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Comic-Con: Try These Superhero-Themed Cocktail Recipes

Ready to celebrate Comic-Con the right way? As in, with lots and lots of mixed drinks which are comically named to resemble your favorite comic book heroes? Well, you’re in luck! We have just the list of cocktails for you:

The Captain America Shot: Give this recipe a try in honor of Cap. Disclaimer: We can’t guarantee that you’ll get super-human strength from this, but, if you see some guy chasing you with a red skull for a head, you might want to call the hospital.

Lace the bottom of a shot glass with grenadine – fill it up to about 1/3rd of the glass, then place a spoon (facing down) right on top of the red liquid. Next, dribble some half-and-half down on top of the grenadine, making sure that it floats above it, until the glass is about 2/3rd of the way full. Repeat the last step with the spoon and add some blueberry schnapps to complete the patriotic trifecta. Finally, lace the top with some Everclear and light that thing on fire! Mmmmm. Tastes like freedom.

Superman’s Weakness: Named after the only thing that can keep Superman down, this drink is about as brightly colored as it is tasty. So, if you’re ready to tempt fate with a Kryptonite-inspired drink, then try this: three parts melon liqueur, two parts Sprite and one part white rum. Add some ice and stir (don’t shake, Sprite doesn’t like that very much). Protip: If it isn’t delicious, you did it wrong.

The Incredible Hulk: Why is this one called The Incredible Hulk, you ask? Well, other than the fact that it was probably concocted in some crazy science lab, it also glows an unnatural green. You know, like the Hulk?

Try this one out: two parts Absinthe, one part melon liqueur and three parts Mountain Dew. Stir, garnish with a kiwi and enjoy.

Also, try to keep your blood pressure down for a few hours after you drink it. You know, just in case.

The Black Widow (AKA Black Russian): Well, you probably know what this drink is based on, but we figured that we’d give you a comic book twist on an old favorite. So enjoy this tasty, and alcoholic, drink.

Mix one part coffee liqueur with one part vodka and two parts coffee. Remember, drink this one early in the night, otherwise you might not get to bed at all Unless that’s what you’re looking for!

The Dark Knight: It’s dark, it’s sultry and it’s got a lemon. No, really, you garnish it with a lemon, so you should probably carve it into the batsignal to stay on-theme.

Two parts vodka and one part black raspberry liqueur. Put them in a mixer with some ice, shake and serve in a martini glass. Add your batsignal lemon. If this doesn’t make Bruce Wayne proud, we sure as hell don’t know what will.

Spider-Man’s Web: Okay, this one has a nasty kick to it. But that’s not a bad thing! One word of advice, beware the candy

Mix one part raspberry liqueur, one part cherry liqueur and two parts tequila. That not enough for you? How about adding a few dashes of pop rocks into the mix? Now stand back and wait for the kick!

The Iron Man: Finely-aged Scotch on the rocks. Iron Man doesn’t mess around with girly drinks.

Cocktail Hour, a webcomic

Cocktail Hour began its digital life under the name Random Acts…, the sole webcomic of artist Jennifer “Scraps” Walker. It was a bit of a proving ground, an online experiment in storytelling, art, and technology. We changed style frequently in those early years, went from random one-shots to themes to actual story-lines and increased our posting frequency from one post a week to three, and changed the name to Cocktail Hour before suspending updates in 2010.

That break was supposed to last only a few months, not the 2 years it ended up being, but the result was a completed book (What to Feed Your Raiding Party, the comic book cookbook for gamers) and, in the end, worth it. When we tried to bring the comic back the artist realized a startling thing: the format she’d cut her teeth on, comics-wise, no longer fit her goals and passion the way it used to. Thus, after only a few months of renewed posting, the story reached a stopping point and so did the artist.

Between May, 2007, and September, 2012, we posted 387 comics under the “Random Acts…” and “Cocktail Hour” names, all based on the real-life experiences of the artist, her friends, family, and coworkers. The first year of the comic was collected into a book titled Party in the Handbasket, and the sole attempt at participating in the 24-Hour Comic Book project resulted in a “floppy” or usual-format comic book, Rings on Her Fingers.

You can use the Archives drop-down menu on the sidebar to access any month in the comics history, including starting from the very beginning if you’ve got an afternoon to kill. Or, you can take our informed suggestions, and start at one of these points:

