Nothing, nothing to see or chuckle at today, folks. Just a couple of bandy legged, middle-aged white men trying to stay the hell out the way of a couple of younger, healthier Caucasians, in a setting that’s meant be a park in autumn but whose hazy amber hues suggest the midst of a forest fire.
What's a Meta For?
“Our first real place”? If you go by this strip from 2008, Darin and Jessica got married about ten years ago. Darin had rarely been seen (and Jess not at all) until they appeared on Les’ doorstep in April of 2011. So if this old apartment over a pizza parlor is their first real place, where and how had they lived before Moore Manor? Staying with friend after friend until they wore out their welcome?
For Cryin' Out Cloud
sourbelly
September 13, 2012 at 1:14 am
So…Black Cloud vs. Good Cloud. Superman helps Good Cloud (he’s the good guy, I’m guessing, based on his name) defeat Black Cloud (bad guy) with The Silver Lining (what?). That sounds really stupid, folks!
Oh, wait, it gets even better! The Silver Lining appears from out of nowhere! In a flash of light! Now that’s what I call “writing!” Incredibly lame, puerile, crappy writing. Even the Lord of the Late is appalled.
I Really Don't Know Clouds at All
Who’s got it better than Mopey Pete? He got to sit staring at his laptop while his friends schlepped all his worldly goods down those rickety stairs. Then Darin’s offhanded comment magically unblock’s Pete’s creativity.
The "Grounded" One
Wondering exactly what today’s strip is all about? Me too. So I Googled “Superman walk across America” and read about “Superman: Grounded“, a story arc in the Superman comic series. ComicsAlliance.com put “Superman: Grounded” at the top of its list of the 5 Worst Comics of 2010:
It’s the Superman story that J. Michael Straczynski abandoned to write a different Superman story, one that’s more lucrative and targeted to a wider audience. Straczynski ended up managing four – #701, #702, #703, and #705 – and then called it a day.
One wonders why Tom Batiuk would relate to such a despised series in the Superman canon…
I have no idea what Straczynski ultimately intended to say with “Grounded,” and since he isn’t finishing the story, I’ll never know. But Superman #701 reads like a mini-thesis of its own, and it has a very clear message: Anyone who criticizes this comic is stupid and shallow and should shut the hell up…
The comic is crazy defensive from the get-go, obsessed with boxing out its inevitable critics by devoting four full pages and parts of three others to condescending to belittling or humiliating reader stand-ins who dare to question the wisdom of the story Straczynski has chosen to write. Reporters ask Superman questions and get disdainful, witheringly minimal non-answers in return.
OK, now I think I see.
John
September 10, 2012 at 1:18 am
For a guy with buddies in the industry, Tom continues to show a marked ignorance for something he purports to love so very much.
That ignorance would extend to the comics industry’s retail arm as well. Last month we saw John taking a pass on Pete’s sizeable and no doubt profitable comics collection. Today we have a comic book seller talking a kid out of buying a comic book.
Son of Stuck Funky 