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Breakdowns -- More Rich Lather

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January 8, 2004

Consider, for a moment:

• Will Eisner is, in fact, Irish Catholic.
• Todd McFarlane conducts seminars twice a year on Employment Practices Liability Risk Management.
• Howard Chaykin has never received oral sex.

Startling? Yes.
Ironic to the brink of preposterousness? Without question.
Factual? Uh, what?
I mean, is it true? Well, um, no…probably not.

You see, I don’t do that much research. These are opinions, some less-informed than others. Don’t get so bent out of shape about them. They’re the result of just one mere reviewer, and she’s a sad little clubfooted ballerina imprisoned in the body of a cowlicked lummox hopped up on at least three members of the –dan family. So just take that into account as you wonder why, say, out of a dozen so-called good ongoing series of 2003 I profiled last time, yours didn’t make it. Or why, perhaps, your graphic novel doesn’t even make the generous cut of my list below. Maybe it’s an honest oversight, or maybe a whim or caprice classic. Maybe I just didn’t read it because you wouldn’t send it to me and it’s too expensive to take a flyer on. Maybe it only took ten minutes to read and I couldn’t call it a graphic novel. Could be anything except any personal reason, because I don’t know many of these guys and wouldn’t keep ‘em out even if I hated them. If it’s good, it’s good.

That said, I’m only human, and mistakes are made. In the last column, there were a number of errors pointed out to me, so let’s address them now:

Jeff Smith illustrated this year’s DC Christmas card, not Jay Stephens.

And before you write in on this one, it’s Jeff Smith, creator of the all-ages classic epic BONE, not the Frugal Gourmet Jeff Smith with the taste for busboys.

It’s Joe Kubert’s YOSSEL, not STOSSEL, though a comics biography of the telejournalist is said to be in the planning stages.

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, not Eli Wallach. Eli Wallach played Tucco in THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY and has acted in many other fine films and television series.

Eli Wallach has no proven ties to Wallachia, or its ruler Vlad Tepes, and should not be considered a vampire at this time. He has impaled, however.

The 1984 hit “Mexican Radio” was performed by Wall of Voodoo, not Wallach Voodoo. Apologies to Stan Ridgway and the rest.

Also, in all seriousness, AUTOBIOGRAPHIX would have been in the “Good Anthology” category had I read it in time. I can’t say editor Diana Schutz got the best out of Gloccamorra’s own Will Eisner or Matt Wagner, but there was still a high percentage of well told remembrances, and an excellent design and story from Paul Hornschemeier.

And alas, Rich Johnston’s LYING IN THE GUTTERS must be removed from “Good Comics Columns” due to the unbelievably tedious, unreadable “comedy” thing he does at the end of the year, where he runs through some of the year’s big stories and pretends the newsmakers and other notable comics people are at some kind of party. As Rich observes it all untouched, everyone else comes off pathetic, even legitimately aggrieved parties reduced to punchlines by Johnston, when the real joke is that there’s not one laugh in the whole exercise. I would have let this award stand, as I’ve seen this same horrible column foisted on loyal readers for years now, but Rich really loses the award not just being a crybaby about being scooped on the news about Joss Whedon being the new NEW X-MEN writer, but for having the worst, least defensible excuse for sitting on the news: he wanted to make sure he got to read Whedon’s X-MEN. Dude, you’re either committed to breaking rumors and stories, or you’re a fanboy pussy. Leave your award at the door. Really, he made this news bigger than it really is by hinting at it for so long, so it’s his own fault for getting scooped, and he makes it worse by not admitting it, when the fact is the guy’s good enough to scoop everyone else on 90% of the other news. Let’s put this in perspective for a second, though: Joss Whedon couldn’t get people to make his Buffy tie-in FRAY a hit, so what’s to say Whedon’s X-MEN will be? I imagine it will do numbers a little lower than “Hush” for a short time and go back down to what the book was selling at before. I also loved his slam on the blogosphere, because he’s a bigwig in the “stratosphere,” whatever that means to comics. Wherever he is, he’s not getting enough oxygen.

I was going to pound on Mike SanGiacomo as well, but you know, it’s not as much fun when even the people who post on the Newsarama message board recognize his idiocy.