Meet some of the recurring characters in the strip beginning with the artist in the Bios cards.
Scraps in New York begins with …a plane pain. The artist and her family took a holiday visit up north–it was our first actual storyline and showed a shift from the full-page, water-colored pages we began the strip with and into the black-and-white style we’d continue with for the remainder of the strip’s run.
Travel continues to make for good stories in the Scraps in California story, beginning with Apparently you can be too early…
Want a quick laugh? Shopping for bakeware isn’t usually this amusing, but reality truly is stranger than fiction in Bed Bath & Way Beyond
Time for a road trip! Friday Night began a girls weekend with all sorts of everyday adventures, questionable tours, and shopping at IKEA.
Disaster struck one night while getting ready for a camping trip. Ouch begins the tale, but make sure you stick through the ER visit to see the carconversations afterward.
We took Mom on a cruise for her 50th birthday. Plenty of fun to be had beginning with Prelude to a Cruise.
Get a glimpse of the day job in Scraps Talks Back.
Another personal favorite: Hey Boo-Boob! takes a look at what it’s like when a busty girl tries yoga.
Giving It a Try tells the first chapter of the Geek Romance story, a story that will end with the main players marrying in 2013 (though, sadly, not in comic form). Their story continues with A Month of Fridays.
I had so much fun telling a love story, that the next month we tackled pet peeves. Misery loves company–see if you recognize any of your own irks beginning with How (NOT) to Take Out the Garbage, Part 1.
Rings on Her Fingers was on the web before it reached print. This is one of those bits of personal history that had a fried proclaim the artist was “the heroine in her own chick lit novel.”
You can’t last long in comics if you’re not willing to go to a few conventions. Our stories start with the short-lived Wrath of Con and go from there, picking the thread up again in Con Prep 2009.
Learn 25 Things about the artist, as played out during April, 2009.
Todd and Scraps had survived several road trips, lets try them on open water starting in Cruise Holiday 1.
The office is always good fodder for comics, we take a closer look at that in the Working Girl story.
Get It Together sums up some of the parties and gatherings we participated in.
Everything isn’t always fun, but you can usually still laugh at it. And laughter is the best medicine (at least we hope so, in Doctor, Doctor).
And, to close things out, we examine a girl going from on-her-own living situation (starting with A Room By Any Other Name) to cohabitation (beginning with a house hunt in The Hunt Begins).

Comics were’t all we were up to, though. In an effort to add something more to what was just a comics site, two blog features were begun, drawing on the artists’ past culinary career and present/future interest in cocktails and mixology. Now, Nibbles ‘n Bites and Sips & Shots both exist as stand-alone sites about food and comics, respectively.

A second comic, this one a work of fiction, was begun in February, 2009, at the request of Dino Andrade for SoulGeek–the online geek dating and community site. More can be found about this story at Where the Geeks Are.

Just because the comics are no longer updating on the web, doesn’t mean Scraps is done with the medium–not by a long shot! There are more culinary and comics fusions ahead for What to Feed Your Raiding Party, the rest of the story to tell for Where the Geeks Are, and at least one graphic novel just waiting for it’s turn on the table. To keep up with the latest in comics news from Scraps, make sure to check out Random Acts Comics.

Marvel Cocktail

2 1/2 ounces amber rum

1/2 ounce Sirop de Citron (see below)

1/2 ounce grenadine (or to taste)

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe

Garnish with your best Stan Lee or Jim Lee story

(Yes, I know that Jim Lee is at DC now )

You could see the fear in his eyes, as he lay paralyzed in the hospital bed while the crazed figure sat in the chair beside him, revolver in hand. The barrel of the gun was thrust against his brow, the trigger hurriedly pulled back – KLIK – on an empty chamber. At the best of times, Russian roulette isn’t a sport for the weak, but when you’re trapped – unable to move, unable to speak – while a madman forces turn after turn upon you – well, it makes you wonder who’s the hero and who’s the villain. Should it matter than the man in the bed, Bullseye, had killed Elektra? No, Daredevil was better than this – better than preying upon those who couldn’t raise a muscle to defend themselves. He was a protector of the city. But not tonight – tonight, he was attending to personal business, settling a debt. No, tonight he was far from being a superhero.

Point a gun to my head and ask me where and when I first got the bug the write, and I will kindly direct you to Daredevil #191, written and drawn by Mr. Frank Miller. I was thirteen, and up until that point – in those pre-Nintendo days – comics were little more than a way to pass the time because that was what boys did. Then came Miller’s Daredevil. Suddenly, comics broke from the Lee-Kirby mold and become something grittier, deeper, and with more emotional resonance. Quickly on the heels of Daredevil came Walter Simonson’s Thor, in which every curve took on Mandelbrot-like geometry. Not only was I hooked, unaware of what the future would hold (The Dark Knight, Alien Legion, Teen Titans), right there and then, I declared myself a Marvel man for life.

In 1939, pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman decided to venture into the popular world of comic books with his Timely Comics banner and an initial book entitled “Marvel Comics”. It was this first issue which would introduce readers to a character called the Human Torch, and in the years leading up to World War II, Timely would also give birth to the comic legends Captain America and the Sub-Mariner. But the most important hero in Timely’s history would come in the form of a mild-mannered office assistant named Stanley Lieber.

When editor Joe Simon, who had created Captain America along with artist Jack Kirby (the comic world’s Babe Ruth), left Timely in 1941, Goodman appointed 19-year-old Lieber, who was writing under the pen name “Stan Lee”, as acting comics editor. Following a stint in the military during World War II, Lee returned to Timely and took over the full-time duties as editor.

The post-war years were not kind to the comic industry, particularly to Timely, which was then distributing under the banner “Atlas” and battling a plethora of distribution and back-catalog issues. Facing the dissolution of the company, Lee was charged with coming up with new ideas to reinvigorate sales. Rival DC was having success with superhero teams, namely the Justice League of America, and Timely recognized the opportunity. Lee, however, didn’t want just another team of perfect, flawless heroes; he wanted characters that argued, paid the rent, and got angry just like the rest of us. Adopting the name of Timely’s oldest book, Marvel Comics was launched in 1961, and that same year, the company’s cornerstone team of dysfunctional-yet-loving superheroes was let loose on the world. The Fantastic Four.

