Dealing with the truth, journalistic integrity and the world of "choose your own reality"

yesterday I stumbled across a pair of articles that I thought intersected nicely.

First, I came across this article on The Backfire Effect.  I suggest you read it, its food for thought.  The core idea of the article is that presenting conflicting evidence to folks with a belief based upon faulty evidence, heresay, rumor, faith, conspiracy, etc...  doesn't convince the believer otherwise.  It merely reinforces that belief.

This shouldn't be a shock to anyone who has had the pleasure of hanging out with a conspiracy theorist.  Suggesting that 9/11 was not an inside job just makes you a sucker, fool and a patsy (or, in a worst case scenario, ONE OF THEM).  But it doesn't need to be the case that one bring up something as inflammatory as 9/11 conspiracies or as ridiculous as Hitler-UFO-JFK conspiracy theories.  Our everyday politics hinge on this entrenching of our beliefs.

Surely it can't be that all conservative beliefs are statistically and factually correct while all opposing liberal beliefs are wrong.  And surely it cannot be that all liberal beliefs are statistically and factually correct while all conservative beliefs are wrong.  Its not even a question of a "happy medium" somewhere between the two.  Occasionally, someone is going to be wrong.  One policy is going to reduce teen pregnancy and one is not, and statistics can help us figure this stuff out (anecdotes, while moving, are not hugely useful).

I know that I have knee-jerk reactions to all sorts of things.  The article points out that this seemingly innate desire to argue and fight over what we already "know" or are comfortable "knowing" is essentially part of human nature, and our responses likely have their roots in evolutionary biology (see: something I'll readily accept because I don't find the idea that we're fancy apes at all offensive).  But tell me that we've got all kinds of fossil fuel in shale, and I'll raise a skeptical eyebrow and quote you science I vaguely remember from middle school ( I honestly haven't read up on this issue very much).

This is basically how I see you people.  Well, me.  You're more like hobo chimps.

Let's Do This: The DCNu September Solicitations and a Final Guess/ Checklist

So DC released its complete September solicitations.  No mention of the JSA, Captain Marvel, etc...   Let's take a final tally of the Nu52. This is after seeing actual creative teams and getting a better feel for what DC was doing.

By the way, I don't actually expect that this is it from DC.  By November, I'd expect we'll see more titles from DC, but 52 new titles is likely plenty for today.

Frankenstein's creation mixes it up.  And, yeah, that's "The Bride" behind him.

The Key:

• Monthly: I plan to pick this book up either monthly at the shop or via digital.  This either means I want to continue my collection (see:  Superman), if I think a monthly read will behoove me (see:  All-Star Western), I think a book will need the monthly push (see:  Firestorm) or I am unsure if I'll want to keep on this title (Mr. Terrific)
• TPB: I do want to read the series, but I am happy waiting until its available in a collected format for the bookshelf.  I do this a lot with characters you might follow like a sports team, through good and bad.
• Wait and See:I'm going to wait to hear from the internet and trusted comics fans before committing to a trade or buying the comic via DC digital.  You know who you are, trusted friends, so speak up.
• No: Not interested.

Signal Watch Watches: X-Men First Class

I think its worth mentioning that at one point in the comics, the X-Men battled a villain named Count Nefaria.  And maybe that's who the villain should have been in X-Men: First Class, because, goodness, that Kevin Bacon was most certainly a bad guy.

You're pretty much doomed to a life of villainy with a  name like "Nefaria".

I was a huge (HUGE) X-fan for a good stretch of my adolescence, and you can probably blame quite a bit of my comics fandom on Uncanny X-Men #210, which was the first time I read and re-read and re-read a comic like that.  And it taught me to buy back-issues, which is why I have a run of Uncanny that extends from issue 168 straight to 330 or so before I miss an issue.*  Looking at release dates, that's about a decade of straight X-Men reading between 210 and 330, and quite a bit of back-issue buying I did, and it represents a pretty good chunk of a young person's life, from age 11 to 21.

But when I parted ways with X-Men, we'd significantly grown apart.  X-Men had become more a book about oddly drawn characters with lots of pockets and enormous weaponry than a book about mutants protecting the very humans who hated and feared them.

Superman's new costume gets attention outside of geek circles

DC Comics' upcoming costume change for Superman is starting to get some media attention. Go figure.

DC Relaunch, outreach and the rebuilding of The World's Greatest Heroes

So, I am told that the titles we've seen til now are the complete deck of 52.  I'm a bit surprised to hear this as I hadn't been counting, and I figured we'd hear more next week.

It doesn't feel like a particularly huge change from the DCU of recent history for a longtime DC reader, but any rebooting will most certainly leave many longtime fans feeling put-off (see: 95% of the commentary at Supermanhomepage.com).  The Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash books seem to be the most changed, but I'd make an argument that in doing some remodeling on this house that's seen so many changes and tenants, DC may find that there's been a lovely original wood floor under the carpet all along.

