Category Archives: 5 Comics You Should Be Reading

The Top 5 Books of January

31 Tuesday Mar 2015

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Great Scott! Can it be? Has a third of the year gone by without us posting one of our ballyhooed Top 5 lists? I&Ndefensible we say! So, for you completists, here it is: our Top 5 books of January. Coming soon: our Top 5 of Feb! And March! (We swear!)

5. The Multiversity: Guidebook #1 (DC): Grant Morrison takes the unwieldy mess that is the DC multiverse and turns it into a strength; a rich tapestry, (illustrated by an impressive bevy of artists) at once alien and familiar, ripe with possibility. He not only accomplishes the herculean feat of making sense of it all, he tells one barn burner of a story while doing it. His expansive view seemingly embraces everything, the odder and more trivial the better. I don’t what DC has planned after its next clearing of the decks, but it could do a lot worse than using this as its Guidebook. (DM)

The Multiversity: Guidebook #1

The Multiversity: Guidebook #1

4. Lady Killer #1 (Dark Horse): “Top 5 Books of January calling!”  Wow!  What a killer debut from Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich!  As evidenced by the cover–a kitchen done up in classic post-war abattoir–they’re mopping the floor with genre tropes and gender notes, the highest being Josie, of course, their Bride of Fifties-stein, who is June Cleaver living up to her name, that’s for sure!  She’s one tough mother–one who’s not afraid to use her assets to get the job done.  It’s the nature of the assassin–and of clever creators–to play a game of cat and mouse with her prey, isn’t it?  Consider the final page, fellow readers: we are most assuredly the mice.  (SC)

Lady Killer #1

Lady Killer #1

3. Wild’s End #5 (BOOM!): Abnett and Culbard’s Wild’s End–our #9 book of 2014–has been about as perfect as a book can be after five issues.  In this installment, the stakes are wildly high, what with the killer lamppost lighting around and lighting up our motley zoo crew, who, all along, keep–relatively–calm and carry on as well as they can with a six-legged, extraterrestrial death ray on their tails.  Love the ribbon tied to the end of the issue: revealing the irrepressible Ms. Peardew’s written account of the big adventure and her pretty assertive assessment of Lewis Cornfelt.  With its tentacles 100% wrapped around me, if Wild’s End were the only fiction left in the world, I’d be quite satisfied.  (SC)

Wild's End #5

Wild’s End #5

2. Silver Surfer #8 (Marvel): Fresh off their claiming the #4 spot on our Top Ten Books of 2014, Dan Slott and Mike Allred offer up a grave planet of survivors–each the last of his or her or its species–and a tidal wave of guilt upon which the former herald of Galactus rides, leaving a wake of cosmic energy that leads the Devourer of Worlds to perhaps his most satisfying meal yet.  It’s a brilliant premise that brings together a universe of victims and pulls apart our otherwise perfect pair, the Surfer and Dawn Greenwood, as emotionally affective individually as when side by side–and, in a very fun moment, with Dawn at the wheel for the first time, “Ha ha ha!”–they ride the temperamental Toomie.  What’s that?  You’re right: When it comes to superhero books, there is none higher, and #8 is further proof.  (SC)

Silver Surfer #8

Silver Surfer #8

1. Mind MGMT #30 (Dark Horse): In one fell swoop Matt Kindt takes everything you knew about this title and turns it on its head. He gathers up threads from earlier issues and ties them together with a revelation that changes the perspective of the entire series. Not content with that, he tells the modern-day story as though it were a pulp sci-fi novel of the 1960s. The meta conceit however is merely a filter for the viewpoint of the narrator, one that makes total sense given her past. Furthermore this narrator, through the use of the (always challenging to pull off) second person, becomes “you.” Confused yet? Perhaps the biggest miracle in this is that Kindt doesn’t lose you, even for a second. A masterpiece. (DM)

Mind MGMT #30

Mind MGMT #30

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Loki: Agent of Asgard #10 (Marvel) – What could have been just another movie franchise tie-in, turned out, in the early going, to be remarkably entertaining due to Al Ewing’s witty, exuberant writing. Alas, just as Loki himself seems unable to escape his destiny, this book was unable to steer clear of getting embroiled in a “Big Event.”  Since then the jocularity has been drained of this once surprising title, its imaginative gold spun into cumbersome lead. (DM)

Loki: Agent of Asgard #10

Loki: Agent of Asgard #10

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

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Top 5(ish) Books of June

02 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in 5 Comics You Should Be Reading, Top 5 Books of the Month

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Here’s a little secret: we, the mighty gate-keepers here at I&N, don’t always agree on who makes the cut on our monthly purview of comics excellence. But, through a complex process of behind-the-scenes negotiation, diplomacy, arm-twisting and, if need be, feats of manliness, we have always been able to whittle down the monthly title wave to our hallowed Top 5. That is, until now. And so, recklessly abandoning all sense of tradition and decorum, we present for the first time: our Top 6 Books of the Month.

#5 (tie). Mind MGMT #23 (Dark Horse): Matt Kindt–winner of the 2014 Innie for Best Artist–delivers a real punch to the gut with this well composed hit-single issue, which sees the Dusty-deadicated side notes harmonizing heroically with the cacophony of the nihilistic narrative–with the darkness Dusty so deeply despised and hoped to one day change with his music.  With the in memoriam to Dusty as the lead vocal of the book, Kindt further develops the memory motif by making the Eraser play “memory games” with an incredulous Meru, using blacked out panels to indicate the missing moments; and by putting petal to the metal in a series of flowering flashbacks featuring Bill and Meru that fan out to form a stunning centerpiece for this death-marred installment and ultimately fall from the stem, foreshadowing poor Bill’s demise and Meru’s heartbreak.  In the end, Kindt cleverly ties the margin matter to the story proper by having Meru’s falling tears look just like the music rising from the headphones that are taken from Dusty’s dead body.  That alone would’ve been enough to tattoo this issue on our Top 5!   But as a final note–or a last grain of hourglass sand–Kindt calls upon the aforementioned memory motif one last time and offers up an intimate Mad Magazine fold-in that’ll rattle around in your skull well after reading. (SC)

Mind MGMT #23

#5 (tie). The Massive #24 (Dark Horse): As Brian Wood’s near-future socioeconomic/environmental dystopia comes to a head, the enigmatic Mary stands revealed as the lynchpin. Some kind of goddess-figure, Mary’s been witness to centuries of manmade degradation of every kind: against nature, against each other, against our own history (part of the brilliance of Wood’s argument is that, throughout the series, he’s presented these as one and the same). Well now she sits in judgement, speaking in biblical terms that portend even greater disaster (or, perhaps, wrath). Even more damning, she stares out directly at the reader as she does so (indelibly rendered, as is the entire arc, by Danijel Zezelj and Jordie Bellaire). If this seems a bit heavy-handed, this particular sequence, all of two pages, stands in stark relief to twenty-three previous issues of breathtaking, world-spanning incident remarkable for the sheer depth of knowledge displayed, as well as their understated, plot-driven delivery. It also thrusts us headlong into the mysteries to be revealed in the final arc, and adds one more: could Mary have played a role in The Crash, the event that laid the world low to begin with? And, having found mankind wanting, is the worst yet to come? (DM)

The Massive #24

The Massive #24

#4. The Last Broadcast #2 (Archaia): Great magicians never reveal their secrets; and those secrets, for the compulsively curious, inevitably become the seeds of great mysteries.  Writer André Sirangelo and artist Gabriel Iumazark plant plenty of seductive seeds here in the second installment of The Last Broadcast, which puts our main man Ivan–himself a magician–on a crooked path of discovery.  His frantic search for his pal Dmitri is an off-kilter crusade–one amplified by Iumazark’s irregular panel pattern that keeps us likewise off balance as we move from page to page–that finds him courting odd characters, including an enigmatic bookshop owner and an eye-biting barfly who pleasingly smack of Polanski stock, and that leads him to a couple of urban explorers–the Backbone of the story–who themselves are missing a mate.  (I, too, am compulsively curious, and I wonder: Could Dmitri and Damon be one in the same?)  Making the story–and the story to come–even more exciting is the prospect of a very-much-alive Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s having a hand in scripting the outcome.  Believe your eyes, folks: this magic–The Last Broadcast–is for real. (SC)

