Comicsgirl

Tick: The Complete Edlund Buy at tfaw.com

The Tick was my first indie comic.

Back in the early ’90s, I had a couple of letters published in a couple of issues of a title I will not name, and this being the era when they would actually include your home address (it was before the Internet reached saturation, OK?), some people wrote me back. One became a very good friend. And he, among other things, sent me The Tick Omnibus and a few issues (I think I had at least through issue #9, if not through issue #12).

All of this was before the cartoon, before the live-action TV show, before creator Ben Edlund was writing and producing alongside Joss Whedon (all of which I’ll get to in a bit).

Edlund’s broad parody of superheroes, following an insane asylum escapee in a blue suit calling himself the Tick, still works pretty well. The Clark Oppenheimer bits in the earlier issues are a little obvious (who hasn’t made fun of Superman’s secret identity? Before or since?) but The Tick’s utter cluelessness is still fun.

Some of the references are a little dated — Oedipus serving as a stand-in for Frank Miller-era Elektra, the obsession with ninjas — but it’s still self-consciously delightful (and probably no more dated than Watchmen is now and people still love that). This was what comics were like in the 1980s and early ’90s. There was a lot to laugh at.

I was honestly surprised to see how well-paced this was. It’s not a gag-a-minute but it actually does tell a story (what it is, of course) and The Tick is fun to watch. Oedipus, even as a broad parody, is a likable heroine, and the ninjas are so goofy that they’re not much of a threat. The final issue in this volume, “Villians, Inc.” where superheroes hire bad guys to fight to create a reputation for themselves, does point to the preposterous nature of most comics and lets Edlund play with some bigger ideas.

It may not necessarily be the most relevant comic now, but it still works. It’s still fun. I was greatly entertained.

So back to all the other things.

Yes, in 1994, The Tick became a Saturday morning cartoon on Fox. At the time, I thought this was really cool but I don’t think it quite registered how bizarre it was to have this happen. I’d known about The Tick for a couple of years, after all, and it felt pretty much like common knowledge to me, even if it wasn’t.

In some ways, I think the cartoon worked better than the comic series. It was pretty faithful to the spirit of the series but it removed some of the darkness and just allowed the goofiness to shine through. It still had characters like Chairface Chippendale (and the Man-Eating Cow. I never got my Man-Eating Cow action figure, though, and I am still sad about that) but took away characters like the Chainsaw Vigilante, who always felt a little out of place to me. It gave us such villains like The Evil Midnight Bomber and awesome Galactus parody Omnipotus. The Tick cartoon was good stuff.

Here’s the opening:

The Tick live-action series started in November 2001 and ran for 8 episodes. People didn’t watch it because I don’t think too many people were in the mood to laugh then. I was one of the 10 people who liked it. Patrick Warburton was born to be The Tick and I liked that the series focused more on the mundane issues of every day life than the whole fighting crime aspect (because, after all, part of the point of The Tick was that none of the characters was really that good at being a superhero). It’s available on DVD or you can watch the entire series on Hulu.

This is my favorite episode, mostly because of the always-awesome Ron Perlman, but because of the hilarious gracefulness they handle the innuendo of superheroes and their sidekicks:

Like I mentioned, Ben Edlund went on to produce a few episodes of Firefly (and wrote one of my favorite episodes of the series, “Jaynestown”). He also co-wrote and directed the “Smile Time” episode of “Angel,” where our title character turns into a puppet. Sadly, neither are online. But I love that Edlund was able to take his sense of humor and translate it into these shows. He’s also worked on some episodes of The Venture Bros., which is highly appropriate.

I suppose none of that has much to do with The Tick as a comic, though, but I’ve loved following Edlund as a creator over the years. I still enjoy The Tick in all of its incarnations, sure, but I think it’s cool the diversity of projects Edlund is doing now.

X-Men Trilogy 3-DVD Box Set Buy at Amazon

I’m feeling a little too tired to attempt a double feature tonight. And since X-Men Origins: Wolverine is out next Friday, I figured this was as good of a time as any to re-watch the first X-Men movie.

This came out nine years ago. I find that incredible. I think a lot of comic book fans never thought it would happen, too. I don’t think I did. And I don’t think anyone thought it was going to be this good. X-Men definitely opened the door to superhero movies of quality and Bryan Singer made other “serious” directors think there was something to this whole thing.

In a bit of dream casting, we got Patrick Stewart as Professor X. We have have a knight as Oscar winners (even if one of them is in a bad wig). Of course, on the flip side, we have a couple of actors who aren’t really of note and, well, a supermodel and professional wrestler. But still, as far as the cast goes, this was pretty amazing.

After starting in an expected place — a concentration camp in Poland in 1944, the rest of the plot is probably too set-up as the X-Men assembles, but a lot of things are done right here. Wolverine’s relationship with Rogue is evocative of his relationships with characters like Kitty Pryde and Jubilee in the comic. He’s a troubled, somewhat unstable character, but he could also serve as the right sort of father-figure for Rogue. Wolverine’s sparring with Cyclops over Jean Grey is also fun stuff.