The Fantastic Four marked the real return of Jack Kirby (who had left with Joe Simon twenty years earlier) to Martin Goodman’s comics. Teaming with Kirby, Steve Ditko, and a handful of other top artists, Stan Lee used the Marvel banner to begin not only a new way to “tell” comics but also to change how they were created. The “Marvel Method” entailed Lee and the artist brainstorming the story ideas, with Lee laying out the basic story structure and then turning it over to the artist with no formal script. In this manner, artists were free to interpret the basic story and to enhance it as they saw fit. Once the penciling was finished, the word balloons and captions were added. Not only did this method allow Lee to juggle his heavy workload, it produced many of the most successful superheroes in history. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, Daredevil, and the Hulk.

True to Lee’s vision, none of these characters was a nearly invincible alien (Superman) or a billionaire detective (Batman). No, they were semi-regular people that had to cope with daily life on top of super villains. In 1971, Lee was asked by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to create a story in which a friend of the webslinger succumbs to the perils of drugs. The Comics Code (the industry’s Hays Act) refused to allow the books to be published, so Lee convinced publisher Martin Goodman to release the books without the sanction of the Comics Code. “The world did not come to an end,” Lee recalls. “We had really the greatest mail from parents, teachers, religious organizations praising us for that story.” It was from this foundation that later writers and artist such as Frank Miller and Walter Simonson were allowed to take their stories into more visually dramatic and emotionally compelling realms.

It’s been ten years since I last visited Comic-Con, loosely working at the time as part of an artists and writers agency, but since half my friends are down there (the other half are in New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail), I thought I might vicariously join them in a drink. Though you may not believe it, we didn’t make up the Marvel Cocktail; it comes from the Savoy Cocktail Book, circa 1930. The recipe calls for the esoteric but well-worth-the-making Sirop de Citron, which is nothing more than citrus macerated in sugar for a few days. As with all things Savoy, we turned to friend and Savoymeister Erik Ellestad (who know his way around a kitchen as well as a bar) for our syrup recipe. While the below differs slightly from the version found on his Savoy Stomp (formerly Underhill Lounge) site, the changes come from subsequent improvements Erik himself made following his original post.

2. 5 Lemons, thinly sliced

Slice the lemons and toss them in the sugar

Let stand in a non-reactive bowl for 2 to 3 days

Add the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a low simmer

Stir until any remaining sugar is dissolved

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve

Discard the solid or use them elsewhere

Optional – if syrup is too thick, thin with a little water

The resulting syrup is beautifully yellow and deliciously deep in its tartness, with nice bitter edge bring up the back note. I concur with Ellestad in recommending a nice, light natural sugar here, but as I only had white baker’s sugar on hand when I made my recipe at 1:30am, I’ll confide that it works just fine. If going through the trouble of making syrup isn’t your thing, feel free to use fresh lemon juice in its place.

The original drink proportions given by the Savoy are 3/4 part rum, 1/8 part Sirop de Citron, and 1/8 part , which I’ve translated for our wacky measurements above. Obviously feel free to fudge a bit (those quarters are a bit annoying, I know) but know that if you adhere to the perfect proportions, you get an absolutely lovely drink. Whereas I tend to be of a different mindset than the “add only enough sugar to take off the edge” proponents, in this drink, that mantra truly shines. It’s a very Rum-forward cocktail, with the two syrups playing background harmony – just taking off the edge, exactly as they say.

I had planned to add a section on how lemons and citrons are two different things, but as citrons can be difficult to find, will not produce the same results with this recipe, and lemon makes for a brilliantly lovely syrup (and subsequent cocktail), I’ll skip it. If you must have this information, Google is just a click away, but be forewarned that most Sirop de Citron recipes out there are, as you might expect, in French. Instead, let’s close out by returning to our friends Daredevil and Bullseye, as they reach the last of the revolver‘s chambers and the end of their game of roulette…

The question lingering before both men is one of consequences – for exactly how much collateral damage is a superhero responsible. For Daredevil – by day, lawyer Matt Murdock – the world isn’t black and white, good versus evil. It’s a collection of mistakes, regrets, and heroes who will always let somebody down. But right and wrong do exist, and right must be upheld. It’s with this sentiment that, five rounds of Russian roulette later, the Man without Fear levels the six-shooter at his arch enemy’s temple and says:

“That’s what it all comes down to, Bullseye… when I fight you and beat you, and know deep in my heart that I’m right in what I do… when I hate you and your kind so fiercely I could cry… when I can see that you are black and evil and have no right to live… when, at last, at long last, I’ve got you set squarely in my sight… and I smell your fear, and it is sweet to smell… when it comes to that one final, fatal act of ending you… KLIK!… my gun has no bullets. Guess we’re stuck with each other, Bullseye.”

Video: Stan Lee Talks 2011 Comic-Con (shoppingblog.com)
Stan Lee: Relax, I’m Just Fine! (tmz.com)

About David Solmonson

An avid home-bartending enthusiast, David is a screenwriter and media executive by trade. He is married to author Lesley Jacobs Solmonson. David is BarSmarts certified.

