REVIEW ROUNDUP

Lots of books, and I’m behind. What else is new?

FALLEN ANGEL #2
Written by Peter David and Drawn by J.K. Woodward
Published by IDW

The origin of our heroine continues, as does her serious drinking. David gives us our first glance into what the true role of a guardian angel is as pertains to the heavenly host, and it’s a tragic one. In the meantime, the son that she convinced everyone to be dead has decided to show up in Bete Noire and screw up the works. The lesson? Never give up your mystical child, because he may grow up to be a priest and have his existence threaten yours. Or something like that.

Levity aside, this book has reached and surpassed the first volume, both in depth and quality. Set free, David has sharpened up the knives and really begun telling the story his own way. Plus, the book looks fantastic, IDW’s excellent production values matching nicely with Woodward’s painted art. This weekend, Peter noted that even at the higher price point, FALLEN ANGEL at IDW is outselling the DC version. Living well is the best revenge.

JEREMIAH HARM #1
Written by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant and Drawn by Rael Lyra
Published by Boom Studios

When some nasty aliens stage a prison break to remember, the warden and his aides decide to free another prisoner: Jeremiah Harm. Harm is no charming fellow himself, but he has one thing going for him: he’s the guy who captured the escapees’ ringleader to begin with. Making matters even worse: the escapees have escaped to a nasty, dirty, backwater world by the name of Earth, where they intend to loot, destroy, and pillage everything in sight. What else could Harm do but to take the warden up on his offer and head home?

HARM gets off to a bit of a rough start, in part because is struggles with how it looks on the page. In portraying this rough, hard future, the bland, green/khaki color scheme blunts some of the effect the violence and depravity are meant to give the reader. That’s too bad, because Lyra turns in an amazingly detailed job on the art, calling to mind the work of guys like Geof Darrow. The places where he struggles are in depicting facial expressions and body language; because of that, what humor is dropped in to this grim story loses its impact. Still, nothing here suggests that there’s no room to grow and gain that skill. Call issue one a decent effort and see where ti goes from here.

GUNCANDY/THE RIDE #2
Written by Doug Wagner and Chuck Dixon
Drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, Rob Haynes, and Phil Noto
Published by Image Comics

Owing to injury and other factors, we finally get part two of Wagner and Stelfreeze’s magnificently insane tribute to the correlation between sex and violence. GUNCANDY was a notorious project from the start; the cover to the first issue (of this flip book series) depicted the teenage assassin/heroin in a blatantly sexual pose, and the story didn’t back away from following through. Laci spends her part of the book driving, running, shooting, and masturbating her way through killing an extraordinary number of baddies. But you have to bear in mind that this is, first and foremost, a satire. (Which we’ll get into even more in the next review down.) Taking this seriously would be hazardous to your common sense. I got a good laugh out of all of it, which shows that I’m either very bright or completely detached from reality. Your mileage may vary.

Sadly, GUNCANDY eats up so much of your energy that it’s difficult to invest much of yourself in Dixon’s THE RIDE tale. It looks great, and the story is solid, but it would have been far better off living on its own and not having attention sucked away from it. Still, any book that contains art from both Stelfreeze and Noto is worth more than the price on the cover, no question.

BOMB QUEEN #1
Written and Drawn by Jimmie Robinson
Published by Image Comics

Speaking of satire… wow, is this book going to set off some alarms for people who don’t get it. Hell, I get it, and it set off alarms for me. The Bomb Queen is a supervillain who has won; at this point in time, she effectively rules the city of New Port, and the citizens have no problem with it. There are designated “crime zones,” the advertising has gone almost strictly pornographic, and the Queen occasionally just likes to blow some shit up or kill some folks for fun, but her- that’s the price you pay for security, right? And the razor-edged wit only starts there. There’s also the question of her costume, which is so ludicrously skimpy that it not only satirizes comics as a whole, but it is really taking a pointed jab at the worst excesses of the company publishing the book itself. (See: Blade, Witch.)

There are those who are going to argue that Robinson simply skips the idea of true satire and is just publishing a magnificent piece of exploitation and having us all on, and I can’t dispute that it would be easy to read the book that way. Still, I think he more than presses the satire button, especially considering the thrust of the overriding plot: someone in the town, a candidate for mayor, has hired a superhero to come in and clean the Queen out. Given that idea, it feels like Robinson is taking the route of examining our focus on celebrity as authority figure and America’s sad nature to give up liberty in the face of fear. So far, I’m onboard, interest piqued.

SAVAGE DRAGON #122
Written and Drawn by Eric Larsen
Published by Image Comics

After a long hiatus, thanks to Larsen taking on the duties of Publisher at Image, his long-running superhero masterwork returns to the stands. When last we left Dragon, his powers were fading, his wife had lost hers, his daughter had grown to the size of an eight-story building, and Dragon had been involved in a crazy run for President on the same ticket as a guy named “Urass.” Oh- and there was a giant killer robot on the way from Iraq to Washington.

One of the hallmarks of SAVAGE DRAGON has always been that Larsen packs as much into each issue as he possibly can. There’s no decompression in DRAGON; it’s all compression, all the time. There’s a genuine focus on plot movement and bang for the reader’s buck, and nothing has changed as the book makes its return. Actually, that’s not entirely true; if anything, the one problem with this issue is that it almost feels like there’s too much going on. This book is so dense that some of the plot points feel kind of rushed and unexamined.

Still, that beats the alternative. And I expect that Larsen will get back into his traditional groove quickly enough. For now, I’m guessing he’s just happy to be back. I think his readers feel the same.

LOST SQUAD #2
Written by Chris Kirby and Drawn by Alan Robinson
Published by Devil’s Due

Issue two of this title gets away from the one-and-done format of issue one and starts the title onto a longer story arc. That has both good and bad consequences for the title. On the one hand, it allows the book to spread its wings and explore the characters and their backgrounds a bit more, which is a solid idea. On the flip side, none of the characters really jump up and spring to serious life yet, so it may be a test to get the reader emotionally invested in the long run.

The LOST SQUAD is a group of soldiers charged with handling missions with occult overtones during the Second World War. That makes the book something of a cross between SGT. ROCK and INDIANA JONES. (By the way, that’s a great way of pitching it to Hollywood, but I digress.) This story arc begins “Operation: Crystal Ball”; the Nazis have gained control of a device that acts as a “window” into the future, allowing them to change the direction the war is taking and mold it to their advantage. Therefore, our brave and expendable heroes must wade into a sea of Nazis, possessive spirits, and walking dead in the hopes of stealing or destroying the Axis’ new toy.

A book like this fairly demands that you shut off your brain and simply enjoy the proceedings. Expecting things like a narrative that makes exacting sense and severe story logic will only make your head hurt. LOST SQUAD is simple, dumb fun, and should be enjoyed only as such.

/Mason

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

Vince Moore- a friend and all-around good guy- is doing a nifty serious of creator interviews at Comic Book Resources for Black History Month. Show him some love by checking them out, won't you please. The first one is with FIRESTORM artist Jamal Igle. Good stuff.

/Mason

LOCAL #3
Written by Brian Wood and Drawn by Ryan Kelly
Published by Oni Press

The third episode in Wood and Kelly’s slice-of-life series is a quantum leap forward, as it relegates main protagonist Megan to a cameo and explores the featured locale’s population in an expanded role.

We find ourselves in Richmond, VA this time out, home of the band Theories And Defenses, which has broken up after a number of years together. After breaking out from the local music scene, they had hit the big time, left to find their fortunes, and have now returned not so much as conquering heroes, but as legends in exile. Wood’s story follows each band member on their separate journeys back into the community, showing the emotional toll and fallout from the end of such an enduring set of relationships.

Sex. Arrogance. Rampant egotism (there is a difference). No matter how much we love our friends and co-workers, in the end, many of their traits become things we ignore and tolerate, because that’s what love does, and that’s what it takes to make things work. But for Theories And Defenses, there was a breaking point, and while that moment is never defined in the story, it never feels like it needs to be. Wood’s script and subtext tells you everything you need to know, without ever coming close to being explicit. It’s obvious that these four people shouldn’t be together anymore at the point where the tale begins.

Of course, all that subtext would be for naught if Kelly’s expressive artwork weren’t working on all cylinders. As good as the first two issues looked, this is leaps and bounds ahead of them. Even Megan has a little more spring and verve to her body language during her brief appearance. Looking back at his work in GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS and comparing it to this stuff… it’s sick how good this guy is going to be over the span of his career. He’s gone from a question mark to a homerun hitter. Awesome.

I wasn’t sure after the first two issues if the title could sustain itself in the direction it was going, focusing solely on Megan and her travails. However, seeing how the creative team has mixed it up here shows that they’re aware of that limitation, leaving me excited to see how it will all play out.

/Mason

BETTER

This series got off to a damned shaky start. The first issue was bland, tired, and more than a little derivative. But as the book has progressed, each issue has gotten a little better. Issue five continues that trend.

SNAKE EYES: DECLASSIFIED #5
Written by Brandon Jerwa and Drawn by Emiliano Santalucia
Published by Devil’s Due

The credits page in each issue has been offering up a nod to the story being based upon the work of Larry Hama (in the original Marvel series), and that’s never been truer than in this installment. For those of us who were diehard JOE fans as a kid, we finally get the expanded version of the death of the Hard Master and Snake Eyes’ falling out with Storm Shadow and leaving behind his ninja training. Even though you know (if you were there the first time around) how it all plays out in the basic sense, Jerwa still manages to create a sense of tension, which genuinely surprised me.

What really gets you is how well Jerwa manages to tie together other elements, such as the real beginnings of what Cobra was meant to be. If the whopper of a reveal late in the story was covered in the classic series, it was after I stopped reading. On the surface, it seemed like a bit of a stretch, but after I mulled it over, I found that it worked for me, and fit perfectly with the soap opera underpinnings that G.I.JOE has always been constructed upon.

Unlike ORIGIN, another series that laid bare the background of a beloved character, DECLASSIFIED has played things a lot closer to the vest and been much more involved in delivering what the fans would want and be expecting. I wasn’t sure this would ultimately be the case, but the creative team has really come through with solid work. Throw in an outstanding cover, and this makes for a very good comic.

/Mason

NIFTY

Top Shelf, maker of fine graphic novels, has recently been increasing their web presence. Not only is co-publisher Brett Warnock blogging, but the company has also added a number of new webcomics to the site.

