| #33 | 12/29/04 | #3 |
Sad news this week, folks. Vroom Socko here for AICN Comics. As most of you are probably aware, Will Eisner passed away Monday night at the age of 87. To summarize his impact on comics in the space available would be impossible. Will Eisner is to comic books what Charles Shultz is to comic strips. He set the gold standard. As writer and artist of THE SPIRIT in the 1940’s, Eisner refined the language of comics in stories that were ahead of their time. Hell, they’re even ahead of our time.
Eisner was the first major artist to push the boundaries of comic storytelling. Starting with A CONTRACT WITH GOD, Eisner began to focus on telling tales of the New York of his youth. Again, he was building upon the language and abilities of the comic book format, with the end result being the birth of the Graphic Novel. How does one follow that up? By writing the definitive text on the nature of the medium, COMICS & SEQUENTIAL ART.
Will Eisner made comics what they are today. His distinctive signature has influenced hundreds upon hundreds of creators, and will continue to do so until comics themselves die. This industry has mourned the loss of comic book legends, (Siegel & Shuster, Bob Kane.) It has mourned the loss of masters, (Carl Barks, Jack Kirby.) Today we mourn the loss of comics divinity and the four color world is now less colorful than it once was.
Will Eisner
1917 – 2005
1917 – 2005
Here’s this week’s pull.
(Click title to go directly to the review)
WHAT IF? One Shots
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1
WILDCARD: FIREPOWER#1
R. CRUMB’S KAFKA
CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA #1
CHEAP SHOTS!
@$$HOLE INBOX
WHAT IF DAVE FARABEE REVIEWED ALL OF THE WHAT IF? ONE SHOTS?
Lots of folks have fond memories for the old WHAT IF? series, I’ve noticed. Me, I was never more than the most casual fan, though WHAT IF PHOENIX HAD LIVED? did leave emotional scars on me when I read it as a punk kid. It was downright brutal and wrought with tragedy, Exhibit A in the WHAT IF? tradition of these alternate worlds ending up colossally fucked up.
And speaking of fucked up…
Okay, Marvel’s new series of WHAT IF? one-shots aren’t all that bad, but there’s definitely disappointment to be had. The weirdest thing is that half of them are introduced by The Watcher – straight up traditional – while the other half are introduced or narrated by guys in coffee and comic shops as if they were just spit-balling ideas. I have this feeling Marvel had one of its creator retreats going on and the big-shots – talking Bendis, Millar, etc. – were like, “The Watcher’s too hard to relate to! Our readers aren’t 50-foot tall, bald aliens who live on the moon! They’ll only accept ‘What if Jessica Jones had Joined the Avengers?’ if some average schmuck tells the tale!” Everyone nods, meeting adjourned, except…they forgot to tell the old-school guys like Peter David and Karl Kesel who weren’t invited to the retreat. Oops!
It’s a theory anyway. Let’s give each of these books a quick look since they’re not notable enough to earn full reviews…
WHAT IF KAREN PAGE HAD LIVED?
Bendis = The Watcher? So it would seem, as the coffee shop guy who intros this one is clearly supposed to be him. Bendis claims this was artist Michael Lark pranking him, and I’ve no reason not to believe him, but it’s definitely a prank gone bad because it kicks the book off with a sense of painful self-indulgence. That Bendis then goes on to spend TEN of the book’s 22 pages doing little more than recounting the original story doesn’t help. And worse still, the story isn’t so much “What If Karen Page Had Lived” as it is “What if Daredevil Had Killed The Kingpin?” Because that’s what Daredevil does. Yes, he’s apparently more upset in this world that she almost died than he was in the real world where she did die. Hunh? What follows is a few pages of fallout and then the story’s over, Karen Page never having spoken a single word in this world where she didn’t get croaked. Pretty awful.
WHAT IF MAGNETO AND PROFESSOR X HAD FORMED THE X-MEN TOGETHER?
This one’s greatest sin is that it’s really just an alternate origin story for the X-Men where Magneto helps out during one of his “nice” mood swings. No big shockers, no vintage WHAT IF? tragedies, and the biggest “WTF?” moment is just when we see that Cyclops and Havok ended up working for the Marauders and wearing (apparently) leather bondage gear. A painfully bad Chris Claremont story would’ve at least been something, but this is just Claremont being forgettable.
WHAT IF GENERAL ROSS HAD BECOME THE HULK?
