And You Want To Be My Latex Salesman?

Sigh.

With alarming, yet frustratingly unpredicatable frequency, Sea Donkey just never fails to really screw the pooch. You never know when he’s going to strike, and he really got me good this week. Exhibit A is Aya: The Secrets Come Out (Drawn & Quarterly), which was a complete no-show. This book was not in the store. This book was not ordered. The second volume of the book is nestled away on the shelves, but no, not this one. Previous volumes of this book have been released to considerable critical acclaim. They typically make appearances on many best-of lists toward the end of the year. Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie are major talents. I just don’t understand. Is there actually a decision-making process involved here? Does Sea Donkey look at the book and think “Hrmm, shall I order this book? No, no, I don’t think I will for these (wrong) reasons.” Or is it more haphazard? Does he simply throw darts at the Diamond catalogue and blindly order whatever The Great Sea Donkey Gods of Old have divinely instructed him to?

Next up, we have Exhibit B, which is the Book of Genesis Illustrated by Robert Crumb (W.W. Norton). Good ol’ Sea Donk ordered one (1) copy of this book. Last time I checked, Robert Crumb was a pretty important figure in the field of comic books. I mean, seriously… one copy? Why even bother? I come into the store at like 12 noon, Sea Donk has only been open one hour, and of course the lucky bloke in front of me gets to it before I do. Good on him. Man, if I had only made that last green light things would be different. Why am I forced to think this way? As Wiki waxes, “Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry.” I feel like adding to that last sentence “Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry AND poor retailing practices like that of Sea Donkey.” Wouldn’t you order a minimum of like three copies or something? As far as I know, this is the first time it’s been collected since it originally ran serialized in The New Yorker. Robert Crumb! The New Yorker! One copy?!

After striking out on my first two preferences of the week, I move down to my “Considering” list to see what’s available. Exhibit C: Of course, Sea Donkey has the JLA: 80 Page Giant (DC) available. Of course he does. See, it’s published by Marvel or DC, so we can’t miss out on those books can we? I thumb through it. Hey, there’s Zatanna. There’s The Crimson Avenger. Cool. It looks like Silver Age fun, but the art, oh the art. It is passable at best in spots, but mostly it’s full of disproportioned awkwardly posed people and the few and far between bright spots just can’t justify the $6 price tag as I ponder it in my mind. The quality of the JLA 80 Page Giant isn’t Sea Donkey’s fault of course, but it does its humble part in creating the perfect retailing storm for me. I start panicking. Holy shit, what am I going to buy? I don’t remember the last week that I have actually had nothing to buy. What else is on the list?

Ah, Exhibit D: Best American Comics 2009 (Houghton Mifflin). Surely, His Sea Donkiness will have that book. I’ve seen previous volumes on his shelves. I think I even bought last year’s here amid the morass of Mighty Muggs and Spawn POGS. Oh dear readers, do you hear the crickets chirping? I know I do. I scan the shelves. I ask the hired help. No. No. No. We didn’t order that book either.

I walk around the store aimlessly. I guess I’m not going to buy any comics this week. Sniff. Whatever. I don’t want to give him my money for those books anyway. But then I see it. Scrublands (Fantagraphics) by Joe Daly. Yes, this looks good. I didn’t know this was coming out. A short story about meeting down-on-his-luck Bruce Springsteen? Sold. My single, unanticipated, dejected, review for the week is coming soon.

Oh, and the hunt for a new LCS is officially on. This is the straw that broke the donkey's back. Eff you in your big salt water beast of burden belly, Sea Donkey. That way I see it Donk, your Latin name is Equus Africanus Asinus, and you don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that translates loosely to something like “Equine African Ass.”

Blood Orange @ Optical Sloth

The first review of Blood Orange is up over at Optical Sloth. For those who don’t know, Kevin Bramer has been running a really cool site for a few years now that focuses entirely on mini-comics and small press. It’s a great service that provides reviews and sales of books that might not otherwise see much airtime or distribution beyond their immediate metros, so be sure to check out some of his offerings. He did a quick blurb on Blood Orange that sums up the plot nicely, calling it “timely” and “worth a look.” He has a few copies available that are recession-priced at only $.50. Yes, that’s just 50 cents, so get after it. Thanks, Kevin!

Coming This Week: African Girls in Trouble, Crumb Does Adam & Eve, and More Oversized Hardcovers Than Your Unemployment Check Can Handle

Every week I review Diamond's “New Releases” to determine what I’ll definitely be buying sight unseen, what I’m interested in enough to do a quick scan of at the LCS to see if it can win me over, and note any other items that catch my eye. Here’s a look…

Buying:

Aya: The Secrets Come Out (Drawn & Quarterly): The long-awaited third volume of this terrific series by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie spotlighting a seldom explored part of contemporary African culture. Previous volumes have had 13 Minutes Graphic Novel of the Month status bestowed upon them, in addition to appearing on my Best of the Year lists!

Book of Genesis Illustrated by Robert Crumb (W.W. Norton): I don’t know how excited I am to read the bible again, but a mere $24.95 gets you a massive tome of work and the pages look amazing. Oh, and it’s Robert Crumb.

Considering:

Justice League of America: 80 Page Giant #1 (DC): That really is a lackluster creative roster. I mean, seriously, who are these people? It’s like DC should print a special edition of Who’s Who? that provides explanations of all the C-list writers and artists responsible for this thing. Anyway, the $5.99 price tag seems a little steep, but it is 80 pages and some of the story descriptions have a Silver Age team up panache that I’m finding irresistible, like “Green Lantern and Red Arrow locked in a showdown with Cinnamon in the Old West” or “Black Canary and Zatanna evading gangsters with the original Crimson Avenger!”

Best American Comics: 2009 (Houghton Mifflin): I still expected to see Dave Eggers’ name adorning this book, but instead I find it’s edited by Charles Burns and Jessica Abel, which is just as great, if not better. Often times I’ve read many of the excerpts already, but the essays are usually spot on and reading these books reminds me of having done so on long flights from Boston to San Francisco at my old job. It could wind up being the nostalgia buy of the week.

Noting:

In no particular order, it’s just cool to see all of these books getting collected in swanky editions as we gear up for the Christmas season: Absolute Promethea: Volume 01 HC (DC/Wildstorm), Fables: Deluxe Edition: Volume 01 HC (DC/Vertigo), Strangers in Paradise: Omnibus Limited Edition (Abstract Studio), Hellboy: Library Edition: Volume 03 HC: Conqueror Worm & Strange Places (Dark Horse), and Umbrella Academy: Volume 02 TPB: Dallas (Dark Horse) following right on the heels of the absolute edition that came out last week.

9.23.09 Reviews (Part 2)

Detective Comics #857 (DC): If you’re one of those people who was enamored of JH Williams’ art, but couldn’t quite get a foothold on Greg Rucka’s Religion of Crime super-story, then this issue may certainly feel more suitable. While it still boasts Williams’ amazing pencils, the story focuses less on the macro elements and is a relatively straightforward action caper, complete with Kate gearing up, motorcycle rides, aerial superheroics, stabbings, and dramatic falls and reveals involving a familiar named “Beth.” Rucka also brings his ear for procedural lingo to the table that I miss from books like Queen & Country or Checkmate, with dad yelling seemingly cryptic instructions like “MOPP for CW” and some great radio traffic during the landing sequence. In spite of Rucka’s heightened clarity, the real treat is still Williams’ pencils. What an awesome cover. What thrilling interior art. JH3 is a master at directing the reader’s eye around the page, the slight horizontal tilt pulling us through the action. There’s a touch of P. Craig Russell’s ethereal whimsy, the inventive layouts and multimedia convergence of David Mack, and the clear strong figure work of someone like Ryan Sook, all combining to attain a look that’s uniquely JH’s and derivative of no one. You can spot a JH Williams page from a mile off and gasp delightfully at its readable originality. Visually, this is the most creative book on the stands. But, aww, no Flamebird? If I didn’t feel like I was paying an extra dollar for The Question (which I didn’t even read this time), there would be a “+” on this Grade A.