SUPER SPY WEEKLY
Written and Drawn by Matt Kindt

Chief among those is the new weekly effort from the creator of 2 SISTERS and PISTOLWHIP. Kindt’s espionage-drenched 2 SISTERS was a surprise hit with me, and seeing him return to the genre with this material was a welcome development. And much like that graphic novel, these smaller tales have plenty of character depth alongside the action and intrigue.

There are four stories in this mini-comic presentation, and the collection leads off with the strongest effort, simply titled “Super Spy.” A young woman who believes she’s found love in her dreary life is about to find out a horrible secret about the man she loves and the friends he keeps. It’s a haunting, dark tale that leaves you sad and grieving with the only ending that would be acceptable. Other stories in the book have a bit lighter touch, balancing out your emotions, but it’s difficult to put aside how you feel by the time you finish chapter one.

Kindt’s art is excellent, presenting the spies in a naturalistic element, and never making them seem anything other than grounded and human. I don’t know if there’s a mechanism in place to put together larger collections of Kindt’s weeklies, but it would be a damned shame if they weren’t. They deserve a place of honor on the shelf next to 2 SISTERS, more excellent work from a creator whose voice I have yet to tire of.

/Mason

Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005: Winners

Go take a look. I voted. It was fun.

Hats off to Chris Tamarri and friends for doing a kick ass job.

/Mason

HE AIN’T HEAVY, HE’S MY LAYMAN

John’s a friend. So I have to admit that before discussing the book. I’m a full disclosure kind of guy.

SENTINEL SQUAD O.N.E. #1
Written by John Layman and Drawn by Aaron Lopresti
Published by Marvel Comics

Since their inception, the Sentinels have always been giant homicidal robots with only programming as their guide. Now, actual human beings pilot the new generation of killer bots. This is their story. SENTINEL SQUAD O.N.E. was described to me early on as “Band Of Brothers with giant robots” and that’s a fair enough angle. We’re introduced to the recruiting class for pilots, meet the movers and shakers behind the program, and get a general idea of where the series is going to go. One little tidy “pilot episode” package for your enjoyment.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t speed bumps along the way. With such a large cast, we don’t get much of a chance to develop a rooting interest in any of the recruits, because the exposition is so important to getting the plot moving. Plus, the fact that we need to learn about the recruits to a certain degree pushes the best character in the book to the wayside: James “Rhodey” Rhodes is the man charged with training the motley crew of pilots, and he’s a welcome sight, indeed. The period where I was a big IRON MAN fan coincides with Rhodey’s tenure in the suit back around issues #170-197 of the original series. Good times, happy memories.

What works? Layman does a good job of impressing upon you that his band of recruits are a bunch of body bags waiting to be used. Piloting a huge weapon like a Sentinel is as dangerous a job as you can find in the Marvel Universe, and there’s no room for malcontents or those who refuse to pay attention. He also presents a solid bit of intrigue as to one of the pilots, Lex, as he appears to be hiding his status of a still-powered mutant. But the star here is Aaron Lopresti’s art, which is just about perfect for the book. He excels in presenting all-out action between the robots and the Hulk, yet doesn’t phone it in when it comes time to working with the humans in the cast. Pretty, pretty stuff.

One thing I do need to mention is that there is one complete botch here: the logo. In a market where shelf space is life, this book has been saddled with one of the worst, most generic logos I’ve seen in ages. It’s terrible. If I hadn’t known to look for the title because of its writer, I’d have ignored it completely on the stands. Awful.

There’s a lot of cool stuff ahead in this book. Give it a read.

/Mason

BLACK HARVEST #2
Written and Drawn by Josh Howard
Published by Devil’s Due

Howard’s new mini finds a pretty decent second gear with this issue. His DEAD @17 efforts had a tendency to start off really slow and pick up tons of steam at the end, but this shows more early plot movement than I was expecting.

When last we saw UFO writer Daniel Webster (and his name should tell you a bit about the kind of story this is going to be), he had picked up a girl from the edge of the highway named Zaya Vahn. It turned out that she had been missing for three years, and rather than being shown some gratitude, the local heat decided to make him a suspect. (Which frankly didn’t work as a plot point, because it assumes that the local law is so stupid and corrupt that they couldn’t find their asses with both hands and a flashlight.) Set free, he headed back to his hotel to begin to prepare for the reason he’s in Jericho, Texas to begin with: the mysterious and unexplained lights that periodically appear over the town. But what he doesn’t know is that Zaya has returned with vengeance in her heart and some strange powers…

Which makes it all the more interesting for us when she turns up at his motel and wants to make nice for his rescue.

BLACK HARVEST is traveling down a path that would have fit quite comfortably in an X-FILES episode, but so far, Howard is managing to maintain an interesting balance between the looming mystery, Daniel’s personal quests, and Zaya’s re-assimilation into the community and her apparent gift for brutal murder. It’s all very solidly accomplished.

One of the things about BLACK HARVEST is how you can look at it and see that Howard has found an identity for himself as an artist at this point. While others work in similar artistic styles, Howard has carved out a niche in that style and meshed himself with particular stories and storytelling devices to the point where he’s set himself apart. BLACK HARVEST looks to be exactly the correct step for him to have taken at this point in his career.

/Mason

LAST ONE OF THESE FOR A WHILE

I’ve been on a huge ESSENTIALS kick both here and at The Shoot over the last few weeks, but that will be curtailing now that I’ve reached the end of my huge pile of the things for now. Guess I’ll be back to floppies, etc, eh?

ESSENTIAL OHOTMU VOL.1
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Marvel Comics

THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE was no less than a revelation from the comics gods when presented to a twelve-year old when it hit the scene in 1982. As an avid Marvel kid, to have all these characters, all this information in one place… it was mind-boggling. My friends and I devoured each and every issue like they were made of chocolate-covered crack.

Blueprints of the Baxter Building? Check. Schematic of the Avengers’ Quinjet? Check. An explanation for how Colossus’ metal body worked? You betcha. An explanation of where Wolverine really came from?

Well, the book didn’t have quite everything. But it was enough.

Reading this material sent me back in time, and seeing the classic portraits and poses that so many great artists put together… what a priceless experience for me. John Byrne doing the entries for all the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight characters. Mike Zeck doing the pieces related to Captain America. Walt Simonson tackling Thor and the rest of the Asgardians. Gorgeous. A reminder of my favorite era for comics, the one that sticks out the most in my mind.

I think most of us identify our love of the medium as stemming from the books that captivated us most, and it was here, this time, when the much-missed Mark Gruenwald was putting together this book and guiding a significant chunk of the Marvel universe that will always define how I feel comics should be. Whether that’s right or wrong is irrelevant; it’s mine, and nothing can take it from me. I know we can never really return to a simpler time, but thanks to series like the ESSENTIALS, I don’t have to.

Eventually those times return to me.

/Mason

BACK ON THE REVIEW TRAIN

Take a week off and the pile begins to get out of hand. What’s a poor bastard to do?

INTIMIDATORS #1
Written by Neil Kleid and Drawn by Miguel Montenegro
Published by Image Comics

I’ve been curious about this one since I first heard it announced. Kleid is a talented creator, and certainly has the ability to take this concept (which is sort of “what if you put Superman or Captain America in a group of super-assholes like The Authority?”) and run with it. And while this opening salvo shows promise, the pacing of the story doesn’t quite let Kleid stretch his wings.

The Intimidators are the supergroup of last resort for the American government, the ones they call on when absolutely no one else is available or when the threat level is so high that it requires a ludicrous bunch of idiots to solve the problem. The most competent of the group is Crash, a super-strong and super-fast fellow who also has a tendency to pass out in the middle of missions from the use of his powers. Then there’s Fetish, a homicidal teleporter who spends her off-hours as a dominatrix. Limit, another teleporter, who’s a bit of a pussy. And Firepower, an armored British drunkard. Quite the motley crew. The last member of the cast, Astroman, doesn’t show up until the final page, so basically, this issue is pure set-up and display, with the real plot to follow later.

Threatening the world this time around is a mafia goon with a nuclear weapon armed in downtown Detroit. Backing up his ploy is the goon’s robot mafia, so there are plenty of bad guys for the Intimidators to beat up on. The entire battle sequence is insanely over-the-top, and it does give Kleid a couple of moments in which to have his fun; Fetish’s treatment of a Mafioso opponent is a snicker-worthy exercise in black humor. But mainly, it exists to show us what these lunatics can do, because it will balance against the future behavior of Astroman. Fair enough. You have to get to the point where your story really begins.

Montenegro’s art serves the story well, eschewing fancy layouts and clipped poses in order to keep the story flowing in an organic fashion. That’s certainly a happy and satisfactory development. And again, there are some darkly amusing moments that kept my head in it along the way. I suppose what I’m saying is that INTIMIDATORS #1 didn’t quite give me what I was expecting out of the gate, but that doesn’t necessarily rank as a bad thing. I found plenty enough here to make me want to settle in and give it the time to grow that I think it needs.

/Mason

MILE HIGH COMICS presents THE BEAT at COMICON.com: What it feels like for a girl

Heidi, as usual, is right. Go read it.

What stuck out to me most in the piece, is this snippet: "But the main thing that got me thinking is that sexual assault is not comics' problem; it's society's problem. While an examination of how comics treats women is always welcome, I was not convinced that this account had anything whatsoever to do with comics, or sexual harassment, based on the information given." She later goes in the direction that I'm about to, and I fully admit to hitching my wagon to hers, so I apologize in advance. But this stuff cannot be ignored.

It isn't a secret that assholes are a problem everywhere, regardless of where they're employed. I once had a former employee report to me that a man in a different department asked her about the events of her upcoming weekend while pretending to dry-hump a chair. Another male employee was let go because he wouldn't stop asking inappropriate questions about female employees' sex lives. It was maddening to me that this even needed to be done; who raised these morons? Who let them believe that was appropriate behavior? As Heidi says, this is a societal problem. But it's one we can address and absolutely do something about.

I am the (now former) step-father to three young girls. The youngest came into my life at the age of five, and even though she had never read a comic in her life, she already enjoyed tying a blanket around her neck, pretending to fly, and calling herself Supergirl. As quickly as I could find one (and they were damned rare), she got her first Supergirl action figure, and I encouraged her to start reading comics with me.

Start 'em young, right?

