A new comic that deserves an "Unintentionally Hilarious or Not" Post

[Johnny Triangles]

Have you guys seen the latest preview for Batman Confidential over at newsarama? It's an issue about Joker's origin. In the few pages previewed, we had some awful, AWFUL puns and one-liners used to foreshadow that two of the characters would wind up being Joker and Harley Quinn. I mean, it's about as subtle as a jackhammer:

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=120199

It made me think of the Peter David issue and all the "sand" references...

[Dan Apodaca]

Everything about that looks awful. Terrible artwork, stupid references to his future as the Joker, and that annoying nondescript "ya" and "hiya" accent that you only find in bad comics.

[JoeK32880]

I agree. Just. . . bad.

[BizarroBeachHead]

But c'mon guys, it's written by the guy that writes Heroes....

Uhg, that looks pretty bad.

I like the way he tells us the yellow oval is silly.

[stealthwise]

Holy hell, was that ever terrible to read.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Wow, that's awful. Not just the writing, either, though that truly is wretched.

Cowan's normally a lot better artist than that, but maybe he figured that crap script didn't deserve any better effort.

[Aaron King]

I liked the art. The colors were a little bright at times, and some of the foreshadowing was too heavy, but there were definitely some good lines. Girl to Bruce Wayne: "I like your laugh. It's funny -- like you learned it as a second language."

[Johnny Triangles]

I liked the art. The colors were a little bright at times, and some of the foreshadowing was too heavy, but there were definitely some good lines. Girl to Bruce Wayne: "I like your laugh. It's funny -- like you learned it as a second language."

That was just awesomely bad. Lines that bad actually make me want to buy the comic just to see if the writer can top them in the actual book.

[Sean Whitmore]

Fucking hell, that was bad. I think Baby Jesus is crying.

Someone remind me why we need yet another book showing the early days of Batman? I think he's had more Year One stories than he's had present day stories at this point.


SEAN

[Johnny Triangles]

Even scarier is how many people in the comments section actually think it's great writing. I went in the comments section expecting it to be ripped apart, and the reaction to the writng is actually quite enthusiastic and positive.

[Johnny Triangles]

The other possibility for this story, which would be even worse, would be if they take it in the direction of Trouble by Mark Millar, where all the heavyhanded foreshadowing is actually just turns out to be blatant misdirection in the end. Like, at the very end it's revealed that he was just some regular joe and not actually the Joker. Writers think that's clever (like when Jenkins did it in the first few issues of Origin with Dog being set up to look like the future Logan), but it just comes off as a hack trick.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Even scarier is how many people in the comments section actually think it's great writing. I went in the comments section expecting it to be ripped apart, and the reaction to the writng is actually quite enthusiastic and positive.

It's Newsarama. Aside from the alleged "journalists" lavishing gushing praise on every creator, no matter how talent-impaired, half the people that post there probably spend the rest of their time writing fanfic about meeting and having romantic interludes with their favorite comics writers.

[Froggy]

I dont suually say this...but that was BAD

[Johnny Triangles]

Now if it turns out that this humor is indeed deliberate, would that change your opinion for the better, the worse, or make no difference? I'm not sure how it would change my opinion, honestly.

[Dan Apodaca]

Now if it turns out that this humor is indeed deliberate, would that change your opinion for the better, the worse, or make no difference? I'm not sure how it would change my opinion, honestly.

It really woudln't make a difference. It's not even really funny, just lame.

[stealthwise]

It really woudln't make a difference. It's not even really funny, just lame.

You might as well take it even further and go into ASBAR territory, although that's shite as well.

[Sean Whitmore]

You might as well take it even further and go into ASBAR territory, although that's shite as well.

ASBAR is hilariously bad, though.

This is just medicore bad, which is a much worse sin.


SEAN

[Froggy]

ASBAR is hilariously bad, though.

This is just medicore bad, which is a much worse sin.


