I took the advice of my dear friends and readers and made an effort to get out to Forbidden Planet while I was stationed here in New York this week for work. It was fantastic. I don't think I have been in a store that made me this giddy in a long long time.
I have mentioned before that the excellent comic shop I go to is run fairly conservatively, which is a really smart thing for a comic shop in my area, as I have watched a lot of shops fold in the time I have lived there. I love the people there, and they will get anything I ask, but that requires that I ask. At Forbidden planet they just have a ton of stuff crammed into the space they have. They have a big new comics wall, and a lot of recent back issues, as well as shelves and shelves of trades and hardcovers and collections of all sorts.
I figured i should make use of what was available that I could not get at my LCS (in addition to one or two things I could have gotten if I were not spending the week in New York.)
Here is my list:
RASL 2 & 3 - I got the first issue and the next 2 never showed their face in my LCS.
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #3, 4 - I double checked, and apparently I still need #2. If I go back next week I will pick it up.
Young Liars #7 - 10 - As I wrote recently, I finished the trade that collects v1-6. I decided I should read more of it as soon as I can, and FPNY helped me by having these on the shelves.
Hexed #1 - It looked neat so I picked it up
Solomon Grundy Faces of Evil One Shot - I love the character, and now I realize I don't need the mini series that is coming.
Marvel SuperHero Squad #1
Neozoic #6 - I actually want them all, and will pick up the trade.
Maelstrom (Superman / Supergirl)1-4 - I saw good reviews of this on blogs I read, so i had to have them.
I also got a bunch of bribes for my girls that include a number of cute little statue-y and mystery box sorts of things.
It was really fun to go there. I wish I had something like that closer to my house. The staff was pretty decent as well
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Nipple Whisperer
Among the small pile of comics I recently purchased through itunes that use the iverse browser, two of them are Ghost Whisperer. The Ghost Whisperer comic is written by Becca Smith and Carrie Smith The art is provided by Elena Casagrande. My daughters and I love the Ghost Whisperer TV show, and I thoroughly enjoyed the comics. Seriously, I enjoyed it. It captures the feel of the show pretty well.
In this story line, Melinda is encountering the earthbound spirits that are full of anger and vengeance based on the circumstances of their deaths. In the first two issues at least, neither were actually killed by the people they have sworn vengeance upon, but both were victimized to some degree by peers, and met their deaths through accidents facilitated by their being picked on.
In each of these cases, the spirits are goaded on by another earthbound who believes himself to be the egyption god Osiris. When Melinda ultimately helps the girls to the light, Osiris is angry and lashes out at her. The art isn't phenomenal, but it's certainly not bad. The stories aren't earthshattering, but they are good, and have the tone and framework of the show for the most part.
My issue with this, and reason behind the title of this entry is a sort of bizarre and out of place series of nipples poking through shirts in both of the issues. I have no problem with nipples,I'm something of a fan even. Put them in a genre where it makes sense to show that sort of thing, and don't use high school kids, etc., and I probably won't feel weird about it. In the Ghost Whisperer, Even Melinda isn't presented in an overly sexual way, and Jennifer Love Hewitt is a looker by some people's standards (mine included). Generally, she dresses somewhat frumpy in the show, with layers, etc. When she does dress up, it's usually in sort of old fashioned seeming timeless or classic type outfits.
In the second issue, a girl died by falling into a swimming pool and getting tangled in the cover, and drowning. The first time we see her her nipples are prominently drawn in. Yes... I guess you could say there is some realism to that, but is it necessary, and does it really make sense or seem right in the context. I don't think so. In the first issue, The nipples pop up on the high school girls who pulled a mean prank on a classmate that lead her to run without looking where she was going and get hit by a car. In this same issue is a series of panels of the girls in a variety of bizarre poses for the circumstances. I will go with the idea that the girls might have a sleepover, but this is skinemax fare, one on her hands and knees on the bed, another is arching her back sitting on the edge, leaning back on her hands.... oh did I mention the lolipop the hands and knees girl is posing with... This just struck me as bizarre. I really didn't think that GHOST WHISPERER was really a show that relied on that sort of crap, and it was just out of place to see it in a comic. Yes they are all high school girls, but no I don't have tons of outrage, I just wonder why it was necessary. This isn't an ultra visible mainstream comic marketed at kids, etc. I mean, this is a comic offered on itunes, but the GW property may not be as attractive to most kids as it is to my girls.