Better. This one’s a meeting of the old-schoolers, with Pat Oliffe and Sal Buscema providing the surprisingly strong art and Peter David on a story that’s 80% entertaining. The pivotal event is simply cranky ol’ General Ross going out instead of Bruce Banner to throw Rick Jones’ hooligan ass off the gamma testing site, and the fate of Rick in this world is darkly humorous (okay, I’ll tell: Ross pushes him into a trench even as the gamma blast hits and transforms him, and then his new, several-hundred pounds heavier self simply lands on Rick Jones, squishing him). Excitement is had as the mute, hulking Ross (AKA “Hulk with a mustache”) goes up against his own military troops while he contemplate a future using his powers for his country. Pretty good. The 20% of this comic that’s not entertaining, alas, is the hopelessly contrived and coincidental ending. Bummer.
“WHAT IF AUNT MAY HAD DIED INSTEAD OF UNCLE BEN?”
Here’s the thing: if this entire comic wasn’t narrated by a guy in a comic shop shootin’ the shit with an employee, it would’ve gone done a whole lot better. Writer Ed Brubaker’s got some interesting ideas, but when he moves the story forward by drawing attention to some of the coincidences of the story like this…
Comic Geek #1: “Wait a second, why is the killer in some nearby warehouse that Peter Parker knows has a service tunnel?”
Comic Geek #2: “Because he has to be for the story to work, Jer. That’s how these What If scenarios play out…”
…you can see that the narrative device isn’t especially compelling. But it’s not terrible, either, and it’s at least more interesting than Bendis’s “guy in a coffee shop.” Brubaker’s outing is one of the denser ones – lots of story here – and I was mostly happy with his twists and turns. Mildly recommended.
WHAT IF JESSICA JONES HAD JOINED THE AVENGERS?
There’s that coffee shop again and, yes, there’s Bendis as the narrator again! Still supposed to be the artist goofing on him, and maybe that spares Bendis taking the heat, but it’s still dumb as shit and downright unprofessional. On the other hand, artist Michael Gaydos is still the only artist who really draws a good Jessica Jones (she’s from ALIAS and THE PULSE, if ya didn’t know), and Bendis only spends six pages with recaps this time. His self-indulgence comes out elsewhere, the thrust of the story being (BIG SPOILER ALERT HERE – MOVE ON IF YOU’RE GONNA READ THIS PUPPY), if non-superhero-oriented Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers, her outsider status would’ve allowed her to recognize that the Scarlet Witch was getting loopy and, yes…prevent the events of Bendis’s own “Avengers Disassembled” storyline. We should’ve been so lucky. To turn off the snark for a second, though, the pages that follow the Big Reveal showcase an unrelated and surprisingly sweet development with some terrific art from Gaydos. Still, consider this one for Jessica Jones fans only.
WHAT IF DR. DROOM HAD BECOME THE THING?
Of all the WHAT IF? one-shots, this one from Karl Kesel and the rarely-glimpsed Paul Smith is perhaps the most traditional, and it’s pretty fun for what it is. The pivotal event is that Reed and Doom don’t become full-blown enemies in college, but rather like-minded science colleagues (Reed at least thinks Doom is his pal). This results in Ben Grimm’s friendship with Reed falling by the wayside, so it’s Doom who takes Ben’s place during the fateful mission that gives the FF their powers. Chaos ensues when Doom emerges from the crash with rocky orange skin, but it’s the surprise appearance by Ben later in the story that gives it its goofy punch. See, Ben’s military career has landed him at a certain gamma testing base and…okay, it’s a silly-ass coincidence, but it makes for a grin-inducing finale with lots of Kirby-inspired visuals from Smith. In fact, Smith does fine art throughout, somewhere between his cartoony X-MEN style and the classicist style he showcased on DC’s THE GOLDEN AGE. I particularly liked his rendition of the collegiate Ben Grimm as a sort of muscle-bound version of Art Carney from THE HONEYMOONERS (silly hat and all). This is the only WHAT IF? I’m actually recommending, and even then you’ll probably need an appreciation for old-school Marvel to get a kick out of it.
All told, these were some pretty rough outings for WHAT IF?, but I’m sure there’s an alternate Earth somewhere out there where they all rocked.
