Cartoon Network giveth, Cartoon Network taketh away. Spoilers ahead.

Teen Titans seems to be launching its next long arc with last night’s Raven-centered episode. As with Terra, the show mines some classic stories from the comics, playing up Raven’s demonic heritage and terrible destiny. I actually prefer the cartoon Raven to the comic-book version. I loved the Marv Wolfman/George Perez comics, don’t get me wrong, but the cartoon’s portrayal of Raven as tough and guarded makes more sense to me. The comic Raven seems like such a sad sack in comparison. In the cartoon, she seems more heroic (and potentially tragic) because she’s less of an obvious martyr. The character’s spooky edge is communicated more clearly, too.

Despite that advantage, I thought last night’s episode was pretty dull. Protracted fight scenes didn’t mask the fact that the audience wasn’t really learning anything new. And the show seems to be running the risk of creating a scenario that could be averted (or at least mitigated considerably) if the characters would just talk to each other for five minutes. Robin, as he’s been portrayed, doesn’t seem likely to let things drop quite as easily as he does here. Still, it’s the beginning of the story, so it’s got plenty of time to improve.

And where do I even start on Justice League Unlimited? Happy as I am for Dorian that Wildcat was featured in the episode, I wish old Ted hadn’t been quite so pitiful. He was just so easily manipulated and his motive (fragile male ego, basically) is one that never fails to exhaust me. Poor old bruiser feels threatened by the shiny new kids with a heaping helping of Fight Club thrown in.

And, man, was there a lot of cheesecake in that episode. Black Canary: formidable fighter, a little manipulative, powerful sonic scream… admire her many heroic attributes, and, while you’re doing that, let your gaze lovingly rest on her jiggling boobs. I was thrown around a lot, from admiring the Barbara Stanwyck/Veronica Lake visual inspirations to thinking, “Now why the hell was that shot needed?” I can’t see very much chemistry between BC and Green Arrow, either, but that might be because I’m usually too busy gaping at GA’s horrifyingly Liefeldian torso to listen to what he’s saying.

The whole “teach Wildcat a valuable lesson by letting him think he’s killed GA” bit was just plain odd. Yes, GA was faking, but does that really seem like a good way to drive a change of mind? I would think the memory of the act and the knowledge that he was capable of such a thing would be enough to sideline Wildcat for a good long while. For all intents and purposes, and for a brief period of time, he believed he had killed GA, and had at least subconsciously wanted to do so. Where do you go from there? (Into therapy with Martian Manhunter, apparently, though recent comics couldn’t help but create the impression that Ted was headed in for some mindwiping. This along with the Dr. Light cameo in Teen Titans made it a very Identity Crisis evening of animation.)

Speaking of cartoons, I’m feeling the need to sample some anime. (I’ve also finally signed up for Netflix, so it should be easier to do.) If you’ve got any recommendations, send them my way either here or at the Flipped Forum.

Sigh. I’m used to emotional highs and lows in manga by Yu Watase, but few things have bummed me quite as much as her offhand announcement that the fifth volume of Imadoki! would be the last. I would complain bitterly, but it would make me look like a total hypocrite. Crippling depression aside, volume four was tremendous, just as I expected it would be, and just as I expect volume five will be, and volumes six through ten would be if they were ever going to happen.

Heh… sorry about that.

Viz was kind enough to send me the second and third volumes of Whistle!, the appealing soccer manga by Daisuke Higuchi. It builds on the strengths of the first, while managing to keep me involved in a soccer game that spans both volumes and still isn’t finished. Higuchi manages this by blending tons of character development into the soccer scenes, rounding out the supporting characters and opposing team into distinct, engaging individuals. There’s plenty of fun sideline kibitzing from grizzled stall chef Oyassan and Kō, male escort and brother of series star Shô. I liked these characters individually, and they make a fun comedy team; the only thing they have in common is their fondness for Shô, but that goes a long way. And that’s because Shô is just an awesome kid, not because he’s a soccer genius but because he’s kind, optimistic, hard-working, and brave. I still don’t love soccer, but I understand why these characters do, and I couldn’t resist rooting for this team of underdogs.

I really ought to get around to writing a full review of Othello, and I will now that I’ve read the second volume. For two fairly divergent opinions, go read Johanna’s review at Comics Worth Reading or Greg’s at iComics.com. (I made some quick comments on the first volume in last week’s column.)