Echo #15 (Abstract Studio): I thought it was a little odd that the cover image has nothing to do with the content of the book; in fact, it’s actually a little misleading. That observation aside… Moore brings it yet again. We see his typical rousing action sequences paired with the most realistic dialogue to be found, and he’s equally adept at depicting both the big-bang spectacles and quiet character moments. Along the way, supporting characters like Pam get fleshed out, Ivy moves closer to the main cast, and the ruthlessness of HeNRI comes to light. I’m left with just one question that’s been hinted at for at least two issues now – what’s in Julie’s box?! This is one of the best books that more people need to read. It seems to be flying quietly under the radar with little of the fanfare it so richly deserves. Come on, people. This is issue after issue of basically perfect comic book storytelling. Read it. Talk about it. Blog about it. Evangelize. Grade A.

Wasteland #26 (Oni Press): This issue spotlights Yan, with fascinating looks at (now) Primate Skot and High Disciple Jakob, who have both been favorite second tier characters in The Big Wet saga. The political maneuverings of Newbegin never fail to entertain. There’s the mystery of Mary, who was recently introduced, and the question of the government’s stability as the Sunners get some representation. True, it does feel like a lot of talking heads as Antony Johnston catapults us out of the gate into another story arc that’s sure to delight, but the biggest draw for me in this particular issue was Christopher Mitten’s pencils. He seems like a new man here. The pencils look different. There seems to be so much more detail in the figures, particularly their facial expressions. The backgrounds also feel more fully realized. They were great before, but it’s as if more effort is consciously being placed on adding fine lines in the foreground and thicker inks in the background. Maybe it’s my perception being altered after some time away, but it’s almost as if Mitten’s foray into the fully painted issue 25, or perhaps some of his side projects, had a noticeable effect on his black and white work. It’s interesting to watch the evolution of an artist’s skills and damn if those Artisian masks don’t remind me of being in Venice for Carnival. Grade A.

9.23.09 Reviews (Part 1)

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror #15 (Bongo): I’ve sampled a couple of the Treehouse of Horror issues in the past and they always seemed worth a chuckle, but when I found out that Sammy Harkham would be guest editing this issue containing a bunch of alternative talent like Jordan Crane, Kevin Huizenga, and Jeffrey Brown, it was pretty much an instant buy. Cloud 13 by Tim Hensley presents a quick sort of existential dilemma wherein the characters are stuck eternally in the basic trappings of the show. It's a nice intro piece for the book. The Call of Vegulu by Matthew Thurber and Kevin Huizenga gives us the “Granola Osiris” of Burns and Smithers, touches on economic collapse, going green as de rigeur, and has thin languid lines that are colored beautifully. I enjoyed the irony of blogging your life away, needing to “see a doctologist,” the mash up of health care and reality TV, and the ultimate marketing campaign culminating with “uhhh… code red.” Blurst Agin! by Jordan Crane is an all too fast one pager that left me wanting more. Mo’ Bodies Moe Problems by Ted May and Sammy Harkham was one of the better pieces. Harkham really changed his art style to ape The Simpsons aesthetic; what a versatile guy, it's so much different from his earlier work like Poor Sailor. I laughed out loud at Moe’s schtick and zingers like “What, these? Some tramp probably had a blow-out.” In his quest to diversify the bar's demographic, we get karaoke hilarity and a Frankenstein riff with Nelson. The Gods Must be Lazy! by Will Sweeney is a decent riff on Clash of the Titans, and I especially enjoyed the absurdity of the tribe of pickle people. Contributors of the Damned was an uncredited page by Sammy Harkham that has marvelous little bios that give plugs for creator books, web-sites, and also handily references where they can be found in this book. C.H.U.M. by John Vermilyea does a great job of capturing the voices of Nelson, Milhouse, the Flanders kids, and Ralph. Boo-tleg by Ben Jones starts with lines like “this shampoo smells like real poo” and never really lets up. It's probably the funniest of the lot and contained the best writing. It's one-liner after one-liner on top of plenty visual gags. You can just hear Apu as he plots to take over Springfield with duplicates made in Krwakistan, and it's all capped with Comic Book Guy's blogging dilemma in the denouement. Three Little Kids by John Kerschbaum is a nice take on classic fairy tales, with slick lines like “Smithers! I grow tired of eating lamb! Fetch me some pork! Pronto!” and “For your information, these are not comic books. They are graphic novels!” There's also some clever lettering to distinguish character voices. Bad Milhouse by Jeffrey Brown is a winner, with greater detail than we're used to seeing these characters with, and ever so slightly more realistic features. It's got brilliant coloring and the figures remind me of the original Tracy Ullman Show look and feel, especially the rendition of Homer and the Simpsons family proper. It touches on all the big issues, from fan-fic, feminism, and foreclosure, to copyright infringement. The Slipsons by C.F. is the only real miss for me; I just didn’t get it, which was kind of a sad note to end on, but overall there's a ton of laughs here. The book feels extremely dense, with a plethora of great creators. Even with a $4.99 price tag, it's well worth a look. Grade A.

Wednesday Comics #12 (DC): Batman feels a tad anticlimactic, but I do like how it defies expectations in a self-aware manner. Grade B+. Kamandi pulls at the heartstrings using a beautifully silhouetted panel to emphasize emotional impact. This could almost serve as a prequel/origin story for the Last Boy on Earth. Grade A+. Superman ends so smarmy, smug, and boring. And sorry, but that first panel looks like unfinished art. Grade C. Deadman has far too much supernatural mumbo-jumbo going on, people and places I've been given no reason to care about, it's all terribly inconsequential. Grade C-. Green Lantern comes with a nice friendly epilogue, and I love how Hal’s street clothes aesthetically mirror the GL uniform's color palette. Grade B+. Metamorpho is all about cleavage and entering Miss Blackwell’s “private sector,” which is actually more funny than stupid for a change, but it feels like too little too late in order to get this thing back on the rails. Those lines are funny because the characters play them deadpan to each other fun, whereas Java mugging directly to the audience is still very lame. At the end, it steals a gag that was done better in Dr. 13: Architecture & Mortality with the faux promise of a next issue. Grade C. Teen Titans is finally over, thank God. Grade D. Strange Adventures ends with a self-referential “… days of strange adventure,” lovely females, and like many of his works, Paul Pope embeds a love story amid manic sci-fi spectacle. This is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful adventure. Grade A+. Supergirl comes with a big exposition dump, but has a nice twisty end and a truly cute final panel. Grade B+. This is totally random, but I picked up the first four issues of Power Girl from a $1 bin by this creative team since it's been generally well reviewed and, you know, I just make it a point to check a series out sometimes like that. Man, was that a disappointment. I didn’t laugh once, it never got as funny as the Supergirl issues of Wednesday Comics featuring Aquaman (but then again, Supergirl wasn't usually that funny either for most of the WedCom duration). It sort of went from "wow, this is totally boring" - so much so that I can’t recall what happens now - to just downright "that's wrong." For example, I guess Power Girl is friend/big sister/mentor to Terra from Teen Titans. Well, I’m wondering why when they go out on a pseudo-date and need to fight bad guys and Terra realizes she doesn’t have her costume on underneath her street clothes that she just decides to… strip down to her panties? Yeah, because when I forget my uniform for my job, I strip down to my underwear too. Awesome. Moving right along... Metal Men is illustrated beautifully, there's a couple of really standout panels here, but the story got boring really fast and the final denouement here is a little tough to swallow. Grade C+. Wonder Woman runs out its wake up gag, and is still pretty to simply take in visually, but I couldn’t get past the first big block of text, so who knows what’s going on. Grade C-. Sgt. Rock ends with a personal touch and that fifth panel is just beautiful. Grade B+. Flash leaves us with an open-ended self-aware sense of glee that's a much needed chance to exhale after so many rousing sequences of late. Grade A-. Demon & Catwoman has iambic pentameter and some flat humor. Yes, that sentence is about as interesting as the strip. Grade D+. Hawkman makes me want Kyle Baker to do a JLA book now. Please? Grade A+. One more time, if we do our visual doodad, it looks something like this;

