TEN-HUT!
Attention, the previous post was edited, there's two new nits (from Black Panther #25), which I had filed in another computer and I completely forgot about them when I wrote it. Check them out.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The Nitpicker #20.
[[WARNING! THIS COLUMN MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!]]
Well, I'm back. I've been chastised by friends and readers that I don't update this blog more oftenly. A particular friend, writer and local media celebrity Nacho Alcuri, told me that I should only do two or three nits at a time, more like a blog entry than a column, which is what I'm used to.
But I can't, I need to do columns, it's my style. So, anyway, Civil War is over, so let's have the Civil War-related nits that I still had in my backburner. I was going to include a handful of 52 nits I also have in my files (you wouldn't believe how much stuff I have to write about); but I decided to save them until 52 is finished, and I can do a special 52 issue.
I'm going to try and post a new column next week; with nits from other March issues; and then after that, try to post a column at least every week or two, with nits I find on the latest books released. Well, enough chatter, here goes the last volley of Civil War nits.
<-------------------------------->
"PFFFF... WHOEVER HEARD OF AN UNDERWATER CIVILIZATION?"
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 07 of 11.
CULPRIT: Paul Jenkins (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 30, part of the "Sleeeper Cell" story, one of the cops examining the scene says about the Atlanteans "You're not serious. These are those Atlantis guys? I thought they were supposed to be a myth."
First of all, with all the stuff that you see in the Marvel Universe (mutants, gods, planet devourers, super soldiers, aliens, etc, etc), how can you doubt the existence of an underwater race?
Secondly, Atlantis, with or without Namor as their leader, has attacked the surface world over and over again, with news coverage almost every time. Even Dorma (I think it was her) was on live TV pleading for Namor in an old Daredevil issue. Not to mention Namor in the news every now and then, and he's part of history with his participation in the WWII Invaders. How can somebody, much less a police detective, think they were just a myth?
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, floppy writing.
<-------------------------------->
"EXTREME MAKEOVER."
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 07 of 11.
CULPRIT: Eduardo Barreto (penciller) , Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson (assistant editors), and Sotocolor's A. Crossley (colorist).
NIT-TO-PICK: Also in the Sleeper Cell story, on all pages showing the Atlanteans, they are mostly dark-haired (with dreadlock style doos), and one or two are bald; they're all wearing pants with high-tech look (strange, but what the hell), and one of them is even wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.
However, by the next segment, where the battle between the Atlanteans and the Green Goblin is compared to the Somme Offensive in WWI, my good compatriot and acquaintance Eduardo Barreto (who I must say does a superb job of drawing the WWI scenes) draws the Atlanteans in completely different clothes (barbarian-style), wearing scale-speedos, bracers and armored shoulder padds, and with long flowing hair, which Crossley colors blond!
Not happy with that, Barreto also draws Wonder Man with a long-sleeved costume (as opossed to the short-sleeved one he wears on Sleeper Cell); actually, it's not just the sleeves, it's a different costume design. He also draws the Green Goblin with a cape, and riding a very different glider.
Now this is what I call a cluster-fu... nit.... The blame here is not particularly on the artist and colorist (the former most likely having not read any of Civil War, I know he's not much of a superhero comic fan), but more properly on the editor and his assistants. If you're having an artist draw something which is based upon another story, can't you at least send him some scans of the other artist's pages for reference?
You'll notice that I've mentioned the editor and assistant editors as culprits here, and if you look at the rules I've set for myself since the begining (you can see them in the blog's first post, or in the post before the last one, where I reposted my first column), I think editors are always to blame in this case; but I don't bother mentioning them. But this time, this was too big, they needed to be pointed at with "shame on you" faces.
NIT-O-METER: I know I'm being anal, this is not a story-affecting nit, but it is too big a screw-up. 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH AN X-MAN."
TITLE: Civil War: X-Men.
ISSUE: 04 of 04.
CULPRIT: David Hine (writer), and/or Yanick Paquette (penciller).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 20, when Cyclops cannot stop firing his optic beam (he's being controlled, y'see), Leech is the only one who can stop him... by touch. Leech does not need to touch somebody to nullify their powers, his mutant ability works by proximity.
NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, please research a character's powers. Of course, you can retcon this and say that, when it's too much power to absorb, he needs to touch his target for his power to work, but... bleh...
<-------------------------------->
"CHEAP DRUNK."
TITLE: New Avengers.
ISSUE: 24.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 22, panel 4, Iron Man says "You think I wouldn't love to just sit alone in a room with a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and forget all of this?" He's one of the richest men on the world, and he thinks about drinking JW Black Label?!?!?!?!? WTF??!??! He should be drinking BLUE label, which is the blend that's aged the most (and also the most expensive, nacht). In fact, he'd drink here. Follow the link and tell me if you don't agree with me that Iron Man would drink that kind of Johnny Walker.
NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Bendis, you're a cheapass.
<-------------------------------->
"NAMOR WHO?"
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 08 of 11.
CULPRIT: Paul Jenkins (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 28, first panel, here we go again. Two mounted cops comment on the Atlantis situation saying "...so everything comes to a halt just because some no-name country sends spies through our borders (...)". Again, Atlantis has tried to invade the surface world (always starting by New York) almost on a yearly basis.
NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Paul, please, read up on Marvel history. Just because you created that retcon-monster of the Sentry doesn't mean you get to ignore Marvel's rich history. What's next, somebody being surprised next time Galactus shows up for lunch?
<-------------------------------->
TITLE: Black Panther V4.
ISSUE: 25.
CULPRIT: Marcus To (penciller).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 9, panel 3, the Wakandan embassy employees are using an operating system which, besides looking suspiciously like Windows or Mac, says, in plain English "FILES DELETED".
Now, why would one of the Marvel Universe's Earth world leaders in technology, who vehemently eschew western technology in favor of their own, use an OS in English? It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely.
NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
TITLE: Black Panther V4.
ISSUE: 25.
CULPRIT: Reginald Hudlin (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22 has the Invisible Woman and Storm root for Hercules in his fight against Clor, in a completely uncharacteristic and schoolgirl-like behaviour, ending with a "Wow, what a finish!" cheer from Storm.
Not only this is awfuly bad characterization for these two heroines, it's also something inmensely stupid to do while there's a gigantic superhero battle raging on in the middle of New York City.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, come on Reggie, you can do better!
<-------------------------------->
"DAMMIT WONG! WHERE ARE MY ANIMAL PRINT GLOVES?"
TITLE: Civil War: The Confession.
ISSUE: One-shot.
CULPRIT: Dave Stewart (colorist, sequences from Illuminati one-shot).
NIT-TO-PICK: Part of this issue reprints panels from The New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot that preceeded Civil War, and they've not corrected the errors that I found there. The first is the fact that on page 10, panel 4, Dr. Strange is wearing blue gloves, instead of his trademark leopard print ones.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, at least this time they didn't make his gloves come and go, they just made a mistake on the colors.
<-------------------------------->
"I SHAVED. THE MUSTACHE WAS TOO FREDDY MERCURY-ISH."
TITLE: Civil War: The Confession.
ISSUE: One-shot.
CULPRIT: Alex Maleev (penciler) and/or Dave Stewart (colorist).
NIT-TO-PICK: On the same panel, Dr. Strange is missing his mustache, not to mention the gray hair on his temples.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, it was 7 last time, but this is a repeat offense.
<-------------------------------->
"NOW? WHEN DO I SHOOT THEM? DO I SHOOT THEM NOW?"
TITLE: Punisher War Journal V2.
ISSUE: 05.
CULPRIT: Matt Fraction (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On Civil War #6, The Punisher is with the rest of Cap's faction, when Diamondback brings in supervillains Goldbug and The Plunderer (who want to offer their help to the anti-Registration side), and Frank shoots the villains and kills them.
However, in this issue of Punisher War Journal, Captain America is meeting the two villains along with Luke Cage and Patriot, and Frank eavesdrop on the conversation from behind the door, enters the room and shoots Goldbug and Plunderer.
NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, please guys, coordinate these things.
<-------------------------------->
Well, the final wave of Civil War nits came up with an average of 7.8; much higher than last time's 5.7; in fact, the highest since... fricking ever! The highest average was 6.4 back on column #2!!!
