Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Wednesday Comics

I just finished issues #4 and #5. The stories are getting better as the series continues. The introductions are out the way and each strip is into the action now. Wonder Woman is starting to make a bit more sense and Deadman has improved.

Kamandi is becoming the standout for me. I would love to see the kid get his own monthly book by the Gibbons and Sook team when this sereis is over.

Re: Wednesday Comics (or Thursday Comics, in many places outside the U.S.)...

I really like the art in nearly all the stories. Unfortunately, five issues in, I'm starting to feel that some of the stories are suffering from being a bit too dragged out. I think of it as the Spider-Man comic strip syndrome -- where days and weeks will go by without anything of real substance happening in the story. It's like someone realized that they had twelve installments to tell a story that could profitably be related in only nine installments, so they had to water down the soup in the middle to get all the way through.

Wonder Woman is finally starting to make sense, though.

Rock is the only one dragging for me. Unfortunate because it was one of the strips I most looked forward to.

#5 felt like a breather issue to me for several of the strips, which kind of will make sense if they're preceding action in the next issue. Metamorpho got a bit of a jump start on this, big action in this issue.

The art quality is overall amazing and shhhh Dan Didio's Metal Men has been great.

If you're not reading SOMEONE's copy of Wednesday's Comics, you hate children and probably your Grandma too.

So I finally got #1, and now have the first 7 issues piled up, so I dived in and read the first 6. Overall, I think its a pretty groovy project and a success, though some features are only 'meh'.

Some initial thoughts:

(1) I love reading actual newspapers and read the Wall St. Journal everyday and the New York Times as much as I can. So this is a big bonus to me to read it in newspaper format. BTW, I hate reading the news online.

(2) I love the idea of Wednesday Comics. I think its a really great one and praise whoever came up with it.

(3) I do realize most people buying this already are comic book readers who buy DC Comics. But I can't help but feel this should be aimed at new readers; that the point of it should be to engage casual readers into trying it out. So in a way, I like the individual stories that are no reader friendly while I dislike the ones that just don't seem to be engaging enough to draw new people in.

(4) Taking advantage of the format is a major thing, much like the discussion in the Second Features thread. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much here.

I think several of the strips are excellent so far. Particularly:
- Metamorpho - totally fun with Allred art and Gaiman just enjoying himself. Great.

- Kamandi - a joy to behold. I love it.

- Deadman - probably the most fun Deadman story I've read in years. Great stuff.

- Green Lantern - so far a lot of fun. Now Busiek needs to move it into the action sequence.

- Supergirl - I'm finding this to be a lot of fun! Amanda Conner art, Krypto and Streaky, Kara as lovable teen. Its a little Archie Comics but thats not a bad thing. Especially when placed admist everything else here--it actually lends another layer of diversity to the overall product.

- Strange Adventures / Adam Strange - if this was a monthly Adam comic, I'd hate it. But its not, and you know what, I kind of like it? Its completely off the reservation in regards to Adam, Alanna and his continuity, but it is a pretty interesting story. Its wacky sci-fi at its craziest. And Pope's art is so different, its very appealing.

- SGT Rock & Easy Co. - loving it. Story a little slow after 6 strips, but the art is fantastic, its Rock at his grittiest and just a pleasure to read a good Easy Company story. I wish it was an ongoing comic by the Kuberts.

- Demon and Catwoman - I keep forgetting about this one but it comes up second to last and I'm thrilled its there. This was a good call, and its nice to have such an odd team-up included.


Those are probably the ones I'm enjoying most so far.

Then there are a few that aren't bad but I wouldn’t call “excellent”:
- Batman - While its not bad, it just seems like a series of Batman cliches so far and almost a little too dark for to be the lead story here. But then again, I've found Azzerello's Batman work to be really overrated thus far in all formats. It should be a lot better honestly, particularly for this (this goes along with my above statement that DC should really be going all out here).

- Hawkman - I like Kyle Baker and love Hawkman so I can't figure out why this isn't all that engaging to me. So far its only 'meh'. It could be better.

- Metal Men – While I’m thrilled they were included, the story is just so plain vanilla. Its typical superhero tripe with nothing really noteworthy. Too bad. Would have loved to see something a little more unique; you could essentially replace the Metal Men here with any protagonist you want--nothing here makes it a Metal Men story.

- Wonder Woman - I appreciate its a unique take on WW and is a very dynamic and different way to layer the panels within this format, but ultimately its just not doing it for me. I can't see it making anyone interested in Diana afterwards.

