The Crew

[ubiquiti]

has anyone checked this out yet?

It's pretty cool - also has the reimmergence of Jim Rhodes(ex-Iron Man).

Anyway - anyone who likes Priest will really like it.

[500Club]

I read it.... I liked the first issue, but didn't get a full sense of the direction of the book. I'll probably stick with it for a few issues, at least, though.

[ubiquiti]

From Priest's website(it's long - but offers good insight on the story):

 

THE CREW is not about the ghetto. Little Mogadishu, the principal location for the series, is exactly one half of the creative environment for this series. In the 1970's, the brilliant Jack Kirby created a ying and yang of Apokolips and New Genesis. THE CREW takes place within the ying and yang of Little Mogadishu and Princeton Walk. An exclusive, Bill Cosby-esque gated community, Princeton Walk was developed by multi-million dollar investments and tax incentives to Grace & Tumbalt, a largely black-owned corporation, who cleaned up a section of Brooklyn and moved the criminal element (and the poverty-line residents) out in favor of gentrified quarter million-dollar townhomes. Little Mogadishu, or The Mog as the locals call it, is a side effect of that gentrification process, the displaced criminal and poverty elements now concentrating in a zone beyond the safety of Princeton Walk's electric fence. THE CREW is not about the ghetto but about the cause and effect of the politics involved in elevating one class over another. But, more importantly, THE CREW is not about a street or a skin color or Huggy Bear or any of that. THE CREW is, first and most importantly, about family.

 

Yes, in a way, THE CREW is a warm and fuzzy family book about four guys who have all, to one extent or another, lost their family. Drawn together initially out of self interest, the four CREW-mates soon discover their commonality of loss. They are all, in one way or another, orphans. Cut off from parents and siblings and birthdays and Thanksgiving turkey. These are four men intensely dedicated to their rerspective professional goals, but who each has a hole in the center where family and love belong. It takes some time, but eventually this Crew becomes a band of brothers. THE CREW is about that evolution.

 

Nobody at Marvel asked me to write a "ghetto" book. Or a "black" book. Nonetheless, this is the weight THE CREW struggles with as we launch this summer, the painful whiplash of negative spin from a vocal minority eager to not like anything Marvel has to offer. That the first phase of development of THE CREW had Quicksilver (Pietro) as our Crew leader and the telekinetic (and Caucasian) Justice as a team player will make little difference to people shopping for a reason to not like us. The idea behind THE CREW was not to push an agenda but to write a good buddy book. To channel some of the best aspects of Quantum & Woody and Power Man & Iron Fist along with a little more edge. A little more brain and a little more machismo. To which I responded, ladies and gentlemen— Three Kings.

 

 

 

Three Kings, as I hope you know, was a Gulf War film about some very un-heroic soldiers who nevertheless made the choice to set aside their own self-interest to save Iraqi refugees who were marked for death. In the course of pursuing their own selfish agenda (stealing millions in Kuwaiti gold bullion— no, not the little cubes you use to make soup), George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube come across a group of people who save the kings from an Iraqi attack. Now these people, many of them escaped Iraqi political dissidents, will certainly die if the kings don't help them get across the border into Iran. The issue of race is not a major player in Three Kings (other than the fall-down funny and brilliant interrogation scene where the Iraqi soldier demands to know why America makes Michael Jackson hate himself so much he tries to become white). The issue of race is given about that much weight in THE CREW.

 

Starting with the new WHITE TIGER (Kasper Cole, a Jewish man of mixed race), all we knew for certain was THE CREW would eventually be anchored by a character who evolves from Marvel's smash hit Truth: Red, White & Black. So, if you count Kasper as black (and, by law, you have to), then we've got two black guys on board, which worried me. When it looked like Pietro wouldn't work out, we kept Justice and thought briefly about Dagger, of Cloak & Dagger, before settling in on Alexander Power, GEE from the 80's series Power Pack. This was my favorite business. With Pietro and Kasper and Justice and Spin-off Character From Truth To Be Named Later, well, now you had a party. Alex would have played the role now played by JUNTA, a spoiler character out to exploit The Crew for his own reasons. It would have been a hoot, I think, to have this cute little kid grow up to be, well, Rick Schroeder's character from NYPD Blue.

 

Editor Tom Brevoort, spoil sport that he is, questioned how old Alex would be in Marvel Time: how much Marvel Time had passed since Power Pack. I, literally, jumped up and down, shouting, I don't care! I don't care! He's the guy! He's the one! But, in the end, reason prevailed and both Alex Power and Pietro Maximoff were booted from THE CREW. Which makes the "ghettoed out" crack all the more annoying.