And let’s go for the easy mark hat trick, with this bit of fun. John Byrne would rather you buy his work in monthly issues or not at all, and if you’re not the direct market pig getting his weekly feeding at the specialty shop trough, then fuck you, apparently. What I’m getting from these comments is that Byrne wants to control how you buy his stuff, to the extent that he’d rather turn away those who would potentially buy it in a format not of his choosing, i.e. the trade paperback. Here’s a thought: maybe not everyone is aware of every goddamn comic coming out every week, or they’re sick for a while, on vacation, or were going through some financial difficulties, or are even new to comics, and they find that his run on JLA or something is in its third issue. If the shop doesn’t have the previous issues, is it now wrong for them to wait for the trade? Mr. “Don’t Be a Mind Reader” has decided that the only reason people buy trades now is because it’s KEWL to do so. Hmm. Can’t think of a less likely explanation offhand, nor can I think of many comics trades that project “kewl” at all. The simple fact is that people are going to buy books the way they want them, and bless ‘em for it. This guy, who never gets tired of telling people how he saw the pitfalls of the comics industry going whole hog with the direct market well in advance, now wants to prop up the direct market—pretty much the only venue for monthly comics—out of what I can only see as fear. Fear that as publishers move towards trades and graphic novels, he’s going to get shut out, because his loss-leader monthly comics stand increasingly less chance of being collected as trades because most are not good enough to warrant the shelf space. It’s a really sad thread, as he makes much noise about the “insanity” of going to the trade format because so many artists today can’t produce 22 pages in a month. Hey, guess what? The guys who can’t produce will either get in line, or get the fuck out of the industry, or will be given sufficient time to do their work if people like it enough. The bookstore customer is not going to pick up a NEW X-MEN trade and know that Frank Quitely is really slow but Igor Kordey was forced to hack his work out in short order. They’ll just go, “Wow, this Quitely guy is really good—wonder what else he’s done.” Satisfied customer. I seriously can’t see how it wouldn’t be a win-win to have, say, four BATMAN graphic novels or trades a year, with good creative teams telling complete stories and without having to produce them one twenty-two page chapter at a time. Continuity isn’t an issue these days anyway, consider the differences between the Loeb/Lee run and the Azzarello/Risso one, and this publishing model could just eliminate a lot of the unnecessary stuff like LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT or just refit it to free web content to get people jazzed about Batman enough to buy the books. I got a million of ‘em.

On a better note, I’ve finished up my look at the Good Comics of 2003 with 20 or so graphic novels, complete with links back to the full reviews, though this is all new material off the top o’ me head. Maybe I should say I’m not quite finished, as I wanted to do a sort of Publishers Report Card for the year, and as this column started running long I pushed it to next week. And since we’re not all about living in the past here, one of the reasons the column was running long is that there are quite a few reviews of new comics and books, including quite a few DC releases set to come out in the next week or two.

Some Reviews

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET: THE RISE OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Stephen Weiner. NBM Publishing. $14.95
One begins this book with am immediate problem: has there really been a “rise” of the graphic novel? The premise implicit in the title is that not only has the graphic novel risen in prestige and popularity from its beginnings to today, but that this rise has been like some unstoppable projectile. Ignoring this part as just some convenient Superman reference to pull in the reader with only a vague knowledge of comics, just what has the development of the graphic novel been?

Weiner spends several pages with a basic but confused and overly positive history of comics, from popular newspaper strips to Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT and Jack Cole’s PLASTIC MAN to EC Comics and their lurid, gore-streaked tales of revenge and comeuppance. Eisner’s A CONTRACT WITH GOD is mentioned as one of the first graphic novels, but not Gil Kane’s BLACKMARK, which preceded it and is more of a “novel” in its use of text with illustration, and for being one complete story, than Eisner’s collection of four loosely-connected tales. Eisner’s work is the superior one after all, but the Kane book deserves a mention in any attempt at historical context and accuracy. In a general history of comics, of course these works and others should be noted, and a lengthier book would draw in the Ward woodcut novels and Tijuana Bibles and everything else, but at a mere 61 pages, Weiner should perhaps be noting just what comics clearly laid the groundwork for graphic novels. Rather than EC Comics’ science fiction and horror, wouldn’t the themes and grittier, more realistic depiction in Kurtzman’s war comics for the publisher be a more solid stepping stone to Art Spiegelman’s MAUS or Alan Moore’s and Eddie Campbell’s FROM HELL?

