85°
Capes and Cowls
Stand-Up Comics
12:00 am Aug 30 - by Matt Knicl
About a week of school has passed and you are jonesin' for another comic fix. Lucky for you, last week Superman went to Hell! Likewise, for all you freshmen living with someone for the first time, I have the perfect comic about super-powered roommates. Plus, for you Ramen-fed broke students, a cheap book series that is a far better read than your physics lecture notes.
Superman #666
Superman's journey to Hell coincides with the issue number 666. As such, this issue is independent of larger story arcs, something that today is an anomaly, as the typical comic story takes six issues, and six months to tell. Written by Kurt Busiek (Avengers, JLA) and published by DC Comics, this excellent Superman tale stands alone. The basic plot is about how a demon from Krypton, Superman's destroyed homeworld, has found its way to Earth and brokers a deal with our Hell to corrupt the man of steel. Now I've always felt Superman's greatest weakness is not Kryptonite, rather, his own sense of morality - he will not take a life, no matter how depraved the villain. To steal Superman's soul and lure him to Hell, the Kryptonian demon manipulates Clark Kent into a dream where there are no consequences to gauge the true nature of Superman's soul. Superman kills all his enemies (spits through Lex Luthor's head) and vaporizes his friends (whistles until Jimmy Olsen's head explodes), and in doing so proves that Superman is as evil as the rest of us, even if he wouldn't act upon these thoughts. The final confrontation in Hell, amidst hordes of demons, decides Clark's fate. I have to admit, there was guilty pleasure in seeing Superman loose his humanity and destroy his adopted home world. Even though the story takes a "what if?" status (being a dream), I recommend picking it up. Alhough Superman going to Hell clearly is a gimmick, it was executed very well.
ArchEnemies Vol. 1
The most frustrating thing that I come across as a resident advisor is that 95 percent of roommate conflicts stem from the fact that roommates don't talk to one another. This trade paperback, by Drew Melbourne and published by Dark Horse Comics, shows what can happen when two roommates have conflict ... and they happen to be each other's mortal enemy. Ethan is the valiant Star Fighter and Vincent the evil Underlord, both sharing a cramped apartment and unaware of each other's identity. What starts as a simple super-powered Odd Couple becomes a touching story about relationships. It was frustrating to finish the book, marketed as volume one, after getting to know the characters and wanting to read more only to realize there is no volume two.
Crashing Paradise
No, it is not a comic. This book, the fourth of Christopher Golden (Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Thomas E. Sniegoski's The Menagerie series, was originally pitched as a "team book" - a comic that focuses on several characters like the X-Men. Not only do comic book writers write these books, they also borrow from comic book elements. This eclectic group is comprised of 100-year-old wizard Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, the Sherlock Holmes guy), a faerie princess, the first woman and current vampire Eve, a demon, the ghost of a 1920s pulp adventurer, a goblin and shape-changing clay created by God. The first three novels set up the threat of an evil force that will destroy the world. I really recommend these books for anyone that wants a quick, entertaining read. The biggest selling point for this series is they are cheap: only $7.99 a book. It remains to be seen if there will be a fifth book, but my fingers are crossed.
Matt can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com
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