Tag Archives: Gotham Central

March Broke More Like It. LOL!!1!

Posted on March 28, 2012 by GrahamB

Welcome to an “It’s Been A Slow Week” edition of Graham’s Grumbles!  Comic books, people.  Unlike American politics, it just can’t be scandal after scandal all the time.  So, this week I’m going to focus in on some recent purchases.  The last couple of weeks have seen a lot of stores do March Break sales in honor of kids running wild with their parent’s money for a few days.  Here are some of the books I snagged on the cheaps.

Alias Vol. 1

This series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos and lasted 28 issues.  This trade paperback in particular collects the first 28 issues.  It’s been a long time since I read any of it, but it introduced Jessica Jones to the Marvel universe.  She’s a private detective with a bit of a mysterious past.  She’s friends with Ant-Man and Luke Cage, and makes use of her connections to solve mysteries in the Marvel U. Another thing that sets it apart is that it was one of the first Marvel Max books, meaning it could play around with some “R” rated material.  Like sex.  ENJOY!

Gotham Central Vol. 1

A lot of the stuff I end up buying in collected editions are DC titles.  I’m invested enough in Marvel that I get most of the major storylines in single issue format.  DC, though, I feel like I can wait on.  This is a series I’ve been meaning to get for awhile.  I’ve read some of the issues years ago, but never got around to getting it.  It was co-written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker who are now two of the biggest names in comics.  Rucka is also the writer of an excellent series of novels about bodyguard Atticus Kodiak which I highly recommend.  Anyhoo, the nitty gritty of it is about police officers trying to fight crime in Gotham City.  Obviously this is not the easiest task when common criminals are Joker and Mr. Freeze and you’re constantly being upstaged by a certain super rich vigilante.

Flash Rebirth

Another one of those DC storylines that I was willing to wait for a trade paperback collection before buying.  This series has the same principle creative team as the very cool Green Lantern Rebirth – Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.  Both series revolve around the reincarnation of a beloved silver-age superhero.  In this case, it’s the second Flash, Barry Allen.  I don’t know too much about it, but Johns is a serviceable writer and Van Sciver is an AMAZING artist.  I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done.  It’s a date!

Unwritten vols. 4 and 5

This is a series I’ve been reading since the summer in trade format.  It’s really good and I can’t wait to see where it goes.  The creators are Mike Carey and Peter Gross with fantastic covers by Yuko Shimizu.  I’m not really sure how to describe it without spoiling things.  Suffice it to say, it’s about the life that fictional characters can take on outside of their creators.  It’s about when fiction and reality collide.  And it’s kind of about Harry Potter.  I’m totally blown away by it, and this is from a guy who’s never really liked much of Mike Carey’s work before this.  I never really got into his X-Men stuff, and despite loving Sandman I couldn’t really get into his Lucifer series.  Every trade so far has had some sort of cool twist, and it never goes where you think it will.  Highly, highly recommend it, and can’t wait to see where it goes.

So, there are just a few of the comics I got during the holy days of March Break.  What else do you think I should get?

Graham Becksted’s got some reading to do.  He is the author of Graham’s Grumbles the second blog by that name that is listed in Google results when you search for Graham’s Grumbles.  If you would like to be his 58th follower (thank you, bots), he can be followed on Twitter @GrahamBecksted.

Posted in Graham's Grumbles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Superhero TV Shows

Posted on February 14, 2012 by GrahamB

I know I just did a piece on comic book TV shows but today I got a great idea for a show.  It’s so perfect that I think I can fill a whole column with it.  It’s such a great idea that I feel like I should probably charge for it.  In fact, I just thought of another!  I need to get a job with a TV network.  Seriously.

There seems to be a few types of shows that always survive no matter how many copycats are on the air.  Doctors, lawyers, and police officers always seem to have a place on TV unless they’re singing.  Daytime talk shows too, but those are harder to combine with comic books.  Powers is already being turned into a TV show, so that takes that off the board.  But, there’s another Police/Superheroes comic book that I think could make for a great TV show.

Gotham Central (GC).  This was a series by two of the best writers working in comics today – Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker.  It was about cops working the beat in Gotham City.  While Powers is about cops, who may or may not have powers themselves, working in a city where superpowers are illegal, GC is about regular joe cops solving crimes in the wake of the Batman.  The comic lasted for 40 issues, but introduced and developed quite a few non-powered police officers.  It could have done in one crime stories and arcs that follow the detectives as they track down supervillains.  Batman and Robin could make cameos and Commissioner Gordon could star.

No brainer, right?  I think if they made it gritty like NYPD Blue, and not campy like Birds Of Prey, it could seriously last for a long time.  I think that’s the real secret.  Treat it seriously, and the audience will treat it seriously.  If the creators don’t respect it, how can it last?

Secondly – Daredevil.  A superhero who’s secret identity is a blind lawyer.  Oh my God, it’s like the perfect superhero TV show.  Every week there would be a new case.  Matt Murdock would defend the sceptical defendant in court while Daredevil would prowl the streets looking for proof that his client was innocent.  Throughout the seasons he could find more and more links between organized crime and respected citizen Wilson Fisk.  Eventually he would discover that Fisk was also the Kingpin of crime and he would keep trying to find ways to bring him down.

For comic relief add Foggy Nelson, Matt’s bumbling attorney sidekick.  For moral support there’s Ben Urich, a reporter at the local newspaper.  And for a love interest, the somewhat unstable firm secretary – Karen Page.  It seems like the perfect combination of typical law drama and superhero action.  Argh!  I would pay to see this.

How could those shows not last!?  I think you should really start a petition to make me the show runner of one or more of these fine programs.  I would certainly not stand in your way.

Graham Becksted is an idea machine for comic book to TV show ideas.  He is the author of Graham’s Grumbles the second blog by that name that is listed in Google results when you search for Graham’s Grumbles.  If you would like to be his 52nd follower (thank you, bots), he can be followed on Twitter @GrahamBecksted.

Posted in Graham's Grumbles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment