I have this bad habit of stumbling upon Martian Manhunter related oddities online, bookmarking them, and allowing them to sit untouched for years. Sometimes, the pages cease to exist before I do anything with them here. That said, I'll try to turn over a new leaf, especially in light of tight time this week and my already having abused my sketch art posts over the weekend.
I haven't had a chance to link to Every Day Is Like Wednesday on this blog before, but J. Caleb Mozzocco is probably my favorite reviewer of comics. Most "critics" are random fanboys who apply dubious standards to their reading, almost invariably much lower than my own, and offer little in the way of genuine insight. Steven Grant's Permanent Damage is on extended hiatus, and while I enjoy Hannibal Tabu's snark on The Buy Pile, he's got a lot of hang-ups and blind spots (Reggie Hudlin's Black Panther was four years of mediocre fan fiction.) Anyway, Caleb's reviews are winning, and his occasional humor strips are pretty funny.
For instance, while it's taken him 2 1/2 years to produce four strips about "The Showcase Presents Justice League," they've all been solid. The basic premise is that the "DC Trinity" is recent revisionist nonsense, with Superman and Batman constituting the "World's Finest" in all respects for decades, and Wonder Woman being materially something of a token. As evidence, Caleb offers the fact that the Amazing Amazon was the 17th DC super-hero to receive a Showcase Presents black & white reprint collection. Caleb likes and respects the character, so he offers her some defense, as well as considering what a Justice League made up of all those other characters would look like. In that first strip, he compares Diana's standing to J'Onn J'Onzz's, who also preceded her, and includes him in a group shot of the Showcase League. The Martian Manhunter is only referenced in the follow-up strip revolving around Captain Marvel and misses out on J.E.B. Stuart vs. Black Lightning, but becomes a supporting character in the Jonah Hex and Unknown Soldier editions. J'Onzz's bits aren't great, but it's been a long time since I've seen him in a humorous context, and I've missed it. Check 'em out, won't you?
Funny stuff, and J'onn is not only well within character, but comes off as pretty badass to boot! All is well with the world.
ReplyDeleteThe Unknown Soldier one had me laughing out loud, and the Jonah Hex one had me in stitches. I couldn't contain myself after Batman thinks Jonah Hex is Two-Face. And Jonah's "symbol!" I keep meaning to check Everyday is Like Wednesday more often but keep forgetting...thanks for the reminder.
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