People have nipples... as I pointed out earlier. I realize that, but generally they aren't flashed around quite as much in tv and movies as they seem to be in this comic that has no real use for sexuality in it. Does that mean it is just thrown in to spice up a fairly dull title? Were those details actually written into the script, or is this the solely the artists vision? Kind of strange, kind of unnecessary detail. I would like to read the rest of the series, though.
In this story line, Melinda is encountering the earthbound spirits that are full of anger and vengeance based on the circumstances of their deaths. In the first two issues at least, neither were actually killed by the people they have sworn vengeance upon, but both were victimized to some degree by peers, and met their deaths through accidents facilitated by their being picked on.
In each of these cases, the spirits are goaded on by another earthbound who believes himself to be the egyption god Osiris. When Melinda ultimately helps the girls to the light, Osiris is angry and lashes out at her. The art isn't phenomenal, but it's certainly not bad. The stories aren't earthshattering, but they are good, and have the tone and framework of the show for the most part.
My issue with this, and reason behind the title of this entry is a sort of bizarre and out of place series of nipples poking through shirts in both of the issues. I have no problem with nipples,I'm something of a fan even. Put them in a genre where it makes sense to show that sort of thing, and don't use high school kids, etc., and I probably won't feel weird about it. In the Ghost Whisperer, Even Melinda isn't presented in an overly sexual way, and Jennifer Love Hewitt is a looker by some people's standards (mine included). Generally, she dresses somewhat frumpy in the show, with layers, etc. When she does dress up, it's usually in sort of old fashioned seeming timeless or classic type outfits.
In the second issue, a girl died by falling into a swimming pool and getting tangled in the cover, and drowning. The first time we see her her nipples are prominently drawn in. Yes... I guess you could say there is some realism to that, but is it necessary, and does it really make sense or seem right in the context. I don't think so. In the first issue, The nipples pop up on the high school girls who pulled a mean prank on a classmate that lead her to run without looking where she was going and get hit by a car. In this same issue is a series of panels of the girls in a variety of bizarre poses for the circumstances. I will go with the idea that the girls might have a sleepover, but this is skinemax fare, one on her hands and knees on the bed, another is arching her back sitting on the edge, leaning back on her hands.... oh did I mention the lolipop the hands and knees girl is posing with... This just struck me as bizarre. I really didn't think that GHOST WHISPERER was really a show that relied on that sort of crap, and it was just out of place to see it in a comic. Yes they are all high school girls, but no I don't have tons of outrage, I just wonder why it was necessary. This isn't an ultra visible mainstream comic marketed at kids, etc. I mean, this is a comic offered on itunes, but the GW property may not be as attractive to most kids as it is to my girls.
People have nipples... as I pointed out earlier. I realize that, but generally they aren't flashed around quite as much in tv and movies as they seem to be in this comic that has no real use for sexuality in it. Does that mean it is just thrown in to spice up a fairly dull title? Were those details actually written into the script, or is this the solely the artists vision? Kind of strange, kind of unnecessary detail. I would like to read the rest of the series, though.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Young Liars
Young Liars Volume 1 - Daydream Believer - David Lapham: The picture over there is not from the trade I have, but i couldn't find one online, and I don't have a scanner with me. I read this on the shuttle from DC to New York on Sunday. Since that time I have re-read it, and gone over some parts of it several times. I'm not sure how to review this. I am not sure what my opinion even is on this. At first it looks like one thing, and then like another.
