The Vice Guide To North Korea: Episodes 3-4

This is an outstanding documentary in which a crew of counter-culture types manage to get into North Korea and discreetly film the bizarre world of Kim Jong Il. Each segment is roughly four minutes, and it runs a great many parts, but the footage is incredible. The documentarians are straight-shooting and keep your attention, and I highly recommend setting aside the time to follow the whole film. I'll help by backdating the last few days worth of missed posts to allow for Sunday spare time...

WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE

Epidode Three: Hello Pyongyang (3:39)
"VBS arrives in the grimmest, most isolated, zaniest capital in the world."


Epidode Four: The Pueblo (4:40)
"Learning a valuable lesson about how bad we are."

The Vice Guide To North Korea: Episodes 1-2

This is an outstanding documentary in which a crew of counter-culture types manage to get into North Korea and discreetly film the bizarre world of Kim Jong Il. Each segment is roughly four minutes, and it runs a great many parts, but the footage is incredible. The documentarians are straight-shooting and keep your attention, and I highly recommend setting aside the time to follow the whole film. I'll help by backdating the last few days worth of missed posts to allow for Sunday spare time...

WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE

Epidode One: The South's DMZ (5:36)
"Peeking across the border at the forbidden North."



Epidode Two: Shenyang (3:41)
"The backdoor route into North Korea."

A Frank Review of Iron Man (The Movie)

There are a wealth of lengthy reviews of Iron Man available online right, but I'm too tired to contribute formally. Instead, I'll try to stick with spoiler light bullet points:

• At two hours and six minutes, the movie still feels short. A good time is had all the way through, without any of the tiresome padding usually found in super-hero movies.
• Tony Stark's facial hair and posture are overstated to distraction.
• Good sound effects, but some really dodgy music cues, especially that weak ass un-rock score during Iron Man's first flight. The 60's cartoon theme riff helps salve the wound.
• Jeff Bridges is outstanding and highly effective.
• Terence Howard's voice bothers me a lot. He didn't sound like Jim Rhoades so much as Theodore of Alvin & the Chipmunks.
• Gwen Paltrow reminded me for the first time in a great many years why I found her attractive. Her charm brings more to the role than the script, though it is blessed with an avoidance of much of the usual cliche. However, her skits are too long to be so tight, forcing her to waddle through set pieces in a most unbecoming manner.
• The effects are wonderful in that you not only believe these constructs inhabit their space, but you can actually watch them perform without overly frenetic cuts. The mech combat is phenomenal.
• Some of the comedy is surprisingly broad and slapstick, and it manages to work without eroding the more serious and realistic aspects of the film.
• Jon Favreau's cameo as Happy Hogan works well without seeming forced, plus he fairly looks the part, poor bastard. Expect this man to earn a lot of money in the coming years with his deft handling of the diverse expectations of this script.
• A wealthy playboy used to having his way with the world is humiliated and imprisoned under terrible conditions for months. He then builds a suit of armor, obliterates his captors, and returns constantly to its power and freedom of flight in place of all previous pursuits. Psychoanalyze away.
• The virtual incarnation of Jarvis is magic, where a human would have just been an Alfred Pennyworth rip.
• I think this flick will play better with the uninitiated than most any other super-hero movie in history.
• The movie consistently takes the material a step beyond, making it an all-ages action comedy that can actually play to adults without insulting their intelligence or sensibilities.
• Above all else, Robert Downey Jr. FTW. He's so witty and generally enviable in his ability to manipulate emotions like putty in his hands, you'll have difficulty finding fault in any aspect of the film bearing his touch. That said, there's an awful lot of Downey wisecracking that wins the audience but loses sight of the character at times. Still, I read a review that compared the performance to Johnny Depp's effect on "Pirates of the Caribbean," and it truly was strong enough to have carried the whole production on its back, if necessary.