The Last Broadcast #2

The Last Broadcast #2

#3. Ordinary #2 (Titan): A determined father intrepidly braves a gauntlet of nefarious characters and death-defying situations with only one thought on his mind: to find his son! This may sound like the latest Liam Neeson revenge flick, until you realize that a) the determined father is Michael, a balding, bespectacled schlub with a dead-end job; b) the nefarious characters are everyone else on the planet, who have suddenly and inexplicably been granted ridiculous super powers; and c) the death-defying situations include show-stopping Broadway musical numbers (especially frightening that). Rob Williams and D’Israeli serve up thrill-ride absurdity that at once takes the gas out of the sort of adolescent power fantasies that so many comics fans (many of whom bear more than a passing resemblance to Michael) still faithfully devour, while also slyly celebrating them. After all, if the biggest loser in the world can overcome odds like this, there’s hope for everyone. (DM)

Ordinary #2

Ordinary #2

#2. Archer & Armstrong #21 (Valiant): Our fascination with celebrities in many ways defines us as a culture.  Funny enough, our fascination with dead celebrities even more so.  Fred Van Lente knows that, and he’s clearly having a blast bringing back some long–and some freshly–dead famous folks for his satirical tour de farce “American Wasteland.”  Artist Pere Pérez brings the late lot to life around Archer and Armstrong, kicking off a game of “How many dead celebs can you name?”; and it’s a game where we’re all winners for playing along.  I was slayed by the inclusion of Jeff Hanneman and then was all “Already?” upon seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman.  The next three page turns may very well be as unforgettable as the featured figures themselves: first, it’s a father and child reunion as Bruce and Brandon Lee attack our heroes in a sole-touching moment!  (Do they win?  Of course they Jeet Kune Don’t–thanks to Archer’s, umm, stun ram.)  And, after meeting a distraught Jackie Kennedy, who isn’t long for even this world (I was like, “No he di’int!”), A & A come across more Oswalds than you can shake a Zapruder film at!  Throw in some East and West disorderly action with phat boys Biggie and Tupac, and you’ve got yourself a book where a clever contrivance becomes more the thing than the story itself–well, initially, anyway.  Because after the excitement of recognition and the well-earned laughter fall to necessary contemplation, there’s Van Lente himself laughing, “Gotcha.” (SC)

Archer & Armstrong #21

Archer & Armstrong #21

#1. Silver Surfer #3 (Marvel): There was a recent internet controversy which involved, among other things, the notion that certain aspects of super heroes were just too “goofy” and needed to be jettisoned in order for today’s audiences to take the characters seriously. The thinking behind this seems to be that the colorful, larger-than-life paragons of heroism that have populated comics since their inception need to be brought back down to earth, their vibrancy toned down to reflect our own muddled reality. One could make the case  that this view, in its cynicism, utterly misses the point of what super heroes are supposed to be. But why do that when you could just read Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Michael and Laura Allred instead? It makes the case better than any argument ever could.

The current issue is particularly apt, as it deals with a cosmic struggle not so much of good versus evil, but of reality versus possibility. In it, a double-talking alien named the Incredulous Zed seeks to strike down an entity known as the Never Queen to ensure that the future will only ever have one possible outcome. Standing against him are the Silver Surfer and his new partner Dawn Greenwood, an especially winning creation, who runs a nice bed-and-breakfast in Anchor Bay, Mass. Slott’s wild, expansive approach to story is matched by Allred’s art, which, as always, is teeming with fantastic weirdness. There are monkey toys and stolen hearts. Space freaks and childhood memories. True love and The Three Stooges. And in Slott’s and Allred’s vision these live comfortably side-by-side. They suggest, in the sheer vitality of their storytelling, that one need not discard absurdity in the pursuit of profundity. Rather, whatever it is that is profound in these types of stories, whatever is truly wonderful, is inextricably tied to the fact that they’re so damn much FUN. (DM)

Silver Surfer #3

Silver Surfer #3

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Trees #2 (Image) – It has been a storytelling trope the last twenty years or so to juggle multiple, seemingly disparate narratives within an overall framework, and then slowly draw the separate strands together so that they all collide by the end, revealing a larger picture. It is perhaps perfectly legitimate in today’s hyper-connected world to seek meaning in the seemingly infinite byways that cyberspace allows, especially as it has simultaneously caused the world to get ever smaller. This narrative approach, depending on how it’s handled, can be insightful and profound or obtuse and annoying (Terence Malick’s The Tree of Life [no relation] for example, falls into either one or the other categories depending on your point of view). But it works best when the individual stories are compelling (as in say, Pulp Fiction). Unfortunately Trees manages to be both obtuse and uninteresting. Warren Ellis’ story, involving a bunch of giant alien trees that suddenly appear on earth (nicely rendered by Jason Howard), apparently indifferent to human activity, unwittingly provides an apt metaphor for the experience of reading it. When the various narratives are as soporific as those presented, one can’t blame the title characters for ignoring them. The back inside cover, presumably reinforcing the trees ambivalence, ends the issue with the sentence  “It doesn’t care.

Neither do I. (DM)

Trees #2

Trees #2

 

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

Top Five Books of November

23 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in 5 Comics You Should Be Reading

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5. Archer & Armstrong #15 (Valiant): The first of our two alcohol-related picks this month (see below) – hey, never let it be said that we here at I&N don’t know how to have a good time. Fred Van Lente’s odd-couple-buddy-action-comedy-history-spanning-conspiracy-sci-fi-satire has long been a fave of ours, but oddly enough this is the first time it’s appeared on our Top 5. So why this issue? Well, I could go on and on about how whip-smart Van Lente’s writing is. Or how this comic makes me actually laugh out loud (seriously, my wife has to leave the room). Or how it’s been blessed by top notch artists, such as Khari Evans and ChrisCross this ish. But let’s be honest. The real reason this book finally cracked our hallowed list is that it features a pub crawl through time! Read that last bit again and imagine the possibilities! – or better yet don’t, ’cause Van Lente’s already done it for you: Renaissance brawling! Prohibition puking! And a town that literally drowns its sorrows! Maybe it’s the beer goggles talking but…is it possible to have a bro-mance with a comic book? I LOVE YOU GUYSSSHHH!….(DM)

Archer & Armstrong #16

Archer & Armstrong #15

4. Manifest Destiny #1 (Image):  Re-imagining history is a tall order. The story’s voice must sound authentic enough to transport the modern reader back in time, while avoiding the kind of overwrought period-speak that could turn them off. Similarly, one must balance the prevailing mores of the given era with current sensibilities, without undercutting them. Finally, at its best,  the prism of history should reveal something about our modern character. Well if this first issue is any indication, Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts succeed on all three counts. The premise: as the fabled Lewis and Clark lead their expedition through the New World, they’ve been covertly tasked with destroying any indigenous mythological beasts, or ‘monsters’ they come across. The addition of a fantasy element could have easily rendered this the latest iteration of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. But Dingiss and Roberts seem to have (one hopes) something else in mind entirely. The tone is set right off: as Lewis, the more scientific of the two (and the narrator of the story), begins cataloguing the new species of fauna, he spies a beautiful, exotic bird soaring overhead. His journal entry states “Clark assisted in obtaining the bird.” This is, of course, juxtaposed with a panel of Clark blasting the poor thing out of the sky. The ironic interplay of text and picture continues as Lewis detachedly recounts their callous treatment of their own crew, doling out brutal punishment for minor infractions and brooking no argument from men who, capricious though they may be, have legitimate concerns about the safety of their own hides. By letting the nominal “heroes” of the book tell the tale of what promises to be their increasingly calamitous forays into nascent unspoiled America, Dingess and Roberts have set up a satirical critique of not only the assumptions of their main characters, but of our understanding of our own fraught history. One of the strongest debuts of the year. (DM)

