Talkin Bout Comics

The Long Con: part 1 - An Introduction

2012-01-29T09:08:00.000-05:00

I haven't been to that many comic conventions, and never until relatively recent. I've been to Pittsburgh, and Heroes in NC, and SPX in Bethesda. I only went to Heroes once, but it was with both of my daughters and was a particularly good experience for all of us. We stayed in a nice hotel, we took our Wii with us, we went to a couple Triple D restaurants, went to a movie, shopping, etc. and it was just great. My youngest met and hit it off with several of the creators at Top Shelf, and I got to meet Jaime Hernandez for the first time, and Matt Wagner signed a copy of Mage for me. SPX has been a pretty great show for me as well, and I have gone to it several times, including twice as a volunteer. My youngest went with me as a volunteer as well, and it's a whole different angle on comics. Even if you don't think of yourself as a traditional, or mainstream comics fan, I recommend attending a small press con at some point, and if they take volunteers, you should try it, at least once. The combination of DIY, Small publishers, students and collectives really creates a sort of festival feel. Everyone is accessible, and nearly everyone is excited to just get their work in front of people, and mix with fans of the medium, and even moreso to mix with their fellow creators. If your view of comics is solely Super Heroes from Marvel and DC, then you will either hate it, or it will open your eyes to what else is out there.

Pittsburgh Comicon was my first real comic convention, I went as a way to see one of my best friends from High School, and to meet in person and support a friend of mine that I had only ever met online. I know I have discussed some or all of this previously, but please indulge me. My first experience at a con was awkward. I was giddy, but nervous, and didn't feel comfortable approaching anyone. My friends had more experience than I did, and had some insight to things that was helpful, and I got the courage up to approach one or two people eventually, but mostly I just stared at people from 50 feet away.

I went to Pittsburgh a second time, and took my oldest daughter with me. This was still before going to Heroes with both of my girls, and the presence of one of my kids gave me at least a sort of borrowed courage to approach some people and engage them to some degree. We met Gigi Edgely and Marc Singer, and had a great time eating wasabi peanuts and talking toKristy Bourgeois and the Noses Optional crew. We also stayed for the cosplay roundup on Sunday before we went back home, and that was something that my daughter and I still reference 5 or 6 years after the fact.

This has all been a preface up to this point. This post is a kickoff to what I hope will be a series of posts relating to my anticipation of, preparation for, and ultimately attendance at: Emerald City Comicon 2012, which takes runs March 30 - April 1 in Seattle, WA. I have secured a place to stay and booked my flight already, so it is going to happen. I am very excited about this, and plan to share just about everything relating to it that I can, so we all have that to look forward to, apparently.

Taking Issue - Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

2011-10-14T21:16:00.000-04:00

This issue has sparked a lot of debate. I tend to side with people who have in general been a bit disappointed with DC regarding the treatment of female characters, and the seeming lack of a serious commitment to better representing women in comics, both on the creator side of things, and the character side as well. There are a couple of questions that I kept in mind while re-reading this issue the five + times I have read it so far.
1. What(if anything) is wrong with this comic
2. Is this a bad comic
3.What(if anything) is wrong with the portrayal of Starfire in this comic
4. Who would like this comic

That's not everything I kept in mind, but I have read a lot of the discussions that have been written about this issue, as well as about Catwoman #1, I understand what people have expressed about the issues seeming to scream out that the female character is less important to the creators as a character, or as a woman, than they are as an object of titillation and male fantasy.

I think there is a lot to be said for trying harder, or at all, to put out well written comics that embrace the female characters they contain as full fledged characters, and give them the same sort of respect and complexity that other characters are given, rather than having everything focus on their sexualization and their role in fan boy wet dreams. I am not anti sex or sexiness, but the mechanical cheesecake posing, or the constant focus on t&a and forced emphasis on female characters as sex objects is a problem in my opinion.

That being said(and that barely scratches the surface of my opinions of the misuse of female characters by DC and the top few publishers in general) What about this issue over all, what about this title as an ongoing?

I picked this comic because the premise sounded cool enough. I have no history with Roy Harper, I am most familiar with Red Hood from the Under the Red Hood video and some appearances in Batman and Robin when I was picking that up before the relaunch. Starfire was a favorite of mine from when I was reading the New Teen Titans as a kid, and also, from her excellent re-imagining for the Teen Titans cartoon. I have friends who warned me about Scott Lobdell as a writer, but I am not sure if I have read his work before, so that was not a negative to me, Also, the art looked like it would be pretty good, and I will say, except for the awful Starfire posing, I think the art was pretty great. Starfire is a beautiful character with no problems about showing off her body, but posing her like a stripper just comes off cheesy and a bit cheap.

As far as the comic being bad, or the title striking me as a bad one, I am not willing to say that at this point. I am not sure that I will continue getting this, but this is a relaunch where some liberties have been taken with a lot of characters in a lot of different ways, some not for the better by many estimations. Here is what the comic seems like to me.

I think this comic reads like a modern, somewhat raunchy buddy movie. It has a great deal of the smug smirkiness and kind of fist-bumping frat boy smarminess, wrapped around an initial setup that involves a kind of cool, kind of far fetched prison break and doesn't make you think too hard. I really like Starfire as the heavy hitter in the group, and the boys acceptance/dependence on that is cute. The issue introduces and interesting character named Essence, that must have featured in Red Hood's past, but I haven't seen her before. It was not a bad comic as comics go, It was not even something that would cause the average comic reader with no built in feelings for the character of Starfire, to take much notice or offense to, beyond perhaps the insistence on meaningless sex with her sex partner's buddy.

I think if that is the way that her race is now characterized, then it was necessary to show it. It is character development to play it out. Humans aren't Tamaranians though, and unless the writer takes some time to show the effects that that sort of behavior can have on close relationships and fragile male egos, then I will say it was just a cheap thing to do to excite boys.

So, in closing, This wasn't that bad of a comic. It read a bit too much like a movie, with the posing in the water and all, but it was not without some fun. There are very real issues with DC editorial being oblivious and letting some terrible ideas and attitudes just walk through to print. A lot of people could benefit from reading and learning from the opinions of the folks who took the time to intelligently document their reactions and thoughts about the issue.

More to Comics than comics

2011-07-26T22:27:00.002-04:00

Over at my other blog, with an unfortunate name, I recently posted A Thing about some health issues and things that have been going on with me recently. Mostly it's just about finally trying to have a stake in by my own health and well being. During this same time, Comics have had a place in that mix as well, and I figure since I am not using all of the blank, potential page space I have lying around here to write some sort of scholarly take on Superman's pants and his psychological need to feel like he is wearing armor when his is on the shortest of short-lists of characters that probably don't need armor, I can put a few thoughts down about comics and people, and their intersection in my life.

My LCS - I don't love every single business move my LCS-Owner Makes. I flat out disagree with a number of notions and predispositions he has sometimes, but That guy is a top notch genuine Good guy. I can't fault him on that one bit, nor can I fault his business sense, even if I don't love it. He has navigated a store through a long tough time in a market that has eaten a lot of other stores, and he has done it by being smart and making hard decisions, but making up for the occasional bare shelf with kick ass customer service. Always err on the side of Customer service and genuine friendliness. Twice , recently when I have been trying to get by the shop and have ended up there early, they have seen me, or my Wife, and opened up the store for us. They found out I was having issues and have been asking after me. I walked in and they all came up to me and it was like returning home after an absence.

My Wife - My Wife Doesn't hate comics, but she has no great regard for them other than knowing that comics are a thing I like a lot. She long ago vowed to never go into a comic shop, and broke that vow while I was in the hospital for a week. She sought it out, I think they opened up for her after they had closed, and since I have reduced my pull list, she worked with them to find some good stuff for me to read during my nearly week long hospital stay. I didn't ask her to do this, or expect it, but it really was a nice extra, during a week when I already felt like she was doing too much for me by staying with me nearly 8 hours a day as I just lay in bed. My friend at the shop that I talk to probably more than the owner was happy to help her pick a few he thought I should like. That really meant a lot to me.

Comic Friends: There is an older gentleman at my church that is what I hope to be someday. He's a good person, and he is also a lifelong Batman Fan. We chat in the Narthex about comic series and events, and See each other at the shop sometimes. When he heard from the guys at the LCS asking about me, and saw my name in the church bulletin, he called my wife to see how I was, and to offer to pick up my comics and bring them by for me, or anything else I might need, really.

Comic Friends, Computer edition: I have a lot of friends on Twitter. A vast minority of them I have met in person. Many of them are from a community that formed around a comics related bulletin board, and have real lasting friendships based of of the relationships formed there. I have come to regard these folks as being as real of friends as most people I have known in person for ages. Yes, I am old enough that I have to explain things like that out. It is starting to feel dumb that I still do that. These folks have given me so much advice, encouragement, hope and humour that I can't imagine how I would have gotten through things otherwise. The Relationship I have with these folks is not a comics-centric one, but a great many are exactly the same sort of geek culture, comic-appreciating type of people that I am, and it is nice to be accepted in that kind of environment by good people, wherever they may congregate.

Comics - I have had trouble focusing for a while, and motivating, and staying comfortable, and feeling like doing anything, But comics have still been there for me. I think it's easier for me to read comics when I am not feeling great, or discontent. The visual storytelling is generally easier to grab hold of than solid blocks of text that can seem daunting, or can be a bit more strain on the eyes, Also, right before getting sick I was reorganizing my shelves, and so they have been on my mind and in clearer focus to me lately, so I have gotten a lot of joy out of thinking about the series I have, and want to start, and following along with the impending DC relaunch and the new titles that will be available.

So there's that. Hopefully I can shake this fog of melancholy I've been stuck in and start writing more, again, we'll see. I just wanted to take a second and say Thanks Comics, and all the good folks who find themselves around comics in whatever capacity.

Flashpoint (some spoilers)

2011-06-26T21:47:00.004-04:00

I will state right up front that I hadn't expected to even look at Flashpoint, DC's giant summer event. It is less of a crossover than it is a giant multifaceted event made up of a core limited series and a vast number of mini's and one-shots. It evolved out of The Flash, and the Impetus of the plot is the result of a Flash Villain's diabolical plot to really just shit on Barry Allen's life in the most collossally Meta level possible.

I am not a fan of publisher's giant events. I think they are crass and abusive to the consumer, and most of the time there are scads of crossover comics , minis and one shots that contribute almost nothing important to the story. I am not saying event comics don't produce some terriffic comics, because sometimes they do, but in general I would prefer to have a story told without a lot of filler to make me spend more than I really need to.

Flashpoint drew me in with some interesting plot setups. Some fundamental things changed in the world, critical moments in time were altered just enough to produce outcomes drastically different from what we knew to be true. This creates the elseworld to end all elseworlds out of 'reality' In the new configuration Atlantis and Themyscira are at war with each other and the world. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are ruthless warmongers fighting for control of the erth. The Atlanteans have flooded Europe and The Amazons have taken Great Britain. Gorrilla Grodd has Conquered Africa in an awful and brutal campaign against humanity. Amazons, Apes and Atlanteans, the world is in the crapper without ever leaving the A's.
The main series focuses on Barry Allen in this situation, realizing that this is indeed his world, tampered with, rather than an alternate universe or anything, and the mini series' being released at the same time address a lot of what-if's and where are they nows.

Some of these are
What if Bruce Wayne was killed in Crime Alley and Thomas Wyne became Batman
In a world where Superman was held by the government and never became a hero, what becomes of Lois Lane
What if DeathStroke the Terminator was a pirate vying against the Warlord for control of the high seas over a newly flooded Europe.
and tons more, focusing on characters from Abin Sur and Shade the changing man, to Kid Flash and the Flying Graysons.
I think this works really well. Some of the titles are a little heavy on brutality, but especially for people who Love the characters and their histories, etc., it is fun to see who they would be changed based on tweaks in the timeline. I'm not sure where this will stand ultimately as a comics event, but it has made for some fun reading so far. It is pretty neat as a sort of exercise . It is also sort of funny that this comes just prior to the relaunch of the DC line. I think it shows hope for the future. It is possible to change and tweak popular characters and start them in a new environment without losing the things you love about those characters. Good writing is the thing that gives you a lot of leeway when it comes to trying new things. Flashpoint works way better than I had expected, an I look forward to seeing what the fall brings as well.

Free Comic Book Day

2011-05-07T12:53:00.002-04:00

#FreeComicBookDay #FCBD - You probably aren't seeing this if you don't already pay attention to comics at least a little, but on the off chance you got here via a search, or you don't know the significance of today, here is the deal:

Free Comic Book Day is an extremely cool comics industry wide event where comic creators and publishers and shops work to get a variety of free comic book offerings out in front of the public to promote the industry and to welcome new readers, collectors, enthusiasts to the joys of comics.

Many stores participate, and some have specific rules as to how many free comics you can get, but many are happy to have you stop by and pick up what you'd like from the specific selection of free comic book day comics they have.

There are a great number cof comics in various genres, but comics for kids, and all ages are plentiful, and comics featuring characters they may recognize from movies and tv and games are also readily available, so it is a great time to introduce a young person you know to comics.

It is also a perfect opportunity as an adult to get an introduction to comics and comic shops, and to see the great variety of people who enjoy comics as well. Some stores have special sales or contests, etc., but not all.

On a local note (southern MD, Charles county-ish) I went to two stores, as I am here to visit my Mom for Mother's day tomorrow. House of Pop Culture had a great sale in addition to a take what you'd like to read FCBD policy, and a large selection of comics that are a buck apiece or 10 for $15. Comics MD had a slightly smaller selection with the same policy, a big pile of $1 trades and at least 20% off most things in the store.

If you see this, and it is still a reasonable hour on 5/7/2011, you owe it to yourself to get out and take advantage of this celebration of comics.

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

2011-05-02T20:30:00.007-04:00

This book is making it hard for me to review it. I will start with the easy part and finish with the stuff that is giving me trouble from a review standpoint. Robot Dreams by Sara Varon is a dialog free comic. I love how this book looks and feels. It is a First Second book, so I am not surprised at the quality.

I was not really familiar with Sara Varon before I brought this home from the Library. As it stands, I now have a strong desire to read everything she has done. I think I like every single panel in the book. She certainly conveys a great deal in the nearly wordless pages. She also has created a book that doesn't rely on anything overtly negative or malicious. The inhabitants of the world this takes place in are all animals, and they are all depicted without cruelty or hostility in them. The story is a simple one, and it doesn't preach or moralize. It also makes very clear that reading and libraries are two extremely important things. When the dog needs to find a beach to go to, they hit the Library first. When they need to figure out how to repair a robot, they look in the Library first. It also shows us the benefits of various transit methods like the bus or Taxis. I really like that we get panel space for those things.

Check out Sara Varon's WebPage for more about her and her works.

Ok, here's the thing. Sara Varon is a heck of a story teller, and I genuinely do like every panel of her work, I really think the art is darling and the storytelling masterful, and the feelings of her characters convey right through the illustration and are touching and charming. All that being said, I hate the story and think it's an awful story. I yelled at the book when I was done. As if it was it's fault the story was awful. Here is my take on the story:

A dog orders a build it yourself Robot, makes a friend out of it. Does really nice things for it and with it, including going to the beach. The Robot swims and ends up rusted and immobile. The dog completely abandons the robot on the beach. The dog returns maybe a day, maybe a month later and the beach is closed, so despite seeing the robot right over there.. he leaves and starts on a quest to find new friends, leaving robot to lay there alone with his fantasies, etc. with no hope for rescue. At one point while robot is scavenged from in a way grossly disproportionate to the needs of the person who scavenged off of him. Jump to the end of the book, and dog just buys and builds a new robot. Old Robot has been found by a cool guy who makes him into a walking and dancing radio of a robot. He sees his old best pal walk by with his new robot, and plays music for them to hear, but they straight up ignore him and walk by. THE END

Please also note that the dog who abandoned the robot because of rust, easily carried him when he first arrived in box before assembly, and later carried the second robot the same way. Somebody doesn't value friendship or the feeling of others over the need to never be even mildly inconvenienced I guess.

The other thing about the story that gets my attention is how the plot is summarized in different places. The creator has the best and most accurate blurb about it, and then the publisher has some misleading notions that it posts, and I saw others commenting on it referring to it in ways that make you wonder if the read it at all.

So, In closing, I certainly liked a whole lot of stuff about a book whose story is on my Nixon-Style enemies list. Also, if you close one eye and read it in a different frame of mind than perhaps I did, you could see it as a story with a number of triumphs in it, a sort of survivors story, are one of winning through patience and perseverance.

Small Press Expo 2011

2011-05-02T08:52:00.003-04:00

Small Press Expo will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 10 and 11 this year, once again at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland. I hope you appreciate that I am posting about this early enough for you to start saving your money. This is a show that you can enjoy without spending much. but it presents an opportunity to sample a great deal of small press and independently produced comics. It has also had some pretty great programs in the past, Including features involving cartoonists such as Jaime Hernandez, Carol Tyler, and Bryan Lee O'Malley (To name a few sessions I personally attended and enjoyed).

This years lineup of special guests includes a pretty diverse group of creators as you can see from the Flyers I have attached here from the SPXPO site. (Craig Thomson and Dustin Harbin respectively). The artwork, flyers and posters that are made for SPX are always pretty awesome, and these are no different.

Write-ups for this year's guests can be found at the Exhibitors and Guests page on the SPX site. This year they were written by volunteers. I wrote the blurbs for Jim Rugg and for Johnny Ryan. I have been a big fan of Rugg's since I picked up Street Angel from him at a Pittsburgh Comicon a number of years ago, before it was in trade paperback form. Despite loving his work, or maybe because of my love for his work, my blurb is a bit drier than I had hoped it would be, as I didn't want to break down into blathering about just what a great guy he seemed like, and how interviews done with him are some of the better comic related discussions you could want to read. Not wanting to turn a little blurb into an editorial love-fest, I went with a cut and dried approach and it is boring but respectful.

I felt a bit more comfortable being a little looser with the Blurb for Johnny Ryan. Up to the point of asking to do his writeup, I had only read one issue of Angry Youth Comix. I had wanted to become more familiar with his work, so I asked to write it and then bought at least one trade volume of each of his collected works, etc. Given the nature of his work, it made it feel a bit easier to joke while still being respectful of a cartoonist that really knows what he is doing.

It was fun being a part of this build up to the main event in the fall. SPX is a fun event to volunteer at, in addition to being one of my favorite comics related events in general. There is a large selection of wildly varied material, and behind nearly every table is someone that is genuinely excited about being a creator and getting their work in front of people. If you haven't been to it, you really should give it a shot. If you are a fan of comics and comics creators, then this is something that can really rekindle enthusiasm for those things. For the past several years I have gone and I have volunteered, and each year I leave the event having met some really awesome people at all levels of the comics experience.

Copper by Kazu Kibuishi

2011-05-01T09:08:00.003-04:00

I was not familiar with Kazu Kibuishi's web comic Copper before I saw this book in the library. I knew him from the Flight Anthologies, and am a huge fan of his Amulet series, so I recognized his style on the cover before I read his name there.

I like the strips that are in here. They are single page affairs, but sometimes are connected to other pages and sometimes not. The setup for the strip is basically Calvin and Hobbes, but that analogy only goes so far. There is a boy named Copper, and he has a dog named Fred. They have adventures and hang out and play games and set themselves adrift in the world. Sometimes there exploits seem to take place in the real world, sometimes in fantastic worlds, sometimes dystopian worlds, and sometimes in dream.

Kibuishi's art is beautiful. It is stunning and colorful and shows clearly the wonders and beauty that Copper is so taken by. He sees beauty and takes time to look at it. He is a master of creating lush but bleak landscapes. I am not sure how else to describe what he does in many of the pages. There is a bleakness in some of them, mixed with a sort of beauty and detail. The strips range from clever or funny to melancholy and somewat cynical.

I enjoyed reading the book. It made me chuckle and it made me sigh. Certainly worth looking at online to make your own decision. It is on Kibuishi's website.

Castle Waiting: Volumes One and Two

2011-04-17T09:11:00.002-04:00

I borrowed the hardcovers of Castle Waiting volume one and two from my local library. I own the paperback volume one, but reading both in hardcover was kind of nice. I had difficulty setting the books down once I started, and honestly loved both of them pretty much completely. When I was re-reading EB White's books to my kids as they were groing up, Stewart Little was my favorite, and the character stays very present in my mind, as he was an example of decency, and also kind heartedness. For being more or less a mouse in the world, he was fallable and capable of self defeat, but really, again for being what he was, embodied humanity as I could identify with it, and as I liked to think it could be. This is what Linda Medley has captured and conveys in the characters she has created in her books. Even if the characters are not all entirely human, there is a real decency and humanity in so many of them that it has the ability to just about bring tears to my eyes.

Linda Medley's art is clean and thin lined and very clear and easy to follow. Her settings and architecture are perfect, and her expertise with facial expressions has her rightfully recognized as one of the all-time greats in that particular skill. I think of her in the same way I think of Jaime Hernandez and Terry Moore with regard to conveying thoughts and feelings through their character's faces.

Castle Waiting starts with a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Stories are a primary focus of this series, and it opens with a story that at least so far, gives us the main base of operations for the primary focus of the series, and it also gives us a handful of characters. If Castle Waiting is about stories, it is equally about characters, as characters are the heart of the stories. There is less traditional 'action' in Castle Waiting than you might expect for something that owes so much to Fairy Tales, and seems to have evolved out of such a great love of them, but it is replaced with character development and backstory filling up even the most seemingly still and reflective or insignificant of pages.

After the Sleeping Beauty story is told, we move focus to Jain, who we first see fleeing presumable domestic abuse and setting out on her own to seek an almost mythical sanctuary known as Castle Waiting. Jain exhibits a lot of fairy tale characteristics herself, and gets into situations that should go much worse for her, but always seem to work themselves out with kindness or storytelling, etc. She eventually makes it to Castle Waiting, which is the castle of the kingdom from the Sleeping Beauty story. Remaining there from the opening piece is a trio of Ladies in Waiting who are now very old ladies, and a small demon that always seems to be around. They people of Castle Waiting operate it as a sanctuary for anyone who needs it, and they all need it themselves to some degree.

Jain is pregnant, and has her child at the castle, and ultimately the book turns to the story of Sister Peace (Warren), a sister of a very unique order, who seems to always know what people really need. Her story is again, filled with relatively little real conflict, although there is a good bit there, the focus is on the good people trying to live their lives. The stories are very much the sorts of things that go on just off the page in fairy stories, combined with a sort of modern sensibility of feminism and human nature, and good people looking out for good people.

The Second volume contains a lot of coverage of what goes on when visitors come to the castle with ties to some of the other residents, and are inlisted in helping Jain and her baby move to different living quarters. It is slice of life, but there is more going on than just day to day. You continue to get stories, and you continue to wait for resolution to a variety of questions that have naturally come up since the story began. In my opinion that is just fine with me. I am not impatient about the lack of resolution. The word WAITING is right there in the title. This is not an action story, this is a story that celebrates the need for stories as much as the need for people to have a safe place to live, and caring people to interact with. There is a great deal of sweetness in this, but it is mixed with mischief and wonder, and a sense that if you look hard enough you will find that you aren't alone, and that you don't have to suffer for your differences as much as we are lead to believe sometimes. These books are a treasure, and I highly recommend them. There will be plenty of people who will surely hate them as much as I love them, but there are books out there for them as well.

Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural

2011-04-12T10:51:00.006-04:00

Doctor Voodoo has always been a character that I thought was cool. I am sure I have always felt that way, but I am not sure that i ever really read anything with him in it when I formed that opinion as a kid. I was excited about this series when it started, and I am pretty sure I picked up the first issue. I don't think any subsequent issues actually made the shelf at my LCS and that was that. Fortunately for me it is available through Marvel Digital Unlimited and I got to read it recently. I wish that it was more than five issues, but it as a complete arc and has an awful lot going for it.

Rick Remender wrote the series, which involves a plot by Nightmare to undo reality, and Jefte Palo turns in an amazing job with the art. Combined with Stunning covers by Marko Djurdjevic, this comic has everything you could want. In addition to always thinking Brother Voodoo was a cool character, I absolutely LOVED Nightmare When I was a kid. The story pretty much turns into Jericho and Daniel Drumm vs. Possessed versions of everyone else in the Avengers, etc. We get good back story on the brothers, and a pretty fun main conflict. I wish I had subscribed to this title, and I wish it was still running. Even occasional mini's of it done with the same team would be welcomed.

daytripper

2011-03-25T21:31:00.003-04:00

I recently went on a multi-day online spending spree and a week or two ago got a couple boxes of trades in the mail. Ok, it was probably ten or eleven books, but they did come in multiple boxes, so I'm not exaggerating all that much. Most were highly discounted, and titles that I didn't want to miss at a really good price, but I also ordered daytripper because it was a title I had heard good things about and really wanted to read. Based on the creators I was pretty sure I would like it, and I wasn't disappointed at all.

daytripper is written and drawn by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. It is about a man and his life and his relationships. It's about being a writer, it's about being in your father's shadow, it's about being your mother's little miracle. It's about experience and dreams and family and friends. It's about mortality and what we leave behind. In the story, Every chapter covers a different important event in the life of our protagonist Bras de Olivia Domingos. The chapters are not exactly in chronological order, and every one of them ends in his death and subsequent obituary.

This was a very moving book. The art is beautiful, and it is populated with realistic people and realistic events. Despite having the main character repeatedly die and seemingly keep right on living, this is not played off as fantasy. There are dream elements in this, but conveying the dream is less of the point than conveying the reality.

To me, the art and the setting for this story are so intimately done, that despite it being a pretty exotic locale for me (Brazil), it comes across as beautiful, but very realistically portrayed. It's the protagonists home. The locations are what they are because that is where he lived, that is where he traveled to.

Excellent book. It has a very literary feel to it. It seems like it is another good example of comics that really elevate the medium. It feels like a foreign film to me. What you see is universal, and makes you think, but it is in a way that doesn't skew so much to the mainstream, doesn't deliver what you are expecting.

Marvel Digital, Thor, and Devil Dinosaur

2011-03-21T22:50:00.007-04:00

Not too long ago I renewed my subscription to Marvel Digital Online . I had subscribed to it a while back and then under-utilized it. There was a decent percentage off for a year subscription that made me feel I should give it a chance again. Really, despite its shortcomings, the fact that I didn't take advantage of it previously was completely on me. That, and the fact that I saw a number of runs I was interested in reading, or reading again as is the case with Thor, made it easy enough to jump back in. I have access to a lot of good comics for just over the cost of most Marvel single issues. Yes, this is basically a countdown until I lose interest again, but my intentions are always the best in the beginning.

The Mighty Thor
I started with Thor this time. I was very interested in re-reading More of Walt Simonson's historic and acclaimed run on the title, and revisiting Beta Ray Bill, a character that I was very much on the fence about when I was reading the series originally around my freshman year in High School. I added a LOT of Mighty Thor to my 'Must Read' list, and started with issue 337. In this Issue, Thor is called upon by Nick Fury to investigate an alien spaceship on its way toward Earth. When Thor gets there, he finds his near match in the form of the ships guardian. Due to misunderstandings regarding motives, they end up fighting as enemies. Thor accidentally turns into Donald Blake and loses, losing Mjolnir in the process. Even worse, due to the Hammer's loophole about worthiness, and Beta Ray Bill's character, we end up with an Alien Thor. In this re-reading, I get it a lot more than I did as a kid. It's a pretty great twist, and it's really well written, and the art is great. I am looking forward to reading a lot more of Simonson's Thor.

Devil Dinosaur 1-9 - Written and drawn by Jack Kirby
I have this thing about Jack Kirby. I have a lot of respect for the man. Growing up, I didn't think I liked him, while at the same time (I now realize) absolutely loving a great deal of his work. This has made me reluctant to say too much about Kirby here. I decided that I wanted to start getting a better feel for the stuff of his I didn't think I liked, by actually reading a good bit of it. Hopefully I will eventually bring myself up to the level of the average person who has ever liked a comic, in regard to my regard for him. His distinctive style was never my favorite, and I didn't understand his having things that looked really similar in concept at both Marvel and DC, and I really got my strongest feelings for comics reading and collecting New Teen Titans and a number of very clean, more realistically drawn comics I guess, so it took me a long time to be able to really get art that had stylized elements, etc.

I know this goes back to when I was little, and I have mostly broken free from it. I can judge different styles based on their differences, their effect, and all sorts of things that can be conveyed in any number of wildly different ways through comics. Really, what I am saying here, is that I am not 10 anymore. I am over thirty years, not ten. This shouldn't be so difficult for me, right?

I searched Kirby, I wanted something I had very little experience with, and so I went with Devil Dinosaur, which came out around 1978. I am not sure I saw this comic when I was little. This may have been one I would have loved. In 9 issues, you get a red T-Rex, which is decidedly more bad ass than even the most bad ass of his non-red peers. You also get Moon Boy, who serves as our creepy little furry everyman, and who would be easy to identify with as a kid. I sort of hate him, but there is some necessity for him that would be hard to get around without making the dinosaur at least think, or become the bad guy in the book. You get alien robots, giants, giant ants, lots of dinosaurs, small folk, killer folk, a witch, time travel, everything you could ever want from a comic. The art is furious, the color is vibrant and lovely. The dinosaurs are fearsome and danger and peril is conveyed in every line. It was a more enjoyable and entertaining comic than it was a particularly good one. I think that is a fair enough exchange.

Moon Boy and Devil bond and grow up as brothers. He reminds me a bit too much of Chaka from Land of the Lost, so I have trouble liking him. He is brave though, and cares about his 'Brother". Devil is fearsome and very smart. The scenarios we are given are not just bad guy rolls into town and the dinosaur fights him, motivations vary, a few other heroic characters pop up, etc. It is a fun read if you enoy feeling like a kid when you read comics.

Plus the old school flowery language in it is kind of funny
...
And Thus Endeth The Chronicle

SPX Revisited: Kevin Days a Week

2011-02-06T10:11:00.003-05:00

My goal is always to get something written about an event, within a week or so of the event. With the Small Press Expo, I would love to get a nice report written, mention what I got and my general feelings about the event and who I met, etc. within a few weeks of the event. I did some of that, sort of on schedule. I kept putting this review off because of general anxiety based procrastination and the fact the the book is so chunky I wasn't getting through it very quickly. A lot of things I picked up last year were a bit longer than standard mini comic fare. SPX is not exclusively a mini comic expo, but I do sometimes define it that way when thinking about it.

I picked up Kevin Days a Week: Book 3, 2008 -2009 from Kevin Burkhalter. Burkhalter has a journal comic posted online at kevinsjournalcomic . It is a very nicely done Journal comic. Each day gets 4 panels. This translates beautifully into fat little square volumes filled with a year worth of daily goings on. I picked up the third volume as my introduction to the comic as I learned at SPX that an artists most recent project is usually their favorite. I often ask people to recommend a volume, or let me know what they think their best work is, etc. When the nature of the comic doesn't require you to start at a #1 to get it or enjoy it.

I recommend checking out the online comic. Start at the earliest stuff, but be sure to click through it and watch Burkhalter's progress as an artist. I don't know that everyone shares my enthusiasm for Journal comics, but I love them. There are certainly things out there that have been overdone, but as long as there is honesty and insight in the comic, I am probably going to like it. I tend to feel like an outsider, and seeing other people's lives and idiosyncrasies is helpful and enjoyable to me. I also think, that if done right, you end up with things that can be more unique than even the most original 'new idea' for a super hero comic, or detective story, etc.

A ton of people are featured in the daily happenings, and in pretty much every instance they are identified. I get excited when I see people in the panels that I have met at SPX. I also like that in addition to so much of the journal being in and around SCAD, there is also a lot of 'action' taking place in Virginia, which gives me more things to identify with.

Burkhalter is a pretty terrific cartoonist, and it really is interesting to see just how much a style can change and refine after years of doing daily journal comics. His earliest panels that are posted are very good, and work just fine, but following those through to the most recent postings is really just incredible. Check out his work and enjoy

The Cape (TV Show - Spoiler Warning)

2011-01-10T12:27:00.002-05:00

We watched the premiere 2 hours of The Cape on NBC last night.It was less of a 2 hour premiere than it was a one hour premiere and first episode shown back to back, in that the story in the first hour wraps up, and a new plot line comes up for the second hour. There is continuity of course, and it worked just fine for me as I like getting 2 hours of a new thing right up front. This way we got the origin, and some development as well.

The Cape, as far as I know, is an original TV property, which is good, as it allows for none of the fan ranting that a character is being portrayed wrong, etc. that you get from properties that were comics first, or otherwise have an established run of some sort. It is VERY much in the style of superhero comics, and fortunately it has a sincere golden age vibe to it without being a deconstruction or a camp heavy send-up of the genre. It has a sincerity to it and also a good amount of humor and fun in its execution and character personalities and their interactions with one another. What was good about this show is very similar to what I find appealing in the Fox show Human Target. There is action and adventure, but there a compelling characters, and decent character interaction, etc., without coming off as too heavy or dark, but also not too light or campy. It is a nice balance.

Here are the basics:
The show takes place in the fictional 'Palm City'. Good cop, former soldier Vince Faraday (David Lyons) is our hero. He is on a police force that not only has a good bit of corruption, but one that is also on the verge of being privatized by a giant security firm called ARK, which is run by billionaire Peter Fleming (James Frain). At the beginning of the show, a new, good police commissioner is being sworn in/introduced, whatever, and he is killed with a new sort of explosive device right under everyone's nose, and with Faraday overseeing the security detail on the commissioner. The crime was committed by the masked murderer known as Chess. Later, Faraday's friend on the force suggests he join ARK prior to the firm taking over the police, and that way he can be in a good position, etc. Faraday gets a message from mysterious covert blogger Orwell, who routinely exposes corruption in the police and government. The message points him in a direction to uncover the truth about Chess and the explosive used to kill the police chief(or whatever he was). Faraday goes all good cop and pokes around, finding out that ARK is smuggling the explosives in other products. His friend betrays him, and Fleming, who of course is also Chess, sets up Faraday as being Chess. Faraday flees and seemingly gets killed in an explosion, but is actually taken into custody by a group of circus folk and performers who rob banks as The Circus of Crime.

At no point so far in the show are you winked at. Yes, if you over scrutinize, some of this will seem ridiculous, but it is done in a way that lets you stay immersed, and doesn't take you out of the story so much that you start nitpicking or worrying over those things. Circus of Crime is a pretty awesome thing, and certainly a well used device. I get a golden age feel to it as you have these sort of exotic mentors and a well trained hero that is based firmly in good. He works with the circus, and helps them commit crimes, but they establish that their crimes will be against ARK and Fleming, so it works with Faraday's need to avenge himself because of him.

Max Malini (Keith David) Is a standout in this as a master illusionist and sort of curator of the craft who has turned to crime, but not abandoned showmanship in the least. Once he signs on to help Faraday, he provides him with a special one of a kind pure spider silk cape with a weighted hem, etc. and overseas his training in all of the great super hero friendly circus disciplines. He arranges a regimen of instruction in fighting styles that favor a cape, as well as cape based disappearing illusions and hypnosis, etc. Some of these at the hands of other circus folk. There is no sense of time in the training montage, but at the end of it all he becomes The Cape, a shadowy figure who uses stealth, escape, and a cape that acts like a whip in many ways to thwart crime and get at The man who separated him from his wife and son (since he is considered dead, but would put them in jeopardy if anyone discovered he was alive.)

Comics, in particular a comic called The Cape, are important in this story. He gets the idea from the comic book that his son likes, and that he shares a special bond with his son over. They covertly read the comic together at night when the mom is out of the room, etc. I thought that was a nice nostalgic element there too. The idea of a parent and child bonding over comics is a pretty nice on to me. My daughters share an appreciation of comics with me, and when I was little, before I started getting comics with adult themes and art in them (Love and Rockets) My dad used to pick up my comics and enjoy reading them as well. I like that it is shown here, and that a primary part of his using the comic character persona is to show his son who he can't be with, that one person can make a difference.

As if I needed more to like about this show, Orwell(played by fan favorite Summer Glau... I saw it written that way somewhere, so I had to use that line myself) is like Watchtower from Smallville, rolled up with Eyes Only from Dark Angel. Very very similar to both in the tech and media/ exposing corruption angle, and the ability to do anything with computers, etc.) Her character is pretty good, but may be a slightly weaker point of the whole setup. We will have to see how it develops.

I am pretty sure I will continue watching this for a while. I really do like all the elements that are brought together. It has so many things in it that are comic tropes without seeming stupid. You see something, or hear a reference Like the secret criminal society the Tarot (which sounds like The Fraternity(from Wanted) and all the other shady organizations named after tarot or chess, etc.) and it makes you smile and nod. It hits a lot of notes, and does it in an authentic seeming way, what I was calling sincere earlier.

The pilot is available online, and I think will air again tonight. It is worth giving a watch if you like super heroes in my opinion.

What I took away from X3 The Last Stand, This time

2011-01-08T21:33:00.002-05:00

I rewatched X3 again today with my daughters. My reasons for this are my own, but I took away two things from this rewatching that I hadn't previously.

1.) I was able to do MST3K running commentary through the entire thing, and it certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the movie (My daughters were able to join in to some degree, and a good time was had by all.)

2.) This is a spoiler if you haven't watched the movie, so you've been warned... At the battle on Alcatraz at the end, as Wolverine is fighting his way toward Jean, this revelation stood out, and once again, my Hugh Jackman loving 16 year old daughter pointed this out... Wolverine has magic pants. His skin, his shirt, everything, is being shredded. His skin is being peeled off, his clothes are gone, except his pants. His pants are there, and mostly unharmed. I for one am glad this was the case, and I am going to assume for the purposes of not accepting any other answer that my daughter is glad they stayed on as well, but they sure did survive, and at point blank range, while the woman was vaporizing everything else around her, his magic pants stayed on.

My Resolution Is This

2011-01-05T12:26:00.002-05:00

In 2011 I will kick all kinds of comic blogging ass.

Or I will post at least once, whichever actually happens. Since my last post I have picked up a number of good comics and some comics I assume will be good. I have, but haven't read, Carol Tyler's second book in the 'You'll Never Know' series. It looks great and I have read some of it. It continues the interesting mix of biography / autobiography / project diary, etc. That the first book had, and i am pretty certain I will have some things to say when I finally get to reading it.

I picked up Locke and Key volume 2 and have already read and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My youngest used some of her amazon.com gift certificate to buy the hardback of Beasts of Burden by Dorkin and Thompson. As beautiful as the comics were, this thing really just glows as a hardback. It is absolutely beautiful, even when depicting gore and grossness. I need to read all the extra material I never had a chance to read as I was picking up the issues.

Happy New Year friends.

Marvel VS DC

2010-11-18T11:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, this isn't really a Marvel VS DC situation at all. I had a Marvel related thing and a DC related thing that I didn't want to do separate posts for. Is that so wrong? Yes, it probably is.

Marvel Digital - I have subscribed to Marvel's Digital service for the past 2 years. A day or so ago I subscribed to the paid Pandora 'Radio' service, and canceled the marvel so it won't renew. Pandora is nearly half of the cost of Marvel, and while it doesn't provide me with conics, it does give me commercial free music that perfectly matches whatever my tastes might be on any given day, and It is easier to use it at work and not get fired than if I am reading comics online all day, which I wasn't.

I think the fact that I wasn't sitting around reading comics online all day is a sign that I wasn't really loving the service. It was never fun to read comics online through Marvel's interface, and the variety and the way comics were updated, and even the available back catalog were not really what I was craving. I want a pay service more like Rhapsody. I used to subscribe to that off and on, and on a whim I could pick a pretty wide variety of artists and listen to a pretty wide variety of their stuff in it's entirety. Yes it was also limited, but there was still the ability to listen to a majority of artists I might have heard about from friends, etc. or read about, whatever. Marvel's digital comics service never gave me that feeling, and in a lot of cases it seemed to withhold the issue I most wanted to read in a series or storyline. Also, I want to read newer stuff consistently if I am paying monthly. Don't give me anything to keep unless I pay extra for it, but do let me read current stuff on a larger scale. It wasn't terrible, but for me it didn't add up to value. If I were rolling in dough I would probably continue it anyway.

DC 75th Anniversary - DC Comics Year by Year
I borrowed this from the library, and it was a joy. It is a big beautiful book, and absolutely fun to read. It is just what it says it is. The book goes year by year since the early beginnings of DC comics, working its way to the present, giving us representative titles with cover shots and news about what characters and storylines were featured, and who the various artists were, and the high points of the era for the company, etc. It was cool to just soak up a lot of little historical details, and get a better feel for the artists and writers involved in the various time periods.

The other cool thing was that throughout the book there were issues featured that I have in my collection (a few from the sixties, and a TON from the seventies.) My copies are generally yard sale finds from when I was little, but that makes it no less cool. I would love to own this book, but probably won't buy it. I would far rather spend my money on trades for things I haven't read. This is an exceptionally fun read, and I recommend giving it a spin if your library has it, or you can borrow it from someone. Once you read it a few times it doesn't feel like something that I would feel a need to have, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love it as a gift if my family reads this...

Pug - Derek McCulloch and Greg Espinoza

2010-09-19T23:02:00.004-04:00

Not long ago I got a an email from Derek McCulloch with a link to a number of pages from his and Greg Espinoza's graphic novel Pug, published by Image Comics. He also gave me an option of getting a review copy if I was interested. I read and enjoyed the pages, and let him know that I appreciated the offer would be interested in reading the whole thing. I knew I recognized his name, and he had mentioned that he has had entries in all 4 Issues of Popgun, which I have done cover to cover reviews of for the first 3 volumes. I went back and read how I had reviewed his work previously, and then it came to me that this was the guy who wrote the Stagger Lee graphic novel that I had liked so well. That made it even more exciting for me since I had really enjoyed that. It turns out I had nothing bad to say about any of his works that I had commented on previously.

I had commented on one of his pieces in Popgun that I thought it was evocative of Brubaker's Criminal. I had said that because I felt that even in an anthology piece we saw solid charicterization and a humanization of the characters that is part of what stands up so well in Brubaker's series, and something that he is recognized for, as an industry standard for crime writing in comics that has real depth and quality. I think that was a good call, and I think it holds up. I think that McCulloch doesn't need me comparing his work to anyone else, as it obviously is his talent, and it stands on its own.

Pug is a good story, and not an unfamiliar one. It has at its core a fairly standard concept. Variations on the theme of a boxer just outside of his prime who has something in his past that casts some doubt on him, and finds himself a bit damaged physically or mentally, and or emotionally have been done. Stories of a boxer approached by the mob to throw a fight have been done. We've seen the woman in a boxer's life unable to stand by and watch her guy let himself be destroyed punch by punch. We have seen the knee breaker with a conscience, but it is a disservice to the quality of the story to suggest that it is really just a collection of things we have seen.

The thing about Pug, is the number of levels it has working within it. Espinoza's art is great. It is clean black and white with good faces and expressions. It doesn't get in the way of a fairly simple story of a fairly simple man who has a lot of decisions to make, but doesn't say a whole lot about them to anyone. The art is used consciously to tell the two parts of the story that are being laid out simultaneously as the book progresses. Slightly different styles are used to set them apart as well as to convey a sense of remembering the past, and even the single page pictures between the many small sections add greatly to the story telling.

The book uses a great mechanic to get everything across. On the cover, before you even open the thing up you have a picture of the main character taking a punch that you have to imagine most people not even being able to get up afterward. There are two stories that are being told simultaneously in the book. One of the stories takes place prior to that punch, and the other one takes place several years after it in the 'present' of 1962. Each piece of the present, starts with a ring girl holding up a round card. Each piece of the past, leading up to a fight that the mob told our protagonist Jake to throw, in which that punch on the cover is thrown, is marked by a page of Jake in his corner, and the designation of Rest Period. Getting these two pieces of his story delivered in that fashion, absolutely make this story in my opinion. It builds everything up, and lets us see who he is and how he got there at the same time.

Jake is a quiet man. This is another thing that has been done. I tend to love 'quiet man' characters. For as big and powerful as he is, and for as many punches as he has taken, he is a good and caring man. He is a man with feelings and concerns, and a strong self consciousness about his own shortcomings, failings, and past mistakes and regrets.

Jake has a girl who is a good woman who wants only for the two of them to have the life together that is within their reach. She isn't judgmental, and she loves him. He has a son. He has a first wife that left him, but not because she didn't love him. There is a lot of character and story squeezed into this 86 or so pages of comics.

I don't want to give the story away. If you want a fuller synopsis of this, they are out there, but that is never what I want to do in my write ups.

I really enjoyed this book, as I think it takes a lot of things that are familiar (which can be a good thing in story telling. We revisit things because they resonate. common themes become a type of shorthand, and it allows you to get into them faster, and it also makes the variations stand out stronger. It gives more impact to the things that aren't the same. Characters are consistent and believable. The end isn't my favorite, and maybe comes a little heavy handed, but it isn't bad. I think for being a picture of a bloody punch, the cover is pretty and really grabbed me. The book is the size of a current comic turned sideways. I don't love that configuration as it makes the book a bit floppy for my taste, and a little hard to keep a handle on. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was a thought I had a few times while handling the book, reading it.

This book is well worth checking out. I am a sucker for this sort of story, and Pug does it right.

SPX 2010 aftermath - where my money went.

2010-09-15T21:33:00.006-04:00

Here is a list of what we picked up at #SPX Small Press Expo this year. My 11 year old daughter Tyler and I have both started our reading, and will have more in depth thoughts on everything, but for right now, this is it:

Tyler's Purchases:

Red Moon (and Red Moon "The Rising") - David McAdoo
Louis: Night Salad (hardback) - Metaphrog
Sugary Serials - free comic - Jerzy Drozd / Mark Rudolph
Owly - Tiny Tales, Flying Lassons, Just a Little Blue - Andy Runton *
*Tyler was a bit disappointed that Andy wasn't able to make the show, but the deals were really good. For 30 bucks she got all 3 books and an Owly Plushy. a copy of the first Johnny Boo by James Kochalka was given to her for free also)She went away happy anyway.
The Baby-Sitters Club 4: Claudia and Mean Janine - Raina Telgemeier
Winters in Lavelle - Kasey Van Hise
Mermin (Issues 1,2,3) - Joey Weiser
Sudden Valley - Get a Job - Jamie Baldwin
In addition to this she picked up a good number of buttons, singles and sets. Button hunting was another thing she enjoyed. She also loved putting them on her bag she was carrying
Red Moon T-Shirt
SPX T-Shirt for volunteering

Rob's Haul

Kevin Days a Week: Year Three - Kevin Burkhalter
Beyond the Canopy: Book 1: Sticks 'N Stones - Jonathan Griffiths
Comics to Make You Go Krazee - David Yoder
It Happened at Work - David Yoder
Diary Comics - Dustin Harbin
The Enquirer (May 2010) - Dustin Harbin (comics newspaper!)
One Year in Indiana #1, 2 - Kurt Dinse
Helium vs Hydrogen #2 - Adam Aylard
Three Word Phrase - Ryan Pequin
Stitching Together - Ed Choy Moorman
More Beer - O'Shell
The Replacements - Jerzy Drozd & Sara Turner
Goodbye Chains - Alice Hunt & Tracy Williams
Desmond's Devastating Dozen - Joe Foo
Last Dollar Comics Fun Pack - JIM8BALL (8bucks for 10 comics, 2 buttons and a little 2x3 sketch. The buttons were spider-man drinking a soda and robots love puppies. The multicolored pen sketch is of the punisher) This was a neat idea.
Carnival Anthology - Curls Studio
Love and Rockets New Stories #3 - Hernandez Brothers
Hey Pais - "Sic Semper the guy" - Paisley the Cat, and the Girl

So that's our list. I will post something about everything when I had time to read everything. If you have a specific take or opinion on any of these, let me know. Having written this all out, I notice some really glaring omissions. There were a number of people I wanted to buy from, and just didn't get back to them, or ran out of movey before I could get to them. I will try to make that up at some point.

SPX 2010 This time with more 11 year old

2010-09-13T20:59:00.004-04:00

This is my third year going to the Small Press Expo #spx in Bethesda, Md. It's my second year volunteering, and my first year to have one of my daughters with me. I talked about the show with her and she was well prepared for it. She knew we would be working as volunteers, and that I had some panels I wanted to sit in on. She had her gameboy, a sketch pad, and a phone(just in case we got separated). When we got there she bought a babysitter's club book from Raina Telgemeir, and another book that had caught her eye (Red Moon), at another booth. Also, she had a very strong desire to really experience the show. She had saved up a good bit of money on her own, and had some ideas as to the sort of things she wanted. She loves comics of all sorts. She's a fan of Manga as well as superheroes, she loved Smile and Scott Pilgrim almost equally, as well as Tiny Titans, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokemon comics, Owly, etc. I love SPX, I think my daughter is pretty awesome, but I still wasn't certain how she would like the show.

I will jump forward a bit and say right now that she loved it. We were there six or seven hours on Saturday, and we went back on Sunday almost exclusively because she requested it. She met and talked to a good number of creators, and spent nearly as much as I did on comics. Her comics purchases will be detailed in another post, just as mine will. I'm hoping I will be able to get her to write down or dictate her take on the things she purchased, but we'll have to see.

From my perspective (and everyone else's I have read) It was a great show. There are so many genuinely cool people at that show, of all styles and levels. The demographic of the show from what I could see was pretty diverse in about any way you can judge diversity. The exhibitors tend to skew a certain age range for the most part, but that's to be expected I think. One thing I think you see at SPX that you don't always see at more mainstream focused cons is a pretty great concentration of female fans and creators. I can't pretend to guess the ratio, but it is something that more people should take notice of. I can't be certain, but I also swear that of the decent number of kids that were at the show, the majority I saw were girls, and I didn't see any of them looking miserable (I am certain there were some kids there that weren't loving it, but I didn't see them.)

I also feel that there were more people there with Comics that might appeal to an all ages, or especially a Young Adult audience. Comics Bakery, Make Like a Tree, Top Shelf, Red Moon, Hey Pais, Metaphrog, a2alien, and more were there with some top notch stuff, and they are just some I am pulling off the top of my head (some of those are the name of the business, and some are the comic I think.) In addition to that, there were a lot of other comics (trades and minis) that if they weren't specifically made with kids in mind were perfectly fine for kids or young adults. The cool part for me was when Tyler (that's my 11 year old daughter's name) Chatted up people at one booth while I was at another, and they had pointed out to her things she might like that would be age apropriate. There were also tons and tons of comics way over her head, or wildly inapropriate for her. Even so, with a moderate application of parenting, she already understood that, and most exhibitors made a point to let me know, or had no issue answering my questions, etc.

Tyler and I got to talk with Raina Telgemeier, which is always nice. She had just read my copy of Smile, and had previously read Raina's first three Baby Sitters Club graphic adaptations. We spent a good bit of time with Jerzy Drozd who is a pretty awesome guy. We had a discussion (all three of us on equal footing) about how cool Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends was, as he drew a great picture of Edwardo from that show for her in her sketch book. I got to meet Jaime Hernandez again, and get the third volume of Love and Rockets new stories before it was on the shelves anywhere. We both got to have a really nice time chatting with the talented creators of Beyond the Canopy(Jonathan Griffiths) and Winters in Lavelle (Kasey Van Hise) (whose tables were next to each other). I'm leaving a lot out, I'm sure, but I am sure I will cover things in other posts.

I am going to end this post now, or I will never get anything posted again, ever. Sorry for running out of steam on this.

Better Bloggers than I - talkin Small Press Expo (SPX)

2010-09-09T11:16:00.005-04:00

I am going to the Small Press Expo (SPX) in Bethesda this weekend. My 11 year old daughter will be with me. I will definitely be there on Saturday. I work a 10am - 2pm shift as a volunteer, but plan to stick it out for as much of the show as I can, and depending on how my daughter handles it (she is a Heroes con veteran) We may go back on Sunday. I plan to attend the Jaime Hernandez spotlight session, because... well because being there and missing that opportunity is just crazy. There are a ton of people I adore that will be there, but I am going to post some links by some bloggers I highly respect:

Rob at Panel Patter has done a week of SPX themed posts. I have put the general link there, so you may have to scroll down if he subsequently posts other stuff, but he has mini comic reviews as well as recommendations of publishers and creators to watch out for.

Eden at Comicsgirl has a series of posts to make your time in the area even more enjoyable (places to visit, restaurants in the area, etc.), but I am linking to her SPX Survival Guide, which offers some great insight into getting the most of of SPX.

Shannon Smith's File Under Other is a great blog for comics outside of the mainstream. He isn't able to go this year, but his post on what he would look for at SPX is a pretty great source of info and suggestions on people and comics to look for while you (the lucky one) get to be there.

Each of these blogs is a favorite of mine. Go for the SPX info, and stay for everything else that's there. Also, for my take on past SPX purchases, etc. check out items with the label spx that are posted here. My twitter is @talkinboutcomx , and I plan to post using a hashtag (#spx), so feel free to look for me, or for my 'day of' tweets. Hope to see everyone in the world there.

EDIT - The twitter tag #spxpo is also gaining steam so I will probably use that as well

the Thursday morning post

2010-09-02T08:37:00.003-04:00

I picked up Birds of Prey #1 yesterday. I know that most anyone else probably picked this up long ago. I have wanted to read some Gail Simone for a while. I am sure I have read plenty of her writing, but I have recently had an urge to specifically pick up something of hers, as well as a desire to check out Birds of Prey. Issue 1 has had a couple of printings as far as I can tell, and although the Brightest Day tag is plastered at the top of this issue, I didn't let that discourage me. I thought this was a pretty great comic. I like the team, I like the action and the distinct characters. I think I will start getting this on a regular basis for a while and fill in what I have missed.

Young Allies #4 - I really love Arana and Nomad. I am a big fan of their appearances prior to this series, and had it on my pull list prior to its start. I love the 'teen team' conventions, and the fact that their first arc deals with an evil 'teen team' all based around adult villains, etc. I don't love that the 'bad guy' team is called the Bastards of Evil, that bugs me a little, but not too much. I think this title seems a lot closer to the Old Teen Titans, and the Perez era 'New' Teen Titans than most books labeled with the word Titans on them have in many years. I will keep picking it up and hope that it stays good. I see this as the sort of book that could draw some younger people in, like Teen Titans drew me in when I was a kid. Not sure if that is even possible any more, but here's hoping.

The Tick New Series #5 - Of all the times to post a new comic thoughts post, I had to do it now. I love the premise and set up. I think there is a lot of funny stuff in this book. I think it is probably better than most other comics released yesterday... (Here comes the big BUT) ...but... I don't think this issue is even close to the level of humor and awesome that the first 4 issues were. I can't fully explain that out, and maybe on re-reading a few times I won't feel that way, but it just didn't hit me the same way. I am hoping this two-parter just kicks my butt in its conclusion, and with the creative team on this, I suspect it will. I still recommend this highly, and if you aren't reading it yet, you are missing out. The setup on this is a good one, Tick and Golden Age Tick switch places, and it ends with past and future Tick associates facing off, and it features the Terror of course. All of these things are awesome, but I just don't think it packs the punch that some of the prior issues have.

Ultimate Mystery #2 - I am not really reading Ultimate books right now, but I have this strange love of the Ultimate Captain Marvel that has made me pick up the first two issues of this. I am really enjoying it, even though it is one of the most Bendis-y comics I have seen in a while. I guess if I had to pick a joke I would say that this comic contains more talking heads than the Once in a Lifetime Box Set. However, it contains some pretty good action scenes as well, and frankly... I love Bendises dialog heavy stuff. I only said what I did because that's what all the cool kids say. I love the interaction between Spider-Man and Jessica Drew, his ultimate style lady-clone. I think this is the only case of me liking anything related to Spider-Man that has the word clone in it.

So that's it really... um... yay comics!

Sometimes I remember to mention Previews.