Has anyone out there read Until the Full Moon? It’s more shonen-ai from Sanami Matoh, who’s responsible for one of my favorite titles, Fake. She’s left cops behind for the supernatural, and it sounds like a lot of fun.

I was at the Big Chain Bookstore today buying some manga (Maison Ikkoku, which is like crack, and the first volume of xxxHOLiC, because I felt compelled to try more of CLAMP’s output). The cashier asked if I was manga-only or if I liked anime, too. She’s a fan of both, though I generally find the voiceover acting matches poorly with the voices I heard in my head while I was reading the manga. (Example: One Piece.) (Insert “voices David hears in his head” joke here.) Always nice to run into another comics fan outside of a comic book shop, though, and this is the second time that’s happened at that store. The first time, another cashier told me he and his wife had actually named their child after a manga character, which struck me as maybe going a tiny bit too far.

Jog (of Jog – The Blog) has a new installment of Jog Likes Comics up at Komikwerks, and it is very, very funny indeed. It broaches the subject of late comics (not “dead” late, but “tardy to varying degrees” late):

“But as I was soon to discover, Daredevil: Father didn’t become monstrously, humiliatingly late by accident. No, it turns out that each and every copy of the first issue of “Daredevil: Father” is actually a sentient psychic organism that can talk out loud and predict the future and make you smile when you are lonely.”

His “if we like comics, we’ll wait” thesis seems to me to be a very sound one. I’ve dropped some perennially delayed titles not because they didn’t show up when promised but because I just wasn’t enjoying them that much. Lateness tends to wind up at the end of a list of other complaints.

I do wonder if readers are maybe more charitable towards scheduling glitches in creator-driven comics than product from Marvel and DC. I know that I’d like more issues of, say, Amelia Rules! to come out on average, but I don’t want them unless Jimmy Gownley is well and truly done with them.

I have a slightly different set of expectations from corporate comics. It’s like the difference between going to a sit-down restaurant where there’s a chef whose culinary sense sets the menu, or running into, say, Wendy’s for some chicken strips. I’ll wait a while for the chef’s entree, but the chicken strips? Please.

And, yes, that is a desperately unfair generalization, and many very talented people work in corporate comics, and they should have as much artistic lattitude as possible. And, yes, chicken strips are as satisfying in their own way as a nice plate of risotto.

I haven’t done one of these in a while, in part because I’ve been so disappointed with the current edition of Amazing Race (just like Tom the Dog). The casting department really biffed things this time, picking contestants based on potential for conflict rather than charisma or potential audience appeal. One couple, Jonathan and Victoria, was so toxic that I jumped ship about halfway through. I know they’re gone now, but I’m beyond caring.

The current season of The Apprentice is off to a marginally promising start, with one fairly glaring flaw. Television Without Pity recapper extraordinaire Miss Alli puts it best:

“This time, Trump is eschewing gender warfare in favor of class warfare… So Trump’s plan is to see whether ‘practical experience is more important than academic knowledge.’ And this will be a great opportunity to learn exactly that. Welcome to America’s referendum on the value of higher education.”

That motif seems to be fading a lot faster than the men-versus-women dynamic of previous seasons, so that’s a plus. Still, reality shows are artificial enough to begin with, so why add an extra layer?

I’ll be interested to see the Martha Stewart edition of the show. And at this point I will come out and say that I hope Stewart enjoys the kind of comeback that makes every journalist and pundit who took unseemly glee in her conviction and imprisonment vaguely ill. Am I saying she didn’t break the law and didn’t deserve to suffer the consequences for that? No. I am saying that, of the slate of corporate malefactors who have popped up like mushrooms in a rainy forest, Martha is easily the least offensive. I am also saying that I think much of the aforementioned unseemly glee derived from an ambitious, aggressive woman “getting hers” as publicly as possible. Feel free to disagree, but I will not be dissuaded from this position. Take no prisoners, Martha. Living well is the best revenge. (Alternatively, you could insert a gazpacho/served-cold joke if you so choose.)

Deep breath. Moving on.

I’m pretty sure Stewart’s Apprentice will make Wickedly Perfect entirely superfluous. Its title, shamelessly chosen to invoke thoughts of Stewart despite her complete lack of participation, doesn’t work because the show is neither wicked nor perfect. It’s not a bad idea for a reality show, but it errs fairly badly in execution.