Let me go over the numbers again.... yes, 7.8.... dayamn!!! It was an 8.3 before I added in two nits that had escaped my sight (they were actually filed in another computer), but still, 7.8 is high.
Catch you later, hopefully next week.
[[WARNING! THIS COLUMN MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!]]
Well, I'm back. I've been chastised by friends and readers that I don't update this blog more oftenly. A particular friend, writer and local media celebrity Nacho Alcuri, told me that I should only do two or three nits at a time, more like a blog entry than a column, which is what I'm used to.
But I can't, I need to do columns, it's my style. So, anyway, Civil War is over, so let's have the Civil War-related nits that I still had in my backburner. I was going to include a handful of 52 nits I also have in my files (you wouldn't believe how much stuff I have to write about); but I decided to save them until 52 is finished, and I can do a special 52 issue.
I'm going to try and post a new column next week; with nits from other March issues; and then after that, try to post a column at least every week or two, with nits I find on the latest books released. Well, enough chatter, here goes the last volley of Civil War nits.
<-------------------------------->
"PFFFF... WHOEVER HEARD OF AN UNDERWATER CIVILIZATION?"
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 07 of 11.
CULPRIT: Paul Jenkins (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 30, part of the "Sleeeper Cell" story, one of the cops examining the scene says about the Atlanteans "You're not serious. These are those Atlantis guys? I thought they were supposed to be a myth."
First of all, with all the stuff that you see in the Marvel Universe (mutants, gods, planet devourers, super soldiers, aliens, etc, etc), how can you doubt the existence of an underwater race?
Secondly, Atlantis, with or without Namor as their leader, has attacked the surface world over and over again, with news coverage almost every time. Even Dorma (I think it was her) was on live TV pleading for Namor in an old Daredevil issue. Not to mention Namor in the news every now and then, and he's part of history with his participation in the WWII Invaders. How can somebody, much less a police detective, think they were just a myth?
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, floppy writing.
<-------------------------------->
"EXTREME MAKEOVER."
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 07 of 11.
CULPRIT: Eduardo Barreto (penciller) , Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson (assistant editors), and Sotocolor's A. Crossley (colorist).
NIT-TO-PICK: Also in the Sleeper Cell story, on all pages showing the Atlanteans, they are mostly dark-haired (with dreadlock style doos), and one or two are bald; they're all wearing pants with high-tech look (strange, but what the hell), and one of them is even wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.
However, by the next segment, where the battle between the Atlanteans and the Green Goblin is compared to the Somme Offensive in WWI, my good compatriot and acquaintance Eduardo Barreto (who I must say does a superb job of drawing the WWI scenes) draws the Atlanteans in completely different clothes (barbarian-style), wearing scale-speedos, bracers and armored shoulder padds, and with long flowing hair, which Crossley colors blond!
Not happy with that, Barreto also draws Wonder Man with a long-sleeved costume (as opossed to the short-sleeved one he wears on Sleeper Cell); actually, it's not just the sleeves, it's a different costume design. He also draws the Green Goblin with a cape, and riding a very different glider.
Now this is what I call a cluster-fu... nit.... The blame here is not particularly on the artist and colorist (the former most likely having not read any of Civil War, I know he's not much of a superhero comic fan), but more properly on the editor and his assistants. If you're having an artist draw something which is based upon another story, can't you at least send him some scans of the other artist's pages for reference?
You'll notice that I've mentioned the editor and assistant editors as culprits here, and if you look at the rules I've set for myself since the begining (you can see them in the blog's first post, or in the post before the last one, where I reposted my first column), I think editors are always to blame in this case; but I don't bother mentioning them. But this time, this was too big, they needed to be pointed at with "shame on you" faces.
NIT-O-METER: I know I'm being anal, this is not a story-affecting nit, but it is too big a screw-up. 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH AN X-MAN."
TITLE: Civil War: X-Men.
ISSUE: 04 of 04.
CULPRIT: David Hine (writer), and/or Yanick Paquette (penciller).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 20, when Cyclops cannot stop firing his optic beam (he's being controlled, y'see), Leech is the only one who can stop him... by touch. Leech does not need to touch somebody to nullify their powers, his mutant ability works by proximity.
NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, please research a character's powers. Of course, you can retcon this and say that, when it's too much power to absorb, he needs to touch his target for his power to work, but... bleh...
<-------------------------------->
"CHEAP DRUNK."
TITLE: New Avengers.
ISSUE: 24.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 22, panel 4, Iron Man says "You think I wouldn't love to just sit alone in a room with a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and forget all of this?" He's one of the richest men on the world, and he thinks about drinking JW Black Label?!?!?!?!? WTF??!??! He should be drinking BLUE label, which is the blend that's aged the most (and also the most expensive, nacht). In fact, he'd drink here. Follow the link and tell me if you don't agree with me that Iron Man would drink that kind of Johnny Walker.
NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Bendis, you're a cheapass.
<-------------------------------->
"NAMOR WHO?"
TITLE: Civil War: Front Line.
ISSUE: 08 of 11.
CULPRIT: Paul Jenkins (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 28, first panel, here we go again. Two mounted cops comment on the Atlantis situation saying "...so everything comes to a halt just because some no-name country sends spies through our borders (...)". Again, Atlantis has tried to invade the surface world (always starting by New York) almost on a yearly basis.
NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Paul, please, read up on Marvel history. Just because you created that retcon-monster of the Sentry doesn't mean you get to ignore Marvel's rich history. What's next, somebody being surprised next time Galactus shows up for lunch?
<-------------------------------->
TITLE: Black Panther V4.
ISSUE: 25.
CULPRIT: Marcus To (penciller).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 9, panel 3, the Wakandan embassy employees are using an operating system which, besides looking suspiciously like Windows or Mac, says, in plain English "FILES DELETED".
Now, why would one of the Marvel Universe's Earth world leaders in technology, who vehemently eschew western technology in favor of their own, use an OS in English? It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely.
NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
TITLE: Black Panther V4.
ISSUE: 25.
CULPRIT: Reginald Hudlin (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22 has the Invisible Woman and Storm root for Hercules in his fight against Clor, in a completely uncharacteristic and schoolgirl-like behaviour, ending with a "Wow, what a finish!" cheer from Storm.
Not only this is awfuly bad characterization for these two heroines, it's also something inmensely stupid to do while there's a gigantic superhero battle raging on in the middle of New York City.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, come on Reggie, you can do better!
<-------------------------------->
"DAMMIT WONG! WHERE ARE MY ANIMAL PRINT GLOVES?"
TITLE: Civil War: The Confession.
ISSUE: One-shot.
CULPRIT: Dave Stewart (colorist, sequences from Illuminati one-shot).
NIT-TO-PICK: Part of this issue reprints panels from The New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot that preceeded Civil War, and they've not corrected the errors that I found there. The first is the fact that on page 10, panel 4, Dr. Strange is wearing blue gloves, instead of his trademark leopard print ones.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, at least this time they didn't make his gloves come and go, they just made a mistake on the colors.
<-------------------------------->
"I SHAVED. THE MUSTACHE WAS TOO FREDDY MERCURY-ISH."
TITLE: Civil War: The Confession.
ISSUE: One-shot.
CULPRIT: Alex Maleev (penciler) and/or Dave Stewart (colorist).
NIT-TO-PICK: On the same panel, Dr. Strange is missing his mustache, not to mention the gray hair on his temples.
NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, it was 7 last time, but this is a repeat offense.
<-------------------------------->
"NOW? WHEN DO I SHOOT THEM? DO I SHOOT THEM NOW?"
TITLE: Punisher War Journal V2.
ISSUE: 05.
CULPRIT: Matt Fraction (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On Civil War #6, The Punisher is with the rest of Cap's faction, when Diamondback brings in supervillains Goldbug and The Plunderer (who want to offer their help to the anti-Registration side), and Frank shoots the villains and kills them.
However, in this issue of Punisher War Journal, Captain America is meeting the two villains along with Luke Cage and Patriot, and Frank eavesdrop on the conversation from behind the door, enters the room and shoots Goldbug and Plunderer.
NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, please guys, coordinate these things.
<-------------------------------->
Well, the final wave of Civil War nits came up with an average of 7.8; much higher than last time's 5.7; in fact, the highest since... fricking ever! The highest average was 6.4 back on column #2!!!