 

 

 

We wrung our hands a lonnnng time over putting Rhodey in the team. Rhodey's strongest pluses— a popular character with a long history in the Marvel Universe— are also his greatest minuses. Just explaining all of that back story and all of the many changes WAR MACHINE has been through gave us all pause. And, I thought, the minute we add more black guys than white guys, we get labeled as a "black" book, and we end up launching from a negative, having to make the case for what we are not.

 

In the end we decided Rhodey was too strong and too logical a choice to exclude simply because he's black. He works brilliantly for this premise, becoming a kind of Professor X to the younger Crew. But, I also thought, well, here we go with the race [!@#%^&^]. The ethnicity of the characters would become the main focus of discussion, something that would not have happened had we had Pietro and Alex.

 

Justice was ultimately swapped for JUNTA because, well, I don't see Justice as being particularly ruthless. The spoiler character on the team, a kind of Dr. Smith (from the classic TV show Lost In Space), needed to be someone hip, funny, loveable, and almost completely amoral. We could make Justice that, but that's not who he is. In terms of star power, Justice is only marginally higher on the UV meter than the relatively unknown Junta (from Black Panther's "Enemy Of The State" arcs in issues #9 and #41-45).

 

In fact, the major star power of THE CREW would have to reside in a character that didn't even exist yet: a spin-off character from the hit series Truth: Red, White & Black. Marvel EIC Joe Quesada and Truth editor Axel Alonso had early conversations with me about Truth before settling Robert Morales and Kyle Baker in as the Truth creative team. Having been peripherally involved at the start, I was flattered to be thought of for this continuation of the landmark series, although I was certainly nervous about disturbing another writer's work. Both Morales and Alonso put me at ease and we worked together to logic a non-destructive way to continue their work in the world of today.

 

Tom and assistant editors Marc Sumerak and Andy Schmidt struggled with what to call this new character and what gender the new character would be before I ultimately chose to make him a him (for reasons that would require a whole 'nuther essay). On the phone with Tom, we struggled with a name. I said something like, "well, the classic line is Truth, Justice, and the American Way (from the 1950's Superman TV show). Too bad we can't call him 'Justice.'" Tom said, "Why not?" and I reminded him he's already got a character named Justice. Tom said so what, they can slug it out in an alley. Winner gets the name. Our spin-off character would have absolutely no way of knowing there's already a guy using that name. More than that, our guy wouldn't care. He's Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (much like Kasper is Denzel Washington in Training Day). These guys don't read comics. And they don't give one whit about what Justice, the Avenger, thinks of them.

 

 

 

I briefly wanted to call this book The Black Avengers. It's a terrible idea, but, the truth is, with this cast, race will speak the loudest. Having not said a whole lot about what this book is, the feedback I've gotten thus far has only confirmed that fear. Fans don't know what THE CREW is, but they know it's, "A black book set in the ghetto." So, I figured, why not. Race is all some fans will see anyway, let's just get to it. The book has a kind of Avengers vibe, anyway, with two archetypical AV characters in our black Iron Man (WAR MACHINE) and Black Captain America (JUSTICE). Moreover, Black Avengers really just nails What This Is in a way "The Crew" really can't.

 

"The Crew" may summon, for some fans, unpleasant images of an urban hip-hop culture. I'd guess most comics fans are not universally fans of 50 Cent and Eminem and Nas. Most people have very specific cultural boundaries they respond to, and the hip-hop subtext of a name like "The Crew" may be off-putting. Hip-Hop, to those of us (myself included) who are neither, well, hip nor hop, can feel like either an accusation of un-coolness or as confirmation of our own insecurity about our place in popular culture. Being a fan of Rhino Records reissues more so than of what is new on the charts, I can certainly relate to that generational separation from the cutting edge of pop culture. To people who do not hop, Hip-Hop and its nascent cultural implications (urban clothes, the predatory street look and booming, thunderous music) can be received as a kind of attack. As violence. Having not read even a single page of THE CREW, many fans were predisposed to not like it simply based on (1) the race of the characters (and, perhaps, the author) and (2) the cultural subtext of the book's title. Black Avengers would have mitigated both concerns, but would have made Marvel into a kind of minstrel show. In 1972, Marvel could have gotten away with Black Avengers. In 2003, it would be seen as a kind of unfortunate in-joke.

