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Lire ou relire Echenoz, c'est voir le monde par sa fenêtre, sous un regard imprévu. Courir, après Je m'en vais, Jérôme Lindon, Au piano et Ravel, raconte l'histoire à la première personne d'un fameux Tchèque, Émile Zatopek, athlète accompli et champion de la course à pied. Avec une ironie et une causticité mordantes, il évoque les temps hostiles où le régime d'occupation nazi ne laissait pas briller la gloire de ce militaire hors du commun. a href=http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/11/22/217853.htmlSuite/a

On Nov. 15, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Gyurcsány, met in the border town of Komárno, Slovakia, in an attempt to ease nationalist tensions that have escalated due to Nov. 1 football game violence in Dunajská Streda, Slovakia.

Eva S. Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum has been blogging a lot recently about the Slovak-Hungarian relations, and here are some of the highlights.

On Nov. 1, Eva provided details and background on the football game incident:

While families made their yearly pilgrimage to cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of relatives about five hundred Hungarian soccer fans went to the southern Slovak town of Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely) to create trouble. The town, situated fairly close to the Slovak-Hungarian border, is predominantly Hungarian. Of the 23,000 inhabitants the Slovak population is no more than about 3,000.

The soccer match between Slovan Bratislava and the locals was unlikely to be a nailbiter. But the stadium, seating 10,000, was filled. One thousand people came from Bratislava and there was a contingent of 500 from Hungary. The Slovak police must have known that trouble was brewing because about 1,000 policemen were ordered to the scene. […] The Bratislava group was attacked en route: rocks were thrown at them. Some people were arrested at that junction.

The Hungarians called attention to themselves by displaying signs saying: Perseverence (Kitartás). Unfortunately that was the customary greeting of Hungarian Nazis in the late 30's and 40's. The stadium was full about an hour before kickoff, and the two sides spent the time screaming obscenities at each other. Just before the match began the locals and the Hungarian visitors sang the Hungarian national anthem. At last play started, but after eighteen minutes the referee had to stop the match because the people from Bratislava threw a smoke bomb onto the field. […]

On Nov. 9, Eva noted that it was “difficult to know exactly what happened” when the Slovak police chose to interfere:

[…] Each side has its own story. The Hungarian “fans” claim that there was no disturbance in their sector of the arena and that the Slovak police brutally attacked them without reason. The videos that circulated on the Internet indeed show Slovak policemen using their nightsticks rather indiscriminately on the retreating Hungarians. But I'm a cautious sort, and there is a very good possibility that the video segment we see doesn't tell the whole story. Moreover, the breakdown of arrestees indicates that the Slovak police were not kinder to their own extremists. About the same number of Slovaks and Hungarians were arrested and later released. […]

In Hungary, people were “outraged” by the presumed actions of the Slovak police:

[…] Yes, they do admit that it was not appropriate to go to Slovakia with pictures of Greater Hungary, a Hungary that included as part of its territory present-day Slovakia, then known as the Upland (Felvidék). And, yes, it was provocative to display irredentist slogans. But, they add, neither justified the use of brutal force. […]

On Nov. 3, an ultra-nationalist rally was held in Budapest:

[…] They gathered close to 1,000 people in front of the Slovak embassy, burned at least one Slovak flag, and displayed signs demanding “Death to Ján Slota.” Ján Slota, head of SNS (Slovak National Party), is not a nice man. Hungarians are high up on his hate list, but Gypsies and homosexuals are not exactly his favorites either. He considers the Hungarian minority in Slovakia “a cancer in the body of the Slovak nation,” and a couple of times he alluded to the joy he would feel someday moving into Budapest inside of a tank. Every time Slota says something outrageous all of Hungary listens. Before the current coalition which includes Slota's party came to power in 2006, Hungarian-Slovak relations were cordial. But, of course, then the coalition partner was MKP (Magyar Koalició Pártja/Strana Mad'arsklek Koalícije), a party of the Hungarian minority. […]

On Nov. 12, Eva wrote pessimistically about the upcoming meeting between the prime ministers of the two sabre-rattling neighbor nations:

At last. After months and months of strained relations between Slovakia and Hungary the two prime ministers agreed to meet. […]

[…]

What can the meeting between Fico and Gyurcsány achieve? As far as I can see, nothing. […]

She also commented on the Hungarian politicians' stance:

[…] To wit, the Hungarian government and all the parties condemn the recent actions of the Hungarian extreme right. They are against Hungarian nationalism, they are against extremists entering Slovakia in Nazi uniforms. They are also against these little Nazis marching up and down in Hungary, but what can the Hungarian government do? […]

There were cases of dissent, however, as Eva pointed out in her Nov. 14 post:

[…] Predictably, Hungarian politicians are not of one mind on the recent incidents in Slovakia. To give only one example. A Fidesz member of parliament, Béla Túri-Kovács, is demanding the resignation of a colleague, Mátyás Eörsi of [SZDSZ], who is the chairman of the parliamentary committee on European affairs. Eörsi went to Slovakia for a meeting with his Slovak counterparts. He said that both sides should accept some blame for the incidents and did a mea culpa on behalf of Hungary. Well, Túri-Kovács sure didn't like this admission of guilt. […]

The right-wing Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union, mentioned in the passage above, is Hungary's largest opposition party; an earlier GV roundup of Hungarian Spectrum's posts on Fidesz politics is here. Also, in this post, Eva discussed an article on the “managers of populism” - Austria's late Jörg Haider, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, and Slovakia's Robert Fico - written by sociologist Pál Tamás.

