Joshua Hale Fialkov

Purveyor of sheer awesomeness.

Joshua Hale Fialkov is the Harvey, Eisner, and Emmy Award nominated writer of graphic novels, animation, video games, film, and television, including:

THE LIFE AFTER, THE BUNKER, PUNKS, ELK'S RUN, TUMOR, ECHOES, KING, PACIFIC RIM, THE ULTIMATES, I, VAMPIRE, and JEFF STEINBERG CHAMPION OF EARTH. He's also written television including MAX’s YOUNG JUSTICE, NBC's CHICAGO MED and NETFLIX’s AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.

On the Road Again

October 20, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

Ah, here we go. First, I've been unpostable for a bit, as I've had a bit of diabetes resurgence (which contributed to the bladder, and really made things unpleasent), and now I'm heading back East to Pittsburgh for a few days, and then onwards to Des Moines, all in an effort to help my folks move from my childhood home. So, in other words, you'll be getting lots of pictures and not much commentary.

Oh, and this week's issue of Hellblazer is fucking outstanding. Go get it.

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Swamp Thing #20

October 13, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

I don't often do this. I've been known to pimp for friends on occassion, and pimp for writer's I idolize every once in a while as well. But, in one single issue, Josh Dysart (the other Comic Book Writing Josh who I'm frequently confused with) has been writing Swamp Thing for around a dozen or so issues now. Here's the thing about Swamp Thing. Alan Moore did such a brilliant job on his issues that NOBODY has been able to do shit with the character since. Brian K. Vaughan, easily the best writer in comics today, even struggled with Big, Green, and Gassy, and instead focused on the daughter of the earth elemental. The fact is, Alan Moore really did say everything there is to say about Swampy.

And then Dysart had to go and fuck it all up. Josh's been doing what've been easily the most interesting Swamp Thing stories in a while on the book. Focusing on peripheral characters, using Swamp Thing as sort of a foil in his own book. Again, that's really the only way to do the character justice these days.

And then there's issue 20 (which I believe came out a week or two ago.) In a single issue, Josh manages to pose a new fucking question. It's a story of delicacy, intensity, poetic brilliance, and sheer amazingness. Add that to some beautiful Richard Corben art... and, well, you have the best Swamp Thing story since Alan Moore's very first issue.

Kudos, Dysart. I'm gunning for you now.

Oh, and the book's selling okay, but not great, so, if you read this issue and love it as much as you certainly fucking will, then make sure to let your shop know to put it on your subscription or pull list or whatever. Every copy helps.

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Medium

October 10, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

I've been slowly working my way through Season One of Medium, off some rips of the series I got from some friends. I'm actually surprised the show's been more or less ignored by the internet fandom world, cause it's damn good. It starts off a bit rough, but as it goes on it gets better and better, and the current season is actually pretty fantastic. The only thing it really lacks is an overall arc. The first season has sort of a bookend arc where the first case and the last case are tied together, but aside from that, no real over-arching anything.

That's actually not true. The slow corrosion of the family relationships because of her 'abilities' serves as that sort of throughline. Again, in season one, it's a bit too one note, husband gets frustrated, kids feel ignored, she saves the day, mix and repeat. But, again, as it goes on, it's gotten considerably stronger, and we see a true falling apart of the familial unit.

All in all, it's a pretty great take on both the cop show and the family drama, plus it's got some good supernatural fun to boot. Anyways, check it out.

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Now THAT’s a review.

October 07, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

Mark Fossem goes above and beyond with his review of the Elk's Run Bumper.

Expectations are a bitch. So often, you'll hear something praised to the skies, only to find it can't possibly inhabit those lofty heights. A band, a book, a comic: it's always an undiscovered gem that will change your life ... and it seldom does. Many times, it's the expectation itself that's to blame: Few works of art can support the crushing weight of "the best thing you're not reading/playing/watching". Buzz is all well and good, but can easily bite the hand that feeds it.

However, there are some books that do live up to the hype. Elk's Run is one of them. In fact, the breathless buzz that's circulated around this criminally underselling gem doesn't come close to describing it's greatness. The first three issues came and went with intense critical fanfare and slim sales. Even a highly-graded pimp from Entertainment Weekly couldn't get the book onto and off of comic shop shelves throughout the nation. Now the book has moved to a new publisher, Speakeasy, and has released the "story so far" in a trade edition with a Darwyn Cooke cover to try and get some sales mojo workin'. And if ever a book deserved some sales mojo, it's Elk's Run.

Click Here for the Rest

If you have a review on your blog or site, post in the comments, and we'll link to it either here or on the messageboards.

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In Celebration of…

October 04, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Season One Picked up the box set today (after selling off a slew of CD's in order to have money to pay rent. I'm a huge anthology fan, obviously, and, secretly, Alfred Hitchcock Presents is far and away my favorite of them all. I love Twilight Zone. Really, genuinely love it. But, it relies a bit too heavily on the twists. AHP doesn't. It's about story and acting, the twists sometimes non-existent. The acting, directing, production value are all top notch.

The Box Set is beautiful, I'm amazed ast the clarity of the prints, considering their age and the medium they were shot for, they're positively crystal clear. There's some spotting here and there, and the occasional dust particles, but, really, it's just a gorgeous print, easily the same quality as most of the Special Editions of the Hitchcock Features. I wonder if Hitch made a point of print storage et cetera.

Anyways, it's dirt ass cheap, for a ton of episodes, so, go and pick it up. It'll rock your socks off.

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The Trip At Its End, I stare at the Slot Machines and Think Quietly to Myself…

September 30, 2005  /  Joshua Fialkov

This marks the longest time I've been away from my house in a long time. I get really antsy when I'm away from my comforts, but, I'm glad I went. My folks are leaving Pittsburgh for greener pastures in Iowa (greener and filled with more corn, I'd presume), and this was sort of my 'last chance' at spending time in my childhood home. It's... well... it's nice. I spent most of college dreading the trips home because I just have so few friends in town, and lots of bad memories, and this was one of the first times the trip wasn't filled with dread. Seeing my folks is usually the only real positive of these trips, but, I actually had a good time, between SPX (which was an absolute ball knocker of a good time), and discovering old 'treasures' in my parents attic, I had a pretty great time.

Of course, I'm now more than a week behind on all of my writing. Oh well, that's what layovers in Las Vegas are for.

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