Good Riddance to 2021

Let's do a year-end roundup! Every year, I feel like I remember less and less of what media I consumed, and the fact that I haven't set foot in a movie theater since January of 2020 doesn't help. So consider this list less a "best of" and more a "most memorable of the stuff I got around to." 

Best Comics

• The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, Paul Mounts, Cory Petit, and others: with the caveat about the artist being a gross bigot, this series really went out with a bang this year. 
• Power Pack: Outlawed by Ryan North, Nico Leon, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham: a really fun and smart comic about my favorite young super-team, which deals with the "why don't superheroes use their powers to solve real-world problems?" question in a more innovative way than Bruce Wayne cutting checks or Superman going to a climate protest.
• Kent State by Derf Backderf, technically released in 2020 but I read it this summer. An absolutely infuriating exploration of a tragic injustice, the causes of which have not been addressed in any way whatsoever. 
• The Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire, & Andworld Design: Between this, Batman, DC vs. Vampires, and Something is Killing the Children, Tynion has kind of had the best year ever. 
• The Avengers by Jason Aaron, Javier Garrón, Ed McGuinness, Aaron Kuder, Carlos Pacheco, Alex Sinclair, David Curiel, Matt Hollingsworth, Rachelle Rosenberg, Cory Petit, and others: I know this series is somewhat controversial, but month in and month out it's the kind of wild, over-the-top action I want from a team like the Avengers. 
• The 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton by Kyle Starks & Chris Schweizer: Shocking, I know, but Starks and Schweizer, individually and as a team, have yet to miss in my experience. This series was fantastic. Read it if you haven't. 
• Superman and the Authority by Grant Morrison, Mikel Janin, Jordie Bellaire, Tom Napolitano, and others: Morrison somehow manages to cram more good ideas into four issues than most writers manage in three times that. One of the few comics this year that consistently left me wanting more. 
• Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak, Roman Titov, & Cardinal Rae: Gailey is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors, and this series helps to illustrate why. When most novelists turn to comics, they have a tendency to struggle with the medium a little, over-narrating or failing to remember it's a visual medium. Gailey and Bak, however, do some seriously innovative things, in service of a story that's interesting, relevant, and breezing right along. 
• Captain America Infinity Comic by Jay Edidin and Nico Leon: Jay shows that he isn't just an X-pert on the X-Men with this X-cellent turn on a timely Captain America story. 
• Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama: Continues to be the most gorgeous book I read on a regular basis, with a more interesting and original take on the "kids at magic school" concept than certain other popular series I could name. Over the last few volumes, the centering of disability in the narrative has become significant and fascinating. 
• It's Jeff Infinity Comic by Kelly Thompson & Gurihiru: Best comic of the year, finpaws down.

Best Books

• Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire: This might be the only book I read this year that was actually published in 2021, but when a new Wayward Children book drops, it moves to the top of the TBR pile. This one was fantastic because they're all fantastic. 
  
• Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu: A fairy tale for the #MeToo era that frequently drops lines which feel like they should be on the poster for the movie. The one real drawback to this one is that we don't spend enough time on the protagonist's sisters. 
• The Escape Room by Megan Goldin: A bunch of rich jerkwads get put in a deathtrap for revenge (and class war) reasons. It's not exactly what I wanted it to be (moar deathtraps pls) but it's solid.
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Hot take: this book is great. Just a bunch of people who are so rich and sheltered that they have no idea how not to be awkward and overdramatic, and it was shockingly relatable. 

Best Movies

One of my goals for 2022 is to actually keep track of the things I watch (on Letterboxd) the way I do for books & comics. Since I don't actually remember everything I watched this year, I'm restricting this list to the stuff that actually did come out in 2021. So, uh, it's going to be short, because unless it came out on streaming or home video, I didn't see it. 

• Mortal Kombat: A lot of people complained that this movie didn't have a fighting tournament, and I guess that's legitimate, but it found multiple opportunities to force two people to fight like they were limited to two dimensions of motion, and that's kind of amazing? This was exactly the level of stupid fun and special effects that I wanted from a Mortal Kombat movie. All it was missing for me was the "toasty" guy.
• Gunpowder Milkshake: The second film I've watched that could be dismissively called "John Wick but with a woman," and the better of the two (sorry, Peppermint). It's a good, fun action movie that never takes itself too seriously. 
• The Suicide Squad: Speaking of not taking itself too seriously. I'll never quite manage to accept characters from Detective Comics Comics dropping f-bombs, and there was an unnecessary amount of gore in this one for me, but I enjoyed it otherwise. If nothing else, it captured a lot of what I feel like the Suicide Squad should be: bad people doing bad things for bad reasons, but it all kind of comes out okay and the real villain is imperialism?
• Black Widow: Better than I expected! Kind of a shame we won't be seeing any more of Natasha.
• Dune: I also read Dune this year and enjoyed both the book and the movie reasonably well. But I found them both, if you'll excuse the accidental pun, kind of dry. Gorgeous, though. 