No, I'm not thrilled with every decision made, and I won't follow even half of the DC titles within a few months of their launch, but I agree with a few things:

DCNu Superman titles - Nothing makes me nervous like getting what I want

Two things:

1)  I don't know if DC intended to release the info about the nu-Superman titles today, but it sounds like some folks poked around the DC servers until they found what they believed to be the Superman Family covers.  The images got out, and everybody had posted them by the time I went to bed last night. I saw the images but didn't discuss as it wasn't official yet from DC.
2)  As a look at my coffee table on any given day will attest, I buy all the Superman titles.  That certainly won't change under DC's nu direction.  At least not for the time being.


The announcement was released this afternoon.  A few bits:
1)  Truthfully, I'm disappointed there's neither a Superman Family book nor any hint that Steel is anywhere to be seen.
2)  The descriptions are barely that, and very light on detail.

Nothing is less edgy than things which tell you they are edgy: The latest batch of DCNu

I'm trying to keep my natural tendency to roll my eyes at anything labeled "EXTREME" keep me from reading the actual descriptions of these books.  I only briefly delved into the Wildstorm universe, enjoying The Authority for a spell until I felt like the joke had been beaten to death and was now doing a Weekend at Bernie's.

Today's solicits are an odd mix, and its clear that DC is shooting everything through the pipe before they unveil their Superman sleight.  But that's fine.

DCnu Reveals: Young Justice-ish type stuff

I don't have time for this, but I'm doing it anyway.

Today's batch of DCNu releases was comprised of a bunch of titles centering on DC's teen heroes.  Here's the scoop.

-Legion Lost  Time lost, that is!  Because this worked so well in Countdown, a squad of Legionnaires will be lost in our present time.  Fabian Nicieza writing (who I realize - I don't think I've read his work in a decade, so no opinion) and Pete Woods, who I like, on art.  The lineup looks cool, though.  I...  will probably pick this up and see how I like it.

-Legion of Superheroes - I'd lie if I said I thought THIS was the change that would get me to quit reading Legion.  Right now I think a court injunction will be what stops me buying Legion no matter what's going on in the main Legion book.  Its a sickness.  I actually really like Paul Levitz's writing, so there.

-Teen Titans - REBOOT! 

ha ha ha...  Okay, roll out the REAL costumes now.

I don't know who half of these characters are (but if that's the new Miss Martian on the bottom corner, that's hilarious).  And for some reason Robin's new outfit is getting a lot of flack, but...  man, that's nothing compared to the look on Superboy.  That is awful.  I thought the jeans were kind of silly.  Anyway, I'll say I never thought the Red Robin costume looked good anywhere but in Ross's paints in Kingdom Come, and I find the 90's-pouch stuff on Red Robin far sillier than the cape.*

I have no thoughts on the creative team.  I dunno. 

Static Shock #1 - You're taking him out of Dakota?  Why?  Anyway, this is a likely title I'll sample.

Hawk and Dove - Oh, man, DC.  Its like telling me I get to eat a delicious turkey sandwich, but there's going to be someone smoking cloves at the table.  I like writer Sterling Gates' work on Supergirl, but I have a hard time with Rob Liefield's work.  I know he's got supporters and detractors, but I don't see me picking this up.





*seriously.  We're harping on this when nobody will redesign Hawk's should doo-hickeys?  I think this is one of those cases of "if we hadn't grown up looking at Batman's ears and cape, we might think it looked kind of dumb, too".

Noir Watch: The First issue of Brubaker's "Criminal: Last of the Innocent" is great comics

Confession time:  As weird as it might seem, somehow I didn't get past the second issue of Brubaker's creator-owned series, Criminal.  I don't even remember what happened, because I don't recall having ill-feelings toward the series.  I suspect that I always planned to pick it up in TPB, and then just... didn't.  Likely because its being published by Marvel, and I don't really scour the Marvel solicits too hard these days (oddly, my Marvel purchases are limited to only a few things, including Brubaker's Captain America, so its not like I've had an embargo on his work).

Brubaker's series, as I understand it, tells a new story with new characters for each storyline.  Gien the nature of crime movies and stories, it seems really how it should be.  Different tales from the mind of a guy who knows his territory. 

Yes, if you're going to evoke pulp-noir nostalgia, start with the cover

DC Comics and magical thinking

Well, no Superman #1 news today.

Instead we got a listing of new DC titles with a supernatural bent.

-Swamp Thing is Swamp Thing.  Written by Scott Snyder, this may be the reboot Swampy has needed since the conclusion of the series back when I was still in college.
-Justice League Dark.  Truthfully, I don't know if I like this idea a whole lot and I don't like the name at all (we've discussed the use of the tag-on of "Dark" plenty around here).
John Constantine, Deadman, Shade the Changing Man and Madame Xanadu.  No Zatanna?  No Klarion?  No Dr. Occult? No Detective Chimp or Rex the Wonder Dog?

Flat out, I don't buy that Constantine would join a "team", let alone a "Justice League" or, especially, a "Justice League Dark".  But I do want to see what they're thinking.

Pictured: the turmoil JLD faces when they try to find a place everyone can agree on for dinner