Weiner seems unsure just what book he is trying to write, and so he cobbles together bland sections that focus too much on some books and aspects of the medium and industry of comics, while ignoring others of similar importance. If the “rise” to him is mainstream acceptance of the graphic novel, as it seems, then he gives almost no facts to support either a rise in sales or cultural impact. He is content to call Eisner “innovative” several times (and he was) and to spotlight WaRP Graphics (written incorrectly as Warp here) and the 80s rise of ELFQUEST but not to get at just what a graphic novel is and is becoming. Weiner speeds through brief summaries of SWAMP THING; DAREDEVIL; AMERICAN FLAGG!; THE LIFE AND DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (a more recent collection of one graphic novel and some issues of the series), DEATH OF being the actual original graphic novel he means); BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and WATCHMEN in the span of just four full pages (with art), which should say enough right there about the book’s lack of depth. Weiner just wants to hit most of the comics on his list, and occasionally a work like MAUS is so important, so deep, that it rates its own four page chapter. Unfortunately, even when Weiner’s instincts are correct, his insights are lacking, and he can do no more than to call this or that creator or work “sophisticated” or “mature” without any elaboration. Is SWAMP THING sophisticated the way DARK KNIGHT is? Apparently. Weiner blabs about the quality of MAUS, then says its importance “cannot be overstated.” Well, the fact that now, almost twenty years after its publication, there have been less than a handful of graphic novels of its quality would actually suggest the book’s importance, and that graphic novel sales have only recently begun to climb has been overstated, wouldn’t it? In other words, very few cartoonists today have been inspired by the book to create something of similar ambition, and those who have read and enjoyed the book have not particularly moved to buy other graphic novels.

Some of this could have been alleviated by strong writing, but Weiner doesn’t have it in him. As a source for a freshman’s report on comics as a legitimate medium, this book would actually be serviceable for the lazy, C+ student, as whole portions can be lifted without having to be written down to the freshman’s level. In other words, it reads like a dull but unscholarly term paper, the prose nonacademic but also lacking any style or force, and the brevity of the chapters giving the impression that the author is proceeding at a minimal level of information or interest.

Following the chapter on MAUS, the final twenty-two pages are a whirlwind tour of highlights of the last fifteen years, spotlighting SANDMAN, BONE and the nonfiction guide to comics storytelling UNDERSTANDING COMICS, then glancing at KINGS IN DISGUISE, FLOOD!, GIVE IT UP!, PALESTINE, JIMMY CORRIGAN, and DAVID BORING and novels DERBY DUGAN’S DEPRESSION ERA FUNNIES and ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY with the same interest. Even CHASING AMY is mentioned for its use of comic book creators as characters, though what this has to do with graphic novels is questionable. Again, Weiner is up to the task of summarizing the plots of the books and perhaps a sentence or two about why they’re special, but he’s mostly unable to explain the increasing range of comics themes; the increasing sophistication in art, design and packaging; whether there were differences between original graphic novels and trade paperbacks; how publishers changed or didn’t change to address increasing interest in graphic novels; what types of graphic novels have had the largest appeal and why; how award-winning graphic novels have not inspired imitations and have not had a major impact on the largest publishers in the industry, who publish mainly superheroes; to what extent graphic novels have influenced other media and vice-versa. And on and on.

The book winds to a close with a clueless, slapped-on manga chapter that lets the reader know at least twice that teenage girls like it, and oh, yeah, if you’re not a teenage girl, you might like Tezuka’s ADOLF: A TALE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. There is no apparent need to even name-check seminal, and arguably more important (without doubt, more popular) works such as LONE WOLF & CUB, AKIRA, NAUSICAA, BAREFOOT GEN or GHOST IN THE SHELL. Hell, what about DRAGONBALL Z? Despite the fact that manga’s bookstore success had to have been a factor in getting this book approved, Weiner doesn’t bother to properly research and analyze this watershed moment in comics history. Nor, for that matter, does he ever weigh the vast influence on the rise of graphic novels in the U.S. (clearly his focus) has been comics and graphic novels from Europe. He manages a TINTIN mention, but no ASTERIX, which is only one of the bestselling series of graphic albums (about 80?) in the world, and has been for decades. No CORTO MALTESE, no Moebius or Hermann. The book gets worse the more one thinks about it. A good opportunity completely wasted with lack of talent, context or insight. When the graphic novel truly does rise, there will be good books about them. That day is not today.

