THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER RETURNS?

No, not me. Matt Fraction's CASANOVA!



From a recent Fraction message on Twitter:

"CASANOVA people: two days ago you got all happy and didn't even know"

If it's the return of Casanova - a short-lived series by Fraction over at Image full of more creativity and imagination and fun than any of his mainstream work - then I will be a happy man!

E.M.P.I.R.E.! W.A.S.T.E.! Zephyr! Xeno! Ba! Moon! Pleeeeasssseeee!!!

It would be like an early birthday present to see this book back on the shelf, even if for only a one-shot or so.

Here's hoping...

MATT FRACTION ON 52!

It's no question that Matt Fraction is becoming one of my new favorite writers. So much so that if his name is attached to a project, I'm pretty much there. (Okay - I didn't pick up Punisher War Journal. But I'm damn tempted).

Recently, Matt Fraction sat down and read/reviewed DC's mega-series 52. And he manages to channel the entire comic community's thoughts on the series, pro and con, while putting into words some of the more important reasons why 52 will always stand above perceived "flaws" or "missteps".

Here are a few of my favorite passages:
"But 52 threw all the comforts of safe storytelling out the window, for good or for ill, and tried to be something... well, if not “new” then at least ‘different’. Novelty was in its bones: characters were reborn and thrown into wildly inventive and over the top imaginative situations in a book that defies and denies conventional wisdom and practice. There were some big ideas going on here, some big thrills and some heavy duty weirdness both on the page and in them that, sometimes, in all their stoic grace and attitude, DC books miss."

And this:
"...god bless Keith Giffen"

And definitely this:
"I don’t like critique and commentary that hinge on reader preconception-- I don’t give a fuck what got said on what website in the lead-up to a series’ release, or a movie coming out, or a book hitting the shelves. The creative process is mutable and pre-release hype is just vapor. You view the work as the work, not as the fulfillment of its advertorials, and certainly not in light of your expectations."

You can read the rest for yourself here:
http://www.mattfraction.com/archives/002791.php