Let me go over the numbers again.... yes, 7.8.... dayamn!!! It was an 8.3 before I added in two nits that had escaped my sight (they were actually filed in another computer), but still, 7.8 is high.
Catch you later, hopefully next week.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The Nitpicker Is All The Rage
Well, well, I'll have to thank Mr. Steven G. Saunders for plugging this little blog at his column All The Rage, under the Blogonaut section.
I also have to thank him for saying that my country is wonderful, and for calling me a madman. Oh, and he also said the blog is charming... what the hell, go check the column and read for yourself!
If this doesn't generate some visits to the blog... I don't know what will...
Well, well, I'll have to thank Mr. Steven G. Saunders for plugging this little blog at his column All The Rage, under the Blogonaut section.
I also have to thank him for saying that my country is wonderful, and for calling me a madman. Oh, and he also said the blog is charming... what the hell, go check the column and read for yourself!
If this doesn't generate some visits to the blog... I don't know what will...
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The Nitpicker #1
Well, I decided to pad out this blog with my older columns, so you can enjoy them (since the web archive I used to have is gone).
Here's column #1, complete with spelling mistakes, originally published in CBEM #549 (11/12/05). It had an average of 5 Bazzars, but apparently I hadn't decided to do averages and final comments back then.
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
Hello, welcome to The Nitpicker's Column, where in a (hopefully) weekly basis I'll bring to your attention bring some mistakes, goofs, mix-ups and the like, that I find on the comics I read that week. Usually, I'll focus on books just released, but now and then, I'll feature a back issue or two, mostly because I just read it late.
I'd like to thank David for accepting my humble column in the magazine, and all the readers for wasting their time checking out what I wrote. What follows is an example of the format I'll present the "nits" (as we'll call them) I've found:
TITLE: This would be the comic book title in question, such as "Action Comics" or "Uncanny X-Men".
ISSUE: Obviously, the issue number of the title in question.
CULPRIT: Whoever the main responsible for the mistake is, usually the writer, sometimes the artist, and, rarely, somebody else, like a letterer or colorist. Editors, of course, are ALWAYS to blame, so we won't waste our time mentioning them.
NIT-TO-PICK: The description of the nit I found.
NIT-O-METER: I just love rating stuff, so I'll give each nit a rating on a 10 points scale called The Bazzar Scale, in honor of a writer I completely loathe. I don't loathe him because of his nit-proneness, but because of his all-around shoddy writing. You figure out who he is, it's easy.
And now, to this weeks nits!
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
"FREE-THINKING METROPOLIS"
TITLE: Star Wars X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leader (Dark Horse).
ISSUE: 2 of 5.
CULPRIT: Haden Blackman (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Showing a complete disregard for the overall development of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (that is, all that happens outside the movies, in books, comics and other media), the narration boxes on page 2 say "Since the Emperor's death, Coronet has transformed itself -almost overnight- from a suppressed Imperial holding into a free-thinking metropolis. Now, the city is being punished by the remnant of Palpatine's Empire."
During the duration of Palpatine's Empire, and for many years afterwards, Coronet City, as all of Corellia is ruled by a dictatorship called The Diktat, which is brutal and oppressive, and a puppet regime for the Empire. Also, the Empire remained strong for at least half a decade more, particulary in the region of the galaxy Corellia is situated in. I feel robbed, I got hooked onto this series because not only I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but also a Rogue Squadron enthusiast... it might be naivet,, but I'll keep on reading to see if the story gets better, at least good enough to ignore this of nit.
NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars, because this mistake was easily avoidable. From what I've seen from the first two issues, the action could have been set on any other planet, far from the core of the galaxy (which remained Imperial for about 4-5 years after the Battle of Endor, and this story takes place right after that battle). The fact that Corellia remained under Imperial tutelage for years after the death of Palpatine could be gathered by reading the previous X-Wing comic series, Rogue Squadron, or any novel with Wedge Antilles in it, who, as a native Corellian complains all the time that he can't visit his home planet.
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
"OUR MILITARY BUDGET JUST GOT CUT!"
TITLE: JLA Classified (DC).
ISSUE: 13.