Is this comic a big ugly ugly mess, or is it hip and cool and several kinds of awesome? Are we seeing a story in which a guy and a girl who belong together kind of end up together, or are we seeing a story where a guy with a stalker-like obsession for a girl that only tolerates him out of convenience ends up as her controller after shooting her in the head maybe on purpose?
The book is populated by people who seem like one thing, but are really at least one other thing, and none of those things are particularly desirable. It makes me think of the sort of awful mind control fantasy porn fiction that has been around forever. Loser guy is hot for a girl who is too aloof for him, so he learns mind control and makes her his sex slave and humiliates her, etc.
Danny is the main character, but his friends are ever present. Rich guy who is always trying get rich quick scams, bulimic model, bitchy and aloof girl who is a rock groupie that lives to pleasure even minor rock stars, Transvestite, nicest guy on earth heroin addict, Sadie, the girl he has always loved, but due to a bullet lodged in her brain, pretty much just lives to dance and fight, and not get caught and sent back to her rich uber-depraived father. Danny himself is a sweet protective friend who wants to be in a band, and lives to take care of Sadie, or he is a murderer and psycho who holds Sadie prisoner more or less, due to her susceptibility to his suggestion thanks to a bullet that he put there in a sort of blind rage after she told him how she really felt about him.
It's really hard to know what is real in this story. It jumps around a lot, back and forth in time. I just don't find it as deep and compelling as i would like to, and if I am not careful, it just comes off as creepy. There is a bizarre plot involving trying to find a painting, as well as one involving the large group of hit people who Sadie's father has sent to bring her home and kill everyone around her basically. Even the glimpses of Sadie prior to the bullet in her brain shows a stark contrast to the vibrant and fearless Sadie. She comes off as sort of a bitch and a user as well. Mostly it all just makes it difficult for me to decide what I really think of it. Who knows, I may love it!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Dead and the Dying
The Dead and the Dying (Criminal v3)- Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips - It really is true. This series seems like each part that is written is done so just the make the next part even better. It's like each successive volume is the real point of the series. I am really glad that the series started out with Leo. If it had started with just dumping us right in the middle of the Lawless family, it would have probably kept me from enjoying the series. I swear that we got Coward as a way of making Lawless more meaningful, and even more tolerable. In this volume of the series we get to see one side of things first from a focus on Gnarly before he was tending bar at the Undertown. We get a story about a fairly sympathetic character first, before we see the Lawless side of things.I have loved every bit of these three volumes. All of them are filled with real and tragic characters. None of the characters is without at least some humanity in them somewhere, even Teeg Lawless or Sebastian Hyde. We sort of see three downfalls in this volume, maybe four. I'll go with four. Four tragic tales of the beginning of the end for each of the people featured. One ends in death, one we know ultimately does, and the other two lead to internal changes and loss of friendships , and such.
Gnarly, the big bartender who states in the last volume that he is Switzerland, was a boxer. His father was behind the rise of Sebastian Hyde's father, and the two boys grew up as friends until a woman and other philosophical differences came between them. Danica is the woman that comes between them. We see her rise and fall as well. She plays a part in the stories of the three men that are detailed in this book, as well as having her story told out in aching detail throughout the whole volume.
We follow Teeg Lawless as he comes back from Vietnam forever affected by what he experienced there, and despite being an awful and abusive husband (and eventually abusive father) He loves his sons and refuses to let them suffer for his misdealings, only to resent them for affecting him that way later on in their lives. This is some heavy stuff, but it never feels anything but real. There is a lot of sex and violence, but that is because it is about characters for whom sex and violence are their stock-in-trade.