Strange Adventures
Hawkman
Kamandi
Flash
Batman
Green Lantern
Supgergirl
Sgt. Rock
Metamorpho
Superman
Wonder Woman
Metal Men
Deadman
Demon & Catwoman
Teen Titans

I decided to create a fourth category visually just to see what that did, and it didn’t do much. Essentially what we’ve got is the cream of the crop excellent strips, the good ones, the harmlessly mediocre, and the godawful at the bottom. Nothing terribly abnormal here, but it's worth noting that Hawkman overtook Kamandi in the final installment (since I’m such a JLA whore) and Sgt. Rock, while rendered well, sure went the long way around the mountain from a storytelling standpoint and felt flat to me, so it slipped a bit in the rankings down toward the bottom of the second tier, when it had been duking it out with Batman for top spot in the second tier. If I had to pick consistent contenders at each tier, I’d say Strange Adventures was consistenly most excellent, Batman was consistently good-short-of-great, and Teen Titans was clearly the worst for the duration. Looking at the numbers, we get 27% in the top, 27% in the second grouping, 20% in the third slot, and 27% at the bottom. By my rough calculations, if you count the first two tiers as “successful,” and the second two as “failures,” then we still see just a little over half making the grade, a 54% success rate, which on the surface doesn’t seem terribly accomplished, but I suppose it’s all a matter of context.

Taken individually, my biggest problem with Wednesday Comics was that the stories seemed inconsequential, with rare exception they just didn’t do anything substantial or very memorable. I think a lot of the praise that the series got was (deservedly) because of the experimental format. The next logical leap would be to state that this makes this all an exercise in style over substance, but I think that gives the project short shrift. Simply put, Wednesday Comics was a great example of outside-the-box-thinking. While it may have missed (Teen Titans) more often than it succeeded (Strange Adventures), it was certainly a fun experience to try something new and assess why some things did or didn’t work. And there sure was a wide range in quality – just look at the gaping expanse between the one most picked on and the one most praised – again, Teen Titans and Strange Adventures. I mean, could those be any more divergent on every level? How could they even exist in the same space? Those questions are both the bane and the allure of projects like this.

Like Editor Mark Chiarello’s long lamented Solo series, it was an experimental learning process. I think that more and more, especially considering their Warner Brothers and Disney overlords, DC and Marvel should be adopting the business paradigm of R&D lab. In R&D labs, there is permission to fail, and that can be essential to a truly free creative process. If you try enough experiments, you’re going to fail a lot of the time, but the process can yield something breathtaking occasionally. For me, it’s worth slogging through ten things like Teen Titans, that doggedly miss by a mile, and a few ambitious but flawed noble failures like Wonder Woman, if something grand like Strange Adventures or Hawkman comes out of it also.

Anyway, there’s a rumor floating around that Paul Pope created a mysterious 13th strip for some reason and that he’ll be posting it soon on his Pulp Hope site, along with a text piece of some sort, so keep your eyes peeled for that little gem. Overall, the final installment of Wednesday Comics checks in with a raw Grade C, with an adjustment up for format to Grade B. But more importantly, I’d definitely buy a second volume. Mark Chiarello? You go, boy. The project conceptually gets a Grade A.

Uncanny X-Men #515 (Marvel): Apparently, I sure missed a lot by not picking up any of that crossover crap. This is very annoying. Why can’t I just read the core X-Men title and not feel like I’ve been left in the dark, like I’ve missed six months worth of issues? So, let’s see… I guess the X-Men have left San Francisco? Why? Last I saw, they fought the Dark Avengers to a standstill and then Norman’s squad retreated. I guess they raised Magneto’s old base and plopped it down off the coast somewhere? Wow. Ok. Why? Why is Namor with them? Why is he in exile? What’s up with Emma, wasn’t she acting duplicitous before and in cahoots with Osborn to some degree? Did that ever get resolved? And what the hell is that thing on her face? Why is she stuck in diamond form? Who the hell are those characters in the opening sequence? Charles is back?! What? Why? How? I mean, really, I have all of the Fraction issues starting with 500, yep, that one, that one, 512, 513, and there’s 514, yet here’s 515 and I have no idea what’s going on. Greg Land’s art isn’t as bad as usual I guess, but still looks overly posed in spots, and check out the scene with Scott and Mayor Sinclair. Why is he suddenly seated in one panel? Why do the backgrounds mysteriously change? That’s just lazy. Fraction still attempts to play with some fascinating sociological concepts like Danger becoming a virtual prison warden. There are clever lines like “a piece of forgotten science fiction,” a rousing word exchange between Scott and Charles, the death of Dr. Takiguchi, Scott being vulnerable and honest, but the cliffhanger is emotionally empty considering that the last time Fraction had that person show up it wasn’t even really him, and ultimately any good will this issue attempts to garner is completely derailed by dangling crossover residue. Grade C.

Coming This Week: An Artist Named Jim, The End of Wednesday, Returning to The Big Wet

Every week I review Diamond's “New Releases” to determine what I’ll definitely be buying sight unseen, what I’m interested in enough to do a quick scan of at the LCS to see if it can win me over, and note any other items that catch my eye. Here’s a look…

Buying:

Wasteland #26 (Oni Press): It’s great to see this title and the world of The Big Wet back in action after the stunning double-tap of con season entertainment that was the full color, double sized, painted 25th Anniversary issue and the oversized, deluxe, hardcover Apocalyptic Edition.

Detective Comics #857 (DC): Greg Rucka and JH Williams III (we called him “Jim” in high school) continue their lauded run, and until Cameron Stewart or Frazer Irving replace Philip Tan on Batman & Robin, this is probably the best Bat-book on the stands at the moment, even with the horrible and unnecessary Question back-up story.

Wednesday Comics #12 (DC): I think taking my daughter swimming one last time and the end of Wednesday Comics (for now?) officially signifies the end of summer in these parts. How will it be collected? How long until the follow up is announced? How long until bloggers start reviewing the thing in its entirety?

Uncanny X-Men #515 (Marvel): While Matt Fraction has shown mastery delivering a single-character (with strong supporting cast, sure) epic over in Invincible Iron Man, his Uncanny work isn’t as strong; evidence of a good writer being brought down from the weight of crossovers? Or evidence of a good writer just not so good on an unwieldy team book?

Echo #15 (Abstract Studio): Terry Moore continues his flawless series of Marvel Silver Age atomic paranoia coupled with expertly crafted dialogue and believable relationships. This one doesn’t disappoint.

Considering:

Underground #1 (Image): Jeff “Interman” Parker and Steve “Whiteout” Lieber seem like a match made in heaven, and if this passes the casual flip test at the LCS it will undoubtedly make the trip home.

Noting:

No Hero #7 (Avatar Press): Hey, if Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp had only waited one more week, they could have, almost to the day (#1 showed up on 10/1/08), taken an entire year to deliver seven issues. I stopped picking up single issues of this around #3 or so, in favor of the inevitable collected edition. Looks like this final issue is intended to be quite shocking, and I’ll be anxious to see how the whole saga fits into the Ellis’ trifecta (Black Summer, No Hero, and the forthcoming Supergod) of Avatar work, as noted by the lads at Paradox.

