Devil by the Deed

This is part of a series of posts on Matt Wagner's Grendel series. There are spoilers for each individual story and for the series as a whole. I recommend reading the series before reading any of these posts.

When the crime lord Whitey Bulger was captured, I saw a woman from his neighborhood on a news program. She seemed like an average, middle-class, middle-aged respectable woman. But it was clear from the interview that she admired Bulger. When the interviewer asked her about his crimes, his murders, she said “That was his profession. Every one has a profession.”

It seems unthinkable that someone would make an excuse for a stranger guilty of multiple profit driven murders, and yet, here we see it clearly. And the attitude is common. Remember how regularly you could spot Scarface t-shirts among teens and young adults a few years back?

Back to Bulger, crime novelist Dennis Lehane gave an excellent interview about the man with Steve Inskeep of NPR in which he explained the fascination quite well:

INSKEEP: Well, what do you think it says about us, collectively, that we, the public - or at least Hollywood types and people in Boston - are really, really fascinated by a character like this?

LEHANE: The gangster story is a fascinating story in general. It tickles something in us that we believe that we don't speak of, which is this idea that maybe the whole thing is rigged. Maybe this faith we have in governments, maybe this belief we have in the electoral process, maybe this belief we have in this idea that some people are better than others is all a lie, and that a gangster, at the very least, is upfront about this. I mean, anybody who can tell me the difference between a gangster and a feudal lord, I'd like to meet them, because I can't find it.

I found this observation incredibly insightful, and it colored my reading of the entire Grendel cycle. As the series transitions from Hunter Rose to the far future and from crime and horror to political drama (and back again) I will refer back to this idea of organized crime as feudalism.

As for Devil by the Deed itself, it is enough that we know that many of us admire criminals, at least on some level, and in this world there is enough admiration for Hunter Rose that a biography is being written many years later. Hunter Rose is handsome suave, sophisticated, witty, intelligent, and, it seems, a gentleman, at least when he isn't wearing his mask. He also has that quality our modern values demand in any character on either side of the law who warrants our admiration: he never hurts, and is indeed protective of children.

We also see his opponent, Argent, as a grotesque, violent, asocial monster. From this and future stories it is clear that Argent is not loved by the public, despite being the only creature seemingly able to pose a legitimate threat to Grendel and his operations.

The story is told through a combination of imagery and text more akin to a storybook than a comic. Even with its fantastic elements, the story has an air of believability given by the strong voice of the fictional author writing the biography that makes up the text. It seems there is a society that lived through the events described herein, and now, with enough time, has returned to them with curiosity and fascination.

We know this is truth. In our own world, the Italian mafia in the United States barely remains in existence, yet is continually used in fiction of all types in modern and period pieces. New non fiction accounts are also common. We may not want to hear about the suffering caused by modern organized crime affecting our lives in the current day, and often ignore the distressing news about gang violence in our major cities and the ongoing drug war against the narcos in Mexico, but a flashback to the romanticized days of ethnically European gang warfare in the United States is a constant source of interest. It is true that in the Hispanic community in the United States narcos are glamorized in song and other media, but the general public still reacts with disgust. For the purposes of our discussion of Devil by the Deed we will ignore the ethnic element to our tolerance and admiration for criminals and assign the largest factor in their acceptance by the general public to time.

So, despite his reign of terror over New York, we are to marvel at his accomplishments. Despite being the murderer of the orphaned Stacy Palumbo's guardian, we are to admire his affection and care for her. We empathize with, or, at least, can understand, his jealousy of Argent's relationship with Stacy. Ultimately, it will be Stacy who leads to his death at the hands of Argent, and then she herself will meet a grisly fate in a mental institution.

And the one writing this history, the one the most fascinated by it, is the direct descendant of Stacy, Christine Spar. Despite a life directly affected by the violent history she describes, she ends the text of Devil by the Deed with open appreciation of Hunter Rose's abilities, ultimately describing Grendel as “the demon of society's mediocrity.”

