August 21, 2003
As I write this, I’m looking behind on a weekend spent drinking, eating and shopping—but not writing—and at least a day where my hard drive will be unavailable, so this might be a shorter column than usual. Not that I haven’t been active—Saturday around 3:00 a.m. my neighbor buds and I took up street luge with some casters hastily screwed to some spare two foot boards. Nothing like coasting down one’s street three inches off the ground, forty miles an hour.
A while back, I said I was going to be reviewing fewer first issues, concentrating on trades and graphic novels. Well, I guess I just have a weakness for them. When one reads something good, one wants to spread the word quickly. So there are a few first issues this week, a second issue, a graphic novel or two, and even a biography.
Before I start, I wanted to correct something. The writer/artist of the phenomenal BLANCHE THE BABY KILLER is Songgu Kwon, not Songgu Kim, and the website is Bong’s Quality Meats.
Last week’s consternation over the general disappointment in Warren Ellis’ DC miniseries this year (and let’s not forget good work like ORBITER and SWITCHBLADE HONEY) provoked one Jason Latta to write me:
“Ellis has been doing nothing but writing Jerk-Off stories for the WEFers crowd for a while now...TOKYO STORM WARNING in particular is almost certainly some stupid in-joke between him and one of the old Wanna Be British regulars: ‘Bet you a thousand quid I can get a giant robot story published!’
”Let me ask you something. How many times does Ellis have to write bombs before people stop thinking of him as the "Dark Lord of the Graphic Novel"?
”Yes, TRANSMET and PLANETARY are works of near-genius, but if you read the rest of his work, he writes the same story every time...and he even has the same damn CHARACTER every single time. I'll prove it to you:
SCARS: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bastard pursues serial child killer.
RELOAD: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bastard pursues exotic assassin
MEK: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bitch pursues man that murdered her lover.
AUTHORITY: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bitch leads super team.
TRANSMET: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bastard acts like Hunter S. Thompson.
PLANETARY: Cigarette smoking tough as nails bastard dissects comic books.
“
Do we see a trend here? That's right. Ellis has been writing stories about JOHN CONSTANTINE for the last Decade. And the few times he's strayed from writing JC the story has bombed ...
“
I give the man all the credit in the world for making up some really cool stories and probably starting the career of a couple of my favorite new talents, but if there's anybody more over-hyped in the comics industry, I haven't heard of them. (Not counting John Byrne, here.)”
Not much more I can add here, other than Jason should probably be writing a column here himself. Thanks for writing, Jason.
BIG BANG COMICS SUMMER SPECIAL #1 by Various. Image Comics. $4.95
I resisted this series for the longest time because I couldn’t get the point, or even the ethics, of aping Golden and Silver Age comics today. But I guess I came to the conclusion that there has to be very few people interested in this style who wouldn’t also buy the real thing, even if it’s generally available only in a $50 DC Archives hardcover.
This special is very much in the spirit of an issue of ALL-STAR COMICS with the Justice Society taking on some of their archenemies, but in this case it’s the just-different-enough-to-be-legal Knights of Justice taking on thinly veiled, Nazi versions of the Captain Marvel family. Fugate writes a loose story that allows the heroes to separate and have their own fight-filled chapters, and it’s quite enjoyable, innocent fun, with consistently good and convincing Golden Age style artwork. The lack of color is a little bit of a dampener, since part of the appeal of these stories is to see a collective riot of brightly colored characters, especially in lieu of any depth of characterization. It still works as an effect palette cleanser after reading piles of the much darker contemporary superhero comics, however, and it’s also more appropriate for kids.