Manifest Destiny #1

Manifest Destiny #1

3. Buzzkill #3 (Dark Horse): My name is ScottNerd and I’m a comicholic.  And it’s because of books like this that I ain’t so ready to kick the habit. The intoxicating concept of this fascinating four-pack–from the plotting pair of Donny Cates and Mark Reznicek–had my head spinning from the first sip; and with the second, I developed a real taste for it.  Ah, but this third party provided the real proof: yeah, there’s no doubt that Cates can craft a bitter pale tale with the very best of big name brewmasters.  Oh, sure, he hits some familiar notes, and they all come to a wholly-expected head; but the trip, the drunken hop and skip, from the wall-bangin’ beginning to the hilarious Doctor Strange clone (“Dude, you slept with his girlfriend…”) to the big reveal at the end–the first step in Francis’s final waltz with his pissed-off papa–is absolutely terrific.  Geoff Shaw’s art, a perfect pairing with Cates’ words, has us seeing double the urgency, double the energy, and double the comedy; and, like any loyal addict, I’m left fiending for the final issue so I can keep this killer buzz going. (SC)

Buzzkill #3

Buzzkill #3

2. The Massive #17 (Dark Horse): In this second chapter of the three-part “Longship” arc, Brian Wood delivers “a nasty, vicious piece of work,” and he does so in typical Brian Wood fashion: he sells this epic showdown between Callum Israel and Bors Bergsen without hyperbolic tricks; instead, he “[instills] terror” with one bastard of a backstory, some terrific table turning, and a violent twist, which remakes Israel, the peace-mongering protagonist who has discovered that mortality is maddening medicine, into a sniping son of a bitch.  Artist Garry Brown and colorist Jordie Bellaire combine to keep it real, effectively allowing the spear-sharp story to stand on its own.  And stand it does–as the most revealing and the most cleverly constructed issue of The Massive thus far.  He even had me rooting for Bors, for goodness sake!  Yeah, Wood makes it look easy; but if it were, everyone’d be doing it, right? (SC)

The Massive #17

The Massive #17

1. Mind MGMT #17 (Dark Horse): Yet another shot to the ol’ apricot from Master Sniper Matt Kindt–and it’s one to celebrate!  Yeah, I know, I called #16 the best of the series back in last month’s Top 5; but with #17, Kindt reaches new heights, goes to greater lengths–particularly in page-busting panels of crisply-crafted and concurrent continuous narratives–to exploit the power of the medium.   As promised by the clever cover–one awash in paranoia and paronomasia–the story moves at a breakneck pace: from a locked and loaded unhappy Home Maker to a veritable orgy of violent rivers running toward a simultaneous orgasm of double-page splashes–there goes the neighborhood, indeed!–to a crack shot Meru, who, with a twist of Lyme, is ready to take the reins and restore reason to the world one agent at a time.  The whole damn thing’s a miracle, really.  Hell, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kindt could turn his watercolors to wine; his work is that divine. (SC)

Mind MGMT #17

Mind MGMT #17

Biggest Dis(appointment): Sex Criminals #3 (Image) – The first issue was a fascinating coming of age tale, told largely through the lens of a young woman’s sexual awakening. The second issue, recounting a young man’s side of things, was a disappointing catalogue of wanking and porn. One wondered how or if the third issue (with beautiful visuals, as always, by Chip Zdarsky) would balance the two: would writer Matt Fraction be able to mix the libidinousness of the latter with the thoughtfulness of the former. What was the true voice of the book? Well it is now clear: Fraction has sidestepped the aforementioned story concerns and made the book primarily about himself. This is never more apparent than when Fraction, smack dab in the middle of the book, begins directly complaining to the reader that he was unable to get the rights to print lyrics to a Queen song. This would have been off-putting enough if it had only momentarily taken us out of the story. But it goes on for four pages. It not only brings the narrative to screeching halt; it heedlessly undermines the whole reading experience. Don’t believe the hype: the only thing Fraction’s masturbatory exercise is jerking around is you. (DM)

Sex Criminals #3

Sex Criminals #3

Up next: Our Top Ten Books of 2013!

Top 5 Books of October

24 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in 5 Comics You Should Be Reading, Uncategorized

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Extreme Makeover Edition! This month’s list features five new titles. That’s right: not one of the books from last month’s list is making a repeat appearance. For those scoring at home, that’s the first time that’s happened. Two ways to look at this: last month’s titles par excellence took the inevitable step back (alas, this is partially true – I’m looking at you, Saga!) Or, you may arrive at the conclusion that we have after making these lists every month: there’s a ton of great new comics being produced right now. Really, just the 5 below titles alone represent a cross-section of material that either you, or at the very least someone you know, would get a tremendous kick out of.

5. The Sandman: Overture #1 (DC/Vertigo): This one comes as no surprise. Neil Gaiman, one of the most celebrated writers of our time, makes the long-awaited return to his signature creation, The Sandman. What is surprising is how easily Gaiman re-envelops you in his world. That would be the world of Dream, the name of both the title character and the realm he is lord of; the Endless, his immortal brothers and sisters, each representing a facet of existence that starts with the letter “D” (like Gaiman’s winning goth-punk-cute take on Death); and the host of mythological beings, endearing and terrifying, that were introduced during Sandman’s original, legendary run. This could easily have been a greatest hits tour; give some page space to old fan-favorite characters, indulge your readership’s sense of nostalgia, and call it a day. Gaiman does indeed deliver on both these counts. But what quickly becomes evident is that what is missed most is not the characters, nor even their fantastical world; it is Gaiman’s voice. Alternately warm and wise, mysterious and remote, it has more magic in it than all of the wings and wands and arcane trappings that pass for so much of fantasy these days. And I haven’t even mentioned J.H. Williams art yet. Exquisite draftsmanship, a painterly palette that ranges from monochromatic to kaleidoscopic depending on the scene, eye-popping design that includes double and quadruple-page spreads (you’ll have to see for yourself); suffice it to say that, other than his longtime partnership with Dave McKean, this may be Gaiman’s most fortuitous artistic pairing yet. And that is saying something. A most welcome return. (DM)

The Sandman: Overture #1

4. Wild Blue Yonder #3 (IDW): After a brief hiatus, Wild Blue Yonder soars back onto the scene without having missed a beat.  That’s right: it’s another action-packed issue from the terrific team of Mike Raicht, Zach Howard, Nelson Daniel, and Austin Harrison, who are well on their way toward cementing this series as one of the year’s best.  Every note is played perfectly, as one might expect after two smartly developed  and beautifully rendered issues.  Chapter Three takes off with a testosterone-fueled test–one that leaves Tug, the clever new gun, with a sore jaw, a result of the unimpressed Scram’s heavy-handed assessment–and lands with a low-fuel rescue and a highly-anticipated kiss.  (Looks like Tug’s jaw was all right, after all.)  The care taken to craft such a superb story arc is reflected–more, it’s amplified–by Howard’s art and Daniel’s colors, which together capture both the chaotic and the tender moments with remarkable ease–with no better example of the delicate balance struck issue-wide than the absolutely stunning double-page spread that rests at the heart of this fabulously fun book.  Despite that romantic scene and the kiss that closes the chapter, we’re still left with the knowledge that Tug’s loyalties lie elsewhere–with the Judge.  Hey: he may be coming around to the cause; or maybe he’s simply playing Cola for the free-spirited fool that she is.  Who’s going to win this war of Tug?  Please, please, please don’t make me have to wait another three months to find out! (SC)