And then Galactus ate that Earth.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Barry Kitson
Inks: Mick Gray
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug Lad
Once upon a time, history was made on a battlefield. Heroes chose to fight for justice…for honor…for glory and for faith…for survival. And in time…all the fighting was done. With the help of interstellar alliances, the Earth entered a millennium of utopian peace. Now, at the dawn of the 31st century, all we, our parents, and their parents have ever known is security, stability, and order. We’re so sick of it, we could scream. – Narrator (Mark Waid), LEGION OF SUPER_HEROES #1
To which, I quote a hero of mine…
There’s nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster. – Dr. Evil, AUSTIN POWERS, INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
After reading that intro, I was sure I was going to loathe Mark Waid’s new take on the LEGION. It reeked of how my old high school teachers used to try to “talk hip” with the kiddies. You know, where they were all “down wit’ whassup, yo an’ all dat shizzle-fo-rizzle.” It is obvious Waid was trying to appeal to the rebelliousness of youth in this new series’ intro and if he would’ve continued in that fashion, this book would’ve been dropped harder and faster than I was on my head as a baby.
Fortunately, after that painful intro, Waid drops the hip talk and steers straight into some pretty fine super heroing and science fictioning. As I read this 30 page issue (this comic has promised to have 30 pages of coolness each and every month, which I think it pretty sweet), I became more and more interested in this futuristic world and the amazing kids that are flying around in it.
You see, I know absolutely nothing about the Legion of Super-Heroes. I bought Keith Giffen’s run on the book in the eighties, but never touched the book before or after that series. I was always interested in the concept, but the muddled continuity and sheer size of the cast always scared me away from it. But when I heard Waid was going to start fresh and pair up with Barry Kiston, his artist for the titanic EMPIRE miniseries, I had to at least check out what this LEGION business was all about.
And you know what? I kind of liked it. I have no idea if Waid is rewriting continuity or not. I’m sure die hard Legionnaires may be up in arms with this or that detail that Waid chose to ignore or create, and being a fan of many an obscure and mishandled character, I can understand where they would be coming from. But, not having that knowledge about the Legion, I felt as if I read something new and interesting when I finished this book.
What I liked are the little details. I liked the fact that the Legionnaires became heroes out of adoration of the present day DCU heroes. I liked the acknowledgement of the adjective/gender method of code-naming each member. I liked being introduced to Shadow Lass and Karate Kid and Sun Boy and the rest. One of my favorite little details was the fact that Colossal Boy wants to be called Micro Lad because he’s not really a man who can grow to gigantic proportions; he’s actually a giant who can shrink down to six feet tall. Again, I have no idea is this is something cool Waid thought up or if it’s part of continuity. And I don’t really care. It is imaginative things like this that are going to bring me back for a second issue.
I’m a huge fan of artist Barry Kitson’s work and it’s good to see him once again teamed up with Waid on a project. These two creators seem to work well together, drawing on each others strengths and trusting to handle a panel with an even helping of images and text. As groan-inducing as the intro was, the art in these panels was phenomenal and it only got better as the book went on. Kitson has a clean, bold line going. He has a classic style which highlights all of the trappings of the super hero genre. Kitson isn’t afraid to draw heroes in spandex. He’s one of the few artists out there who still seems proud to be drawing super hero fiction and does a damn fine job of doing it.
All in all, reading this issue was a pretty entertaining experience. All of the fears and reasons for not buying LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES before this series are not present in this intro issue. I didn’t feel lost or as if I’d been left out of something. I was able to enjoy the energy and wonder these imaginative concepts and potential-ridden characters ooze. As long as Waid doesn’t go overboard with the rebellious youth angle and sticks with the spandex and science space opera aspects that seem to be present in this book, I’ll stick around to read it.
WILDGUARD: FIREPOWER #1
Writer/Artist: Todd Nauck
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
You guys recall this book? Miniseries about a superhero reality show in the making? Readers allowed to vote at the website to form the final team? Written and drawn by Todd Nauck, the guy who drew YOUNG JUSTICE? First issue reviewed enthusiastically by me in this column?
Yep, that’s the one.
Truth be told, by the end of that first six-parter, I thought I was pretty much done with WILDGUARD. Wasn’t as if I hadn’t had a good time with the book’s gimmick and I loved the giddy superhero enthusiasm coming off Nauck, but…you can only take a gimmick so far, right? And besides, I wasn’t thrilled with how the voting came out.
