The Movement #12

I hope this ends like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid! Except Vengeance Moth has a little trouble getting the wheelchair rolling, so when she hears the gunfire cut down the rest of the team, she simply says "Fuck that!" and scoots out the back door.

The main problem with comic books is that they're not a form of entertainment where the best written material rises to the top (the best art will generally sell better than the best writing simply because we're a shallow people, us humans. But I don't want to write about the art! I just felt it had to be mentioned since comic books rely on both art and writing for a well told story). In comic books, sales are all about the characters. Marvel has a lot more iconic characters and teams with large fan bases, so a lot of their titles sell well across the board: Spider-Man, Punisher, Captain America, Wolverine, The Avengers, The Hulk, The X-Men. The list of names that will sell a title is long over at Marvel. DC basically has Batman. Sure, Superman and Green Lantern can round out that list but I wanted to put the burden on Batman's shoulders. I don't think Wonder Woman and The Flash have the same kind of dollar drawing power as any of the Marvel list. Possibly the thing that has given DC the biggest boost in building a fan base for characters has been their cartoons. So now Teen Titans and Young Justice and Harley Quinn have a rabid following because they were all written so well in the cartoons. But it takes a long period of adjustment for fans to recognize that their favorite characters are not always going to be treated so well on the writing side of things. So we have a series like Teen Titans that ran for thirty issues without one good issue in the batch and, by February numbers, it's outselling The Movement which has had eleven good issues in the batch (I can't judge #12 yet) by 20,000 issues. Now that's either 20,000 people that are simply buying a book because characters they love appear in it or that's 20,000 people that can't tell the difference between crap and a cupcake.

Another problem with comic books is distribution. Local comic book stores aren't going to over order every issue of every comic book so that people wandering in for the first time have a chance of picking one up. They're going to decrease their orders based on how many of the first issue sold. And they'll continue to decrease orders, month after month, to keep their costs down. Sales will continue to spiral down faster and faster since they'll only reflect people dropping the book (or, more accurately, casual readers unable to find the new issues (this is why if you shop at a local comic book store, it's important to have a pull list! Plus they usually give discounts!)). Never mind that new readers sometimes feel intimidated picking up a new book if it's already mid-story; good luck having new readers even find a low selling book on the shelves!

I don't have any answers to fix sales on well written books. I suppose you could stick Batman in all of them although that's really just the same as having Batman in none of them. I tried my best to get fans of Teen Titans to drop that book and read this book but I probably always said it at the end of my commentaries where people never saw it because they were all "TL;DR" and moved on to an animated gif of a Snow White with a fake caption of her calling someone a cunt.

Anyway, The Movement is over this issue and it's all your fault somehow. Nice job, comic book fans!

This issue begins with Virtue and Captain Meers having a clandestine meeting in a dirty alley. Unless clandestine implies sex! Then it was totally the opposite of clandestine! Maybe I should only use words I know and/or begin usurping a dictionarium.

Darn! I thought Virtue was a living corpse. I live by my life believing the opposite of Occam's Razor.

Virtue explains that she had a dream. The dream was of The Movement battling alongside DC's Holy Trinity. Also Captain Cold made her dream somehow which is weird even if he is the best DC Villain in the history of DC villains. Okay, maybe his name isn't that great. But he wears a parka and Devo glasses, so that's good enough for me.

Virtue's actual dream was that DC was a place where heroes were actually compassionate and heroic as opposed to grim and selfish. I can see now why she expects Captain Meers to laugh. I think that ship sailed on DC a long time ago. I believe DC's corporate policy right now is to do exactly the opposite of whatever the loudest voices on Tumblr think they should do. After seeing The Movement's numbers in February, I can't say it's bad corporate policy if your goal is to make money! The way I see The Movement praised on Tumblr, you'd think it was the biggest fucking hit DC ever had! And, in actuality, it should be. But the love definitely didn't support the numbers.

To give DC some praise here, the numbers for The Movement #9 in February were just over 6000 comics sold. And they still allowed Simone and Williams three more issues to wrap up. Six thousand and they still let them go for three more issues! That tells me that DC actually understands when it's publishing something worth reading and is sad to see a series like this not hit big, saleswise. The series definitely has big fans.

But forget about the saving the world and helping people in need bullshit; Mouse still needs to get laid!

Apparently the biggest problem in Coral City is that Mouse's dick is too dry.

A smaller problem crops up as Mouse gets to know his new, greatest love Cheddar Cheese Margaret. Apparently Mancannon has learned the location of The Sweatshop and he's come to shut them down. Or make a deal with them. Or, I don't know, offend their delicate sensibilities. Or, possibly, a job?

Oh yeah! I forgot about the Cornhole Killer!

Can you imagine if he was the Cornhole Killer? He'd have a display case showing off all the stinky rings and chocolate starfish he's collected! Gross! Or sexy. No, no! Definitely gross!

I guess all this Mancannon stuff happened earlier because Virtue is telling the story of how they helped him to Captain Meers. Virtue also explains how she came to be pretend dead. It's the usual little kid almost accidentally kills her father so the mother sends the child away and tells her husband the kid is dead story. We've heard it thousands of times before.

Mancannon lures his son to the grave of Ava Mancannon, the Cornea Killer's mother. The Movement is waiting to take him down. I don't know if it's a trap to catch the Cornea Killer or a trap to catch The Movement! Who's playing whom here?!

But before the trap is set, the comic book is interrupted by a huge double spread advertisement about how Scott Lobdell is now off of Superman starting in issue #32! Although they spin it like a "superstar creative team" is taking over. Heck, I would have been happy with a mediocre creative team or just some never heard of before creative team taking over. Fuck me, a monkey with a shit covered spade could take over and it would be better!

But after that ad, the fight breaks out and it's a clusterfuck. My first guess before reading was that Mouse would die and then I remembered Mouse is everyone's favorite so Gail Simone can't kill him. But she can make it look like he's about to die so he can be funny, cute, and adorable as he thinks he's saying his last words.

If I remember correctly, Mouse has a healing factor that kicks in when he gets sexually excited. Quick! Somebody call a fluffer!

"Nurse! This Mouse needs 10ccs of oral medication! No, no! He has to give it to you! If you know what I mean! Nudge, nudge! Wink, wink! Oral."

It turns out the trap is for The Movement as Mancannon has a sniper waiting behind a tree about twenty feet away. I guess he's not a very good sniper, so he needs to be close to hit anything.