In her Nov. 15 post, Eva put part of the blame for the Hungarian government's failure to rein in “small but vocal and active far-right groups” on Fidesz:

[…] One problem is that there is no united political resolve to deal with the extremists. Viktor Orbán and his party, Fidesz, are masters of double-talk which encourages the extremists. If Fidesz doesn't unequivocally support the extremists, the party doesn't condemn them either. Or if they say something negative, they add: “but one can understand their frustration.” After all, Orbán needs their votes. The extreme right is much larger than the few hundred people who are ready to go out on the street to demonstrate. According to one recent sociological study, those with extreme right-wing sentiments may be as high as 20% of the population though only 5% are ready to take part in demonstrations that may end in violence. The rest just watch and cheer their friends on. […]

[…]

The only hope is the force of public opinion. But it surely would be easier if Fidesz openly and without reservation stood alongside the government in condemning these extremists. Alas, that is not in the party's interest at the moment.

As for the meeting between Fico and Gyurcsány, it resulted in a joint statement, in which the two leaders pledged to take steps towards eliminating “any kind of extremism, xenophobia, intolerance, chauvinism, nationalism and every manifestation of violence.” Eva commented on the meeting's outcome in her Nov. 16 post:

[…] Let's face it, this is not much, although surely it is better than nothing. As far as I know, the Hungarians wanted to have a satisfactory explanation of “police brutality” at the soccer match as well as assurances of a more balanced treatment of Hungarian history in Hungarian-language schools. They were also unhappy about the ban on Hungarian flags at games […]. None of these demands was met. Fico didn't arrive with any proof that the Hungarian soccer fans used physical violence prior to the police attack on their ranks. Fico didn't budge on the flag issue. […] While Gyurcsány complained about the nationalistic, anti-Hungarian rhetoric of the Slovak government, Fico voiced his indignation over the appearance of uniformed Hungarian extremists on Slovak soil. […]

In her Nov. 18 post, Eva wrote about the media coverage of the meeting:

[…] However, it seems that Robert Fico was dissatisfied with the Slovak reporters who were present at the rather stormy press conference after the Komarno meeting. The same evening he, together with the president of the republic and the speaker of the Slovak parliament, appeared on Slovak public television (STV) and accused the Slovak journalists of having tossed softballs to Gyurcsány; they did not represent the interests of Slovakia. The Hungarian journalists, perhaps not surprisingly, believed that Gyurcsány came out better from the verbal duel. […]

Commentators whose sympathies lie with the right keep repeating an old Hungarian adage that can be summarized as “nobody understands us.” This is usually uttered when it becomes obvious that western reporters can easily grasp that police at violent soccer matches often act violently and that uniformed paramilitary groups have no place anywhere, especially not in a neighboring country. These commentators usually continue that the West simply can't understand the complexities of Slovak-Hungarian relations. […]

Par Renaud Dély. Martine Aubry, c'est un peu la restauration. Celle des années Jospin. Par les meilleures qu'ait connes le PS, en somme. Ils y sont arrivés. Ce fut long, lent et difficile, mais le TSS (« Tout sauf Ségolène ») a fini par fonctionner. De justesse. Il aura fallu que Martine Aubry s’acoquine avec Laurent Fabius, s’entende avec Lionel Jospin, s’accorde avec Benoît Hamon, et même se réconcilie avec Bertrand Delanoë, mais au bout du compte, l’essentiel est réussi : Royal, l’hérétique ne mettra pas les mains sur le temple de Solférino. Depuis le lendemain de l’élection présidentielle, c’était le dessein prioritaire que s’étaient assigné les éléphants. Dépossédés de l’investiture élyséenne par l’usurpatrice, celle qui n’était pas prévue dans le casting, ils se sont ligués pour l’empêcher de pousser son avantage. Et prendre leur revanche. Raison pour laquelle François Hollande s’est, par exemple, appliqué à prolonger au maximum le calendrier préparatoire au Congrès, afin de mieux affaiblir l’étoile de son ex-compagne.
Mission accomplie, donc. Reste maintenant à savoir quelle sera la marge de manoeuvre de la nouvelle Première secrétaire pour tenter de réanimer un parti exsangue et profondément divisé.