Best Songs

If I'm bad at keeping track of the new movies I've watched, I'm terrible about music. I don't know what came out this year, pretty much all I know is what I bought ("Book" by They Might Be Giants, have not listened to it yet) and what came up on Spotify. As far as I can tell, there's no way to sort my Liked Songs by release date. 

• "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" by Brian David Gilbert: It's probably a shame that, in a year where ABBA dropped their first new album in decades, I spent a lot more time listening to Brian David Gilbert covering ABBA songs from the perspective of horror movie characters. This may be the only adaptation of Frankenstein I've ever encountered that acknowledges the creepy sister-wife dynamic. 
• "Big Big Friend" by Cheekface: I discovered Cheekface this year, and while "Big Big Friend" isn't quite as fun a jam as "I Only Say I'm Sorry When I'm Wrong Now," it's still pretty great. I don't know how to describe Cheekface; the best I've got is "halfway between Cake and The Presidents of the United States of America" but that just feels really incomplete. 
• "Build a B*tch" by Bella Poarch: Somehow this didn't make it into my Spotify wrapped playlist, despite the fact that I listened to it like three dozen times this year. I just love the nonchalant attitude Poarch has here, and I'm very interested to hear her next single. 
• "Haunted Mansion" by Demi Adejuyigbe as Ray Parker, Jr.: Not just the best song I heard this year, but a song that practically became a belief system for me. I have never been so happy to have a song stuck in my head for weeks on end.
• Other things I listened to and liked but didn't listen to enough to have a take on: the new Halsey album, the new ABBA album, some of Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, & Ariana Grande's new stuff, Orville Peck's "Fancy," Lizzo & Cardi B's "Rumors," and apparently a ton of stuff that came out in 2016-2018 but is totally new to me. 

And that's the end of 2021, and the start of 2022. Coming Soon: My thoughts on "Masters of the Universe: Revelation."

More Miscellany

I just read the new original story in "DC Retroactive: JLA - The '70s," and it stands out as one of the best straight-up old-school comic stories I've read in awhile. I know the pendulum has swung and the media has progressed, but I really would like to see more of this kind of thing. Which is part of why I'm glad I asked my shop to pull all the Retro-Active specials, painful though it may be to my wallet. It also makes me really excited to sit down and read the Superman one later tonight, in all likelihood.

---

Apparently today was Mark Waid day, because another trip to the sadly terminal Borders saw me walking out with the latest two volumes of "Irredeemable" and "Captain America: Man Out Of Time." After seeing the film of the latter, I've been in the mood for some more good Cap stories (and if I'd been paid anytime recently, I would have picked up Brubaker's "Red Menace" trade too), and I've never heard a bad word associated with Mark Waid's Captain America. I've got an "Operation: Rebirth" trade around here someplace that I've never managed to read, so there's a good chance I'll be hitting that soon as well.

---

My other attempts to locate good Captain America stories have been somewhat mixed. I picked up the first (or 620th) issue of "Captain America & Bucky," and enjoyed it well enough. It's WWII-era, which I like to see, but I would have liked a little more Captain America and Bucky in it. I'll stick around for the first arc or so, but I'm not sure after that. I've liked every bit of Brubaker's Cap comics that I've read, but I've never gone the extra step of continuing with the series. It's partially the way Marvel organizes their trades without a clear progression from one to the next; I understand the reasons for doing that, and I saw in "Red Menace" today that there was a handy guide on the inside cover, but it does make things slightly less impulse-buy-friendly for the story continuity-minded among us. It's also part of why I've bought so little in the way of Brand New Day-era Spider-Man trades; a lack of numbers and a plethora of trades makes it unclear where I should go next without additional research that I'd rather not do.

Which, I suppose, makes me lazy. Or cheap. Or searching for an excuse. I can handle all that, I guess.

