Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

30 for 30 Project, 1992: “Precious Things” – Tori Amos

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Tori Amos has a new album out today, Night of Hunters, released just a few months shy of the twentieth anniversary of her seminal solo debut, Little Earthquakes.

I spent this morning tweeting my reaction to the new album, a classically set song cycle heavy on mythological themes. The music is bold and haunting, but the lyrics are largely obscure and off-putting.

Little Earthquakes was practically its opposite, all about clever wordplay even when the piano was reduced to music box simplicity, quoting the same lines again and again, or utter silence, on “Me and a Gun.”

(Watch me cover “Precious Things” on YouTube. For more info on my 30 for 30 Project, visit my intro post or view the 30for30 tag for all of the related posts.)

I remember Tori’s debut tickling at the fringes of my consciousness that year, maybe on MTV. [Read more…] about 30 for 30 Project, 1992: “Precious Things” – Tori Amos

DC New 52 Preview: On Sale 9/21

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This week brings the third wave of DC’s New 52 debut titles, all aimed to be easy to pick up for new readers but still rewarding to longtime fans.

Week two’s raft of titles was definitely less impressive on the whole than week one, despite a big block of above-average books. Week three packs heavy hitters Batman and Wonder Woman, and an underbill of beloved second-stringers like Catwoman, Blue Beetle, and Supergirl. Will this be be the week to break the better-than-average barrier with a score that tops 3.0? Or, will it do worse than week two’s four-book crop of sub-average comics?

Batman
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion

I’m a little gun-shy on this one. I thought a Snyder/Paquette Swamp Thing was a sure thing, but I wound up dissing it and drawing a personal comment from Snyder. Dare I get my hopes up here for Snyder on the more well-established Bats in his flagship, illustrated by killer artist Capullo? I daren’t identify this as my most-anticipated of the week, but let’s say I have a firm interest in the outcome.

What are the four other Bat-group titles out this week, and which of them is my most-anticipated book of the week? Keep reading to find out. [Read more…] about DC New 52 Preview: On Sale 9/21

DC New 52 Review: Green Lantern #1

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I don’t like Green Lantern.

There, now you’re really going to trust my review!

One Earth man specially selected by alien to wield the power of green light to defend the universe I can take. Hell, I even dig that multiple men have borne the ring over the years.

It’s when you add to that all the various other Green Lanterns, and the home world, and the power battery, and the other colored Lanterns – and then make that one of the central mythologies of the DC Universe – that my interest wanes.

All of those credulity-stretching elements make Green Lantern just another employee – a foot solider in a galactic brigade with the same standard issue weapon as all his comrades. Heck, sometimes other Green Lanterns can even operate in the same sector! Even when Marvel has expanded their most popular lines of comics, they’ve never trivialized an original hero concept quite as much as that.

DC went all-in on Lanterns in their reboot, not knowing at the time they set the slate that the Ryan Reynolds summer blockbuster would tank. But, flop or not, this is the obvious title that new fans would be flocking to. Is it up to the task?

Green Lantern #1

Written by Geoff Johns, art by Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy w/Tom Nguyen

Rating: 1.5 of 5 – Weak

In a Line: “You’ve been off-planet too long, you’re beyond out-of-touch with everyday life – and people!”

#140char Review: Green Lantern #1 aimed at anyone BUT a new reader. It’s confusing. No denying Hal Jordon is magnetic to read; pity it’s >half about Sinestro

CK Says: Skip it.

This debut issue could not be any more unfriendly to a new reader or non-DC collector reading all 52 books. And, friendliness aside, it’s not very good.

I’m not entirely sure what to say about it, because it was clearly not aimed at me. The plot feels like it picks up from some prior action that remains unnamed. We follow a seemingly destitute and clueless Hal Jordan (even though I don’t think he’s the latter) as he gets evicted and botches a date, and a seemingly newly-introduced and highly moral Sinestro (even though I’m pretty sure he’s neither) as he zips around in space, seemingly planning something awesome and not at all sinister.

That’s it. You have now read Green Lantern #1.

This book lacks just about all there is to lack in the plot and script department. Some caption boxes or thought bubbles would have been kind to orient the reader, or even to add a little texture to an absurdly fast read. There is no explanation of how the ring works, anywhere. There is no mention of the fact that last week we saw Guy Gardner as Earth’s GL in the present and Hal as a member of the Justice League five years in the past. We meet a council of blue-headed dwarves who apparently act as the DMV for the apparently noble green power rings, but they are asses and kill one of their own for disagreeing with them. And what is a Star Sapphire ring?

Uneven art does the issue no favors. Sinestro is both red and pink throughout. Backgrounds of tight shots are vague and empty, as in one shot of Hal and Carol at dinner with a blank wall behind them when it’s been established that one doesn’t exist in any direction. One non-red-robed blue-headed dwarf guy appears out of nowhere (why is his robe different?) only to be zapped a panel later? We see the detailed emptiness of the apartment Hal leaps into (pictured higher than his own window) only to be confronted by a half dozen people in it a page later (when it is clearly below his window).

We get zero context of why Sinestro was imprisoned, except that he turned dictator on his own planet (which was maybe a good thing?), only to then visit his planet and see a Sinestro Corps (?) of Yellow Lanterns (?) enslaving other pink/red people (?). Sinestro easily dispatches a yellow-ringed scout, even though I’m pretty sure yellow is what the green ring is weak to.

The one thing the issue did bother to establish is that the ring chooses the wearer, and it implies that there is one ring bearer per sector. The final page cliffhanger neatly refutes both points.