For one thing, and this is odd for competition-based shows, it doesn’t put enough emphasis on the contestants’ personal charisma. If the goal is to find someone to be a televised “style star,” I’d think you’d spend more time evaluating their ability to communicate ideas and techniques. There are plenty of people in the how-to field who make up for a lack of specific skills with sheer charisma and the ability to communicate to an audience. It’s why Rachael Ray can get away with making nachos on 30 Minute Meals. (Sometimes you don’t have to pick between goods and charm, as with the excellent Alton Brown on Good Eats or the gifted Candce Olson on Divine Design.)

For another, they have picked the worst panel of judges imaginable. David Evangelista? Candace Bushnell? Bobby Flay? How the hell would they know what a general audience is going to respond to? Okay, maybe Flay might not be so bad in that area, though I personally can’t stand him. But Evangelista and Bushnell are evaluating projects from an entirely urban, upscale, Euro-trash perspective, and I can’t picture either of them having any idea what would constitute a successful general-interest style program. Worse still, they don’t even ultimately decide who gets the boot. That’s left to the contestants themselves, which takes merit even further out of the equation. (I know, I know. Big surprise.)

In my opinion, Wickedly Perfect would do well to model itself more after Project Runway than The Apprentice. While interpersonal conflict plays a part (and how could it not with that pack of freaks), it’s more organic. I like the judging system better, because it’s a more direct evaluation of what the designers have done within the parameters of each week’s assignment.

Anyone following the Postcards from Buster story might want to swing by The New York Times (registration required) to read this column by Frank Rich. He doesn’t think much of any of the parties involved, from Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to the leadership of PBS. He also has some interesting theories on what prompted this particular shot at non-traditional families:

“What makes this story more insidious still is the glaring reality that the most prominent Republican lesbians in America are Mary Cheney, a former gay and lesbian marketing liaison for Coors beer, and her partner, Heather Poe, who appeared as a couple in public and on TV during the presidential campaign. That Ms. Spellings would gratuitously go after this specific “lifestyle” right after taking office is so provocative it smells like payback specifically pitched at those “pro-family” watchdogs who snarled at the mention of Ms. Cheney’s sexual orientation during the campaign whether it was by John Kerry or anyone else.”

Rich covers a lot of ground, from Buster to Spongebob Squarepants to Michael Powell to Fredric Wertham.

Oh, and thanks to BeaucoupKevin for his handy word count of the State of the Union. To make an addition, “marriage” was used two times, in precisely the context you’d expect. And, right on cue, the Marriage Protection Amendment has gathred 26 co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate. Find out more here.

The Little Marvel Players present: New Avengers 3!

(At the skyscraper.)

Captain America: That, my friend, was mythic.

Iron Man: Um… I guess.

Captain America: Can’t you feel it?

Iron Man: Well…

Captain America: It’s like Lee and Kirby are in the room with us. Magic time, old friend.

Iron Man: But don’t you think… Oh, never mind.

Captain America: What?

Iron Man: No, it’s nothing.

Captain America: (Sighs.) No, you’ve got something to say, so say it.

Iron Man: It’s not really… new, is it?

Captain America: (Rolls eyes.) Here we go.

Iron Man: Hear me out. It’s like… old story, new paint job.

Captain America: But it’s an old story through a new lens. It’s… it’s new. And cool.

Iron Man: (Pauses.) Wouldn’t it have been… cooler if we’d actually… seen the cool stuff? I mean, instead of talking about it later?

Captain America: Not that “show-don’t-tell” rap again.

Iron Man: We just seem to be spending a lot of time trying to convince ourselves that it’s cool and new. And it’s really just kind of a Marvel Team-Up Annual. Don’t you get that feeling?

Captain America: (Pauses.) We’re in a skyscraper now.

Iron Man: (Shudders.) From quaint to corporate. We probably shouldn’t draw too much attention to—(Jarvis enters.)

Captain America: (A bit desperately.) Hey, it’s Jarvis! Look, old friend! Jarvis!

(In the apartment of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.)

Jessica Jones: Cap! Huggles!

Captain America: (Sniffles. Pats Jessica’s belly.) How’s your constantly imperiled symbol of hope in an increasingly dangerous, cynical world coming along?

Jessica Jones: The baby? She’s fine.

Captain America: Great!

Jessica Jones: (Thinks for a moment.) Wait… don’t I hate you? Because of that Secret War thing?