And then there are the strips that I think are poor:
Superman - c'mon. Supes is the most boring story in the series? You should be doing better by your flagship, DC.

Teen Titans - art makes my eyes hurt and story just doesn't exist.

Flash - another "What were they thinking?" to me. How is this interesting or appealing at all? What a weak way to get people interested in the Flash.

Overall room for improvement
I think Blockade Boy nailed a lot of it on the head, but two of his thoughts were worth mentioning again:

- At least ONE Ambush Bug or similar type page to balance out the drama and action and I would prefer more story in the Titans, Batman and Rock strips..

- At least one totally self-contained story, no "to be continued." Really, that's a lot of space. If regular comics can do it, so can superhero comics though I'd imagine it would be a difficult write.

On that latter one, I'd love to see something like Tomahawk or something really offbeat.

So far I feel like the whole project has been a creative success and am enjoying it immensely. I wish it was an ongoing weekly comic strip at a price of like $1.99 and I’d probably buy it for all eternity.

So, I've been letting the last few issues of Wednesday Comics build up but I dived back into the series today and am now all caught up through issue #9, the three-quarter mark.

First point - I have realised that Wednesday Comics is a bit of a weird beast in that while it is a book that I damn-well enjoy the heck out of while reading and put each issue down feeling immensely satisfied (probably more satisfied than after any other book... ever?), I don't excitedly look forward to it each week and am kinda glad it's only 12 issues long so I don't have to keep spending money on it. Weird, I know.

Second point - I thought that my Top 8 and Bottom 7 stories in this book would be locked in stone from around the issue #4 mark on but I've been surprised to discover that some have risen quite quickly in my estimation while others have dropped quite heavily. It's now kind of anybody's game and I'm wondering which will end up being my top stories once the whole thing is done?

So where do I rank the titles at the issue #9 mark? Read on -

1. Metamorpho Gaiman faltered a bit early on but the sheer crazy fun and inventiveness of the last few entries in this tale have propelled it to the top. LOVE Element Girl. LOVE Java. LOVE the Periodic Table panel design.

2. Wonder Woman This is without a doubt the most challenging and at-times frustrating of all the stories in this book and even I, who am a huge fan of it, approach each entry with a feeling of "OK. Here we go." but if readers can make the effort to follow the panels correctly and let themselves get taken in by the dream-like nature of the narrative I think they will find it really is the most creative, intelligent and rewarding story in the bunch. And one with a LOT of depth to it. Unlike most of the writers on this project that are content to give us fragments of their tales each week, Ben Caldwell gives us a whole new story with each new entry! And I'm loving the interpretions of Dr Poison, Cheetah and Etta Candy that he's given us too. Give me these women over the ones in the main DCU any day of the week.

3. Kamandi My early favourite is still up there and still fantastic though I think signs of deadline-fatigue are beginning to appear in Sook's art. It's only very subtle but I don't think his pencils are as polished and sharp now as they were at the beginning of the series. One thing I do know though is that this is my first exposure to Kamandi and now I want him starring in his own ongoing STAT!

4. Hawkman Still great. Baker's artistic talents (as both writer and artist) boggle my mind they're so good. (Why have I only ever read his Plastic Man? I must seek out his other stuff.) Loving the Hawkwoman, Batman and JLA satellite cameos. Can't wait to see Aquaman!

5. Supergirl This is the one that surprised me. I hated the first 4 or so entries. Like reeeaally hated them. But since Palmiotti has introduced some actual plot with the trip to see Aquaman and Doctor Mid-Nite and the idea that there might be something wrong with Krypto and Streaky I've begun to enjoy it a lot more. Any other artist than Conner though and I think this one would have been an epic fail.

6. Flash I completely disagree with Cobalt Kid above who thinks this strip is poor and a weak entry-point for Flash. The whacky time-travel hijinks and over-the-top villain super-hero elements combined with the more down-to-earth, emotional aspect of the Iris West part is a fantastic way to get to know the Flash's world IMO. That said, the Barry/Iris marriage-in-trouble portion is becoming a bit of a downer and the fragmented-narrative, time-travel story is getting kinda confusing too so maybe it is time for Kesel and Fletcher to calm this baby down a bit.

7. Green Lantern This artist is a revelation! Whatever book DC puts him on next, I'm buying! The story here has kicked it up a notch with the last few entries too and I just love the faintly 50s/60s-ish jet-age setting of the piece. I've never wanted to be a super-hero before but I think I want to be this Hal Jordan. Great job, sexy boss, fun friends, ring that lets me fly through space and fight aliens. It's not hard to see why Hal Jordan became such a popular character. He's like the ultimate wish-fulfillment hero.

