... And We're Back

Holy moley, but moving sucks. I love how when you're moving your crap from one place to another, it doesn't matter how much crap it is, the move just never seems to stop. It metastisizes. And the odd thing is that the moves seem to be more difficult in inverse proportion to how near we are to the new house.

I moved halfway across the country and it really wasn't very hard. Twenty miles was an ordeal. Five blocks is going to kill me. I've actually gotten used to sleeping on a futon on the floor, which is scary.

So yeah. This blog was supposed to be out of commission for a couple days, tops. Then the cable company decided it wanted to toy with me for two weeks while I had to use the public library to check my e-mail. Blogging kind of took the back seat.

But it's good to see the industry didn't explode while I was gone. Looks like there was another controversy over criticism, another couple tempsests in teapots over this that and the other thing... and OH MY FUCKING GOD they're bringing back the New Universe. Is it Christmas? Well, shit, it is. I guess this is my Christmas present, then.

Seriously, there are, what, probably fifteen people who could really want to see these characters again? I'm one of them, but then again, I'm very deeply sick. But - man. Seeing the Star Brand again... that's just cool. Now, of course, this is in prelude to Warren Ellis revamping the whole thing, and while that has some appeal I am absolutely certain it will bear little, if any resemblence to the real deal. I'd be surprised if they even recycled any character names, since Ellis doesn't seem to be into that kind of stuff.

But, damn. As jaded as I am, this is kinda cool. At least, it's a chance for the New Universe to get some props... sure, it was malformed, underfunded, quite patchy and just downright bad in many places. But those parts that didn't suck were also ahead of their time. I think if they reprint books like Star Brand or Justice people are going to be amazed at just how far ahead of the curve they were. Just about every book Marvel publishes these days, and quite a few at other publishers, owes something to the New U in terms of characterization and pacing.
Plus, I maintain that the veiled gonzo psuedo-autobiography in Shooter's Star Brand is probably the most visceral disintegration of the fourth wall between mainstream characetr and creator since Steve Gerber and Howard the Duck. The fact that the - at the time - most powerful man in comics saw fit to record his own breakdown on paper like that... wow. Just - wow.

So, yeah. I dig the New U. Call me crazy, but there's more fun to be found in some of those wacky, unrefined, misbegotten and discredited New U books than a boatload of monkeys. Not that a boatload of monkeys isn't fun - but you know what I'm saying. I hope.