WONDER WOMAN #200 by Greg Rucka, Drew Johnson, Linda Medley, Rick Burchett and Others. DC Comics. $3.95.
On Sale January 28th.
Following the model of a DETECTIVE COMICS anniversary issue of a year or so ago, this 200th issue of WW has one in-continuity, current story, and a handful of others that recall specific creative eras of the character, from Robert Rodi’s and Burchett’s gleeful recreation of the 40s bondage era to a typically crappy 70s-style story where Diana rescues Steve Trevor from a harem or something. Medley draws (I think with Eric Shanower doing the framing sequence) a bedtime story told by Wonder Girl Cassie that tries to tie Diana to her Greek mythological roots as an Amazon but it runs out of gas and just becomes so much filler. The main story is oddly enough, the sixth and concluding chapter of something involving Diana having written a controversial book, riling up lots of hatemongers. Not much of interest is done with this—mainly she fights an ugly harpy named Vanessa who apparently used to be her friend but now hates her, through the tears. It’s a lot of action and “this ends…now!” blather and neither Rucka nor Johnson do it very well. The issue is filled out with some pin-ups by mostly talented artists like Eduardo Risso at their least inspired. A pretty lousy jumping on point, in other words.

MY FAITH IN FRANKIE #1 (OF 4) by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel. DC Comics. $2.95
This is a cute but curious book that somewhat resembles Marvel’s recent failed attempt at writing a teen girl romance book, TROUBLE. Wait! But this one is pretty good. The similarity ends pretty much with the fact that in both series, the girl is very upfront about wanting to get laid. The dilemma here is that Frankie has had a personal god, Jeriven (who looks exactly like the character in Liew’s own MALINKY ROBOT), she worships, who protects her like a guardian angel. He’s always causing some disaster when a boy tries to get close to Frankie like making the kid’s pants catch fire or something. Frankie’s had enough and says if Jeriven doesn’t give her some space and let her date, she’ll change her faith to one of the conventional religions, which would effectively destroy Him. That’s it so far, with plenty of sight gags and sassy girl talk. It’s not the kind of thing one expects from Carey but it’s not bad at all, the art fine without being exceptional.

SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #1 (of 4) by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen. DC Comics. $5.95
On Sale January 14th.
Though I have a feeling the price point and the “not another Elseworlds!” quality will keep this out of a lot of people’s hands, this is actually a good effort, the kind of quality and tone of Busiek’s ASTRO CITY work, and with some of the best art Immonen’s done yet. The premise, which was confusing in the preview, is that Superman is just a pop culture character like he is in our world, and this teenaged boy has to go through life in a small Kansas town with the unfortunate moniker of Clark Kent his parents gave him. They’re so unaware of his loathing of Superman—due to a lifetime of teasing—that they continue to get him Superman books, clothes and memorabilia into his teens, despite the fact he just dumps it in his closet.

At school, he’s teased by a Flash Thompson-type jock for the name, and this is one of the few problems with the book, though a fairly significant one. If this is attempting a real world feel, well, in our world, teenagers don’t even know enough about Superman to keep this joke running for years. The jock, Mike Aurrie, would actually be the nerd for knowing who Metallo is, not Clark. The verisimilitude is also not helped by the dated teen slang like “dweeb,” either.

However, Busiek does well characterizing Clark as a thoughtful kid trying to do the right thing when he suddenly finds he has Superman’s powers. Yes, that’s right. One day he just wakes up and he can fly, use X-ray vision, etc. I appreciated the lack of explanation for this (and there are three more issues in which it could be explained), but others may find this bothersome. Busiek’s point seems to be that the origin is not important here, but rather what Clark does with these powers. It’s a bit more realistic a take on the Lois Lane part of the Superman mythos, with this female reporter—a stringer—abandoning her integrity when she breaks the story of his existence and becomes a minor celebrity talking about him. She engineers a crisis just to force him to act publicly, and is exposed for it. It all has a rather downbeat feel, but is relieved by the fact that Clark isn’t forever soured on using his powers for good. He’s just going to be very cautious how he proceeds. Busiek is best not in huge ensembles of superfolk hitting story beats with metronomic precision, but when he can focus on a small cast of characters and give them real points of view and let them dictate their actions. That’s what’s happening here, and with sympathetic art from Immonen that has a somber tone while still being recognizable as superhero art.

DC: THE NEW FRONTIER #1 (OF 8) by Darwyn Cooke. DC Comics. $6.95
On Sale January 21st.
Darwyn Cooke made a splash in comics a few years ago with BATMAN: EGO, a clever, stylish one-shot that put most Batman product of the time to shame. Since then he has done impressive work on some Spider-Man stories for Marvel and on Catwoman, both the Ed Brubaker-written monthly series and his own SELINA’S BIG SCORE graphic novel. But this is the project that just might make him a household name, at least on the level of an Alex Ross.