No, wait. Even being close doesn't help. He's a terribly shitty sniper who only wings Katharsis. That was a pun!

The reason he's so bad at sniping is that he's not actually a trained sniper. He's just that big jerk that had his teeth knocked out by Katharsis. I think. Anyway, he fucks up his job and shoots the Cornea Killer in the head on accident. Does Toothless Joe suck at every job he's ever taken?

And so it ends with Virtue gaining a surrogate dad in Captain Meers and Captain Meers gaining an appreciation of The Movement. It's all sickly sweet and probably emotional for people that actually feel things. In my daily life, I might have to pretend that I have emotions so that people don't search my basement, but in my commentary blogs, I can be true to myself, true to my real persona, The Cornhole Killer! Oh, plus this issue ends, possibly, perfectly.

If there's a better statement about how Gail Simone and the current crop of more inclusive writers are approaching writing in the modern comic book genre, I can't think of it.

The Movement #12 Rating: +3 Ranking. The Movement was well written with a cast of enjoyable new characters and with an art style that fit the story well. And so it was cancelled. Good riddance, you lousy comic book! That'll teach you to be enjoyable and worth spending $2.99 a month on! Next time, Good Comic Book, maybe you'll think twice before hitting the shelves without a character that already has a large fan base! Next time maybe try to have a title character that was in a cartoon on WB or something! Lesson learned!

The Movement #11

This might be an unpopular opinion but I hope Burden dies.

Personally, I don't have anything against Burden. And I'm kind of partial to his imaginary love letters to his mother. But, and this may sound judgmental because it is, I can't stand to look at him. I've always been a bit squeamish about seeing the insides of people because they're supposed to stay on the inside. So when they're suddenly on the outside, it's like the universe is screaming its worst secret at me and I can't avoid it even if I avert my gaze and plug my ears. Because now the universe's worst secret is echoing throughout my head: everything dies. Everything dies. Everything dies.

And that's what happens to me when I see Burden's octopus parts coming out of his nether torso. That sounds like it's coming out of his asshole. I should have just said belly.

His brother, on the other twisted extremity, is quite the handsome Amish dude. I could look at him all day and not once be forced to ponder my own mortality! Although wanting to read a comic book where a character dies seems a bit nonsensical if I want him to die because he reminds me of death. Maybe...and this is just a wild theory, mind you...maybe I'm just fucking nuts! Probably not, though. I'm actually the only person that really exists. Everybody else is just a projection of my own issues and insecurities. How can the only real person be crazy? Crazy implies abnormality! But if I'm the only extant creature in the universe, I am the measurement of normal and thus perfectly sane!

Boy, I sure am glad I projected comic books into my universe.

This Coral City resident walks his Pit Bull and his cat at the same time!

I hope this issue is about that guy and his dog and his cat!

Oh! I remember what I was going to say at the end of my Moon Knight #2 commentary! I was going to point out how one of my favorite things about the show Mad Men was how every fucking scene (very nearly! Do the math!) is its own short story. And all the short stories revolve around a specific theme that runs through the episode. Fuck me! I wish I'd started a Mad Men blog instead of a silly comic book blog! Then I could say seriously intellectual things like this: Doesn't Jon Hamm look like a character from The Flintstones come to life?

Oh shit! The Tall Man?! Does he have blood draining flying silver spheres in that case?!

Fuck me! I wish I'd started a Phantasm blog instead of a whimsical funny book blog! Then I could say seriously scary shit like this: Think about how crappy The Tall Man was as a villain. He was defeated by an Ice Cream Man three movies straight!

The Tall Man aka Burden's Keeper asks a couple of fake cops how he might find Satan round these parts. I know they're fake cops because one has a full beard and cops don't wear beards! Just mustaches. And the other one is wearing a goofy rubber mask.

This is the third panel I've scanned from the first page! Maybe I should have just scanned the entire thing at once.

Historically speaking, I usually get fancy in the pants the longer I spend reading a comic book. "Fancy in the pants" means "to be distracted" in this context. Maybe in other contexts too but I can't guarantee how people will react to you asking them to repeat themselves because you were feeling too fancy in the pants. Anyway, there's some kind of reverse square law or something about my commentaries. If The Bible taught me anything about math and science, it's that I don't know math and science very well. So I think the Reverse Square Law means that I will comment a lot on the first four pages of a new comic. From there, my commentary will drastically reduce until I'm writing nearly nothing on the last ten pages. I just blow through them with a slight synopsis of what happens. So judging by how much I've rambled on while reading the first page of The Movement #11, I'm going to write about three sentences on the last nineteen pages! I hope I've got my eloquently brief pants on. I wanted to say Eloquently Brief Briefs but that just seemed overly confusing.

This issue is called "My Brother From Abover Mother."

Next there's some of that Booty Calling that Vengeance Moth was ruining her wheelchair thinking about.

I remember the first time I saw two women kiss. I was all, "So, I see you've met my girlfriend, Mom."

Rainmaker discovers that Virtue tastes like pistachio. That's because pistachios are green and Virtue is currently channeling all the willpower she has not to sit on Rainmaker's face.

Dear Papa!
Gail Simone is so crass! I would never have pictured Virtue naked, straddling Rainmaker's mouth, hovering above her, teasing, slowly lowering, quickly caressing her glistening lips against Rainmakers searching tongue before springing back up and out of reach of Rainmaker's lips and tongue! Gail Simone put those thoughts into my head by showing women licking ice cream cones and kissing! Also, why did you leave when I was just two years old? It probably made me sad but I can't remember because I was two.

Burden's brother (whose name is Jacob which is what I totally would have guessed if I'd even considered guessing! Seriously, who wouldn't have guessed that? Oh wait! Now I have a Bible story to tell everybody while we're all gathered her in the parentheses!

Jacob was also called Israel in The Bible. Now you can either believe that Jacob became Israel and that's where the name came from or you can believe that somebody else was actually named Israel and was the leader of the Jews. That person is Sara, Abraham's wife. Because Sara means Princess. And El means God. So Israel means Princess of God. That's an odd name for a man, Jacob, to have, isn't it? Sure, sure! A lot of words in Hebrew mean many different things. Like how Jacob meant "Usurper" as well as, I don't know, something else! Most loved or something. I can't remember all the details!