2010-08-31T23:57:00.002-04:00

There were a number of things that I wanted to comment about from this month's Previews. I always flip through it, but I usually don't say anything. Here are some things of note in my opinion:

Sinfest: Viva La Resistance - I was attracted by the cover for this, and since it is a webcomic collection I looked it up and read a good number of strips. It is adorable and funny. If you haven't read it, here's the site . Tatsuya Ishida is the writer/artist. The art and the humor are both great. It seems to have a lot of varied characters and situations, and is better than almost everything currently on a printed comics page these days. (p45)

Axe Cop Volume 1 - I probably don't need to explain anything at all about this one to anyone, but I will probably pick this 120 page trade up at some point, if not immediately. (p44)

Batman Inc. - I think I will put this on my pull list. I hate 4 dollar comics on principle, but I'm no square, right? The idea is multiple batmen and bat-friends. That merits at least picking up a few issues in my opinion. (p62)

Batwoman #0 - I have hopefully impressed upon my LCS that I want anything Batwoman related. Art by J.H. Williams III and Amy Reeder is really all the incentive I need to want it. Hopefully it will maintain the pretty great setup and character that have already been established for this character. (p64)

Adventures Into Mindless Self Indulgence One Shot - MSI is a band. I have only ever heard their song Stupid MF, and I have only really thought about them in relation to their Limber and awesome bassist Lyn-Z . Cool women with guitars are always awesome, and bassists specifically are a sort of thing for me, but none of that is why I am going to have this ordered for me. The art and cover are done by Jess Fink! Her art and humor are both pretty great. Check out her site and blog and comics, etc Definitely check out her blog for the best comic ever to feature both Scott Pilgrim references and cartoon cat buttholes. (p176)

Battle Chasers - I am not making any sort of forecast on this, or any recommendation, etc. It may be the greatest thing, or it may not. The cover art looks decent, but I have not read or even heard of this title. It was apparently a 10 issue series. This preview is for a 100 dollar edition of the 10 issues. I don't have an issue with any of that. The solicitation refers to it as one of the most beloved comic book series of all time. that's all, for a comic I have not heard of or seen or read anything about ever, I am skeptical of that claim without some sort of qualifier. (p177)

Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science #1 (Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener) I cannot recommend Atomic Robo enough. I am always excited to see more Atomic Robo, and always thrilled to get my hands on the next issue when it comes out. If they have established anything with regard to Atomic Robo, it is that you can expect quality from them, as well as variety. I have not ever been anything less than delighted by anything related to This character. Plus Robo in prohibition era Chicago!!?? (p301)

The Tick New Series #7 - Speaking of never being disappointed... Benito Cereno and Les McClaine have out done themselves each issue on this excellent series, providing their own voice, while staying perfectly true to the characters and tone and humor that people should expect from The Tick. Can you believe we are already that close to another Christmas with The Tick? Excellent stuff. Give this series a chance if you have any sense of humor at all. (p291)

Plenty of other decent stuff in previews this month, but as I said, those were the things that leapt out at me.

Sometimes I buy stuff

2010-08-31T16:06:00.003-04:00

I have gone a good while without making any 'major' comic purchases. I go to my Local Comic Shop more or less weekly, and I usually have a very few comics waiting waiting for me, and then I make one or two impulse buys. If there is nothing at all for me from my very slight pull list, I may buy a trade.

Recently, probably in a fit of depression, because we all know that if you can't fix your mood with food, you can always fix it by spending money you don't have, I put in a fairly large order with Amazon. It was nice. There is a certain joy in laboring for hours over the best combination of books to get. I always add stuff to my cart, then take it out, about a dozen times. I like to get trades of series that I am reading, but I also like to broaden my experience and my collection whenever I can. I have a good deal of noticeable gaps, and I have filled a couple this week. I have not read any of these yet, but I am looking forward to doing so.

Jimmy Corrigan - The Smartest Kid on Earth, Chris Ware: I have not really read anything at all by Ware, but I have seen his work, obviously, and have read plenty about him. I have long wanted to see what his work is about, other than looking cool and architectural on the page.

City of Glass - I wanted to read this after getting Karasik's first Fletcher Hanks book, and subsequently meeting him at SPX a few years ago. The fact that this adaptation is also a product of David Mazzuchelli made this an eventual must for me. I have never read Auster's work, so have have no real idea what to expect.

Collected Essex County - Jeff Lemire - This was recommended to me a while back, possibly after I mentioned picking up the early issues of Sweet Tooth, but I can't recall. I have heard really good things about this.

Love and Rockets, New Stories #2 - Hernandez Brothers. There is just no way I will not eventually have a copy of everything Jaime and Gilbert do... you know...Eventually any way.

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For - Alison Bechdel - I read Fun Home a while back and it just knocked me over. Since that time I have been planning to get a DTWOF collection, but it was a matter of which to get. I finally just went for essential, rather than going a more completist route. I am excited to read more of her work (I have read some of her strips, but not many)

I am not certain which I will start with, but I am sure it will be a good read.

Cat Burglar Black

2010-08-27T23:00:00.004-04:00

I recently borrowed the book Cat Burglar Black by Richard Sala from the library. I don't think they've had a copy of it for very long, and I try pick up anything that doesn't look like crap, and that I haven't previously read. I haven't seen anything put out by First Second yet that didn't look good, and I really liked Sala's art, even at first glance.

Cat Burglar Black is a story about K, a teenage girl who was raised in an orphanage by the awful Mother Claude who trained her charges to be pickpockets and thieves using heavy handed threats. The story opens with K at a new place, a school with no classes and only three other students. It doesn't take long to get to the real reason the girls have been gathered, and a series of thefts are planned for the group, for the benefit of a group that somehow has ties to K's parents.

The art is different and charming. It has a feeling of being from out of the past, without really pinning itself to a specific time. The girls are lovely and graceful, and the adults are all something akin to grotesques. It seems to evoke a lot of great young adult stories, and made me think of Raold Dahl in particular. Not sure everyone would agree with that, but that is what it made me think of.. There is mystery and some action and such, and it was a fairly quick enjoyable read. I should think that anyone who enjoys Dahl, or stories like a Series of Unfortunate Events, should like this. K is a convincing and self sufficient heroine put into situations beyond her control. She can't succeed without some help, but that doesn't diminish her in any way, and she is anything but helpless.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (may contain spoilers)

2010-08-16T10:42:00.004-04:00

My daughters and I went to see Scott Pilgrim on Saturday. My girls are 11 and 16, and all three of us have read all six books of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series from Oni Press. All three of us have been anxiously waiting for the movie to come out since it was first announced, and rabidly waiting since the trailers started coming out. Within the first five minutes of the movie I turned to my oldest to let her know I already thought it was the greatest movie ever made. This was prior to the credits even being over. Even if that was mostly a statement for comic effect, all three of us loved it completely, and were drawn in from start to finish.

There are a lot of potential pitfalls with any movie based off of a beloved work from any medium. Scott Pilgrim was very smartly done. Things that could have been problems or weak-points were turned into strengths that made the movie distinct and different from the books, while still keeping major themes pretty faithfully, and allowing the books to not fully be spoiled and retain their unique and special separateness from the movie.

The movie has sequences that are almost panel for panel from the comics, but also has graphic enhancements, and entirely new gags and setups worked into it that make the movies into a sort of value added experience. On the other hand, they also cut the ever important to the books, Envy Adams character almost completely out. The movie sacrifice a lot of depth and meaning and real character development, and has a very compressed feel to it. It does this for the sake of remaining a pretty straightforward fast paced comedy with a reasonable run-time that never gives you any time to check your watch or get bored.

The movie feels complete, and left us pretty happy and satisfied with no complaints, but it leaves the books with some really great, powerful stuff all of its own that should be a great revelation for anyone drawn to the books from the movies. Book Six of the series absolutely floored me with its emotional significance. It remains pretty fully untouched and unsullied by any attempt to tack that sort of weight onto a movie that was designed to be fast and funny.

The movie is not superior to the books. The books are a must read for anyone that even smiled at any part of the trailers for the movie in my opinion, but the movie is one of the best movies ever that draws its inspiration from a comic property, and one of my absolute favorite movies of any type based on a single viewing.

I thought the casting was brilliant. There are a lot of people that don't like Michael Cera, and really hate the idea of him as Scott. I think what people imagine about Scott based on how he is drawn in the comics does not translate into the sort of person in real life that they think it would. I think anyone playing Scott more hyper or loud or heavy handed would become one of the jokes and weaken the over all feeling of the movie. Scott isn't really a loud snappy hyper guy, he is a fully self centered jerk that goes through life imposing on people and having little regard for others' feelings. He's not a bad guy, he just never developed out of that phase probably from middle school. The book portrays his growth one way, and the movie does it in a slightly different way.

I would like the movie to do well, but its financial success or 'failure' is of no great interest to me. What is of interest to me is that it was a brilliant movie I now adore, made out of an even more brilliant series of comics that I adore, by a director I think was pretty great, based on an artist who is pretty great, with a cast that is really great, etc. Shitty movie, financial success is not something I would wish on this. We can't make the mass audience suddenly have our taste and like things they aren't inclined too. I assume this will pick up in video, and is only just out of its first weekend. I hate when people write things off like that.

There have been a lot of really interesting and varied opinions that have been written about the movie already, and about the comic, etc. I may cover some of them at some point in depth, but until that time, I will leave you with two very insightful takes on the thing. Here is ComicsGirl's take on it, as well as Joe McCulloch's review. Both of them were helpful to me when trying to get my thoughts together and think of the big picture and different ways to think about it.

I win at Smile!

2010-08-15T18:32:00.006-04:00

Back in July, I won a copy of the hardcover of the Original Graphic Novel Memoir: Smile by Raina Telgemeier. If you aren't familiar with the story, it is an account of how Raina knocked out her front teeth when she was 11, and the resulting 4 year ordeal that followed that event to get the situation resolved. During the course of the story, you file her life and her budding interest in boys and how she fits in with her friends, etc. It isn't just a story of dental procedure, but really of all the life that goes on around that central event. The book is 213 pages and is full color. It is published under the graphix imprint of Scholastic.

I follow Raina on Twitter @goraina. In July I guess I saw a tweet about a giveaway that art&story was doing It required all the effort of doing a tweet pointing people to Raina's website. That was the sort of difficulty/effort level I was born for, and I happily tweeted, and was absolutely thrilled and stunned when I won. I am sure I have said this sort of thing many times, but I met Raina at SPX last year and bought two small things she had done. She seemed really nice, and her style of cartooning is fun and expressive, and really terrific. I have wanted to pick up Smile, and have heard nothing but good stuff about it, so this was ideal for me.

Teeth are a tough issue for a lot of people. Adolescence is a tough time. Self Image, self worth, self respect, are all important things. Between the ages of eleven and fifteen a lot of things can happen and change, and most people aren't super prepared for all of those things when they are young. So many things are changing, so much is happening as people are figuring out the type of person they will be, and how they fit in, etc. This is a really good story to tell because it is set in the midst of all of that, and is real. I would recommend it across the board, but really, I think you are doing a pretty great thing if you get this into the hands of a young girl you know.

There is a bit of triumph in the story that I think would be beneficial to anyone staring down the barrel of puberty, and going into middle school, etc. People change, friends change, be true to yourself, don't accept people treating you with less respect than you deserve, ultimately you will get through hard times, and sometimes hard times last longer than we want them too. There are probably other good things to take away from Smile, but those are the ones I was most struck by.

The best part is that the story is told in a way that feels real, but also has humor in it. I look forward to letting my daughters read this when they are back at home for more than a few days(thanks summer) I suspect they will enjoy it. Hopefully Smile is something that will find a place in school and public libraries everywhere.

*The link I put for Art & Story has a link for a podcast interview they did with Raina regarding memoir comics and Smile. It is a great conversation for anyone interested in the craft and process of making comics. Here's the same link again

A Fistfull of SPX 2009 part 2

2010-07-12T20:22:00.004-04:00

It's SPX (Small Press Expo) in July!! I have been meaning to post more of these to finish up the haul I got at SPX last year, but the road to hell is personally paved by ME and MY good intentions specifically. I imagine that other people's good intentions are paving other major thoroughfares. So with no further introduction here we go.

SPQR Blues -by klio (Carol Burrell) is a 'Generally Quite Serious Sword and Sandals Epic Under The Shadow Of Mt. Vesuvius' The table for this comic was one of my favorite tables to visit at SPX. Everyone there was friendly and fun and enthusiastic for their product, etc. It was a real pleasure to pop by periodically and chat, say hello again, and also tell them which exit to use etc. (remember, I was working as a volunteer). I bought the first three chapters in print form, and am glad I did. I like having the print, I like buying things to support creators that are talented and nice and especially who put out a good product. The printing is ok, but does not do justice to the quality and the crispness of the art. klio is a very talented cartoonist and her skills have definitely continued to develop and improve. Follow the link and check it out. Online is definitely the best way to view this. The comic has humor and drama, and looks to hold some mystery and intrigue as well. It takes place in Herculanium, and has a pretty sizable cast of characters, but focuses on Felix, a soldier returning from the legion, and Mus, a younger man that Felix once cared for when he was younger. Mus passes himself casually off as perhaps being younger than he is. I am only through the first chapter, but there is already a connection with the characters and a desire to know more, which si a great thing for a story to elicit in a reader. I look forward to reading more. I like the print, but there is so much going on that it is a bit tight on the page. Online it is even prettier (I felt obligated to add that, as I am not really ragging on the print version)

It may also be a fine thing to point out that while the comic had a brief hiatus, it started back up and is rolling along.

Pinstriped Bloodbath - This comic was my personally selected winner for coolest cover design / packaging. I imagine that every year I will have one of these. My first time I went the honor belonged to one of Falynn Koch's pieces that was cooler than the average fare. In 2009 it was this one. Pinstriped Bloodbath had a cover that was a double breasted pinstriped Suit jacket with a blood spatter as an outer cover. The inner cover that is visible under the jacket is a white shirt and red tie. There is a paper band that is illustrated and touts the book as an Anthology of Gangland Violence by Chicago Cartoonists. There are 8 different stories in the volume, which is edited by Jeff Zwirek, and has small art pieces by Ivan Brunetti and Josh Cotter for the contents and contributors pages. The stories themselves run the gamut from really abrupt short pieces, to longer ones on a variety of subjects. My favorite both in art and subject matter is a several page piece by the editor that focuses on the historical facts around the use of the Thompson Sub Machine Gun in Chicago crime. The art is great, it is an interesting story, and the footnotes are really informative. I like this collection a lot. There are only a few items in it I don't like, and the total package certainly makes up for that. It's a good idea executed pretty well.

Girl Ninja Presents Corporate Ninja Saga - Rebecca Simms, Story by Patrick Lewis - I thought Girl Ninja was pretty funny when I picked it up at a previous SPX. I also liked the vibe at the table at the time. There was a group of people selling their various projects and everyone was friendly and talky. It was enough good will to make pick up this comic when I saw it this time. In this we get Girl Ninja vs Corporate Mind control... ninja style. Once again it is fairly rough. This time it is just one side of the page, stapled 8.5 x 11. The art is a slightly rough manga influenced style, and it is cute and funny and works fine. I go to SPX to get a fuller range of variety in production and styles, etc. I continue to enjoy this. There is almost a hint of the sort of cuteness you get in the comic Empowered, without otherwise being related to that... It's a feeling I get from it that is a positive one.

Style and Grace #1 - Mike Jasorka - Mike was also one of the highlights of the show for me. He was exceptionally nice, and very willing to talk about his work. Chatty and fun work well for me. The comic is pretty funny. Las Vegas, 1982 Jimmy finds out that his Mom is getting married to a pimp. The pimp wants Jimmy to take over the business for him. It's all so bright and clean. It is sort of like the South Park where Butters becomes a pimp. This pre-dates that, but the humor is similar which isn't a bad thing at all. Mike also has work published in Rinksider magazine and has a roller girl related project in the works if I recall correctly.

Mix Tape and Piece Meal - Nate Beaty - I picked up two mini's from Nate Beaty. He was also responsible for one of the short but very good entries in Pinstriped Bloodbath as well. Piece Meal has two stories in it. One is called Blanks and is about awkward sexual and interpersonal dynamics among teens, played out in one evening. Yasek Loop is a sort of lush and ethereal dream sequence, or maybe not a dream sequence that starts with a fall from a very tall platform in the woods, and works in seemingly spectral animals and the noncorporeal. Mix Tape is about a sequence in his life involving the making of a mix tape and that sort of awkwardness involved when you put yourself out there like that. It's a well done cartoon. It shows a lot in the art and rings true.

The Alcoholic

2010-07-03T14:28:00.007-04:00

I can't recall when I purchased this lovely hardcover graphic novel, but I do know that it took me more than a year to get around to reading it. In the time between buying it and reading it, I picked it up a number of times, I even carried it with me on a few trips where I thought I might have free time to spend with the 136 page story of Jonathan A., the titular alcoholic, but I never got past the first few pages. This is a thing for me sometimes. I assume there are plenty of others who love reading, and are attracted to a specific book or story for whatever reason, and then can't get into it enough to get through it right off. For me the process goes that sometime in the future I will generally notice the item on the shelf, pick it up, and then be unable to put it down until I am done. That happens more often than I care for, and certainly was the case with this as well.

Jonathan Ames wrote the Alcoholic, and Dean Haspiel provided the art, including the cover. I wasn't kidding about the volume being lovely. it has a cover that is well designed and interesting, and underneath the cover is the title etched into the book inside the outline of a bottle. I never thought I would feel this way, but I really like hardcovers. I love them. I don't have that same feeling about slip covers though. I think that slip covers seem a bet excessive, and just get in the way of getting to the comics. Hardcovers themselves though are kind of classy. I am getting away from the focus of this post now, so I will pull myself back to it now.

As someone whose life has been impacted by alcoholism in one way or another, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, which follows the life of Jonathan A. from High School, where he first got drunk, on into his forties where he may or may not have learned enough to overcome his basic nature. It takes a wholly unapologetic look at his life, and just presents the events. The narrator is aware that he is narrating. He is telling you the story initially of everything in his life that lead him up to a specific point. Eventually the narrative catches up with the timeline and proceeds from there.

I find that I particularly like the approach taken with the story. There are several main things that are carried through most of the book. One is his attraction to and love for his best friend. They act on the attraction, and then find themselves moving away from each other. Another is a relationship that turns into an on again off again thing that he can't free himself from. His writing and professional / creative career is another, and finally his addiction to alcohol and drugs, and the inevitable detox that he puts himself through. Everything is really just plainly presented. There is humor, but no attempt to explain away anything really. That's not to say there isn't any insight, there is just nothing approaching an attempt to rationalize the destructive behavior.

I found this story really resonated with me. It echoes an awful lot of things that I worry about with myself, and behaviors that no matter how much I understand the negatives, and know better, I still find myself always gravitating back to. I think that's the beauty of this, and where some of its real value lies. Just like the story offers no resolution for the issues, I found no great insight into my own condition, but seeing that reflection there is a pretty useful and thought provoking thing.

The writing is well done. Fairly horrible episodes are presented with some sense of humor. The art is very good. I like that it is a light style without being too cartoonish. It doesn't make anything less ugly than it is, but it resists being grotesque. It also allows the places where there is beauty to show through nicely. I'm glad I picked this up when I did, even happier that I finally read it. I think it deserves the good reviews it has gotten.

Talkin' 'bout floppies

2010-07-02T09:22:00.005-04:00

The Tick New Series #4 - Benito Cereno and Les McClaine need to be nominated for stuff... Go on comics community... get off your butts and nominate them for stuff. The Tic New Series has been nothing but top notch writing and art for 4 issues now. I don't think it matters where you originally jumped on with the Tick, this comic handles the character in a way that should make everyone happy (including critics and people who have never heard of the character before. This issue takes place on Patrol Night, which has been rescheduled as Board Game Night due to the intense rain that is flooding the city (unbeknownst to seemingly everyone except the Tick and the legions of water based heroes and Villains that have gathered for the most epic undersea battle the world has ever known!) If you like funny, or have ever liked the Tick, give this a try.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 - Batman meets Blackbeard and the Black Pirate. This is a perfect setup for a tv show. It's like Voyagers and Quantum Leap all mixed together with Batman. I have loved all three of the issues so far. I really don't care where this fits into anything or even what the setup really is. Batman is lost in time. He pops into a new time when there is an eclipse. Somewhere in the future heroes are trying to find him, and are unearthing clues that he is leaving, or that are left by others from the times he visits. That would kill as a tv show, and it is pretty awesome as a comic. I don't buy everything that is Batman. I buy very little Batman, even though I love Batman. I think this series is a fun homage to the character.

iZombie #2 - This isn't on my pull list, and will probably stay an impulse buy for me. I like the idea, it seems a little slow getting into part of the main thrust of the series, but in two issues, it can't be faulted for establishing things. I like the characters, Gwen, the titular Zombie is a good character. The idea of being a zombie that eats brains so as to not devolve, and who gets the psychic baggage of the brains previous owner, is a great idea. Having her best friend be a ghost only makes things better. There is a lot of interesting stuff here, and I really like Allred's art for this. It works perfectly. This may move to a trade wait for me, but we'll see.

Heralds #4 & 5 - These got their own post

The Last Unicorn#2 - Absolutely beautiful. Regardless of having watched the movie a good number of times, I am still hooked on this.

Invincible#73 - I have read a good bit of early Invincible (maybe the first three hard cover collections), but I haven't read it in a long time. When I heard about the Viltrumite War, it was because of the upcoming Guarding the Globe mini that will focus on what happens on earth when some of its top protectors are away. I figured if I was going to read that, I should also keep up with the front lines of the conflict as well. I am not disappointed. So far the arc is really good. Invincible is a neat title with a bit of a different sensibility than most. It looks bright and colorful and fun sometimes, but then it is also about the bloodiest thing I have read. It's Super Hero stuff, but there is a lot of intimate character development, and sometimes a character just has to lay on a planet healing for a few months. No criticism on this, I am really loving it. It makes me want to go back and fill in what I missed.

Avengers #2 - I hate WonderMan in this. I guess I don't know if there is something from his recent past that really justifies how he is portrayed in this, but although I never liked the guy much, and feel he should stay locked in a vault in the 80's, I didn't hate him. I like the lineup in this a lot, and love Marvel Boy, but we'll have to see where this goes. Oh Know what villain I detest more than any other except maybe Carnage and Mr. Sinister... That's right Apocalypse. Man I hate that guy. Not that I am mentioning him for any particular reason...

Atomic Robo v4 #4 - Another great volume of Atomic Robo. My loyalty to this series and this creative team are theirs to lose. That said, I think I like the volumes that are a more cohesive storyline better than this, but I enjoyed each individual issue a great deal. This series ends on what seems like a setup for something else, which sort of gives it that feeling you got at the end of Back to the Future 2, like it was a commercial for the next thing. I have no idea if that will be the case, and we certainly got to see and have fun with a lot of the supporting characters Robo works with. Good writing, funny stuff and great consistent art. I am looking forward to more already.

Heralds

2010-07-01T21:03:00.002-04:00

I'll start with the comparison right off the bat. I liked Marvel Divas a lot. There were some aspects I didn't love, like a sort of dumb name, and sort of misleading cheesecake covers on a book with sensibly drawn ladies done in a light, slightly quirky style. The story was centered around sort of soap opera standard plot points, but that wasn't a negative to me. I liked Divas because it was humanizing. I thought it presented at least a somewhat 'realistic' take on a group of likable female heroes that came across as having a more or less genuine sort of friendship and personal interaction with one another.

Divas was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by Tonci Zonjic. Heralds is written by Kathryn Immonen with art by Tonci Zonjic and several others. One huge difference, and I appreciate it a lot, is that Heralds has absolutely beautiful cover work by Jelena Djurdjevic. These are very nice covers and none of them is in the realm of cheesecake. Women are shown with the figures they have in the comics, but none of them are relegated to sex kitten poses.

I already mentioned the second major piece of this. It's written by Kathryn Immonen. Nothing off of Aguirre-Sacasa, but this is an excellent comics writer paired with an excellent cover artist, and what's this... they're both women. I love the writing in this. I think the characters come across as real, and it isn't bogged down on any one emotion or mood. There is a great deal of playfulness and humor in this as well as action and emotion. That to me is a formula anyone should be able to appreciate.

The story starts with a group of Marvel ladies in vegas to help Emma Frost celebrate her birthday (This was orchestrated by Scott for her). It isn't long before the crew is fighting clones released from a S.W.O.R.D. facility and the story gets rolling from there. It isn't my intention to give away much here, other than what a cool thing this series was. I don't really care where it fits into the grand scheme of things, but I would love to see more like this. It has gotten me thinking a lot about how super heroes act in comics vs how real people act, with regard to their interactions and motivations, etc. I don't have a lot to say about it yet, but it does have me thinking.

I love the art in this, but it is a bit inconsistent. I am not sure exactly what role each of the artists had, or if the number of artists had anything to do with this feeling for me. There are also some places where it becomes difficult to tell some of the characters apart. It wasn't major, but I did get a little turned around a few times. I am also not sure if all of these people would be hanging around, but it works, and I think it's justified well enough.

If you haven't checked this out, and aren't put off by good comics, or books that feature women as strong and diverse characters, I recommend it.

The pants are a LIE...The truth is out...

2010-07-01T12:54:00.004-04:00

Clearly, the evil masterminds at DC comics have executed this entire 'Wonder Woman finds pants in her drawer and decides to wear them for a change' scandal as a way of keeping us from seeing what is really going on. They are shutting Zuda down. I am a big fan of Zuda, but I guess I am not surprised by this. I love the creators that they had, and the sense of community and accessibility that they brought with them, but I will love those creators wherever they go.

The thing I didn't love, and the thing that seemed to be the beginning of the end, was the ugly and awful gamesmanship played by some of the competitors in the competitions and/or their supporters. It was pretty ugly stuff. I was sorry to see that go. I don't really care what DC does now. I will support any good project that gives access to new and different and exciting creators and their creations, but that fact is independent of any specific publisher.

I wish every individual affiliated with Zuda the best of luck in the future, with whatever comic endeavors they pursue. I have no idea how specifically this news impacts anyone, but like I said. A lot of pretty great talent, and pretty stand-up folks flowed through there, no matter what you thought of the site or the competition, etc.

A conversation worth reading

2010-06-28T13:16:00.002-04:00

Hey Everybody! Joe McCulloch has posted a transcript of his really cool Conversation With Bryan Lee O'Malley from SPX-2008. This is exciting because I am featured prominently in it!!*

*sort of, but not really

It is actually exciting because it was my first SPX that I attended, and I was very excited about this program specifically since O'Malley is awesome for any number of reasons.

So... Read this piece, and don't skip the questions. I am AUDIENCE #7. I make fun of something that someone else said and then I ask a question about Working with Hope Larson on Bear Creek Apartments, which I was pretty high on at the time. Mostly I wanted to say out loud how awesome I thought it was. My words are captured in all my sputtering half finished sentences glory.

It's a neat conversation, and O'Malley is fun to listen to. It is certainly worth giving it a read.

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection

2010-06-01T22:16:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine went to the book signing event for the Trickster Anthology of Native American 'trickster' stories. He surprised me with a copy of the beautiful paperback volume signed by a good number of people involved in the collection. I will start with my only complaint about this book before I say anything else. The cover, which is great, and is the image I am including with this, is printed with a good portion of it matte black. It is a finish that provides a great contrast to the image and slightly raised text. Sounds good so far, right? My only issue is every time I touch this thing I feel like I must be the oiliest guy on the planet. Despite my best efforts, I add new fingerprints each time I open it. Honestly, that's it as far as complaints go.

The project itself is a great idea. It pairs Native American story-tellers with artists and presents 21 tales which range from pure myth to How the elephant got it's trunk style tales, to more classic trickster stories. I like the loose interpretation on the theme as it allows for pretty decent variety. I have only read the stories once, but really there are only two that stood out to me as being particularly similar in theme. The art, and the styles of telling the stories are all visually very different as well. Some are cartoonish and some are very much written as children's stories, but not all of them are that way.
The book is $22.95, and is worth having if you are a fan of comics or mythology and folk tales, or both. I didn't love every entry, but there are surprisingly few instances for an anthology of this size where I didn't like both the art and the story, and a healthy majority where I was taken by both. I also enjoyed reading the blurbs about all of the participants. It is a nice feature, and there is something about each of the artists and storytellers.

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne

2010-06-01T21:42:00.002-04:00

This is an important post, so everyone will want to read it. It's not like you've heard this from 50 better blogs than mine already.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne from Grant Morrison and Chris Sprouse(issue 1) and Frazer Irving(issue 2) is a mini series that is well worth picking up. I don't buy a lot of Batman these days. I get Batman and Robin, and only picked up Detective Comics for Batwoman. I was not able to get myself worked up for Final Crisis, but I can't say too much negative about it if it resulted in this.

So far in this series we get to see Batman as a caveman and Batman as a pilgrim. Those stories are made out of love for the character. Both issues contain more or less self contained stories that also tie in to a larger thing, and support what has been going on in Batman and Robin with the recent scrutiny of Wayne Manor, and exploration of the grounds, etc. The real concept here is that Batman is made of survival. Also, no matter what you do to him or where you put him, etc. He is the World's Greatest Detective, and maybe the most determined and driven character in the DC universe.

The art in both of these is great. Sprouse and Irving each do an amazing job. I guess if I have to pick I prefer Irving's art which is in Issue #2 as there are opportunities in the story that take great advantage of his style and are just beautiful. Beautiful tentacle monster no less.