CULPRIT: Warren Elis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Ah, this whole story arc has been weak, uncharacteristically so for Mr. Ellis, who's a great writer. In this case, he has Wonder Woman say to the Martian Manhunter: "No military force can cope with an invisible man." What, the creatures they were facing (some goons created by the Martian god of Fear, I think) can't detect motion or heat? Cheapskate evil deity.
NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, just a minor glitch in the overall story... which is already bad.
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
"SLOPPY POLICE WORK"
TITLE: Queen & Country: Declassified V2 (Oni Press).
ISSUE: 2 of 3.
CULPRIT: Greg Rucka (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Again, I have to pound on one of my favorite writers! Rucka is a master of the spy genre, but this time, he goofed up on police procedure. There's a homicide in Hong Kong (just prior to the handover of the island back to China), and after the Hong Kong Metropolitan police surveys the crime scene (an apartment), they just slap a "POLICE LINE-DO NOT CROSS" tape on the door and leave it like that, WITH NO POLICE GUARD. Of course, the day after, when a detective comes to do a new sweep of the crime scene for evidence that might have been missed, the place is completely wrecked, any potential clues destroyed.
NIT-O-METER: Highest thus far, with 8 Bazzars. I'm a desk cop, never on crime scenes myself, and still I know that, even in my Third World country, when there's clues to be preserved, at least one policeman is left in place to guard a crime scene.
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
"VHY DO I HAVE ZIS HORRRRRIBLE ACCENT?"
TITLE: House Of M (Marvel).
ISSUE: 8 of 8.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: *sigh* Bendis, another of my favorite writers (hey, I pick nits on stuff I read because I like them, or find them interesting, I'm not going to read stuff that doesn't appeal to me just so I can look for errors) is usually good with dialogues. Then, why in page 9 does Nightcrawler speak with a HORRIBLE German accent when he says "Vhat is going on?" How are ve here when ve ver just dere?"??!!?!?!?! He goes at it again in page 15, saying "Vhat is going, Kitty?".
I mean, he's never had that accent, his dialogues are, to the extent of my memory, always in perfect english, with the ocassional "meine freund", "unglaublich" or "herr professor" thrown in for a little ethnic color. Why does he lapse into this fake sounding accent, and why, if he has to use it, does he say "ve", "vhat", and "ver", but not "vhen" instead of "when". Brian, if you're going to make him talk like he's Rammstein's vocalist doing Depeche Mode's "Stripped", then be consistent. And Colossus doesn't have any kind of accent, and I believe a Russian accent is just harder to conceal when speaking in English than a German one, since English and German are related languages.
NIT-O-METER: A measly 3 Bazzars, it's just a minor thing. No, wait, anyone who has read an comic with Nightcrawler in it could avoid this... I give it a 6....
<-------------------------------->
"MEET ERIK MAGNUS LEHNSHERR, MUTANT MASTER OF METAL!"
TITLE: House Of M (Marvel).
ISSUE: 8 of 8.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 23, Wolverine says to Magneto "Lost your power over metal, have yuh?"; even ignoring Logan saying "yuh" (Bendis JUST couldn't write accents this issue), Wolverine's smart enough to know that Magneto's power is over the whole magnetic spectrum, and not just metal. I'm sick of seeing people mistaking Magneto's powers being mistaken as just ability to control metals. His power is over the entire magnetic spectrum, that includes control over light, airwaves, etc... like that stupid cartoon where they sent ceramic and plastic Sentinels to fight Magneto, and they beat him. Even if he couldn't affect the non-metallic robots (which he can), the fight takes place in a HARBOR full of YATCHS he could THROW at them.
NIT-O-METER: Despite my tantrum over misuse of Magneto's powers by writers, this nit gets just 4 Bazzzars, because Wolvie could be talking "easy".
<-------------------------------->
"I'M SO FAST I CAN CHANGE PART OF MY COSTUME BETWEEN PANELS!"
TITLE: Infinite Crisis (DC).
ISSUE: 2 of 7.
CULPRIT: Jeremy Cox & Guy Major (colorists).
NIT-TO-PICK: In the leftmost lower corner panel of page 20, Power Girl's boots and gloves are colored red, instead of blue, as they actually are.
NIT-O-METER: Only 2 Bazzars, since this is just a honest-to-God mistake.