9.16.09 Reviews

The Lone Ranger #18 (Dynamite Entertainment): I really enjoyed the smart and quippy dialogue in this issue, like the weather metaphors for vigilante identity. The scenes between the Sheriff and our heroes reminded me of the best moments in early Commissioner Gordon scenes with Batman, that brand of uneasy trust and respect compelling the relationship forward. The Sheriff’s actions are such an excellent depiction of one’s ability to judge a person’s character. He’s quickly becoming a favorite b-character here. “I need you to know… I love you. And the boy. Very much.” Damn, we’ve been waiting like two years through uneasy flirtation and caring for that one line; what a payoff. It’s rushed, unexpected, and not perfect, but honorable, realistic, and believable. Overall, these singles always feels so damn quick. Brett Matthews is so good at trusting Sergio Cariello as an artist that his dialogue is free to be extremely minimal. That makes for a fantastic creative effort, but also makes it a lightning fast read, I always have to force myself to slow down in order to savor the images and unspoken meaning in a fleeting attempt to make it all last just a bit longer. Grade A.

Invincible Iron Man #18 (Marvel): More than ever, Fraction eschews the confines of dated continuity and syncs up his Iron Man saga with that of the hit movie. There are a lot of balls in the air here and they’re all juggled deftly. Maria Hill and Black Widow seem to be much needed chess pieces that have suddenly been taken off the board, and Tony appears to be running solo. There’s an ingenious bit of lettering from Joe Caramagna used to depict Morse Code in the most intuitive, simple, and elegant way I’ve ever seen. I like the way Maria Hill isn’t dismissed as deranged, but gets some respect from “Madame Masque,” which turns out to be a little foreshadowing of a brazen move. Larroca’s art barely carries the vestigial traces of photorealism that he began the title with. A year and a half of working his craft diligently has yielded great results and eliminated the more obvious and distracting usage; it’s been fun to watch him grow more confident and not overly reliant on a common artistic aid. The scenes with the internal politics at HAMMER reveal more about Osborn’s manipulative personality (doing his best W, due process be damned!) better than any amount of expository dialogue ever could. The fun little touches keep on coming, such as the translation of the Mark 01 suit, and the focused shot on the Stark handgun. It’s a nice bit of observational commentary that his (any) technology is capable of both abetting and hindering. I did find one small little glitch in the art when he disarms the kid. Tony is racking the slide to eject a chambered round, but his hand is covering the ejection port where it would actually eject from, kind of negating the whole process. That minor firearms training quibble aside, there’s a totally awesome twist that I didn’t even see coming, which makes me want to go back and re-read a couple issues. I can’t wait to see their next move on the Helicarrier. Grade A.

Batman & Robin #4 (DC): Look, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em. I’ve been saying all along, Philip Tan is a good artist. He uses plenty of detail, doesn’t phone in the background work, gives us a dynamic title page here, and is able to produce clear competent storytelling. But, Frank Quitely dude. Frank Quitely. He’s the other half that helped make this package magical. You can’t take a classic savory and sweet peanut butter and jelly sandwich and suddenly remove the peanut butter, substitute Nutella and expect the same results. I like Nutella, don’t get me wrong. It’s good on sourdough toast. I like watching Giada De Laurentiis cook with it (of course, who wouldn’t? I like watching her do just about anything, but that’s… wow, I’m totally digressing here). I even like Nutella and jelly sandwiches. And, it too – like the peanuts in peanut butter, is based on a nut, the hazelnut to be precise. But I’m just saying, it’s not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it never will be, especially if that's what you're accustomed to. Anyway, we get some visceral moves (the throat slit was particularly unexpected), coupled with a chilling bit of social networking. Dick’s doing his best imitation of Bruce’s aloof playboy detachment from Wayne Enterprises, even as he maintains the meta-illusion that Bruce isn’t really dead. Overall, I’d say this feels more like Morrison’s previous… good/intriguing/uneven run on Batman than the… great/consistent/treat that Morrison paired with Quitely on any title can deliver. It’s lost some edge, and that’s distracting. Morrison gives us his typical Easter egg mini-clues that make you want to do web research, like “riddle of the corn dollie” and the (not coincidental) use of “Oberon,” deliberately conjuring the image of the Faerie King from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I don’t know… which Morrison is it? Is it the good Morrison, who can show bouts of strong authorial intent and coherence? Or is it bad Morrison, the drunken Scotsman standing up and shouting random strange things at DC Nation panels, who can be a little too obtuse and random for my enjoyment? Without Quitely’s disproportioned confection to occupy my focus, this dilemma rears it’s ugly head. Though I will say that Dick smacking Damian was kinda’ priceless. I guess time will tell how this Red Hood and Scarlet arc pans out. Interesting that Dick instantly recognizes the Red Hood's voice, but not Oberon’s. Hint, Hint. Grade B.

Wednesday Comics #11 (DC): Batman is beautiful as usual, but uses some jumps in logic that are really inorganic just to move the plot toward a conclusion. Grade B+. Kamandi makes me fret, did they just kill Orora? Damn. I like how Sook draws her wild red hair and those almond eyes. Grade A. Superman is, I guess, all done whining and apparently all better now. I guess he’ll go save Lois (did we ever actually see her in peril?) and that’ll be it. It’s really all been a blur. This feels like the first issue that an attempt at a story was tried. Grade C+. Deadman mentions Nanda Parbat and I feel my eyes glaze over, they dive toward the chic that looks like Darwyn Cooke drew her and momentarily flicker alive, and then it’s over. Grade C. Green Lantern employs a very clever page layout that emphasizes the manic action. Grade B+. Metamorpho is so hoary. "You forgot one element, bud. The element of surprise!" Yeah, that’s the kind of Silver Age tomfoolery that I don’t like. Grade C. Teen Titans brings its washed out, flat, lifeless colors to the party yet again. “You needed my tech to create your new Trident persona along with the psychic implant to make you believe you were someone else.” Is that lame exposition supposed to explain what’s been going on for the last ten issues? Oh wait, I forgot. I don't care. Grade D. Strange Adventures continues Paul Pope’s dominance in this endeavor, a nice use of mirroring both visually and thematically. Grade A+. Supergirl is still really pretty, but completely devoid of humor. Grade B. Metal Men has gone on long enough. Grade C. Wonder Woman gets the award for most improved, when it began I absolutely hated it. This issue is the first in which I actually was able to read it from beginning to end. I still don’t understand the story, but it “feels” fun now and is cool to look at. Grade B-. Sgt. Rock keeps doing its thing, killing some dudes, two story threads converging as it begins to close up shop. Grade B. Flash is frickin’ beautiful, it's been the most surprisingly enjoyable of the bunch. It's gone and pulled a Vanessa Williams, saving the best for last. Full of killer layouts and emotional impact. Grade A+. Demon & Catwoman has one cool visual moment where Demon spews some fire, other than that, please God, make it stop. Grade C-. Hawkman is still great fun, visually distinct, and if for no other reason than another Aquaman cameo, worth a look. Grade A. For the penultimate time, here’s our visual thingamajig;

Strange Adventures
The Flash
Kamandi
Hawkman
Batman
Green Lantern
Sgt. Rock
Supergirl
Wonder Woman
Superman
Metamorpho
Deadman
Metal Men
Demon & Catwoman
Teen Titans

That gives us our usual 27% in the top tier, 33% in the middle of the pack, and 40% in the not-as-bad-as-usual bottom tier. This week’s overall score is a bit higher than usual thanks to the usual players in the usual spots with a couple key anomalies. In particular, The Flash is continuing its upward climb and Wonder Woman decided to show up for a change and be, I don’t know, discernible. We get an overall raw score of a Grade C, with an adjustment up for format to a flat Grade B.

I also picked up;

3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man (Dark Horse): I can’t wait to crack open this Matt Kindt project, especially after I held it in my hands, saw that die cut cover design, and flipped through the pages.

Blood Orange: Sometimes You've Gotta' Roll the Hard Six

Blood Orange (June Lake Press): My friend Grant Lee and I have just completed our initial production run on my third mini-comic, his first (not counting his first web-comic Li-Jun: Martial Arts Epic), titled Blood Orange. Grant turned out some fantastic pencils and I couldn’t be more pleased with the end results and some of the ideas we came up with collaboratively in terms of the book’s overall design. Special thanks to Ryan Claytor; he was the first to get a look at the book in pre-production and provide us with a juicy pull quote for the back cover. Comp copies will be sent to a few reviewers and bloggers later this week so I’ll be sure to update everyone on any feedback or reviews that might be forthcoming. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy or would like to receive a copy for review purposes, email me and we’ll work it out.