So I guess I have to wait until February or so for the next volume to come out.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Lawless
I just finished reading Lawless, Volume 2 of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal. I very recently reviewed the first volume . I enjoyed it so much i immediately picked this one up and read it. I am not sure how often this happens, but reading volume 2 actually made volume 1 even better. Nothing in Coward feels like it is actively setting you up for the second volume, not in the way that some movies seem to devote a lot of time just advertising their inevitable sequel. It set up the world, and a portion of the history from a certain perspective, and then volume 2 clicks right into place making full use of that history and setting and builds upon it.Lawless is a fully separate story from the first one, but it has common points and locations and characters. Things that are casually referenced in the first volume are important in this one. You don't have to have read Coward, but it builds the scope and richness of Brubaker's creation. Also, the characters in this one are very different than the characters in the first. It is really some incredible skill at work here. These are stories about a certain level of the criminal element, but everyone we encounter is a fully developed character with loyalties and perspectives and family and history and their own sense of morality. Tracy Lawless is in no way Leo Patterson. He isn't his brother Ricky or his father Teeg either. Tracy is back in town after a stint in the military. His younger brother is dead and he wants to get some answers.
He and his brother had not been close ever, but he was family, and Tracy feel like he is responsible for how Ricky turned out. He believes that the crew Ricky ran with was responsible for his death, so Tracy takes up with them as a driver. During the course of his return he pissed of the wrong people and has to deal with way more than he bargained for. There is plenty of action and suspense, but we also see a lot of flashbacks to the rough childhood that shaped his worldview and ruined his brother.
I feel like this series could be about almost any sort of neighborhood or community and still be good. The execution is just great. It's like cheers if we went home with the patrons and found out they were all thieves and murderes, only minus the lousy writing. Brubaker has a formula here that doesn't even come off like formula. When it's really good I guess we have to call it something else. Brubaker is giving us a writing class with these. I am anxious to pick up volume 3.
Oh... Sean Phillips art is absolutely perfect for this as well. (bad form not to mention the art)
2009, the year in which Rob tries 2 new things at once
I received an ITunes gift card for Christmas. Yesterday I used it to purchase a small handful of 99 cent IVerse Comic Reader comics, and downloaded all the free ones as well. I wasn't sure what to expect. Frankly, I had figured that it would be a clunky affair that involved upsizing and downsizing constantly. They get around the need to do that by cutting the page up into custom panels, and making each of those panels a separate page. It is an interesting effect, and I think you can both lose and gain a good bit through that presentation.
The really cool part about viewing these custom panels separately is that you really get to focus on the panels apart from the whole page. That in turn creates an effect that could be good or bad depending on the comic. You can't see where it is heading, you have no greater context, and anything that would have been conveyed by the whole page layout is lost. There is also a good bit of cropping, so you are not seeing the entire page as printed. In the comics I have read so far (all of them for the first time) I see the presentation of these single chunks as a pretty cool and effective thing. You really get a chance to appreciate the skill of the artist this way. It really allows you to pull a great deal of emotion from the individual panels, as well as creating a bit of suspense by having to view it bites.
Neozoic #1,2 - Ens, Korim & Lam (Red5 Comics) - I have been trying to get this comic for a while to no avail. I was thrilled to see the first two issues offered through ITunes. I have an IPhone for work, and now it has comics on it. It is quite a happy IPhone now.
The idea behind the comic is good solid science fiction stuff. In the Neozoic world, the moon was hit by an asteroid 65 million years ago. It has a giant bite taken out of it (I am forced to think about the Tick at this point and giggle, although in Neozoic it isn't done in a funny way.) Mess with the moon and a lot of things change. Dinosaurs and giant beasts share the planet with humans and other humanoid creatures. People live in walled cities and have a mixture of modern and archaic technology. The society is built up around a religion, etc.
So far I love this. I have only read the two issues, but it is awesome. There is a sort of military, or military like structure, a monarchy, a rabid media, a society that is at odds on a number of issues, with it's share of protestors and dissenters . There is another race or offshoot of people that live outside of the walled city, possibly underground. There is a lot to build upon.
I am not always a fan of things that mix dinosaurs and people, but this was really good stuff. I am genuinely interested in continuing to read this. It has action and political overtones, and perhaps the single most attractive female character ever. You want honesty from me... right? Well, you get it anyway. The character Lilli, who seems to be one of the primary characters, if not the main character, is absolutely stunning. The art in this is pretty amazing. Many of the
characters, male and female alike, give off that vibe. (See the cover art above, which is not from either of the issues I read, but it is lovely so I used it.)