Captain America: You might. It’s hard to keep track.

Jessica Jones: But… the same guy writes all these books. (Luke enters.)

Captain America: (A bit desperately.) Hey, it’s Luke! Look, Jessica! It’s Luke!

(On a rooftop.)

Captain America: Set-up.

Daredevil: Meta statement.

Captain America: Set-up.

Daredevil: Plug for solo title.

Captain America: Set-up.

Daredevil: Meta statement.

(Outside the skyscraper.)

Spider-Woman: I don’t know about this.

Unseen Figure: What’s not to know?

Spider-Woman: This whole “potentially untrustworthy chick” gig.

Unseen Figure: Come on, a comeback’s a comeback.

Spider-Woman: But, see, I’m the chick who always seemed untrustworthy but was really ace. It was my thing.

Unseen Figure: Yeah, in the 1970s. Times change.

Spider-Woman: It still makes me nervous.

Unseen Figure: That’s cool. We can always call Tigra.

Spider-Woman: I didn’t say –

Unseen Figure: And Warbird’s free.

Spider-Woman: Okay, I get it, all right? Dozens of unused heroines just dying to be the femme. Point taken. (Sighs.)

Unseen Figure: (Impatiently.) So?

Spider-Woman: Fondly remembered obscurity is looking better and better.

Unseen Figure: Time is money, Jess.

Spider-Woman: (Narrows eyes.) You said the magic word. I’ll do it, but I’d better at least get a solo mini out of it.

Unseen Figure: That’s the spirit!

(Somewhere else.)

Sentry: Um… hello? (Waits.) Anyone?

Okay, I’m not going to try and recreate the shopping list, but I have noticed something about one of today’s arrivals, Adam Strange 5.

At Cognitive Dissonance, Johanna notes:

“I was enjoying this more before all the buzz, and definitely before the rumors about it tying in to some big DC event.”

The Pickytarian expresses a similar sentiment:

“I’m also a little unhappy that what started out as a series of light-hearted, self-contained adventure stories is already devolving into a crossover-initiating, grim n’ gritty, continuity-heavy morass.”

DC has noted repeatedly that Adam Strange will be one of the paving stones for its pending trio of line-wide terror. (For a mighty astute examination of that, scamper on over to Comic World News and read the latest Past the Front Racks.) I’ll be interested to see if this message actually boosts sales for the book.

It seems like DC decided at a certain point that they had to get the word out that Adam Strange… y’know… mattered. “It’s not just a quirky, well-crafted space caper that you can enjoy entirely on its own merits. It’s a feeder fish for our Next Big Thing!” Because we wouldn’t want anyone enjoying a stand-alone story, now would we?

And DC gets the the bulk of its profits from its Next Big Things. I get that, though I do wish its more interesting, smaller-scale titles would manage to turn a profit.

Honestly, nothing about Adam Strange has changed except for the way it’s being marketed, and that really shouldn’t mess with my response to it as an entertainment. But, for whatever reason, it does. It seemed like the exception to DC’s Next Big Things and the crossovers they spawn, and to see it presented as another rung on that particular ladder is disappointing.

What do Love Fights, Maison Ikkoku, and Sideways have to do with each other? Not much, at least outside my tortured brain. Suffice to say timing and other triggers have led me to think about the ways they overlap.

(Big honking SPOILERS wait below about all of them.)

So a package comes from the Big Internet Bookstore containing the second volume of Oni’s Love Fights. I’d been a little ambivalent about the first volume, but I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did, though I’m still ambivalent. It’s a different kind of ambivalence, though.

Backing up a bit: after finishing the first volume of Love Fights, I thought it felt rote. It seemed like another “how do normal people live in a super-heroic world” story with a modicum of quirky charm to distinguish it from a fairly thick pack. I liked Watson’s illustrations a lot, and I liked the supporting cast. I immediately connected with Nora, with her mix ambition and pragmatism.

I didn’t like Jack, though. And I realized later that I didn’t like Jack for some of the same reasons I didn’t like the men in Sideways. I found him immature in some fairly unpleasant ways, particularly in regard to his sense of entitlement. It wasn’t hard for me to see why he hadn’t had a date in years, what with his jealousy and pettiness. While I didn’t particularly admire the way his co-workers handled the break-up of their artistic partnership with Jack, I couldn’t exactly blame them, either.

