This won't be the first time that Wolk - whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Salon.com, as well as writing last year's Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean - has gone out of his way to explain the deeper meanings of a particular comic; in 2006, his 52 Pickup blog made sense of all of the throwaway references and unexpected reappearances from DC's first weekly mini-series, 52. So what made him return to this particular fan service industry - a Grant Morrison fanboy obsession, a celebration of the metatextual school of comic crossover events, or simply having too much free time on his hands? Douglas explained that it was all of the above, and more:

I really enjoyed doing 52 Pickup—especially the community that formed around it—and I missed having the opportunity to use my Ph.D. in DC continuity. I also like helping people enjoy the details of Grant Morrison's more deeply layered comics as much as I do. As for the free time issue... I'll just say that after you read enough back issues of Adventure Comics, you realize that while most people believe there are only 24 hours in a day, that's what the bad guys want you to think.

Even before the series officially starts next week, Douglas already has a few posts up, taking apart DC Universe Zero and the preview Final Crisis Sketchbook with wit and insight, as in this reference to Legion badguy Tyr having his weapon arm ripped off by Superman:

Panel 5: It wouldn't be a Geoff Johns comic without dismemberment, but at least this character's meant to be one-handed—and "hands" are going to be a running theme in this comic, so take note.

Final Crisis Annotations.

The formerly comics-focused Wondercon was much more about movies and TV this year, especially with DC being tight-lipped, Marvel skipping it and Image canceling at the last minute. And many of the most popular narratives had to do with war and political upheaval.

Conspiracy theories: Anti-establishment paranoia is back, and X-Files 2 is its harbinger. We still don't have a clear sense of what the new X-Files movie will be about, but writer/director Chris Carter said the show's conspiracy-mania had gone out of fashion after 9/11, but now it was making a comeback. We already know the movie won't be about the show's overarching "mythos," but that doesn't mean it won't feature government cover-ups and conspiracies. After all, it'll be competing with the new Indiana Jones movie, which apparently is about Area 51 and Roswell. Cover-ups are cool!
And then there was the Jericho panel, where producer Carol Barbee said the show's writers "don't talk politics" — and then proceeded to talk about politics for an hour. Besides the way Jericho's evil government contractor Ravenwood was a direct metaphor for Halliburton and Blackwater in Iraq, Barbee also talked about the ripped-from-the-headlines terrorism plots and Homeland Security paranoia on her show.
The war machine: And meanwhile, the direct-to-DVD Starship Troopers 3 turned out to be a satirical war movie, in which weird government propaganda for super-bombs jostled with Fleet recruiting ads, in a war that's gone on too long and lost public support. (Sound like anything in real life to you?) And speaking of war movies, the new Iron Man film keeps the comics' backstory about Tony Stark being a high-tech weapons merchant who has a crisis of conscience after he's taken prisoner. And Iron Man is serving as a metaphor for the military-industrial complex in the comics as well, according to Douglas Wolk, author of Reading Comics. Wolk dropped some science about how World War Hulk and Civil War are metaphors for the backlash against the government crackdown after 9/11.

So where were the right-wing narratives, about evil terrorists, weak left-wing governments and cultural elites repressing everybody else? We didn't run across them as much. My guess is, wait until year two or three of an Obama or Clinton presidency, and suddenly you'll have all the conservative space fantasies that you could ever want, from the likes of Frank Miller. We can't wait!

For those of you who haven't read the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk series, here's the quickie back story: Iron Man and his gang called the Illuminati blast Hulk into space for the "safety" of the human race. (Because, you know, the Hulk is always smashing and stuff.) Hulk crash-lands on a planet where he can at last be the hero he never was on Earth — he fights with a bunch of oppressed aliens against evil humanoid overlords, wins, gets crowned king, and marries an ultra-awesome, super-strong alien who becomes his queen.

Everything goes bad when the ship Iron Man and Co. sent him to space in suddenly blows up. Queen is killed, and Hulk's new home is ravaged. He and his alien buddies (his "warbound") go back to Earth to get their revenge on Iron Man. Hulk is so mad, and so righteous, that he's gotten bigger and greener than I've ever seen him. I mean, he is so strong he can withstand space vacuum and smash up the moon.

His showdown with Iron Man stretched across several comic book crossovers. I highly recommend the series, especially Planet Hulk. And for the record, Wolk is totally right in this clip. You won't be able to deny it after reading.

Another famous recent example of comic book allegory that Wolk discussed is in Mark Millar's Civil War series, all about the Superhero Registration Act. Apparently, however, Millar denies the importance of allegory in the series, calling it "just gravy." Wolk also talked about Grant Morrison's 7 Soldiers of Victory ("It's about meshing together different forms of enlightenment.") and Green Lantern vs. Sinestro ("Green Lantern is thoughtful about how power can affect the world, while Sinestro uses fear to gain power.").

Want more Wolk? Check out his book Reading Comics.

Here are the top 10, in no particular order:

• The Traits, "Nobody Loves the Hulk" (remade many times by Ska bands for some reason)
  
• Camberwell Now, "Green Lantern"
  
• David J (from Bauhaus), "This Vicious Cabaret" (a song from V for Vendetta)
  
• New Pornographers, "Challengers" (about the Challengers of the Unknown)
  
• Mekons, "Dan Dare" (just in time for Dan Dare's revival!)
  
• Fink Brothers, "Mutants in Mega-City One"
  
• Transvision Vamp, "Hanging Out with Halo Jones"
  
• Sun Ra, "I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman" (greatest title ever)
  
• Paul McCartney, "Magneto and the Titanium Man"
  
• Guided by Voices, "Matter-Eater Lad" (yes this is an actual hero from "Legion of Superheroes")