Wild Blue Yonder #3

3. Mind MGMT #16 (Dark Horse): At sixteen-issues old, Matt Kindt’s magnum opus is clearly the most mature book on our list, but don’t let its age fool you: it’s still contagiously kinetic and impossibly unpredictable–especially here in this expectation-erasing one-shot, which showcases Kindt’s incomparable ability to marry his watercolors and his words.  Once again, he “escape[s] into books” and plays both sides of the unique relationship between reader and writer, tapping into the fascination, obsession, and madness of this novel form of unrequited love.  Kindt takes a risk as he builds this complex character study on a character who’s important to the overarching storyline, sure, but in whom we’ve yet to make a significant investment.  The risk pays off: he fills up the blank spaces in the Eraser: he sets up and sells Julianne’s psychosis, her rapid divorce from reality, by literally drawing what’s going on in her mind and, as a result, figuratively drawing us into it.  We follow her, observe her, as she follows and observes; and her anxiety, which builds with each panel, parallels ours–not surprisingly thanks to Kindt’s attention to detail as he creates a memory game of sorts throughout the issue: one in which he challenges us to see patterns, subtle parallels between one panel, one page and another, even as Julianne’s own memory seemingly fails her–particularly in terms of her husband, the author of her obsession, Philip K. Verve.  Whether it’s a crescendo of phantom “taps,” a persistent mask of pipe smoke, or a face left unfinished, Kindt cleverly details her descent all the way toward the penultimate page of the story proper: a stunning splash, which, ironically, after an ascent–of stairs, anyway–brings the fictitious relationship to its inevitable, bloody end.  From the beginning, Mind MGMT has been a comic book experience unlike any other.  This issue may very well be the best of the bunch: it engages us as fully as the medium can; and, as Kindt writes through his art (see below), he manages to get us to think not only while we’re lost in the story, but long after we’ve finished reading it, as well. (SC)

Mind MGMT #16 p. 15

Mind MGMT #16 p. 15

2. Afterlife with Archie #1 (Archie): This was, perhaps, inevitable. We live in a mash-up world after all. Bluegrass techno music. Superheroes on Broadway. Bacon and everything. Add the seemingly undying craze for zombies, and it’s actually surprising it took this long. Now, at their worst, these types of amalgamations are self-indulgent exercises in pointlessness. And yet, there’s something about this... Just reading the title gives rise to an involuntary smile. The prospect of throwing those beloved, unaging teen icons and their whitewashed Norman Rockwell existence into a flesh-rending, post-apocalyptic fervor holds the excitement of both a dare and a promise. Indeed the difficulty may be in staying true to the Archie half of the equation. For this to work, there has to be a genuine understanding of these characters and their world; otherwise it could easily descend to a Mad magazine parody. Luckily, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa seems up to the task. (His work salvaging the aforementioned superhero musical may have provided good training ground in the mash-up dept.) These characters act the way they’re supposed to; the corny jokes, the anachronistic cat-fighting of Betty and Veronica. But then there is the palpable mood of creeping horror, thanks largely to the stunning art of modern pulp-master Francesco Francavilla (which is, by itself, worth the price of admission – honestly I would’ve bought a regular issue of Archie Digest if Francavilla was drawing it. Note to self: Digest Archie would’ve been a great alternative title for this book.) Aguirre-Sarcasa promises much darker times ahead. The thrill of this book will be seeing how far he can go while still having it be recognizable as an Archie comic. It’s quite the task he’s set for himself. And if he goes too far? Well, that could be fun too… (DM)

Afterlife with Archie #1

1. Zero #2 (Image): Issue one was pretty good: Ales Kot presented a espionage/black-ops story involving a superhuman arms race. Not the most original concept, but placing it in the context of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict gave it a certain edge, aptly rendered by Michael Walsh’s choppy, early-Mazzucchelli realism. Issue two is a different beast entirely. The mysterious operative, Zero, is still the main character. We are again witness to a political assassination. And yet the tone couldn’t be more different. Whereas the first issue was all brutality and military jargon, the second issue balances the awful goings-on with a poignant tale of innocence lost. Or more accurately, torn away. In this issue, we flashback to Zero’s childhood. The sweet, unaffected cadence of his young view of the world is set side-by-side with the harsh nihilism of his education in sanctioned murder. This duality heightens the mood of each, a quality that extends to the art, which also couldn’t be more different from the first issue. Tradd Moore’s work exudes the literally wide-eyed, childlike perspective, without skimping out on any of the violence, by employing linework that has more of a late-Mazzucchelli grace; a clean, exuberant style suggestive of animation, or dare I suggest, even a touch of Al Hirschfeld (I’ve never before encountered an image of a brain-splattered assassination in which I wanted to count the ‘Nina’s‘.) In presenting two initial issues that attack his basic premise from wildly different angles (and artists), Kot has proven himself quite the chameleon, and hopefully set up that rare book in which, month to month, you truly don’t know what to expect. Book of the Month. (DM)

Zero #2

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Letter 44 #1 (Oni Press)

Letter 44 #1

Letter 44 #1

Welcome to the dis, Mr. Soule.  So you know, the next few lines are going to be rough.  A bunch of over-the-top positive reviews and a TV deal in the works don’t really prepare you for being The Biggest Dis(appointment) of the month–but you’ll get through it.  They all do.

Sorry.  Seemed fitting.

If I’m being honest, your being here isn’t really your fault.  Your book’s actually pretty good.  In fact, the first page is “something else,” and the introduction to 44 is expertly done; we know exactly what kind of man he is in four pages flat.  Your dialogue is sharp and naturalistic; and Alburquerque’s art does its job.  But my perspective changed after the abrupt insinuation of the, umm, extraterrestrial problem.  And you knew it would, didn’t you? I mean, you had the President-elect express–perhaps even more accurately–exactly what I was thinking a couple of panels later.  Clever, sir!

Now don’t get me wrong: I can suspend disbelief with the best of ’em.  Problem is, my disbelief immediately got suspended alongside several former disbeliefs that got strung up as a result of my having endured rockbusters like Armageddon and Deep Impact, and the soulless Independence Day.  It’s an inglorious gallows, indeed.  So, expectations?  Exploded.  A big budget’s worth of bust for only a buck!

As the issue wears on–and it does–it wears the White House well; the crew of the Clarke, well, not so much.  But, hey, it happens.  In this case, it is your fault for having created such a strong character in President Blades.  Any time he’s not on the page, however, the story suffers–but not as much as it suffered from its not living up to the previews and reviews that held it up to the heavens.

I think you’d agree: it’s not quite there yet.  I mean, at this stage, the core of Letter 44 is nothing more than a mostly familiar concept.  But will I give your book another issue?  Sure I will.  Will your book eventually meet the hyperbolic expectations heaped upon it–if not in #2, sometime soon?  Will it play more like an artsy independent film and less like a brain-dead blockbuster?  I have no idea.  Heck, I’d be happy if it meets the humble expectations I’ve now tied to it.  But as it stands, I expected more from this, which is why your initial offering has earned a dis. (SC)

Turning pages,

Scott and Derek

Top 5 Books of September

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

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5. Trillium #2 (DC/Vertigo): Jeff Lemire trades one flippin’ great gimmick for another in this, the sophomore effort of his so-far fantastic fledgling sci-fi series.  Our star-crossed something-or-others, Nika and William, come together after meeting face to face for seemingly the first time at the end of issue #1; but, not surprisingly, they suffer from intercursus interruptus, which is played up perfectly through Lemire’s clever choice of cutting out one side of the conversation, and then swapping sides and back again, until they find common ground–well, until they find something growing on common ground: trillium, of course!  This device, as vital as it is to the story and the pair’s burgeoning relationship, is merely an accessory–a necklace around the neck of a beautiful woman; and the beautiful woman, in this case, is Lemire’s own stunning artwork, which celebrates both the frustration and the humor present in the situation and the magical connection that’s present even when the right words aren’t.  I’m happy to say: I’ve found my thrill-ium, on Kuka Mama’s temple-ium–and in Lemire’s petal-to-the-metal original vision. (SC)

Trillium #2

Trillium #2

4. Six-Gun Gorilla #4 (BOOM!): “The story…the story we’re told, folks” is layers thick in this issue-laden chapter of the Gospel According to Simon Spurrier.  The visionary and his visualizer, hot-shot artist Jeff Stokely, continue Blue’s blistering journey from zero to hero, even as Jiminy Gorilla ties to convince him to say au revior to his savior complex.  The fourth episode of the genre-bending series kicks off with some sidewalk rabble-rousing before a cheeky sense of Dredd muscles its way into the mix, one that hovers over the whole of the book, especially as Spurrier continues his satiric assault on our infatuation with reality entertainment.  He ironically reviles the voyeur in us and assails our suicidal self-importance–the latter played up in the Mittyesque Blue, whose conversation with the “pseudo-mystical” gorilla about his place in this wild-west world is not unlike the Socratic dialogue in Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael (1992), which, by the way, is between the novel’s narrator and, if you didn’t already know, a talking gorilla.  That heady tète-à-tète is balanced brilliantly by plenty of high-velocity action drawn at a breakneck pace by the supersonic Stokely, who rides horses, stagecoaches, and speed lines all the way to a “classic scene”–a showdown between “the griller” and the well-armed Auchenbran–and a hairy final splash.  Where most minis of late have fallen short of the high expectations established by first issues built upon clever concepts, two-thirds of the way through, this gorilla of a book has evolved into something even more fascinating, with no sign of slowing down. (SC)