 

 

 

So, THE CREW it is. And, this is a fabulous book. Joe Bennett is a fabulous artist, and he is totally jazzed and totally invested in this book and its characters. Hailing from somewhere in Brazil (lucky dog), Bennett nonetheless has an uncanny knack for urban New York City. He has created a claustrophobic environment, a Bennett universe so completely personal and, well, un-generic, that the book fairly breathes in a dynamic and organic way. Bennett's vision of WHITE TIGER is a whimsical combination of Batman and Spider-Man: a guy who looks like a melding of Batman and Dagger but who moves like Spider-Man (ironic as the webslinger himself played the role of Kasper's omen, back in Black Panther #52).

 

I have been privileged to work with a few master craftsmen in my time, people who truly loved what they were doing and invested themselves in the work. MD Bright and the brilliant Sal Velluto are just two who come to mind, men I have done my very best work with, but whose art has not, for reasons I can't understand, found widespread mainstream acceptance. I am terribly excited about Joe Bennett. His enthusiasm is contagious. The guy just gets what we are doing, here. He gets New York City. He knows what gang members and society gals look like. He can draw the heck out of a Bentley and knows the difference between a Bentley and a '96 Lexus GS 400 (Kasper's car). He draws Kasper's two-toned SigArms .40 caliber pistols two-toned. This guy is simply wonderful and is way, way ahead of me. Whatever becomes of me or THE CREW, I really hope the audience discovers this wonderful talent at the height of his powers. This is, simply, fabulous stuff.

 

Also on board is the wonderful Danny Miki, a guy Dwayne Turner first told me about years ago while we scarfed up about $200 of free grub at a fancy Denver restaurant. Turner, fan favorite Spawn artist, used to be The Skinny Kid At Marvel, a gopher of sorts for the sales department. A kid who would occasionally hang out in my office while Ron Wilson, Denys Cowan, Doc Bright and I lorded it over him as important black men in comics.

 

Man, them was the days. Now this kid is, I guess, in his 30's and can, literally, buy and sell me any day of the week and twice on Sunday. As brilliant an artist as Dwayne is, he couldn't stop raving about this new guy, this Danny Miki. Miki was the only guy Dwayne wanted touching his Curse of Spawn, and he predicted Miki would become a dominant force in the industry. And, so he has. Miki's studio is now one of the most respected art teams in the business, and Miki himself is one of the most sought-after talents. I was completely thrilled when Tom told me we had him on board.

 

Which, of course, brings me to Tom himself. Tom Brevoort is simply the best editor working in comics today. It really is just that simple. No one understands the characters, the fans and the talent the way Tom does. I spent half a day researching Alexander Power only to then have Tom rattle, off the top of his head, more about Gee than anyone this side of Louise Simonson could possibly know. Tom's extraordinary story sense, combined with his unrivaled (take that, Busiek) historical knowledge, makes him a true rarity in this business: a pro. A real pro, more so than simply or mainly a fan (though he is certainly that as well). David Letterman's strength as a late-night host is his sense of history. Letterman is a fan of broadcasting, and he has a very rich sense of it. Tom brings the wealth and gravity of a deep respect for comics as an art form and joins with that his great sense of humor and instinct for innovation (as well as an uncanny ability to see what I may have struggled with for days or weeks; plot solutions right in front of my nose).

 

Marvel should pitch a new CBS Monday night sitcom, Everybody Wants To Work With Tom. And, yes, everybody does. I think he should, frankly, clone himself so he can edit more books. I am hugely flattered and grateful to have captured his attention. This Crew could not possibly be in better hands.

 

And, so, once more unto the breach as we tempt fate yet again by launching our high hopes and great expectations into the great unknown, all the while hoping we find an audience who can see beyond the superfluous and obvious, and find the thematic heart of this book. It is a buddy book. It is a book about buddies. A band of brothers who discover a higher cause and higher meaning for their own lives as they also discover each other.

 

Welcome to The Mog.

 

Christopher J. Priest

 

 

[Illiterati-migration]

From Priest's website(it's long - but offers good insight on the story):

 

THE CREW is not about the ghetto. Little Mogadishu, the principal location for the series, is exactly one half of the creative environment for this series. In the 1970's, the brilliant Jack Kirby created a ying and yang of Apokolips and New Genesis. THE CREW takes place within the ying and yang of Little Mogadishu and Princeton Walk. An exclusive, Bill Cosby-esque gated community, Princeton Walk was developed by multi-million dollar investments and tax incentives to Grace & Tumbalt, a largely black-owned corporation, who cleaned up a section of Brooklyn and moved the criminal element (and the poverty-line residents) out in favor of gentrified quarter million-dollar townhomes. Little Mogadishu, or The Mog as the locals call it, is a side effect of that gentrification process, the displaced criminal and poverty elements now concentrating in a zone beyond the safety of Princeton Walk's electric fence. THE CREW is not about the ghetto but about the cause and effect of the politics involved in elevating one class over another. But, more importantly, THE CREW is not about a street or a skin color or Huggy Bear or any of that. THE CREW is, first and most importantly, about family.