1602 #1 (OF 6) by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert. Marvel Comics. $3.50
It’s been amusing to see other reviewers react to this one. I tend to avoid reading other people’s reviews before mine but sometimes it happens. Two of the ones I read were cautiously optimistic, like they knew what was here wasn’t in any way exceptional, but on the other hand, it’s Neil Gaiman. This isn’t a bad book at all, Gaiman having a lark with classic Marvel heroes now in 17th Century England. Some big trouble is brewing and it seems it will take the efforts of these alternate versions of Dr. Strange and the X-Men to stop it. Gaiman hits the right notes with the characters, delivers consistently clever dialogue and even tosses in a nice in-joke or two, such as how young Peter Parker doesn’t get bitten by a nearby spider, and of course it’s not radioactive. Kubert’s art is fine, but it seems even the chance to work with a writer like Gaiman can’t spur him to pour his heart into it. The storytelling is solid but sedate, unsurprising. But I knew going in that his art would keep this story short of classic, and Gaiman isn’t doing anything but spinning an enjoyable, light yarn, anyway. It’s worth reading, just don’t expect a lot.
HELLHOUNDS #1 by George T. Singley IV and Joe Abraham. Image Comics. $2.95
King is kind of hybrid detective/assassin in a future where the world is controlled even more by corporations than our own is. He’s hired to investigate the murder of a prostitute. It looks routine, and indeed the case is already officially closed. The problem is it was closed way too fast, way too convenient. His old police chief (I think—pretty common to have the private eye type to be a former cop and still have a grudging friendship with an old boss or partner) doesn’t like the look of it and hires King to help.
King and his leggy associate Shock barely get started before Webtech security (the corporate cops) are after them, guns blazing, and King gets knocked out, apparently due for some torture next issue.
Singley has some rough edges to his writing here, but he looks to have a good, suspenseful yarn here so far. Some pages are a little too crammed with exposition, some are paced a little oddly in order to end with a mini-cliffhanger on the last panel, but these are things to refine as he goes. Same with Abraham, who sometimes needlessly draws very small figures he’s not able to ink properly but in larger shots has a good style reminiscent of Yanick Paquette. It’s off to a pretty good start.
TUPELO #1 by Matt DeGennaro and Phil Elliott. SLG Publishing. $2.95
Captain Tupelo is a junkie. He used to be in a punk band, one of the defining ones from the NYC scene in 1977, along with longtime friend, the mysterious 11 O’Clock Man. The two still prowl the city after hours, and end up picking up some star-struck male tourists who loved their music. Time takes its toll on all of us in different ways, but while Tupelo’s addiction keeps him almost comatose most of the time, when he’s awake, he’s awake, able to burn someone alive with the power roaring from his bare hands. The guy he kills, who was beating on a homeless man, turns out to be something of a VIP, so Tupelo, 11 O’Clock, and their two young tourist friends are going to have to watch their step.
Comics newcome De Gennaro strikes gold here with, somehow, a fresh take on the deconstructed superhero, mixing it with the punk scene, some idiosyncratic pacing and dialogue, and the minimalist splendor of veteran Elliott’s artwork. One of the coolest, most enjoyable first issues I’ve read this year.
PUFFED #2 (OF 3) by John Layman and Dave Crosland. Image Comics. $2.95
Layman and Crosland continue the squirmy yuks of last issue, as the lead character is still stuck in a kids’ party dragon suit, now becoming increasingly offensive due to his festering excrement. Crosland’s art is gaining in confidence, but more remarkably, Layman steps the story up to more than just gross-out gags with a surprisingly effect bit about dignity, where our stinky dragon man finally finds a guy willing to unzip his suit, but decides to let the poor, broken-hearted drunk off the hook rather than face more degradation. As farcical and, well, icky, as the main story is, this scene represents some of the strongest character-building I’ve seen in quite some time in comics. This is a real sleeper miniseries you owe it to yourself to pick up.
SUBATOMIC by Patrick Neighly and Jorge Heufemann. Mad Yak Press. $16.95
Mark spends his days miles above you, reading your mail, looking for clues, indications of unrest and sedition. He’s in a large ship floating just above the clouds, a ship full of people just like him who keep the world secretly secure. But even though Mark is due to graduate to an on-the-ground sleeper agent assignment in a couple weeks, he just can’t wait. He parachutes down and goes into hiding, trying to find a new, unobserved life for himself.
