Plants and Comics

Uck. I definitely pushed myself a little too far this week, with not enough sleep the last couple of nights compounding bad sleep last weekend. As a result, well, I wasn't quite a zombie today, and I did get stuff done, but it was hard, and I was oh-so-glad to go home at the end of the day. And I'll be doing my best to sleep soundly this weekend, let me assure you.

Somehow today I ended up talking to a friend about my plants. I have two plants in my office at work, and of course I don't really know exactly what kind they are. One is a purplish thing which I got from Karen when I took care of it and its parent a few summers ago. It was growing in a plastic cup at the time, so I transplanted it and it's really taken off since then. The other, I think, is a philodendron. It's almost impossible to kill, and it grows quickly and to great length. I prune it back about once a year. Right now it's hanging from the ceiling with a few of its strands draped on nails in the wall, to spread it out some. I recently got some liquid plant food for the plants, and the 'dendron seems to love it.

Plants are cool. Wish I had a good place to hang some at home away from the cats. Newton, you see, is a digger...

• Astro City #15: The issue delayed over the summer (and fall, and into winter) by creator/writer Kurt Busiek's illness, this one continues the story of the ex-con Steeljack, who is honestly trying to reform but is dealing with being a metal-encased former supervillain trying to get a straight job. So he takes a contract to find someone who's been killing former villains, and interviews many of their families. As always, Astro City examines the nuts and bolts of what might make a world full of superheroes really work, and what the beings and the people around them think of it all.

• Avengers #12: A rather needless "anniversary issue" pitting the Avengers against a team of apparent ex-villains named the Thunderbolts (who have their own comic, which I don't read). Although the art by George Perez and Al Vey is always beautiful, Kurt Busiek's (him again?) stories on this title seem a little haphazard. I appreciate that he's trying to undo years of damage done to the team by ham-handed writers, but the plots in which all this is occurring are a little dull.

• Avengers Forever #3 (of 12): Yes, another Busiek title, this one involving the Avengers' time-travelling villains and a set of Avengers pulled from different time periods, and some peculiar plot involving perennial Avengers/Hulk sidekick Rick Jones. It's entertaining, but at the one-quarter mark through the series, it has yet to really pick up steam.

• JLA #26: Writer Grant Morrison continues to have fun with old Justice League adversaries, this conclusion to a 3-part story transplanting the brain of an insane army general into the body of the brawny, indestructible Shaggy Man. Unfortunately, it comes off as more silly than anything else. Morrison's writing tends to be far more flash than substance; with enough flash, it's impressive and fun. Without it, well, it's just kind of silly. Like eating too many Oreo cookies or something.

• The Kingdom #1 (of 2): Following up on the excellent Kingdom Come series is this peculiar story involving Gog, a time-traveller killing Superman on every day of his life, from 2040 back to (presumably) the present. Supposedly it will involve Big Changes in DC continuity, but since the last twenty or so changes have been change without a plan for following through cohesively on that change, it's hard to get excited. The story by Mark Waid is okay, but relies too much on trying to be clever and not enough on having a point. Of course, it is just part one. Ariel Olivetti's art goes for a sort of stylized photorealism, but lacks dramatic impact.

• Superman & Batman: Generations #2 (of 4): The second installment of John Byrne's imaginary story, which began in 1939 with the World's Finest Team early in their careers, and then jumping to a story in 1949 involving the Joker and Lex Luthor, and in which Superman has married Lois Lane and Robin is nearly an adult. The 1959 story is a throwaway involving Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite (appropriate, since most of the 50s comics were themselves pretty ludicrous and forgettable), and by 1969 Robin has become the new Batman in a story involving "Joker Junior" (who was mentioned in Byrne's earlier Batman/Captain America book).

  It's light, but it's fun, especially as Byrne plays with emulating the art styles of the two characters from each era. I also presume he's pulling our leg a little in that Superman and Batman - both of whom have black hair, as, I believe, do their wives (though we don't see Batman's spouse) - have children with light blonde hair.

  Anyway, I find Byrne's "special" projects far more entertaining these days than I do his ongoing series such as Wonder Woman and Jack Kirby's Fourth World.

Michael Rawdon (Contact)