Which turned out to be the allure of WILDGUARD: FIREPOWER. See, one of the curious aspects of the wildcard team voting is that Wildguard actually ended up with two characters with fire-based powers: Ignacia, the redhead hottie of a firestarter with a confidence problem, and Freezerburn, muscle-bound nice guy with both fire and ice abilities. Weird! Unbalanced! And Nauck obviously recognized this, and so made Ignacia’s crisis of confidence the focus of this first WILDGUARD special as she takes a drubbing in the media for being redundant. It’s airy soap-operatics, sure, but no more lightweight than the soap-operatics superhero fans have loved in team books like AVENGERS and X-MEN for decades. In fact, the classic “useless superhero” sub-plot feels practically novel in an era of more serious comics and so it struck me as surprisingly endearing.
Which is really the keynote for the series: endearing. It isn’t a great book, but it’s certainly a winning indulgence for anyone who embraces all the trappings of the superhero – costumes, codenames, big action…the whole shebang – with no reservations. You’d think the reality show gimmick would maybe taint it up a bit, but Nauck’s really just using that as an excuse to draw lots of superhero contestants and kick-start the team in a novel way.
Beyond the Ignacia focus, WILDGUARD: FIREPOWER also sees the team’s first outing, nicely intercut with after-the-fact TV interviews and team member asides ala THE REAL WORLD. Their first foe is “Gauntlette”, an evil babe veering slightly into TICK territory with a back-story of being a soap opera star turned supervillain. Nauck’s sly sense of humor pops here with comments about how the soap’s writers write her in and out of the series as she’s incarcerated and released. It’s typical of the series’ sense of fun.
But does it always work? Not always. Some of the laughs are corny, the subplot about an overbearing girlfriend moving into the HQ with one of the heroes is fairly dopey in its heavy-handedness, and the Swedish Chef accent on Viking-themed Lily Hammer doesn’t earn any laughs from me. But this is the kind of book where “corny”, “dopey”, and “heavy-handed” still manage to somehow come across as, yes, endearing (see also, the Stan Lee oeuvre). How can I be overly critical with a book where super-canine Red Rover handles monitor duty while drinking a slurpee and answering incoming calls with “What’s up, amigo?”
And there’s a big ol’ fight, a satisfying resolution for Ignacia, updates on members who didn’t make the cut, and Nauck’s nicely cartooned art that calls to mind Art Adams and Scott Campbell. Nauck’s coloring is a little “eh”, but he’s doing the whole Renaissance Man approach (lettering too), so I’ll cut him some slack.
So by this point in the review, you should either be thinking, “Man, that sounds like the kind of superhero fun I haven’t read in ages!” or, alternately, “Thank God superheroes grew out of that silly crap.” Base your buying decision on this gut-reaction and you should be good.
R. CRUMB’S KAFKA
Robert Crumb, David Zane Mairowitz
Ibooks, inc.
Reviewed by: Lizzy
Only Robert Crumb could be billed above Franz Kafka for a Kafka biography. Say what you will about Crumb’s tastes (and I do) but the man is a brilliant artist, and he outdoes himself on this book. His portraits are masterful, his lines viciously tight. Every page shows such care and detail, it seems to vibrate with Crumb’s off-kilter energy.
Of Crumb’s enormous output I know very little; I’ve neglected Fantagraphic’s complete collections of his classic underground work and have only a passing familiarity with FRITZ THE CAT. Most of his stuff just never appealed to me. His sketchbooks, on the other hand, are undeniable, and give you an idea of how unique and vibrant an artist he was and continues to be. I’ve often admired his female portraits, and the sketchbooks allow you to enjoy them without the uncomfortable/skeevy connotations you tend to get from his sequential work. Pairing him with another twisted genius, Franz Kafka, is a no-brainer. There’s probably no one better suited to portraying Kafka’s obsession with and repulsion towards women and the human body.
Kafka, born in the late nineteenth century, wrote bizarre and darkly funny fantasy stories that subtly altered our perceptions of reality. His most famous story, “The Metamorphosis,” is an unsettling tale of poor Gregor Samsa who awoke one morning to find that he had inexplicably transformed into a giant insect. The surpassing genius of Kafka seems to be located in his inability to comprehend human relationships, which may be why no one to this day has convincingly defined the meaning of his dark fables. There are common themes to his work, but his purpose was largely kept to himself. Kafkaesque is a word that has joined most of our vocabularies, but who can tell me what it means? Kafka’s writings have an inscrutable effect, one that you may not notice on first reading but will find yourself referring to when you encounter certain situations in life. It’s amazing how a simple piece of literature can change how you perceive reality. Kafka made art that life imitates.