I wasn't going to pick this up because, among other things, it is $3.99 an issue, and I really try to limit the number of 4 dollar and up comics that I get. This is worth it, and if you are inclined to like Batman, but haven't been picking much up lately, this promises to be awesome.

Four for All

2010-05-03T08:22:00.004-04:00

Recently I have bought and or borrowed several items that just leap out as being things both kids (young adults) and adults(old adults) can enjoy equally. I will keep it fairly brief.

The Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse , Kazu Kibuishi - Get volume 1: The Stonekeeper, if you haven't read it already. I was very excited to see this book in the library. I had been waiting for it, and new it had come out, and it was finally on the shelf the last time I went. This continues the story of a girl and her younger brother who inherit a powerful magic stone from their grandfather, and find themselves on a quest in a land of magic to save their mother from a deadly poison. The art is beautiful and brilliant, the story and characters are varied and fun, each with personality and depth. The story combines elements that make it reminiscent of other works like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Howl's Moving Castle,Narnia, and many others. A young girl with a good heart and a strong sense of duty to her family is the main character. She is strong willed and resourceful, and although she has some doubts and fears, she does not succumb to the great temptation of the powerful and sentient artifact she possesses. Her brother is separated from her in this book, and put into the role of commander of his own army of strange volunteers from the world they are in. A new character steps forward in the form of a fox who is sort of their Aragorn, a creature they are suspicious of at first, but who later shows himself to be beyond reproach. This is epic fantasy with robots and walking mecha-like houses and evil elves and animal-people and magic stones, talking trees, good versus evil, the works. It is something that could be read to a child, or by a child, or fully enjoyed by adult fans of the genre.

The Good Neighbors, Book 2: Kith - Another volume 2 here. Holly Black is the author and Ted Naifeh is the artist. I love Naifeh's art and this has very much the same sort of feel and similar subject matter of his Courtney Crumrin books, while not being his creation in this case. A teenage girl begins seeing strange things that no-one else seems to see. A world of Fairy and magical folk is suddenly unveiled to her and she doesn't know why. The first book takes us through that, and some mysteries regarding her mother and her creepy grandfather, and uncertainty about her father's actions, etc. The second book continues the story and continues to set her at odds with her grandfather and his plot against the town she lives in, and humans in general. There is a good cast of characters, and I would think that this is a book that Teen fans of supernatural fiction would enjoy. My 16 year old daughter liked it.

The Last Unicorn #1 - My daughters and I love the movie the last unicorn. I loved it long before I ever thought I would be married or have any kids. This comic is a stunningly beautiful adaptation. Not a great deal happens in the first issue(of 6), but the scene is set, and we learn a good bit about the Unicorn, and the world it is in. Honestly, the art sells this one as much as my love of the subject. I set it down then bought it the next time I was in the shop, and both my 10 and 16 year old daughters have read it already and raved about it.

Mercury - Hope Larson. Another fantastic book from Hope Larson. I love this trend of female creators making graphic novels that feature realistic settings and real personalities, with very real seeming young female leads in them, and a touch of the fantastic that does not seem to alarm or surprise anyone all that much. I am calling it a trend, even though in this case I am really just referring to Faith Erin Hicks' War at Ellsmere(also excellent), although not actually comparing the two. Mercury ties together two stories of two different girls across centuries. They share a bloodline, and a common location, and a mysterious piece of jewelry. Both face difficult situations in their own ways, and both encounter strange occurrences without thinking them to be particularly alarming. This is a sweet story with a bit of creepiness to it, and what I would interpret as a fairly happy ending. It is a good size and a great price at 9.99

All of these would be great recommendations for young readers, perhaps female teen readers in particular. I am neither of those things and enjoyed each of these completely. I recommend them in the following order of awesome:(1 being the highest)
1.Amulet
2.Mercury
3.Last Unicorn
4.Good Neighbors

Free Comic Book Day, The Holiday Made for Me

2010-05-01T20:32:00.002-04:00

I believe that the Friday before FCBD should be a national holiday. I also think it is bad form for anyone to schedule non-FCBD events on FCBD. I should tell that to my 10 year old daughter I guess. She was hosting an event today for her Bronze Award for Girl Scouts. She was teaching a decent sized group of Girl Scouts and their Mothers to make knit hats so that by winter time they can donate them to a local shelter. It is hard for me to argue with that, but I did make sure my oldest and I got to slip out for an hour after it started so that we could hit up my LCS for the festivities. Unfortunately the festivities were just some free comics (three per person), and nothing else. Not even a sale to coincide with the day, or even, say some concerted effort to showcase comics for kids, or the wide variety of comics available, etc.

I think it's a shame to miss an opportunity like this. My LCS tends to be pretty conservative as I have said before in their ordering, etc., but as I have hopefully pointed out equally, it is owned and staffed by some pretty great guys. Regardless of what the shop was doing, everyone had their kids there as far as customers were concerned. As I was walking up to the shop, a dad was pushing a stroller with a toddler in it reading a comic. When I went in, there were two little girls with their dad (I would say both were 6 or under) and they were looking at heroclix naming and discussing all the heroes and villains. The dad was just as proud of his girls as I was of mine when they were little and did similar things. It was heartening to see so many kids excited and feeling welcome in a shop.

I asked to make sure it was ok, and my friends there let me pick up freebies for my youngest as well. I also tried to tell as many people at my daughters event about fcbd. Hopefully at least a few went and checked it out.

Here is what we picked up, although I don't have opinions about them yet:
Atomic Robo (they set this one aside for me)
Iron Man / Nova
Doctor Solar / Magnus
War of the Supermen
Looney Tunes (not labeled fcbd)
Mouse Guard / Fraggle Rock
Shrek / Penguins of Madagascar
Archie
Toy Story
Fractured Fables

So what did I miss out on that was awesome?

Hope everyone had a great day

Underground - Jeff Parker & Steve Lieber

2010-04-03T23:49:00.004-04:00

On Valentines day I received an email from Steve Lieber. Last week I actually got off my figurative butt and read the comics he had sent a link for. I understand that this was probably not exclusively for me, and that perhaps everyone else in the world with a blog may have received the same thing, but guess what doesn't matter one bit to me...

Underground, a graphic novel in 5 issues, is written by Jeff Parker, and illustrated by Steve Lieber. If that alone doesn't get your interest up then you are reading comics wrong in my opinion. The really good news is that this comic is very good, and really pretty different as well. You would expect solid writing, good characterization and an underlying sense of humor to be found, given that Parker is a master of that. You would expect the art to be solid, with a good deal of comic realism without seeming heavy or stiff or overly photo referenced, etc., because Lieber is pretty great at that. You would expect those things, and you would not be disappointed. Where there is different for me, is that this is a very small, self-contained story set in a park in Kentucky, and it is, for lack of a better word, a thriller.

I use the word small here, but only to describe the relative scope and timeline of the story. It takes place within a day, and is mostly limited to a relatively closed environment. It has a solid beginning, middle, and end, and shows us for the most part, rather than just telling us, but pretty much everything is explained and resolved within the five issues.

This is a cinematic sort of work, and could make for an excellent movie. The sort of surprising thing is that as a comic that features two park rangers in a mostly unexplored cave system, running from a group of men that need to stop them from getting out of the caves, it works brilliantly as a comic.

I really don't want to spoil one bit of this thing, so I won't give away much more than what I have said already. This title does something that is really difficult in my opinion to do in comics. I have said before that horror is something that is difficult to pull off in this medium, but another thing that I think is equally difficult, perhaps more so, is suspense. This series, manages to create edge or your seat, uncomfortable suspense expertly as it draws toward the climax. As uncomfortable as it was, is a testament to the quality and abilities of the creators on this.

It accomplishes this in a story that contains no particularly extraordinary people or situations. There are people with specialized skills, and the awesome wonder and unpredictability of nature is present, but this is all real world stuff in the claustrophobic confines of a real world setting.

This is a title well worth picking up. The base concept is not really a new one, but this isn't exactly 'Die Hard in a Cave" either.

Release The... Robot 13 !!

2010-04-01T08:44:00.011-04:00

R13 - Colossus (Thomas Hall, Daniel Bradford) Blacklist Studios: I received an email in late February from Thomas Hall. I had received one from him some time earlier and stupidly had not given it the attention I should have. I had access to a digital version of Robot 13 #1 since June of last year, and I had looked at it, but not really tried to read it. By the time I got the second email, There were three issues available to me, the entire first story arc, and I decided I really needed to read it.

A bit of my issue, I guess, was probably that it looked absolutely beautiful, but absolutely looked like something Mike Mignola had done. This is not a bad thing, as I am not sure i have met anything Mignola has done that didn't range from 'very good' to 'brilliant' in my opinion. Whatever my feeble reason was (probably laziness), it was a dumb one, and my loss for not having dived into it sooner.

Issue 1 starts with a fishing boat off the coast of Spain. They pull a metal, man-shaped object out of the water, It turns out to be a robot of sorts with a skull inside of a glass dome for a head. This is also something that we have seen before more or less, but that doesn't preclude this from being original or good, in the same way that it doesn't guarantee it will be as cool as that concept sounds. (This comic is every bit as cool as the concept of a 'being with a skull floating in a glass dome for a head' sounds.) 13 Doesn't remember anything or know where he is at first, but it doesn't take long for him to figure out he is pretty adept at the fighting of giant monsters. He is also immediately sympathetic. His interactions with people are all done in such a way that you know that despite the evil looking floating skull thing, this is a hero of some sort, and a decent sort of character that you are dealing with. Fortunately he is not exclusively met with fear, and in the course of these three issues you learn a good bit about his history while still leaving vast amounts that can be filled in, and limitless questions that can be answered.

In reading interviews and things that are available out there, it is a fact that the story changed somewhere between the character design and actually getting things on paper. I think the direction that Hall and Bradford took with this is really perfect. There is a heavy Greek mythology tie in, with big monsters of greek mythology tie-ing in to the story as the villains (at least so far), and I thought it worked really well. I am a big fan of mythology and the creatures and characters that figure into the myths of various cultures, etc. and I like it when things are put together that use those things in a neat way.

The art as I said is beautiful. It really is perfectly done within the style it is done in. Like the cover to issue 1 that I have posted, there are pages from the first issue of tentacles that are absolutely stunning. I am not necessarily a big tentacle fan or anything, but the color and design and layout are really just perfect.

It is extremely fortunate that this project has an artist as capable as Bradford on it, as Hall's writing is excellent graphic narrative writing. This series does not shy away from dialog when it is needed, but it uses it efficiently, and the story is successfully told in the panels more than in the balloons and boxes. There are plenty of pages that are nearly wordless, and even if you don't read the dialog, and focus just on the images presented, you can have a good sense of what is going on, and a strong feel for the emotion and pacing, etc.

I almost passed up reading this, and certainly didn't go into it predisposed to like it, but I am very glad that I did read it, and it certainly ranks among the best comics I have read this year.

Champions Online

2010-03-30T15:48:00.002-04:00

I have said this before, but the idea of a really good superhero role playing game for the computer is really the perfect thing for me. It's a dream I had long before I realized it. When City of Heroes first came out, it felt like my salvation was at hand. It was exciting and wonderful, and honestly, aside from someone to make babies with (which I surprisingly achieved, no seriously, I am the last person who ever thought that would happen), the only thing I really wanted in life (there may be some hyperbole here). I liked the game, I enjoyed playing it, I found some nice people to play with in game, and had a good time with it before burning out on it. The game wasn't actually perfect, but it did give me a lot of stuff that I really wanted in a game, in a way that other games just hadn't.

I have been a fan and player of Role Playing Games since middle school. I played D&D mostly, but collected and obsessed over a lot of other titles. If I could, I would have a giant wall of role playing games and books and materials. A friend of mine picked up a game called V&V (Villains and Vigilantes) it was a slim volume and had pretty straight forward rules that covered just enough mechanics to let me fill in everything else and make a perfect comic book superhero role playing experience. You have to have a GM(game master) that you trust with your leisure time, but I am a big fan of playing games with good storytelling and plot, regardless of whether everything is really random or not.

That aside, the game I owned, and was most impressed by, but never played, was the game Champions. If you are not familiar with the roleplaying game Champions, it is a level of Math beyond Calculus and Trig. It is a law degree in one book. It is awesome and allows such craxzy customization that there is no way you won't end up with a truly unique and specialized character of your own if you want it. For me, it was also unplayable. I made a lot of characters, but in my gaming group, no-one really ever wanted to spend a whole session just trying to work up a character at the expense of play. It also seemed super bulky and confusing. This is all wrong of course as it is an awesome game that my friends and I are too dumb to play... that's clearly on us.

Champions online has the feeling of customization akin to that of the pen and paper game. Not the same, but there really is a lot of space to create characters in a way that suits you, and to play them however you'd like as well. It doesn't seem perfect, but it's pretty decent. It suffers from some of the same things that City of Heroes did, which is sort of depth of play experience in a superhero setting, and a lot of powers and things seeming very similar, but the customization is strong and the character design options are pretty vast. The play is pretty good, even on my crappy computers, but not perfect. A lot of that is probably due to my hardware, so I am not ragging on them.

Missions seem to be almost interchangeable, and almost none of the story and plot and descriptions need to be read at all. I pretty much just read the mission requirements when they pop up on my screen in shorthand after I accept them. It's a lot of fun, though, and just like Champions back in the day, creating characters may be the most fun for me. I still get a kick out of being a good guy and running around saving people and fighting bad guys. I am not sure that I will decide to keep baying the steep 15 bucks a month subscription cost once it kicks in, but we'll see.

The Specials

2010-03-29T08:57:00.003-04:00

This movie wasn't based on a comic, I don't think it was even based on a desire to make any money. Ok, I'm kidding there, but it is a strange mix of spoof, homage, super hero deconstruction, and... inaction to be a movie that anyone thought would go anywhere in 2000 in my opinion, plus I have seen more than a few reviews and comments (as I was preparing to write this) that share my experience of never having heard of the movie before seeing it on Netflix. I had seen images of Jamie Kennedy in the blue makeup he wears in this movie, but I never knew what it was from.

The Specials focuses on a slow day in the life of the 6th or 7th best super-hero team. There is no fighting in the movie, no villains, and only really one display of powers for the most part, and it comes at the end, when the group is getting ready to go fight some giant ants (that we only hear about). None of these absences are an issue, because the film isn't about those things. It's about super-heroes and fame and expectations vs reality and about how people interact and regard each other, and about how 'families' are formed and interact, etc. I applaud it for being exactly what it is, and not trying to be more, or even less, in order to be more commercial.

Rob Lowe plays the most popular and charismatic of his group. He is the Weevil, a second generation hero, and a giant douchebag. Rob Lowe's super power is his douchebag ability, so this fits him perfectly. He plays it very well, when his character has sex with a teammate who is married to another teammate, and when he cheers up the 'new girl' only to sell her out and cruelly make fun of her on television. Jamie Kennedy plays the blue skinned Amok, who looks a lot like nightcrawler, and cusses like the reformed bad guy he is. Thomas Haden Church is The Strobe, the teams leader with a highly inflated sense of self, regardless of his good intentions.

I think the casting was done well for this, and everyone plays their roles. The team contains a good mix of types that borrow from comic book standards, and is shown with its strengths and weaknesses right out in the open. This is a comedy, so I am not trying to act like it is too deep, but it isn't the shallowest thing either. There are some neat concepts in it, like a hero called 8 who has 8 bodies but shares one interconnected mind, a being they call Doug, who's official name is Alien Orphan, and acts as a sort of remedial Martian Manhunter. There is a funny and tragic commentary on 'stretchy powers', and a good theme about the toy business being a primary measure of super hero stature.

A Map In The Dirt - Jess Smart Smiley

2010-03-28T22:37:00.004-04:00

I recently received my second email from Jess Smiley. The first came at the beginning of this month, and included a digital review copy of his 15 page comic: A Map In The Dirt. I read it right away. When I first saw it I wasn't sure what it was, and when I first read it I was no less confused. There were aspects of it that I thought were pretty great, but there were a lot of questions that were generated by it. I have read it again more than once and I have read some other reviews of it, and I have watched a video by the creator that I will talk about later, and I am more comfortable reviewing it now.

The comic is about a group of animals fleeing a common threat. In this regard there is a bit of simplicity and heavy handedness in the use of man as a sort of menacing soulless killer of animals. In this, Man seems to be hunting all of the animals equally. There is a bear and a fox and a bird and a snake and a deer, and the men seem to be doing a sort of Sherman's march to the sea of animal killing. That could be viewed as a major thing, but in this work it is just incidental, and almost excusable.

The style is pretty clean and simple. It is brush and ink on Bristol board and has a sort of 'wilderness' feel to it. The illustration style would be at home in an old scout manual or field guide in my opinion and it is very good, and builds up what is the real strength of this story. There is a real sense of a folk tale in this. It read to me like a sort of Native American myth. I could almost hear Joseph Campbell reciting it. The animals are all a sort of kin to each other. Some, but not all of them are portrayed as human forms wearing animal masks. This made the sense of allegory even stronger to me. The real gem of this story is the theme of the story teller, in the form of the deer that narrates it. The idea is put across that the story teller may die, but the stories are in its body and its body returns to the earth and water and air, and therefore so do the stories.

The ultimate take away from this after my second reading of it is that I really enjoyed it. There are aspects of brilliance in here. It is different enough, and interesting enough, while at the same time feeling timeless and familiar, that I think it works and merits a read.

The other thing of interest to me, and something I think that is worth pointing out, is the use of Kickstarter dot com as a way of raising money to get the story published as a book. The site is an interesting way to go, and allows the creator to set up a place that people can pledge various amounts of money toward the project as sponsors. There is a video there that is pretty funny, and neat. It is like a PBS pledge drive, but it is informative about the project as well as some of the benefits of KickStarter as a way of getting your work out there.

Jess seems to be really putting some effort into getting his project out there, and into getting support and funding for it. DIgital reading copies are definitely a way to go.

Talkin Bout Talkin Bout

2010-03-26T08:56:00.003-04:00

Lately I have been extremely motivated to type something here, but sadly not motivated to say anything. Contrary to what this very blog indicates, Axe Cop is not the last comics related thing I have thought about.

Since my last post here I have watched two comics based movie trailers about a dozen times each. The Hit Girl specific trailer for Kick-Ass and the Scott Pilgrim trailer are both amazing looking. I was unsure about Scott Pilgrim to some degree prior to seeing this. I love the series like crazy, but wasn't sure how it would translate. I also love Edgar Wright's work, and am a big fan of Michael Cera. Scott Pilgrim plus those guys should be a guaranteed hit for me, but I hate to get my hopes up too high. Everything that was shown in the trailer looks perfect. Look, feel, characters, settings. It is a little tough when you go from a comic with the style of SP to a movie with real people in it, but I think a good job was done making the characters feel like you expect them too.

The Hit Girl Kick-Ass trailer is fast and awesome and features the Banana Splits theme. Unlike with Scott Pilgrim, you know exactly what everyone is supposed to look like and it is recreated perfectly. I liked Kick-Ass. I especially liked how it ended. If the movie is able to stay true to the comic, I think it will be pretty good. I don't think it counts as literature, or that the movie will be fine cinema, but I think I will like it.

The semi abusive comic store I visit when I am at my parents house does a few things to keep me coming back. One thing is that they stock Chew and Cowboy Ninja Viking, and titles like that to a greater degree than my almost exclusively mainstream only LCS. The other is that their front counter is usually overflowing with Marvel Essentials for 5 bucks each, and sometimes a few graphic novels for the same price. I have picked up a handful of titles that I think will work just fine in that format, and look forward to reading them soon. I am most excited about the Power Man v2 and the Power Man and Iron Fist v1 that I picked up, as well as Marvel Monsters v1. When I was a kid, our library had a big bin of comics that were in various degrees of being shredded, but Power Man and Iron Fist, as well as Dracula, Batman and Daredevel were well represented there. I have a deep seated love for those characters as a result I think.

I have a lot of individual issues that I will work on reading and commenting on soon, but I have also done fairly well recently with my local used book store. I have picked up a number of interesting volumes in the past few weeks, including a SCAD anthology, a book by Rick Geary, and a collection of Fairy Tales. I used inter-Branch loan at my local Library to get a copy of Asterios Polyp, and have just started on that as well.

Recently I made a comment on a post by a big named blogger that writes a sort of biting comedy/stinging satire/amazing comics criticism blog who referred to Atomic Robo as being basically just a ripoff of Mignola. If you have read Robo and BPRD or Hellboy, you will know that Robo only sounds somewhat similar in theory when you are giving a brief synopsis, but in practice is just not even similar. I commented as such and had another commenter look at this site and post that of course I like Robo if I love Tiny Titans... I imagine that was meant as some sort of swipe at me, but my real response is.. of course! They are both awesome! The latest Tiny Titans is no exception to the awesomeness. It isn't mindless pap for small children. It is a very well written and extremely well drawn cute and nice take on a lot of characters that don't get to be cute and nice very often. It is a sincere comic for kids, but there is also satire and sly jokes that be enjoyed by older folks as well. There is nothing wrong with cute and fun and nice.

AXE COP - podcast Interview with Ethan Nicolle

2010-02-26T13:42:00.006-05:00

Sarcastic Voyage podcast #51 features a great guest spot by Axe Cop's Ethan Nicolle, the artist and big brother responsible for turning play time with his little brother into an overnight sensation Web Comic with a real, dedicated, and rapidly growing following.

It's a neat conversation with a truly talented artist who caught on to a brilliant idea from the mind of a pretty awesome but not so atypical 5 year old boy, and really made something great out of it. The joy of Axe Cop is the serious presentation of absurd and frenetic stories and ideas. When you read it, you really get the feel of the thought processes that go on in little kids heads.

It's a very funny webcomic, and the website also features Ask Axe Cop, which takes questions from readers and turns each answer into a page of comics. It's well worth giving a look if you haven't already.

Sarcastic Voyage podcast, which I have mentioned recently in regard to Michael Kupperman's guest spot in episode 49, is available on ITunes, and through their website. It's well worth listening to. Of note, in addition to the comic creators that have recently been on as guests, is episode 50, a fun romp presented as a sort of 'Behind the Podcast'. It's a good time, go listen!

Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937 - 1938

2010-02-24T20:12:00.007-05:00

The library I frequent has a pretty decent collection of comics, manga, graphic novels, and comics related books. It never exactly seems like it when I visit, but I am pretty sure there is a huge collection that is always circulating. It is also not uncommon to go in and find something surprising that seems to be brand new and just added to the collection.

In my last visit I borrowed the 2009 release Fantagraphics collection Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938 . I am just not someone with a lot of nostalgia for the very old comics. I don't dislike everything I read from the era these were originally made, but nothing gets a free pass either. I never read Prince Valiant, but it ran in the paper when I was little and I looked at it, but never had any interest in reading it. When I was growing up, someone in my household must have read it, as we had 2 dogs, one named Valiant, and the other named Aleta. I knew that the names came from the comic strip but beyond that they didn't mean anything to me.

One thing that impressed me about this collection was it's dimensions. The book is 120 pages at 10.5" wide by 14.25" tall. The collection is made up of color remastered copies of full page 'Sunday Comics'. When you open this book it really feels like you are starting something big. I have to admit that I had a good bit of disdain for the large format Kramer's Ergot 7 when it was being hyped, but after DC's Wednesday Comics and this volume, I have a much better appreciation of large format comics.

I am probably not surprising anyone by saying that Hal Foster's work is some of the most beautiful you will probably ever see in the medium of comics. In the interview with Foster late in his career that is included in this collection, he states his work week to produce one Sunday page at 55 hours. Looking at the pages it seems completely reasonable that such things would require that sort of investment of time. Nearly every panel could be a fine illustration in a high quality story book. The comic itself seems very much like a heavily illustrated adventure story than it does a 'proper' comic. I assume I get that due to the heavy, but never oppressive narrative. The stories move quickly, and have a great deal of action and plot and movement to them. Each page starts with a small synopsis, but doesn't seem to lose momentum for it. The colors have been reworked for this edition to better reflect the original intent of the artist, and are bright and beautiful. The people are stunning and could be movie stars of their time, and the backgrounds and settings, including fens and castles, are just stunning.

I didn't expect to read more than a few pages of this, and almost didn't pick it up due to my sort of disconnect from early works. I honestly had trouble setting it down the few times I needed to set it down while I was reading it. Things move fast, but there is still a lot going on, and all of it focuses on Prince Val. When the comic starts, Val is on the run with his family. His father is a king from the North who has been overthrown and run out of his country. They relocate to a nearly savage Britain, and after showing themselves to be fierce in battle, they are given an island in a fen to settle and live in isolation. It doesn't take long for the restless young prince to start seeing the world and having adventures on his quest to become a knight in King Arthur's court.

The stories mix fantastic and realistic elements. Magic exists but is not predominate. Giant Lizards, Turtles and 'Dragons' are around as well, and eventually Valiant becomes the owner of an enchanted sword, but mostly the stories are about Valiant and his bravery, honesty,cunning and determination, and how he uses them to get along and better himself, while making a name in the world. It is really great stuff for anyone who likes Robin Hood or King Arthur stories, or tales of Vikings and the like.

The book itself is very pretty and nicely bound. It's 30 dollars, but really stands out in my opinion. I am happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this, and hope to read volume 2 as soon as I can find it. I would eventually like this to be in my personal library, but I try to resist big purchases like this as long as I can. There is some decent value-added in the collection, with a Bio of Foster, an interview, and a page on this edition specifically. It's not a lot, but it did enhance the experience for me.

CBD 02/17/2010

2010-02-21T23:16:00.003-05:00

Tick: New Series, Atomic Robo, Tiny Titans

This was an awesome week for comics. I can't say what else may have come out, but this week made me about as happy as I can be made by the comics waiting for me in my box at the Comics Shop.

Tiny Titans #25 - Still my favorite take on the DC Universe that is currently running. Conner comes back and fun times ensue. We meet Match, who is Conner's genetic match, and more or less his bizzarro. We also get a story where all of the girls end up with the multi colored lantern rings titled "Brightest Day in the Afternoon" Which is cute and funny.

Atomic Robo: Revenge of the Vampire Dimension #1 - I was really thrilled to see another Robo series starting. I guess I missed hearing about this one somehow, but fortunately my LCS loves me. This series starts with two applicants showing up at the same time to interview, and some insight into the decision making process for hiring new Action Scientists. Somehow the barrier between our dimension and that of the Vampire Dimension (not classic vampires, just called that because of their basic traits) has been breached. Fortunately Jenkins is on our side. This is funny and smart, and just clicks. So far every mini series in this title has been completely different, while delivering the same great payoffs of humor and characters and story. Issue three of this promises to give us some more Dr. Dinosaur(as if it wasn't already a must-read)

The Tick, New Series #2 - I have read some Edlund Tick and enjoyed it a lot. I have watched the cartoon and the live-action series, and enjoyed them both, with a strong preference for the cartoon, but a love of both. Benito Cereno and Les McClaine are delivering a product that absolutely captures the humor and familiar style and feel that I know and love from those variations(all of them different, but all with the same sort of feel, and the same treatment of the characters and setting and tone). It also brings it's own qualities that make it way more than just a treatment of a license or some such. I laughed through the entire issue and was left with a smile on my face when it was done. It wasn't nostalgia for what has gone on previously that made me laugh. I highly recommend this for fans of any previous presentation of the Tick, as well as for anyone that like their funnybooks to be funny.

Michael Kupperman Guests on Sarcastic Voyage Podcast

2010-02-19T11:26:00.008-05:00

Episode # 49 of the podcast: Sarcastic Voyage features Michael Kupperman, the writer/artist of the extremely awesome and very well regarded comic Tales designed to Thrizzle.

Sarcastic Voyage is available on Itunes, as well as at the Sarcastic Voyage Website. AAl and Matt are funny, and worth giving a listen to, so the addition of such a noteworthy guest only stands to make it more awesome. Go, Listen, Enjoy, tell your friends.

Also if you like slightly less awesome guests, give episode #44 a listen. Hint It's ME. My episode is surprisingly comics free, but it was certainly fun to be on the show.

Not Comics, but still worth Talkin' 'Bout

2010-02-19T08:56:00.003-05:00

I have this charming little affliction that keeps me from doing things I know I need to do, even if I really want to do them. It doesn't keep me from doing other stuff, just the stuff I feel is most important (important is a relative term here, as no comic blogging is all that important, especially that which is done by me.) All of that aside, on with the show!!