Six ans de purgatoire chez les Ch’tis
La maire de Lille a, certes, réussi un formidable come-back sur la scène nationale. Après avoir passé six ans de purgatoire sous le beffroi nordiste, confinée en son Hôtel de ville depuis sa défaite aux législatives de 2002, la dame des 35 heures est parvenue à rebondir sur la scène nationale et il convient de saluer sa performance. Son principal souci sera désormais de tenter de recoller les morceaux d’une famille déchirée dont l’un des ancêtres, Lionel Jospin, est allé jusqu’à comparer, jeudi soir, le discours rénovateur de Ségolène Royal à celui des « néos-socialistes  », ces dissidents entraînés par Marcel Déat sur le chemin de la collaboration avec l’occupant nazi ! Subtil, l’austère ! La tâche de Martine Aubry s’avère donc particulièrement délicate. D’abord parce que le parti se retrouve divisé en deux camps numériquement à peu près égaux. Ensuite parce qu’elle risque de se heurter au refus de Royal de se plier à l’autorité de celle qui demeure sa meilleure ennemie au sein du PS. Enfin, parce qu’au vu de l’attelage hétéroclite qui la soutient, Martine Aubry va devoir composer avec de nombreuses sensibilités rivales et gérer la rue de Solférino de façon fort collective, ce qui n’est pas forcément son tempérament.

Les deux principaux mécaniciens à l’origine de cet échafaudage, couronné de succès mais fragile, surnommé rassemblement des « carpes et des lapins », sont le député de Paris, Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, chef des carpes strauss-kahniennes qui guettent le retour de leur champion de Washington pour 2012, et son collègue de Seine-Saint-Denis, Claude Bartolone, porte-parole des lapins fabiusiens qui continuent de croire en l’inaltérable bonne fortune de l’ancien Premier ministre pour atteindre l’inaccessible étoile élyséenne : c’est dire l’équilibre instable sur lequel est, pour l’heure, assis le pouvoir naissant de Martine Aubry...

Côté rénovation idéologique et changement des modes de fonctionnement interne du parti, cette situation  devrait contraindre la maire de Lille à avancer lentement. Au risque de verser dans cet immobilisme, quintessence de la gestion de François Hollande onze ans durant, mais qui ne correspond guère à la nature de l’ex-ministre du Travail.

Tout juste l’affirmation du sacro-saint « ancrage à gauche » et la perpétuation de la tradition militante sont-ils garantis, au risque de faire le bonheur de François Bayrou qui devrait retrouver un peu plus d’espace au centre. La reconstruction du PS et, surtout, le retour de l’harmonie dans ses rangs, demeurent une oeuvre de longue haleine.

D’autant que la victoire de Martine Aubry a une première conséquence, source d’un peu plus de désordre encore : après Dominique, Laurent, François, Ségolène, et sans doute quelques autres, les socialistes ne vont pas tarder à voir émerger, avec Martine, une présidentiable de plus !

Par Renaud Dély. Eh oui, l'élection de Martine Aubry à la tête du PS ne fait que rajouter un nom à la (longue) liste des présidentiables socialistes. Après Dominique, Laurent, François, Ségolène, Bertrand, et j'en passe... Ils y sont arrivés. Ce fut long, lent et difficile, mais le TSS (« Tout sauf Ségolène ») a fini par fonctionner. De justesse. Il aura fallu que Martine Aubry s’acoquine avec Laurent Fabius, s’entende avec Lionel Jospin, s’accorde avec Benoît Hamon, et même se réconcilie avec Bertrand Delanoë, mais au bout du compte, l’essentiel est réussi : Royal, l’hérétique ne mettra pas les mains sur le temple de Solférino. Depuis le lendemain de l’élection présidentielle, c’était le dessein prioritaire que s’étaient assigné les éléphants. Dépossédés de l’investiture élyséenne par l’usurpatrice, celle qui n’était pas prévue dans le casting, ils se sont ligués pour l’empêcher de pousser son avantage. Et prendre leur revanche. Raison pour laquelle François Hollande s’est, par exemple, appliqué à prolonger au maximum le calendrier préparatoire au Congrès, afin de mieux affaiblir l’étoile de son ex-compagne.
Mission accomplie, donc. Reste maintenant à savoir quelle sera la marge de manoeuvre de la nouvelle Première secrétaire pour tenter de réanimer un parti exsangue et profondément divisé.

Six ans de purgatoire chez les Ch’tis
La maire de Lille a, certes, réussi un formidable come-back sur la scène nationale. Après avoir passé six ans de purgatoire sous le beffroi nordiste, confinée en son Hôtel de ville depuis sa défaite aux législatives de 2002, la dame des 35 heures est parvenue à rebondir sur la scène nationale et il convient de saluer sa performance. Son principal souci sera désormais de tenter de recoller les morceaux d’une famille déchirée dont l’un des ancêtres, Lionel Jospin, est allé jusqu’à comparer, jeudi soir, le discours rénovateur de Ségolène Royal à celui des « néos-socialistes  », ces dissidents entraînés par Marcel Déat sur le chemin de la collaboration avec l’occupant nazi ! Subtil, l’austère ! La tâche de Martine Aubry s’avère donc particulièrement délicate. D’abord parce que le parti se retrouve divisé en deux camps numériquement à peu près égaux. Ensuite parce qu’elle risque de se heurter au refus de Royal de se plier à l’autorité de celle qui demeure sa meilleure ennemie au sein du PS. Enfin, parce qu’au vu de l’attelage hétéroclite qui la soutient, Martine Aubry va devoir composer avec de nombreuses sensibilités rivales et gérer la rue de Solférino de façon fort collective, ce qui n’est pas forcément son tempérament.