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2 Superhero Comic-Con Cocktail Recipes from Encore

Encore Champagne Bar & Dining Room in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter will introduce a team of heroic cocktails inspired by comic book icons in celebration of Comic-Con (July 24-27). If you can’t make it downtown, two of the Comic-Con cocktail recipes follow should you like to celebrate at home.

Comic-Con Cocktails to order at Encore

The Hammered Hulk: A powerful blend of Malibu Coconut Rum, Blue Curacao, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Midori, pineapple juice and a dash of Sprite ($8)

Kryptonite: A festive mix of Blue Curacao, tequila, lime and simple syrup and garnished with a Cherry Pop Rocks rim ($8)

Joker Juice: Made with Giffard Crème de Cassis, Russian Standard Vodka, lemon juice, soda and topped off with a pour of Piper-Heidsieck Brut Cuvee Champagne, all served in a sour apple candy-rimmed glass ($8)

Fizz-tastic Four Champagne flight: Duval-Leroy Brut, Canard-Duchene Authentic Rosé, Henriot Blanc de Blancs and Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Sublime Demi-Sec ($22)

Superhero Cocktail Recipe: Hammered Hulk

This tribute to The Hulk is pictured above. Side note: I met Lou Ferrigno (the actor who played The Hulk) at Comic-Con about a decade ago.

½ ounce Malibu Coconut Rum

¼ ounce Blue Curacao

¾ ounce Midori

1 oz Tito’s Vodka

Place all liquors into a shaker, shake hard two-to-three times and poor over ice into a Collins glass. Top off with pineapple juice and a splash of Sprite

Superhero Cocktail Recipe: Joker Juice

I love the color on this one.

½ ounce Giffard Crème de Cassis

1 ¼ ounce Russian Standard Vodka

Splash of freshly-squeezed lime juice

Splash of soda

Top with Piper-Heidsieck Brut Cuvee Chamapgne

Rim a bucket glass with green sweet & sour candy. Mix all ingredients together in a shaker and pour over ice.

The big pinnable images are for your cocktail Pinterest boards (click to view mine)! Don’t forget to stop into Encore this week.

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comics and cartoons

The Cocktail Comics And Cartoons

collected from fifty of the best cartoonists.

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Derivative works and copying of any material in this site are expressly prohibited.

All characters, panels and images are copyrighted by their respective copyright owners and they are used here with permission. All Rights Reserved. All logos and other trademarks are the exclusive property of their respective holders who reserve all rights. This site is ©Cartoonist Group.

May all your searches end with a smile!

Comic-Con: Try These Superhero-Themed Cocktail Recipes

Ready to celebrate Comic-Con the right way? As in, with lots and lots of mixed drinks which are comically named to resemble your favorite comic book heroes? Well, you’re in luck! We have just the list of cocktails for you:

The Captain America Shot: Give this recipe a try in honor of Cap. Disclaimer: We can’t guarantee that you’ll get super-human strength from this, but, if you see some guy chasing you with a red skull for a head, you might want to call the hospital.

Lace the bottom of a shot glass with grenadine – fill it up to about 1/3rd of the glass, then place a spoon (facing down) right on top of the red liquid. Next, dribble some half-and-half down on top of the grenadine, making sure that it floats above it, until the glass is about 2/3rd of the way full. Repeat the last step with the spoon and add some blueberry schnapps to complete the patriotic trifecta. Finally, lace the top with some Everclear and light that thing on fire! Mmmmm. Tastes like freedom.

Superman’s Weakness: Named after the only thing that can keep Superman down, this drink is about as brightly colored as it is tasty. So, if you’re ready to tempt fate with a Kryptonite-inspired drink, then try this: three parts melon liqueur, two parts Sprite and one part white rum. Add some ice and stir (don’t shake, Sprite doesn’t like that very much). Protip: If it isn’t delicious, you did it wrong.

The Incredible Hulk: Why is this one called The Incredible Hulk, you ask? Well, other than the fact that it was probably concocted in some crazy science lab, it also glows an unnatural green. You know, like the Hulk?

Try this one out: two parts Absinthe, one part melon liqueur and three parts Mountain Dew. Stir, garnish with a kiwi and enjoy.

Also, try to keep your blood pressure down for a few hours after you drink it. You know, just in case.

The Black Widow (AKA Black Russian): Well, you probably know what this drink is based on, but we figured that we’d give you a comic book twist on an old favorite. So enjoy this tasty, and alcoholic, drink.

Mix one part coffee liqueur with one part vodka and two parts coffee. Remember, drink this one early in the night, otherwise you might not get to bed at all Unless that’s what you’re looking for!

The Dark Knight: It’s dark, it’s sultry and it’s got a lemon. No, really, you garnish it with a lemon, so you should probably carve it into the batsignal to stay on-theme.

Two parts vodka and one part black raspberry liqueur. Put them in a mixer with some ice, shake and serve in a martini glass. Add your batsignal lemon. If this doesn’t make Bruce Wayne proud, we sure as hell don’t know what will.