Six-Gun Gorilla #4

Six-Gun Gorilla #4

3. Numbercruncher #3 (Titan): Simon Spurrier is on a serious roll with his second book in this month’s Top 5 (the first time that’s happened!) This one’s a fast-paced, perfectly structured tale of a love that will not die, no matter how many times a mercenary angel of death tries to kill it. That said angel is a thuggish, bowler hat-wearing accountant in the ecclesiastical bureaucracy of the afterlife, is the clever underlying conceit.  The literally undying love provides, at first, a through line of hope. But in this issue, Spurrier seems to suggest that the romantic concept of ‘eternal love’ is not only unrealistic, but obsessive: that way lies madness.  Colorist Jordie Bellaire deserves special mention here as she alternates between gray tone and color palettes, visually separating life from afterlife (often in the same panel) over PJ Holden’s manic art. One hopes that Spurrier’s vision of the unforgiving machinery of the universe is mere fancy; but, in presenting such themes against unrelenting race(s) against death(s), the creators have fashioned 22 pages of story that hum like clockwork. (DM)

Numbercruncher #3

Numbercruncher #3

2. Saga #14 (Image): Another issue of Saga, another spot in our Top 5. It’s getting almost pedestrian, really. And that’s the kicker; often our top choices offer some formal aspect, some innovation, perhaps in the concept or structure of the writing, or the design or lay-out of the art, that really sets it apart. But Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples just make it look so damn effortless, month after month. The latest chapter of our favorite sci-fi family dramedy features such earth-shaking events as budding romances, stopping for gas, and the most quietly touching scene between a young girl and her cat that you’re ever likely to read. And the only fireworks on display is the laid-back naturalism with which Vaughan and Staples are able to balance the fantastic with the all-too-real inner lives of their characters. Seamless. (DM)

Saga #14

Saga #14

1. Rachel Rising #19 (Abstract Studio): Terry Moore’s monthly dose of well-honed supernatural horror has risen to the top spot for the month on the strength of this issue’s blast to the all-important past–to this better-than-good book’s Genesis.  Moore sends us back to the black and white world of 17th century Manson and sets an ominous tone as he tempts us with ages-old character and thematic archetypes embodied in the gorgeous forms of the raven-haired Lilith and the innocent “little fawn,” Bryn Erin; he juxtaposes his avatars of death and life, respectively, with a chilling result, particularly as Bryn Erin’s parents, ironic Christian zealots, prove impotent–especially her pitchfork-slash-tri-pronged-phallus-wielding father–against the confident and bewitching power of a different, and certainly more feminine, perspective.  Speaking of perspective: Moore plays with negative space to a positive effect as Rachel–who in 2013 has been poisoned by her friend Carol– opens her eyes to shades of gray, a device that speaks, as we learn upon Rachel’s waking at the end, to Bryn Erin’s inner conflict and the relativism that marks the modern, more enlightened world.  As Rachel’s eyes close once more, we’re thrust back to early Manson and a heartbreaking scene between Bryn Erin and her young love, James.  Yes, there is danger here–nothing more dangerous, however, than the potential for ruinous, story-crushing sap, which Moore avoids with a magical mix of urgent dialogue, intense artwork, and more high-caliber irony.  At that point, a freckled expectation is certainly set, and the page turn doesn’t disappoint.  Perfection rarely does. (SC)

Rachel Rising #19

Rachel Rising #19

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Reality Check #1 (Image) – The concept: A lovelorn schlub with a heroic alter ego. Sound familiar? Ah, but here’s the meta twist – the schlub is actually a comic book creator and the hero is his costumed creation who’s mysteriously come to life! So what we have here are actual comic book creators (Glen Brunswick and Viktor Bogdanovic) creating a comic book about a comic creator creating a comic book about a generic superhero. What it amounts to is a comic book that gazes so intently into its own navel that it threatens to disappear. This might have been forgivable if the characters themselves weren’t so insufferable. I suppose the socially-awkward misfit paradigm is meant to make the lead character relatable to “the average comic book fan”. But playing to that stereotype only serves to reinforce it. Really, comic book fans need to get over the whole “loser” mentality, and books like this don’t help. Even sadder, the supposedly sexycool superhero displays an attitude toward women that is middle-school at best. But wait, maybe Brunswick is using the “writing” of his main character to expose his shortcomings and set him and his caped companion on a path out of arrested development! Yeah, and maybe bad writing is just bad writing. (DM)

Turning pages,

Scott & Derek

Top 5 Books of August

22 Sunday Sep 2013

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5. Adventure Time #19 (kaboom!): Ryan North puts aside the usual formal fireworks this month, instead a offering a complex mingling of alternate realities, terrible rap skills and honest-to-goodness heartbreak. Artists Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb keep track of all the goings-on with their usual aplomb. As is often the case with AT, the tone and pacing can turn on a dime: the initial silliness turns bittersweet when the usually villainous Ice King has his heart’s desire destroyed, almost cruelly, by the usually heroic Finn and Jake. Expectations already defied, North then gives the poor Ice King a small measure of redemption, allowing us a peak into his misunderstood, heroic heart. I tell you, if you’re able to get through this tale with completely dry eyes, your heart must be cold as ice. (DM)

Adventure Time #19

Adventure Time #19

4. Trillium #1 (DC/Vertigo): Jeff Lemire, who it seems hasn’t had an appropriate outlet for his true voice since the elegaic Sweet Tooth came to an end last year, returns to captivating form with the premiere issue of his latest series. And by “form” I mean “format”: he tells the stories of his two main characters separately at first by cleverly employing a flip-book configuration. Moreover, the page layout for both stories mirror each other precisely throughout until they finally meet in the middle; quite the disciplined feat (not to take away from this but, in an interesting coincidence, Andy Hirsch utilizes the same exact strategy for his back-up feature in the aforementioned issue of Adventure Time – another reason to pick it up!). This isn’t merely technical wizardry however; the format perfectly complements Lemire’s tale of two literally star-crossed lovers, separated by unimaginable distance and thousands of years. It was this type of artistic adventurousness that garnered Lemire his indy cred to begin with. Here’s hoping enough people buy this book that he can stop working on the likes of Green Arrow. (DM)

3. Satellite Sam #2 (Image): Here’s the truth: Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin certainly didn’t blow their collective wad with a well-received #1, which, somewhat surprisingly, was wildly entertaining for a book about a troubled television program back in the black and white days of the medium.  The second installment brings much of the same to the page: Fraction’s showy dialogue is all business yet feels breezy and unbuttoned; and Chaykin delivers, yet again, earning exclamation points for nailing the period and for ostentatiously trading on subtlety as he slides from one panel to the next.  Overall, this issue traipses along like a stylish transition; but, unlike Mike, who’s a little too handful of himself at the bathroom sink while focused on a lineup of father’s floozies, it delivers the goods–the very, very goods. (SC)

2. Six-Gun Gorilla #3 (BOOM!): Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely hit the mark again with the further adventures of Blue and his partner, the eponymous gun-toting primate.  Spurrier, whose Numbercruncher (Titan) is by all accounts another engaging escape from reality gracing today’s increasingly crowded shelves, plays up the personal and cultural relevance of fiction, especially as he conjures Thurber’s Walter Mitty while crafting Blue into an increasingly compelling Christ figure–one persecuted from every angle imaginable: from the ridiculously voluminous General Vertid to the remotely sadistic Auchenbran.  Without a doubt: three issues in, this creative team has proven it’s getting its inspiration from a higher power; that’s right, folks: this is the Newer Testament.  Read.  Rejoice. (SC) 

