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Category Archives: Derekommendations

Derekommendations: 8/9/17

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by dmaxwell in Derekommendations, Uncategorized

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Black Hammer, Clue, Crypt-Keeper, DC Comics, Erica Henderson, IDW, Marvel, Mister Miracle, Mitch Gerads, Nelson Daniel, Paul Allor, Ryan North, Silver Surfer, The Sheriff of Babylon, the unbeatable Squirrel Girl, The Vision, Tom King

Here are my 3 must-read comics for this Wednesday:

Mister Miracle #1 (DC): Tom King and Mitch Gerads crafted the best comic book of last year with The Sheriff of Babylon, a shattering, close-up deconstruction of the everyday tragedies created by the fog of war. King also created last year’s best superhero comic in The Vision. In that book, he used the creative latitude afforded in penning a B-lister to orchestrate a tale about a family of androids, living in suburbia, that incorporated bits of Mary Shelley, Philip K. Dick and Leave It To Beaver. The resultant tale explored, amongst other trivialities, death, prejudice, and what it means to be human. Throughout, King established a pitch-perfect tone that was absurd, poetic and tragic, frequently all at once. One hopes that in working with another character not-well known outside of comic circles, King and Gerads will produce something similarly profound.

MISTER MIRACLE #1

Mister Miracle #1

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #23 (Marvel): If you already aren’t reading this comic book about a computer-science grad student with the powers of a squirrel (who is soon to be featured in a gosh-darn TV show), you’re missing out on the best superhero book that isn’t Black Hammer or Silver Surfer. Ryan North continues to delight with buoyant, laugh-out-loud writing that manages to feel upbeat and empowering without a trace of didactic, self-congratulatory posturing (hear that Saga?). If you still need an excuse to jump on this book, the current story allows the inimitable Mr. North to return to his first love: Dinosaurs! The child-like exuberance North obviously feels for the subject is matched by Erica Henderson’s energetic, Ditko-inflected art. The joy in this book is infectious.

UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #23

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #23

Clue #3 (IDW): Yes, I can feel your eye-roll: a book that’s an obvious corporate tie-in to a friggin’ board game? Has Battleship taught me nothing?! But my childhood affection for said game, as well as the cult-favorite movie it inspired (itself a corporate tie-in) impelled me to give it a shot (Or a candlestick. Whatever.). Happily, like the movie, Paul Allor’s story benefits from a wacky cast, clever pacing and an off kilter sense of humor. Nelson Daniel’s art contributes some fittingly comedic touches, especially in terms of staging and page layout. And Clue features that hallowed comic book trope, the mordant, omniscient narrator/host (think the Crypt-Keeper except with impeccable manners and in a butler’s suit). Except it seems he’s not so omniscient after all. Hmm….

CLUE #3 CVR B DANIEL

Clue #3

Happy Wednesday!

-Derek

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Derekommendations: Demons and Dreams

09 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by dmaxwell in Derekommendations

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Chris Ware, Demon, Eric Shanower, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jason, Jason Shiga, Little Nemo in Slumberland, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, Nelson Daniel, Winsor McCay

Hey there everyone. Been a while. Read any good comics lately?

As some of you may know, in our real lives we here at I&N are educators (“What’s that?!” you ask, “A comic critiquing website doesn’t pay the bills?!” I know. I’m as surprised as you.) Well this new school year has hit this particular educator like a ton of bricks. (Seriously, if you know any teachers, give them a hug. Or maybe a flask.)

The sad result? You haven’t heard much from me lately. (How do you go on?) But there were two recent titles that I couldn’t let go by without comment and still consider myself a comics scholar, aesthete and general know-it-all. To wit:

Demon #1 (self-published): Award-winning cartoonist Jason Shiga’s (Empire State, Meanwhile) latest features a determined young man with a never-say-die attitude…towards dying. Without giving too much away, the story reads like a gleefully demented version of Groundhog’s Day. Shiga delivers his devilishly black humor with impeccable comic pacing. Originally presented as a daily, serialized webcomic, the story benefits from the more traditional comic book format, as it displays Shiga’s mastery of the page turn for comedic effect. The simplicity of the setting (most of the story takes place in the same room) lends a certain claustrophobia, as events slowly grow ever more surreal. The art, while pleasingly cartoony, has a schematic quality in both style and layout, that brings to mind the ironically understated work of Jason or Chris Ware. This matter-of-fact presentation, given the bleak subject matter, only heightens the awful, laugh-out-loud moments. And of those, there are quite a few. Because, while suicide may not be painless, in Shiga’s manic, twisted hands, it is hilarious.

Demon #1

Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland #1 (IDW): Winsor McCay is one of the greatest artists (not just cartoonists) of the 20th century. His work has inspired everyone from Walt Disney to Maurice Sendak. His seminal achievement is arguably Little Nemo in Slumberland. In newspapers across the country, McCay presented a weekly art nouveau tableau of fantasy, in which Nemo’s dream world came breathtakingly to life. Never had such a wild imagination been rendered with such precise, consummate draftsmanship. At the very dawn of comics McCay set a bar for the medium that has never been surpassed. Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez attempting to revisit this masterwork is then, the most quietly audacious move of the year.