Predictably, his former employers/controllers come looking for him, filtering every piece of stray television news footage, circulating false wanted posters. It’s only a matter of time.
Heufemann has a crisp, no-frills style suited for an espionage thriller, and Neighly enlivens the proceedings with fairly strong dialogue and a refreshing camaraderie between Mark and his civilian friends, who all go out of their way to help him, not knowing his past but recognizing his basic decency and right to privacy. The ending may be a little too vague for some, but is in keeping with films like THE GREAT ESCAPE or COOL HAND LUKE, where a successful escape is not measured by which side of the fence one ends up on, but how the very idea—the compulsion—to escape is undying and inspiring and so totally human. A strong, page-turning thriller with compassion, good pacing and excellent production value for a small publisher.
STAN LEE AND THE RISE AND THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon. Chicago Review Press. $24.95
A biography of Stan “The Man” Lee, the co-creator of just about every good character in the Marvel Comics firmament, and the company’s grinning public face, has been long overdue. Raphael and Spurgeon present a brisk but thorough look at Lee’s life from childhood to Manhood to his current status as an appealing if spent figurehead. The most space is given to the straight bio material, recounting the origins of the Marvel Age of Comics when Lee was scripting, editing and art directing almost every title, to his relinquishing the reins to the first generation of fanboys turned creators, as Lee tried to branch out into public speaking and non-comics, respectable media, all efforts but the public speaking being unsuccessful. As the book progresses and Lee ages, one admires his endurance and genial workhorse qualities more and more as his actual accomplishments become less and less significant.
Those looking for dirt will be disappointed, as Lee comes off as a faithful and loving husband and father, talented, age-defining comics scripter in the 60s, and a generally warm personality. He isn’t deep enough to hide anything particularly ugly, just some fanciful, myth-making exaggerations of personal history and a penchant for hogging too much credit for who contributed what to the Mighty Marvel Mythos. Raphael and Spurgeon occasionally leap on inaccuracies in Lee’s story but there’s almost nothing there to inspire any hatred of the man. His silence during former partner and Marvel idea engine Jack Kirby’s 1980s struggle to regain his original artwork from the company comes off as poor behavior from Lee, but mitigated somewhat by the years of shots Kirby had taken at him in print. Steve Ditko’s—Spider-Man co-creator and the book’s original artist—break with Lee remains a mystery to the authors, and even Lee himself.
As Lee becomes not a creative force but more of a pitchman and carnival barker, the book naturally becomes less interesting, spending time on events in comics history and the quick flameout of the ill-fated dotcom Stan Lee Media. It’s all well reported but not surprising to most comics readers of some years’ duration. Where the authors excel is in analyzing what Lee’s gifts are and were, and how they influenced generations of writers and artists in how the superhero comic book was made. A valuable resource for those wishing to know more about one of the most important—like it or not—figures in the history of comics.
b>A SORT OF HOMECOMING #1 (OF 3) by Damon Hurd and Pedro Camello. Alternative Comics. $2.00
Hurd and Camello follow last year's MY UNCLE JEFF with the first of a three part graphic novel about grief and loss. When the inside cover quotes Aimee Mann and the lead character is named Owen, the reader should be prepared for an emotional gut punch or two.
Owen Reilly learns his friend since childhood, David, has died suddenly. He proceeds to shut down emotionally, ignoring phone calls from similarly stricken friends and even his wife and mother, all trying to reach out and help him and themselves through it. He's not ready, compelled instead to replay memories of David, from their first meeting in elementary school to adolescent estrangement to Owen helping David through a bad breakup.