<-------------------------------->
"LOOK, I'M A VENTRILOQUIST!"
TITLE: Infinite Crisis (DC).
ISSUE: 2 of 7.
CULPRIT: Phil Jimenez (artist) and/or Nick J. Napolitano (letterer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22, the Joker laughs out a "HA HA HA HA (...)" with his mouth closed. Hey Mr. J, the Ventriloquist is another villain.
NIT-O-METER: Merely 3 Bazzars, not a very important thing.
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Well, I decided to pad out this blog with my older columns, so you can enjoy them (since the web archive I used to have is gone).
Here's column #1, complete with spelling mistakes, originally published in CBEM #549 (11/12/05). It had an average of 5 Bazzars, but apparently I hadn't decided to do averages and final comments back then.
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Hello, welcome to The Nitpicker's Column, where in a (hopefully) weekly basis I'll bring to your attention bring some mistakes, goofs, mix-ups and the like, that I find on the comics I read that week. Usually, I'll focus on books just released, but now and then, I'll feature a back issue or two, mostly because I just read it late.
I'd like to thank David for accepting my humble column in the magazine, and all the readers for wasting their time checking out what I wrote. What follows is an example of the format I'll present the "nits" (as we'll call them) I've found:
TITLE: This would be the comic book title in question, such as "Action Comics" or "Uncanny X-Men".
ISSUE: Obviously, the issue number of the title in question.
CULPRIT: Whoever the main responsible for the mistake is, usually the writer, sometimes the artist, and, rarely, somebody else, like a letterer or colorist. Editors, of course, are ALWAYS to blame, so we won't waste our time mentioning them.
NIT-TO-PICK: The description of the nit I found.
NIT-O-METER: I just love rating stuff, so I'll give each nit a rating on a 10 points scale called The Bazzar Scale, in honor of a writer I completely loathe. I don't loathe him because of his nit-proneness, but because of his all-around shoddy writing. You figure out who he is, it's easy.
And now, to this weeks nits!
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"FREE-THINKING METROPOLIS"
TITLE: Star Wars X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leader (Dark Horse).
ISSUE: 2 of 5.
CULPRIT: Haden Blackman (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Showing a complete disregard for the overall development of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (that is, all that happens outside the movies, in books, comics and other media), the narration boxes on page 2 say "Since the Emperor's death, Coronet has transformed itself -almost overnight- from a suppressed Imperial holding into a free-thinking metropolis. Now, the city is being punished by the remnant of Palpatine's Empire."
During the duration of Palpatine's Empire, and for many years afterwards, Coronet City, as all of Corellia is ruled by a dictatorship called The Diktat, which is brutal and oppressive, and a puppet regime for the Empire. Also, the Empire remained strong for at least half a decade more, particulary in the region of the galaxy Corellia is situated in. I feel robbed, I got hooked onto this series because not only I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but also a Rogue Squadron enthusiast... it might be naivet,, but I'll keep on reading to see if the story gets better, at least good enough to ignore this of nit.
NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars, because this mistake was easily avoidable. From what I've seen from the first two issues, the action could have been set on any other planet, far from the core of the galaxy (which remained Imperial for about 4-5 years after the Battle of Endor, and this story takes place right after that battle). The fact that Corellia remained under Imperial tutelage for years after the death of Palpatine could be gathered by reading the previous X-Wing comic series, Rogue Squadron, or any novel with Wedge Antilles in it, who, as a native Corellian complains all the time that he can't visit his home planet.
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"OUR MILITARY BUDGET JUST GOT CUT!"
TITLE: JLA Classified (DC).
ISSUE: 13.
CULPRIT: Warren Elis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Ah, this whole story arc has been weak, uncharacteristically so for Mr. Ellis, who's a great writer. In this case, he has Wonder Woman say to the Martian Manhunter: "No military force can cope with an invisible man." What, the creatures they were facing (some goons created by the Martian god of Fear, I think) can't detect motion or heat? Cheapskate evil deity.
NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, just a minor glitch in the overall story... which is already bad.
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"SLOPPY POLICE WORK"
TITLE: Queen & Country: Declassified V2 (Oni Press).
ISSUE: 2 of 3.