Anyway, here's the conundrum. If you have an oral history that tells you Israel was your leader but the history is quite old and, since the time of the actual people within that history, men have come to take over all the positions of power, you don't want the leader of the Jewish people to have been a woman in your oral history. So instead of pointing out that your oral history is about a Matriarchy built by Sara (Princess. Later, after God came to her, Israel, Princess of God) as she led her people away from famine and into Egypt to become rich, you have a male child somewhere further down the line wrestle an angel that touches his penis and then names him Princess of God. Also, doesn't the story of Abraham and Sara in Egypt make more sense if Sara is a single woman leading her people? Wouldn't that make more sense that she'd be in a position to marry Pharaoh? As opposed to that shitty story we get about Abraham telling Pharaoh his wife is his sister? Which, by the way, is the same story that happens with Isaac and also with Abraham a second time? Seems like one story told three different ways. And, at least to me, still not told the truest way. The way where Sara was leading her people.

I think I can close the parentheses now after talking about that story. I might add that I noticed this shit while reading and studying The Bible on my own. Remember boys and girls! Think for your own fucking self! Unless you're listening to me. Trust me!) has discovered Burden helping to feed the poor and he's pissed off about it. Because devils don't help poor people! That kind of help is evil because it's a lie! Sure, hungry people still get fed. But through temptation and vile trickery!

Katharsis tries to keep Jacob from putting his hands on Burden and gets her ass beat. That Jacob is one strong motherfucker seeing as how Katharsis is the strength of The Movement! Maybe she loses her ability to fight when she forgets to wear her wings.

The people yelling at Jacob are the ICU Committee of Public Shaming.

Jacob takes Burden back home so he can be punished. I know Burden's actual name is Christopher which is long for Christ so I'll just keep calling him Burden because Christ had some burdens to bear as well. Or something. There's probably something smart to ferret out of all that if you have more time than I do. Like if you're traveling close to the speed of light or something.

Burden has been brought back to face The Trials. Supposedly, Burden killed his father. But since he doesn't remember it and his brother is trying so hard to convict him of the crime, I suspect Jacob did all the killing! I'm like that Knight-Errant, Columbo! Or the Philosopher Perry Mason!

So basically, Jacob was born with an outside that looks Angelic while his inside looks like Burden's outside that houses his Angelic inside! If you see what I'm saying.

Jacob tells a story that is at odds with the story the reader is allowed to see. The real story shows that Jacob was a delusional asshole that wanted his brother out of the picture. As he finishes the story that makes him look like the good guy trying to help his brother and help the village, we learn that Mama is still in the village. I was going to say "alive" but I think they might just bring out a skull or a jar of ashes when he asks for her.

Burden's old mother comes tottering out and she's just a normal woman. Whew. I was prepared for a skeleton in a rocking chair! And then the reader learns that Jacob did indeed kill their father and tricked Burden into believing he did it. But The Trial will show the truth! The one that winds up marked by the Irons is the true murderer!

But before Burden can get marked, The Movement arrive to stop The Trial. That's good. Now Jacob will get the mark and the village will banish him and Burden will cry and think up another letter to Mama with her standing right in front of him.

Dear Mama,
When did you begin looking so old? I should probably ask you since you're standing right in front of me but I know you prefer my mind epistles. Also, I am totally cuckoo for cuckoo dick. Mmm! I hope you approve, Mama! I know you're a big fan of it as well.
Your Son.

Katharsis gets her ass kicked again but I think she takes the fall on purpose this time to invoke Burden's beast since he should really be dealing with his own problems.

This feels like an episode of Fantasy Island!

Burden stops feeling bad for himself even though Mama still hates him. She loves her baby with wings and not her baby with tentacles falling out of its stomach. Yeah, I totally get that! The Movement take Burden home with them with some sappy ending about family or something. Although I have to completely agree with this version of family! I've never been one to feel close to somebody simply because they were related to me. If they were dicks, they were out. I only have so much time to spend with people I actually care about and if those people happen to be friends I made in high school, or friends I made on the internet, or friends I made in Men's Bathrooms in Rest Stops across South Dakota, so be it!

The Movement #11 Rating: No change. There wasn't enough Mouse in this issue. And Vengeance Moth didn't eat anybody's underwear.

The Movement #10

Why are Batgirl and Katharsis blocking the comic book characters I really want to read about? "Deep Fried Chicken Hawk" and "Potato Salad."

Word on the dirty street is The Movement has been cancelled as of Issue #12. The Dirty Street is what we call Gail Simone's Tumblr. "We" are me. There's something wrong with that previous sentence but I don't know how to correct it! We is I? We are I? We is me? We am us? Fuck it. I'm going to stop using language. The rest of this commentary will be done in pictures.

Hmm. This just may be my greatest commentary ever but nobody is going to understand it. Maybe I'll stick to language.

So last issue, Batgirl was unconscious and about to be undressed by The Movement.

That's exactly what upskirt creepers say! So I've heard.

If Horizon joins The Movement, that would give the group seven members. And since Virtue's powers rely on the Emotional Spectrum, I think that means each member of the group represents part of that spectrum. So Burden is Red/Wrath, Tremor is Orange/Selfishness (Mouse likes her because Cheese is orange), Horizon is Yellow/Fear, Vengeance Moth is Green/Willpower, Virtue is Blue/Hope, Katharsis is Indigo/Compassion (Like the Indigo Lanterns, she is a violent criminal that is reforming), Mouse is Violet/Love. Actually Mouse is kind of gray and pale but that's pretty close to violet and he loves cheese. And probably peanut butter. And Chips Ahoy cookies.

The Rainbow also has another hidden meaning that you probably all think you already know but you don't. It's the symbol for the covenant between God and mankind in which God declares he will never flood the world again. So that brings in Rainmaker somehow. Oh! Also Rainmaker makes rainbows. So that probably fits on its own without bringing in that asshole God to muck it all up!

Batgirl regains consciousness just before Mouse can get her top off and promptly defeats the entire group in about three seconds. That'll teach this new group not to mess with Batman or Batman affiliated franchises. Katharsis isn't just the major muscle in this group; she's the entire muscular system. Possibly also the ligaments and tendons. And the liver. But Katharsis isn't currently in The Sweatshop because she's out hunting Horizon the hero and/or murderer. How about we just say "future member of The Movement" and be done with the philosophical and ethical questions?

Meanwhile, The Gravy Factory quit their jobs. Ha ha. Cowards. They made gravy in their pants.

Katharsis locates Horizon and decides the best way to make peace with Batgirl is to fuck Horizon in midair. I don't know if Batgirl will be happy to hear about it or not but I wouldn't mind a few more pages detailing the encounter. But no. One lousy panel. I bet you anything Simone has six or seven pages of script vividly describing the entire scene with a note to Williams saying, "If you can't fit in this entire scene, cut the Batgirl stuff." But then Editorial threw a fit because Batgirl was already on the cover and they didn't have time to redo it. Anyway, the new cover would probably have too many penises and vaginas on it to be sold anywhere but on the corner of Haight and Ashbury.

Back at The Sweatshop, Mouse is learning that none of Tremor's orifices are interested in his wiener. None at all. No chance.

It still can be, Ven! Make some moves! Or recruit some more members until you find a booty that's compatible with your call.

Wasn't there some plot about some guy named the Cornea Killer or something? Man Cannon the Big Shot's son or something? Bah, who cares? It can't be more interesting than the drama within the group and Batgirl's stuck-up judging of this entire city.

Cornea who?

Katharsis decides to run off with Horizon but first she needs to talk to Virtue about it. And that's when Katharsis finds out Horizon recently killed a couple of Coral City cops. That might be a problem for their future together. But Horizon has an idea for a happily ever after!

I think I had this wet dream years ago. I mean normal dream! It was totally dry and not sexy.

Of course Batgirl doesn't let anybody die! The police are coming to arrest him and The Movement can't think of anything else to do but give him up since he is a cop killer. Batgirl heads back to Gotham City after making peace with Virtue and inviting her to come visit once Coral City ceases to exist in a few issues.

That felt like a cheap shot! I'm sure it'll appear in the DC Universe again sometime. Maybe Hal Jordan will get pissed off and raze it to the ground in a year or two.

The Movement #10 Rating: +1 Ranking. I think I'm supposed to be torn by the ethical dilemmas this group deals with in the face of very tough circumstances but I don't care at all about who is just or right or oppressed. I just want to see more booty calls and hook ups. Does that make me shallow? Bah. My picture review was way more intellectual than this stupid language one.

The Movement #9

What is Vengeance Moth pointing at? Batgirl's camel toe?

Mentioning camel toe makes me think of the opposite of camel toe which I think is that thing where you can see a guy's junk swinging around freely in his pants as he walks. Am I the only one that, whenever a full body shot of a man on a television show pops up, first checks his crotchal region to see what's going on down there? Tight pants with cock outline? Weirdly smooth space? Free swinging knob and sack? It's not sexual in any way which is something I feel I have to explain since I'm in America where many people believe if organs used to procreate are mentioned than it must certainly be for titillating reasons. It's more like I'm Jane Goodall making scientific observations about the fashion choices of people with junk that wear pants. I find the variety of ways cocks and balls can appear through clothing far more fascinating than people's fixations on camel toe. Plus male camel toe is an especially rare treat that has gone mostly extinct with the advent of pants that barely stay up and the decline of pants that are five sizes too small. Although skinny jeans occupy a really weird space. The weird part about guys that wear skinny jeans? I don't think I've ever seen a hint of their junk through the jeans. How does that work?!

Whoops. That whole groin discussion derailed what I really was going to talk about when I began this commentary! That's the problem with typing whatever comes into your head while also lacking the ability to self-censor. Even if one manages to plan out what they were going to write, it nearly always turns into a series of rambling digressions that move further and further away from topics that most people would feel comfortable discussing in front of their grandparents and closer and closer to topics that are mostly just discussed on the elementary school playground. Okay, so I'm blaming digressions for that instead of my fascination, possibly obsession, with bodily functions and my inability to actually discuss anything that a liberal arts college professor would want to talk about over a glass of wine and a fancy cracker of goat cheese.

Anyway, I was thinking about The Movement and how they're a bunch of young people that want to improve the town where they live. I don't know how many of them are from Coral City but, transplant or native, they seem to love it. And it seems like as a person grows up, there are three main types of people. There are those that love their hometown and would never dream of leaving. Those that can't wait to get out of their hometown at their first chance. And those that hate their hometown but invariably find themselves stuck there for their entire life. I suppose their are more types of people but remember that thing about me not being able to have intellectual discussions? So stop riding me! I can only think of three types, okay?!

Here's a panel of Batgirl leaving town so it seems like I'm writing about the comic book.

I left my home town of Santa Clara when I was twenty five. I suppose I was the fourth type that I didn't mention: the person that doesn't really think about it one way or another. I actually left for college when I was seventeen to spend a year in Portland but wound up coming back to the Bay Area and attending San Jose State. Mostly because I was homesick. Mostly mostly because I was lovesick. I wound up getting my bachelor's degree in Books after four and a half years of college which translated to seven years of real world time. The year after college, I bought my first car: a 1972 Volkswagen Panel Van. And this was the first inkling that I was ready to get the fuck out of Santa Clara. The year after I graduated college and the year before I left, I worked a job taking care of the office equipment warehouse at the Netscape Campus. It was a huge place and I was the only person there all day except for the installers coming by occasionally to pick up product or delivery trucks dropping stuff off. I might have gone a little stir crazy. But it's there that I became the type of person that can't wait to get the fuck out of town. At the time, "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers was getting radio play and it was these lyrics that would turn me into a tearful raging mess that knew I had to move away as soon as possible:

This place is old; it feels just like a beat-up truck.
I turn the engine but the engine doesn't turn.
The smell of cheap wine and cigarettes, this place is always such a mess,
Sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn.
I'm so alone, I feel just like somebody else.
I ain't changed but I know I'm not the same.
But somewhere here in-between the city walls of dying dreams
I think her death it must be killing me.

At the end of one full year of working there, I quit. I was living at home at the time and two weeks after I quit, I told my mom I was leaving for good (home and Santa Clara and, although I didn't know for sure at the time, California), loaded up my van with unread comic books and graphic novels, and hit the road. And that was that. Maybe that wasn't as interesting as how some people manage their junk inside of their trousers but I don't get to decide what content winds up in my blog.

I mean, technically, I guess I do. But whim and digression control this blog far more than structure and intent. Also, for those that haven't noticed or have never read this blog before, it is not about comic books.

So Batgirl is finally crossing over with The Movement! This is one of those fun crossovers and not one of those editorial demands Batman crossover with a title to get it's numbers up. You can tell the difference because anybody reading Gail Simone's Batgirl is probably already reading Gail Simone's The Movement. Although there might be Batfamily completists out there that desperately need every appearance of each member of the Batfamily in much the same way that I desperately need every copy of every Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy Game Books.

If this is the same thing you do to the "tails," Batgirl, I can see why nobody picks tails. You'd need a Mature Rated Comic Book for that move.

That last caption makes me feel kind of cheap. You know how when somebody makes a subtle joke about something and then the next guy comes along and makes the same joke just bluntly and they think they're suddenly fucking* Oscar Wilde [*adjective not verb!]? I feel like that's what I just did in that last caption. Simone was obviously making a subtle, teen-rated comic book fisting joke and I came along and blurted out, "BATGIRL WANTS TO FIST CRIMINALS!" Ugh. I'm such an asshole.

This guy Batgirl is not anally penetrating is named Reese and he seems to be some kind of Lightrayesque type of super person. I wish The Ray had called himself Lightrayesque. I might have been more interested in the character. Anyway, Batgirl winds up blasted by him and then there's the kind of scene cut where you go, "Welp. I guess Batgirl must have died!"

Unless you're smarter than I am. I spend half of my time reading comic books suddenly relieved that characters weren't killed off in the first few pages when they reappear several pages later to continue the fight.

Meanwhile in The Sweatshop which is what The Movement call their bathroom? I guess it makes sense. I'm fairly certain the way I'm going to die is having a stroke after sitting on a super cold toilet seat and taking a pantsless header into the kitty litter box. Ugh. Death, you destroyer of dignity: go fuck yourself.

Mouse is my favorite character right after (or right before) all of my other favorite characters. The important part of that last sentence was my proclamation that I like Mouse better than any of you. He's just gotten more and more entertaining ever since he first ratsurfed his way into my heart.

The Movement's current number one priority is to get Mouse to wash his balls. I knew it! Haven't I been saying since Issue #1 that Mouse must be fucking rank? I've only ever been friends (some people call it "owned" or "had a pet") with one rat at a time and the smell was overpowering! Virtue and the rest of them should probably let Mouse keep his sewer smell so that when Tremor turns him down, he can console himself that she just doesn't appreciate his scent. But if he gets cleaned up and she rejects him, he might have to face the fact that there is something incredibly wrong with his essential self and that he's not worthy of love at all and that he'll always be sad and pathetic and unhappy. As a Writer (with a capital "W"!), I can use my imagination to think up how someone might feel in these situations even though I've never been rejected by anybody ever and have never had my heart so broken that I twirled endlessly in a dark room with tears streaming down my face listening to The Cure's "Pictures of You."

I know there are people in the comic book industry that think they know the proper formula for making exciting comic books. Tight suits. Lots of punching. Space aliens. Double page spreads of awesome super cars. But they're all wrong. And, somehow, Gail Simone, a mere girl, figured out the way to make the best comic books. By spending two pages on getting a man named Mouse to take a shower.

Oh my god! Characters acting like themselves in normal (okay, slightly abnormal) situations!

I'm not trying to say Gail Simone is the greatest writer of all time although I might be because she sometimes reads these commentaries and if she's reading now she might want to skip the next sentence. She's not the best comic book writer at DC. But she's a talented writer and she's an entertaining writer and you can never go wrong being a fan of a writer that obviously loves her characters as much as she does. I actually don't know who the best writer is at DC. It could be Gail. Who knows? I just wanted to write this paragraph so I could use the "Gail should skip the next sentence" joke.

Meanwhile Batgirl is alive! Whew. She survived the blast from Lightrayesque but now she's being ganged up on by The Movement. Not The Movement that is the six super heroes but The Movement that is the many masked people with their I.C.U. apps on their phones. Batgirl has found herself in the Tweens of Coral City where authority is not welcome. Unless it's mob authority. Then it's okay. Also Virtue. Virtue is an okay authority. Probably because she's dead or something.

Mouse finally gets all dolled up to ask Tremor out and I find we have a hatred for things on our feet in common. And when he presents Tremor with his love note and his box of rat-infested candy, I can't help but wonder why the cover was all about Batgirl and not all about Mouse and Tremor's romantic story! Also I should have read this yesterday on Valentine's Day!

It's at this point that I realized I don't give a fuck what happens to Batgirl.

And then when the comic book gets back to Batgirl, I realize that I don't know what I give a fuck about anymore. What I do like is seeing Batgirl written like a big, judgmental jerk! This is why comic book characters should never agree to guest star in some other character's comic book! Even written by the same person, Batgirl is shown to be a huge turd outside her own turf! Judging how much the people care about their neighborhood by the cleanliness of it? That's the first step in accepting all the bullshit that goes along with the modern day version of Manifest Destiny: gentrification. Go back to Gotham, Batgirl! Before Katharsis learns that you're he....

Some people call it a Kaiser Blade but Katharsis calls it a Sling Blade.

Batgirl wins the battle by kicking Katharsis in the vagina. That's messed up, Batgirl. But at least it calms everybody down so that they can have a rational discussion about Lightrayesque and what's to be done with him. And, of course, the discussion takes place over donuts and banana milkshakes.

Lightrayesque's real super hero name is Horizon although I'll probably continue to call him whatever I want because I'm not the best at retaining names. He tried to be a super hero, accidentally killed two criminals when they fought back, and is now on the run in Coral City. Batgirl wants to get him into the court system but Virtue believes The Movement needs another member. They can't agree to disagree in this case due to the physical laws of the universe not allowing for Lightrayesque to exist in two separate quantum states, so Katharsis knocks out Batgirl. Virtue's plan is to learn her secret identity and use it to keep Batgirl out of the city.

Meanwhile, Lightrayesque is off killing cops because he's scared which lends a bit more credence to Batgirl's side of the argument than Virtue's. I think they need to compromise. Lightrayesque goes to trial for the people he's killed. If he's acquitted, he joins The Movement for training. If he goes to jail, he kills some guards, escapes, and moves to Coral City to get training with The Movement. Problem solved! I think.

The Movement #9 Rating: +3 Ranking. If only more of DC's comic books could be this entertaining! I hope it runs for a long time! Mostly so we can see Virtue slowly put on weight month after month due to all of her doughnut and banana shake meetings. Do corpses gain weight?

The Movement #7

I've already forgotten the real names of The Graveyard Faction. They'll always be Butterface, Assholster, Hester Prynne, and Emo Pigpen to me.

I do remember Arson's name because it struck me as fairly boring. I wonder if his name was a mishear? His parents probably looked proudly on him at high school graduation as they clasped their hands, looked each other deeply in the eyes, and sighed, "Our son." Their son heard it as "Arson" and a flaming light bulb appeared over his head as he realized he knew what he wanted to study in college: Microbiology! Also, maybe he'd start burning buildings down as a hobby, or part-time job if he could find the work. I'm certain Craigslist: Coral City has a Sketchy Career Opportunities section.

Last issue, Mouse had been left strung up on a lamppost (that's why his face is crossed out!) and Tremor had let the corrupt cops skip out on their mock trial. The Cornea Killer (I was having trouble remembering his name because "serial killer" kept making me think of cornflakes and I just knew Cornflake Killer couldn't possibly be the guy's name even if Gail Simone is writing this) was revealed to be the son of Man Cannon, the corrupt corruptician running things in Coral City. Vengeance Moth had a moment where she flipped the fuck out but we still didn't really get to see her powers. And Burden was being told more lies about himself. But it's okay because this time the lies were to help him get over the lies that were causing him so much pain!

It's easy to follow an Indigo trail in Coral City since most of the city is orange, yellow, and red.

Burden looks like he's having a really pleasant time tied to the bed. I think The Movement accidentally found his kink.

Virtue takes off to help out with Mouse, leaving Vengeance Moth to contemplate her super powers: muscular dystrophy and not doing drugs. Hmm, maybe those are just facts about her. Her super power is still a mystery! But she's still trying to foist fruit snacks on everyone. What are in those things?

Her favorite fruit snack flavor? Slightly Aroused Uncircumcised Penis.

Meanwhile, Mouse's dying words are, "Tremor, I want to pet your fur." Who doesn't? But is that really a fitting epitaph? Maybe if your tombstone was going to be set up in a skeezy bar so it can hit on people. I woke up a few weeks ago with most of my own epitaph already formed in my head! It'll take a gigantic hunk of marble to inscribe it all onto though because it's this long (also, this is it):

I am here. You are there. So many others inbetween. In all the infinite vastness of time and space, how highly improbable that we should ever have met. It seems beyond all bounds of decency that we should fight, against the very will of the universe that we should treat each other poorly, truly the antithesis of reason that we should make each other miserable. We should laugh and we should embrace and we should grow more familiar with each other's oddities and differences and the rare and brief moments where we seem to have been created one for the other. And yet we were not which only makes our brief liaison in the unending bounds of time and space even more unlikely. We owe it to chance and improbability and random, stupid luck to be kind to each other.

I know I already put this in one of my commentaries! Don't think I won't be putting it in future ones either! If you want to read highly original works of art, this blog isn't it! This place is where I write down my thoughts and then create more thoughts that are derivative of the original thoughts and then repeat myself and create more derivative thoughts based on the stuff I've repeated several times over again. It's so much easier to come up with material that way!

Nearby Mouse's Lamppost, The Graveyard Faction are hiding in an alleyway waiting for Virtue to arrive. It looks like Hester Prynne can follow emotional trails just like Virtue can because The Graveyard Faction now plans to follow Virtue's backwash back to The Movement's hideout where Vengeance Moth was left alone with Redlance, Suntop, Ember, and the other Elf children.

Oh! Oh! I know a good ritual for that!

But before Vengeance Moth can help Burden with his problem, Suntop notices something isn't quite right with the tunnels.

Earlier Vengeance Moth mentioned how she doesn't like to fight. So she really is taking Redlance's part in defending the homestead.

Maybe Vengeance Moth has a really sweet power that can be used for violence but she hates to have to resort to that. That's why she chose such an in-your-face name. So she doesn't have to get in your face at all.

While Vengeance Moth prepares to protect the sanctuary against the Graveyard Faction, Katharsis rushes Mouse to a hospital probably filled with cops since they're all hanging about listening to Toothless Joe tell his tale of survival horror. He's trying to get the cops to raid The Movement's hideout before they have time to bolster their defences. Shut up, Spell Check! That's a completely acceptable way to spell "defense" if you don't mind living in a grey and gray limbo between American English and British English!

She can also shoot forth little green moths to cut and slice and eat cotton drapes. I wonder if she can do moths in other spectrum colours? I just typed that to piss off Spell Check some more. Stupid bloody wanker.

Oh yeah! I knew I liked Butterface's actual name: Monster Baby. I'm not sure if my fake name for her or her real name is more offensive. Probably my fake name since she didn't choose to be called that!

Back at the hospital, Mouse is really fucked up. He probably should have told his team, before he wound up in a coma, that he has regenerative powers but they only work when he's doing some quality heavy petting. Get this boy a pubic area stat!

Officer Yee has decided to stand alone against Toothless Joe and the other corrupt cops to keep them from going back and killing civilians. The Police Chief delivers some files on the Graveyard Faction to Virtue so that maybe The Movement will stand a chance against Man Cannon's super powered mercenaries whom the Police Chief obviously doesn't want on his turf. And back at headquarters, Burden is the only chance left to keep everybody safe. Not exorcised, sin-free little Christopher with the sexytime feelings. Crazy, epistolary, sin-filled, Mama's Boy Burden.

I know Vengeance Moth is manipulating him to save people, but it's really the right thing to do. He can't be free of his problems while living a different lie which is why I especially like this because it's reminiscent of Mulan. Christopher's problems can't be beaten if he's living a lie. He must deal with his demons while being true to himself. So get back on the Devil Wagon, bitch!

And then I turn the page and HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Burden's demon form does not disappoint. It's like a cross between a dinosaur and a pegasus and a satyr that didn't heed the warning about eating raw seafood and ingested a bunch of Octopus eggs which have finally hatched. He probably smells really, really badly as well. I wonder what his mother would say?

The Movement #7 Rating: +2 Ranking. Compared to some of DC's other twenty page comic books, this one packs in a lot more story. Usually with this many scene changes, a comic book can feel like it has barely moved ahead in the plot. But Gail Simone has some pretty tight control over her story telling abilities here. She probably doesn't have to worry too much about editors mucking around with her script ideas either since these characters are either brand new or peripheral to the rest of the DC Universe. And it's fun while still managing serious themes!

The Movement #6

I hope the trend of having the covers look like revolutionary posters continues throughout the series. Or fascist, dictatorial posters when the law enforcement side is shown. Like Earth 2's covers!