 

Yes, in a way, THE CREW is a warm and fuzzy family book about four guys who have all, to one extent or another, lost their family. Drawn together initially out of self interest, the four CREW-mates soon discover their commonality of loss. They are all, in one way or another, orphans. Cut off from parents and siblings and birthdays and Thanksgiving turkey. These are four men intensely dedicated to their rerspective professional goals, but who each has a hole in the center where family and love belong. It takes some time, but eventually this Crew becomes a band of brothers. THE CREW is about that evolution.

 

Nobody at Marvel asked me to write a "ghetto" book. Or a "black" book. Nonetheless, this is the weight THE CREW struggles with as we launch this summer, the painful whiplash of negative spin from a vocal minority eager to not like anything Marvel has to offer. That the first phase of development of THE CREW had Quicksilver (Pietro) as our Crew leader and the telekinetic (and Caucasian) Justice as a team player will make little difference to people shopping for a reason to not like us. The idea behind THE CREW was not to push an agenda but to write a good buddy book. To channel some of the best aspects of Quantum & Woody and Power Man & Iron Fist along with a little more edge. A little more brain and a little more machismo. To which I responded, ladies and gentlemen— Three Kings.

 

 

 

Three Kings, as I hope you know, was a Gulf War film about some very un-heroic soldiers who nevertheless made the choice to set aside their own self-interest to save Iraqi refugees who were marked for death. In the course of pursuing their own selfish agenda (stealing millions in Kuwaiti gold bullion— no, not the little cubes you use to make soup), George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube come across a group of people who save the kings from an Iraqi attack. Now these people, many of them escaped Iraqi political dissidents, will certainly die if the kings don't help them get across the border into Iran. The issue of race is not a major player in Three Kings (other than the fall-down funny and brilliant interrogation scene where the Iraqi soldier demands to know why America makes Michael Jackson hate himself so much he tries to become white). The issue of race is given about that much weight in THE CREW.

 

Starting with the new WHITE TIGER (Kasper Cole, a Jewish man of mixed race), all we knew for certain was THE CREW would eventually be anchored by a character who evolves from Marvel's smash hit Truth: Red, White & Black. So, if you count Kasper as black (and, by law, you have to), then we've got two black guys on board, which worried me. When it looked like Pietro wouldn't work out, we kept Justice and thought briefly about Dagger, of Cloak & Dagger, before settling in on Alexander Power, GEE from the 80's series Power Pack. This was my favorite business. With Pietro and Kasper and Justice and Spin-off Character From Truth To Be Named Later, well, now you had a party. Alex would have played the role now played by JUNTA, a spoiler character out to exploit The Crew for his own reasons. It would have been a hoot, I think, to have this cute little kid grow up to be, well, Rick Schroeder's character from NYPD Blue.

 

Editor Tom Brevoort, spoil sport that he is, questioned how old Alex would be in Marvel Time: how much Marvel Time had passed since Power Pack. I, literally, jumped up and down, shouting, I don't care! I don't care! He's the guy! He's the one! But, in the end, reason prevailed and both Alex Power and Pietro Maximoff were booted from THE CREW. Which makes the "ghettoed out" crack all the more annoying.

 

 

 

We wrung our hands a lonnnng time over putting Rhodey in the team. Rhodey's strongest pluses— a popular character with a long history in the Marvel Universe— are also his greatest minuses. Just explaining all of that back story and all of the many changes WAR MACHINE has been through gave us all pause. And, I thought, the minute we add more black guys than white guys, we get labeled as a "black" book, and we end up launching from a negative, having to make the case for what we are not.

 

In the end we decided Rhodey was too strong and too logical a choice to exclude simply because he's black. He works brilliantly for this premise, becoming a kind of Professor X to the younger Crew. But, I also thought, well, here we go with the race [!@#%^&^]. The ethnicity of the characters would become the main focus of discussion, something that would not have happened had we had Pietro and Alex.