Oddly enough, as thoroughly enjoyable as this first, sixty-four page issue is, it’s difficult to tell just what the premise is. It seems to be a history of the DC Universe from about when things originally happened or when original continuity said they happened. That is, in the first section of this issue, we have the last stand of John Cloud of the (original) Losers during WWII, on a remote island occupied by dinosaurs. Cloud uses every ounce of guts, speed, strength and Native American training to complete his mission, rescuing Captain Flagg in a conventional but thrilling adventure. Cooke has a solid foundation in anatomy and body language upon which he has built his animation and comics art styles, but it’s here that he steps to the head of the class with a Kirbyesque dynamism Bruce Timm and the like can’t match. The full page overhead shot of Cloud diving into the mouth of a T-Rex is jaw-droppingly good, showing how adventure and superhero comics don’t have to be deconstructed or edgy or mature as long as they’re this fun. And this is me saying that, a guy who can recognize JSA or TEEN TITANS as garbage.

The book then follows Flagg as he forms a new, post-war group with ties to his wartime SUICIDE SQUAD, as well as covering the exploits of pilot Hal Jordan before he becomes Earth’s Green Lantern. Those looking for Cooke’s renditions of DC’s costumed heroes will have to wait a bit, as he’s setting it up, but what’s here is very good adventure comics that will appeal to fans of SGT. ROCK or Kirby’s SGT. FURY. Cooke plays it straight with the characters, keeping them strong and brave and directed, and he doesn’t try to drop lots of continuity markers and in-jokes for fans, keeping the players and the events clear and simple. It’s meat-and-potatoes stuff but doesn’t hit a wrong note, and of course he’s helped immeasurably by his dazzling art. This is going to be a hugely successful epic.

THE GOOD GRAPHIC NOVELS OF 2003
My goal here is simple. To somewhat briefly run down the many good graphic novels that came out last year. I didn’t want to limit the list to only the five or ten “best” books because there are quite a few that are ambitious but flawed, or less ambitious but successful genre entertainments that are always overlooked by the other bright folks who do lists like this. What is good, as far as I’m concerned, is an entertaining story with good art, and what I consider a graphic novel is an original story under one spine of at least 48 pages or a hard-or-softcover collection of sequential comics or related comics stories previously published. Well, probably not quite as simple as that, but part of the fun is always arguing over the rules, isn’t it? Additionally, I came up with the list mainly on my memories of what I liked this year, augmented a bit by a skim through the archives page. I didn’t reread my reviews as I wanted the comments below to reflect only my current feelings and memories of the work, as well as the generally upbeat outlook I have right now in new Christmas underwear and socks. It makes all the difference.