Coming This Week: More Iron Man, The Other Giant Man, and Poor Philip Tan

Every week I review Diamond's “New Releases” to determine what I’ll definitely be buying sight unseen, what I’m interested in enough to do a quick scan of at the LCS to see if it can win me over, and note any other items that catch my eye. Here’s a look…

Buying:

3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man (Dark Horse): I’m very excited to see the new Matt Kindt project. I chatted with him briefly at SDCC and Super Spy remains one of my favorite books of the last few years.

Batman & Robin #4 (DC): Philip Tan is a good artist, but he’s been placed in the unenviable position of following Frank Quitely. That’s a tough draw, dude.

Wednesday Comics #11 (DC): Aka: Paul Pope can do whatever he wants and some other stuff comes with it.

Invincible Iron Man #18 (Marvel): This is still consistently the best book Marvel is currently delivering.

Lone Ranger #18 (Dynamite Entertainment): I’m pretty sure I read that Dynamite will only be putting forthcoming arcs of Lone Ranger out when they’re done and in the can to ensure some regularity. Cool. Saddle up and let’s ride.

Considering:

Punisher #9 (Marvel): I still enjoy this book generally speaking, but the last issue or two didn’t have the zing they typically do, so it’s moved to on-the-fence status.

Noting:

Wasteland: Apocalyptic Edition HC: Volume 1 (Oni Press): Of course, this would be a sure buy had I not already picked it up at SDCC from Johnston and Mitten. You can hardly go wrong with the oversized format, ginormous page count, and tricked out special features, including all of the Ankya Ofsteen prose pieces. This book is getting better and better, can’t wait for the Volume 5 TPB collecting all of the interlude issues!

Tom Strong: Deluxe Edition HC: Book 1 (DC/Wildstorm/ABC): I think it’s great to see DC getting behind the Deluxe Edition package design and offering more books in this slick yet affordable format.

Ex Machina #45 (DC/Wildstorm): Speaking of Deluxe Editions, I’m waiting out this series in favor of that format as it now wraps up the last few issues, but I usually can’t resist giving it a scanning through at the “Lair of the Sea Donkey” (my LCS) to get the basic thrust of what’s going on.

I Aim To Misbehave

Recently, I decided to simplify and update the "About Me" blurb over there, but wanted to preserve some of the text for posterity. So as I quote Malcolm Reynolds, here are the remnants of the 13 Minutes... err, “Statement of Intent” for lack of a better phrase. This was certainly influenced by Matt Fraction and the articles I wrote for Savant Magazine, as well as my own underground ‘zine from the SF Bay Area, Comics Industry Advocate (CIA); of which, my friends and I managed to belch out a whopping two issues(!) before folding up shop in favor of the interwebs as a forum.

Comic books are an art form with unique origins planted firmly in America. Though primitive man began his flirtation with sequential art 20,000 years ago in cave drawings, the modern form is recognized as early as 1842. For generations, they were one of the only art forms available for people to easily own. There’s something intrinsically appealing about the pairing of images and text. It’s an interactive medium with results, like any work of art, that can evoke a wide range of emotional response. It’s a vast medium, capable of any genre of storytelling. Survival of this industry means exposure to quality material that will generate sustainable readership.

You are the future of the comic book industry.

9.10.09 Reviews

DMZ #45 (DC/Vertigo): Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli reunite and deliver the first installment of the "Hearts and Minds" arc. You’re crazy if you think any of Brian Wood’s books aren’t about the identity of the protagonist and the sweeping arc of their character. Along that journey, the characters typically change and grow if you mark them from the beginning of the story, and then at the end as points of comparison. Look at Matty Roth, that very first page of him leaning in the doorway with some gear on, the military style sweater, and that sidearm strapped elegantly to his hip. He’s journeyed from a wannabe journalist, struggling to fit in, desperately wanting locals like Zee to accept him, and is now a swaggering, confident survivor, with his own crew no less. I love how Parco and Matty’s strategy meeting is all taut with Aaron Sorkin sounding dialogue, reminiscent of the best days of The West Wing. That session is capped with an intense burst of action that really makes the reader ponder what the fuck is going on and what’s happened to Matty Roth – begging the answer to the eternal “good writing” question “What happens next?!” As Parco looks to stabilize his position and gain a reality based perception that he's the democratically elected leader of a legitimate and sovereign city state, otherwise throwaway characters like Claire put a human face on the entire endeavor. In short, this is serious guys doing some serious politicking, just putting it all out there, and it’s driven home by lines like “…we’re both big boys, Matty.” DMZ has slowly, steadily, and quietly crept up to be a powder keg of thought; there’s nothing like this on the stands. Well… now I’m fucked. Last issue of Northlanders I boxed myself into a corner and said that book had suddenly become my favorite Brian Wood book. Now it feels like DMZ is once again positioned to reclaim the throne from its brethren Viking usurper. If you judge based on an entire body of work, I guess I’ll just say that Brian Wood is my favorite writer working today. There. That solves my little dilemma. Grade A+.

Wednesday Comics #10 (DC): Batman is at heart a boring story depicted remarkably well. Big expressive panels with a smaller six panel sequence that intuitively understands the notion of a story beat capturing an isolated moment in time. Eduardo Risso deserves the lion’s share of the credit here. Grade B+. Kamandi makes me feel like I don’t know why the characters are doing any of the things they’re doing and that I don’t particularly care. However, as long as Ryan Sook is drawing them, I’ll be right here waiting to watch it all, just to take in his beautiful images. Grade A. Superman is basically a manic collage of unrelated images. Hey, it’s an homage to Action Comics #1. Hey, it’s Supergirl. Hey, it’s some freak falling from a church steeple. Hey, it’s some fucker with a futuristic jetpack thing. Yeah, like that. I’ve been foolishly waiting for 10 issues now for this strip to get out of first gear and actually do something. Grade D. Deadman blathers on some more about the “rune-stone” with a bunch of people running around that I don’t recognize. Unfortunately, one nice looking Darwyn Cooke style chic is unable to carry this entire strip. Grade C-. Green Lantern explains an old Texas Ranger colloquialism and makes me wish there was a Saturday morning cartoon featuring this character from this creative team. Grade B+. Metamorpho has some really nice images courtesy of Mike Allred, but I think Neil Gaiman figures that if he keeps using words like "transmutational," inserting more annoying Latin phrases, crafting more awful Java gags, and then sprinkling it with some magic dust that he borrows from his pal Alan Moore, that it’ll somehow coalesce into a good story. Really, Allred deserves credit for some very pretty pictures and it makes me want to give the strip a higher score than Grade C+. Teen Titans has really, consistently, been the worst strip in this experiment. I’m inclined to say that it’s probably Berganza’s fault for turning in some very lazy word slop, because sometimes Galloway can actually draw coherently, but as is I just have no clue what’s going on. Trident and some Nazi allegory? Huh? This strip is so far out of its league. Grade D-. Strange Adventures sees Paul Pope take full advantage of the larger format and use some trick psychedelic zeta beams. Yes, more like this please! Grade A+. Supergirl makes me wish that the creative team listened to more Justin Timberlake and instead of bringing sexy back, could bring funny back. Grade B. Metal Men had a neat panel on the lower left where they broke the panel border and the figures spilled into the gutter. Other than that, this is nice (or boring) art with a competent (or lackluster) story. Grade C. Wonder Woman has some clever, kinetic art, but 31 panels (one of which was “L” shaped) and so many words in such a hideous font that I didn’t want to read it. I promise I’ll try to read this again when it’s collected. Grade C+. Sgt. Rock gives us some nice underplayed violence that builds tension well and uses words like “jig” and “noggin” without it sounding hoary and trite. Grade B+. The Flash just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? The page layout is wicked, the pencils are tight and full of energy. I love looking at this. Grade A. The Demon & Catwoman: I just don’t get why these characters were put together. Grade D. Hawkman captures some Silver Age spirit and aside from the recent ascension of The Flash, has consistently been in the top three. Grade A-. Once again, here’s our visual ranking;

Strange Adventures
Kamandi
The Flash
Hawkman
Batman
Sgt. Rock
Green Lantern
Supergirl
Metamorpho
Wonder Woman
Metal Men
Deadman
Superman
Demon & Catwoman
Teen Titans

Overall, that’s extremely consistent with last week, with the same exact percentages. We’ve got 27% in the top tier, 27% in the middle, and 46% at the bottom. We see the same titles in the same brackets, with minor changes within each bracket as titles jockey a bit for position. Notably, Wonder Woman improves slightly, Superman slides down, and Batman and Sgt. Rock continue to duke it out for best in the “B” range. Overall, we get a D+ average (really, how bad are the stinkers weighing down the stars here?!) with an adjustment up for cool format to Grade C+.