The friendship/rivalry between Professor X and Magneto is also gracefully handled. Their desires for mutants aren’t too far apart, but there are crucial differences that separate them. I like that this kept Magneto from being one-dimensionally evil. He was a villain to sympathize with.

The Senator Kelly stuff doesn’t quite work. Or at least, it doesn’t work as well as it could. Storm is also pretty useless. The effects look a little dated at this point, although still not terrible.

Nearly 10 years later, X-Men remains one of the more effective comic book superhero movies made. It’s true to the spirit of the comics and it’s still satisfying (the other two are … less so. The second one is still good. The third … well …). Watching it, I do feel excited for Wolverine. I think that’s a pretty cool thing, personally.

(Yes, I know the Amazon link is to the box set of all three, but I figured it was cheap enough. You can still find the first one and it seems to be under $10 at this point.)

It’s back by popular demand. Or by the demand of one loyal friend who sent me DVD who made this possible.

Death Note DVD Buy at Amazon

Prior to watching this, I knew exactly one thing about Death Note: The kids like it.

The live-action version of the manga and anime series is sharp and saturated. The movie feels very stylized. As main character Light Yagami, actor Tatsuya Fujiwara looks a lot like a pop star — he’s too attractive for his own good. He doesn’t look like any college law student I know of.

Light finds a notebook in which he can write the names of anyone and lead to their deaths. The plot is overall a little misanthropic but at the same time, I can understand why the idea resonates with teenagers. It’s not nearly as disturbing as I thought it would be — the deaths are pretty bloodless, overall. Light is pretty unlikeable as the movie progresses, which is part of the point. Obviously, there’s some idea of what “justice” means — is it the law, or is it vigilantism?

I think the death god, Ryuk, could’ve been better. He’s rendered in CGI and looks like a World of Warcraft avatar that’s a cross between David Bowie and the Crow. I would’ve rather seen someone dressed up in a costume and makeup, personally.

Death Note was a little long as a movie. I think the bits with “L” (who looked, intentionally, a lot like Ryuk) were too drawn out and some plot points were obvious (of course Light’s dad was on the police force and involved with the investigation). Still, it was stylish and entertaining. I can see why teenagers like this story, and I certainly don’t mean that as a bad thing.

20th Century Boys Region 3 DVD Buy at YesAsia

Based on Naoki Urasawa’s manga series, 20th Century Boys centers on former rock musician Kenji and a story he and his friends came up with in his childhood. In 1997, where a bulk of the story takes place, a cult led by a mysterious man known only as Friend is tied to “prophecies” Kenji made up nearly 20 years ago. Charged with taking care of his sister’s little girl, Kenji becomes a reluctant hero as he unravels the mystery from his past and how it will affect his future — if he, or anyone else — has one. Kenji ends up gathering his childhood friends to fight Friend and his plans as the clock begins to tick toward the new century.

It’s something of a cop-out to say “Oh, I don’t want to give too much away” but part of the joy of this movie is how it unfolds and how the stakes are constantly being raised. It’s maybe a bit too long (it’s about two hours and 20 minutes) and could probably be tightened up, but it covers a lot of ground during that time, jumping from the past to the future to the present. It’s a great piece of science fiction, and while there are a lot of questions left unanswered at the end (as well as a “to be continued” and there are two more planned), there is something beautifully satisfying about this movie. I really hope this gets a release on DVD in the U.S. If you have a region-free DVD player, it’s worth seeking out.

Here is the T.Rex song, “20th Century Boy,” that the manga series sort of centers around.

Some of the creators of this sent it along to me and I’m glad they did. It was made by a group of students from the University of Bergen in Norway as a part of a scriptwriting class.

Director Stian Hafstad wrote that he wanted to make a script people would related to and that in terms of the desire for superpowers, it’s the “slightest possibility that it could happen to anyone makes it worth dreaming about.” He also said he wanted to explore male friendships and that maybe for some “finding an archenemy is easier.”

I really liked this — it’s a surprising meditation on what makes a hero and also what makes a friend. Watch it embedded below or click through to see it in HD.

This is an amazingly strong project for these students. I wish them the best of luck in what they do next.

Wonder Woman Buy at Amazon

Reviews of the animated Wonder Woman movie are all over. Wired.com liked it, saying it tackles the issue of sex (in all its forms) well. A.V. Club gives it a B and concludes “Too bad it isn’t a series pilot.”

Jezebel.com writer Dodai, however, wonders “Or do we ignore the film in protest of a strong woman being shoved in an animated, straight-to-DVD ghetto?”

I don’t agree with that. Certainly, it’s a straight-to-DVD movie, which sometimes means bad things, but in this case, I think it’s irrelevant. This wasn’t ever intended to be a theatrical release. As for the animation thing … well, why does that matter? I think animation is much more suited to telling comic book stories effectively than live action. I think we need to get away from the whole “animation” means “children” (look, it worked with comics! Sort of!). I’d much rather have an awesome animated Wonder Woman movie than a mediocre live-action one.

I was never really a Wonder Woman fan, but she’s a fun character with a colorful history. I’m looking forward to seeing this.