But I was also very aware of the fact that my hobby was one that was not as open and friendly to little girls as it needed to be. So I was very selective about what I showed her. And I kept her away from the local comics shops at the time, because they were unfit for her presence. Thanks to the terrific Brian Johnson and Khepri, I was able to find enough material to keep her interest moving along, though.

If you pull back and look at our society as a whole, the problems glare at you with eyes of steel. Poverty. Crime. Corruption. The list goes on. As an individual, it's easy to feel powerless when confronted with it all. The mountains are so large that the peaks seem out of reach. But you cannot let that powerlessness settle in to your soul. You just can't.

What you have to do, and as I said, Heidi's essay gets into this late in the text, is look at your neighborhood. Look in the immediate five foot radius. Make a difference. Then expand your reach a bit. Make it ten feet. Get the person next to you involved, either by spirit or by shame, and get them working on their own radius. And make it continue to spread.

Clean up your neighborhood.

That's what the brave young woman who was on the receiving end of that recent assault did. She drew a line in the sand and put the dirt on notice. Comics is no uglier a slum than any other, but it's the one we live in, because we love them. We don't love every resident or every house, but they're ours. Enough of us need to feel enough of a sense of duty and honor to each other that we start pressuring the other neighbors to paint their houses, cut the grass, and tow away the dead cars. It is shameful that we live this way. There's no reason we should.

We need to live in a place where I'm not afraid to take a five-year old girl inside without worrying about what she'll see or whom she'll meet. We need to gather on a block where a woman can walk down the sidewalk is seen as a creative spirit and collaborator, not as fresh meat. Yes, those problems will remain on the outside, where the rest of the crime and corruption have taken root. No question. In an optimistic world, we'll clean those neighborhoods someday, too. But for today, let's start at home. Don't patronize retailers who create that kind of environment. Don't buy comics from people known to be encouraging and participating in the worst behaviors. Support the works of those speaking out and those trying to make a difference.

Grab a broom. I've made a clean spot. Looks like I have to keep going.

/Mason

REGAL

Wow.

Really. Wow.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve devoured these four volumes in succession, and I’m nothing short of blown away at how much I enjoyed them. In fact, I more than liked them; they were a revelation to me, and I cannot recommend highly enough that you check them out.

ESSENTIAL TOMB OF DRACULA VOLS.1-4
Written Mostly by Marv Wolfman
Drawn Mostly by Gene Colan
Published by Marvel Comics

I had never read a single issue of the comic as a kid, so I knew very little about what to expect in these pages. Dracula had shown up in UNCANNY X-MEN a couple of times, and later was killed for good by DOCTOR STRANGE, but the rich supporting cast and history were beyond my grasp at that point. I know now just how much I was missing.

These were, for the most part, simply brilliant comics. It took a few issues for Wolfman to come on board as the writer, but once he did, he never left the driver’s seat, toiling away on the title for over seven years and creating a distinct and indelible horror title in which he had to create enough of a threat to his main character to keep the audience in check, yet never forget that this was a comic about a villain (and if my memory tells me true, easily the longest running title of that nature). That meant tapping new levels of creative height in discovering ways to challenge the vampire and his pursuers, and Wolfman was always up to the challenge.

However, the real star of the show was the legendary Gene Colan. Colan drew all seventy issues of the main title, along with extra stories for annuals and the Dracula magazines, becoming the defining artist for the character and setting the bar at such a high level that others who drew stories featuring the vampire looked pale in comparison. What impresses you as you read these collections is the amount of detail that graces his pages, and the graceful storytelling that flows through his pages. Another legend, inker Tom Palmer, would do the blacks for the majority of the book’s run, making this one of comics’ all-time consistently great titles. Also, as you page through these, you feel fortunate to have these in this format. It seems damned near criminal that this work was originally printed in color; Colan’s art is so beautiful that the idea of ruining it with the old-time color process on newsprint is horrific. I’m sure it still looked wonderful, but not as good as it did when Gene turned in the work.

Wolfman gained most of his notoriety in comics for his collaborations with George Perez on TEEN TITANS and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, but TOMB OF DRACULA, taken as a whole, is the equal or better of those two titles. Of the four volumes, the third stands out most, as there is less extraneous material collected from magazines and such. Every story but one in volume three is written by Wolfman; every story but one is drawn by Colan. And by the way, the story not drawn by Colan? Drawn by Steve Ditko. It’s just that good, folks.

Of all the ESSENTIALS I’ve read over the last month or so, nothing else even comes close to just how excellent these four books are. I implore you: check out the finest work of Colan’s career and give yourself a different view of what Wolfman is capable of as a writer. You’ll be very, very glad you did.

/Mason

POLISHED

I was going to put up one more review today, but I've changed my mind. It's been a long, strange year, I've reviewed a ton of books as of late, and I think I've ended the year on a high note. Thanks to all of you who stop by and read, and to each of you, I wish a happy and healthy 2006.

See you next week with more new reviews!

Marc Mason
somewhere in Arizona...

ONE MORE IGNATZ

The first wave consisted of three books, this one actually being the first.

BAOBAB #1
Written and Drawn by Igort
Published by Fantagraphics

Igort’s entry into the Ignatz series is easily the most ambitious of the lot. Unlike the other two volumes, which focused on “one and done” stories, BAOBAB is a multi-chapter start to what appears will be a longer and more in-depth work.

The story takes place at the same time on two different continents during September, 1910. In the more focused story, we meet a young Japanese boy named Hiroshi and see him perform some of his youthful duties, which include visiting a sad woman who has lost her son and taking care of his grandmother. Across the world in South America, a man named Celestino begins working on his career as a cartoonist under the watchful eye of his depressed sister. There is only a thematic link between the two stories in this first section, but it allows Igort to spread his wings and show off his ability to adapt his art style to his characters.

Hiroshi’s story has a very distinct Japanese look to it, but not in the sense that it looks like manga; instead, it looks more like traditional Japanese art that you’d find in paintings from the late nineteenth century through the time period Igort is depicting. Celestino’s story has a much more European flavor to it with a dash to (the acknowledged on the back cover) Winsor McCay. What intrigues me is whether or not the two characters’ stories will merge somewhere down the road, and what those pages might look like.

Here’s where things get weird for me, though. While technically and artistically superior to the other two Ignatz books I’d read so far, I enjoyed BAOBAB the least. I never got as invested in the characters as I did in the other volumes, and I wasn’t yet compelled by anything in either storyline to see something transcendent somewhere down the road in the story. That’s obviously a function of this being a first chapter from a longer work, but it’s also a risk you take when you pace out your story as an artist and writer.

Now, let’s see where the second wave takes us.

/Mason

DAY FOUR

Another in the line of “Ignatz” books from Fantagraphics. See yesterday’s review for details.

INSOMNIA #1
Written and Drawn by Matt Broersma

INSOMNIA brings together two stories; one short story, titled “Four Kings” and a longer story, “Eldorado.” “Four Kings” is an amusing little lark that brings together a few skeletal figures for a poker night. Like most poker nights, money is lost, lies are told, and bad jokes are exchanged. “Eldorado” is a far more serious tale, taking us on the journey of a man named Marco as he smuggles materials across the border into Mexico and attempts to take his own life in response to his life’s debts and doubts.

Broersma has a clean and simple style, though it falters at the moment where Marco makes the choice to try and end it all, because the resolution that the story gives only becomes clear through the text, not the art. Beyond that, this is earthy, atmospheric stuff, and the heavy paper stock absorbs the shading well. Mood is everything in “Eldorado,” and in that, Broersma excels.

However, it is the fantastical “Four Kings” that sells me on the book. While there is no actual need for the poker players to be skeletons from a story perspective, it enhances the dark humor of the tale and makes the jokes play more effectively. It also demonstrates an economy of storytelling, that he can get so much into four pages and leave the reader with a feeling of resolution.

So far, the “Ignatz” books are two for two with me. They have their flaws and problems, but they’re entertaining and ambitious ideas, and comics need more of those.

/Mason

DAY THREE

Today, I’m digging into the “Ignatz” series of books that Fanta launched this Fall. These comics are an interesting meld of European and North American formats; they’re thirty-two pages, saddled stitched, but they’re printed at a larger size, on sturdy, heavy paper stock, and have a secondary cover that acts as a dust jacket.

WISH YOU WERE HERE #1: THE INNOCENTS
Written and Drawn by Gipi

Young Andrea is on an outing with his Uncle Gil, heading for the funfair. But a voice from the past contacts Gil; his old friend Valerio is out of prison and would like to get back in touch with his childhood best friend, so there’s a diversion along the way. And during the trip, Andrea will not only learn about a boyhood far more different than his own, but he will get a first lesson in what happens to a man whose life is shattered beyond repair.

THE INNOCENTS is a quiet, subtle, character-based piece that does itself proud. The story here isn’t one of plot; it’s about the journey a man may or may not take as he grows through adolescence. Andrea is faced with two men who had similar paths for the most part; only his uncle, who was a far worse lad, was fortunate enough to avoid the innocent Valerio’s fate. And now, as Gil attempts to determine what exactly responsibility truly means, he must confront a dark and broken mirror before he can move forward.

Gipi’s art changes in style as he shifts into flashbacks, adopting a simplistic style as though drawn by a young child. It’s not as effective as it should be, but I understand the idea. I think he’d have been better off trusting his audience to follow his fine storytelling abilities, because the pages set in the present are simply lovely, and the flashback material sticks out badly.

Still, this is a solidly produced success that leaves me intrigued to see what else we’ll get from this excellent creator.

/Mason

FANTA WEEK, DAY TWO

And now, something to savor…

THE COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY #4: CLASSIC COMICS ILLUSTRATORS
Interviews and Essays by Various

Like the SPECIAL EDITIONS, these over-sized collections are packed so completely full of fascinating material and artwork that they take weeks to read thoroughly and enjoy. Produced at the size of a classic 33rpm record album, they sit on your shelf loud and proud, and this one has an amazing cover to boot.

The editorial hand of the great Tom Spurgeon lies behind this book, which brings together interviews of Burne Hogarth, Russ Manning, Russ Heath, Mark Schultz, and Frank Frazetta, and reproduces an enormous amount of art from these greats. From sketches, to paintings, to panels, to full pages of sequentials, the reader is guided towards a comprehensive look at the career of a giant as they pass through the articles.