Les deux principaux mécaniciens à l’origine de cet échafaudage, couronné de succès mais fragile, surnommé rassemblement des « carpes et des lapins », sont le député de Paris, Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, chef des carpes strauss-kahniennes qui guettent le retour de leur champion de Washington pour 2012, et son collègue de Seine-Saint-Denis, Claude Bartolone, porte-parole des lapins fabiusiens qui continuent de croire en l’inaltérable bonne fortune de l’ancien Premier ministre pour atteindre l’inaccessible étoile élyséenne : c’est dire l’équilibre instable sur lequel est, pour l’heure, assis le pouvoir naissant de Martine Aubry...

Côté rénovation idéologique et changement des modes de fonctionnement interne du parti, cette situation  devrait contraindre la maire de Lille à avancer lentement. Au risque de verser dans cet immobilisme, quintessence de la gestion de François Hollande onze ans durant, mais qui ne correspond guère à la nature de l’ex-ministre du Travail.

Tout juste l’affirmation du sacro-saint « ancrage à gauche » et la perpétuation de la tradition militante sont-ils garantis, au risque de faire le bonheur de François Bayrou qui devrait retrouver un peu plus d’espace au centre. La reconstruction du PS et, surtout, le retour de l’harmonie dans ses rangs, demeurent une oeuvre de longue haleine.

D’autant que la victoire de Martine Aubry a une première conséquence, source d’un peu plus de désordre encore : après Dominique, Laurent, François, Ségolène, et sans doute quelques autres, les socialistes ne vont pas tarder à voir émerger, avec Martine, une présidentiable de plus !

In the late summer of 1939, a 13-year-old Jewish boy named Manfred stepped on to a train at a Berlin railway station, waved goodbye to the parents he would never see again and headed for Britain.

Two long-awaited mini-series come to an end! Can you stand the suspense from not knowing what they are? If not, read on!

Air #4 by G. Willow Wilson (writer), M. K. Perker (artist), Chris Chuckry (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Air is still keeping me interested without really dazzling me, but it’s getting to the point where I may have to drop it. Usually I give books six issues to grab hold, and although I admire a lot about Air, there’s a lot that’s not working too. Blythe’s conversation with the masked priest who she thinks is Zayn works well, because we get some good insight into her character and what’s going on in the book. The transition to Mexico City and the new players in the game is awkwardly handled, though, and as the conspiracy grows quickly, it ironically becomes less interesting. I’m not sure if it’s a case of too much, too soon, because we’ve come very far from the weird premise of the first issue, but I also understand that doling out information in a work of serialized fiction is a delicate balance - too little and people lose interest; too much and it become overload. Air is veering toward overload, and it does seem like Wilson needs to slow down just a bit. There’s hardly enough time to process what’s going on, when suddenly we’re shifting continents and plot points and then, just as suddenly, there’s a weird flying machine on the last page. As much as the premise is intriguing, it feels like Wilson is desperate to cram too much plot into each issue.

Perker’s art has some problems, too. His figure drawing is fine, but too often he skimps on the backgrounds, giving the book a strange “nowhere” look. The text says we’re in Mexico City, but nothing about it feels like Mexico City (of course, I haven’t been to Mexico City, but there’s no sense of any place about the pages in Mexico) Perker certainly can do better - Cairo had a real sense of the city and the mysterious tunnels and passages under it - but perhaps the rush of a monthly book is not a good fit for him. Part of the weirdness of the book is that it takes place in “no place” - on bland airplanes - but that sense of unreality that comes from being on a plane shouldn’t extend to actual locations. It’s frustrating, because the first few pages, when Blythe is hallucinating about the winged serpent, work well and feature outdoor scenes that have a strong sense of place.

This is one of those comics that I really want to like. Four issues in, there’s a lot to enjoy about it. But I still have to think about dropping it, and we’ll see where the next two issues go.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, September and October): 8,777 (#2; rank: 194) and 10,061 (#3; rank: 195). That’s weird. A fairly big jump in orders from one issue to the next.

Ambush Bug: Year None #4 (of 6) by Keith Giffen (plotter/penciller), Robert Loren Fleming (scripter), Al Milgrom (inker), Tom Smith (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 23 pgs, FC, DC.