Spider-Man’s Web: Okay, this one has a nasty kick to it. But that’s not a bad thing! One word of advice, beware the candy

Mix one part raspberry liqueur, one part cherry liqueur and two parts tequila. That not enough for you? How about adding a few dashes of pop rocks into the mix? Now stand back and wait for the kick!

The Iron Man: Finely-aged Scotch on the rocks. Iron Man doesn’t mess around with girly drinks.

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The Cocktail Comic Strips

gathered from over thirty leading newspaper comic strips.

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All materials contained in this site, including the structure and organization of the By Subject and Alphabetical Searches, are protected by copyright, trademark or other laws and shall not be used for any other purpose whatsoever other than noncommercial, private viewing purposes.

Derivative works and copying of any material in this site are expressly prohibited.

All characters, panels and images are copyrighted by their respective copyright owners and they are used here with permission. All Rights Reserved. All logos and other trademarks are the exclusive property of their respective holders who reserve all rights. This site is ©Cartoonist Group.

May all your searches end with a smile!

Batman Comics Canon: Year One & The Man Who Laughs

So it’s time for a reread.

If you’ve checked out our page titled “Andrew’s Batman Comics Canon,” you know I’ve been working on a little project for a while now. The project is simple enough in concept, if not at all in execution:

Build a canon of Batman comics that creates the kind of narrative arc I want from the character. For every great Batman comic out there, you can probably find at least three utterly mediocre ones, and at least one really awful one, too.

We shouldn’t have to put up with that shit. We’re busy people, and we’ve got other comics to read. Among other things.

In this reread of my Bat-library, I want to write at least a few thoughts on each comic in the series, taking special note this time around of how each author characterizes Batman and whether that fits with my ideal interpretation of him. Sometimes Bruce Wayne can be a real asshole, and that’s okay as long as he learns something from it — on the other hand, I’m looking to construct a more compassionate, enlightened version of the character, one who learns from his mistakes (like a real person) and who gradually pulls himself up out of the darkness and trauma that gave birth to the Bat. And I’m not looking to create an emotional “bootstraps” story, either — he will need help from Alfred, from the Bat-family, and even sometimes from his Super Friends. Any suggestions are very welcome!

Disclaimer for you DC nerds out there — because the Flashpoint event radically altered a lot of the DC Multiverse’s stories and characters, and usually in a way that distances them pretty drastically from previous post-Crisis, 1986-2011 writings, this collection will probably not include many titles post-New 52. Notable exceptions are the final two volumes of Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated.

Let’s the get the elephant in the room out of the way first: this comic was written by Frank Miller, and as such we can already see the seeds of The Dark Knight Returns taking root in Year One.

Well, we need to nip that shit in the bud straight away. DKR is a landmark series, hugely influential, blah blah blah, but it represents a much grimmer, meaner Bruce Wayne who for whatever reason didn’t have the moral fortitude to get over his shit and keep fighting the good fight for the good reasons. I love the climactic burly brawl — there’s something so tragic and yet compelling about these two old friends beating each other senseless over their equally idiotic, hyperbolized politics. It’s brilliantly executed and brilliantly written, containing what may be Frank Miller’s best writing of Bruce Wayne.

But my Batman would never let things get that far. He’s way too smart for that.

When Year One opens, Bruce Wayne is overconfident and arrogant. Returning to his ancestral home after long years training abroad, he thinks to himself, “Wayne Manor. Built as a fortress, generations past, to protect a fading line of royalty from an age of Equals.”

WTF does that mean? It’s an unbearably classist sentiment that feels more like weird Frank Miller commentary than something Batman would actually think. Bruce Wayne’s money is a means to an end: while it’s important to consider how his wealth separates him from the rest of Gotham City and how it affords him a position of extreme privilege, it’s also important to me that he doesn’t harbor any overt notions of superiority that are based solely on his inheritance.

Luckily, this one time, I think I can pass off his “fading line of royalty” comment as sarcastic. Because this scene happens, and it’s one of the two most thrilling moments in the Year One series:

One thing Frank Miller has always understood about Batman — in Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, and now in The Dark Knight III: The Master Race — is that he’s not about upholding the law. He’s not even necessarily about justice — at least, not in the sense of justice as a conception of fairness that we debate and agree upon as a society. After all, in that sense Batman is categorically a criminal. The above scene, on the other hand, perfectly distills what Batman really is:

He’s a bogeyman, the creature that lives under the bed, the thing that goes bump. But unlike other folktale bogeymen, whom childish grown-ups have largely invented to terrify their children into obedience, the Batman preys on other monsters. And unlike other superheroes, the monsters Batman preys upon are generally pretty real.

And those monsters aren’t always on the “wrong” side of the law, either. In 1986 Frank Miller had Batman kicking the shit out of cops. Thirty years after the fact, I think it’s hard for us to realize how transgressive that probably was in the world of superhero comics, after decades of Batman’s chummy relationship with Commissioner Gordon and even having been a deputized agent of the law in certain comics and TV shows.

Cops, lawyers, corrupt politicians, police commissioners, along with all the usual shady businessmen, pimps, drug dealers, and gangsters… The Batman just don’t give a fuck. He has declared to the world: You hurt people or victimize people in Gotham City, and you’re asking for it.