I have been greatly enjoying a fairly new blog that two of my internet friends started recently. A quick note about my definition of Internet Friend. If I follow you on twitter or ever read your blog, you may already be my Internet Friend. If you have ever commented on one of my blogs or referenced something I posted or mentioned a reply of mine, etc., you may already be my Internet Friend. If you are a friend of an internet friend, and I like something that you post, you may have accidentally entered into internet friendship with me. Also, of course, if I have ever gotten even a form email from you on any of my accounts, then we are definitely Internet Friends (I'm talking to you Nigeria, and Marvel Comics.)

The Blog I am highly recommending is:

Girl on Book Action. It is Book and movie reviews written by two, twenty-something ladies in Canada.

Doomwench, a self-described girl Van Helsing is an extremely voracious reader, so much so that she is willing to let her readers have a say in what she reads and reviews. (I assume that eventually she will read everything), writes the book reviews. There is a definite format to the reviews on the blog, and it works for me. The book reviews start with a blurb, then an aside by the reviewer if there is one to be made, and then her thoughts. There is some humor and personality here, but the reviews are solid and well written also.

Wren (the Queen of France, and who am I to dispute that) Watches movies in the same way that Doomwench goes through books apparently. The movies run the range of types and styles, but there is a bit of a geek sensibility about the choices. All of her reviews so far are for movies I have either wanted to see or have been curious about. Her reviews are extremely funny but also make a lot of sense, and show real thought. They also tend to follow a format, in this case it is: Preconceptions, General Review, and Random Thoughts, with an aside thrown in where it is needed.

Both the book reviews, and the movie reviews come across as thoughtful, smart, and well written. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I had not ever read anything by these folks (or ever met them, or actually know them), but I have been very happy with the content. It is always nice to get other viewpoints on things, and even nicer when they are as well written and presented these are..

CBD 01/27/2010

2010-01-30T10:27:00.003-05:00

Batman and Robin, Detective Comics, Kick-Ass

Batman and Robin #7 (Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart) - I am still enjoying this series. This issue wasn't one I liked at first. I had to warm up to it a bit and re-read it, but it was good, almost fun even, comics. I am not a blackest night sort of comics person for the most part. This comic has DickBat taking CorpseBat to a Lazarus Pit in England. It also has some fun British gang war stuff, and Squire and the Knight... and BatWoman, who just sort of poofs there. It's pretty fun stuff in a pure superhero comic kind of way, with just a bit of the modern gloominess thrown in, as it does involve trying to make CorpseBat into LiveBat again, and Damien, the current Robin and BatSon apparently in a healing tank getting a new spine.

Detective Comics #861 - We get some Batman in this issue, as well as a new and grizzly badguy who looks like Max Headroom with knives stuck all over his suit. He looks pretty stupid, but he is pretty tough and awful. The art in this issue is by Jock, and Jock's art is very good, but it isn't even close to the bar that JH Williams has set for this title. This may be my favorite superhero title right now that isn't Tiny Titans. The Question backup feature has also been good, and is particularly good in this issue, while not exactly blazing new trails.

Kick-Ass #8 - I am still fully on the fence about this series. I guess I like it. I don't love a lot of things Millar is inclined to do regularly, but I have certainly enjoyed his writing in the past. I think the writing in this, the concept, the premise, and the aspirations it has, are all overblown and perhaps even irresponsible. It's a comic that was born to be a movie and it involves regular kids dressing up as super heroes, taking drugs, brutally murdering and being horribly physically abused. A father raises his young daughter to kill and gives her weapons and instructs her to use drugs. The main character has his body beaten and broken severely and keeps coming back. I enjoyed the story, and the action, but like Wanted, it left me feeling a bit dirty. I am not really a prude, but I don't always think thst freedom of expression should come without some personal responsibity. Maybe High School me wants to yell 'fuck yeah!', but the responsible adult me that still loves comics wonders if this needed to be done like this. Just because you can show the main character's Dad Fucking a woman from behind on their couch as his son walks in, doesn't mean it needs to be done, or that it makes for a good story

The Surrogates and The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone

2010-01-27T22:54:00.005-05:00

I picked up these to trades from my local Library the other day when I went to pay the enormous fine I owed them because I am not smart enough to return items or conveniently renew them online. There is no reason anyone should ever owe our library a dime, given how easy they make it for you to renew, but this isn't the first or even fifth time I have almost had my library fine go into collection... and still I just can't quit them.

Robert Venditti wrote both of these stories, and Brett Weldele provided the art. The art is pretty great in my opinion, and works really well in both cases. I have been trying to think of what the art made me think of. Style-wise It seems like a combination of Frank Miller in Dark Knight Returns, and Ben Templesmith in Fell, with yet again another property created in the combining of the two and the use of single color page spreads and lots of muddy gray and earthtone washes, with the occasional blues thrown in. Even in the midst of fairly stylistic art, the characters were distinctive, easily identified, and expressive.

The writing is good, the characters are believable, and it works well, while not exactly making any major innovations with regard to storytelling, or what is effectively a police procedural sort of story mixed in with some commentary on human nature and corporations, and religion. I liked The Surrogates, and because of that, I loved the prequel Flesh and Bone. Flesh and Bone needs to be read after the Surrogates, even if you have no idea of the story, etc. The prequel hits all of the notes and expands upon them in some unexpected ways.

The Surrogates centers around the police investigation into a series of crimes against 'Surrogates' Artificial human analogues that are 'driven' by people and take the place of those people out in the real world. Surrogates allow Police and emergency workers to be able to work better and face less actual potential injury, etc. They are very common in the setting of the story. Detectives Harvey Greer and his partner are our guides through this, and Greer personally stands in for us in the story in my opinion.

Flesh and Bone takes us back to some important events that set the stage for the world as it is seen in the Surrogates. A homeless man is killed by three teens 'joy riding' in their dads' surrogates. This event puts a lot of events into motion, and we get to watch as Harvey Greer participates in the case that will move him from being a uniformed cop to being a detective. We also see his own personal first experiences with surrogates on an intimate level that really gives greater impact to the story as you already know it.

I am not sure either of these will ever find a permanent spot on my bookshelf, but if they do, it will still cast me less than the fine I will rack up having them out from the library..

Chew

2010-01-23T22:47:00.003-05:00

I picked up Chew #6 and 7 recently, and just had an opportunity to actually read them today. I picked them up at the comic shop near my parents that sometimes actually has stuff like this on the shelf, unlike my LCS where I would have to have requested it in advance. Not ragging on my LCS, as they are good folks and treat me well.

Chew is the John Layman / Rob Guillory from Image that centers on Tony Chu, a cibopath working for the FDA in a time when trafficking in illegal chicken is a major crime. A cibopath, according to the comic, is someone who can eat something and get psychic impressions of the things history. This makes eating very unpleasant for Tony on a regular basis, and demands that he eat all sorts of awful things in order to do his job.

The first arc of the series (Taster's Choice) ended at number 5, and Issue 6 picks up with a new 5 issue storyline called International Flavor. This one features an investigation into a new, strange, tropical fruit that tastes mostly like chicken apparently. It also has Tony reuniting with an old partner from his days on the police force. The series is funny and interesting, it moves quickly and is served perfectly by Guillory's art.

Guillory's art is a full partner in the success of this book, I believe. It is dynamic and fun and his faces are unbelievably expressive.

The trade of the first 5 issues is out, or you could easily jump into this one if you can get your hands on 6 & 7.

Scalped: V3 & V4

2010-01-18T18:17:00.004-05:00

Having received both an American Express gift card for Christmas, AND a lovely selection of discounts that could be used at my local comic shop, I found myself in a position to buy two trades recently. I looked over my shelves before I went to the store and gave it a great deal of thought as I browsed the stock at the shop. Ultimately it was not great contest. If I had about ten more dollars I would have gone with the Complete Edlund volume of the Tick, but beyond that, I had gone way too long without reading Jason Aaron's Scalped.

I picked up Volume 4, The Gravel In Your Guts, and Volume 5, High Lonesome. I read them pretty much straight through when I got home. I love this title. I usually say that Scalped is like a movie, in the best possible way that a comic can be like a movie. I believe now that Scalped is like the best possible gritty crime action/drama that you could hope to get on HBO or Showtime, or anywhere. It has great characters, great plot, intrigue, action, violence, sex, great writing and a real noir visual. I don't always love the art. I think it sometimes looks like a collection of grotesque racial stereotypes, excep for the fact that I have seen people who actually look like the pictures, so I don't think it is racist. It is gritty. It is often as ugly as the situations. This makes it really work.

I think that Aaron and Guera have the kind of complete connection that Brubaker and Philips do. The writing, the atmosphere and the art all gel perfectly in my opinion. This is times are hard and getting harder deep cover crime fiction. If you think things were bad before, you may be surprised by the capacity for them to get progressively worse in these two volumes. Dash Bad Horse, more or less our protagonist is in a hard downward spiral. At the same time even the really bad guys seem to be getting themselves into deeper shit.

In all of this, Red Crow, a big bad who could easily give the Kingpin a run for his money seems to have some bits of conscience and maybe regret or sensitivity that have opened up in him. That doesn't mean that anyone is safe, it may even mean the opposite. Red Crow really isn't a one dimensional character. I don't think even the strippers and whores and thugs are one dimensional in this.

This is an addictive series. For me, it is best to read the trade collections, but can be hard to wait. If you like gritty fast paced action and drama I recommend these highly.

Product Descriptions from Amazon.com

V4 The Gravel In Your Guts
This intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture.

Fifteen years ago, Dashiell "Dash" Bad Horse ran away from a life of poverty and hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in search of something better. Now he's come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucks, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on "The Rez" - short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime.

In this volume, Dash makes a dark and fateful decision that will forever affect his future on the reservation as he learns more secrets from his former girlfriend's past.

V5 High Lonesome
Jason Aaron, the hot new writer of the critically acclaimed limited series, THE OTHER SIDE, teams with gritty artist R.M. Guéra for an intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture. Fifteen years ago, Dashiell "Dash" Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and utter hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation searching for something better. Now he's come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucs, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on "The Rez" - short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime. Is he here to set things right or just get a piece of the action?

In this volume, we see the landscape of the Prairie Rose reservation through the eyes of a newcomer - a card shark and con man -
whose presence could spell doom for one of our main characters.

2010: the year we get one good comic in two weeks

2010-01-14T18:37:00.003-05:00

That's probably not entirely true. What is certainly true is that I have picked up one excellent comic so far this year.

In case it has been way too long since I last posted anything, which it has, I will fill you in on my pick for best single issue of 2010. I know this is a fair designation, as it is the only new issue I have picked up so far. My guess is that even if this issue doesn't stand up once other good comics come out, this series will continue to shine.

The Unwritten #9 - Mike Carey, Peter Gross - I continue to love this series. When I get to my LCS and see that all I have waiting for me after 3 or 4 weeks is a single issue and a Previews, I feel like I made out pretty well when the issue waiting for me is from this series.

In this issue Tom and Savoy survive a big attack at the prison, see the 'ghost' of Sir Roland, Save Lizzie and get to interact with Mingus, the winged cat a lot. The end is also pretty great and puts one of our hero's great adversaries more or less in the same place with him. It's well written and drawn, and continues to delight.

Mouse Guard: Fall and Winter 1152

2009-12-02T22:59:00.005-05:00

I read David Petersen's Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Winter 1152 recently, and then again for a second time over the past two days. I was bowled over on the first read. The art is beautiful, and the writing is tight. This is a comic made for the medium. There is no shortage of dialog and narration to be found, but the story is told in the art.

These books are square volumes, shorter and wider than a standard comic. It makes use of the size very well, and gives us a good number of full page and even two page spreads that really set the tone and also punctuate just how strong the art is in this. The characters are distinct, even though most of them are extremely cute mice.

The basic story isn't exactly brand new ground. It's a lot like a lot of classic adventure stories. It takes place in something akin to a medieval setting. It features a small group of adventurers on a mission. The main characters are part of a group of elite warriors whose heyday was in the past to some degree. There is a conspiracy afoot, and the order to which they belong is cast in a negative light. Along the way they have opportunities to face perils, meet characters from legends and fight foes that seem to greatly outnumber or outclass them. There are a lot more standard elements that I could name. Add to this that there is no way to avoid comparing this to at least the excellent Redwall series of novels by Brian Jacques.

Beast of Burden #3 came out last week. This also excellent comic is by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. I read the issue and loved it, and then my ten year old daughter walked over to see what I was reading. I explained it to her and showed her some of the pictures. The art in BoB is also exceptional as well as being very cute in places. She asked to read the issue, and loved it. She is also now a big fan of Mouse Guard. I was thinking about these two very different series, and started to think about something they had in common.

Mouse Guard and Beasts of Burden are both comics I would call 'all ages'. I would actually call them 'most ages', but either of them could be read to a younger reader and edited a little on the fly if needed. Kids nine and up I would say should love these stories.

Mouse Guard made me feel the same way that movies and stories like Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers and Zorro made me feel as a kid. It's exciting and full of action and adventure. The characters are real and flawed, but that isn't the focus, they are also brave and daring, and selfless in their quest to protect those they are sworn to protect, and to complete their missions for the greater good.

I highly recommend these books. Check your local libraries (that's where I picked up mine). And after you read it, share it with a kid. There is a lot to be gotten from the brave little mice of the Guard.

CBD 11/29/2009

2009-11-29T22:31:00.004-05:00

Image United, Detective Comics, The Tick New Series, Ultimate Avengers, Beasts of Burden

Image United #1 - I had no interest in getting this until I read something recently that talked about it and it got in my head for some reason. It is both a crossover book AND an image comic filled with all of the characters I was turned off of in the 1990's. It is slightly better than my expectations, but not great. I don't think I will get any further issues, but this wasn't exactly terrible. There is something that I secretly like about this stuff but am afraid to admit.

Beasts of Burden #3 - This is really a great series. I've said this before, but the art is fantastic, and the writing is every bit as good as the art. This comic is about animals that dabble in the supernatural. The animals are cute and compelling and distinctive. The dialog is natural and fast paced. It would make a fantastic cartoon in my opinion, which isn't always the case. There is a lot of action and suspense in this issue, as well as humor in the form of banter. Great stuff. It is a tiny bit to the right of pg, but I think this would be a good comic for kids over 10 or so, and it certainly works for me as well.

Ultimate Avengers #4 - I think that I would absolutely buy any comic where the focus was all the big powerful heroes trying to beat up Captain America, and Captain America Schooling them as he is inclined to do (same thing with Batman... It's a thing of mine). Again, I don't think I will continue to get this title, but something about it calls to me when I see it on the shelf. I think that I am hoping it will be a reprint of the first Ultimates series.

Detective Comics #859 - This is another chapter in the Batwoman origin story. I am still really enjoying this. It's nice to read this as it isn't a story we've seen before.

The Tick New Series #1 - Reviewed Here... Go buy it, you'll love it. If you don't love it then you are incapable of love and I can't help you.

The Issue at Hand: The Tick New Series #1

2009-11-29T19:51:00.003-05:00

The first issue of the new ongoing Tick series came out last Wednesday. Unfortunately for me i didn't pick up my comics until today. The really great news is that in addition to there being a copy in my box, there was also a copy on the shelf. This is in a store that doesn't tend to use a lot of shelf space for comics that aren't from the top four or five publishers, but it was there. Hopefully it will catch the eye of someone who has fond memories of the Tick from its various incarnations who didn't realize that a new series was starting.

Despite some very unnecessary self deprecation by the author, both on his blog, and on the Arachnida page at the back of the comic, This is an exceptional book. I understand the fear that there will be disappointment from people who are only familiar with the Tick from the very excellent Fox cartoon that ran in the 1990's. There are a lot of characters that were created exclusively for the show, and they will not be in the comic. There are a lot of characters from the cartoon that created very strong and lasting impressions on people. I don't see this as a negative.

In the case of the Tick, I think that the humor and the tone are most important. The cartoon recreated and perfected the tone and humor of the original comics. Subsequent comics in my opinion were created with an awareness of what had already been done.

This latest offering does the same thing. It draws upon the tone and the humor, it uses existing characters, and adds it's own new elements. Cereno perfectly creates situations and stories within the existing framework of the character, and does so at a level that keeps you from even wondering about the creative team as you are reading it. This is an extremely funny new book that feels familiar in the best possible way. Les McClaine's art is fantastic in the same way as the writing is. When you look at it, it looks like what you are expecting. The book will get a lot of people's money based on the fact that it elicits this sense of familiarity. The good news is that you get more than just the familiar in both the writing and the art. The expressions that McClaine brings out in the characters are what really tie the comic together.

Issue number 1 focuses on two separate Christmas parties. One is for heroes at the Comet Club, and the other is for sidekicks in the Sidekick Lounge at the same venue. In each party there is a gift exchange going on, and stories are being told by both the sidekicks and a group of super-villains gathered in a lounge at the institution in which they are housed. There is an underlying story relating to the gifts, but we also see a handful of times when the Tick ruined a number of villains Christmas-time exploits.

The Tick New Series #1 is good comics. It's funny, well written, and the art is spot on. The 4.95 price tag may seem a bit steep in relation to mainstream comics, but don't let that stop you. If you love the Tick, you will love this. If you are a fan of funny riffs on superheroes, you won't be disappointed.

The Tale of One Bad Rat

2009-11-28T21:43:00.003-05:00

I borrowed this Bryan Talbot Graphic novel (Dark Horse Books) from the library a few weeks ago, and just got around to reading it.

The title of this book is in the style of Beatrix Potter. The cover art and font are obviously a nod to the small volumes of stories featuring animals that many of us grew up loving. The story relates to Potter in a number of ways, and is a nice story about overcoming abuse and learning to live and finding peace with yourself. It is a bit neat, and perhaps overly straightforward in its telling and its resolution, but it is still very well done.

There are several themes that run the course of the book. One is a connection to Beatrix Potter, One is vivid visions or hallucinations, One is the theme of child sexual abuse and the toll it takes on the victim, and the last one is rats. These are all tied together in a way that helps us to feel what the protagonist, a girl named Helen, who is homeless when we first meet her and has a pet rat. is going through, and to really see how she is coping with a history of many years of sexual abuse by her father, and emotional neglect by her mother.

Helen goes from one place to another, encountering something at nearly every point that triggers flashbacks to her abusive past. It is something that is ever present, and keeps driving her on. She has a strong interest in Beatrix Potter and goes more or less on a pilgrimage of sorts the the area in which Potter lived and wrote her stories about. In addition to meeting a number of people who just want to use her, she does encounter a number of good souls.

The overall feeling of the book is one of hope. Helen takes control of her situation by the end of the book and it ends on a good note. She is greatly helped toward this end by people she happens upon when she is at a low point, who end up being good and kind to her and step into a positive sort of parental role that she had been lacking in her life.

It's a good story, I'm glad I read it, but I don't particularly love it. The art is good but not a style I like very much, and the story is well written, but didn't blow me away. It's a good book to borrow first.

Talkin bout the same thing over and over

2009-11-14T18:12:00.002-05:00

I picked up this weeks comics today. It was a light but good week and I picked up a little bonus comic to read as well.

The Unwritten #7 came out, and it continues to be really good and really compelling. The is great, the covers are even better, and the writing is pretty awesome. I love the fictional geography aspect of this probably more than anything else, but the whole conceit of the power of stories and their influence and their standing as a commodity of sorts is really neat. There is a lot going on in this. There are a variety of things that will eventually come together, and the promise of learning a lot more as everything develops. This is one of those smart comics that doesn't come off as pretentious or trying to be more than it is. One of the core stories is basically Harry Potter. The power is in stories, no matter what the stories are.

Batman and Robin #6 - I am not loving every second of this title, but I am liking it a lot. It is going a long way to keep me reading it. The team of Dick and Damian is a good one. Both characters have strong well defined personalities, and bring a lot to the table. Both provide different perspectives on the Batman identity and make for good action and an interesting dynamic. The Jason Todd Red Hood and his crazy sidekick Scarlet were a good counterpoint to Batman and Robin, and the flamboyant Flamingo was a tough enemy, but still came across as sort of generic and with only the flashiness and brutality standing inplace of actual character. I am enjoying this more than a lot of relatively recent Batman stuff. I still like Batwoman more, but this is pretty good for a Batman fix.

I also picked up SuperGod, but haven't read it yet. Touching the ultra glossy cover was like taking a time machine back to the 90's but I don't hold that against it. I am pretty sure I will like this just as I tend to at least LIKE most things Warren Ellis writes. I'll talk about it more when I don't have to make stuff up to do so...

CBD 10/07/09

2009-10-07T21:32:00.012-04:00

North 40, Batman and Robin, Models Inc, Doctor Voodoo, Haunt

North 40 #4 - Aaron Williams, Fiona Staples - Still loving this series. I am not always a fan of horror, but this really has me hooked. It is well written, and the art is fantastic, with emphasis on just a great job on the colors. It isn't what I would call a comedy, but it certainly has a sense of humor. It comes off almost in a Twin Peaks meets Lovecraftian apocalypse sort of vibe. At this point the law is trying hard to maintain order in the face of all the strangeness, and things are gradually coming together. There is so much to take in at this point that i am not asking for the plot to move any faster than it is. Each issue brings us new mysteries and new insights into the characters we see. It's creepy smart and fun.

Batman and Robin #5 - Grant Morrison, Philip Tan - I like this title, and I liked this issue. I think it is well written, but just a bit more extreme than I am interested in . I think it's great, I just don't think it beats out some of the other titles I am reading for my comic dollars. This title vs Detective comics at this point... I have to go with BatWoman. It isn't really a contest like that, but given limited funds and rising prices, I do have to keep jockeying my money around where it gives me the most bang, or lets me pick up things I just 'have to check out'. The story lines move from a guy who replaces faces to a guy who eats them... I'll check back in with this title later I think.

Doctor Voodoo #1 - Rick Remender, Jefte Palo - I loved this issue. I haven't paid much attention to Doctor Strange in a really long time. I used to love it when I was in Middle School, though. For some reason, it was like Daredevil at the time for me, Maybe my local library had some runs of it and I read a lot of it. My library back then had these bins of single issues that were beat to hell, but you could check them out. They stamped right on the comic, it was kind of great. I like Brother Voodoo, and if this issue is an accurate intro into how this will consistently be, then I will need to put this on my pull list. It starts out with Dr. Voodoo getting the easy upper hand over Dormamu, and certainly gets no less awesome on it's way to a cross dimensional battle of indeterminate length with Dr. Doom. It was really awesome on a very high level for me.

Models Inc. #2 - I think this is a pretty decent comic. It has a LOT of human interaction, some murder mystery elements, etc., but probably isn't something I will keep picking up from this point on. I don't think this is a bad book at all, I just think it isn't a book I am particularly interested in reading.

Haunt #1 - Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Todd McFarlane - Despite the fact that I have been making fun of this character since the first picture of it was released (See... It's from Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarlane, and the McFarlane cover image really really looks like a cross between Spider-Man and Spawn... More like a hybrid of the two than like Venom in my opinion, but it has a venom-esque look as well.) That being said, this comic has some Spawn-like elements to it... Mercenary or government killer type who dies and becomes something else... That being said, it really is something wholly new. I really enjoyed this issue, and think it is a pretty great setup to an intriguing and interesting ongoing story. Ryan Ottley's Pencils have Todd McFarlane's inks over them, and the art is brilliant. My favorite 'panel' has the good guy jumping over the front of an oncoming jeep and simultaneously shooting the driver in the face while kicking the passenger in the face. As the story goes on, the soldier is killed, but his ghost keeps appearing to his brother who is a priest. When people show up to kill the brother, the soldier's ghostly self merges into his brother and becomes this other sort of creature. I guess it sort of is like Venom, if the symbiote was his brother. I was not at all surprised by the quality of this book, but I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. I am glad I succumbed to my curiosity and picked it up. It definitely has me for a few more issues at least.

A Fistfull of SPX 2009 part 1

2009-10-06T22:16:00.003-04:00

I've had a chance to get through a good number of smaller comics at this point, and I am pretty impressed with what I have read so far. I think it says a lot about the things I choose to pick up and buy, as well as a lot about the quality of the offerings at SPX this year that I pulled out a pile of minicomics and really truly believe they were all pretty awesome. I am sure I picked up some things that I won't love this much, but this first batch, pulled randomly, is filled with winners.

Bizcochito - Dennis Pacheco - pigeonholepress.net - This is billed as 'a tale of sweet revenge', and 'a cautionary tale in two acts'. This small square mini is 24 single panel pages, and tells a story that spans a 13 year time frame, and highlights the fact that some people will wait far longer than you might think to exact revenge. It is very cute, very well drawn, and very available to read for free. If you follow that link you will be on a page that shows several of Pacheco's works. bizcochito is toward the bottom of the page. Well worth reading. Budgeting and a desire to get a wide variety of creators are the only reasons I didn't buy more of his work. He was not able to be at SPX, but his work was well represented.

Earth Minds Are Weak (1-4)- Justin J Fox - clifffacecomics.com - here is the blurb about the first issue from his website.

"Issue 1 of an 80 pg. wordless adventure, The Story of Suave Prospects. This surreal tale focuses on four brothers. Born into the world as naive adults, they explore a mythical temple in search of their Ids. Magical candles, the living dead, dancing beer labels, alien plants, shape-changing mushrooms and a tavern in the belly of a whale are just some of the dream-like elements that they encounter. 4.25” x 5.5”/21 pages/b&w"

The art is fantastic in this. I am not sure I understood much of anything in the four small books, but it was interesting and made me think and try to decode what was going on, and what we were being told in each of the panels. In that regard I enjoyed it a lot. It's trippy. I don't think I ever have an opportunity to use that word, but it applies here. There is a heavy sense of design and mythology (central american) represented in the black and white. You get a lot of really heavy black and white, but also a lot of fine textures drawn in very thin lines. There is a strange mystical,sexual, and psychological vibe at work, and while I don't feel I understand it, I get it, and I like it.

Four Stories - Tom McHenry - noncanon.com - I was standing in front of Sara Bauer's table trying to figure out what to buy when I picked this up. I laughed so hard at what I saw on the random page I flipped to, that I felt obligated to buy it. The pieces in here aren't exactly funny, but the title of one of them just killed me... it was "Fucking Comics on the GodDamn Internet", which is a short sort of existentialist piece about two webcomics creators sitting in a cell talking about their place as basically mankind's last hope in some alien gladiatorial arena. It works. This also contains the story No Argument is Ever Won, which hits WAY too close to home for me about the dickish behavior we subject the people we love to, and geek... identity issues? The piece that hit me hardest is probably the Rag and Bone Man. Inside the strange sad story of a couple losing a baby, is this concept of selling things like memories and abilities, for money. This is a powerful and effective small volume. The art is good and the writing is great.

Hey Pais, the best thing in the WORLD - Sara Bauer - heypais.com - Hey Pais is a journal comic by a cat. It is simple and cute and funny and endearing. It is really just a nice comic. It is also a webcomic, so follow that link and enjoy! The mini comic I picked up is especially precious. In March, Paisley decided that she was going to make a March Madness inspired bracketed competition to determine the Best thing in the world. It was divided into four divisions of People, Food, Activities, and Events. There is a tiny little envelope inside the front cover with a very small copy of the brackets, which include among other things: Ice Cream, Dropping Beats, Morrissey and Unattended Bread. There is one comic for an item in each division in each round. It is very cute, and very funny. Inside the back cover is another tiny envelope that contains the brackets with the results all written in. I LOVED this. It makes me smile to take out the little brackets. It's sweet and nice and funny.

Outreach - Raina Telgemeier - www.goraina.com - It was really nice getting to meet Raina. She is just nice and friendly and accessible. Her art is fantastic, and she is a perfect choice for the graphic novel adaptations of the babysitters club books. I picked up two small volumes from her that have panels drawn from real life classes she has done for kids. I LOVED the fact that she had minis for sale. She has quite a few books under her belt, but she also had minis available, which is a genius thing to do in the context of a show like SPX especially. If she lived closer to Virginia I would be trying to figure out how to have her attend an event for our Girl Scout service unit. The cover for Outreach #2 is cute and smart. It has a boy and a girl reading comics on it, and the boy is reading a comic labeled comics for girls and the girl is reading the one for boys. PLUS her booth was giving away a cookie with each purchase!! it was delicious. <--- disclosure per the new FTC rules...

Ok, I am getting tired now. I know it doesn't look like much, but this is 9 comics covered. I have a bunch more that I have already read, but they will come in another day or so. Be sure to check out the sites for these folks!