As usual with this comic, there’s nothing really here except tons of gags that are really funny if you know a little about DC comics (and your enjoyment of them increases the more you know) and are perhaps mildly amusing if you don’t know anything about DC. In this issue, Giffen rips Dan DiDio mercilessly, which is hilarious but sad when you realize how spot-on it is and how DiDio apparently doesn’t care. And I find it the height of irony that facing the page on which Ambush Bug says, “I guess I’m going to have to get used to a kindler, gentler DC Universe,” we get this ad:

Giffen obviously sees the idiocy of DC - why doesn’t DiDio?

Again, this is very funny if you’ve read DC, but probably less so if you haven’t. I like it, but it makes me sad, too.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, August and September): 14,627 (#2; rank: 135) and 13,477 (#3; rank: 150). As I’ve written before, this seems pretty good for an obscure character with no big names on the book. The Giffen factor?

Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #4 (of 5) by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Ronda Pattison (colorist), and Jeff Powell (letterer). Back-up story by Joshua and Jonathan Ross (story/artists), Brian Clevinger (scripter), and Jeff Powell (letterer). $2.95, 27 pgs (22 for the main story, 5 for the back-up), FC, Red 5 Comics.

Atomic Robo sails merrily along, with the penultimate issue revealing some things (like who’s behind the big Nazi scheme) and, of course, featuring plenty of fighting. There’s not much I can say about it, because it’s just pure, unadulterated, comics joy. Clevinger continues to write wise cracks that flow easily from the action, Wegener continues to draw wonderfully, and it’s all hurtling toward a big-time conclusion. People who complain about all comics being gloomy are obviously not reading Atomic Robo. Maybe they should.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, September and October): 4,925 (#2; rank: 246) and 4,906 (#3; rank: 284). I guess that’s fine - it’s holding steady.

Bad Planet #6 (of 6) by Thomas Jane (writer), Steve Niles (writer), James Daly III (penciller), Tim Bradstreet (inker), Grant Goleash (colorist), and Jason Hanley (letterer). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, Image/Raw Studios.

Shockingly enough, the final issue of Bad Planet showed up in stores on Wednesday. Bad Planet, you’ll recall, was supposed to be a 12-issue series, but it’s been truncated to six, although the ending leaves the possibility of a sequel wide open. It’s a shame this was so delayed, because it’s a fun, goofy comic full of 1950s-science fiction wackiness, from the deathspiders that have greatly reduced the Earth’s population to the solution to humanity’s problem, which goes back to Nikola Tesla (doesn’t it always?). Daly does a fine job with the art, and although the story makes little sense on a macro level and I can forgive that, the fact that we cut away from important events (like Veronica’s flight to Washington) is weird and halts the momentum of the book. At his blog, Tim Bradstreet explains some of the reasons for the hiatus, and now that it’s “done,” maybe people will discover this book in trade. I can’t really say it’s a great comic, but the creators go hell-for-leather magnificently to bring us this wild tale, and that’s something we should all respect.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#4 and #5, November 2007 and April): 4,575 (#4; rank: 252) and 4,467 (#5; rank: 259). The delay hasn’t hurt this comic, as it has one below!

City of Dust #2 (of 5) by Steve Niles (writer), Zid (artist), Garrie Gastonny (artist), Brandon Chng (artist), Buddy Jiang (colorist), Leos Ng (colorist), Sixth Creation (colorist), and Chris Eliopoulos (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Radical Comics.

Radical was nice enough to send me this in the mail, so I get to read two Steve Niles books this week! Whoo-hoo!

I mentioned that the first issue of this had a couple of problems: it was too derivative, and the art was too murky. The art is a bit brighter in this issue, and just that small change makes this a better issue to read. The art (split between a few different people, although the styles are all similar) isn’t great, but the brighter tones of the book help the storytelling, at least. So there’s that.

Niles continues to tell a story of a dystopian future where imagination is a crime, and with the set-up out of the way, he can concentrate on what made the first issue interesting: the actual murder of some guy and the book that Philip Khrome found under the body. Khrome is, of course, under suspicion by the thought police (GBI, they’re called in the book) because he looked at the book, and he’s interrogated by the head dude, Agent Morgan. Niles does two interesting things with this comic: Khrome continues to be a “the system is right” kind of guy, which is far more interesting than someone who rebels instantly because he’s persecuted by said system. I still see a spiritual awakening for Khrome down the line, where he realizes that he’s been wrong all these years and people just need to read, damn it! Maybe that will happen, maybe it won’t. For now, it’s interesting to see Khrome trying to solve the crime without worrying about bringing down the system. The other thing Niles does is set up Morgan as Khrome’s nemesis and then subvert our expectations. It’s nicely done, and lets us know that things are not what they seem. Plus, Niles reveals the bad guys, and although they’re nothing special, it’s interesting how he ties them into the main theme of the comic.

This issue fleshes out the character of Khrome a bit more, gets us into the crime a bit more, and isn’t difficult to read because the art is too dark. Niles, who seems to have problems with endings, doesn’t have any problems with beginnings, and he’s set up an interesting murder mystery. There’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned murder mystery!

Sales figures for issue #1 (October): 8,981 (rank: 209). I have to think that’s pretty good.