I’ve come to think of Batman: The Man Who Laughs as a fifth act to Year One. It’s got the same gritty, crime-noir tone and picks up pretty much right where Frank Miller’s landmark series left off. There are some minor continuity issues between the two (they were, after all, written about 20 years apart), but they’re not terribly jarring or important.

Bruce has come off his high horse just a little in this one, partly I’m sure because Miller didn’t write it. Ed Brubaker takes off running with Batman’s unrivaled detective abilities and really nails the introduction of the Dark Knight’s nemesis. Joker’s got a very Mark Hamill/Batman: The Animated Series feel in this comic, but with a little more of the wickedness and cruel humor we find in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Anyway, this comic ups the ante. Year One‘s antagonists are all very real-world and pedestrian: crooked cops, pimps, gangsters, etc. But the grisly opening scene of The Man Who Laughs tells us we’re dealing with something completely different now. And Batman knows it too — the comic is peppered with his trademark characteristic of being relentlessly self-critical and hard on himself when he can’t save everybody from the likes of the Joker.

I also love the last scene at the Gotham reservoir. Batman proves for the first of many times that he’s a master strategist, capable of thinking well ahead of even his most unpredictable of enemies. And, reinforcing several moments from Year One, Batman refuses to kill — even this most depraved member of the human race. When Joker’s beaten and bloody at Batman’s feet, he says “I’ll kill them… some other time…” And Batman replies:

Next up: Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s collaborative trilogy, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and Haunted Knight!

Black Panther #1/The Mustachio

It’s been way too long. I think Batman v Superman got my superhero juices flowing again, but this comic really sealed the deal. Tuesday morning MPR aired a story about women and people of color in sci-fi/fantasy fiction, and they kicked it off by mentioning that Atlantic columnist, author, and all-around smart dude Ta-Nehisi Coates is relaunching Marvel’s Black Panther series.

I first encountered Coates in the interview segment of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in July of last year, speaking about his new book Between the World and Me. This guy’s clearly got one hell of a journalistic acumen on him, but what really struck me about his comments and his writing at that time was his thoughtful, compassionate approach to the complexities of modern American life, especially at the intersections of race, social justice, and politics. The moment I heard Coates was writing a comic book, it took me only half a second longer to decide that I was going to buy that comic.

I’ve been craving some diversity in my comics lately, both in the creators and the characters. On that count, too, Black Panther delivers. The cast is entirely people of color, women, and even two characters of non-straight sexual orientation. Contrasted with the world of T’Challa, Batman v Superman‘s parade — or should I say funeral procession? — of angry, angsty white orphan boys feels almost unbearably dated, woefully behind the times. And while Marvel still stubbornly refuses to inject any genuine social or political commentary into their Cinematic Universe, they are killing DC in their representation of the diversifying faces of America.

Brian Stelfreeze (Shadow of the Bat, Domino) draws and Laura Martin (JLA: Earth 2, Universe X) colors the first issue of the relaunch. Let’s fix ourselves a Mustachio and talk about the comic!

1.5oz Kentucky straight bourbon (I use Bulleit)

.5oz lemon juice

Shake all ingredients over ice; strain to a rocks/Old-Fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and serve.

So “The Mustachio” is the closest recipe I could find to the drink I actually make, which goes 2:1:1 on the spirits and omits the lemon juice. I’ll be trying it with this recipe soon enough, but so far I’ve been mixing it my way because that’s how it was first served to me at Bathtub Gin & Co., a speakeasy in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. I’m not sure why the “official” recipe calls for lemon juice; it’s already got the sour element in the Cointreau, rounded out by the bitter and sweet of the Campari and bourbon. In any case, I’ve been meaning to write this one up for a while, and this is what I was sipping on while reading Black Panther #1.

(On the one hand, it’s too bad we’ll find no mustachioed villains in this comic. On the other — we know we can expect much better from Mr. Coates!)

This comic was a breath of fresh air for me. I was completely unfamiliar with T’Challa/Black Panther going into it, and while I’d say that hasn’t changed a whole lot in the pages of one comic, I really enjoyed reading a “new” character for the first time and being able to recognize the personal and emotional distances between T’Challa and me.

Anyway, I do know a little something now about Wakanda, the African nation over which T’Challa rules — or fails to rule, as it happens. As the comic opens, T’Challa has returned to govern his country after the death of his sister, Shuri, who had ruled in his stead while he was off Being a Fucking Hero or some such whatever. Wakanda is one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth thanks to its large deposits of “vibranium,” the fictional metal from which Captain America’s shield, among many other Marvelous things, are constructed.

Well… the people of Wakanda ain’t pleased. In the comic’s first panel T’Challa has been clocked on the noggin by some kind of projectile — presumably a Rock, the patented projectile weapon of Angry Mobs everywhere — and his honor guard of dudes with magic laser-spears start shooting back. Turns out Laser beats Rock, and so does Black Panther. We’re meant to understand that the Angry Mob is under some kind of psychic influence, as indicated by the Angry Mob With Glowing Eyes Effect(tm). More on that later.

In this comic, T’Challa seems completely uninterested in being king of anything. Coates alludes to this in his NPR interview with Audie Cornish, explaining that T’Challa is “in a position where he felt committed to do certain things, but in his heart was really not there, it wasn’t really who he was.” Coates relates to his protagonist on this level, feeling as though other writers and thinkers have tried to turn him into the “one person everyone should go to to know about all things black.” It’s always promising when a writer feels some insight into their characters, like they can get inside their fictional heads.