But it isn’t only that there’s a ton of gorgeous art to look at; it’s that much of the material goes towards showing the versatility of these men. Hogarth is best known for his work on TARZAN, but we also get to see his adaptability into other styles and on other subjects, giving a more rounded idea of the man’s career. Heath is known for his war comics, but we get a glimpse of his humor material, and his ability to create works of horror.

The interviews are amazing, especially Frazetta and Hogarth’s, as both men engage in lengthy dialogues that peel back the layers of their lives and influences. It’s this kind of material that TCJ does best, and Spurgeon has done a nice job of finding a way to preserve some its best work in this format.

In a medium where the “kewl” factor reigns supreme, it’s nice to take a step back and be reminded of what really makes comics great and why. This one is truly a keeper.

/Mason

FANTA WEEK, PT. 1

Through the end of the year… some new efforts from Fantagraphics!

CINEMA PANOPTICUM
Written and Drawn by Thomas Ott

This lush hardcover graphic novel presents an unusual type of horror story: a young, impoverished girl finds her way into a carnival, and the only attraction she can afford is the panoptic cinema. There are five films for her to watch, and each gets progressively more disturbing, until the child succumbs to her own curiosity and places her final coin in the one titled “The Girl.”

There is an element of “The Twilight Zone” and of classic 50s horror comics at play here, but Ott’s subtlety of storytelling and his brilliantly detailed art lend an air of sophistication to the frights he presents. His work has a photo-realistic quality, adding a layer to the story; as a reader, you are placed into the position of watching the cinema yourself and awaiting her fate. When you lock onto this feeling, it provides a serious jolt, and enhances your enjoyment of the book.

Of the films she watches, none grabs you quite like “The Prophet,” which tells the tale of a man who has seen the signs of the coming apocalypse, but is thought to be mad. But madness is never more aptly described as an altered perception of reality by the time his tale plays itself out.

CINEMA PANOPTICUM is an arresting piece of entertainment that engages the mind and artistic interest in multiple ways. It is recommended for the more sophisticated and mature reader.

/Mason

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I had some high hopes for this one. I should know better.

ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN VOL.1
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Marvel Comics

KILLRAVEN has long been one of those “holy grail” sci-fi comics, a book pointed to as being an underrated and under-appreciated icon of the 70s. Upon reading this collection, I can officially say “NO” to that.

Yes, the concept was terrific: branching out from H.G. Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS, a second Martian invasion took place in 2001 that left the earth in ruins. As the series begins, it is 2018, and Killraven and his fellow rebels are on the run and making attacks against their evil Martian masters. Okee doke. There are plenty of cool, nasty creatures and mutants to fight, likeable characters in Killraven’s band, and exciting adventures.

But, my God… the writing. The horror. The horror!

KILLRAVEN was blessed to have some of the greatest artists ever work on his stories. P. Craig Russell draws the bulk of this book! Plus, you get efforts from Neal Adams, Gene Colon, Herb Trimpe, Sal Buscema, and Howard Chaykin! It is no lie to say that there is some truly brilliant artwork in these pages. But the writing ruins most of it, and you just have to shake your head, disgusted.

“But Marc!” you say. “Whatever could be so awful as to make those men’s work suffer?” And I give you two words: Don McGregor. Don “I never met a panel I couldn’t overcrowd with pointlessly turgid prose” McGregor. That would also be Don “I make Bill Mantlo read like he’s terse” McGregor. Which gets proved here, by the way, because Mantlo does a couple of the issues in this book, and they do read as terse compared to McGregor’s stuff! I’m telling you, it’s horrible. Tons of extraneous text that takes away panel space from the page. Long expository captions that crowd out the action. Dialogue that not only repeats the expository captions, but that also makes George Lucas sound like Mamet. Plus, some of the stories jump around so much that you can’t find the narrative line once it’s been dropped. One character seemingly dies or is injured horrifically during an attack that kills two others, and you don’t find out until two issues later that he survived, and he isn’t even injured at that point. It’s headache inducing.

So as pretty as this might be, there is no conceivable way in the world that I could ever recommend this. Too many flaws, and not enough payoff, makes my Christmas gift to you all the savings of the $17 you might have spent on this book.

/Mason

OKAY, I’M GOING TO TRY AND EXPLAIN THIS ONCE

This comic is actually a spin-off from a novel that won’t be hitting bookstores until Fall 2006. However, if I understand what I’m reading, it isn’t a prequel, so much as it is a companion piece.

HATTER M: THE LOOKING GLASS WARS #1
Story by Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier and Art by Ben Templesmith
Published by Image Comics

The idea behind both the comic and future novel seems to be that, Lewis Carroll took liberties with the history of an actual place: Wonderland. And not only is that other-dimensional destination real, Alyss Heart originated from that place. She happens to be the crown princess. Her bodyguard is one Hatter Madigan, a man of deadly skill with the blade, whose hat becomes something of a flying guillotine when thrown properly. In HATTER M, he has slipped through a puddle to 1859, Paris, in search of the missing Alyss. His lack of understanding of our world, and the immediate disappearance of his hat, offer only the first of many obstacles he’s about to face.

Whew. Got that?

Now, that’s a lot to take on, especially right out of the gate, but once you settle in to the story and find its narrative logic, this becomes a nicely put together comic. Madigan is an amusing protagonist, and his lack of a grasp on our society leads to many amusing scenarios, not the least of which is that his efforts to defend himself leave him seen as one of the worst serial killers of the nineteenth century. But even more intriguingly, there does exist some magic in our world, in the person of an illusionist named Sacrenoir, and it will take all of Madigan’s skill and cunning to match wits against the man’s power.

The star of the show is Templesmith’s art. Continuing his breakout work post-30 DAYS OF NIGHT, he delivers some wondrous and whimsical work in depicting what is a world gone mad to Hatter. The first few pages are a bit shaky, but when he settles in to the story, this book takes off. Beddor is the novelist whose book comes next year, so I’m guessing that Cavalier’s role was one of perhaps working to adapt the concept to the comic book format. Whichever it is, this is solid entertainment, and it has done its work in making me interested in the prose to come.

/Mason

WHEN DO WE GET A COLLECTION?

WESTERN TALES OF TERROR #1-5
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Hoarse And Buggy Productions

This five-issue anthology delivers precisely what the title suggests: a plethora of western-themes horror stories, visiting the modern day for only one brief story, and even that story harkens back to the nineteenth century.

WTOT brings together an interesting mix of established comics creators such as Phil Hester, Tom Mandrake, and Jay Faerber and newcomers putting together their first published work. Oddly enough, though, it is some of the newer creators work that really stands out, never dwarfed by the known talents. Generally, you’d easily expect quite the opposite.

There’s no shortage of humor in these anthologies, either. One story, about the “tryout” given to a fledgling prostitute, is so gruesomely funny that you might snort milk out of your nose. But, for the most part, the stories are all played pretty straight and seriously.

After these five issues, the book went on a hiatus, but I’d like to see it survive somehow in a different format. These sorts of genre tales never really go out of style, and a collected edition would surely do well on bookstore shelves in particular. There would likely need to be some legwork done to secure copyrights, etc., a second time around, but with a book that has this kind of perennial sale potential, it would be worth the effort.

A yearly graphic novel of new material wouldn’t be a bad idea, either, as it would keep the property visible, and insure a steady stream of revenue for this fine small publisher.

Not much else to really say about this one. I enjoyed it, it held my interest on a very bad day, and it deserves the kudos it received throughout its original publication schedule.

/Mason

REAL GENIUS

FLAMING CARROT COMICS #4
Written and Drawn by Bob Burden
Published by Image Comics

Few things make me more pleased than a new issue of FLAMING CARROT. Bob Burden’s long-running absurdist masterpiece is like nothing else you’ll find on the racks, full of ludicrous stories, silly art, and tons of laughs. Yet what makes it work is that all the nonsense… makes complete and total sense.

For example, this issue finds the Carrot having entered into a “zen stupidity” state of mind to help him fight crime. And in this state, he takes a bath, promptly loses his ducky soap out an open window, and winds up on an adventure. The adventure takes him through the city streets, first in search of his ducky soap, and then in search of his friend Sponge Boy, who owes him $400 (which the Carrot allows will help him buy new ducky soap. The search for Sponge Boy takes him to a strip club and to a haunted house, wherein he accidentally falls into a realm where he becomes real (and the art turns into photographs). And to top it off, he does the entire thing in his pajamas, and has a pie fight with the two coeds he lives with to start the story.

If you’re thinking that sounds insane, you’re perfectly right. But that’s what makes the CARROT such a terrific piece of work. In Burden’s world, it all makes perfect, unarguable sense. You’re so sucked into the lunacy of the characters that you can’t help but start thinking like them a bit. It’s almost enough to put you in therapy.

FLAMING CARROT most certainly isn’t for everyone. Some readers need a coldly logical and linear narrative to enjoy a comic, and this most assuredly would leave them sucking their thumbs and looking for a happy place. But for those with a taste for the different and unusual, I heartily recommend getting your proper dose of vitamins and minerals through this tasty vegetable.

/Mason

GOOD FROM BAD

Few books in the 80s launched with as much hype and then turned into as big of a clusterfuck than X-FACTOR. Aside from the idea of resurrecting Jean Grey and re-teaming together the original X-Men, the book was a conceptual disaster.

The spark was that the team would pose as human mutant hunters in order to track down mutants who needed help and training. I remember going to a signing at Comic Carnival in Broadripple, Indiana, where the book’s writer, Bob Layton was present. I had loved (and still do) his HERCULES material, so I was pretty stoked for this new book. And he told me that he and artist Butch Guice had ideas for up to a hundred issues of their new sales smash. But then something happened.

It sucked. And it sucked hard.

ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR VOL.1
Written by Bob Layton and Louise Simonson
Drawn by Various
Published by Marvel Comics

Not only were Layton’s stories overly melodramatic and uninteresting, but also the concept began to implode upon itself, which the book had to begin to deal with. The mutants were creating anti-mutant hysteria with their own campaign, and it was tough to believe that these characters could actually be this stupid. Five issues in, Layton was gone, replaced by the terrific Louise Simonson, who had an enormous mess to clean up. One more issue from Guice (after an awful fill-in from Keith Pollard), and he was off the book as well. 95 issues short of the goal. Whoops. Great job, fellas.