The Trouble With Nightwing

I've been a fan of Dick Grayson since about 1983, when I realized the useless tool that was Robin had grown up to become a formidable detective, strategist, and team leader amongst the New Teen Titans. Grayson was the first kid sidekick, and was among the first to graduate to full hero status, in a new adult identity. Sadly, what was a wonderful development for the character and an opportunity to legitimize the protege for modern audiences instead marked the point where Grayson essentially ceased to progress. This isn't so unusual, as Wally West was the only contemporary of Dick's to become an A-lister, though through the acceptance of the mantle of his mentor at his passing. However, unlike Tenpest, Troia, and the rest of the virtual also-rans, Dick Grayson remains one of the most recognizable alter egos in comic book history and through mass media. Like Ginger Rogers, the original Robin had to keep up with his more acclaimed partner while prepubescent and wearing booties. That should count for a lot, given the company. As a longtime fan, I'd like to offer DC Comics my opinions on how to finally take the Nightwing concept to the next level, before Dan Didio manages to force his death in a future inter-company crossover.

• Unlike every other Robin you'll ever introduce, Dick Grayson has the seminal sidekick origin, and it's strong enough to work without Batman. "Son of circus acrobats witnesses his parents plunge to their deaths due to sabotage from extortionists. Boy wonder dons a variations on his parents' performing uniform and employs his inborn agility and keen mind to solve their murder. The youth continues both his studies and his crime busting into adulthood, until he sheds the gaudy garb of Robin to embrace his new role as one of the greatest super-heroes in the world: Nightwing." Think outside of "Batman and..." to see the story potential based on that simple, effective origin.
• That said, what exactly does a "Nightwing" do? The "acrobat detective" is a shorthand description of most every street-level vigilante since the Golden Age, and it just isn't enough on its own. Without Batman, Nightwing is just Daredevil with better vision, two sticks, and a fraction of the depth. That means you need to either invent a whole new gimmick, or embrace the Batman.
• Why would the ward of a multi-millionaire patrol a city with nothing but escrima sticks? Again, while Robin was the lesser partner, he can still claim 50% of the Batman mythos from 1940-1980. Batarangs, Batcopters, Bat-Shark Repellant: so much of the paraphernalia associated with Batman has been discarded or downplayed in recent decades. Nightwing can claim all of it as his heritage, and that deep resource and legacy should be exploited.
• You have the excuse that Dick wants to prove he's his own man? He's been trying since the early 70's, and been essentially stunted since the mid-80's. I think it's safe to call that angle a failure. Dick Grayson works best as a bridge builder and team player. There's no reason he can't work closely with Batman and the DCU as a whole without pretending like he can rebuild his heroic persona from scratch. Besides which, one of the most important steps in adulthood is acknowledging your debt to the people who raised you and their influence, from which no one can ever escape, Nightwing most of all.
• Nightwing can replace Batman, to assume his true role in the DC Universe. You see, since Denny O'Neil decided to take the Dark Knight back to his roots as a grim, isolated avenger, he's been unable to fully serve his iconic role within comics continuity. He's an "urban myth," antagonistic, and loathes leaving Gotham City. Batman has difficulty functioning outside a narrow range of story types and emotions, which is a handicap Nightwing is free from. He can stand before reporters as the brilliant leader of the Justice League of America-- amongst virtual gods to prove the value of human determination. He can fly a starship through a space opera, romance a vampire, battle super-intelligent apes, bounce off the keys to giant typewriters: anything Batman could do at one time, but now can't.
• Again, virtually every comic book Batman appeared in for over thirty years co-starred Dick Grayson, so those are all his stories, too. There's no reason Nightwing can't operate out of Gotham City and confront any villain from their mutual rogues gallery. Attempts to create a new cadre of villains expressly for Nightwing have met with slight success, so why not make use of established evil-doers?
• Despite that lengthy shared history, Nightwing has some of his own that has gone mostly untouched. As with Batman, Nightwing has a shared interest in thirty years worth of Teen Titans adventures. Those experiences should be referenced and explored.
• Nightwing's current costume, with minor alterations, was designed by Brian Stelfreeze in the mid-90's. It is simple and reasonably effective, but it's hardly Alex Toth's Space Ghost or anything. The fact is, Nightwing has never had a good costume, including his current gear, which so lacks in imagination as to not pass muster for a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Yes, his old suits were often embarrassingly hideous, but the paradigm shift to lifeless "safety" leaves anyone not already enchanted with Nightwing with the impression that he's simply bland and obligatory, not a viable hero who can bring in new fans.
• Just as with the "rebellious youth" nonsense, Nightwing should be too old to be seen with "Teen" Titans, and his reputation in general isn't helped by constantly forming super-teams with the likes of Tempest, Troia, Arsenal, and such. Go big or go home. As much as I tell you to look back on where Nightwing has been, the purpose is to help guide the character to a new future, not wallow with the same underachievers forever.
• Dick Grayson's adventures predate nearly every major Marvel character's by nearly a quarter century. He was a contemporary of the Justice Society of America, and active long before Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, and the rest. He deserves respect and a definitive place in the DCU that will never come without a concerted publishing effort. People the world over knew him as Robin. One wonders how it would react if there was more of an attempt to point out "Hey! Look! Robin's grown up into a new character!" That may be old news to fanboys, but the concept hasn't penetrated the general consciousness. Build a catalog of noteworthy Nightwing stories, and then resell him to the public.
• A major part of that effort should be giving Nightwing a purpose to exist beyond "Dick got tired of wearing shortpants." Nightwing doesn't need a new origin, but he does need a stronger motivation for why he continues to operate and to what end. Without that, it's no wonder he's just brawling with one empty villain after another.
• Dick Grayson was a distant cousin of the 40's Robotman. Bet you didn't know that.
  
