I missed the news that Michael Turner had died. And I've got to say, that really sucks.

Let's spare any cliched statements that could be said. Instead, I'll say that I loved Turner's art a good deal. His talent was up there regardless of what he was doing. He had a great talent for covers, and that talent was (rightfully) sought after by the big two.

But why do I love Turner the most? Because he had the balls to take his creative vision and go against Top Cow (a company I do love) when he had to, and create his own publishing company, Aspen Comics. And I love Aspen Comics, I really do. I might own more Marvel comics than anything else, because I'm a Marvel whore, but my Aspen collection rivals my DC collection and, despite my love for Batman and Nightwing, is far more dear to me. It's like my precious little hobby. I got a hold of the old Top Cow Fathom TPB through Ebay. I ordered a ton of Fathom and Soulfire issues through Aspen's store. Hell, ask James, who owns and operates my local comic store: I'm the only person in the area, I think, who buys Aspen. Without me, he wouldn't order any! (And he'd probably be happier.)

I'm sure Aspen Comics will keep on publishing. They just started another Fathom run. They're coming out with their Spotlight issues. I anxiously await another run of Iron and the Maiden (which is so freaking awesome, you ought to read it). But I won't - none of us will - see the end of Soulfire as Turner would have pictured it. And that's a damn shame.