In addition to the amazing illustration is the color. Red5 comics, at least Atomic Robo and Neozoic, really seem to value color. The color in both of those titles is really like another player in the game. It isn't so much that color themes are used to convey specific things as it is the color is so perfect that you notice it's quality on equal footing with the art it is embelishing.
I took a sample page from the publisher's site I then cut it up in photoshop to pretty much match what you get on the iphone. That is them running down the left side of this pasge. I think it works really well. I know that for me there was a greater sense of immersion with viewing this way. It sort of takes the comic and presents it to you like storyboards for a film. I don't have an issue with reading comics like this if they are all done as well as this one is, and offered for free or at a very reasonable price (99 cents is a good price for a comic. Getting the issues in this way also gives a bit of the sense that you are owning something you can keep. I think there is room for improvement, and we will probably see this develop over time. I don't love the fact that every issue is installed as a separate application on my phone. I would prefer to launch the app and pick issues from a library for example.
The only other comic I have read so far is the first issue of David Hutchison's OZ the manga.
I think this may really be a format that the manga style really just shines in. There is a lot of movement in the panels, and a lot of reaction and expression shots, and getting those isolated in their own screen has a great effect. If I can find some sample pages of that I will chop it up similarly and post one to show how well it works.
I am happy so far, but I will keep you posted.
The really cool part about viewing these custom panels separately is that you really get to focus on the panels apart from the whole page. That in turn creates an effect that could be good or bad depending on the comic. You can't see where it is heading, you have no greater context, and anything that would have been conveyed by the whole page layout is lost. There is also a good bit of cropping, so you are not seeing the entire page as printed. In the comics I have read so far (all of them for the first time) I see the presentation of these single chunks as a pretty cool and effective thing. You really get a chance to appreciate the skill of the artist this way. It really allows you to pull a great deal of emotion from the individual panels, as well as creating a bit of suspense by having to view it bites.
Neozoic #1,2 - Ens, Korim & Lam (Red5 Comics) - I have been trying to get this comic for a while to no avail. I was thrilled to see the first two issues offered through ITunes. I have an IPhone for work, and now it has comics on it. It is quite a happy IPhone now.The idea behind the comic is good solid science fiction stuff. In the Neozoic world, the moon was hit by an asteroid 65 million years ago. It has a giant bite taken out of it (I am forced to think about the Tick at this point and giggle, although in Neozoic it isn't done in a funny way.) Mess with the moon and a lot of things change. Dinosaurs and giant beasts share the planet with humans and other humanoid creatures. People live in walled cities and have a mixture of modern and archaic technology. The society is built up around a religion, etc.
So far I love this. I have only read the two issues, but it is awesome. There is a sort of military, or military like structure, a monarchy, a rabid media, a society that is at odds on a number of issues, with it's share of protestors and dissenters . There is another race or offshoot of people that live outside of the walled city, possibly underground. There is a lot to build upon.
I am not always a fan of things that mix dinosaurs and people, but this was really good stuff. I am genuinely interested in continuing to read this. It has action and political overtones, and perhaps the single most attractive female character ever. You want honesty from me... right? Well, you get it anyway. The character Lilli, who seems to be one of the primary characters, if not the main character, is absolutely stunning. The art in this is pretty amazing. Many of the
characters, male and female alike, give off that vibe. (See the cover art above, which is not from either of the issues I read, but it is lovely so I used it.)In addition to the amazing illustration is the color. Red5 comics, at least Atomic Robo and Neozoic, really seem to value color. The color in both of those titles is really like another player in the game. It isn't so much that color themes are used to convey specific things as it is the color is so perfect that you notice it's quality on equal footing with the art it is embelishing.