It took Simonson a couple of issues to start making the book into something readable, but she came through with some of her best work. Plus, the art chores began to rotate amongst her hubby, the great Walt Simonson, and a young and still in control of himself Marc Silvestri. Even the amazing David Mazzucchelli stepped in to handle an issue. In less than a year, Marvel’s worst book on the stands turned it around to become the most vital and alive of all the mutant titles being published.

Layton’s one creation that stuck it out and became useful was Apocalypse, though Simonson and other writers made far better and far more creative use of the seeds he planted than you wind up believing would have happened otherwise. Beyond that, this was the Louise show, and while POWER PACK became the book she was best known for, it was X-FACTOR that showed she could handle writing mature comics that would appeal to the older set, and that she could escape from the shadow of having edited Chris Claremont for so long.

ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR is basically two books in the end; half of it is as bad as Marvel Comics got in the mid-80s, and the other half is just about as good as it got. I don’t know if I can recommend buying it, but I can surely recommend you check it out from your local library.

/Mason

THE CURE

Growing up, I was a Marvel kid.

No two ways around it. DC’s oeuvre just didn’t really appeal to me, not until I hit my mid-teens. It was the Marvel characters that captured my imagination and made me love the medium. I adored Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers. I read Rom. I have a full set of Dazzler. That was a universe that had a hold of me and wouldn’t let me go.

As of late, though, my interest in, and enjoyment of, comics has been on the wane a bit. Comics have gotten sort of dull as a whole; yes, there are some really great ones that I look forward to with anticipation, but for the most part… snooze city. I’ve been needing something, anything, to remind me of what it was that made me fall in love with comics. And finally, I found it.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE VOL.1
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Marvel Comics

First, let me be brutally honest: out of the twenty-nine comics reprinted in this volume, I’d only be able to tell you that maybe one or two were actually anything resembling “good.” MTIO, which featured The Thing and a guest star paring up each issue, as MARVEL TEAM-UP did with Spider-Man, was primarily a breeding ground for fill-in issues. The book didn’t have anything resembling a “creative team” for the most part, instead relying on two or three issues at a time by certain creators before they returned their focus to other projects. But even without brilliant stories, so much of what is here is a total treat.

How about Gil Kane art? A crossover between the FF and MTIO annuals drawn by the Buscemas and scripted by Roy Thomas, which was set during World War Two? Work by Jim Starlin that had bearing on his first great Thanos saga? I read this stuff treasuring it, transported to a time when comics were far simpler in their aims and achievements.

Take issues four and five, for instance. The Thing, Captain America, and Sharon Carter travel to a far-flung future to save the Earth from the Badoon. In the process, they meet the Guardians Of The Galaxy. And in the span of forty-four pages, they have a huge fight and liberate the planet. Can you even imagine what that would be like in today’s comics world? Give that plot to Bendis or Millar and it’d not only take twelve issues to play out, but also probably have at least another dozen crossovers in other books.

The guest stars range from Cap and Spidey to low-enders like The Golem and The Scarecrow, which makes you believe that the powers that were at the time were hoping to see if they could fish for the next big character to get their own book if they proved popular enough. Of course, that didn’t exactly happen. So much for the best-laid plans. Still, even through the worst issues the collection has to offer, the book comes through with exactly what the creators intended: a few minutes of good, clean, fun entertainment. I know it sounds old-fashioned, and the trend towards making “fun” comics is lurking around the edges of the zeitgeist right now, but occasionally I like to smile. So sue me. Books like this are not only a reminder of a simpler era, but that there’s more to life than glowering.

Doesn’t it suck that we need that reminder?

/Mason

FOR THE KIDS

It can be difficult reviewing material like this book. One, it’s a companion to a new animated television series. Two, it’s meant to be very safe for kid readers. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply some scrutiny to it. So here we go…

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6 #1
Written by Andrew Dabb and Drawn by Chris Lie
Published by Devil’s Due

SIGMA is a new JOE series meant to focus on a handful of the characters and a bunch of new high-tech toys for them to use in their war against the forces of Cobra. This first issue finds Duke vacationing in Guam and called to duty when a group of oceanographers studying undersea quakes mysteriously disappear. Of course, what he finds is Cobra-related, because this is a comic book, after all. So he must use his wits and training to survive the traps of the evil Destro and bring the hostages to safety. The end.

What you mostly tend to look for in an adaptation comic is first, whether or not the story actually holds together, and second, if it looks like it took more than three days to draw. SIGMA gets thumbs up in both those areas; Dabb is a very good writer, and skilled in turning in scripts in a variety of genres, and Lie’s sort of painted-looking manga style will play well to the junior audience.

Where the book could be better, though, is in the character work. Again, I realize that the younger crowd doesn’t really care about character development and such, but the one thing that the story doesn’t really do is put the focus on Duke and what makes him a special soldier. His bland blonde looks echo the fact that nothing here makes him stand out besides the fact that he’s a JOE. And that he drinks frilly, girly drinks while he’s on vacation. Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and many of the other Joes are well-defined, but Duke has generally been deadly dull, and nothing here suggests to the first time reader that he’s even remotely cool.

Still, the kids get mind-controlled sharks and robots, so the “wicked kewl” factor for the tots should be high. I’d just like to see a little bit more focus on making the book something truly accessible for the older reader who might be giving it a look.

/Mason

THINGS I THOUGHT I’D NEVER CALL A COMIC FOR $100, PLEASE

Cute as the dickens. Yep. It looks as stupid on paper as it sounded in my head, But this book is cute as the dickens. So bite me.

POLLY AND THE PIRATES #1-2
Written and Drawn by Ted Naifeh
Published by Oni Press

Ted Naifeh is becoming a cottage industry unto himself. Along with the brilliant DEATH JUNIOR and COURTNEY CRUMRIN, he has become the go-to guy for excellently done all-ages entertainment in comics, especially material that appeals to young girls.

POLLY is the story of Polly Pringle, a young girl off at boarding school in the hopes of becoming a proper lady (our story is set a couple of hundred years ago). Her classmate Anastasia is a troublemaker of the highest order, and always tries to get Polly involved in her shenanigans, but to little success: Polly is a pretty straight-arrow girl. But one night, her life takes a turn for the completely daffy: she is taken, bed and all from her dorm room, by a band of pirates who announce that she is actually the daughter of famed pirate Meg Malloy, The Pirate Queen, and they want her daughter to be the captain of their new ship. Priceless hilarity ensues.

The book has more whimsy than you can shake a stick at, and owes no small debt to the “Madeleine” series of children’s books, as Polly bears plenty of resemblance to the young French girl. But mostly, the book is delightful fun, as Polly proves to be a bright and determined little girl when she decides she wants no part of these rough gentlemen’s world. Deciding there is no room in her life for those of ill-bearing, she will brave shark infested waters, dark alleys, and more, all in the pursuit of her quiet life. However, you can’t help but feel like that will change very, very soon.

Artistically, the comic looks great, each page executed with precision and keeping the pace moving just right. In a time where books that you can hand to someone ten-years old without fear are a rarity, you don’t need a map to realize that POLLY AND THE PIRATES is truly a treasure.

/Mason

HOLLYWOOD CALLING

Yep, another silver screen fellow has stepped into the writer’s chair on a comic. However, this time it’s an actor. In fact, it’s an actor quite well known for playing a comic book character…

BAD PLANET #1
Written by Thomas Jane and Steve Niles
Drawn by Lewis Larosa and Tim Bradstreet
Published by Image Comics

Much like FEAR AGENT, BAD PLANET is an homage to the EC comics of the 50s drawn by folks like Wally Wood. An alien intelligence that spends its time eradicating entire planets from the face of the galaxy has targeted Earth next, and the unsuspecting populace is completely in the dark, only knowing that some sort of meteor is heading straight for the planet.

The early scenes are all riffs on the classic “discovery of threat from space” setup, but they do the job, introducing the characters and priming the reader for the arrival of a marauding army of (as the writers put it) “alien death spiders.” They sound charming, don’t they?

Along the way, we also meet alien truckers who are addicted to some very disturbing pornography, an arrogant astronomer named after comics’ greatest enemy, and another astronomer named after a famed sci-fi writer. The two astronomers are surely meant to be nice nods, but they have the odd effect of throwing you out of the story, and you immediately wish they’d taken less obvious routes to pay tribute.

On the flip side, the art is simply gorgeous. Lush, detailed, and full of life, every page has something to stop and make you look twice. The only blip is that the coloring printed way too dark, and obscures some of the finer details. It’s almost as if there was an expectation for a different paper stock that would hold the colors in different fashion, so I don’t think it was a deliberate bad choice.

For a long time, I was unable to warm up to Steve Niles’ work, but with GIANT MONSTER and now this book, I’m beginning to come around on him. BAD PLANET looks like it’s going to be a ton of fun, and the minor flaws that it has are imminently fixable. Bring on the alien death spiders!

/Mason

GOOD TIMES

Heh.

AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS #2-3
Written by Mark Andrew Smith and Drawn by Dan Hipp
Published by Image Comics

If you aren’t reading this book, shame on you.

Are you allergic to laughter? Do you only like to read comics that have grim and gritty vigilantes who tear off the genitals of evildoers? Will you only buy comics you can finish reading in five minutes or less?

If so, then I cast even more shame upon you.

Since its early issues, AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS has managed to do the one thing that most comics completely fail to do, which is show steady improvement in both the writing and artistry departments. Of course it helps when there’s actually something worth building on from the start, and AJB was quite the amusing little piffle from the start. However, as we’re into a second volume (and therefore about eight issues), now the boys are firing on all cylinders.

Let me count the ways: first, we discover why Stevo only speaks in pictographs: he’s half Yeti. We even get a Yeti sex scene, which disturbed by buddy Beaucoup Kevin (I think he dated a really hairy chick once and hasn’t gotten over it), but got a huge laugh out of me. Then there are the vampire robots. The ghost Mexican wrestler who appears when the team summons him. The Beatlemania spoof. The phony ads the boys create and stick in the middle of the story. And the way that, even with all the broad comedy going on, there’s still plenty of gags both in the character interaction and in the expository captions.

So many comics barely scrape by in the race to actually be worth their cover price, but AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS is never lacking in value. Smith and Hipp are a finely tuned comedy machine, doing work that they can truly be proud of. Do yourself a favor and check out this quiet little gem.

/Mason

SPEAKING OF THAT HOWARD GUY…

He has a new book out.