• THE SPEED ABATER; ISAAC THE PIRATE VOL. 1 - Both by French cartoonist Christophe Blain, and both set on the high seas. THE SPEED ABATER, however, is a claustrophobic, dread-filled adventure set mostly in the bowels of an ocean liner. The characters’ attempts to essentially disappear are of course futile, as they cannot escape the ship except to drown. It’s like society. Blain uses rich reds and insidious pipes, tunnels and machinery to equate the ship with Hell, but it’s no less effective for its obviousness. ISAAC is a bit of a different animal, a picaresque seafaring epic of a painter hired by a pirate to record his voyages on canvas, leaving Isaac’s wife to be wooed by a rich nobleman, so it’s kind of a boy’s adventure novel crossed with Jane Austen. The linework is a little lighter and the characters more caricaturish in features, with a much wider palette. Blain seems to be having a great deal of fun here, and it translates to the reader.
• LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS was a heist film on paper, as familiar and comfortable as a favorite pair of jeans. Matt Fraction again shows mastery of genre conventions, but unlike his work in THE ANNOTATED MANTOOTH, he plays them straight here, though the work is no less entertaining. Top-notch art from Kieron Dwyer, too.
• BUTTON MAN by John Wagner and Arthur Ranson is a taut thriller about a willing participant in a rich man’s game of assassination who decides to quit, even knowing they’ll all be gunning for him. Wagner is one of the best British comics writers in the past 30 years, criminally underrated in the U.S., while those who liked Ranson’s work on the X-FACTOR miniseries last year will find this book is the best stuff he’s done.
• DAMNED by Steven Grant and Mike Zeck finally collects a crackerjack crime miniseries from the early 90s and a defunct publisher, now with a new coda and excellent reproduction from Cyberosia. It’s about ex-con Mick Thorne honoring a promise to a fellow inmate to find the man’s sister and give her a message. Along the way he runs afoul of a crimelord and his thugs and not one but two parole officers. Grant is fully versed in crime novel plots, but is also sharp enough to develop his characters enough to let them tell him where to go next, resulting in some satisfying surprises and fresh scenes, while Zeck, working in a grittier style than readers may expect from him, turns in some of his best work.
• SCARLET TRACES is for those who just can’t get enough of LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Actually, that’s less an influence than is WAR OF THE WORLDS, as the story imagines what happens to England after the Martian invaders have been defeated and their technology put to use. As always, mankind is its own worse enemy, and a couple of stouthearted military men investigate the disappearance of several young women and how it ties into the last Martian left alive. It’s a good yarn, with a well-thought-out script from Ian Edginton and vibrant, beautifully detailed art from D’Israeli, who also guides readers through his process in a nice supplement at the end of this Dark Horse hardcover.
• ORBITER is one of Warren Ellis’ most sincere, hopeful works, imbued with the mystery and wonder of space travel. Though not without its flaws—mainly a not altogether satisfying ending—the book sports good Colleen Doran artwork and more dimension to the characters than one usually sees from Ellis, and the lack of cynicism is refreshing. DC Comics.
• THE FRANK BOOK is Jim Woodring’s magnum opus, a beautiful and heavy hardcover probably overlooked by the Fantagraphics’ other major release this year, PALOMAR. Which is a shame, as it’s equally wonderful in a totally different way, a vibrant, pulsating Disney acid trip that defies explanation. In the guise of a gag strip, the gags often involving the removal of flesh, Woodring appears to be obsessed with the cruelty and deception inherent in mankind. That, and the dense symbolism and bizarre character designs, doesn’t lead to a lot of laughs, but it’s absolutely mesmerizing, and ultimately so beautiful as to rise above its inscrutability. Fantagraphics.
• SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS is more of an anthology of short stories than a true graphic novel, but it was pretty good nonetheless. Neil Gaiman returns to his beloved Endless characters not with not one particularly burning story to tell, but does do strong work more often than not in these tales, with good collaborations with excellent artists such as Bill Sienkiewicz, Barron Storey, Miguelanxo Prado and P. Craig Russell. DC/Vertigo.
• PERSEPOLIS is Marjane Satrapi’s true story of growing up as a teenager in Iran, first under the monarchy of the Shah, where some free thinking and dissidence was allowed, and then, changing overnight, to the repressive religious fanaticism of Khomeini. She gets a good deal of mileage out of the exotic locale, but the book also boasts good sardonic humor to contrast some of the tragedy, and a tender but not uncritical view of her parents that manages to show their flaws while still being loving. Pantheon Books.
• BLANKETS is Craig Thompson’s second major work, and a leap in scope and artistry over the sweetly affecting GOODBYE, CHUNKY RICE. Since I’ve already reviewed it, let me offer a bit of metacommentary on the interestingly divided reaction to the book this year. The reviewers and readers who like earnest slice-of-life altcomix in the Oni/Top Shelf/Alternative mold naturally look to this book as the best of the year, overlooking more challenging, complex and less sentimental works like PALOMAR and QUIMBY THE MOUSE. It makes sense, as the majority of comics readers are guys with an idealism and morality formed by superhero comics and they’ve branched into the slice-of-life, romantic stuff in their twenties as they’ve entered into more adult relationships. Nothing wrong with that, and indeed this graphic novel is at the peak of the genre, with unabashed sincerity and tenderness and moments of real beauty, with inventive compositions that can only be achieved in comics rather than aping film. Some problems, such as the flawlessness and passivity of the Craig character, keep this from being a masterpiece, but it remains a thoroughly readable, touching graphic novel. While the art is luminous, the story is about on par with decent first literary novels. Since very little of comics has approached the depth of decent prose, BLANKETS is a qualified major achievement for the medium, but one hopes Thompson continues to grow and that his best, most significant and ambitious work is yet to come. Top Shelf.
• ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE by Larry Young, Matt Smith and Charlie Adlard collects the entirety of the series of miniseries and specials in one handsomely designed, NASA-inspired package. Young is not a dazzling storyteller but a careful, cover-all-the-bases one, spinning his yarns with good humor, solid characterization and a sense of wonder. The two bigger stories, LIVE FROM THE MOON and SPACE: 1959, are mainly about men of vision who take great risk to realize these visions, a quality Young obviously admires, though he’s not unsympathetic to even the craven coward in one of the ONE SHOT, ONE BEER tales. Smith’s art is more stylish, though that style is borrowed heavily from Mike Mignola. More suitable is the unflashy but capable art of Adlard, who won’t blow anyone away but nonetheless always puts the needs of the story first and can handle anything it asks for. AiT/PlanetLar
• RIPPLE is the strongest work yet from the wonderfully perverse Dave Cooper, a story about a shallow artist falling hopelessly for an ignorant grotesque amateur model, who instinctively takes all the power away from him that he’s willing to give. A funny, pathetic, and surprisingly erotic tale of obsession. Fantagraphics.

• NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a long-in-the-works project, a graphic adaptation of an old pulp novel, that Spain Rodriguez finally completed. As in Tod Browning’s cult film FREAKS, much of the appeal of the book is in the grotesque details of sideshow life and the uncontrolled, self-destructive urges of the main character, in this case a simple carny grifter with larger aspirations that will be his downfall and utter degradation. Spain is too literal in the adaptation, particularly a draggy second act, but brings it to a satisfying and horrific close. Fantagraphics.

• PAUL HAS A SUMMER JOB by Michel Rabagliati accomplishes in a fraction of the length much of what BLANKETS does. It’s a coming of age tale where young people are together without a great deal of adult supervision—in this case a summer camp Paul agrees to be a counselor for, having nothing better to do. With friendly support, some harsh words, fresh air, and the inescapable need to “go along to get along,” Paul gets over his surly teenaged attitude, bonds with the kids, learns about himself and even has his first romance. With Rabagliati’s cutely minimalist art and even such potentially maudlin creative choices as a blind girl learning about the great outdoors from mentor Paul, the whole enterprise could have gone terribly wrong, but in fact it’s thoroughly charming and the scenes of adventure and frank sexuality offset the cute factor entirely. Drawn & Quarterly.
• LIKE A RIVER is Pierre Wazem’s elegiac tale of grief, in which an estranged son bonds with his lonely father and helps him to regain his will to live after the death of his wife, struck me as good but a little trite on first reading. Probably the use of the river as a symbol of the continual movement of life seemed too easy. But I did like it at the time and now, months later, I find I feel more fondness for it today. Certainly I want to read other work by Wazem. Humanoids.
• A SMALL KILLING is not exactly an unsung Alan Moore masterpiece but it’s definitely a good thing it’s back in print, as it’s an interesting kind of a psychological thriller. When the identity of the boy who has been haunting our lead character is revealed, it shouldn’t really surprise anyone, as it’s a kind of corny cliché now, and probably was then. But there’s still a good deal to enjoy, particularly the sharp, advertising-related one-liners in the overhead, overlapping dialogue, and a fair amount of tension up to the reveal. Oscar Zarate is an unusual collaborator with Moore here, having originated the story idea, and he brings a capable drawing ability as well as some surprising but effective choices in coloring. Avatar.
• THE YELLOW JAR by Patrick Atangan is a beautiful book, drawn painstakingly in a traditional Japanese style of brushwork. It adapts two folk tales, the title story being the stronger of the two, a strange story about a man realizing how much he loves his wife once she leaves him. The second story, while equally dazzling visually, suffers from the source material not making much sense today. Still, Atangan is certainly a creator to watch.
• BUDDHA VOL. 1: KAPILAVASTU is another in a lifetime of amazing works from Osamu Tezuka. It is on the one hand a worshipful recounting of the birth of Siddhartha, but that’s only a small part of the 400 pages here. As he does in other books like ADOLF, Tezuka weaves several plot threads that will eventually all come together, all exploring the conflicts people create when they are not compassionate and understanding of others, or not understanding of their own natures and desires. Naratta is a disciple of Master Asita, a true Brahman (religious caste) at a time when most of the Brahmin have become corrupt. Naratta tries to follow Asita’s teachings as he makes his way in the world with the strange boy Tatta, who is able to possess animals. Their friend Chapra, a slave boy, leaves them early in the book and ends up adopted by a warlord, General Budai, in the city of Kapilavastu. The General must keep Chapra’s caste a secret, as slaves cannot rise above their caste, and so, though Budai wishes Chapra to be a scholar, Chapra becomes a great warrior like his father. He bests his foes, he falls in love, but he is not true to himself and has forgotten where he came from. The story becomes increasingly magical as the Queen gives birth to Siddhartha, a child everyone knows is special, even the animals, who gather around in a fashion similar to depictions of The Nativity of Jesus.