But the similarities between writer and hero seem to end there. Where Coates is humble and thoughtful, T’Challa is brash and even a little arrogant. He narrates in archaic metaphors with a haughty, detached air of entitlement reminiscent of characters like Boromir in The Lord of the Rings or Leonidas in 300. This is no criticism of Coates’ writing — on the contrary, it further signifies that T’Challa is merely playing a part he didn’t ask for.

He’s really only interested in being a superhero: he jumps, he punches, he runs really really fast — and he gets pretty much nowhere, story-wise. Coates has created some compelling tension between “soldier” and “king,” to use the comic’s own words — the guy who leaps into the fray, and the guy who should look before he leaps. There’s a sense that T’Challa occupies a strangely conservative position in relation to the other characters and to his country; he has grudgingly accepted his role as king, but doesn’t want to adapt to that role and its responsibilities. He’s stuck in the past — to a rather extreme extent that I won’t spoil for you here.

Meanwhile, the supporting cast — Ayo, Aneka, Ramonda, all black women — set up some familiar questions around law and justice. The “psychic influence” on the people of Wakanda comes from a woman named Zenzi, who seems to be in league with a surprisingly large band of dissidents. Her motivations are unclear so far, but she occupies somewhat of a populist position in relation to the unilateral power of T’Challa/Black Panther. Wakanda seems to be headed for a conflict between a populace with legitimate grievances but questionable leadership, and a ruler with (more or less) absolute power who has little experience with ruling (and apparently no desire for it, either).

To be sure, these are all questions that the superhero genre has been asking for decades, but something about the setting, the characters and the artists in Black Panther #1 seems to promise answers we haven’t necessarily seen before. I’m really looking forward to the next issue — I feel like I can trust Coates to treat these questions and these characters with the complexity and care I’ve come to expect from him in other media.

Brian Stelfreeze and Laura Martin are pulling their weight, too. Their collaboration really shines during an emotional moment between Ayo and Aneka, two of Black Panther’s elite royal guard. Stelfreeze draws the two women only as silhouettes while the light of a campfire dances behind them, and Martin’s coloring is bold, vivid without destroying the peace or intimacy of the scene. Coates’ dialogue is strong as always, but in these several panels the art leapt forward to perform the more meaningful storytelling.

Go grab this comic! I’m totally on board with this team of artists and their cast of characters. I’ll definitely be picking up issue #2 on the day it comes out, too.

Black Panther #1 is here!

Behold! The very first Marvel comic book I have ever purchased: the relaunch issue of Black Panther!

I know only the most basic of backstories to the character, but he seems like the kind of guy who will appeal to me.

But really, let’s be clear — it was writer Ta-Nehisi Coates who convinced me to swing by Comic Book College tonight and pick up issue #1. Review plus a cocktail forthcoming; stay tuned!

In the meantime, here’s an interview with Coates from NPR correspondent Audie Cornish:

Overture to a Classic

The Sandman: Overture is finally at an end. It was a long, agonizing wait—and now that it’s done I’m not sure what to feel. Part of me wants more, but the other half just wants to dive back into the original series. Gaiman has scripted an engrossing prequel that will feed The Sandman’s legend, and J.H. Williams III has depicted that story with incredible images that push the limits of what comic art can be.

At first, the series felt like little more than an Easter egg for Sandman fanboys. Considering the richness of The Sandman’s universe, that isn’t much of a criticism. Much like the original, The Sandman: Overture celebrates the power of stories to shape our world. In doing so, the series also celebrates comic books. As the Sandman’s realm encompasses all dreams in existence, its landscape is littered with the debris of childhoods spent reading comics. Dream’s librarian was first imagined in DC’s Weird Mystery Tales, his raven was once a man in the pages of Swamp Thing, and Batman can be spotted lurking in Dream’s library. With Gaiman’s previous nods to DC titles, it only makes sense that The Sandman: Overture should celebrate Gaiman’s classic title and add depth to its universe.

While Gaiman may have intended readers of The Sandman: Overture to be left itching to read the original, the story stands strong on its own; I can imagine it being a fun introduction to The Sandman for the uninitiated. It also highlights the eye candy possible when a truly gifted writer collaborates with a uniquely talented artist. J.H. Williams III has been wowing me since Batman: The Black Glove, and each issue of the new Sandman takes eye-popping comic art to new heights. Fold-outs transport you through the universe, figures fluidly blend with the action, and panels coalesce into ethereal landscapes. Together, Gaiman and Williams revel in the medium’s interplay of language and pictures. It’s this willingness to play with form that truly makes the story fresh. The Sandman: Overture did not need to push boundaries to be good, it merely had to uphold the legacy of the original. Instead, it envisions new ways for artists to bring stories to life. Most of the series’ memorable cosmic action sequences eschew frame-by-frame formatting and complicate traditional comic art’s linear narrative approach. It makes for exciting storytelling that brings The Sandman universe to life like never before.