SEAN

"out of my way, sperm bank" is comedic GOLD

[mattx110]

if it helps, i like the art.
and the dialogue could have been worse. the coloring was a bit too bright for a character talking in constant metaphor. oh, and characters that talk in constant metaphor are wildfire coarsing through the acidic veins of jackalopes grazing on the blue grass of valhala.

meanwhile, this was an awesome origin of the riddler. i think it's great that they built up his penchant for innapropriately colorful language. it's only a matter of time before his clever bank heists lead to his compulsion to tempt fate asserting itself, and we learn more about his obsession with unsolvable puzzles that led him into the business of securities. and then it's only a matter of time before his constant analogies on the state of his soul become unanswerable riddles on the state of man. then his whole mess of complexes comes together in a green smirk to match his cufflinks.

[JoeK32880]

if it helps, i like the art.
and the dialogue could have been worse. the coloring was a bit too bright for a character talking in constant metaphor. oh, and characters that talk in constant metaphor are wildfire coarsing through the acidic veins of jackalopes grazing on the blue grass of valhala.

meanwhile, this was an awesome origin of the riddler. i think it's great that they built up his penchant for innapropriately colorful language. it's only a matter of time before his clever bank heists lead to his compulsion to tempt fate asserting itself, and we learn more about his obsession with unsolvable puzzles that led him into the business of securities. and then it's only a matter of time before his constant analogies on the state of his soul become unanswerable riddles on the state of man. then his whole mess of complexes comes together in a green smirk to match his cufflinks.

Best Batman Confidential-Related Post Ever.

[stealthwise]

Best Batman Confidential-Related Post Ever.

Hahaha, agreed.

[brundlefly]

if it helps, i like the art.
and the dialogue could have been worse. the coloring was a bit too bright for a character talking in constant metaphor. oh, and characters that talk in constant metaphor are wildfire coarsing through the acidic veins of jackalopes grazing on the blue grass of valhala.

meanwhile, this was an awesome origin of the riddler. i think it's great that they built up his penchant for innapropriately colorful language. it's only a matter of time before his clever bank heists lead to his compulsion to tempt fate asserting itself, and we learn more about his obsession with unsolvable puzzles that led him into the business of securities. and then it's only a matter of time before his constant analogies on the state of his soul become unanswerable riddles on the state of man. then his whole mess of complexes comes together in a green smirk to match his cufflinks.

That's gold. Needs to be reposted in the Batman Forums thread, where there is inexplicably a lot of positive feedback about this issue. :eek:

[dan bailey]

That's gold. Needs to be reposted in the Batman Forums thread, where there is inexplicably a lot of positive feedback about this issue. :eek:

Wow ... apparently, Kool-Aid comes in bat flavor.

[mattx110]

Best Batman Confidential-Related Post Ever.

awww, thanks guys. now i feel warm and fuzzy inside. but you have to admit, just based on the preview, the characterization is spot on for the wrong character.
and maybe the issue is good, all i saw was a couple pages. but i've never seen a writer try to show "i know what i'm talking about, i know all these references" so much in so few pages.
and jeph loeb is really good at the thought-box "you know what the difference between quiet and silent is"-type stuff, i never really appreciated him for that until i read this.

maybe it just feels weird here because quiet doesn't mean "no noise" the way silent does. or because i was expecting mikey to say " a little too quiet" from off-panel.

[Johnny Triangles]

That's gold. Needs to be reposted in the Batman Forums thread, where there is inexplicably a lot of positive feedback about this issue. :eek:


This issue is out now? I've got to flip through it at the store. I'm just dying to know how bad it gets.

Apparently this guy is one of the writers on Heroes. I never tried the show because of Jeph Loeb's involvement, but this guy makes him look like Nabokov by comparison.

[brundlefly]

This issue is out now? I've got to flip through it at the store. I'm just dying to know how bad it gets.


Yep. That's what I did, and it lived down to expectations.

[suedenim]

I've actually seen some people whose opinions I respect (i.e., not Newsarama posters) praise this one, and it made me wonder if I was the one missing something. Good to see I'm not the only one, I guess....