Hurd generally does a good job, especially in quieter scenes, but tries a bit too hard to wring maximum emotion from every scene. A full page of Owen sitting motionless as a clock ticks by wasn't necessary, and the scene with Owen and the "old-timer" cheats to convince us what a sweetheart Owen is, when the other scenes merely depict him as a walking jangle of exposed nerve endings, weeping and gaping and emoting, but not quite connecting with the reader yet. Focusing only how David's death bums out Owen is certainly a valid approach, but I would have liked a couple more hints at what David's life was like up to this point, and how he and Owen became estranged but still connected through mutual friends. I hope the following two issues are about a little more than making Owen feel good again, perhaps imparting a life lesson of some kind. Since Owen has no faults other than being too sensitive, it will be hard to chart any emotional growth.
Camello continues to improve, going from a morose page to one of pure joy smoothly. His storytelling, body language, drapery-all very solid, and I would only hope the puppyish eyes of the characters become a bit more realistic.
Rounding out the review with one minor complaint, the impact of the story is frequently undercut by a simple lack of commas. "He was my friend too Owen. He was my friend too!" and the like make the tough job of conveying emotion through an answering machine caption even tougher, because it comes off as robotic. And for those who read an earlier version of this review, or read the book and wondered themselves, it turns out it's not a case of ego that led to the "About the Author" page that talked all about Hurd without giving Camello equal space. It turns out Camello declined the offer of his own bio, and also doesn't have his own website to plug. Apologies to Hurd for the mistaken assumption, especially when I could've just asked him about it before press time.
ASSASSIN by Brad Kayl, Jet Henderson, Christian Gossett and Snakebite. Archangel Studios. $2.99
It’s been at least a day since I’ve read a story about a horrible alternate world where secret organizations control everything, so let’s dig right in again.
Samuel is an assassin working for the Omnicorps, dispatching those who seek to expose the world to the truth about President Hedge’s and General Pol Shek’s unholy alliance and program of enslavement and murder. Hedge likes underaged girls, too, just in case one isn’t quite convinced he’s one of the bad guys yet.
The turning point for Samuel is when he assassinates the beautiful Cassandra, who has gained a vast number of followers who believe in the truth she has been spreading. Why he gets this assignment this late, when it looks like tens of thousands of people are listening to her, is anyone’s guess. Samuel takes the job from his boss, Dan Richter (a nice German name—gotta be evil, plus there’s that whole Richter scale thing—he radiates evil?), who we know is extra-bad because he grins all the time, and smokes cigarettes, and somehow, after all the hits Samuel has performed, it takes just a few platitudes and a kiss from Cassandra to start to turn him against his masters, which is where we end.
That’s really the tough thing—to convince the reader this amoral, hard-faced, murderous cipher is capable of change, that he can come to believe that these mortal sins he’s happily committed for years aren’t worth doing anymore. To make this work, we need to see more dimension in future issues for the character, as well as some convincing world-building. It’s one thing to say these guys are evil, but another to present a way in which their evil can be allowed and supported by the populace with little apparent effect on the world. Or in other words, don’t just call it “The New Vatican” without throwing us a bone on what’s so new about it.
It doesn’t help that Kayl’s script is so heavy-handed, laden with obvious symbolism in the character names, clunky dialogue and too much narration. What works as an homage to melodramatic Soviet films in THE RED STAR stands out much more awkwardly in this story set in this contemporary, if distorted, U.S.A.
For his part, Henderson contributes some nice artwork, not especially distinctive in the faces and bodytypes—a problem with Gossett as well, who would appear to be the model for a possible Archangel house art style—but with a generally attractive, capable style for an action comic. The art, which is mostly just reproduced pencils, looks especially good in the areas where Snakebite adds some tonal effects, which lend an extra depth and sheen to the work, often necessary since no ink is being used. It’s a lot of thudding sturm und drang but modestly entertaining so far.
Chris Allen
Best recent graphic novel: BLANKETS by Craig Thompson.
Best recent ongoing series: SLEEPER by Brubaker and Phillips.
Best miniseries: PUFFED by John Layman and Dave Crosland.
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