Quick Rating: Legalese, Mumbo Jumbo
Title: 13 Court Street

Writer/Artist: Batton Lash

I like Supernatural Law. I loved the concept when I first heard of it (in the distant recesses of a long-gone century). Who can resist the image of a werewolf in night court? Isn’t it where all the worst critters belong? It just reeks of high-concept Mel Brooks. (Now there’s a description to contemplate. Noel Coward doing monster jokes? Oh, yeahhh… he did Blithe Spirit… . Am I saying that Batton Lash is the Noel Coward of comics?)

This issue portrays a night in the offices of attorneys Wolff and Byrd. Naturally, since they represent the creatures of the night, they’re open at odd hours, particularly when it’s a full moon, as in this case. The added conceit is that the tale is told from the building’s point of view.

Let’s have an interlude…
Is Supernatural Law the great American comic book? How do you define such a monstrosity? Is it discarded ideas re-energized and fed back into the cultural mainstream? Is it a successful deconstruction of the cultural history? Is it Pop Art? Is is Post-Modern? Does it have a beat and can you dance to it? Perhaps the great American comic book simply holds a mirror up to the country and reflects what is there. By that standard, the current superhero comics fail to offer meaningful observations. Like most popular culture, they are reflecting the country as it was or only considering themselves and their history. Supernatural Law shows us lawyers, an all too omnipresent portion of our population. It tells stories about the way we live. It is not as personal as American Splendor or other graphic blogs. Supernatural Law is about us in a way that no other comic book suggests.

But enough about Finland, let’s return to our regularly scheduled review…
I really like the artwork in Supernatural Law—it feels Eisner-esque in the best possible way. I want Lash to draw a detective comic- I want him to draw a superhero comic- I want him to draw- actually he draws all of them and calls it Supernatural Law. What a great concept!

June, 2004

Quick Rating: Afternoon doubleheader
Title: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spyguy

Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Pop Mahn
Inks: Norman Lee
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Michael David Thomas
Editor: Dave Land

Spyboy faces off with Spyguy and then must deal with the trauma of high school. Bombshell and Spygirl engage in their usual rollicking exchanges and dating is discussed. Pop Mahn does some of his best work here. And that’s saying quite a lot.

The local news here had a spot about changing the minimum age for some indulgence or another from 18 to 19. While listening to the story on the radio, I was reminded of when I was in college and co-produced a news special about raising the drinking age. It mattered to me then. Now, far removed from the matter, I simply don’t care.

So, here I am faced with a comic book that focuses a great deal on high school life. I remember high school, instances mostly of adventure, worry, and change. But I seem to be weel past caring about it. At least, I think so.

Even so, I care about Spyboy. It’s fun. It’s a good read. It’s nothing like I remember high school and I can’t ever recall hearing about spies as teachers in the real world. Nowadays, the whole youthful spy thing has been done to death (Spykids, Agent Cody Banks, many cartoons, etc.). I don’t know if Spyboy came before all of them. Somehow it’s different. And I think that spies work great in comic books. I don’t know why, but you can really tell a great Matt Helm-esque story and get away with it. For homework, compare and contrast the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic with its subsequent movie.

June, 2004

Quick Rating: Big and Blue
Title: Please Leave Us Here, Close Our Eyes

Looking Forward to Top 10

Writer: Alan Moore
Pencils: Zander Cannon
Inks: Andrew Currie, Richard Friend
Letters: Todd Klein
Color: Wildstorm FX
Editor: Scott Dunbier

What’s blue and white and has a bad attitude?
The L.A. Dodgers.

America’s Best Comics is batting above .400, which is respectable in baseball and comics, but we always want the current at bat to end with a hit. Mighty Casey delivers in Smax. This issue concludes the Smax saga on an upbeat note. Smax, Toybox, and their party finally face Morningbright, the dragon, who has been terrorizing the countryside on Smax’s homeworld. The miniseries has been a delightful diversion, finding humor in the same manner as Top 10 and other ABC series: looking at our world through theskewed perspective of another, be it superhero-populated or filled with sword and sorcery tropes.

What’s made up of many small parts that combine to form a ferocious being?
The Mary Kay Cosmetics sales force.

Ask not for whom the driver of the pink Cadillac calls, she calls for thee. Smax seemed like one of the least promising characters to debut in Top 10, but he has provided a wonderful slate for Alan Moore and Zander Cannon to draw upon. More than anything, he is an able straight man. Morningbright has proven to be an odd creation, combining nano-technology and a variety of dragon mythology. And none of them have felt like visits from the Discworld, which is an accomplishment in and of itself in this day and age.

Is this an audience or a pinup?

So, if you like a good read, then you should run and out and acquire the Smax mini-series. It asks no prior knowledge and offers a chuckle and a wheeze. The violence might be a little graphic for the wee ones, but they should be working on Teen Titans Go for a good laugh.

April, 2004