---

I tried to find "The Adventures of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty" at my local shop, since I'd heard good things about it and since I'm always up for Kevin Maguire art, but there seems to be no trade, and my LCS only had the first issue. It works out okay for me; I didn't really have the money for it anyway, but it's definitely something I'll be looking into down the line.

---

Back to Mark Waid, it occurs to me that, when people talk about deconstructionist writers in the superhero genre, Mark Waid doesn't get mentioned often enough. Aside from turning out solid, straightforward superhero comics in a variety of places and styles, he's done quite a bit of work in the deconstruction mode. "Kingdom Come" is an allegory about approaches to superhero storytelling, "Empire" is about what happens when the villain wins, and "Irredeemable" and "Incorruptible" are all about taking common tropes--the ultimate hero, the dastardly villain, the fall from grace, the heel face turn--and applying them in fairly original, extreme ways. It's not his only approach, like it might be for someone like Alan Moore, and I think that's why he might not be as closely identified with the process, but I think he deserves the same kind of consideration.

---

So, I have this now:

So, yeah. Don't be surprised if I end up talking about it soon.

Walking with Superman: Day 311

This is not Wil MacIntyre's world. He belongs to a world that no one seems to remember--a world of fantasy, where heroes used their amazing abilities to make incredible music; a world spellbound by the magic power of a musical despot. With his mastery over electromagnetism, he led Triumph to become the world's most powerful power trio. He formed the Thunder Seven--Hawkman-Palmer Overdrive, Bryan Atoms, Flash, Theory of the Deadman, Alanis Moriscott, and the Barenaked Lady Blackhawks--who led the fight against Fiddler's forces in Canada. With the great white north safe from tyranny, Triumph toured America and fought the good fight with the allied forces of the resistance, until the world suddenly changed. Now, Wil MacIntyre sits alone in a bar in Elgin, IL, unable to say goodbye to the world he knew, incapable of movin' on in this strange new world where the musicians he knew have become vigilantes and criminals. When Superman passes through the suburban town, McIntyre recognizes him as the young virtuoso who led a supergroup into the heart of the Fiddler's power base. MacIntyre doesn't want much from the Man of Steel, the truth will do just fine, and he's ready to lay everything on the line in order to restore the world he knew!

Walking with Superman: Day 205

It was a beautiful morning in Claremore, Oklahoma, before there was a change in the weather. Appearing from out of nowhere, a torrential rainstorm drenched the small city, and the winds came right behind! Hurricane-force winds swept down the plains, putting town in a terrible fix--and it's all because of the mysterious machinations of the wicked Weather Wizard! Visiting reporter Clark Kent isn't about to just stand in the rain and watch the renegade Rogue make lazy circles in the sky, not with the disheartened townsfolk losing hope for any rescue. But what could have brought the villain so far from Keystone City? Why attack without making any demands? The Man of Steel will learn that this meteorological menace has targeted Claremore as part of a caper as big as all outdoors! When he pulls off this gig, the red sun will set, the stars will fall from above, and people will weep and wail for miles around. Soon, all the world will flee, and the land will belong to the Weather Wizard!

Walking with Superman: Day 203

Dinah Lance and Rose Forrest are in Seattle, WA to oversee the grand re-opening of the original Sherwood Florist, but even before the doors open, there's a sense of sturm and drang in the air. And when one of the strange and interesting plants shipped over from the Gotham City branch turns out to be a Pamela Isley original, the little shop's loyal clientele suddenly see more than they bargained for! The rampaging rhododendron rises out from among the zinnias, hungry for blood, and the Emerald City's got more than enough. So while Dinah readies her Canary Cry and Rhosyn pulls on something that's green, the visiting Man of Steel drops by to help with the weeding. But to this ferocious flytrap, Superman looks like plant food--and it's suppertime!

Walking with Superman: Day 202

The history of American Fork, Utah, is intimately connected with the religious traditions of its residents, but in recent weeks something new seems to have taken hold of the citizens' souls. The old churches have nearly emptied of adults, as priests and elders leave their posts for a popular new chapel on the outskirts of town. And they've brought that fervor back to their homes, destroying televisions, video equipment, even religious music, and enforcing strict new rules on their children. While the kids of American Fork are learning to be silent, their parents spend every night paying tribute in the chapel, raising their voices in harmony. Every night, more and more adolescents find themselves tossing and turning, dreaming of something sinister approaching, but just beyond their reach. Every day, it feels more and more like something's eyes are watching, always watching. Superman arrives to find a youth culture holding out for a hero--and an adult population enthralled, using strange harmonics to make this world almost a paradise for some extradimensional influence! Can the Man of Steel turn things around and cut the citizens loose, or will even Superman be swept off his feet by this otherworldly menace?