Of the two, Mr. Rodriguez has by far the more difficult task. How does an artist, even one as talented as Rodriguez, interpret the work of the most gifted fabulist ever to hold a pencil, without seeming slavish or paling by comparison? Happily, he seems up to the challenge. While obviously owing much to McCay’s work, Rodriguez introduces a more modern cinematic flair to the proceedings (McCay, for instance, nearly always kept his main characters in mid-range shots, almost never employing close-ups) that may have been influenced by the gorgeous, but structurally flawed, animated movie adaptation of 1989. While nothing can ever quite compare to the original, the artwork here is playful, precise, and candy-colored (hues skillfully provided by Nelson Daniel. McCay, of course, colored the originals.) In other words, it is everything Little Nemo should be. Well, almost. If there is a quibble, it’s that, other than a couple of pages (8 and 9) he doesn’t attempt the kind of innovative panel designs that were so integral to the original. Ah well, room to stretch in future issues.

As for Mr. Shanower’s part, he does a fine job of providing just enough of McCay’s greatest hits for Rodriguez to exploit, while establishing a rhythm that stays true to the original and simultaneously taking advantage of the comic book format. Not a small feat. His best decision however, may have been to not set this in McCay’s world of 1905, nor to try to update the original character for our time. In a small but wise step, he introduces a new Nemo, establishing a fresh start and allowing himself some latitude with the character’s development. It also may make him more relatable to young readers. Because at the end of the day, that’s the point. Shanower and Rodriguez have created that all-too-rare thing: an excellent comic book for children. And if this book introduces the unparalleled wonder of McCay’s masterpiece to a new generation, then that alone is cause for celebration.

Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland #1

For more about Demon visit www.shigabooks.com

Issues 1 & 2 of Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland are on the shelves now. Grab them while you can!

Yours in Comics,

Derek

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Derekommendations: 8/21

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by dmaxwell in Derekommendations

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Adventure Time, Andy Hirsch, Animal Man, Braden Lamb, Brian Azzarello, Chris Samnee, Cliff Chiang, Daredevil, Darth Vader, DC, Eisner Award, Jeff Lemire, kaboom!, Mark Waid, Marvel, Numbercruncher, P.J. Holden, Rafael Albuquerque, Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, Simon Spurrier, Six-Gun Gorilla, Star Wars, Titan, Wonder Woman

Brief highlights from last week:

Wonder Woman #23 (DC): Brian Azzarello wraps up his two-year epic with a bang. And with style – Cliff Chiang handles the art from start to finish. By expanding Diana’s family ties beyond her strictly Amazonian origin, Azzarello and Co. have given her truly mythic proportions.

Animal Man #23 (DC): Jeff Lemire continues to slowly get his mojo back on this book (the anthropomorphic pirates riding a giant narwhal through a sea of blood was particularly fun). The balancing act between the personal, fanciful, and horrific, along with the impending arrival of Rafael Albuquerque on art, are threatening to make this title relevant again.

Numbercruncher #2 (Titan): Along with the superlative Six-Gun Gorilla, this title offers further proof that Si Spurrier is one of the most wildly inventive writers around. Turns out God is nothing but a miserly accountant, keeping track of every tick of the adding machine in the great equation that is the Universe. Against such a soul-numbing backdrop, what chance does true love have? If you’re a genius mathematician, the answer is: pretty good. P.J. Holden provides the appropriately loopy visuals. As unlikely entertaining a confection as you’re likely to find.

Daredevil #30 (Marvel): As an endless array of crossovers (ugh) spill out from the big two (and beyond), Mark Waid and Einser-Award-Winner Chris Samnee show us how it’s done. An unlikely team-up, a self-contained story that nevertheless manages to raise the stakes sky-high, and a nice twist at the end that actually affects the main character – what more could a super hero fan want? Ok, how ’bout this: Samnee drawing DD rocking a surfboard through the streets of  Manhattan?

Top Pick – Adventure Time #19 (kaboom!): I’ve come to expect formal innovation from this title (it deserves the accolades it’s been getting); and indeed we get that in Andy Hirsch’s clever back-up  story. But what we get in the lead feature (by Ryan North, with art by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb) is unexpected depth and heartbreak, as the Ice King further assumes his role as the central, tragic figure of the whole Adventure Time franchise (sort of like what Darth Vader was supposed to be in Star Wars). And all the while, as is often the case with AT, all the silliness and jokes practically dare you to take any of it seriously.

Give it a Miss – X-Men #4 (Marvel): The definition of a filler issue. Some nice (if uncharacteristic) scenes between Jubillee and Wolverine aside, nothing really happens in this book; disappointing, considering Brian Wood’s strong start on this title. And with the Battle of the Atom crossover (again I say, ugh) looming, I may be giving this book a miss for the foreseeable future. Wake me when it’s over!

Yours in Comics,

Derek

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