REVIEWS: MOVIES & DVDs | COMIC BOOKS | VIDEOGAMES | WEB SITES & MORE

Brad Meltzer Exposes Himself by Mike-oh

Everyone in the Justice League is wondering why Brad Meltzer would throw away a perfectly good career as a mystery novelist to write stories about them.

An interview with Brad Meltzer. Whether you count him as the first or among the first, Brad Meltzer's foray from the land of the credible author into the land of comics came as a clarion call that ushered in a whole host of spectacular talent to the field.

At the time, Kevin Smith, who some might cite (including Meltzer himslef, for one) as the creative responsible for making it okay for serious writers to write for comics, was finishing up his run on the Green Arrow. This is the Kevin Smith of Indie movie fame -- Clerks and Chasing Amy -- you know, Silent Bob.

Anyway, Kevin Smith, as it turned out, was a huge comic book fan and leveraged his hard earned fame as a movie director and screenplay writer to score a gig writing a Daredevil story for Marvel. Which turned itself into another hot gig when he brought Green Arrow literally back from the dead for DC. And it was this series of events that lead to Brad Meltzer ushering in the age of the accredited comic book writer.

Why, you might ask, would I not give this credit to Kevin Smith? Brad Meltzer asked me that very question. The answer is simple and complicated at the same time. Basically, Kevin Smith is obviously a comic book nerd that got "lucky" and made a couple of hit movies (a gross understatement, but it supports my arguement at this particular juncture so please bear with me). Brad Meltzer is a New York Times Best Selling Author who got "lucky" and wrote a few comic books.

Not convinced? Look at it like this. Kevin Smith's films appeal to a young audience. His humor is somewhat sophmoric if not totally immature. Yet his movies are independent art films. He is a comic book guy looking for creative ways to express his ideas.

Brad Meltzer argued that he, too, is a comic book guy and really no different from Kevin Smith on that score. Except Brad is a New York Times Best Selling Author. Which translates into SERIOUS AUTHOR. Kevin Smith brought celebrity cred to comic books. But Brad Meltzer brought literary credibility to comics.

And with that credibility, well, just look at the creatives rolling into comics in his wake -- Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Serenity), Damon Lindelof (Lost, Wasteland, Nash Bridges), Stephen King (The Stand, Tommy Knockers, The Shining), Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, Lost Boys, Speaker for the Dead), Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie, Lethal Weapon, 16 Blocks), Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Wonderboys, Summerland), Gregg Hurwitz (The Program, Kill Clause, Last Shot), and the list goes on. Geez, Chabon is a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Now being a comic book creator is all the rage. You can tell when a guy like Seth Green (Freshmen) is doing everything he can to milk his celebrity for a successful comic book. You remeber Seth as Dr. Evil's son Scott from the Austin Powers movie series. You might not have picked up a copy of the Freshmen. You can tell when a guy like Jeph Loeb gets picked up by ABC to write for Lost and then for the new TV series about superheroes aptly named "Heroes." I think it's because suddenly comics are cool and in typical Hollywood fashion, everyone there has to be rubbing elbows with someone in the business if they want to be seen as cool.

It doesn't matter how many Seth Greens and Ben Afflecks declare their love for comics, it won't change the fact that major literary talents like Chabon, King, and Meltzer are genuine creative genuises who are choosing to contribute their talent to this very unique artform.

So when it was announced that Kevin Smith would be leaving Green Arrow, there was great murmuring among comic book nerds. "No, Kevin! Please don't leave us! Sob!" This was followed by even more murmuring when it was announced that Brad Meltzer would be stepping in to pick up the writing chores on the Green Arrow. "Best Selling Author of books?! You mean like all words and no pictures?! Can he do that?!" Yes, as a matter of fact, he can. And his Green Arrow story arc was one for the history books as much as it was one for the comic books.

But the best was still to come. Brad's mystery writing chops would finally get to flex their powerful muscles in a story that would rock the entire DC Universe. Through a riveting story titled Identity Crisis, Meltzer managed to shake the Justice League down to it's very core while raising the profile of a host of DC characters that had virtually faded into oblivion. By the time it was over, he had fractured the relationships of almost every member of the JLA and set into motion the events that would lead to the Infinite Crisis event that DC had been planning to use to reboot their entire universe.

Now that the universe has been re-booted, DC has turned to Meltzer again. This time it's his job to put things back together by starting with an all new Justice League of America. And from all indications, this reassemblage is well on it's way to establishing the quintessential superhero team of the new era.

So with all of this exciting comic book writing, how does a New York Times Best Selling Author keep up his Best Selling Writing cred? You got me. He just published a new book titled Book of Fate. I guess that's really the only way. But at his book signing in Dallas, it only took three questions before someone (it wasn't me) in the audience began asking him comic book related questions. He seemed more than happy to let the topic change from his latest book to his comic book endeavors. I would have expected an author of his caliber to try to downplay his involvement in comics. At least when he's trying to promote a new novel. But he doesn't. What he said to me about being a big comic book nerd is the plain and simple truth.

Consider this. After the book signing, I'm sitting around with a couple of guys from the independent online press and we're geeking out about comics. Brad is standing ten feet away and signing a whole buch of books for Barnes and Noble (who knows what they are doing with them but whatever). Brad can't help but eavesdrop on our ridiculaous discussion about all things trivial in the world of DC and Marvel superhero comics. After a minute or so, he jumps into the conversation weighing in with his own positions, opinions, and questions about different characters and their relationship to each other. What a nerd (pot calling kettle black).

Anyway, you're probably already familiar with Brad's comic book work if you've read this far into this article. But you might not be familiar with his mystery novels. If you don't have a copy of Book of Fate, you should pick one up. It's sort of a DaVinci Code meets National Treasure kind of story with a great grabber of a beginning and the kind of writing that will make it impossible to set it down until you reach the very end. I know it doesn't have pictures but you'll get over it. And you'll be helping Brad sustain his Best Selling Author title which he appears to be throwing away wrecklessly on comic books. So help the guy out. Give a little back to the guy who has given his whole career over to entertaining you with spectacular comic book stories. It's the kind of good deed that will look good on your resume. Or will make your mother proud. Or for no other reason, will put a real book on your bookshelf and impress regular people when mistakenly pay you a visit.

So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Give us your feedback.