It made sense to me that Nora might spark with Jack initially, and it made sense that she’d pull away when she got to know him better. Sure, his jealousy and bad behavior were driven partly by outside forces, but they seemed consistent with what I’d already decided about his character. Good for Nora for putting some daylight between them, I thought.

By the time I finished the first volume, I didn’t feel a burning desire to read much more. The super-hero stuff was nice, funny window dressing for a romance I didn’t really support. Weeks passed, I saw the solicitation for the second volume, and I thought about passing on it. But people whose opinions I trust liked it a lot, the Big Internet Bookstore was offering free shipping, and I needed a third item to meet the “for orders of…” requirement.

I read it shortly after reading the sixth volume of Maison Ikkoku, which also features an immature man pursuing a woman who’s probably much too good for him (though to generally heartwarming effect… Godai is immature because he’s young, not because he’s stunted). At one point in the digest, Godai’s grandmother tells a touching story of how she chose her husband over a richer man, feeling that her would-be husband’s devotion and love would sustain her for the rest of her days. Just as the reader (and Granny’s in-story audience) is getting a little sniffly, Granny mutters, “Biggest mistake I ever made! I just have been out of my mind!” It’s a tiny, tonal masterpiece of misdirection, from sentimental to ruefully hilarious in the space of a panel.

And I thought about that bit a lot as I read the second half of Love Fights. It reminded me of Nora’s position as the story progresses. Jack clearly loves her, but that’s all he offers. I’m not talking about financial security or material things. I’m talking about the ability to be a good companion in the long run. And then I realized that this was probably precisely what Watson had intended and how well it tied into the themes of the fan-hero-commerce dynamic.

I mean, look at the revelation about the Crisis analogue. How brilliant is the reason that the normal people have kept this defining event from the super-heroes? It’s so sweetly protective (and a little condescending), and it’s such a perfect embrace of the ways many comic fans feel about their fictional heroes. We accept their inconsistencies, their bad patches, almost by group consensus. We feel protective of them, in part because we know if they looked at their lives stretched out in a line, they’d probably go nuts. And we know them too well to take them seriously, instead blending nostalgia, irritation, optimism, and abiding (sometimes irrational) affection.

And that hero-fan relationship resonates for Nora and Jack. He loves her, though perhaps not wisely. The depth of his feeling probably won’t ever be returned. On Nora’s side, she responds believably, guardedly to Jack’s naked, problematic devotion. It’s nice to be loved, she knows, and she feels something for him, but do those feelings outweigh the buzz of being admired? Or the persistent flaws in his character, particularly since he never seems to fully own up to them? Is it fair to accept love from someone when you don’t know if you reciprocate? These are wonderfully complex questions, really meaty ideas.

Even the mechanics of plot dovetail so nicely with the story’s emotional core. The revelation of the child’s identity creates an emotional paradox. Does Nora cautiously acquiesce to Jack’s advances because she knows she won’t be with him forever? Does Jack really understand what he’s getting into, and would he care if he did? It’s Nora’s pragmatism and Jack’s immaturity in sweet, probably fleeting synch.

The ambivalence I’m left with now is driven by the story itself. Is this a happy ending? Bittersweet? Is it an ending at all, or is it just respite, which would resonate perfectly with the super-hero tropes the book employs. Everything ends eventually, but nothing ends forever.

As much as I ended up liking Love Fights, I wish I’d read it all in one sitting. I can’t imagine it working as well in monthly installments, though that might just be my natural impatience talking. But even in two halves, I still felt strangely robbed of Watson’s slow-burn intertwining of themes. It really seems like a story that should be collected and read all in one chunk. But that’s probably a whole different discussion.

Blogger ate my shopping list, and I’m too busy grinding my teeth to recreate it. Stupid Blogger. Robbing the world of redundant snark.

Okay, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

This is depressing. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation surveyed high school students, teachers, and administrators on their views on the First Amendment:

• “Nearly three-fourths of high school students either do not know how they feel about the First Amendment or admit they take it for granted.”
• “Seventy-five percent erroneously think flag burning is illegal.”
• “Half believe the government can censor the Internet.”
• “More than a third think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.”

Not to worry, though! Surely our new Secretary of Education will turn this around, won’t she? I mean, now that the administration is done paying journalists to promote No Child Left Behind? Or maybe she’ll be too busy smacking around disobedient PBS affiliates for airing Travels With Buster?