A friend of mine mentioned how Marvel is coming out with a female Muslim superhero and he said, "I hate forced diversity." It's an odd statement to make when you're talking about fiction. What do you suddenly consider "forced?" It's not like they have the creators at sword point telling them what to write. Well, some editors might work that way. But even still, how good was "non-forced diversity" working for the comic book industry for the last eighty years? To get to a point where people don't think twice about the gender or ethnicity or religion or sexuality or cultural background of a character, you need a well balanced group of characters. The only reason people use the term "forced diversity" is because there is a flipside to that statement which is "white male is the status quo." If you go off-script with character creation, some people are going to grumble. But that script needs to be thrown out so that every character that is created can simply be the next individual character to come along. Comic book readers should not have a standard base white male idea in their heads. I don't even know why they'd want to!

My basic thought on diversity is fucking just go for it. Companies can't listen to outspoken people that can't handle change or difference. I don't give a fuck if a character is Malaysian, Canadian, or Spanish as long as they interest me. But you know, if you can reach a wider audience by increasing the representation of the various characters, do that! If you lose a reader because they can't handle different skin tones, fuck them. Who wants to cater to someone like that anyway? If you want to use the term "forced diversity," then I say diversity should be forced. Force it down our throats until it's commonplace. And once it's commonplace, you'll never again have to hear somebody use the term "forced diversity." It will just be status quo.

Also, remember that thing I said about fiction? Fiction is forced! It's contrived! Somebody has to think up something and there are many reasons why they choose the aspects of plot and character that they choose. Just make the characters interesting and people will read the comic book! Are you telling me there are people picking up Teen Titans simply because it's full of whiteness (if we ignore the stinky smoking sulfur woman) and avoiding The Movement because it's full of "forced diversity?" The Teen Titans is a horribly written pile of crap. The characters are bland, without motivation, and have only been reacting to time travel shenanigans and antagonists from the future. The Movement's characters actually have motivation to better their community. They're working for some kind of change even if they might occasionally go about it in really horribly awful ways. But at least they're fucking interesting!

I skipped a lot of points I could probably go on and on about but I'm still trying to get my thumb to bend like Vengeance Moth's from The Movement #5.

At the end of last issue, Tremor ended the naughty cop's trial early and freed them on their own precognizance. Katharsis didn't like that idea because not liking Tremor's choice allows her to flip the fuck out which is her most favoritist thing to do in the whole entire world.

Mmmm, shake powers.

Vengeance Moth tries to get the ladies to stop fighting but nobody listens to her. What's she going to do? Flit around and self-immolate in a nearby light bulb? But then Virtue arrives and shuts the fight down because Virtue will get in your head and bring all of your weird shit to light. Also she's just a bit intimidating when she strikes super cute poses while screaming her den mother head off. Tremor points out she simply wants to help people and getting their asses involved in a turf war with local law enforcement simply to put on some mock trial for the internet seems a bit antithetical to that goal.

Also they all figure perhaps they should try helping the delusional kid in the hoodie crouched in the corner composing mental letters to his mother about his frequent attempts to copulate with Satan.

No, don't cast him out, Burden. Fuck him. Fuck him right in the face! You know you want to! Hmm, I don't think I'd be a very helpful member of this team. Plus I'd constantly be making poo jokes.

Virtue orders Katharsis and Tremor to make up. When they were throwing punches, I had my money on Katharsis. But now Virtue has ordered them to an Ice Cream Eating Deathmatch. By the look on Tremor's face when she hears the news, I have a feeling she's going to kill this challenge. Plus I figure she must keep her body covered by that blanket for a reason! I'm saying she's a little chubby for her spandex. Hey, I'm not judging! I'm just pointing out she might have a bit of a body image issue. Now, I am speculating that it's weight related. It could also simply be that she's uncomfortable with even having a body at all.

While the girls go out for sundaes, Virtue and Vengeance Moth plan on performing an exorcism on Burden. Also, the cops get away.

I knew they were going to have to put Joe down. Human nature is the main reason we need the word "escalation." To be brutally honest though, I'm with Joe. That asshole Katharsis knocked out all of his front teeth! We all have are worst nightmares and I can't stand the idea of losing your front teeth. If Katharsis had done that to me, I would have...well, I probably would have just lain on the floor crying, blubbering, cradling my lost teeth, and rocking back and forth.

The worst nightmares I've ever had have been ones where some teeth have fallen out. Not knocked out! Just falling out while doing something else in the dream. I read somewhere (probably some Jungian thing lying around here somewhere) that a dream about losing ones teeth is about loss of power so Joe getting his teeth knocked out is actually a really good symbol for what needed to be done to him. In my conscious life, I don't actually worry about status or power or shit like that. But apparently my unconscious mind used to hate my forty hour work weeks working for businesses that cared more about their investors than their employees. Once I got out of that system, I stopped having the dreams of losing my teeth. I can't remember the last time I had a dream like that. Or a migraine! People talk about all the different perks to owning your own business but those might be the biggest two for me! Also, all of the free time because I make my own schedule. I don't make as much money as I might otherwise, but fuck that. Give me more leisure time! If I worked a forty hour work week, I think I'd be making...well, a lot more money than I am! But I clean floors and that would probably quickly wreck this middle-aged body! So instead, I work about fifteen to twenty hours per week. It's all about balance! Just like The Movement!

Whew. I wasn't sure I was going to get back on track there for a second.

Even though this story line is called The Graveyard Faction, I completely forgot about the Graveyard Faction! They're currently trying to ruin Mouse's day simply because he stopped a woman from getting her eyes gouged out. Maybe I'll find out their real names now and have to stop calling them Pigpen, Hester Prynne, Assholster, and Butterface. Currently, Mouse is sending his rats to infiltrate Assholster's pants.

I guess he's trying to disarm him?

I was going to scan some pictures of all the cute rats because I love Freddie Williams's rats but instead I thought I'd scan a picture of the rest of The Graveyard Faction.

See? Butterface, Hester Prynne, and Pigpen. Although I think I'll change his name to Emo Pigpen.

I was pretty good at guessing the names of the Dial H characters so I'm pretty sure I've got at least 75% of the names of the Graveyard Faction correct!

Or maybe 25% since the next page reveals I'm, incredibly, wrong on three of their names! Butterface is actually Monster Baby which I really like especially since she attacks Mouse by saying, "Want to kiss him to death. So hot." Hester Prynne is named Anguish which, I guess, explains the "A" on her chest. And Assholster is named Pallas. I still have a chance of being correct with Emo Pigpen.

Well I got the Emo right! But his name is Arson. Boring! Maybe it'll turn out to have some kind of double meaning with "Our Son."

Mouse's arm gets all burnt up from Arson's fire breath so I hope he has some regenerative abilities. Maybe he has a few medic mice at his disposal.

