Super Tuesday: Things That I’m Into

By Darryl Ayo

Gonna talk about superheroes.

When I talk about “comics” with my friends, I usually mean the alternative/indie comic  sort of thing that we all do. But in some ways, I find it more satisfying to look at mainstream superhero comics simply because it becomes less about “me” or “us” and more about looking at the thing purely from an audience perspective.

I like being an outsider.

Quicksilver thinks you all are Slowsilvers.

Art by Joe Quesada with Al Milgrom, written by Peter David (X-Factor #87; cover date: Feb 1993). Long before Quesada became person-in-charge at Marvel Comics, fired Al Milgrom for insubordination and now Peter David answers to him.

I got something better:

Unlike many comic experts, I still haven’t read enough Jack Kirby to write intelligently about his work. I have a squadron of those DC hardcovers, but I still don’t feel as though I’ve internalized what it is about him that makes him as great as he plainly is. In the coming weeks, months, I intend to crack the code or at least dig into why I personally dig Kirby so much.

Another comic person who I’ve been working hard to absorb is Moebius. Luckily INCAL seems to be coming back out this Wednesday, so go me.

This is my favorite Moebius illustration. I saw it at my friend L. Nichols’ house and for your information, it is the frontispiece of MOEBIUS 5: GARDENS OF AEDENA.

Inside:

Seeing work like this really puts the DC UNIVERSE OVERHAUL into perspective, doesn’t it?

Come on baby, light my fire.

In a never ending quest to be continually amused by comics, I’ve gone from one end of the internet to the other and back. I found some funny Deadpool pages on various fan-run Tumblrs, including this brilliant Wolverine-versus-Deadpool fight sequence from STRANGE TALES II.

Things are much better when they’re written and drawn by Rafael Grampa. He’s the comic equivalent to Rafael Grampa. I want Marvel Comics to publish one magazine per month and that magazine shall be written and drawn by Rafael Grampa and star any Marvel character that he feels like telling a story about. This magazine would mercilessly overwhelm any other comic that you were even thinking about purchasing, whenever it came out.

United Kingdom

The Nick Edwards cartoonist also known as “Mr Dynamite,” oh jeez this is a fellow who knows his way around a pen or something. His work has this really fun Dave Cooper (before oil painting phase) quality with the wavy and bumpy textures and the soft-cube shapings of things. Edwards is on the other end of the spectrum that Cooper is on, Edwards seeming to moving toward a more mass appeal, even kid-friendly style while Cooper just continues to work out his rage against women through his art.

ANYWAY. So there’s another English guy that I’d like to talk about and his name is Luke Pearson:

What kind of godless world do we live in that this comic is not in front of my eyes right this second? Didn’t we end the war with England? Let’s open up trade with our tea-sipping neighbors then! Come on, already!

This looks like a colorful adventure with magic and danger around every turn. I look forward to rubbing my eyeballs all over its smooth, crunchy panels and tasting its stereophonic savory flavors.

France!

France is just like the United States when it comes to comics. Well, close to it. There are a few subtle differences. The main (though very subtle and almost imperceptible) difference is that FRANCE DOESN’T COMPLETELY SUCK. Here is Brandon Graham’s drawings for the French flaps for the French edition of his American/Canadian comic book whose book-future is still in publishing limbo. In English. In France, those striped-shirt wearing jerks are laughing it up with Graham’s King City collection. Merde!

Gay marriage for New York State:

Way to go, New York State! Rest of United States of America: WATCH OUT, YOU ARE GONNA GET GAY MARRIED WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

Aw comics.

WELL, I failed to talk about superheroes in any meaningful way, but if I were clever I would somehow spin that into a sly commentary on superheroes themselves. Whatever. Come back tomorrow to see me punch something really hard.

-DarrylAyo2011.