Robert Crumb’s illustrated versions of several of Kafka’s masterpieces (including “The Metamorphosis,” “The Hunger Artist,” and “The Castle”) appeared in an earlier Kafka volume by Ibooks, UNDERSTANDING KAFKA. In this fully illustrated version Crumb is joined by David Zane Mairowitz in depicting the biographical details of Kafka’s life, with interesting analysis on the origins of his work. The book provides us with interesting background on Czech history, Jewish tradition, and the Kafka family. Franz Kafka’s life was apparently marked by unfulfilled relationships with women, a debilitating fear of his dominating father, a growing revulsion towards the new nationalism of his native Czechoslovakia and the anti-Semitism building pre-WWII. While there are not often direct lines to draw between the man’s life and his work, it is illuminating to see how his drawn-out love affairs via letter and the influence of his native Prague could have inspired many of his characters and situations. R. CRUMB’S KAFKA provides a fresh look at a widely read and often misunderstood writer. I am convinced that the illustrations are among the best in Crumb’s career. But whether you are a fan of either Crumb or Kafka, or neither, this volume is worth seeking out for a perfect marriage of artist and material and one of the finest graphic novels of 2004.
CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA #1 (of 6)
Writer/Artist: Paul Chadwick
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
I should probably mention a slight bias I have regarding CONCRETE before I get into this review:
It’s probably my favorite comic series ever.
‘Course I was too Marvel and DC-focused to catch CONCRETE when it first put Dark Horse on the map in the mid-‘80s, but it was quite the eye-opener when I discovered it in college. This was a book that bridged the gap between the safe, familiar comic realms of sci-fi/fantasy with the reality-based stuff that scared me. I knew LOVE & ROCKETS was supposed to be important, but in those days I just couldn’t bring my whiteboy self to throw in with a book about Hispanic punker lesbians. Go figure. But a series about an average guy whose mind was trapped in a body that could’ve been one of Ben Grimm’s weirder mutations? That I could work with, especially with the encouraging Harlan Ellison quote on the back: "...the best comic being published today by anyone, anywhere.”
By the time I’d made my way through that first collection of Concrete short stories, it’s safe to say I never looked at comics the same way again. All the limits were out the door, and I’d discovered the first creator to rival Alan Moore in terms of sheer craft.
So, yeah, a little biased here, but I’ll try to keep it under control. A few basics to star with: Concrete is Ron Lithgow, a former senatorial speechwriter with leftist leanings and a melancholy, introspective nature. Through strange circumstances, the “how” being ultimately unimportant to the series, he finds himself in giant, rocky body with tremendous strength, no discernable genitalia (gah!) and many a surprise to be revealed as the series progresses. He’s a minor celebrity in a world that’s effectively our own, and lives in a warehouse where his closest pals are the lovely scientist, Maureen Vonnegut, and his assistant, horndog Larry Munro.
Them’s the basics. They’re outlined in the first issue of CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA, too, but I figured I’d put ‘em on the table for ya.
What Concrete does with his time is…well, a lot of things. He’s tested his rocky form by climbing Mount Everest, done some travelogue writing, pitched heavy objects as cheap F/X for a movie, worked as a bodyguard for a paranoid rock star, and even thrown his considerable weight behind the more radical elements of the environmental movement.
In THE HUMAN DILEMMA, it’s that latter drive – the desire to make a difference - that’s got Concrete’s attention once again. He’s approached by the wealthy CEO of a pizza chain to help promote a cause to which Concrete’s already sympathetic: population control. My assumption is that Chadwick must’ve been inspired by the true story of the owner of Domino’s Pizza contributing thousands to the radical pro-life group, Operation Rescue, which must’ve got Chadwick to thinking, “Gee, what if this guy had been supporting the other side? My side?” It’s a continuation of the series’ interest in asking hard questions, and Chadwick doesn’t shy away from presenting the CEO as quite radical. The guy wants to establish a foundation that will actually pay young couples to sterilize themselves, seeking out education and careers over childbearing. He wants to make childlessness acceptable, even hip.
Concrete: Huh!
CEO: Yes, we’re not dancing in the posies, here.