Cross Country - MK Reed

2009-09-30T13:55:00.006-04:00

Another longer work that I picked up at this year's SPX is the book Cross Country by MK Reed. I was excited to pick it up as I really enjoyed the two smaller works of hers that I picked up last year. For a tiny blurb on 'I will feast on your whore heart' and 'Myrtle Willoughby' go here.

Cross Country is a story about a guy named Ben who has taken a job as the assistant for an heir to a big chain store as he goes on a road trip visiting various stores as they celebrate milestones or have events, etc. Greg, Ben's boss, is a spoiled self centered frat boy asshole, and Ben is immediately sick of him, but he does his job and puts up with it.

Ben is a decent guy, but he has not gotten over the girl who left him in college, and is subjected to frequent and sometimes disturbing dreams about her still. Ben keeps in touch with his best friend Tara, via phonecalls and postcards, and ends up getting back in touch with his ex, and staying with her for a day. Greg ends up facing some consequences for his actions, and everything ends on a sort of promise of things getting at least somewhat better for Ben.

It's a great story with excellent and enjoyable dialog. It's smart and comes across as very genuine. The dream sequences are interesting and well done, and give us additional insight. Reed's art is simple, but well done and consistent. The story is dialog heavy, but in the way that a car trip and a reunion with an ex would be. It doesn't feel unrealistically padded or anything. The characters are distinct and there is a good bit of humor as well.

In a very basic and complimentary way, this book reminds me of the movie Sideways. There are a lot of basic similarities. Not even close to exactly the same, just the basic feel and some of the themes with the characters.

I highly recommend this. You can read a preview of the book, or order it for 10 dollars through the author's website

You'll Never Know, Book One: A Good and Decent Man

2009-09-30T11:31:00.001-04:00

Carol Tyler was a VIP at the 2009 Small Press Expo. I had never read anything by her before this weekend. I had seen her name, and read a very little bit about her, but that was it. That was another one of those situations where my ignorance is my loss, whether I realize it or not. Fortunately for me SPX was there to help me. I attended the Q&A that comics critic Douglas Wolk did with Carol on Sunday of the show. I am really glad I did.

Listening to Carol Tyler talk was a highlight of the show for me. I think a lot of the creators and exhibitors there would have been greatly served by hearing the parts of her story and her approach to cartooning that she shared. She spoke at length about her new book from Fantagraphics that deals with her father's time in World War II and his long silence about it. Part of what was really driven home in her talk was how her father's story is not an exceptional one, how from the time of the war forward he was part of a great fraternity that includes pretty much anyone that has gone to war, and his tendency to be closed lipped about it is the rule of his era.

Her father is a poster child for that era in my opinion. He pursued the woman he was attracted to, he was a bit of a goof and a wise-acre when he was younger, he served his country because it was what people did, and after the war he didn't speak of it for decades. He was crusty and could be a real son of a bitch, but he did what he had to to support his family. I could go on further with traits like that. All of those things make him identifiable and also give the story it's impact.

We are served the story in the context of the artist herself. Her husband left her and her daughter, and she is doing what it takes to keep things going for the two of them. Throughout her life she saw evidence of his involvement in WWII, but it was not a subject her father would talk about. It was an empty space in his story that she thought must hold some clues to understanding him as she knew him. His unwillingness to talk about his war-time past ended with a phone call she received from him one day, and that kicked off what would become the impetus for this book. The book contains an account of her life at the time, focusing on the rebuilding of a scrapbook of his army days, and recounting his story from that time.

The art is wonderful, and I believe she said it was done entirely in inks. Her style is one of cartoony but expressive and identifiable people set against lush and beautifully detailed backgrounds that are just superb. Her caricature of herself is one of the most honest representations I have seen from an artist. The book itself is over sized and reminiscent of a family album in its dimensions. She stated in her talk that she wanted it to be something you really had to sit down with and take slowly, rather than some other format more fitted to a fast read. It was a real pleasure hearing her talk, and also having her sign my copy. I am sad that I have to wait until the end of 2010 for the next installment, but I am certain it will be worth the wait.

One of the things I was most affected by was her imperative to collect and tell people's stories. She has her class do exercises in that vein, interviewing real people and relating real stories. She speaks of the stories she has collected that she hopes to actually produce some day, and it is just magical. It's hard not to be affected by the enthusiasm, or impressed by that gift for seeing things that way. If you have a chance to meet her, or see her speak about anything, really, I recommend it.

Here is a link to Douglas Wolk's write up of this book in the New York Times.

Post SPX... post

2009-09-27T21:53:00.004-04:00

I volunteered at SPX this year, and attended both days. It's a great experience. I didn't meet a single person among the volunteers who wasn't just great, and the volunteer coordinator is pretty awesome, and made me feel welcomed and useful, even when I was standing around with nothing to do. They keep a good number of people on hand just in case anything comes up, and I stayed and worked when there was something I could do, so I didn't feel like a freeloader. I carried a ballot box around for the Ignatz ballots so that exhibitors could get theirs turned in without having to leave their booths, and later I went around to a couple rows of exhibitors to show them where to go when they left for the day. It was fun, and it was a good way to get around and make eye contact with a lot of exhibitors. For instance, I really wanted to meet Kate Beaton and say hi, and tell her the usual 'your stuff is really cool, etc' but there was always a crowd around her... So instead, I got to tell her where to exit when she left... it was almost like talking.

Some high points for me from Saturday were getting to meet Eden (from the comicsgirl blog) and Dan Govar (Saulone on Zuda, creator of the comic Azure) in person. I walked around the exhibit hall with Dan, and it was a lot of fun. I have been watching him draw on livestream and chatting with him a good bit lately there. Eden is responsible for my even knowing that I could volunteer, through her enthusiastic advocacy of volunteering at spx, etc. It really was a great experience. I also got to say hi to a good number of people I had met the previous year, and meet a variety of new and awesome people. I really enjoyed meeting Miss Lasko-Gross, and the other folks in the House of Twelve booth. She was funny and nice, and I had a lot of fun yammering at her. I hope to buy 'a Mess of Everything' at some point in the future, but it wasn't in my budget for SPX.

I attended one panel on Saturday, and it was the critics roundtable. it was absolutely worth sitting in on, and I will make a point to get to that sort of thing any time I can. It was absolutely packed with a pretty broad range of people who write or post about comics. It helped me understand some things about myself, and appreciate some of the panelists a little better.

I was absolutely dead and my feet were screaming in pain when I got home last night, but I took a hot bath after my Wife and daughters wouldn't stop laughing at my wincing everytime I moved my legs. The bath and sleep certainly helped.

Sunday morning I got up and went back. I picked up most of the things i had made mental notes about. I stopped and saw Joe Flood again and picked up a comic I had wanted to get from him. I attended two panels, One was the Carol Tyler conversation, and the other was about comics and community. The Carol Tyler one will be the subject of its own post at some point. She was wonderful and insightful. I broke a rule of my own and risked castration by walking right out of the panel when it was done and buying her book so that I could have her sign it, but most importantly because I have to read it now that I have heard her talk about it... It's become important to me. Seriously, It was a funny and touching and insightful talk. Things like that really make a good con even better. The comics and community one annoyed me a little, but was not without some good stuff, and was still worth attending. My thoughts on it will probably pop up again somewhere.

I will make a point to volunteer next year. There was no downside to being there... If I had to pick one, it would definitely be:

Rob makes an ass out of himself in front of people he respects... SPX edition.
I was running around telling the exhibitors how to leave the showroom when I walked up on Joe McCullough and Tucker Stone talking to people at one of the exhibitor's tables. I am a big fan of both Joe and Tucker. Joe writes insight filled smart wordy posts with a comics scholar's knowledge of the material and the greater 'world of comics' that it exists within, etc. I did an ok job telling him how much I respected his work. Tucker was talking to someone, so (assuming they are friends, as they drove down together I think, and they seem to have some camaraderie at least), I then rambled like an idiot to Joe about how much I appreciated Tyler's work as well. Sometimes I can't make myself stop talking. I related that when I first read Tucker's work I was appalled by it and wanted to act as sort of the anti-him, but then I read more and more and realized that regardless of how he was conveying it, his words generally echoed my sentiment, just with the word 'fuck' appearing more in his work, and with his showing a bit more passion and a sharper sense of humor. I think at the core of his criticism is some of the most honest comics writing you will get. It doesn't wear a pretentious overcoat like a lot of people with his kind of exposure seem to, and I appreciate it.

So instead of saying anything coherent directly to him I think I made Joe worry that I might have had a knife on me or something, or wonder how I had changed out of my hospital gown on my way to the expo...

It was still a good time.

Coming soon I will start reading and posting on the great volume of mini and not so mini comics I picked up at the show.

The Tick ongoing series

2009-09-24T22:17:00.004-04:00

What is better than the idea of a new Tick ongoing series? Maybe one that is written By Benito Cereno and Drawn by Les McClaine? Maybe one that kicks off with a holiday special?

Yes, really.

Don't let this one slip by you. If you want to pick this comic up, you will most likely have to order it in advance. Tell your local comic shop that you want it (Diamond code SEP09 0937 ) or order it at a savings from some place like... this for instance:
http://www.badgercomics.com/subproduct_info.php/New_England_Comics/TICK_NEW_SERIES__1/ukv/1/products_id/SEP090937

I am genuinely excited about this. There really aren't many comics that I have been this excited about in a while. The Tick is absolutely a sentimental favorite of mine. It is great to see it in the hands of two people who seem completely qualified to function on the level such a title needs and deserves... no pressure guys... just ALL THE PRESSURE IN THE WORLD!

Insert some sports metaphor about success here.

While you are waiting for the book to come out, you should check out Benito's LJ, or follow him on twitter or both.

SPX - Small Press Expo Sept 26, 27 Bethesda, MD

2009-09-24T00:03:00.003-04:00

I am very excited about going to SPX again this year, and just as excited about volunteering(for the first time) as I am about going at all. I had a lot of fun going last year, and many times more fun going over all the things I got, and thinking about the people I met and posting about the Mini comics and things like that.

So, if you are interested in going this year, here are some links...

Check out the SPX site if you haven't. Lots of great people will be there, including Kate Beaton, Liz Baillie, MK Reed, Danielle Corsetto, Josh Cotter, and many more!

Fistfull of SPX - This is the series of reviews of all the mini comics (and not so mini) that I picked up last year

comicsgirl has some very helpful posts related to SPX in the form of a survival guide, and a food guide. If you are going, you should read them.

I will most certainly post about the experience, as well as anything I pick up. I may be twittering off and on during the event as well. I am talkinboutcomx on twitter

CBD 09/16/2009

2009-09-16T21:25:00.002-04:00

Beasts of Burden, Tiny Titans, Batgirl, Batman & Robin, Atomic Robo

It's really nice when the comics I get meet the level of excitement that going to the store and getting them generates in me.

Beasts of Burden #1 - I am surprised that there was a copy of this on the shelf. I am guessing that it was purchased for someone and then accidentally got shelved. Yay me! This comics is written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Jill Thompson. I described it to my daughter as sort of like scooby doo, only the gang is all dogs, and a cat I guess fills the odd person out spot that Scooby occupied in his group. That is really only a valid comparison on the surface, and even then it's a sketchy comparison, but it made me laugh. The story is cool, the setting and the premise are even cooler, the characters are distinctive. There is humor and drama and right there tying it all together is art that is cute and stunning and fully capable of conveying the sort of horror/supernatural element of the story as well. Burden Hill is a town with dark and sinister secrets, according to a paragraph on the inside of the cover, and it is up to the animals that live there to protect the town and its other inhabitants. The Dogs and cats and scenery are all just beautifully done, and the animals work together using their wits and resources (including a dog that can cast spells!) to get through difficult situations (in this case a giant frog that is eating pretty much anything or anyone it wants to.) This isn't a kids title exactly, but I would certainly let my 10 year old daughter read it.

Batman and Robin #4 - Still good, even without Frank Quitely on board at the moment. There are some points where the art me be a bit confusing, but I don't see it as particularly bad or anything. I am viewing it like I am supposed to think it's awful, because everyone has worked hard to create that expectation. I am pretty sure Philip Tan is not a fan of that assumption. Frank Quitely is a pretty great artist. It would be hard to follow him on a title. Nothing in this book makes me unable to follow or enjoy the story, so I find it hard to have a negative opionion about the art. So I will say. Good job guys. We get Red Hood and Scarlet popping up in place of Batman and Robin, or ahead of them, and doing very un-Batman sorts of things. I don't really dig the whole 'let the punishment fit the crime' catch phrase, but 'who am I to judge' (maybe that will be my new catch phrase)

Batgirl #2 - I really like the Phil Noto cover to this. There is a sort of old school sexiness to the shot of a fully clothed woman pulling up or adjusting her boot. It is not done in a lurid way, it isn't cheesecake, or even overtly sexual, but I like the picture. The comic is ok, and features a good bit of Oracle seeming jealous of the new Batgirl, or overly protective or something. I liked it, but I don't think i will continue picking this up, unless I am in the situation where I can get it and still come out under 20 bucks.

Atomic Robo Shadow from beyond time #5 - This is the final installment of the third volume of Atomic Robo. I loved this series. This issue, for being strong and funny, and resolving things nicely, is probably the weakist issue of the series. That distinction still allows this issue to be better than a majority of comics I read. I loved it, it just didn't have the bang for me that some of the other issues did. It's still funny as heck, and has a really great take on non-linear time that feels almost like time travel but isn't, because time travel is impossible... There is a description of evil computers vs normal computers that is hilarious and brilliant as well. If you didn't read this as it was coming out, do yourself a favor and pick up the trade. Great stuff. Clevinger, Wegener, Pattison and Powell is certainly one of the all time best groups of four names to see together on the front of a comic. Here's looking to volume 4!!

Tiny Titans #20 - The latest installment of the Eisner award winner for best publication for kids, continues to delight. This issue deals with magical holes created by Raven, and their many uses. The best part of the issue is the spread where Alfred is polishing the Eisner! I would do that if I had an award winning comic that I wrote and drew. Good job Baltazar & Franco!

Wednesday Comics #11 - I will be very sad to see this over. The awesome thing about this issue in particular is how big everyone is going. I would say this specific issue has the greatest concentration of oversized panels of the entire run. The Flash wins for layout design, but Green Lantern and WonderWoman are also just beautiful. There is a lot of good in this issue. Looking at the whole run so far, I would say that Teen Titans is the only feature that didn't seem to work for me on any level. Even Emo Superman went big and bold art-wise. Once it is finished I will go back and read each feature straight through. This has been a very successfull experiment in my opinion. I sure hope they continue to push boundaries of art and design and such in other ways. I would love to see another weekly collection like this at some point.

CBD 09/10/09

2009-09-12T13:08:00.003-04:00

Models Inc., Wed. Comics, North 40, The Unwritten, Ult. Comics Avengers, Nomad, Kick-Ass

The Unwritten #5 (Mike Carey & Peter Gross) I think this is one of the best single issues of comics I have read this year. In this issue the story steps back a bit and shows us just how deep things go, and how the literary conspiracy/cabal stretches back probably as long as stories have been written. This issue focuses on Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain. The primary focus is Kipling, and it is just brilliantly written. It wraps the realities of Kipling and Wilde, for instance, in the fabric and context of the story, and ties them together in an achingly sad story. Fantastic stuff. You could almost read it out of the story context and still have it be a meaningful read. I highly recommend this series.

Models Inc. #1 (Tobin & Villagrasa) - I kind of wish that Marvel Divas was more like this title. I don't Dislike Marvel Divas, and I like Tonci Zonjic's art a lot, but this title seems to have a lot more going for it in characters, interaction, a fun spirit, and a better cover. Why Couldn't Marvel Divas get the sort of cover treatment that this has. Divas had Super ladies drawn in unsexy 'sexy poses' on the cover, this has a relatively classy magazine cover feel in which the character is drawn sexy and pretty, but much more realistically, and not in a pose that only occurs in a Men's magazine. You get Model stuff, fashion stuff, some action stuff. It's really not bad. The Tim Gunn backup is especially great if you have Tim Gunn Fever! as all right minded folks should, and as far as celebrities dropped into comics go, it's a good bit, and is funny and pretty well done.

North 40 #3 (Williams & Staples) - This really looks to be a great series. It is genuinely creepy as well as funny. It feels like a perfect TV show setup. Seriously. There are a lot of good characters in a relatively limited environment. There is a great deal to be discovered regarding what the full effects of the event are, as well as an effort to set things right somehow, and in the middle of it we have a Sheriff just trying to keep order in a small town that's turning into freak central. The art continues to be great, and really provides the right atmosphere. I think the writing is well done and is paced nicely. Really good read. If you like horror, old gods, monsters and small town sheriffin', you are well covered with this.

Kick-Ass #7(Millar, Romita Jr) - I wanted to hate this. I wanted to stop getting it. I don't always love things that are sold as brutal and bloody and over the top. I don't actually have a problem with Comic book as movie sales pitch, especially if it's a good comic. Kick-Ass is really a good comic. Written extremely well, and drawn great too. This issue absolutely pushes all the right buttons for me. I am unable to resist a good 'Rocky' style comeback, and this has one of the best comebacks ever. Kick-Ass gets absolutely destroyed in this issue, and then formulates a plan to get out of it by getting beaten mercilessly until he can get his pants back on. It's brilliant. There may be a message about the dangers of comic books in this, but I think it really is more about the awesomeness of comic books.

Ultimate Comics: Avengers #2 - This is looking pretty good. I sort of stopped reading vol 3 early on of Ultimates, and I didn't really follow Ultimatum. This series seems to grab some middle ground between the two, and is off to a good start. I know I'd cut my face off if I had Steve Rogers' good looks. Pretty good, but I can't afford to keep getting everything I like.

Nomad: Girl without a World #1 (Sean McKeever, David Baldeon) - I didn't know what to expect from this, but I was compelled to pick it up. It's about Rikki Barnes a girl from another earth who is inexplicably on this earth now. She is the Bucky of her world. She wants desperately to meet the Captain America of this world, but something comes up every time she tries. In this issue that something is the Black Widow. BW tells Rikki that plenty of people know about her, etc. and that She's not going to let Rikki meet Cap. There is also the plot line where Rikki has chosen to be where she is on this earth because although she doesn't exist in this reality, her brother does, so she puts herself close to him. This comic gives us High School drama, dimension travel, Action, and butting heads with adults. I think if it keeps this balance it will be a good title, and maybe one that kids (boys and girls both I would hope) can like.

No such thing as a Wednesday without comics

2009-09-09T20:29:00.005-04:00

In an attempt to make Disappointment Wednesday a little less so, I went the webcomics route. There is a ton of really great stuff out there for free just waiting to be read, and even still I don't tend to read enough of it. I read a large number of items on Zuda, and have a handful of others that I frequent, but still I don't even touch a fraction of even the most well known and regarded comics on the web. I went the easy route and started at ACT-I-VATE.

ACT-I-VATE is a webcomics collective that was started by Dean Haspiel in 2006. It provides a place for talented, hand picked creators to host their comics and serialized graphic novels. There is a great lot of great and recognizable talent there. There are dozens of offerings, and previously I have only read one or two. Not sure why, but then I am never sure what keeps me from reading good stuff that everyone else is smart enough to read when it's new.

Here's What I read there:

Adventures of Maxy J. Millionaire - Paul Maybury - This was a Zuda contest entry at one point. I loved it there, and I love it here. Especially wonderful is the last page where Maxy confronts Paul about the book that he's supposed to do about Maxy. Maxy J. is a stuffed toy who loves chicken nuggets and writing checks. He leaves his girl after she has grown up and put him through the indignity of having sex with someone in his bed. It's sort of cute and sweet and sad. Maxy is naive and self centered and a bit delusional. It's a really good character. I love Maybury's art, and would love to see this go someplace.

Beanbots - Kevin Kobasic - I may use the word sweet alot in this post. Beanbots focuses on a Dad and his two daughters (I am a father of two daughters, so it really resonates, but it is good regardless of that) The art is sort of soft focus and cute, but in a way that drives home the whole raising girls thing. If you have girls, or know them, or were one, or are one, you know that especially when they are little they can be a cross between the cutest thing you have ever encountered and a Tasmanian devil, or sometimes the actual devil. They can undo anything you are secure in, and make you love more than you thought was possible. This is a very funny strip, but there is a reality to it that is just perfect. One of my favorite strips has the Dad taking care of the two girls and walking with them in public. They have angel halos and he has a superman cape. By the end of the strip both of them are bawling and he has an ass for a head(hopefully you follow that link to see the whole thing).

Flowing Wells - Andrew Dimitt - This is another comic that was in a Zuda competition once. 8 screens and the sort of storytelling that this is didn't translate well into the Zuda model. That is a sort of Weakness in the Zuda concept, but it certainly isn't damning in my opinion to Zuda or this strange but excellent comic. Flowing wells is almost entirely narrative so far. The art is really great, and very clean. I am seriously a big fan of this. I don't fully get it, but the concept as I understand it is very cool. It is something that really needed space to grow and develop, and given that, draws you in well. As I understand it, Flowing Wells is like if the Sims took place on an actual planet and everything was actually built upon the planet and the sims that were created there suffered under various mods that caused all sort of problems, including giving them free will. When we join the story there are very few 'people' left there.

Underwire - Jennifer Hayden - This is perhaps my favorite. These pieces are absolutely from a woman's perspective, but they are less gender specific than they are just true to life, easily identifiable pieces of on the human experience. The art is absolutely perfect. It is personal and accessible and expressive. I have linked to my favorite panel of my favorite story. Visit the link then start at the beginning of the story. Each chapter is a 12 to 18 panel strip that comes off as a short story or vignette. They all work for me and give us looks at real and different every day sorts of occurrences elevated to art. I highly recommend this. The panel I have linked to is a situation that my wife and I definitely experienced ourselves with our oldest. We pointed out the moment things changed as well. Hayden is working on a graphic novel - "The Story of My Tits" which is scheduled for 2011 from Top Shelf, according to her website . It is definitely on my list as something I need to get when it comes out.

For the final webcomic I read, I looked no further than someone I follow on twitter, and whose blog I regularly visit - Keven Church - I have only read a few entries of his webcomic The Rack, but it is definitely something I want to read. Today I chose to Read the 'limited series' spin off of the Rack-

Lydia: A comic strip about corporate culture. - There was no issue with understanding and enjoying this, despite my limited experience with The Rack. It was very funny, very well drawn, and extremely well written. It wasn't Dilbert, and it wasn't The Office, it was yet again unique, despite covering an angle on a set up that has been done a good bit. This takes it from a slightly different direction than we have seen it before, and works. Lydia went from working in a comic shop to working in a corporate environment where it was immediately clear that management was flaky and imbalanced, but not immediately clear what the job was that she was hired to do. Good clever stuff, go read it now.

Sympathy for the Zuda

2009-09-05T22:45:00.008-04:00

I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to say about Zuda for a while. Zuda is a webcomics competition and site that is owned by DC Comics. It seems to get more aggressive negative press than it does positive for no good reason in my opinion. Non-Zuda webcomics people seem to become elitists when it is brought up(or when they constantly bring it up), and many comics bloggers seem to find some way of giving a negative spin to whatever they say about it. People who don't read the comics there seem to lay in wait for opportunities to post comments about how they don't read it for one weak reason or another.

It is not uncommon to see people bashing Zuda and then giving the disclaimer that there are some great comics there, but for whatever reason, despite great comics (and happy creators) Zuda is depicted as somehow bad or doing it wrong, or secretly going to sneak into your houses and delete your non-Zuda favorites from your computer. I don't get it. I have read what I have seen written and most of it just makes me wonder where the need to slam things comes from.

I have no vested interest in Zuda. I get the bulk of my comics from my LCS and my local library, and sometimes from Amazon. I read a number of non-Zuda webcomics and know that there are a lot of really good ones out there. I also acknowledge that there are certainly a great number of areas for improvement. There are bound to be. Few things start off perfected. I am going to talk about my personal experiences with Zuda and where I think they excel.

The comics - Zuda is home to a large number of comics that I would rank among my favorite comics I am reading these days (regardless of format). Bayou, Celadore, Azure, Night Owls, Imaginary Boys, and High Moon are all very well written and drawn, and are every one of them very different from the other in style and substance. Zuda has a monthly contest that puts a lot of 8 screen 'pilots' in front of my eyes, and has introduced me to a great deal of talent I might not have otherwise found on my own. Contest winners may go on to have their comic become an ongoing series, and this introduces variety and freshness to the mix.

The Format - I like that Zuda is community and feedback -centric. This is not unique to Zuda, but I appreciate it a lot in a webcomic. It's one of the things I think can really set webcomics apart from their print only brethren. Each comic has its own open thread that everyone can post in, ask questions, leave feedback, etc. and in most cases the creators actively keep up on the posts and reply regularly to the people taking time to read their works. There is a real sense of appreciation there. All of the creators I have encountered really seem to appreciate their fans and readers. The Zuda interface itself is a flash viewer. This gets an awful lot of the hate. Zuda recently made a good number of changes to their site, and improved a number of navigation and viewing features, but that still doesn't seem to appease critics.

I have been looking at a lot of webcomics sites lately. I don't use feeds for my comics reading. I guess I am behind the curve, but that doesn't stop me from reading and enjoying webcomics. I genuinely like Zudas viewer. No, I can't read them on my iphone, but there aren't many webcomics that are practical for reading on my iphone in my opinion. In IE, Firefox and Google Chrome (yeah, I use three different browsers...) I am not currently seeing any real issues in accessing and using the Zuda site and the comics viewer. Here is what I like about the viewer

You can browse the screens in a small view that you can still more or less read in most cases. I don't like to read them this way because...
You can go to full screen and really see the comic in a screen fitting format that gives you the best view of the art, and is even easier to read.
It remembers the last screen you read of any given comic and starts you out there when you revisit
There is a thumbnails view that can scroll across the bottom of your screen for easy navigating
Comics are submitted in a specific aspect ratio so that they fit most monitors in full screen view, so no matter which view you use you don't have to scroll around.

I just don't understand people who suggest that any of those things is just an insurmountable barrier to their accessing and enjoying comics. I could read some really good comics on the web for free, but screw that, I refuse to maximize. I refuse to use a flash viewer, and I refuse to sit for a screen load time that is generally about the same amount of time that many other webcomics take to have their whole page refresh when you click 'next'. If people have systems that flash is incompatible with, then that is a real issue, and I hope that it is being looked into or considered as an issue to be resolved in a later update, etc. If the percentage of potential viewers affected is too small to justify changing or fixing, then that is just the way it is. Those sorts of things happen sometimes, and it is unfortunate.

The sense of community, and the sense of genuine enthusiasm for the medium of comics, and appreciation of their peers and the guidance and support they get through their organization is really palpable among the creators I have had the pleasure of chatting with. It's genuine, and it's refreshing. No I don't expect that every creator needs to be my 'friend' in order for me to read their works, but I do appreciate the sense of really trying to make something work, and really appreciating their readers and peers. It's a lot like following a local band and seeing them break into a greater music community.

If you haven't given Zuda a chance, give it a chance. It isn't the enemy of webcomics, it is another avenue of opportunity for webcomics that can exist right out there alongside every other comic you like. I don't like every comic on Zuda, but you are missing out on some exceptional ones if you write it off. Zuda is on twitter, as are many of its creators. Following them is a good way to know when updates are available without visiting the site, or hearing about upcoming events, etc.

I am also not implying here that Zuda is an underdog either. I doubt it really needs me defending it in any way. I get a good bit of enjoyment from the site, just don't understand what seems to be a steady assault of it. I am tired of everything being about tearing down instead of lifting up. That is part of my general philosophy here. I realize it doesn't make me look like an important critic of the industry, but that's just not an aspiration of mine.

CBD 09/02/2009

2009-09-04T00:43:00.003-04:00

Chew, Strange Tales, Wednesday Comics, Sweet Tooth, UltCom Spider-Man, North 40

You are correct that not all of the comics I listed there are actually new this week. I found Chew #3 not long ago in a store that is not my LCS, and I was happy to see the 4th and 3rd printings of 1 and 2 show up on the shelf long enough for me to buy them. North 40 #2 is one I should have gotten when it came out, but didn't. The good news is that my LCS hunted it down for me, and now I have it.

Chew #1,2,3 - John Layman and Rob Guillory - The concept for this, which is: In a world where poultry is outlawed... one man with the ability to get sort of psychic impressions by eating things will... do cool stuff as an FDA agent. I wouldn't wish Tony Chu's ability on anyone, as it means he will routinely be called upon to eat really nasty stuff, and experience all the horrors of the food processing industry as well. In the three issues so far he is solving crimes, hearing that the bird flu panic is a hoax, going from cop to FDA agent, and falling in love. I guess I read a lot of clever things, but this series is clever, it is interesting and funny, and the character design / artistic style is really great. I plan to grab the rest of it as well.