Next: Devil's Legacy

New 52 Wonder Woman- through issue 24

Now that I've read the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman, I'm a bit more enthusiastic. In my last post I addressed what I didn't like, mainly the supporting cast and changes to the Golden Age story elements I liked, which, admittedly are the only others I have really read.

I have a different view now. The supporting cast seems to make more sense, as they are now being used to show Diana's strength as a leader. One important character even points this out to her (and the reader) and I have to admit I'm impressed with the way it's playing out. Batman has the bat family, now Wondie has her own army of sidekicks, and the reasons they follow her seem believable and not at all contrived.

The appearance of Orion in the narrative is unfortunate, but only because I think DC should have done at least one dedicated Fifth World title in the New 52 instead of relegating the residents of New Genesis and Apokolips to secondary positions and cameo appearances. Still, I think Orion does fit well into this book and provide a much needed break from the somewhat wearying all Greek mythology cast. His early depiction as a hot headed sexist frat boy is toned down with some nice character development when they travel to New Genesis.

 

This development also hints at a possible path to redemption for the First Born, who is called a dog by Apollo as Orion is by High Father. There is a deliberate, obvious parallel between the characters and I would be surprised if he did not become a recurring ally at some point in this run just as Hera has. Perhaps Azzarello is taking cues from Dragon Ball Z.

All in all, I'm glad to be almost caught up with this title. It's the first New 52 book I've read this far into and I like where it's headed. Diana's new role in Olympus and in the DCU is a good fit. I look forward to the coming stories, and, hopefully, seeing her grow in power and influence.

Thoughts on New 52 Wonder Woman after first 12 issues

I like the Wonder Woman character, but have never really followed her comics other than the first one or two volumes of Golden Age reprints DC put out some time ago. I enjoyed those early stories a great deal, and I also liked what I read of J. Michael Straczynski's run prior to the New 52 (the one where she wears pants) so I decided to give Azzarello's Wonder Woman a try.

I read the first issue about six months ago, and I read the first trade collection, “Blood” a little more recently when my wife got it. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't really impressed. At least, not enough to buy the next trades even at Amazon prices. However, yesterday I snatched up digital copies through issue #24 for $.99 on Comixology thanks to the sale they're running. As of this writing I've read through issue #12, and including #0, which unfortunately was not part of the sale. It's a shame, I really like the simple story of young Diana's trials and training and wish it had been included in this deal.

There are some big changes to the story I know from the Golden Age, and from what others have told me, from other modern takes on the character. The big one is that she is no longer made of clay, but is a true daughter of Hippolyta conceived through a union with Zeus. That's quite a new direction, and appropriate for the New 52. It's a deliberately bold deviation, and I think it works.

I'm less enthusiastic about another change though; the idea that the Amazons have orgies with sailors whom they execute afterwards. Again, I've really only read Golden Age and I understand Paradise Island has been interpreted as a not-so-great place by others before (Amazon's Attack, which I've fortunately avoided, seemed to be this to an absurd degree) but it seems extreme that the Amazons are such cold blooded killers of innocents.

Diana is suitably outraged at this revelation, and the concurrent one about what happens to male children on Themyscira, but it still bothers me. I like her as the fish out of water ambassador from a better world, not the exile from a magical land of murderous psycopaths. And speaking of which, the story's urban fantasy/Greek mythology setting does nothing for me and provides none of the culture clash charm I like in Wondie.

One final oddity in the series is the addition of two male sidekicks who can handle themselves well, and a pregnant damsel who constantly needs saving. What happened to the old “Steve Trevor's been kidnapped by Nazis who are begging for a pummeling” I fell in love with? Sure, the gender flipped dude in distress is a little obvious and corny, but this is a superhero comic, after all, and fun should come first. This isn't necessarily a feminist issue, it's just weird.

Still, the story is suitably exciting with some cool art and action. I'll repeat a final time that I haven't read a whole lot of other Wonder Woman stories, so it's not like I feel really strongly about my expectations for one. I just hope as I move forward through this run some of the changes, back story wise, characterization wise, etc., excite me more and puzzle me less. I'm at the introduction of the New Gods so I'm hoping it will pick up a little.