I took a sample page from the publisher's site I then cut it up in photoshop to pretty much match what you get on the iphone. That is them running down the left side of this pasge. I think it works really well. I know that for me there was a greater sense of immersion with viewing this way. It sort of takes the comic and presents it to you like storyboards for a film. I don't have an issue with reading comics like this if they are all done as well as this one is, and offered for free or at a very reasonable price (99 cents is a good price for a comic. Getting the issues in this way also gives a bit of the sense that you are owning something you can keep. I think there is room for improvement, and we will probably see this develop over time. I don't love the fact that every issue is installed as a separate application on my phone. I would prefer to launch the app and pick issues from a library for example.
The only other comic I have read so far is the first issue of David Hutchison's OZ the manga.
I think this may really be a format that the manga style really just shines in. There is a lot of movement in the panels, and a lot of reaction and expression shots, and getting those isolated in their own screen has a great effect. If I can find some sample pages of that I will chop it up similarly and post one to show how well it works.I am happy so far, but I will keep you posted.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The best of 2008, a year of Pro's and Con's
Here is my best of 2008
- Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC - My daughters and I drove to Charlotte, ate at the Penguin and the Bar B Q King Drive In. It was an awesome roadtrip. We listened to an Artemis Fowl book on cd and stayed in a nice hotel with our Wii hooked up to a second television, ate fancy expensive french fries at the hotel and they got to play in the pool. Oh right, we also went to the comic convention. At the con, I got to meet Jaime Hernandez and he drew a picture of Maggie and Hopie for me. I met Matt Wagner and Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde, Danielle Corsetto, Robert Kirkman, Craig & Todd, and many more. My oldest got second place for her age group in the sketch contest. I bought an enourmous pile of half priced trades, and had a great time. It was just perfect, and nearly every bit of it was a highlight
- SPX - Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD - This was also my first year going to this con, that features small press and mini comics, etc. It was another fantastic experience. I met James Kochalka, Liz Baillie, Joe Flood, Paul Karasick, Renee Lott, The No Lemon Press folks, Justin DeCarlo, and more. There was so much energy and hope and potential at this thing. There really was a pervasive vibe of cameraderie that was infectious. I attended the interview that Jog did with Brian Lee O'Malley (meeting him and Hope Larson at heroes was yet another high point) and I actually asked a question... well mostly made a statement, but I also made a joke, and was nowhere near the oddest person raising my hand. This was all a big deal for me, as I am not historically very good at being outgoing in situations like this. Up until this year I attended cons and stood 100 feet from people I adored and refused to get closer or speak. Conventions are much more enjoyable when you get chatty and friendly with the mostly friendly Pro's that attend those things pretty much for that purpose.
- My Blog!! I had been posting comic book reviews and such on my personal LJ for a long time, but this was my first attempt at doing something like this. I was very nervous about doing it, but it has been extremely rewarding in my opinion, and I have learned a lot already, and have encountered a lot of really great people with some really great blogs and opinions as well.
- Zuda - Free comics online... REALLY GOOD free comics online.
- Super Hero and or Comic Book Movies - Iron Man, Dark Knight, Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hancock... All good movies, with a few of them being GREAT movies. I know Wanted was changed to a crazy degree for the film, but I enjoyed the film more that the comic.
- The Middleman (TV Show) - Yep, this series gets its own entry. It is absurd and awful and sad that we probably won't get this back, and if we did, it probably wouldn't have the awesome Natalie Morales in it. This is one of the best and funniest comics related tv shows ever. It was superbly cast and acted, Hillariously funny every episode, and just all around great. Only the animated the Tick generated as much comics related funny in my opinion. Just a great show that I structured my schedule around while it was on the air.
- Hardbacks and trades on the cheap - I picked up a number of hard back comics this year, and while I always used to act like I didn't care for them or something, it was only out of jealousy. No I am not ready to pay 99 bucks for something I can get for 15, but when I can get the hardcover for very close to the price of the trade, then there are a bunch of things I would love to have the HC of.
- Talking comics and webcomics with my friend Frost - This was a high point of my year as well. She is an artist, and throwing ideas back and forth with her about those topics is always a good time.
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