Comic Book Herald

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Who Watched the Watchmen? DC’s Death Metal!

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It is often said that Watchmen is the most influential comic ever to be released. That comics wouldn’t be where they are without it, for good and for ill. But how did we get here, exactly? More to the point, just what influence did Watchmen provide to the larger world of comics? What, ultimately, is the legacy of Watchmen? Who watched the Watchmen?

After running Comic Book Herald for over a decade, I tend to have a decent pulse on how fans, critics, and creators feel about various comics. Or at least I thought I did, until Steve Morris with Shelfdust conducted a critics poll of the best 50 comic book events of all time, and I learned that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dark Nights: Metal was at one point *barely* hanging on to the #50 spot. This was astonishing to me because Metal was a major reason why I started collecting print comics again in 2017 after a year-long hiatus (Mister Miracle was the other), and I quite earnestly consider it one of my five favorite comic book events of all time!

It feels essential to highlight my (apparently somewhat unusual) affections for Metal because its sequel, Death Metal, disappointed me on nearly every level. Given my past experience, and an adoration for Snyder/Capullo’s Batman (not to mention Last Knight on Earth!) hopes were extraordinarily high, and all for naught. Death Metal #1 opens with a soliloquy by Sgt. Rock about Turd Burgers, and well, Death Metal fits the bill:

“It’s like you’re at a drive-through and out comes your juicy half-pounder on one of them niiice french buns, curly fries too, and you take a bite and wham! Turd. And your fries? Kablam! Curly turds.”

Speaking of turds, let’s talk about Doctor Manhattan. [Read more…] about Who Watched the Watchmen? DC’s Death Metal!

The A.X.E.: Judgment Day Reread Part 4—The Top-Tier Triple-Six Tie-Ins!

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Welcome back to our multipart reread of Marvel’s big 2022 summer event, “A.X.E.: Judgment Day”; first, we looked at the leadup to this apocalyptic ruckus, and then we dove in with the first event issue and tie-ins, with a side piece on Exodus, star of the tie-in Immortal X-Men #5. Last time, we covered Judgment Day #2-3 and Death to the Mutants #1-2.

This time, we cover—a triple terror:

Immortal X-Men #6: Kieron Gillen writes; Lucas Werneck draws; David Curiel colors; Clayton Cowles letters; cover by Mark Brooks.

X-Men: Red #6: Al Ewing writes; Stefano Caselli draws; Federico Blee colors; Ariana Maher letters; cover by Russell Dauterman and Matt Hollingsworth.

Legion of X #6: Si Spurrier writes; Rafael Pimentel draws; Federico Blee colors; Cowles letters; cover by Dike Ruan and Matthew Wilson.

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X-Men Epic Collection: X-Cutioner’s Song Review!

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X-Men Epic Collection: X-Cutioner’s Song features the collective X-Men titles at arguably their most tumultuous time. Less than a year before the earliest issues collected in this volume were published, the X-Men were at the height of their powers, coming out of a successful linewide relaunch led by superstar artists which propelled the books to record-breaking sales. Yet less than halfway through this volume, those creators are gone, left to start a new comic book company in what is sometimes called the “Image Exodus.” A new batch of creators, most untested in such a bright spotlight, were then forced to learn on the job while picking up the pieces left behind by the exodus, while also somehow crafting those pieces into the next semi-annual crossover event story to bring all the various X-Men titles together to tell one cohesive story.

That they not only succeeded but, in the process, crafted one of the better X-Men crossovers of all time, was never guaranteed. But a combination of talent and the lift that came from working with some of the most popular characters in all of comics ultimately won out. Before “X-Cutioner’s Song,” there was a legitimate question as to whether the X-Men were popular because people liked the characters, or if they were popular because creators like writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee were crafting their stories. The Image Exodus offered an opportunity to answer that question,

While the record breaking sales of X-Men (vol. 2) #1 would never be met again, the post-Image Exodus X-books, buoyed by a popular cartoon and accompanying action figure line, continued to dominate the comic book marketplace, becoming a key source of revenue for Marvel even as the speculator bubble of the early 90s burst and corporate chicanery led to things like layoffs and bankruptcy. Thus, X-Men Epic Collection: X-Cutioner’s Song captures the point in time in which the question of whether or not the X-Men could not only survive but thrive without the likes of Lee and Claremont is both raised and answered. It captures the point in time in which the X-Men become self-sustaining, when it is made clear that people love their stories regardless of who was crafting those stories.

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