• Nightwing as a police officer never worked, because he has the wrong temperament. It also speaks poorly of him as a role model to have dropped out of college nearly thirty years ago and never return. Part of the character's growing up should be putting aside fantasies of cops and robbers, figure out what he wants to be when he grows up, and get back to school to pursue that end. In fact, I suspect his lack of direction has soured his reputation with Tim Drake, to whom he once was himself a mentor. If the latest Robin can't respect and follow in the footsteps of the original, what value will readers find in Nightwing?
• Nightwing needs to solve his own cases, and win his own battles, consistently. Otherwise, he'll never be A-list, and this kid was friggin' Robin! Do you want the greatest child star gone mediocre on your hands, or can you bring up your game already?

nurgh's Greatest Songs of Our Time #4: "Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More (1992)

Written By: Mike Patton (Music & Lyrics,) Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin, & Billy Gould (Music)
Released: May 26, 1992
Album: Angel Dust
Single?: #1 on Billboard US Modern Rock Tracks, #10 UK Singles Chart, etc.

A brief history of my interest in music: I grew up on AM country, 50's Rock n' Roll (especially Elvis,) and only the most mainstream of pop (Michael, Madonna, etc.) During one of the worst periods of my life, my year living outside Vegas, I abandoned the entirely too depressing western music for a deeper appreciation of pop (still the 80's) and rock (mostly 60's.) Going into my teens, I started to diversify somewhat with hip-hop and metal, but I was still too milquetoast to plunge very deeply into those waters. My brother was very into both those forms however, so he heightened my exposure to bands like Metallica and Faith No More, even while I tended to keep them somewhat at arm's length. While I enjoyed quite a few tracks off their masterpiece, "Angel Dust," it was many years after initial exposure before I recognized it as a work of art. Matter of fact, I'd pretty much forgotten the spotlight single of the day, only to have revisitation elevate it to one of my favorites of our time.



Go on and wring my neck
Like when a rag gets wet
A little discipline
For my pet genius
My head is like a lettuce
Go on and dig your thumbs in
I cannot stop giving
I'm thirty-something
Sense of security
Like pockets jingling
Midlife crisis
Suck ingenuity
Down through the family tree
You're perfect, yes, it's true
But without me you're only you
Your menstruating heart
It ain't bleeding enough for two
It's a midlife crisis...
What an inheritance
The salt and the kleenex
Morbid self attention
Bending my pinky back
A little discipline
A donor by habit
A little discipline
Rent an opinion
Sense of security
Holding blunt instrument
I'm a perfectionist
And perfect is a skinned knee
You're perfect, yes, it's true
But without me you're only you
Your menstruating heart
It ain't bleeding enough for two
It's a midlife crisis...............