1. Lazarus #3 (Image): Greg Rucka and Michael Lark are a perfect pair, like a flavor-forward cabernet sauvignon and a medium-rare porterhouse.  Each is known for his firm grasp of reality and his uncanny ability to reflect it on the page.  Together, they’ve brought an unbridled energy to the first three issues of this female-fronted fantasy: Rucka is a master storyteller, who is as good as it gets when it comes to delivering naturalistic dialogue; and Lark brings it all to life with a style that screams screen–small or big.  This month’s offering sports an opening sequence that relies extensively on Eve’s intense eyes and ultimately focuses on her blade, which becomes a slicing symbol for her sexuality; see: even in this fabricated future, it’s clear: no means no.  After some revelatory intercourse between the two Lazaruses–the Lazari?–another moment worth noting takes place poolside: Jonah and Johanna, status-driven siblings from the Carlyle family, plan a hit on their sister with the ease of planning a party; and, startlingly, just as easily, Johanna callously calls for Charles’s execution–because the simple servant may have “heard enough of [Jonah’s] tantrums to guess what’s going on.”  That’s one cold broad!  But this is hot stuff–thanks, in part, to the explosive cliffhanger–and is about as good as it gets.   Forever and ever.  Amen. (SC)

The Biggest Dis(apponitment): Buck Rogers #1 (Hermes Press)-  A classic pulp hero re-imagined by a comics legend; this title had a lot to recommend it. Howard Chaykin after all revolutionized the design of comic books with such seminal works as American Flagg! and has done stellar work reviving bygone characters on titles like The Shadow and Blackhawk. This seemed then, a match made in heaven. Chaykin does takes Buck back to his origins, drawing much inspiration from his very first appearance in Armageddon 2419 A.D., a novella by Buck’s creator, Philip Francis Nowlan, (published in Amazing Stories in 1928). This is not the breezier futuristic adventure of the well-known, subsequent comic strip (the world’s first, and most influential, sci-fi comic) or the beloved low-budget Buster Crabbe film serial. This version is decidedly more political, detailing a violent guerrilla insurgency between surviving tribes of Americans against their overlords. For starters, here Buck is portrayed as a card-carrying communist firebrand, railing against the capitalist system. No, this is not your father’s Buck Rogers (though I suppose it may be your grandfather’s).

Now I readily admit, I’ve never read the Nowlan novel (I claim the dilettante’s credo, “I know of it”). Given the era, it’s entirely possible that it included communist concerns. In our own era of increasing economic disparity and global recession, perhaps this is Chaykin’s way of reintroducing such class-conscious ideas into the conversation. One might even commend him for doing so. But using your lead character (and a beloved icon, at that) as a mouthpiece to go on and on about the tyranny of the “plutocrats” is wearying, even dispiriting. Further, while decrying the evils of the capitalist war machine, it irritatingly ignores communism’s own history of atrocity.

Have your eyes glossed over yet? It gets worse. The threat that the future Americans are fighting? The Han (read Chinese). Again, this stays true to the original novella. But, so what? Whatever its merits, Armageddon 2419 A.D., reflects the paranoid racism of its time. Does Chaykin really want to revive the notion of the “Yellow Peril”? An example: at one point, Chaykin has an (admittedly unscrupulous) character, Black Barney, whom Buck begrudgingly admires, refer to the Han as “those cheap yellow bastards.”  Now, the current, real-world China is an ascendant world power run by a government that is lousy with human rights abuses. Its increasing influence and deplorable treatment of its own people is a legitimate concern. But is this this really the lens through which we want to address such issues? By invoking a mindset that was abhorrent one-hundred years ago?

(An aside: isn’t it ironic that Comrade Buck is hellbent against China, of all things?)

Chaykin’s mastery of the medium is unassailable and ongoing. A large part of our enjoyment of Satellite Sam (see above) derives from his stunning period visuals. I eagerly anticipate his upcoming Century West from Image. But Buck Rogers is retro in the worst ways possible. (DM)

Turning pages,

Scott & Derek

Top 5 Books of July

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

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5. Satellite Sam #1 (Image): Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin take us back to the dawn of television for a behind-the-scenes look at the type of low-fi, sci-fi program that nostalgists pine for as evidence of a simpler, more innocent time. But what Fraction and Chaykin show us is anything but: murder, sex, and best of all the breathless pacing and snappy dialogue of such stylish, seedy media sneak-peeks as L.A. Confidential, Mad Men and His Girl Friday. Captain Video this ain’t. Rather, with its mature themes and sophisticated storytelling, this is the kind of comic to give to people who don’t read comics. We need more like this. (DM)

Satellite Sam #1

Satellite Sam #1

4. Thumbprint #2 (IDW): Jason Ciaramella and Vic Malhotra deftly continue their adaptation of Joe Hill’s tour-de-force story about the horror that has seemingly followed a disgraced Iraqi War veteran back home. Emphasis on force: this issue largely concerns a flashback to a wartime episode of breathtaking cruelty. Hill’s accomplishment is not in the depiction of the act itself, but in the implicit conveyance that, as bad as this is, there were things that went on that were much, much worse. (DM)

Thumbprint #2

Thumbprint #2

3. Wild Blue Yonder #2 (IDW): Regular readers might remember that I celebrated the series’ opening salvo as a summer blockbuster.  Yeah, well, this issue takes all of the itty-bitty block bits left over from the initial blockbusting and busts them into even itty-bittier pieces!  Mike Raicht scripts the light fantastic as he slides from the Dawn to the dark side; as he builds bonds and, just like that, breaks them.  Zach Howard and Nelson Daniel come in heavy, bringing each scene to life or death with their gorgeously gritty artwork.  That’s right: grab your popcorn and pick the perfect seat: when it comes to high-flying fun, Wild Blue Yonder can’t be topped.  Two issues in and it’s quite clear: the sky’s the limit. (SC)

Wild Blue Yonder #2

Wild Blue Yonder #2

2. Six-Gun Gorilla #2 (BOOM!): Duck Dynasty ain’t got a damn thing on this simply “perfick” reality show from Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely.  Attention must be paid!  Hell, it’s “the name of the game.”  And if you’re not paying attention to this wild, wild western–if you’re not runnin’ with the ‘rilla by now–you’re clearly of questionable taste.  But, hey, it’s Goodall–I mean, it’s all good.  Sure, it’s possible–but not likely–you’re just not that into action-packed satires that co-star cigar-chomping simians who sell their lines like they’re looking to earn enough scratch to buy a big ol’ bunch of bananas before Blazetime. Yeah, that’s what I thought.  We ostentatiously tossed roses at the dusty knuckles of #1 (it was our Book of the Month for June), but Spurrier and Stokely very well may have raised the monkey bar with this one. (SC)

Six-Gun Gorilla #2

Six-Gun Gorilla #2

1. Mister X: Eviction #3 (Dark Horse): Dean Motter’s contender for Book of the Year is not just a compelling story with beautiful art; it is also a love-letter to the medium itself. From the Will Eisner-inspired cover to the delightful Winsor McCay interlude, this book is just catnip for comics enthusiasts. If Satellite Sam is recommended for people who don’t read comics, this is a gift for people that do. Book of the Month. (DM)

Mister X: Eviction #3

Mister X: Eviction #3

Biggest Dis(appointment): Brian Michael Bendis’s X-Mess

Both Uncanny and All-New versions of the X-Men this month–#8 and #9 of the former and #14 of the latter–are X-ercises in the ol’ rhetorical runaround.  Oh, they’re perfectly pretty–thanks to Chris Bachalo and Stuart Immonen, respectively–but what do they accomplish, really?  That’s right: be honest with yourself and with the world: the answer’s disgracefully obvious: not much at all.  Now, I know we’re headed toward the big Battle of the Atom crossover and maybe the jogging in place is related to that.  As it is, Bendis’s X-titles have been X-tremely disappointing for some time now; yeah, sadly this isn’t the first month where I’ve been like Why am I still buying these damn things?  But I’m still buying ’em–because I still believe in Bendis and because I’m not quite ready to be an ex-X-Men reader.  See: I’m a sucker for Cyclops.  So, on one eye, I’m like, to hell with it; and on the other, I’m sure that something’s going to happen–and soon!–to justify my loyalty.  I just know it!  After all, Bendis himself  promises–through Mystique–that “[t]here’s a bigger picture” here.  And, if, in the end, all of these pointless little pieces fit together to form it, well, then shame on me for doubting.  And if they don’t, whom do I ask for a refund? (SC)

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

Top 5 Books of June 2013: Dig Comics!