In the introduction to the special edition of The Sandman: Overture #6, Vertigo Executive Editor Shelly Bond suggests we “raise a choice glass of liquid” to this prelude to a classic. I concur, and might I suggest my new favorite cocktail recipe:

2 oz Single Malt Scotch

½ oz dry vermouth

1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

Combine scotch, port, vermouth, and bitters in mixing glass. Fill glass with ice and stir well. Strain into chilled coupe.

I stumbled upon The Chancellor in Food & Wine’s Cocktails 2014, but it all started with a bottle of Laphroaig Dale had collecting dust on his bookshelf. Scotch fanatics everywhere are sure to recognize the name of this single-malt and gnash their teeth at the idea of using it in a cocktail. Laphroaig, described to me by C’n’C co-conspirator Matt Chartrand as”the Scotchiest scotch Scotland could scotch up,” was my first experience with the spirit aside from Johnnie Walker, which I’d still prefer to avoid. Finding Laphroaig’s intense smokiness too abrasive, the bottle was gifted to me after I found myself asking for another taste every time I visited Dale’s. Slowly but surely, I warmed to its uniquely earthy and peaty flavors.

Food & Wine describes The Chancellor as “a nicely dry variation on the Manhattan.” Making the drink with Six Grapes Reserve Porto, the chocolate and cherry flavors of the port danced beautifully with the salty, peaty, and smokey character of the Laphroig. When I switched to Glen Moray, I found the drink quieter and much closer to the dry Manhattan description, but no less delicious. In both cases, the 50-50 mix of port and dry vermouth balance with the scotch and showcase its best flavors. I can imagine sipping this drink in Dream’s library enveloped by the musty smell of old paper and leather. The Chancellor begs to be explored with different scotches, ports, and vermouths, much likeThe Sandman: Overture invites readers to explore The Sandman and its influences.

And make no mistake: I will definitely be exploring The Sandman series a second time. While my first foray into Gaiman’s world was American Gods as a pre-teen (which showed me you can write great fantasy without setting it in a world of castles and dragons), reading The Sandman shortly after college rekindled my passion for comics and cemented my Gaiman fandom. Prose and poetry demanded most of my attention as an undergrad, and Dream’s adventures helped heal the rift between my inner English major and pre-teen comic book nerd by imagining a world where “literature” and comic books share equal footing. Denizens of The Dreaming not only include obscure characters from the pages of DC comics, but myths, legends, and literary figures. While The Sandman reminds us comics can be every bit as rich and powerful as timeless fairy stories, The Sandman: Overture reminds us there are always fresh ways to read both. I’m looking forward to returning to The Dreaming of ’89-’94 with The Chancellor as my companion.

Adams’ Reserve #3: S7

After reading Chirs Claremont and Frank Miller’s original Wolverine limited series, I was surprised to see Claremont’s name while sorting through my old collection. I vaguely remembering reading somewhere that Sovereign Seven was the first creator-owned series DC published, but never realized Chris Claremont was the writer behind it.

My love for Claremont’s work on Wolverine is well documented on CnC, but I have yet to read any of his extensive (1975-1991!?) Uncanny X-Men . Still, given his legendary work at Marvel, I find it curious I’ve heard so little about S7 over the years. How does a heavy-hitter like Claremont defect to DC without sending shockwaves of debate throughout the comic-nerd-world for decades to come?

My only hope was that Sovereign Seven #1 might give me a clue…

A quick, light-hearted read, the first issue of S7 didn’t pack nearly the punch I was hoping. It felt as much like the opening session of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign as the beginning of a comic series: Party of heroes transported to strange new place. Random encounter. Rest at the Inn. Random encounter followed by the arrival of a mysterious and powerful new character to drops the slightest hints of backstory. Break.

Even if Sovereign Seven #1 wasn’t the gripping first issue I was hoping for, it hooked me. It didn’t reel me in, but it did get me on the line. Whether or not I buy a collection of the 36+ (36 plus a few annuals and specials) issue run will depend on what happens when I revisit issues two and three. Like a good Dungeon Master, Claremont spun just enough story into the action to make you want to come back.

The other compelling thing about Sovereign Seven #1 is its self-conscious nod to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World stories. The opening page includes a prominent dedication to Jack Kirby:

The opening of page of S7 #1. Yes, that is an advertisement for a Batman vampire story opposite.

Had I never been given the first three S7 comics, I still might not have known that Darkseid and the New Gods were Jack Kirby’s gift to DC after his own defection from Marvel. This discovery was particularly fun revisiting S7 after reading Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis and Batman run. However, there is a key difference between Claremont’s series and Kirby’s: Sovereign Seven has not been revisited in DC’s continuity. Even if it could, I’m not sure it would. Anything good enough to be immortal as Darkseid I expect to grab me right out of the gate. Sovereign Seven #1 doesn’t quite do that. It makes you curious in all the right ways and sets up an intriguing start to a story, but it isn’t gripping. It’s just good fun. That’s a damn great start, and I’ll definitely be finishing the issues of the franchise I already have in my collection: #’s 1-3, 9, and 12. Maybe it’ll be worth buying the trade paperback. If not, I can save the cash on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World omniubs. One way or another, Chris Claremont and Sovereign Seven have increased my knowledge of DC comics lore, and I can’t help but like anything that deepens my knowledge of comics.