Walking with Superman: Day 201

There's nothing halfway about the way Superman gets treated when he arrives in Mason City, Iowa! The town's throwing a parade to honor the Man of Steel, and the Mason City High School Marching Band gets the chance to try out their newly-donated instruments. But when the music begins shattering windows and sidewalks, when the instruments continue playing even after the students have stopped, and when Superman is wracked with agony from the assault on his super-hearing, it becomes clear that there's terrible trouble in Mason City, trouble with a capital P--and that stands for "Prankster"! As Superman struggles to free himself and this music-proud city from Loomis' musical mayhem, he wonders--maybe he oughtn't have given Iowa a try!

Walking with Superman: Day 112

When Superman visited the 14th Century on a mission for Thor, he and his viking allies imprisoned the wounded Frost Giant deep beneath Lake Superior. But when conditions are right at the lake, the Giant stirs, trying to escape its ancient bonds. It came closest on November 10, 1975, when hurricane-force winds swept across the lake during a terrible winter storm. In its thrashing, the giant managed to sink a freighter, and the legend of that wreck lives on. The lake, it is said, never gives up its dead, but today it will give up its imprisoned! Chill winds blow over Lake Superior, and the jötunn imprisoned therein has finally loosed his bonds. The giant wants revenge, and if he cannot take it from the Aesir and their brood, then he will take it from Superman!

Walking with Superman: Day 80

It's the double-sized conclusion to the Supergroup Saga! Clark Kent and his newly-named band, Freedom, have arrived in Boston, ready to take on The Man with the power of rock and roll. In order to get at the man behind the music, however, they're going to have to outperform every sold-out musician and band on his label, from Carlos Sivana to Slade to Kobra Starship to Elinel and S6! Even if they manage to survive that musical assault, do they have what it takes to stand up to the sultan of swing, the king of rock, the emperor of emcees, the ambassador of soul, the maestro of music himself, the felonious Fiddler? Clark's band finally has a name, but even with Bat Halen and Arrowsmith playing backup, do they have what it takes to go up against the nigh-omnipotent Fiddler and his symphonic prog-rock band Yz? Tonight, the fate of the world comes down to a single concert!


Special thanks to Eric Garneau for his help with this storyline.

Walking with Superman: Day 79

The penultimate part of the Supergroup Saga finds our erstwhile band at an indie music festival in Austin, Texas, where their search for a final member has brought them to a show spotlighting Canadian musicians. Clark's sure they've found their missing piece in the singer and keyboardist of Calgary's Siobhan and Kara, but Siobhan isn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of losing half her band--and she won't be letting go without a fight! As if that weren't enough drama, Clark's been challenged to a bass battle by Rick Dragon of Toronto's Human Sex Bomb! Clark had better get it together, because tonight he's in for the fight of his precious little life!

Walking with Superman: Day 78

The band splits up in part four of the Supergroup Saga! Don't worry, it's just for division of labor: while Conner and John attend a concert by the Birds in hopes of recruiting Karen Slick, one-time lead singer of Starrship, Clark seeks training from one of the greatest rock bands in history: Bat Halen. But while Diamond Dick Grayson shows Clark the ins and outs of being a frontman, Conner and John find themselves facing Operation Isley and Scaring Crows! Why do major-label bands want to stop this supergroup's formation? What light can Bruce Bat Halen cast on Clark's prophetic dreams? And will the new quartet make it out of Pasadena alive?

Walking with Superman: Day 77

The Supergroup Saga continues with the thrilling third part: Clark and John make it to Seattle, Washington, where they hope to find the next member of their band. Their talent search leads them to a chance encounter with rock group Arrowsmith, exiled from Boston for rebelling against the cartels who control the music scene--and, some say, the entire world. Our jukebox heroes becomes a power trio when they meet Conner Squires, washed-up member of the '90s one-hit-wonder band Kirby Danger, who apparently has neither aged nor changed his wardrobe since 1993! An open-mic night even gives the band their first chance to perform together--or it will, if superstar drummer Chang Tzu and his Fu Fighters don't run them out of town first!

