“Suddenly, I miss ninjas.”

I’m helping kick off Christopher Higgs’ new comics criticism series at HTMLGIANT with a post about Marvel’s relaunced Daredevil title. Check it out at the link:

Shortly before the arrival of DC Comics’ New 52, DC’s competitor Marvel released the first issue of a new series starring its blind crimefighter Daredevil. In light of the timing, the new Daredevil serves as a parallel study in what makes a relaunch succeed or fail. And, if the first few issues are any indication, a master class.

‘Driven’ to THINK

It’s a very minute sort of cognitive dissonance that results when one of your favorite film writers picks apart a film you recently loved without reservation. But then again, minutiae is the stuff blog posts are made of, so instead of the paean to Drive I’d scribbled down some notes for (in short: Nicholas Winding Refn’s directing is a skillful Twin Peaks-style tightrope walk above the valley of camp, and his movie’s the best filmic argument this year that style can be substance, with instances of violence that carry real impact and weight, and great performances from Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks, plus a little bit of teeth face from the Cranman, too), here’s Richard Brody’s take, in the interest of food for thought/devil’s advocacy/etc.:

For a film centered on the madness arising from reason, [Drive is] singularly devoid of irony; for one built on absurd contrasts, it’s humorless; for one based on rapid calculations based on changing circumstances, it’s ludicrously impractical.

There’s a lot more at the link, including some pretty fair-handed complements directed at Refn and Brooks. Please note that Brody also praised Eddie Murphy’s performance in Norbit earlier this month, which either undermines his credibility here or means he’s the gutsiest person on the New Yorker masthead or both. He’s an enigma! Look at that beard! There are SECRETS in that thing.

Again with the EPA

But it’s because EPA #2 is available in PDF form here. Easier to read, with new contrast corrections and superior cropping!

Belated Announcement

Lock-In by Jonathan Mary-Todd is available for purchase. Recommended for fans of werewolves, high school social politics, and slight nods to J.G. Ballard. Grab a copy here or here.

EPA #2 – The Double-Sized Conclusion

Last time, crimefighter/degenerate Bonefucker engaged anachronistic j-offs Euphemystic and Hyperbolok in a battle that threatened to exceed both the typical length of a serial superhero comic and the boundaries of good taste. Before that, bar tabs were rung up, lumps were doled out, greenery was destroyed, and group tours were ruined. Cowritten with Nathan Sacks.

EPA #2 – Part Five

Last time, crimefighter/degenerate Bonefucker got into the spirit–and into the spirits–at a Colonial Williamsburg theme pub. Before that, lumps were doled out, greenery was destroyed, and group tours were ruined. Cowritten with Nathan Sacks.

“There are many other cop shows built around investigation, of course…”

. . . But where something like Bones or the Mentalist lets the knowing detective tie up the truth in a pretty bow at the end of (at least most) episodes, the Wire and Twin Peaks treat truth as an overwhelming excess, which expertise can provisionally master but not contain. The resulting tragedy is is in many ways the guarantor of the reality. The real does not have a happy ending.

The Hooded Utilitarian–home to the Victorian Wire piece from a few months back–has a new post up exploring some parallels between (of all shows) The Wire and Twin Peaks. Noah Berlatsky includes some provocative thoughts about the pervasive whiteness of Twin Peaks, as well as a strongly observed coda about the weirdo mundanity of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, but the genius of the piece is basically in putting the following clips back to back:

EPA #2 – Part Four

Last time, the Earth Protectors of America got their collective asses handed to them by anachronistic j-offs Euphemystic and Hyperbolok–with the exception of an absent Bonefucker. Before that, much greenery was destroyed and many tourists were roasted. Cowritten with Nathan Sacks.

DC Talk: Looking for Meaning in 52 First Issues

Late last month, DC Comics announced a line-wide relaunch: fifty-two comics, fifty-two new first issues (/renumbered old titles). This is, depending on your perspective, a bold move that will reinvigorate the line or “a pitiful attempt to con more people into buying the same old shit.” I asked friend and EPA co-writer Nathan for his take.

Grant Morrison and Rags Morales's ACTION COMICS

Greg: DC’s line-wide relaunch probably isn’t intended to bring in a lot of new readers. Not exactly, anyway. Sure, some people who haven’t read Justice League in a couple years will probably check out [fan favorite writer] Geoff Johns and [fan favorite artist] Jim Lee’s collab on the title. But mostly the relaunch seem designed to stoke a lot of short-term interest with superhero comics’ perpetually shrinking core buyer base. At best, the relaunch will bring back readers like you and me (hence this conversation, in which I will probably overstate my particular value to the serial genre comic marketplace)—people who are deeply familiar with DC characters, and who may have stopped buying monthly comics but are still eager to read (and totally fine with paying for!) well-crafted superhero stories. We are the people DC could get. But with the exception of Grant Morrison’s new take on Superman in Action Comics, I don’t expect to be gotten by any of it.

EPA #2 – Part Three

Last time, the Earth Protectors of America landed on the edge of Colonial Williamsburg, destroying much of the nearby greenery in the process. Before that, a group of tourists fell victim to an assault by anachronistic dickweeds the Euphemystic and Hyperbolok. Cowritten with Nathan Sacks.