 

Justice was ultimately swapped for JUNTA because, well, I don't see Justice as being particularly ruthless. The spoiler character on the team, a kind of Dr. Smith (from the classic TV show Lost In Space), needed to be someone hip, funny, loveable, and almost completely amoral. We could make Justice that, but that's not who he is. In terms of star power, Justice is only marginally higher on the UV meter than the relatively unknown Junta (from Black Panther's "Enemy Of The State" arcs in issues #9 and #41-45).

 

In fact, the major star power of THE CREW would have to reside in a character that didn't even exist yet: a spin-off character from the hit series Truth: Red, White & Black. Marvel EIC Joe Quesada and Truth editor Axel Alonso had early conversations with me about Truth before settling Robert Morales and Kyle Baker in as the Truth creative team. Having been peripherally involved at the start, I was flattered to be thought of for this continuation of the landmark series, although I was certainly nervous about disturbing another writer's work. Both Morales and Alonso put me at ease and we worked together to logic a non-destructive way to continue their work in the world of today.

 

Tom and assistant editors Marc Sumerak and Andy Schmidt struggled with what to call this new character and what gender the new character would be before I ultimately chose to make him a him (for reasons that would require a whole 'nuther essay). On the phone with Tom, we struggled with a name. I said something like, "well, the classic line is Truth, Justice, and the American Way (from the 1950's Superman TV show). Too bad we can't call him 'Justice.'" Tom said, "Why not?" and I reminded him he's already got a character named Justice. Tom said so what, they can slug it out in an alley. Winner gets the name. Our spin-off character would have absolutely no way of knowing there's already a guy using that name. More than that, our guy wouldn't care. He's Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (much like Kasper is Denzel Washington in Training Day). These guys don't read comics. And they don't give one whit about what Justice, the Avenger, thinks of them.

 

 

 

I briefly wanted to call this book The Black Avengers. It's a terrible idea, but, the truth is, with this cast, race will speak the loudest. Having not said a whole lot about what this book is, the feedback I've gotten thus far has only confirmed that fear. Fans don't know what THE CREW is, but they know it's, "A black book set in the ghetto." So, I figured, why not. Race is all some fans will see anyway, let's just get to it. The book has a kind of Avengers vibe, anyway, with two archetypical AV characters in our black Iron Man (WAR MACHINE) and Black Captain America (JUSTICE). Moreover, Black Avengers really just nails What This Is in a way "The Crew" really can't.

 

"The Crew" may summon, for some fans, unpleasant images of an urban hip-hop culture. I'd guess most comics fans are not universally fans of 50 Cent and Eminem and Nas. Most people have very specific cultural boundaries they respond to, and the hip-hop subtext of a name like "The Crew" may be off-putting. Hip-Hop, to those of us (myself included) who are neither, well, hip nor hop, can feel like either an accusation of un-coolness or as confirmation of our own insecurity about our place in popular culture. Being a fan of Rhino Records reissues more so than of what is new on the charts, I can certainly relate to that generational separation from the cutting edge of pop culture. To people who do not hop, Hip-Hop and its nascent cultural implications (urban clothes, the predatory street look and booming, thunderous music) can be received as a kind of attack. As violence. Having not read even a single page of THE CREW, many fans were predisposed to not like it simply based on (1) the race of the characters (and, perhaps, the author) and (2) the cultural subtext of the book's title. Black Avengers would have mitigated both concerns, but would have made Marvel into a kind of minstrel show. In 1972, Marvel could have gotten away with Black Avengers. In 2003, it would be seen as a kind of unfortunate in-joke.

 

 

 

So, THE CREW it is. And, this is a fabulous book. Joe Bennett is a fabulous artist, and he is totally jazzed and totally invested in this book and its characters. Hailing from somewhere in Brazil (lucky dog), Bennett nonetheless has an uncanny knack for urban New York City. He has created a claustrophobic environment, a Bennett universe so completely personal and, well, un-generic, that the book fairly breathes in a dynamic and organic way. Bennett's vision of WHITE TIGER is a whimsical combination of Batman and Spider-Man: a guy who looks like a melding of Batman and Dagger but who moves like Spider-Man (ironic as the webslinger himself played the role of Kasper's omen, back in Black Panther #52).