Batman Beyond Unlimited

Last time I wrote a little about how much I like Comixology, and last night I downloaded the first six issues of the Batman Beyond Unlimited series for $.99 a piece there. Not bad even though they are shorter than a standard comic, about half the size.

As you know if you read this blog or you follow me on Twitter, I am currently reading through the Grendel series. I was in the mood for something a little lighter and quicker to break it up so I thought BB would be just the thing. Having read the previous story arc, Industrial Revolution, in print and not hating it (as many did) I looked forward to this continuation of the series I loved in cartoon form when it originally aired. I'll note here that I have not read Hush Beyond, which seems to be the BB story that generated the most ill will toward the series, and that's probably why my opinion of it seems to be higher than that of many others.

The story in these first six issues is mainly building an arc about Dana's brother which I'm not exactly crazy about. Then again, how many times was a villain in the cartoon a classmate of Terry's or a faculty member at the school he attended? So the contrived appearance of a new threat so close to him is not entirely out of place. The smaller thread dealt with more immediately is the return of Mad Stan, the villain who wants to “blow it all up”. He's an entertaining character and it's nice to see him used here for just the right amount of action and humor.

The art here is also a step up from Industrial Revolution, it's easier to follow the action and Terry's model seems more consistent panel to panel and page to page. It pays suitable service to the look of the cartoon while adding an appropriate amount of detail.

 

All in all, it's nothing groundbreaking, but it also isn't anything insultingly terrible, and if you liked the show as a kid (like I did!) you should get more than $.99 worth of enjoyment out of all 11 or so pages of each issue. I think I'll continue the series, and I'll write more about it here. If I like it enough, I may even go back for Hush Beyond...

Comixology

Comixology

A couple years ago, a friend of mine who reads more comics than anyone I know purchased a Nook Color to start reading digitally to save money. I advised him not to, not liking the display of color e-readers compared to e-ink and also not caring for the DRM of Comixology and related platforms. He (wisely) ignored my whining and has been a happy digital subscriber to a number of titles since.

And now, here I find myself with a Nexus 7 and a bookshelf filled with comics to the point that the shelves are starting to bend, looking at the prices of comics on Comixology and realizing what a good solution it is.

I had played with the app for a while on my crappy android phone, and while it was always decent, it never really impressed me. But Nexus 7's HD, large screen, makes the pages really look gorgeous, especially when zoomed in to the panel by panel view. I think I would even go as far as to say I prefer it to reading physical. I'm alternating between reading free comics provided by the app (their “12 Days of Free Comics” promotion is running during this writing and is really worth getting the app for if you haven't yet) and my Grendel omnibuses and Comixology is by far the better experience.

And finally, there's price factor. I was considering getting the Spawn: The Dark Ages complete serieshardcover for about $40, marked down from a list price of $60. But on Comixology, it's $14.99. So not only is the experience better (for me at least, so far) but it's less than half of the cost of even the Amazon price. That's really, really attractive to me. And I understand that single back issues are $1.99 typically. Right now I feel a little like the guy who kept buying VHS tapes after DVDs came out since I thought it would never catch on. (“Who wants to buy an expensive DVD player?”) And now I'm staring at that weighted down bookshelf, remembering how even a couple months ago I thought “Who wants to buy an expensive tablet?” as I went to comics shows in Philly and South Jersey hunting down great deals. A fun way to spend a Sunday, sure, but Comixology is competitive even with those prices.

And they don't charge admission.

(Scroll way down)

 

Check out the quality on this screen cap of a page of Wonder Woman:

And this screen cap zoomed into a panel of the same page:

Not bad huh? Highly readable, beautiful really.

*UPDATE* Reading Order for Grendel Dark Horse Omnibuses by Original Release Date

I have been really into Grendel since I picked up Devil by The Deed and Devil's Legacy at a used bookstore. I tried to find the rest of the series individually to no avail, so I recently got the Dark Horse omnibuses of the series. 