BLACK HARVEST #1
Written and Drawn by Josh Howard
Published by Devil’s Due

As Howard puts it himself in an accompanying essay, he hasn’t stretched too far away from what brought him to prominence to begin with: cute girls and gratuitous violence. And why should he? When you have a winning formula, you don’t piss it away pointlessly.

This time around, we have a bit of a UFO/conspiracy tale. A blogger/reporter decides to make his next story the town of Jericho, Texas, where each fall strange lights appear in the sky for six nights and then vanish. Their origins are a mystery, but when our reporter shows up, the mystery deepens. As he drives into town, he hits a young girl crossing the road. The odd part? She’s been missing and presumed dead for three years. Plus, she has the word “repent” carved into her abdomen.

Considered a suspect, the reporter finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that he cannot even begin to imagine. And the deaths are just beginning to pile up…

It took me an entire miniseries to warm up to DEAD @17, but Howard does a much smoother job of making a world the reader can get into with this new effort. The only moment that falls completely flat is the treatment of the reporter by the local cops; in this modern age, he’d be cleared with two phone calls and a lot less attitude, so I just wasn’t buying it. But the rest of the local population feels less stereotypical and forced, giving the book a genial, easy feeling as you read it.

Howard’s art looks sharp, as you’d expect by now, and the book’s got a cover that will grab you by the lapels and start shaking. It’s also more ambitious in scope and size, set for six issues rather than the four that were standard for DEAD. A creator’s next step is always fascinating to watch; so far, it looks like Howard is on solid footing.

/Mason

HMMM

This is a hard one to figure out. Honestly, I’m sure whether or not the reader is supposed to take it very seriously.

DEAD@17 PROTECTORATE #1
Written by Alex Hambyand Drawn by Benjamin Hall
Published by Viper Comics

When last we saw DEAD @17, we had reached the end of the line for heroine Nara Kilday. She sacrificed herself and her immortality so that her best friend Hazy and Hazy’s unborn child could live. Nara’s saga reached over three volumes worth of material, and creator Josh Howard made sure that her story paid off in a satisfying manner befitting the series.

Nara was a very modern heroine, even for a girl resurrected from the dead. There was nothing weak or stereotypical about her as far as the horror genre goes; she was an ass-kicker of the highest order, never a victim, and could at least lay claim to being sort of a proto-feminist figure. Now, however, Howard has stepped aside and allowed someone else to tell a DEAD story, and the series, perhaps by necessity, has taken a complete 180-degree turn in its choice of heroines.

PROTECTORATE introduces us to young Grace, a minister’s daughter who doesn’t realize that her father is involved with some very unpleasant things. The story, set in 1945, adopts a very 40s sensibility in its approach to who she is. Grace is sweet, somewhat naïve, and her ability to survive seems a bit predicated on her ability to find some luck. Oh, and she happens to be a busty blonde girl that spends a decent chunk of the story running around in nothing but a slip of a nightgown.

There was a definitely sexual undertone to Nara’s adventures, but it never felt quite as… salacious as it does here. Hamby’s story seems to be deliberately reaching to remind the reader of a Hammer-era horror flick. That leaves the reader a few questions to address. One, is this the right move?

Certainly, if you’re going to attach the DEAD moniker to another project and play in that universe, you don’t want to keep humping a corpse. You simply must do something a little different, or the readership will grow tired of the property very quickly. The game, then, becomes whether or not you play it tongue-in-cheek, and add an element of cheese to the proceedings as is done here, or you find a different way to introduce Grace (or someone else) as a protagonist. It occurs to me that other avenues, such as making the new girl an 80s pop star (i.e. Debbie Gibson or Tiffany) or perhaps a disco era drug addict might be interesting as well. There are so many directions for the book to go that you could find new ways to play for a long time.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Grace was a safer route to take in keeping the property alive to start. Plenty of readers will be drawn to the snazzy cover of the girl with the big rack running away from zombies in her nightgown, and that might get them over the hump of nervousness about Howard being absent the proceedings. Now, what remains to be seen is if her story plays out as compelling, and if she grows as a protagonist into someone we can really care about the way readers did Nara. And if she can keep interest in the book at a level where even more intriguing heroines come into the mix. It’s a delicate task for a small, but very good, publisher. I’ll be watching very closely.

/Mason

PONDERING THE ETERNAL QUESTION

Why?

SPAWN #150-151
Written by David Hine, Brian Holguin, and Todd McFarlane
Drawn by Angel Medina and Philip Tan
Published by Image Comics

True confessions: I actually bought the first eighteen issues of SPAWN when they originally came out.

Part of that was a reaction to the times I was living in as a comics reader. Back then, the book was selling in numbers to the fanboys that these days would require having a prostitute poly-bagged with the comic. Seven digit numbers pounded the charts, and the character’s creator would go on to become more famous for using some of the money he made by making the best toys and action figures on the market, and for overspending on home run balls. At the time, however, it was purely comics, and even if I didn’t enjoy the book very much, I still picked it up, just to see what Todd McFarlane was doing with his time. He was simply the most powerful man in the business.

But eventually, after some nifty guest creators rolled through the credit box, I turned my gaze elsewhere and let the book go. My time, and my money, were required elsewhere. Occasionally, I would pick up an issue and read through it, and I felt very validated by that decision. The book became hopelessly grim, and the stories began to feel a little thinner on substance and heavier on cool-factor. Todd scaled back his involvement, eventually to the point that it seemed like he had very little to do with the book. And suddenly, Image was kind enough to plop a few issues of the title in my lap for review, so I’m back to being familiar with it again.

However, many of the problems that I described above remained. Overly grim stories. Artwork that didn’t always service the stories well when they had the potential to do something interesting. So with issue #150, McFarlane and company have cleared the decks for a new creative team and approach to the book, looking to see if it can be resuscitated. However, if you’re asking yourself if the new team and direction are any good, then you’re asking precisely the wrong question. The real question is: should the book still be being published at all?

However you feel about Todd McFarlane, you simply have to respect that he did exactly what he wanted to do all those years ago. He took control of his destiny, took ownership of his ideas, and assumed a leadership role in helping other creators do the same. SPAWN, along with SAVAGE DRAGON have become the children who have grown through puberty and become adults. However, with issue #151, Todd’s name no longer appears in the credits. I can’t help but wonder if maybe, with McFarlane stepping further away, it might have been time to put the character to rest for a while, rather than keep the book going in this manner.

That isn’t to say that Hine’s work isn’t readable. Indeed, the storyline here is actually kind of interesting, as a young boy winds up absorbing a piece of Spawn after he’s torn to pieces, and he begins turning into a Hellspawn himself. It’s a fantastic direction to take the horror-aspect of the book, and the first time in a long time that I’ve been sucked into a Spawn story.

But then my brain kicks in again. Says that seeing SPAWN turned into strictly a work-for-hire title now seems antithetical to what the book was originally about those twelve years ago. Merchandise and media tie-ins are still solid business, of course, but the trademark could be serviced by the occasional special or something that McFarlane decided to put together. I don’t know. What I do know is that it is quite a bizarre conundrum to sit here and say that the book is better than it’s been in five years and yet feel like it should have died a peaceful death. That’s why no one ever said reviewing comics would be easy.

Or that it would always make sense.

/Mason

MORE FROM ARCANA STUDIO

Two more books from Canadaland, one that does its job quite well, and one that doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

EL ARSENAL #2
Written by Salvador Vazquez and Drawn by Daniel Perez Sanchez

This is the middle part of what looked to be a promising and action-packed mini about futuristic mercenaries on the trail of a nasty bioweapon. But while the book looks fantastic (Sanchez is an incredible find) and has a number of nicely written scenes, it doesn’t quite hold together as an issue. Instead, it feels more like a placeholder so that the story can get to its climax, rather than an essential piece of the tale.

Of all the risks you run when writing a story with a three-act structure, this is the one that looms largest, especially when your story has an element of chess to it: it needs the pieces in certain spots on the board so you can execute your strategy for the finale. This is precisely what a read of EL ARSENAL #2 gives you. The characters gain information, have sex, change locations, get their ideas formed; the trick is to find a way to keep the pace from flagging, and unfortunately, Vazquez doesn’t quite get there. The pieces are perfectly acceptable, and you get the sense that Sanchez could illustrate the phone book and it would be gorgeous. However, you never quite shake the feeling that issue three is really what the duo want to be working on and that there is some boredom involved on the creative team’s part, alleviated only by some rather frank sexuality.

The other thing that surprises is the lack of actual action. Issue one was very lively, with a zippy pace, and lots of traditional tentpole film moments. But there’s only one brief spot of action here involving two guys shooting at each other in a bar, but it only lasts for a single panel. I get the sense that we must be in for a huge climax with the way this book held itself back. Hopefully, Sanchez and Vazquez will come through and deliver the goods.

100 GIRLS #6
Written by Adam Gallardo and Drawn by Todd Demong

On the flip side, this book delivers the action and plot movement in spades, powering itself up to a dramatic conclusion next issue. Young Sylvia finds the other ninety-five clones of herself and must battle a trained assassin in an attempt to set them free and absorb them back into herself. And hey, isn’t that a bit screwy, considering she’s only absorbed three others? Where’s that hundredth girl, anyway?

This is executed perfectly, first by giving the new reader a non-expository recap of the previous five issues through dialogue and story progression. Then all the pieces for this book fall into place in the exact same manner. There’s no slowdown, no hesitation, just a straight putting of pedal to metal and getting the book firing on all cylinders. It’s surprisingly brutal, as you easily forget that Sylvia is a young teenage girl, and to see her getting beaten up is somewhat disturbing. Yet that is precisely the effect you would want as a creator, because you want the audience to accept your stakes as real.

100 GIRLS ends with issue seven, and right now, I’m not sure if that means that the book will reach a definitive conclusion or evolve into some other form in a second series down the road. Either way, it has done well for itself, and its creative team has grown immensely and should be proud. If there’s more to come, I await it eagerly. If not, I salute it for a job very well done, indeed.

/Mason

WELCOME BACK

No comic started better or went off the rails faster in 2005 than SEA OF RED. The first issue was probably the best debut of the year, but damn, did I lose my happy feeling about the book quickly. Now, the first arc is done, and we’re underway with a second one, and I have to sit here and tell you that I’m out ten bucks. Goddammit.