Dynamo 5 #18 by Jay Faerber (writer), Mahmud A. Asrar (artist), Marcio Takara (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), and Charles Pritchett (letterer). Back-up story by Jay Faerber (writer), Joe Eisma (artist), Paul Little (colorist), and Charles Pritchett (letterer). $3.50, 27 pgs (20 for the main story, 6 for the back-up), FC, Image.

Over in Jay Faerber’s neck of the woods, Dynamo 5 gets a guest artist (Asrar draws only three pages) and a back-up story, but keeps trucking along. Scrap’s replacement team gets into a fight with a group of super-villains and doesn’t fare very well (as you can see from the cover). As usual, it’s simple kick-ass superheroing and supervillaining, but Faerber is able to do that so well that it feels fresh. Even the twist at the end, which comes from Superhero 101 class, hits us like a punch in the gut. It’s very hard to describe how good Faerber’s two ongoings for Image are (although Noble Causes is ending, it’s still around for now), because not every issue stands out as truly superb. There are stellar moments, but even those don’t show up all the time. If I wrote about the plot - supervillains collects other supervillains who match up well against the new Dynamo 5, said supervillains attack, said supervillains beat up Dynamo 5, something surprising happens at the end - you might think, “That’s the scenario of every superhero comic I’ve ever read!” Well, true, but as always, it’s in the execution. Faerber adds so many small touches that make this fun to read, like Timothy Lipinski going all gooey when he gets his people-killing armor back. Okay, that’s not really fun, but it’s something a slightly psychotic super-villain would do.

I’m not sure what’s up with the back-up story. It’s the tale of a private investigator who sets someone up, and it’s a clever little story, but I don’t know if Faerber is going to start a new series with the P. I. (who, interestingly enough, isn’t named, although the title of the story is “Dodge’s Bullets,” indicating that Dodge is either his first or last name). Either way, it’s a fun short story.

As Brian noted, prices for regular Marvel books (”regular” meaning 22 pages of story with no “extra” material) are going up to $3.99. Faerber himself stopped by to explain why Dynamo 5 is $3.50. Considering it’s as good, if not better, than any other superhero comic you can buy, isn’t it time you stopped hoping that Marvel will come to its senses with regard to pricing and checked this out instead?

Sales figures for the last two issues (#16 and #17, September and October): 5,014 (#16; rank: 241) and 4,792 (#17; rank: 287). I guess that’s fine - the drop is odd, but not huge.

Ex Machina #39 by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (penciller), Jim Clark (inker), JD Mettler (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/WildStorm.

The frustrating thing about Ex Machina is that Vaughan is ending it with issue #50, but now we’re going to have to wait two years for that to arrive. I look forward to every issue, even weaker ones like this one, and now that Vaughan has hinted about where the book is going (he may have done this in interviews prior to this, but I don’t read interviews, so this is the first time within the comic he’s hinted about the book’s direction), I’m really looking forward to the end. But I have to wait so damned long!!!!!

As I wrote above, this is a weaker issue, mainly because Monica is such a dull “villain” to the point where she’s not one at all, really. Vaughan’s biggest weakness with this book is feeling that he has to put costumed weirdos in it, even if the book doesn’t necessarily warrant it, and building story arcs around them. Monica’s story could have been told in two issues, tops, but it was stretched out a bit, and that weakened it. Still, Kremlin’s a-doings and the way Vaughan turns the book toward the future help mitigate that a bit. I’m fascinated to see the rest of the series.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#37 and #38, June and September): 14,921 (#37; rank: 131) and 14,973 (#38; rank: 137). Holding virtually steady. Those who buy it are invested, man!

Ghost Rider #29 by Jason Aaron (writer), Tan Eng Huat (artist), José Villarrubia (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I said I wasn’t going to buy this anymore because last issue was $3.99 with a lousy recap of Danny Ketch’s career as Ghost Rider as the “extra” material. Well, I calmed down and decided to buy this, because I have been enjoying Aaron’s run on the title. Unfortunately, I might drop it anyway.

It’s not that this is bad. Aaron is writing a slam-bang action comic, and Huat’s art continues to look better than it has in the past. But it’s not as flat-out insane as Aaron’s first arc, when we had killer nurses and haunted highways and cannibals. It’s a fairly standard superhero comic, and although Aaron does it well, it doesn’t give me any reason to keep coming back. I suppose if I was more invested in the Ghost Rider mythos, it would be more powerful, but I’m not, so the actual story and writing have to be dazzling, and for the past few issues, they haven’t been. It’s certainly keen to see Danny and Johnny throw down, but beyond that, I don’t get the same sense of danger that I get, for instance, with Dynamo 5 and its big fight. It’s just two really powerful dudes smashing each other, and that’s tough to make interesting.

The end of the issue promises “more Ghost Riders,” as we learned last issue that there are several wandering the Earth. It will come out in December, which means the following month I usually think about culling titles. I doubt if this will make the cut. I miss the craziness of the first arc, which was truly and wildly awesome. Oh well.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#27 and 28, September and October): 23,402 (#27; rank: 105) and 26,993 (#28; rank: 102). A slight boost with the 4-dollar issue that I ranted about. I guess I suck.