While this intercutting issue may have been a thrill for fans who know the Green Lantern mythology, it’s a toss-away for new adult readers and those with a vague understanding of GL’s background. It barely makes a lick of sense, and though Hal is sympathetic the only likeable character is Carol Fenris. It is a decent issue for younger readers, with its simplistic “plot,” no bad language, and limited violence.

#MusicMonday: “Electric Twist” – A Fine Frenzy

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That I’ve been playing the syncopated backbone of this song all weekend from a newly purchased sheet music book is all the proof in the world that cover art can make a difference in selling a record.

I was forever hearing A Fine Frenzy’s name on the wind, but never a song. I assumed she was one of the bevy of artists sampled by Grey’s Anatomy or similar. I gave her a rote 30-second preview, and that combined with the little girl image on the cover of her One Cell In the Sea promised a pleasant-but-simpering cross between Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spektor. Since I can barely get through an entire treacly disc from either without heaving up my most recent meal, I decided to take a pass.

(Before all of your Ingrid and Regina lovers get up in arms, I own many five-star songs from both artists, but they’re just a little too cutesy for me in 12-track format.)

When I spotted the cover of Frenzy’s followup, A Bomb in a Birdcage, I was intrigued. I recognized the name, but the black and white cover image looked more sultry than sugary.

Always willing to have an excuse to pick up a new album, I employed my tried-and-true method of sampling Track 3. (If your third track isn’t good, there isn’t much hope for your LP.)

“Electric Twist” is a five-star song. Its circular stutter of power chords are fuzzy and rich like fudge, while artist Alison Sudol’s voice goes from kittenish whisper to impossibly pure high coo. The primal, hip-thrusting rhythm eventually gives way to a satisfying sprint of straight-forward dance rock on the 1s and 3s.

I love acousticish indie rock that manages to be dance music, because that’s kind of music I want to make. The song had it’s hook deep into me before I even had a chance to hit “replay.”

“Electric Twist” was my doorway into Bomb in a Birdcage, a fantastic album that’s strong from front to back. Even E adopted it into her daily playlists, a sure sign of a deep disc with some obvious delights.

Moral?

Maybe you think it should be “don’t judge an LP by it’s cover,” but that’s the whole point of selling an aural experience with a visual one. Album titles and cover images are what get consumers to sample sounds – it was true fifty years ago in a record shop and it’s true today on the internet.

I’d say the moral is: keep the promise your cover makes, and make it a good one. The best album covers are like a perfect still frame from a mega-mix music video of your album.

Case and point: I’m pretty sure A Fine Frenzy is doing the electric twist on that cover.

DC New 52 Review: Batwoman #1

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DC has grown the Batman family considerable in the past few years, culminating with Batman actually franchising his bewingèd concept to bring all of his many imitators into the fold.

Once such Bat-hanger-on was Kate Kane, who debuted in 2006 as Batwoman. I’ve never heard or read a single thing about her, but the gorgeous cover of her DC relaunch comic caught my eye. A quick search revealed that artist J.H. Williams III notched not one but two prestigious Eisner awards for his Batwoman illustration thus far. The character also earned the 2010 GLAAD media award for Outstanding Comic Book, as penned by prior writer Greg Rucka.

Now accoladed artist Williams would be taking the writing reigns of this GBLT-friendly character in her first ongoing series.

Color me intrigued…

Batwoman #1

Written by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman, art by J. H. Williams III

Rating: 4 of 5 – Excellent

In a Line: “That was creepier than expected.”

140char Review: Batwoman #1, ooky new villain isn’t even the creepiest beat in great ish dense w/hints @ backstory. A must-see for sumptuous imaginative art

CK Says: Buy it.

Batwoman is one of the DC New 52 heroes with the shortest history, and I was sure that meant her book would be easy to pick up from scratch.

I was the best kind of wrong. Though Batwoman #1 introduces a new mystery, it trades heavily on a densely woven narrative that hints at a slew of backstory packed into just a few dozen prior appearances in the past five years. As a new reader I was left grasping at on panel cues. She’s a lesbian? Her house is a skyscraper built around a tree? She’s a colonel’s daughter? She wears a wig?

A dizzying one-page recap of Batwoman’s last adventure.

If it sounds confusing, it was, but only enough to warrant a close read – never are we left dangling without an explanation. It was also electrifying and terrific. I’m hard-pressed to name another recent comic that left me so hungry to read more about a character’s past and future. If I could spend $100 on Batwoman right now I would.

The artwork in this issue is unmatched. I’ve never seen anything like it. J.H. Williams III bucks both Jim Lee influences and the photorealism trend to present a style seemingly adjacent to art nouveau advertisements more than anything from a comic book. Think Mucha. His seemingly transgressive page layouts are incredibly intuitive. My eye went to the right place every time on page after page of spreads packed with images. Characters seem completely realized, ready and willing to leap from the page.

Batwoman’s every appearance on the page is arresting. Her bright red hair spilling over her mask to suggest a deep widow’s peak stands out on the page just as much as the gash of red lipstick does on her pale face. Her gray blue skin makes her look more like the drowned undead than her creepy foe in this story. Even in her civilian identity she looks like some fashionable zombie, perhaps fished from the wreck of the Titanic.

A mystery, a budding romance, a grumbling young partner, a government agency investigation, a proposition from Batman, and art that would look perfect next to the Absinthe Robette hanging in my kitchen? Sign me up for issue #2!