SEA OF RED #5-7
Written by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer and Drawn by Paul Harmon
Published by Image Comics

You see, Rick Remender was feeling smug. So smug, in fact, that he offered to put his money where his mouth was. Knowing how I had soured on this book, he was so sure that they were back on track that he said he’s send me ten bucks if I didn’t read these and like ‘em.

It sucks to be a man of integrity sometimes.

Because, yeah, the book is completely back on track. Getting further away from the interminable movie plot/fake James Cameron, the book brings Marco the vampire back in touch with the vampirates we met back in issue one, particularly their leader Blackthroat. Secrets are revealed, and we begin to discover that what we saw happen in issue one was really only a surface examination of what truly happened on that pirate ship 500 years ago. It makes a world of difference to put the modern characters into the background and put the focus back onto what made the book interesting to begin with.

There’s a new artist this arc, Paul Harmon, and since he uses layouts from Dwyer, as previous artist Salgood Sam did, there’s a pure consistency to the storytelling. The first issue is a bit rough as far as keeping the characters differentiated well, but Harmon shows improvement over the next two episodes.

SEA OF RED, with this shift in arc and approach, has achieved a nice unpredictability to it. With a concept this rich, there’s no reason that this book can’t be one of the best book son the stands each month. If Remender and company can maintain what they’re doing now, they’re well on their way.

/Mason

I MISS NIBBIL, BUT…

Gosh, but Colleen Coover comics make me happy. I read ‘em, and I swear I hear Tony The Tiger saying, “They’re grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!” in the background.

BANANA SUNDAY #3-4
Written by Root Nibot and Drawn by Colleen Coover
Published by Oni Press

Poor Kirby. Such a sweet girl, but she has some unusual circumstances in her life. She’s the new girl in her school. The most popular girl has it out for her. She’s crushing hard on Martin, but their lives may be too crazy to ever get the two together. And oh, yeah, she’s brought with her to the new school three talking monkeys that are taking classes with her. That makes puberty just a tad more difficult, you know?

It’s always hard to go wrong with monkeys, no matter what you do, and when the three are as hilarious as the ones Kirby is saddled with, you’re definitely on the right track. Plus, and this is so important: I haven’t seen the first two issues of this series, and there’s no front cover recap, yet I was still able to follow what was going on with complete ease. Do you realize how rare that is these days? A comic that’s new-reader friendly without needing to read an essay before you start? Wow. That’s just one of the many things that charmed me immensely about BANANA SUNDAY.

Because, you know, there’s that art by the aforementioned Miss Coover. She’s swell. From the first time I cracked open her wonderful SMALL FAVORS, I was hooked on her amazing talent for simple storytelling, appealing characters, and cute girls. Turns out she can draw a man primate as well. If she can hand-make donuts, I might have to ask for her hand in marriage. Root Nibot’s script is whimsical and full of crisp, clever dialogue that adds zip to the tale. He also finds ways to keep the plot grounded in understandable themes, so that the monkeys don’t completely outshine Kirby and her travails.

I read this book with a huge smile on my face, which is really just about all you can ask for when you crack the cover on any new comic. So cheers to BANANA SUNDAY, and fingers crossed for a sequel to come soon.

/Mason

A SECOND OPINION

This book has sort of vexed me from the start. The writer is a guy whose work has run hot and cold for me since I first saw his name in a credit box. The artist is someone whose work I have hated with a passion since I first cracked a cover that held it behind it. So to say that I’ve not been overly receptive to this title would be undercutting it a bit.

GODLAND #5
Written by Joe Casey and Drawn by Tom Scioli
Published by Image Comics

So, once again, I sat down with an issue of this title to see if I could get it to penetrate past my built-in prejudices, and for the first time, there was real movement for me. Go figure. I think it started with the actual content of the story, at least as far as the characters go; yes, there is a huge dollop of the fantastic here, with wacky villains, aliens, castles and such, but at heart, GODLAND slowed down and became a story about something else: the feelings of loneliness and bitterness felt by Neela Archer at how her brother’s powers have destroyed what she had created as her life. That’s something I can get behind, an emotional truth that forces some introspection and movement in the character’s arc. I tend to believe that Casey can get bogged down, falling in love with his big ideas, but here he curbs that, and delivers a story that works.

That left my traditional struggle with Scioli’s art. Look, I understand that pretty much every artist working is in some way cribbing from the style of an artist who came before him or her. It seems like you can’t throw a pencil without poking out the eye of someone who’s aping Neal Adams. What bothers me is when there’s no attempt to deviate, such as Scioli’s pure homage to Jack Kirby. It knocks me out of the story, even if it’s well executed, because I’m constantly aware of it. But something interesting happens in this issue, and I’d like to believe it was purposely done: Scioli shifts in certain spots to aping the work of one of the best Kirby-esque artists who came down the pipe after The King: Herb Trimpe.

In fact, the huge confrontation scene between Adam and Neela is pure Trimpe, showing a direct link to Herb, and yet demonstrating a bit of what Trimpe took from Kirby as he came up through the ranks. It brought an actual smile to my face, which was definitely a first for Scioli’s work.

GODLAND isn’t reinventing the wheel. Not even close. But it is showing signs of gaining some needed character depth, and that’s important. Big ideas, no matter how large they might be, run out. But good characters can last forever. As long as the book keeps that in mind, things will keep looking up for Casey and Company.

/Mason

BOOTY CALL

I loves me some pirates.

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES #2
Written by Dwight MacPherson and Drawn by Mike Fiorentino
Published by Arcana Studio

I had some enthusiasm for issue one of this pirate/horror tale, as I thought it had done solid work in melding the two genres in a fashion that was well thought out and explained with some clarity. Plus, it had the added bonus of reading as very dense; no decompressed storytelling here. So it was with some curiosity to see how MacPherson would handle the second part, as the focus was headed to a different set of characters. Happily, the book passes with flying colors.

In fact, issue two is much stronger that its predecessor. Now, we follow a pirate ship sailing the high seas and in possession of the map to God’s very own treasure, and to the distress of the crew, the captain has been driven quite loopy by possessing the map. Therefore, he finds new sport in murdering his own crew, either by bullet or keelhauling. And you thought your boss was a dick.

What the captain doesn’t realize, though, is that he has a mole in his midst that has plans of his own, and the guy whose brains he splattered to take possession of the map in issue one? Well, he’s been rejected by the afterlife and resurrected as a very pissed member of the walking dead. Whoops.

Amidst this intrigue, we also get some ship-to-ship battling, a flashback to how the relics got buried to begin with, and more. Again, not a decompressed book we’re dealing with here. There’s real value for your yanqui dollar when you put DEAD MEN in your buy pile. Plus, this is one of the nicer looking small press efforts being produced in color; Fiorentino’s art serves the story well, and the paper stock keeps the tones sharp. Can’t wait to see if MacPherson can top himself again next time around.

/Mason

TECHNOLOGY MAKES OUR LIVES EASIER

Click on the AUDIO post above for a spoken-word (and slightly different) take on this review!

FELL #3
Written by Warren Ellis and Drawn by Ben Templesmith
Published by Image Comics

The third issue of FELL is miles ahead of the first two in quality, and considering I was already pretty convinved the book was going to make my top ten of 2005 list over at The Shoot, that's saying something. This time out, detective Richard Fell takes a day off to go buy a suit or two. Good idea considering the damage his clothing has taken in the first two issues.

However, nothing is ever that simple for our hero, and as he walks around Snowtown looking for a place to shop, he discovers just how much the economic downturn has devolved the city into a place where crime and lawlessness have taken root at a level that shocks him. Because no one expects a suicide bomber to show up at a thrift store...

Ellis does an excellent job of continuing to develop Fell's character here. Not only do we learn about him in the way he talks to the other citizens of Snowtown, we also learn about him by the way he doesn't talk to some people. It's sharply executed stuff, ably abetted by the incredible art of Templesmith. The story is driving Snowtown itself as a character, but it's Templesmith who breathes life into it, like a Frankenstein gone mad on cheap wine. It hasn't taken long for FELL to become one of the best comics being published today, but you know what?

You shouldn't be surprised.

/Mason

KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE

A few months ago, Devil’s Due re-launched its flagship title, trimming the core cast and paring away some of the excess baggage that had built up over time. Now, we’re five issues into that experiment. So what’s the verdict?

G.I. JOE #4-5
Written by Joe Casey and Drawn by Stefano Caselli and Nelson Blake

By the end of the last volume of the book, it appeared that the JOE universe was perhaps so overpopulated and over plotted that anyone coming into the book for the first time was hopelessly screwed. Now, that isn’t to say that the book wasn’t readable; it was very readable, but much more so if you had been with it for a while, so the appearance of unfriendliness to new readers was dead on target. The solution was an obvious one: whittle the book down to the characters fans responded best to, and those who could serve other plot purposes, and work from there. Plus, add some new elements besides COBRA to the mix, so that JOE took on a bit more relevance to the real world. Writer Joe Casey was brought on board to do the job, and voila, experiment underway.

The first storyline utilizes one of those new villainous elements: a former militia bad guy buys some nasty tech from a classic JOE baddie and commits a number of horrifying terrorist acts. Perfect. The team must be brought back together, introduced to the new readers, face a worthy foe… exactly what you’d want to do right out of the gate. And early on, it was handled beautifully. There was a reality to the violence and to the plot that really worked. And as issue four rolls around, the Joes are off on a mission to stop the antagonist from putting in motion even more nasty acts of a similar nature. But oddly enough, Casey’s climax falters.

Action-wise, this stuff is good. The ex-Cobra fellow sends the militia guy some assistance, leading to an all-out bullet fest in the skies over the southwest. Cool. But the primary job of stopping the evil plan in motion bogs down, because it’s a technobabble solution, worthy of a mid-level STAR TREK episode. The action for that portion of the story is nonexistent, and worse, extremely difficult to get across from an artistic standpoint. I felt for Caselli as I read it, wondering if he struggled with drawing it.

Issue five is a traditional “clear the character decks after the big mission” piece, and is much more successful, wrapping a nice bow on the initial storyline, and setting in motion Casey’s second arc. Blake steps in for Caselli and sadly suffers in comparison, but that’s no reflection on the quality of his own work. That’s just the business of doing a fill-in job. In all, G.I. JOE remains a well-executed soap opera with a lot of shit blowing up, and if you don’t expect any more than that, you’re in good shape.

/Mason

A CRACK IN THE ARMOR?