Where Concrete comes in is as the ideal spokesperson for the movement: he’s smart, articulate, race-neutral, and more pointedly, by virtue of his form, he simply can’t procreate; he’s in precisely the same position as the couples he’d be appealing to. Now it’s obvious where Chadwick’s sympathies lie in this – he’s already written several Concrete stories that touch on overpopulation and he boldly intersperses scenes in THE HUMAN DILEMMA with provocative facts on the subject – but he’s not about to make answers easy for Concrete. Not only is Concrete’s science-minded friend Maureen surprisingly against it, but there’s a developing subplot that’s sure to come to the fore with Concrete’s assistant, Larry, looking to pop “the question” to his longtime girlfriend.
And amidst all the issue-oriented stuff…lots of sexual imagery! Hey, it’s always good to present the emotional counterpoint to logical dilemmas, and Chadwick knows this as he’s showing Larry together with his girlfriend and Concrete ruminating on his own drive to collect nude paintings. And just the presence of Maureen adds depth to the proceedings, the effectively-neutered Concrete having maintained a distant love for her since the series began.
What I love about CONCRETE is that, serious as it becomes at times, Chadwick’s natural wit and storytelling skills always make for an effortless read. Example: there’s an extended scene of Concrete ruminating on human drives that’s intercut with scenes of his three-legged dog, Tripod, following his own base instincts – fleeing a fight with some stray dogs, peeing on a tree, and eating some crab meat from a trashcan even though he’s full. As Concrete’s deep thoughts slide into the egotism that’s the ever-present danger of introspection…Tripod returns home and promptly barfs crab meat onto his foot.
Those interested in the craft of comics might be surprised to know that Chadwick’s one of a relatively small group of modern writers to make unapologetic use of thought balloons. It’s typical of the boldness of his style. His art is very classical in its realism, but his overall storytelling is practically experimental in an age of cinema-inspired comics. He’s got the thought balloons, he drops textual facts right between panels when he wants to make a point, and he’ll just break out the ol’ omniscient narrator if he by god needs one! These are the marks of a creator who knows his medium intimately, who’s not about to trendily dismiss all the tools he has on hand just to look more like a movie. Check out the aforementioned scene of Concrete and Tripod to see what I mean:
Page One. Page Two. Page Three. Page Four.
Terrific scene, terrific issue, terrific series. It’s only January, but I honestly don’t expect to recommend any title more highly for the rest of this year.
KABUKI: THE ALCHEMY #3 - Once again, if you enjoyed David Mack’s work on DAREDEVIL, please, please read his original series KABUKI. This beautifully painted series is a psychological exploration of a former government assassin, an Ainu woman fleeing Japan with a scarred face and wounded soul – and a new identity. METAMORPHISIS chronicled Kabuki’s violent escape from the Control Corps institution, and the shedding of her old persona. THE ALCHEMY shows Kabuki in a new skin, literally via the creation of a prosthetic to cover her face (replacing the combat mask she had once used for the same purpose), and figuratively as she gropes for new purpose in a world that has only used her for a weapon. The artwork is as solid as ever in issue #3, and David Mack continues to experiment with form and media with the use of photographs and collage. Most delightful is his imitation of Dr. Seuss in “The Shy Creatures”, an excerpt from a children’s book published in the Kabuki universe by another David Mack. Where I start to get confused is when a guy who looks very much like Mr. Mack himself shows up as Kabuki’s seatmate on the plane ride out of the country, and seems prepared to become important to the plot. I hope Mack will tread carefully in Grant Morrisson’s metafictional footsteps. Still, I recommend KABUKI without reservation to all Marvel readers who have enjoyed his contributions over the last few years. This is the good stuff. - Lizzybeth
STAR WARS: EMPIRE #28 - I don’t like much of what Ron Marz writes, but he’s turned out one or two good Star Wars yarns and this happens to be one of ‘em. His best stories seem to be his simplest ones. One that I’m thinking of came from STAR WARS TALES and featured a hypothetical lightsaber battle between Darth Maul and Darth Vader. Maul got the bitch-slap of a lifetime, as well he should, and Marz even delivered on a single, emotional moment that gave the story some weight. Same approach this round with a simple story about Boba Fett raiding a gutted Star Destroyer hull. It’s largely a silent action piece – some good sequences, one or two confusing – but it really comes down to the hardboiled pay-off, same as the Vader/Maul story. Nice art throughout, as you can see in this preview. Not a bad read if you’ve been playing Star Wars video games like me and end up with a jones for stories in the setting. - Dave
