Welcome to Tranquility

[TheCorpulent1]

Gail Simone mentioned in an interview with John Siuntres of Word Balloon that Welcome to Tranquility will indeed be coming back:

http://www.newsarama.com/nycomiccon2008/video/gailsimone.html

It'll be in little 6-issue bursts, but it's better than nothing. I totally thought it was completely done and I'd never see anything from it again with all the recent Wildstorm craziness.

Yay, more Welcome to Tranquility!

 

[Manic]

I've never heard of this one. What's it about?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's about a retirement community for superhumans. Basically, a bunch of heroes and villains from Wildstorm's Golden Age (i.e. made up by Simone, of course, since Wildstorm doesn't have much of a Golden Age) live in this little town called Tranquility, and the comic follows the trials and tribulations of those people. That's the basic premise, although there's a lot more to it than that. If it could be said to have a main character (it's more of an ensemble piece), it would be Thomasina Lindo, the town sheriff. But all of the characters are very three-dimensional and well realized, with all of their own little secrets and quirks and pasts, and Simone reveals more of them to the readers bit by bit.

Simone and the artist, Neil Googe, often tell the stories in a very interesting way, weaving bits of "memorabilia" from the past into each story. For example, when the focus of an issue fell on two old war heroes, bits of the issue were told in the style of old newsreels and propaganda films. When an issue focused on one of the Tranquiliteens--a wholesome, Teen Titans-esque bunch of younger heroes who became the disaffected Liberty Snots in adolescence--part of the story was told in the style of the Tranquiliteens' old kids TV show.

I would highly, highly recommend the first trade. If that can't explain the concept and get you into the series, nothing can. It was easily one of the best first arcs of a new series I've ever read.

 

[Anubis]

It was pretty awesome. Must read.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

 

[Anubis]

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Those don't make any sense together. Emoticon would be disappointed in you.

 

[Aristotle]

Very good series. To me, it always showed the very best that a comic book in a shared universe can be: completely respectful to the continuity established by previous writers, but completely not weighed down by that continuity. And WildStorm has a pretty big continuity.

 

[Anubis]

Nuh uh That is the standard sequence for the communication of excited, but constipated. Emoticon is disappointed in you for not realizing that.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Emoticon's face is all ****ed up, so screw him.

 

[Anubis]

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I went there.

 

[Manic]

Emoticon issues aside, I'm seeing some positive feedback. I'm gonna see if my local shop has it in when I pick up my books tomorrow.

 

[Anubis]

Then you'll get why that whole exchange was hilarious.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, we're comedic geniuses at stealing material from Gail Simone.

 

[The Leaguer]

Watching a video by Word Balloon is one of the most painfull experiences I can imagine. Every single host is a complete and total *****ebag.

 

[Aristotle]

One of these days, I want to see a comic-book news outlet that doesn't just suck off every comic book being produced.

 

[Manic]

Local shop didn't have it in stock. Give me a while to catch up...

 

[yenaled]

Remind me to trade this up at some point.

 

[SouLeSS]

Watching a video (about comics or the characters) by nearly any comic enthusiest is one of the most painfull experiences I can imagine. Every single host is a complete and total *****ebag.

Fixed it for you. I've yet to see ONE good interview where the interviewer doesn't look like a total assjack, or one where they don't act / look 100% exactaly like people stereotype. Most of the time they have a whiny voice, and they try and say these stupid little jokes or cracks that just fall like dead weight. I could bearly muster through the newsarama footage cause the people were so ****ing annoying on it. I had to force myself to watch the two head interviews, and even then I kept turning it off or trying to pinpoint when it would be them talking, not the 'hosts'.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Watching a video by Word Balloon is one of the most painfull experiences I can imagine. Every single host is a complete and total *****ebag.

WordBalloon only has the one host, John Siuntres.

 

[The Leaguer]

Whatever video service it is that Newsarama was using for NYCC and that reviews comics. They're tools. Especially the dude who was interviewing Simone.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, why am I not surprised you didn't like them? Not that the Stack dudes did a great job interviewing people. But, on the other hand, they're pretty new at it.

 

[The Leaguer]

I'm a Morrison fanatic as much as the next guy, but the dude may as well have dropped to his knees and started sucking him off. "Everyone is loving what you're doing!" is not an interview.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, they fluffed it up a lot. Morrison was looking pretty sexy there, though. I could understand wanting to suck him off.