Moon Knight #24 by Mike Benson (writer), Mark Texeira (artist), Javier Saltares (layouts), Dan Brown (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I like how the past two issues have featured Bullseye on the cover, even though the first time Bullseye shows up in this arc is on the last page of this issue. I guess he’s just so freakin’ cool that Suydam had to put him on two consecutive covers!

This isn’t quite as excellent an issue as the last few, but it’s still very good. When last we left our favorite crazy superhero, Venom was about to eat his brain. Of course, he doesn’t, because that would be awkward, but there’s a big fight between MK and the Thunderbolts, and what makes it interesting is that Moon Knight doesn’t really win. It’s his book, after all, so the usual thing to do is make him superhuman and have him mop the floor with his adversaries, which is what writers of, say, the Caped Crusader always do. He does a fine job beating up on the Thunderbolts, but it’s not like he’s whipping them. He’s even in a bit of trouble until S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up. Isn’t that always the way?

As this is the penultimate issue of the arc, we get some set-up for the final issue. Jean-Paul still wants revenge, and Marc actually has to act human a little bit. Frenchie tells a story about his mercenary days, which helps illuminate, once again, a major theme of this book - the consequences of violence and how no one escapes. Marvel has spoiled the end of this arc in the solicitations, which annoys the hell out of me, but it’s still a bittersweet issue, as Marc knows he probably can’t get out of this. We’ll see exactly how this ends.

I guess Bullseye actually shows up next issue and does some ass-kicking. That’ll be nice.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#22 and #23, September and October): 26,380 (#22; rank: 94) and 25,216 (#23; rank: 111). Holding relatively steady, which makes me happy.

Pax Romana #4 (of 4) by Jonathan Hickman (writer/artist). $3.50, 28 pgs, FC, Image.

Pax Romana finally concludes, and it’s not quite as strong as Hickman’s first series, The Nightly News. Despite that book’s inevitably lackluster ending, it was ridiculously bold and a breath of fresh air both story-wise and art-wise. Pax Romana looks great, with that odd Hickman style that is gorgeous to look at, and the story is still compelling, but Hickman never quite pulls it off. It’s always been a 4-issue mini-series, but perhaps it could have used an extra issue, because the characters never quite gel and in order to get his philosophical ramblings into the book (don’t get me wrong - I like the philosophical ramblings), Hickman seems to have sacrificed some characterization and action. Like The Nightly News, Hickman has grand themes on his mind in this book, and one of the characters vocalizes them late in the comic. Overall, the idea of the book - sending people back in time to make sure the world doesn’t fall into barbarism - is fascinating, and although Hickman gets his major point about the nature of people across, he doesn’t manage it with the same flair that he brought to The Nightly News. Ironically, the end of this book probably works better than that earlier one, but the journey isn’t as strong.

Still, Hickman continues to be an impressive voice in comics, both with his astonshing artwork and in the themes he examines in his work. I hope he does more work, and I hope he speeds up a bit. Waiting for his comics is frustrating, to say the least.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#2 and #3, March and September): 4,794 (#2; rank: 239) and 2,889 (#3; rank: 300). Who says delays in books don’t hurt sales?

Scalped #23 by Jason Aaron (writer), R. M. Guéra (artist), Giulia Brusco (colorist), and Steve Wands (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Aaron focuses on Dino Poor Bear in this issue, as he rides around the reservation doing his “job,” which consists of giving drugs and guns to various people and collecting their money. It’s a typical issue of Scalped, in that Aaron captures the essence of dirt-poor living and things build slowly to two incidents of horrific violence that leave their mark on Dino. As we’ve seen, Dino will never leave the rez, but he still clings to the notion that he will, which makes his life, as sad as it is, a bit more pathetic. He’s not working toward anything, and he has a (relatively) clear head on his shoulders - think of the people who don’t have clear heads! Aaron has done a fine job showing the absolute despair the people on the rez live with each day, and by now, he doesn’t even make much of an effort - just by showing Dino go about his daily life is enough. Maybe, just maybe, Dino realizes in this issue that he has to change. But I doubt it.

I have read on-line that Scalped is a lousy representation of Native Americans. I don’t know if it is or not - I have not met many Indians, so I can’t speak to that. I do know that the reservations in Phoenix aren’t much better than the fictional one in this comic, so he’s onto something there. But that’s a topic for another day. I won’t say much about that, but I will say that whether or not Aaron is accurately portraying a Native American experience, he is accurately portraying a poor experience. The people in this comic are desperate, and they act desperately. They often act stupidly, but Aaron has done a nice job showing why they act this way. That’s part of why this book is so gripping.

Sales figures for the last two issues (#21 and #22, September and October): 7,029 (#21; rank: 216) and 6,964 (#22; rank: 241). This is why I switched to the single issues. Anything to do my part!

