Season 8 - Safe: Issue 24

[Joe]

Sorry for the wait! Here's my animated reenactment of this issue

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0w6-t0_TkY

[iamthewalrus]

easily the worst issue of Season 8.

[Marcos]

Hey Joe, great job!!

Sorry if you already answered it a thousand times before, but can you tell me how you do it, and how long does it take to have the graphics done??? Are you a game designer? or do u use some non-pro software (which one)??

[wenxina]

I received my Spring 2009 edition in the mail today, and flipped through it and smiled in recognition of a familiar name: Jim Krueger. Found the article over at the Marquette University website. Click to read from the source. Or just read below.

Had I known that we shared an alma mater, I may have been kinder in my review of #24. Actually... that's not true.

Storytelling superhero
Jim Krueger transformed a childhood passion into a comics career

By Kurt A. Krug and Joni Moths Mueller

Kapow! That’s old school. Now comic books have sophisticated and politically relevant storylines. Villains don’t plan bank jobs or plot the world’s destruction; they run multinational corporations and infiltrate and subvert world governments.

Heroes aren’t simple do-gooders; they have dark sides that edge up close to the wrong side of right. But neither hero nor villain can take form without the imaginative mind and deft hand of the comic book writer. And among the best in the business is Jim Krueger, Comm ’89, named one of the Top 10 writers in comics and an innovator in the field by Wizard magazine.

Krueger has penned well-known titles such as Earth X, Avengers/Invaders, Spider-Man, X-Men, Justice, Star Wars, The Matrix and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, carrying on a storytelling tradition beloved by kids and adults for generations. Today comics and their long-form version, graphic novels, take up growing real estate in mall book stores, get reviewed by the New York Times, and inspire blockbuster movies every summer.

But Krueger believes there’s a drawback to comics becoming too mainstream. “The whole idea of comics is it’s a form of ‘rebel’ literature. There’s a disdain for comics, and you don’t want to mess with that,” he explains. “It’s important that they remain a form of literature that only some people get — that’s how it works.”

Krueger became a comics convert as a child. Whenever he joined his auto mechanic dad on service calls, a reward was waiting in the truck cab — a pile of comics to read and pass the time. “It was really an exciting time to read comics,” he says. “Those initial images are extremely primal and formative.”

After graduating from Marquette, Krueger worked as an advertising copywriter and won two Addy Awards during his first year — for Eveready Batteries and the Sheboygan Coho Derby Fishing Tournament. But even while sitting in his office cubicle thinking about how you catch a coho, comic book characters were dancing in his head. He got closer to his dream when he joined Marvel Comics, eventually becoming creative director.

Early on he made his name as a comics writer through a series of independently produced comic books called The Foot Soldiers, which asked “When all the heroes are gone, who will fill their shoes?” Krueger’s answer was a story about three boys and a girl that Comic Buyers Guide called “one of the freshest superhero books of the year.” Readers spotted the new hand at work and bought what became a 17-issue series.

“Foot Soldiers is this oppressive world where kids go to a graveyard and rob the graves of superheroes — it’s how they get their powers,” explains Krueger. “They literally and figuratively fill the shoes of legends.”

As expected, many comics creators inspired Krueger, but maybe surprisingly his biggest influence is novelist Charles Dickens.

“Dickens wrote amazing stories about change and virtue in the midst of suffering. That’s rule No. 1 of writing: You have to make your characters suffer throughout the story or nobody will care,” Krueger says. “I love Dickens. He mixes mythology and truth. A Christmas Carol is the idea of mythic ghosts speaking truth. I’m into telling truth stories, not true stories.”

Krueger calls writing the adventures of Superman and Spider-Man akin to a religious experience. “I can speak openly about faith because you’re writing a chapter of a bigger story. People come to faith because their stories and lives are small, and they need to be a part of a bigger story. That’s where faith comes in,” he explains.

Religion played a role in Krueger’s Earth X, which he describes as “a superhero-take on The Book of Ecclesiastes.” Earth X, created with renowned illustrator and frequent collaborator Alex Ross, depicts a dark future in which Marvel’s heroes — Spider-Man, the Hulk and the X-Men — become hardened. In 2004, Krueger spoke about Earth X at the White House program “Arts and Faith” and at Cambridge for “The Book of Ecclesiastes and Pop Culture” seminar, alongside Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and leading New Testament scholar N.T. Wright.

“Earth X was like a study in ethics — is there right or wrong? I spoke to senators and aides about what I was writing and where I saw humanity going,” he says. “The (Cambridge) discussion was all about if there’s good and evil in the world. It was really fascinating and exciting.”

To Krueger, comic books are a modern-day mythology. “I think the whole idea of a mythology is that you’re telling stories, but they’re still ethical dramas,” he says. “They’re stories with morals that sometimes inspire people to greatness and explain away mysteries in the world that science can’t answer.

[dane5by5]

That was a nice interview, it makes me think that the reason this issue was not well received, that blame was directed at his writing is due to the fact that his stories are more narrative driven, less character, which doesn't fit with the BtVS style of writing and story.

His interview prior to this issue being released, with a comic publication (can't remember which one), made me think he had a great grasp on the BtVS ethos and characters, I think the fact that he only had one issue to tell his story (which is part of a mythology and "bigger" story) was detrimental to his writing.

[Skeptic]

I know nothing of the comic world but I'm wondering why one of the top 10 writers in the whole business couldn't capture the characters here. Was he just rushed maybe? I've noticed the artwork is starting to also look slightly rushed (I saw a thread around here somewhere about that).