CULPRIT: Greg Rucka (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Again, I have to pound on one of my favorite writers! Rucka is a master of the spy genre, but this time, he goofed up on police procedure. There's a homicide in Hong Kong (just prior to the handover of the island back to China), and after the Hong Kong Metropolitan police surveys the crime scene (an apartment), they just slap a "POLICE LINE-DO NOT CROSS" tape on the door and leave it like that, WITH NO POLICE GUARD. Of course, the day after, when a detective comes to do a new sweep of the crime scene for evidence that might have been missed, the place is completely wrecked, any potential clues destroyed.
NIT-O-METER: Highest thus far, with 8 Bazzars. I'm a desk cop, never on crime scenes myself, and still I know that, even in my Third World country, when there's clues to be preserved, at least one policeman is left in place to guard a crime scene.
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"VHY DO I HAVE ZIS HORRRRRIBLE ACCENT?"
TITLE: House Of M (Marvel).
ISSUE: 8 of 8.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: *sigh* Bendis, another of my favorite writers (hey, I pick nits on stuff I read because I like them, or find them interesting, I'm not going to read stuff that doesn't appeal to me just so I can look for errors) is usually good with dialogues. Then, why in page 9 does Nightcrawler speak with a HORRIBLE German accent when he says "Vhat is going on?" How are ve here when ve ver just dere?"??!!?!?!?! He goes at it again in page 15, saying "Vhat is going, Kitty?".
I mean, he's never had that accent, his dialogues are, to the extent of my memory, always in perfect english, with the ocassional "meine freund", "unglaublich" or "herr professor" thrown in for a little ethnic color. Why does he lapse into this fake sounding accent, and why, if he has to use it, does he say "ve", "vhat", and "ver", but not "vhen" instead of "when". Brian, if you're going to make him talk like he's Rammstein's vocalist doing Depeche Mode's "Stripped", then be consistent. And Colossus doesn't have any kind of accent, and I believe a Russian accent is just harder to conceal when speaking in English than a German one, since English and German are related languages.
NIT-O-METER: A measly 3 Bazzars, it's just a minor thing. No, wait, anyone who has read an comic with Nightcrawler in it could avoid this... I give it a 6....
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"MEET ERIK MAGNUS LEHNSHERR, MUTANT MASTER OF METAL!"
TITLE: House Of M (Marvel).
ISSUE: 8 of 8.
CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).
NIT-TO-PICK: On page 23, Wolverine says to Magneto "Lost your power over metal, have yuh?"; even ignoring Logan saying "yuh" (Bendis JUST couldn't write accents this issue), Wolverine's smart enough to know that Magneto's power is over the whole magnetic spectrum, and not just metal. I'm sick of seeing people mistaking Magneto's powers being mistaken as just ability to control metals. His power is over the entire magnetic spectrum, that includes control over light, airwaves, etc... like that stupid cartoon where they sent ceramic and plastic Sentinels to fight Magneto, and they beat him. Even if he couldn't affect the non-metallic robots (which he can), the fight takes place in a HARBOR full of YATCHS he could THROW at them.
NIT-O-METER: Despite my tantrum over misuse of Magneto's powers by writers, this nit gets just 4 Bazzzars, because Wolvie could be talking "easy".
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"I'M SO FAST I CAN CHANGE PART OF MY COSTUME BETWEEN PANELS!"
TITLE: Infinite Crisis (DC).
ISSUE: 2 of 7.
CULPRIT: Jeremy Cox & Guy Major (colorists).
NIT-TO-PICK: In the leftmost lower corner panel of page 20, Power Girl's boots and gloves are colored red, instead of blue, as they actually are.
NIT-O-METER: Only 2 Bazzars, since this is just a honest-to-God mistake.
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"LOOK, I'M A VENTRILOQUIST!"
TITLE: Infinite Crisis (DC).
ISSUE: 2 of 7.
CULPRIT: Phil Jimenez (artist) and/or Nick J. Napolitano (letterer).
NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22, the Joker laughs out a "HA HA HA HA (...)" with his mouth closed. Hey Mr. J, the Ventriloquist is another villain.
NIT-O-METER: Merely 3 Bazzars, not a very important thing.
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