RARA-AVIS: Re: Noir comics (was: The Dark Knight, etc)

From: Mark Finn (markfinn@texas.net)
Date: 27 Jul 2008

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    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "caroli1975" <karabair@...> wrote:

    > Oh, yes, O'Neil -- any discussion of noir comics has to include his
    > fabulous run on 'The Question' -- the Steve Ditko-created character
    > who was also the template for Rorschach in Alan Moore's 'Watchmen.'
    > (I believe the two series actually came out concurrently with each
    > other). O'Neil's Vic Sage is the only honest man in nightmarishly-
    > corrupt Hub City (it makes Gotham look like a walk in the park); he's
    > also a total apologetic son of a bitch, yet oddly charming -- and very
    > moral -- all of which makes a great read.

    Hi Carrie:

    I loved O'Neil's Question series. Probably the best thing he wrote, post-seventies Batman. Brilliant stuff, and wonderfully hard-boiled.
     
    > Have you read Rucka lately? I don't know about his early run on
    > Batman, but his first issue would have been 8 or 9 years ago, and he's
    > been working steadily since. He's done some Batman stories that are
    > considered among the best contemporary work, and also collaborated
    > with Brubaker on 'Gotham Central,' a series about Gotham cops, which
    > is more police procedural than noir -- and would really be a great
    > recommendation for anybody who enjoyed the law enforcement aspects
    of TDK.

    I've unfortunately been driven from Batman (and most of DC) by the editorial staff, the insistence on group-plotted projects, and a bewildering foot-dragging tendency to stay mired in 1994's marketing plan.

    When the Brubaker stuff hits collected form, I'll give it a look. I like his take on stuff. But I really, really don't like what Rucka has done with Batman. Just my personal tastes, I suppose.
     
    > And Ed Brubaker -- he manages to give just about everything he writes
    > a flavor of noir, including Captain America. I'm not at all surprised
    > about the Parker adaptation news, as the Richard Stark series and its
    > various adaptations seem to be close to holy writ for a lot of people
    > working in comics today. One of Brubaker's earliest superhero books
    > was called 'Point Blank' and homaged (stole?) the structure and
    > elements of the premise from that film adaptation of 'The Hunter.'

    That Cap story he did was bloody brilliant. Yeah, Brubaker has the chops. His stuff has guts, which is a nice change of pace from what we are usually served.

    Mark Finn



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