Wednesday Comics - I think my comments on this have been pretty consistent. I will just jump to the thing that for no good reason jumped out and me and made me laugh.

Supergirl - Amanda Conner's art continues to be the cutest most endearing stuff ever. I love that it is in WC because it is just fresh and light and fun. The writing is cute and funny as well. They are at Dr. Midnite's and he has alerted Supergirl to something fishy going on in the sun. I would love an ongoing like this is, done all ages style. The thing that made me laugh was that all rear shots of Streaky and Krypto have their butt-holes drawn in. Maybe it's been like that the entire series, but still it made me laugh. I am 12, and I am living with it.

Sweet Tooth #1 - Jeff Lemire - I really like the distinctive style of the art in this comic. I haven't read any of Lemire's other works, and I will need to remedy that. This a very well told story so far, and definitely uses the medium well. The dialog is spare, and most of the story is told solely in pictures. It is the story of a boy with antlers who was raised by his father in a strict religious environment, in a secluded area. We find out that there have been other children born similarly, but possibly with other animal characteristics. It's pretty compelling so far. I think I will give it a few issues if I can. It shipped with a $1 cover price, which is a sure fire way to get me to read something.

North 40 #2 - This is just getting better. I am enjoying the developments a lot. The writing is great, the art is great.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man - The second half of this issue really just made it for me. Spidey fights a mother/daughter team and it is just awesome classic spider-man fun.

Strange Tales #1 - Exceptionally funny takes on Marvel characters by a varied and unexpected collection of artists. James Kochalka, Nicholas Gurewitch, Jason, Johnny Ryan, Dash Shaw and more. The bits range from cute to just wildly funny. Certainly worth getting the next 2 issues in my opinion.

Ranma 1/2 vs Usagi Yojimbo

2009-09-02T10:31:00.007-04:00

I am pretty sure that before this week I had never read any Ranma 1/2, or any Usagi Yojimbo. These 2 series are unrelated except for the facts that 1. I picked up 2 volumes each at my local library, 2. I just read 2 volumes of each of them, 3. I am talking about them now (or' talkin' 'bout' them, as it were).

Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai - This is a pretty straight forward lovingly done tribute to a genre. It also uses anthropomorphic animals to tell its stories. I am a big fan of Kurosawa's samurai era films. I also bought a lot of Lone Wolf and Cub when First Comics put out the English language editions with the Frank Miller covers in the late 80's. Usagi Yojimbo started around the same time I think, and I have been aware of it, and thought it was cool, but never read it because sometimes(most times) I am slow to pick up on things.

The volumes I got from the library are numbered 2 and 3, and are put out by Fantagraphics. In this case I don't think starting with volume 2 was bad because it contains what was the first 6 volumes of the Usagi Yojimbo comic, and starts right off with a very nice origin story retelling by the main character himself.

You should know by now that I tend to like nearly everything I read on some level or another. Even I have a ha

rd time believing me when I re-read my reviews. That being said, and unnecessarily apologized for... I really love this series so far, and can't believe it has taken me this long to actually break into it.

The really great thing about this, is that the art is fantastic. It's dynamic and expressive (I think those are important things for art in a comic like this), and allows you to distance this work from its 'source' material. It makes this telling of things completely its own. I don't feel like the use of Animals here is completely allegorical in nature. I don't feel that every animal represented is directly representative of some characteristic of the specific character. Some are, but I don't think it is trying to be that deep all the time. I consider that a very good thing. The way it is done is light, has a good bit of humor, but also comes across as having more depth than just that. Usagi is a real character and we are on his journey with him. He is very much cut from the same cloth as the heroes of the genre I mentioned earlier, and his story is expertly told. Plus... You have to admit that a kick butt samurai rabbit is an extremely cool character design.

This is well written and well drawn. If you like the stories of Zatoichi or Miyamoto Musashi, or any of the others I mentioned, you should give this a shot. If you aren't sure about those things, give this a shot anyway. I think this is a pretty accessible window into the genre.

Ranma 1/2 - Rumiko Takahashi - I am not a big consumer of manga. I have read a number of titles, but nowhere near the hundreds that my daughters have read. I have seen Ranma 1/2 for a LONG time, my library has a ton of it, but I have never tried to read it, and never really understood what it was about. I decided on my last trip or 2 to the library that i would specifically pick up some things I had sort of avoided reading for a long time, and make an effort to read them.

Ranma 1/2 is the story of a father and his daughters who run a martial arts school. He has arranged with an old friend that one of his daughters will become engaged to the friend's son, sight unseen. When the friend and his son show up, it becomes clear pretty quickly that something strange has happened to them. Ultimately it boils down to the fact that they had gone to China and chose to train in an area covered with cursed springs. Anyone falling into one of the springs comes out of it oddly and mostly comically transformed. The transformations are triggered by hot and cold water. The father turns into a giant panda when he is splashed with cold water. The son turns into a girl. To change them back they need to be doused with hot water.

Ranma Saotome is the boy in question. He is an expert martial artist. Akane Tendo is the daughter that ends up engaged to him. Her sisters decided that since Akane seems to hate all the boys she has met, that a boy who is also a girl would be ideal for her. There isn't a ton of depth here, but there is a lot of action, and even more humor. There are also a lot of boobs. lots and lots, but no sexual situations. I will probably let my 10 year old read this. As far as nudity goes, it is about as inoffensive as you can get, and is generally used for humor one way or another.

Akane is also extremely skilled in martial arts. Prior to Ranma showing up, she was able to beat up all the boys in her area. She is not keen on being anyone's fiance at the moment, especially not someone she didn't choose. She is hard-headed and has a quick temper, but she is not without her endearing qualities as well.

In addition to Ranma and his father, we get another character that has had misfortune at the cursed springs. He blames Ranma for it, and is intent upon destroying him. Unfortunately for him, his changed form is that of the cutest little black pig you will ever see.

Obviously this is filled with improbable situations where the changing characters are doused with water far more than anyone should ever expect to be doused with water. I laughed out loud constantly as I was reading this. The second volume moves into the realm of odd specialty fights that Ranma must be a girl to help out in. First it is a Martial Rhythmic Gymnastics battle, and then it is a Martial Figure Skating battle. I admit that those things seem kind of dumb to me, but they are really pretty funny, and very smartly executed. Again, there isn't a ton of depth, but there is a lot of action and cuteness and humor.

Casanova v1 TPB

2009-08-29T00:56:00.006-04:00

I have had Matt Fraction's Casanova: Luxuria for about a year or so. I have tried to read it a few times prior to this and just wasn't able to. The very beginning of it is kind of dense. What i understand now is that instead of getting confused and setting the book down, you just need to give it a few more pages. Don't stress out if you don't fully understand it as it starts out pretty fast and gets the confusing stuff out of the way pretty quickly. It quickly turns into a sort of joyride if you just go with it.

Casanova is another thing that I will call a love letter to comics. You really get a sense that Fraction just loves the hell out of comics in the way this is written (including the statement 'I love Comics' actually appearing in the book, but that isn't what I am talking about). You get a lot of fun comic conventions all over the place in this. Mad scientist, evil mastermind, super spy, robots, giant robot, time travel(time/space/dimensional travel), life model decoys, multiple earths, death that isn't final, psychic duels, advanced civilizations, and much more are packed into this story.

Casanova Quinn is the son of the leader of the big law enforcement organization E.M.P.I.R.E. His sister Zephyr is also a super spy/agent. After his sister is killed, Cass is pulled into another timeline where the Casanova there had been killed, and the Zephyr there had not. From that point he is enlisted by Newman Xeno to be a double agent, and to run missions for W.A.S.T.E. The AIM to EMPIRE's SHIELD. The missions are sometimes just piggybacked onto his EMPIRE missions, but are often counter to the objectives. He is constantly facing off against his sister and Xeno and other elements. When the volume ends he is in a good position to start anew, with a base of operations and a freshly assembled team.

It's a romp, a wild ride, it's a well done story with a lot of humor and a great deal of cleverness about it. The art is by Gabriel Ba and works very well with the story. If you've never read it, here is a link to a good CBR article on it that includes a preview of the entire first issue

Lucifer, the first 4 Trades

2009-08-28T19:48:00.008-04:00

I think I have re-read most of the first volume of the Lucifer trade about five times. I have enjoyed it every time, but for some reason I have waited to read any further than that, even though I got the first three trades for my birthday a while back, and have had volumes 4 and 6 since last year (half priced trades at Heroes I think, and I still need to pick up v5.

In the past five days I have read the first four trades. This amounts to issues 1-28 of the comic. If I had the fifth volume right now, I wouldn't be writing this.

Lucifer is a spin off from Sandman. Lucifer was a character in certain storylines in Sandman, and one of the things that happened there was that he abdicated Hell, and had Dream, of the endless, cut his wings off. If you have read any Sandman at all, you know that not only is it very well written, but it is also a very dense and I would say fertile work. It is very thick with characters and worlds and possibilities. As you read Sandman, you get a feeling that all of those places existed outside of the storyline, that they were real things with their own histories and futures, and that

whatever we saw in the comic was just a glimpse. It is a very rich work in that regard. There are a lot of possibilities for stories that could be picked up and told. Some of them have been, and many have not. According to the introduction in volume 1, Lucifer is the character that Neil Gaiman most wanted to see 'spun off'. I think it was an ideal choice for that honor, and I think it is clear that Mike Carey really was the right person to do it.

The character of Lucifer is one that I think would be hard to write well. He is clever and sly, he is an individualist, as well as a being of great power. He is called the prince of lies, but as the comics make very clear, he keeps his word. His intellect and his cleverness are such that he seems to operate exclusively in the 'very big picture' view of things. You may think you have him at a disadvantage, but you can't be sure he hadn't already allowed for that, and built it into his plan before you even started to formulate yours. He is a master of negotiation, a master of the bluff, and he is always aware of the true rules that govern any situation. He also commands respect, and may not tolerate it when people don't know their place.

The beauty of this series is in the telling. When you are reading it, you are always seeing multiple angles. You are never perched on Lucifer's shoulder for very long, but you see the plot building through the points of view of a great number of supporting cast. Sometimes the supporting cast are recurring characters, and sometimes they are almost just incidental. In one, we see two unfortunate 'pilgrims' who happen into Lucifer's home uninvited, in another we get a wonderful story of a female centaur that was born in Lucifer's realm outside of creation. She sees the future and seeks to warn him as he is their creator.

My favorite character in the stories is Elaine Belloc. When we first see her she is a young girl whose friend was killed, only to remain her friend as a ghost. Elaine sees ghosts, and is able to call on the spirits of her Grandmothers to give her guidance. We learn a lot more about Elaine as the story goes on, and due to his saving her life and always being honest with her, she is considers Lucifer her friend.

Ultimately the stories relate to Lucifer's rebellion against heaven, and his desire to have a creation of his own where no-one bows down to anyone, and religion is the only thing that is truly forbidden. He makes a lot of enemies in the process, and their machinations are rolled into the story as well, creating a compelling and interesting series of stories and events.

I truly believe that this series is brilliantly done. I would say that it is every bit as good as Sandman, but I think it's standing as a byproduct of that series makes it hard say that. It's the flawless heir in my opinion, a very worthy offspring to a very good comic. It takes the character (and some of the supporting ones) and continues them in a way that just moves naturally from everything we saw about them in the first place.

I strongly recommend giving this a read if you haven't already. If you aren't a Sandman fan you should give it a read anyway. (If anything, just give Sandman: Season of the Mists a read before you start this).

Heartbreak Soup

2009-08-27T22:52:00.005-04:00

I am not sure that I have given Gilbert Hernandez and his work the love they deserve. Since I first fell in love with Love and Rockets (in the mid to late 80's) it was more about Jaime and the Locas stories. I read a good bit of Palomar stuff, but I never REALLY read it. It could be argued that I did that with a lot of the Love and Rockets stuff I had in general, at first, anyway. I got the Locas hardcover when it came out a few years ago, but didn't pick up Palomar, and then felt stupid when it was no longer available. A few months ago I picked up the lovely 2007 Heartbreak Soup paperback. and last week I ordered the second volume that covers Palomar stuff, Human Diastrophism.

I think a lot of my dismissiveness in the past is probably due to a lack of maturity on my part. When I was first encountering this stuff I was maybe 17, and the punk edge of Maggie and Hopey appealed to me more than the goings on in a small town. Twenty-two years later I must have matured enough to appreciate it. I started reading it and could barely put it down until I finished. It was a good meaty read, and not something you could just speed through. It's about 285 pages of comics, and it is very dense with dialog and characters and intertwined plots. There are also very helpful little pronunciation guides at the bottoms of the pages that help with character names. I am ok with Spanish pronunciation, but still found it helpful.

In this volume there isn't really a single theme, a single steady plot that drives the volume, etc. We get a good number of individual stories that all exist in the same basic setting, using some amount of the same characters at various points in their lives. It really functions as a window on a small town in Mexico and focuses on the lives, loves, heartbreaks and triumphs of the people that live there. I was trying to think of something that it brings to mind, and I guess two things really struck me as being evoked in the stories. The first is the Eisner's Contract With God Trilogy, and how it really highlights a location as the central focus and we see the world that revolves around that spot, and the people that come and go. The other is the Andy Griffith Show. Palomar could be Mayberry. Both are filled with characters you might find in any small town, and both, despite their size and distance from a big city will not tolerate being made to look like bumpkins or let their 'simple country nature' be taken advantage of.

Gilbert's art is a masterwork of cartooning skill. Palomar comes across as a fully populated, 'living' town. Every character is distinct. Every character shows a real range of feelings and emotions. Faces are expressive, but body language is also clearly communicated through the art. If there is one place that I personally believe he excels the most, it would be in his portrayal of children. The stories are filled with children. If not in the foreground, then in the background. They are delightfully, and perfectly portrayed. There is that sense that kids can be kids regardless of where you put them, or what situation they might be in. I just found them to be real.

I can't speak highly enough of this. If somehow you have made it this far in your life and you haven't given this a read, then you owe it to yourself. The paperback is 14.95 and can be picked up online for less. I can't imagine that anyone has captured the human condition any better than this. The stories are sweet and sad and sometimes optimistic, and sometimes not. It's a lot like life, only with better writing and art.

CBD 08/26/2009 - a really good week for #comics

2009-08-26T21:47:00.005-04:00

Invincible Presents Atom Eve, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin, Wednesday Comics, Shazam

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #7 - I am pretty sure I asked my LCS to cancel this for me, but I am pretty happy they ignored me. Each time I see it in my stack, I can't bring myself to not get it. This issue may be the best in the series so far. It just has everything going for it. It is fun and has real plot and action and humor in it. The art is very good, and the overall style just works for the sort of comic it is. I think this is a kids comic that embraces that fact and at no point talks down, or has any other agenda than to tell a good story and entertain. Dr. Sivana is at his evil genius best in this. I sometimes think Baltazar and Franco should just write every kids comic. Byron Vaughns art is also just perfect.

Batman and Robin #3 - This series, despite the lack of Bruce Wayne as Batman, is probably my favorite Batman treatment in a long time. It has the true spirit of Batman and Robin in it, but also the dynamic of trying to fill big shoes, and a sort of reluctant partnership. We know what Dick Grayson can do, but being Batman is another thing entirely. This issue continues with the two main characters not working together. You know they should be, but they aren't. It ends with a better understanding of why the partnership is important. The story continued to be really creepy and edgy, without being too far over the edge.

Detective Comics #856 - JH Williams makes this title worth getting even if they stopped putting any words in it. The layouts are every bit as lovely as the art itself. The writing in this is no slouch either. I've seen reviews that speak a bit critically, but I just don't see where anything is being done wrong in this title. Developments in this issue ramp things up even more, and I am excited about how this is going. We get to see a little bit more of Kate as a person in this one, and it is very well done. I think Rucka is portraying his characters as real and fairly rounded people. We have a main character who is a lesbian, but I don't think we are getting just a caricature or a stereotype or worse, a school boy fantasy, we are getting a complex character. I know this is another Alice in Wonderland themed villain, but I don't have any issue with it, and kind of love it, regardless. I am loving this so far.

Wednesday Comics #8 - I will be really sad when this is over.

Kamandi - still the prettiest thing ever.

Adam Strange - Very well done, still liking it more than I want to

Wonder Woman - Still not trying to read it yet

Green Lantern - I do a shot every time he says Dill. I thought this week was better than most. Green Lantern is in it and there is something happening.

Flash - still a solid story.

Teen Titans - Maybe the best week for this. Still should be way better, but I do want to love Galloway's art.

Supergirl - Honestly, I think it's humor and awesomely cute art make this one of the best entries in a field of strong entries.

SGT Rock - I like the art a lot, but the story is a bit underwhelming so far

Superman - I like the art and the scale of this, but it is pretty slow moving. I don't hate it though

Demon/Catwoman - I LOVE this this week. Maybe it's picking up. I want to like this, and haven't really until now.

Metal Men - Not a big fan of them, but I liked this week, and may enjoy the rest of it

Metamorpho - This is another lazy writer installment. Instead of a game board we get a periodic table... part one of two...

Deadman - I am really enjoying this. The art and writing pair perfectly. It's fun stuff.

Batman - still solid

Hawkman - Still pretty crazy good. I am not a fan of everything Baker does, but I like this

Invincible Presents Atom Eve (collected edition) - I picked this up when it came out as a two issue... series of two issues. I like this format better. I like the heavy cover and having the whole story in one piece. Definitely pick this up, especially if you didn't read it yet. You do NOT need to be a regular reader of Invincible to appreciate this. This is good comics. I swear I got a lot more out of this by reading it again. It is very funny and very well well written. The art is also well done and very expressive. This story also has a pretty sad element to it, and that is done very well, balanced nicely with the humor. Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde are talents very much deserving of recognition. Look for their upcoming continuation of Eve's story in the Atom Eve and Rex Splode mini series coming out in October, and Hector Plasm: Totentanz coming in November. Benito is also going to be writing the new ongoing series for The Tick which starts in November as well.

Zuda - August competition - Vote Rogue Royal

2009-08-25T21:58:00.004-04:00

As is true every month, there is are a lot of great entries in the competition this month. My vote this month goes to Rogue Royal. It is a comic Sci-Fi space adventure strip, and it is awesome. The art is cute and stylish and fun. The strip is extremely funny and well done. The first 8 pages introduce us to our heroine, Ember Zeram, Space Princess, and how she acquires her weapons. Go check it out, and vote for it if you like it. I recommend reading all the entries, but this one gets my vote

CBD 08/19/2009

2009-08-19T22:26:00.003-04:00

Wednesday Comics, Tiny Titans, Atomic Robo Shadow From Beyond Time

This week I also picked up Empowered V5. I am not including a picture. But if I did, it would double the number of hits I get here. I haven't read it yet, but I had meant to pick it up for a while, and they were out of my first choice which was Planetary V1.

Wednesday Comics - Another good, enjoyable issue. Notable this week: Metamorpho isn't a cop out writing-wise, and Green Lantern appears in more than one panel of the Green Lantern strip. Kamandi continues to look like a frame-worthy homage to classic newspaper strips. Supergirl gets another extremely funny and cute page with Aquaman, Deadman is also striking this week in it's full page layout, and looks sort of like Eisner designed a page and had Kirby draw it. Strange Adventures and Hawkman continue to be very good comics. I think they should make this year round and sell it for 2.50. That would be a comics revolution. Do it in X #week runs, and switch up at the end of each run while continuing to focus on Art and design coupled with good writing and 'classic comic strip' sensibilities.

Atomic Robo Shadow From Beyond Time #4 - If Atomic Robo is on the cover, it's like a written guarantee that you will enjoy the contents. That isn't hyperbole. Even taken out of context with the series it is in, I have not read an issue yet that didn't make me laugh, and didn't leave me feeling satisfied about how I spent my comics dollar. That isn't hyperbole either. It may actually be understatement. This series moves through time, making each issue like it's own separate thing, even though all of them contribute to the whole. The best part of this one is Carl Sagan as a kickass Rambo... of SCIENCE.

Tiny Titans #19 - This is another sure thing for me. It is sweet and nice and fun. It is geared toward young kids, but makes me smile as much at 40 as it would have when I was a little kid. My daughters routinely read this before I get my hands on it, and enjoy it at ages 10 and 15 too. at $2.50 it's perfectly priced as well. This issue focuses on friendships, and highlights Bumblebee and Plasmus, as well as Monsieur Mallah and the Brain. Lovely stuff as always.

Age of Bronze: Betrayal, Part One

2009-08-17T21:29:00.002-04:00

I picked up the hardcover of this Eric Shanower comic at the library a few days ago because I wanted to finally give Age of Broze a read. I had picked it up a few times and was scared off by how dense it seemed, and the historical aspect of it, even though I am a big fan of mythology(Greek and otherwise) and generally like things about ancient civilizations and the warfare of those times.

I was at the library and resolved to give some things a chance that I had avoided in the past for whatever reason. I am sort of running out of things I haven't read from the comics collection at my local branch and figure that I should broaden my scope even more than I already have. I borrowed this book, as well as a Star Wars graphic novel, Ranma 1/2 , 2 Justice League themed audio books on CD, and a Cartoon History of the Universe.

What I didn't realize at the time is that I sort of had the wrong book in my hands, and had picked up not Age of Bronze #1, but Age of Bronze Betrayal #1. I still want to pick up the initial stories, but my lack of background on this was no barrier to enjoying it.

Age of Bronze Betrayal starts with the Trojans and the Achaeans on more than just the Brink of war. All the gears are in motion, and preparations on both sides are in full force. We get a very good 'story so far' recap and detailed maps to help make sense of everything that's happening. It helps a lot, especially since I haven't read the previous installments. This is apparently part 3 of 7, but again, It is a great read on it's own. It reads like a history, but it is shown in a way that keeps the humor and drama and intrigue at the forefront. There are a TON of heavy hitter type characters, and all are dealt with as individuals. I think this might be the best format for this sort of story.

The art is clean and beautiful, and even though the story contains at least a hundred dark haired guys with beards, all of the characters become easily identifiable as you get farther into the book. It was engrossing and compelling and made me keep my eyes on it until I had finished reading it. It's an excellenty done historical fiction account of the Trojan War. I recommend it if you like any of the sort of elements that it is composed of.

Potential - Ariel Schrag

2009-08-15T21:59:00.004-04:00

I recently picked up Ariel Schrag's Potential at borders in the remainders section. It was $2.99. I was browsing the aisle and it caught my eye as 'looking like comics' and indeed it was comics. I also picked up Best American Comics 2006 at the same time for the same price.

I am a sucker for comics autobiography. I have a very high tolerance for some things that seem to bother other people. I actually tend to appreciate the sort of 'here's what I did today, isn't it special?' sort of web comics that I have seen panned in books and articles about webcomics. That isn't to say that I don't like exceptionally good stuff (Fun Home, A Drifting Life, Persepolis, etc.), just to say that I am not a snob with this stuff.

Potential was written in the summer of 1997 after Ariel Schrag's Junior year of High School. It is part of a series of comics she drew each summer during HS that dealt with the prior school year. It is drawn in a pretty rough style that while occasionally difficult to distinguish characters by looks, is still really expressive. The style itself seems to reflect the situations it depicts, making it feel like you are reading the author's emotions at the same time you are following the story and the characters. The facial expressions as well are very good, and you can feel the character's ups as well as the too frequent downs.

The story is one of self-realization and experimentation and awkward High School social drama. It is also a look at what life can be like when everyone knows you are documenting everything. It is also about reconciling your sexuality with your preconceived ingrained notions of the way things need to be. In the book, Ariel is really only sexually attracted to girls, but considers herself a virgin until she has sex with a guy. I don't think there are any apologies in this, or attempts to make things like that look reasonable either. It is a good representation of the sort of chaos that can constantly bombard you in adolescence.

This comic has a lot of nudity in it. It also seems to have a requirement that the word 'dyke' be used twice in every line of dialog. I love lesbians, but am not a fan of the word dyke. I guess that is something I should get over, but it always sounds like an insult rather than a non-judgmental sort of label. There are a lot of words like this, and in general I'm not a fan.

I enjoyed this book. It made me really sad in places because I understand a number of things she was going through better than I would like to. Almost everything she goes through is at least an offshoot of a sort of universal theme, if not a universal theme itself. That's the great thing about autobiographies, as you read other people's stories you find that you are not really as unique or alone as you might think.

I will most likely get the rest of the books relating to her HS days at some point. It is doubtful that I will get as good of a deal on them.

CBD 08/12/2009

2009-08-12T22:05:00.006-04:00

The Unwritten, Wednesday Comics, Marvel Divas, Hero Comics, Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Spider-man

The Unwritten #4 - Mike Carey & Peter Gross - This is one of those things you really need to read from the beginning in my opinion. If you haven't jumped on board this title yet, I recommend it, but but you will really be best served if you can get all the issues, or hopefully the trade when there hopefully is one. This is to literature as Phonogram is to writing. It's well done, written and drawn. My favorite line is delivered by a menacing figure stalking through a house

murdering people. To a victim hiding behind drapes after running from him he says "You know what's really guiding you? controlling you? Pushing you on?" in regard to the victim's actions. He then supplies the answer as he closes in for the kill. "GENRE conventions." It's good stuff so far.

Marvel Divas #2 - Aguirre-Sacasa, Zonjic - With two issues away, I can say for certain that I love the art in this. I really just enjoy the art an awful lot. The writing is ok, the story is ok. It's a lot of not too much happening and kind of a lot of talking. It also seems to be setting itself up for a sort of predictable series of next steps, but I am hoping I am a bit wrong about that. I like the angle this is taking. I like seeing supportive friends show how a

super-hero community and super-hero friends might deal with a friend having cancer, etc. It has a lot of 'very special Blossom' feel about it, but that doesn't have to be damning either. So... Love the art, have hope for the next 2 issues.

Hero Comics - There was exactly one of these at my LCS today and I grabbed it. It was the Wagner Grendel cover, so I feel like I won the lottery! This is a hero initiative Benefit book put out by IDW. A number of the entries are like presentations during a telethon, but so what, it's still comics for a comics related cause, so go out and buy 5 of it. There is a short American Flagg piece by Chaykin, and an extremely good piece about pop directors directing stories from the bible. It's good stuff. and it's worth picking up. All Proceeds from this title go to the Hero Initiative, which works to help people in the industry who have fallen on hard times, in many cases by helping them get work.

Wednesday Comics #6 - I have not loved every weekly comic that has been made available to me by DC over the years, but I sure love the idea of weekly comics. When I was getting it I really enjoyed getting Spider-Man nearly weekly as well. Happily, there is enough in Wed. Comics to have me excited to pick it up weekly. Here is a quick take on where I stand on the various features.

Kamandi, Batman, Metamorpho, Hawkman, Superman. are all very good, some of them are better than others, and Kamandi in particular is beautiful.
Supergirl is cute as heck, which is good, as Amanda Conner has stated that Cute was her strategy in this. It is refreshing to have it there, although there are a couple other light offerings.
Teen Titans gets my vote as most disappointing. I LOVE Galloway's style, but in this format everything seems to bleed together and it is hard to get into it.
Caldwell's Wonderwoman is beautiful, but so small and busy that I look at it for it's loveliness and don't even try to read it. I will read it when I have all the pages.
I think Sht. Rock is great, but we are six pages in and he is still tied to a chair at the start of this one. It's good though, and the art is awesome.
I like Deadman, but need to see where it goes.
I just can't love Metal Men. I'm not sure why.
I am not loving the Green Lantern series here, but it could be worse, it could be blackest night.
I am also unable to get very excited over the Flash, although I like the Flash too
I think that Adam Strange is the best of the offerings so far. The art and the writing are great. I wish that wasn't the case, but I really think it's true.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #1 - Millar, Pacheco - I Loved the Ultimates. I sort of Liked Ultimates 2. I stopped getting Ultimates 3 and cried a little about how much I disliked it at that point. I didn't follow Ultimatum, but I looked forward to some post Ultimatum Ultimate comics. After this first issue, I think it is not out of the question that I will really enjoy the Ultimates again, regardless of what they are called.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 - Bendis, LaFuente - I hate Peter Parker's hair in this, but I like the art a lot. I enjoyed this issue and think it will probably be a pretty great series again. I had kind of weened myself off of Ultimate titles, but have always had a good bit of affection for that universe.

Taking Issue (anniversary edition director's cut)

2009-08-11T22:38:00.005-04:00

Planetary #1 - Warren Ellis & John Cassady.