I had held off buying the series this way because they go by chronological order instead of by publication date, which seems absurd. It's like cutting up a novel or a movie to make all the flashbacks come first.

So anyway, here is the correct reading order for the omnibuses based on release date with page numbers. Most info comes from Wikipedia. I hope someone else finds this useful:

"Devil by the Deed" Vol. 1, p.7-44

"Devil's Legacy" Vol. 2, p.65-376

"The Devil Inside" Vol. 2, p.379-456

"Devil Tales" Vol. 2, p.459-549

"The Incubation Years" Vol. 3, p.7-116

"God and the Devil" Vol. 3, p.119-392

"Devil's Reign" Vol. 3, p.395-562

"War Child" Vol. 4, p.7-270
"Devil's Riddle" and "Devil's Masque" (Batman/Grendel I, not included in the Dark Horse volumes)

"Devil Quest" Vol. 4, p.473-528

"A Grendel Primer" Vol. 4, p.531-538

"Devil's Bones" and "Devil's Dance" (Batman/Grendel II, not included in the Dark Horse volumes)
"Black, White, and Red" Vol. 1, p.47-232

"Red, White, and Black" Vol. 1, p.241-424

"Devil Child" Vol. 2, p.9-62

"Past Prime" (Greg Rucka prose novel) Vol. 4, p.274-469

"Behold the Devil" Vol. 1, p.427-596

"Sympathy From the Devil" Vol. 1, p.235-238

I plan to write a longish post about Grendel at some point after I finish. I'm in the middle of God and the Devil now, and I'm loving every page of this series.

*UPDATE*
Changed the list above to include the Batman/Grendel stories. Although they are not included in the omnibuses, they are written by Matt Wagner so it's worth trying to find them to include in a read through. The trade collecting all Batman/Grendel stories is out of print but I was able to find a used copy for under $10 with shipping. I just finished "War Child" last night, and said trade arrived just in time for me to continue the series. Woo hoo!

Dragon Valor

Dragon Valor is a PlayStation game that was released in the US in 2000. It's an action RPG with simple combat and very basic “find the key” type puzzle dungeons. The story is fairly straightforward as well, being a simple Good vs. Evil plot with a generation of dragon slayers fighting various dragons and their minions. A cool wrinkle in the basic premise is that characters change frequently as time moves forward and you take control of the offspring of your previous PC. The actions you perform in certain generations determine which character you will play as in the next generation, and the story branches off in some interesting ways.

I played Dragon Valor a few months after it came out. My cousin had it, and every time I went to visit him we played for hours and hour. This time of year I always remember a New Year's Eve party at his house where we stayed in his room and played it all night. We kept getting stuck at a very early boss, a dragon with ice powers. So we just kept restarting and playing the game through up to that point. It's actually a really clear memory for me and it makes me smile. My cousin had a blacklight and all these glowing stars and a glowing alien head in his room.

It was awesome. Kind of like the Thanksgiving another year at my house where he and I played Tomb Raider, the St. Francis Folly level, over and over. But that's another story.

Eventually I borrowed Dragon Valor from him and played it into the ground, going through every path multiple times. About a year ago I borrowed the discs from him again to rip and play through on ePSXe. As you know if you read this blog, I'm playing it again on my Nexus 7 (although, for some reason my rips didn't work and I had to find another disc image online) and it's a blast.

I don't know what it is about the game, maybe it's the fond memories, but I just have so much fun with it. Maybe it's the fact that the story, combat and puzzles are all so simple (even that ice dragon now that I suck less at games) that I can keep my brain about 80% off while I play. Maybe it's become a form of meditation for me. Maybe I'm just an idiot and enjoy simple things.

Regardless, to me it's a perfect game.

Nexus 7

So I bought a Nexus 7.

Wait, let me back up. This isn't a blog about writing anymore.

Or reading. Or Anything.