I also picked up;

DMZ: Volume 7: War Powers (DC/Vertigo): This came out last week actually, but Sea Donkey didn’t have it then and made me wait a week to get the latest installment in my Brian Wood library.

A Plague On Both Your Houses

Since I couldn’t resist the urge to post something about Disney’s acquisition of Marvel, I suppose it’s only fair that I feel compelled to mention something about Warner Bros. retooling DC Comics and forming DC Entertainment, notably precipitating the stepping-down of Paul Levitz. I think Kurt Busiek actually sums it all up the best in this post. And that title up there is really just in jest. Without going into too much detail, I think that if managed correctly, in the sort of “hands-off-allowed-to-fail-R&D-model” that is being discussed, then both Marvel and DC could benefit from the relationship(s).

Coming This Week: Wednesday Comics on Thursday, Sketches of Billy Hazelnuts, and Life in The DMZ

Every week I review Diamond's “New Releases” to determine what I’ll definitely be buying sight unseen, what I’m interested in enough to do a quick scan of at the LCS to see if it can win me over, and note any other items that catch my eye. Here’s a look…

Buying:

DMZ #45 (DC/Vertigo): Dig that John Paul Leon cover! This is the start of a new arc that suggests big changes for Matty Roth. I've been re-reading the DMZ trades from the start; I'm about half way through the third one, and it's been interesting to appreciate all over again how fresh and edgy this book really is. My interest and excitement feels quite renewed.

Wednesday Comics #10 (DC): We're on the home stretch now, I'm curious to see if anyone's saved up their tricks for the end or if their collective wads have all been blown early.

Considering:

Nothing! I keep poring over the Diamond list, but it all feels a few sandwiches short of a picnic at the moment.

Noting:

Art Of Tony Millionaire HC (Dark Horse): Another of Cheval Noir's gorgeous oversized hardcover art books. It's really tempting. Wasn’t another edition of Billy Hazelnuts supposed to come out this year?

The Only Thing Worse Than All of The Disney Marvel Jokes Is All of The Bloggers Complaining About All of The Disney Marvel Jokes

9.02.09 Reviews (Part 2)

Invincible Iron Man #17 (Marvel): Welcome back to the consistently best ongoing series Marvel currently has to offer. Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca have been quietly deconstructing Tony Stark (quite literally at times) for months now and it’s amazing to see them tear him down in karmic retribution for the Skrull debacle. Hopefully we’ll also get to see the team rebuild him in upcoming arcs. For now, they revisit the ingenious email communication idea, only to see Tony use it incorrectly, which is a fantastic bit of plotting that’s paid off. Though there is some overlap with the broader sweep of Dark Reign, and we see great characterization for folks like Maria Hill, Black Widow, Madame Masque, Captain America, and Norman Osborn (as informed by Warren Ellis in Thunderbolts), Iron Man has essentially been a self-contained story since it’s inception, and I really appreciate that amid all of the other event hoo-ha in the Marvel U. We’re getting all of the benefits of a shared universe, without any of the continuity baggage or superfluous crossover porn. It’s a perfect balance, great characters, clever technology, entertaining action, no glaring holes in the logic, and even a couple instances of dialogue homage to The Hunt For Red October. Grade A-.

Strange Tales #1 (Marvel): In the Modern Age, Marvel isn’t exactly known for the strength of their anthologies, so I’m wondering why they chose to release this now? I hope it’s not their answer to Wednesday Comics, because while some of the strips are entertaining, it just can’t compete at that level for long. Nick Bertozzi’s opening Uatu story is like a shot across the bow that instantly sets the tone for the book. Lines like “jiggling voluptuous chaos that is the human female form” and She-Hulk’s “proud firm buttocks fidget and dance” is just about all you need to know. Grade A. Paul Pope’s Inhumans story is a tongue-in-cheek romp that works well if you’re into something like Joe Casey’s Godland. Annihilus spouting lines like “you have permission to grovel” coupled with Pope’s trademark pencils make for a diverting tale. His rendition of Psycho-Man is quite Kirby-esque and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of him drawing sultry, curvy, full-lipped women like Medusa. I was sort of hoping for something with a little more gravitas, but apparently that’s not what this whole thing is about. Grade A. John Leavitt and Molly Crabapple absolutely nail a Victorian aesthetic with Jennifer Walter’s Wedding. I wasn’t really that taken with the story, but it was a treat to look at. Grade B+. Spider-Town from Junko Mizuno employs flat humor and a manga influenced art style, but ultimately goes nowhere. Grade C. Dash Shaw’s Dr. Strange was one I was looking forward to and he really captures the psychedelic era that spawned the title. Grade B+. James Kochalka’s Hulk story was… boring. I don’t get it. I’m actually not a huge fan of Kochalka’s work. Nor am I a fan of Hulk. So, obviously this strip wasn’t for me. Grade C. Johnny Ryan’s Marvel’s Most Embarrassing Moments made me smile. Grade B. Johnny Ryan’s Punisher goes nowhere. Grade C. Michael Kupperman’s Punisher story joins the “goes nowhere” ranks with a Grade C. Peter Bagge’s Incorrigible Hulk was very funny, well drawn with plenty of flourish and detail, and includes some sly social commentary along the way; Bagge’s clearly having fun here. “It violate Hulk’s Civil Liberties! I violate yours!” and “Slutty girl not afraid of Hulk?” are some favorite lines. Grade A. Nick Bertozzi’s M.O.D.O.K. quickly becomes an existential struggle, examining M.O.D.O.K.’s hopes and dreams through the ages. The great detail in the miniscule figures and deadpan humor all heighten the reading experience greatly. Grade A. Nicholas Gurewitch (The Perry Bible Fellowship) offers up two very quick vignettes that are basically one-liner jokes. Grade B. Jason’s Spider-Man story is over quick, has no time to develop (which is something his work usually needs), and ultimately falls flat. Perhaps it’s my loathing of Spider-Man, but despite my love of Jason’s creator-owned work, this is a Grade B-. I really did expect more gravitas from this book, I didn’t know it was all going to be humor, but considering the creators I guess I should have. It just feels like it’s ultimately of no consequence. It appears that Pope’s Inhumans, Bagge’s Incorrigible Hulk, and Bertozzi’s M.O.D.O.K were designed to be the main focus, since they are the longest and strongest of the bunch. And that’s fine with me since they were my favorites. At a $4.99 price point, we average out at a Grade C+. I’m inclined to weight the scoring somewhat since the good strips were a bit longer than the duds, so let’s go with a generous Grade B-.