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

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Three stellar debuts and one astonishing finale. And the latest Mister X. Even as folks breathlessly scramble to prevent the Death of Comics, the medium is producing a broader range of excellent material than at any time in its history. Spread the word true-believer: everyone should be reading them. The List:

5. Lazarus #1 (Image): This book immediately stakes its ground alongside Brian Wood’s The Massive as a vital, involving piece of speculative science fiction. Whereas the former primarily deals with the effects of all-too-credible environmental disaster, Lazarus extrapolates our current economic debacle by asking ‘What happens when the 1% becomes the .0001%?’. Greg Rucka’s vision of a tech-saturated medievalism is compelling not only because of the verisimilitude of Michael Lark’s art, but precisely because it doesn’t feel as far-fetched as perhaps we’d like. A gripping debut. (DM)

Lazarus #1

4. Thumbprint #1 (IDW): Jason Ciaramella’s and Vic Malhotra’s excellent adaptation of Joe Hill’s novella involves a disgraced female soldier whose return home from Abu Ghraib is disturbed by an apparent stalker with knowledge of her dark past. Even as her privacy and safety are compromised, the reader is left to wonder who the real monster is. Adaptations of other media are tough to do; what works well in prose doesn’t always necessarily translate to comics. So far, Ciaramelia and Malhotra are pulling it off with aplomb. (DM)

Thumbprint #1

3. Mister X: Eviction #2 (Dark Horse): Hands down the most stylish book on the stands: retro-futurist, German Expressionist, neo-noir, New Wave, Pop Art. Dean Motter makes it ALL work, and then gives comics nostalgists an unexpected gift in the backup feature “Little Urchin Andy”, which is like Harold Gray’s classic as re-imagined by Katsuhiro Otomo and filmed by the Fleischer Bros. To call it a ‘mash-up’ would be to trivialize it. It is rather, a glorious orchestration, with Motter holding the conductor’s stick. Or is it a magic wand? (DM)

Mister X: Eviction #2

2. Fury: My War Gone By #13 (Marvel): A fitting finale for a series that has gone by far too quickly.  In this issue of reconciliation and resignation, the point of Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov’s hard-hitting history lesson–as seen through the aged eye of Nick Fury–is hammered home by George Heatherly’s grand-daughter during a conversation with the weathered warhorse: “most of it had been completely pointless.”  Our experience, however, tracing all of the lines on Fury’s face (see Dave Johnson’s terrific cover below), has been anything–everything–but. (SC)

Fury: My War Gone By #13

Fury: My War Gone By #13

1. Six-Gun Gorilla #1 (BOOM!): Easily our favorite book of the month.  And to think I thought it’d be no more than a one-note guilty pleasure!  Silly me.  In all actuality, Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely have cooked up something far more complex.  From one panel to the next, I was awed; I oft guffawed; and each turn of a page–and commensurate peel of a layer–cemented this sucker as a Book of the Week.  And as the month played out–and it was a heck of a month–what was left standing head and hairy shoulders above the rest?  A gorilla with a gun and a come hither “Howdy.” (SC)

Sixth-Gun Gorilla #1

Sixth-Gun Gorilla #1

Biggest Dis(appointment): Scott Snyder

Severed.  American Vampire.  Gates of Gotham.  Most of Batman‘s Court of Owls arc.  Most of his run on Swamp Thing.  Great stuff.  No hesitation at all: Scott Snyder’s the goods.  But as good as he’s been, he’s been pretty underwhelming of late.  Yup: he’s shown some cracks in the ol’ armor–especially with the superhero books he’s headlining.

Now, I don’t know how to explain it; I mean, I’m just the consumer; I don’t claim to have the answers.  But he seems to have become a victim of his prior success–success that translates directly–fairly or not–to expectations.  Super high expectations.

This is how I envision it:  Snyder’s a damsel in distress tied to the tracks, and the hype train that bears his name is bearing down on her–err, him.  And, you know what?  He needs a hero!  He’s holding on for a hero till the end of the night.  Sadly, neither Batman nor Superman was able to save him.

Just think about it for a minute.  Wash the hype from your eyes.  You know–you know it in your bones–that Batman #21 isn’t what you were hoping for when you first started salivating over the ubiquitous Zero Year adverts.

Batman #21

Batman #21

Really, now: what does it offer?  Another Death of the Family scenario?  Instead of the Batfamily, we’re looking at a Kane/Wayne war?  And the antagonist this time?  No, not the Joker: it’s the Riddler!  Really?  The Riddler?  There’s something funny about that, isn’t there?  Ugh!  Doubtless, we’ve seen Snyder borrow effectively from his previous work.  But this?  Come on!  This is almost insulting to us readers!  We deserve better, don’t we?

Well, we sure as hell didn’t get better with Superman Unchained #1.

Superman Unchained #1

Superman Unchained #1

Sure, the thing sold a ton; but what does that really mean?  I’ll tell you one thing it doesn’t mean: it doesn’t mean that the book is good–because it isn’t.  It’s a muddled mess that recalls the awkward wordiness of George Perez’s New 52 Superman and, inexplicably, the frivolousness of Scott Lobdell’s.  You know what it is?  It’s a special-effects laden blockbuster that, for all it’s blockbusting, fizzles out once the smoke clears.  (I am still talking about the comic, by the way.  No, really, I am.)  We all know that Scott Snyder’s better than this, don’t we?

Isn’t he?

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

Top 5 Books of May: Cities, Dreams & Red Underwear

09 Sunday Jun 2013

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This was the toughest Top 5 list we’ve had to put together yet: ol’ reliables like Saga and Manhattan Projects didn’t put out an issue in May. And other stalwarts like Fatale and Nowhere Men, while solid, weren’t quite their usual, exemplary selves (hmm, looking at the above titles it seems we’re really putting the Image in images and Nerds). All these open spots generated much discussion from your intrepid reviewers about who should fill them. Change, of course, can be a good thing. Shake things up! Diversify! In the end, we’re pleased by the inclusion of three brand new #1’s on the list below, with all the promise they imply, even as we bid a fond adieu to one excellent title that seems to be ending its run.

5. Dream Thief #1 (Dark Horse): An undeserving lowlife is possessed by a mystical power that places him in hairy situations, seemingly in the name of justice. Jai Nitz’s tightly-structured occult noir hums like clockwork thanks in large part to Greg Smallwood’s beautifully designed graphic fireworks. After one issue, both of these gentlemen feel like creators to watch. And Dark Horse, with titles like this, Brian Wood’s The Massive, and Matt Kindt’s Mind MGMT (not to mention our #1 title below) is positioning itself to give Image a run for its money as the most exciting publisher around. (DM)

4. Battlefields: The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova #6 (Dynamite): It’s a bird!  In a plane!  It’s Anna Kharkova!  Garth Ennis and Russ Braun set the irrepressible Night Witch free with a Yeatsian final stanza that celebrates the unconquerable human spirit. (SC)

3. Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake #5 (kaboom!): The only regular on this month’s list, Natasha Allegri’s gender-switching fairy tale pulls off the neat trick of subtly subverting story-time expectations while also thrillingly living up to them. Truly a comic for “all-ages”. (DM)

2. Adventures of Superman #1 (DC): So what if this trio of short stories first appeared digitally? We first read them the old fashioned way – holding them in our grubby little hands as an actual comic book! Whatever the format, this is the best Superman title we’ve read in a while. Jeff Parker pens a classic story about an early Luthor encounter, made even more so by Chris Samnee’s utterly gorgeous art. We’re convinced: Samnee should draw Superman regularly. And every other superhero title. Justin Jordan and Riley Rossmo close the book with a fun Bizarro tale. But the star here is Jeff Lemire. Set in the vast expanses of rural Kansas, Lemire’s story and art are given the room to breathe that has been sorely lacking in some of his other superhero books. That may seem an odd comment for a story that’s all of ten pages, but Lemire fills them with the sense of imagination and wonder that are the essence of Superman. In the process, Lemire also reminds us what we love about him. This wonderful book has the cumulative, perhaps unintended, effect of making us long for the pre-New 52 Man of Steel. Long live the Red Trunks! (DM)