 

I have been privileged to work with a few master craftsmen in my time, people who truly loved what they were doing and invested themselves in the work. MD Bright and the brilliant Sal Velluto are just two who come to mind, men I have done my very best work with, but whose art has not, for reasons I can't understand, found widespread mainstream acceptance. I am terribly excited about Joe Bennett. His enthusiasm is contagious. The guy just gets what we are doing, here. He gets New York City. He knows what gang members and society gals look like. He can draw the heck out of a Bentley and knows the difference between a Bentley and a '96 Lexus GS 400 (Kasper's car). He draws Kasper's two-toned SigArms .40 caliber pistols two-toned. This guy is simply wonderful and is way, way ahead of me. Whatever becomes of me or THE CREW, I really hope the audience discovers this wonderful talent at the height of his powers. This is, simply, fabulous stuff.

 

Also on board is the wonderful Danny Miki, a guy Dwayne Turner first told me about years ago while we scarfed up about $200 of free grub at a fancy Denver restaurant. Turner, fan favorite Spawn artist, used to be The Skinny Kid At Marvel, a gopher of sorts for the sales department. A kid who would occasionally hang out in my office while Ron Wilson, Denys Cowan, Doc Bright and I lorded it over him as important black men in comics.

 

Man, them was the days. Now this kid is, I guess, in his 30's and can, literally, buy and sell me any day of the week and twice on Sunday. As brilliant an artist as Dwayne is, he couldn't stop raving about this new guy, this Danny Miki. Miki was the only guy Dwayne wanted touching his Curse of Spawn, and he predicted Miki would become a dominant force in the industry. And, so he has. Miki's studio is now one of the most respected art teams in the business, and Miki himself is one of the most sought-after talents. I was completely thrilled when Tom told me we had him on board.

 

Which, of course, brings me to Tom himself. Tom Brevoort is simply the best editor working in comics today. It really is just that simple. No one understands the characters, the fans and the talent the way Tom does. I spent half a day researching Alexander Power only to then have Tom rattle, off the top of his head, more about Gee than anyone this side of Louise Simonson could possibly know. Tom's extraordinary story sense, combined with his unrivaled (take that, Busiek) historical knowledge, makes him a true rarity in this business: a pro. A real pro, more so than simply or mainly a fan (though he is certainly that as well). David Letterman's strength as a late-night host is his sense of history. Letterman is a fan of broadcasting, and he has a very rich sense of it. Tom brings the wealth and gravity of a deep respect for comics as an art form and joins with that his great sense of humor and instinct for innovation (as well as an uncanny ability to see what I may have struggled with for days or weeks; plot solutions right in front of my nose).

 

Marvel should pitch a new CBS Monday night sitcom, Everybody Wants To Work With Tom. And, yes, everybody does. I think he should, frankly, clone himself so he can edit more books. I am hugely flattered and grateful to have captured his attention. This Crew could not possibly be in better hands.

 

And, so, once more unto the breach as we tempt fate yet again by launching our high hopes and great expectations into the great unknown, all the while hoping we find an audience who can see beyond the superfluous and obvious, and find the thematic heart of this book. It is a buddy book. It is a book about buddies. A band of brothers who discover a higher cause and higher meaning for their own lives as they also discover each other.

 

Welcome to The Mog.

 

Christopher J. Priest

 

 

But the dialogue sucks. Renders the book almost unreadable.

[ubiquiti]

But the dialogue sucks. Renders the book almost unreadable.

 

How so? have you read a lot of Priest's work?

Are you talking about the occasional strained "street talk" or just the general flow?

[Illiterati-migration]

But the dialogue sucks. Renders the book almost unreadable.

 

How so? have you read a lot of Priest's work?

Are you talking about the occasional strained "street talk" or just the general flow?

 

The flow for the most part. I "get" street talk, and I have no problem with it... but the dialogue in that book had absolutely no flow and it felt like the characters were less talking TO one another than talking AT one another.

 

Of course, I just finished re-reading all my 100 Bullets TPBs, so that might color my opinion of written dialogue a bit. I might be a bit spoiled?

[ubiquiti]

Well, Priest's dialogue is not his strong point - his strong points really lie in the intricate plots and story line.

I didn't think the flow was that bad.... The part of the dialogue I don't like is Priest occasionally tries too hard to use the street slang and it sometimes sounds forced, or slightly dated.

[chromium]

I've read issue #1 and enjoyed it and will pick up the next few issues at least.

Having said that it does have shades of (some) 100 bullets issues and going up against 'bullets' these days is a fool's game...

[Room 237]

Man, issue 2 was fantastic, this is one book which is shaping up! I too was dubious, see as there was going to be no war machine in it, but afte rthe first 2 issues, Im going to read the whole run