Wednesday Comics #9 (DC): Batman uses some nice visual callbacks to The Dark Knight Returns, but in the end the dialogue (story?) is not terribly engaging. I’m realizing that I just like looking at the art here. Grade B. Kamandi is more text heavy than usual this time out, but it’s still gorgeous, particularly the long wide panels like the one of the White House in ruins. Grade A. Superman offers a sudden data dump that has nothing to do with anything. The story is awful and the only redeeming quality was the design of the energy crackle being used as panel gutters. Grade C+. Deadman (as are all the strips) is ¾ of the way through and I still have no idea what’s going on. I’m kinda’ thinking that’s a problem. I do like that all the women look like Darwyn Cooke drew them. Grade C. Green Lantern solidly captures the spirit of the property. I love how Hal’s suit hangs on him like realistic clothing and doesn’t appear painted on, as so many superhero costumes seem to. Nicely paced with a great cliffhanger, Grade B. Metamorhpho: Oh, it’s the other half of the Periodic Table of Elements. It turns out that was one time too many. If I have to sit through another Java gag, I might just gouge my eyes out with a dull rusty spoon. Grade C-. Teen Titans: When Wednesday Comics has run its course, I’m going to cut all these panels out and then rearrange them to see if I can make this story make any sense. Grade D. Strange Adventures: It’s really all worth it if I keep getting panels like that very last one with Adam Strange. Grade A. Supergirl seems to have returned to its norm after a couple of standout issues. There’s lots of Dr. Mid-Nite exposition without any of the funny I was enjoying. Looks great, but reads dull. Grade B. Metal Men now feels like the identical strip has run for about the last six issues or so. Someone yells at Pretorious and then some metal jokes are attempted. Grade C-. Wonder Woman made me think that some of the panels were actually neat, check out the big red one with the inset circle. However, I still can’t get past 3 panels without my eyes glazing over. Grade C-. Sgt. Rock wins the award for being most consistent, Grade B+. The Flash is a crafty and inventive thing of beauty that expressively provides homage to the Sunday Strips of Old. A higher grade than Paul Pope? WTF?! Grade A+. Demon & Catwoman made me literally say to myself: “Now what was this all about again? Hey, there’s The Demon. That’s Catwoman, I guess(?) Oh, it’s over now.” Grade D. Hawkman relies on a little too much Dr. Ian Malcolm and feels short on story, but is still breathtaking visually. Grade A-. Once again, let’s build our visual ranking and see what’s what;

The Flash
Strange Adventures
Kamandi
Hawkman
Sgt. Rock
Green Lantern
Batman
Supergirl
Superman
Deadman
Wonder Woman
Metamorpho
Metal Men
Teen Titans
Demon & Catwoman

What we’re seeing is the continuation of a dynamic I described previously – a thin(ning) top tier, a rapidly dissipating middle tier, and a heavily weighted bottom tier. We’ve got 27% at the top, 27% in the middle, and a whopping 46% at the bottom. The Flash made a surprise jump which helped, the usual top three (Strange Adventures, Kamandi, and Hawkman) didn’t budge, and some middling items either held on or slipped to the bottom. Overall, the grades average out to a slightly-down-from-last-week 67%, or Grade D+, with an adjustment up for format to Grade C+.

9.02.09 Reviews (Part 1)

Northlanders #20 (DC/Vertigo): After a couple of diverting smaller arcs, Brian Wood and Davide Gianfelice return to their original series protagonist with the new Sven The Immortal arc. Immediately, I have to say that I just love the way that Dave McCaig colors the book. The tale we’re told somehow appears as faded as the time period it captures, yet is also able to pop with vibrant purples and lush green hues that give it a more modern appeal. This issue is a good example of everything that makes Northlanders so grand and unique; it’s a blend of tactics, action, personality, and humanity, along with expertly crafted dialogue. Wood has an unparalleled ability to capture characterization in such a minimalistic fashion. Concise lines like “lads eager for reputation” and those with the crisp efficiency of “play the role” are used to explain a dynamic in the plot that would take lesser writers a page of dialogue to convey. I enjoy seeing the father in Brian Wood seep into his protagonist and capture the realistic fears of a father trying protect his children. As usual, Northlanders isn't really about its titular characters per se, it’s actually a more weighty examination of personality drivers, what drives people to do the things they do, informing us about the composition of their identity, and their motivators. It’s a deep psychological and sociological study masquerading as something more tame to the casual onlooker. There was a time when I thought that books like Local and DMZ were my favorite Brian Wood books (and honestly, attempting to choose is a Sophie’s Choice style dilemma), and I still like them all a great deal for different reasons, but Northlanders is quickly becoming the go-to Brian Wood book. It’s surprised me as it’s become the most eagerly anticipated, the deepest and most soulful, the most thought-provoking and enjoyable in his stellar body of work. Grade A.

Sweet Tooth #1 (DC/Vertigo): Kudos again to DC Comics for continuing their $1 issue teaser; I read an interview somewhere with Dan DiDio or someone (how specific my sources are) who indicated that the $1 price point on first issues of ongoing series continues to be a viable financial model and they have every intention of sustaining the program. Cool. I really enjoyed Jeff Lemire’s Essex County Trilogy and it’s sorta’ post-modern commentary on the American experience. But this? Yeah, I don’t know. It didn’t really do anything for me, despite some interesting observations. Sorry. I will say that I like Pat Brosseau’s lettering a great deal and the inclusion of the Peter & Max novel preview was a nice touch. For some reason, the broken down under-educated speech patterns (while in character) felt a little tired and I found myself more interested in the book's construction (there was a two page spread that captured life and death) and background information, like the mysterious pandemic that created this post-apocalyptic reality (but I get the sense that those things aren’t going to be the main focus here). I think that if this title delivers on its hints of an effective waking nightmare, an examination of life and death among marginalized elements of society, and the Animal Farm notes I detected on my sommelier style palette, then it could show greater promise. Grade B.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #3 (DC): Last issue, I didn’t really see the sense in writing a traditional review of this book, so instead I simply listed items that particularly jumped out at me as funny or somehow off, in bullet point fashion. Let’s try that again;

• First page, where our attention is drawn to Supergirl’s tits courtesy of a mysterious light source in the city. GL, GA, Freddie, and Atom (is that Ryan or Ray? I forget...) all seem to be looking at her tits too, especially Ollie. Also, she has no head. Yes, just the tits please.
• On that page, it’s interesting that Supergirl seems to be lit from the left (from the unknown light source just above Atom’s head), which is visually correct. Yet, Green Lantern and Freddie seem to be lit from the right, inconsistently and incorrectly.
• In that shot, Supergirl's hair is also blowing to the left, while Hal and Freddie's is mysteriously blowing to the right. Maybe we're to assume that Red Tornado also "wants JUSTICE!" and is up off panel swirling a clockwise vortex of angry wind over their heads.
• Without a word, Supergirl starts to cry because… Hal questioned her status as a hero?
• “Hey, don’t cry.” (Ollie is so sensitive). “The horrible man didn’t mean it.” (Is that supposed to be funny or actual characterization? Because it fails on both counts).
• “That’s not nice, Ray.” (Freddie is a pussy).
• “Together, we can be JUSTICE!” (Supergirl was crying 7 panels ago, now she’s a badass).
• “That being the thing that those who killed Tony will be minus when I get my hands on them.” (Poor Mikaal, he needs a vocal, diction, and grammar coach).
• Prometheus captured off panel(?) in just two pages.
• Hal doing his best Dick Cheney impersonation; torture ok if “Prometheus is a villain… he’s a murderer.”
• Hal justifying the torture because of the “sting of Bruce and J’onn’s death,” says the guy who died and came back.
• Actually liked Ollie saying “—the cowl’s taken” in relation to Dick becoming Batman, but then it got all fucked up with Hal’s “Speak not ‘in metaphors’” nonsense.
• Congorilla ripping the canopy off of the plane and not being blown off with the force; he and Mikaal somehow then jumping in front of the moving plane.
• The incomprehensible two page spread that follows.
• After that, yet another scene of the GL/GA gang standing around ominously and asking Prometheus for the third time “All right. Again. What did you hope to achieve with all this?”
• The GL ring can detect that a bomb has been “primed” (and by definition, it would have already been primed when originally inserted into Clayface anyway), but not detecting that there was a bomb to begin with, or that the detainee was Clayface and not Prometheus.
• Not sure why the bomb detonating is such a cliffhanger, GL could just instantly encapsulate everyone in a protective green bubble. In some of the Geoff Johns Green Lantern canon, the rings even do some of these functions automatically to protect the wearer.
• Tasmanian Devil now an attractive rug at Prometheus HQ. I hope we get to see him pose nude on it at some point like Burt Reynolds.
• All kidding aside, Mauro Cascioli drew Shade really cool in that first panel. Federico Dallocchio (Origin of Prometheus) also turns in some really nice pencils.
• Robinson's "bonus material" feels a bit like the bread crumbs in Grandma's meatloaf - just filler.
• Robinson wanting Prometheus to be a “great” villain; note to creative team – for greatness, start with redesigning his lame costume.
• There was also something about macramé centaur pillows and R.E.B.E.L.S Annual Starro the Conqueror #1 or something, but I tuned out by then.