Back at headquarters, Virtue performs the exorcism on Burden by removing his fear. Perhaps once he loses the fear instilled in him by his religious parents about his powers being from Satan, he'll be able to look at them rationally. Or maybe he'll just lose them and become just another useless man. Although a useless man in a great looking hoodie.

Elsewhere in the city, Man Cannon comes face to face with The Cornea Killer. Although probably not for the first time since The Cornea Killer calls Man Cannon "Dad." I guess that means Mouse got away from The Graveyard Faction with the help of his rat army. He probably surfed them to safety.

Or not. Total wipeout.

The Movement #6 Rating: +2 Ranking. This is the best team book DC is putting out right now. I often think team books can't get the balance right and never spend enough time on the characters. The "characterization" usually just comes from how they utilize their powers in the big fight scenes. But Simone is doing a wonderful job taking her time with the characters. I just hope this comic sticks around long enough for these characters to become fan favorites. This title should really take the place of The Teen Titans. How can I get everybody that's currently buying the Teen Titans to drop that book and begin picking up this one? I guess all I can do is ask. No, fuck asking. I'm demanding it! If you're reading Teen Titans right now and not reading The Movement, knock it off. Strike that. Reverse it. Get out there and buy The Movement instead!

The Movement #5

If I knew Virtue in real life, I'm fairly certain that mask wouldn't stop me from recognizing her.

Hopefully this issue has a little card I can cut out, fill out, and send in to DC to become a member of The Movement. As long as it wouldn't interfere with my duties in my other clubs such as Captain Cosmic, Elfquest, and Mr. Bill, I think I'd be a decent Movementeer!

Man Cannon has hired some mystery sexpots to take care of the Movement in Coral City. He's a bit concerned that other groups are popping up across the country and even in other countries that aren't this one. Like China. And the other ones. I don't have time to list them all! Get a map if you need to know that badly. Oh! Spain! That's another country!

Meanwhile the Police Chief decides to meet with a member of The Movement in neutral territory.

Oh! It's Virtue! I didn't recognize her without the mask!

It's interesting to see two characters in a comic book acting so rationally. Interesting? It's as rare as a Chupacabra that doesn't end up being a raccoon with severe mange. Even after the embarrassment The Movement has caused the police department, Police Captain Chief Meers remains focused on keeping the police force acting for the good of the community. He listens to Virtue's complaints and he's willing to try to compromise with her. In the end, they both want the same thing. A safe community with police acting as part of that community instead of above it. He even shows compassion and sympathy for Virtue and her young friends.

No wonder this comic book isn't selling that great. Comic book fans don't understand rational discourse and interesting characters! Nobody is punching anybody else! Virtue realizes domino masks are ridiculous for hiding identity! They're both wearing normal clothing! What the fuck is going on here?! How are comic book fans supposed to follow this surreal scene?!

This panel had me worried! After all that calm discourse, I thought for sure Virtue would say okay and the rest of the comic would be The Movement playing Nintendo in a dark basement. Luckily for us comic book fans, she's not heeding his warning!

The rest of The Movement are currently holding a trial for the two cops that sexually harassed the young woman in the alley in Issue #1. I'd say the big jerky guilty cop already had time served if you count the number of teeth Katharsis knocked out of his mouth. What more are they going to do to him if they find him guilty? Which they already know he is. Why even bother with a fake trial? To make it look like they're following some kind of rules of justice? Just kick him in the balls a few more times and toss him out on the street. Although they might just have to put him down after this. He's going to be looking for some major payback once he's back on the force patrolling the city.

The trial is being streamed live, so maybe that, simply, is the point. Get their faces out there. Let the people decide if they want to trust them when they run into them in the future. Put a camera on them and then let them show who they really are.

I was going to write a long essay on power and authority, on how those given a mandate to protect the people must protect even the people who show genuine dislike for them, and how citizens must be just as careful in their policing and judgments of the police. Instead, I spent the last five minutes trying to get my thumb to bend like Vengeance Moth's.

Meanwhile, Mouse's writing is interrupted by one of his rats (Gaston, if you want to keep track) who has just seen the Cornea Killer about to claim another victim. Mouse's rats help Mouse with his writing. My helper is unimpressed.

And suddenly very hungry.

As Vengeance Moth takes the cops back to their cell, Joe the Big Ugly One decides to make an escape by shoving Vengeance Moth out of her chair. Are we finally going to get to see her use her super powers? My guesses in the past have been Erratic Flight, Clothing Eating, and Extreme Murdering. Hey, the Vengeance part of her name has to come into play somehow!

I think this constitutes Erratic Flight. Next up, Extreme Murdering. Also as a bonus because of the way the page was set up and rat surfing should always be documented, Mouse!

Mouse gets his ass kicked by The Cornea Killer because he really should have called for backup. This is a team book, stupidhead. If I want to see team members going in alone and acting idiotic, I'll reread the Teen Titans. I expect better out of you! I understand you have an army of rats at your side but you're just going to get them killed too.

Vengeance Moth seems to have some kind of screechy noise power. Maybe it's something about the fluttering of her moth's wings. It could also be that she's just annoying like a moth fluttering about your peripheral vision. Maybe she just drives them crazy. Before things can get too serious with the Vengeance part of her powers, Katharsis storms in to nearly murder Joe. Nearly because Tremor steps in and saves the cops. She also gives them an escape route and lets them go. I'm not sure what Vengeance Moth is doing at this point. Maybe she was distracted by a light bulb.

Back to Mouse, he gets the upper hand with the help of his rats. But The Cornea Killer has some sexy friends with him because The Cornea Killer seems to have purchased People Hunting Rights in Coral City from Man Cannon and Man Cannon's Council Board of Corporate Asshats.

Members of The Graveyard Faction from left to right: Pigpen, Hester Prynne, Ass Holster, and Butterface.

The Movement #5 Rating: +1 Ranking. I checked figures for comic book sales in August and The Movement was right around the bottom near Ann Nocenti's Katana. That's a travesty. I have a theory that Ann Nocenti just randomly pounds away at a keyboard and turns in her script with whatever Autocorrect decided she was trying to say. But Gail Simone is knocking it out of the park with this comic. I can only hope that word of mouth continues to spread or DC just starts slapping Batman on the cover simply so more people will give this book a chance. Come on, people! I can't give this thing any more of a boost than I already am. And while you're at the comic book store picking up any copies of The Movement lying around, pick up All Star Western as well!