SHAOLIN COWBOY #1 - I can’t believe I forgot to review this one last week. Must have been all of that eggnog and holiday cheer pumping through my brain. Anyway, this comic, the second debut from the Wachowski Brothers’ new imprint Burlyman Comics, continues to set the standard in entertaining sequential storytelling. Creative genius, Geof Darrow, provides the story and art. There isn’t much story aside from a particularly brutal @$$-whupping handed out by our title character to over one hundred of the scummiest, lowlife villains you’ll ever see. The selling point of this book, as always with Darrow, is the super fine detail he puts into his panels. There is a gorgeous ten page panel which does a full 180 degree pan around the Cowboy and his talking donkey that simply must be seen to be appreciated. This comic sets the high mark when it comes to imaginative visual storytelling. Sure, a ten page splash page seems like a waste of space, but when it’s filled with Darrow’s ultra-fine detailings and imaginatives, I don’t mind one bit. The Wachowskis and Burlyman Comics are making comics the way they should be made: filled with excitement, imagination, and fun. Highest possible recommendation for people who appreciate offbeat humor, a bit of the ultra-violence, and a love for detail. - Bug
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #16 - Holy shit, it’s Kamandi! Not a particularly good comic overall, but still…Kamandi! - Dave
BLACK HOLE #12 - Finally the last issue of Charles Burns’ career-defining work BLACK HOLE is here. This in itself is newsworthy; by the end the book had been coming out at the rate of 2 or 3 per year. Giving me enough time to completely forget what happened in the last issue is never a good idea. And yet, the quality of Burns’ artwork fully explains the delay. It’s really, really, really nice work, any one page of which could be framed and hung in a museum. It’s in cases like these where I have to wonder if the singles format is even viable on this level of quality, with this kind of wait between issues. Will we even see projects like this anymore, now that the Original Graphic Novel format has been catching on? Even the “waiting for trade” readers will tire after a few years. Dave Gibbons dropped out of sight for years to produce his OGN, THE ORIGINALS, and I have to say, even though I think overall Gibbons’ book is inferior it makes a more satisfying read than the last few issues of BLACK HOLE. They don’t seem to gel in any obvious way in this format, while I don’t doubt it will read much better in the inevitable collected edition. All in all this is an impressive series with a slightly anticlimactic and brilliantly illustrated conclusion. Wait for the trade. - Lizzy
ADAM STRANGE #4 (of 8) - I think it was Rich Johnston’s rumor column that suggested a connection between Andy Diggle’s thus-far terrific ADAM STRANGE miniseries and the mysterious, CRISIS-level event that’s supposed to take place at DC in ’05. I pray it’s not to be. ADAM STRANGE has been an exciting, exquisitely-rendered tour of DC’s outer space locales, but nothing would bring it down faster than the revelation that it’s not so much about reviving an obscure space opera hero as it is a prelude to some shitto “event” storyline. I mention this because issue #4, another winner, alludes to some serious-ass “end of the universe” prophecies, courtesy of the telepath from DC’s spacefaring freedom fighters – The Omega Men. Strange finds them staking out an abandoned space station that’s rendered with wonderful atmosphere and a sense of isolation. They tangle, learn a thing or two about zero-g fighting from Strange, then pool their resources. And it’s great – everything I would want in a modern space opera comic. I just don’t want it to end badly! - Dave
QUEEN AND COUNTRY #28 - Greg Rucka, when not taking over the DC heroverse, is still doing really interesting things with his spy comic QUEEN AND COUNTRY. Probably the most exciting twist of the series came in issue #26, when Tara Chase gets cornered mid-mission and has to abort via jumping out a hotel window. With Chase’s cover blown, the operation is called off in this issue, an event that will have consequences for some time. Mistakes have been made in previous missions chronicled in this series, but I believe this will prove to be more momentous than any of them. With the casualties of previous missions and the failure of the current one, there will be no room for error now. Ratcheting up the tension a few more notches, Rucka continues to impress. I’m eager to see where he will take his Minders next. - Lizzy