I'm trying to finish my Bachelor's Degree, in the interest of doing so as quickly as possible I'm in a Communications program (lol). Class is easy, you pretty much get a degree if you pay your money, show up to class and can fog a glass. But one thing bothers me: note taking.

I like to hand write my notes during lectures and I like to copy them again by hand to study. The act of writing them (not typing) helps keep them in my head. But I don't like juggling notebooks, a laptop and textbooks.

So I bought a Nexus 7.

Let's back up again. I considered a Galaxy Note to replace my phone, because that S-Pen is sweet and it recognizes handwriting decently well. But since it costs approximately $700 trillion (or $350 trillion with a new contract) I decided I wanted something cheaper, and phablets are not typically cheap. With a $200 tablet, I would save money by buying digital textbooks and be ahead by the end of my next semester.

I looked into the Asus Memo Pad, but it seemed that the Nexus 7 2nd gen was a lot more for only a little more money. So I found one over Thanksgiving weekend for $190, and I must say, I'm impressed.

For note taking, I was using the free SuperNote Pro app from Asus until I discovered that it was only "free" in the sense that you needed to pay $50/year to write more than 20 notes per month. Yeah. Sure Asus. Sounds like a great deal.

For now I'm using Papyrus as an alternative, and it seems fine for my purposes. If I find anything free out there that's better I'll switch again.

I was also excited to use emulators with the Dual Shock 3 via bluetooth, so I needed to root it. I never rooted a device before so this guide from laptopmag.com was very useful. So was this. However, neither of them addressed getting proper drivers so it was a little annoying figuring that out. You can find them from Google here. Once I rooted, I got the Sixaxis app and it worked beautifully.

When I saw the prices of cases and stylii (styluses? I want to write styluses) I laughed. Then I found this case with a stylus on Amazon for $5. No, that price is not missing a zero. FIVE DOLLARS. And the case and Stylus both work great.

Maybe I'm just in the honeymoon period.

Writing, Spawn, and Scientology

Well, it's been a while.

I've been writing quite a bit, and I'm on track to hopefully self publish my sf novel, tentatively titled "Diplomat to the Abyss", some time in March. I've had the flu so I'm a little off schedule, but I should be able to make it up this week.

Anyway, I've recently made my way through the first six volumes of the Spawn Origins tpbs. I bought the first from Amazon for around $10, and the rest of the volumes I got for $5 a piece at a nearby comic show a few months ago. The story has highs and lows, but I love the art by McFarlane, and later Greg Capullo. Annoyingly, some of the best issues are missing from the collection, not just Neil Gaiman's Spawn #9 and issue #10 featuring Cerebus the Aardvark, but important miniseries: Gaiman's "Angela" and Alan Moore's "Violator" and "Blood Feud". I've been able to get everything but the last in single issue form (I even found all three issues of Angela for $1 each at a local shop totally unexpectedly). For the price at which I picked up the trades though, it's hard to complain. I know more complete hardcover editions exist, but I'm not sure if they contain the miniseries or just #9 and #10. Those two single issues cost me $10 between them, or the cost of two of the trades at a show. I think I've made out quite well.

The series is a lot of fun in general. If anything I wish it were more over the top and less...broody. Also, I can't make heads or tails of the "devil" Malebolgia's plans for Spawn, and I think it's because McFarlane didn't really think that far ahead. Their is a hilarious moment in which the Violator is punished by Malebolgia for doing something that made no sense, and I really think it's because McFarlane realized it made no sense, after it was already written. There are a few really great story moments by McFarlane as well, such as when Spawn severely punishes an abusive father in typical badass hero fashion then leaves thinking everything will be fine. The reader is shown that the violence escalated after he left and things got much worse. But Spawn never knows, and even arrogantly references the good he did in a later issue.

Still, the series is at its best when focusing on over the top action between Spawn and evil dudes, be they demons, cyborgs, or other Image characters. Say what you will about '90s comic character design, in this book, it works. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to be unimpressed, but every two page spread depicting a fight between Spawn and some massive...thing...made me smile like a kid. I look forward to reading more of the series. The only thing holding me back is that I'm a cheapskate. (But another comic show's coming up soon!)