Uncanny X-Men #504 by Matt Fraction (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Justin Ponsor (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I appreciate Terry Dodson’s drawing style with regard to women, because he makes them a bit more zaftig than your usual comic artist, but what’s up with Emma’s waist on that cover? I know the fur is hiding some of it, but it looks hideously thin compared to her bust. Weird.

Anyway, this is much more like what I was hoping for when Fraction came on board the X-Men express. Brubaker isn’t even credited in this issue, so perhaps he’s completely off the book? Either way, Fraction isn’t quite back to form totally, but this is much better than the previous arc. Does Dodson make that much of a difference? Maybe.

Fraction almost completely ditches the annoying identifying(...)

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/21685?ns=guardianpageName=Comment+is+free%3A+Gaunty%2C+you+were+rightch=Comment+is+freec3=The+Guardianc4=BNP+and+the+far+right%2CPoliticsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Mark+Lawsonc7=2008_11_21c8=1121545c9=articlec10=GUc11=Comment+is+freec12=blogc13=c14=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" //divpIt seems fairly unlikely that Jon Gaunt reads the Guardian. And, if he does, I would worry about the effect on the rightwing shock jock's blood pressure of the words he will read now. His sacking from TalkSport this week was a wrong and deeply worrying act, and it makes me think Gaunt may have been right in one of the favourite riffs of his Sun column and radio show: that Britain has gone barmy and is becoming a dictatorship of liberal opinion./ppThe systolic readings of Gaunty, as he likes to be called, may be even more at risk from the revelation that a commentator connected with this paper and the BBC - despised HQs of the PC revolution - is also troubled by this week's public exposure of the membership list of the British National party./ppDon't misunderstand this: I wouldn't want to be stuck in a lift with any of them, and have never agreed with anything said by presenter or party. But one of the most delicate judgments in any society is where the line of acceptable behaviour should be drawn, and both of these cases suggest that the boundary is now being marked in the ink of self-righteous idealism./ppThe brutal removal of Gaunt has been overshadowed by the fuss over other broadcasting absences - Jonathan Ross's push, John Sergeant's jump - but is far more significant. A broadcaster known to be outspoken on a station that trades in outrageousness lost his rag, no more or less than he has done a thousand times before, with a local councillor, whom he called a "Nazi" during a discussion about children in care./ppGaunt says that he meant to say "health Nazi" but the distinction is irrelevant. If there were ever libel proceedings the insult would be justified as "vulgar abuse". A career could only be ended over such an innocuous exchange in a culture that had seriously lost its nerve over freedom of expression./ppBut perhaps we have. Many of the people outed this week as BNP members probably are Nazis, metaphorically or actually, but the revelation of their names and addresses exposes the mess of our policies on tolerance. It is legal to belong to the party, or to vote for them, but membership is proscribed for some professions (soldiers, police and prison officers) yet not for others (doctors, nurses, teachers). Educational unions have called for the restrictions to be widened but, if this were to happen, logic suggests that the BNP should be banned, which would be controversial (and anti-democratic) but at least more coherent./ppAlthough the outcry over Ross and Brand is largely responsible for Gaunt losing his job, it is a distraction in this debate: no definition of free expression should include the right to invade people's privacy for entertainment. But the Gaunt and BNP incidents raise the fundamental question of the limits of free speech./ppThe point is that sacking shock jocks and demonising political parties are cosmetic measures. Banning attitudes removes them from view, but not from existence. Any politician who has campaigned in inner cities will tell you that both Labour and Tories have long had voters who are, frankly, racist. The one advantage of the rise of the BNP was that it became easier to measure, in elections, the numerical level of extremist opinion. But, now that the security of the membership list has been breached, such rumblings will be harder to calculate./ppToday, with the latest stage of the BBC inquiry into Granddaughtergate, we will discover if the risk has increased that Rossy will suffer a Gaunty. The mood for removal from Radio 2 (but continuation on TV) seems to be growing, and it would surprise me if he still has his current wireless slot in six months./ppMany would be pleased by this outcome, as they would also cheer the dismissal of Gaunt and the fact that we now know where BNP supporters live. But, taken together, these events suggest an emergency, but cack-handed, sanitisation of attitudes - an emergency carpet-sweeping exercise with a broom that hits some bits while missing others. A broadcaster loses his job for saying "Nazi", while those who hold extremist views on immigration are allowed to teach children but not go to war./ppThese ideological contradictions would make a good Gaunty phone-in, had he not become a victim of the silly view that a society that looks and sounds nicer has actually become nicer./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/bnp-far-right"BNP and the far right/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Commentisfreecountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727878112100421654622"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Commentisfreecountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227227727878112100421654622" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

Disclaimer: Im no nazi, communist, republican, racist, facsist... I am only opend minded...

Author: Zhyper666 Keywords: fuck Democracy Sucks politics history Added: November 20, 2008

Auteur : skippy-le-grand
Tags : adolf hitler nazi rap rappeur
Envoyé : 21 novembre 2008
Note :0.0
Votes :0