Walking with Superman: Day 76

In the stunning second part of the Supergroup Saga, Clark Kent reaches his first destination: Detroit, Michigan. Strange dreams and stranger forces have driven him here to find a singer for his band, a velvet-voiced Motown soul legend, but Clark doesn't know his name. He searches nightclub after nightclub, but his efforts are fruitless. An accidental slight even leads to his lyrical humiliation by rapper Elinel. But when all hope seems lost, Clark finds an album by a forgotten local star named John Henry Sledge, and finally fits a name to the face. Unfortunately, Clark's search has not gone unnoticed, and his musical revolution may be over before it's even begun. There's only one way to rock in Detroit, and anyone who wants to form a band on this scene must first earn the permission of KISS--Knights In Shazam's Service!

Walking with Superman: Day 75

Rocketed from the dying planet Krypton, an infant child was rescued by a couple of aging progressive rock musicians from Kansas. As he grew, young Clark Kent discovered that he had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal musicians. Faster than a Satriani solo! More powerful than a Manowar concert! Able to two-hand tap with only one hand! Look! There in the garage, it's--just some silly head-in-the-clouds dreamer. Despite being a virtuoso at any instrument he puts his hands on, Clark can't seem to catch his big break, but he also can't shake the feeling that he should be doing more with his life than rocking out in his garage. He hears voices when he's dreaming, a familiar woman's voice calling his name. In those dreams, he can rise above the noise and confusion, he has caught fleeting glimpses beyond the illusion of his life, glimpses of people he has never met and the people they ought to be. Though he may be a madman, he knows that something is wrong with the world, and forces beyond himself are driving his destiny. He sets out on the road with a guitar strapped to his back and a new mission: to form the greatest supergroup the world has ever known, and to make things right with the power of rock.

Walking with Superman: Day 8

Detroit has fallen on hard times in recent years, and Superman hopes he can lend a hand. Unfortunately, he's not the only Metropolis native in the Motor City. Metallo rises from the ashes with an army of robots made from the finest Detroit steel, and he's determined to make sure that Superman takes the midnight train to nowhere.

Walking with Superman: Day 1

Since Superman's going to be walking for roughly the next year, I thought I'd walk right alongside him.

Metaphorically, of course. Who wants to spend time with that pretentious jerk?

So, every day for the next 365 days¹, I'm going to play navigator to the Man of Steel. I'll pitch ideas of places to go and things to do that would be better than his current "walk along the road and condescend to people" itinerary.

So, here's my first pitch: Superman visits Graceland and tries on the great shades of Elvis. While he's there, the most fearsome super-terrorists in Tennnessee, the Kings of Rock, mount an attack! Can Superman keep Jailhouse, Burnin' Love, Crazy Arms, Little Sister, and the King from destroying a big hunk o' Memphis?

---

1. Really? We'll see about that.

A belated gift

I finally have a scanner of my very own, which means I can finally send Chris Sims the Daft Punksmas present I made for him! Happy holidays, everyone!

Bat-Month: Dazzling Dare-Doll!

When I was younger, the FX channel had a great programming block on weekdays: two episodes of the 1960s Batman, an episode of Wonder Woman, and an episode of Green Hornet (though perhaps not in that order). I'd watched the Batman series for years before that, staying up late on the floor of my parents' bedroom to watch both parts of each story, but it was during these viewings that I really developed my tastes regarding the show. Foremost among those tastes: Batgirl. It got to be that I would be disappointed if I didn't see her swinging across the title sequences.

In honor of Bat-Month, I've been delving back into the '60s Batman series. Among the things I've found is the short Batgirl promo that was developed to convince studio execs to go forward with the show's third season. It's pretty fun, with a nice appearance by Killer Moth. Enjoy!



About the only complaint I have is that it doesn't use the awesome Batgirl theme song from the regular series. So, here's that, too:

Yarrr!

Arr, mateys, it be talk like a pirate day! To honor this fine day, I present ye with one o' me favorite shanties about death and revenge on the salty sea, arrrr:


Arr, and here it be in Lego!

SilverHawks Sunday III: Sing-Along

Content-lite this week, because I think the theme song sings for itself.



I always thought SilverHawks had one of the best theme songs of '80s cartoons, right up there with M.A.S.K., Inspector Gadget, and Transformers post-season 2. I mean, how many minute-long usually exposition-driven cartoon themes had guitar solos?