You want a letter grade? Seriously? After all of that? I just don't know how. This is one of the worst books, yet it remains one that I look forward to every month. Draw from that what you will.

Graphic Novel Of The Month: I Saw Lizzie Borden In Congress With The Devil

I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets! (Fantagraphics): It hit me with such palpable force. It seems inescapable how much the strips of Fletcher Hanks could have been the creative manifestations of his own psychosis. Stardust, Fantomah, and the “also-ran” strips are aggressive and violent, possibly mirroring Hank’s emotional bouts in his own life. Most of them come full of disproportionate, even grotesque, figures – possibly a physical representation of Hanks’ hidden disdain for himself. Consider for a moment the notion that he subconsciously crafted his comic book worlds after his own image of the world around him. Their creation may have been a psychological act of transference which supports the adage that art imitates life.

The Fletcher Hanks strips, particularly Stardust, are all fueled with a deep-seeded paranoia. When you factor in what little is known about Hanks’ personal life, it begins to paint a disturbing picture potentially worthy of clinical diagnosis. According to his son, he was an alcoholic, a thief, suffered from depression, had violent mood swings, was physically abusive to both his wife and son before abandoning them, and eventually was found frozen to death. I’m hesitating to offer my lay diagnosis as an armchair psychologist and hypothesize that the symptoms exhibited are the face of something like borderline personality disorder or paranoid schizophrenia, because the symptoms don’t fit entirely, but I would speculate that there exists some condition defined in the DSM-IV that would. And just to be crystal clear, this is my own supposition, nothing that’s revealed or even speculated upon during the Karasik interview – Karasik makes a wise choice to simply present the work and allow it to speak for itself. Me? I’m not the editor of the book, so I can afford to be a little more opinionated. In my interpretation, the creative mind here seems to exist in unstable halves, always battling itself, presenting with many of the dynamics that either Fletcher Hanks Jr. described to Karasik or that are themes actually found in the strips themselves. For example, there is one thread in the work that shows Hanks being compulsively drawn toward looming destruction by way of illogical paranoid conspiracies, while the other is obsessed with protection of the world’s greater good – freedom from persecution, by way of a mysterious, self-righteous savior. These sets of mirror image pairings are all over the work and really create the infrastructure that propels it forward. There are frequent and repetitive scenes of science vs. primitive paranoia, man vs. the natural world, destruction vs. preservation, and possibly the best example in the character of Fantomah, who is herself a dual nature construct. She is simultaneously the most beautiful woman alive and alternately depicted as a demonic skeletal visage.

There’s nothing subtle or unrestrained about Hanks’ work. For that it is truly brilliant, having been the artistic vision of a single creator prior to any sort of industry rules, standards, or guidelines existing, during the burgeoning days of the comic book. All of the ideas come in overpowering waves. If a city is bombed, it’s not just one plane, it is wave after wave of dozens of war planes that dot the horizon as far as the eye can see. The planes don’t just drop one bomb or even a single payload; they rain down bombs like the all encompassing fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (as we’d expect from the son of a minister, an interesting tidbit that Karasik revealed to Tom Spurgeon in a Comics Reporter interview). Even the science fiction postulating of the time is taken to an extreme, implausible level. Stardust is wearing a “flexible star-metal skin,” an idea that harkens back to the questionable Golden Age pseudo-science conjecture that was so prevalent. While that sounds little different than something like Thanagarian Nth Metal, Hanks doesn’t stop there with a relatively tame device. One conspiratorial plot involves the bad guys (an association of “terrorists” and general evildoers) shooting their ray to stop the Earth from rotating on its axis so that all the inhabitants will simply fly off. Not the cars or ships or structures of course, those are valuable. Nor do the bad guys themselves fly off; they simply chain themselves down to the ground in order to be impervious from the Earth suddenly stopping(!). The bad guys then somehow restart the mudball and take over the planet, and by default amass all the world’s money. It makes you wonder what good it would do; if you were the only person left on the planet, having all the money in the world wouldn’t actually be that useful. The ideas aren’t at all thought out, making them supremely powerful as the delusions of a manic creative force.

The most telling type of extreme behavior is Stardust’s treatment of the villains. This is more than adolescent male power fantasy; it’s almost as if Hanks has set out to right some universal wrong he perceived, attempting to expunge whatever personal demons he suffered from in the process. This is not mere justice, or even vengeance, the bad guys in Fletcher Hanks stories are being punished in cruel and unusual ways. As a digression, it’s interesting that carrying out their punishments is never caustic or joyful; it’s simply done without editorialization as a matter of course. But nevertheless, Stardust is ruthless to these criminals. No, they’re not just peaceably vanquished, they are skewered and left to die atop decaying palm trees, their consciousness presciently sent into the ice cold void of space in Hanks’ own version of “The Phantom Zone” to contemplate their actions for all eternity, turned into simplistic cavemen and left that way, all shown absolutely no mercy. Thugs like poor DeStructo have their shrunken miniscule bodies and normal sized heads jettisoned into space for use by the creepy headless headhunters. It’s as if Hanks’ torn personality is trying to forcibly reconcile the good and evil within him by acting out these dynamics on the printed page.

When Fletcher Hanks’ work is placed in context within comic book history, we see that its influence has almost come full circle. Like many strips in the 1940’s Golden Age, they are raw and rough by modern standards. The use of perspective is flawed, the proportions are comical at times, the coloring can be garish, and the print quality poor – yet they bristle with life, with the type of avant-garde creative energy that fueled the Silver Age boom in the 1960’s. During that Silver Age and Bronze Age plethora through the 1970’s, more uniformity was sought from the big two publishers in order to make their creations more palatable to the masses. This continued through the 80’s and the bust of the 90’s. At that point, there was a growing desire to differentiate products from the stale marketplace, we see this continual cycle of copycat imitators attempting to do what sells and then true innovators breaking the mold, setting the new standard for what will be copied, over and over ad nauseum. The attempts to push the boundary are cyclical, new boundaries become entrenched around once fresh ideas, until the cycle repeats anew. If you take that thread to today (within the superhero paradigm) you get something like The Boys as a descendant of Fletcher Hanks’ work, which is equally violent and aggressive and raw, though it’s still more controlled, done deliberately as conscious fourth wall meta-commentary, while I Shall Destroy…! provides unintentional commentary about the author, the time period, and the market in which he lived.

I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets! is truly a book that Paul Karasik deserves some credit for creating, beyond basic editorial duties. This isn’t merely a cataloguing of otherwise lost strips. His investigative and exploratory interview with Fletcher Hanks Jr. sheds a lot of light on the broken creative personality behind it all. He’s created a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the work, even though it’s still inconclusive about the mystery of his life itself. It’s difficult to simply say I liked the strips themselves because the appreciation goes beyond the ostensibly simple enjoyment of their kooky period verbiage and manic ideas. I very much liked the project holistically. The work itself proves that Hanks had a well developed sense of style that got lost in the flurry of new properties gushing onto the market at the time. The project as a whole is a brilliant examination of how a creator affects their own work product in unintentional and powerful ways, and can still yield profound impact nearly 70 years later. Grade A.