On the book side, I just devoured Lawrence Wright's "Going Clear". It's a fascinating investigation of Scientology. Even if you've read other books on the subject, such as the completely free-and also excellent- "A Piece of Blue Sky" available here, you'll want to read this book. L. Ron Hubbard's life and the story of his legacy, the "Church", is powerful, absorbing, shocking, and heartbreaking. After you've read it, go to Scientology's official site and watch their impeccably produced introductory video featuring young and attractive people happily pondering their meaning in the universe. Knowing what Scientology actually is, the effect is utterly chilling.

Well, I guess it's time for me to jump back into Lord of the Rings...man, I am bad at reading fantasy.

The Infinite Crisis Omnibus

Great for DC fans

Quite a volume!

This omnibus collects the comics of the Infinite Crisis event and its tie-ins. The stories included:

Countdown to Infinite Crisis: A cool little story about Blue Beetle, great for fans of JLI. Leads directly into The OMAC Project.

The OMAC Project: A story about Batman losing control of a creation he made in response to the events of Identity Crisis.

Sacrifice: Just as the OMAC Project deals with the abuse of Batman's power (Brother Eye and the OMACs), this story deals with the consequences of Superman under an evil influence.

Villains United: A great lead up to the main event. Follows low ranking DC bad guys resisting the army of villains Luthor is putting together for the main story in Infinite Crisis. It's actually the standout of the lead up stories for me. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read much of writer Gail Simone's work before, but I certainly will now.

Lightning Strikes Twice: Another story about a malevolent force taking control of Superman. This time, the source is magical and Captain Marvel and Shazam work to stop it.

Day of Vengeance: Here we go again. The Spectre, arguably DC's most powerful magical being, is manipulated and his power abused, with terrible consequences for Earth's magic users. Like Villains United, it's a great showcase for some lesser known heroes who come together to stop the Spectre, and a fun story. Written by Bill Willingham of Fables fame.

Rann-Thanagar War: The homeworlds of Adam Strange and Hawkman are at war. I'm not terribly familiar with either character, but even knowing the basics I could still enjoy the story. It's a space adventure on a large scale, like a good Green Lantern event. It ties into the Infinite Crisis nicely.

Crisis of Conscience: The JLA deals with the fallout of the events in Identity Crisis (in which Zatanna, with the cooperation of other League members, used magic to alter the minds of certain villains, and of Batman). This story retcons away what I disliked most about Identity Crisis, which was the suggestion that Superman knew what the other heroes did and chose to ignore it. Here, he only learns when Batman tells him, and is rightfully disgusted.

As for Infinite Crisis itself:

The event serves as a direct sequel to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which the the DC multiverse was reset and turned into one universe. There were a few survivors from the multiverse who were able to observe the new DC from a "heaven" created by the heroic Lex Luthor of Earth-3. Their decision to interact with the new DC universe serves as the main plot thread, and the strongest, with the Golden Age Superman's disappointment with the darkness in Post-Crisis DC being one of my favorite stories.

As Final Crisis would later question the nature of giant crossover events themselves, the Infinite Crisis questions the often grim direction the company took after the first Crisis. The events of Knightfall, The Death of Superman, Emerald Twilight, Identity Crisis (a story I really hated, and one that is a must read before reading this volume), and the earlier events that occur in this volume, specifically Wonder Woman's actions in Superman: Sacrifice, all serve as a catalyst for the Golden Age Superman (the first superhero) to take drastic action. There are, of course, twists in that story, and I won't spoil them here. It works brilliantly as an acknowledgment of the problems in DC stories of the 90s. I loved it.

The plots from the earlier stories in this omnibus all come together here as well, and the issues that directly tie into the main series are placed in proper reading order here. All in all, it comes together very nicely.

This event is a must for DC fans, and this omnibus is the definitive volume, filled with lots of great little stories that all lead to something bigger and better.