JLA/Avengers: The Collector's Edition tabloid hardcover

Often in these crossovers, you long for more space to have characters interact outside the main story. Somehow, with 218 pages, this is still true. It seems to me the problem was inclusionism. Rather than giving the primary heroes of interest room to interact, the space was taken up by more in-jokes, locations and characters, to the point you just get tired and want it all to end. Worse, this book seems to follow-up Jim Shooter's concern regarding the first attempt at this pairing, that the core story was weak, by layering the plot with details and complications. That's all well and good, but I found myself in the Dick Giordano camp of not giving two shits about the stupid goddamned set-up, because all I want to read about are the heroes meetings with one another.

I've never been fond of the unwieldy tabloid format, but it serves this specific project well. Perez draws so many intricate scenes and in such massive scale, you need the format to do it just. The hardcover is also an enhancement, as the original cardstock issues prevented readers from really opening up those two page spreads and basking in their glory.

A problem I had with the book was the clear favoritism. For instance, the Scarlet Witch single-handedly defeated Starro, with a plan generated by the Vision. This was done at the protest of her brother Quicksilver, who'd just been released from Starro's sway. The Scarlet Witch taps into the overwhelming chaos magic of the DCU, knocking the JLA about while teleporting her Avengers to wherever they wish. Quicksilver twice loses the object of his pursuit to the Flash, who in one instance leaves the Avenger all wet. Quicksilver fares well against Plastic Man, Hawkman, and Blue Beetle, but Scarlet Witch has to save him from Black Canary to secure their victory. Maybe there's an issue with speedsters, as Flash proves powerless on Marvel Earth, gets beaten by an angry mob who mistake him for a mutant, and can't even retrieve a power battery from Kyle's apartment without Iron Man and Hawkeye beating him down. On the other hand, the script seems to overcompensate by having him retrieve two more artifacts on his own, both times denying the inferior Quicksilver.

Iron Man, a character so favored by Busiek that he wrote his adventures in both a solo title and the Avengers for several years, just constantly owns. He's the one who comes up with a means of detecting and tracking the JLA on Marvel Earth; devises a weapon that can send the JLA back to DC Earth with a shot; is given a Mother Box that ramps him up further; teams-up with friggin' Hawkeye to beat Flash, Green Arrow, and most incredulously, Captain Atom (who's erroneously treated as having radioactive powers susceptible to lead shielding, not the quantum energy that allows no such quick fix.)

Wonder Woman is never shown performing above her abilities, but it's so uncommon for her to be treated with proper respect in these sort of affairs, you know George Perez had a hand in the matter.

Batman and Captain America proved the most level headed and deserted to pursue an investigation. That's swell, I suppose, but I still wanted to see the Dark Knight get his ass handed to him. As a partnership, these guys proved a two-fold bore, with the only livelihood provided by a guest appearance by Ben Grimm.

How's this for an oddity: Plastic Man shouting in Batman's face for going off-mission and being unprofessional. It occurs to me he pulled a similar turn with Superman after "Our Worlds At War." Who knew Eel O'Brien had such huevos and the moral indignation to bust others of such magnitude. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Pink.

Zatanna, despite her power and the opportunity to properly showcase them here, got virtually no play. Are we certain Gerry Conway had no hand in this incarnation?

I know the Mighty Thor is one of the big three Avengers, but the severe reaction of his fellows to his defeat at Superman's hands felt wrong. That would be more of a Cap reaction, y'know?

The third issue of the mini-series was fucking dreadful... 48 pages of spinning wheels caused by an editor who seems to have offered criticism rather than solution. We'll go into greater detail later. I took a nap partway through my reading. A purposeless waste of time and talent that would have been better served by cutting the issue altogether. Also, what was up with the super-villain team of Silver Swan, Killer Croc, Shrapnel, Mammoth, Bloodsport, Sonar, Silver Banshee and Poison Ivy? A Secret Society of the 80's that never was? So random.

The opening pages of the finale were among the best of the crossover. It was great seeing the heroes working together, and the poignancy of some reunions (Vision & Wanda; Hank and Janet) were deeply felt. Somewhat less so with Hal and Barry, since DC flogs itself so routinely with that sort of pathos. After acting like assholes for three straight editions, the respectful nods between Captain America and Superman were important.