Value-Added Anniversary content - Taking Issue is one of a few named features I have tried to introduce in the year I have been blogging here. Others are 'My Marvel Year' and 'Popgun Bullets'. I first used 'Taking Issue' to talk about Nightwing #149 after it received a LOT of attention for the amount of violence and blood in it. I felt very clever, and thought it would be a nice banner to do various single issue reviews under. My intent was not that it solely deal with controversial stuff, or that it would be a soapbox for things I had a problem with. The name seemed like a catchy sort of pun, and I liked it. So why have I only used the thing twice? The answer is that I am always afraid that maybe the title DOES sound like it needs to be about comics for which their is some sort of controversy, etc. So there you go...

Now back to the issue at hand. I picked up Planetary #1 when the $1 'After Watchmen' Issue hit the shelves. It was one of the few of those that i hadn't read already, and I am a sucker for full length comics for a dollar, and I know that both of the names on the cover are as close to a guarantee of good content as you get these days. I then proceeded to not read it for a while. I happened onto it again as i was bagging up some of the piles of singles I had laying around and decided it's time had come.

One issue into Planetary and I am committed to giving the first trade a go. It was honestly more like 3 pages in that I made that decision, and it just got better from there. I know that some people consider comparisons of comics to movies undesirable, but I'm not one of those people. I think that good storytelling is good storytelling. I think pacing and character and plot development can be very similar in a good comic and a good movie. Obviously that doesn't apply to every comic or every movie, but for some, it is really ideal. I feel this way about Ed Brubaker's Criminal and Jason Aaron's Scalped as well. I think there are genres that benefit from a well 'directed' cinematic feel. Crime and action, horror to some degree, and 'realistic comics'. In my opinion, Planetary, a comic about a small team of people with super-human abilities, investigating other super-human happenings, and wildly improbable concepts, is a realistic comic. It has a very authentic 'comic book realism' to it.

First off, the characters seem to have real personalities, and skew toward 'gritty'. Secondly, there is a strong bit of comic book realism, or sensibility to it. This may work better if you have read a lot of comics, or have a particular affection for them, but everything is familiar enough to seem reasonable, and is presented in a straightforward way that makes you just nod.

Planetary is a 3 person organization. The old 'third man' is no longer in action, so they get a new one. That opens the issue. By the end of this issue, we can only assume what his powers are, because we don't really SEE any powers being used by anyone really. There is a character called the Drummer, and we are told he communicates with machines. There is a character named Jakita Wagner, and we assume she has strength and invulnerability to some degree, as she hops out of a helicopter. We meet Elijah Snow and assume he has some sort of cold related power, but it is never really mentioned.

The team immediately sets off to investigate a complex that has been found in the Adirondacks. We are told that it is the last place that someone named Doc Brass was known to be (back in the 40's). We are also told that no-one had even heard of the guy until recently. It is a sort of statement about the type of book this is, and the type of team this is. They seem to be a secret team that will be dealing with secret teams and such.

When we meet 'Doc Brass' He is immediately recognizable as Doc Savage(Man of Bronze). We meet him, he's alive and he tells his story. The story he tells inside of our story is the closest we get to action in this issue, but that doesn't mean the issue isn't compelling and interesting and a page turner. In his story, we hear that he was part of a team in the 40's that harnessed a super computer, a quantum brain, that created and destroyed infinite earths so to speak, in a quest to perfect our own and solve our problems. In the course of looking across these infinite possibilities, they found that there were others looking back.

I read all of this, and I thought... 'sounds right to me'. All of the ideas are ones that you have seen in one form or another enough times, that when they are presented to you in a reasonable way they seem perfectly reasonable. They have a sort of genre realism that works when executed smartly.

I am anxious to read more and see if it maintains that level. I kind of imagine that it will.

John Cassaday's art is just great in this. It works perfectly for the story, and has a level of realism to it that goes right along with what I was describing to make everything seem perfectly plausible inside the initial conceit.

Good stuff all the way around. I would be surprised that i hadn't read this before if it weren't for the sheer volume of good stuff out there that i haven't yet read.

Popgun Bullets V3 P4

2009-08-10T19:57:00.005-04:00

- Bulleted mini reviews of the entire contents of Image Comics anthology Popgun Volume Three (the final installment)

303 The Jailhouse Swing - Jamie S. Rich, Joelle Jones - I particularly like the style of this 8 page narrated piece about a down on his luck palooka and the Angel that loves him regardless. The art goes heavy on the lines in some places, and uses a very sketchy style when showing bits of his fights.His girl seems always drawn with a bit of delicacy. It has a little bit of the feel of something you might see related in Ed Brubaker's Criminal (not the only piece in this review that made me think of that).
311 50 Miles to Marfa - David Hopkins, Daniel Warner - The art in this piece sits on a weird line for me. I am not sure if I love it or if I hate it.The lettering got on my nerves a little, but as I sit here going over the whole thing again, I will say that I really like the art. It's bright, and certainly conveys the setting well, also, the hot-headed character is so expressive he is almost manga-like. The story itself is funny and well written. It is a clever double-cross, and I kind of love those.
319 Cuffs - Derek McCulloch, Peter Krause - Speaking of double crosses and things that could be right out of Criminal, this story has at least three twists in it. The art is very good, and yet again a different style. It's a decent story all the way through.
333 These Kids Today... - Eric Skillman, Connor Willumsen - I love Willumsen's art in general, but I don't love the coloring on this piece. This is a narrated piece that is 3 pages long and a bit abrupt. It isn't badly done, I just don't like it very much. It may just be the theme.
336 Tackle Goes Fishing - Robbie Lawrence - This is a single page bit, and is really cute. I have a hard time saying anything negative about it. It's a kid fishing for birds with a balloon. It's brightly colored and whimsical. I looked at it a few times and thought... ok... graphic mixtape... I get it.
337 Eternal Warrior: Endings - Paul Grist - I like Grist's work a lot, and like this piece as well.
345 The Real Incidentals in Kill Phil - Zac Gorman - I really liked the art and the humor in this one. This is sort of a super heroes meet Captain planet rings that summon embodiments of music styles. The enemy they are tackling is Kill Collins who ruins parties with his insipid Lite Rock. There are a lot of embedded jokes in this thing to look for, The art and color are great. I enjoyed it.
349 Sanz Pantz: Home Al-Owned - Chris Moreno - I love Sanz Pantz. This is another good piece. Every aspect of it is polished and well done. Nothing wrong with Ninja Platypus in my book.
355 Curse of Silence - George Gousis - This is a good efficient anthology piece. It tells a complete story in 4 pages with a twist and good distinctive art. The art and writing are equally strong and both contribute to the story.
359 Bunnyboy - Robb Mommaerts - A cute little girl, a cute little bunny and an atomic chemistry set. This entry takes those three things and remains cute through the entire bit, even when it's horrific and gross. Facial expressions are especially well done in this, and I liked it.
367 Lumberjack in The Root of All Evil - Stephen Reedy, Greg Titus - I loved this piece. The art is very slick and polished, the colors are great, and the writing is sharp. If this were a serious super-hero bit, I would probably not like it, but it is the story of a larger than life, plant hating lumberjack who seems to exist solely to eradicate plant based threats to humanity. He sort of reminds me of the Tick in a way. There is a vibe about it, rather than any direct correlation. He spouts lines like 'My ass will be wiped by your children's warm leafy bodies!' as he leaps in with axes and chainsaws flashing. It commits, takes the risk and succeeds.
379 Avocado Allegrando - Maximo V. Lorenzo - I don't love the lettering in this piece, but that's about it for things I don't love about it. It has a strong manga flavor about it with dynamic layouts and intense one on one duel action. The action is a musicians' battle between a guitarist and a violinist. It is clever and very well done.
387 Deathnaut: Emotional Baggage - Danilo Beyruth - Deathnaut is another very slick good looking entry. It's another one that is a bit tongue in cheek in it's delivery, while not being jokey at all. It works for me, although I am not sure I would want to take this in much larger doses than this. It's solid, but isn't particularly exciting to me. It IS very well drawn and written, though.
403 Londown - Alberto Mielgo - I am sadly mixed on this one. The story is brilliant and touching and kind of lovely. It is a strange sort of super-hero love story with a strong de-emphasis on the super part. The art is my issue. I loved it at first, but after a while it really started feeling like it was done entirely by drawing over top of pictures. After that got into my head it somehow brought down my opinion of the art and got in the way a little. I still think it is very artfully done, and it isn't like I don't consider it a top notch comic even if that is the case. It tells it's story pretty well and I like that story a lot. I don't love the odd text effects it has and the way the word balloons are done, but on a whole, they just cement it's uniqueness whether I love them or not.
421 Failure After Failure - Vassilis Gogtzilas, K.I. Zachopoulos - this is kind of a sweet little sketchily drawn piece lifted out of a relationship between two currently jobless people. It is more a slice of life/moment in time kind of thing that shows the tensions, but also shows some hope. The dialog is a little stiff, but it's nice. Some of the text is hard to read.
429 Olympus: They Say... - Christian Ward, Nathan Edmondson - gorgeous art. The story isn't so much of a story, but the art is just beautiful, and the piece is decent regardless.I like the underwater color effects in particular.
435 Found In The Attic - Olaf Brill, Donald Hello - Time travelling 'secret in the attic' creepy twist sort of story. It works well, and definitely captures the flavor of the sort of story it is patterned after.
443 The Young Macaw - Derek Yu - This is pretty funny. The last page is a bit of a surprise, and should put a smile on your face. The art is well done, and pretty different from anything else in the book. It is set up as a cultural/tribal coming of age ceremony and it fits that pattern well. The pacing is good, and I think the payoff is cute. Plus it has an owl bear in it, and that is worth something.
453 King's Hollow: The Trade - Ryan Cody - I love this piece. I love the main character Nissa, I love the art. I love it and I may just marry it. It really feels like something there should be more of. It is a nice self contained bit, but it really feels like there should be a graphic novel of it somewhere. It looks like there is a one-shot with the same character in it, and I think I will seek that out at some point.
461 Hairballs - Gary Fields - I don't love this. It is an itchy and scratchy sort of piece by way of the campy unfunny Sunday funnies. It's all puns and things that look like puns. I get it, but it isn't my favorite thing. Not badly done for what it is, but not my thing.
463 Mickey Maus - Erik Larsen - It is what it sounds like. It is a one page gag about Mickey Mouse being in a concentration camp and not getting it. Atrocities are funny! I would like to see an edition of this with no Mark Andrew Smith, and no Erik Larsen. No offense to them, but really, make this about other things and other people's work. Innovative and widely varied stuff.
464 Twilight - Michael Woods, Nic Klein - Wow. This is stunningly beautiful and equally sad. The art is lovely, but man is it sad. It's both lovely and haunting. It's a hard situation to face, but the idea of the piece is a good one. It involves a child in a coma, but paints an extraordinary world around them. It will probably stick with me.

Thoughts, opinions, comments? let me have it!

I enjoyed this volume, and if I can afford it, I may very well try to continue this project when the next volume of Popgun comes out. I like this series best when it is giving me really different and innovative stuff, or when it is giving me a very broad range of styles and subjects and genres and art, etc. It's nice to get to see 50 things or so I wouldn't have otherwise seen, and get a maximum number of creators in front of my face. I really do want to experience as much as I can, and this continues to be a decent way to do it. It also forces you to think about short works and anthology pieces as a very different thing from serialized comics or long form graphic novels, etc.

Talkinboutcomics - One year anniversary

2009-08-09T19:03:00.005-04:00

Roughly a year ago I started this blog. Prior to that I posted pretty frequent comics related posts on my Live Journal. The Live Journal was and remains mostly friends locked these days, although I often didn't protect the comics related posts. I wanted to really try and make a go of having a real blog that was out there for anyone to see, where I could post about things I was reading, or interested in, and encourage discussion, and otherwise interact with others who share my interests, or at least my love of comics. At the time I had been reading a number of other blogs, and decided that I would do this with my normal good natured geeky voice, and not play it overly harsh, or try to come off as something I'm really not... like a scholar of any sort. I would stick to reading everything I could read, and giving my honest opinion (which is inclined to skew on the positive for whatever reason).

I did several things when I first started. I created all of my accounts with more or less standard branding. I made a talkinboutcomics gmail to go with the talkinboutcomics blogger account, and when I eventually got a twitter account I made it talkinboutcomx to stay within the link restriction. I read a lot of other blogs, and tried to comment whenever I had something to say. I consider commenting in that way to be good blogosphere citizenship. That doesn't mean you ever need to comment on anything, but if you have something to add, do so. If someone solicits responses, do so. A hope in the early days is that if people appreciate your point of view, they may track back to your blog. I don't think anyone likes people who obviously comment only to shill their site in the middle of a normal discussion, but I certainly go to the blogs of people whose comments intrigue me.

I watched what other people were doing. I added a stat counter that I saw someone else using. I joined comic blog elite as a way of trying to get my site listed in a place that some people might look. I want people to read my blog, but the existence of my blog and my continued posting are in no way affected by the number of readers I get, or even if no-one ever reads it at all. I have the luxury of that, as my well being and my livelihood are not tied to the relative success of this blog. I do indeed WANT people to read it. I want people to read it, and I would love to meet people at conventions that I have had conversations with online, etc.

I am not the most socially gifted person. I have a great deal of social anxiety, and have tried to use my convention going as a way of muscling myself through it. The blogging is sort of an extension of that. I picked a name that was anonymous enough, and still don't generally through my whole name around. I think a consistent presence is probably more important than my full name, but who knows.

The good thing about this so far, is that it has given me exactly the sort of forum I had wanted. I have had little pieces of my reviews used on the web sites of products I genuinely love, and I consider that pretty cool, even though I understand that it doesn't mean anything beyond that. I have people whose opinions I value, and whose writing I love to read, fairly regularly comment on things I post. I have gotten a free copy or two sent to me to review, and several requests for me to read online material and review it. I do not do this to get anything for free, and I am always straightforward when I get free copies, even though 'the pros' may say that is amateurish. I say it's being honest and straight forward.

If I ever valued the statistics of my stat counter, I can't say that I really value them now. I like to see that my site is getting a steady stream of hits, and I like to see whatever I can divine from the patterns, but mostly that behavior leads to heartache. Once in this past year, I was somehow linked through 'stumbleupon', and that lead to an uncharacteristically high volume of hits. I have also had reviews linked to through Red 5, and through a site related to Supergirl(cait8g). Those returned a lot of looks, as did my blurb about visiting Forbidden Planet in NY which somehow got linked to some travel thing, or something. Truth be told, I think I accidentally figured out how to get a ton of hits, if that is your goal. I would rather get 3 that are reading and sometimes commenting, than 1000 that think they will be able to download a Batman The Brave and the Bold episode from me because I posted episode reviews, or the unending stream of people that come to my blog from a search for pictures of the scantily clad heroine Empowered (awesome and funny, but I don't think those are the qualities these hits are looking for). I also posted a review of a Ghost whisperer comic where all the teen girls were drawn with visibly protruding nipples, and I still get a lot of hits from nipple seekers.

The most recent thing I have done, is reluctantly enter into the world of Twitter. The more I thought about it, the less reluctant I became. My desire to have a Twitter presence started when I saw the little window on people's blogs that showed their recent twitter posts, and intensified when I saw that you could have it tweet a blurb and a link whenever you posted to your blog. I quickly realized that I didn't really want my twitter to show up on my blog. I didn't want someone's first glimpse of my blog to include what might be a seemingly inappropriate, or incomprehensible reply to something they aren't seeing, so I took that off, and don't really miss it. anyone following me on twitter can certainly see every dumb comment I make, and I don't mind that. I am who I am.

All of that said, and all of that aside, I think it has been a pretty good year. I've had fun doing this, and it has helped me to some degree connect with comics and appreciate them even more than I used to. Much of that comes from the flipside of having my own blog, which is reading and appreciating other people's blogs and their insight and opinions regarding comics. In keeping with that thought, I must say that I genuinely appreciate the people who have routinely replied and offered opinions and insight here, especially Eden from Comicsgirl, Sandy from I Love Rob Liefeld, John from Witwar, and the folks at the Inkwell Bookstore blog. If you somehow made it here, and aren't already aware of those 4 very good comics related blogs, you should certainly go check them out.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment any time you'd like. I appreciate what others have to say about all aspects of the comics medium. I hope to keep doing this for as long as I am still reading comics.

Anniversary Reprint-My first post is relevant again

2009-08-09T10:13:00.004-04:00

HECTOR PLASM: TOTENTANZ

Written by Benito Cereno, art and cover by Nate Bellgarde.

The creative team behind Invncible Presents: Atom Eve return to their original creation, a modern-day member of an ancient cult whose duties dictate that he roam the earth to protect the living from the dead...and occasionally to protect the dead from the living. It's the follow-up to the book WIZARD MAGAZINE called one of the top 200 comics released during its publication history.

48 pages, $5.99, in stores on Nov. 5.***(2009 ship date is 10/14/2009)***

I will do something here that I promise won't be an everyday occurrence. I am recommending that you buy this before I have even read it. Hector Plasm: De Mortuis is the previously published volume of Hector Plasm stories, and having read that I can recommend that you buy it if you can find it (Copies were still available through Diamond a while back, and may still be as far as I know). Benito Cereno and Nate Bellgarde have created a compelling character with wit and intelligence... Wit, Intelligence and lots and lots of untold stories.

Hector is a Benandante, a 'well-walker' or 'do-gooder' He wanders the earth with his blade astayanax, his companions Sinner and Saint who are in the tradition of the angel and devil that sit on your shoulders, only much bigger, and the humors within his body that he manipulates to his needs to aid him in solving problems, helping the living and the dead, and fighting evil.

The stories so far range in their pacing and level of action, much in the way that Hellboy stories do. Sometimes the story is about the legend as much as it is about the title character, sometimes more, sometimes less, but always enjoyable. De Mortius is good to pick up as it has the sort of origin story 'Born with a sillyhow', Sillyhow referring to the caul Hector was born with, the layer of amneotic sac that covered his head. The Caul is taken as a sign of good luck and that he will grow up special.

It's good stuff, Well written, well drawn with a style of it's own and packed with folklore and supernatural goodness. Buy it, you'll feel smart that you did.

Note: I re-read Hector Plasm: De Mortuis again before I wrote this, so that my opinion was fresh on it again. I enjoyed it as much this time as I did the first several times. If you get it and read it, tell me what you think here, or in email - talkinboutcomics@gmail.com. The same goes if you have already read it. This place should be about discussion and exchange of ideas and opinions.

Rob

2009 Edit - The Previews code for this item is AUG090299. DeMortuis is being offered again and its code is AUG090300

This same creative team is doing a 3 issue Invincible Presents:Atom Eve and Rex Splode series. Issue 1 ships in October as well, and its diamond code is AUG090292.

New Hector Plasm shipping in October!

2009-08-07T10:48:00.004-04:00

Hector Plasm Totentanz - I have been waiting for this to come out, and it finally is. It will be shipping in October. You should go put your request in for it now. Hector Plasm is a great supernatural themed comic, with humor and style. Well worth picking up. It is written and drawn by Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde. This is the same team that did the 2 Issue Invincible spin off Atom Eve, and has a 3 issue Atom Eve and Rex Splode comic also coming out in October that you should also pick up.

Destroyer #5

2009-08-06T22:45:00.003-04:00

I picked up Destroyer #5 yesterday. This was the 5 issue mini series by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, with colors by Val Staples, and obviously the last issue came out yesterday. It's a Marvel Max product that was in the works I guess prior to the image partnership thing. It had been solicited before and then came out a good bit later (I believe)

The Miniseries picks up with Keene Marlow, the hero from way back, known as the Destroyer. He's like the Punisher and Rocky mixed together. He knows he's at the end of his life cycle, and has set about to clean up certain messes, certain potential threats that he never completely eradicated. He does this in the most direct and badass bloody ways possible.

In addition to this persona, and this mission, he is a husband, a father, a grandfather, a mentor, and he cares deeply about his family. The thing that completely makes this comic awesome, is that it could easily be a one dimensional splatter-fest, and it would still be a pretty good comic, but instead, it has these layers of real humanity to it. Keene and his wife Harriet genuinely love each other. They are an old married couple in a world where super heroes exist. I don't feel that this aspect is heavy handed at all, but it makes everything else matter more. They have a daughter, and a son-in-law, and a grand-daughter, and all of them come across as real, living breathing characters with a real stake in things. This whole series has been very well written, very well drawn, and excellently colored. I recommend it highly.

This issue specifically is great. He literally fights death, and the ultimate resolution of the story is done without a lot of the standard things that usually happen in stories like this. I think this issue makes the series. I won't elaborate too much right now, as it is just out, but it is certainly worth a read.

Benefit of the doubt? - LCS edition

2009-08-05T20:29:00.004-04:00

I wonder sometimes about my loyalty. I wonder also about my need to like things that I want to like. I think that my desire to be friendly and happy, and enjoy the things I surround myself with, causes me to act as though I like things that I have no great incentive for liking, or to artificially inflate the degree to which I enjoy/appreciate them.

The comic shop I go to is the only one to survive an extended time in my immediate area. It is clean and brightly lit. It has a good amount of titles on the wall, a hefty collection of Trades, as well as Trading card games and Heroclix and comics supplies. It has a section set aside for all ages and kids, and bins that have additional trades and some bagged sets, etc. It has a good sized manga section and some figures and plushies.

The staff are all good people. All nice guys. I have no issue with anyone that works there on any sort of a personal level. They are nice to me, they know my name, they are nice to my kids, and I have witnessed them tell people to watch their language, etc. when kids are in the store. The times my wife has gone in to get things for my birthday or Christmas, they have always been good to her and have steered her in the right direction, even though the air in comic shops makes her chafe.

Going over all of that, I guess I see why when I feel a need to speak critically of the store, I generally say they have a very conservative ordering strategy, or something similar to that, to explain away why they seem to generally underpurchase anything that isn't Blackest Night or items of a similar vein.

They really seem to have a disdain for anything even remotely 'alternative'. In this case I am going to call Incredible Hercules 'alternative. When I first started getting into that title I was chatting with the owner and made a comment about how good Incredible Hercules was, and his only comment was a grunt about how it didn't matter because a Hercules title wasn't going to sell.

Another time, recently when talking about SPX I mentioned seeing Brian Lee O'Malley there (interviewed by Jog, in what was a very enjoyable scheduled event. His response was 'That would be great if I knew who that was." When I brought up Scott Pilgrim he made a dismissive comic like 'whatever... wasn't that a webcomic...?" Which I guess is also dismissive of webcomics.

I'm not sure what I expect of my LCS, but I guess it's more than that. There are other things that happen and that are said that make me feel like if they could just get away with selling the top Marvel and DC titles, they would. Even when they get in something out of the ordinary, it is generally in such a small quantity that it is gone before 5pm on the Wednesday it comes in.

These things combined with other similar incidents make me a little sad in some weird way. I have been cutting down my pulls pretty heavily. I still have titles I will get, and I still add new ones when I see something that interests me in Previews, but if not for Previews and the comics internet, I would never have any idea what else was out there. The pull system at the shop I go to is entirely run on index cards. This results in a lot of titles that just don't get ordered and dropped for me, or sometimes titles that continue to be dropped long after I have canceled them. They are really good at getting me any issues I have missed, and would never make me buy anything I didn't want, but it still adds to a feeling I get about the place and the whole process.

If I already have to be aware of everything I might possibly want well prior to it coming out, and I get no real extra value from being at the store, and there is no benefit to browsing, as only the bigger mainstream titles will be on the shelf, then do I really need the store?

I went to two different comic shops when I was in New York earlier in the year. One was Forbidden Planet, and the other Was St. Mark's Comics. St. Mark's was like a hole in the wall filled to overflowing with everything imaginable, including some Love and Rockets singles and various underground and alt comics in pretty high volume. Forbidden Planet is slick and has an enormous selection of trades including a large variety of independents and lesser known works. I imagine there is probably something, somewhere in the DC area that would give at least some of that, but it certainly isn't anywhere close to where I live.

Watchmen on DVD

2009-08-02T21:00:00.004-04:00

I watched the Watchmen movie this weekend with my dad and my brother. Neither of them had seen it, and neither of them are active comic book readers. Both of them have read and enjoyed some comics in their lifetimes, but neither of them pick them up for themselves, nor had they ever read Watchmen.

I was at my parents house this weekend. My brother was there as well for the weekend. I went out to pick up ingredients for dinner with my dad and picked up the Watchmen DVD so that we could all watch it the next evening. Sometime between buying it and watching it I misplaced it and asked my mom if she had seen my watchmen video... She thought I was talking about some sort of handheld device. I almost laughed at her, but had to admit that it did sound like that.

I thought the movie was thankfully long. I thought the movie was very faithful to the comic, and that the change to the ending was smart and didn't really hurt anything. As a big fan of the brilliant comic, I think the movie was nearly perfect. It did a great number of things well, and made what I see as a handful of minor adjustments to make the movie a little easier for general audiences to grasp. The original plot in the comic, and the original resolution are a bit of a stretch when you look at how reasonably things were tied up in the movie. In the comic, it was a perfect plot for people who are into comics. There is a lot more too it than the movie, but I think general audiences would have had more issues accepting it.

I thought that the movie hit all the right notes, and gave us a living breathing Rorschach in a way that could only be suggested at in the comic. Jackie Earle Haley's performance was perfect, and he left the same impression on my dad and brother, that the character in the comic had. I also love that this is the guy that played Kelly in the original Bad News Bears movies. Who didn't love Kelly when he showed up all badass delinquent on his motor bike. I am really happy that he is getting a bit of a renaissance.

At the end of the movie, after commenting on not realizing just how long it was (although I do think we watched the long director's cut). Both of them wondered why the movie had been panned so much. They thought it was very good, and very much a comic book movie, albeit a dark one. I asked them about the dialog, as I know a lot of it was right from the comic, and comes off a bit wordy or slightly strange being said by real people, and they felt it really just affirmed that you were watching a comic as a movie.

I was very happy with it, and my two impartial observers were happy with it as well. It is a movie that tries at the expense of mass audience appeal to be true to its source in my opinion. I will go slightly off course now and compare this briefly to the first Harry Potter movie. That is another situation where a movie tried to stay extremely faithful to the source. The first movie came off as a long slow animated storybook that I don't think really succeeded as a movie on any other terms. The HP movies in my opinion, have gotten progressively better as they have started really tailoring the story the deliver to the screen. Yes it means that they leave out important things, but it also means you are getting a better movie experience in my opinion, and one that can carry over just fine to people who may not have ever read the book.

Watchmen as a movie delivers a bit of both of those ideas. It is long and very faithful to the source. It made some changes in the translation to the screen, and it could be appreciated by people that hadn't read the original. However, I think that given the source, and the need to have at least something of a comic book super-hero background to really appreciate what you are seeing, I don't think Watchmen could be pared down and still mean anything in the same way that the HP movies have. Watchmen isn't an ongoing story in the Way the Harry Potter Volumes are. If you are making a movie of it, you need to really include all of it, or none of it.

I recommend it. If you like comics, watch it. If you love Watchmen, it shouldn't hurt you at all to watch it. If you really haven't ever read the comic, now is the time to do it.

From Girls to Grrlz

2009-07-28T20:26:00.003-04:00

I saw this slim pink volume with polka dots on the cover at the used bookstore I frequent. I had not heard of Trina Robbins before, but the subject matter: A History of 'female' Comics from Teens to Zines seemed interesting enough to me to pick it up at a good price.

The book is divided into four chapters, each with some degree of chronological overlap, but each detailing a different aspect of comics for girls or women, or featuring girls or women, etc. The chapters are 'Girl's Comics' , 'Women's Comics', Wymen's Comics' and 'Grrrlz' Comics' . It starts at the beginning of the Teen Comics boom, when Archie debuted in the early 40's, and walks us through the present when the word 'girl' has been reclaimed by women.

The book design is a bit odd to me. There are lots of squiggly dotted lines running through everything, and there seems to be an overabundance of capitalization and enlarged text. It doesn't make it unreadable, but it does make me wonder if it adds anything to it.

The good thing about the book is that it chronicles a lot of comics and gives us a lot of names to consider as far as creators and the people responsible for the various 'girl themed' comic lines. It includes a lot of pictures of the subject matter, and includes a lot of content description as well. There are a number of places where you really seem to benefit from Robbins' personal experiences in comics and in the area of women's comics specifically.

I'm glad to have it on my bookshelf, but I was also glad to not pay full price for it. It has given me a lot to think about, and a lot of people to look up and find material by.