[Marcos]

He seems like a very nice guy, with great thoughts...

I forgot he wrote Earth X. I read it some years ago and I don't remember the plot, I just remember thinking "this is nothing compared to Kingdom Come". KC is the DC minisseries about the future of it's heroes.

Apr 17, 2009 23:53:53 GMT -5 dane5by5 said:

That was a nice interview, it makes me think that the reason this issue was not well received, that blame was directed at his writing is due to the fact that his stories are more narrative driven, less character, which doesn't fit with the BtVS style of writing and story.

His interview prior to this issue being released, with a comic publication (can't remember which one), made me think he had a great grasp on the BtVS ethos and characters, I think the fact that he only had one issue to tell his story (which is part of a mythology and "bigger" story) was detrimental to his writing.

Wolves at the Gate is even less character-driven than Safe and it's an amazing arc. It's pure action horror crazy fun, and Buffy always had that kind of stories too.

The problem with it is simple. Poor plot, poor script. Simple.

[Mathieu]

I was the very first one to comment on this issue and I said:

"Anyway, the issue is ok... But I'm sure many will be disappointed, for some reason...

Can't wait for your reactions."

So I kinda saw it coming, but I never thought it would become the most hated issue of Season 8. Safe was not great, but is it really that bad? I'm almost suprised.

[wenxina]

IMO, it was that bad.

[iamthewalrus]

Apr 18, 2009 16:54:13 GMT -5 Mathieu said:

So I kinda saw it coming, but I never thought it would become the most hated issue of Season 8. Safe was not great, but is it really that bad? I'm almost suprised.

what other issue(s) did you think people would find worse than this one?

every other issue i've read, even if it may be slightly on the poor side, i've still enjoyed. Safe was just unenjoyable for me. i hated it while i was reading it.

[hitnrun017]

Apr 18, 2009 13:39:18 GMT -5 Marcos said:

Wolves at the Gate is even less character-driven than Safe and it's an amazing arc.

Really? I agree that it's an amazing arc, but I thought it had great character-driven moments, especially for Xander, Buffy, Satsu and Renee. It developed Xander more than anything that happened to him in Season 7, IMO.

Apr 18, 2009 17:17:53 GMT -5 wenxina said:

IMO, it was that bad.

Yes, I agree. I re-read this a couple days ago and it just made me dislike it more. This issue is Season 8's Angel: Aftermath. Not good at all.

[Emmie]

Apr 18, 2009 17:17:53 GMT -5 wenxina said:

IMO, it was that bad.

*nods emphatically*

Apr 18, 2009 17:24:22 GMT -5 hitnrun017 said:

Yes, I agree. I re-read this a couple days ago and it just made me dislike it more. This issue is Season 8's Angel: Aftermath. Not good at all.

So much word. WORD.

[Malsad]

I thought that the new slayer character was a great addition

[Marcos]

Apr 18, 2009 17:24:22 GMT -5 hitnrun017 said:

Apr 18, 2009 13:39:18 GMT -5 Marcos said:

Wolves at the Gate is even less character-driven than Safe and it's an amazing arc.

Really? I agree that it's an amazing arc, but I thought it had great character-driven moments, especially for Xander, Buffy, Satsu and Renee. It developed Xander more than anything that happened to him in Season 7, IMO.

Apr 18, 2009 17:17:53 GMT -5 wenxina said:

IMO, it was that bad.

Yes, I agree. I re-read this a couple days ago and it just made me dislike it more. This issue is Season 8's Angel: Aftermath. Not good at all.

Well, you said it yourself. It had MOMENTS of character-driven focus. Everything Joss does, even if it's mainly an action ride, always have it. But what I call a character-driven story is when the character development is the thing around which the whole plot occurs. It's not the case of WATG, and neither Safe.

But WATG had character moments, and so does Safe. Faith's face to face with a fear from the past, exposure of Giles' conflict, etc. It was poor, but it had character moments too.

[hitnrun017]

Aha. I see what you're saying now.

[wenxina]

To be fair... I'd still rate "Safe" over "Aftermath" right now. At least the characters look like their life-action counterparts.

[Marcos]

Apr 18, 2009 18:15:40 GMT -5 hitnrun017 said:

Aha. I see what you're saying now.

Well, I'll feel sorry fr Mr. Krueger if he finds out how much we disliked his edition. Scott reads SlayAlive, and so does lot of other industry people. I guess he'll find out eventually. I hope he don't get too upset with us

[Mathieu]

yeah, when I read all this awful feedback for Safe, sometimes I think of the writers and I feel bad for them if they ever come around here to read the reactions. I mean the issue was not amazing but compared to other issues, I don't see why this one should be voted "worst one to date". I mean the one with Kennedy/Satsu wasn't much better.

[wenxina]

Professionals have to grow a thick skin to survive in the industry. Better for them to get constructive criticism than just false praise. And yes, I said "constructive" because most of us who actually took time to crap on the issue actually covered all the weaknesses of the issue.

And the Kennedy/Satsu issue was actually tons better than this tripe.

[Emmie]

Apr 18, 2009 18:27:35 GMT -5 wenxina said:

To be fair... I'd still rate "Safe" over "Aftermath" right now. At least the characters look like their life-action counterparts.

I'll concur that Safe > Aftermath here. But as far as loose comparisons go, calling Safe the "Aftermath of Season 8" fits my reaction to it.

To be honest, I'm just really tired of talking about this issue. I just want to move on to the hopefully better material to come. I want to forget entirely about #24.