Things went downhill with the assault on Kronus' citadel, which threw in everything, including the kitchen sink, to numbing excess. Seeing Batroc get the drop on Batman was hilarious. I dug the Extremist Masters of Evil, two of my favorite villainous tastes, made great together. The deaths of Barry and Clint and Green Arrow's seemingly portentous words should have been paid off, but were instead cheated. Again with the favoritism slighting a potentially memorable character moment right into the dustbin of history. Captain America's certified ownership of Prometheus was swell, as were the martial arts collective versus Batman's impromptu troop. It was so, so nice to see Perez finally draw a proper Aquaman in a spotlight moment. Toward the end, the barrel scarping for characters was quite audible. So was the creaking of the shoddy resolution under all that weight. Still, seeing two of my favorite characters, Captain Anerica and Martian Manhunter, working so seamlessly together made it all worthwhile.

Left field moments I dug: Lobo vs. the Imperial Guard; Thanagarian Wingmen vs. Skrulls; Mongul vs. the Brood; how much cooler the Starros looked in the MU and under Perez's pen; Atom's subdued but consistent presence; Hawkman looking bad ass; Wonder Woman's choke hold on Hercules; Black Panther stealthily snagging an artifact with no resistance; Bruce Wayne's severe slickback look.

I think I'd have preferred to read all of the original version of this meeting from 1983, but this still served well enough.

Nightwing: The Lost Year

"I’d still recommend “Love and War” to just about any Nightwing fan. I just hope the next collection allows the hero a chance to succeed at, well, something?"

Those were the words I used to close my review of the last Nightwing trade, "Love and War." In the time since, I've read a number of reviews hailing the new team of Pete Tomasi and Rags Morales as being a massive improvement simply by being any good at all. I took offense at this type of remark, as I'd enjoyed Wolfman's recent and classic work on the charcter, and felt the criticism was unfair. Then, of course, I read his follow-up.

What. The. Fuck?

I'd bought the title under the impression this would cover the time between the Robin becoming Nightwing, a period already covered by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel, but by a creative team I hated on this character. My presumption was unfounded, as Wolfman instead covered the time between the disbanding of the Teen Titans and his work on the reformed New Teen Titans. None of this really matters however, as this is a total miscarriage of storytelling. Jamal Igle, continuing his attractive work from earlier in the run, quits the book after two issues. It's revealed that despite all the girlfriends Dick Grayson had in the 70's, he busted his cherry with an evil Asian villainess somehow not named Cheshire (not that she was likely heroin-boy Roy's first, either.) The new supporting characters barely make a peep in this edition. The new tech support for Nightwing turned out to be a carryover from the old Vigilante book, and he fails to make an appearance in what turned out to be an extended backdoor pilot for a new Vigilante book. In fact, evil Asian villainess, who works for evil charismatic male Asian villain, seem to also be intended for the new Vigilante book. You can tell by the way Nightwing again fails to defeat or capture either of them, though it gives him a chance to get his ass repeatedly owned by the new Vigilante, who will likely kill the Asians in his own book.

I suppose with all these Asians running around, it made some sort of sense to switch from Igle realistic art to Jon Bosco faux manga style, his issues seeming to have been hacked out in the weekly format popular in Japan. Everything in this book comes off as amateurish and arbitrary. The i-Tunes assissin pops up for a page, presumably to remind us of how he'd previously beat down Nightwing and intended to do so again. The evil Asians perform a minor massacre at the same super-villain club Bride and Groom performed a grander massacre in previously, with much less cause. Absolutely nothing is resolved in the end, with the "Lost Year" serving only token mention of Dick's being previously and now continuously powned. Responsible parties should be pelted with unsold copies of this piece of shit when the returns come back from Borders. Those great Ryan Sook covers sure sold a false bill of goods.

The book's saving grace made me sad for two reasons: I'd already purchased it, and it was a lead-in rather than a follow-up. Marc Andreyko and Joe Bennett had done very nice work on the second Nightwing annual, filling in cavities in Nightwing's continuity left by people like Wolfman. As a fan of the romantic relationship between Dick and Barbara Gordon, it was a pleasure to see it treated so respectfully and augmented with grace. That portion of the book was just damned pretty.

I'm pretty confident I'm going to stay the hell away from any more Wolfman trades in the near future. His woek here was absolutely wretched, and only deepened the concerns I had in the first round. Man, I can't wait to read the new work by Tomasi and Morales. It might just be any good at all...