  The book takes a suspenseful turn when Chapra is injured in a duel and Tatta is sent, in a succession of animals, to get the cure from Master Asita. Adding to the tension, Chapra’s mother arrives in Kapilavastu and he is exposed as a slave, the people’s adulation of him gone in an instant. She is sentenced to death and Chapra is barely revived in time to save join her in death, as he would not want to live without her now. It culminates in an extremely melodramatic, surprising, and ultimately moving finale, and the story of Siddhartha is only just beginning.

  Tezuka creates a tale as unusual and wide-ranging in tone as anything he has done, from the stirring birth to some bizarre in-jokes involving the book having to be printed in black and white; essentially it seems he knows exactly what he wants to do but also leaves himself open for some improvisation. While this first volume (there is one more, to be reviewed soon) is not much about Siddhartha himself, it is absolutely an expression of Buddhism, as the theme is about the sanctity of all life. This is most clear when Asita castigates Naradatta for the animals that died trying to get to him, as no human life is more sacred than an animal’s. Asita punishes Naradatta for this sin by making him mute and bestial, a shambling wolf man. Some of the plot twists are so bizarre one feels the need to consult the “official” story of Siddhartha to see what was added. Only Tezuka could make the story of the founder of one of the world’s major religions such a strange, suspenseful adventure, without losing the heart of the doctrine.

• LOUIS RIEL may well be Chester Brown’s greatest achievement, a comics biography of the Canadian revolutionary that also ties in to Brown’s issues with his mother. Or so I’ve heard. See, I won’t pretend I’ve read this one, but I’ve heard enough good things from people I respect that I figured my own bad timing was no reason not to at least mention this as one of the year’s more important graphic novels. I’ll get it and review it soon, and if it turns out I don’t like it, you’ll be the first to know. Drawn & Quarterly.
• FANTASTIC FOUR LEGENDS: UNSTABLE MOLECULES - One of the reasons this story works so well is that Marvel allows writer James Sturm to play against Marvel’s familiar superhero work. One really feels the seething anger and resentment here, not just from Ben Grimm but especially Sue Sturm, who is fighting against the constraints placed on her as a young wifey in the early 60s. And with Sue raising teenaged Johnny, it’s understandable he might have some deep-seated, inappropriate feelings for his attractive sister/mother. It’s a tense, unsettling story, good on its own but admittedly better if one has a working knowledge of The Fantastic Four. And all concerned: Sturm, artist Guy Davis, R. Sikoryak, who does the faux Silver Age comics Johnny reads, and cover artist Craig Thompson, all turn in very good-to-inspired work, nodding and winking at the past but with no sacrifice of their own distinctive styles. One of the best things Marvel has published in years. Marvel.
• DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE is Mattotti’s and Kramsky’s faithful and refreshing adaptation of the Stephenson novel, with Hyde actually smaller than Jekyll, just like the book, and symbolizing how we as humans are diminished when we follow only our animal instincts. Mattotti finds vivid new life in this familiar tale with bold but elegant painting, a controlled riot of color and dread. NBM.
• QUIMBY THE MOUSE by Chris Ware is a masterpiece of design and cartooning virtuosity all in service of a poignant expression of grief. Through Herrimanesque cat-and-mouse strips and some startling formal experiments, Ware works through his feelings about the loss of his grandmother, as well as how we tend to damage and abuse those we love. It may still be a slightly lesser achievement than JIMMY CORRIGAN, but still head and shoulders above most of what was released this year, or any other.
• PALOMAR collects most of Gilbert Hernandez’ seminal “Heartbreak Soup” stories from the pages of LOVE AND ROCKETS anthology comic he and brother Jaime have sporadically produced over the past couple decades. These stories explore the lives, loves, obsessions, triumphs and failures of more than a dozen well-rounded, compelling characters in a small Mexican village. Magical realism, lubriciousness and a penchant for characters with exaggerated physical attributes or deformities are all aspects worked deftly into Hernandez’ narratives, but the overriding feeling is one of compassion and love for all of mankind and its foibles. One of the most important collections of comics under one cover, highly entertaining, and expertly drawn.