daytripper

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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...