STRANGE #3 - How can JMS write things like SUPREME POWER, MIDNIGHT NATION, and RISING STARS and then come back with utter shit like this? I think the Wachowski Brothers have grounds to sue after reading this unapologetic MATRIX rip-off. In this issue, Neo…I mean, Doctor Strange, meets Trinity…I mean, Clea, in a trendy dance bar and is attacked by Agents…er, I mean, Low Level Demon Walkers. After narrowly escaping, Trinity/Clea takes Neo/Strange into a back alley which opens up into a grand palace housing a wise man named Morpheus…I mean, The Ancient One. In the end, Neo/Strange is told that the world as he knows it does not exist and that there is a whole other level out there that most of the world is oblivious to. Strange is told he is The One. If Strange and Clea show up next issue with automatic weapons and stage a siege in a government lobby, I’m going to sue JMS myself. Most groan inducing part: The guy named Strange comments on how weird the name Mordo is, right after meeting a guy named the Ancient One and a chick named Clea. Yup, some fine and creative readin’ here folks. - Bug
ELRIC: THE MAKING OF A SORCERER #2 (of 4) - I’m warming to this miniseries. It’s a prequel to the Elric novels (never read ‘em) that focuses on the high-adventure dreamquests the famed albino prince undergoes in the days before his rise to power. Each dream journey is based around a different element (water this time) and sees him visiting medieval-type environs where some quest or another tests his cunning and mettle. Like a Grant Morrison superhero book, stuff happens so fast that there are times you’ll feel like you missed a page or two – you’d think these guys talked to water gods every day, they’re so nonchalant when it happens! – but I guess that’s dream-worlds for ya. Still, it’s a boisterous and wildly imaginative ride. In this outing, Elric finds himself trying to protect a citadel from invasion after its seaside defenses fail because a chaos god, seemingly hundreds of miles wide, is sucking the entire planet’s oceans down his giant maw! Walt Simonson just draws the HELL out of this book, enriching every element with his own brand of fantasy iconography, and he’s still more than half the reason to be reading it. - Dave
ARSENIC LULLABY #17 - I just read the blackest-of-black comedy ARSENIC LULLABY and I’m feeling an intense need to cleanse. Between this issue’s radioactive starving Ethiopians and last issue’s Baron Von Donut concentration camp, I’m going to need to Brillo my soul, or go to confession or something. I’m not Catholic, so tell me – how many Hail Mary’s is it going to be to laugh at this painfully funny comic when I pick it up again next month? - Lizzy
SUPREME POWER #14 - This book is as good as STRANGE is bad. JMS is writing his @$$ off in this series. Finally, the team is working together against a common foe. It’s great to see these characters interact. But the true selling point for this issue is the extended fight scene between Hyperion and the super powered serial killer. Cars full of families are tossed with reckless abandon. People are used as weapons. This is a truly titanic battle between a force of good and an equally powered force who cares for nothing but his own survival. There was a moment as I read this issue when I muttered “ohmygod…” as I read it. A page later, a character repeated my sentiments. This is a wickedly powerful issue in a brilliant series. One flaw: Where the hell are all the ladies? Power Princess shows up nude for three issues and we haven’t heard from her since. Hopefully, now that this serial killer mess is taken care of, JMS will give the ladies of SUPREME POWER some attention. - Bug
Greetings, I am the Moderator, the omniscient and lonely voice of reason haunting the halls of @$$hole HQ. This week we begin a new feature entitled: The @$$Hole Inbox! Believe it or not, the @$$holes receive emails filled with inquiries, comments, suggestions, and the occasional death threat. Instead of responding personally, we figured it would be fun to share some of them. So let’s delve deep into the @$$Hole Knapsack O’ Postage and see what we have this week…Aha! Here we go. This week’s letter comes from a High School teacher.
Hey,I read your column every week and I also teach high school English. I've recently spoken to my school librarian and she told me she's tremendously expanding the budget for graphic novels at our school. She wants suggestions. I've already given her the easy ones (WATCHMEN, DKSB, SANDMAN, etc.), but she needs more. I was wondering if you and the other @-Holes had some suggestions you think the kids could benefit from.
I thank you in advance for your time.
All the best, --jayblack
Where were teachers like this when I was in High School? My own personal suggestions would include Art Spiegelman’s MAUS (for the historical references), Alan Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (for the literary references), and maybe Craig Thompson’s BLANKETS (just for a perfect example of some damn fine writing). But let’s open this question up for the Talkbacks, shall we? And try to keep in mind that these are suggestions for a high school library. Does anyone out there have some suggestions?
Do you have questions, comments, or suggestions for the @$$Holes? If so, click on the name of your favorite @$$hole at the beginning of their review and zip them an email. Maybe, just maybe, it will show up in the next @$$hole Inbox.