One of the best superhero comics being published today has hit a rough patch…

INVINCIBLE #27
Written by Robert Kirkman and Drawn by Ryan Ottley
Published by Image Comics

I love this book. Have from the very start, as a matter of fact. Kirkman’s characters and stories are good, clean fun, and his homage to the great superhero comics of the past has proven time and again to be a terrific antidote to the doom and gloom that Marvel and DC have been offering over the last couple of years. But now, the book is hitting its first real tough spot, and it’ll be interesting to see how Kirkman handles it.

At the core, the problem is really, really simple: there’s not been much in the way of forward movement in this book, nor has there been anything in the way of action. Now, you can get away with a lack of action in a more cerebral book (which this is not), and you can get away with a lack of forward movement in a book with no driving premise. INVINCIBLE is a book that has one of those: a second-generation superhero not only fights for what’s right, but to atone for his father’s turn to villainy. But over the last three issues, the plot has moved exactly this far: Invincible has flown into space to help an alien world facing a horrible death, discovered that his father is still alive, and learns he has a new brother facing death on said world. It isn’t until the end of this issue that the threat finally shows up. And mind you, issue twenty-five was double-sized.

The only action we’ve actually seen over those issues has pretty much come from the supporting cast fighting battles back on Earth. Now, I’m no fanboy, and I like character stuff as much as anyone, but this book succeeds when there’s a balance involved, and right now, exposition is eating INVINCIBLE’S lunch. Making matters stranger, thanks to the crossover with MARVEL TEAM-UP, we have a glimpse of the plot for this book five issues ahead. So you’re left begging Kirkman to step on the gas and get to it a bit, you know?

Don’t get me wrong; as I said above, I dig this book. I’m still completely onboard. And it looks like next issue will begin restoring the balance to the title, and certainly, the cliffhanger is a dandy. But I can’t say for certain how someone picking up the comic for the first time would react, and I’ve really never felt like that was a worry before. So, go get ‘em Robert; the fans are waiting. I have faith that you won’t let us down.

/Mason

HARRIS O’MALLEY, ARTIST…

…Joins Harris O’Malley, writer, on BENEATH THE CRACKS: THE BRIDE, and writer Jens Altmann on BERSERKER: THE WILD HUNT #1-3, both available from Studio Underhill.

BERSERKER is a five-issue mini-series in progress. The story centers on the old Celtic myth of a huntsman who seeks human prey, and Altmann throws a new twist into the mix by setting the tale in modern day. The Huntsman’s targets are those who have lost the will or desire to live, but when the being’s ancient enemy is able to save the life of one of the near-dead, a new sort of modern Viking is created.

I’m a sucker for bringing legend into a modern milieu, so I found myself buying into the story with relative ease, particularly with the Huntsman’s work being investigated as the work of a serial killer. But O’Malley’s work tends to be a little inconsistent, and backgrounds are sometimes non-existent. He does well with character scenes, but the inconsistency is most apparent during action sequences, leaving them lacking in fluidity.

His sparse and spare panel work is much more successful in THE BRIDE, another neo-modern take on an old story. This time, however, it’s the “Bride Of Frankenstein.” O’Malley’s take follows the Bride, set free during a raid in which her Dr. Frankenstein is arrested as a serial killer, on an odyssey through the city as she deals with the remnants of memory belonging to the souls who make up her body. It’s a cold, harsh take that gives us a Bride at the mercy of chickenhawks and pimps in the big city. THE BRIDE is an effectively rendered tragedy of a soul who never wanted to die, and who never wanted to live.

Looking at THE BRIDE in particular, there is definite evidence that O’Malley is slowly grasping the basics of storytelling, and I think with experience, he’ll grow and become more effective at page layout, backgrounds, and portraying motion and action.

/Mason

SEASON OF THE WITCH #1-2
Written by Jai Nitz and Drawn by Kevin Sharpe
Published by Image Comics

Poor Jessica Suddreth. The fourteen-year old high school freshman has everything a girl her age could have working against her. She scrawny, makes poor grades, has inattentive parents, and is the target of the meanest kids in her class. The only thing that gives her a moment’s peace is flying her kite from the roof of her apartment building. But her life takes a sudden and dramatic turn when she is magically transported to a world of magic and placed in a position to follow other legendary girl warriors like Dorothy, Alice, and Wendy. Now, she will be trained as a “Spell Sword,” and sent off to overthrow the terrible tyrant King Elian. If, that is, she can master her craft, and her wildly varying teenage girl emotions.

SEASON is a surprisingly effective and entertaining entry into the genre, and Jessica makes for a very appealing heroine. Nitz does an excellent job of setting up how miserable her existence is in the real world, which allows you to accept Jessica’s decision to stick around in a magical world where she has some power and control over existence with no qualms. Anyone who knows kids realizes that the one thing they crave most is autonomy over their lives. Plus, while the magical world allows Jessica to live as her ideal self (which is taller, stronger, and bustier), Sharpe’s art never feels like it’s exploiting that fact. There are no horrific fan-service shots to titillate the reader, making the book friendly to the audience considered to be Jessica’s peers: young girls.

Nitz also pushes his story along with some alacrity; there’s no decompression at work, just straight storytelling pushing things forward. Along with the fine story work, extra credit goes to Sharpe for some really terrific artwork; his style works just as well in depicting the real world as it does when Jessica crosses over. His stuff is clean, detailed, and effective in interpreting Nitz’ script. SEASON OF THE WITCH is good fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

/Mason

CANVAS #1
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Black Velvet Studios

CANVAS seems to exist mainly to showcase the work of a number of young artists. There’s a science fiction element to the five stories in the book, but none of them really hold up under much scrutiny, particularly because three of them are initial pieces of what would seem to be much longer works. To say that’s risky for an anthology from a small publisher would be undercutting it a bit.

The best-known “name” artist in the book is Eric Canete, and it’s his work that gets the leadoff spot in the book. The stuff printed here is nice, and sharply detailed, but he also contributed the story and let himself down a bit. Nothing here truly gives him the chance to cut loose and display a broad look at his abilities, which is a shame.

To my eye, the best material in the comic comes in artist Byron Penaranda’s work in a story called “The Intergalactic Misadventures of Maizy Martin.” The story is a dialogue-free exercise focusing on a woman who drives a cab for aliens and other types. The story grinds down at the end, losing the reader, but Byron’s art is terrific stuff, showing a grasp of detail, character, and whimsy.

Issue one of CANVAS has a publication date of 2000, but I picked it up at San Diego this past summer. Issues should still be available from the publishers.

/Mason

THE RICK REMENDER HOUR

Starting NaWriRevDa (National Write A Review A Day) month off, a look at a couple of efforts from the fertile brain of writer Rick Remender, both published by Image Comics.

STRANGE GIRL #4
Drawn by Eric Nguyen

Unlike Mark Millar’s higher profile CHOSEN, there actually was a book with religious overtones that stuck to its guns and kept the courage of its own convictions this year. That book was Remender’s STRANGE GIRL. With the biblical rapture as its starting point, Remender took his lead character Bethany down a path that saw her grow from a very young girl to a survivor of the ultimate horror.

There was a delay between the last issue and this one, so it took me a bit of time to get back into the flow of the story, but it came easily enough. The reason STRANGE GIRL continues to work well is that it is founded on a premise that doesn’t restrict itself to a number of rules; Hell is now on Earth. That means magic, murder, mayhem… broad humor… anything goes. That infects the story with a very carefree attitude, and that attitude infects the reader. This issue, we get a much clearer look at how Bethany survived the horror of losing the world at an early age, and at how she survived being eaten or tormented along with the rest of the damned. It’s gripping, brutal stuff, and necessary at this point in the story so we can get fully invested in the series.

Rounding things out is the wonderful work of Eric Nguyen, whose work has never looked better. I’ve seen it written recently that this book needs a sale uptick to keep going, and I encourage those out there looking for something new and interesting to read to pick this book up and give it a shot.

FEAR AGENT #1
Drawn by Tony Moore

FEAR AGENT is Remender’s acknowledged tribute to the gonzo science-fiction comics created by guys like Wally Wood back in the 1950s, and for the most part, it succeeds pretty well. Heath Huston is a futuristic exterminator whose job it is to wipe out nasty alien infestations; in issue one, he’s on the task of tracking down a sort of troglodyte race who have been raiding human settlements and stealing equipment. This being a comic book and not a documentary, it isn’t quite as easy as Huston would hope, and a nasty complication arises in the process of trying to eliminate his prey.

Deliberately retro in its writing and artistic style, there’s a smirking machismo here that soaks through each page. This is the classic approach writ large; the hero is a drinker on Warren Ellis scale, and in love with his completely phallic weaponry. Taking it with the tongue it buries so deeply in cheek, you can’t help but read it and have a great laugh. Nothing here should even remotely be taken seriously.

The one glaring flaw is that, like I did in the above paragraph, the script narration resorts to a few modern phrasings and anachronisms, and they throw you out of the moment. FEAR AGENT’S so immersed in the moment and milieu otherwise that those bits feel false and poorly executed. Balancing that is the long-awaited return of Tony Moore to a substantial work. He’s been mostly AWOL since he exited THE WALKING DEAD, and it’s nice to see his work again, and in full color to boot.

FEAR AGENT and STRANGE GIRL provide a nice balance to the way that SEA OF RED rather fizzled after its opening issue, and are both worthy of your time and dinero.

/Mason

I LIVE!

This blog has been on hiatus for a couple of months, but will be making a very strong and stirring comeback in the month of December.

Issues have been two-fold. One: I've been kind of sick of comics. Never a good thing for a guy who receives and reads a metric ton of them every year. However, there's been a distinct lack of excitement in the medium as of late, and while I've read some perfectly good books (and reviewed them at The Shoot), I haven't had the energy to deal with them. However, last week I sat down with some truly great books, and it energized me a bit.

The larger factor at play in my life, though, has been my participation in NaNoWriMo this past month. Last night, in the space of 29 days, I finished my first novel. 67,547 words worth of it. You want to talk about devoting your energy to something? Wow.

It was one of the most amazing processes I've been a part of in my adult life, and one I'm incredibly grateful for. For those who have the desire and the discipline, I recommend it heartily. It can change your course as a writer.

Here at the Comics Waiting Room, I'm going to attempt to crash through some of the backlog that's accumulated while working on the book. So I am going to try and attempt at least one review a day between December 1st and Christmas. Wish me luck.

And please stop by to read.

/Mason