1. Mister X: Eviction #1 (Dark Horse): Amongst the standout books for the month, Dean Motter’s urbane banquet of urban anxiety stands out the most; in fact, it towers above the rest!  Mr. Motter is in complete control of the pagescape: he wields images and words with an imaginative precision that makes a penthouse reality out of street-level dreams.  All hyperbole aside, this, folks, is why we make our weekly pilgrimage to the comic shop. (SC)

The Biggest Dis(appointment): The Bounce #1 (Image):  If Joe Casey’s Sex is a tired, syphilitic muse, then his latest, The Bounce, is an adopted crack baby.  From the opening toke–a decision more desperate than daring–Casey wields his great power irresponsibly: he lazily and preposterously offers up a seemingly incorrigible pothead, one agonizingly alliterative Jasper Jenkins–an obvious Peter Parker analog–and then oddly recalls an irrelevant hero, Speedball–no, really, Speedball!–who himself was misguidedly modeled after Spider-Man, for goodness sake, all the while sticking too closely to the all-too-familiar amazing spiderweb, you know, because why futz around with a tried and true formula that’s caught villains and readers alike for fifty-plus years.  Speaking of villains: in the grandiloquent antagonist The Darling, Casey conjures his inner Mark Millar yet again (see Sex for more evidence of Casey’s indisputable infatuation with the obnoxious Scotsman); and in the Grand Design, he shows that he’s embarrassingly “behind the curve”–certainly behind Jonathan Hickman, whose The Manhattan Projects sports a curiously similar device.  Yeah: surprise.  If I’m being fair, The Fog, injected into the end of the book, does bring a tablespoon of originality to the flame; but whatever taste I’ve gotten is a bizarre, almost indescribable feeling that smacks of questionable calls–including having The Crush inexplicably use “tenacious” to describe the “pigs” that he assumes one sentence later will be “pissed” once they find out what he’s done–and tone deaf pseudo-intellectualism.  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?  Really?  So, while I did say yes to the first issue, going forward, I’m going to listen to the small voice in my head, that of the former first lady who famously said that, when facing a choice such as this, I should just say no. (SC)

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

Top 5 Books of April

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 5 Comics You Should Be Reading

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5. Mind MGMT #10 (Dark Horse): Matt Kindt manages the impossible–with a twist of Lyme.  His artwork is incomparably kinetic.  His use of the margins–especially in the first half of this issue–is brilliantly thoughtful.  He is in total control: every mark on the page serves its master and, in that, is played “for the greater good.”  Nothing is left to chance, even as Meru rolls the dice in order to undo Duncan’s predictable advantage.  Sure, Mind MGMT has been solid of late; and for most titles that’d be a label to celebrate.  But for this book, solid is pretty much a euphemism for I expected more.  With #10, however, Dark Horse’s thoroughbred leaves a rather pedestrian solid in the dust and sprints toward utterly transcendent as it most assuredly must. (SC)

Mind MGMT #10

Mind MGMT #10

4. Adventure Time # 15 (kaboom!): Far from being a mere comic simulacrum of Pendleton Ward’s lauded TV series, this title has emerged as a monthly laboratory of formalistic innovation. Wry self-commentary, plots that collapse inwards, playing with the comic book format itself; one truly never knows what to expect. The semiotic experimentation in this particular issue does have precedent (specifically in Andy Runton’s adorable Owly) but, man, do Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb and (series letterer) Steve Wands run with it! (DM)

Adventure Time #15

3. Saga #12 (Image): Rocking out with its whatchamacallit out–in more ways than one.  I mean, sure, there’s a one-eyed monster that Prince Robot IV jerks around for most of the issue; but that monster is D. Oswald Heist, author of the inflammatory “piece of s—” A Nighttime Smoke, which, Prince suspects, had a page in bringing Alana and Marko together.  All the talk leading up to this in-your-face–and cleverly self-aware–release, by the sagacious Brian K. Vaughn and the sagalicious Fiona Staples, probably “only boost[ed its] sales,” and left everyone thinking of this terrific treatise on the weight of images and words. (SC)

Saga #12

Saga #12

2. Fury: My War Gone By #11 (Marvel Max):  Garth Ennis’ revisionist examination of Marvel’s famous super-spy is the best exploration of the intersection of pop culture and real-world violence since Joshua Dysart’s late, lamented Unknown Soldier. Or is it exploitation? By removing the title character from his familiar milieu of superheroes and inserting him into some of the darkest corners of American military history, the story inherently raises questions about the boundaries between tragedy and entertainment (in much the way the recent Zero Dark Thirty did). Ennis navigates this terrain (illustrated with appropriate ruthlessness by Goran Parlov) partially by taking the core of the character – grizzled war hero – at his word. To his credit, as he shines a light on the all-too-real atrocities committed in the name of God and Country (as in the last, devastating panel in the book) neither Nick nor Ennis look away. (DM)

Fury: My War Gone By #11

Fury: My War Gone By #11

1. The Manhattan Projects #11 (Image): Then: I held The Manhattan Projects #1 in my hands.  Hmm.  Hickman?  Thumbed through.  Art: Pitarra?  Who?  Seemed, I don’t know, shaky.  Said to self, No, as I returned it to the shelf, so…  Now: Two trades and a single issue in, I’m completely sold on the project–particularly on the twists, both brutal and risible.  This issue, “Building,” while not as tied to the twist as previous issues, is a masterclass in storytelling on par with what Vaughn and Staples have been constructing over on Saga.  Hickman, Pitarra, and Bellaire–whose colors are indispensable in the development of the narrative–balance the past and present with remarkable ease; and, in doing so, they build the relationship between Enrico and Harry in such a heartwarming manner that it’d take exposure to plutonium to warm the heart any more.  Also at play here is the Cold War between the simple and the complex, highlighted by Enrico and Harry’s initial conversation–which culminates in a sweetly incomplex “I just wanted some ice cream”– and then hammered home by the juxtaposition of Oppenheimer’s three–“I think he means…four!”–terribly complicated plans for conquering the heavens and the natural simplicity of being someone’s friend.  As close to perfect as can be. (SC)

The Manhattan Projects #11

The Manhattan Projects #11

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Jupiter’s Legacy #1 (Image). The title, which manages to be both portentous and pretentious, pretty much sums up the whole book. The latest entry in Mark Millar’s self-christened Millarworld, this books seems like a stab at seriousness after the bawdiness of Kick-Ass and Secret Service (both coming soon to a theatre near you!) The set-up: the larger-than-life heroes of yesteryear now have children who are forced to exist in their sizable shadow. This is a theme that has been explored, at different levels, in such books as Infinity Inc., Runaways, hell, even Watchmen. But so what? Any concept is only as strong as what the writer bring to it. No, what really rankles here is how the characters feel the need to immediately announce their motivation, instead of having it arise naturally from the narrative. The elders, bearing a strong resemblance to the Justice Society of America, go on and on about the meaning of the American Dream. They debate their place in a democratic society: should they be servants to the will of the people, or should they be running the show? (yes, that old chestnut) They exist only as avatars of differing opinion. Pres. Obama is even name-dropped in an eye-rolling attempt at real-world relevance. The ungrateful youngsters, meanwhile, whine about the pressures of their privileged existence, whilst knee-deep in sex, drugs and publicists, natch (ooh, edgy!) The forced dialogue even seeps into the incidental characters, as when one proclaims of the elder group “Well, there’s no denying you’re a colorful bunch and you’ve certainly piqued my curiosity here.” This is in the first panel of the second page – before we’ve gotten to know any of them! It’s as though he’s stating what Millar wants the reader to think. Well, I’m sorry, but this colorful bunch has piqued in me only the regret of being separated from my $2.99. (DM)

Jupiter’s Legacy #1

So what made your list?

Turning Pages,

Scott & Derek