8. Batman The beautiful-but-deadly, double-crossing femme fatale is a stock cliche that I am thoroughly bored of (and one that Batman should have seen coming from a mile away) but there is a mood/atmosphere to this story that has really sucked me in (thanks in no small part to Risso's fantastic art) and I am very much hoping that this one ends as strongly as it began for me.

9. Strange Adventures There is a lot to love about this tale and it's undoubtedly true that Paul Pope is a major artistic talent, but something about this story just leaves me a bit cold each week. I feel like I'm always on the cusp of really getting into it... but then I'm just not there. I wonder if it's the colours. They're too distractingly muddy and bleak for me. If they had more POP! I might have been swept up in the grandeur of it all a bit more I think.

10. Metal Men I'm still surprised that Didio can actually write (especially dialogue) and I love that Chemo is the villain, but I would've liked to see the team leave that damn bank foyer a long time ago. This one has stalled a bit for me.

11. Superman Has gotten better since its truly woeful first few chapters but it is still nothing better than a fairly average Superman story. The art is amazing though.

12. Deadman I want to but I just cannot get into this story. There's no hook for me, nothing to care about. The villain is a ho-hum demon and Deadman has interacted with no other characters. Should've been better.

13. Teen Titans This is really the worst written tale in the bunch with easily the worst-written Tim Drake I think anyone has or ever will write but I'm rating it higher than the next two because I have begun to secretly enjoy it for its awfulness and also because I'm a sucker for obscure continuity and for some reason Berganza is peppering this tale with lots of it - like references to Don Hall (Dove I), the three original inhabitants of the first Trident identity and Dr Light's death in Final Crisis: Revelations.

14. Demon & Catwoman I loved this the first week and it has only dropped like a rock since. Catwoman has done nothing and other than spout boring poetry I can't think of one thing the Demon has done either.

15. Sgt Rock Sgt Rock is tied to a chair and beaten for what seems like forever. Then he gets released from the chair. Then he is immediately captured again. Meanwhile, Easy Company get a potato thrown at them. Hold on to your hats folks because this exciting story still has three whole pages to go!

I'm still lovin' this, although I wish something would happen in the Sgt. Rock strip.

it was real groovy reading Metamorpho and Element Girl !!!

Dreamy on Wonder Woman...

confused on Teen titans...Huh? are they canonical or in real continunity? *scratching head*

Kamandi - good to see many old characters back from old Kamandi series ( I own #1 to 58, including Karate Kid!)

Hawkman, Superman, Flash, GL - hmmm hmmm good and bad...not top notched yet.

overall I am loving Wednesday Comics.

I agree with Blacula's assessment about loving Wednesday Comics while waiting for it to be over. I think the price has a lot to do with that. I'm also not big weekly comics. The monthly format just feels so much better. I'm glad they decided to make this only twelve issues. 10 down. 2 to go. I think I can make it.

There was a similar discussion over at DC. While we were absolutely loving it, we were somehow also fatigued. My thought was that because all the stories are the same length, they are hitting their beats at the same time. There's no breather, it's like a reading marathon.

Basically, I don't think the format lends itself to reading in the same way as a monthly. I'm not sure yet the best way to read it but running home with the pile, the candy and the coffee like I do my monthlies, isn't it.

What is true for me, I reread these like no other book. I don't even do the four fold anymore because there wouldn't be anything left of my copies if I did. The first issue was beginning to thin in the center.

After all my kvetching at the beginning of the thread about the $4, I realize I was wrong. It's expensive and makes me make spending choices, but each issue has been well worth my $4.

My plan is to buy a complete set and laminate, to use them to decorate my classroom. The Science teacher should get a kick out of the element table in Metamorpho.

So did they call it "Thursday Comics" in the US this week because of the one-day delay caused by the Labor Day holiday? If not, you guys should sue!

*tee-hee*!!

Yes, I want my 24 hours back. Add it to this coming weekend, please.

Wouldn't you need two copies of each, since the full pages would be double-sided?

I was thinking just to hang them on a string and rotate them.

What's better than Hawkman vs. a T-Rex? Hawkman and Aquaman vs. a T-Rex, that's what!

So have any/all of the stories been collected in tpb? Or are going to be?

They've been collected in a nice hardcover edition. It's retail price was $50. I've seen it online for $35. If you can find it for that price, it is definitely worth it.

Thanks for the info, I shall shop around for it.